However, like everything else in your work, animals must have a function if they are to appear and here are some of the reasons I find them useful:

An animal is another tool in your writing work box to drive plot and demonstrate character. Take Toto in the Wizard of Oz. Trying to catch him is the reason Dorothy doesn’t hide in the cellar and gets swept away by the cyclone. He also tells the reader, early on, that Dorothy is a loyal, brave and loving person – her thoughts were with saving her dog, not her personal safety.

In The Summer Island Swap it is a monkey, Chatty, that takes centre stage in the fictional tropical world of Seagrass Island. Conservation leader Rick comes across as surly and abrupt yet shows a deep degree of tenderness with this small animal that he rescued. This gives the main character – and the reader – clues, from the off, that there is a softer story behind the offhand exterior of the male protagonist.

So the use of animals is an effective way of showing the grey areas of a character that, initially, might simply seem black or white. And they can also demonstrate a change in character – the smart, executive female protagonist of my summer story goes on an emotional journey and aspects of her are different by the final chapter – her rough and tumble friendship with Chatty the monkey has contributed towards that.

Animals can also make stories relatable and feel like home. Pets feature heavily in contemporary romances that write about modern people’s lives, where they walk dogs or talk to their cats. People own pets for all sorts of reasons – health, companionship, status – and including them offers additional ways of reflecting your readers’ lives on the pages.

Take my 2018 romance novel, One Summer In Rome. It features a blind Italian Protagonist, Dante, and his guide dog, Oro, (Italian for Gold). Their relationship is a functional one. Yet it’s also very much a partnership, built out of a  mutual respect and love. The moving and affectionate moments between characters and their furry friends add a heartwarming, relatable glow to stories for those readers who own a pet or have fond memories of a past one.

Also animals are, in general, hugely appealing, so don’t underestimate the the ah factor. As the creator of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, said, talking about how he imagined the internet would develop over time, “I never expected all these cats.” As a writer I have to admit procrastination due to watching animal rescue stories online, or videos of them performing tricks!

Of course animals feature predominantly in children’s literature and some adult fiction. I devoured Enid Blyton’s stories as a child and especially loved Brer Rabbit. When I got older favourites were the Stonor Eagles and Duncton Wood and the animal communities within these stories, with their leaders and followers, are effective at showing readers how a society functions. Plus a wide cast, with different species, subconsciously teaches children about the differences between people and, perhaps, how we should all get on, even though we might look nothing like each other. And they are also instrumental is helping children take the first tentative steps to understanding and accepting death. Author Tom Moorhouse has written an excellent piece about why animals are important in children’s fiction and you can read that .

When my son came back from his rainforest volunteering trip I immediately wanted to write a story about animals that needed rescuing and the people who did that. From the feedback I’ve had so far, readers have fallen in love with monkey Chatty and I’m thrilled with that. Especially for contemporary romances, animal characters are an extra way of pulling on your readers’ heartstrings, in this way making them become even more invested in the story and driven to keep turning those pages.

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!

It is always a challenge to set a book in a location not familiar, in terms of everyday life. In fact one of my books (firmly unpublished and kept under the proverbial literary bed!) was set in Ancient Egypt. Some settings are so inspiring that they alone are the motivation to write an entire book. This happened with my novella, How to get Hitched in Ten Days. I’d visited an amazing fifties diner and instantly knew I just had to base a story in one. So what have I learned from the process of creating different settings, over the years? Well, I’m no expert but here are my top tips.

Firstly, it’s all in the detail. Take my undiscovered masterpiece (!) set in Ancient Egypt. I tracked down an egyptologist on line and they agreed to answer all my questions for £1 a pop. I was determined to make my book as authentic as possible. And I take the same attitude towards setting my stories in modern countries – even though I have visited Cornwall, Paris and Greece. A sure-fire way to guarantee authenticity and detail is to focus on the five senses. Take your readers on a complete, sensual journey.

Sight – don’t forget the small things. Like sand stuck to the bottom of shoes after a day out. A passing gull with a chip hanging from its mouth. The width of the kohl around the eyes of a pharoah. The different colours shooting across the sky during a sunset.

Sound – listen to a Youtube video filmed in the setting of your choice. The car horns in Paris. The donkey’s bray or chirping cigales in a Greek village. The fishing boat’s horn at a seaside resort. The sound of cheesy music from a passing ice cream van.

Smell – the stink of fish and seaweed as you walk through a harbour such as the one pictured above. The car fumes in Paris or wafting pastry smells from bakeries. Crocodile dung in Ancient Egypt! Close your eyes and imagine you are walking in your characters’ shadows. Think smoke from barbecues in the summer or aroma of hot red cinnamon wine if it’s cold.

Taste – oh yes, go to town with the food! The different textures and levels of spiciness or sweetness. All those details will really get the reader involved. How the food feels on the tongue. Is the aftertaste mild or bold?

Touch – wet sand squelching between toes. Scratchy beach grasses brushing against legs. Weather-beaten fishing boats. Scaly, slippery fish. Cobbled pavements under the feet. The sleek, smooth glass of glitzy buildings. The breeze through your hair by the coast or at the top of a landmark.

Below is an extract from my new Cornish book, as best friends, Kate and Izzy, drive towards Port Penny harbour:

“…the road narrowed into a path and we cut through the tiniest whitewashed stone cottages, with doll’s house doors and uneven foundations. The roads turned to cobbled avenues and I marvelled at cute plant pots in tiny front gardens. An occasional cat crossed our path, as I pointed out funny house names like Seas the Day and Sunnyside Up. Tens of gulls squawked above our heads and, as we approached the wide harbour, I breathed in a fishy stench, which hit the back of your throat.“

Secondly, also describe all the smaller aspects of the larger, more imposing parts of your setting. To do this I study Youtube videos and do lots of research online. Draw a map if that helps. I did this for Taxos, the Greek village in Game of Scones, and also for the stately mansion in Doubting Abbey. This will make it more real for you and, as a consequence, more real for your readers. Reading tourists’ reviews on TripAdvisor is also immensely helpful. I did this for my Greek book as I couldn’t exactly remember the details of Kos centre and I came across some vivid descriptions of various fountains and buildings – how safe or crowded or well maintained they were and what you could see from each angle. Also read local tourist guides and try to get a sense of the atmosphere surrounding big landmarks, to make the experience more personal.

In this extract, in From Paris with Love, Gemma is sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur:

“I gazed back down at the City of Light. When we’d first arrived, I’d just about been able to make out the details of roofs, chimneys and aerials. Now, however,everywhere was liquorice black, as if the starry sky had fallen to earth, just like that children’s story where Brer Rabbit thinks the moon has dropped into a pond. Lights twinkled and towards the right stood the sparkly Eiffel Tower.

I turned around, and gazed up at the awesome Sacre-Coeur church, illuminated by an amber glow. A Native American band played nearby, with their drums, flutes and pipes. Chat, laughter and ciggie smoke filled the air. Necking wine out of a bottle, a tramp sat next to us and directly in front was a group of camera-clicking Japanese girls.”

Thirdly, cut out relevant photographs and stick them above your desk, to really “get in the zone”. I did this with From Paris with Love as inspiration for the restaurant where a lot of the plot was based. I also posted up a copy of the Parisian underground. Don’t be lazy. Readers are educated people and won’t believe in the story if they spot an obvious mistake. Find the right Metro station to get off at the Eiffel Tower. Work out the exact time it will take a taxi to travel from the airport to your little Greek village.

Fourthly if you can, visit places in real life similar to your setting, if you haven’t actually been to the location. Doubting Abbey was inspired by the series Downton Abbey, and well after the book was published I managed a trip to Highclere Castle (see below). But the stately home in my story is quite different, and to get a taste of aristocratic life whilst doing the ground research, I visited Lyme Hall near me and took a tour of the house, writing notes on everything from the artefacts to door frames and just imagining how it must feel to live in such grandiose surroundings.

Finally… remember, a glamorous or particularly appealing or distinctive setting isn’t everything. For some novels the plot and characters carry the story and the setting, whilst important, isn’t such an crucial element. In Breakfast under a Cornish Sun it is significant because Kate Golightly heads off to that coast to find her very own Poldark (the fictional hero of a well-know Cornish book and TV series). Yet in my current work-in-progress (still under wraps, so I can’t give much away!) the setting is kind of incidental as the plot is about more of an emotional than physical journey for the characters.

After writing four YA novels I’m taking my first steps with adult thrillers. I’m very excited! Here are five things I’ve learned so far about writing for this massively popular and competitive market.

Know your genre. Read everything you can.

Writing for what you think the market wants might be tempting, but this cynical approach rarely pays off, in my experience. Not least because the market’s a strange and unpredictable beast.

Luckily, I’ve loved thrillers for ever, and for me there’s nothing better than that feverish feeling of wanting to turn the pages faster and faster.  But more than anything, you need to read, read, read to know what’s out there. When aspiring writers say they don’t have time to read books, it makes me want to cry! More than anything else, writers need to be readers. And the best thing is, you can sit there devouring good books and tell everyone you’re hard at work on research. Result!

Don’t give your readers whiplash.

You know what it’s like; you’re reading a thriller and then there is a twist so preposterous you spend a few moments going, ‘What? Where? How?’ Now sometimes that can be a delicious thing and when the shock twist works properly it’s a sign of immense story telling skill. But when it seems to come from nowhere, or have no roots in the rest of the story, then your reader just feels annoyed and a bit let down. I hope I’ve managed to do this with The WOMAN NEXT DOOR but readers will have to judge for themselves!

Make your characters flawed and complex.

We don’t have to like characters……but we DO have to care about them. As Gone Girl and Girl on a Train proved, we can become heavily invested in characters who aren’t especially likeable, as long as we’re fascinated by what they’re going to do next and what happens to them. I personally wouldn’t want to live next door to either Hester or Melissa, my characters in THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR! But oh, I do love them both…

Give ‘em what they need, not what they want.

I have to confess to pinching this one from the brilliant book Into the Woods: A Five Act Journey into Story by story guru John Yorke. So we all know that most stories involve a character trying to reach a goal, right? But when you have the character ending up with the thing they actually needed, and didn’t know it, rather than what they thought they wanted, it can make for very satisfying ending.

…and speaking of endings

It’s disappointing when you’ve avidly devoured a book and then there is a weak denouement. Now, you don’t have to tie together every single loose thread at the end but you definitely should make sure that the finale is as complete and well thought through as the important first few pages. I’m surprised by how often I’ll feel an ending is the weakest part of a novel I’ve just read.

So make sure you save a little story magic for the end.

Some insightful tips there, thank you Caroline! The Woman Next Door sounds like a great read and a real bargain at just 99p!

Cass Green is the adult pen name of Caroline Green, an award -winning author of fiction for young people. Her first novel, DARK RIDE won the RONA Young Adult Book of the Year and the Waverton Good Read Award. CRACKS and HOLD YOUR BREATH garnered rave reviews and were shortlisted for eleven awards between them, including: The Amazing Book Award; The Catalyst Book Award The Leeds Book Award; The Hampshire Book Award; Sefton Super Reads, the Oldham Book Award and The Stockport Book Award. She is the Writer in Residence at East Barnet School and teaches Writing for Children at City University. Caroline has been a journalist for over twenty years and has written for many broadsheet newspapers and glossy magazines.

THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR

A dark and twisty psychological thriller, perfect for fans of HER by Harriet Lane and IN A DARK DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware.

Two suburban women. Two dark secrets. The almost perfect murder.

Everybody needs good neighbours…

Melissa and Hester have lived next door to each other for years. When Melissa’s daughter was younger, Hester was almost like a grandmother to her. But recently they haven’t been so close.

Hester has plans to change all that. It’s obvious to her that despite Melissa’s outwardly glamorous and successful life, she needs Hester’s help.

But taking help from Hester might not be such a good idea for a woman with as many secrets as Melissa…

Firstly…plan each chapter in minute detail. This is working for my current project. I go to Costa Coffee in the morning with an old-fashioned notebook and pen and scribble down notes on the next chapter I am due to write. Not the dialogue or actual prose, but the gist of how it is going to flow, every single twist and turn. This then makes it SO much easier when I come to write the actual chapter on screen, in the afternoon. I find it sets the story in my mind so that I usually don’t need to use the notes I’ve made. It’s like going on a journey with SatNav, instead of a paper map that you have to keep stopping to consult. So take that time to plan, whether it is in your lunch hour at the office or whilst your toddler takes a nap.

Secondly, stubbornly force yourself to write through the block, even if the result is absolute rubbish. At least you are getting something down that can be rewritten (and thank goodness for rewrites!) Or jump ahead and write an exciting scene from your story – perhaps a romantic encounter or heated argument. In Breakfast at Poldark’s I could have jumped ahead to one of the grass-cutting scenes…

Thirdly, take a break but do something that is still authorly so that your precious writing time isn’t being wasted. I might write a blogpost (like this!) or prepare some promotional materials – for example shareables for Twitter or Facebook (and I can highly recommend Canva for those).

Fourthly, take a complete break, away from the screen and writing. Recently I found myself working seven days a week and wondered why I felt stale! Now I make sure I rarely work at the weekend – I get out and do stuff. Cinema. A meal out. A walk through a park. Anything. If you hold down a full-time job or look after kids all week, perhaps grabbing every free moment to fit in writing isn’t giving your body enough time too refresh itself and unwind. Writer’s block might be its way of telling you that your brain needs to recharge. So do something you enjoy. Recently I’ve started baking again and – dare I say it – caught up on some housework. I’d forgotten that ironing can be quite therapeutic!

Last of all… don’t beat yourself up about it. Writer’s block happens. We are emotional humans, not metal machines that can pump out words and sentences on demand. Follow one of my above tips and I’m sure those authorly urges will start twitching again. Best of luck!

So, other writers may disagree with me, but here are my top tips for writing a novella…

Firstly don’t add in a complicated subplot or more than one subplot. In my full-length novels there is a lot more than the main story going on. Game of Scones, for example is about career-girl Pippa trying to decide what she really wanted to do with her life – stay with boyfriend Henrik? Continue to be an executive in London or become a baker in Greece? Alongside this is another meaty plot regarding a small Greek village struggling to cope with the recession. And then there is her childhood friend Nico who is harbouring some secret.

However, in How to Get Hitched in Ten Days, there is really one meaty story – Dave makes a disastrous Valentine’s Day proposal to Jasmine, and her best friend Mikey helps turn the situation around. Of course, there is more to it than that. We do spend the book trying to work out who is the object of Mikey’s secret unrequited love –  you still don’t want the story to be completely linear – but don’t surround the main plot by lots of smaller stories. You just won’t be able to give them the necessary depth with this amount of words.

Secondly, reduce your cast of characters because, again, you won’t have space to develop them fully and therefore they could become confusing to the reader. Game of Scones has quite a large cast of quite significant characters, from a Greek village. How to Get Hitched in Ten Days mainly focusses on Mikey, Jasmine and Dave.

Thirdly, you haven’t got the space to set the story up in the first three chapters. In my view the bones of it need to be there in the very first chapter. By the end of the first chapter in How to Get Hitched in Ten Days we know that Dave has messed up and kind-hearted Mikey has agreed to help. We have been introduced to the main characters. We know where the story is heading.

Fourthly, don’t over complicate the settings or have too many. You haven’t got the pace of a normal book to enable readers to keep up with everything that’s going on and clearly build up images in their mind. Still keep your settings interesting and vivid – my novella often features a delicious 50s diner – but just be aware that too many different settings could make the reading intense for this length.

Finally, have fun with it! I LOVED writing this short story. The plot felt really tight as I wrote it and it was very satisfying, for a change, to concentrate on a smaller cast.  And I do hope this fun transfers to the page!

So if you fancy a funny, sometimes poignant, and romantic Valentine’s Day read, why not preorder this short story for a bargain 89p on Kindle or Kobo!

Here are some fabulous writing tips from the great bunch of authors that write for my publisher, CarinaUK HarperCollins.  These wonderful people have offered me plenty of encouragement and support over the last couple of years, so my piece of advice would be don’t write in a vacuum – network with other authors. They’ll get you through the tough times – and send much-needed supplies of virtual chocolate and cocktails

• Kathy Toigo Write the very best book you can. Period. The rest will follow. http://katieoliver.com/ko/blog/
• Lynsey James Never give up. Dreams come true, and so can yours. http://lynseyjames.wordpress.com
• Jennifer Bohnet You Never Fail until you stop Trying.http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/
• A L Michael It’s easy to talk about writing a novel- sitting the hell down and writing it is where the magic happens! Less talking about writing, more actual writing!
  www.almichael.com
• Kathleen McGurl Write the kind of book you most like to read. Don’t try to jump on the next bandwagon – write your own thing and BE the next bandwagon!http://kathleenmcgurl.com/
• Kerry Barrett  I had a friend at uni who – if we were flapping about an essay – would say: “Just write it down and hand it in.” That’s become my mantra! https://kerrybarrettwriter.wordpress.com/
• Anabelle Bryant Let your writing breathe. Whether you’re perfectly happy with your words, or hitting a wall, walk away and let your manuscript breathe a while.http://www.anabellebryant.com/
• Lillian Kendrick  It’s your book and if you don’t love it, no-one else will.
  www.verse-artiste.weebly.com
• Terri Nixon  There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there, for everything from plotting to querying. Don’t Panic! Read as much of it as you can/have time for, then make up your own mind. www.terrinixon.com
• Karen Aldous Think like a writer, feel like a writer, write like a writer – once you believe, the rest will follow…to THE END http://www.karenaldous.co.uk/
• Raven McAllen Write as you can, not as you think you should www.ravenmcallan.co.uk/
• 
• Ann Troup Read what you love and let it inspire you, but when you write find your own voice – it will set you apart from the rest. http://anntroup.wordpress.com/
• Katlyn Duncan Write. Read. Repeat. You will become a better writer when you practice and experience others work. www.katlynduncan.com
•  Molly Ann Wishlade Stop procrastinating then read, write and read some more.
  Http://misswishlade.wordpress.com/