Miranda Writes 15 – Meet the stars of the RNA Conference!

Posted on July 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

This week I bring you a very special, two-part vlog from this year’s RNA Conference in Sheffield…

I had a fantastic time at conference, especially meeting so many brilliant authors. And, never one to shy away from a vlogging opportunity, I was very cheeky and grabbed some exclusive interviews with amazing authors…

In Part One, I talk to Laura E. James, Kate Lace, Brigid Coady, Rowan Coleman and the very mysterious Electra Shepherd!

In Part Two, I meet Tamsyn Murray, Stephanie Cage, Julie Cohen, Kate Harrison and Cally Taylor… So many wonderful writers!

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Miranda Writes 14 – Reviews, Copyright and Dream Destinations…

Posted on July 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

All this year I’m documenting the writing, editing and publishing of Take A Look At Me Now – my fifth novel – giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I answer your questions on authors and reviews, copyright, dream destinations for books and which of my characters I’d like to hang out with – including Nell from Take A Look At Me Now…

I have four fab questions this week, including one from the lovely Heidi at Cosmochicklitan book blog and two very special questions from the very gorgeous Kirsty at I Heart Books book blog, to celebrate the one-year blogaversary of her blog. Congratulations, lovely lady!

What do authors really think about reviews? Are they a help or a hindrance? And how can reviewers write reviews to bring about better books? I answer these thorny questions and more this week! To ask me a question, simply leave a comment on this post or email me: mirandawurdy@gmail.com

Enjoy!

p.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled: ‘Things that make you go HMMMMM…’

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Miranda Writes 13 – Agents, books and sneaky scenes

Posted on July 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

All this year I’m documenting the writing, editing and publishing of Take A Look At Me Now – my fifth novel – giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I answer your questions and reveal how you can read exclusive scenes from Take A Look At Me Now months before it is published…

As Take A Look At Me Now is winging its way to the printers, this week I asked for your questions – and you responded with some real crackers! So this week, I’ll tell you about product placement and name-dropping in novels, discuss whether writers ever really turn off their critical skills to read a book for fun and let you know my views on whether you should approach an agent with a full manuscript or not.

Do you have a burning question about writing, publishing, my books or anything else? Pop a comment in the box below, or email me: mirandawurdy@gmail.com and I’ll answer them for you next time.

Enjoy! xx

p.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, ‘What’s that coming over the hill…?’

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Miranda Writes 12 – More lovely San Francisco!

Posted on June 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

All this year I’m documenting the writing, editing and publishing of Take A Look At Me Now – my fifth novel – giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. Here is the second of the vlogs I made when Bob and I visited San Francisco to research Take A Look At Me Now…

In this episode you’ll see Union Square, Chinatown, the Financial District and the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park!

Enjoy!

p.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, ‘Hanging out in Union Square’…

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And the title for my new book is…

Posted on June 8, 2013 | 1 comment


Finally I can reveal the title for my fifth novel…

Here it is…

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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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Miranda Writes 10: Agents, plot, book covers – your questions answered!

Posted on May 19, 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’m answering your questions on everything from whether to have an agent or not, my new book cover and how long it takes to write a book…

I asked for your questions and you responded with lots of great ones -so here they are! Ever wondered how many copies of a paperback book are printed in an edition? Or how many hours each writing session should be? Or how to take a basic plot outline and make it into a story structure that works? I answer all of these this week!

I’m always looking for your questions for my vlogs and asking one couldn’t be easier: just leave me a comment on this post, or email me at: mirandawurdy@gmail.com

Enjoy!

P.s. This week’s YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled: ‘Catching some well-earned zzzzzzzzs’

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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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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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