Sally Quilford's Blog

(If you don’t want mild spoilers for Series 2 of Broadchurch, don’t read ahead) Series 2 of Broadchurch came to an end last night. As I didn’t watch it then, I spent all morning avoiding Social Network in case it was spoiled for me (hence my warning to others above). I think it might have been hard to spoil it really, because the ending was so complex it could not really be condensed into a click-bait headline. It’s been a patchy series, and I think most of us agree it didn’t have the bite of Series 1. On the other hand, I could not stop watching, thanks to compelling performances by David Tennant and Olivia Coleman, and their polar opposites, the toxic couple, Claire and Lee played by Eve Myles and James D’arcy (who, along with his vest and fence mending skills, is definitely going in one of my novels as a hero one day). Whilst I haven’t always agreed with some of the more obvious gimmicks of Series 2, it has taught me how one might play around with story-telling and, i...

© Pdiaz | Dreamstime Stock Photos A YouGov survey has revealed that the most desired job in Britain is that of an Author (followed closely by Librarian and Academic). This despite the fact that the average wage of an author is said to be £11,000 a year (and how many of us read that amount and thought ‘I wish!’?) In response, Chas Newkey-Burden (great name!) has come up with 14 reasons not to be a full time author. I was nodding along to most of them, and there are times the job is tough, like when the words don't come or you haven't sold anything for a while, but I can also think of lots of reasons being an author really is the best job ever. These are my reasons. I’m sure you have your own. Feel free to share them in the comments. You are your own boss. You start when you want, and deadlines notwithstanding, you finish when you want. That’s not to say that writing isn’t hard work. When I’m in the grip of a story, I can work until I’m literally dropping fr...

© Dawn Hudson | Dreamstime Stock Photos This post was inspired by someone in a Facebook group that I run, who told us how unsupportive their family are towards their writing endeavours. The family's negativity was astounding and very sad to hear about. Another friend recently showed their book to a friend who was an expert in the subject about which they wrote and the 'expert' completely rubbished the book, leaving my friend feeling very sore and bruised indeed. I think that most writers come up against these problems at some point in their writing career. If it's not close family, it's friends and acquaintances who just don't understand that compulsion to write. More importantly, they are unable to separate you from whatever you've written. Alternatively, they have some ulterior motive for not wanting you to succeed. When I first went back to school, in my early thirties, I had to put up with a lot of negativity. Not...

I've been asked, privately, a few times for tips on self-publishing on Kindle. I'm always happy to advise where I can, but have avoided putting up public tips because I know there are people who are far better qualified than I am to give advice. A lot of my self-publishing efforts have been trial and error. Then I was shown the link to this ebook and realised that actually there are people far less qualified than I am to advise you. And they're charging £1.99 for the privilege. For 6 whole pages! And not even with pictures to break up the relentless ALL CAPS presentation. Not much makes me angry, but I was really annoyed about the above ebook because only last week I had an email from Amazon because someone had complained about 3 errors in one of my 40k word novellas. It turned out that one of those errors was an error on their part, but I was told that I had to put it right or my book might be taken off sale. Of course I want to know if there are errors in my ebooks...

To begin with, my short (5k) story Her Friend From the North is available to download FREE for today, because it's Valentine's Day and my heroine is called Valentine Day! (the hero is inspired by Sean Bean too, just to excite you all more!) <br /> Now I have another extract from The Dark Marshes to share with you. I really enjoyed writing this bit. The elderly twins, Molly and Dolly turned out to be such fun! I can also reveal that the beautiful model on the cover of the book is called Sanja Balan. She sent me a lovely message last night, telling me that the picture was taken by her boyfriend. She is as lovely in person as she is on the cover! It's available for Pre-Order from Amazon and will be out on 1st March 2015 <br /> Testimony of Molly and Dolly Marsh To think that a Servant like Nan Bradley would have the Audacity to ask us to write down our account of the Tragedy that befell our ...

It's fair to say that Fifty Shades of Grey is everywhere (again!) at the moment, due to the impending release of the film. There are those who loved the books and those who hated them. I'm in the latter part, though I'll add the disclaimer that I only managed to read 250 pages of the first book before deciding I'd had enough. I even wrote a lot of reviews, but they have been lost now after I deleted my last blog. It is everyone's right to like whatever they want. Yet it seems that those of us who dislike FSOG aren't allowed to express that dislike without being dismissed as haters who hate. Don't we have as much right to dislike the books as others have to like it, without our opinions being dismissed? I have friends and family who have read and enjoyed FSOG. I haven't told them they shouldn't have enjoyed the experience. Nor have I looked down on them for enjoying the books. I know they're bright, intelligent women who just enjoyed so...

It's been my absolute honour and privilege to organise the RoNA Rose awards this year (for shorter category romances). I can now reveal that the shortlists for that award and the Romantic Novel of the Year awards are now live on the RNA website. Shortlists for the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards and the RoNA Rose. Shortlist Photogallery - books and authors Are any of your favourites amongst them? I'd love to know (I can't comment myself on my own favourites at the moment as it would not be fair). The awards will be presented by none other than Barbara Taylor Bradford ; a true superstar of the writing world.

I've just started work on Bobbie Blandford Book Three. The working title is Big Girls Don't Cry (inspired by 1962 The Four Seasons song). Set in 1962, Big Girls Don't Cry sees a bank robbery take place in Stony End, resulting in the death of one of the tellers. As Bobbie investigates the case, she finds herself undermined first by a flippant remark from Leo, and then by the arrival of her Scotland Yard detective brother, Tom Blandford who, though brilliant, doesn't quite understand small town politics in the way Bobbie does. I've been waiting to introduce Tom to everyone. What can I tell you, girls? He's gorgeous in a very Tom Hiddleston sort of way, and he's going to be setting a few hearts racing in Stony End. What else is happening in Stony End? Well, Bobbie's mum, Dina, has bought the pub, so will be having a bit more to do in Bobbie's life (whether this is a good thing remains to be seen). I'm really getting to know my characters now, ...

<br /> My gothic romance, The Dark Marshes, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, for just 99p, and will be released on 1st March 2015. But here is an exclusive sneak preview extract from the opening chapter. The Dark Marshes by Sally Quilford Chapter One Introduction by Nan Bradley My name is Anne Bradley, but most people call me Nan. I was a maid at Marsholm Manor from the age of twelve and I was the maid of Lady Henrietta Lakeham prior to her marriage. I’ve been asked to put together all the documents pertaining to the case involving Lady Henrietta Lakeham’s incarceration in an insane asylum and the tragic events that followed. I don’t know why I’ve been chosen to do this, though I do appreciate His Grace’s faith in me. “You’re a clever woman, Nan,” he told me, echoing something Mrs Marsh had said to me many years before when I first came up to Marsholm Manor from the Home Farm. “You’ll be able to make short work of this.” I’m not sure...

Structuring your novel (Originally posted on: 23 October 2012)   I was asked over on the pocketeers about how to structure a pocket novel. As I'm a 'seat of my pants' sort of writer, I'm not very good at explaining how I do it. It just somehow works out in the end. But I can give some tips that I've picked up from reading other novels. Chapter Lengths A chapter is as long or short as it needs to be. For the purposes of light reading, I'd suggest keeping them under 3000 words, and/or using section breaks to break them up a little more. Mine are roughly 3000 words and I tend to think of each of those chapters as one or two scenes from the novel, much like scenes from a film or television drama. So for example, my first chapter will always be the setting the scene chapter, and end on a hook to get people to read on. I'll introduce the heroine and the hero (not necessarily in that order), and hint at any conflict either between them and/or within the s...

Leaving genres aside for a while, I thought I would share some top tips for writing your romance. With that in mind I asked some experts for their advice. Much does depend on the market you’re writing for, so always research what different publishers want. Get the Hero and Heroine together as soon as possible The first chapter is the best place to bring your hero and heroine together. The first page is better. The first paragraph is perfect. You can always feed in back story later. Once they are together, keep them together as much as possible. It’s a good idea to have them ‘on the same page’ at least 70% of the time. In Mills and Boon romances, they like the hero and heroine to be together at least 90% of the time. If they’re not together then they are thinking about each other. Keep the story focussed on the romance at all times, and make sure any sub-plots or external conflicts have some bearing on the romance. Open the novel with a hook One of the best bits of advi...