A Day in the Life of Rob Sinclair

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Margaret Graham

One of the hardest parts of my life as an author is actually finding the time to write. As I struggled with this realization while putting the finishing touches to my newest book, Rise of the Enemy, I wrote a blog post that was clearly tongue-in-cheek (see here). Again, on the day I’m writing this, I’ve just returned from a two week holiday so have a backlog of other tasks, starting with work in my garden which has turned into something of a jungle in the space of 14 days…

My life has changed immeasurably since I caught the writing bug some six years ago. At that time I was still working full time as a forensic accountant, but on the flip side I had no kids. Life was really quite straight forward, comparatively speaking. I drafted my first book, Dance with the Enemy, early in the morning before work, at lunch times, in the evenings and at weekends. It took a lot of dedication and commitment – I was spending every spare minute drafting and editing. Then something happened. I had two boys and my life was turn upside down – as was my house…

Both of my boys (they’re 4 and 2) go to nursery three days a week, so once they’re out the house at 7:30am it’s time for breakfast then exercise. By the time I’ve showered it’s usually about 9am before I start work. I do all of my writing sat on the sofa in the lounge with my laptop. Yes, that big dent right there is where I sit. Every day I feel like I’m a little closer to the floor.

It’s that first session, in the morning, when I always feel most productive and creative. I’ll generally blast through until about midday, with a couple of five minute breaks to make a coffee with my beloved Nespresso machine (every coffee-lover should have one)…

I break off at lunch and do a bit of housework before I get back to writing. By that point I generally feel a bit less enthused. Writing can be a mentally draining experience, particularly when you’re drafting and coming up with new ideas. The afternoon session ends about 4pm, then have an hour spare before I pick up my boys – generally more housework or checking my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

By the time the boys are in bed and my wife has come home and we’ve had tea it’s about 8pm by which point I’ll look to do another hour or two of promotional work; social media largely but also blogs/interviews if I have the mental strength left (which is rare!).

Then it’s in bed safely tucked up with a book for ten minutes (if I’m lucky) before lights-off between 10pm and 10:30pm – what a rock n’ roll lifestyle, eh?!

A day in the life of Felicity Trew – literary editor

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Margaret Graham

Newly appointed literary agent Felicity Trew describes a day in the life of one the top literary agencies, the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency.

By the time I get on the bus in the morning, I’ve already visited 50 different worlds… through my submission inbox. I never know where it’s going to take me.

I start my day meticulously trawling through the new manuscript adventures on an iPad, my portable office and library. I get hundreds of emails from hopeful authors each week with stories ranging from lovesick demons to 14th century political deviants. There is a lot that is not suitable for my list but every now and then I find a gem.

You can sum an agent in three words: talent-spotter, advocate and counselor. Our responsibility is to find the best authors and to bring out the best in them.
And book writing is 90 per cent idea, writing and 10 per cent editing that into something really rich and attention-grabbing.

So a substantial part of my morning is spent helping authors tighten their manuscripts into a powerful punch of literature for the publishers. Sometimes that can even mean sitting down with an author lost in a plethora of ideas and choosing the strongest option.

Most outsiders think the book world is a cosy industry of coffee cups and cupcakes, but it is a crowded business – which makes it tough but exciting. So after reaching out and responding to my clients, who come first, I tackle the contracts to get the day going.

The one reason a writer needs an agent is that legal document which exists for the lifespan of the book and controls everything from advances to film, TV, radio, theatre, eBook and merchandising rights. The contract can make or break an author. Get one sentence wrong and you’ve lost everything for a lifetime.

Agents feel a huge responsibility to give authors the best chance at carving out space on that cluttered bookshelf. But it’s also a dynamic dance with the publishers. My job is to make sure all sides are happy, that the terms are clear and fair.

Lunch breaks are rarely breaks. They are spent negotiating details with publishing houses and putting forward our best and newest work – as well as tapping into what publishers and readers want.

Right now the time-tested solid trend is the saga: it is a natural development, people don’t want to feel abandoned by the characters they have grown to love after just one book. Escapism in the form of traditional fantasy and historical fiction are both definitely on the rise. But I always encourage my writers to write what they know and love irrespective of market trends.

The afternoon is spent preparing for the book fairs and literary festivals.

The next big event on my calendar is the London Book Fair in April: a bustling marketplace of the international book world, where all the big deals are made and names forged. Every major publisher, book seller, literary scout and agent descends on the sprawling venue – which this year is Kensington Olympia – hoping to buy and sell their wares.
It’s months of preparation: chasing authors with their deadlines, helping them shape their work, building eye-catching presentations and then networking to set up those all-important meetings to make sure our authors get heard above the crowd.

But book festivals are my real love – as it’s a chance to meet writers face-to-face, which is ultimately why I do my job.

This year, I’ve been asked to give several talks: an opportunity to offer advice to new authors. The next is the Literary Festival in Wycombe in April at the Downley Community Centre, followed by the SCBWI retreat in May and Winchester’s Writers Conference in June.

The most frequent question I’m asked by new authors is how to approach a literary agent. The simple answer is: know your agent. Study their author lists, read their statements and their authors’ works, follow them on social media, find out what they are looking for and address that in your covering email. And do not send round robins or even worse accidentally address a rival agent (it has happened). Beware, the delete button beckons.

After a busy day rushing between appointments, lunches and meetings the long bus journey home is an opportunity to catch up on industry news, looking at the latest signings, best sellers and mergers.

And maybe – just maybe – I might just read book of my own.

A Day in the Life of Katy Seath By Katy Seath

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Margaret Graham

This week is half term so I take a break from my usual Monday – Thursday evenings running Rock Choir rehearsals. Today is going to be a busy one and in a way I realise it captures so much of what makes up my work as a musician – both as choir leader, singer and performer.

Credit: Pierre LeMond Photography Studio

I’m up and out by 9am. I’m en route to meet my friend, Darren, who has asked if I can arrange a choir flashmob performance for his colleagues at the Home Office. Instead of an open plan set up (having referred to the event as their ‘town hall meeting with 200 staff’) I instead find myself in an office with work units, chairs, photocopiers and computers. Oh dear Darren never mentioned all the ‘stuff’. We talk through how (on earth) I am going to fit in 45 choir members.

I leave a little behind schedule to attend a rehearsal with Bassistry at a studio space near Elephant and Castle. It’s miserably cold day so its not ideal that the space only has one heater. Hot tea will have to suffice. I’ve been a vocalist for the group for almost 10 years but our live performances have been very occasional. Made up of a variety of top players, the band is lead by Marcel Pusey. I describe Marcel as a music entrepreneur – working internationally running workshops in composing, designing educational music software that’s sold around the world as well as making albums and collaborating with other musicians/singers (like me!).

Some of Bassistry players. Left to Right. Katy Seath, Nicola Bull, Marcel Pusey, Sam Agard.

I love his music and am excited the new album is ready to launch. Today’s rehearsal is to prepare for the show case in a few weeks. It also allows us to ascertain how the electronic sounds can be recreated on stage. It’s the first time we’ve included this element and it becomes a little stressful. While Marcel talks with Sam on drums, I check my emails. Two more choir members wanting to do the flashmob (that’s 47 now!) Another message asks if I can do a piano/vocal gig at my usual hotel near Russell Square. Having emails on your phone can mean you’re always switched on for work and being self employed it feels like you have to.

Credit: Pierre LeMond Photography Studio

Back to the rehearsal. Cues and count ins get slightly confusing and it takes some time to put things right. But once under way, it feels so wonderful to sing with the guys. There is nothing better to experience performing with such superb instrumentalists – I’m much more in my element singing live in this way than in the recording studio.

The rehearsal ends and it’s a quick au revoir as I head into central London. It’s still cold and miserable, so this time it will be wine to warm me up.

The evening is purely for pleasure as I meet with five friends at a restaurant near the Aldwych Theatre. It’s no coincidence that we’re meeting here. Afterwards we are going to watch our amazing friend, Katie Brayben, perform as Carole King in the musical ‘Beautiful’.

We all know each other through singing as part of The Rockabellas – a vintage vocal group. My experiences with The Rockabellas have been some of the most enjoyable – dressing up in ultra feminine styles, 1940’s hair, pillar box red lipstick and glamorous venues. But by far the best thing has been to make friendships and professional links with these incredibly talented vocalists. Their backgrounds range from West End to Ronnie Scotts and beyond. I have had ‘fan’ moments with all of them. Tonight is no different. Having just laughed and cried our way through the show, we stand in the rain by the stage door waiting for Katie. I’m in heaven. Not just because I am a huge Carole King fan and would say she inspired me to be a singer pianist, but also because I get to see a friend do what she loves best on stage.

To hear some examples of Katy’s work, visit katyseath.com

Bassistry’s Album ‘What The Hell Do You Call This’ can be ordered through www.bassistry.com. Their album launch is at The Hoxton Bar and Kitchen on Tuesday, 10^th March, 8pm . Tickets can be purchased through ticketweb.co.uk or on the door.

Learn more about The Rockabellas and look out for their new album through www.theRockabellas.com

A Day in the Life of Lorna Windham

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Margaret Graham

I live in Northumberland. With the Cheviots Hills, Rivers Tweed, Coquet and Wansbeck and endless beaches, I have plenty of choice about where to walk and think about writing. When I won the North Tyneside Short Story Competition with ‘Spirit of the Age’ and my children’s novel ‘Toby’s Secret’ was long listed in the Times Chicken House competition in 2008, I was hooked.

Spurred on by this success, I’m now the author of three local history books ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘Deaths Disasters & Dastardly Deeds’ and ‘Murder, Mystery & Mayhem’ and in November I was invited to BBC Radio Newcastle to chat with Jonathan Miles about my latest effort.

I often promote my writing by doing power point presentations for local history societies. One talk I did was about ‘Deaths, Disasters and Dastardly Deeds’. It was a catastrophe.

Waking at 3am with a razor blade-throat, I used an old operasingers’ trick and gargled with gin. Numbness crept over my vocal chords. I slept. Hours later I was sure someone had performed surgery with a cheese grater. I grabbed a whisky bottle and gargled. My throat was completely anaesthetised. Success.

By that evening I had a dull headache and my eyes had more bags than Louis Vuitton. It was flu, but I had promised to do the talk.

“Something’s up with the heating again,” said the perspiring IT gent as I rehearsed the presentation.

“Really?” I croaked.

The audience trooped in at 5.00 pm. Thirty minutes later I pointed the IT gent’s laser repeatedly at the screen. Nothing happened. The audience groaned. “It’ll be the USB port, we’ve had difficulties with it before,” he said as he fiddled with leads.

Should I kill him? I took a deep breath; at least he wasn’t piloting a plane. We began again. Everything worked, the audience clapped in anticipation. By 6.15 pm the talk was going really well. Emboldened by my success I started to move forwards, but couldn’t because my heel was stuck in a hole in the rostra. I was now attached to the stage. “Well,” I said wrenching myself free, “my talk is about disasters.”

Ten minutes later I was on the final furlong. My throat was raw, my head was about to explode and I was perspiring like a woman in labour. However, I was sure I’d delivered a talk which had mesmerised the audience by its sheer brilliance.

I glanced at the front row. One man’s eyelids were going down like blinds, his partner’s were closed and the woman beside him had her head on her chest. I finished quickly and thanked ‘EVERYONE’ for listening. They limped out adjusting whistling hearing aids, leaning on sticks and sucking teeth. Ah well, that’s what you get when you give a talk to octogenarians in an overheated auditorium.

TAKE FOUR WRITERS: JUGGLING, REVEALING, PARTYING, BALANCING

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Jane Cable

CLAIRE DYER… JUGGLING

This month I want to talk about loyalty; not to our nearest and dearest, nor our publishers and/or agents but to our books.

Consider this: I have a book that’s just been published and I’m busy talking about it on social media, to library audiences and writers’ groups. I love this book. I have also written another one which is with my agent and which we’re still discussing and editing. I love this book too. And, I’m writing a new book and am at the brick wall that is 60,000 words. I don’t love this book very much at the moment but I should do, and hopefully I will when I’ve climbed over the wall and seen what’s on the other side.

So I’m carrying three books in my head all the time and this isn’t unusual, it’s par for the course for authors. Indeed, some carry even more and/or are different stages of the above process which will require them to concentrate on the intricacies of multiple novels at the same time.

And what does this mean in reality? It means we’re constantly torn; we juggle characters and settings, we have to remember who has which pet, what our heroine’s favourite food is, her deepest fear. Not only this but we have to remember with pinpoint clarity our plot lines and at all times believe in the magic: the alchemy that is writing. There are some days when my brain feels like scrambled egg, but then when it’s just me and screen and I’m back in the zone and it’s making sense, then it’s all worthwhile, believe me.

JACKIE BALDWIN… REVEALING

Hello, lots of excitement for me to report this month! First of all there was the Killer Reads Cover Reveal for Perfect Dead. I absolutely love the design! I’ve been getting ready for my Blog Tour, organised by Love Books Group so I’ve been busy writing guest posts, providing extracts etc.

I also had the most unexpected thing happen this month. My first novel, Dead Man’s Prayer had a one day Book Bub promotion and, to my surprise and delight, became an Amazon UK Kindle bestseller in two categories. I was absolutely over the moon! As I write this it is only three weeks until publication day on 15^th June. This is always a nail-biting time for an author as you wait with baited breath for those reviews to start trickling in. Wish me luck!

See you next month!

LUCY COLEMAN… PARTYING

May has been an exciting month! The Romantic Novelists’ Association Summer Party prompted a trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was great to meet up with writerly friends old and new. Which, I might add, included fellow Frost Musketeer, lovely Claire Dyer.

A pre-party meet-up with a group of Aria Fiction authors, my lovely editor – Lucy Gilmore – and Melanie Price (who is a whizz on social media) was accompanied by Prosecco. It was a great start to the evening.

The week prior to that, structural edits arrived for the second manuscript in my four-book contract with Aria fiction, writing as Lucy Coleman. I despatched those very quickly and I’m now waiting to see the cover for this Christmas novel, set in Caswell Bay on the Gower coast.

Then back to work on book no. 4 which currently stands at around fifty-thousand words. Never a dull moment!

ANGELA PETCH… BALANCING

On May Bank Holiday, we loaded our car and set off for our six-month stay in our Tuscan home, stopping overnight in beautiful Alsace (I am itching to include this location in my next Tuscan novel … bizarre, but I have an idea).

May has been productive. “Mavis and Dot” are with my editor and while I wait for feedback, I have sent off a serial to The People’s Friend. My wonderful editor there instils calm, reiterating that good writing comes when you are at peace with yourself. Tomorrow I should receive my illustrator’s first designs for M and D. I have organised new covers for my two earlier novels. I have an appointment with a special Museum of the Diary in the valley for research for my third Tuscan novel. And, finally, I have been approached by a publisher for my Italian books. Decisions, decisions… but, ringing in my ears are my husband’s words: “Don’t take all the fun out of your writing.” Watch this space.

A Day in The Life of Sandy Hogarth

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Margaret Graham

Sandy Hogarth is the acclaimed Indie author of The Glass Girl which Frost will be reviewing shortly.

Breakfast and a beautiful day. Perfect for the Nidderdale Show – an arch temptress. I have a lot to do today. The Glass Girl must go off tonight. I will feel a little lost when Ruth, my protagonist, goes. She has a troubled life but she’s tough.

‘Say thank you to your sister for me were his words. So Ruth fled, first to Australia, then to the outback.

Sisters. I am fascinated by families; by their honesty, their brutality, their love. And fascinated also by only-ones, so I have made Ruth’s lover an only-one: gorgeous Daniel. Everything she is not.

Music and voices from the loudspeaker drift up the hill, scrambled. Enticing

I give in, cease checking my MS and hurry down the hill with Ruth still in my head. And her sister Alexis.

Cars are queuing. I Pay my £10 and walk through the ancient turnstile.

In the first judging arena I come to is a magnificent bull with curls behind his horns. I wonder if it will win.

I remind myself that I must not stay long.

I pass a pig that is bored or asleep. They say pigs are the most intelligent of animals.

My head is still with Ruth. I especially loved writing the early part: Ruth’s time in the Australian desert. I love the deserts there with their dunes of red dirt scattered with spinifex, and occasional wild camels.

I try not to laugh out loud when I see a cow receiving a final back-combing to the last 8 or 9 inches of its tail.

Some of the sheep waiting in pens are shivering. It’s a hot day so it must be fear.

One puts up its head to me to have her curls admired.

In the next tent, I find the winner of my ‘best hairdo competition’.

Odd, this fixation on hairdos. From one who often forgets to brush her own.

I’m hungry so I get fish and chips from a van. We are almost as far from the sea as it is possible to be but they taste great.

The sisters take over my head again. And the glass girl. An old man in the desert gives it to Ruth.

“an exquisite glass girl, a dancer, with straight back and proud posture. Her body is draped in a mid-calf-length pink dress, the folds caress her long legs and her feet are encased in delicate oyster pink ballet shoes, the ribbons winding round her slender ankles. Her dark hair is shoulder length, her face tranquil and her hazel eyes as fathomless as the ocean. A brittle beauty. He says that it carries the desert within itself.’

The Glass Girl calls. I walk/run back up the hill.

The Glass Girl is available here.

A Day in the life of Adam Burgan, Arts & Entertainment Manager at The Octagon Theatre

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Margaret Graham

Adam Burgan, Arts & Entertainment Manager at The Octagon Theatre in Yeovil.

One of the joys of managing a busy regional theatre is that there is no such thing as a ‘normal day’. While some tasks and duties remain the same you never really know what opportunities, challenges and, at times, rather surreal moments will come your way. At the moment we are in ‘pantoland’ with a spectacular pantomime production of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The show runs for 49 performances (our biggest ever run) with two performances a day so the theatre is a hive of activity with large school groups in the day and then family audiences in the evening.

Over the next few weeks over 25,000 people will ‘climb the beanstalk’ with Jack on a magical adventure and my job is focussed on ensuring that everyone has a happy time at the theatre and to lead and support my team in delivering their roles effectively in order to achieve this. Theatre is a ‘leisure choice’ and though I would consider it essential to living a happy and fulfilled life it is important to recognise the various barriers that people feel may be in their way. It is our job to try and make patrons entire experience of visiting the theatre the best it can be, from the moment they pick-up a brochure, to booking a ticket, making their way to the theatre to the time they step through the door and until they leave. I feel that a large part of my day is spent speaking to staff and trying to ‘keep the team happy’ something that isn’t always possible but we know the key to success is communication and trying to keep the team focussed and working together to achieve a common goal – making our customers happy. Using the word customer I also mean the artists who perform at our theatre – it is important for us to ensure they are happy and have everything they need to give the best possible performance.

Much of my day will be spent speaking to agents and producers and local companies looking to bring their performances to the theatre. Programming is one of my favourite parts of my job and the most satisfying. Booking in an artist I know will prove popular (especially if I’ve been trying to book them for a while) is very rewarding. A number of meetings normally looking at future events and projects will always be on the agenda and one of the things we have grown very successful at is building partnerships with organisations we have a shared agenda with and who can help us to achieve our goals.

Throw in some budget monitoring, a walk around the building to check on our maintenance, checking figures for last night’s show and a look ahead at sales figures for the shows on sale and a trawl through the endless amount of emails and phone calls and the day quickly fills up. ‘Theatreland’ certainly isn’t a ‘9-5’ job and nor should it be. Evenings are often filled with the choir I teach at the theatre on a Monday night, popping in to see some of the performance (even if I can’t stay for the whole show) or supporting local events – I judged ‘Strictly Come Langport’ last weekend! There is never a dull day at the theatre and though it is long hours, and as with every job, there are ‘ups and downs’ I still consider myself very lucky to work in a place that brings joy and happiness to thousands of people every week. I have the pleasure of working with a very talented and dedicated team of people who share my passion for theatre and I try to remind myself that there really are dream jobs and I am one of the lucky ones who found mine.

A Day In The Life of Shelagh Mazey

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Margaret Graham

For years I’ve been a frustrated story-teller, never having the time or peace to be able to concentrate and hurtling through life from one crisis to another, but now every day is like a blank page, here in my thatched cottage in Somerset.

I met Margaret Graham years ago, at a writing circle in Yeovil. We have been friends ever since and good grief, the adventures we’ve had, as awe snatched moments from the home-front. I remember with fondness a trip across Ireland on a coach, enlivened by two America Baptist Ministers. We’ve seldom laughed so much, alongside absorbing the history of the place for a book Margaret was writing. It was here I kissed the Blarney stone. Perhaps that’s where the story telling began.

As time went on the sleepless nights with newborns; the back-breaking, lifting and chasing of toddlers; the homework of school years; the endless chauffeuring of teenagers, and the frantic the frantic worry of them prematurely experiencing the joys and heartache of the opposite sex, drunkenness, drugs and all-night raves became a memory.

No more renovating the derelict cottage sold long ago. No more rising at 6:30am to rush off to work as a practice secretary. At last my ship, with its rather bedraggled rigging, has sailed into a harbour of refuge. I am retired. Whoopee!

Now I listen as my husband leaves for work and lie in bed for a few more minutes, where in a state of alpha I’m able to dream. Then I soak in the bath, empty my mind and plan the trials and tribulations, love stories, intrigues, and let’s not forget the murders and rapes of my 19th century stories.

After breakfast I type out my bath-time plots. I usually write or research on-line, with a short lunch-break, until about 3.30pm and then I need to take a breather. I might do some gardening; mow the lawn, weeding or dead-heading just to breathe some fresh air.

Yes, my life has indeed reached peaceful harbour; my daughter-in-law takes the ironing each week and I take the grandchildren. I’m lucky, they’re lovely.

Of course, aside from the writing, I do have to participate in marketing the books and I’ve made many friends, particularly on Portland, through this. Every now and then I take a friend with me and drive down to the coast to deliver to my outlets there. We usually enjoy lunch at the Lobster Pot on Portland Bill.

The tales my father told, as a born and bred Portlander have inspired my writing, and my first two books are based around that area. Somehow it makes me feel closer to my parents.

I’ve now published two books with Matador. The first is Brandy Row (A love triangle and family saga set on Portland, involving smuggling and the preventive service).

The sequel is Dawn to Deadly Nightshade (continuing with the family, but adding witchcraft in Somerset to the mix).

My third novel is located partly in Dorset, Somerset, Tasmania and Australia. It tells the tale of the ex convicts who were transported to the antipodes and involves the excitement of the Victorian goldfields. I’ve finished the first draft and I’m busy doing the revisions. I hope to bring out Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land next spring.

I totally love my life now. I am a writer. It is my dream come true.

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