Category Archives: Author Interviews

The magic of the makeover – Guest post from author of ‘Becoming Betty’ Eleanor Wood

From Andie in Pretty in Pink to Tai in Clueless, the makeover trope has long been one of my favourites. It’s that wish fulfilment fantasy of being able to make ourselves into someone completely different – an escape from our own boring identity. We like to believe it’s possible.

When I was in sixth form, I used to dye my hair a different colour every week – bleached blonde, jet black, purple, pink, pillar-box red and (just the once) a terrible sludge green. Every time, I hoped it might change my life. Every time…it didn’t.

My best friend and I would walk around Camden Market, watching the cool people go by and trying to decide who we wanted to be like the most. We were indie kids who wanted to try out being goths, punks, 60s beatniks, 70s hippies… Anything that would give us the identity we craved.

We ignored Actual Fashion and trawled charity shops, made our own clothes and got new piercings whenever we were bored on a Saturday afternoon. There was a flirtation with stick-on Bindis. The phase of blue lipstick, which prompted my stepdad to say ‘you look nice, have you recently drowned?’.

I had a total style crush on the girl who worked in Rockit on Camden High Street. I had my hair cut just like hers (short bob with unfortunate tufty fringe that didn’t suit me), had a lip piercing just like hers (I took it out after a month because it went gross). I imagined her life was so cool and glamorous; as I got the train home to my own suburban small-town home, I dreamed that a little bit of it would rub off on me. It wasn’t just a haircut, it was a magic spell. It never, ever worked.

Eleanor with a cute hair makeover

In Becoming Betty, Lizzie is so uncomfortable in her own skin, she will do anything to change it. Whether that’s with a new name, a new look, new friends. Like all of us, it takes her a while to realise that’s not how it works…

Top five movie makeovers

1. Andie in Pretty in Pink: when she cuts up that pink prom dress, it’s the coolest thing ever. I mean, it still looks like a hideous 80s nightmare by the time she’s finished with it, but that’s not the point.

2. Tai in Clueless, courtesy of Cher: OK, Tai looked better before as a skater grrl, rather than a generic California babe, but Cher means well and they are both the cutest.

3. Sandy in Grease: It’s really not cool to change your look for a guy, but you have to admit she looks super-fierce.

4. Mrs Doubtfire: Yeah OK, it may not be capital-F ‘Fashion’… but you’ve got to admit it’s impressive.

5. Gracie Hart AKA Gracie Lou Freebush in Miss Congeniality: because I will never not love Sandra Bullock.

Thanks Eleanor. Gracie Hart is my fave of those five. I adore that film. I’d also add in She’s All That and The Princess Diaries for fun makeovers too. I also coincidentally watched the documentary Embrace by Taryn Brymfitt on Monday and I highly recommend seeing it if you can. Will make you think twice about transformations, which I’m guessing this book will do too.

Becoming Betty is out on 20th April.

Synopsis

Lizzie Brown’s life is one big to-do list:

1. Start college

2. Become cool

3. Decide wtf to do with her life

So when she meets Viv, the crazy, beautiful lead singer in a band, she thinks she’s on her way to achieving number two on her list. And when Viv asks her to be the bass player in the band, there’s only one problem – Lizzie can’t play a single note. And that she’s nowhere near cool enough (ok, two problems). And that she has a huge crush on the guitarist (ok, three), who happens to be Viv’s boyfriend (ok, this is a terrible idea).

But Viv won’t take no for an answer, and decides that a makeover is the answer to everything. Boring Lizzie Brown is going to become Betty Brown the Bass Player and there’s nothing Lizzie can do about it…

I also spoke to Eleanor about her previous novel Gemini Rising a couple of years back and am look forward to catching up with her new release.

Posted in Author Interviews

Editing Tips by Emily Williams – Guest Post

Mar 29

Posted by kirstyes

On Monday author Emily Williams shared some of the research that informed her novel Letters to Eloise – do check that post out to find out more about her book. Today she shares her editing tips – do please share your top tips in the comments too.

For any other budding writers and authors out there I have complied a list of editing and proof reading tips for Letters to Eloise. These tips and tricks I developed during the writing process from my debut novel. It is great to share ideas, so I look forward to hearing more tips from other authors if you would like to share.

After finishing writing each chapter, read through twice, and then move on. When you have finished the first draft, read through the book once more from start to finish.
Take time away from the novel – I had two years but I don’t mean this long! It really does feel like reading the novel with fresh eyes and amazing what you can spot after doing this. I really enjoyed reading the novel again and was surprised at my own writing. Sometimes you are stuck in the moment of novel and this perspective away really helped.
Ask a few friends/family and beta readers (unbiased) to read for content and to spot any plot holes/errors.
Make plot/character amendments.
Read aloud — to see if each sentence flows with the punctuation and edit any stilted sentences.
Read aloud backwards, sentence by sentence, from finish to start. This seems tedious but really takes you away from the actual story and concentrates on the proof reading. I was lucky and had someone to do this for me for a second time.
Proof read; make changes, and then proof read again. I made the mistake of giving the same proofread copy to different people. I wish I had waited until the first changes came back and then sent an updated version out. That way each copy comes back improved, rather than the same errors being spotted by different people over and over again!
I discovered a list of common words to eradicate from a novel (repetitive words and ones that stilt the flow) and found each of these words by find/replace to check whether the word was still needed in the sentence or could be cut out. I also found a list of common errors such as using apostrophes to indicate contraction and searched for all of these to check they were correct. (e.g. it’s or its).
Have some different beta readers lined up – I had several amazing readers – each one found something different from the other. Some I asked to read for errors and others to read for flow and story plot. The feedback was highly valuable.
After all the changes are updated, read a final time.
I sent the novel to a professional proofreader to give a final run through and then updated these last changes.
Again, read through a final time. Next is the nightmare that I found formatting, but that is another post! I have learnt a great deal from this process.

Huge thanks go to Emily for writing these two posts for me and for sharing a copy of Letters to Eloise which I am looking forward to reading.

Posted in Author Interviews

Letters to Eloise by Emily Williams – Guest Post

Mar 27

Posted by kirstyes

Letters to Eloise – The story behind Abelard and Heloise

Letters to Eloise is the heart-wrenching debut epistolary novel by Emily Williams; a love story of misunderstandings, loss, and betrayal but ultimately the incredible bond between mother and child.

Author Emily and her family

Thank you so much for welcoming me onto your blog for my guest post. Today I am going to talk more about the story behind the quotes from ‘Abelard and Heloise’ that are woven through my debut novel Letters to Eloise. I don’t want to give away any plot spoilers so I will leave these out and hopefully tantalise you with a snippet of the story so you’ll want to find out more! Letters to Eloise is my debut love story that was published by Lutino Publications last month.

The blurb …

‘Receiving a hand written letter is something that always puts a smile on my face, no matter who the sender is.’ Flora Tierney.
When post-graduate student Flora falls unexpectedly pregnant during her final year studies she hits a huge predicament; continue a recent affair with her handsome but mysterious lecturer who dazzles her with love letters taken from the ancient tale of ‘Abelard and Heloise’, or chase after the past with her estranged first love?
But will either man be there to support her during the turmoil ahead?

‘Banish me, therefore, for ever from your heart’ – Abelard to Heloise.

The story behind the name Eloise …

When I first started writing Letters to Eloise, I had planned the overview of the plot, and then was in the process of deciding the names of the characters. I have always loved the name ‘Eloise’ and looked it up in a babies name book to find out more. I researched each name in the novel this way to try to fit the names meaning with the characteristics of the character. The meaning of the name Eloise is ‘famous warrior’ and the name is linked with the Germanic name derived from ‘hail’, which means robust and healthy. The name fitted this character perfectly.

Love is incapable of being concealed; a word, a look, nay silence speaks it all. Abelard to Heloise

I read about how the name became famous due to the tragic love letters between Heloise d’Argenteuil and her tutor Peter Abelard. This lead to my further research into the love story of Abelard and Heloise, and the tragedy of their relationship. I became interested in this true story and bought a book of their letters to read. The website ‘Sacred Texts’ had translations of their letters to each other and this source was invaluable in my research. I would recommend a read. I had never even heard about the ancient tale before, and found myself fascinated.

The relationship was a scandal at the time, due partly to Heloise’s age and Peter Abelard’s position. Tragedy followed their illicit relationship as other people fought to keep them apart. However, by writing letters — for over twenty years — their love continued to burn for each other despite the tragic circumstances. The story is an inspiration, as is their courage and passion, which kept their love alive despite the separation between them. The quotes from their letters to each other fitted parts of the storyline of Letters to Eloise perfectly, so I interwove them into Flora’s letters to her unborn child.

Abelard leaving Heloise – 12th Century Fotolia illustration -with thanks

Heloise and Abelard is a passionate, true love story and I knew the name Eloise was a perfect fit.

God knows I never sought anything in you except yourself. I wanted simply you, nothing of yours. Heloise to Abelard.

LtE

Read Letters to Eloise, which is out now on kindle and in paperback, to find out more about the story of Abelard and Heloise and to follow Flora’s story and her own predicament.