Home made Cream Liqueur - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As a certain brand of cream liqueur seems to have become a necessary part of many people's Christmas, but with finances tight for so many, I thought I'd share these recipes as a Christmas treat to all my readers and writing chums.  ENJOY!

Cream Liqueur Recipes

Recipe 1 ~ Irish Cream Liqueur

3tbsp Espresso Coffee Powder

15g Dark Chocolate ~ chopped up small

397g Can of Sweetened Condensed milk

1tbsp Vanilla Extract

175ml Irish Whiskey

Mix and melt the espresso powder & dark chocolate into 175ml of hot water then leave to cool.  Then blend with the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and whiskey. 

Lovely!  But a bit too much caffeine for me, so I played around with the recipe and came up with this - which is even better!!!

Recipe 2 ~ CHOCOLATE CREAM LIQUEUR

Mix 3 dessert spoons of cocoa powder into 250ml hot water and leave to cool.  Then blend with condensed milk, vanilla and whiskey as above.

OR ~ Recipe 3 ~ OUR FAVOURITE! Instead of vanilla and whiskey just use 175ml of Morgan’s spiced rum.

Smug Christmas Shopping!

Almost everyone’s feeling the squeeze these days, but there still seems to be a real pressure to provide huge piles of presents for loved ones.  Books have always been a favourite present between me and my other half, but a big pile of them wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree would cost a fortune wouldn’t they?

Well no!

For the past few years we’ve both gone to our local library on their last opening day before Christmas and selected six books for each other.  It’s been really interesting reading books that I probably wouldn’t have selected for myself, and being able to choose a selection of books that I could never afford to buy for my other half.  We always wrap them up and put them under the tree just like normal presents, but once they’ve been read we don’t have to find shelf space for them!

We try to read all the books before they’re due back, but occasionally have renewed a few so that we manage to savour every word.  This makes the dull weeks of early January a real joy, and provides us with fresh input to stimulate our imaginations for new projects in the New Year.

Doing this supports other writers who get a small fee when their books are borrowed, and it also supports your local library, so it really is a super smug way to do at least some of your Christmas shopping!

     

My Next Big Thing

Last week, the wonderful Sapphire Star Publishing writer of the family series called The Marlow Intrigues, Jane Lark tagged me in her post My Next Big Thing, when she wrote about her new book 'Illicit Love'. So this week I’m going to tell you all about my next big thing and share my answers to ten questions about my current work in progress (my Next Big Thing!) and tag other writers to tell you about their latest work next week!

What is the title of your book?

‘BITTER ROOTS’ - The second edition.

How did you come by the idea?

I’d been on holiday to Corfu, and explored all sorts of out of the way places, which I then combined with an idea I had about a young woman travelling there to discover secrets about her past – things that had happened to her family while she was a teenager.  I find it fascinating that we’re often oblivious to the lives of those around us in our teens, and often we only get to know our parents in our middle years – but what if they’re no longer around?   

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a contemporary love story, so it fits into the Romance genre, but it doesn’t fit neatly into any exact sub genre.  It’s partly a ghost story but wouldn’t really fit into the paranormal category as everything that happens in the book is explainable and hopefully believable.  I call it modern Gothic as it’s heavily influenced by classics such as Jane Eyre.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?

This is a difficult one to answer as I don’t watch telly or get to the cinema very often, but I was at a friend’s house and saw an episode of Merlin.  The young actor who plays Arthur would suit the lead male character, Matt perfectly.  He needs to be early 30s, dark and moody, with a wild impulsive streak, and a hint of pain in his earnest green eyes.  The main character, Beth is perhaps harder to cast.  She needs to be English, in her late 20s and gorgeously curvy, which not too many actresses are these days.  She also has to have a haunted look combined with a strong, determined streak – someone like Rachel Weisz would be perfect.    

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Beth Skye travels to Corfu after the death of her estranged mother hoping to finally lay her ghosts to rest, but finds herself being pulled back to the past whilst trying to move forwards with a love she thought forever lost.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?

This has been epublished and is also available as a print on demand paperback.  It had high praise heaped on it by the RNA readers, and the first agent who read it also liked it, but asked me to do a huge rewrite then decided not to go with it after all.  I epublished the version the agent liked, but wasn’t really happy with it, so this is the second version, which is written the way I think this story should be told, and is also the structure that several readers of the first version thought would work best.  

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I suppose about a year, but that was writing off and on in gaps around my other writing commitments.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

A few people have said it’s like Victoria Hislop’s ‘The Island’, but I think there’s a hint of influence from the Victoria Holt books I used to read in my teens, and of course ‘Jane Eyre’ is in the mix also.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

An absolute need to tell a long story that a reader could get lost in.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

If you want gut wrenching passion and an intense, Byronic hero who helps Beth to return from the depths of darkness to the glorious sunshine of the Greek isles then this book is for you.  Oh and I’m told the sex is quite good too!  Feedback from the Romantic Novelist’s Association was : This is one of the best, if not the best manuscripts I’ve appraised!  

You can read the opening chapter and find links for this and my other books on my website www.jarekadams.com  

 

Next week I’m tagging Andrew Thorn to write about his Next Big Thing on the 4th December 2012 - and I'm very excitied about what he's going to announce.

Value for effort!

Value for money is the old sales pitch, but when it comes to books I see far too many writers underselling their work.  It takes time and effort just to learn how to be a good writer, and then it takes real determination to complete a manuscript for a book.  After that there’s the energy it takes to publish, either traditionally or independently, followed by the long march of marketing and publicizing your work.

In the world of epublishing the general advice is to price your book low in order to encourage buyers who’ve never heard of you to give your work a go.  But why not draw their eye with a really well designed book cover?  Attract them in with a good blurb that really sells what you’ve written?  And then make sure that what you’ve written is as good as it can be!

Readers can sample the opening chapters of your work, and will quickly spot badly edited or badly written work and decide against buying.  But if you’ve spent time polishing your work and making sure it’s as good as you can make it then hopefully they’ll want to read on and that means paying for your work.

Both of my books are currently priced at a lowly £1.53 in ebook format.  The paperbacks are more sensibly priced at £5.95 for Brighton Sucks, and £6.95 for Bitter Roots.  But in the New Year I’m thinking of upping the price of my ebooks to somewhere around THREE QUID!  Still a bargain if you think about it, but a better reward for all the time and energy it took to write them.

There will be a new book next year, but if you haven’t read either of my two current novels then grab one quick this December at a bargain price.  And you can be sure of getting extremely good value for your dosh as you can read the opening chapters, along with feedback and reviews on my website www.jarekadams.com

Next week I’ll be blogging as part of the ‘Next Big Thing’ blog chain, following a lovely recommendation by the fabulous historical romance author Jane Lark!      

http://janelark.blogspot.co.uk/

The Death of Theatre!

I’ve been reading and listening to quite a lot of discussion about the state of Theatre for Young audiences in the UK, and how this will affect future audiences for theatre.  One worrying theory appears to be emerging that plays experienced in schools (Theatre in Education) is largely to blame for young people’s reluctance to engage with theatre elsewhere. 

Although the arguments are complex I’m going to invite discussion on three main areas:  

·         Quality

·         Access

·         Competition

1. QUALITY

There seems to be an idea that if a piece of theatre is written to fit into the school curriculum that it must be in some way artistically compromised.  The main argument seems to be that young actors see Theatre in Education work as a way to get a start in the business, and that this has meant some companies produce work that is not as high quality as it should be.  Of course there is bad work out there, but it is not the majority case.  Until recent cuts hit hard there were a number of excellent companies with highly skilled actors touring across the country.  A few are still hanging on in there, and amongst these companies is Big Brum, based in the West Midlands.  I had the pleasure of seeing them in action at Warwick Arts Centre this weekend, where they performed Edward Bond’s ‘The Broken Bowl’.  This was an extremely complex piece of theatre that could only have been delivered in an educational setting where the themes and dynamics of the piece could be unpicked by skilled actor/teachers.  In no way was the writer’s artistic vision compromised, in fact it seemed to be stimulated by the opportunities offered by working in a setting where young audiences could be safely taken on an extraordinary journey.

2. ACCESS

Many young people’s only access to theatre is through companies that visit their school, or on trips to see a Panto at Christmas.  Is that something that should worry the theatre community?  I’m not sure it is, as exposure to performances, good or bad, will develop young people’s ability to view theatre critically.  It’s unrealistic to think that all of them will become lifelong theatregoers, but if enough of them do then theatre still has a future.  The aspect of this debate that worries me most is that theatre professionals themselves value work in theatres more highly than work in schools.  My own company Timezones Curriculum Support has been booked back more than twenty times by many schools, so we must be doing something right, but I recently spoke to an award winning playwright whose plays for young audiences appear in theatres across the UK, and when I asked who attended these performances the answer was ‘mostly yummy mummies’.  Theatre in schools therefore has to be valued as a way of giving access to all young people to experience imaginative and creative explorations of their world.

3. COMPETITION

It seems to me that the greatest threat to future audiences is the competition from film and television.  Theatre can be seen as sitting in a darkened room where you can’t eat or drink, and can’t text or get up and wander around to chat to your mates, and all that at a price that is often well above going to the cinema where the production values are much higher.  This was typical of the feedback given from young people after the recent ‘free ticket’ scheme failed to reach its full potential.  When money is tight, it’s a difficult argument to challenge.  Can any stage production challenge the experience of viewing an episode of Dr Who at home for free?  Of course it can!  Theatre in schools can allow young audiences to explore the power of live drama, and plays in theatres can allow young audiences and family groups to experience the unique and extraordinary talent we have in the UK.

IN CONCLUSION:  I warmly invite feedback on any of the points I’ve raised.

  

Please Satisfy Me

My writing has shifted back to plays over recent months, BUT there is a universal thing that applies to writing in any genre, and that is to tell a great story and to satisfy your audience.

I ran a session at the Cheltenham Words on the Side Literary Festival called ‘Ten things that make a play work’, in which we discussed all aspects of playwriting, and came up with several useful tools, but spent the longest time discussing the structure of a good story.

I like tools - they’re useful for all writers.  But they’re tools not rules, and can be broken to great effect.  When we were discussing play structures in the ‘ten things’ session, the ending of the film ‘The Italian Job’ came up.  If you look at the 8 Point Arc I outlined in my last blog you could argue that there is no resolution to that film, but that’s the genius of it.  Audiences will argue forever over what ending would satisfy them! 

But sometimes rules do need to be followed.  Last night I went to see a play that I really wanted to like, but I struggled from the start as it was a bit slow and ponderous.  About a third of the way through I saw where the story was going.  Two thirds of the way through I could still see where I was being taken.  Towards the end I was starting to wriggle on the uncomfortable seat, but still held out hope that I was going to be surprised by an unexpected twist in the plot.  But the story just went where I’d thought it was going to go, and there was no surprise or interesting revelation.  It built to a climax and ended.  It was a perfect example of a story that followed only the first six phases of an 8 point arc, and really needed to give me the last two to fully satisfy me. 

You can’t build a house without tools, and the same applies to telling a good story!

Sharing the magic

Sharing the magic.

I had a really enjoyable evening yesterday talking to the Cheltenham Writer’s Circle about e-publishing and Print on Demand opportunities for writers.  We talked about how to use Amazon and how to market your books, but the one piece of 'magic' information that I really enjoyed sharing was about making your book as good as you can get it before even thinking about publishing. 

One very simple thing that writer’s seem to think is some sort of wisdom of the ancients is the ‘Classic 8 Point Arc’.  Humans are coded to look for patterns in everything from clouds to collections of words.  When we find a recognisable pattern we feel satisfied, and that’s surely how you want your readers to feel.  This arc is a pattern that most fiction follows, so I thought I’d share it here also.

On last note - Stasis used to be a long section of introduction, but most books now jump straight in to the trigger moment, but the rest of the pattern still holds. 

A classic ‘8 POINT ARC’ Storyline

STASIS – Little Red Riding Hood is sitting at home feeling bored.

TRIGGER – Her granny is ill so she decides to take her some food.

QUEST – She travels through the woods.

(& gets up to all sorts on the way – sub plot).

SURPRISE – She meets the Big Bad Wolf

CRITICAL CHOICES & DECISIONS – She decides to tell him about her granny, and he decides not to eat her yet.

CLIMAX – When she arrives at her Granny’s house the wolf is there waiting to eat her!

REVERSAL – She knows something is not right and questions him, before running away when she realises the danger she is in.

RESOLUTION – The woodman comes to the rescue and kills the wolf.

And they all live happily ever after!