Reviewing today on 'Awfully Big Reviews'

I just posted my review of Sue Barrow's wonderful Keeping Secrets on Awfully Big Reviews.

More on Rosalie Reviews soon!

Launch of my book editing and proofreading service

Added on 23rd Feb:
I've just introduced a little jumping frog called Eddit onto my editing site... see
http://sheilaglasbeybookediting.weebly.com/the-fun-page---eddit-the-frog.html


Hi there!

Some of you may know me in another life as Sheila Glasbey, who is sort of the same person as Rosalie Warren and sort of different. We share a number of relatives and friends and a love of chocolate, books, sea-swimming and gigantic cups of tea. She writes... I pick her up on plot inconsistencies, spelling mistakes, typos, bad grammar, etc - and I sometimes make her cross. Mostly, though, we get on... which is probably just as well.

Anyway, as Sheila, I have just launched a service to help authors edit and proofread their books. The kind of thing you might need before you publish your eBook on Amazon Kindle, on Smashwords, etc, etc. Or perhaps a final check, once you're sure your story is working well, before you send your precious work to an agent or a publisher. Because no one, after all, wants to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar, as my nan used to say.

You can see my brand new editing and proofreading website at

http://sheilaglasbeybookediting.weebly.com

There's also a link to it from the right hand column of the blog you're currently reading... if you see what I mean.

I'm happy to edit right across the range, from children's picture books (the words, not the pictures!), through short stories and novels for all ages, to non fiction and technical work. I've had a fair bit of experience in all these fields. I'm qualified to PhD level as a scientist and have spent many years correcting technical reports, journal articles and dissertations - both my own and those of students, colleagues and so on. So if your work is a treatise on relativity or solar energy: don't worry, I might well be impressed, but I won't be fazed.

And you cosmologists out there - I love cosmology. And neuroscience. And philosophy...

I've also edited many stories, novels and so on, for children and adults.

I'm happy to work either with a printed version or online, whichever you prefer.

My prices are reasonable, and will remain so, but now is a good time to approach me. Once I have my proofreading qualification from the Publishing Training Centre, my prices may go up a little. But my aim will always be to provide a friendly, flexible, professional and speedy service that does not charge over the odds.

If you think we might be able to work together to get your work on top form, contact me in the comments below. (Rosalie will pass them on to me :-) ). Or contact me through the website at:

http://sheilaglasbeybookediting.weebly.com

(There's an easy-to-use contact form.)

And yes, I do know the difference beyween hyphens and en-dashes! An awful lot of authors don't, and getting them right can make all the difference to how professional your manuscript looks in electronic format or in print.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Sheila Glasbey
aka Ros Warren

Things I knew when I started writing that I wish I knew now...

You read that right. I didn't say it the wrong way round...

But isn't it meant to be the other way round? Don't writers, a few years down the line, dispense the advice they wish they'd had when they started out, as in 'Things I wish I'd known when I started writing'?

Of course they do. And I have some of these too, of course. One of these days, if you bear with me, I may even post them on my blog.

But today is not that day. Today is a day for looking back with nostalgia on those early days of innocence, back in 2006 or so, when I first started taking my writing seriously and sat outside on my swingseat, day after day in that warm summer, scribbling away in a notebook, page after page after scrawly page.

I made tons of mistakes, of course (still do). But what I had, back then, was focus. Yes, I had a computer with a broadband connection - 2006 is not that long ago. But I didn't have Twitter or Facebook, and I knew nothing about 'author platforms' and the like. Oh, long lost, glorious, halcyon days...

Don't get me wrong. I'm pleased to have had several novels published in the years since then, and more on the way. I love my work and enjoy the publicity side of things, most of the time. I certainly enjoy hobnobbing with fellow writers, on and offline, and I wouldn't be without my social media now.

But having said all that - here's my list of things I knew then that I wish I still knew today:


1. The actual writing is what counts.

2. Reading is one of my chief pleasures. Not reading with an eye to the market. Not studying how other authors achieve the things they do. Not reading my own stuff, struggling to find a good title. Not reading in fear - has this person stumbled upon the same plotline as me and got there first? Not reading with envy or scorn or anything else. Just reading with sheer delight, because that's what books are for.

3. Anything is possible. I know nothing, in 2006, about the requirements of agents or editors. I have faith in myself. Yes, I need to learn, but I have confidence that I can learn.

4. I'm still young! Well, not exactly young, but six years younger than I'll be in six years' time...

5. I am very lucky to have been able to retire from a stress-filled job into a blissful existence where I have the time and energy to write.

6. Just to repeat... The actual writing is what counts.


OK, younger self, I'm listening. I know a fair number of things now that I didn't know back then, and some of them are worth knowing. I wouldn't really want to go back.

But you had some things right, and it's time I got them right again.

Review of 'How Not to Write a Novel' by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark

This book is seriously funny - meaning that it will help you write a better book, if you don't die laughing first.

How Not to Write a Novel has become my bedside Bible - not so much for its religious content, which, it has to be said, is minimal, but in the same way that Bridget Jones's Diary held that place for many years, and before that, Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole. Common factor - all are reliably and comfortingly funny, however many times you've already read them and especially if you wake up in the middle of the night.

Mittelmark is an editor of many years' standing and Newman is a well-respected author. Between them, they have put together some of the mistakes and gaffes that new (and maybe even older) writers make, both in their novels and in the process of submitting to them agents and publishers. But Newman and Mittelmark brilliantly turn the process on its head. As suggested by the title, this book, if you heed its advice, will make sure you never, ever get published.

Should you by any chance have come up with a good plot, Mittelmark and Newman are on hand to help you slow it down and mess it up. Just make sure, they advise, that nothing of any significance happens before Chapter 5. Stick your character in front of a mirror and let her describe herself as brown-haired, of medium height, with medium-sized breasts. Or, give your male protagonist eyes of cobalt blue. Before your hero's story begins, introduce us at length to every member of his extended family and all their cutely-named pets.

And if your hero gets stuck in an underwater cave, suddenly announce to your readers that it's OK - he trained as a pearl-diver in his youth. Begin your novel with philosophical musings on the nature of humanity and, just to make sure your reader gets the idea, reprise your thesis at the end.

And should you be brave enough to attempt a sex scene - well, the examples in this book will delight and inspire you to climactic heights.


And, er... never visit the same launderette twice. In your novel, that is, not in real life. (I fell foul of this myself.)

One word of caution - this book isn't really for completely novice writers. It could scare them off for life. But if you've been writing for a while, and especially if you've begun to engage in the submission game (no, not a form of bondage recommended for your prospective Mills and Boon...), then you'll understand what they're talking about and quite possibly end up having a good laugh at yourself. But you'll also learn a lot - I did - and next time you're tempted to write one of those unintelligible prologues, you'll just possibly give it a miss and cut to the chase.

My copy of How Not to Write a Novel is tattered, chocolate-spattered, wine-drenched and bubblebath-wrinkled. What greater recommendation can I make?


How Not to Write a Novel: 200 mistakes to avoid at all costs if you ever want to get published
Authors: Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark
Paperback: 272 pages
Penguin Books, 29th Jan 2009
ISBN-10: 0141038543
ISBN-13: 978-0141038544


Review by Rosalie Warren, 5/2/2012
Follow me on Twitter: @Ros_Warren
My website

Hurray for National Libraries Day!

... and to everyone - readers, writers, librarians, teachers, parents, children, council workers... and all the others who took part.

From what I heard, there was enthusiastic support for events held all over the country. Which all backs up the case of how important our libraries are to us (anyone listening, Mr Cameron?)

I had a wonderful time on my two library visits yesterday. Bell Green and Tile Hill libraries in Coventry both made me and fellow author Ann Evans very welcome. They publicised our events, put up posters and displays of our books, gave us refreshments and made us feel at home. I love libraries!

In spite of temperatures of minus 3, a good number of people turned up. We spoke about our experiences, good and bad, of writing, submitting and getting published. There were some great questions and we shared a fair few laughs. As always at these events, I was impressed to see keen writers there, especially young ones.But what shone out from the audiences was their love of books.

Highlights of my day:

(1) The librarian who told me about the problem kid who had to be banned from the library for 18 months but is now back - and reading.

(2) The lovely woman who picked up the library's copy of my Low Tide, Lunan Bay and took it to the counter to borrow it, saying she couldn't wait to read it. (Hope she likes it!)

It was a tiring day and we somehow didn't get time to eat our lunch, but not to worry. It convinced me, if ever I needed convincing, that libraries are a vital part of our culture. The libraries we visited were in areas of the city where many people are currently struggling to get by. These libraries are oases of warmth, entertainment and sanity, in contrast to an outside world that's often harsh, competitive and unwelcoming.

We let libraries go at our peril. People in power, please take note.

Attempting to storm the pearly gates of Agent Heaven

See my post today on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure.

I'm casting a few light-hearted aspersions on some of the techniques recommended to writers for appeasing agents...

National Libraries Day

Feeling so guilty that I haven't posted on here since January 8th (hangs head in shame).

Excuses... blah blah blah... contributing to other blogs... arguing with my bank who have managed to lose a big chunk of my money and are taking 18 working days to restore it growl growl growl... writing (not as much as I should have been), discussing a contract for an exciting new series (yeah! More soon..) and, er... not quite sure what else.

But I'm pleased to announce that on Saturday 4th Feb it's National Libraries Day, and if ever anything needed a 'day', our national libraries do!

I'm going to be at two Coventry libraries, Bell Green and Tile Hill, giving talks on 'How to Write' with my friend and fellow writer, Ann Evans.

(The picture above shows an event in Coventry Central Library that Ann and I did, with the help of some enthusiastic pupils from King Henry VIII School, Coventry, last summer.)

The Bell Green event is 11am-12pm and the Tile Hill one is 1.30-3.30pm. There will be refreshments at the Tile Hill one, which is longer.

More details can be seen on the Coventry Council website.

If you are in the area, please do come along and take part. Ann and I will be speaking about our varied experiences in the world of writing and being published, and having several friendly arguments about the need to plan our stories and how to find time to write. There'll be plenty of time for questions and we'd love to hear about your writing experiences, too.

Hope to see you there.

Finally, I promise there'll be more reviews on here soon. And I need to tell you about my new series for 7-9s, and exciting developments with Charity's Child.

Happy reading, writing and everything else

Best wishes,

Rosalie

My website
One of my characters blogging - Brought Up By Ghosts