I know that technically it's Springtime, but, considering how ridiculously cold it feels, especially in the snow flurries we've had, the last thing I expected to see today was a...



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Arrgghhh!!! No, sorry, that just came out. As it were. You know how it is. Anyway, Lord H and I have done our Mother duty and we can tick that one off our list, ho ho - so the rest of the weekend is our own (cue evil laughter ...). Which, funnily enough, is exactly what Mother said, except she substituted the word "Daughter" where I've typed "Mother" in the last sentence. And missed out the reference to Lord H. Lord preserve me, but perhaps we are indeed more alike than I'll admit. Noooooooo!!!!!! Somebody pass me the aspirin bottle now and save me the misery later ...

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It's now officially spring & I watched the snow falling through my chocolate hand-printed window this morning..

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When I'm commenting on someone's writing, one of the most common things I find myself saying is, 'I think you need either more of this, or less of it.' It might be some character who's characterised in such detail that they seem to be taking up an immoderate amount of space: readers expect the time they spend understanding and living alongside a character to be proportionate to their role in the plot, and can spend the whole book wondering when the person who took up the whole first chapter is actually going to return and blow up the bus. Which is fine, if they actually do...

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My editor, Chris and my agent, Sid are waiting for me when I arrive in the coffee shop. I thought I was on time but when I look at my watch I see that I’m not.

Sid looks absurdly happy to see me and it touches something in me and I hold out my hands in an exaggerated greeting. “Hey!” I say. “Dudes!”

Sid gives me a high-five while Chris nods his head and forces a smile. “Christopher,” he says.

I sit down on a wooden chair, keeping up an absurd air of frivolity. “Isn’t it a great morning? Sid, it’s good to see you, but I told you, you don’t need to come to these little meetings.”

“You’re my client. It’s my job.”

“Still, there’s no real need for you to be here.”

“I had nothing better to do,” he says, and my smile drops a little because he isn’t joking.

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Rushed into town this morning to get a shed-load of stuff which has been waiting to be bought for weeks. However, commerce is - once again - against me. I couldn't find half the stuff I wanted (deep sigh) and when I got home some of the stuff I'd actually bought was the wrong ruddy stuff (deeper sigh): it's just that the ruddy retailer had put the oil in the place where they usually put the soap and in the same packaging. So I'm no further forward. Plus I have something extra I don't need yet. And I still have to go back and get the things I really wanted at some point. Bloody hell - is it just me or do other people go haywire and get utterly stressed out when simple things don't go to plan?? I mean I could probably cope with style and finesse if World War Three broke out in Godalming (that den of crime and unrest), but I fall into a sobbing wreck when I can't find my soap ...

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Easter is here and with it a new feature at The View From Here. I'm adding a Behind The Scenes series, the first of which is with the site YouWriteOn.com.

YouWriteOn.com is a free website to help new writers develop, and to help talented writers get noticed and published. So let's kick back the virtual doors and see what lies behind the pages ....

Open up YouWriteOn.com!

And Hi to Edward Smith from the YouWriteOn.com team, thanks for giving us a backstage tour.


This looks like the the Simple Guide to getting started we're in front off, how long has YouWriteOn.com being going for Edward and who originally started it?

YouWriteOn.com began in late 2005. It was started by me, along with authors Martyn Bedford and Phil Whitaker who devised the ratings system, and the site was designed by Zarr.

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The cover artwork is now revealed!

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Hi Everyone,

Just a small update to let you know that as of now I have made it possible to accept credit cards through Paypal online through my website, Chrysalis Press. You can reach my website at www.ChrysalisPress.com. From there you can press the link beneath the book cover that says ¡§Buy this Book.¡¨ It will then redirect you to a page where you have an option of purchasing through Chrysalis Press (my company) or Amazon. Please choose whichever you are more comfortable with. I hope this adds a measure of convenience to your shopping needs.

Is everyone ready for Easter? It¡¦s just around the corner¡Xit came so fast this year! I love rabbits-they were always my favorite stuffed animal. Now I just have to figure out which children¡¦s Easter book to treat myself to this year. There are some great ones out there. Last year I chose ¡§The Golden Egg¡¨ written by A.J. Wood, and illustrated by Maggie Kneen. I really fell in love with the illustrations¡Xvery detailed and meticulous¡Xand the hologram effects they had on all the Easter eggs. It was during the time when I was trying to decide what type of special effects I would have for ¡§Laura and the Leprechauns.¡¨ If you have any Easter book favorites or suggestions, feel free to share them with me. I¡¦m always on the lookout for a good book!

Until next time, take care!

Sincerely,

Amber ļ

Hello Everyone!


And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you, your family and friends are enjoying a wonderful day of celebration and laughter together! I know my family and I will be enjoying the day with games, music and candy for the little ones . . . and there’s always plenty of festive dancing. This really is my favorite day of the year.


Yesterday I spent the day watching Irish claddagh dance exhibitions. It was exhilarating! Girls from ages 4-18 were having the time of their lives, dressed in their finest, full of smiles and dancing their hearts out. It was great!


I would also like to offer my sincere apologies to those of you who had difficulty purchasing my book through online stores over the St. Patrick’s Day season. I’m not quite sure what happened, but so that it doesn’t happen again, I have decided to start accepting credit cards through PayPal on my website at www.chrysalispress.com. So if you ever have difficulty purchasing from other online stores again, soon you will be able to order from me directly and securely. I hope this helps matters, since I will never be ‘temporarily out of stock.’


I have also made slight design updates to the Chrysalis Press website so if you haven’t been by recently, I hope you will go by and check it out. I hope it is more appealing and will make navigating around the site easier and more convenient. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear from you. You can always email me directly at amber@chrysalispress.com.


Until then, sending joy and cheer, to you and yours this St. Patrick’s Day!


xoxoxo.


Amber