Category Archives: Writing

Miranda Writes 11 – Book 5 characters, tenses, writing rituals and more!

Posted on June 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

All this year I will be documenting the writing, editing and publishing of my fifth novel, giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I’ll tell you about one of the supporting cast for Book 5 and answer your questions on everything from writing rituals, good vs evil characters and which tense to write in…

With the sun finally appearing, this vlog is in my very sunny garden this week. Apologies for the blustery wind and couple of edits (I got rather carried away nattering to you in the sunshine!)

Thanks so much for your amazing questions, which this week come from the lovely Kirsty at the awesome bookish site Novelicious (click the name to visit), Dot from the equally fabulous Dot Scribbles Blog (click the name to visit), together with twitter lovelies @RosieBBooks and @Rachel_Fusion.

So, without further ado, may I present my very sunny vlog!

p.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, ‘Here comes the sun…’

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Enter The New Rose Prize 2013 NOW!

Posted on May 8, 2013 | 13 comments

The New Rose Prize 2013 is officially OPEN for entries!

I am thrilled to announce that the competition for unpublished writers is now open and looking for entries in the following categories:

The New Rose Crime Prize 2013 – judged by MEL SHERRATT. Stories must be no longer than 2,000 words and you must not have had fiction of any length published before, either self-published or traditionally published. To enter, send your story as a Word document to: mirandawurdy@gmail.com WITH THE SUBJECT HEADING CRIME by midnight (BST) on 31st August 2013.

The New Rose Prize for Literary Fiction 2013 – judged by JAMIE GUINEY. Stories must be no longer than 2,000 words and you must not have had fiction of any length published before, either self-published or traditionally published. To enter, send your story as a Word document to: mirandawurdy@gmail.com WITH THE SUBJECT HEADING LITERARY by midnight (BST) on 31st August 2013.

The New Rose Prize for Romantic Comedy – judged by MIRANDA DICKINSON. Stories must be no longer than 2,000 words and you must not have had fiction of any length published before, either self-published or traditionally published. To enter, send your story as a Word document to: mirandawurdy@gmail.com WITH THE SUBJECT HEADING ROMANTIC COMEDY by midnight (BST) on 31st August 2013.

The New Rose Prize for Young Adult Fiction 2013 – judged by TAMSYN MURRAY. Stories must be no longer than 2,000 words and you must not have had fiction of any length published before, either self-published or traditionally published. To enter, send your story as a Word document to: mirandawurdy@gmail.com WITH THE SUBJECT HEADING YOUNG ADULT by midnight (BST) on 31st August 2013.

The New Rose First Chapter Award 2013 – judged by MIRANDA DICKINSON. Chapters must be no longer than 3,000 words and you must not have had fiction of any length published before, either self-published or traditionally published. To enter, send your story as a Word document to: mirandawurdy@gmail.com WITH THE SUBJECT HEADING FIRST CHAPTER by midnight (BST) on 31st August 2013.

THE PRIZES – each winner will receive a place on my online writers’ course (worth £80), plus a chapter critique from the category judge and free books. I am hoping to add to these prizes soon, so keep watching for details. All winners and two runners-up from each category will see their entries featured on my blog http://www.coffeeandroses.blogspot.com (all rights will be maintained by the authors of the stories).

It is FREE to enter for anyone aged 15 and over, and entry is open worldwide. The New Rose Prize is specifically for unpublished writers. Authors whose works of fiction have been published before, including self-published either singularly or as part of an anthology, given free in any format (including Amazon, GoodReads and iBooks, etc), or traditionally published singularly or as part of an anthology are not eligible to enter. (Please note, if you have had non-fiction or poetry published before you ARE eligible to enter. The no publication rule only applies to works of fiction of any length.) The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

All entries must be received by MIDNIGHT (BST) on SATURDAY 31ST AUGUST 2013. Please ensure you write the title of the category you wish to enter in the subject line of your email entry.

You can enter as many categories as you like, but please send each as a separate email. Entries with multiple stories attached to one email will not be considered eligible.

GOOD LUCK!

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Posted in Books, Competitions, Uncategorized, Writing

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Miranda Writes 9: Enter The New Rose Prize 2013!

Posted on May 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

All this year I will be documenting the writing, editing and publishing of my fifth novel, giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I’ll tell you all about my writing competition for unpublished writers, The New Rose Prize 2013 and bring you exciting details of my sparkly online writing course, which is coming soon…

2013 will see the return of The New Rose Prize for unpublished writers! I’m extending the competition this year to include separate prizes for Crime, Literary, Romantic Comedy and YA short stories, plus for the first time I’m adding a First Chapter award for the most impressive first chapter of a novel (open genre). I’m so excited to be bringing this competition back after a cracking opening year in 2011, which was won by Naomi Frisby. There is a stellar line-up of judges and awesome prizes. Submissions will open on WEDNESDAY 8th MAY and close on Saturday 31st August, with the shortlist announced on 6th September and winners announced on 20th September.

My judges are: TAMSYN MURRAY for the YA Prize, MEL SHERRATT for the Crime Prize, JAMIE GUINEY for the Literary Fiction Prize and I’ll be judging both the Romantic Comedy Prize and the First Chapter Award.

The announcement of the official opening for submissions, plus all the entry details for New Rose Prize 2013 will be published HERE at 1PM on WEDNESDAY 8TH MAY – so make sure you check back then!

I’ll tell you more in this week’s vlog below – enjoy!

p.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, ‘New Summer Hat’…

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Why books are like a cinema just for you…

Posted on April 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Today, I sat in a cinema all by myself and watched a film. 

This is not a statement that I have no friends or that I’m a rock-star author who can command private screenings. It was just a lovely, serendipitous happening. But it made me think about what writers do for our readers.


Image: TheNextWeb.com

I didn’t have special permission from the director to view the film alone. I didn’t have to pay a King’s ransom for the opportunity. I didn’t even have to book the experience in advance. I simply turned up at my local multiplex cinema on a Saturday morning and bought a regular ticket for the first show of the day. As it happened, nobody else had the same idea and so, with my £6.20 ticket, I watched the film as the only person in the cinema. Yes, I felt like a celebrity. And yes, I grinned like a complete loon all through the film. It was one of those moments that probably won’t ever happen again, but I loved every second of it.

And then, it hit me: as an author every book I write offers each reader an experience like this.

Every author who writes a story for other people to read is inviting those readers into an amazing world which feels as if it was created just for them. The audience of one. It doesn’t matter if a book is read by one person or several million, the experience is the same. We offer people the chance to step into their own private cinema of their imagination and project a story into it for them to enjoy. And as each reader’s ideas and expectation of the story are different, each mind-movie is different, too. We give readers an indulgent, VIP experience by welcoming them into worlds of our creation, no matter who or where in the world they are.

That’s why books are magical.

I mean, where else can you receive that kind of attention for less than a price of a cinema ticket?

For more writing inspiration, visit my blog: Coffee & Roses.

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