You can find out about the other nominees and categories right HERE.

The winners will be chosen at an awards ceremony in London, on the 4th March.

So I’ve got just a few weeks to find a frock!

Thanks to all the readers and bloggers who’ve supported this book. It was a joy to write.

Next week I’ll be blogging about the mental health challenges I’ve faced over the last couple of years that brought about this new direction. I reached a point where I said to my agent I just don’t think I can write romantic comedy any more. It’s not in me. The spark has gone. Deep within I felt a seriousness, a weight, even though my mental health was improving. And a kind of clarity that something inside me had shifted and my writing needed to reflect that.

That’s the thing. Us authors write from the heart. I’ve passionately written all of those nine previous books but just didn’t have the same motivation as the weeks became months in 2017. It would have been impossible. Which is kind of ironic as I’d always thought of myself as a very commercially-minded author, but if you’d offered me a million pounds I couldn’t have come up with the goods.

However I did have an idea for a book with characters I could relate to. A mental health problem can create turmoil within a family – and with friends and sometimes the community, as is the case with the protagonist Emma in Forgive Me Not… before I knew it I’d sketched out character profiles and a plot.

But the story wasn’t funny. The main thrust of it wasn’t romantic. I wasn’t sure how my writing style would fit this new genre. I wasn’t sure if I was up to writing in a new way with no one-liners, nor a humorous tone. I didn’t know if my readers would follow me along my new path.

But I had to do it. So with the guidance of my incredible agent I started. And it was tough. The first draft virtually needed to be scratched and I almost gave up. But a writer’s heart is a powerful tool. It kept nudging me and eventually I began again with renewed passion.

It was a nerve-wracking process sending out the manuscript to editors and a particularly emotional moment came when I read the email in which my new editor, Michael Bhaskar, expressed his passion for, and belief in, my new project. With his expertise the manuscript was polished further. When I saw the fantastic cover the Canelo team created everything fell into place and I felt that this genre was where my work – at the moment anyway – should be.

Now the whole creative process for that story is over I can see that the new book is still “me”. I feel there’s an underlying warmth that is the signature of my previous books. And I’m absolutely thrilled with the early reactions I’ve had to Emma’s story. It’s early days but perhaps this is going to go okay!

So, I guess what I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to follow your heart. I’ve always believed that someone’s greatest achievements don’t come from the comfort zone and that an author must continually set themselves challenges. It is too easy to become complacent, especially if you find a degree of success. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean changing genre – for example, in One Summer In Rome a character is blind, and it took research and care to write their story. And my author friends and favourite writers never cease to amaze me with the innovative story after story they come up with.

It’s been a scary twelve months. I’m an author with bills to pay, it’s my career, and I have a lovely loyal readership for my comedy writing. One might say this change of direction is something of a risk. Yet I feel it’s too easy to become pigeon-holed as a writer. I recently attended an evening with Matt Haig who has written fiction, non-fiction, children’s stories… and I find that very inspiring. I’ve written many stories from a child’s point of view for The People’s Friend magazine and have often felt a hankering to write a novel for youngsters. And now I’m thinking well… why not?

Humans change over time – I’m not the same person I was twenty, ten, five or even two years ago – so it’s perhaps, naive, to expect our writing not to change as well.

Within the publishing industry romance authors are sometimes faced with a negative attitude regarding their lighter, Happy Ever After work. It’s a view I don’t understand. Romance is one of the most prolific and sustained genres that industry has known. And Mother Nature has, after all, wired us to seek a partner and pleasure.

Personally I believe feel-good stories are incredibly important. They offer a break and a sense of escapism, for readers. What’s more, the characters, the themes are often relatable and providing a positive ending, a positive handling of these subjects can offer a degree of solace to readers suffering the same problems.

Nothing makes my day more than reader feedback saying that my work has, for a few hours, made their life more cheerful or inspired them to change their own life.

So here are a few of the many ways you can add in the feel-good factor to your light contemporary romance novel.

Your main character is crucial and at all costs avoid avoid her/him being too complaining. This is something I struggled with for a long time, with the early manuscripts I wrote before I got my first publishing deal. It’s important, over the course of a story, to see a the main character undergo some sort of change (otherwise what is the point of the journey?) and often this means them being faced with a set of challenges they must overcome.

Goodness, during my first attempts at novel-writing this meant they used to whinge. It’s okay for a character to moan – but for the feel-good factor make sure you demonstrate their positive traits as well. The reader needs to see them trying to help themselves improve their situation by taking action, by trying to see the bright side, but not giving up, by showing courage and determination – or if they can’t do this to start with, make them likeable in some other way. Perhaps they are especially kind.  It’s very important in the opening chapters. In real life we’d readily provide a listening ear to family and friends who are going through tough times. We don’t expect them to see the cheery side. But the reader isn’t emotionally invested with your character during those first pages, so bear this in mind and make sure he/she has redeeming features. I mean, which sort of upset stranger would you prefer to spend your time with? A person crying and ruing all the mistakes they have made – or someone blowing their nose, putting their tissue away and drawing up plans to start over?

If your character really is in a position where they can’t help themselves, the feel-good factor can be added in by giving them a dose of self-deprecating or dark humour. It has never ceased to amaze me, during the course of my life, that at the most challenging times humans can see the humour in darkness and that contributes to helping them get through. I recently underwent counselling and the group therapy sessions were often filled with laughter even though each person in there was struggling to take control of their life and get better.

A sense of community – this is a sure-fire way of creating a sense of wellbeing within your book. In my 2015 bestseller Game of Scones, for example, villagers pulled together to save their economically failing businesses. The feel-good factor is created by people helping each other in the face of adversity – by formal rivals swallowing their differences for the greater good. By self-less neighbourly acts being committed. Having a community pull together will have the reader rooting for a wider cast and the setting. The ending will warm readers hearts even more if it doesn’t purely focus on bringing together the heroine and hero. And that community doesn’t necessarily need to be geographical – it could, to take the group therapy as an example, be a set of people pulling together – school parents, colleagues, whatever.

This ties in with another factor – have your protagonists overcome adversity. This will get the reader cheering for them from the sidelines and when your characters reach their goal the reader will feel an immense and rewarding sense of satisfaction. Perhaps they need to overcome an emotional problem like anxiety. Maybe they have set up a business and it becomes a success. Perhaps they finally stand up to a difficult boss. Take my debut, Doubting Abbey. Abbey has to pass herself off as an aristocrat. Even though she is really a down-to-earth pizza waitress, she must outwit and charm the posh folk. In One Summer In Rome  the challenges of facing disability and prejudice must be overcome. In Game of Scones Pippa gives up the rat race and seeks the simple life on a Greek island – will she be able to adapt to life without her executive luxuries?

Goodies – that’s the best word I have for adding things to your novel that make people feel great. We’re talking… beautiful locations like sunny Italy or scrumptious Cornwall. How about setting your novel in a cake shop? Yes it’s been done before but I don’t think those locations will ever stop a book being more appealing. Talking of food, mozzarella, tomato, cheese… One Summer In Rome is set in a cosy pizzeria – what could make you feel better than that?! Oh, and pets. Warm scenes can often be created with animals. In The New Beginnings Coffee Club a small kitten helps turn around the life of a little girl. And there is a micro pig called Frazzle for added cuteness in Mistletoe Mansion. In One Summer In Rome a stray dog reveals a hidden kind side to a rather aggressive character. “Goodies” will leave the reader glowing from tip to toe.

Best of luck! If your story makes you feel good then there’s no doubt it will the reader too!

Hi Sam, lovely to be here! Looking forward to reading your new book! I’ve always been drawn to crystals, but it wasn’t until I started to attend a yoga studio twice a week that my interest in them was really piqued. My yoga teacher is crystal mad and also sells them. I was buying so many from her that she encouraged me to set up as a seller myself. She always has beautiful crystals laid out in the yoga studio and we use them during our periods of meditation. Like your character in your book, I always carry a crystal in my pocket. I also wear a crystal bracelet of some sort each day, depending on my mood.

Are you interested in the science behind them or, for you, is it enough to believe they work? ( For those interested, crystals are believed to act as conduits, allowing positive healing energies to flow into the body, and negative ones to leave. Also, their different colours are due to the speed of the light vibrations of each stone and therefore different coloured crystals have different effects on the body.)

I think I am a bit of a closet hippy to be honest and so crystals have always held some sort of magical quality to them. I’m a firm believer that the Universe provides us with what we need, and crystals are natural healers. However, the science behind them cannot be ignored either.  While it’s nice to have science starting to back up the power of crystals I think they stand their own ground from what we ourselves believe. I know that I am drawn to a particular crystal depending on my mood or need on any given day.  I don’t think there’s any science behind that but almost like some form of intuition.

Which are your favourites? Mine are Citrine – a lovely yellow stone that helps you take a new direction in life. Amethyst for the emotions and a needle of Selenite I have for its energy.

I absolutely adore Rose Quartz for opening the heart up to unconditional love and positive energy. And, lets face it, we could all do with more of those things in our lives.  I’m also drawn to Amethyst for its calming effects. It helps me feel more peaceful. I have crystal chip bracelets made of both of these crystals and tend to wear them together.

Do you think, in this modern, technical age, people are reverting to older or alternative methods of healing?

Yes, I think they are. While the modern, technical age has brought about lots of changes to improve our lives and make them more productive, these changes haven’t necessarily provided all the answers to difficulties we have in our lives, either emotional or physical. I think crystals help us to tap into our belief systems once again no matter what they may be. Technology hasn’t necessarily made us happier and lots of people are looking for something more than being able to sit down a press a button to make everything better. The power of belief in something is very powerful.

Is there a crystal that you wear or carry around every day, or does it change? When I was really ill it varied for me, but now I mostly just stick to my Citrine bracelet when I go out. I had to make some changes in my life to get better last year, and I believe Citrine helps me stick with them.

It does change for me. At the moment I am wearing bracelets with Green Aventurine for luck and prosperity and also Carnelian for motivation, endurance and leadership. I wear these to work every day because I have applied for a promotion and having these crystals with me during the working day makes me feel more confident in my abilities to prove myself as a strong leader.

What do you say to people who pooh-pooh the idea of crystals healing? My answer is, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks – if you believe they do, and they work for you, that’s the only important thing.

I have one friend in particular who is very strong on her views about crystals and why she thinks its all a load of nonsense. My answer is usually that we all believe in something. Some people believe in a greater being in the sky, others believe in something or someone else. My belief in them doesn’t hurt anyone or make someone else unhappy and I feel a little bit more confident with crystal in my pocket. Sometimes we have to think outside the box and open our minds to new ideas and lifestyles. And, at the end of the day crystals are so beautiful that whether you believe they work or not you cannot take away from the fact that they are aesthetically pleasing and surely that alone makes a person happy. Who doesn’t like pretty things?!

JB JOHNSTON BIO

JB Johnston (real name Debbie) is a book blogger and book tour co-ordinator over at Brook Cottage Books where she helps authors promote their work by organising virtual book tours. In the real world JB is a social worker, carer and writer. She has written her first novel but so far is too frightened to send it to a publisher! She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers Scheme.  When JB isn’t buried under a pile of books she can often be found in some obscure yoga pose at her local yoga studio. Always up for a challenge, JB has also taken classes in ballet, modern dance and pole dancing but has as much grace as an octopus falling out of a tree so gave them up and is now trying to learn something useful and is currently studying British sign language instead! Recently JB has become a crystal seller and has a facebook page called The Crystal Cavern UK where you can find out more about crystals and even buy some!

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Find out more about Mary’s story, right here!

But he had a point. Food isn’t just about food. It’s about sitting close and sharing, it’s about the laughter or confided problems that result from eating together. I grew up in a family unit that loved pizza and now have my own unit that is just as smitten – although to my disbelief it took quite a few years for youngest to get with the programme! I can still remember the first time my mother curiously brought a ready-made one home from the supermarket, in the 70s. Convenience foods were just taking off in Britain. We were all immediately hooked even though the simple ones produced for the British market, back then, tasted nothing like the real thing.

I was lucky enough to travel widely as a child and have warm memories of sitting outside European pizzerias in the dark, breathing in the aroma of oregano and tomato and watching chefs spin dough in the air. It all seemed very grown-up and exotic and I realised the ones we’d been eating back home were pale copies of the authentic thing. In 1980 we went to Florida – American burger and pizza restaurants still hadn’t taken off massively in the UK. We went to a well-known pizza chain and our eyes were on stalks at the size of the deep pan pizza we ordered.

Of course, over the years, takeaway and eat-out pizzas have become more sophisticated, offering toppings such as spinach or goat’s cheese. And these days we are well aware that we need to be making healthy choices. But I’m a firm believer in everything in moderation – exclude a food item and you’ll only crave it. Plus restaurants are adapting and one chain serves a light version with the middle cut out and filled with rocket.

One of the best pizzerias I have ever visited is in the South of France. Half way through the evening the chef started spinning dough bases in the air. Then to our surprise he threw them across the restaurant, like frisbees, for guests to catch and throw back! Many ended up stuck to the ceiling like badly tossed pancakes.

Pizza has been at the centre of many happy family moments. When we were living together, before getting married, my husband and I ran around 20 miles a week. We could eat what we wanted and at the time that meant four different takeaways a week. I have fond memories of getting  home after a long run, showering and sitting devouring a large pizza together.

It’s a good reliable if guests turn up unexpectedly or someone’s not feeling well enough to cook. There’s no washing up afterwards and to contribute to your five-a-day you can get vegetables added on top. It’s the perfect good times treat that can easily be shared when getting together with family, friends and colleagues and it’s that warm sentiment that inspired One Summer in Rome‘s setting.

Pizza – the smell, the texture, the taste – is satisfying, convivial comfort food at its best and the perfect ingredient for a feel-good romance.