Milestone Moment!

I've just checked in to Blogger Central and I've had my thousandth page view! Amazing! That's a lot of people. Not quite in JK Rowling's league but I'm still chuffed to bits :)

I've just started approaching agents with The Fourteen Years Between Us. I've sent the first three chapters to an agent who really likes my work and requested The Charm as a total manuscript to consider. She eventually declined to take it on because of the paranormal element to the book but she encouraged me to write for Young Adults and I was grateful for her advice. I'm on tenterhooks waiting for her feedback... it's pretty nerve-racking. 

Fingers crossed.

Wine and a storyline

On Thursday night I went to see an old friend of mine (who read The Charm chapter by chapter as I wrote it and is now demanding a sequel because the ending was too sad :)) and I ran my latest storyline past her. The plot was dreamt up in half an hour on Wednesday. I have always wanted to write a book with a dark, sinister and taboo storyline, and I touched on it briefly with The Fourteen Years Between Us, but as that particular book is for young adults, I had to draw the line somewhere. With book number three there will be no drawing of lines. It will be a no-holds-barred tale of intrigue, mystery and prohibition. It is based upon somebody I once knew and the way she lived her life always fascinated me. She lived a deeply religious, solitary life despite wanting more than anything to meet a decent man, who shared her values and with whom she would eventually share the sanctity of marriage. But my leading lady, who I have already named Judith, will see her morals being shattered as she is introduced to a life so surreptitious, her whole world is turned upside down.

My friend had goosebumps as I told her the story, and by the time I got to the end, the hairs on her arms were standing on end... which in my view, is a damn good reason to get it down on paper!

Book Number Three has been born! :)

Changing Seasons

So summer is officially over and winter is here... despite it being eighteen degrees outside with a cloudless blue sky! It's hard to believe it's going to be November on Saturday. Long may the warm weather continue because I HATE the cold with a passion. Although I do like storms. And wind. And rain. 

I have this week off work and despite having bronchitis, I am determined to get lots done. Decorating my daughter's bedroom is priority number one. She wants a swish, gold, hotel bedroom. Don't we all. Next comes a spa day, followed by trick or treating, a spectacular fireworks display and furniture shopping.

I always thought this week would be deadline week for The Fourteen Years Between Us but seeing as it's done and dusted, I can actually have a holiday from writing. Not that I want to. I feel a bit lost at the moment, to be honest. I feel like I should be tapping away in my bedroom, being creative and concocting story lines. I do have several ideas for my third novel, one of them being a sequel to TFYBU, but that very much depends on whether I manage to get lucky and get a publishing deal.

Realistically, I know how hard that is going to be. With the average agent receiving two hundred manuscripts a week but only taking on one new author a year, the chances of me signing on the elusive dotted line are pretty remote. But, ever the optimist (about my writing, anyway... nothing else!!) I'm hoping upon hope that this book is 'the one'. I'm certainly very, very proud of it. And I totally love the heroine of the story, Loveday Girdlestone. She is so funny and weird and geeky, she could go places ;)

So for now, I will take a back seat, relax and let my mind wander for a while...

Fanfare moment No 2!

The title of my second novel is... The Fourteen Years Between Us.

It was dreamt up whilst walking around a very beautiful graveyard back in the early summer, which is very apt seeing as the book is based around a cemetery and features lots of graves, a murder, a suicide and a ghost! It's very cheerful! :)

Here is an extract from the second chapter...

Mum said I wasn’t allowed to have another bath because she’s not made of money. Apparently, from now on, I’m only allowed one bath a week. I knew I’d get told off for using all the hot water up. So I had a shower instead, which I actually liked just as much as having a bath. The water falls on you like warm rain. It feels so soft and gentle. And there’s a seat in there too. Although I’m not quite sure why you’d need to sit down in a shower. Nobody is that lazy, surely? I asked mum afterwards why the seat is there and she said she has no idea but she’s going to use it for shaving her legs. I don’t need to shave my legs yet. But I do need to shave under my arms. Mum says I’d smell like a French woman if I didn’t. They don’t shave under their arms in France. They don’t even use deodorant. Or very much soap. It’s a well-known, documented fact.

Fanfare moment!

I finished Book Two!!! I actually finished it last weekend but have been so busy, I forgot to announce it! So, it's done. Just over 60,000 words, eighteen chapters and pretty fast-paced. Now I have started the time-consuming task of going though the manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and will probably make lots of alterations along the way. I am really, really pleased with it so far though and as I read, I come across lines that I forgot I wrote which make me laugh out loud. I didn't intend on writing a comedy but it might just turn out that I have! Hopefully soon I will have a complete manuscript and can make a start on the synopsis – the most important piece of writing for any author. Get this wrong and an agent won't even read a single line of your first three chapters. I found writing the synopsis for The Charm extremely difficult and it took far longer than I ever anticipated so wish me luck second time round!

I've been notified of a couple of errors in the eBook of The Charm by eagle-eyed readers – only name spellings that got overlooked in the editing process – but I have had them rectified and the word-perfect (I hope) version for Kindle has now replaced the old version. Please feel free to click, buy and read and let me know what you think.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Charm-Tracy-Hefferon-ebook/dp/B00KWL9HVA

Thank you :)

Just a little request...

Hello! Please could I ask a favour. If you have read The Charm, on Kindle or paperback, please could you leave a review on the site where you purchased it? I would be very grateful. Thank you :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Charm-Tracy-Hefferon-ebook/dp/B00KWL9HVA

http://www.lulu.com/shop/tracy-hefferon/the-charm/paperback/product-21700255.html

The End is Nigh!

I am so, so close to finishing Book Two! My target was Halloween... But I think it will be written by the end of September if not sooner. The good thing about autumn and winter setting in is the shorter days mean more time to sit writing. Or in my case, this winter, editing. In between sitting in front of my SAD lamp that is. I HATE winter.

The book is going to be around the 60,000 word mark and I'm very aware that a wordy YA novel is a big no-no. So no waffle!! I've learned a valuable lesson from The Charm days and that's 'cut the crap'. Excellent advice from a great agent and advice taken! :)

PS Sunset from my window... A very beautiful thing.