Joan Hessayon Award Winner: Kate Field

 Joan Hessayon Award winner Kate Field triumphs

with debut novel The Magic of Ramblings

LONDON 18th May 2017: Lancashire-based author Kate Field has triumphed with her contemporary novel The Magic of Ramblings published by Accent Press, for which she has been awarded The Romantic Novelists' Association’s (RNA) prestigious Joan Hessayon Award for new writers. Kate was presented with her award and a cheque for £1,000 at the RNA’s Summer Party, held today at the Royal Overseas League in London.

The Joan Hessayon Award is generously sponsored by gardening expert Dr David Hessayon OBE, in honour of his late wife Joan, who was a longstanding member of the RNA and a great supporter of its New Writers' Scheme.

The judges for the award, which included new RNA Chair Nicola Cornick and outgoing Chair, Eileen Ramsay, were unanimous in their decision to crown The Magic of Ramblings the winner. The book was selected from a list of eleven contenders, all authors whose debut novels have been accepted for publication after passing through the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers Scheme. Each year 250 places are offered to unpublished writers writing in the romance genre.

"The judges agreed that the winning novel was outstanding, and selected it for its warmth and insight. The Magic of Ramblings is a very appropriate title for this book,” said new RNA Chair Nicola Cornick. “It has a beautiful quality of being both poignant and uplifting at the same time. It is totally charming and we loved it.”

Author Kate Field's decision for her heroine, Cassie, to start a community library in the remote Lancashire village of Ramblings was inspired by her own volunteer work with the community library held in her local village hall. She enjoys writing contemporary romance with "a touch of Northern grit", and said, “I’m thrilled to be included on a shortlist that features such talented writers, many of them good friends I have made through the RNA.”

Outgoing RNA Chair Eileen Ramsay said of the shortlist, "This year's list of contenders delighted and engaged us with their writing, and are all to be congratulated.”

She continued, “We offer our special congratulations to Kate Field for her winning novel, a heart-warming story, and worthy winner. "

The full shortlist for 2017 is:

Victoria Cornwall             The Thief’s Daughter                                Choc Lit

Kate Field                              The Magic of Ramblings                        Accent Press

Terri Fleming                       Perception                                                     Orion

Jen Gilroy                              The Cottage at Firefly Lake                  Forever, Grand Central, Hachette

Morton Gray                        The Girl on the Beach                              Choc Lit

Vivien Hampshire            How to Win Back Your Husband      HQ Digital

April Hardy                           Sitting Pretty                                                Accent Press

Emily Kerr                              Who Does He Think He Is?                     Crooked Cat

Abbey MacMunn              Touched                                                           Tirgearr Publishing

Arabella Sheen                  Castell’s Passion                                         Beachwalk Press Inc

Lynda Stacey                       House of Secrets                                          Choc Lit

About the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) and the New Writers’ Scheme

The RNA was formed in 1960 to promote romantic fiction and encourage good writing and now represents more than 700 writers, agents, editors and other publishing professionals.

Joan Hessayon Contenders 2017: Victoria Cornwall

Today we welcome another of our contenders for the Joan Hessayon award.

Welcome to the RNS blog, Victoria, and many congratulations on being one of the contenders for this year’s award. How long have you been writing - Is this your first published piece?

The Thief’s Daughter is my first traditionally published novel. I had a poem published in 2003, but I

didn’t start writing seriously until 2010, despite wanting to be a published author since the age of eleven. I completed my first manuscript in 2012 and submitted it to agents. I had one request for the full manuscript and thought I had “made it”. I now cringe at how naive I was.

I wrote a second manuscript, which was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romantic Fiction in 2014. At the event, I found myself sitting in a room full of published authors, agents and publishers. It was a very different world to what I was used to and I realised I needed support and friends who understood the book industry. At the event I learnt about the Romantic Novelists’ Association and their New Writers’ Scheme. The NWS offered everything I needed, so I signed up and, luckily, was accepted.

How many years were you a member of the NWS and did you submit a manuscript each year?

I joined the NWS in 2015 and submitted my third manuscript, The Thief’s Daughter, in the same year. The feedback was positive and advised me to submit the manuscript to agents and publishers. The reader’s feedback gave me the encouragement I needed. I started out very naïve and feeling quite alone in my quest to become an author, but since joining the RNA I have learnt so much and made many new friends.

What came first, agent or publisher?

I submitted The Thief’s Daughter to several agents and one publisher. I received three requests for a full manuscript, but it was Choc Lit who offered me a contract first and I was thrilled to accept.

How did you find your publisher?

I first heard about Choc Lit when I submitted my previous manuscript to the New Talent Award competition. The final judge was the Managing Director of Choc Lit, Lyn Vernham. I researched the publisher and knew that they liked to publish books with both the male and female point of view, which was exactly the type of novel I enjoy reading and like to write.

Do you have a contract for one book or more?

I am delighted to say that I signed a further three book deal with Choc Lit earlier this year, making The Thief’s Daughter the first in a series of four Cornish based novels.

When was your book published?

The Thief’s Daughter was published at the beginning of January. I still can’t quite believe I am a traditionally published author now. It has been a dream of mine for so long. I am looking forward to writing “Author” in the occupation section of the next census so later generations will learn that I, a farmer’s daughter, became the first novelist in the family.

Please tell us something about your book.

The Thief’s Daughter is set in debt ridden, 18^th century Cornwall, when the gibbet casts a shadow of fear over the land, yet when night falls, free traders swarm onto the beaches and smuggling prospers.

It tells the story of one woman’s struggle to free her brother from debtors’ prison and her growing love for a man her brother despises. Her divided allegiances challenge her moral integrity, her loyalty and, ultimately, her trust in both as the worlds of justice and crime collide, leading to danger and heartache for all concerned.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently researching for my next novel. It is in its early stages, so I don’t want to go into too much detail as I may change it, but I am hoping to feature Cornwall’s white gold …

What piece of advice would you give current members of the NWS?

Although it is important to edit on the computer, the best advice I can give is to always edit a printed version too. You will be amazed at how many errors you will pick up.

Links:

Facebook

Website

Twitter: @VickieCornwall

Thank you, Victoria. Congratulations again on graduating the New Writers’ Scheme and I hope you enjoy the Summer Party.

Joan Hessayon Contenders 2017: Jen Gilroy

Today we welcome another of our contenders for the Joan Hessayon award.

Welcome to the RNA blog, Jen, and many congratulations on being one of the contenders for this year’s award.

How long have you been writing - Is this your first published piece?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write, but although I had a childhood dream of being a

published author, real life intervened. It was only in 2009, and after some significant life losses, that I began writing seriously towards publication.

The Cottage at Firefly Lake is my first published piece, but it’s not my first book. Several previous efforts will forever remain under the bed—and rightly so as they were part of my ‘learning to write a novel’ apprenticeship. It also took me time to find my genre and then my writing voice. I dabbled in multiple genres before realising I needed to write what I most enjoyed reading—contemporary romance and romantic women’s fiction.

How many years were you a member of the NWS and did you submit a manuscript each year?

 I joined the NWS in January 2010 after taking a writing workshop at my local library with the always-inspiring Julie Cohen. I remained a member of the NWS for six years (until I sold in 2015) and submitted manuscripts for critique each year. I don’t think I’d be a published author without the NWS as those annual reviews helped me hone my writing voice, learn how to write from my heart and identify areas of craft I needed to work on. They also gave me much-needed encouragement. With each review, my writing improved and I began to see myself as a ‘real writer.’ Those reviews also helped me keep the faith through the ups and downs along the road to publication.

What came first, agent or publisher?

Agent. Although I lived in England for many years and consider it my second home, I grew up in Canada and have a distinctly North American writing voice. Since one of my goals was to publish in North America, I wanted the support of an agent who could help me navigate that market. I also wanted an agent to help me develop as a writer and be a partner in my writing career. 

                                                                                                 

If you do have an agent who is it that represents you?

My agent is Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Dawn is based in the US, and I queried her at the suggestion of RNA friend Rachel Brimble. Rachel (who writes for Harlequin, Kensington and The Wild Rose Press), was already represented by Dawn and thought she might be a good fit for me too.

Rachel agreed I could mention her name when querying Dawn and was a great help in answering my questions about writing for the US market and the agent search more generally. Rachel’s kind and generous support illustrates one of the things I value most about the RNA—the collegiality and commitment to ‘paying it forward’ amongst writers at all stages of their careers.

How did you find your publisher?

When I signed with my agent, Dawn Dowdle, we identified a list of publishers to query. At that time, Dawn also asked me to write a series proposal as that was what the editors she intended to query were interested in. After numerous rejections, I got ‘the call’ that an editor from Hachette Book Group, Grand Central, Forever, wanted to buy my book in August 2015.

It was one of the happiest days of my life but, as so often happens, the actual moment was somewhat anti-climactic. I’d just moved to Canada from England and didn’t yet have a mobile. When Dawn was trying to reach me with the good news, I was on a protracted landline call to resolve an incorrect billing from the gas company!

Do you have a contract for one book or more?

My contract is for a three-book series, all set in the same fictional small town of Firefly Lake, Vermont. The second book in the series, Summer on Firefly Lake will be published in July 2017. It is followed by Back Home at Firefly Lake in December 2017. In addition to the setting, characters also recur between the three books. However, each book also stands alone and can be read independently.

When was your book published?

January 31, 2017. As one of my favourite fictional heroines, Anne of Green Gables would say, publication day was ‘an epoch in my life.’

Tell us something about your book.

The Cottage at Firefly Lake is an emotional second-chance love story about redemption and finding your way home. Charlotte Gibbs wants to put the past behind her, but now she’s back at Firefly Lake the overwhelming flood of memories reminds her of what she’s been missing. She got her dream job traveling the world. But at what cost? Sean Carmichael doesn’t know why Charlotte disappeared that summer, but after eighteen years, a divorce, and a much-loved teenage son, he’s still not over her. She walked away once when he needed her most. How can he convince her to stay now?

What are you currently working on?

In addition to preparing for my upcoming releases—Summer on Firefly Lake in July and Back Home at Firefly Lake in December, I’m also working on another series for my agent to query later this year.

What piece of advice would you give current members of the NWS?

What another RNA member told me when I was in the querying trenches and up to my ears in rejections: ‘The only difference between a published author and an unpublished one is that the published one didn’t give up.’ Whenever I doubted myself (and I did so often), I reminded myself of those words.

Also, you’re rarely ever too busy to write. Books grow one word at a time and sacrificing watching television or letting go of certain domestic standards is a small price to pay for making your writing dream a reality.

Links:

Facebook

Website

Twitter: @JenGilroy1

Thank you, Jen. Congratulations again on graduating the New Writers’ Scheme and being one of our 2017 contenders.

Joan Hessayon Contenders 2017: Morton S. Gray

Today we welcome another of our contenders for the Joan Hessayon award.

Welcome to the RNS blog, Morton, and many congratulations on being one of the contenders for this year’s award.

How long have you been writing - Is this your first published piece?

In my early teens, I would hide away in the little attic room behind the chimney at home, writing

poems and stories. I had a box of pictures and items that inspired my writing. I still have this fascinating time capsule that also contains the pages of my first novel. It was typed on an electronic typewriter on A5 pages and I gave it to a school friend to read aged fourteen.

Then … life happened. I didn’t write much apart from academic assignments, work reports and training materials for years.

In 2006, I won a short story competition that I’d entered on a whim. I was looking for a new direction, feeling a little lost at the time, so I enrolled on a creative writing course to see if I could write. The academic course I studied introduced me to plays, flash fiction, short stories, poems and memoirs. I quickly realized that I wanted to write novels. I began to attend a weekly writing group run by RNA member, Sue Johnson and she suggested I join the NWS. The yearly critiques have helped to mould my writing. I would move heaven and earth to make sure I submitted a manuscript each year.

I’ve shortlisted in a few first chapter competitions, but ‘The Girl on the Beach’ is my first published novel.

How many years were you a member of the NWS and did you submit a manuscript each year?

I joined the NWS in 2012 and submitted a manuscript for each year that I was a member. I used my time on the scheme to experiment with writing contemporary romance, time-slip and historical novels.

What came first, agent or publisher?

Publisher

How did you find your publisher?

I submitted my 2015 NWS, then entitled ‘Who is Harry Dixon?’ to Choc Lit Publishing’s Search for a Star competition and won. Very exciting, because they were the publisher I’d always dreamed of being published by.

Do you have a contract for one book or more?

The contract is for one book with a clause to look at my next work of romantic fiction.

When was your book published?

My book, renamed ‘The Girl on the Beach’, was published on 24 January 2017. A date that will forever be etched on my memory.

Tell us something about your book

The novel ‘The Girl on the Beach’ is based around the question – Who is Harry Dixon? It is a contemporary romantic suspense novel set in a fictional seaside town.

When Ellie Golden, an artist, meets Harry, her son’s new headmaster, she thinks she recognizes him. However, the man she remembers wasn’t called Harry Dixon and Ellie believed him to be dead.

Harry doesn’t recognize Ellie. His presence in the seaside town of Borteen, where she moved with her son to escape her past is unsettling, but maybe Harry isn’t the person Ellie should be worried about, because there’s a far more dangerous figure from her past lurking just outside of the new life she has built for herself and her son, biding his time, just waiting to strike…

What are you currently working on?

My publisher, Choc Lit, have asked me to base more books in my fictional seaside town of Borteen. I am currently working on three novels in this location, but there is the potential for many more. I can now walk down the streets of the town in my head, as it and my characters based there have become so real to me. It truly is a fictional town, born of visits to many different seaside locations over the years.

What piece of advice would you give current members of the NWS?

Make sure you use your yearly critique by planning to submit a manuscript each year. Use your time on NWS to experiment with different styles of writing, to discover your own voice.

Keep going, keep writing and get your work out to competitions, publishers and agents. Writing is a constant learning process and success is about persistence. You need an imaginative spark, yes, but you also need to be willing to check your work over time and again to make it the best it can be. What is the point of a manuscript in a drawer?

Also, take advantage of the RNA conference and the local chapter meetings. Writing can be a solitary business, but there is a whole support network out there waiting for you.

Links:

Facebook

Blog

Twitter: @MortonSGray

Thank you, Morton. Congratulations again on graduating the New Writers’ Scheme and I hope you enjoy the Summer Party.