Rosie Hendry: On Not Giving Up

The acknowledgements at the back of East End Angels begin with “A huge and heartfelt thank you to the Romantic Novelists’ Association, without whom this book would never have been written.” And it’s true.

The first steps towards writing it started when I applied for one of the coveted 1:1 appointments with an agent at the 2015 RNA conference at Queen Mary’s in London. I was lucky enough to get an appointment with agent, Felicity Trew, (thank you Elaine Everest), to whom I sent the first few chapters and synopsis of a WW2 saga which I’d had published as a two part People’s Friend pocket novel in 2013. I’d had plans to write something else to show an agent but life had taken a downward turn at the beginning of the year when a close family member became ill and died, pushing novel writing very much on the back burner. I almost didn’t apply for a 1:1 but decided to try anyway and perhaps get some feedback on my writing I’d done so far.

To my astonishment Felicity liked my writing, and this led on to a meeting a couple of weeks later at the Caroline Sheldon agency where she works, for a brainstorming session with the aim of me writing something new to approach publishers with. By the autumn Felicity had signed me up, in early 2016 she sent off three chapters and a synopsis, plus ideas for another two books in the potential series and two publishers put in offers for a three book deal, bidding against each other. It was unbelievable, thrilling and nerve wracking. After meetings with each publisher I had to choose who to go with, which was a really tough decision but in the end chose the wonderful Little, Brown, Sphere.

I’ve been a member of the RNA since 2007 when I joined the New Writers’ Scheme and tried to write a Mills & Boon, which I soon discovered are a very difficult craft to master and not suited to my writing. Eventually I graduated from the NWS in 2011 with a People’s Friend contemporary pocket novel. Since then it’s taken quite a few years to find my voice and discover what genre suited me best, in the meantime writing lots of short stories for women’s magazines, both contemporary and historical, and a WW2 serial for People’s Friend. It was after the 2015 conference that I finally found my writing home.

There have been times over the years when I have thought of giving up writing but the RNA’s brilliant support has kept me going, especially the generosity and kindness of members who have shared advice and their experience - this is one of the amazing strengths of the RNA. Way back when I was unsuccessfully trying to write a Mills & Boon, Kate Walker (a fabulous Mills & Boon author herself) advised me to find out what I should be writing and she was right. I remember Jean Fullerton giving excellent advice at the Chichester conference saying that the writers who get published are the ones that keep trying and trying, and those who give up, don’t. Since I joined the RNA, I’ve seen many members who kept on trying and not giving up, eventually succeeding which is fantastic, well deserved and utterly joyful. Anyone in the NWS who is doubting themselves or feeling like giving up, don’t, keep going, keep trying and you will get there, it might take time but none of that is wasted because you are learning and improving and the RNA and its members are there to support you every step of the way.

Rosie's début novel, East End Angels, is available now on Amazon.

Strong-willed Winnie loves being part of the crew at Station Seventy-Five but her parents are less than happy. She has managed to avoid their pleas to join the WRENS so far but when a tragedy hits too close to home she finds herself wondering if she's cut out for this life after all.

Former housemaid Bella was forced to leave the place she loved when she lost it all and it's taken her a while to find somewhere else to call home. She's finally starting to build a new life but when the air raids begin, it seems she may have to start over once again.

East-Ender Frankie's sense of loyalty keeps her tied to home so it's not easy for her to stay focused at work. With her head and heart pulling in different directions, will she find the strength to come through for her friends when they need her the most?

Brought together at LAAS Station Seventy-Five in London's East End during 1940, these three very different women soon realise that they'll need each other if they're to get through the days ahead. But can the ties of friendship, love and family all remain unbroken?

About Rosie:

Rosie Hendry lives by the sea in Norfolk with her husband, two children, chickens and a snake.

Listening to her father’s tales of life during the Second World War sparked her interest in this period and she’s especially intrigued by how women’s lives changed during the war years. She loves researching further, searching out gems of real life events which inspire her writing.

Website 

Facebook

Twitter  

Jean Fullerton: Changing Partners

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Jean Fullerton to the Romantic Novelists’ Association blog today. Jean is a friend to many members of the RNA and her journey to publication is one that has thrilled many NWS members who still dreamt of their first publishing deal. Here, in the week that Jean’s latest book is published, she tells of the latest turn in her extraordinary life as an award-winning author.

Now let me tell you being a writer is just the greatest job in the world and there’s nothing better than

when you’ve sweated blood to bring a story together someone emails you to say how much they love your book. However, before you can receive such an email your book needs to get into the hands of the reader.

Now I know today you can be independently published and many good friends have decided to follow that pathway. I applaud them for their bold decision for me however, I decided to take the traditional route to publication and I have been fortunate that for the past ten years Orion have been my publisher.  

The publishing industry are always working a year in advance so this time last year when Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie was released my agent and I were deep in negotiation for the next contract. Over the summer as the discussion went back and forth it became increasingly clear I was not working out so after a couple of lengthy discussions with my lovely agent Laura Longrigg at MBA Literary Agents I told her to say thanks but no thanks on my behalf. Now, I won’t pretend that being without a publisher for the first time in eleven years I didn’t wake up in the wee small hours in a cold sweat on a few occasions but in the cold light of day I knew I’d made the right decision.

Over the past few years other publishers had approached my agent but as I was already under contract at the time we couldn’t pursue their offers. However, within a week or two of Laura putting out feelers she had a phone call from my original editor at Orion, Sara O’Keefe, who is now Editorial Director at Atlantic. The rest, as they say, is history.  I am now under contract with them and just finishing my second East London WW2 book for them and am hopeful of many more to come.    

Turning down a publishing contract is a leap into an uncertain future but sometimes you just have to hold on tight to your self-belief and say no.  

About Jean:

A Londoner who worked as a district nurse in East London for over twenty-five years and is now a full-time author.  She has won multiple awards and all her books are set in her native East London.  Her first series was set in the early 1800s but her most recently four books about nurses Millie and Connie have jumped forward a century and are set at the end of WW2. Her latest book, POCKETFUL OF DREAMS, is the first of her East London WW2 series featuring sisters Mattie, Jo and Cathy Brogan and their extended family.

Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter:  @JeanFullerton_

Amazon

Pocketful of Dreams

It's 1939, and the Brogan family of London's East End are ready to show Hitler what for. But things don't seem so rosy when rationing, evacuation and air raids start to put this larger-than-life family to the test.

When a mysterious young man arrives at the Brogans' local parish church, he provides just the dazzling distraction they need - and for eldest daughter Mattie, the promise of more than she'd ever wished for. But as the pair fall deeper in love, they are drawn into secret dangers, rife on the very London streets they call home.

As the young couple race to protect the East End, as they know it, can their dreams survive the darkening backdrop of wartime...?

Thank you, Jean, and good luck with Pocketful of Dreams.

If you would like your book to be featured on the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

FOCUS ON: The South and West Wales Chapter

It's a great pleasure to welcome the South and West Wales Chapter today. Michaela Weaver has very kindly dropped in to speak to Jean Fullerton about their meetings.

Welcome, Kaela! 

How long has your chapter been running, Kaela?

It's been running in different formats for over fifteen years!

How often do you meet?

Currently we have monthly meetings scheduled, but we may revise this to quarterly.

Where is your regular meeting place?

We meet in Cardiff and Swansea

How many members attend your meetings?

We are expanding our group. We have 19 members in our Facebook Group. Meetings are normally attended by 5-10 members.

Do your meetings include a meal?

As people are travelling a distance, meetings are held with an optional lunch. The Swansea meeting is at Morgan's Hotel and includes a two-course lunch

Is your chapter open to non-members of the RNA?

We are open to established authors who are non-RNA members, and those considering the NWS are welcome to attend a taster meeting

How long are your meetings?

They typically last from 12-2.30 or 3pm

Can you give an outline of speakers/guests you've had in the past year?

I have just taken over as lead for this Chapter. Hazel Cushion is running a workshop/talk in March on Author Marketing. We hope to have regular speakers from now on.

What do you have planned for 2017?

We have monthly meetings scheduled right through the year. These can be found on our Facebook Group. Anyone in the RNA is welcome to join the group.

What would you say makes your chapter of the RNA so special?

As we are a Welsh Chapter I have to say, the 'hwyl' which is Welsh for fun!

Does your chapter have a website, Facebook page or Twitter account?

We have a Facebook Goup

Who is the contact for new members?

I'm the contact, and new members can contact me at kaela_weaver@btopenworld.com

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RNASWWales/

Thanks so much for joining us, Kaela. Wishing you and your members much 'hwyl' at the next meeting!

About Jean:

Jean was born in East End of London and spent all her career as a district nurse in East London but is now a full-time writer. Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie, is her current release. Her next novel Pocketful of Dreams, set in the turbulent years of WW2, is due for release in June 2017 and is the first in next East London series.

Her first series with Orion Fiction was set in the Victorian period after which she jumped forward to post-war East London.

She is a proud graduate from the NWS and passionate about the local chapters, which is why she has taken on the role of Chapters Liaison. 

This blog was prepared by blog team member, Helena Fairfax

RoNA Awards 2017: Epic Shortlist

This year’s shortlisted novels explore a variety themes including loss, desire and betrayal in settings from the East End of London, through to Paris, Australia, and India. 

Jean Fullerton’s Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie takes us back to 1948 where for Nurse Connie Byrne, preparing for the start of the NHS and to marry her sweetheart, Malcolm, life looks pretty straightforward – that is until Dr MacLauchlan arrives...  

Readers have commented on the authentic detail in your novel; can you tell us more about what your starting point was?  

Not only was I born and grew up in East London but I have spent much of my working life as a district nurse in East London. My first job on the District was in the London Borough of Newham which is made up of the old areas of East and West Ham, Stratford, Forest Gate and Manor Park and the old neighbourhood around the Royal Docks in Canning Town.

Like Connie I visited people with diabetes to give them their morning insulin but unlike her I didn’t have to boil a glass syringe for ten minutes beforehand and I never had to ask my patients to bake gauze squares in the oven alongside the evening meal to sterilise them. There were hundreds of other ways mine and Connie’s practice differed, but what never changes is how nursing involves human drama, joy and tragedy. I believe that my family and professional background breathes authenticity into Nurse Connie’s world.           

 Little Girl Lost by Janet Gover takes us to the Australian outback, where when Tia Walsh rides into town on a Harley-Davidson, Sergeant Max Delaney senses that she spells trouble. Tia’s trouble is not of her own making, but her dangerous past is not far behind. Then a little girl goes missing in the harsh terrain, and nothing else matters except finding her safe.

 We asked Janet to tell us about the inspiration behind this novel:

It came from a song that has haunted me for years. ‘Little Boy Lost’ (by Aussie songwriter Johnny Ashcroft tells the true story of a child lost in the bush. The boy was found, safe and well, after what was then Australia’s biggest search. That song always brings a tear to my eye. It started me thinking about being lost – and how there is more than one way to be lost.  That’s where this book came from.

Pamela Hart’s The War Bride is the story of war bride Margaret Dalton who when arriving in Sydney in 1920, to reunite with her ANZAC husband Frank, finds out from the Army that he already has a wife. Devastated, Margaret must find a new home, a new job… and, perhaps, a new love. But what if the Army was wrong?

This is a fascinating story; we asked Pamela where the idea came to her: 

I found the germ of the story for The War Bride while I was researching my last book, The Soldier’s Wife.  As soon as I heard about a Margaret who came to Sydney as a war bride only to find that her husband had abandoned her, I knew I had to write her story.  The book is set around Sydney Harbour, especially around Lavender Bay, which is where I teach writing for the Australian Writers’ Centre. Any time I was running low on inspiration, I just had to walk out my classroom door and gaze at the harbour in all its many moods, and I was right back in 1920 with my characters. 

Leah Mercer’s Who We Were Before follows protagonists Edward and Zoe, who two years on from the death of their young son couldn’t be further apart. A weekend in Paris might be their last hope for reconciliation, but mischance sees them separated before they’ve even left Gare du Nord. Lost and alone, Edward and Zoe must try to find their way back to each other—and find their way back to the people they were before.

This novel confronts some difficult themes and we asked Leah what led her to tackle them in her novel:

It was written shortly after my father died, and it provided a much-needed outlet for my own grief. I hope it shows that healing can happen when sadness brings people together, instead of driving them apart.

Ann O’Loughlin’s The Judge’s Wife is a tale of enduring love and scandal that begins in 1950s Dublin and unravels across decades and continents, digging up long-buried family secrets along the way. This is the love story of Grace, the judge’s wife, and Indian doctor Vikram Fernandes. The Judge’s Wife asks whether love really can last forever.

We asked Ann what inspired the rich detail in her writing:

So many things!  A small piece of marble pushed into my hand by a workman at the Taj Mahal, the beautiful jewellery, gowns and outfits sent by a rich relative in twice yearly parcels from the US to my West of Ireland home and a year in India living amid the coffee estates of South India which changed my life.  All of these gave me glimpses into different worlds and helped me build the background to the story.