Introducing the New RNA Social Media Co-ordinator

Hello! For those of you who don't know me already, I’ve been a member of the RNA for the past four years. I joined the New Writers’ Scheme initially, after lots of other writers recommended it to me. I've loved every minute of being on the Scheme, and have learnt so much as well. During those four years, I've self-published two contemporary romance novels, with some more on the way, and as a result, I'm just about to graduate from the Scheme to become a full, independent member of the RNA.

I thoroughly enjoy being a member of the RNA and have thrown myself into the social life it offers its members with great enthusiasm, attending conferences, parties, afternoon teas and chapter meetings all around the country. I've also been very lucky to make lots of new friends as a result of being a member, something I didn’t expect to be doing at this stage in my life. I love the way the RNA welcomes everyone as equals, so newbies can find themselves talking to big names, and mixing with writers and publishing folk at all different stages of their careers.

In my life outside writing, I work part-time for a local charity as their communications officer, overseeing their marketing, PR, social media and website activities. I also work freelance as a proofreader, website trouble-shooter and occasional supply teacher – a real Jill-of-all-trades! I live with my husband in Bedfordshire. We have two daughters; one is now away at university and the other is studying for her ‘A’ levels.

Since autumn 2016, I have been supporting Adrienne Vaughan, as deputy editor of Romance Matters, the RNA’s wonderful magazine, and now I’m taking on the role of social media co-ordinator, with responsibility for the blog, Twitter and the RNA’s Facebook page. Elaine Everest has done a sterling job for the past five years, and we’re all very grateful to her and her wonderful team for raising the RNA’s profile in that time.

I have a great blog team to support me and we're planning to keep blogging two or three times a week, with a mixture of regular blog posts about your favourite items – competitions, new releases, interviews with book reviewers and authors – as well as news items as and when they crop up, and some new ideas too. If you have any ideas for features you’d like to see, please do let me know and we will do our best to bring the subject to you.

I look forward to taking on the blog completely from Alison May in the New Year, and to taking it from strength to strength as we move forward. Thank you for all the support you have shown the blog in the past – I hope you will continue to do so for many years to come.

*****

My latest book The Vineyard in Alsace is available now.

Is there really such a thing as a second chance at love?

Fran Schell has only just become engaged when she finds her fiancé in bed with another woman. She knows this is the push she needs to break free of him and to leave London. She applies for her dream job on a vineyard in Alsace, in France, not far from her family home, determined to concentrate on her work.

Didier Le Roy can hardly believe it when he sees that the only person to apply for the job on his vineyard is the same woman he once loved but let go because of his stupid pride. Now estranged from his wife, he longs for a second chance with Fran if only she will forgive him for not following her to London.

Working so closely together, Fran soon starts to fall in love with Didier all over again. Didier knows that it is now time for him to move on with his divorce if he and Fran are ever to have a future together. Can Fran and Didier make their second chance at love work despite all the obstacles in their way? 

A romantic read set against the enticing backdrop of the vineyard harvest in France.

Connect with me here:

Website

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Clare Flynn: The Green Ribbons

RNA Blog Team member, Ellie Holmes invites you to read her interview with author, Clare Flynn.

Welcome to the RNA blog, Clare. Please tell us about your latest release The Green Ribbons.

The book is about good intentions and bad decisions. The heroine, Hephzibah Wildman, is young – orphaned at eighteen and left with no one to offer help and guidance as she makes her way into the

world after a sheltered life. Catapulted into Ingleton Hall to work as a governess to the young daughter of the lecherous Sir Richard Egdon, nothing in her past life as the daughter of an Oxford academic has prepared her for what lies ahead.

You use modern themes in a historical context in your novels. What are the particular challenges in doing that?

Most of the issues we face today in personal relationships are perennial. It's the way we respond to them that's different. One of the challenges is to allow the characters to act in a way appropriate to the times they lived in, yet relevant to the concerns of readers today. Problems don't change but the ways in which they present themselves and the social and cultural context in which people respond to them do.

I try to avoid inappropriate heroine feistiness. Readers love strong independent heroines (who doesn't?) but the pitfall to avoid is having them behave like women today. At the time of The Green Ribbons women couldn't petition for divorce, all rights were vested in men. Only in 1923 were they able to petition on grounds of adultery and only in 1937 was this extended to other grounds such as cruelty. Husbands, regardless of their own culpability in the failure of a marriage, were automatically granted custody of children. All this caused women to be disadvantaged compared with today and conditioned how they behaved.

At the time of The Green Ribbons, pre-nuptial pregnancy among the working poor was a common custom. Men earned more when they were married and wages increased with children, so there was an economic pressure to breed and a tendency among men to check out their future wife's fertility in advance!

If you could go back in time, which period of history would you choose to visit and why?

A Medieval village so I could witness how ordinary people lived. I'd like to get a vivid impression of the smells, movements, sounds, colours – everything. One caveat! I only want to spend a day there, just enough to take it all in, but no risk that I could get burned as a witch or stuck in the stocks!

The first draft of your novel A Greater World was lost when thieves burgled your home and stole your computer and the laptop which held the back-up copy. You must have been heartbroken. How did you go about recreating the manuscript?

Yes I was heartbroken. I was numb for months and more or less decided to give up writing. Then I read that TE Lawrence left the manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom on a train and wrote it all again from scratch. It only took him three months to produce 400,000 words from memory – so how could I not rise to the challenge! I sat down right away and started writing and I'm convinced it came out much better second time around.

You have travelled extensively and have used your travels as a source of inspiration for your work. Where are you off to next?

France in September, for a week, to paint. I hope it will be less eventful than my last painting trip - in May to Montenegro when I tripped on the way to breakfast on the first day and broke my wrist. As you may have gathered by now I am not one to take setbacks lying down, so I painted very shakily with my left hand.

My inspiration for the next novel is here at home though – Eastbourne in WW2. Also Ontario, Canada so maybe a trip there will be in order! Eastbourne was the most heavily bombed in SE England and was home to three regiments of the 5^th Canadian Infantry Brigade for three years of the war. Around 150 women went to Canada as war brides from the town.

Facebook or Twitter? Which is your preferred promotion tool?

I use both. But I prefer Twitter for promotional purposes as there's less risk of boring the pants off my friends and family.

How do you relax when not writing?

I quilt and paint when I have time. Right now, having recently moved house, I'm busy overseeing home improvements. And of course I read voraciously - for pleasure but also as background research for my books. I also shout at politicians on the telly a lot these days.

What’s next for author, Clare Flynn?

The next book. I'm only two chapters in and am mostly reading around the subject. I'm also looking forward to the Historical Novel Society Conference in Oxford in September, where I'll be catching up with a lot of RNA author friends since I couldn't make the RNA conference.

Links to:

Facebook

Twitter

 Blog/Website

About Clare:

Clare Flynn writes historical fiction with a strong sense of time and place and compelling characters. She is a graduate of Manchester University where she read English Language and Literature.

After a career in international marketing and consulting , working on nappies to tinned tuna and living in Paris, Milan, Brussels and Sydney, she now lives in Eastbourne where she writes full-time – and can look out of her window and see the sea.

Book Blurb:

"Two men will love you. Both will pay the price for it."

In 1900 Hephzibah Wildman loses both parents in a tragic accident and is forced to build a new life for herself. Penniless and only eighteen, she must leave the security of the Oxford college where her stepfather was Dean and earn her living as a governess.

On the recommendation of a man she has never met, Merritt Nightingale, the parson of Nettlestock, Hephzibah finds herself at the impressive Ingleton Hall. The latest in a long line of governesses, she soon learns why: her employer Sir Richard Egdon has a roving eye and turns his unwanted attentions to her. Hephzibah has no choice but to leave – until a chance encounter with Egdon's handsome son, Thomas, leads to her eloping with him.

Marriage to Thomas Egdon is not the dream Hephzibah had envisaged. More interested in training his racehorses and losing money at gambling, Thomas has little time for her and she begins to suspect he is having an affair. When Sir Richard threatens to disinherit Thomas unless the couple produce the requisite heir, Hephzibah makes a desperate decision that will put the lives of both Thomas and her friend Merritt Nightingale on the line.

Thank you Clare and Ellie. Good luck with the book, Clare. We look forward to reading it.

If you have a book due to be published and would like to be featured on the RNA blog please get in touch with the Blog Team on elaineeverest@aol.com

Nikki Moore: Top 5 Reasons to Attend a Writing Workshop

It’s great to welcome back Nikki Moore with her most interesting tips on attending workshops and events.

Summer is finally here, and I’ve enjoyed many hours in the garden over the last few weekends either

reading or dreaming up ideas for new books. I hope everyone’s had a chance to enjoy the sun.

As it’s the last in the writing workshop series from me for now, I thought a nice way to end it would be sharing the reasons why I think you should go to one (or many, if you have the desire and the funds!)

1.     To Learn Something New

I’m a great believer that no-one knows everything, even about their specialist subject, and that nobody ever stops being a learner. Life should be full of rich and fulfilling experiences that expand your horizons and teach you something, whether it’s new topic knowledge or discovering something about yourself. Attending a workshop should give you the solution to whatever problem may have been plaguing you or your writing, or enhance an area of your writing you want to improve, whether it’s plotting, characterisation, dialogue, setting etc.

2.     To Meet Like Minded people a.k.a You’re Not Alone!

Writing can be a very lonely business. It normally means hours spent toiling over a laptop or PC, often early in the morning or late at night if you have a day job. It’s just you in your head creating your story (although at the risk of sounding eccentric, my characters keep me company). Interruptions from other people are irritating, pulling you out of whatever scene you’re in the middle of. So, sitting in a room bouncing ideas off your peers or sharing horror stories about a saggy middle or writer’s block can be enormously comforting. It’s nice to know that other people are experiencing doubts or fears, or are stuck at a junction and can’t decide on the right direction. They can often help you, or push you on to keep going. Never underestimate the power of talking to people who really understand you.

3.     To Motivate You

Hearing other people’s success stories, which you usually do in writing workshops because most have a mixed audience of beginner’s, published authors and even best selling novelists, can really inspire you. I know they always make me think, ‘that’s amazing; if she / he can do it, surely I can.’ I just can’t wait to get home and open up the manuscript again. I feel rejuvenated and refreshed, and my writing is definitely the better for it. I remember why I love writing so much, and enjoy it even more.

4.     To Network

Writing workshops can be a great place to meet authors and industry professionals, who may be delivering a topic or appearing on a panel. You never know what writing tips you might pick up, whether it’s about a publisher looking for a certain type of book, or experiences with agents. You never know who might know someone who knows someone that might lead you to your lucky break / a new contract  / being asked to attend an event. Talking about yourself and your book is also great practice for times when you’ll need to pitch to publishers or agents, and the more you do this, the more your confidence will grow. Be sure to take your writer business cards with you to give out, if you have them. However, don’t be cynical and attend a workshop or seminar just for this reason – simply bear it in mind as an added extra. Lunch time or coffee breaks are the time to do this, NOT during the sessions.

5.     New Material for Promo

Whether you’re published or not, the expectation is that you’ll have a social media presence. Publishers and agents often use this in their decision making. So set up a blog, Twitter, Facebook – whatever you think will suit you best – establish your author brand, and use the workshop experience as material for promo. Write a blog post about it, and/or Tweet about it with pictures of the venue, hashtag #amwriting or #writingworkshops and include the tutor’s Twitter handle if they have one. This can be effective publicity, and can also show that you’re serious about this writing lark.

Have I convinced you yet? Have you ever attended a workshop and if so, what do you think? Why not book a place on a workshop and feedback your thoughts in the comments below?

Enjoy! Nikki xx

Thank you for your most enjoyable article, Nikki. We look forward to hearing from you in the future and wish you well with your writing. Thank you for the many interviews you’ve undertaken for the RNA blog.

If you would like to write for the RNA blog or be interviewed about your latest novel please contact the Blog Team on elaineeverest@aol.com

Focus on Chapters: with Chapter Liaison, Jean Fullerton

Today we welcome RNA Chapter Liaison, Jean Fullerton to the blog.

Welcome, Jean. There has been much discussion recently on the RNA Facebook page about setting up chapters in areas where members are thinly spread and don’t have access to a group locally. Can you give any advice to people who live, for example, in the far west or east, north of south of Scotland, or in Cornwall?

The main problem people have in setting up new chapters is that of transport. Sadly there aren’t enough members in each and every town so unfortunately people have to travel. I don’t have a simple answer to this but one way might be to change the venue for each meeting as the Border Reivers do, or to plan your meeting to account for winter weather like the Marcher Chapter do. My best advice is to engage at some level with your local group. Many chapters like Leicester’s Beaumont Belles have Yahoo loops and Facebook pages, so link in with those and if possible go to a Christmas or special event. If there is really no other way you could start your own chapter with just two or three of you.

For the rest, I am aware that you have visited several chapters. Presumably each has its own ‘personality’. Have you ever found anything that really surprised you?

Jean on a visit to the
Beaumont Bells

I have visited all the chapters at least once, except for the Yorkshire Terriers when the train was cancelled at the last minute, and I’m in the process of starting my tour again. Natalie, each chapter has its own personality, but one thing all the chapters have in common is their warm welcome. The thing that most surprised me as I travel round the chapters is the number of long-standing RNA members who I’ve never met at Conference, a party or an award event. This has reinforced my believe that the chapters play a crucial role in supporting members who, for whatever reason, cannot get to the London based events.

For the past two years the RNA has very generously given groups a donation to ‘put on’ something special. If chapters are not sure what form this should take, do you have any suggestions? What have you seen so far?

The chapters have been very creative with the Committee’s generous donation but for the most part the event has taken the form of a craft or mini-industry day with speakers. Last year the London and SE Chapter put on a workshop day and I was able to twist the arm of my agent, Laura Longrigg, and my editor from Orion to take part. It can be something like a write-in, which the Yorkshire Terriers organised. We’re not prescriptive but it is designed to provide funds for an internal writing related event rather than external promotion.

I know from my own experience at the London & SE Chapter that the support and advice given and received within this sub-section of the RNA is invaluable and can be instrumental in moving forward a writer’s career. What have you found?

Absolutely the same, Natalie. I’ve said it before but it’s true. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the RNA, the NWS and the London & SE Chapter. It’s because I’ve been and still am so supported by the organisation as a whole and the London & SE Chapter in particular that I’ve taken on the role of chapter liaison. My vision for the future of the chapters would be for them to have a greater voice and to see more regional events taking place like the recent and very successful York Tea.

Thank you for joining us today, Jean. I’m sure many of our members will be inspired and, for those of you reading this who don’t belong to or have access to a chapter, start one. Even with only one or two members you’ll be surprised where it will lead you.

Would you like to join an RNA Chapter? A complete list along with Jean's contact details can be found inside Romance Matters.

If you would like your Chapter to be featured here please contact Natalie on natalie@nataliekleinman.co.uk

The RNA blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you wish to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com