Louise Phillips

Irish Success at Crimefest 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:18:00 +0000

Since CRIMEFEST began in June 2008, it has quickly become one of the most popular dates in the crime fiction calendar. The annual convention draws top crime novelists, readers, editors, publishers and reviewers from around the world and gives delegates the opportunity to celebrate the genre in an informal atmosphere.

Read all about Crimefest 2012 and Declan Burke's Irish Success HERE

Blooming Marvelous - Call for Readers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Bloomsday

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown writer-in-residence, Chris Binchy, is organising a filmed relay reading of Ulysses this Bloomsday, June 16th. While the novel remained in copyright, public performances of Ulysses were significantly restricted,so this is the first year that it can be approached with a sense of freedom. Ulysses is deeply rooted in the character and voices of Dublin, and this is a fitting and personal way for people to engage with Joyce’s work level in the place where the book begins.

Filming will be guerrilla-style, moving location on the day from Sandycove to Dalkey to Dún Laoghaire. Members of the public will be filmed reading short allocated sections from the novel, and these will be immediately uploaded to a website, building into a unique document of the day. If you’d like to take part in this event,please contact Chris at DLRWriter@gmail.com.

Four of the Best!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Sat, 26 May 2012 09:48:00 +0000

If any of you are in or around Dublin next Thursday evening the 31st May -

DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT!!!!

I'm really looking forward to the launch of Four New Collections of Poetry by

Colm Keegan

John Murphy

Peadar O'Donoghue

and

Sarah Clancy

If you are not familiar with their work, I PROMISE YOU, you will be in for an evening of talented, edgy, different, and emotionally gripping words of poetry.

Don't believe me?

(Check out the individual links above)

Venue Details:

Unitarian Church ,112 St Stephen's Green West

Thursday 31st May at 6.30pm.

(All four poets will read - introductions by Jessie Lendennie)

(I haven't as yet read any of Sarah's poetry, but as one woman amongst these three men, she must be pretty fantastic, because Colm Keegan, John Murphy and Peader O'Donoghue are individually and collectively amazing poets.)

She's Back!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Yes - It's Official ........ I am still alive!

But I've missed you all tons, and tons over the last six weeks. No Twitter, No Facebook, No Blog, No Crime Scene, No Social Life, (honestly - zero social life), No Nothing, except, Family, Work and Editing!!

Will it all be worth it? Not sure as yet - I can't see the wood for the trees, or the trees for the forest right now, either way, my editing brain requires rest and a return to normality.

(What is normality? I can't remember that either!)

But as I am now back, I come with good news:

Firstly,

I have loads of really brilliant posts to put up for competitions and other exciting events over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for them:)

Secondly,

The Crime Scene Book Club will be back next week, I've received some great reader reviews over the last while, so you can catch up with them on the Crime Scene site over at www.writing.ie

Thirdly,

I heard last week, I was awarded an Arts Bursary for Literature from South Dublin Arts. There will be an Award Ceremony next week, so I'll bring back plenty of pics.

And Fourthly,
Hope you all like the new header, pic taken at Bohernabreena Reservoir during a temporary escape a couple of weeks ago.

And Finally,

Check out Stephen King's Quote for this Month over in the side panel, and if you haven't read his book 'On Writing' - well you're missing out on some great stuff:)

I'll do my best over the next few days to catch up with you all. It's great to be back!!!!

Gone - but hopefully not forgotten!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:14:00 +0000

Hi all,

I'm taking a six week break from blogging, twitter, facebook and all on line communications - shock, horror, oh no, but alas, oh yes.

It isn't because I don't care, or I don't have a million different things which I would like to share, but because other than the Day Job, and Family, I will be breathing, eating and probably even sleeping EDITING.

When I return, I could be a different person, who knows what's going to happen over the next while, but rest assured in the words of The Terminator - I Will Be Back!

Twitter Made Him Do It!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:07:00 +0000

Although it seems like an eternity since I started to get involved with Social Media, in reality, it is only 10 months. The jury is still out on many aspects of SM, but undoubtedly, there have been some success stories. Today, I would like to share one of those success stories with you.

Very soon after I began to use Twitter, and other forms of Social Media, I hooked up with writer and musician, Derek Flynn. A couple of weeks ago, he released his debut album, 'Do You Dream At All?', and here is his story:-

Musician and writer Derek Flynn

A year ago, Derek Flynn, writer and musician, was sitting in his study working on his second novel. Having played with original bands for years – and coming close but never quite getting the elusive record deal – he had put his music away in his bottom drawer to concentrate on his writing.

Someone advised him that if he was serious about being a writer, he needed to get on Facebook and Twitter, and start a blog, and he did. At first, it was intended to be a blog about writing but he soon realised there were any number of other blogs out there about writing. Wondering how he could put his own slant on it, he decided to start posting some of his original songs. He called the blog “Rant, with Occasional Music” and started posting a song every Monday on what he called “New Music Monday”.

In November 2011, Derek got involved in the #TwitterXmasSingle organised by Brenda Drumm. This was the first Christmas Charity Single organised and marketed solely through Twitter and other social media. Derek was one of the soloists on the song “Winter Song”. Organised, recorded and released in the space of two weeks, “Winter Song” reached No.1 in the iTunes chart on the day of release and No. 8 in the Irish charts overall. It was because of this – and the feedback and encouragement he received from people who listened to his music online – that Derek started to think about recording his own album and marketing it solely through Twitter and other social media.

Fast forward nine months and Derek now has over 4,000 followers on Twitter and his blog has had over 20,000 hits.

Derek set up a studio in his house and recorded all of the songs on the album there. “Do You Dream At All?” is entirely self-produced and self-released. The marketing budget is a laptop, a twitter account and a Facebook page. In tandem with these recessionary times, this is DIY music-making.

Derek’s music ranges from a hard-edged guitar sound to acoustic songs that are often intense but always melodic, and are matched by lyrics which marry intensity with honest emotion. A Waterford native, Derek is a musician and a veteran of not only the Irish music scene, but also the US, having spent five years living and performing in New York. His influences run the gamut from The Pixies and Nirvana to Jeff Buckley and Bruce Springsteen, and this eclecticism can be heard in the wide range of songs on his debut CD.

Derek released the album in his hometown of Waterford as part of the Waterford Writer’s Weekend and was featured on RTE Radio One’s “Arena” programme performing the title track.

“Do You Dream At All?” was released on April 2^ndand is available as a physical CD and download on CD Baby, and as a download on iTunes and Amazon.

You can Listen to samples and Buy the CD HERE:

Website: http://www.derekflynnmusic.com/

Blog: http://derekflynn.wordpress.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/derekf03

And for a final treat!!!!

UTube link to the live video of the song '

All That's Left' is now available:-

HERE

Crime Scene - The Boy in the Attic - Crimes against our Children

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:39:00 +0000

New Post for www.writing.ie Crime Scene

Writing about crime, fictional or real-life, carries with it a responsibility. A responsibility which is inherent in all good writing, the search to write a truth. Violent crimes are emotive and disturbing, especially when the innocent victim is a young adult, or a child. We ask ourselves why and how this can happen? But the questions multiply again, when the person, or persons, who committed the crime, are little more than children themselves. To read more click...... HERE

Other related Crime Scene posts for March 2012

Why are we so interested in Crime? HERE

The explosion of Irish Crime Fiction/New Crime Scene Book Club HERE

Getting inside the Killer Head, with Frances de Plino HERE

Mel Sherrat talks about her novel, 'Taunting the Dead' HERE

Letters of Note - John Steinbeck

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:20:00 +0000

I've decided that before I say goodbye for a whole TWO WEEKS - I should leave you with something interesting to ponder. A twitter pal of mine, @CarenKennedy, introduced me to a brilliant site called Letters of Note, and it's a site well worth checking out HERE

Below is a Letter written by the great John Steinbeck, and I hope you find it as entertaining and eye opening as I did.

When I return from my holidays, I will be engaged in 3 full weeks of edits, so I might drift in and out here, and read what Mr Steinbeck had to say on the whole process.

During the nine months of 1951 that saw him working on his novel, East of Eden, author John Steinbeck began each day of writing by penning, in his notebook, a brief letter to his editor and good friend, Pascal "Pat" Covici. Early-1952, with the book finished, Steinbeck wrote him a final letter — a dedication to Covici in which he spoke of the frustrations and insecurities faced by an author during such a process. It can be read below.

(Source: Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters; Image: John Steinbeck, via.)

New York
1952

Dear Pat:

I have decided for this, my book, East of Eden, to write dedication, prologue, argument, apology, epilogue and perhaps epitaph all in one.

The dedication is to you with all the admiration and affection that have been distilled from our singularly blessed association of many years. This book is inscribed to you because you have been part of its birth and growth.

As you know, a prologue is written last but placed first to explain the book's shortcomings and to ask the reader to be kind. But a prologue is also a note of farewell from the writer to his book. For years the writer and his book have been together—friends or bitter enemies but very close as only love and fighting can accomplish.

Then suddenly the book is done. It is a kind of death. This is the requiem.

Miguel Cervantes invented the modem novel and with his Don Quixote set a mark high and bright. In his prologue, he said best what writers feel—the gladness and the terror.

"Idling reader," Cervantes wrote, "you may believe me when I tell you that I should have liked this book, which is the child of my brain, to be the fairest, the sprightliest and the cleverest that could be imagined, but I have not been able to contravene the law of nature which would have it that like begets like—"

And so it is with me, Pat. Although some times I have felt that I held fire in my hands and spread a page with shining—I have never lost the weight of clumsiness, of ignorance, of aching inability.

A book is like a man—clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun.

Well—then the book is done. It has no virtue any more. The writer wants to cry out—"Bring it back! Let me rewrite it or better—Let me burn it. Don't let it out in the unfriendly cold in that condition."

As you know better than most, Pat, the book does not go from writer to reader. It goes first to the lions—editors, publishers, critics, copy readers, sales department. It is kicked and slashed and gouged. And its bloodied father stands attorney.
EDITOR
The book is out of balance. The reader expects one thing and you give him something else. You have written two books and stuck them together. The reader will not understand.
WRITER
No, sir. It goes together. I have written about one family and used stories about another family as—well, as counterpoint, as rest, as contrast in pace and color.
EDITOR
The reader won't understand. What you call counterpoint only slows the book.
WRITER
It has to be slowed—else how would you know when it goes fast?
EDITOR
You have stopped the book and gone into discussions of God knows what.
WRITER
Yes, I have. I don't know why. Just wanted to. Perhaps I was wrong.
SALES DEPARTMENT
The book's too long. Costs are up. We'll have to charge five dollars for it. People won't pay $5. They won't buy it.
WRITER
My last book was short. You said then that people won't buy a short book.
PROOFREADER
The chronology is full of holes. The grammar has no relation to English. On page so-and-so you have a man look in the World Almanac for steamship rates. They aren't there. I checked. You've got Chinese New Year wrong. The characters aren't consistent. You describe Liza Hamilton one way and then have her act a different way.
EDITOR
You make Cathy too black. The reader won't believe her. You make Sam Hamilton too white. The reader won't believe him. No Irishman ever talked like that.
WRITER
My grandfather did.
EDITOR
Who'll believe it?
SECOND EDITOR
No children ever talked like that.
WRITER
(Losing temper as a refuge from despair)
God damn it. This is my book. I'll make the children talk any way I want. My book is about good and evil. Maybe the theme got into the execution. Do you want to publish it or not?
EDITORS
Let's see if we can't fix it up. It won't be much work. You want it to be good, don't you? For instance the ending. The reader won't understand it.
WRITER
Do you?
EDITOR
Yes, but the reader won't.
PROOFREADER
My god, how you do dangle a participle. Turn to page so-and-so.

There you are, Pat. You came in with a box of glory and there you stand with an armful of damp garbage. And from this meeting a new character has emerged. He is called the Reader.
THE READER
He is so stupid you can't trust him with an idea.
He is so clever he will catch you in the least error.
He will not buy short books.
He will not buy long books.
He is part moron, part genius and part ogre.
There is some doubt as to whether he can read.
Well, by God, Pat, he's just like me, no stranger at all. He'll take from my book what he can bring to it. The dull witted will get dullness and the brilliant may find things in my book I didn't know were there.

And just as he is like me, I hope my book is enough like him so that he may find in it interest and recognition and some beauty as one finds in a friend.

Cervantes ends his prologue with a lovely line. I want to use it, Pat, and then I will be done. He says to the reader:

"May God give you health—and may He be not unmindful of me, as well."

John Steinbeck

Wilde's Fire!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Krystal Wade

Anyone who is a regular visitor to this blog will know that I am a firm supporter of Twitter. At first when I started, hands up, I thought it would be great way to get my profile out there. After all, the reality of today's world interaction with social mediums means that as a writer, god damn it, you have to. Without wanting to labour on it too much, I was pleasantly surprised at one aspect of Twitter which I had not expected - I met real, wonderful, talented people. Well Krystal Wade is one of those people.

I love reading books, and when I visited Krystal's blog, the same thing happened to me as when I read a great book. I was brought to a new and different world, this time in Virginia and Washington DC. I got to know tons about her growing up with snakes, living in caravans in the middle of tornadoes, learning to adjust to loads of new and challenging environments. In essence, I met the person, and one very young, determined, talented lady she is, and all that with raising a young family and climbing to put Christmas lights over rooftops of a very, very tall house!

This week Krystal launched her first book in a trilogy called Wilde's Fire, so for sure I had to ask her a few questions about it!

Where did your idea for the story come from?

It all started with an image - picture a dense, lush, green forest. Now imagine a young girl, late teens/earlytwenties—ivory skin, dark brown hair, innocent as can be—reaching out to touch something shimmering in said forest. That image FORCED me to write, but it was not exactly what happened.

So tell us about your writing journey?

I couldn't get that image (of Kate) out of my mind. A constant nagging eventually drove me to the computer, and I pounded out the words. Then I realized I didn't know what I was doing, so I put the writing aside and read a ton of books. Finally, last year, it hit me: you can do this. So I did. And I haven't stopped. I didn't start out expecting to be published. I had a story to write. That was all.

But how long have you actually been writing?

Well, depends on how you look at it. In 3rd grade I realized I loved reading and writing. I wrote poems and short stories in spiral bound notebooks until my hands cramped. Then I set it all aside until five years ago, but I didn't know how/what to write. In January of 2011, I sat down and then COULDN'T stop.

Now that you have the bug, what next?

I'm going to keep writing. Wilde's Fire is the first in a trilogy. I subbed Wilde's Army to my publisher just yesterday, and I'm supposed to be writing the second half of book three, but I swear, since publication, I have no time.

How connected are you to your principle character Kate?

When you read Wilde's Fire, you may notice Kate has a strong connection to nature. She takes in the sights and smells around her. This is because where she grew up, where she and her friends go camping, are all my favorite parts of Virginia. I daydream of one day owning a horse farm like her family does--or at least living near one.

For anyone who hasn't yet read Wilde's Fire, will you give us a little introduction?

Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she’s ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out.

When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she’s dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her.

Kate’s forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What’s worse, she has no control over her new future, and it’s full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made.

Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?

Krystal, how can people get a copy of Wilde's Fire?

You can pick up Wilde's Fire from https://www.nobleyoungadult.com/Books/402/Wilde's-Fire-Book-One-Darkness-Falls for $1.99.

They sell books in multiple formats, which you can choose from My Library after you check out.

Amazon and B&N will carry my novel, but not for another 7-10 days, and not for $1.99 either!

And finally, let's end with the novel's great tag line and trailer!

“There is no pain in this death, only peace,knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most.”

Trailer: http://youtu.be/oo1d4aZQFQY

Thanks Krystal - Wishing you great success!

Other Links:-

Krystal’s blog: http://krystalwade.blogspot.com

Krystal’s website: http://www.krystal-wade.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/KrystalWade

New Crime Scene Book Club!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:21:00 +0000

There has been an explosion in Irish Crime fiction recently, and it’s a phenomenon which is still gaining pace.

I attended a talk at NUI Maynooth a couple of weeks back discussing this very topic, and it would seem that not only has there been an upsurge in successful Irish Crime Writers/Writing, but the variety of prose within the genre has also been remarkable.

With Irish Crime Writing featuring so highly on the international scene, I got an idea which I hope you will be able to help me with.

Every month or so, I’m going to feature 6 crime novels as part of the New Crime Scene Book Club @writing.ie. They will be a mix of Irish and International writers, male & female, debut authors, and well established names, and also novels published only in digital format.

The idea is that you get a flavour of what’s happening within the Crime Scene Genre, and are given an opportunity to offer your feedback on the material currently available.

So why not pick just one title from the link below, read it, and then over the next month let me know what you think of it.

You can send your comments/reviews via the comment option at the Crime Scene site, or here at www.phillips-louise.com ,you can also email me at phillips.louisem0@gmail.com or even via Twitter @LouiseMPhillips -Sounds easy? Well most of the best things are!

The link to the main post @writing.ie Crime Scene Book Club, with books listed can be found HERE

HAPPY READING!!!!

Launch of Riptide

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:05:00 +0000

One of the great things about Twitter and blogging is all the fantastic people you can connect with. I guess writing is a lonely path in many ways, after all the only way your words will get written is by going off on your own and writing them.

Perhaps this is why writers who meet on line are so supportive of each other. We have all travelled a similar path, have failed and failed better, and have kept on going because by and large we have no choice. At some point in all our writing journeys, we realise that we are writers, and that writing is something we will hopefully always do.

Anyhow, one of the fantastic people I've been lucky enough to meet is a writer called Debbi Mack. This week she launches her novel Riptide and it sounds like a real page turner! I will post all Debbi's details below, so feel free to join the Riptide Launch Partyon Facebook during the book launch week from March 12 to March 17, 2012, and/or comment with this post.

All details on the launch are posted here.

Author Bio:

A former attorney, Debbi Mack has also worked as a journalist, reference librarian, and freelance writer/researcher.

Debbi Mack has published two other novels in the Sam McRae mystery series: the New York Times ebook bestseller Identity Crisis (on Amazon UK) and the sequel Least Wanted (on Amazon UK). She’s also published Five Uneasy Pieces (on Amazon UK), a short story collection that includes her Derringer Award–nominated story “The Right to Remain Silent.”

Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies and publications, including Shaken: Stories for Japan (on Amazon UK), an anthology created to benefit Japanese tsunami relief efforts. She is currently working on a young adult novel, planning Sam’s next adventure, and generally mulling over other projects.

You can find her online at her website. She also has five blogs, including My Life on the Midlist,The Book Grrl and Random and Sundry Things. You can find her on Facebookand Twitter.
Plot summary:

Stephanie Ann “Sam” McRae’s stay in Ocean City for the annual Maryland bar association convention turns into a busman's holiday when her best friend Jamila is arrested for a murder she didn’t commit. All signs point to a frame, but Jamila’s local counsel must plea bargain, placing a permanent stain on the ambitious attorney’s spotless record, unless Sam and the private investigator on the case find evidence to clear her.

Sam has her work cut out for her, given that the victim is the stepson of a local wealthy entrepreneur and poultry producer and no one will talk to her, including the investigator hired on the case. Meanwhile, Jamila herself appears to be holding out on Sam.

With the clock ticking down to the convention and preliminary hearing, Sam must uncover secrets, lies, and fraud to find the real killer. At what cost will that knowledge come for Sam?

Did You Ever Think about Writing for Television?

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:35:00 +0000

Do you regularly spot news items and think someone should make a TV series out of it? Do your fingers itch to write storylines for programmes you love? Yes? Well read on!

Although television is a visual medium, it’s still based on the written word and all programmes start out as a single idea first spelt out on paper. But because writers rarely make programmes, they must sell their ideas to the people that do. One way is to write a Treatment – essentially a written pitch summarising an idea into a few pages – with a dynamite script to complete the submission package.

Still interested?

In an introductory course run by Caren Kennedy, participants learn where the potential openings are in television and what writers must do in order to break in. By the end of the course, those who take advantage of all assignments will have created a polished Treatment showcasing their own idea for a series, complete with logline, synopsis, outlines for episodes and a query letter designed to grab the attention of programme makers.

Writing TV Treatments online course - 8 weeks (4 modules) Caren Kennedy gives one-to-one mentoring and instruction on how to begin writing for television and develop ideas into storylines. Cost - €120.00

Caren Kennedy works as an editor, proofreader, writing tutor and researcher. She is the creator of a television series currently in pre-production with Warner Bros TV, co-author of Fake Alibis (BenBella Books, 2009), guest blogger for www.writing.ie, and writing consultant with The Inkwell Group.

For more information visit: www.carenkennedywrites.com or send Caren an email direct to: carenkennedywrites@gmail.com

Feedback

Maura Byrne: http://www.maura-byrne.com/

Caren Kennedy’s ‘Writing TV Treatments’ course is instructive, informative and extremely interesting. Each module, delivered in easy-to-learn units, taught me how to flesh out my idea for a TV series, pump it up and transform it into a robust pitch. But more than this, I learned how to summarise ideas for impact, research target markets, and stay motivated during the writing process. In short, this course is an excellent one which I would highly recommend to anyone wishing to further their writing career.

Michelle Moloney King: www.TeacherMoloneyKing.com

This writing course is for anyone who wants to write. It is not limited to budding or established screenwriters. We covered ideas sourcing, research, visual writing skills, plot and character development, plus where and how to send submissions to television production companies. As I am a primary school teacher who uses lesson plans on a daily basis, nothing pleased me more than to find that Caren’s lessons were laid out in a comprehensive and detailed manner. Her feedback was honest, succinct and got to the heart of any problems. My writing and articulation of ideas has improved beyond imagining and I was amazed by this. Since the day I first started getting feedback from Caren, my blog has almost doubled its readership following.

Why are we interested in Crime?

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:04:00 +0000

Guess what? I'm the new Crime Scene Blogger for http://www.writing.ie/ and today is my first post on Crime Scene. I hope you'll all enjoy our explorations about Crime writing and Crime reading there, and will help me build the site into something really interesting and worthwhile by giving as much feedback as possible through your comments.

Below is the opening few lines, you can read more by clicking on the link below, and please, please leave your comments!

Crime Night at Hodges Figgis

Six years ago, when I began writing, I had no idea that one day I would be writing crime fiction. Perhaps it’s a little bit like how some people believe the writer doesn’t find the story, but rather the story finds them.

I can't speak for other writers, but for me very soon into my writing journey, I realised I had an insatiable desire to delve into the darker side of who we are as human beings.....

Follow the rest of the post HERE

Novelicious/Harper Collins/Simon & Schuster UK Novel Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:22:00 +0000

Okay, I know I've been a little absent lately!!!! Busy writing away like a lonely bird hiding in the attic, the only sound, the tap tap of keys on my laptop, and the odd roar from the family asking who I am again:)

Still, if you've missed me, well I've missed you too. And just by means of showing you how generous I am to my friends, here's a nice little writing competition for you to go and have a good think about!

Novelicious has teamed up with Avon (HarperCollins) and Books and the City (Simon & Schuster UK) to bring you the chick lit event of the year!

Think you could be the next Jane Green, Marian Keyes or Sophie Kinsella? Believe you have the talent to become Britain's Next Chick Lit Star? Want the chance to win a host of AMAZING prizes? If the answer is yes, then Novelicious Undiscovered is the competition for you...

THE PRIZES
This year there will be two main awards up for grabs:

The People's Choice Award Winner
The top twenty entries as judged by the Novelicious team will be put to a public vote in June. The entrant with the most votes will win the following:
A full manuscript critique with Avon Commissioning Editor Caroline Hogg over tea and cake in their London offices. Your chance to get feedback on your novel and ask any questions you have about publishing. A £50 voucher for writersgifts.co.uk
An introduction to and entry critique from top UK Literary Agent, Diane Banks of Diane Banks Associates Ltd
A selection of 10 Avon Titles
A Kindle ebook reader (provided by Idealo)

The Books and The City Choice Award Winner

The Books and The City Choice winner will be chosen from the top twenty entries by the Fiction Editorial department at Simon & Schuster UK. Their choice will win the following:
A full manuscript feedback from the editorial team at Simon & Schuster
Author Mentoring and meeting with Sunday Times Bestselling author of RSVP Helen Warner
A £50 voucher from writersgifts.co.uk
A Books and the City 10 Book Selection

Runner Up
The entry with the second highest number of votes will win the following:
A full manuscript critique from the Novelicious Editor
A Hotel Chocolat Bliss Out Bag from hotelchocolat.co.uk
A Books and the City 10 Book Selection

HOW TO ENTER
By entering this competition you are deemed to have read and accepted the full Terms and Conditions
Please send no more than the first 3000 words of your chick lit novel as a word attachment (name the attachment as the title of your book) to undiscovered@novelicious.com
Please don’t include your name or any personal details in the attachment
Email Subject Line should be – Undiscovered – Your Name – The Name Of Your Book
In the body of your entry email please tell us the following:
Your Name
Your address (you must be a UK or Ireland resident!)
The word count of your entry
In order to keep you updated with Undiscovered and general Novelicious updates, we would like to add your email address to our mailing list (don't worry, your email address is for our eyes only.) Please tell us in your email if you do not wish to be added to the Novelicious mailing list.
Short Stories will not be accepted
Entrants must not be under contract with a publisher, or signed with an agent at the time of entry
Entries must not have been previously published digitally or in print
Closing Date for entries is 3^rd April (see below for the full order of events)

PLEASE READ THE FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ENTRY HERE

ORDER OF EVENTS
Feb 14th                         Novelicious Undiscovered opens for entries
April 3rd                         Closing date for entries
April 24th                        Top 20 entries are announced
MAY                                 Top 20 entries are showcased on Novelicious.com
June 5th - June 19th     Top 20 are opened to a public vote
June 26th                        The winners of Undiscovered are announced!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:17:00 +0000

WILLIAM TREVOR / ELIZABETH BOWEN

INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2012.

FIRST PRIZE: 3,000 EURO

(SPONSORED BY WILLIAM TREVOR)

2nd prize: 500 Euro

5 runners up prizes of 200 Euro each.

Mitchelstown Literary Society is pleased to announce the launch of the second William Trevor / Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Competition.

The Society was founded to celebrate the lives and works of two of Ireland's literary greats with Mitchelstown connections. The short story competition evolved as a natural adjunct to our annual literary festival and aims to provide a competitive outlet for new and emerging writers in the short story genre. The continued support of William Trevor includes sponsoring the very generous First Prize.

Our adjudicators are both well-known short story writers and book reviewers. They will select a short list of approximately 25 stories to be passed on for final adjudication.

Drumshanbo born, Dublin resident, Ita Daly, our main adjudicator, was married to writer and editor, the late David Marcus. Educated at UCD, Ita holds a Masters Degree in English. She has published five novels, a collection of short stories and two children's books. Two times winner of the Hennessy Literary Awards and an Irish Times Short Story Award winner, Ita's last novel 'Unholy Ghosts' was long listed for the Impact Award.

Details of rules, official entry form(s), payment methods etc. can be had from our official contact points indicated below.

There is entry fee of 20.00 Euro per entry and the Closing Date for receipt of entries is last post on Friday, 30th March 2012.

The winner and runners up will be notified personally as well as results being posted to the competition website as they become available.

Entries, by post only, to:

Trevor/Bowen International Short Story Competition,

37 Upper Cork Street

Mitchelstown,

Co. Cork,

Ireland

Contact Points:

Tel: (025) 84969.

Email: cusackliam@eircom.net

Visit: www.mitchelstownlit.com

Official Press Release!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:40:00 +0000

PRESS RELEASE
HACHETTE BOOKS IRELAND

New voice in Irish crime writing

Hachette Books Ireland acquires new psychological crime author Louise Phillips in a two book deal struck between Ciara Doorley, Editorial Director, Hachette Books Ireland and Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau for Irish and UK Commonwealth rights.

Red Ribbons, the first book in the deal, centres round the abduction and murder of a twelve-year old school girl and the main character Julie Pearson, criminal psychologist who is drafted in by the police to help them find the killer.

Ciara Doorley of Hachette

Ireland

says of Louise. ‘With overtones of Sophie Hannah and Tana French, Louise is a supremely talented writer. She subconsciously creates parallels between her characters, and this really challenges the reader. Her writing is tense, atmospheric and we’re really excited to be launching a new voice in Irish crime.’

Red Ribbons is told from three perspectives: the main character Julie; Ellie Brady, an inmate of St Michael’s Mental Institute (convicted of killing her own daughter fifteen years earlier); and the killer.

RED RIBBONS ---- The ‘bad man’ is everywhere . . . can you see him?

Hachette Books Ireland will publish Louise’s first book Red Ribbons in Trade Paperback September 2012 and her second novel The Doll’s House will be published in 2013.

Author Biography

RED RIBBONS, is Louise Phillip’s debut novel. Born in Dublin, she began writing in 2006, when her youngest son turned thirteen. Since then, Louise has won the Jonathan Swift Award with her story Last Kiss. She was a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice Platform, short-listed for the Molly Keane Memorial Award, Bridport UK, and long-listed twice for RTE Guide/Penguin short story competition. Louise has been published as part of many anthologies, including County Lines from New Island, and various literary journals. From an early age, Louise has been an avid reader, and always held the dream that one day she would write a novel. Red Ribbons is the culmination of that dream.

Launch of History Press Ireland's New Fiction Line - The Scarlet Ribbon

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Next Wednesday sees a great event happening in Dublin. History Press Ireland are launching their New Fiction Line, and the first novel to achieve this prestigious honour is, The Scarlet Ribbon, a collaboration between a great journalist & friend, Katy (Derry) O'Dowd, and her father the eminent Michael O'Dowd. Introduction to novel and bio's below.

The launch will take place Wednesday 8th February at Hodges Figgis, Dawson Street at 7.30. Should prove to be an historical night - so don't miss it!

'The Scarlet Ribbon' has been chosen to launch the History Press Ireland's New Fiction Line.

Introduction to the Novel

Written by father and daughter team Michael and Katy O'Dowd, the book follows James Quinn, a young Irish surgeon battling prejudice, suspicion and personal demons in his controversial quest to change the face of medicine.

Following his marriage, tragedy strikes, thrusting James into a life of turmoil and despair. Throwing himself into his work, the young surgeon eventually begins to find solace in the most unexpected of places. From the backstreets of Paris, through the glittering social
whirl of London and finally back to Ireland again, this is a story of the thorns of love and the harsh reality of life in the eighteenth century, where nothing is simple and complications of all kinds surround James Quinn, man midwife.

The Scarlet Ribbon is available in bookshops and online. www.derryodowd.com

About Michael O'Dowd:

Michael is the current National Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Ireland. He has written for various medical publications along with the books,The History of Medications for Women (2001); and with Elliot E Phillip The History of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1994).

About Katy O'Dowd (Derry):

Katy is an arts and entertainment journalist and has worked for Time Out, Associated Newspapers and Comic Relief and her articles have appeared in The Times (London), Metro (London) and many other arts and entertainment publications, paper and online.

Alongside writing under the pen-name Derry O’Dowd, whose next book she is working on, she writes under her own name. ‘The Lady Astronomer’ will be out with Doctor Fantastique Books in April/May. She is also reviews movies for STUDIO magazine, and is currently co-editing ‘Nasty Snips II’ a horror anthology which will be out with Pendragon Press at Halloween. (Derry is Katy’s middle name)

Katy blogs at www.katyodowd.com

And can be found on twitter @katyod

47 Roses - One Man Show by Peter Sheridan

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:01:00 +0000

They say every family has its secrets, and probably Irish families have more secrets than most, including my own, but that's for another post.

Today I want to tell you about one of the best one man shows I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, 47 Roses by Peter Sheridan.

I first became aware of Peter's writing work when a number of years back I read his memoir '44', a tale of Dublin in the 60's. Through this compelling narrative, as the reader, I was brought from childhood to adulthood, experiencing the family 's loss, survival and love. It was a story told with humour and sadness, bringing to the page that great substance which makes all good story telling worthwhile, a sense that somehow through the reading experience, you get to know the people within it, touching you in a way which will ensure they stay with you for a very long time afterwards.

Later, I picked up a copy of '47 Roses', where Peter is grown up with a family of his own, and the death of his father opens the closet door just enough for the family skeletons to come tumbling out. '47 Roses' is the story of the relationship between his parents, from their first meeting in the 1940's until his father's death, recounted around the figure of Doris, a woman who formed an integral part of the Sheridan household, mostly by letters over five decades, and is a unique opportunity to visit the tale of one man's love for two women, and the joys and sacrifices of a lifetime which this love entailed.

When I decided to go and see Peter's adaptation of 47 Roses for the stage, I had the bar set very high, and I wasn't disappointed. The stage adaptation is a triumph, not just because it recounts this great story of love, sadness, humour and song, but because it dilutes nothing in the telling. What you get is the special sense of intimacy and emotion felt when you're introduced to people/characters who come alive within the light and shade of life in a magical way.

Do yourself a favour if you're in Dublin, or even close to it, and take in this show, like the book, it will stay with you for a long time after, and if you don't believe me, read the introduction below, and take in what some rather great voices have to say about it.

47 Roses by Peter Sheridan

On at the Viking Theatre Clontarf Jan 23–Feb 4 2012 (8pm) - Booking Details below

After two successful runs in Bewleys Café Theatre in 2011, Peter Sheridan returns with his one man show based on his second novel 47 Roses. In it he conjures up the voices, sights and songs of his 1960’s childhood in Dublin, in a powerful coming-of-age story, peopled with deliciously eccentric characters and wonderfully bizarre incidents. By turns, brilliantly funny and intensely moving, this remarkable performance packs a considerable punch – a cultural gem.

Reviews

‘Peter Sheridan writes at the crossroads where hilarity and heartbreak, tenderness and savagery meet. The people who live there are often cruel, often magnificent, and always, always human. He captures them perfectly.’

- Roddy Doyle

‘A story so vivid, affecting and lingering that it almost feels like our own.’
- Irish Times

'Peter Sheridan has remade the lost world of sixties Dublin in this knock-out memoir, a gently powerful act of memory and love.’

- Sebastian Barry

'He’s funny, he’s self-deprecating, he’s street-wise, he’s naughty…pure theatre.’
- Sunday Indpendent

Booking Information

Viking Theatre @ the sheds

Connollys - The Sheds
Clontarf
Dublin 3

e-mail: vikingtheatre@dublin.com

Bookings: 087-1129970

The Viking Theatre at The Sheds is an exciting new venue on the Northside of Dublin.
It is situated upstairs at Connolly’s The Sheds where the Clontarf Road and Vernon Avenue meet to form a thriving social hub for the surrounding area.

The show is also on at RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE (Main Street,Newbridge) on Thursday 2nd February 2012

- get details HERE -

(A Question and Answer session will follow the show at Riverbank)

New Beginnings - Rebecca Emin

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I'm delighted to be one of the bloggers who will today feature New Beginnings by Rebecca Emin.

Everything you need about the novel and links to Rebecca's site can be found below.

I think as writers we often have to address difficult subjects, and in this case, Rebecca's novel tells the story of Sam Hendry who needs to overcome something which many of us are sadly only too familiar with, bullying of young children.

Today is the official publication day of New Beginnings by Rebecca Emin - so please give her lots of support and check it out here!

Join Rebecca on her blog Ramblings of a Rusty Writer to find all of the details of how she is planning to celebrate today, or you can read some reviews of the book itself on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

You may like to visit some of the other blogs helping Rebecca to celebrate today too.

About New Beginnings

Sam Hendry is not looking forward to starting at her new school. Things go from bad to worse as the day of truth arrives and all of her fears come true... and then some.

When Sam meets a different group of people who immediately accept her as a friend, she begins to feel more positive.

With her new friends and interests, will Sam finally feel able to face the bully who taunts her, and to summon up the courage to perform on stage?

Moving Desk

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Being such a celebratory week we decided that apart from the cling, cling of glasses, some momentous change/shift was now required. You might already know that usually when I write I do so at the place pictured below.

It is a place which has served me well, apart from when other people, family and friends, decide they want to use the area as well. So based on the news of the week, and the fact that a more secluded area may now be required for my writing (and hopefully lots of it), myself and hubby popped off to Woodies to get a desk and a few shelves with the view of creating a purpose built office for a budding writer, little old me.

The location was already decided upon, a corner of an upstairs attic room in the old part of our house, by old I mean 200 plus years old. The room is a very special room, and I have done a post on it before HERE giving some of the history behind it along with before and after renovation shots.

Anyhow, here is the new dedicated spot where hopefully many wonderful novels and short stories will be created:)

Thought for the Weekend - Sean O'Casey

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:58:00 +0000

I'm posting this week's thought for the weekend a little early. Well it is a kind of special quote, not just because I love Sean O' Casey's work, but because the words are deep, meaningful, and does what all good writing should do - it makes you think.

"Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity."

- Sean O'Casey -

(Btw - thanks to @MoloneyKing on Twitter who put up the quote last week - if you are not following, well darn blast you should do!)

Dreams Can Come True - BIG NEWS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

Firstly, before I tell you all the news, I want just to say that even though I'm writing this post, I still can't quite believe it myself!

Regular visitors to this blog will know about my Novel Madness/ Writing Journey, some might even remember a post I wrote a while back under the 'When You Were Small' label, all about little girl dreams. If you did, then you will know that my dream was to one day write a book, see it sitting on a shelf in a book shop looking all interesting, and obviously with my name on it. Well folks that dream is just about to be turned into a reality.

I am over the moon to let you know that I have been given a 2 book deal with Hachette Publishing. I will be working with their lovely editor, Ciara Doorley, and my debut novel 'Red Ribbons', will be in book shops from October 2012 - yes I know - hard to believe, but it's true, honestly, it is really happening.

I can't express how excited and delighted I am with the news, I'm feeling a little lost for words at the moment (not like me!), but I just wanted to send out a very big thank you to everyone who has followed me either here on the blog or @LouiseMPhillips on Twitter, and here's hoping that in 2012, many more dreams will come true. x

Bridport Competition 2012 is now open for entries!

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:44:00 +0000

2011 Anthology

The Bridport Prize 2012

(NEW CLOSING DATE: 31st May 2012)

The Bridport Prize is the richest open writing competition in the English language - with £5000 first prize for a short story (of up to 5000 words); and £5000 first prize for a poem (of up to 42 lines). The category of Flash Fiction attracts £1,000 to be won for the best short, short story of under 250 words.

The Bridport is also known as a tremendous literary stepping-stone - the first step in the careers of writers such as: Kate Atkinson, Tobias Hill, Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore.

Anyone can enter - so long as the work is previously unpublished. It costs £8 per story, £7 per poem or £6 per flash fiction and the NEW closing date is 31st May 2012

Each year the prize is judged by well known writers - this year we are delighted to announce that Gwyneth Lewis will be judging the poetry, and Patrick Gale, the short stories and flash fiction

The 2011 anthology of winning entries is available for just £12 or £15 overseas (including postage and packing). The 2010 and 2009 anthologies are available in limited numbers for £7 and £5 (£10 and £8 overseas)

Enter online at: www.bridportprize.org.uk

Or download an entry form: www.bridportprize.org.uk/entryform.pdf

Or email for a pdf entry form: frances@bridportprize.org.uk

Or send an SAE for an entry form to be posted to you

The Bridport Prize
PO Box 6910
Dorset
DT6 9BQ
UK

Saying Goodbye to 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:31:00 +0000

The last day of 2011 started early for me. Up at 6.30, shower, got a few odd jobs done, you know the kind of stuff, emptying the dishwasher from the night before, feeding the dog. I had a vital task ahead of me though, so once all my little household duties were done, I set about typing up my list of questions for someone very important.

Now when I say very important, I mean this on a number of levels. Firstly, the person I was going to interview was prepared to help me with research for my novel, secondly, he was a Detective Inspector, and thirdly, he was an old friend of mine. I knew my Detective Inspector from way back, when we were both teenagers and thought we had the answers to the world's problems.

Anyhow it was brilliant to meet him again, yes we had bumped into each other on occasions over the years but more bumping into each other at shopping centres or the like. I had 8 pages of questions waiting for him, with spaces in between, so not too bad really. About half way through the interview though, I knew something was wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, the queasy feeling rising in my tummy. Was it because we were talking about autopsies? Body parts? Or was it something much more sinister?

I soon came to realise, that it WAS about something much more sinister - the coleslaw which I had had on my sandwich prior to him arriving wasn't going down well. Despite looking forward to this interview for days, I had to abandon my wonderful Detective Inspector and rush upstairs. Luckily hubby was there to put on an extra cuppa while little old me faded peacefully away in the bathroom.

Long story short, the interview was abandoned as I got sicker and sicker, and things went even more downhill from there.  Eventually I became so ill that when I rang A & E, they told me to go straight in.

So hubby and I arrived at St James Hospital about 10.30 last night, and after going through my symptoms, I was admitted immediately and put into isolation.

Now, I am not one to enjoy spending long periods in A&E, especially on New Year's Eve, but being taken in so quickly, didn't fill my heart with a lot of joy either. If I was getting such speedy attention, chances were, something could be seriously wrong.

The doctor treating me was from Nigeria. He had very good english, but was a little serious and hard to get to know at first. In the periods while he wasn't in the room, hubby and I googled my condition, and when the less serious reasons for its occurrence were eliminated, we both became more worried.

It was one of those period when life just gets suspended. You think what if all of this is sudddenly taken away? Sorry to be getting so deep here, but I thought about Nuala O Faolain, and how she became ill in New York, and her extremely moving interview with Marianne Finnucane before she died. I guess during those moments in isolation both hubby and I were thinking a little differently to the rest of the world, because suddenly I looked at the time, and realised it was 12.02 and we had both missed midnight.  I turned to him, saying a mild Happy New Year, and being the worried hubby that he was, he gave me a huge hug.

Then we waited and waited for the results of further blood tests, while ringing everyone to tell them not to worry. When the tests came back and our doctor gave us the verdict, we were both very relieved. The coleslaw from early morning had given me a severe dose of food poisoning, so much so that I had burst blood vessels internally, which was why I was losing so much blood. I had been put on a drip earlier, which the doctor explained I needed, as they had to bypass my stomach, because anything going through my it would have encouraged my body on its task of getting everything on the inside, out.

The reason I'm telling you all this is because over the next 5 hours we got talking to the doctor, whom in my opinion brought me back from the brink.(I know drama queen!) We heard all about the poverty in his village, the funny stories he had about training in Irish hospitals, the lovely and not so lovely people he met along the way. He spoke about the corruption in Ireland, and how if his homeland had our level of corruption, the place and his people into which he was born, would be very happy.

He told us how many of the people in his village live until their 80's or 90's, how despite lots of bad things and unfairness, they are a happy people, how remote the village he grew up in was, how at night the adults sat around the fire and told each other stories, how excited he was the first time he saw a frizzy telly, and I remembered how excited I was too so many years back.   He told me I was very lucky, my body did exactly what it was supposed to do, and that soon I would be well.

When I was leaving I passed by other people in A&E, less fortunate than I had been, me having the luxury of being put in isolation. I saw the drunks, the lost, a blond girl in her twenties with black eyes like someone had just painted them with the darkest mascara. It was a strange eerie feeling walking through, and I thought about how many of us in western society don't realise how lucky we are, how we mess up, like many in A&E last night. I thought about the doctors and nurses on duty, the guards in and out of A&E trying to keep things calm on a very uncalm night. But I also thought about my friend the doctor, and his people telling stories around campfires, and how the world over we as humans love to hear, tell, and read stories.

I hope 2012 will be full of wonderful stories. I look forward to reading and hearing them, now that all my google searches have ended on such good news.

Have a wonderful 2012 everyone, and thanks for being part of making 2011 so great.

Write A Romance Novel

noreply@blogger.com (Louise) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Now I know there are many budding romantics out there, some of whom can write, and write well, so if you fancy yourself as someone who can bring true love to the page, well the competition below organised via Circalit might be exactly right for you!

WRITE A ROMANCE NOVEL

Competition closes in: 1 week 4 days

Competition information:

Romeo had Juliet, Bella had Edward, Harry Potter had... well, Ron. Love stories are not only timeless; they are universal. Roughly 50% of all novels sold fall under the Romance category and famous love stories from throughout history have found their way into all our hearts. Finding a story today that is not influenced by romance is a difficult task.

Circalit wants to be swept off its feet - and it turns out we’re not alone. Anna Jean-Hughes, editor at a major international publishing house, is equally keen to read stories that capture the hearts of readers. With this simple desire in mind, we are therefore launching The Circalit Romantic Fiction competition to find romantic reads from Circalit’s best up-and-coming writers.

We are looking for a complete novel that captures the idea of love or romance in an original and insightful way. Whether you’re writing afresh or tweaking something finished, Anna’s curious to see. The novels that receive the best reviews will form a shortlist from which Anna will choose the final winner. The winner will receive a feedback report from Anna worth £120. So pick up that pen/keyboard/harp and get our heart-strings twanging...

Entry Fee: FREE

Host: Anna Jean-Hughes

How the winner will be selected?

The top-rated entries will automatically be shortlisted as voted by the community. Our judges will choose a winner from the shortlist.

Prize: You will win a feedback report on your novel from Random House editor Anna Jean-Hughes.

Rules: Your submission must be your own original work.

You only need to upload the first three chapters of your novel.

All entries will be judged on the strength of the first 3 chapters.

A detailed synopsis must be included with each upload.

Link to enter HERE