Review: Hearts and Flowers Border

Hearts and Flowers Border 
L.T.Smith

“A visitor from her past jolts Laura Stewart into memories... some funny... some heart wrenching... but she needs to deal with all of them before she can open the door to allow her past to shape her future. A story starting in the present day, narrated by a woman who needs to retell her past before she can move on with her future. There is no fantastic underlying plot, just a simple retelling of events leading to the present day. Most of us will recognise the uncertainty of youth and the first flush of love.”

I think this might be the first review of a British book! How remiss of me!

This is not to say the UK doesn’t have a fantastic array of lesbian fiction, it is simply that it hasn’t been at the top of my list until now, however there will be more to come in the future.

"Why does it matter where the book is from?"

Well there is a wonderful sense of coming home when reading a book from England; the recognisable education system, the slang, the humour – oh the humour!

That is the real star quality of ‘Hearts and Flowers Border’, it's genuinely funny. The set up and the first half of the book are fantastic and then the emotional drama really kicks in.

This really is a story where you can relate to the emotional teenager, Laura, the hang ups, the embarrassing moments! Whether you’re a teenager now or looking back and cringing, it certainly hits home!

Written largely through flashback the story focuses on first love, loss and then overcoming that. Becoming stronger, moving on. But then BAM being thrown for a loop when that person comes back and the regression back to that teenager!

As it says on the tin (ok the blurb) there isn’t an in depth or twisty, turny plot with a whole array of supporting cast members who dive in and out pulling the story this way or that, it is a simple story. But aren’t they sometimes the best?

This novel’s strength is in the telling of the story, the voice of the narrator, the utterly relatable way that L.T.Smith drives the story forward. It is like reading a personal diary in some parts, but also like talking to your best friend, who knows you really well and has been through the same hard times as you.

I found it hard to say goodbye.

Overall ‘Hearts and Flowers Border’ is romantic, dark, funny and infinitely relatable, it is a definite recommended read.

A Cunning Plan

Well perhaps not ‘cunning’ but a plan nonetheless.

I have been tempted more and more as time goes on to have a whack at self publishing. I have spoken to a lot of other authors who have experienced the journey and I would like to see if there is anything to be gained by having a go myself.

Unlike some writers I don’t have a multitude of novels sitting on my hard drive waiting to be published (how I wish I had!) so I will have to start from scratch.

So because of that, because I am eager and because I have a few ideas already, I have decided to publish a novella rather than a full length novel.

Then if it all goes horribly wrong I won’t have lost as much.

My plan is to take one story of around 10,000 words and publish it in e-book form on amazon, smashwords and lulu. I will focus on those three for now but I know there are plenty of other platforms to choose from.

With regards to price – I have seen stories of this length sell anywhere between 20p and £5. Sell too low and no one thinks you are selling something of value, charge too much and people will believe they are being cheated.

So taking this into account I believe a fair price to start this great experiment would be a £1 (although there will be a fair few free copies given away as well). 

Meaning I would make 30p a book (before tax).

Even doing a lot of the work myself, the costs would be (at the very, very least) £100, so that means I would need to sell 334 copies before I would start to earn money. That sounds like an awful lot!

I would ideally like to sell that many copies in the first month but that is a dream! In reality I will give myself three months to do it.

If I don’t hit my target within three months then I will see it as a failed experiment and I will have to rethink. If, by some miracle, I do hit that target then you won't be able to stop me from publishing another one!

Wish me luck!

Being everywhere at once

Following on from some great advice Lynette Ferreira, Claire Chilton and Jeffrey Getzin on facebook, I have decided to get my writing read by more people.

I already have this (rarely updated) blog and my precious Wattpad profile, but I have created a few more profiles on some other sites. 

I’m not going to go crazy over this and try to make each space unique and try to network everyday with everyone, everywhere: I have to leave myself time to write!

So I have a pretty standard profile and over the next few weeks I will be uploading all my free reads onto all of the websites. 

At the moment I have a new profile on:

Booksie

Scribd

DeviantART (I had no idea they had a section for literature!)

Movellas

I will be keeping an eye out for new places to upload my work, but if you haven’t checked out my free reads yet then check out my profiles and follow me to get all the updates as I venture in to this new world of being everywhere! 

I just hope I don’t get lost!

Review: Never Say Never

Never Say Never
Linda Hill 

"I don't want to hurt you, Leslie." Sara's words stung me. Of all the ways she could have said it, she'd chosen these specific words. Not " I won't hurt you," or " I'm not going to hurt you." Those words would have calmed my fears. But no. She chose " I don't want to hurt you."

Computer analyst Leslie Howard knows all too well that the fastest way to a broken heart is to ignore Lesbian Dating Rule Number One: Never, ever, get involved with a straight woman. Yet, despite her better judgment, and serious warnings from her friends, she finds herself battling a growing infatuation with her very straight - and very attractive - co-worker Sara Stevens.

Haunted by memories of past rejection, Leslie is understandably hesitant about coming out to Sara, yet she doesn't want to jeopardize their friendship by being dishonest about who she is. When Leslie finally trusts Sara enough to tell her she's a lesbian, Sara fulfills Leslie's worst fears and cuts her off.

Hurt and angry with herself, Leslie vows never to trust Sara again, and seeks solace in the arms of a seductive young golf pro. When Sara sees Leslie with her new lover, she is forced to confront her own hidden desires. Then, a long business trip together turns into an emotional tug-of-war, as Leslie and Sara struggle to control the raging passions that could bring them together - or tear them apart."

Who hasn’t been in that situation? When you’ve had a major crush on someone? On that unreachable, untouchable someone? 

This is one of those all too real scenarios in which gay Leslie Howard falls for ‘straight’ Sara.

What’s worse is Sara’s reaction to finding out Leslie is gay. It is crushing because it is so real and so well told. With me, this scenario really hit home and I could really empathise with the characters as the story played out. 

Linda Hill weaves a great story with twists and turns to pull you through and keep you interested with some interesting supporting characters along for the journey.

Although it is Leslie’s journey that we follow, it is Sara who really makes a change in this story and it is her struggle that drives the plot forward and adds the jeopardy to the potential of the relationship. Although it is easy to get angry with her, it is also easy to understand her crisis and the author is able to really put across how it feels to be on the inside of that closet and scared of what you are that you hurt those around you. 

If that was the only problem in the way that would be a strong story, but there are more twists and turns to come and nothing gets resolved until right at the last hour. 

Overall Never Say Never is a great story that manages to pack in unrequited love, the importance of trust and the difficulty of coming out and finding who you are, it is a great little read and perfect for a Sunday afternoon sitting in the garden. 

In the Zone

When I’m writing I often loose track of time, forget to eat, ignore the door (I don’t even hear it) and go off into my own world completely cut off from the outside.

I can write thousands of words in one sitting and complete a short story (around 3 to 4 thousand words) in a day, easily.

However that is when I’m ‘in the zone’ – I have often heard people talking about ‘the zone’ and wondered what they meant, but I am really beginning to see for myself what it is all about.

When I’m not in the zone, well… it’s like the writing part of my brain is locked in another room and I can’t get to it. No matter how much I bang on the glass, or rattle the handle, it ignores me.

I procrastinate – I go on the internet, I clean the kitchen, I write myself post it notes about what it is I am meant to be doing.

But none of these things help me get that door open.

I know that when I get in there I can finish my work in a matter of hours. But when I am on the outside it can be days, and days, and days without any story written.

I suppose some people might refer to it as writer’s block. But I always thought writer’s block was that the writer didn’t know what to write, didn’t know how to begin or had no idea in mind. That isn’t the case here.

I know what I need to write, but my brain is playing tricks on me and won’t stay focused on the same task long enough for me to get anything fi

Review: Imagine Me & You

Imagine Me & You

Dir. Ol Parker

“Bittersweet romantic comedy. On their wedding day, Heck (Matthew Goode) and Rachel (Piper Perabo) should be the happiest couple alive. But when Rachel catches the eye of an unexpected female guest at the church, she suddenly knows that Heck isn't the man she's supposed to spend her life with. Plunging into the marriage anyway, Rachel soon finds herself starting to question her sexual orientation as she falls for this mysterious woman.”

I can’t stress this enough: this is a really great little film.

Maybe it’s because it fits perfectly with my British sense of humour, but there are some truly great supporting actors here including Celia Imrie, Anthony Head, Sue Johnston and Darren Boyd puts in a sterling performance as the best friend. It is the quality of these actors that really brings out the writing here and a throwaway line that could easily have been lost with someone else becomes utterly memorable.

This is all before you even get to the leads.

American actress Piper Perabo does a flawless English accent and plays the sensitive and confused Rachel to perfection. She marries her best friend, because she truly does love him very, very much. She simply doesn’t realise what passionate romantic love is until she catches sight of the wonderful Lena Heady.

Known for her roles in The Sarah Conner Chronicles and Game of Thrones, Heady has become a heavyweight and in this earlier role you can see why.

She is able to deftly handle the comedic side to the character as well as the strength, and the heartbreak. You really do believe that these two women simply fall in love at first sight, setting off a chain of events that they are powerless to prevent.

This story could so easily be (and has been in other films) a heavy story about commitment, responsibility and guilt, those issues are there, but there well balanced against humour.

Yes, some of it is cheesy and silly, no, there is no nudity (which some people seem to expect the moment the word ‘lesbian’ is mentioned) but overall this is a light hearted, well acted and very funny romantic comedy.

Imagine Me & You is a solid British comedy and a badly needed addition to the LGBT film catalogue.

A Tale of Two Lives

Online and Offline.

Usually these two lives can compliment one another: communicating with friends, arranging events, building a network, sharing pictures – even earning money.

But they can also clash – horribly. I can spend hours (and I really mean hours) procrastinating online. I can suddenly find a million and one things I have to know or have to see before cleaning the oven. There are always better things to be doing than cleaning the oven!

Or, as has happened recently, I can be so caught up with ‘real’ things, events and commitments offline that my whole life online draws to a grinding halt.

I helped out a little with a local am dram group, I helped find some props and did some front of house. I didn’t think it would be a big commitment, just five shows in the evening and that was it.

How wrong I was!

It became all consuming – not only were there the shows, there were the rehearsals, the painting of the set the massive amount of preparation that goes into little things like the program. On the nights themselves I was there hours before the show started and hours after it ended – it seemed that the actors were there less!

It wiped me out for a couple of weeks and even after it was over I’ve taken a week to get back to my normal routine (I became nocturnal quite quickly during the show) so as I sit here writing this, it is already creeping towards the end of April and I haven’t lifted a pen to write since March.

I mustn’t let this year slip away from me, but equally I can’t get caught up berating myself for not keeping my shoulder to the grindstone.

As a great fish once said: Just keep swimming.