Tag Archives: write

Boris Johnson To Write Romance Novel?

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Currently the Mayor of London, famous for his blonde bouffant, Eton-education and the self-titled bike scheme, who has encouraged thousands of Londoners to cycle across the capital, has set his eyes on even greater success. Not content with having won two mayoral elections, Mr Johnson has set his sights on the world of literature – and more specifically the genre of romance.

Boris Johnson romance book cover.

Apparently haven spoken at the Melbourne Writers Festival, Mr Johnson said that when he leaves politics he wants to write a “genuinely brilliant rip-roaring airport book. It would be fair to say there is virtually no genre that I have not tried. Romantic fiction, that could be next.”

 

With that in mind, romance giant Mills & Boon have mock up what they imagined Boris Johnson’s debut novel might look like. Gazing into the distance, Boris is seen atop one of his bikes, with the victorious London Eye standing proudly in the background. We think it is hilarious.

Write Your Own Dating Rules by Jenni Trent-Hughes, the relationship expert

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relationshipsJenni Trent-Hughes, the relationship expert from eHarmony tells Frost Magazine readers to rip up the rule book.

Eighteen years ago the dating world was introduced to a book called ‘The Rules’ that we were meant to follow in order to guarantee a perfect love life. In those days, before online dating there were rules like: Don’t ask a man on a date! Don’t ask him to dance first! Don’t call him first! Don’t accept a date for Saturday if he asks you after Wednesday!

If you’ve found that ‘’not accepting a date for Saturday if they asked you after Wednesday’ worked for you, then I’m not going to tell you any different.  However as you’re here reading this in 2013, I suspect that you have realised that there is no magic secret; but I’m glad to say there is one tip that will help to bring you success or at the very least, remove some of the obstacles you may have stumbled over in the past.

Rules are like walls and sometimes walls need to be demolished to let the light in. Step outside your comfort zone and see what happens – be the dater you want to be not the one you’ve been told to be.

My one tip is this: Write your own rules! No one knows you better than you know yourself. You know what you’re capable of. You know what your parameters are. What you will be brave enough to do and what is going to be totally against your character, and you know what feels right.

I’m not going to tell you what not to do! You can figure that out yourself. I’ll just remind you of some things to do to help increase your chances of success when dating online.

1.    Reach out: If you see a profile that you like the look or sound of then make contact. There is no point spending weeks peeking at each other through cyberspace – say hello.

2.    Step outside your regular boundaries: Online dating is a golden opportunity to interact with people you might not originally have considered. Remember the first time against your better judgement you chose coconut ice cream and now it’s your favourite? That person who is a little older, a bit younger, that you’re attracted to but doesn’t match up to your usual ‘type’. That might just be The One.

3.    If you want to ask them out – just do it: Man or woman, we are in the 21st Century and we can do things that are new without the roof caving in. Traditionally men might have been the first to initiate a date, however things have evolved and it’s flattering to be asked out whatever your sex.

4. Be honest: Be yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Forget mind games, just be yourself and eventually you will find someone who is exactly the person you are looking for and you to them.

5. Learn to let go: We all have baggage, but when it comes to dating try and leave any hang ups at the door. Negative experiences in the past can affect the way you approach a new relationship, and although it’s good to be cautious, it’s also good to go in with a fresh new slate. Have fun and let your true self be at the forefront.

Tim Austin On Kindle Publishing Christmas Tails.

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Frost: You’ve written a book of short stories for Christmas – tell us a little about them.

Tim: I actually wrote the stories a few years back, as presents for friends and family. There are four stories and each has a different feel and genre. One is a children’s adventure in the style of Enid Blyton, one is a comic farce told in “net speak”, another is a Victorian ghost story.

Frost: But they’re all linked in some way?

Tim: They all contain Dogs, hence the Title; “Christmas Tails”.

Frost: What made you think of publishing them?

Tim: I was encouraged to share them by the people who I’d written them for and people who they had shown them to. The positive reaction took me by surprise, to be honest; I’ve written a few scripts here and there but nothing like this. It was quite flattering so I thought “why not?”
I initially did a short print run of one of the stories, “Dreams”, for local people in Yorkshire. It sold out. I was later told that it had been used in a high school assembly somewhere in Birmingham!

Frost: And now you’ve put the collection on the Kindle Bookstore?

Tim: Yes. It’s also available as a PDF from my website.

Frost: What made you go down the direct publishing route?

Tim: Time and cost, mainly. As an actor chasing work, I’ve little time to be running around after publishers – it’s a bit of a chore, frankly. I thought that publishing online would be the simplest and quickest way of getting the book out there.

Frost: And how have you found self-publishing? Successful? Tricky?

Tim: More difficult than I had expected, to be honest. The trouble with self-publishing is that you’re suddenly responsible for formatting and type-facing the book for use with e-readers (which is a steep learning curve!) as well as marketing the book itself. And the market for e-books is a little different to the market for paperbacks.

Frost: How so?

Tim: It seems to me, having now been poking around the forums and the dozens of e-book related sites on the net, that there is a new culture developing around e-books. The audience is pretty open to new works and new authors but they’re also pretty demanding – pricing is tricky, for example, and they’re not scared of telling you if something doesn’t work!
That said, I’ve found the publishers forum on Amazon very helpful and wonderfully supportive.

Frost: And what about your decision to give 50p per book to Children in Need?

Tim: Well, as much as the money would come in very handy, the important thing to me is having the book in people’s hands and enjoyed. I always feel the tiniest bit guilty that I’ve not been able to give as much as I’d like to the charity over the years and I want to make up for that. It’s a great charity and, with government support ebbing away from many of the causes that Children in Need supports, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Frost: Any future publishing plans?

Tim:
Not immediately. But who knows? If it sells well enough, there may – just may – be a sequel.

Frost: You read it here first.

To buy Christmas Tails, please visit Tim’s main site at www.tim-austin.co.uk or buy it from the Amazon Kindle Bookstore here; Christmas Tails