Blog

The Romantic Novelists' Association holds a yearly writers' conference. It's a great opportunity for members of the RNA, both established authors and aspiring writers who are members of the RNA's New Writers' Scheme, to meet up with agents, editors and other industry professionals for talks, workshops and some social networking. There is also an opportunity to book a 10 minute pitching slot with an agent or editor. This is an amazing opportunity for any writer seeking representation or hoping to further their career.

I have never been to the conference, but when the pandemic forced the conference online, it seemed the perfect time to 'attend', albeit from the comfort of my own home. So what is the event all about?

On the evening of 8th March, 2021, the Romantic Novelists’ Association hosted the online Romantic Novel Awards event. The presentations of these prestigious awards are usually held at a grand establishment somewhere "up country" to Cornwall. However, due to the Covid restrictions, this year the event was held entirely online and live streamed via Twitter, Facebook and the RNA’s website. This meant that although I was a finalist, I didn't have to cross Cornwall's border to take part.

An online event does not just happen. A lot of hard work goes into organising it which, thankfully, in this case I had nothing to do with. It started in December, when I received the wonderful news, via my publisher, that my novel, Daniel’s Daughter, had been shortlisted for the historical romantic fiction category. The notification came in December, but I, along with all the other finalists, were sworn to secrecy until it was formally announced in February. The online event on the 8th March was to announce the winners. As one of the finalists, I am going to take you behind the scenes of the event as I share my experience.

On the 17th May, 2017, I undertook a flying visit to Oxford. I had received an invite from Isis Publishing and my audio publisher, Soundings, to afternoon tea and as it was my first opportunity to meet and personally thank them for signing up both The Thief’s Daughter and The Captain’s Daughter, I was determined to go.

I found myself next to the delightful author, Katie Fforde, and having a good humoured discussion on whether to put jam or cream first on a scone. Needless to say, I did it the Cornish way, jam first!

It takes me one to two years to write a novel, however, typing The End is not the end. Those two little words mark the beginning of the next phase a manuscript – the editing phase. Great editing is often taken for granted, whereas poor editing is difficult to ignore. The sudden appearance of a plot hole or grammatical error will jolt the reader out of the fictional world they want to inhabit. When this happens, the book has momentarily “lost” its reader. The book industry invests a lot of time, money and effort in an attempt to prevent this from happening and editing is part of their armoury.