Third donation for Japan made

Hello, lovely readers

I've now made the third donation. A total of £150 to make a round sum. It was equally divided between the British Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders as gift aid.

Here's the e-mail I've received from BRC:



Dear Stella Deleuze
 
Thank you for your donation to the British Red Cross - Japan Tsunami Appeal. Japanese Red Cross workers are treating the injured, providing psychological support and distributing relief items in the aftermath of a massive earthquake which hit Japan on 11 March.

Your donations make a real difference.
Thank you.
Your donation amount is: £75
Your reference number is: INC01355030

And Doctors Without Borders:

Dear Stella Thank you for your donation of £75.00 to Médecins Sans Frontières UK. The reference for this donation is W0008675

Your gift is of huge value both to our field teams and our patients. Donations such as yours make our work possible as they allow us to remain independent from political, religious and economic interests, thereby ensuring our freedom to provide medical assistance whenever and wherever it is needed. Your support enables us to negotiate armed checkpoints and borders, to reach those most forgotten and at risk. It also means we can offer treatment for infectious diseases, to people who struggle to get even the most basic medical care, due to conflict, exclusion, or poverty. If you have any questions about your donation or the work that it is helping to fund, please feel free to get in touch on 020 7404 6600 or email uk.fundraising@london.msf.org.

Again, huge thank you to each and everyone who bought the book, recommended it, commented on it and helped to spread the word. I wouldn't have been able to donate over £200 for Japan and I'm really really glad I could.

No Wings Attached e-book give away!

Yes, you read right, if you have been eyeing with my romantic comedy with a twist, you now have the chance to get your greedy little fingers on a copy of the e-book. I'm totally chuffed and honoured to be a guest blogger on 
Chick Lit Central, who run the contest.

How it works?
It's really easy, just leave a comment with your e-mail address on their site, share the contest on twitter or facebook or follow their site and let them know. So many options.
Of course you can always send me some Chardonnay and chocolate, that will not get you an advantage, but make me immensely happy. :-)

Here's the blurb to see what you can expect from this novel:
What if you find out that the man you love has got secrets and you are not who you think you are?
Life couldn't get any worse for 32-year-old Celia: single again and working in two jobs she hates; the last thing she needs is falling for gorgeous, out-of-her-league, arrogant Tom.
Being a wish-consultant, Tom has to make up for a failed case and is sent to make her wishes come true without his usual skills. Not easy when she's reluctant to talk to him. In order to help her become happy, he needs to win her trust and unexpectedly develops feelings he shouldn't have. When finally everything seems to fall into place for Celia, she receives a phone call that turns her world upside down once again.

This is a light-hearted romantic comedy a la Bridget Jones meets Charmed; no vampires, no werewolves, only the odd human with some supernatural powers. Suitable for readers who usually don't like paranormal.
 
And the latest review from a UK reader:

Couldn't put the book down. I started this book and honestly couldn't stop. I loved the plot, fell in love with the characters and can't wait for the next one. This is going in my favourites folder so I can read over and over again. If you want a book that catches you right from start to finish - this is the book for you. 


Is your interest piqued? Then hop over to Chick Lit Central and enter the contest. It's free and their site has always something interesting to read, too.

Good luck, everyone.

Dear Royal Mail...

... was it really necessary that I had to receive an e-mail from one very lovely reader, who, after patiently waiting for Lulu to deliver one little book to me, so that I could sign it and send it to her, has now been waiting for three weeks for said little book, which I have sent on the 15th of July at 14.46 from my local post office after paying for recorded delivery; so lovingly and securely wrapped, after I signed my name and wrote a personal note, with a --  special for those occasions -- received as present, fountain pen, telling me that the item still hasn't arrive yet?
The book I'm talking about is the paperback version of my short stories, the one with the iguana in a sock on the cover, the one that got excellent reviews, which prompted the previously mentioned wonderful reader to write me an e-mail to ask if there would be a possibility to order the physical version, so that she could enjoy it on the couch, maybe smile about the signature and personal note first, before leafing through the pages in anticipation of an amusing evening.
Now, Royal Mail, I would like to know why you would want to deny the lady that very event, who, after having had such a bad experience, would probably, due to the trouble getting her hands on a copy, which she certainly less expected than the item itself, have difficulties to be excited should it eventually arrive.

Why, Royal Mail, do you have to lose this one letter I post in a year, forcing me to give up very precious time to fill in a complaint form that would make any other person with little time more than nervous, to claim back the money I've spent, not only one book, but also on postage, which, quite frankly, I find outrageous, wondering why the recorded delivery delivers a recording that doesn't deliver.

I, dear, Royal Mail, am not amused.

If you ever find that lost letter, you know where to send it to.

Yours (un)faithfully,

Stella Deleuze

Make your dialogue sound natural

For many authors it's a nightmare: writing dialogue. Whilst describing a scene is reasonably simple for many, when it comes to dialogue they struggle. It often sounds stilted, not natural, just not like someone would speak.
We create characters with different looks and personalities, so they need to sound adequate to their description. A young and trendy person should have a vocabulary that suits his or her age, same goes for the elderly woman who loves to gossip, or the shy nerd, who's rather afraid to open his mouth and speak. There are loud, boisterous guys, shrieky girlies and witty women, strict teachers, etc. you get the picture. Each character should have their own set of vocabulary as well as quirks to speak.

How to create them, those individual stamps you can stick on your character?

Well, by observing, by listening. If you are in the supermarket, don't dream away at the till, don't concentrate too much on what you need to buy, listen. Real life is where you get your inspiration from.
On the bus or on the train, don't drown the chatter with your iPod. Listen to how people interact with each other, whether it's a funny topic or something serious, some will talk so loud on their phones, you get a lot of material.
Use contractions if it's a modern novel.
Very important is to stick to how your characters speak.

I've got Emily, for example, who always answers the phone with "Hey, hon, how's things?" when she knows Celia calls.

Of course the correct version would be: how are things, but I'm using the colloquial version. That's how people speak in real life.

Depending on the situation your character is in, you need to adapt the dialogue, a person would normally not talk to their company director the same as they would with their friends.

It also helps a lot if you open the dialogue with a visual. By that I mean your character laughs, cries, looks sad, makes a face, frowns, throws arms up, claps hands, etc. We all use our whole body when having a conversation, if not consciously, then certainly unconsciously. Body language is part of a dialogue, too.

He pops his head into her office. "Do you have a moment?"
She leans back and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I thought I made myself clear?"
"It won't take long." 
She shrugs. "You've got one minute."
With a sigh he lowers himself into the seat opposite her.

We immediately have an image pop up in our head.

And here's a small section from my novel that concentrates on dialogue:
"No, I haven't lied to you. Not all the way through. It's –"
"So, you did lie to me then?"
"No, I kept something from you I'm not allowed to tell you." He breathes out loudly."Oh, why is this so damn difficult?"
"What is difficult, Tom?"
"Everything, I really don't know where to start."
"How about the beginning?" I say.
"I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
"That you might hate me," he whispers.
"I won't hate you, Tom. I just want to know the truth."
"I love you."
"You mentioned that."
"Do you love me, Celia?"
"I don't think it's relevant now."

Because it's two people speaking I don't use 'he said, she said' all the time. That way it's much snappier.

If you have difficulties with dialogue attributes see the following posts:

Dialogue attributes part 1
Dialogue attributes part 2
Dialogue attributes part 3

To review or not to review?

When I started out with self-publishing, I promised myself to review every book I buy and read, simply because I knew every authors yearns for reviews. Now, I came to the conclusion that it's better to not do it anymore. The point is, and I know I'll be making enemies by saying this, I've tried a few self-published books and soon switched on my editin- programme in my head, which is a bad sign, really. Of course, being an editor has somewhat destroyed the ability to just read and take in the story, I will admit that. A book must be really well-written, with well-developed characters, a complex story with no holes in them and logical.
If a book fails to fulfil that, I will stop reading and move on to the next. Others might not see those mistakes, but I do. Not saying I've written the perfect book, but moving away from me being an author, to me being a reader, I have high expectations and rightly so. I did have those beforehand and I have stopped reading traditionally published books in the past, but not that many.

My first impulse is to e-mail the author and tell him or her about my concerns, but then you have cases like the infamous author, who couldn't take criticism and hell broke loose. Further on, it's not my responsibility to give constructive criticism; I'm a reader, by buying the book and spending time with it, I've fulfilled what can be expected from me.

Back to me being an author again I feel a little bit in a pickle; if I give a negative review, I might be in danger of getting one in return, just for revenge, or when I give a positive review - despite my dislike of the book - I'd lie and I don't like lying.

In addition to that, pure readers check out the reviewers of a book and indie authors reviewing other indie authors is widely understood as cheating. People automatically assume it's a review exchange. I will also not tell an author anymore that I've bought his or her book, in case I don't like it, I can just walk away, silently, but if I really love a book, I'll be there to support it. And that's a promise.

Disclaimer: I'm an editor for plot and character development, also for dialogue attributes, not for grammar. Although I might correct the odd errors there, too. :-)

On writing the first draft

I recently read a blog post from an author who sort of 'insisted' to write a draft in one go before editing it. First, I don't like being told what to do and second, that technique might work for her, but not for me. I've never really been like that, write like there's no tomorrow and edit when you've completed the book.
Even with No Wings Attached, which was my first novel, I wrote at night and edited the next day, then sent it to my friend who returned it with comments, so I could revise. I don't know any different and it works well for me. I still managed to have the 'first draft' ready after 2.5 months. Needless to say that my friend did a light edit and I had to learn a lot about writing, which I didn't know back then. It almost cost me the novel as I wanted to throw it into the Thames after the 10th round of editing. I cut out 40k, changed bits here and there, rewrote complete scenes, etc. I grew very tired of it.
Now, two years later, I still work the same way: I write, then edit the next day. The only difference is that I don't have my friend going through it chapter by chapter and that my writing is much tighter, so I end up with a pretty polished first draft. I also write slower, which means, I think about what I'm writing, I try to avoid repetition, he said, she said where it's clear who speaks, control my use of adverbs and make sure everything flows. That's my way of working on the first draft.
I'm 20k into the sequel and it already took me as long as the complete first book, but then, when I'm done in about two months, I need to go through it maybe two more times and it's ready for proofing. But 4 months writing and 1 months editing is much quicker than writing 2.5 months writing and 2 years of editing.

My advice for anyone out there is: do whatever suits you best. :-)

Make your book as good as possible

Writing is hard work. Did someone tell you it's easy? Well, that someone lied. Big time. The transformation from the very first draft to the actual book published is enormous, especially when you're just starting out with your first book. If you are lucky and happy to learn, it will get easier once you've been through the process of rewriting, editing, proofing, etc.

I've read a few self-published books that weren't ready by a long shot and I've stopped reading most of them. Not saying there aren't good self-published books out there, but it looks like I didn't find them yet. I'm self-published myself and I know how hard it is to go through the book over and over and over again until you're sick and tired of the book you once loved, but it's worth it. It's my reputation, my author's name out there and I want the book to be the best it can get. Though, I've learned that I've sold over 1000 copies of the short stories with words missing, stray words and typos I didn't see. I've sort of rushed to publish it, not doing another round of proofing. Luckily, a friend was kind enough to point them out and it's fixed now. He also found quite a few in my novel, even AFTER proofing twice. That said, I can live with typos and missing words, but I can't live with poor character development, continuously use wrong dialogue attributes, plot holes and illogical story lines. Those are things that drive me mad as a reader.

Now, how to avoid things like that, you wonder.

Well, first off, learn the craft. Talent is one thing, but you need the skills to actually enhance your talent. That's what beautiful writing is. See it as a paining with a perfect frame, it will accentuate the painting, if you have a shabby frame it will look odd, drawing your eyes to the ugly frame rather than the painting itself. It's the same with writing, a great story can be disturbed by bad use of grammar or dialogue attributes or plot holes.

I'll take the painting again: imagine you have a person in it and he has an arm where the ear should be, now wouldn't that irritate you? Same goes with writing, when you have plot holes, it disturbs the flow, lets you pause and drags you out of the story, you stop to think where that character came from, where it went and what purpose it might have when it doesn't add to the plot.

Learn as much about writing as you can, try to secure yourself some beta readers, those who are confident in giving feedback. Try not to ask family and friends, unless they know a thing or two about writing and are honest with you. Compare your dialogue with traditionally published books and correct yours. Google is your best friend when it comes to read about 'rules'. Depending on how self-critical you are, you might need three rounds or more of editing and beta-reading. (I went 16 times through my first novel.) Don't ask the ones you've had before, they're now biased. Fresh eyes is what you need.

Be patient, don't rush into it. When you put a book out which isn't ready, you're likely to lose potential readers for your second or third book.

Make your book as perfect as you can. The end customers, your readers, will thank you by not only recommending a book they enjoyed, but also with loyalty.

If you'd like to know more about the journey of my novel No Wings Attached, please read an interview with me here: