Catching up

Tags

Dreamspinner Press, Release news, Romance, Writing

Yikes!

It’s been a long time since I wandered by here and wrote something. Time just seems to slip away somehow, and now here we are, in December.

So, what’s happened since—can it really be that long?—July?

Well, I’ll start with the story that came out on 16 July. People have bought copies! If you are one of them, thank you so much. Some people have put reviews up. Again, thank you to them, because it’s really great to get feedback, not only about what they liked but also what they didn’t.

In September I got to meet some other writers and readers at the inaugural UK gay romance book signing and reading in London. In spite of my trepidation about going, I’m glad I got over my nerves because it was a good day out. I’ve signed up to go to the UK GLBTQ fiction meet in September next year (as a reader) as well. It’ll be my first time doing something like that, so I’m sort of nervous even though it’s still ten months away.

A granny square!

I’ve been doing some crochet classes in the evenings. I really wanted to learn how to do granny squares. My own granny taught me, but I’d forgotten how. Now I have a scarf, some wristwarmers, a hat and part of a hot water bottle cover. Plus lots of ideas and enthusiasm. The classes were held at a local school and there were about 12-14 of us—with one lone man in the middle of us chattering women. Although it’s finished now, another short course was arranged for January and I’m looking forward to learning Tunisian crochet.

And, as I do each November, I took part in National Novel Writing Month, where you try to write 50,000 words in the month. I normally do quite well but this year was a bit of a washout. I made the mistake of coasting a bit in the first couple of weeks, because I’d booked a week off work for writing. Unfortunately, that meant that when a severe cold which turned into a chest infection hit me, I didn’t do any writing that week and very little the week after. It turns out that coughing 24 hours a day is extremely tiring, especially if you can only sleep sat up and for, at most, three hours. Oh well. I still have 13,000 words I didn’t have at the beginning of November and a solid basis for a story.

Oh, and PS—getting published wasn’t a fluke! Dreamspinner Press accepted a short story I submitted for their Advent Calendar set of stories, which is available now. You can buy the whole package or each story individually, whichever you prefer. Here’s mine

Having quit his job, Idris is trying to make it home to his partner of twelve years, Dan, in time for Christmas. Stuck on a train during a snowstorm, Idris has nothing to do but think back on how much he has missed by putting his career first. His job has been straining their partnership for years, and now Idris worries he’s damaged it beyond repair. He desperately wants to get back to the UK and salvage their relationship—if there’s even anything waiting for him when he gets home.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll write a bit sooner next time.

Kristen
xx

The birthday present

Tags

Birthday party, Blog Tours, Dreamspinner Press, Progress report, Romance

It’s here! It’s here! My novella Working It Out releases today on the Dreamspinner press site. I’m so excited.

It’s my birthday on Saturday. On the same day, I get to take over the Dreamspinner Press blog for a few hours to promote my book. How cool is that?

Just before Christmas, I got news that they were going to publish my story. On my birthday I get to celebrate that it has just released. I’m so thrilled. Please do come and join me. It will start at around 4.00pm UK time (that’s 11.00am in New York, 8.00am in Los Angeles and 1.00am on Sunday in Sydney) and finish around eight hours later.

If you comment on any of the posts on Saturday, you could even win a copy of the story and try me out for free. What have you got to lose?

And don’t forget—I’m going to be popping up on a few blogs around the internet. If you want to see what I’ve got to say, check out the Dreamspinner Press blog on Saturday and follow the links on my Blog Tours page.

Kristen
xx

I’m going on tour

Tags

Blog Tour, Dreamspinner Press, Progress report, Romance

To celebrate the upcoming release of Working it Out on Wednesday, I’m going on tour. Hey, if bands can do it, why not me? Tour dates below, why not visit and see what I’m talking about?

And there’ll be a chance to win something, too, because I’m setting up a rafflecopter contest.

Tour dates—Summer 2014

• Monday 21 July Lex Chase
• Friday 25 July Shae Connor
• Thursday 31 July Charley Descoteaux
• Monday 4 August Brynn Stein
• Friday 8 August Jana Denardo
• Friday 15 August Allison Cassata
• Thursday 4 September Grace Duncan
• Thursday 11 September Michael Rupured

Working It Out

Celebrating six months with his boyfriend has Cas in a bit of a panic. Joe’s been saying “I love you” for a while, but Cas just can’t get the words past his lips. A week before Christmas, he finally says them when a nearly fatal accident almost takes Joe, and Cas faces the possibility of losing the best man he’s ever known. But whispered declarations are one thing. Through a long, tough recovery both men must work out that love is more than words.

You can pre-order it on the Dreamspinner Press website now.

Maybe I’ll see you on the tour.

Kristen
xx

What am I to do?

Tags

In Progress, Romance, Writing

Hello again. I have a dilemma.

I have a short story I want to submit for a deadline at the beginning of August. It’s been most of the way written since the end of January. The sticking point is the final, or possibly penultimate, scene. It’s a sex scene, an explicit one. I’m struggling because it’s something I’m a little (OK, a lot) uncomfortable with. There’s no question it has to be included, however. It’s an essential part of how my characters reconnect after their relationship nearly founders. One of the things that was wrong was that they weren’t making love any more, just having (infrequent and perfunctory) sex. So they’re going to have to talk. Of course they are. They’d lost touch with each other along the way. But they also have to make love.

On. The. Page.

After four or five months allowing myself to be distracted with the new shiny that was the editing and production process for Working it Out, I really need to get back to it. I have to just buckle down and write it as a clunky laundry list and then start moulding that into something more like what I need. It’s just that I have this perfectionist streak that makes me want to write it right the first time. I do know that’s not possible. But. I can’t help thinking wistfully that I ought to be able to.

Working It Out—available for pre-order now

Better get on with it.

See you later

Kristen
xx

It’s almost here!

Tags

Dreamspinner Press, Progress report, Release news, Romance

My novella’s available to pre-order on the Dreamspinner Press site. Oh my. I have a page there under my name.

Here’s a look at the cover. I really like it and it’s been hard not sharing it until now.

So what’s it about? Here’s the blurb to whet your appetite.

“Celebrating six months with his boyfriend has Cas in a bit of a panic. Joe’s been saying “I love you” for a while, but Cas just can’t get the words past his lips. A week before Christmas, he finally says them when a nearly fatal accident almost takes Joe, and Cas faces the possibility of losing the best man he’s ever known. But whispered declarations are one thing. Through a long, tough recovery both men must work out that love is more than words.”

Excuse me a moment while I continue bouncing excitedly.

Kristen xx

It’s all coming together

Tags

Dreamspinner Press, Progress report, Romance

Oh my. It feels like a while since I last wrote, but it’s only been a couple of weeks. Things are moving on apace, getting really close. It’s June already and my story’s due out next month!

I’ve done my author profile, the cover is finalised, there’s a kickass blurb (I can say that because I didn’t write it) and I even have a tentative publication date.

I got the galley proofs from the publisher, Dreamspinner Press, at the weekend and it seems like a good time to tell you a little bit more about the book.

It’s a novella—for those that don’t know, that’s a story which is too long to be a short story but too short to be a novel. This one will be about 70-75 pages long and is called Working It Out. It’s a romance—I guess you know that already if you’ve looked at the top of the screen 😉 —and is the story of how twenty-six-year-old Cas works out how you know if you’re in love with someone.

I’m getting so excited and can barely wait to share the blurb and cover with you. As soon as it’s available for pre-order, you can bet I’ll be posting the details.

I’ll also be kermit-flailing like mad.

And probably squeeeing.

I’ve got used to people staring at me, so I shan’t even wait until I’m home and alone before doing that.

I shall be posting on the Dreamspinner Press blog the week it comes out and am hoping to do a little blog tour to get the word out there about my story. I’d better get started with all that non-fiction writing I need to do, hadn’t I?

See you later

Kristen
xx

Progress :-)

Tags

Health, Romance, Writing

My passport application’s signed and sent off, so it’s just a matter of waiting for them to contact me now.  They’ll undoubtedly want to call me in for interview, to check I match my photo and can answer questions that only the person completing the form could answer.  I’m not expecting any problems, so it’s just a matter of trying to possess my soul in patience for the duration.  What it does mean is that in six to eight weeks I’ll be able to sort out the application for an American tax reference number.  Hey, you never know, I might actually get all this sorted out!  Back at the beginning I wasn’t sure I could do it, there were so many obstacles.

In the meantime—I got a job.  Temporary, for twelve months, and part time, but it’s a job.  Something I’ve not had for a while.  It’s nice to have enough money to start paying bills again.  Even better, I like it where I am, they’re good people to work with and the work’s interesting and varied.  So—life’s looking up.  🙂

Well, apart from the blood pressure.  Apparently it’s high, very high.  I went to the doctor’s for a routine screening appointment and the nurse took my blood pressure while I was there.  She was really pleased to hear I’d also booked an appointment with the doctor the following week about something else, so I could have it done again.  And she wanted me to have a series of blood tests.  So my past week has been

• Friday—work, then screening appointment with the nurse
• Saturday—go to post office to have my passport application checked and sent off (spend rest of the day in Starbucks)
• Monday—work, then go to hospital to have blood drawn for tests
• Tuesday—work, then see doctor, have blood pressure checked again, find out most of my blood tests came back normal,get more tests ordered
• Wednesday—early morning, go to the doctor’s to hand in a…er…personal sample and go to work; afternoon, go to hospital for ECG screening; go to bus station to get a new bus pass; get a phone call to come to the doctor’s to have an ambulatory blood pressure monitor fitted
• Thursday—get odd looks at work as the blood pressure monitor goes off every half hour (it makes a noise and my shirt sleeve inflates)
• Friday—early morning go to the doctor’s to hand in the blood pressure monitor and go to work

That’s a seriously busy week for me. But I’m thankful for one thing.  Living in the UK, all this healthcare is free at the point of delivery, paid for through income tax.  No worrying about insurance or my bank balance.  And I’m a firm believer that it’s better to know about these things and get them treated than to live in ignorance of a potentially life-threatening condition.  Luckily I live somewhere that’s an option.

Bye for now
Kristen  xx

Grrrrrr!

Tags

Romance, Unperson, Writing

OK. So I have the passport application form. I can even fill a lot of it in. But they want my parents’ details as well. I’m 50 for pity’s sake. Whyyyyyyyyy?

I don’t want my mother to know I’m applying for a passport. I don’t want to ask her for either her birth certificate (which may no longer exist) or a passport number (which I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have). She’d want to know why. And she’d push. And push. And push. Until I gave in.

I live far enough away from my mother that she’s not part of my every day life, and that’s how I like it. She takes over. It’s not that she’s a bad person, she’s not. I know, academically at least, that it’s being done out of love. But it’s my life, damn it, and I want to live it my way. Which is a bit laid back, a bit laissez-faire, a bit, well, drifting. And it drives her to do things for me. Because I know it’s meant well I still can’t bring myself to say, even at my age, “will you just stop?”. One time she came to stay I came home from work to find she’d repainted my living room. I hadn’t thought about redecorating, hadn’t planned to, didn’t particularly want to. But she’d just gone and done it. What are you going to say in that situation? The only thing you can, because she wants to do something good for you. You say “Thank you”.

She wouldn’t understand about the writing. Not so much writing per se, but what I write. She’s of a certain generation, and moreover lives in a part of the world that’s about 50 years behind the rest of the UK. I’m pretty certain she would have the belief that a lot of non-writers seem to have, that I can choose what I write. As any writer will tell you, the story chooses you, not the other way round. Because she’s a loving and supporting parent, she would want to read what I write. But she definitely doesn’t like writing about gay men and their lives. She read a book by an author who was coming to speak at their local library and it contained gay characters and, from the sound of it, a sex scene of some description. She was most disapproving. Her comment was something along the lines of “I don’t mind them all going round infecting each other, but I don’t want to know what they do with each other”. No, I didn’t challenge her. I was in her house, and I was visiting for her 70th birthday. And, frankly, I didn’t know what to say. But it was a supremely uncomfortable moment.

So. I’ve done a very sneaky thing and ordered an official copy of her birth certificate from the General Registrar’s Office. She need never know. (I feel guilty for the deception, because she and my father brought me up properly.)

On a more positive note, I’ve had an idea about someone who might be able to countersign the form. I’m going to email someone I worked with for 5 years, until just under 2 years ago, and ask if they’d be willing. They have the right kind of background, the right qualifications, they’d recognise me, they’ve known me for long enough. I hope they’ll be willing.

And it was soooo good to get that off my chest!

See you round.
Kristen. xx

One of those unavoidable things

Tags

Romance, Taxes, Unperson, Writing

It was Benjamin Franklin who said that

… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes

My current problem is with the latter of these. Because my publisher is based in the USA, I need to register with the US Inland Revenue Service. This isn’t a complicated process, but I’ve hit a snag. They need certain documents with my form applying for a tax reference number. Documents I don’t have. I can provide the proof of nationality (my birth certificate). It’s the proof of identity that’s causing a problem. In the UK we don’t have a national ID card, so the identity document has to be either a passport or a driving licence, both of which have your photograph on.

And there’s my problem. I never learnt to drive, so no driving licence. I don’t ever go anywhere much at all, and never abroad. So no passport either. Getting a passport’s really hard. In fact, I think it would be easier if I were an immigrant. You have to get the application signed by someone within a limited range of “respectable” backgrounds, who can confirm they have known you for a certain amount of time. As a virtual recluse, I don’t know many people at all, never mind people from the fancy backgrounds our government considers reputable. According to the guidance.

Countersignatories must work in (or be retired from) a recognised profession or be ‘a person of good standing in their community’

Why a journalist or a banker (two of the professions listed) should be considered more trustworthy than the chaps who come to take away the rubbish each week I’m unsure. But there you are.

So I thought I’d look into how you get a provisional driving licence, in the hope it wouldn’t be as difficult to get hold of. This is the one you have to have when learning to drive. Nope. The countersignatory requirements are pretty much the same. So I’ll try for the passport, it lasts longer.

I’ll let you know in my next post how I get on. I’ll get there, I’m sure. Just when is the question.

Hello and Welcome

Tags

Romance, Writing

Well, this isn’t going to be big, or clever.  It’s not even going to be all that frequent.  Why set up a blog then?

Well, you see, I wrote a story.  More than one, actually, but this one I thought might be worth sharing.  So I took my courage in my hands and submitted it to a publisher.

They said yes!

This means that sometime in Summer 2014 I’ll be able to call myself a published author.  Me, who five years ago hadn’t ever thought of writing.

I’m excited, but also nervous, because now I’ll have to face the dreaded editing process.  And what if nobody else likes it?

I guess I’m going to find out.

See you later

Kristen xx