A Fine Romance.
10/25/2011 7:15:42 PM
What an incredible weekend. I have never experienced anything like it.
This weekend was The Festival of Romance, held at HuntonPark, Watford, a beautiful setting with gold and burgundy trees, velvet lawns and a large marquee.
The event launched on the Thursday evening at Watford Central Library with A Celebration of Romantic Fiction. This was hosted by Kate Allan, the event organiser, Annie Burrows, Isabelle Goddard, Lynne Connolly and Juliet Archer. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this part of the event, but my heart was there. I spent many of my youthful hours in one or other of Watford’s libraries.
I arrived very early on the Friday morning, having left home at 5:00, to glorious sunshine and complimentary coffee, having driven through the dark, singing to Abba (I outed myself at the Festival). On route, I picked up Catherine Miller, a fellow member of the Romantic Novelists Association, New Writer’s Scheme, who was excellent company.
After failing to work out how to use the coffee machine, we were rescued by a friendly member of staff, and then relaxed in large, comfy chairs and sofas, awaiting the arrival of other delegates.Celia Anderson was the first to say hello, with whom I had chatted through the Festival of Romance Online site. We also met Sarah Tranter and Sue Fortin. We were ready to rumble.
The first session I attended was So You Want To Write Short Stories For Women’s Magazines, with Helen Hunt, an extremely interesting and informative talk which has given me food for thought. This was not an area for which I had considered writing, but having listened to Helen, I can see that it would be a good way to increase one’s portfolio as well as adding to one’s earnings. It is a difficult market to enter, however. Never say never.
The next session was entitled Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, a panel chaired by self-published Mandy Baggot, (Strings Attached), with Pamela Strange and Talli Roland, whose latest book, The Hating Game, was shortlisted for the Festival Reader Awards, and who has taken the brave decision to leave her current publisher to self-publish.
Self-publishing is now a very credible way to get a book out – it is distinctly different to vanity publishing, and the advent of e-publishing is making it a viable option.
I then attended Writing Romance with Sue Moorcroft. Sue is the NWS agony aunt and, like many of the delegates attending the Festival, a goldmine of information. This was a great workshop and discussed types of hereos and heroines – making sure the right types work well, internal and external conflict – the very problems that stop the main characters from getting together, and the ways to resolve this conflict. Veronique Moorcroft assisted.
Just as I was getting weak and wobbly with hunger, the final session before lunch began – Aspiring Authors Clinic: How To Get Published. Like the previous workshop, I would not have missed this for the world.
The panel was chaired by Cara Cooper and consisted of Xcite Books, Choc Lit and AUK. The panellists gave a very thorough explanation of what publishers expect and require from writers and authors. I made plenty of notes during this session.
With my hunger at an embarrassing level, lunch was served.
The afternoon passed just as swiftly as the morning, starting with a charity quiz where teams of four fought for first palce. Sadly, our team of three did not win, but the answers we failed at all contained numbers, and as we said at the time, we are writers, not mathematicians. (It is beside the point the numbers were dates or titles of romantic films; we do not do maths.)
I listened with great interest to the Research Club, with expert authors sharing their knowledge on subjects ranging from medical romance to the Argentine tango. In this panel were: Jan Jones, Roger Sanderson, Pamela Strange, Hywela Lyn, Phillipa Ashley, Nell Dixon and Cara Cooper.
The day ended with a chocolate making demonstration from Choc Chick, whilst Sue Moorcroft and Christina Courtenay read extracts from their latest novels, Love and Freedom and Highland Storms (respectively), published by Choc Lit. Whilst listening to the readings, we were treated to chocolate treats from Choc Chick, They were little morsels of Christmas, in my opinion.
The day finished with tea and coffee and I left for the evening.
My head was buzzing with ideas, my voice was fading with all the chatting and I was looking forward to the next day.
Comments:
Sarah Tranter:
10/25/2011 10:15:23 PM
Festival of Romance.
It was good wasn’t it? Fab to meet you – did your hubbie make it into school to do the necessary?