Ella Carey & Connections

Please welcome the lovely Ella Carey back to the blog today!!
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The more I write, the more I realise that there is one key element that must be there if a novel is going to work. It’s the one thing I cannot do without, the one thing that propels and motivates me to write, and the one thing I’ve eventually found with every one of the books that I have written. If it wasn’t there, I would stop.

Yes, I think a strong story is important, yes, I think that weaving setting description is important for me, as is working hard to write beautiful prose. But if one element is missing, then the work has no life, and I just can’t write it. I’ve learned that. 

Sometimes, when I’m contracted to write a novel, when I’ve brainstormed it with my agent and my editor, it can still take a while to find that element when I begin working on the first draft. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen straight away, and I’m plodding along through a field thick with mud rather than flying, floating, in the way everyone wants to when it comes to writing your own book- it’s why we write, for the sheer, joyous love of it. It’s what motivates us- it’s the exact same thing I need when I’m reading a book.

It’s the emotional connection that I’m talking about, that feeling that you are so close to your characters that you can see and feel everything that they do. It’s hard to describe, but I have that gut reaction when I’m writing. I’m not dispassionate. I guess, the thing is- I care. It’s instinctive, not something anyone can teach me to do.

When it came to THE THINGS WE DON’T SAY, I felt such a connection to Emma, whose relationship with the man she adored all her adult life was pulled into question, right at the end of her life. What if she died not knowing the truth about Patrick? And as for her grand-daughter, Laura, it was easy for me to be able to relate to her quest to save her passion for the one thing she loved in her life - playing music. As writers, when that creative part of you, or the opportunity to create is put into jeopardy, you can imagine how distressing it can be.

Happy writing!

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Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of four novels published in the US- Paris Time Capsule, The House by the Lake, From a Paris Balcony and Secret Shores. The books are published in twelve countries, in ten languages and Secret Shores has been shortlisted for an ARRA award in 2018. Ella has degrees in music, majoring in classical piano, and in Arts majoring in nineteenth century women’s fiction and modern European history. Ella's fifth novel, The Things We Don't Say, is set for release in the UK, Australia and the US on July 1st, 2018. Ella is working hard on her sixth novel. She writes full time. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian Greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.

Connect with her on the web:

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The Things We Don’t Say

A beguiling painting holds the secrets of a woman’s past and calls into question everything she thought she knew about the man she loved…

Near sixty years ago, renowned London artist Patrick Adams painted his most famous work: a portrait of his beloved Emma Temple, a fellow bohemian with whom he shared his life. Years after Patrick’s death, ninety-year-old Emma still has the painting hanging over her bed at their country home as a testament to their love.

To Emma’s granddaughter, Laura, the portrait is also a symbol of so much to come. The masterpiece is serving as collateral to pay Laura’s tuition at a prestigious music school. Then the impossible happens when an appraiser claims the painting is a fraud. For Laura, the accusation jeopardizes her future. For Emma, it casts doubt on everything she believed about her relationship with Patrick. Laura is determined to prove that Patrick did indeed paint the portrait. Both her grandmother’s and Patrick’s legacies are worth fighting for.

As the stories of two women entwine, it’s time for Emma to summon up the past—even at the risk of revealing its unspoken secrets.

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Thanks Ella!

I agree. That emotional connection is such an important element when creating a story. 

I know I get cranky gets in the way of my creative pursuits.

How about you? Anyone else get cranky without their writing time?

Ella Carey & Writer's Block

Please welcome Ella Carey back to the blog today!
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Thank you once again, Jemi for having me here.

I want to write about something a bit different today.  I want to write about it because it’s annoying, but important. If I can give you some techniques to brainstorm in order to overcome this problem that we all might face at one time or another, then I hope that this will help you deal with what can be quite a frustrating thing.

Writers’ block.

So what is it and how can you cure it? I think I’ve found out a way of dealing with it that works for me- it may not work for you. It’s only a suggestion. But, I can honestly say that I’ve had a light bulb moment this week.

I don’t know if you’ve experienced writers’ block. I don’t know whether you believe it exists. Well. Either way, this is how it went down…

I spent five days at my computer. That was normal. But in that time, I wrote one paragraph. That was it. Didn’t get any further. I was stuck. Don’t get me wrong, I kept re-writing the paragraph. But I just couldn’t make it work.

Now, you see, this is extremely odd for me. I’m a 1,000 words per hour sort of person when I’m on a roll, and that is most of the time… I write every day.

And I love my work- in fact it’s not work, it’s just the best thing. The bees knees. I adore it. I am so grateful that I get to do this and earn a living from it. It’s perfect. I’m in my zone.

I’m sure you wouldn’t be reading this blog unless you felt the same way about your writing. If you are fitting writing time into a busy schedule without any anticipation that you are going to be paid to do so, then you are probably a born writer.

But what do you do when the words dry up?

I’ve realized that this has happened to me twice. Twice in the last five years. Which isn’t bad. In fact, it’s a good track record.

But when I just couldn’t get the words out, I had no idea why. And then I realized something. It wasn’t anything to do with my writing. I hadn’t forgotten how to write. It was something else entirely that was bothering me, and until that was resolved, my writing had stopped. That was it.

So, if ever you experience this strange phenomenon, just stop. Take a look at what’s going on with you, and check it out. If you don’t know what the problem is, then maybe brainstorm a list of things that are bothering you and see which ones you can resolve. It never ceases to amaze me how intertwined all the aspects of our lives are… if one thing is troubling you at any level, it could just affect something else… your health… your work. It’s as simple as that.

Of course you can’t go around solving all your problems before you write, but if you do get stuck, maybe try brainstorming what else is going on, work out what’s on your mind and what you’d like to resolve, and try to do so. It’s as if your subconscious is niggling you- you can’t write until you’ve sorted it out.

Thank you Jemi…

Ella xx

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Ella Carey is a writer and Francophile who claims Paris as her second home. She has been studying French since the age of five, and she has degrees in music, majoring in classical piano, and English, majoring in nineteenth century women's fiction and in modern European history. Her debut novel, Paris Time Capsule, has captured global attention and her second novel, The House By The Lake, was released in March 2016, remaining in top 100 of all kindle books in the US for six months. Her third novel is From a Paris Balcony and is releasing in October, 2016. She lives in Australia.

Ella Carey on the web:        Facebook        Twitter        Author Page    Website

From A Paris Balcony

Heartbroken and alone, Boston art curator Sarah West is grieving the recent deaths of her parents and the end of her marriage. Ultrasensible by nature, she’s determined to stay the course to get her life back on track. But fate has something else in mind. While cleaning out her father’s closet, she finds a letter from the famous Parisian courtesan Marthe de Florian, dated 1895. The subject? Sarah’s great-great-aunt Louisa’s death. Legend has it Louisa committed suicide…but this letter implies there’s more to that story.

Determined to learn the truth, Sarah, against her nature, impulsively flies to Paris. There she’s drawn into the world of her flatmate, the brilliant artist Laurent Chartier. As she delves deep into the glittering Belle Époque to unravel the mystery, Sarah finds that her aunt’s story may offer her exactly what she needs to open up to love again.

Following Sarah in the present day and Louisa in the 1890s, this moving novel spans more than a century to tell the stories of two remarkable women.

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You're very welcome, Ella - always glad to have you visit!

That's such great advice! Life is always crazy busy here and I've definitely been stalled in my writing because I was just too exhausted to be creative. 

How about you? Have things BESIDES the writing stalled you in your writing process?

Ella Carey and Aspiring to be Better

Please welcome Ella Carey back to the blog today!

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When you have the urge to write…

What a wonderful blog you have here Jemi! Thank you for having me here today. (Thanks so much, Ella!! ~ Jemi)

I think that Musings of an Aspiring Writer is a splendid title. Because every writer is always aspiring to do better- we aspire all the time. What I want to share with you today, if I may, are some of the best tips I was given before I was published.

Before I was published, I worked every day- I wrote. I kept writing novels, so I just pretended I was like any other author and got on with it- published or not. I’m doing exactly the same job now I’m published as I was before, albeit with wonderful support and editors- it’s still me and my imagination for most of the time! 

So-  here goes:

1. Set up a really strong writing routine. And stick to it. You need to be disciplined in this game. Before you are published. By the time you are accepted for publication, you are professional, can meet deadlines and will always be on time with your revisions. So, set up a timetable, don’t wait for the muse to strike, just write!
2. One piece of advice that I am just so glad I followed is do not send out submissions to publishers until you know your work is ready. Trash the manuscripts you are not sure of, and wait to submit until you just know you have the right piece of work.
3. Do sign up for online courses- make sure they are reputable before you pay, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you don’t need to learn. Writing is a craft and you will gain enormously from studying it. You’ll always pick up something from writing courses. Just take what resonates with you, and keep writing and developing your voice.
4. Do join a professional organisation, your local writer’s center, or such. Do meet other authors and talk to them. There is something incredibly special about the bonds you will make with real writer friends. It is perhaps they alone who will understand how hard this career is, and how success comes in one big sugar lump- you get published! You just have to keep going in the meantime, there aren’t really incremental steps, and those writer friends will make all the difference.
5. Ignore the voice that tells you that you’ll never get there, that getting published is like winning the lottery, all of that jazz. Because, you know what- someone has to get there, and that someone may as well be you! Ignore the people who tell you that it’s too hard as well. Just smile politely and continue to write! 
6. You need the most enormous amount of self belief. You just have to believe in what you write. Stay focussed, like you would in any other job and do your apprenticeship.
7. And here’s the final thing. No matter how much talent you have, no matter how hard you work, it takes the average writer several years to get a publishing contract, several years of hard work, of producing a major work every year, until you finally get there.

So- do not give up!!
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Ella Carey is a writer and Francophile who claims Paris as her second home. She has been studying French since the age of five, and she has degrees in music and English. Her debut novel, The Paris Time Capsule, has captured global attention and her second novel, The House By The Lake, will be released on March 29th, 2016. She lives with her two children and a pair of Italian greyhounds in Hobart.

Ella Carey on the web:

Facebook        Twitter        Author Page    Website

The House by the Lake

Anna is content with her well-ordered life in San Francisco. But her world is turned upside down when her beloved grandfather, Max, reveals a startling secret: Anna is part of an aristocratic family who lost everything during World War II. What’s more, Max was forced to leave behind a precious item over seventy years ago in their estate in old Prussia. It’s now his ardent wish that Anna retrieve it.

Anna burns with questions as she heads for Germany: What memento could be so important to her grandfather? And why did he keep their history hidden? As she searches for answers, she finds herself drawn to Wil, a man who may hold the key to unlock the mystery. Together they discover that her family’s secrets are linked with an abandoned apartment in Paris, and these secrets go deeper than she ever imagined.

Alternating between 1930s Europe and the present, The House by the Lake illuminates the destiny of a family caught in the tumult of history.

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Thanks so much, Ella! That's terrific advice. Approaching the job as a professional helps at all points of the journey.
I'm working on that self-belief, but it can sure be tough!!

How about you? How are you aspiring to improve? 

Ella Carey - Blending Fact and Fiction

Please welcome Ella Carey to the blog today!!

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Ella Carey’s novel ‘The Paris Time Capsule’ is fictional, but inspired by the incredible true story

of an apartment in Paris that was abandoned for seventy years … but how does working around a true story affect the writing process?

I think the answer lies in that very word: ‘truth.’ The main consideration for me as a writer was to ensure that I respected the original story, and that even though my novel is a work of fiction, I still wrote with a sense of truthfulness in mind.

I will come back to that later, but, for now, let me tell you about the abandoned apartment in Paris that inspired ‘The Paris Time Capsule.’ The story was reported in online articles, and then in hundreds of online blogs.

A woman died in the south of France in 2010, but it wasn’t until after her death that the heir
s to her estate discovered that she owned an apartment in Paris that had been abandoned for seventy years. The woman, who was only known as ‘Madame de Florian’  (she became Isabelle de Florian in my novel), fled from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion in 1940 but never returned.

Now, this abandoned apartment was not your usual flat. It was filled with the sorts of exotic treasures from the Belle Epoque that would make specialists gasp, and leave the rest of us in shock. The assessors said it was like walking into Sleeping Beauty’s apartment when they first entered.

But that was not all. There was a stunning portrait in the apartment of a woman in a pink dress, her head turned to the side, almost as if she were throwing herself out of her own portrait. Art experts were called in. They discovered after reading love letters that were found in the apartment, that the painting was by none other than leading Belle Epoque art expert Giovanni Boldini. The woman in the painting was identified as Marthe de Florian, a famous courtesan, or demimondaine. Marthe was the owner’s grandmother and the previous owner of the apartment.

But, the question still remained unanswered. Why did the owner of the apartment never return to Paris? Why did she keep it a secret for seventy years?

I was working on a novel about a mystery surrounding valuable art when I read about this story. My novel involved a love story, and a family that had been torn apart. But I adore Paris. I speak French; I love history and art. I abandoned my previous novel, and started researching this.

The process involved much research, of course it did. In fact, at one point in the novel, it seemed as if I was double-checking every word on the page.

But the one thing that I had to bear in mind, the one thing that I wanted to do above everything else, was to write something plausible. The last thing I wanted to do was write anything that appeared contrived. My story had to seem real to my readers, it had to feel just as real as the incredible story of the woman who left her famous ancestor’s past buried in dust for seventy years.

Here is the blurb for ‘The Paris Time Capsule:’

New York photographer Cat Jordan has fought hard to free herself from the past, but when a stranger dies, Cat finds herself the sole inheritor of a treasure filled apartment in Paris that has been locked up and abandoned for seventy years.

A stash of love letters belonging to Marthe de Florian, one of the Belle Époque’s most famous demimondaines, and the appearance of the mysterious and beautiful Isabelle de Florian’s grandson leads Cat in search of the reasons why Isabelle kept her Paris apartment a secret, and why she left her entire estate to Cat.

As Cat unravels the story, she too begins her own journey, realizing that the secrets in the apartment may finally unlock the future.

Now, can you tell me if a true story has sparked your imagination?

I have a free copy of ‘The Paris Time Capsule’ on kindle to give away.

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That's an awesome story! Truly amazing. I think for me it's more bits and pieces of the real world that blend together to form a new whole. But one day I'd like to try something like this! Definitely fun! What do you think??