Thank you so very much to every reader who visited my table at last weekend’s book signing event in London. It was lovely to meet you all and I was blown away by the beautiful photo books and picture books that so many had worked hard on; it was an honour to sign them! I loved meeting other authors too. Overall, a great weekend! See you at the next one…

With only 9 days to go until the British Book Affair author signing event in London, my swag is arriving and I’m super excited! Even more exciting than the miniature, teeny-tiny #SebastianTrilogy books and gazillion other freebies, is that I’ll be meeting you! I can’t wait to chat with ‘Secrets’ readers. If you haven’t yet booked a ticket for the event, there’s still time.  Visit my FB page http://www.facebook.com/janeyrosen or click on Eventbrite and secure your place.  I’m in awe of the authors attending, including Abbi Glines, Emma Hart, J S Scott, Jodi Ellen Malpas and a plethora of others.  Be there or be square!

I’m so close that the finishing line is just a few strides ahead, yet this last stretch is quicksand.  The race has been exhausting…I’ve called on reserves that I didn’t know I possessed and I’ve loved this story hard.

I’m writing the climax of my new novel and–with that sweet rush of closure–comes the slow pain of edits.  I know I will need to rewrite the entire beginning and so the journey will continue; bitter sweet but always loved.

Not long to go until I attend the British Book Affair author signing event at The Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel, London on 18th April.  Can’t wait to meet fantastic writers such as Abbi Glines, Jodi-Ellen Malpas, Emma Chase and so many more.  Mostly, though, I can’t wait to meet readers of The Sebastian Trilogy who have become friends of mine, every one.  I have a rainbow of Sharpie pens to sign anything presented and a box of books plus freebie swag.  I’m all set and hope to see you there! 🙂

May 19th 2015 will see the USA launch of The Sebastian Trilogy with fabulous new cover design.  Be sure to check back here for more details nearer the date! I’m thrilled to be working with Limitless Publishing.

I’m delighted to be attending the British Book Affair author signing event in London on April 18th 2015.  I’ll have a limited number of paperback copies of The Sebastian Trilogy and Sebastian’s Journal to buy on the day.  Please do bring your own copy for me to sign.  I’ll also have some swag to give away so be sure to stop by my table if you’re attending 🙂

It wasn’t until I went to a writing conference in New York last summer, that I first heard the term ‘pantsing.’  Thinking it was just another weird Americanism I didn’t pay too much attention to it.  Everyone knows that those over the other side of the pond are peculiar, right?  I was asked, “are you a pantser?” and, having checked my undergarments, glared and walked away.  How rude.  We British don’t discuss such things–certainly not with strangers (cue a gasp).

It transpired during the conference, that a ‘pantser’ had nothing to do with underwear and everything to do with flying by the seat of your pants!  I held up my hands. I declared myself to be a ‘pantser’ and it felt good to finally come out!  I threw scorn on those diligent writers who planned/plotted/sculpted their story before actually writing.  To me it was ‘head down, pen poised and go-with-the-flow.’  I didn’t ever know where my story people would lead me or even where they were ultimately trying to end up.  No final destination, no route map.  I had a seed of an idea taking root in my brain and welcomed the wild undergrowth that sprouted.

Any gardeners out there know that plants are unpredictable.  Growth may be sporadic.  Sometimes seeds don’t sprout or if they do, they may grow into flowers or plants entirely different to those shown on the seed packet.  You have no control.  You plant that seed, water it, and hope for the best.  This to me is pantsing.  Don’t misunderstand … spontaneity is essential in writing but, personally, I found pure pantsing led to writer’s block.  I had no clue where my story people should go so, at times, they’d run into a brick wall.  I hit that brick wall with them and there we’d all sit for days on end until a new shoot of inspiration sprouted, allowing them to continue on their journey to who-knew-where.

I mulled over this strange concept of ‘planning’ for some months.  Could it be that those poor deluded fools who plan actually were onto something good?  I stumbled across a thing called ‘Scrivener.’  It looked scary-as-hell.  I fled to You Tube and watched some videos on plotting with Scrivener and (cue drum roll) it was a revelation!  It–made–sense.  I purchased the software and began to break down my new novel, on which I’d been working, into bite sized chunks.  I created 3 scenes: a beginning, a middle and an end.  I was starting to like this.  Further, I broke down each scene into 3 blocks and each block into 3 chapters.  I suddenly had 27 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  To each of the 27 pieces (chapters) I first added a title pertaining to the arc of the story.  For example, right at the beginning was the inciting incident, followed by the immediate effect.  I added plot twists: one in scene one and the other in scene three.  Next I wrote a brief synopsis for each chapter.  I sat back and suddenly my story made sense!  I could see where my story people were heading and which route would take them there.  More importantly to me, I didn’t see 81,000 words waiting to be written (and the pressure that instilled in me), I saw lots of little bite-sized chunks to be written; each was doable.  Each was doable because I knew where each chunk needed to lead.  It was as though I’d been lost and someone had handed me a Sat-Nav.

‘But where is the creativity and spontaneity?’ you ask.  It’s still there (I whisper).  I can still pants the short journey from one chapter to the next.  I know where my story people are heading but it doesn’t mean I can’t throw a road block or two in their path. In fact I can now throw a whole pile of blocks in their way–whatever my mind thinks up–knowing that they’re still on track to reach their final destination.  I really do think it’s the best of both worlds for me and is speeding up the growth of this flower that is my novel.

I should add that no one ‘system’ works for all writers.  Plotting AND pantsing works for me.  With a skeleton in place, it’s easier to add the flesh. Now I’m waffling when I should be writing …

Happy writing! 🙂

I’m ashamed to see how long it’s been since I updated my blog! In my defence, I’ve been writing as though possessed.  I decided to park ‘The Hidden Bride’ for NANOWRIMO in November because a certain tale was dying to be told.  Every day I wake excited to write and I anticipate finishing by spring.  It’s a total challenge for me; different genre, set in America so every sentence, every word, has to be suited to a different readership.

I have American beta readers lined up to make sure my draft holds no mistakes both in American English, phraseology, environment etc etc.  Hopefully they, and my other beta readers, will spot any plot holes and inconsistencies too, although I have turned into a plotter not a pantser (but more on that in another post!).

All that remains to be said is … I wish you all a belated Happy New Year 🙂

National Novel Writing Month is nearly upon us:

One month, 50,000 words, one novel.

I’ve decided to challenge myself, and my [poor] organisational skills, to join the thousands of writers setting out to pen a novel in the month of November.  I’ll be blogging my journey here.  Please do send your encouragement/tips/chocolate on the days in which I struggle…which I’m sure will be many!

In the spirit of not cheating, I’ve resisted the temptation to make ANY notes but I do have the seed of an idea in my mind.  It means putting aside my current novel which is nearing completion of first draft stage but I think that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m hoping I’ll come back to it in December, refreshed and with a fresh pair of eyes.

NaNoWriMo ~ November 2014

I’m thrilled to announce that The Sebastian Trilogy box set reached the coveted No.1 spot on the Amazon.co.uk bestseller list for its genre.  Huge thanks to all who have downloaded it so far!

Top spot for The Sebastian Trilogy!