Support Group Archives - Author Rosie Travers

MEET THE BOOK CLUB ADMIN

Posted on November 7, 2023 | by Rosie Travers | 1 Comment

Continuing my series of introducing readers to those special people I’ve met on my writing journey, today’s guest is Sue Baker. When you’re a shy, retiring writer like me you need people in your corner, especially people who have those social media skills you lack. Sue is one of those special people! She has just set up the Riveting Reads and Vintage Vibes Facebook Group after being an administrator for several other Facebook book clubs, sites where authors and readers gather and meet and discuss their love of books (and for authors that doesn’t just mean talking about their own novels!) These groups are invaluable to indie authors like me, providing opportunities to reach new audiences. To top it all, Sue organises some amazing online launch parties, all in her own time. So how does she do it – and why?

Sue, welcome to my blog. What prompted you to set up a Facebook book club?

For several years I have worked on Facebook book groups as an administrator or a moderator and I love all the amazing opportunities it gives me to engage with authors and other readers. (Not to mention the huge amount of brilliant book recommendations!) One of the aspects of moderating these groups that I particularly enjoy is the helping to set up the friendly communities, where authors and readers can chat together and support each other. When the last group ended, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and to create a group from scratch to run by myself and so Riveting Reads and Vintage Vibes was born, it’s the perfect mix for me as I adore all things retro and bookish. I’m so grateful for the support I have received , it’s been an amazing couple of weeks, and I have lots of ideas brewing for the coming months.

Your launch parties are legendary, they must take some planning. Tell us exactly what is involved.

Ahhh, the publication celebrations! They came about thanks to an author friend, Isabella May. Isabella did a similar thing on her Facebook page and she was kind enough to allow me to borrow her idea! It’s basically a day of sharing posts on the group linked to themes in the book being celebrated and I try very hard not to give away any spoilers! I read the upcoming book, taking notes of ideas for posts as I read, then I create the posts, which I always share with the author before adding to the group. They are usually a mix of fun quizzes, food/setting/music-based posts and my review. I love the challenge of creating the party, it’s always a fun day and I enjoy seeing the interactions between readers and authors.

The parties you’ve organised for me have been great fun and I love the way you take aspects from each book and turn them into questions and quizzes. It’s very much appreciated! What’s the best thing about running the book clubs?

I love the friendly community feel of the groups, where people pop on and end up chatting away with each other. It’s brilliant to provide a bridge between authors and their readers, I’m still amazed how lucky we are to get the opportunity to engage directly with the people who are writing the books we are reading! I will never tire of feeling excited when an author comments or messages little old me! I enjoy supporting authors, especially those who are just starting with their writing journey. It’s exciting being part of a books journey into the world!

I know you are a prolific reader, how many books on average do you read each week?

I am blessed to be a really fast reader! Even as a child I read books quickly, I’m sure my teachers thought I had pretended to read a book, but I could answer their questions about the story every time!

I read about three books a week, sometimes more if I’m off work or not got anything planned to do! I have an audiobook on the go and read a couple of either electronic books or paperbacks.

That’s answered my next question! I was going to ask what’s your preference, paperback, Kindle or audio.

I am addicted to audiobooks! I was very late to the audiobook party but once I tried them, I absolutely loved them! I listen in the car on my commute to work and in the evenings whilst I do my colouring in app, it’s the best way to relax! I also am a fan of using a Kindle, I have the app on my phone and so I always have lots of books available at any given time!

Can you remember the first book that inspired your love of reading?

Absolutely I can! It was The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was probably about seven when I first read that book and at 51 years old I am still reading her Little House books. I do enjoy reading books from my childhood, they are like a comfort blanket to me

Where is your favourite place to read?

At the moment my reading chair that faces our garden. In the summer, in the garden ( weather permitting) I do keep dropping hints for a summerhouse to read in but it’s yet to appear!

Hopefully you’ll get that summerhouse one day. Besides reading and running the Facebook groups, what other hobbies do you have?

I love walking, I have a gorgeous whippet called Mabel, so we get out and about most days. I also love connecting with nature, visiting a beach or woods is always a means to recharge my batteries. I do a lot of my planning for the groups on walks too.

Sue and Mabel the whippet

I enjoy walking too – it’s great for plotting! Finally, for someone who loves books so much, I have to ask – have you ever wanted to write your own novel?

Lovely Heidi Swain is gently encouraging me to try writing! I’ve had a go at her monthly writing prompts on her newsletter, and I have enjoyed the challenge! I do write poetry, my auntie was amazing at writing poetry and as a child she inspired me to try and so from time to time I do dabble with writing, but it’s for my own enjoyment really, I’m no Robert Frost!!!

Sue with author Heidi Swain

About Sue

I’m Sue, I live in rural West Norfolk with my husband Simon and our two boys Joe (14) and Tom (10) with our dog Mabel and cat Gatsby.

I work part time at a veterinary clinic ( inspired by the books of James Herriot from my teenage years)

I have always loved reading and have embraced social media for its ability to bring people together. Sharing the book love has become part of my life now and I love every minute of it!

Many thanks for Sue for taking part. Becoming part of an online Book Club community is a great way to share your love of books and find out about new authors. Check out Riveting Reads and Vintage Vibes here https://www.facebook.com/groups/837160114481344/

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Four Years On – Top Tips for Survival

Posted on August 3, 2022 | by Rosie Travers | 4 Comments

This week marks a very special anniversary – it’s four years’ since the publication of my first book, The Theatre of Dreams. Back in August 2018 I was giddy with excitement, full of optimism. I loved my story of two actresses and their fight to save a seaside pavilion. That book was written straight from the heart. There was drama, romance, a seaside setting, a mystery. The Theatre of Dreams had it all. Surely this book would be a huge success and herald the start of a whole new literary career?

If only I knew then what I know now. Anyone who follows this blog will know that the last four years have been a rollercoaster ride of conflicting emotions, and not a dazzling romp to the top of the Sunday Times Bestseller Chart. But hey, I do have four books out there on Amazon. That’s four more books than a lot of people ever manage. Of course, I realise it’s not everybody’s ambition in life to write a book, let alone publish it, but in case it is, based on my own personal experiences, here are my top tips for surviving the publishing jungle.

Top Tip Number One

If you’re Intent on Capturing a Publisher – Choose your Publisher Carefully.

Of course, we all know it’s actually the other way round, the publisher chooses you. But the big publishers are the elephants and tigers of the jungle, and if you’re happy to snare a smaller beast – a warthog for example – do your research and make sure that warthog will satisfy your needs.

Whilst I’ll always be grateful for the publisher who gave me my first break, when I signed my contract, I was very naïve. I had zero knowledge of the jungle and was ill-equipped to tackle the tasks expected of me, which subsequently led to feelings of inadequacy and failure. On reflection, now that I’m older and wiser, I realise I hadn’t failed at all. My warthog was simply not the right warthog for me. I should have held out for a tiger.

Top Tip Number Two

Make Friends Wisely

At the start of my writing journey my social media following consisted almost entirely of people I knew personally. I was unaware there was a whole online writing/reading community out there. I didn’t know about Facebook author/book groups, bookstagrammers and bloggers. Four books later I do. The more you engage with the online world, the more followers and friends you gather. And while it’s true, the more people who know and like you, the more books you may sell, there is also a huge benefit in engaging with like-minded people. Every writer needs a support network and there is a wonderfully generous community of successful authors out there who are happy to pass on tips and advice.

Social media can seem overwhelming – especially with the rise of the dreaded do-I-don’t-I TikTok. Find your tribe and pick out the aspects you enjoy and are comfortable with. Don’t put yourself under pressure to befriend everyone and do it all, because you can’t. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day, week, year – at least not if you want to write more books.

Top Tip Number Three

Celebrate your Achievements

You’ve found an agent. WELL DONE YOU! You’ve netted a publisher. CONGRATULATIONS!

But what if the big stuff never happens? What if you don’t think you’ve got anything to sing about? Bash that negativity on the head and THINK POSITIVE.

Envy is a perfectly natural human emotion but always remember where you are on your own personal journey. You don’t have to be part of the elephant brigade to blow your own trumpet.

You’ve written a book, or maybe it’s just a short story. That’s an achievement. SHOUT ABOUT IT!

So you’ve only sold enough copies of your book this month to count on the fingers of one hand, BUT you have got a fabulous new 5 star review. LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THOSE 5 STARS.

If you celebrate your success, other people will cheer with you.

Top Tip Number Four

Grab Every Opportunity

Networking IS important. If you have an opportunity for a 1-2-1 with a publishing professional, take it. If you can go to a conference, or a book festival, GO. Every connection you make, is a connection. I know I’ve had opportunities I’ve let slip; chances I didn’t follow up, and yes, I do sometimes wonder what might have been…

I’m naturally a shy person, and that has held me back. Writing has forced me half-way out of my shell. I’ve had to put myself out there and over the last four years I’ve become far more pro-active. I’ve talked to WIs and book groups, taken part in Facebook and Instagram Lives, a Podcast, things I never thought I would do. Stand up in a banqueting hall and give a talk to 100 people? With a mic? Crack jokes. Who me? If I’m talking about my love of writing, yes I can and I will.

Top Tip Number Five

Write the Book you want to Write

That’s easy for me to say now that I self-publish and I don’t have the constraints/obligations of a publishing contract. However, I have tried to conform. I have tried to write the book I think a publisher is looking for. When I came up with the idea for A Crisis at Clifftops, I started out with the serious intent of writing a traditional cosy mystery because cosies are currently the “in thing”. Amateur sleuth solves crime, tick. Nothing grisly/gory requiring in depth forensic knowledge, tick. Quaint countryside/seaside setting, tick. Potential for series to continue indefinitely, tick. Amateur sleuth is professional golfer, untick. Major suspect is amateur sleuth’s grandmother, untick. Also include vintage crime from sixty years earlier, untick. Add in another subplot involving resort redevelopment with far too many secondary characters, untick.

I can’t help it. I have a vivid imagination and a creative mind. I can’t reign it in, and when I do, I’m not happy. The words don’t flow.

Let your creative juices run wherever they want, and if that’s in the direction of an agent or a publisher’s wish-list, all the better. But if they meander off-piste… Think about what you want from your writing and why you do it. Do you want to conquer the jungle, or are you happy hanging about on the fringes?

I’m not going to lie. There’s still part of me that thinks it would be wonderful to get snapped up by one of those big tigers, but self-publishing has given me the control to write what I want to write and when I write it. I know my limitations. If I were younger I might be more ambitious, more committed to conform. It’s taken me a long time to reach the stage when I’m happy and comfortable with what I do.

And My Final Top Two Tips?

Two phrases I chanted like a mantra while adjusting to life as an ex-pat wife in the wilds of LA many years ago, but equally as applicable to surviving life in publishing jungle: DEVELOP A THICK SKIN and RETAIN A SENSE OF HUMOUR. I don’t think either requires any further explanation!

In the Spotlight – Lizzie Chantree

Posted on November 22, 2021 | by Rosie Travers | Leave a Comment

Today, I’d like turn the spotlight on international best-selling author Lizzie Chantree. I’m always happy to share exciting book news, and Lizzie’s eighth novel, The Woman Who Felt Invisible, is published this week. I first me Lizzie back in 2018 when we had books with the same publisher. Lizzie is a prolific and inspirational writer, totally supportive to her fellow authors and always willing to hand out help and advice. She’s very active on social media and I’m totally in awe of her commitment and energy!

Lizzie started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now works as a business mentor and runs a popular networking hour on social media, where creatives can support to each other. Unsurprisingly, Lizzie writes stories about about women with unusual and adventurous businesses, who are far stronger than they realise. Her novels are full of friendship and laughter. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex.

Her new book, The Woman Who Felt Invisible, is an exciting, romantic story of love and new beginnings. Learning to love herself and be content on her own is the first step. But will Olivia be able to leave her past behind, follow her heart and find lasting happiness?

Blurb

Working as a stationery supervisor and a sitter to a pair of internet famous, delinquent dogs, wasn’t how former cyber-specialist, Olivia, imagined her life turning out. Working in a tiny cubicle with a decrepit computer and being overlooked had suited her for a while, but now she’s fed up, lonely and determined to make the world ‘see’ her again. Old school friend, Darius, wants to fill Olivia’s days with romance, but their love of technology has taken them on very different paths. Gorgeous undercover policeman Gabe, is steadfast in finding out if Olivia was part of an online scam, but something doesn’t feel right and he suspects someone else was manipulating her life.

Can love blossom from the most deceptive of starts? And can someone who feels lost, find a way to flourish against all odds?

Excerpt

This was it. This was Olivia Tenby’s life, now. This was how low she had come. At the age of forty-one, she was sweating her guts out in a house that felt like a furnace, babysitting two delinquent Labradoodle dogs called Bertie and Belle, while their owners swanned around getting even richer somewhere else. Wiping her palms across her face, feeling glad she’d discarded her top so that she couldn’t drip on it, she pressed a button. Music blared out of speakers set into the ceiling. This house had everything – lights that came on when you spoke to them, a vacuum cleaner that tripped you over while it scurried along the floor of its own accord, and a fridge that dispensed perfectly shaped ice cubes into crystal glasses.

Olivia looked around furtively for a moment, and then laughed and decided to go for it. Her job as dog sitter extraordinaire had begun two weeks ago. She’d been told to entertain the excitable animals in any way she could think of, as they were naughty and destroyed everything while the owners were out – which they always were. Olivia hadn’t even met them, which was baffling. They left her notes with instructions on how to stop the dogs eating the walls and making a mess of the thick pile carpets. She actually quite liked the job, it was as easy as walking in a straight line. Then she thought about how wobbly she always was after three vodka and cokes, and quickly pushed that picture aside. The dogs were bored and, although her job included giving the house a cursory swipe with a duster, it was always immaculate when she arrived. Something was a bit weird, though, as the place was incredibly hot. The dogs liked to slobber all over her, making her even hotter. So she’d taken to stripping off as soon as she sat down with the pooches, otherwise she’d probably pass out and be found weeks later, mummified in dog hair.

Book links: Lizzie Chantree.

Universal book buy link: The little ice cream shop: viewbook.at/IceCreamShopByTheSea

Universal book buy link: Networking for writers: viewbook.at/NetworkingForWriters

Universal book buy link: If you love me, I’m yours: viewbook.at/IfYouLoveMe-ImYours

Universal book buy link: Ninja School Mum: viewbook.at/NinjaSchoolMumRomance

Universal book buy link: Babe Driven: viewbook.at/BabeDriven

Universal book buy link: Love’s Child: viewBook.at/Amazon-LovesChild

Universal book buy link: Finding Gina: viewbook.at/FindingGina

Shh… It’s Our Secret: https://www.bhcpress.com/Books_Chantree_Shh_Its_Our_Secret.html

The woman who felt invisible: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09J98F32J

Social media links:

Website: www.lizziechantree.com

Author page: https://www.viewAuthor.at/LizzieChantree

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizzieChantree/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7391757.Lizzie_Chantree

Wishing Lizzie every success with her new book!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzie_chantree/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LizzieChantree/pins/

FB Groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/647115202160536/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lizzie-chantree

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lizziechantreeauthor

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnCop-RlAcGqggZG3JfE-Mw

Support Your Local Writer

Posted on October 1, 2018 | by Rosie Travers | 5 Comments

I was recently asked what was the best piece of advice I could give to anyone thinking of writing a novel. Obviously, the answer was ‘get on and write it’- but I quickly followed that up with ‘join a writing group’.

I took up writing when I moved abroad. Blogging about my experiences as we forged a new life in an alien land was cathartic and a lot cheaper than therapy. When I returned to the UK I joined a creative writing class with the aim of turning my blog into some sort of book – either a self-help guide for other ex-pats or a work of fiction – an idea still on the back burner.

I’ve always been one of those people who’ve sort of meandered through life, as opposed to trail-blazing. I’ve never been particularly good at sport, and I’m definitely not musical, or particularly artistic. But when I first joined my creative writing class it was like – wow, I’ve found my forte. It really was a revelation; to fit in and find something I was actually quite good at. Six years on from that first class and another two house moves later, I still regularly meet up with a small group of my fellow students – not in a classroom situation but socially. Occasionally we convince ourselves we’re having some sort of creative workshop, but most of the time we just chat and eat.

And it’s because writing is such an isolating occupation – yes you can sit in a cafe sipping coffee while you write, but you certainly don’t want to interact with the other customers – a support network of like-minded souls is vital. When I’m in full-on writing mode I want an empty house with no interruptions. But every now and then I have to come out of my cave. I still need people to bounce ideas off, to pick me up and push me on when I feel like giving up. People who understand the foibles of the creative process, who know how writing becomes a compulsion, a habit which has you leaping out of bed at midnight to scribble down a plot twist. People who know you don’t just put words into your book, you put your heart and soul.

So I just want to give a little shout out to my group of like-minded souls, affectionately known as the Harem – one guy, several women. We don’t all write in the same genre, in fact Tania and Julia no longer write much at all, but Sally, Avril and Linda like their poetry, Anne and Ant write children’s books and Gill forges ahead into science fiction. The important point is that we’ve all been there for each other, through the trials and tribulations, the agonies of rejections to the joys of publication.

Anne Wan and Gill who writes as B Random have self-published, while Ant has a local publisher for his children’s stories about a magical wheelchair.

This is Ant at the book launch of his second ‘Whizzy’ book. And if you think the gentleman reading an extract from Ant’s book bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain Belgium detective – you’re right! Some people have friends in very high places. Check out how Anthony writes his amazing books here.

Writers really do support each other; there doesn’t seem to be a competition to do ‘better’ than anyone else – even though of course we all want our books to be bestsellers. It’s a bit like the Great British Bake-Off when the icing hasn’t set or the biscuits fall on the floor. Everyone rallies round and helps out.

The fellow authors I have met through the Romantic Novelists Association and my publisher Crooked Cat have provided no end of useful advice and information. I feel I’ve made new friends, even though I’ve only ever met a handful of them in person. When I was an ex-pat I clung to other ex-pats because we had a common bond. I’ve discovered the same is true for writers. It doesn’t take one to know one – but it does take one to understand.