Friday 30 October 2020

Free Halloween Short Stories

 

5 Free Halloween Romantic Comedy Short Stories


Want to get a Halloween fix without scaring yourself silly? I've got five romantic comedy short stories to read this Halloween for FREE.


I love Halloween but I'm a big scaredy cat, so my stories won't have you shoving your laptop in the freezer, but they're cute little rom coms and I hope you enjoy :)

Click on the covers below to read:


Pumpkin Pie at The Green Teapot


The Bridesmaid of Frankenstein


The Ghost of Halloween Past


The Staircase (Flash Fiction)


Trick or Treat


If you enjoy my short stories, why not sign up to my newsletter, where I send free short stories straight to your inbox?

More info and sign up here

Wednesday 28 October 2020

12 Time Travel Films & TV Shows

 Time travel films & TV shows



I love time travel fiction. So much so that I wrote my own time-travel rom com, The 12 Christmases of You & Me and I thought I'd share some of my favourite time-hopping films and TV shows that have all inspired the book.


1. The Back to the Future trilogy

Back to the future trilogy


Yes, I know I'm cheating a little bit* by including three films as one of my 12, but there are so many great time-travel films and TV shows that I couldn't bump any off my list and there was no way I wasn't including the whole of Marty's story.

Teenager Marty McFly accidentally sends himself back to 1955 in his scientist friend's time machine and finds himself muddled up in the lives of his teenage parents. When he alters the events of the past, he must put things right and make sure his parents fall in love, otherwise he'll never be born. And if that wasn't a difficult enough task, he also has to find a way to get back to his own timeline of 1985.

I've been watching the BTTF trilogy since I was little and have seen it squillions of times but it never loses its shine. It's such a brilliant story, with a perfect balance of humour and tension, and the soundtrack is SO GOOD.


*a lot, but it's my list, my rules


2. Dark



I usually like my time-travel fiction to be rom-com leaning, but Netflix's Dark, as the title suggests, isn't as cute and fluffy as some of my other picks but I love it anyway. In a small (and very rainy) German town, a twelve-year-old boy goes missing and, as the police - and his friends and family - search for him, they discover their town's mind-bending secrets.

Dark is a complex tale full of the twistiest of twists and turniest turns that had me HOOKED. I binge-watched the first two seasons with my teenage daughter before we had an agonising wait for the third and final season. We binge-watched the first two again just before it was aired - and then gobbled up the last set of episodes of the series in three days. I'm utterly perplexed how anybody could weave such a tangled story together, but I'm so glad they did because Dark is one of my all-time favourite TV shows.


3. 13 Going on 30

13 Going on 30


Jenna Rink can't wait to be a grown up ('Thirty, Flirty and Thriving') and when she makes a wish on her 13th birthday to jump ahead in time, it comes true and she wakes up as a 30-year-old with her dream job and an apartment in the city.

13 Going on 30 is one of my all-time favourite films. It's cute, fun and not only does it have the bonus of a time-travel element, it has a Thriller routine that everyone at the party joins in with. Perfection, every time I watch it. Which is a lot.


4. About Time

About Time DVD


In About Time, Tim is (understandably) skeptical when his father reveals a huge family secret: every male in the family has the ability to travel back in time. But when it turns out his father isn't pulling his leg and he can time-travel, he uses his abilities to bag the girl of his dreams and live happily ever after. Of course, life isn't that simple and sometimes having the power to hop through time is more of a hindrance than an ace card.

Richard Curtis has delievered some brilliant rom coms, and About Time is no exception. It's full of humour, charm and the consequences of changing past events.


5. Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes

Life on MarsAshes to Ashes


Okay, I'm cheating a bit again by putting Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes together but, in my defence, they are part of the same story/world and it's really, really hard to limit myself to just 12 films and TV shows.

Life on Mars follows police detective Sam Tyler as he wakes up in the 70s after being hit by a car in 2006. Is he dreaming while stuck in a coma, has he died, or has he really jumped back in time? Sam is still a police detective in his new timeline and there are lots of crimes to solve with sidekick Gene Hunt while he tries to figure out what the hell is going on and whether he can find his way back home again.

Ashes to Ashes is the follow-up series, this time centring around Alex Drake, a police officer who is shot while on duty and wakes in 1981. Again, there are lots of crimes to solve with Gene Hunt while Alex figures out how she's ended up in the past and if she can get back home.


6. Being Erica

Being Erica


Erica Strange has made some bad decisions in life, but when she visits a therapist to work through her issues, she doesn't expect to physically revisit them. But Dr Tom isn't your usual therapist and he sends Erica back to these pivotal moments in time to see if she can make better decisions and fix her life.

I loved Being Erica when it aired back in 2009 and if it were on Netflix, I'd be binge-watching it right now.


7. Eve's Christmas

Eve's Christmas


Eve thinks she has the life she's always wanted, with a successful career and the luxury apartment in New York, but when she makes a wish on Christmas Eve, she finds herself transported back to a Christmas eight years ago, when she was about to get married and start a completely different life to the one she has now. When she's given a second chance to marry the love of her life, will she take it - or will she make the same mistake twice?

If you like your festive films to be magical and cheesy, you'll LOVE Eve's Christmas!


8. Goodnight Sweetheart

Goodnight Sweetheart


When TV repair man Gary Sparrow finds himself able to travel back and forth between his life in the 90s and London during the Blitz, he begins a double life, splitting his time between wife Yvonne in the present and barmaid Phoebe in the 1940s.

Okay, we know Gary is a git (not only to Yvonne and Phoebe, but to his best friend, Ron. Especially to his best friend, Ron) but Goodnight Sweetheart is such a brilliant series. I love the concept, plus we get the 90s nostalgia now and get to laugh at the decor of Gary and Yvonne's flat.


9. Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a bit different to the majority of time-travel films and TV shows because Bill Murray's character time-travels a lot - but repeatedly back to the same day. Which is fun for us, but not so much for poor Phil, who probably breaks out in a cold sweat every time he hears Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You, Babe'.


10. Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap


Whereas in most time travel stories somebody travels in time as themselves, in Quantum Leap the lead character, Sam inhabits the body of someone from the past, who he must help to avoid some sort of disaster (or death) before he can move on and hopefully 'leap' back into his own time again.

Oh, boy. There's no way you can have a list of time-travel film and TV shows and not include Quantum Leap. Like the Back to the Future series, I grew up watching Quantum Leap, following Sam's adventures as he's thrown into the lives of strangers to help them.


11. When We First Met

When We First Met


When We First Met is a rom com with a time-travel twist. Noah is in love with Avery, but she only sees him as a friend. But when he discovers he can travel back in time via a photo booth, he goes back to their first meeting to try to change events so they end up as more than just friends.


12. A Christmas Carol

The Muppet Christmas Carol


A classic, which has been re-told many times since Charles Dickens wrote the book. Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by ghosts who show him his past, present and future in a bid to convince him to change his miserly ways.

There are loads of versions, from the old black-and-white film, cheery musicals, animated versions and (arguably the best version) told via the medium of Muppets. As well as the traditional re-telling of Dickens' story, there have been updated versions, but the message is always the same, whatever the guise.




So those are my favourite time-travel films and TV shows, but what are yours? Let us know in the comments below :)






What if you could go back in time and fix the biggest mistake of your life?


Two years ago, Maisie’s best friend walked out of her life and she hasn’t heard from him since. When she wakes up in 1994, she naturally assumes she’s dreaming. But when she finds herself in the past again the next night and her actions in the dream alter her present-day life, she begins to wonder if she’s somehow hopping back in time. And if she is time-travelling, can she save her friendship with Jonas?

When Maisie is forced to relive Christmases of the past, will she face up to her mistakes, or make them all over again?

The 12 Christmases of You & Me is a magical tale of friendship, first loves, and learning to live in the present.



Tuesday 20 October 2020

The 12 Christmases of You & Me Publication Day

 

The 12 Christmases of You & Me Jennifer Joyce


Happy Publication Day to me!


Today, my eleventh book has been released, and I'm so pleased I get to share Maisie's story. It was a lot of fun writing the book, filling it to the brim with all things festive while enjoying a bit of 90s and early 2000s nostalgia. I've wanted to write a time-travel rom com for a long time so it's a very exciting time!


If you're a newsletter subscriber, you should receive an email today where you can enter my giveaway of a signed copy of the book, and over the next few weeks I'll be sharing lots of 'book extras' here on the blog, including 12 Fun Facts about the book, the very festive playlist, and we'll be stepping back in time with Maisie.


If you read the book, I hope you love it as much as I do. I'd be ever so grateful if you left a review on Amazon as every one of them helps, even if it's just a sentence or two.


Find out more about the book


Jennifer Joyce The 12 Christmases of You & Me


What if you could go back in time and fix the biggest mistake of your life?


Two years ago, Maisie’s best friend walked out of her life and she hasn’t heard from him since. When she wakes up in 1994, she naturally assumes she’s dreaming. But when she finds herself in the past again the next night and her actions in the dream alter her present-day life, she begins to wonder if she’s somehow hopping back in time. And if she is time-travelling, can she save her friendship with Jonas?


When Maisie is forced to relive Christmases of the past, will she face up to her mistakes, or make them all over again?


The 12 Christmases of You & Me is a magical tale of friendship, first loves, and learning to live in the present.



Friday 9 October 2020

5 Ways I'm Getting Ready for Nanowrimo 2020

Nanowrimo

It's that time of year again, when the leaves are starting to fall from the trees, everybody's grumbling that it's too soon for the Christmas stuff to be out in the shops and writers are gearing up for another go at Nanowrimo.



What is Nanowrimo?


I'm planning to write a big chunk of my next book during November (50,000 words if possible) and here are 5 ways I'm getting ready to jump into Nano:


1. Registering My Intent


I've set up my writing goal on the Nanowrimo website, so it's all there on the screen: my intention to write 50,000 words of Book 13 during November.



Now I'm ready to watch the tracker climb from zero words to - fingers crossed! - 50,000.


2. Plotting


Some people plot, some people don't. I'm definitely a plotter - and a massive one at that. So it makes sense to plot out my book before I even attempt Nano.

Pen and Paper


You might want to jot out a few ideas, or a beginning, middle and end, but I'm going full-on three-act structure, because I've found over the years that I need this level of planning before I start a book. Do as little or as much that works for you - every writer works in different ways.


3. Getting To Know My Characters


We'll never know our characters at the beginning of the first draft as much as we do at the end of it, but it's handy to have some idea of who these people are in your mind before you start.


Character Development


I'm using the character questionnaire from the Nano Prep 101 on the website to develop my characters. Hopefully I'll know my characters a bit more by the time 1st November comes along.


4. Pinteresting Stuff


Another way of developing my characters is to use Pinterest to give me a visual representation of who my characters are: what do they look like, what's their fashion style, what are their hobbies and interests? I've created individual boards for each of my characters and I've been pinning images as I fill in the questionnaire.


Pinterest is also good for world-building, so you can get an idea of what the town or workplace or home of your characters looks and feels like. It doesn't have to be a million pins - when I was planning my novel The Little Bed & Breakfast by the Sea, I had just 35 pins in my board, but it gave a flavour of the kind of seaside town I wanted my characters to inhabit and gave an insight into their characters.


5. Setting A Word Count Schedule


50,000 words is a lot, and it's a pretty daunting task to complete in just one month (if this doesn't seem daunting to you, good for you. I'm not jealous. At all), but breaking it down into smaller chunks can help.

Schedule

I've set myself a daily goal of 2,000 words for six days a week, which means I can have a little break if I need to, but I've also got a bit of wriggle room if I need to catch up at any point. 2,000 words a day seems more manageable than 50,000 words in a month, even though it adds up to the same amount of words!


Are you taking part in Nano this year? How are you getting yourself prepared?