Glynis Peters's Blog - Posts Tagged "harpercollins"
Overwhelmed
Overwhelmed is a word used at most awards and exciting events. I've used it myself in the past for various happenings during my 61 years. But boy, was I was overwhelmed when Charlotte Ledger of HarperImpulse approached me with a title, The Secret Orphan, and then overwhelmed me with an offer of a contract to write to that title. I was given freedom of genre and era. As I'd written Victorian in the past under another name, I'm not sure whether they were expecting a novel set in that era or not, but I felt a new challenge with one of the world's biggest publishing houses deserved a new outlook.
Deep breath, pulled up big girl knickers ... yeah, that kinda day, I decided as I'd just turned 60, what had I got to lose? I was now Glynis Peters, a bolder, braver me. I was proud to be Glynis Peters, and this was the right time to make huge changes within my writing world. The time to choose something outside of my comfort zone, as yelled by the devil inside my head. No! Stay safe, said the low-self-esteemed me ... blah, blah for two weeks.
Then I remembered Jackson St John. Hero. Canada 1940+.
He was the fictional pilot inspired by the Canadian (North Vancouver) poppy collectors and airmen of WWII, when I visited the city to see my son and family. I'd waited for the opportunity to write a snippet of his life into a story (he's not real. I made him up the minute I met a young man who gave me the, wow, yes, this is him, moment) (my husband understands, truly he does.) So, back to The Secret Orphan, the young man inspired a hero who falls in love with an English girl, and as I researched WWII UK, I came across the blitz. I knew a bit about the London version as it affected my family in a great way due to my great-grandparents living within the heart of the Isle of Dogs, London, and I always had time for my grandfather telling of his life in the home guards in Harwich, Essex.
However, when I came across the story of the Coventry bombing, and learned that Cornwall had been hit, I was a little taken aback. I am naive. I've lived and travelled. I bought poppies, mourned ancestors, but still never truly understood what and where the war had hit home. I am 1957 born. Not many years after the war and three years after rationing was lifted. I consider myself lucky, we had food from America, food which was not made from disguised cardboard. We ate a table full of goodness. At the age of four I recall playing in the street and eating jelly. My mother is 81 and can remember being the same age and in a tin-roofed train heading for London under attack by German bombers firing bullets onto the roof. She jumps at every tinny sound. I would, but still I couldn't comprehend the life she'd lived - my family had lived, due to their determination I never would. When I was six, I still played in the street and ate cake, at that age my father had been ripped from his ten siblings and parents, and sent away as an evacuee. He was one of the lucky ones and had a good life on a farm.
I was told a story which remains with me, of how life is to be treasured. My great grandmother bent to pick up a valuable, stale crust of bread and it saved her life. A large shard of glass from an enemy bomb blew out the kitchen window, and penetrated the wall behind her head. Had she been standing ...
The more I looked into their lives the more I knew I wanted that era to never be forgotten.
I'm no historian, I write fiction, but I'll try and write for the heroes and heroines who lived it in real life, I want to show I've not forgotten them. As I grow and develop into a writer of WWII stories, I want to entertain with respect.
I write with a twist. You have to read between the lines. When Elenor marries Jackson ... yes, it happens, you, the reader, have to find that moment, I don't give you white dresses and veils, with a party after the church ceremony, you have to understand their dilemma, their love and understanding of little Rose. You have to find that hidden hint of when they seal the deal. I am the show it all kind of writer. Love me or hate me, I cannot change.
I love to feed a little bit of info, describe a scene, and then let you run with the mix of both and make up your own mind. I love to describe, but also leave you to develop your own vision of my characters, of the world I've created.
The Secret Orphan has reached heights I never realised. Reviews have been amazing. Incredible. On Amazon UK and US, I've been (or am) in the top 100 of various categories, and I love every person who has helped me reach those dizzy heights!
New readers have found me, and I them. Critique postings have given me strength and the ability to continue writing. They, and those who've left praise for the novel have made me believe in myself. They have taught me to rewrite, to rethink, and to understand the different needs of my readers. Those who've found my writing difficult, or not to their taste have still given me the desire to strive forward, to improve, to offer another character's life and humbling existence within one of my novels, but always my way. I cannot bend, I cannot change. I am me, Glynis Peters, the writer of WWII British novels with a hint of something ... different.
Thank you all for taking the time to read and review my work. It is truly appreciated.
Deep breath, pulled up big girl knickers ... yeah, that kinda day, I decided as I'd just turned 60, what had I got to lose? I was now Glynis Peters, a bolder, braver me. I was proud to be Glynis Peters, and this was the right time to make huge changes within my writing world. The time to choose something outside of my comfort zone, as yelled by the devil inside my head. No! Stay safe, said the low-self-esteemed me ... blah, blah for two weeks.
Then I remembered Jackson St John. Hero. Canada 1940+.
He was the fictional pilot inspired by the Canadian (North Vancouver) poppy collectors and airmen of WWII, when I visited the city to see my son and family. I'd waited for the opportunity to write a snippet of his life into a story (he's not real. I made him up the minute I met a young man who gave me the, wow, yes, this is him, moment) (my husband understands, truly he does.) So, back to The Secret Orphan, the young man inspired a hero who falls in love with an English girl, and as I researched WWII UK, I came across the blitz. I knew a bit about the London version as it affected my family in a great way due to my great-grandparents living within the heart of the Isle of Dogs, London, and I always had time for my grandfather telling of his life in the home guards in Harwich, Essex.
However, when I came across the story of the Coventry bombing, and learned that Cornwall had been hit, I was a little taken aback. I am naive. I've lived and travelled. I bought poppies, mourned ancestors, but still never truly understood what and where the war had hit home. I am 1957 born. Not many years after the war and three years after rationing was lifted. I consider myself lucky, we had food from America, food which was not made from disguised cardboard. We ate a table full of goodness. At the age of four I recall playing in the street and eating jelly. My mother is 81 and can remember being the same age and in a tin-roofed train heading for London under attack by German bombers firing bullets onto the roof. She jumps at every tinny sound. I would, but still I couldn't comprehend the life she'd lived - my family had lived, due to their determination I never would. When I was six, I still played in the street and ate cake, at that age my father had been ripped from his ten siblings and parents, and sent away as an evacuee. He was one of the lucky ones and had a good life on a farm.
I was told a story which remains with me, of how life is to be treasured. My great grandmother bent to pick up a valuable, stale crust of bread and it saved her life. A large shard of glass from an enemy bomb blew out the kitchen window, and penetrated the wall behind her head. Had she been standing ...
The more I looked into their lives the more I knew I wanted that era to never be forgotten.
I'm no historian, I write fiction, but I'll try and write for the heroes and heroines who lived it in real life, I want to show I've not forgotten them. As I grow and develop into a writer of WWII stories, I want to entertain with respect.
I write with a twist. You have to read between the lines. When Elenor marries Jackson ... yes, it happens, you, the reader, have to find that moment, I don't give you white dresses and veils, with a party after the church ceremony, you have to understand their dilemma, their love and understanding of little Rose. You have to find that hidden hint of when they seal the deal. I am the show it all kind of writer. Love me or hate me, I cannot change.
I love to feed a little bit of info, describe a scene, and then let you run with the mix of both and make up your own mind. I love to describe, but also leave you to develop your own vision of my characters, of the world I've created.
The Secret Orphan has reached heights I never realised. Reviews have been amazing. Incredible. On Amazon UK and US, I've been (or am) in the top 100 of various categories, and I love every person who has helped me reach those dizzy heights!
New readers have found me, and I them. Critique postings have given me strength and the ability to continue writing. They, and those who've left praise for the novel have made me believe in myself. They have taught me to rewrite, to rethink, and to understand the different needs of my readers. Those who've found my writing difficult, or not to their taste have still given me the desire to strive forward, to improve, to offer another character's life and humbling existence within one of my novels, but always my way. I cannot bend, I cannot change. I am me, Glynis Peters, the writer of WWII British novels with a hint of something ... different.
Thank you all for taking the time to read and review my work. It is truly appreciated.
Happy New Year!
Dropping by to say thanks for your support during 2019, and have a happy, healthy 2019!
The paperback version of The Secret Orphan is due out in the UK, on 24th January, and 29th in Australia.
The paperback version of The Secret Orphan is due out in the UK, on 24th January, and 29th in Australia.
April? Gracious!
Is it really April already?
It appears I've been in the USA TODAY bestseller list for several weeks now, and HarperCollins are celebrating with a giveaway for USA ONLY.
35 COPIES!
We're celebrating! In honor of The Secret Orphan's lengthy run on the USA Today bestseller list, with 35 paperback copies up for grabs! Enter here for a chance to win this stunning WWII story from @_GlynisPeters_ ! (US only!)
🌹
It appears I've been in the USA TODAY bestseller list for several weeks now, and HarperCollins are celebrating with a giveaway for USA ONLY.
35 COPIES!
We're celebrating! In honor of The Secret Orphan's lengthy run on the USA Today bestseller list, with 35 paperback copies up for grabs! Enter here for a chance to win this stunning WWII story from @_GlynisPeters_ ! (US only!)
🌹
