FUNKY FRIDAY with Jennifer Bohnet

WOO HOO!  It's my first FUNKY FRIDAY where I get to chat to writers, readers and reviewers.

This week I'm delighted to welcome romantic novelist 

JENNIFER BOHNET

Jennifer lives and writes in Brittany so it seemed only right that we settled with a small glass of wine as we had a 'writerly' gossip - listen in to our chat ...

Jennifer, as a writer of affairs of the heart, what do you do to motivate yourself on a day you're just not feeling it? 

I look through a couple of books I have on writing, maybe do one or two of the mind releasing exercises they suggest, or I flip through a book with lots of pictures, pick one and try to come up with a story about it. I usually end up writing something even if it’s not the next thousand words of the latest novel.

Tell us about your ideal writing day. 

I’ve realised recently that if I don’t start writing first thing after breakfast I get very little done all day. So ideally I’d be in my study by 9.30 and write for the next couple of hours, stop for lunch (cooked by husband) and then walk the dog for an hour before coming back to edit the morning’s work. Answering e-mails and doing social networking I try to do in the evenings.

I have to say that I was a bit jealous about lunch being cooked by your husband and a LOT jealous about the fact that you have a dog to walk!  My cats won't allow me to have one!  So what's the worst thing about writing for you? 

The waiting time between sending stuff out - particularly short stories - and hearing back from editors/publishers.

It's dream time!  Your ultimate dinner party? You can have anyone dead or alive there - who would you have and why? 

Great question as I love entertaining!  Hugh Jackman because - oh just because! Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald so that I could really quiz them about Juan-les-Pins and the Jazz Age down there for a novel idea I have. Elisabeth David - she could help me in the kitchen beforehand and give me all sorts of useful tips. The iceman of Formula 1, Kimi Raikkonen, though I don’t suppose he’d be much of a conversationalist. Erica James because she’s one of my favourite writers and maybe she’d share the secret of how she’s so productive. Dame Maggie Smith because she’s such a brilliant actress and I’m sure she’d have lots of theatrical stories to tell us. Bill Nye because he makes me laugh. Jilly Cooper because I’ve long been an admirer of her writing. And finally I’d have to invite a young, healthy, Muhammad Ali for my husband; they share the same birthday and although not a big fan of boxing he’s always admired him. Should be a great dinner party!

Hmmm!  That's a dinner party I'll attend with bells on!

How do you deal with the dreaded bad review - are you a sulker or a shrugger? 

More of a sulker I’m afraid - it knocks my confidence and I have a hard time getting going again, so I’ve resolved to try and be more of a shrugger and never to look at my reviews again. (Another resolution broken then!)

I'm totally with you on that one but I guess we have to realise that we can't please everyone!  So IF you were offered a squillion pounds to never write again, would you take it?  

If the offer was made when the rejections were pouring in, I’d be sorely tempted and have to say yes! But then I think, No, having all those people in my head trying to tell their stories and not being able to write it down would drive me insane!

Again, I agree!  Once they get in your head they just have to come out, don't they?

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Planner or Winger? 

A winger trying to be a bit more of a planner.

Night or Morning? 

Morning.

Do-er or procrastinator? 

I can procrastinate for England - and France now.

Writing/first draft or editing?

First draft.

Tea or coffee? 

Coffee, coffee coffee.

I'd like to thank Jennifer for being a very brave first FUNKY FRIDAY participant and urge you all to check out her latest book, 'Shadows of Conflict', which is already out in hardback and will also be available as an e-book on 30th September:

Here are the links to her website and Amazon page.

 

You can also follow Jennifer on Twitter @jenniewriter

***** NEWSFLASH *****

FUNKY FRIDAY is now booked out until mid February - thank you all so much for your support.

NICKY WELLS has released 'Sophie's Encore' and has some FAB 5* reviews

KATHRYN BROWN has also released 'Bedknobs and Bachelors' and it's waiting on my Kindle to be read.

MICHELLE BETHAM's romcom, 'Too Much Trouble in Paradise' is FREE on Kindle at Amazon this weekend.  Grab a copy while you can - it's very funny.

JAMIE T DOUGAN's short story, 'The Rubicon Trail' is now available on Kobo as well as on Amazon  He'll be chatting here some time in the New Year.

Next week we welcome to FUNKY FRIDAY an avid reader, reviewer and HUGE supporter of writers, my friend Carol Wright from Dizzy C's Little Book Blog

So that just about rounds up the first FUNKY FRIDAY!   Thanks to Jennifer for dropping by and to all those who have agreed to take part.  Remember, spread the love by Tweeting about this with #funkyfriday

The Right Write

As we are approach the end of the cruel month of January, I’m looking back and reflecting.  You see this month taught me quite a valuable lesson.

I hit the ground running with BOOK SIX and before I knew it I was almost 20k words in (that’s about a quarter of a book).  Then the unthinkable happened - we fell out.  Yep, me and my work in progress just stopped seeing eye to eye.  It’s only ever happened to me once before, and that was at a much earlier stage in development.

I figured I was tired, that I’d been trying to do too much.  So I put my work aside and hoped for the best.

When I returned to it, I still liked it and so did hubbie but something just didn’t feel right.  When I write, I start each day eager to get back to my characters and ready to plough forward with the plot.  But this wasn’t happening with this book and I found that I was finding any excuse to be doing something else.

But not only was I not writing, I also wasn’t thinking.  That was another reason why I began to suspect something was wrong.  You see, as any writer knows, when you’re mid-book your mind is constantly drifting, seeking out your characters and testing snippets of dialogue or possible sub-plots.  None of this was happening.

So I did what I do best.  I sulked for a while and told myself I’d never write another book again - I’d clearly lost the knack.  All my bragging about not getting writer’s block was coming back to bite me on the bum and it served me right.  My writer’s days were over.

Then a little voice popped into my head and, not only did it tell me that I was writing the wrong book at the wrong time, it also gave me the tiniest seed of a new plot.

I went to bed that night and considered what had happened.  Could I really ditch all the hard work I’d put in and start on another project? - what if that failed too?

But the following morning saw me feeling brighter and more positive than I had all month.  I had to listen to my gut feeling and go with the flow.

And that’s exactly what happened - I began to flow again.  The words were flying out of me with no blockages or hiccups and hubbie was delighted to see me drifting off again with what he calls ‘plot face’.

I’m not looking at the hours I spent on ‘The Other Book Six’ as wasted.  I’m seeing it as a lesson, a very valuable one.  If something’s not working, you know it instinctively and no amount of sitting looking at a screen or notebook will get it moving forward.

I’m now 12k words into my new work and each day starts with that old familiar fizz of excitement.

Not only am I back on track but I’ll be ready for a blip like that if it ever happens again - it’s no crime to cut your losses and I don’t think it makes you less of a writer.  I actually think it makes you more of one.

Now, excuse me but I have a book to write.  The right book.

PS:  There were two winners of the competition I ran last week.  One chose 'Diary of a Mummy Misfit' and one chose 'Stilettos and Stubble'.  Congratulations and thanks to all those who entered.