Cherie Le Clare

The reading habit

Cherie Le Clare — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 01:56:42 +0000

Starting them young…

These are three of the four cherubs I care for while their mums and dads are at work. Reading stories is one of my favourite activities, and the kids have a large selection of picture books to choose from.

Maybe they’ll become customers of my grown-up novels in the future!

Falling into Paradise

Cherie Le Clare — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:27:22 +0000

A warm welcome to Kamy Chetty, guest visitor and fellow New Zealand author, who shares with us THE ECSTASY OF WRITING, THE AGONY OF EDITS.

Thank you for having me here today Cherie. As a debut author it’s great to be welcomed by such a friendly blogging author and can I just say, I love your site and your style. You rock.

I’ve been a reader and a writer all my life and it seems to be a symbiotic relationship so trying to choose something to talk about was a little difficult but then I thought about Falling into Paradise, and all the conflict and tension and I realize this was a story that I had fun with to begin with but then was tortured with during edits and here’s why.

I always used to hear other writers, especially best seller writers talk about layering and I used to envy them. They made it seem so easy and I thought, I wish I could do that. I wrote Falling into Paradise in three weeks after I won a pitch contest and didn’t have a completed book to pitch.

Then it was time to edit and I thought about plot, character arc and turning points in the story. At every point as I was editing, I thought, what’s the worst that can happen here? It meant I was mean to my characters to the point that I couldn’t believe how horrible I could be, but in the end there were twists and turns and lots of action, lots of sex and an emotional journey with strong conflict.

So the point is, stepping out of my comfort zone and pushing myself made me a better writer and made this a better book. But it didn’t mean I didn’t have fun. I do hope you get a chance to read it and do ask questions. I’ll be hanging around to answer them.

Cheers,

Kamy.

KAMY ON THE WEB

Website: http://www.kamychetty.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KamyChettyAuthorPage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kamychetty

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6882636.Kamy_Chetty

Author Page: http://rbpp-kamychetty.blogspot.in/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Kamy%20Chetty&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

FALLING INTO PARADISE – BLURB AND BUY LINKS

A woman too afraid to commit. A man too hurt to love again. A passion that refuses to be denied.
Sophie Redmond knew betrayal, she knew mistrust. She knew everything that was wrong with the world, until Damon Watson charmed his way into her life.
The rules she used to shield her heart were broken one by one, as Damon showed her compassion and kindness. When no one else believes in her, he shows her hope. But is hope ever enough?
Damon knew trouble when he saw it. He was the sheriff. He could spot it a mile away and Sophie was trouble with a capital T. What was it about this City Slicker doctor that made him want to forget everything but those whiskey brown eyes and that honey blonde hair spilled against his naked chest.
Can Damon put the past behind him and choose to love again?
BUY LINKS:
Red Sage
Amazon
Amazon UK
B&N

Please leave a comment or question to be in the draw to win a free copy of Falling Into Paradise.

New Zealand Book Month

Cherie Le Clare — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:39:56 +0000

Karen

March is all about promoting New Zealand authors and their books! Yay!

Support NZ authors by checking out their interviews here. Post a comment and you may win a free book! http://catherinemede.com/2013/03/10/nz-book-month-cherie-le-clare-2/

Thank you, Karen, for all your great interviews!

A chat about Depression

Cherie Le Clare — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:03:38 +0000

They say almost everyone knows someone who has either suffered from cancer or has had cancer themselves. I’d say that could equally apply to depression.

My friend, Karen, suffers from depression and has kindly agreed to answer my questions with a frank and refreshing honesty.

Depression is often misunderstood. Unlike a physical illness it may not attract much sympathy. Has this been your experience, and if so, how have you coped?

On the outside, I look normal, I don’t have a broken arm, or leg, or a bandaid to show there is something wrong, and for so long I hid it from everyone except my best friend and my Mum. I’ve had people tell me it is just a state of mind. However in my case, it is a chemical imbalance, and medication does fix it.

Karen

Because I don’t physically look sick, people just don’t understand. Fortunately I have had a lot of support from family and friends, and once I started telling people they were interested to know more about it. My depression (and it IS different for everyone) was more of an indifference. I could see something funny, but not laugh, I could see something sad, but not cry, my husband could have been hit by a car and killed, and I really wouldn’t have cared less, even though I love him to pieces. I would get upset and cry over silly little things, like a fly landing on the kitchen table, or a scratch on my leg – really petty things. Going to counselling has helped me to get a better perspective on life, to laugh off the small things, realise that I control my life, not everyone or everything else around me.

How have I coped? Quite well in some respects but not well in others. I have recently had to change medication because it wasn’t working for me. I was getting physically tired after gardening in the morning, or driving the car into town. That just wasn’t right and when I finally went back to the doctor she told me the depression was getting worse again, so changed my meds. I am now on something that works for me, and works with the chemicals in my brain, so that I can finally see clearly again, I am not physically tired all the time, and for the first time in a very, very long time, things appear normal again.

In what way does suffering from depression affect your writing?

My writing suffered terribly, and I sometimes attribute my depression to my writing, because it really came to a head after I lost over 40k on a superb story I wrote, which meant I lost over half of it. I could not look at the keyboard or attempt to write anything for a very long time, in fact it was only last year, with some persuasion from you, Cherie, Laverne and Sasha that I started editing a story of mine, looking to make it fit a particular genre that was being sought. Editing was easy, I could do that, plus change small sections of the story (which ended up being over half of the story) and slowly I was able to get back into writing again.

At the end of last year, I tackled the story that I lost, and it was hard to get back writing it again, but I finished it in January this year. It isn’t anywhere near as good as the original, but I like where it is at, and I can edit it now (I also have it backed up in three different places!) I struggled with depression while I wrote this, because I remembered how good the original was, but I had to keep telling myself that this was only a draft, the next edit would make it better and closer to the original. In a lot of ways there are better bits in it now than the original, but it was hard to recognise those places.

This year, my goal is to start writing again, but without the pressure that I used to put myself under. I want to concentrate on getting my craft back to where it was pre-depression and focus on the positives of my writing.

With my most recent bout, it has taken me away from the computer, but more because I recognised that I needed to get out and do more activities away from the computer, like being sociable and taking part in groups outside of my house.

Do you find you become depressed if you’re not writing – or is it the other way around?

Sometimes I feel depressed because I’m not writing, but that is a pressure I have to take off myself.

Before my depression my life was too structured and I was setting myself up for failure, therefore bringing depression down on myself. Now if I can’t write, I am out in my garden weeding, or tending the veggies, I don’t stress myself out. If I have a problem with what I am writing, I can feel the old familiar blackness coming back, so I remove myself from the situation and work on something else instead. I will come back to it when I feel better able to cope with whatever I am struggling to write.

If you were ever to give advice on how to live with this ailment what would you say?

DO seek help. Don’t try and battle through, because like me, it might be a chemical imbalance that can be easily fixed with medication. Even counselling works because it gives you tools to cope on those days when you feel down.
Make sure you have a support network around you of people you love and trust and whom you can confide in. My best friend knows when I am not right because I tend to avoid her, so that is when she will make contact and spend time with me. My Mum rings me every day to have a “check in” make sure I am doing OK. Make sure you have someone you can go to when you can’t cope.
Always have a plan, but not a rigid structured plan, of how you want your day to go. If I have nothing planned, I will work on “going to the op shop”, or “go for a walk,” something that gets me outside of the house, because you do tend to isolate yourself. If I have a busy day, I break it down into smaller segments. If I have lots of things to do in town, I write a list, and check things off it as I go, it gives you a sense of accomplishment as you check things off.
Don’t put off things that you should do today – like going for a walk or bike ride, or going to see your doctor. Housework will always be there, writing will always be there. The sunshine on the walk might be different today, or the birds might be singing beautifully – you would miss that if you focused too much on the wrong things.

Can you recommend any books or articles on this topic, that you’ve found helpful?

www.depression.org with John Kirwan, a fantastic starting place to implement changes in your life. And his book, All Blacks Don’t Cry.

Depression is a serious illness. It makes you isolate yourself, separate yourself from the rest of the world. The first and foremost lesson I learnt from this is: “If I don’t look after myself, nobody else will. And I need to make sure that I am able to look after myself before I can look after anyone else.” It was an extremely hard lesson to learn, but focusing on me, and being “selfish” has helped me cope. It will only rule your life if you let it. Get the help you need, get your support network around you, and you can start doing the things you love doing, like writing.

Thanks Cherie for the opportunity to write about my own experiences. I know it is different for everyone, but if someone can read this and understand just a small part, and recognise it in themselves, then I have helped someone.

Karen blogs about writing and depression and lots of other things as well, over at www.catherinemede.com

Photos courtesy of http://www.webmd.com/depression/ss/slideshow-depression-overview

Holiday Heaven

Cherie Le Clare — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:01:25 +0000

I had the most relaxing Christmas week ever, enjoying great food and company at my brother’ s new beach house. It rained the first four days but I went swimming whatever the weather. The golden sand glowed when the sun came out, and the view from the deck, of the azure bay, was glorious. I was lulled to sleep each night by the sound of the waves on the shore. We feasted on barbecued fresh fish, and enjoyed shopping forays in the nearby historic fishing village.

Read more about Coopers Beach in Doubtless Bay here: http://www.doubtlessbay.co.nz/

It was hard to leave that paradise and return to real life, back home to continue writing Pioneer Bride. I’ve discovered some old 1800′s newspapers and reading them is playing havoc with my eyes – they printed the words in such a small font in those days – but such is the sacrifice involved in research…

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU.

I like Christmas cards

Cherie Le Clare — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:05:02 +0000

I don’t know about you but the tradition of sending and receiving Christmas cards and letters is one I look forward to every year. It’s a bit of a chore actually getting down to it and writing the letters and addressing the cards, not to mention a pain in the wallet when it comes to paying for the postage, but the joy of receiving something other than bills or junk mail in the letterbox makes up for those things. I love to see them displayed in my home and each one is like a special gift from friends and family both near and far.

Every year New Zealand Post produces a range of specially designed Christmas stamps. Sometimes they follow a traditional Christian theme; sometimes they are contemporary, but they are always attractive. These are the 2012 stamps:

If you prefer to tap the keyboard than hold a pen then how about sending an e-card or two? Take a peek at the free cards from Hallmark: http://ecards.hallmarkcards.com.au/ecards.aspx They offer a diverse choice of designs.

Light up someone’s Christmas – send them a greeting today!

Exotic Indian Christmas

Cherie Le Clare — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:11:15 +0000

Maria, a Catholic Irishwoman married to a Hindu, and living in Lucknow, writes about how Christmas is celebrated in India.

A melting pot of religion

I’m in an interfaith marriage, my husband being Hindu and my being Christian. The part of India where we live, Lucknow in north India, is populated mostly with Hindus and Muslims although there is quite a presence of Christians here, Catholics, Methodists and Anglicans and a lively Pentecostal Assembly too.

(Photo: National Geographic http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/india-photos/ )

Many faiths = many celebrations!

When I first came out here to live, I found it quite strange at Christmas – it didn’t feel ‘Christmassy’ at all! India is a secular country, which means that although around three quarters of the population are Hindus, no faith predominates, so we get days off for Hindu Diwali and Dussehra, Muslim Eid, the Sikh Guru Nanak Jayanti and the special days of other faiths too such as Jainism and Buddhism. Living in an area which didn’t have too many Christians, I initially thought that Christmas, while it was ‘observed’ as such, like Sunday, was ‘just another holiday’.

Carols are sung in the Christian churches

My perception gradually changed though. Being Catholic, I found myself a local Church, Holy Family Church. Regular attendance helped me to get to know other Christians. I came to know that the Churches here do Carol Services at Christmas, just like in Christian countries. Holy Family Church always has a

nativity scene on display and a big Christmas tree too.

Trees becoming popular in the shopping malls

Although Lucknow where I live is not a metropolitan city, a lot of malls have shot up over the years. The sight of Christmas trees in the local mall puts me in the mood for Christmas, something which never used to happen in my earlier years in Lucknow. I clicked a picture of the Christmas tree in the local mall last year with my cameraphone and it looks like a typical Christmas tree you’d see anywhere in the world.

Family gatherings

In India, the system of combined family persists. Our family consists not only of me, my husband and kids, but also the paternal grandparents, my husband’s two brothers, their wives and their children. My husband’s elder brother lives in the north eastern Indian city of Shillong, which is predominantly Christian. Whenever they visited us at Christmas, they always insisted on arranging a Christmas tree. So even if they weren’t with us on Christmas, I would arrange a tree.

Maria introduced the bearded, jolly chap to family

I introduced my Indian nieces and nephews to the joys of Santa Claus leaving gifts under the tree. On Christmas morning, the children’s excitement was tremendous. Later my own children joined in. The irony is that the gifts were not very costly – just chocolates and packets of crisps (chips?). It didn’t seem to matter, the joy was just infectious and filled the house. Just as in Ireland, Christmas occurs in India in the dead of winter. In the Gangetic plain of north India, we experience dry cold rather than rain and snow, although snow falls in the hills. In fact, I’d love to try going to one of the hill cities like Dehra Dun or Mussoorie for Christmas. Apparently they celebrate a traditional English style Christmas there which sounds wonderful. Snow, Christmas trees and carols. What could be more enchanting?

Cake, Curry, and Carrot dessert

On visiting a Christian home on Christmas day, most Indians would expect to be served a slice of Christmas cake, so I always try to have a nice cake ready in case anyone stops by – and several usually do! Sometimes, my Indian friends bring me cakes, which is always a lovely treat. As I now eat mostly Indian food, not to mention the fact that my in laws are vegetarian, it means that traditional Christmas food i.e. turkey and ham, is out of the question. I usually prepare a favourite Punjabi dish for Chrismas day, chole bhature, which consists of chickpeas in spicy sauce with specially deep fried breads. The Indian dessert of gajar ka halwa (carrots cooked in sugar and milk, delicious, believe me) is the taste of Christmas for me now.

Time to count our blessings

In conclusion, I’d like to say that it doesn’t matter where we celebrate Christmas. What matters is remembering the One whose birth we’re celebrating and enjoying good times with the family. Not to mention being thankful for all our blessings.

Thank you Cherie for inviting me to do a guest post on your lovely blog. I’ve admired your work for a couple of years now ever since I was lucky enough to win a copy of your historical KIWI KISS on the Minxes of Romance Blog. I’m impatiently waiting for you to finish your current work in progress, PIONEER BRIDE, so I can read it.

Gorgeous Jennifer St. George

Cherie Le Clare — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:26:14 +0000

A warm welcome to Jennifer, debut author of :

Thanks, Cherie, for hosting me on your blog today. I love all the photos of NZ you feature on your site. I was recently in New Zealand for the Romance Writers of NZ conference and was thrilled to bits to be awarded the prestigious Clendon Award. It was my first ever visit to NZ and I loved the place and plan to go back again and again.

Cherie tells me that Melbourne is a popular tourism destination for New Zealanders. I set my debut book, The Convenient Bride in Melbourne as it is my favourite Australian city. I visited Melbourne for the first time when I was seventeen and from that moment vowed I would live there one day.

Everything about the place captivated me. The architecture, the food (especially the coffee), the style, even the public transport! Trams are so much more romantic than the diesel-powered buses of Brisbane. After my graduate degree, I moved overseas for seven years, but as soon as I returned to Australia, I moved straight to Melbourne where I lived for the next six years.

There are a couple of places you must visit if you are planning a trip to Melbourne.

The Queen Victoria Market is a Melbourne institution. Located in a gorgeous historic building, the markets offer everything from fresh seafood, fruit and veggies to clothing, toys and jewellery. I could never walk past the delicious Kranski sausages served in fresh crusty bread.

Gertrude St, Fitzroy is the new darling of the inner urban scene. This formerly gritty, down-at-heel street radiates hip and is home to restaurants like Cutler and Co, Casa Ciuccio and Moon Under Water.

South of the city, St Kilda hasn’t lost its edge and offers a huge array of dining options. My favourite restaurants are Café Di Stasio, Circa and Stokehouse. The sea air always made dining out so much more enjoyable. If you’re game, you can head to Luna Park after lunch and ride the roller coaster.

For clothes shopping I would always head to Chapel Street for major brands and designer clothes, the hip Greville Street for something cool or slightly alternative or Bridge Road to hunt for bargain fashion.

If you have time for a day trip head down the Great Ocean Road. When I lived in Melbourne, we would head down this scenic, winding road nearly every weekend. My husband would surf at some of the world’s top surf spots like Bells Beach or Cathedral Rock and I would enjoy the little seaside townships of Lorne, Anglesea and Apollo Bay. Although it is a fair drive, a visit to the Twelve Apostles is worth the effort. The golden glow of these rock stacks rising out of the Southern Ocean in the afternoon sunlight is something not to be missed.

Jennifer around the web:

Website Facebook Twitter Author Page

Jennifer’s debut book just released!

The Convenient Bride

Back Blurb

Sienna De Luca will do anything to save her family’s hotel, and ruthless Italian businessman Antonio Moretti knows it. With problems of his own, he proposes a marriage of convenience and plans to use Sienna to secure his next business deal. But things don’t go quite according to plan.

In keeping with her part of the bargain, Sienna travels to Venice to be with Antonio, who introduces her to a life of great luxury and opulence. As befits the fiancée of the famous Antonio Moretti, Sienna is given a new wardrobe of designer gowns and outfits and instructed exactly how to behave when out in public. But after thinking he can manipulate her at his will, Antonio begins to realise he has seriously underestimated Sienna, her intelligence, her skills, her courage – and her beauty. Unexpectedly, Sienna gets too close and when she discovers his dark secret, Antonio’s perfectly planned life begins to unravel.

The Convenient Bride is a fabulous romance set in a world of great beauty and luxury, portrayed in picture-perfect detail. Two opposing souls strike up a partnership in a deal that has overlooked one important detail – that it involves a woman who knows her mind and her heart.

Buy links for THE CONVENIENT BRIDE

Destiny Romance AmazoniTunes

I will be giving a Kindle copy of The Convenient Bride to one lucky commenter here today!

Researching a bygone era

Cherie Le Clare — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 06:05:12 +0000

As part of my research for the current novel-in-progress I get to delve into the past. Pioneer Bride is set in the nineteenth century so the cafe we chose for afternoon tea/coffee on this beautiful, sunny, spring afternoon, was the perfect place for combining pleasure with fact-finding. The magnificent, circa 1879, Melrose House’s cafe provides an old-fashioned, elegant afternoon tea, complete with china teapots, delicate teacups and delicious cake. Set in extensive gardens, Melrose House was built as a family home but is now a cafe, and a popular wedding venue.

Check it out here: http://melrosehouse.co.nz/index.html

As I wandered through the rooms I imagined my characters living there. Maybe the house will indeed appear somewhere in the novel. You will have to wait and see;)

Here’s a photo of two Victorian-era women taking tea. Kate Edger, wearing the mortar-board, was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a degree. Notice the long grass? No noisy lawn mowers disturbing the neighbourhoods back then! I wonder when the fashion for lawns began?

Back to Google Search….

Busting the blues

Cherie Le Clare — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 04:48:06 +0000

I think I’m back on the horse… yay! Writing has its highs and lows and I’ve been in a low this year, too busy with other things, too tired, too unmotivated – I’ve excused myself – to attempt another manuscript.
BUT there’s a guardian angel out there prodding and encouraging me to produce another book, and so, thanks to Maria, I can announce I have written 627 words today, which I’m pretty pleased with considering I only planned to start small with 500!

Yeah, I know it’s not much of an output compared to the hares out there who produce a whole chapter a day, but I’m a tortoise and I’ll get there, eventually. I’ve resurrected a manuscript I began a few years ago so that’s given me a base to work from, thank goodness. The working title is Pioneer Bride, and is set in New Zealand in the 1800′s. A different time period from my previously published books, but I find it refreshing to have a change of era to research.

I found it motivating to discover that a very prolific and successful author, Tess Gerritsen, has also suffered from writers’ block. You can read her article When Writers Don’t Deliver at http://www.tessgerritsen.com/blog/

I’ll write more about Pioneer Bride, and the research behind the characters and setting, in future blogs. I hope you’ll pop back from time to time and keep me company. None of us can achieve anything without the support of others – your friendship and encouragement is appreciated more than you realize.