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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

Breathless with excitement as the blog tour departs

20/7/2015

12 Comments

 
It’s publication week for Sugar and Snails and I’m breathless with excitement. The buzz is building with two reviews already (from Victoria Best and from Stephanie Burton) and some lovely tweets from early readers at #SugarandSnails. Now, thanks mainly to the generous response to my request for hosts, I’ve made two excursions to other blogs (firstly, to Shiny New Books to share my thoughts on writing about secrets, the false self and insecure identities; secondly to Isabel Costello’s literary sofa to discuss the pleasures of small-press publication), and my case is packed ready to depart on the blog tour proper.
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I’m starting off today at my publishers’, Inspired Quill, with a piece on being an older debut novelist. Tomorrow I’ll be having a virtual chat with award-winning novelist, Carys Bray, just over a year after she answered my questions here on annethology. On Wednesday, I’m talking transformations at The Oak Wheel, courtesy of Jeff Martin (who’s running a series on Inspired Quill authors). And then on Thursday, publication day, I’m in two places at once, sharing my experience of writing about “the awkward character” with Sacha Black, instigator of the Bloggers’ Bash, and answering questions put to me by bookworm Sonya Alford, at A Lover of Books. Do follow me as much as you’re able but it’s a gruelling schedule and I don’t expect you to read every word. I aim to update the links as I go but you can keep track at your own pace via my blog tour page.

The tour starts up again next Monday, but I’ll save the details for later. In my weekend off, I’ll be focusing on events in the physical world, with the first of my launch parties. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been paying close attention to advice from more experienced authors about presenting myself and my book to the public. It’s encouraging to know that even these confident speakers were quivering in their shoes at the start of their careers. One local author, with fifteen novels under his belt, said he was speechless at his launch. Another, who reads beautifully from her work, told me that initially she’d forget to breathe.

This leads me to the latest flash fiction prompt from Charli Mills, which I’ve somewhat neglected of late. Left breathless (although still amazingly eloquent) by the death of her closest friend, Charli challenges us to write a 99-word story on that very theme. My contribution is an alternative version of a scene from Sugar and Snails:

The slap of the water stole my breath away, the thin sheet useless against the cold. I tried to fight, but they were stronger. As they pushed my head below the surface, the impulse to breathe came back to me; coughing and spluttering, they hauled me from the bath.

My mother had said to keep my eyes on the statue of The Virgin but, in my panic, I squeezed them shut. Dropping the sheet and shivering, still damp, into my clothes, I wondered if that meant I’d jinxed it, if I’d lost my chance of a miracle at Lourdes.

Thank you for reading.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
12 Comments
Sarah link
20/7/2015 07:16:26 am

This IS exciting. Will pass it on. Love the flash! Also, looking forward to your book. :-)

Reply
Annecdotist
20/7/2015 10:41:16 am

Thanks, Sarah, it's kind of weird right now!

Reply
geoff link
20/7/2015 02:34:50 pm

well done and best of luck this week and beyond!

Reply
Annecdotist
21/7/2015 01:33:09 pm

Thanks, Geoff, appreciate your support.

Reply
Charli Mills
21/7/2015 02:59:12 pm

The day I catch my breath and you are on the verge of debut! I'm breathless with excitement for you! I think the biggest "wow" moment was recognizing that the author of "A Song for Issy Bradley" interviewed you (I remember reading your interview of her). And thanks for penning a flash (or flashing an alternate version of a "Sugar and Snails" scene) in the midst of your launch. If we tell actors to break a leg, what do we tell writers? Snap a pencil? Best to you!

Reply
Annecdotist
23/7/2015 07:48:41 am

Glad you've caught your breath again, Charli, and thanks for sharing in the excitement. Yes, I was really honoured to "swap seats" with Carys Bray and have her interview me. I will break several pencils in your name!!

Reply
Sacha Black
22/7/2015 02:57:45 pm

well done Anne, fantastic that you are finally there and look at all those books! so exciting :)

Reply
Annecdotist
23/7/2015 07:50:00 am

Thank you, Sacha, and for being one of my early stopping-off points on the tour.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
22/7/2015 11:56:58 pm

Congratulations, Anne! What a wonderful accomplishment, and so deserving! I was very excited to find my copy of Sugar and Snails in my Kindle Cloud Reader when I checked earlier today. I thought I would get an email notification - glad I checked. :) But I've spent my reading time following all your links and reading other great posts and interviews about your book and writing process. Fascinating! Anne, you are a fabulous writer. I enjoy reading everything you write. I wish you every success with this book, and with your next, which sounds just as fascinating. Go girl! :)

Reply
Annecdotist
23/7/2015 07:51:52 am

Thanks for your support as always, Norah, and thanks for following the tour. I'm honoured that you are able to make time for these posts and looking forward to landing on your blog at the end of next week. I do hope you enjoy Sugar and Snails.

Reply
Stephanie Jane link
23/7/2015 11:30:23 am

Thanks for linking to my review, Anne! This must be such an exciting day for you and it's great to see the blog tour lined up too :-) Fingers crossed for the coming days and weeks.

Reply
Annecdotist
23/7/2015 12:59:52 pm

Thanks, Stephanie, so appreciate the support from you and others. Hope you get lots of readers to your review.

Reply



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