Over the summer I set up a new Sheffield publishing company, Fleur De Lys Publishing Ltd, and our first title, Mother-in-Law, Son-in-Law, has just been released on Amazon here!
It's written by me under the pen name Julia. One of the characters in the book, Matt, is a Yorkshireman and I've written all his dialogue in authentic phonetic dialect, and it is thanks to a thread on Sheffield Forum from last year that I managed to track down a great resource for researching Yorkshire dialect, Kevin Wilde's yorkshire-dialect.org
Out of over 3 million titles on Amazon, Mother-in-Law, Son-in-Law was rising up the Amazon charts due to pre-orders even before it was released, as is our second title, MY ADVENTURES IN CYBERSPACE, which is being published in Spring 2009 and is set in Sheffield, with references to local shops and landmarks.
Mother-in-Law, Son-in-Law is a love story which is very explicit but also quite moral in a way, as all the characters get their just deserts. It also champions older women, as the main protagonist, Julia, is 55.
At the last ever Words Aloud at The Lescar on Tuesday I read out an extract and signed and sold loads of copies afterwards, including to someone highly respected and distinguished in Sheffield's literary scene (let's hope he likes it, wink!) There's a vid of the performance here for anyone interested.
The title has just received a stonking review on Amazon from a male reader. Here are some extracts:
"...the author 'Julia' (not her real name, one presumes), probably tired of the tide of so-called erotica aimed at the male readership, giving a decidedly masculine view of sex and its attendant emotional satellites, has crafted a book which presents a realistic portrait of female (as well as male) sexual frustrations, leading to an unavoidable and achingly erotic collision between two of the protagonists, as their feelings for one another, fuelled by their trapped energies, leak, and then explode, into the open. "
"I said this is aimed at women. Women of a certain age perhaps, yes (like 25 and upwards!). But I'm a man, and I loved it. I laughed out loud at parts of it (it's absolutely hysterical in places). I genuinely cared about the three main characters, and I defy any straight man to remain physically unaffected by the erotic charge which surfaces frequently throughout the book, like islands over a volcanic hotspot. It's like literary viagra."
"The character of Matt, despite his trade as a fashion model, is refreshingly straight, a blunt, intelligent northerner who is amused by middle-class pretensions and intolerant of snobbishness. I cheered when he appeared in the book, and loved the way his 'Yorkshireness' is presented, not nor laughs, but as a subversion of the usual order. At first, you think 'Oh dear, a Yorkshire stereotype' but then you realise Matt is fully aware of how people including us as the reader) perceive him, and uses it to his advantage and amusement. Matt uses it entirely knowingly and with deliberate post-irony to undermine the prejudices and artifices which he frequently comes across. He's a bright lad, is Matt. Good on 'Julia' for creating a 'real' Yorkshireman."
If you buy the book, please leave a review on Amazon! We are only just starting the press drive so it hasn't had any press yet, and I will be approaching the local press within the next few days, but if you are involved in the local press and want an interview then contact me at jude (the "at" sign) fleurdelyspublishing.com
The official book launch and book signing will not be until after the New Year but I'll let everyone know when a date and venue are set.
Good Heavens , I do admire you. The research and hours of writing you must have put in. Literary Viagra yeh, ? I will be buying it !!
That is great, thankyou Pattricia! Kerching, one sale, LOL
I had some feedback via email this morning from a reader who gave her real name but wanted to remain anonymous as she's a business woman. She was almost hysterical with joy about it! She said
"Our postman knocked on the door at 8.30am with a small brown parcel, too
early to get up so thought I would take it back to bed and take a look.
By page 49...my husband was a very happy man!!!"
The full quote is on my blog but it may be a little racy for this forum!
You are nothing but a peddler of filth! I love it.
Ha ha, no, I see myself more as a bringer of joy! And I want my writing to lead to lots of babies being born!
For too long there has been this ridiculous notion that "old people" don't have a life...this is a novel about a middle aged woman who is having a lorra lorra fun...not about some 30 something office girl being "mad" and "outrageous" as are many of the characters in chick lit novels with curly wurly writing on the cover. Chick lit is dead. The future is hot and the future is MILF lit.
Ha ha, no, I see myself more as a bringer of joy! And I want my writing to lead to lots of babies being born!
For too long there has been this ridiculous notion that "old people" don't have a life...this is a novel about a middle aged woman who is having a lorra lorra fun...not about some 30 something office girl being "mad" and "outrageous" as are many of the characters in chick lit novels with curly wurly writing on the cover. Chick lit is dead. The future is hot and the future is MILF lit.
Bring it on !!
__________________
I Dont Mind Having A Bad Reputation --As Long As Ive Had The Pleasure Of Earning It.
MILF? The character of Julia is more of a...er...GILF? But hey, she does it for me. Older women are where it's at. I always said so, even when I was in my teens. If only some of my mate's mothers had known what I was thinking when I was 17!
__________________ When the stars are right, Great Cthulhu will open The Gate, and the Old Ones will return.
MILF? The character of Julia is more of a...er...GILF? But hey, she does it for me. Older women are where it's at. I always said so, even when I was in my teens. If only some of my mate's mothers had known what I was thinking when I was 17!
If its that good they may make it into a film. The male lead has a Yorkshire accent. What about Sean Bean and..............................me !
__________________
I Dont Mind Having A Bad Reputation --As Long As Ive Had The Pleasure Of Earning It.
Cant wait to get my hands on it !!!!! The book of course.!
Oh I'm so pleased! Please do leave a review on Amazon if you like it, Pattricia, and come back on here and tell people what you thought! I was terrified when the book first came out but now I know it's making people happy I'm happy too
By the way if anyone wants a flyer or business card for the books then Masterchef in Attercliffe (at the bottom of Staniforth Rd) and Cocoa, the chocolate shop on Eccy Rd, both have one of my display stands on their counters containing flyers and cards...Masterchef have told me that the cards have been flying out! (They're pretty, and nice quality!)
If you are a shop owner and would like to display one of these stands on your counter, then please post on here, then everyone will know where to go to get flyers or business cards, and I will come to your shop and deliver one to you! There is a photo of the stands with the flyers and cards in here. The flyers and cards are double sided, one for Mother-in-Law, Son-in-Law, one for MY ADVENTURES IN CYBERSPACE, so you can choose which side to have showing - the stands are small (11cm wide, 15cm tall and 6cm deep) in high quality acrylic, with a compartment at the front for the cards and the back for the flyers (again, high quality paper stock and classy looking!) - very likely to stir up interest amongst your customers - it's not every day that a middle-aged local woman starts selling literary Viagra to the world! (at a much cheaper price, and can be used time and again as well!)
If its that good they may make it into a film. The male lead has a Yorkshire accent. What about Sean Bean and..............................me !
My degree is actually in Film and TV Production, pattricia, so I wrote this novel specifically to make it easy to adapt to a screenplay, and from a very filmic perspective. It would make a GREAT movie but would need the right director of course. I think Joanna Lumley could play Julia, she'd be perfect. Actually Joanna is mentioned in the book during a discussion between Alex (the son-in-law) and his wife Kate (Julia's daughter.) Alex is saying how hot Carol Klein is (the Gardener's World presenter) and Kate is dismissing Carol as merely "old" so Alex starts to list older hot totty, Joanna Lumley being one of them. I'll be offering all the actors and actresses mentioned in the book a signed free copy next week ....which means I have to email Kylie, LOL! One of the characters refers to Kylie as "The Queen of Pop" which of course, she is, and long may she reign!
My degree is actually in Film and TV Production, pattricia, so I wrote this novel specifically to make it easy to adapt to a screenplay, and from a very filmic perspective. It would make a GREAT movie but would need the right director of course. I think Joanna Lumley could play Julia, she'd be perfect. Actually Joanna is mentioned in the book during a discussion between Alex (the son-in-law) and his wife Kate (Julia's daughter.) Alex is saying how hot Carol Klein is (the Gardener's World presenter) and Kate is dismissing Carol as merely "old" so Alex starts to list older hot totty, Joanna Lumley being one of them. I'll be offering all the actors and actresses mentioned in the book a signed free copy next week
I would rather come to your booksigning in January. Where will it be at ?
__________________
I Dont Mind Having A Bad Reputation --As Long As Ive Had The Pleasure Of Earning It.
I just contacted the site... I wonder if they could find any use for some of my stuff....
I just got your email, Jabberwocky, thanks, I will reply in private now, but just for information for others, atm because this is a new, young company, we can't take on any new writers because MYADVENTURES IN CYBERSPACE is actually a trilogy, and in the Spring I'm due to batten down the hatches and finish the second half of Book 2 in the trilogy. After that I'm probably going to write a sequel to Mother-in-Law, Son-in-Law, and not until then will I be able to think about publishing other authors, simply because there aren't enough hours in the day! Also, again because this is a new company, I'd rather make any learning curve errors with my own titles rather than make them with other authors' work. So the short answer is, we may well be taking on other authors in the future, but not right now.
However, Jabberwocky, you could do what I've done and set up your own publishing company and publish using the Print On Demand technology which has turned the old publishing industry on its head and has led to the revolution in publishing which is New Publishing, a term first coined by Aaron Shepard, one of the gurus of New Publishing. This is the punk rock era of publishing and it's a really exciting time to be a writer and publisher.
However that does mean giving up your entire life to running a business and being a full time company director and author...not everyone's cup of tea.
If that isn't for you, then you'll need an agent to get a large publisher, and agents are only looking for books they know they can sell. However if your stories are local, then how about approaching a local publisher who is already publishing books about Sheffield?
OK Jabberwocky I've just done a quick bit of research for you, and the famous Weerz Me Mam is published locally. That link leads to an article in The Star about the book, and at the end of the article it says:
* Weerz Me Mam is published by ALD Design and Print, of Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield. Priced £8.95 it is widely available in Sheffield, including The Star front counter in York Street.
ALD is run by a lovely bloke called Alisdair Lofthouse, maybe he'd be interested in your work? Why don't you pop in to see him? His is an established Sheffield business now.
Also, you could try what is called the "vanity" or "subsidy" publishing route. A company like Lulu will publish anything, and charge you for x number of copies. They have control over the artwork and I think you have to ensure that you have the copyright yourself. There's more info at lulu.com. If you only want a handful of copies of your book for family and friends, that may be a way to go. However don't be fooled into believing they will market your work. They won't. Nor will a large publishing house, unless you're already a celeb or a celeb author. You have to do all the marketing and publicity yourself, and that's a full time 3 year commitment for starters...
I would rather come to your booksigning in January. Where will it be at ?
It's not confirmed yet but I've got a central location in mind, one of my favourite bars. As I haven't taken out some ridiculous huge loan to set up my company, we can't afford to hire out The Millenium Gallery and have a champagne and canope launch, I'm afraid. But whatever we do I will make sure it's well advertised and full of friendly people and not up itself. I just want everyone to have a good time
Ha ha, no, I see myself more as a bringer of joy! And I want my writing to lead to lots of babies being born!
For too long there has been this ridiculous notion that "old people" don't have a life...this is a novel about a middle aged woman who is having a lorra lorra fun...not about some 30 something office girl being "mad" and "outrageous" as are many of the characters in chick lit novels with curly wurly writing on the cover. Chick lit is dead. The future is hot and the future is MILF lit.
If this is the theory, then why not have a realistic, "older" looking model on the front cover?
