Thursday Talk-Time with Trisha Ashley

Anne McAllister started reading Trisha Ashley's books almost a decade ago. She got hooked immediately on the mixture of realism and humor, of dark moments, laugh-out-loud moments and satisfying endings. Trisha has been a must-buy ever since.

Ever since I read Trisha Ashley's book Good Husband Material back in 2001, I've watched out for her books. They create a world that I feel I know at the same time that they invite me to explore parts of it I haven't visited yet, but am sure I want to know better. And I always want to spend time with Trisha's people.

I love her people -- and her animals (even her not-so-bright hens) and her chocolate and her roses and all the other intriguing bits of Trisha's world that amuse me, entertain me, and always make me eager to come back for more.

If you haven't read Trisha's books, you can find out a bit more about them from Trisha herself who generously answered my questions this week. Then do go check them out on her website or have a look at the online booksellers. If you're in UK, you can probably find them at your nearest Waterstone's as well as other bookshops and possibly the supermarket.

Without further ado, here's Trisha!

1) How long have you been writing and how many books have you published now?

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, but I actually completed a children’s novel when I was eighteen. It was truly dreadful and totally unpublishable, but you learn such a lot from writing your first book. Of course you do tend to think your first novel is absolutely perfect, just like your new baby, cradle-cap, crossed eyes and all.

The Magic of Christmas, out this October, will be my twelfth romantic comedy, though it’s actually a major reworking of an earlier novel, Sweet Nothings. I always felt there was so much more I wanted to say about the characters and situations in that book, so much more material I wanted to add – and that’s what I’ve done! So I hope no-one minds if I count it.

I’ve had a couple of Regencies published in the past, too, most recently Lord Rayven’s Revenge – I love the Regency era and have a collection of newspapers and Ladies Almanacs from that time.

2) What started you writing in the first place?

I wanted to be a writer and painter from being a little girl and thought that all I needed to do to be a writer was read a lot and get on with life, so I went to Art College. I still paint, which gives me immense pleasure, but the writing has become the dominant strand.

3) Several of your books are inter-linked. Did you think of them as a series when you began or have the ideas for stories occurred to you progressively as you’ve written each one?

I never intended to write a series, but several of the recent ones have been set in the same area of rural West Lancashire and so there was naturally some overlapping of people, place names and so on. I now do see the Lancashire novels as a sort of series, but they are all also stand-alone novels.

You will notice in several of my books that the heroine subscribes to Skint Old Northern Woman, the magazine Charlie in Every Woman For Herself started up: so that’s also a little link.

I get emails all the time asking me to write sequels to the Lancashire books, but I’d rather carry on doing linked but stand-alone ones for the moment. If one of my books is ever made into a film, though, then I promise I’ll write a sequel!

4) Are there more coming along in the same series of inter-linked books?

Yes: The Magic of Christmas is set in the same area and the new novel I’m writing will be, too. But Avon HarperCollins are going to reprint two earlier novels, Good Husband Material and Every Woman for Herself, set in Bedfordshire and West Yorkshire respectively, and I don’t rule out setting one or two future novels in other favourite locations.

5) You do a lot of first-person stories. Have you always done your books from a first-person point of view? What are the advantages? Disadvantages?

My Regency novels and most of my short stories are in third person, but my contemporaries are always in first-person. I find I can slip inside the heroine’s skin so much easier that way and become someone quite different from myself by seeing things through their eyes. So I’m a shape-shifter, really, even if I don’t have to put myself to bed in a bucket.

But when writing first person, you have to remember that the main protagonist can only know what she sees, hears, or is told about – you can’t just shift to someone else’s viewpoint. So that can be challenging. I quite often do introduce someone else’s first person viewpoint in some form, though, like diary entries or letters - or more directly, like the sections from Feargal’s viewpoint in Good Husband Material.

Multiple first-person viewpoint novels need a master storyteller, like Barbara Kingsolver with her novel, The Poisonwood Bible.

Oh, and avoid starting every sentence with ‘I….’

To a first-time novelist I would say: write in third person past tense and severely limit the number of your viewpoints. But if you must write first person, then don’t attempt to do it all in present tense. Sophie Kinsella makes it looks so easy, but it’s actually terribly hard to pull off successfully, so save it for a later novel.

6) Do you have a favourite setting?

Many! I love Wales, and three of my novels are set there. The Generous Gardener (paperbacked as Sowing Secrets) was set in the Conwy valley and inspired by the lovely Bodnant gardens. And Every Woman for Herself was inspired by the rugged Brontean moorlands of West Yorkshire, where I lived happily for several years. But I am deeply rooted in the traditions of rural West Lancashire and very comfortable writing about that area. So many people think of it as an industrial county, all smoke-blackened factories and back-to-back terraced houses, like in Coronation Street (a popular and long-running British soap series), but even in the industrial towns the lovely countryside has always been just on the doorstep and enjoyed by everyone.

7) Do you have any particularly tough parts of the book to write? Are some parts always easy?

Well, it’s always tough to get going because I’m stepping out into the darkness with each chapter, hoping the magic carpet will unroll under my feet and carry me onwards. And it always does…though that doesn’t mean I’m not afraid one day it won’t!

By the end chapters of the novel I’m flying through the air and I can see where the journey is taking me, so that’s so much easier.

8) Do you do much research? Hands on? Books? I’m particularly thinking of the chocolate making in Chocolate Wishes. Or the rose-growing in Sowing Secrets.

The topics in my books are all things I’m interested in, I just go into much greater depth researching them for the books. Some of it stays stored away in my head (I often surprise myself by what I know!) and some gets pushed out to make room for a new subject. I put on a lot of weight while researching chocolate making for Chocolate Wishes – but then, I’m always prepared to suffer for my art! I got fascinated by the various types of cocoa bean and also learned a lot about cooking savoury dishes using chocolate, which is something I’d never even realised was possible before starting out.

It’s all too easy to get carried away with research, because it is such fun. For instance, a very minor strand in Chocolate Wishes is that the heroine loves scented geraniums. So I found a geranium nursery and ordered some…and now I have millions of pots of variously scented geraniums everywhere!

9) Is there a method to your writing? Do you work things out ahead of time, or do you follow your characters and see where they go?

I am very much character-driven. With each novel I start by asking a major, life-changing question about what will happen to the main protagonist – the premise – which I will answer by the end of the book, and that’s both exciting and inspiring. I don’t know the answer when I first start to write it, but it will become clear to me as I go on.

So the story grows organically, though there is always a point when I must stop and carefully work out the timeline, before carrying on.

10) Some writers make collages or have ‘sound tracks’ playing in their heads or in their office. Do you?

An important ingredient for me is the Wall. It’s always the one right behind my pasting table (but that’s another story). Anyway, in the middle of the Wall I stick all the material I’m collecting for the current novel: cuttings, photos, dried plants, timelines, spider-charts, millions of Post-it notes covered in ideas and snatches of dialogue…tons of stuff, by the time I actually sit down to start writing it. To the left side of the Wall is a space where I start to stick things relevant to the novel I will write after the current one; to the right are ideas for future novels. As I finish one novel, any material left in the middle of the Wall is removed and replaced by that from the left hand side. Then one of the ideas from the right hand side is transferred to the left…Are you still with me? There is method in my madness…or possibly, madness in my method.

I like to write in silence if possible, but find a little heavy metal music conducive to writing about the main male protagonist.

11) I know you have a Muse. Tell us about him. Any other sources of inspiration?

Muse, whose first name is Lucifer, slipped into my head and took up residence while I was reading Paradise Lost at school and has refused to leave ever since. He is male (unlike most Muses), steely-blue, wears a lot of leather, is winged, has talons (so that’s where my blue nail varnish went, then) and is devilishly handsome, if you like that kind of thing – but also neurotic, vain, bad-tempered and chancy. He only eats words, but gets through a lot of Leather Food too, so I’m starting to suspect that he does more with it than just rub it into his wings... Most mornings I have to arm-wrestle him into submission before he will deign to give me any help, but I always win.

I often say I am inspired by food, flowers and friends, because they are so often strong themes in my novels, but very often you can add ‘family’ too - perhaps dysfunctional, or not in the traditional mould, but loving relationships, nonetheless.

12) What’s next on Trisha Ashley’s list of books to write?

I’m just beginning the book due out next spring, but I’m still hugging the ideas close to my chest at the moment….and I’m really enjoying the research!

* * *

Thanks, Trisha, for answering my questions -- and whetting my appetite for a revisit to Sweet Nothings as The Magic of Christmas when it gets a revamp and expansion this coming holiday season!

In the meantime, a lucky blog reader will win a copy of Chocolate Wishes (just in time for Easter!). Just leave a comment and you will be in our drawing for Trisha's scrumptious book. The winner will be announced on the weekend in the comments. If you are the winner, please email me and I'll see that your book is sent your way.

Anne is celebrating! Just this week Romantic Times gave her its Reviewers' Choice award for her Harlequin Presents, The Virgin's Proposition as Best Presents of 2010!

Thanks, RT!

Writers' Wednesday: What happens to your book once it’s accepted?

Kate Hardy, who used to be a freelance project manager for a publisher in London, talks about what happens in the time between your editor accepting your book and your book being on the shelves...

First of all, apologies for the lack of pics in this post - because it's all about the written, typed and typseset word! (And also apologies for the formatting of today's post - it's a known problem with Blogger, and guess who uses the "problem" broweser? Yeah... and I can't face the hassle of changing.)

I used to be a freelance copyeditor, and one of my clients asked me if I'd project-manage for them while the desk editor was on maternity leave - effectively, meaning I'd do my usual job but also liaise with the author, the proofreader and the typesetter. This meant I took the book from the "accepted" stage through to final print. And I thought this might be an experience that other authors (and readers) might find interesting.

I should add that this refers to traditional publishing rather than e-books (of which I have no experience, other than the fun of helping with links, photographs and extra information for my ‘enriched’ Harlequin e-book, Hotly Wedded, Conveniently Bedded – which I absolutely loved doing).

Once your book is accepted by the editor, it goes to the copyeditor. The copyeditor’s job is:

• to pick up the author's typos (we all make them)


• to correct grammar and/or spelling


• to spot any holes in the plot or timing and query them with the editor (the quick way of doing this is to keep a note of what happens and when in each chapter - very broad brush-strokes, and very useful if there's a pregnancy in a book or to check that, in an office romance, they do actually have weekends)


• to put your book into “house style” – basically, that’s if the publisher prefers single or double speech marks, en or em dashes (spaced or unspaced), and -ise or -ize endings


• to do a style sheet so the typesetter knows which version of a word to use in cases where there are alternatives, eg wine glass/wineglass or wine-glass.

This stage can take up to a fortnight.

From there, it goes back to the editor to sort out any queries with the author. Depending on how quickly these are answered, this can be anything from the same day to long, dragging-out weeks of constant nagging. (Yup, I do indeed speak from experience, so as an author I always try to give answers on the same day, to make life easier for the production team.)

Once the queries are sorted, the manuscript goes to the typesetter. The typesetter takes the author’s electronic file, makes the changes that have been marked up on the hard copy by the copyeditor, and formats them as they will be seen in the finished book. That takes a week (can be quicker, but you need a really sympathetic typesetter AND you need to have booked the job in early enough – as with most things, unscheduled rush jobs tend to cost more).

The typeset copies (‘proofs’) then go out – one set to the author, one set to the editor, and one set to a proofreader (who picks up any problems from the typesetting, along with anything the editor and copyeditor might have missed). That takes another fortnight. (Again, it can be less, but you need to book it in early and warn the proofreader that it’s a rush job. And you never do a rush job if you have a typescript covered in copyediting corrections, because you know it’s going to take a long time to check thoroughly.)

Then the changes from the three sets are collated onto one set of proofs, which is then sent back to the typesetter. The typesetter produces a second set of proofs, which needs to be checked against the collated first proof. Any further corrections are made and checked. This stage – well, it depends on how tight the schedule is, but you’re talking at least three days. Did I mention that these are physical documents, so they have to go through the postal system or courier? Single-page PDFs are easy enough to send by email at the ‘further corrections’ stage, but not a complete set of proofs – a 512-page book is a huge PDF file and it’s cheaper/quicker/easier to use a courier. (In the days before broadband, it could take 15 minutes to download a single page. And that meant your phone line was tied up for that long, too. And that wasn’t actually that long ago…)

Once all the changes have been finalised, the typesetter’s file goes to the printer. After printing, the pages are bound and the cover added, and then the finished copies are shipped to the warehouse of the distributor.

I didn’t handle production past the ‘sign off and OK to go to printer’ stage, so I can’t tell you roughly how long those stages take or if there are any additional layers of checking – but I’m pretty sure there are, because you don’t want to risk having 20,000 copies of a book printed with pages missing, upside down or repeated in the wrong place!

Kate has two medical romances coming out this month – The Doctor’s Royal Love Child (in the first Penhally series) is out in the US in April (featuring a royal wedding… just what we’re about to get in real life in April!), and The Fireman and Nurse Loveday (in the first St Piran’s series) is available on the Mills & Boon website and in UK shops in April.

You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/)

Crafty Corner : Photography

Photos are our memories, frozen in time. Pink Heart Society edior Jenna Bayley-Burke is fresh off an intro to photography class and sharing a few quick tips.

I've always loved to take pictures. Back in the day, photography was quite the expensive hobby. Photos were taken on film, and developing costs factored in as well. You never knew if you got the shot until you developed the pictures.

Now, things are less expeinsive, but the basics remain the same. We all want a photograph or ten to hang around the house and remind us of places we've been and moments we've shared. More often than not, instead we're left with Auntie Terri's shoulder blocking a corner of the first birthday cake or a blurry seven year old running across the field.

Sometimes we're sure this can be fixed with a better camera. Digital cameras seem to improve weekly, so this new model must take better pictures. And maybe it does...but my soccer player was still blury and I seemed to forever cut off the baby's head as I tried to catch her whirling about.

Now, most photography tricks don't translate well into capturing toddler moments. Cherubs simply have no attention span for that kind of thing. So my first bit of advice?

JUST TAKE THE DARNED PICTURE. If you want a picture of it, snap one quick. And then...

STEP CLOSER AND TAKE ANOTHER. Thank goodness for digital. You can erase all the duds later on the computer.

THEN, FRAME YOUR SHOT. Think about what you want in a frame and go for that. Zoom in, change the camera position, move around so you're getting side light instead of back light.

What I'm saying is that you'll probably end up with 3-10 options instead of one. But, it's digital. That's what it's designed for. professional photographers take hundreds of shots for one print.

FILM SPEED is something we no longer think about. Remember buying rolls of film in 100 with the picture of  sun? 200 with the picture of a house? 400 with the line drawing of a runner? Most cameras allow you to select this in your menu. We just don't and trust the green 'auto' box. Odds are, you're probably smarter than the chip in your computer. When trying for great shots, select your film speed.

LIGHTING is what separates snapshots from photographs. Most digital camers have an option where a strange graph pops up on your display. It used to be that I would push buttons until the annoying thing went away! Now, I use it. Try and keep the spikes in the middle for the best colors. Too many spikes on the left means shadows (which you might be able to fix on the computer later) too much on the right and your picture will be too bright (which you can't fix).

THE MORE PICTURES YOU TAKE, THE MORE YOU CAN LEARN. Go out and experiment with your camera. Take a picture of the same thing in all the settings and see the differences between them. Spend a day photographing your favorite moving thing (cat, kid, pinwheel) and see which lighting and settings you like best.

PRINT THEM WELL. An 8x10 from my desk jet is not wall-worthy. And...there are places where printing is actually cheaper than doing it at home.

And because y'all know I write books, I do use photography to help keep track of ideas. Detail photos to help bring a setting to life, landscapes for storyboards, I've even taken pictures of words I'd like to use for titles. I haven't managed to work any of them in yet, but I will :)

Go on...take a picture today. Maybe every day this week. Or this year.

Jenna Bayley-Burke is a best-selling author recently featured on Good Morning America. Kinda. Compromising Positions made the best seller list for Kindle for a few weeks, and GMA did their daily top ten list of Kindle bestselling ebooks and Compromising Positions made the list. But doesn't it sound better the first way? Be on the lookout for Jenna's latest, Private Scandal, available in 2 weeks. Keep up with Jenna's spin on things on her website & blog.

Male on Monday - The Love That Dare Not Speak: Redheaded Men

Where Brigid Coady is overcome by the flame haired hero...

I have a thing for red headed men. I know they are supposed to be a no-no in category romance (unless maybe Celtic historicals) but they do ‘something’ to me. So in tribute to this rare breed, in fact red headed slaves were prized in the Roman empire for their rarity, I give you some fine examples below.

A fine red head/auburn although he has been known to dye it when playing Apollo in Battlestar Galactica... I give you Jamie Bamber. He has starred on these pages before and has been the cause of a few internet spats between myself and Donna. I always win though.

Old Etonian who does a fine American accent... Damian Lewis *sigh*

I have the box set for 'Band of Brothers' pretty much for him alone.

Another fine British flame haired actor. He inherited his hair (and his talent?) from his mother Dame Maggie Smith.

Moving across the Pond we have the lovely Eric Stoltz. I fell for him when he was in 'Some Kind of Wonderful'....

And a new face for our gallery... I give you Matthew Jaeger

So who have I missed that you would add to the red headed gallery??

Brigid is currently querying agents for her YA novel

Marilyn's Review Roundup

It was a great week of enjoyable reading, posting contests and interviews at both of my blogs.  Also adding more items to The Pink Heart Society Section at Brenda Novak's Jr. Diabetes auction. 

The First book I finished was Sharon Kendricks His Majesty's Child and oh what a stern royal.  A royal with amnesia, a king who about to find out he had a 13th month old heir.  A king who was about to abdicate who now was forced to stay on as King of Zaffirinthos.  My review of His Majesty's Child, here.

Book Description:

King Casimiro harbors a secret—no one in the kingdom of Zaffirinthos knows that a devastating accident has left his memory clouded in darkness. And Casimiro himself cannot answer why Melissa Maguire, an enigmatic English rose, stirs such feelings in him…. Questioning his ability to rule, Casimiro decides he will renounce the throne. But Melissa has news she knows will rock the palace to its core: Casimiro has an heir!

Law dictates Casimiro cannot abdicate, so he must find a way to reacquaint himself with Melissa—his new queen!

Sharon at I(Heart)Presents talked about Minor Characters and Working Backwards.

Next was Anna Cleary's Do Not Disturb a beautifully crafted reunion romance.   Mirandi fell in love with Joe and he broke her heart.  Now by chance she's hired on at his firm and he's the CEO. and It's full of passion, simply a wonderful romance.  Here's Anna's inspiration for the book.  My review of Do Not Disturb, here.

Book Description:

As a teenager, Mirandi Summers was a preacher’s daughter straight-laced and virginal. Joe Sinclair was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who led Mirandi deliciously astray.

Now a CEO, Joe hires Mirandi as his Executive Assistant. But on a business trip to the French Riviera, Mirandi discovers Joe’s devilish side isn’t far beneath his new, polished exterior. Especially when Joe pulls her into his hotel room and locks the door…

Ending up the with another marvelous romance by the talented Kimberly Lang, A Girls' Guide to Flirting with Danger.  A very moving and emotional reunion love story, one you won't want to miss. Can you imagine confronting your ex-husband  who is not only a divorce attorney, he's also a radio talk show host as well as a best-selling author?  She's a marriage counselor and boy do the sparks fly! 

Here is an interview I recently did with Kimberly and we're running a contest at Romance Author Buzz. 

Kimberly's post at I(Heart) Presents

My review for Girls' Guide to Flirting with Danger, here

Book Description:

Life is good for marriage counsellor Megan Lowe—until the media discover that she's the ex-wife of Devin Kenney, America's most famous divorce attorney! Now the paparazzi are digging for a scoop just in time for the launch of Devin's new book. His gorgeous smile smirks at Megan from magazines and billboards, making him infuriatingly impossible to forget.

It's time for Megan to throw her very bossy rule book out the window and face her dangerously sexy ex. And their sizzling hot reunion—well, that's most definitely headline news.

Marilyn

Marilyn's Romance Reviews

Romance Author Buzz



Wildcard Weekend - Weekend Retreats

Our regular columnist, Annie West, looks at one of life's great treats - the weekend away.

As I write this I'm planning for a weekend away, and in one of those amazing coincidences, am not long back from one. It's not that I have weekend breaks often, but I'm not going to say no when the chance to get away from it all beckons. The weekend just gone was a romantic treat weekend. The one coming up will be a busy one, meeting lots of people but as they're all people interested in romance books, I figure that counts as a retreat.

I love the idea of planning a long vacation, poring over maps and travel advice books for information on where to stay and what to do. But long holidays away aren't always possible and in our house, where the family holiday away has sometimes been a bit of a luxury, weekends away have been a lifesaver sometimes.

There's a weekend retreat for every mood. How about renting a cottage somewhere scenic? Somewhere away from it all, where you could imagine a charismatic, handsome stranger knocking on the door? Can you tell I write romance? A writing friend and I have for years talked about a writers' retreat in the wilds of Scotland but I fear we'd spend too much time talking and exploring the local area rather than writing.

Personally I love going to the mountains when the air is crisp and the leaves are changing colour and it seems perfect weather for curling up in a window seat with a book or going for a brisk walk then browsing in a bookshop. Here's a photo of a cottage we've rented in the mountains complete with gorgeous garden, massive kitchen and window seat perfect for those early mornings when no one else is up and you've got a fantastic book to read! It's only 5 minutes away from some wonderful bushwalks too, so I'm not too slothful there.

Some people prefer getting back to nature, roughing it under canvas and enjoying the taste of food cooked over an open fire and maybe some freshly caught fish. A weekend in the fresh air can be rejuvenating, especially if you're stuck in an office through the week.

Of course there's always the city escape. A weekend spent among the bright lights and seeing shows or sampling new restaurants could be just the thing. However, I confess when I found this picture of Paris I knew instantly I'd be tempted to spend the weekend in that room if I got a chance to stay there. Doesn't it look delicious?

And finally I had to include something a little different - a place I've been and still have the fondest memories of. If you could have a retreat anywhere, why not in a castle? OK, so I only stayed one night not a whole weekend but I have plans to go back one day for a weekend stay of fairy tale luxury. Wouldn't it be nice?

What is your idea of a perfect weekend retreat? Camping? A log cabin in the wilderness? A chic city apartment? A caravan by the sea? Have you had a weekend retreat that was so wonderful you'll never forget it? Or perhaps a retreat where everything went wrong?

Annie's celebrating this month as she has two releases out now inthe UK. PRINCE OF SCANDAL is a May release out in stores mid April. It's a sexy marriage of convenience story about a charismatic prince used to getting his own way and a most unlikely princess who turns out to be the perfect heroine for him. SHE CAN'T SAY NO TO THE GREEK TYCOON is a By Request Anthology which includes Annie's THE GREEK'S CONVENIENT MISTRESS. You can find out more about both books at Annie's website.

Fill the Well Friday: Fail

PHS Editor  and Harlequin Historical author Michelle Styles examines how actual failure can refill the well.

What paralyses authors many times is not failure but fear of failure. If you are afraid, you don't take risks. You over plan, destroying any spontenanity. You take the safe route over familiar ground but because these ideas have already been mined, your work becomes stale and unexciting. You cling to ideas that weren't strong, rather than admitting their weaknesses. You go into denial, convinced that somehow everything will work out.  Then you panic and everything spirals out of control as you try to grab the solution. Finally the thing that you have been seeking to avoid happens -- you crash and burn. You end up with a dry well and writer's block.
 Many authors are used to being straight A students. They are not used to failure, particularly public failure and actively seek to avoid it. The well runs dry because you are spending a lot of creative energy being afraid. Fear is probably the primary reason that people's creative wells run dry.

When you actually fail, you are forced to reassess -- how you work, what you are working towards and how you approach things.  You have nothing to lose and the only place to go is up. You are forced to let go of the fear of failure because you have failed. It has happened but you are breathing on the other side. You no longer cling to the illusion of success as that has been stripped from you. You are free to go out and create.
Twyla Tharp quotes Jerome Robbins in her brilliant book -- The Creative Habit -- you do your best work after your biggest disasters.
Tharp also points out that it is better to fail in private rather than in public. It is what self-editing is all about -- daring to admit you have failed and can write a bad page. Daring to take risks that don't quite work out and having the courage to recognise that enhances creativity rather than detracts from it. First drafts don't have to be perfect. You can take risks and pursue ideas that don't work out. Sometimes those failures lead to other pathways that you have never dreamt about.
As I have pointed out the Amadeus myth that Mozart never made mistakes, never practiced is a dangerous one. It is through failures that people learn.

Public failure can be harder, much harder. Sometimes public failure does mean you have to take a pen name as your sales tank. Weak sales are the most common reason for an author to be dropped. There again, look at Jayne Anne Krentz who ended up with three viable pen names (Jayne Castle, Jayne Anne Krentz and Amanda Quick)  after years of crashing and burning!

Failure can present opportunity. When I was a student, I heard the then world expert on Rodin give a lecture at my university. He thanked my university for failing to give him tenure as he would have stayed a not-very-good art lecturer at a college in the mid-west of the US. Instead, he was forced to think outside of the box, took another job as a curator and became famous, travelling the world and lecturing  about Rodin. The gist of his lecture was about seizing the opportunities that failure gave you. I have never forgotten it. Katie fforde tried and failed for years to get her work accepted by Harlequin. She is now a best selling novelist in single title. There are a legion of examples. It can be useful to collect those examples because...well... it is really easy to fall into the Amadeus trap. And knowing that other people have failed and come out the other side can be the tonic that makes you determined to succeed. It is what you do after the failure (and the period of mourning that accompanies failure) that counts.

 Failure can allow you to take risks. Failure forces you to reassess and re-examine. Failure can free you from fear.

Tharp also points out that people cling to success, but after failure, they are ready to move on and forget the humiliation that often accompanies public failure. The problem is that you do have to remember the why behind the failure and seek to grow.  Without that growth and change, you are doomed to repeat.  Panicking after a failure and seeking to get something, anything out there can be counter productive. Sometimes it is best to take your time and really stretch. You remember the wound but you allow it to heal. You go back into battle stronger and more able to deal with things that life throws at you.

Failure often stems one of several things -- skill (this is the easiest failure to sort -- acquire the skills needed. But sometimes people fear admitting that they don't have the necessary to make their ideas work), concept (the idea is weak and gets weaker but you fear to admit because well, then you'd be showing that you are not perfect),  judgement (you fear change and hold on to something that would have been best discarded), nerve (you are afraid of looking foolish and so hold back), repetition (you cling to the past because it was a success and you fear failing with something new but as Disney said -- you can't top pigs with pigs), and denial (you deny anything is wrong or stale because you fear failure). If you will note, mostly what causes failure is fear. 

 When you stop panicking, and dare to fail, your creativity can rush back in. You can see ways to stretch yourself. Your hubris stops and you can take the time to learn. You no longer have to go along familiar paths. You can take risks. You can admit your ideas were weak. You no longer have to get it right the first time. You no longer have to be perfect...because well you failed. Failure doesn't mean the end. It can mean the beginning.
If you haven't failed, then you are missing an opportunity to stretch your creative muscles.
And may your failure be private ones, rather than public ones. But failure always makes the success sweeter.

Note: it is April Fool's today and I thought about doing a practical joke or something on how laughter can refill the well, but really I think this is more important. Dare to fail!

You can read more about Michelle Styles's books on her website http://www.michellestyles.co.uk/