Life eh? It's pants. Sometimes.

Yes, this is how I'm feeling at the moment.  I cannot seem to round up enough time to get any writing done, or to think through any new ideas.  In fact I dare not even begin to start thinking about it because I'm almost sure that a little gremlin is monitoring my every thought and as soon as I begin to think about something I want to do something else comes up that's far more important.  Apparently.
Take today for example.  I had allocated the morning for work and the afternoon for play (writing).  But no.  THIS IS JUST NOT ALLOWED.  How dare I have something planned for myself.  Along comes someone who needs something done urgently.  They...and they know who they are, messed up.  They were too close to a very important deadline and realised they couldn't make it.  So, hey, Valentina.  Get your butt into gear and sort it girlfriend.  Well of course I did.
Then Suzy turns up.  She had some forms to complete...but..."I'm hopeless with forms, sweetie.  And you're so good at it.  Please!"...accompanied by much fluttering of eyelashes. I suppose it's what she does with her boyfriends to get her own way.  Grrrrrr. Tut.
Oh hell.  I'm just in a bad mood.
Cheer me up, someone.  Please!
Lots of love
Valentina xx

Introducing...AGENT HUNTER!

No, AGENT HUNTER is not a new member of the NCIS or Criminal Minds teams.  AGENT HUNTER is a platform of information we aspiring writers have been waiting for to assist us in our search for the literary agent of our dreams.

As the Writer's Workshop - whose brainchild Agent Hunter is, would say - 'from here to publication.'

AGENT HUNTER is the most comprehensive information hub of literary agents the UK has ever seen. And it's ready and waiting for you to begin your search. wherever you are in the world.  At www.agenthunter.co.uk you will find every literary agent, every literary agency, and every significant publisher in the UK.

The information on the site is:-
COMPLETE - A comprehensive database of all literary agents and publishers, not just in London but across the UK.  The list of agents is vast, and the beauty of information is that it encourages you to feel you are writing to a real person and not just a name from a directory.  Most of the listings are accompanied by photographs which make it even more personal.

SORTABLE - You can create your own search filters to find agents who want work in your genre and who are looking for new clients.  This is so easy, and helps to narrow down the list of agents who would be interested in the kind of work a writer is producing.  I chose two filters, one for for fantasy, and one for YA, and I got 100 listings.  This is fantastic because it's often difficult to find the correct agent to contact in your chosen genre, particularly if they are from a large agency.

USEFUL - AGENT HUNTER supplies rich data on every agent; contact info, press articles, blogs, Twitter feeds, photos, interview...everything.  It's great to be able to see information about an agent in one place.  This is definitely very writer friendly and so helpful when sourcing relevant information about an agent's past clients and favourite genres.

UNIQUE - Agents have given Agent Hunter their likes and dislikes.  No other database has this information.  This is more important than we perhaps first imagine.  Many of the agents talk about querying and this first step is so very significant.  Agents have their own preferences and the information provided in the listings is essential.

PRACTICAL - You can save your searches and use them for your submissions planning.  So when you are in the midst of a session of serious submitting, you can save the information for a later date.  Vital!

TRUSTWORTHY - You can try AGENT HUNT for free!  It only takes a moment to sign up.  If you like what you see, an annual subscription is just £12.00 ($18.50). The database is regularly updated and continually fact-checked.  This information is essential in developing your own personal shortlist of agents. Get more information...

This service could not have come at a better time for me as I'm currently querying agents for my YA/NA fantasy novel, NOTES ON A REBELLION.  I've loved reading the agent listings - even those who don't agent in my genre!  AGENT HUNTER is the creation of the WRITER'S WORKSHOP, the UK's largest editorial service for new writers, created by Harry Bingham, a best-selling crime novelist.  The Writer's Workshop has superb contacts with literary agents and is constantly helping its writers secure representation and book deals.

My advice?  Go to each site and have a look round.  There's plenty of information on the sites to help you in your quest. There are also samples of editorial reports on Writer's Workshop which are absolutely intriguing, and information about how to get professional feedback on your work.

I hope this is of help to you during the querying process. I would recommend Agent Hunter, even if you're querying from outside the UK.  You never know what might happen.  Good Luck!

Lots of love
Valentina xx

Why Do We Write?

Well, I'm asking myself that question.  A bit late to the party I guess, considering I've just completed my second novel, written many poems, articles, blog posts for myself and other people, product information, sales literature, menus...I could go on.

I've also acquired a hip problem thanks to the amount of time I've spent sitting in front of a screen when I should have been moving - walking Lily, etc.  Yeah, it really hurts.  Maybe I need a hip-replacement?  Of course, I couldn't possibly have a hip-replacement because it would mean I'd be away from the screen for far too long.
And aren't I too young?  Or not.

My first novel completed at 110,000 words - NOTES ON A REBELLION, a little over 101,000.  Plus all the words I've soaked up on commercial writing which must run into the tens-of-thousands.  That's a lot of words.  Many of you have written more, I'm sure.   And that's it isn't it.  I just love those words.  I really do.

I get that look sometimes when people ask me why I  spend so much of my 'free' time writing, when I write for a living, often into the night to meet a deadline.  Heck, I dunno.  I just have to.  Not much of an answer, and not one they easily understand.  I don't care.

So...I've just started writing the second novel in the NOTES FROM RANDOM KNIGHT trilogy, THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COMPENDIUM. And it's a real leap of faith, because my search for an agent has only just begun.  Who knows what will happen.  I'm praying the person I'd love as my agent,  loves my voice, characters and story.  The first draft of the first chapter is written, and I'm beginning to get that funny excited feeling, because I know no matter how much I've planned things my characters will take me every which way.  Brilliant.  Can't wait for the journey.

Why do you write?

Lots of love,
Valentina x

E-Books v. Print Books

Why is it that when I read recently that E-book sales have overtaken print books, I felt disappointed?

My stomach actually 'lurched', and I can't work out why.

I have a huge pile of to-read books in my tiny office.  Honestly it's taking up way too much floor space to be safe.  I have an even longer list on my PC - must read titles I 'must read' before I shuffle off.  This alone tells me there is a significant place in our lives for the e-book medium, yet it saddens me.

I'll admit I'm an old fashioned girl, and I don't much like change, unless it's an unexpected date with Matt Damon or winning the National Lottery.

I don't have an e-reader but I do download stuff onto my PC.  Does that count?

There are things about 'real' books I don't want to give up.  I like holding them, sniffing them, (OK, that's weird).  I like the sound of the pages when I turn them.  Physically holding a book and knowing how far I've read into it at a glance gives me a sense of achievement -  my stack of books on my coffee table gives me a frisson of pleasure.  They're just...real.  And they're kind of beautiful.

I think the thing that concerns me is the temporary nature of e-books.  I also think I can tell quite a lot about a person by the books they read.  Yes, I can ask them what they like to read, which is a good thing because it becomes part of healthy conversation and debate, but when I visit someone's home, the books they have on their coffee table or shelves gives me a useful insight into their personality.  It's the first thing I look out for, particularly if they're a new acquaintance. I also like to buy books as presents as I know many people do.   It would be a huge shame not to be able to wrap a beautiful book and present it to a loved one as a gift.          

Our world is changing all the time.  Some of us will embrace it, and some of us won't.  As a writer I want an audience - and truly I don't mind how they read my work.  At the moment, my novel is a manuscript.  Some literary agents insist on queries in the email format, some won't even consider them.  I'm using both the email format and the hard copy format to get my work in front of them, and I'm happy to follow their preferences.

I hope e-books and print books will be able to sit alongside each other for a long time to come.  And, cards on table, when NOTES ON A REBELLION goes out into the world, as long as people are reading it, I don't mind which medium they choose. The important thing is they're reading, and hopefully loving the story I've crafted.

How do you feel about the huge changes in the publishing world?

POISON ~ A review of the New York Times Best Selling Author Molly Cochran's second novel in her bewitching trilogy for Young Adults

A few months ago, the New York Times Best Selling Author Molly Cochran agreed to be interviewed for 'Letters from Valentina Hepburn'. Molly was a dream to interview - her answers to the questions posed, honest and insightful, and very personal.  At that time, she had just published her YA novel 'LEGACY', the first in a trilogy of novels about Katy Ainsworth, and her unique talents as a young witch.

'POISON' is the exciting second book in Molly's trilogy and continues the story of Katy and her soul-mate, Peter Shaw, a young guy who is descended from a very affluent and well-known family in Whitfield.  Katy's talents as a witch often get her into hot water...and in 'POISON', her special abilities go up a gear.  She comes from a long line of witches and attends a boarding school in Whitfield, a town that has a population of witches that even its close neighbour, Salem would envy.

Attending the famous Ainsworth School, named after Katy's ancestor, Serenity Ainsworth, Katy is a student alongside the Muffies, girls who have no 'special abilities', and other witches, who just like Katy are expected to keep witchcraft out of the day to day running of the school.

Of course, this is never going to happen, and when Katy comes across four of the 'muffiest' Muffies dabbling with a Ouija board, Katie's detective skills go into overdrive.  Why are four ordinary girls who condemn witchcraft, trying to invoke magic from a Ouija board?  And how is Katie to hang onto her soul-mate, Peter Shaw when a gorgeous French student appears on the scene?  And how is all of this connected to King Arthur, The Merlin, and Avalon?


The setting of POISON departs somewhat from the boarding school atmosphere of LEGACY,  to explore the magical isle of Avalon and some of the personae from the King Arthur legend.  Beneath the story, however, is a theme of loneliness and the necessity for each of us to stand alone at some point during our lives... to face being rejected and reviled, despite our best efforts to fit in...to be known as Katy is, as POISON.

This fabulous story of paranormal daring do shows Katie Ainsworth at her most fearless.  She's a sassy, loveable character, whose skills as a witch lead her into some very interesting...and dangerous situations.

One of the most attractive features of Molly Cochran's trilogy is the setting - a community where witches live alongside 'ordinary' people, and where we can meet characters like Hattie - Peter's guardian and the High Priestess; Miss P, a jinn; Agnes; Katie's aunt and her great-grandmother, Gram - part of the Ainsworth family and witches themselves.  And then there's the love interest, Peter Shaw, who Katy is head over heels in love with.  Even witches fall in love!

This trilogy of stories for young adults will delight those who love contemporary tales of the supernatural, an ongoing love story, and a sparky witch who loves nothing more than a bit of detective work - carried out of course in her own, very special way. Read, LEGACY, POISON, and the much anticipated SEDUCTION.  Katy Ainsworth will charm you, as will her bewitching stories.

'POISON' is a must read, and is Molly Cochran at her very best.  Here is an excerpt to tempt you:~

Chapter One

I probably went to the only school in the country with a rule against practicing witchcraft.

     That wasn't really as crazy as it sounded.  The Massachusetts town where I lived was sort of known for its rumored history of magical residents.  Some said it was even more haunted by witches than Salem, our famous neighbor.  The story went that while the Pilgrims in Salem were burning innocent women at the stake, the real witches went to Whitfield and vanished into a fog.
     Of course, that wasn't entirely true.  Nobody had actually been burned at the stake in Salem.  Oh, there had been plenty of murders, jailings, and torture of women who hadn't done much more than piss off her neighbors.  Lots of widows had their property stolen, and one guy got crushed to death.  But the burnings were pretty much left to the Europeans.  The part of the story that was true was the part about the real witches going to Whitfield.
     I knew this because I was a descendant of one of those witches.  A lot of us were, although we kept quiet about it.  That was because even there, in the town where at least half the population were witches, we had to live among the cowen. aka non-magical people.  Actually, we thought of ourselves as - talented - we could all do different things - rather than magical.  But that wouldn't have mattered to cowen.  They had a nice tradition of destroying anything they couldn't understand.  
Look at Salem.
     At school there were two kinds of students, the Muffies and the witches.  Muffies were the kind of girls you'd find at every boarding school in the Northeast:fashionable, promiscuous, and clueless.  Okay, that wasn't fair.  There were plenty of cowen kids at Ainworth school who weren't Muffies.  Half of them weren't even girls. But those non-Muffies generally left us alone.  It was the Muffies who were always making life difficult.
     They sneered at us.  They called us names. (Yeah, these were the same people who were legally named Bitsy, Binky, and Buffy.)  "Geek" was probably the most popular name for us, since it was pretty much true, at least from their point of view.  We generally didn't have problems with drugs, alcoholism, reckless driving, kleptomania, credit card debt, or STD's.  To be fair, we did sometimes have issues with ghosts, apparitions, disappearing, transmogrification, rainmaking, telepathy, demon rampages, telekinesis, and raising the dead.  And maybe a few other things.
     Hence the injunction against performing witchcraft at Ainsworth.  This rule had been in place ever since my ancestor, Serenity Ainsworth had founded the school.............

How to Avoid Information Overload

I've been thinking! (Careful now!)

How much information do we actually need?  Since finishing (and editing like a demon because my manuscript was crappy in places - holding hands up) NOTES ON A REBELLION, I decided to take a little wander through all the websites and articles that I'd saved to read 'later'.  The websites were in the main about how to become the next break-out writer, ostensibly written to promote good writing, but often used to sell something.  I skimmed through these, and found that they were often repetitive bits of info that I'd read time and time again - how to write the best query letter (much of them saying something different, by the way).  The last one said 'be different'.  Agents like writers to be unique.  OK - get rid of all the others that said our queries must be written in three paragraphs and contain no waffle.  And for heaven sake, don't personalize it!  So, am I any the wiser?

Then there were the ones that said, 'begin your novel right in the middle of the action' and others that said, 'don't begin your novel with an action scene, you must paint your world first.' Sigh.  My head has begun to spin.

My characters must be memorable, have a life, a history, a unique stand point, a raison d'etre...and lots of sex!  My main character is seventeen.  If she were my daughter and she spent her time flinging herself into bed with loads of guys instead of saving the world as she's meant to be doing, I'd clip her ear for her. She'd be grounded for ten years.  I know books have to have some heat, but how much exactly?

There were websites and articles on grammar (my soft spot), syntax (syn-wot), punctuation, pov's, and everything in between.  You know what?  I've done my own head in.

This is all too much information.  Sorry, but I've had it.  This is my advice.  Get some books written by people whose writing you love and read 'em.  It's all in there.  And it wouldn't hurt to acquire some books on the publishing business - what it's really like and not what we want it to be.

I've just read The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner, a literary agent and partner in the Dunow, Carson and Lerner Literary Agency.  Betsy tells it like it actually is.  She has massive experience in the industry - an editor until she changed paths to become an agent.  It's written for the reader (and the aspiring writer) and doesn't patronize or condescend.  After reading it, I felt I'd learnt something very worthwhile about writing and the business of writing.  Let's face it.  That's what it's all about.

 I'm done saving loads of this and that on the kind of writer I should be.  Some of it I'll probably never read, and it clogs up my computer which can barely cope with being switched on as it is, and virtually has a panic attack when asked to do anything... computer-y.  And I'm me.  I can't write like anyone else.

The other point is,  all the time I'm reading this stuff I'm not actually creating anything.  I'm so busy filling my head with shoulda's, woulda's, coulda's that I'm not focusing on the main event - my own writing.

How do you make sure that your focus stays where it should be, and doesn't meander to other, seemingly more attractive temptations?

Love
Valentina x

WHY DOES DEPRESSION STALK WRITERS?

When LETTERS FROM VALENTINA HEPBURN was in its infancy, I wrote a blog post about friends being a comfort in times of need.  If I recall correctly, I'd had a particularly vicious bout of 'flu, and I wrote how grateful I was to Ronnie Levine and Suzy Campioni, both of whom looked after me until I felt well enough to look after myself.

I remember being particularly surprised at La Campioni, for it was she who organised 'Little Cuisine' to leave some rather lovely delicacies on my doorstep, so that I could sneak out in my PJs and flu'y ugliness, to retrieve said delicacies without being observed.

In the Longman Dictionary of the English Language, the word 'friend' is described thus: a person whose  company, interests, and attitudes one finds sympathetic.

Some time back, a male friend was diagnosed with bipolar depression.     We knew he wasn't very well - first he would be full of the joys of Spring, telling us that his film script was going to turn to gold and become a break out movie, (yes, Blogettes, he's a writerly sort, and we know better than anyone how depression stalks some of us who write) but within a few days he had sunk into the depths of despair, claiming to be the most useless writer God had ever put on the earth, and his announcement to us of his impending fame and fortune had embarrassed the hell out of him.

His change in behaviour was so marked, that Ronnie Levine suggested he should consult a specialist in these matters.  The psychiatrist promptly diagnosed bipolar depression.

Well, Blogettes, what do you think our group of friends did?  They ignored it, that's what.  Nobody mentioned it, or expressed their sorrow, or gave words of encouragement.  No pints of beer were offered, no chocolates or nights out with the boys to cheer him up.  I was astonished, and to tell the truth, I still am.
I thought friends were supposed to be there for us during good and bad times.  I s'pose it's a bit like marriage vows - when your old friend needs you, the vow of 'in sickness and in health' applies.

Yet again, Suzy Campioni, Ronnie Levine and I came to the rescue.  Our friend is 'camping out' (I say camping out, but what I really mean is staying in the lap of luxury) in Suzy Campioni's apartment.  I'm delivering tasty treats I've rustled up when I've got my cook's hat on, and Ronnie Levine is 'just being there' for him.  There's no razzamatazz, no deep discussions about depression, no whys and wherefores...no pressure.

He'll get better, we know he will.  Already he seems more like his old self and it's very comforting to us.  And to him of course.

I guess, Blogettes, I'm just disappointed that when a friend is in need, some people just turn their backs.   They seem to forget that it could so easily happen to them.

What goes around comes around.

What does friendship mean to you?

Lots of love,
Valentina  xx