Henriette Gyland

I’ve been awarded the Liebster Blog Award!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by henriettegyland

My thanks to Helen Hollick for awarding me a Liebster (German for ‘Favourite’) Blog Award.

The rules of the Liebster Award are:

Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you. Done (see above)

Answer the 11 questions from the nominator Done (see below)

List 11 random facts about yourself Done

Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs (or less) who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen. Done

Pass on the 11 questions to your nominees (or create new ones) Done (see below)

Copy and Paste the blog award on your blog Done

SO…. my answers to Helen’s questions:

What’s your favourite novel and what do you love about it?

The “Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis, the American sci-fi author. This is a time travel novel which spans both the near future and the Medieval period at the time when the Black Death arrives in England. I discovered it by coincidence in the library, and have been a fan of this author ever since.

Do you have any pet peeves in fiction?

I dislike head-hopping in the same paragraph. I know some very successful authors do this, e.g. Nora Roberts, but I forgive them because they do it well. Most writers don’t.

What are you most proud of?

My children because they’re not afraid to be themselves.

Your favourite and least favourite people in history? (As few or as many as you like!)

Favourites:

King Christian IV of Denmark

Florence Nightingale

Thomas Paine

Least Favourite:

Maximilien Robespierre

Josef Stalin

Pol Pot

The country, city or other place you’d most like to visit?

India, and New York. And I’d love to taste real Cajun food in Louisiana!

Which five people would you like to meet (dead, alive, or fictional)?

Mozart

Aragorn

Florence Nightingale

Charles Dickens

Ann Widdecombe

Is there anyone you would especially like to say Thank You to – and why?

My Latin teacher who managed to instill in me a love of grammar.

What’s one of your goals for the future?

To get back into my pink silk Karen Millen dress…

If you had £1000 (or $1000) to spend, what would you buy?

A pension

What’s your favourite TV show?

“NCIS”. I just love the way the characters interact.

What’s your favourite movie?

“Casablanca” because this is one of the very few movies where the main character has a goal (“I stick my neck out for no one”), which he doesn’t achieve, but instead achieves something much better (“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”).

11 Random Facts About Me

1 I love licorice

2 I hate spiders

3 I failed my Legoland driving licence

4 I drink a lot of tea

5 Guinea pigs are my favourite animals

6 On a colour analysis chart I’m a Soft Summer

7 One day I’d like to have a tattoo

8 I never forget a face (be warned!)

9 I’m allergic to perfume

10 Reading makes me happy

11 I have over 40 pairs of shoes

My questions for the Bloggers I have chosen to pass the Liebster Award to:

1 What’s your favourite novel and what do you love about it?

2 Do you have any pet peeves in fiction?

3 What are you most proud of?

4 Your favourite and least favourite people in history? (As few or as many as you like!)

5 The country, city or other place you’d most like to visit?

6 Which five people would you like to meet (dead, alive, or fictional)?

7 What makes you laugh the most?

8 If you could know the future, what would you wish for?

9 If you won the lottery and could donate money to charity, which charity would you choose – and why?

10 Do you suffer from any little phobias or superstitions?

11 What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?

And my chosen blogs to pass the award on to are:

7 The Write Romantics

8 Rhoda Baxter

These are all blogs I enjoy, although I don’t visit as much as I’d like because there is never enough hours in the day to do everything I would LIKE to do, as opposed to everything I HAVE to do!

Thank you again to Helen – and thank you to all who take the time to visit MY blog!

Did I mention that I have a “thing” about shoes?

Posted in Writing | Tagged Liebster Blog Award | 18 Comments

The dreaded edits – Part 2

Posted on May 3, 2013 by henriettegyland

Word processing file with editor’s comments on the right-hand side

On the 11th of February I blogged about the first phase of editing my novel “The Elephant Girl”, the phase which is usually referred to as substantive edits. Today I’m talking about the next stage, copy editing, which is slightly different.

As opposed to substantive edits, which deals with elements such as plot points, characters, pace, etc., copy edits is where my editor and I will tackle little mistakes and inconsistencies as well as unfortunate expressions which may (unintentionally, of course) either confuse or irritate the reader – and embarrass myself as writer! Here the copy editor concentrates on the details of language, spelling and punctuation, checks references and makes the novel into a coherent whole in terms of style and layout.

This is done on a so-called “clean copy” of the word processing document from the 1st phase. A “clean copy” means a document where all the previous changes have been marked as Accepted and incorporated in the new version, and it will typically have been given a new name, e.g. “TEG 3.2 – editor’s name”

The trouble with doing substantive edits is that changing one thing will have a tendency to snowball leading to perhaps five new things which also need to be changed, and you’ll have to go over the document very carefully to make sure you change all the other elements affected by the first change. Sadly it’s very easy to miss one or two, especially if you change something on, say, page 80 which has consequences for elements later in the story, but perhaps also before that point. During copy edits the editor will then go over the manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and hopefully pick up on all these little inconsistencies.

So what does this mean in actual terms for my novel? Well, I experienced a cold, prickly feeling when I realised that I’d used the expression “a cold, prickly feeling”, or similar, no less than nine times…

Stet (= delete) one!

Posted in Writing | Tagged copy editing, The Elephant Girl | 11 Comments

The London Book Fair – Impressions of a first-timer

Posted on April 21, 2013 by henriettegyland

Me at the Choc Lit stand LBF 2013

This week, for the first time ever, I attended the London Book Fair which ran from the 15^th to the 17^th of April, at the Earls Court Exhibition centre. The fair, which is absolutely huge (although not as big as the one in Frankfurt, I’m told), is laid out over two exhibition centres, or courts, with literally hundreds of exhibitors.

The Choc Lit stand was a small section of the IPG stand (Independent Publishers Guild) next to Bloomsbury, where unlike us they had a cosy set-up with tables and chairs. After standing up for the best part of two days (a killer on your back and feet) I was very tempted to ask them if I could pretend to be one of them for a while!

The Bloomsbury stand

But the biggest kid on the block was the conglomerate Hachette, which was spread over two massive stands with a central walkway between them and large posters of their star authors. When looking at posters like that, you can’t help wishing that it’s going to be you up there one day. It might never happen, but it’s okay to dream, isn’t it?

The Hachette stand, to give you an idea of scale

From other authors attending in previous years I’d heard that the book fair is really only for publishers and agents, and that they don’t like authors to be there. I must say, that wasn’t my impression at all. Instead it seemed very author-friendly and included an author lounge as well as many talks and seminars aimed at authors, including the growing interest in self-publishing.

Of course agents and publishers don’t want to be pestered by aspiring authors. They’re here to negotiate deals etc. and are incredibly busy, but a polite enquiry after submission guidelines, if available, is fine, or you can pick up a leaflet or even take photos of books on display as a useful guide to what a particular publisher is looking for.

But authors also “talk shop” – we talk about covers, editing, deadlines, sales, etc. – and generally love any opportunity to catch up with what other people are doing. I met up with Alison Morton, Victoria Lamb, and Liz Fenwick, and also the New Romantics 4, a co-operative of writers who’ve decided to go down the indie route and self-publish their books. We had a very useful chat about social media and how it can help writers promote their books, and they seem to have had great success.

New Romantics 4 – from left to right: Lizzie Lamb, Margaret Cullingford, Adrienne Vaughan, and June Kearns

I was also at the fair with my translator’s hat on (in my “day job” I work as a translator from English into Danish), sat in on a couple of talks at the Literary Translation Centre, and met with other translators. Like writing, translation can be a very lonely occupation, so making contact with like-minded individuals is both reassuring and helpful.

But the best part was when fellow Choc Lit authors Sue Moorcroft and Christina Courtenay spotted a picture of “The Elephant Girl” on a Star Books Sales poster (the sales distributors of Choc Lit books). This made me feel I had finally arrived!

The Elephant Girl on the Star Books poster

Posted in Writing | Tagged Choc Lit, London Book Fair 2013 | 30 Comments

Up Close short-listed for the Joan Hessayon Award

Posted on April 9, 2013 by henriettegyland

Don’t they all look fabulous?

I’m delighted to share with you that Up Close has been short-listed for the annual Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Scheme Award. The Romantic Novelists’ Association has run this award since 1962 and the aim is to encourage fresh talent. I’m so thrilled to be part of it!

Manuscripts submitted by unpublished New Writers Scheme members are read by experienced writers or editors. Any manuscript subsequently published as a début novel becomes eligible for the Award – provided the author is still a member of the RNA.

The nine contenders for the 2013 Award are:

Joss Alexander: Tainted Innocence published by Carina Press
Jenny Barden: Mistress of the Sea published by Ebury Press/Random House
Serena Clarke: All Over the Place published by Crimson Romance
Henriette Gyland: Up Close published by Choc Lit
Liz Harris: The Road Back published by Choc Lit
Carol McGrath: The Handfasted Wife published by Accent Press
Cathy Mansell: Shadow Across the Liffey, published by Tirgearr Publishing
Liesel Schwarz: A Conspiracy of Alchemists published by Ebury Press/DelRey
Anne Stenhouse: Mariah’s Marriage published by MuseItUp Publishing

And the winner will be announced at the RNA’s Summer Party, which will be held on the 16^th of May 2013 at the Royal Overseas League in London. I’d like to congratulate everyone else on the short-list, and I hope they’re all as excited and pleased as I am.

A big thank you to my publisher Choc Lit, without whom there would be no book.

Posted in Writing | Tagged Joan Hessayon Award, Romantic Novelists' Association | Leave a comment

10 commandments of social interaction if you’re a Dane

Posted on April 1, 2013 by henriettegyland

Careful with that salami!(picture tagged in Tumblr)

Careful with that salami!
(picture tagged on Tumblr)

Easter is a very busy time on the Danish social calendar, with the Easter break stretching from Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday, both days included. But how do you avoid the pitfalls of social interaction if you’re not a native? Here are my 10 commandments on how to socialise successfully:

Thou shall take a turn about the room when arriving and shake everyone’s hands, even the one thou knowest to be as clammy as a dead fish.
Thou shall not ignore a guest’s new car, but instead gather around and discuss it intelligently even though thou has not a clue.
Thou shall not eat meat before fish, and nor shall thou eat prawns before meat. And under no circumstances shall thou mess up the butter in the butter dish.
Thou shall not hold thy salami in place with thy finger when eating a rye bread open sandwich. This may lead to instant banishment to the kitchen.
Thou shall not sip from thy drink until the person who bought/poured it has drunk from his first.
Thou shall not “bite” a schnapps but drink it down in one, unless thou happens to be a lady in which case it’s okay.
Thou shall hold up thy glass and drink whenever anyone says skål (cheers). This may be awkward with a mouthful of leverpostej (liver pate), so be ever vigilant. If in doubt, eat nothing.
Thou shall not be rude about the Danish royal family. Anyone else scrounging on the state is fair game.
Thou shall not overstay thy welcome; natmad (snack served at around midnight) is not called Skrub-af-Mad (bugger off food) for nothing.
Thou shall not let thy guests leave without saying goodbye 3 times – in the living room, in the hall when they’re getting their coats on, and outside when they’re getting into their cars. Thou shall spend at least 10 minutes doing this with the door wide open.

Observe these rules, and you should get on just swimmingly!

Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged Danish open sandwich, Easter | 14 Comments

Beat the Recession – Part 2

Posted on March 24, 2013 by henriettegyland

What do these items have in common?

Last week in my short series of blogs on how to beat the recession I talked about food shopping. This week I’ll be talking about health and beauty on a budget, and again life coach Rosemary McLean and super-scrimper Zofia Millar are at hand.

Buy cosmetics when they are special offer, and get better quality at reduced prices.
Use leftover face cream as hand cream, and cut the top of any tube, so you can scoop out the last cream. There’s always more left than you think!
Become a product tester and receive free products – this is NOT recommended if you’re allergic to certain ingredients. Also note that the fewer ingredients in a product, the less likely it is to cause an allergic reaction.
Choose a brand of cosmetics with many different products and ranges because it makes it easier to find one which suits your skin. It’s also worth bearing in mind that brands such as Lancôme, Biotherm, Garnier, and Body Shop are all part of the L’Oreal Group, and that research into the more expensive brands filters down to the cheaper ones.
Don’t wash your hair more than once even if it says so on the bottle. This is a ploy from shampoo manufacturers to get you to buy more of their products.
Have your hair done when salons need models.
Vaseline is a girl’s best friend – it’s a cuticle moisturiser, lip balm, and eyebrows & eyelash treatment all rolled into one.
Your kitchen cabinet is full of beauty products:

– Use olive oil on dry and cracked feet, then slip on a pair of cotton socks. Can be done overnight for maximum effect.

– Use the coffee grounds from your morning coffee to give your hands a luxurious treatment. It contains natural oils to moisturise, caffeine to invigorate, and provides an exfoliating effect. Rinse with warm water only (no soap), and finish off with hand cream. Your hands might smell like a mocca-flavoured tiramisu, but they’ll be as soft as a baby’s bottom.

– Drink plenty of water (tap water is fine), and eat fresh fruit. The humble apple is particularly good because apart from vitamins and minerals it contains pectin to help lower cholesterol.
Get a folding exercise bike, and work out in your living room in front of the TV. You can

Chicago 1955 – picture courtesy of 22 Words via Retronaut

watch your favourite programmes and save on an expensive gym membership at the same time!
Get exercise tips from YouTube videos. Here’s some advice for a thigh workout which I find particularly useful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iu5YIRExsQ
Or you could skip. Varying the speed and intensity could burn off as much as 20 kcal per minute. Just be mindful of where you do it….

Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged L'Oreal, recession, YouTube | Leave a comment

Beat the Recession – Part 1

Posted on March 17, 2013 by henriettegyland

Every little helps…

FOOD SHOPPING

There’s no doubt that times are tough at the moment, with many people struggling to make ends meet. But is there any way we can ease the burden a little bit so it isn’t all doom and gloom? I teamed up with life coach Rosemary McLean and super-scrimper Zofia Millar, and here are our tips on judicious food shopping. I’d love to hear your suggestions too.

Pay with small coins, but mix and match them with larger coins to avoid refusal at the shop. The act of having to count out coins helps curb spending. Alternatively you can collect all your small coins in a tin, then change them at the bank when you’ve collected, say, £5 or £10.
Buy supermarket own brands. Often these are of a similar quality, and the reason they’re cheaper is due to less advertising and cheaper packaging. And bleach is bleach, right?
Shop locally for certain items, e.g. ethnic grocery stores have a wide variety of grains and pulses, and for certain things such as spices and herbs they’re much cheaper than supermarkets.
Check the net content of packaging – 2 litres of milk at 99p is more expensive than 4 pints at 99p.
Make a meal plan for the week, and shop for most items once. You’ll probably need more of the basic products such as milk and bread during the week, and here you can support your local traders.
Make stews and one-pot dishes which can go in the freezer, and then be stretched to another meal with extra veg, tinned tomatoes, or a tin of beans.
Be creative with leftovers, and make them into soups, salads, or curries. This is also a good way to get your 5-a-day.
Mix juice with water. A carton will last longer, and is better for you anyway because of the high sugar content, even in juices without added sugar.
Pay attention to sell-by dates, but remember that some products such as cheeses, fruit and veg, etc. may be at their peak around or even after the sell-by date. Go to Waitrose or M&S at the end of a Sunday to get high quality products at a reduced price.
Prepare a whole bag of potatoes when you buy them to avoid them going off in the cupboard. Parboil, cool, and store in the freezer. Great for making roast potatoes. The same can be done with carrots.
Bruised apples make a lovely stewed apple pudding, with a bit of brown sugar and a cinnamon stick.
Chop fresh ginger, and freeze it. Very few dishes require the use of a whole piece of ginger, and it’ll end up going off otherwise.
Make breadcrumbs out of stale bread, or the last bits from a packet of Cornflakes. Can be stored in a Kilner jar until you need to use them. Alternatively feed them to the wild birds and avoid buying expensive bird feed.
Buy bog-offs (buy-1-get-1-free), and use your freezer.
Buy loo paper in bulk, stock up when on special offer.
Learn to complain if something isn’t to your satisfaction, but do it politely and the right way.
Above all, don’t buy caviar for your cats. They don’t like it anyway!

What’s this foreign muck?

Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged recession, super-scrimping | 25 Comments

The dreaded edits – Part 1

Posted on February 11, 2013 by henriettegyland

Highlighters – a must-have for stationery lovers

Some of you will understand why I use the word “dreaded” in connection with edits, some of you will be shaking your heads and telling me to stop moaning – I’m published, I should be jumping for joy, and all that – whereas others will be wondering what I’m talking about.

My publisher Choc Lit work with several different editorial stages: substantive edits, line edits, copy edits, and proofing. At the moment I’m doing substantive edits on my next novel “The Elephant Girl”, which in this particular case consists of a 14 page single-spaced report detailing elements such as plot points, characters, pace, etc. In addition there is a chapter by chapter breakdown of issues which need to be addressed, all perfectly valid points raised by my editor.

So why my long face? Well, where do I start? Where does anyone start? It’s overwhelming.

After alternating between wanting to toss the manuscript in the fire and never look at it again, and tackling the edits right here, right now, in my pyjamas, despite the old saying that more haste makes for less speed, I come to the conclusion that I have to be organised about it. And for me the best way to achieve that is to use highlighters (did I tell you I love highlighters?).

I mark my editor’s questions in yellow, her suggestions of what needs to be deleted in orange, her suggested insertions in green, and my own ideas of how to solve the various problems in red pen in the margin. Afterwards, what at first seemed like a monumental task, has now been reduced to “bite-sized chunks”, and perhaps isn’t going to be quite as difficult as I’d thought. At least I hope so…

How do you approach your edits?

Posted in Writing | Tagged editing, The Elephant Girl | 19 Comments

Favourite things

Posted on January 6, 2013 by henriettegyland

There comes a time after Christmas when the decorations, which were put up with anticipation and enthusiasm the month before, begin to look a little out of place, a little messy perhaps. The 12^th day of Christmas, or more specifically Epiphany on the 6^th of January, is the day to traditionally take them down again, and I stick to this quite rigorously because I think it’s a lovely tradition.

But before I take them down, I’d like to share some of my favourite ones with you.

Our house “nisse” looks sweet but…

This little chap is what we call a “nisse” in Danish (or “tomte” in Swedish), and he’s a cross between a good luck charm for the family home/farm and a wicked mischief-maker. If he’s not treated well, in other words if he doesn’t get his bowl of warm rice porridge with a dollop of melted butter on Christmas Eve, he’ll spend the rest of the year teasing you. In the olden days the nisse was blamed for anything from a bad harvest to a death in the family, so it really pays to make a bit of extra porridge!

Golden snowflake

This golden snowflake is one of a set of five very delicate decorations, so delicate they are stored in a box for protection. My parents bought this set from Unicef and gave it to me the first year we celebrated Christmas in our own home, and we have treasured them ever since.

Silk star from Traidcraft

A soft, padded star made from Indian silk and gold braiding. I bought it as a set of four from Traidcraft when my daughter was two years old, and they’re still going strong.

Wattle and silver wreath

This wattle and silver wreath normally graces our front door, but it rained so much this Christmas, that we chose to put it on a wall instead!

Golden ram from Georg Jensen

This golden-plated decoration depicting a ram came from the Danish designer of jewellery and tableware, Georg Jensen. I inherited it from my grandmother who would often hang hers from a candle holder if she didn’t have a tree.

Guaranteed to liven up any tree

This shiny disco ball came in a box of four from Cargo Homestore a few years back, and they seriously liven up a Christmas tree because of the way the lights are reflected in all the tiny little mirrors.

A most treasured possession

My daughter made this wreath in primary school from salt dough, and then painted it. It is one of my best treasures.

Do you have a favourite Christmas decoration, and what makes it special to you?

Posted in Christmas | Tagged Christmas decorations, Epiphany, Georg Jensen, Traidcraft | 4 Comments

A mishmash of traditions

Posted on December 30, 2012 by henriettegyland

Christmas is a time for tradition. So what do you do if, as a couple, you come from two different countries, with two sets of traditions, as in our case, England and Denmark?

Luckily my husband and I have found a happy compromise – well, I’m happy, and he hasn’t complained – we do a bit of both. This year we celebrated Christmas in England, but with a strong Danish influence, and here is how it went.

Tellingly the kids had free reign with the decorating…

22nd of December – Bought a tree and brought it indoors for the children to decorate. We never get our tree early in the month because the tradition in Denmark is to have live candles on it, in special holders, unless you have young children and/or pets, in which case it’s not advisable! My maternal grandfather used to say, “A Christmas tree never burns”, and this is certainly true if it’s fresh and full of sap. Nevertheless he always had a sneaky bucket of water hidden behind the sofa, “just in case”.

My advent wreath

23rd of December – Traditionally Boxing Day is the day for the big Christmas lunch in our family, but we chose to have it on the 23rd instead, which was also the last Sunday in Advent, so I lit the last candle on my advent wreath and used it as a table decoration. In my home region of Northern Denmark lunch consists of pickled herring and other fish,

The salt ‘n pepper guinea pigs are looking hopeful…

followed by a warm main course of sugar roasted baby new potatoes, ham, herb sausage, and kale, locally known as “grønlangkål” (the green stuff on the plate), which is pan-fried in butter, sugar, and cream. All served with schnapps and beer. A bit of a blow-out, but, oh, so yummy!

Keeping it civilised

Christmas Eve – This is the big day in Denmark and the time for Christmas dinner, but as a concession to living in England, instead of roast pork, we had turkey with all the trimmings (and I mean ALL the trimmings!), followed by traditional English Christmas pudding and port. Then we let the kids loose at what’s under the tree… But first a glass of champagne before the starter – my favourite part 🙂

Yikes!

Christmas Day – On Christmas morning this little fella crawled out of by stocking! Then we went for brunch at a friend’s house, where we were treated to croissants, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and more champagne. Left just as they were wrestling their turkey into the oven, feeling smug that we’d had ours the

Traditional English Christmas cake from a family recipe

night before and could just put our feet up and watch a DVD! But not without a slice of the Christmas cake my husband made in October. Marzipan decorations by daughter.

St. Martin in the Fields at night

Boxing Day – Rounded off a relaxing day with a candle-lit Christmas concert in the beautiful church of St. Martin in the Fields on Trafalgar Square. Sadly, due to the train strike a journey of normally 1 hour took 2½ hours, but it was worth it. The Belmont Ensemble of London played Handel, Mozart, and other baroque composers to perfection, including Pachelbel’s Canon in D, which always sends shivers down my spine. Then home again to warm up over a bottle of red wine and a big vat of spaghetti.

27th December – Invited friends over for another traditional Danish lunch, this time a cold

Danish schnapps has to be drunk from a Danish glass!

buffet consisting of “smørrebrød” (or “smörgasbord” in Swedish), again with the prerequisite beer and schnapps. This was followed by a dessert of cold rice pudding mixed with whipped cream and vanilla, served with hot cherry sauce. Dare I say it…? Yep, another blow-out.

28th December – Time to tidy up and take out the recycling. Oh, and ponder the mystery of how quickly a bottle of something turns into… well, just a bottle.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope to catch you again in 2013!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged advent wreath, Danish Christmas, grønlangkål, schnapps | 9 Comments