Ali was announced as the winner of the competition organised with Corazon books and The Mature Times to publish a book written by an unpublished writer over 50, in November last year.
With her book now published, Home Comforts, a romantic comedy it has received very good reviews.
I spoke with Ali recently and she told me how thrilled she was to have been chosen as the winner and we discussed how she actually wrote the novel.
She used to write in her spare bedroom but has now converted part of their garage and has a study set up with her laptop and notes where she works to a strict regime. Having a husband, a part time job, a teenage son and a small menagerie of pets gives her restricted time to dedicate to her writing so she has to be strict with herself. She has now started a new novel, a romantic comedy and is enjoyed being a published writer. Through her contract with Corazon books she is now a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association which has been a great source of support and advice.
A surprising consequence for Ali is the amount of time she has to spend on Social Media promoting her book. She has a Twitter and Facebook account and spends a lot of her time writing blogs for other authors. Originally she found the whole online media world strange and daunting but is now enjoying the connections she can make.
I read the book on my kindle when it was released and was able to put some of my questions about the book to Ali which was helpful and she like all writers was pleased to get the feedback.
All has written about her experience of getting her book published below:
After submitting “Home Comforts” to various agents, I was starting to feel a bit despondent (and fed up with well-meaning people constantly asking me what was happening with my book!). Some rejection letters were more encouraging than others but no-one offered to represent me. In June 2014 I spotted the Write Time novel competition run by Corazon Books in association with Mature Times. It was launched for previously unpublished writers over fifty and I was very keen to send off my first three chapters and synopsis. After receiving an email telling me that I’d been shortlisted, I polished the rest of the manuscript and submitted it for the September deadline.
In early November I was thrilled to receive a phone call from Ian Skillicorn of Corazon Books telling me I was the winner, and I couldn’t wait to start working with him. We have liaised closely throughout the editing stage and he has given me great advice about which sections needed to be re-written, and where there were continuity issues. Ian is also supporting me through the sales and marketing process.
I must admit to feeling alarmed when he started talking about ‘Twitter’ and ‘guest blogs’; I’ve always been a fairly private person and social media was unfamiliar territory. Even worse, my teenage son and husband, who normally bail me out of any technological nightmares, didn’t know very much about social networking either. I’ve persevered, however, and with Ian’s help I now have my own website and Twitter following. I’m very grateful for his patient and good humoured support – he must be a saint!
You can download Ali’s book from Amazon – www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Comforts-Ali-Chrisp-ebook/dp/B00Y8CT8M2/
