Sunday songs

I’m loving Demi Lovato’s new album and this is my favourite song on it. Warrior:

I was a huge fan of Lauren Pritchard’s first album and she’s back with a new name – Lolo Pritch – and a new song. Weapon for Saturday:

Nina Nesbitt’s new song is super catchy and foot tappy – Way in the World:

This song has been around a while but is finally released here. Tom Odell – Another love:

The Band Perry is back with a new album. Country music fans, this is for you. Done:

The Civil Wars long awaited return is here. The One that Got Away:

I just discovered this new British trio. London Grammar – Wasting my Young Years:

Tell me your music recommendations!

Victoria

xoxo

2 Comments

by Victoria-writes on June 16, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Music, Sunday Songs

Tagged music, Sunday Songs

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 16, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/06/16/sunday-songs-68/

Thank you

I try not to take too much notice of numbers on social networking as it’s usually engagement that is more important but when I noticed my blog followers had ticked over the 500 mark I had to commemorate the occasion. It’s been two and half years since I started this blog and I’m always thrilled when someone wants to read my ramblings. This blog has been a real journey from starting it anonymously and being too scared to admit I wanted to be a writer to this point.

So this is just a short post to say thank you to all of you! Getting to know you guys has been the best part of blogging and if I don’t know you – stop lurking! Just kidding – sort of

Victoria

xoxo

22 Comments

by Victoria-writes on June 13, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Achievements, blogging

Tagged blogging, achievements

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 13, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/06/13/thank-you-2/

Guest post: My journey to publication – Kourtney Heintz

Today we have the lovely and talented Kourtney Heintz on the blog – Kourtney has a fab blog and has been a real supporter of my blog and writing journey, even giving me feedback on some of my book. Read on for her inspiring journey to publication, a definite case of never giving up on your dream:

Before I talk about my journey to publication, I’d like to thank Victoria for generously sharing her blog space with me for the day. I’ve been a follower and fan of Victoria’s for a while and I’m delighted to have my post appear beside such a talented writer. Thanks Victoria!

It’s time to admit something. My journey to publication has been a huge process of elimination. From genre to publishing platfom–it’s all ended up not where I intended but where I belonged. I firmly believe that now, even if I couldn’t foresee it at the time.

My first manuscript was not supposed to be a YA novel. High school was not something I wanted to revisit. I was the chubby, awkward, smart girl. The trifecta of uncool.

College was where I found myself and learned to live in my own skin. So I set the original draft at a university with my main character being a college student and her antagonist being a graduate student. They would time travel to solve a murder. It was a fun adult paranormal mystery.

At least, I thought it was, but the industry said otherwise. At every conference I went to, I was told I’d put them in the age wasteland–the years that will not be written about. What would one day be known as “New Adult” but at the time remained unpublishable.

To try to get attention for that manuscript, I decided to write a short story, The Six Train to Wisconsin. But I didn’t want to repeat that age mess again. My characters would be adults. Firmly and utterly adults–people in their late 20s.

After two months of laboring over Six Train, I submitted it. But I wasn’t done. Oh no. Those characters had latched onto my soul and they weren’t letting go. They hounded me. Kept whispering to me about themselves. Begging me to tell their story. So I did.

I wrote the book that was inside me. The book I wanted to read. The book I needed to write. It didn’t fit nicely into a genre box. Speculative fiction is the best way to describe Six Train, but it’s a cross-genre book. If you enjoy contemporary fantasy and an unconventional lovestory with mystery and thriller elements woven in and the occasional literary phrase–this is your book.

While I wrote Six Train, I finally realized I needed to adjust my first manuscript if I wanted to traditionally publish it. I would either age my college age characters to their mid 20s or down to YA. My voice was young and light. It didn’t fit a twenty-something woman. Not in that story. I’d stumbled upon the genre for my first manuscript and it was YA.

Six Train gave me an uphill battle to publication. Agents and publishers didn’t know what to do with it. How to sell it. So I got lots of full requests for my manuscript and many personalized rejections. When they started to converge around “beautiful writing but not a blockbuster”, I realized indie publishing was the best option for Six Train.

Six Train might not make enough money to support a traditional publisher/agent venture, but I felt like it was the best thing I’d ever written. Like I could die the day after it was published with zero regrets. So I researched and started planning my indie publishing venture.

Seven months later, The Six Train to Wisconsin is now published. And that first manuscript, the one that became YA, it’s represented by ICM Partners and we’re negotiating an offer.

Author Bio:

Kourtney Heintz writes emotionally evocative speculative fiction that captures the deepest truths of being human. For her characters, love is a journey never a destination.

She resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, her supportive parents and three quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amuck at night, imagining a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets collide.

Her debut speculative fiction novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, was a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist.

The Six Train to Wisconsin Back Cover:

Sometimes saving the person you love can cost you everything.

There is one person that ties Oliver Richter to this world: his wife Kai. For Kai, Oliver is the keeper of her secrets.

When her telepathy spirals out of control and inundates her mind with the thoughts and emotions of everyone within a half-mile radius, the life they built together in Manhattan is threatened.

To save her, Oliver brings her to the hometown he abandoned—Butternut, Wisconsin—where the secrets of his past remain buried. But the past has a way of refusing to stay dead. Can Kai save Oliver before his secrets claim their future?

An emotionally powerful debut, The Six Train to Wisconsin pushes the bounds of love as it explores devotion, forgiveness and acceptance.

Website:
http://kourtneyheintz.com

Blog:
http://kourtneyheintz.wordpress.com

Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/kourtneyheintzwriter

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/KourHei

Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomkourtney_heintz

Amazon Author Central Page:
http://amazon.com/author/kourtneyheintz

Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/kourhei

Paperback available from:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Ebook available from:

by Victoria-writes on June 6, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in guest posts, inspiration, Writing

Tagged guest post, inspiration, writing

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 6, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/06/06/guest-post-my-journey-to-publication-kourtney-heintz/

Imagination from nature

This picture was shared on Facebook at the weekend and it caught my attention because on Saturday I went with family to Savill Garden and there was a lot to inspire the imagination. Some of the flowers and trees could have come from the pages of a fairytale. It was so peaceful there and the sun was out and I think a lot of writers would have found their imagination stirred.

Here are some of the scenes that captured mine:

Victoria

xoxo

14 Comments

by Victoria-writes on June 3, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in inspiration, nature, Photography

Tagged inspiration, nature, photography

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 3, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/06/03/imagination-from-nature/

Why is feminism such a scary word?

I found this Guardian article about the Suffragettes on Twitter today. The article is called nine inspiring lessons the Suffragettes can teach feminists today and is certainly a powerful article about how women gained the right to vote and how difficult that fight was. All women who live in countries that allow them the same right to vote as men have a lot to thank the Suffragettes for but somehow the same women have become scared of the word ‘feminist.’

If you asked me if I was a feminist I would say yes but I suspect a lot of women are wary of answering the same way. There was much debate about the interview Beyonce gave, for example, where she guessed she might be a feminist but was nervous about the word. For me, being a feminist has NOTHING to do with being against men. Seriously, nothing. For me, being a feminist is about wanting equal rights for women, even this isn’t about women vs men, it’s the right for both genders to be treated equally as human beings. It’s about giving women choices too and making sure we retain control over our lives and our bodies. And it’s believing that women should have an equal voice in the world.

Perhaps it’s because we have gained so many rights through the years that the word feels out-of-date. But just think about all the rights we do have and know that not that long ago we didn’t have any of them – the right to an education, the right to go to university, the right to have your own bank account, the right to vote, the right to a divorce, the right to equal pay in work. It’s difficult for women today in the Western world to imagine a time when these rights weren’t there but it’s thanks to these “scary” feminists that we have them. And don’t forget there are many women in the world TODAY who still do not have these rights.

I’m nervous even writing this blog post because the word feminism seems to conjure up such a fierce debate but it’s just a word. And it shouldn’t be scary. It should just explain that you expect to be treated equally and to live the life you want to. And it’s definitely not about being against men. In fact, men can totally be a feminists too – if they want their wives and daughters and granddaughters to be treated equally as human beings in this world.

So don’t be scared of the word. The Suffragettes fought tirelessly to give us the right to vote and they would shout the word loud and proud. Because they wanted women to be treated as equals. And really can any of us say that we DON’T want that?

Why do you think feminism has become a scary word? Would you be nervous to say you’re a feminist?

Victoria

xoxo

26 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 30, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in inspiration, Musings

Tagged feminism, inspiration, musings

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 30, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/30/why-is-feminism-such-a-scary-word/

Sunday Songs

Laura Marling is super talented and after streaming her new album online, this song stood out to me – Master Hunter:

I’m a big fan of Demi Lovato and again this song is off her new album and really shows off her voice. Nightingale:

This band was a random iTunes find – a Welsh pop duo called Paper Aeroplanes. Little Letters:

I first heard this song on Nashville and I’ve fallen in love with the band. First Ad Kit – Emmylou:

Lucy Spraggan was a big hit on X Factor and this is her debut single Lighthouse:

What have you been listening to this week?

Victoria

xoxo

2 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 26, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Music, Sunday Songs

Tagged music, Sunday Songs

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 26, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/26/sunday-songs-67/

My favourite weepies

Yesterday I watched Les Miserables for the first time and I SOBBED at the end. Yes, the clue is in the title but I didn’t expect to be left in quite such a blabbing mess after watching it. It got me thinking about other films that have made me cry and the ones I still love to watch even though they make me cry. Sometimes you just want to put one on and let yourself weep.

So here are my favourite weepies – I will reveal why they make me cry so spoiler alert!

A Walk to Remember

Nicholas Sparks sure likes to write stories that wrench your heart out. I’ve watched most of the films based on his books and this one is my favourite. Yes it’s pure cheese but I fall for the romance between good girl Jamie and bad boy Landon every time. There are two scenes that get me – the one where Landon talks to Jamie’s father and the last one where Landon is looking out wistfully and says his love for Jamie is like the wind – he can’t see it but he can feel it. The idea that their romance lives on ever after Jamie pass away always produces a tear in my eye.

Beaches

This story about a friendship between two girls throughout their lives has always left me a wreck. It’s that final scene on the beach with ‘Wind Beneath Your Wings’ playing and the look that Bette Midler gives when she realises her best friend has lost her fight with heart disease. And then she takes care of her friend’s daughter … *sobs*

13 Going on 30

This may be a left field choice for a weepie – no one dies in this film and it has a happy ending so I don’t know why this rom com about a girl who suddenly becomes 30 and finds out all the mistakes she’s made in her life – the worst being she lost contact with her childhood best friend, makes me cry but it does. The ending where she thinks she’s losing Matt at his wedding then she gets transported back to her thirteenth birthday and gets the chance to kiss him resulting in there wedding years later just makes me all misty-eyed and warm-hearted. So cute.

Toy Story 3

Sorry but this one is so MOVING. Seriously when the toys realises they have to let Andy go and move in with a new child and Andy says goodbye to them – pure emotion. Disney has always tugged at my heart-strings but this one made me weep. and I’ve watched it three times since and cried each time. Love it.

Charlie St Cloud

This film stars Zac Efron and is about a guy who refuses to say goodbye to the ghost of his brother until he falls in love and has to rescue the girl from a shipwreck instead of meeting his brother as he does every day. The moment he lets his brother go is really moving. The film is kind of Nicholas Sparks in tone but the sibling relationship really brings a lot of heart to it and the promise of hope and love at the end made me fall hard for it.

Remember Me

I really didn’t see this one coming – it’s a romantic drama starring Robert Pattinson and the film is a enjoyable story about a girl and boy dealing with tragic pasts falling in love but just when everything is working out Robert’s character heads to his father’s office and then you’re told the day – September 11th. Well, I don’t need to tell you what happens. It was such a surprise the first time I saw it, I cried but even now when I know the ending, it still move me and I think the film deserves more success than it got.

The Last Song

Another Sparks story but maybe one of his lesser known ones probably as Miley Cyrus is playing the lead but I actually think she does a great job in this role and her love story plays out against a back drop of her father dealing with cancer. Their passion for music plays a key role and one of the later scenes when she plays the piano at his funeral is really moving. I like how it ends on an uplifting note with her going to music college after having repaired her broken relationship with her father.

The Notebook

I couldn’t leave this one off. I haven’t watched it much because it wrecked me so hard the first time I watched it. The story of a couple from meeting as young adults through to them as an elderly couple struggling with her dementia never fails to move especially the last scenes where the couple die together, their love having overcome all the obstacles life threw at it. You’d have to have a cold heart not to cry at this one

What are your favourite weepies?

Victoria

xoxo

19 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 20, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Films, My fave things

Tagged films, films that make you cry, my favourite things, weepies

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 20, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/20/my-favourite-weepies/

When belief slips

Last week I saw Leona Lewis live and at the end of her show, she left this thought up for the audience:

Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen.

The show was a journey through love and heartbreak (matching the theme of her album Glassheart) and this ending to me said that just because you’ve loved and lost, something wonderful is around the corner. Don’t give up believing in love just because a love has ended. But you can apply it to life in general.

The phrase has stuck with me ever since. It reminded me of my ‘believe’ tattoo, which I got to inspire me to believe both in myself and that my dreams will come true. It’s hard sometimes to keep up this positive line of thought. When you’ve had disappointments or you’re just stuck waiting to find out what will happen, you start to question yourself and that demon on your shoulder pops up – you know the one, the one that says what you want won’t happen or tells you you’re not good enough for it to. The one that fills you up with self-doubt and conjures up the fear that that wonderful thing your waiting for will never appear.

I wrote a poem recently where I let out all the worries I had. Reading it back now you can see that the self-doubt demon was well and truly present:

Scared I’ve made a mistake

Waiting for my dreams to come true

Feeling like I’m not good enough

All my positivity feels fake.

My ambition is mocking me

The grey clouds of doubt circle above

All I hear is silence

Maybe I no longer believe.

Haunted by fear I’ll fail

Wishing I could see a sign

Trust in me fading fast

My hope preparing to set sail.

So I’m trying to get my confidence back and to stay positive that good things are around the corner. I think belief is something you have to re-do over and over again. Something you have to use to push that self-doubt demon away on a regular basis. We all know writers struggle with believing in ourselves and I really am struggling right now.

I was grateful for the message in that concert. I really needed to hear it and I’m going to try to feel it this week.

How do you get back belief when you feel it slipping away?

Victoria

xoxo

16 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 14, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in inspiration, Musings, Poetry

Tagged inspiration, musings, poetry

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 14, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/14/when-belief-slips/

Dealing with reader expectations

This week the final book in the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series by Charlaine Harris (adapted as True Blood for TV) is being released. I’ve enjoyed this series from book one and am looking forward to reading the last one but the author has discovered that some fans can be a little over zealous when it comes to a successful books series. In this interview she describes the pressure that she’s feeling, the threats she’s had from ‘fans’ over her ending the series and how they expect the series to end, especially who Sookie will end up with. It has caused Ms Harris to decide not to do any promotion for the last book, which is a huge shame for readers who would have loved her to sign the final book regardless of how the book ends.

The books series is a long one – the final book is number thirteen and as a writer I can’t begin to imagine how hard it is to write that many books about the same characters, to juggle the number of characters and plot lines the series has and to still make each book it’s own story. It’s a real achievement and it’s a shame that some readers can’t enjoy the books there are and realise it’s time for the author to move on. I’d rather the series ends than read sub-par books that make it obvious the author just doesn’t care anymore. After reading the last book, I have my own ideas who I want Sookie to end up with BUT I’m well aware this is Ms Harris’ story to tell and it’s up to her to end it how she want to.

It’s kind of a double edge sword – you’d love your series to be popular and to have passionate fans but it must be so scary to receive death threats and abuse from them. On her Facebook page the author revealed that someone has posted the series ending and asked fans not to spoil it for others. I stopped reading the comments because people were even posting the ending on there after such a polite request not to. I just don’t understand why you would want to do that. I want to read the book for myself – it’s the only way you’ll understand why an ending was chosen and you might find you like it after all.

I hope Ms Harris can be proud of her series and that she will continue to take pleasure in writing. And I hope the fans will understand why she wanted to end the series on a high and why she chose the ending did. And above all remember that it’s only fiction after all

How do you think you’d deal with reader expectations on how a series should end?

Victoria

xoxo

12 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 6, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Musings, Writing

Tagged book, Charlaine Harris, musings, Sookie Stackhouse, writing

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 6, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/06/dealing-with-reader-expectations/

Sunday Songs

It’s probably not cool to admit I first heard this song on an advert but I don’t pretend to be cool and it’s a fab song so who cares AlunaGeorge – You know you like it: