Category: The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference 2017

Joanna Maitland, Liberta, Sophie Weston, Sparkle, The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017

I’ll Sparkle, If It’s The Last Thing I Do…

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…and it nearly was!

I wrote here about the conflict of interest I suffered ahead of this year’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference in Shropshire. Two members of my local Marcher Chapter were leading sessions, but as they were both scheduled for the same time, I had to choose between them. I did think about spending half the hour in one lecture theatre then nipping across to catch the last half of the other talk, but that wouldn’t have worked. I wanted to immerse myself in whole talks, not spend my time looking at my watch.

 It was impossible which session to choose, so I flipped a coin.  Joanna Maitland and Sophie Weston’s  Add Sparkle to your Manuscript won. Joanna and Sophie run the popular Libertà blog, covering all things bookish.

I took my seat in the comfortable seats of the university’s largest lecture room and settled down for a light-hearted canter through the English Language and how it should be used. Instead, I heard those dreaded words; “This workshop…”

Aargh! I love our Marcher Group workshops, as we work on our pieces at home, and only submit them when they’re (to the eye of their creator anyway) perfect. I always avoid spontaneous workshops, where you have to whip something up on the spot for the benefit of a group of strangers. classing them with other forms of torture such as diets and editing. I didn’t book this weekend away from my desk to work! This was supposed to be a holiday! Didn’t Joanna and Sophie know that?

Actually, “Sparkle” wasn’t like that at all. It was a fun session, encouraging us to turn a deliberately terrible made-up extract of writing into something exciting and readable.  I can’t go into too many details as Joanna and Sophie use some of it on their highly successful Sparkle Days, but you can read their account of the session I attended here.  

Like all the best workshop sessions, “Sparkle” taught me as much about myself as it did about my writing. The reason I hate workshops, I discovered, is because I can’t bear anyone to see my work until it’s completely finished. I couldn’t bear to read something out that I’d whipped up in five minutes, on command.  Completely finished, as every writer knows, is a state that no piece of writing ever achieves. However much you fiddle and fuss with it, you’ll always find some new reason not to send your literary baby out into the cruel world of beta readers and reviewers.  I know I do.

Maybe if I spent less time agonising over every line, I’d get more writing done. I must force myself to attend more workshops. 

I can’t believe I just wrote that last line. What’s the single biggest thing that would improve your writing?

Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, Carol McGrath, Elizabeth Chadwick, embroidery, tapestry, The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017

A Stitch In Time

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There were two sessions about using fabric as inspiration at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference. Carol McGrath spoke about Fabric, Embroidery and Tapestry as inspiration for historical fiction, while Elizabeth Chadwick spoke about going beyond the dressing-up box to explore daily life in times gone by. Both were very different in tone, but equally fascinating.

Elizabeth suggested immersing ourselves in the period by studying the depictions of daily life in embroideries. Fashion, musical instruments and  hunting are shown in detail, created by the people who saw all those things every day. It all helps to bring authenticity to your fiction. Then there’s the potential romance contained in how the pieces were made: the lives of silk-workers, the dyers, weavers, the times in which they lived and loved, and the people for whom they worked  And that’s before you’ve considered the object of the craftwork.

Carol McGrath recounted the story of how she had been intrigued by a figure of a woman worked into the Bayeux Tapestry. There are only three women depicted in the whole 70 metre (more than 231 feet) long embroidery showing of life before and during the Battle Of Hastings in 1066. Carol has woven a series of books around the possibility of them being Harold’s intended queen, his sister, and his “handfasted wife”, who is shown fleeing with Harold’s son from their burning house. It was a brilliant idea for a series, and the novels make compelling reading.

I’d love to be able to create a piece of beautiful needlework, but I don’t have the time, the patience, or the skill. Do you do enjoy craft work? What craft are you most proud of completing?

Felicity Trew, literary agents, The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017

Agents, and How To Find Them…

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Felicity Trew. Photograph by John Jackson.

The first session I went to at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference this year was Felicity Trew’s presentation about the work of an agent and how to write the perfect submission letter. Felicity works for the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency.

A good agent will be your supporter, cheerleader and confidante. They will create a publishing schedule for you, spacing your books out so you aren’t releasing them too close together. They’ll guide your career, and help you create a “brand”, or rework one that isn’t working

When it comes to writing your submission letter to an agent, keep it calm and professional.  Begin with the word count, and the intended audience for your book. Bring all your skill as a storyteller into play, but keep all the information you include concise and relevant. Distil your plot into about three lines, and put this at the top so your prospective agent knows what to expect. Show that you’ve really researched your agent, and your market. Give a brief history of your writing history, and your inspiration behind the book you’re pitching. Give links to your online presence. Keep your spell checker on, and make sure your letter is as perfectly laid out as your manuscript.

Which do you find harder—writing fiction, or writing the letter that goes with it?

Ann Ankers, Anna Belfrage, Joanna Maitland, Marcher Chapter, Pia Fenton, Sophie Weston, Telford, The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017

Going Wild In The Country— The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference 2017

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It’s taken me two weeks to recover enough to write about this—yes, it was that good.

Around two hundred and fifty members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association converged on the Harper-Adams University in Shropshire for three days of talks, workshops, networking and fun.

There were sessions on the role of an agent and how to write the perfect submission letter, using images from embroidery and tapestry as inspiration for historical fiction, how to make social media work for you, how to revive your backlist, how technology can help writers and many more. The Gala dinner was the social event of my year so far, and the bookstalls were packed with new titles.

I’ll be posting notes here about some of the sessions I attended, so subscribe to my blog by clicking top right to catch them.

The food (one of my favourite areas of study!) during the conference was fantastic. Harper-Adams are used to catering for healthy, country appetites so we began the day with pastries, toast and toppings, a choice of about a dozen cooked items from bacon and eggs to hash browns, plus porridge, fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereals. The lunches and evening meals were all great too. The amazing gala dinner on Saturday Evening of Beef Wellington was particularly good.

The Amazing Raffle-Prize Quilt 

There was only one disappointment. Two members of my local chapter of the RNA, Joanna Maitland and Pia Fenton, were each offering sessions. They were scheduled at the same time, but in different lecture theatres. Joanna, along with Sophie Weston, showed how to add sparkle to your writing. Pia and Anna Belfrage talked about how to make Timeslip work. I wanted to go to both talks, not only to support Marcher Chapter members but because I was interested in both topics. In the end I had to toss a coin because I genuinely couldn’t choose. The Sparkle session won! Luckily, Pia offered to give us a quick run-down of her session at a future Marcher meeting.

After hours, the campus came alive with people socialising at the students’ bar, The Welly Boot. It’s a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones. I’m very shy and find socialising difficult, so I spent every evening in my room writing up my notes. I’d been a member of the RNA for years before Ann Ankers persuaded me to attend my first conference, which I did on a single-day ticket in 2014.  I was hooked from the minute I arrived. Everyone is so friendly. For every conference since then I’ve been one of the first to arrive, and almost the last to leave!

I enjoyed every minute of The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference 2017, and got 110% out of my attendance.  There’s no doubt I could have made it 200%, if I’d spent more time socialising after hours.

I’ve made a resolution ahead of #RNAconf2018 to join in more of the fun, and spend less time writing up my notes. Why not join the RNA, then you can hold me to my resolution!