Evonne Wareham writes romantic thrillers, and is making her debut in the UK with independent publishers, Choc-lit. Today I am lucky enough to welcome Evonne to my blog where she gives me a sneak snippet of Never Coming Home and tells me how she got into writing and her journey to publishing which ended with Choc Lit. Well done Choc Lit Publishers for publishing this book which I will be reviewing next week on this blog:
Never Coming Home... The ‘Wispa It …’ Blog Tour
‘Wispa It...’ Snippet No. 6
Kaz gets her first sight of Devlin.
Kaz stepped into the living room. There was a man in the
house. And definitely not from the gas company. Not unless
they were kitting them out in expensive Italian tailoring
these days. Blinking, she took in the tea things on the table.
Her mother was entertaining? Suzanne was fluttering – there
was no other word for it – around a complete stranger. Kaz’s
bewilderment escalated. Suzanne didn’t do fluttering. Mind,
he was some stranger. The sharp lines of the expensive suit
gave one message, the hint of five o’clock shadow another.
There was a lot of him, six foot two at least, with the
shoulders to match. And muscle in all the right places. Too
rugged to be handsome, a touch of Steve McQueen about the
eyes. Fabulous mouth. A face for dreams. Or maybe nightmares.
I’m always interested to hear how other people got into writing. Some start late, with an idea for a book that won’t leave them alone, others have been writing for as long as they can remember. Some people strike lucky at their first attempt. For others it takes a while. I'm one of the ones who began early and took my time. I started when I was in school and have been writing on and off ever since, when life gave me the opportunity. I drifted in and out of the Romantic Novelists’ Association's New Writers Scheme and learned a lot, but had to put the writing on hold when career and earning a living intervened. I always came back. Maybe writing is an addiction?
I began, like many others, attempting to write for Mills and Boon. I got as far as a second read in the New Writers Scheme for one of my efforts, submitted half a dozen different manuscripts to Richmond and got some kind and very careful feedback from various editors. But I clearly didn't have that certain something that makes an M&B author. Once I'd reluctantly reached that conclusion, I looked around for what else I could write. I experimented. Oh boy, did I experiment! Rom coms (not funny), buddy stories where female friends set up business together, historicals -- Regency and Georgian, Heyeresque and Jack Sparrowish (not at the same time). I spent three very happy years researching and writing a regional family saga set in the Second World War -- it was meant to be the first of a trilogy. It got way too long -- 140,000 words and counting, but I still have hopes that it might one day find a publisher. I toyed with the idea of taking to crime, but reached the conclusion that I didn't want all the research involved in writing police procedurals. (There's research and there’s research. Rules of evidence and ranks of police officers didn't appeal.) Along the way I had a go at an amateur sleuth -- a tour guide/house sitter, living in London. That was fun and got me an honourable mention in the Harry Bowling. As my heroine was fancy free and romance wasn’t the main object of the book, I was able to trifle with the affections of three possible suitors, which made life interesting.
As I’ve said elsewhere, it was the American contests that were the true turning point. I finally knew that romantic suspense was what I really wanted to write. Even so, I had my share of rejections, as it’s not a well known genre in the UK. And then Choc-lit came along. So, my tip to any aspiring writer would be -- experiment until you find what you absolutely want to write. (Although maybe try to make up your mind a little sooner than I did.)
And then keep going.
Thank you to Evonne for taking part in this blog tour and please return next week to see my review of Never Coming Home.
You can catch up on Evonne's blog tour by clicking the links below:
| DATE | WEBSITE | |
| Friday 3rd February | Sharon Goodwin | Jera’s Jamboree |
| Tuesday 7th February | Kath Eastman | The Nutpress |
| Friday 10th February | Sue Fortin | Love Reading Love Books |
| Tuesday 14th February | Catherine Miller | Katy Little Lady |
| Friday 17th February | Debs Carr | Debs Daydreams |
| Tuesday 21st February | Sarah Broadhurst | Sarah’s Book Reviews |
| Thursday 23rd February | Debs Carr | Novelicious |
| Friday 24th February | Elle Symonds | Trashionista |
| Tuesday 28th February | Tara Chevrestt | Book Babe |
| Friday 2nd March | Lou Graham | Lou Graham’s Blog |
| Wednesday 7th March | Author’s Blog | Choc Lit website |
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