I had a great day out today visiting Harper Collins’ new premises in London. I had a meeting scheduled with my editor, Charlotte Ledger, and she kindly arranged for my son to meet Stuart Bache, Managing Designer at Harper Collins. My son is studying Graphic Design and Product Design at school, so it was an excellent opportunity for him to research the career in more detail.
My meeting with Charlotte went well and we discussed the way forward with my writing and, in particular, my current WIP. We also chatted about my new novel The Half Truth which is published next week, 19 March.
It was a long day but definitely worth it.
The amazing wall of books at Harper Collins’ offices.
View from the 14th floor of St Paul’s CathedralLeaving a copy of Closing In at Victoria tube courtesy of Books on the UndergroudAnd a copy of United States of Love on the northbound Victoria line.
Today, I’m delighted to welcome onto the blog, my lovely sister-in-law, Angela Rowland who did the voice over for my book trailer The Half Truth. She did an amazing job for me, the link for which is below, and I wanted to ask her more about her work.
Angie, how did you get into your line of work, acting and voice overs? Where did it all begin?
I got into professional acting, having never been to drama school or anything like it, by being spotted on the amateur stage in my 20’s . I was advised to get into voice over work, which in turn provided me with the professional contracts I needed, in order to secure my Equity membership. I then went on to get into roleplay and other acting jobs. From that I was then recommended to the Film Studies Department at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and now work regularly with the film students on various projects.I am currently acting in 2 short films, both of which are major graduation projects. I feel very fortunate.
What did you do before your acting and voice over work?
I was a legal secretary for many years and worked my way up to a high level in that job but I always said I did not want to be chained to a desk until I retired! So to find myself working as an actress and voice artist for the last few years and for that to build so that I can say I have a career as an actress is so rewarding and I am certainly doing what I love the most as a job!
And what have you got planned in the future?
My ambition now would be to get onto Spotlight with a good show reel, so that I might be able to get an agent to try out for television and theatre work. If I could make this happen in 2015, that would be so good but in the meantime I am more than happy as things are.
Thank you so much for doing the voice over on the book trailer for me – I’m delighted with it.
Very best of luck with your show reel and Spotlight.
I’ve emerged from my writer’s cave. It’s sunny, bright, and I’ve discovered spring has sprung, my children have each grown an inch, and so has my waist.
My third novel, currently titled, What Doesn’t Kill You, has left the building. I’ve spent quite some time with it, holed up in my cave, ensuring I delivered it to my publishers on time. I was in plaster when I started writing the book, having undergone ulna head replacement surgery December 2013, and was a tad impeded to start with, spending months in casts and splints. I had planned to complete the book in nine months, but it’s taken a year. That’s a record for me. My first novel, Truth or Dare? took a steady six years, (something like nine drafts from start to publication), and Follow Me Follow Youtook eighteen months. During those times, my children were younger and…
Today I’m vlogging about receiving revision notes from my editor, Charlotte Ledger at HarperImpulse. If you have three and a half minutes to spare, please do take a look.
I’m delighted to reveal the cover for my third Harper Impulse novel, The Half Truth.
There’s also a book trailer which is narrated by my uber talented sister-in-law, Angela Rowland, who I’ll be interviewing her next month about her voice over and acting work.
The Half Truth is out on 19 March, paperback 4 June. It’s available to pre-order from Amazon now.
I have an official publication date of 19 March for my third novel, The Half Truth. The blurb has been loaded up on Amazon, by my publishers HarperImpulse and I’m just waiting for the cover to be finalised.
Publication date seems a long way off, but I expect it will come round very quickly.
Here’s the link for The Half Truth which is available to pre-order.
In the meantime, I’m busy working on my next novel, Where It All Began and my novella mystery series.
Whether you’re an aspiring writer, looking for an agent, have found an agent and have every finger crossed for a publishing deal, or if you’re a published writer coping with everything that entails, we have a Romaniac who can empathise with you. When we started out, we all dreamed of the day we’d get published. Some of us are still chasing the dream, whilst others have their paperback in hand ready to hurl at anyone who dares to post a 1-star review. This year, we thought we’d share the highs and lows of what it is to be a writer.
Catherine: I’m part of the ASPIRING gang. I’m juggling being a full-time mum to twins with trying to find time to write. I’m currently 50K into my work-in-progress, which recently gained highly commended in the Accent Press and Woman magazine writing…
As 2014 closes, what a great way to end withCLOSING IN hitting the number 1 spot on Kobo for Romantic Suspense.
I’m looking forward to 2015. My new novel THE HALF TRUTH is due out in the spring and I have a four part mini mystery series being published throughout the year. More details of that later. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share some covers soon.
Thank you for all your support – Happy New Year and I hope that 2015 is fantastic for everyone!
The weekend of December 12 – 14 saw the first Romaniac Sparkle event – two and a half days of work-shopping, writing, cultural visits and tons of Romaniac fun and laughter.
Hosted by the lovely Debbie Fuller-White and attended by five more Romaniacs, with Celia and Jan holding the fort at HQ, we put together a new, fresh and exciting Romaniac agenda for 2015.
For now, we present our Romaniac Sparkle Christmas Album, with more to follow next week.
Suzanne Fortin | Sue Fortin 