Oops. Sorry to keep you waiting… The rest of the year galloped by and I’ve only just caught my breath. I assure you I wasn’t so much neglecting my website…as simply prioritizing my 10th novel, which I finally finished in late August. Now that my website-wizard (James Beechinor Collins Esq.) has taught me how to do my own updates, my intention is to do precisely that! I hope you’ve been enjoying the new-look website and my blog but I intend to keep the Journal section going too because it gives me the opportunity to blether on at length. JBC is very strict about keeping blogs pithy and short – but I’m having the final say on Journal length! So…here am I, in cold-snap January, thinking back on the last twelve months. Over the months, the Romantic Novel of the Year Award followed me like a dancing butterfly – with so many people continuing to congratulate me, even now! Each time someone says ‘well done’, I re-live the thrill all over again!
The Spring and Summer I devoted to Secrets. Do you like the title? I know it doesn’t have my usual quirkiness, but I think it’ll be a hard-working title. And it does what it says on the packet…because both hero (Joe the bridge-builder) and heroine (Tess the runaway) have more than a few secrets between them and the book charts their journey on whether to conceal…or reveal…! I hasten to add, it all ends happily ever after. Would you ever speak to me again if it didn’t?
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Oh Lordy. Secrets went to print today. It’s like sending a child off to school for the first day – you know they’ll be fine without you. You know they’re ready to go. You know you have to let go… BUT still you want to keep bringing them back to check they have absolutely everything they need. And one more kiss. And stay waving until they’re quite gone from sight. And you then feel utterly bereft.
I’m a perfectionist – much to the frustration of my publishers. Some authors I know can’t wait to see the back of their books – they are even happy to have minimal involvement in editing. Me? I’m an utter control freak. These are my words, THEY’RE MINE. HAND’S OFF! No you can’t change that comma! No I don’t want to use ‘green’ instead of ‘verdant’! No I’m not changing her age/ his hair colour/ the last two paragraphs of that chapter…. I’m obsessive about every adjective (yes yes, some are made up, I know!), every semi-colon, when a word MUST be in italics, (or in brackets), or when I need * * * (three please, one * won’t do) between paragraphs and not merely a line break. I can’t abide words being split between two lines. The spacing has to be just so. Sometimes I choose a word as much for its physical appearance on the page as for its meaning. I’m a nightmare control freak mad woman. But I do it because I care SO much about my work, my characters, their story – and most of all, the reader’s journey with them. I hope I’ve done you proud wtih Secrets. I hope you’ll love reading my 10th novel as much as I loved researching and writing it.
No matter how many people proof read, regardless of how many times we go over the text, there’s always a typo or two which escape. If you find one, please let me know! I’ll be mortified! I’ll be on the phone, barking at my poor publisher, in a jiffy…
Well hullo everybody – and welcome to the all-singin’, all dancin’ new-look website! This is my first ever blog. I’m an utter cretin when it comes to anything remotely technological and 21st century…make that 20th century. If I could, I would write with quill on parchment. Which wouldn’t be much use to you because my handwriting is nigh on illegible. So, this site is brought to you by me being a Bossy Breeches to the over-worked, under-appreciated but awesomely talented James Beechinor Collins. We have lots of new ideas in the offing – including regular video updates. Do drop me a line and tell me what you think!
At the moment, I am at home with Georgia who is off school with the lurgy which she has oh-so-kindly passed on to me. I could give Rudolf a run for his money with my glow-in-the-dark nose. A kindly little old lady in the Post Office queue told me to drink a concoction of a raw egg, a spoonful of sugar and chopped onion. I don’t think she like me. Christmas looms and I’m as excited as ever as this time next week we’ll be in North Yorkshire. Many of you will remember that Pillow Talk is set up there – so I’ll be following in Petra’s footsteps and visiting her old haunts of Stokesley, Runswick Bay and of course an ice-cream at Suggitts in Great Ayton, whatever the weather. I’ll also be going to Saltburn for a mighty blow-through on that spectacular beach…my new book Secrets is sat entirely in Saltburn so I’ll be taking up-to-date pics to publish in the novel.
Right, I’m going to follow JBC’s Idiot-Proof-Guide-to-Blogging and try and post this. If it works, my next post will be four words long…
[1991] – Freya gave up a PhD scholarship to write her first novel, Sally. For 4 years she turned deaf ears to parents and pals who pleaded with her to “get a proper job”. She went on the dole and did a succession of freelance and temping jobs to support “writing days” every now and then. During this time, she was rejected by many publishers and agents whose comments ranged from “you can’t start a book like that” (referring to Sally’s rather raunchy opening scene) to “I like your idea but can’t stand your style”. Undeterred, she started Chloë as soon as she finished Sally. In 1996 she approached one of the UK’s top literary agents, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown Ltd. Throwing caution to the wind, Freya sent him 3 chapters and a page of completely fabricated reviews, which she wrote on behalf of the Sunday Times, Jilly Cooper and Germaine Greer. Lloyd took her on and put her work up for auction.
[1996] – 5 publishers enter a bidding war for Freya’s books. A three-book deal for a six figure sum is the result. Sally is published to great acclaim and Freya is heralded a fresh voice in fiction.
[1997] - Chloë doubles Sally‘s release figures and is a Sunday Times bestseller.
[1998] - Polly spends 14 weeks in the original Fiction Top 10. The film rights are sold and the paperback goes straight onto the Sunday Times Top 10 at no.5.
[1999] – Freya’s 4th novel Cat is published in November. Set around the Tour de France, Freya’s research took her deep down to the secrets behind the Lycra.
Freya’s books are translated into five languages. In Holland, she is called the Literary Spice Girl and her books are hailed “better than viagra”. Her fan base is wide, ranging from teenage girls to elderly gentlemen worldwide.
[2000] - in June, Cat is released in mass market paperback. Fen is being written. Pip is being researched. Freya is involved with the Daphne Du Maurier Festival and the Edinburgh International Literary Festival as well as many other book festivals from Bodmin to Bracknell.
[2001] – Freya’s 5th novel, Fen, is published in October. Her son, Felix, was born on Easter Sunday, 15th April 2001.
[2002] - Freya spends the summer writing Pip. Fen is published in paperback in late September and goes straight into the charts, peaking at no.4. Freya is now safely into her second pregnancy with the baby due in early February. Pip is completed late November and Freya and her family move house a couple of weeks later.
[2003] - Georgia Jeannette born on 4th February 2003 at 10.45 pm, weighing 7 lbs 14 0z. Pip is published in August. Freya starts her 7th novel, Love Rules, featuring the adventures of two best friends – new characters, plus the reappearance of Sally.
[2004] – Pip is published to great success in paperback. Freya completes Love Rules and follows her editor to HarperCollins. Freya is now hard at work on no8 – which reunites Cat, Fen and Pip McCabe.
[2005] - Love Rules is published around Valentine’s Day and then in paperback later in the year. The novel is a Top10 bestseller, breaking all Freya’s previous sales records. Home Truths, Freya’s 8th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 9th…
[2006] – Home Truths is published in March and stays in the Original Fiction Top10 for over 3 months. The book becomes a paperback bestseller in the autumn, making the national Top 10 and riding high over the Christmas period. Pillow Talk, Freya’s 9th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 10th…
[2007] – Pillow Talk is published in August to great acclaim, going straight into the Original Fiction Top Ten. The tenth novel is underway – and waiting for a title.
[2008] – on 4th February, Pillow Talk is published in paperback and wins the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Georgia turns 5 years old on the same day. It’s a career highlight for Freya, with lots of TV and press to do but soon enough she’s back in the library, completing the 10th novel, Secrets.
[2009] – Secrets will be published as an exclusive airport edition in February, and in paperback in May. Freya thought she needed a rest…but now she’s planning her 11th novel – and a couple of top secret projects too… watch this space!
[2009] – Secrets was published and spent over four months in the bestseller lists with sales figures doubling those of Pillow Talk. Freya toured the North East doing signings and talks and continued her role as Ambassador to the region.
[2010] – What a year. The US rights for Pillow Talk and Secrets were sold to Source Books, with Pillow Talk due for stateside publication in July 2011. Freya and her children moved from London to the Hertfordshire countryside. Cancer challenged Freya’s mum to fight for her life – and she won. Freya wrote her 11th novel, Chances.
[2011] – Chances is published on 31st March, peaks at number 4 in the UK Bestsellers and continues to sell strongly throughout the summer reading season. Freya is now hard at work on her 12th novel, Rumours.
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