Today, I’m pleased to welcome author Rachel Brimble onto my blog to talk about her writing journey – and what an incredible one it has been…
Almost Fifteen Years And I’m Still Going Strong…
When my first novel, a contemporary romantic suspense called Searching For Sophie was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2007, I had not thought much further than writing this first book. It had been my dream to become a published novelist since I read Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven series when I was about eight or nine, so I was ecstatic when my very first attempt at writing a novel was accepted by a publisher.
Within a month or two of the book’s release, I became aware that the writing bug (or curse!) had got me. I was desperate to get back to the keyboard and start writing my next book! Of course, I didn’t know anything about the publishing industry, how it worked or just how much more an author needs to do than actually write! The next book was published in 2008 (Reluctant Witness) and I knew then that writing was now a big part of me, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon.
Being the newbie I was, I did not promote these two books AT ALL, wrongly assuming that my publisher would take care of the marketing/selling side of things, leaving me free to get on and write the next book. Of course, that is not the case at all and so with book three (The Arrival of Lily Curtis) came the additional job of learning about promotion/social media/bloggers etc, but all too soon I was on my way and striving to become a bona fide author who actually sold a few books!
Which I can happily call myself today having had 28 novels published to date as well as magazine articles and founding my First Chapter Critique service for aspiring romance and women’s fiction authors (https://rachelbrimble.com/first-chapter-critique-service/ ). Which, I have to say, is one of my proudest achievements to date. Helping writers achieve a dream that I understand only too well is just an amazing blessing and hearing of their successes makes me so, so happy!
The publication of Victoria & Violet is a huge triumph for me as it is the realisation of a long-held ambition of writing a novel that included real people and events. Even though the idea for this book (and series) had been in my mind for a while, I was just too scared to start writing it. Why? I was unsure how much I could or was allowed to fictionalise and couldn’t help but worry than I would be criticized by the many readers who love the Victorian age and British royalty.
But it was hopeless to keep fighting this huge wish inside of me to write a book set in a young Queen Victoria’s court and I am so glad I took the leap! I adored writing this book and especially the scenes with Queen Victoria. She became a huge part of my life and consciousness for six months and this book will always be very special to me. The reviews so far have been fabulous so – fingers crossed – I’ve got the storytelling just right…happy reading!
VICTORIA AND VIOLET
It should be a dream come true to serve the Queen of England…
When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the Duchess of Kent.
Violet hopes to explore who she is and what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her every thought and action.
Then she meets James Greene, assistant to the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross and their lives merge—as do their feelings.
Only Victoria’s court is not always the place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…
ABOUT RACHEL:
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Historical Novel Society and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.
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writing was sporadic, but I had the start of a novel. I can’t help but look back now and think how naïve I was towards the process. It is only in the last three years or so that I have really begun to understand how it works. While I began to write, I didn’t have a finished manuscript until several years later, which I completed while on my second career as a long distance lorry driver. I must admit, I thought it was going to be much easier to get it published than it was in the end. I knew no one, and nothing of the industry, only how things like television romanticise the life of a writer. However, the book I started in the year 2000 was eventually published in 2016 by Crooked Cat Books. It underwent many transitions and countless rewrites, but with perseverance it got there. It is now unrecognisable as the book I started, but it has taught me a lot.
Adrian lives just outside of Newquay, Cornwall with his wife, Lisa, and four children. He began writing while serving in the British Army, starting with (bad) poetry written on blueys (blue sheets of paper that fold into envelopes) as he was on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. After leaving the army, he tried being a security guard, but found walking around the supermarket for fourteen hours a day somewhat monotonous, so decided to give long distance lorry driving a go. It was whilst doing this he began to pen “The Helland Reckoning”. The novel was inspired by the small hamlet of Helland, where Adrian stayed with a friend as a child. It had remained in his thoughts for many years, so it became the natural setting for the book. After five years of tramping around the U.K and Europe, he decided it was time to be home more, so began driving fuel tankers around Devon and Cornwall. After breaking his ankle playing football, Adrian was made redundant so set to work rewriting the manuscript. However, Adrian’s last job, working for a portaloo company (which was actually a lot of fun) made him want to change his career, so in September 2015 he returned to full time education studying English Literature with Creative Writing at Falmouth University, where he is currently in the second year of his degree. His hobbies include spending time with his family, writing, football, skiing, walking and Facebook! He is also part of the training team for the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Newquay Treviglas school, so if he looks lost out on the moors, please feel free to point him in the direction of the nearest pub! Feel free to hunt him down and chat.
Good morning Maxine and welcome. 
Rebecca Bradley is a retired police detective and lives in Nottinghamshire with her family and two cockapoo’s Alfie and Lola, who keep her company while she writes. Rebecca needs to drink copious amounts of tea to function throughout the day and if she could, she would survive on a diet of tea and cake while committing murder on a regular basis.
JO LAMBERT 