Unladylike Lessons in Love (HarperCollins). Arya Winters mysteries. Exeter Novel Prize. SI Leeds Prize. @AmitaMurray on YouTube - writing tips & inspiration
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My first Regency novel Unladylike Lessons in Love is out today. Next to it I’m holding my first Georgette Heyer found in a secondhand bookstall as a teenager. Who knew it would be so important? As a brown writer of Indian origin what was my place in Regency fiction after all? 1)
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This morning
6yo: I put my tooth on my shelf. The tooth fairy didn’t leave money
Me: …you know…when she’s in a hurry & she’s not sure you’re asleep she can leave it in a different place…like my bag
Him: oh! Can we check?
Reader the tooth fairy had left the coins in my bag
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We’re moving. The man buying our place is a skilled landscape gardener. The woman next door has an absolutely stunning garden that we’ve been admiring for years. He’s just gone through a divorce. She’s single. I’m just saying…..the possibilities…..
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Someone 20yrs younger than me was flirting with me & asked for my phone number. I thanked him & said that’s a bit too Demi and Ashton for me, but it was very sweet of him.
Reader, he was too young to know who I was talking about.
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This happened. We’re in final stages of moving house. Movers helping with furniture. We see one mover. He’s never seen a rocking chair before. He’s got it down the stairs & is sitting on it out in the driveway saying ‘This is amazing!’ Rocking back & forth. Pure bliss on his face
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Okay, genuine question. If you’re a fully grown adult - I’m talking 30s/40s/50s plus - do you still have a best friend? And are they someone you’ve been friends with since you were kids or someone you’ve met more recently?
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My 11yo had a spelling test at school. She was the only one in class who knew how to spell ‘macabre’. Teacher asked how she knew.
Her: It’s on the front of one of my mum’s novels
🤣😍🔥💃🏻
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Okay I just say a woman driving a car. She was wearing a wedding dress and a veil and looked cross and was driving really fast. And now I really just need to know this story!
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Okay. Easy one. Which one are you?
A. hardbacks
B. paperbacks
C. e-reader
D. audible
E. old tattered falling apart vintage
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Did a book ever make you crave a particular food? Mine was melted cheese on bread in Heidi when I was little.
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This just happened. Saw 2 teenage boys bump into each other on the bus. Seemed really happy to see other, lots of smiles. This was their conversation
‘What the fuck, man’
‘Bro’
*fist bump
‘Bro’
*fist bump
‘Crazy, man’
*shoulder bump before they parted ways
I kid you not.
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Going to a book event. Have I gone a bit too gothic wedding? But still, one word, POCKETS.
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Okay, book readers. If you had to do one, which would be your worst nightmare:
A. You have to read every single book you own before you get to buy more
B. You can only read books in one genre for the rest of your life
C. You have to finish every book you start even if you hate it
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Here’s the problem with celeb authors
Someone writes a novel about talking cats.
Agents & editors: so sorry but books about talking cats aren’t selling these days
A celeb writes it & agents & editors: that’s a bestselling idea, how cute & quirky. We’ll pay a gazillion pounds
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Are there any language or grammatical errors that you absolutely cannot stand?
Mine is people mixing up ‘your’ and ‘you’re’. Genuinely get a little queasy.
😅
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Weird things people say to writers:
-so is your book a bestseller
-how are the sales going
-it’s great you have time to write. I wish I had time for things like that
-do you also have a real job
-can you look at my first paragraph so I know if I should bother writing the rest
👀
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Okay book readers. Which camp are you in?
A. I must have at least a hint of a love story in a book, or else what’s the point
B. A hint?! The entire book must be about romance, otherwise I’m not interested
C. Give me a proper story. Leave out the sappy stuff. No romance please
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I’ve lost followers today. I had no idea I had so many right wingers following me. If you’re on the side of humanity and kindness and creativity and against sociopathic political leaders do follow me ❤️❤️
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I want AI to clean for me, cook tasty balanced meals, do my tax returns, my admin. I don’t want or need it to write my books or eat my chocolate. Or have sex on my behalf. Thank you.
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Unhelpful things to say to a writer who’s just had a book come out
-how are the sales going?
-I went to Waterstones & couldn’t find your book
-I wish I had the time to write & rake in the cash
-well done you!
-you look like you’ve aged 5yrs
-do you think you’ll write another?
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For anyone saying ‘I’ll be 40/50/60/70 years old by the time I finish doing x, y or z’ as a reason for not trying something - you’re going to be that age anyway. You may as well have done that thing you’re feeling so desperate to do. Do a tiny bit today.
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I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who made last night so completely unforgettable. The support was overwhelming. The Regency dancing was hilariously good fun. The chat made me work hard in the best way. And I will never look at cake in the same way again….thank you
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Okay…
A. Editing
B. Synopsis
C. Asking people to buy your book
What’s the most soul crushing?
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Okay book readers. What might put you off a book:
A. Celebrity author
B. Too explicit
C. Sloppy editing
D. Wrong genre for you
E. Not enough tension. It’s all a little comfortable and sweet
F. Add your own reason
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Okay, question for writers. Are you more of an overwriter & your drafts need cleaning up & tightening when you edit? Or do you speed through your first draft & then flesh scenes out when you edit?
What are the usual things that need attention when you go back to your draft?
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Is there something you do to relax that other people think is the absolute opposite of relaxing?
(I don’t know, like sky diving or a high energy kick-boxing class, cryptic crosswords etc etc)
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Kids have recently got interested in Shakespeare
7yo: what’s a comedy and a tragedy?
Me: in a tragedy everyone dies in the end
11yo: in a comedy everyone gets married in the end
I think we nailed the definition of fiction.
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Tearing up at seeing Amy Dowden dancing in the #StrictlyFinal
Let’s have her back on #strictly soon!
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Okay I’m curious about this one. So based on how you look (or sound) do people ever make assumptions about you or the kind of person you are that aren’t correct? What are the most common mistaken ideas people have about you?
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I hate the implication that for fiction to be feminist it needs to be down on romance, it needs to be real (read: bleak) about love. No, no and no. Women can be feminists AND find their agency in love, romance and sex. These are not mutually exclusive.
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My 7yo took his first steps into knitting yesterday
Him: I love this, it’s so relaxing! I was feeling agitated before but now I’m not
😍❤️💝
He gets obsessed with whatever he’s into so I’m expecting a scarf long enough to wrap around the house
@tomdaley1994 watch this space
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I haven’t done this yet, but please, can I? Next time someone says to me ‘oh, you’re a writer. I’d better be careful ha ha. I guess everything I say could turn up in your future book’ am I allowed to say ‘no, you’re safe. nothing you’ve said so far has been that interesting’…?
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Kids and I loved Eddie and Karen’s brilliant own choice on #strictly but could not fathom what Shirley was thinking cracking out that 10.
Shirley: It’s never too early for a 10 from Shirley
7yo: Except sometimes it is, Shirley
Ah the killer dry wit…..🤣
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Talking to a lot of writers feeling deflated and full of anxiety or sadness at being part of a difficult-to-navigate industry like publishing. You’re not alone! I’m trying to reconnect with the writing so I can feel better but also here to chat, rant, cry and eat cake ❤️
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My 7yo, clearly the son of an author, and much more observant than said author, is reading The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair.
Him: Mummy, this must be an uncorrected proof
Me:
Him: Because look at the first chapter
🫣😱
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No one of my generation can be untouched by this news. We’ll forever repeat his gags. The lovely Matthew Perry. He’ll always be Chandler to us. “I'm not great at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?”
❤️❤️❤️
#matthewperry
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Something I loved about my book launch was the amazing range & diversity of ages, life choices, skin colours, sexualities, life experience, careers, loves, brain wiring. And everyone bought my damn book. So that it sold out. Publishers, pay attention. Diverse readers buy books.
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I’d love to say to new writers & authors
Don’t obsess about rejections
Don’t watch the ticking clock with queries, reviews, net galley, book sales
Write the next thing
Enjoy it
Honour your creativity
Have multiple projects on the go & take the pressure off
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to be a writer you just have to write, edit, advertise, be funny at author events & a social media whizzkid, do accounts, smile through the long waits & the ‘this is SO good but I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong & also it’s not right for our list tho publishing is subjective’
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Writers Block isn’t the fear of creating. It’s the fear that you can’t create something ‘good’. Take the pressure off. Sit down & create or write something for 10 mins & allow it to be awful. Then do it again tomorrow. & then the next day. Chase the flow. Don’t wait for it.
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Oh fuck! Look what just arrived in the post! After four manuscripts, about a million rejections, buckets of tears, not sure it’s possible to get anything better than this in a box!!!
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Things I accomplished in 2023
Gradually merging with a Christmas tree ✅
Selfie in the loo at HarperCollins Christmas party ✅
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I totally get this. I come across as very sociable but also find it exhausting. And tend to burrow away and write. Plus can’t stand any social event that feels like ‘networking’
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Me: why am I feeling so tearful?
My brain: your 11yo has done her leavers party, school trip, secondary school induction & school play. You have a terrifying book launch coming up & you’re moving out of the place where you lived in each other’s pockets all through lockdown
Me:
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This is an extract of the hateful article in the Spectator about Nicola Coughlan in Season 3 of #BRIDGERTON and in pink my response.
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All I have to do in the next three weeks is a book launch, a house move, various kids things like final year school plays and secondary school inductions and normal day job stuff and people visiting at the weekend. Can I do this??
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The Q&A at my book launch allowed me to address 2 important themes. We must have intelligent AND FUN commercial fiction that dares to explore difficult histories of colonialism & we must have more sex-positive stories & female sexual agency in books. Long overdue.
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Sometimes when the doorbell rings it is an extra special surprise. Look at these babies! I have some delicious proofs to give away, think a feminist heroine, diversity and the usual Georgette Heyer recipe of sparkling banter and runaway horses. #bookbloggers #bookreviewers
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Went to a British Heart Foundation & found a copy of my book. I asked if they’d like me to sign it. Man at counter said I was too down to earth to be the author. When I bought a book he said ‘you read other people’s books?’ Now I’m not sure I’m doing this whole writer thing right
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Just saw a pedestrian woman crash into a cyclist man. Woman profusely apologised. Man said it was totally fine. Her coffee had gone everywhere. Last I saw of them he was offering to buy her another cup. If anyone knows how this story is progressing please let me know 😅
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There isn’t a trick to being an author. You:
-read lots
-write lots (not for output but to exercise writing muscles)
-cry some
-innovate in how you publish & sell
-keep coming back to the fun of writing even when it sucks
-find work & relationships that support you
-chocolate
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It’s my book launch tomorrow and I have gone from terror through ‘oh this’ll be fun’ straight on back to full on anxiety - will keep you posted.
(Nathan Pyle as usual has it figured out 👇🏼)
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This is the best thing I’ve watched in a very long time, possibly ever. The writing is exquisite. @hughlaurie please say there’ll be more.
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I won’t say what book this is. But it’s very popular right now, almost exclusively gets 5 stars or 1 star on GR. The 5s go on about how utterly compelling & addictive it is & the 1s about how badly written & full of tired tropes it is & weirdly they’re BOTH RIGHT. I’m so confused
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this is an event every author and blogger should be going to. No more one-minute chats with people at book events - I felt like I actually got to know people. Always more my kind of thing. Loved it 😍😍😍 @itsthebookparty
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As a writer there’s no point trying to run from rejection. Instead, embrace it. Feel heartbroken, then when you’re ready, go back to the practice. The low points aren’t a byproduct but an essential part of a writer’s life. ‘Failure’ is integral to the creative process.
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My book is having SO much more fun than me. It’s travelled to Spain, France and Croatia just in the last week. Me, meanwhile, well I went to borough market the other day, so……..
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Socials are awash with this story. I get it. It’s needed. The publishing industry & marketing budgets are based on hype, not quality. But can anyone tell me if any brown or Black authors were interviewed for this article & if not why not? @Guardian
theguardian.com/books/2024/o…
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My Unladylike novels are - steamy. At my book launch there were a few kids so in Q&A I used the word CAKE for the word SEX. Texts from friends:
‘I can’t look at you without blushing’
‘They’re having a LOT of cake’
‘I love how she lets him know what kind of cake she likes’
🫣🤣
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On the way to @itsthebookparty with proofs of Book2 of Unladylike series. Book1 is available to buy there!
Obligatory dress photo will follow in a bit
Say hi if you’re there! (At what age does the thought of a big party start to seem less terrifying? Asking for a - person)
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So you’ve been asked to record a podcast or write a book on creativity. What’s your top advice?
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Look at this beautiful Avon/HarperCollinsUSA cover for my Regency novel, designed by Kerry Rubenstein. I hope to tempt readers’ longings for witty banter, sexy goings on & diversity in the genre. Thanks to Lucia Macro & to the queen of modern Regency Julia Quinn for your support
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I promise we do have a title now. But darn it at least there’s an announcement. Very exciting. More to follow. Can’t wait to share this series with readers.
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My writing advice for 2024 is:
To reconnect with & honour what you really love about writing
To keep reaching for your own highest standards in it
To expand what you love reading
To get real about what the publishing industry is and find your own way to navigate it
❤️🔥🍹
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Look what’s just landed! Have been waiting for this beauty @HarperFiction And to go with it a video that makes me happy every time I look at it
vm.tiktok.com/ZGJCbtFPC/
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Okay, cheeky question. Which clever trick annoys you if an author does it?
-no quotation marks for dialogue
-change point of view wildly & without apparent reason
-swing between present & past tense, sometimes in the same paragraph
-don’t explain or italicise non-English words
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Check out the two very different covers of Unladylike Rules of Attraction and tell me which you like. Both are available for pre-orders now & more news on pre-orders and such things as bookmarks soon ❤️❤️ I love Anya and Damian’s story. Can’t wait to share amazon.co.uk/Unladylike-Rule…
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Many things agents & publishers say are not absolutes, they are market predictions & are wrong a lot of the time. Or at best self fulfilling. ‘Debut short story collections don’t sell’ ‘This genre isn’t selling’ ‘Character driven fiction isn’t commercial’ WRITE WHAT YOU NEED TO.
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View from hotel window in Blackpool. Like an old painting. Thrashing waves in the background. Gale force winds etc, she says, leaving the hotel in a skirt….
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it turns out that even as I get older I’m still torn between the need to get enough sleep & the desperate need to keep on reading my current read into the early hours. I thought it was a teenage or young adult thing that I’d get over like crushes & acne. Was wrong about those too
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Hot off the press! Just in time for my terrifying book launch in 6 days
‘When I wrote Unladylike Lessons in Love, I injected it with everything I loved about the Regency…but by exploring the impact of colonial history, I bend, twist & evolve the genre.’
lithub.com/why-regency-roman…
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At my book launch I looked at the sea of people that turned up to support me & I said that seeing you here, this (my book) seems small. But THIS (all the friends & supporters) seems huge.
I hide away to write & often feel like a misfit, & hey it turns out people are everything
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I get tearful around launch time & this review is a reassuring hug. It’s so beautiful I want to eat it. Thank you Kirstyn Smith @MyWeeklyFiction ‘Dazzling romance…stunning Regency scenes…romantic tension is sizzling’ And it matches my top!
Happy #bridgerton day everyone!
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I’ve finally come to the day when my phone auto corrects Anita to Amita and duck to fuck. I feel like it’s really grown up.
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You spend the first years and decades of your life wanting to fit in. And the next few realising it’s never going to happen so you may as well not bother trying. Then you become a professional writer.
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I’ve never seen such a diverse cast of characters as this year’s #strictly final - professionals and celebs. Amazing. Can’t wait. The choreography by the new crew has been outstanding. Secretly hoping for Hamza’s couples choice and Fleur’s Samba. #StrictlyFinal
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Creative people need permission to
Be more sensitive & flaky & messy
Do more creative stuff where you feel like an imposter
Inject more of your ‘outsiderness’ into spaces
Write if you’re told don’t write
Create if you’re told don’t create
Embrace failure & rejection & fear
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I grew up loving Georgette Heyer. This bookmark of Anya in Regency dress playing the sitar in Queen Charlotte’s court for Unladylike Rules of Attraction by the brilliantly talented @TinyFlood gives me the shivers. No better day than Valentines. And a reminder of her sister Lila
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Loved what Kate Atkinson said in a conversation with @DavidHHeadley about how it’s a tough industry and a crowded market, and the best you can do is write to your own highest standards. Wonderful to hear that writing is where Kate feels like her most authentic self.
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Okay, serious question. You’re talking to someone you don’t know very well. What’s more likely to make you anxious or restless? Small talk or very personal/deep chat?
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People say weird things to writers. Someone said to me that they’d chosen not to follow their art as ‘you can either be a successful creative or a good mum.’ Reader, I had to stop myself from giving them a fucking big lecture about creativity, good parenting & sour grapes
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Okay I’m off to @itsthebookparty, a very glamorous event so help me. Also there’s no way to take a pre party selfie in a hotel room without standing half way into the loo
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Quite like the idea of replacing the ‘success’ and ‘I have arrived’ tropes with the ‘I am a life long learner’ attitude. Much more positive, soul enhancing, possibly also collaborative and exciting. So I’m doing it.
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The very warm, generous and funny @NovelistJessica at her book launch last night. Fantastic turn out.
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things you were told as a child were ‘bad’ things to be are brilliant things for writers & artists. Too sensitive, emotional, obsessive, clumsy, untidy, restless, doesn’t do as they’re told, challenges things too much, lives in dreamland. Sound like darn good qualities to me.
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How to write a book:
Get an idea
Google the idea to see if it’s medically, historically or physically plausible
If it isn’t then build a world where it is plausible
If not then write a book so damn good no one cares if it’s plausible or not
Or become a celebrity, then write book
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Most people who are successful in the arts - writing, dancing, painting, music, whatever your thing - were once told by ‘reliable’ people - parents, experts, teachers - that they’d never be successful at that thing. Don’t listen. Get better at what you do.
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as a writer if you aren’t a shivering mess when you’re submitting a manuscript - or, say, launching a book, promoting, coming up with an idea, sitting staring out of a window, drinking a cup of tea, saying hello to someone - you’re not doing it right.
🤣
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Well for what it’s worth I’ve written to the SoA about big advances and big hype and who gets all that marketing spend. And yes, how publishing really works.
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Proof alert! American proofs of the second Unladylike book are here! This one is about Anya Marleigh, the second sister. She’s a musician in Queen Charlotte’s court & I LOVE her story with the very annoying & irresistible Damian #reviewers #bloggers @annecater @Lindahill50Hill
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Ready for train journey up to Blackpool for @itsthebookparty. Got notebook and pen, crossword, decaf mocha, chocolate, diversity in Bridgerton, book copies for bloggers - oh and 30 people in this coach going up to a stag do - there’s a lot of screaming when they find each other
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I love that when I suggested the Barbie film, my 11yo feminist daughter said ‘it doesn’t sound very us.’ To which I said I think the film is a bit of a pisstake about all we find questionable in #Barbie. She is still suspicious but willing to give it a go…..
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It’s official! It’s happening. And what if love not required but it hits you square in the face anyway?! ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you Ellie Game and Dawn Cooper for the beautiful cover
Husband desired. Love NOT required.
We are THRILLED to be returning to @AmitaMurray's brilliantly sexy Georgian London for #UnladylikeRulesOfAttraction 🍃🏏
You've met Lila, now it's time for Anya's story...
Pre-order now: lnk.to/UnladylikeRulesOfAttr…
#TheMarleighSisters
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