1.)
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Actually, I wanted to be a writer! So I guess
dreams do come true J Although, I still
have a day job in HR at the moment and the ultimate dream is to write full-time
so I’m not quite there yet.
I do remember wanting to be a midwife or a
lawyer at different times, but doing something related to writing e.g. a
journalist or novelist, was always the constant. I am an avid reader and love
reading for many reasons - for entertainment, for escapism, to be emotionally
engaged or to learn something about myself and the world I live in... It’s a
huge privilege to be able to make stories up that might provide the same for
other people. I count myself lucky every day to do something that I love so
much.
2.)
Coffee, tea or hot chocolate?
Definitely tea, the first thing I do when I get
up in the morning is make myself a mug to sit down with on the sofa as I wake
up. I have at least another two cups a day at work. We’re big tea and coffee drinkers
in the HR department I work in; someone is always stood by the kettle and
biscuits are regularly circulated too!
I do also like coffee but could go for days
without drinking it. I’m partial to the odd hot chocolate but it has to have
whipped cream and sprinkles on it!
3.)
What genre do you typically read? Why?
I’ve been reading a lot of (crime) thrillers,
police procedural and serial killer series recently. I’ve also read some
commercial fiction. I’ve read some fantastic books over the last few months
including C.L. Taylor’s The Lie, Lucy
Clarke’s The Blue, How I Lost You by
Jenny Blackhurst, The Missing Husband
by Amanda Brooke and the Kim Stone series by Angie Marsons.
I’ve probably read more in those genres because
while I’m writing romance/chick lit I try not to read in the same genre to
avoid the danger of soaking up another author’s voice or subconsciously echoing
ideas. It’s never happened so far but I prefer to avoid the risk! Now that I’ve
finished the #LoveLondon series and am taking a short break from writing to
focus on promo and look for an agent, I will be buying some romance novels and
am really looking forward to reading them.
4.)
Share a favourite childhood memory.
It’s sad that I don’t feel able to let my kids
do this nowadays (because times have changed, I live in a built up area and
there is so much perceived danger in the world), but I still remember the
innocence of running around the streets or riding my BMX with a massive group
of neighbourhood kids when I was about six years old. We used to play Block
1-2-3 or What’s the Time Mister Wolf? It was such good fun and I have very fond
memories. One of my best friends ended up buying a house on the road I grew up
on, and every time I visit her and look down the street at the houses and cars,
it makes me smile.
5.)
Do you have any shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books,
Shoes, Clothes?
Yes! Books is definitely one of them. I have
loads crammed into my bookcase and on my bedside drawers and the Kindle and
iBooks apps on my iPhone are full to bursting. But I’m a firm believer you can
never have too many books and if I ever have any spare time you will usually
find me curled up in a corner somewhere reading.
I would count writing as an addiction too. Over
the last two years I don’t think I’ve gone longer than two weeks without
writing (and I think that’s probably a stretch). The break I’m about to take
from writing will be around six weeks long, but I will be spending time doing
writing related stuff and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from jotting
things down occasionally. My writing schedule has been so hectic with the
#LoveLondon series over the last year that I feel like I need a little time to
catch up with friends and family. I think I’ve probably neglected them a bit...
I must admit I am also partial to dresses (I
have loads in my wardrobe), shoes (but don’t have as many pairs as I’d like),
white wine and cocktails...
6.)
What do you think is the biggest challenge of writing
a new book?
The fear that it won’t be as good as the last
one and the pressure to make this one even better.
I also face a challenge every time I write a
book or story because I hit this mid-story slump in the middle where I run out
of steam, think it’s a heap of rubbish and want to start something new. The
hardest part is keeping the momentum going and ploughing on until I reach the
end. If it really is rubbish I can work on that during the redrafts, and my
editor can give me feedback, but you can’t edit or improve something that
doesn’t exist, so it’s important to get all of that first draft (what I refer
to as a ‘dirty draft’) down on paper.
7.)
Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages a day?
No, but I used to when I was starting out. I
had a spreadsheet where I would keep a tally of the number of words written
each day against my target number of words. It can be very effective, and one
November I wrote 50,000 words as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing
Month). Now I tend to aim to write sections, scenes or a chapter each time I
sit down to write. My chapters as a rule tend to be around 5 – 7,000 words long
and on a good writing day when I’m not at the day job, I can write a complete
chapter.
8.)
What are your thoughts on writing a book series?
Before #LoveLondon I’d never written a series.
It’s been tough, but I’ve loved it! It’s been very exciting and a real
challenge to write five novellas and one novel that are linked by characters
but can also stand alone, that have the same settings e.g. well known places in
London, and are all romances with the same author ‘voice’ but each one uniquely
different. Continuity and keeping track of characters and relationships has
been interesting and I’ve made vast amounts of notes and used spider diagrams
to track it all. Hopefully I haven’t slipped up anywhere! I learnt a lot and
wanted to share the experience with other writers so I’ve written an article
about the subject which can be found here http://booksbywomen.org/survival-guide-to-writing-an-ebook-series-by-nikki-moore
Thanks so much for letting me pop in Rachel,
I’ve really enjoyed it and would love to hear from readers or aspiring authors
who have questions or want to chat. The best place to find me is on Twitter
@NikkiMoore-Auth J
The last story in the fun & flirty #LoveLondon series from exciting
new chick lit author Nikki Moore! The perfect novel for reading in the
sunshine... and falling in love with London.
A summer to remember... or forget?
When Zoe Harper returns to the UK after five long years in New York, the
last thing she expects is to find her younger sister Melody jobless, homeless,
broke and dumped. Unfortunately, life has a way of delivering the unexpected. She
should know that, given her ex-fiancé Greg’s faithless behaviour.
Filled with rage and determined to get revenge on the infamous Reilly
brothers for her sister’s heartbreak, as well as get some answers, Zoe hatches
plan Nannygate. Unfortunately that
means moving in with the gorgeous but uncaring music producer Matt Reilly to be
nanny to his two adorable, complicated children. But something isn’t adding up,
and over the course of the hot London summer, she starts to think that perhaps
Matt isn’t so bad after all.
Let down by his last nanny and weighed down with guilt about his wife’s
death three years before, wealthy but camera-shy Matt has spent a long time
pushing people away, including his own kids. His stunning new nanny challenges
him every single day in completely different ways, but maybe that isn’t such a
bad thing.
But what happens when you open your heart, and someone isn’t who you
thought they were? And can it really be true love when it’s on the rebound, and
starts off with a plan for revenge?
Buy Picnics in Hyde Park on
pre-order from only £2.99!
Released as an eBook on 13th August 2015, with the paperback
to follow.
Kobo at https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/picnics-in-hyde-park-love-london-series
Nook at http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/picnics-in-hyde-park-love-london-series-by-nikki-moore/9780007583249.
Nikki Moore – Bio
A Dorset girl
and social media addict, Nikki Moore has a HR day job, two kids and a lovely
boyfriend to keep her busy alongside the writing. She was in the Romantic Novelists
Association New Writers Scheme for four years and is now a full RNA member.
Nikki was a finalist in several writing competitions from 2010 including the
Elizabeth Goudge trophy and Novelicious Undiscovered, before being offered a
publishing contract.
Published mainly
by HarperImpulse, she’s the author of the #LoveLondon series, which has attracted four and
five star reviews on Amazon, with some of the novellas featuring in the Top 100
short story charts on Kobo and the Top 20 in the Amazon UK bestsellers Holiday
chart. The last in the series, Picnics in
Hyde Park is due out in August. She has a short story in the bestselling
RNA/Mills & Boon anthology Truly,
Madly, Deeply. Her debut novel Crazy,
Undercover, Love was shortlisted for the RNA Joan Hessayon Award 2015 (for
new writing) and she is a strong supporter of aspiring authors.
Please pop
over for a chat on Twitter @NikkiMoore_Auth or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NikkiMooreWrites She would love to hear from you!
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