SUMMER with the ROMANTIC NOVELISTS’ ASSOCIATION

 Our Fabulous Summer Party takes place in the Royal Over-Seas League in Park Place, London on

Thursday 18^th May. It begins around 6.30pm and continues until 9.30pm - when many repair elsewhere for supper with friends.

In addition to the chance of meeting up with distant, facebook or twitter friends, there’s the excitement generated by the announcement of the Joan Hessayon Award winner. Last year’s winner was Clare Harvey with her The Gunner Girl.

This year sees another bumper list of contenders whose books have come through the wonderful New Writers’ Scheme, but I don’t know who will receive the winner’s cheque and, like you, will have to wait until the night to find out.

For Party first-timers a few tips:

FROCKS there are a few and some of them are pretty, some of them are glam.

SHOES over the years, shoes have become a major interest for the photographers among us and some are very exciting indeed. 

FOOD AND DRINK A tipple is included in the price of your ticket together with some of the ROSL’s delectable canapés.

So, will we meet there? Tickets are £35 for members and £40 for non-members. They’re available from Eventbrite here https://goo.gl/dyvVyF

You’ll find all the details there except the shortlist. That’ll be coming along shortly…

While I’m here – were you one of the 90 + people who went home from the Awards’ night or the Winter Party with either or both your name badge and lanyard? I’d love to have them back, please.

Anne Graham, Party Organiser

Jan Ellis visits the RNA Summer Party 2016

We welcome Jan Ellis to the blog to tell us about her trip to London for the Romantic Novelists' Association Summer Party.

'Looking at the brightly lit entrance of the Royal Over-Seas League in London's smart St James's, her knees almost buckled with nerves. Clutching her ticket to her bosom she took a deep breath and stepped inside . . . '

Yes, dear reader, that was me one year ago at my first RNA Summer Party. Taking that initial step

was pretty daunting: would I recognise anybody? Would anyone talk to me or would I end up weeping quietly behind a pillar? Most important of all: would there be any food?

As it turned out, I needn't have worried. I was amazed by how many people I already 'knew', having met and chatted to them on social media. Those kind people – in particular Karen Aldous and Samantha Tonge – then introduced me to their friends and I was off! And yes, there was excellent food, including mini fish and chips and perfect scones with jam and cream, which were definitely worth getting fat for.

Emboldened by the success of party number one, I decided to give number two a whirl and had a great time yet again at the winter event in November. Last week I attended my second Summer Party. This year I was also able to attend the AGM, which gave me a better sense of how hard working and professional members of the RNA committee are. Chairwoman Eileen Ramsey took us through the highlights of the previous twelve months, including the ROMNA Awards. Treasurer Gill Stewart presented the accounts and was pleased to note that the organisation is in excellent financial health.

After the short meeting, a number of us helped Elaine Everest and the team to put out the names badges until we were herded out of the room by paparazzi keen to get shots of the nominees for the big award of the evening. As there was a gap then until the party began, I wandered down to the elegant terrace bar and joined Wendy Clarke, Susan Griffin and Merryn Allingham for a pre-party drink. Duly refreshed, we then headed up to the splendid Hall of India and Pakistan where 180 RNA members were gathering in their best frocks and fabulous shoes. The men may be few in number, but they all scrub up well and join in gamely with the gals.

The main event of the evening was the presentation of the Joan Hessayon Award, which went to

Clare Harvey for her wartime novel The Gunner Girl (Simon & Schuster UK). In her heart-felt acceptance speech, Clare said she wished to share the prize with her anonymous RNA reader to whom she owed so much.

Once the presentations had been made, everyone got on with the serious business of eating canapes and chatting. I was delighted to catch up with some of the great people I've met thanks to the RNA including Anita Chapman, Carol Cooper, Carrie Elks, John Jackson, Alison Knight, Holly Martin, Annie Peters (Annie Lyons), Julie Vince and others too numerous to mention.

If there are RNA members out there wondering whether it's worth attending one of the parties, my advice is do it! You'll discover a whole bunch of clever, supportive writers just waiting to be your friends.

Finally, I'd like to thank party-organiser extraordinaire Tracy Hartshorn (Sally Quilford) who was sadly unable to attend the event. She was much missed and we all look forward to seeing her again in the future.

About Jan:

Jan Ellis began writing fiction by accident in 2013. Until then, she had led a blameless life as a publisher, editor and historian of early modern Spain. She fell into fiction when a digital publisher approached her to write a history book, then made the mistake of mentioning women’s fiction, which sounded much more fun. She is proud to be a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

Links:

Twitter @JanEllis_writer

Website

Amazon page

Thank you for covering the event so splendidly for the RNA blog, Jan. We are in awe of anyone who can juggle a notepad and pen as well as a glass of wine!

If you would like to cover an event for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

RNA Parties: Tickets for sale!

Today we welcome, Tracy Hartshorn to the blog. You will all recognise Tracy as the lady with the lovely smile who welcomes us all to the Romantic Novelists’ Association parties. We wondered how Tracy organises such fabulous events and how much of her time is spent making sure we enjoy ourselves.

Tracy, can you tell us which parties and events you organise for the RNA?

I organise the Summer and Winter Parties. I also sell the tickets for the RNA Awards, though the organisation for that is done by a sub-committee as it’s a much bigger ‘gig’ than the parties as we have a celebrity guest and much more! 

How are events announced to members?

Members can find out about RNA events on the RNA website www.rna-uk.org and also on the membership card which is sent to every member each February. Booking forms for the parties are placed in Romance Matters leading up to each event. Details are also on the website. Reminders are also put out on Social Networking, such as ROMNA and the RNA Facebook Group. I also use my own Twitter feed and Facebook profile to promote the events, and other members help me by sharing news.

What is the process when applying for tickets?

There is a booking form either on the RNA website or in Romance Matters. I prefer it if people fill the booking form in and send it to me by post as I then have a paper trail I can check. Booking by email is possible, but I still like to have a booking form.

We are lucky to see many well-known Industry professionals attend our events. Are they invited?

I send out a block reminder to industry professionals six weeks before the event, then again a fortnight before the event if a few haven’t got back to me.

I often get people saying ‘I didn’t know the party was happening’, or other times people slip through the cracks. Sometimes they’ve moved companies or changed email addresses. Other times it’s that their email provider identifies me as a phantom spammer (something that happens when you’re block-emailing people) and eats my email accordingly.

What I’m saying is that whilst I do my best to let everyone know, it’s a good idea to have a look at the RNA website and make a note of when the events are taking place so you don’t miss out.

The Winter Party 2015 was attended by over 40 industry professionals, and the members were delighted to be able to meet them!

Does your job stop once the tickets are posted out?

It doesn’t even begin with posting out the tickets. I have to liaise with our designer to create the tickets. I print them off and cut them to size (this is done professionally for the Awards). I also have to work out the ticket price for members and non-members, based on the cost of the room, wine and food.

I also liaise with Liza at the Royal Over Seas League about the canapes and wine (my favourite job) and then I have to make up all the name badges (my least favourite job). That involves printed out two name labels for each person, sticking them to card, putting the card into the plastic badge (which does wonders for the cuticles…ouch) then making sure I’ve done every one of the 200 plus guests. I can’t complete this until the last bookings come in, which means it’s something I can only do in the last couple of days before I leave for London (there are invariably changes). I also make a list of all industry professionals in attendance and print off twenty or thirty copies of the list for guests.

On the day of both parties there is always a committee meeting which, along with other duties, means I’m usually at the venue from around 11am onwards.

From around 5pm, aided by a certain Elaine Everest, I am in the Hall of India and Pakistan, getting the room ready.  We decorate the room, if needs be, put out all the badges and lanyards, and I chat with the lovely head-waiter about the running order for the evening. With the Joan Hessayon Awards at the Summer Party and now the Industry Awards at the Winter Party, everything is timed to ensure everyone has a glass of fizz in their hands for the toast.

The rest of the committee help out, by welcoming guests when they arrive and making sure that no one is left adrift. I’ll often be running around the room, trying to find the one editor that a guest can’t find amongst the throng. As I’m short, this isn’t always easy…

I also deal with any problems that might arise with guests, though thankfully there aren’t too many issues once the parties get going. Once the party is over, we wrestle lanyards and badges off everyone as they leave, then pack it all up for the next time.

I usually manage to get back to my hotel by about 10.30pm, when I have a nice cup of tea and rest my aching feet whilst reading early reports of the party on Facebook.

Tickets for the Winter Party sold out, which was fabulous, but this caused last minute problems for those wishing to attend who had left it too late to buy. Can you advise how to avoid this?

It really was the hottest ticket in town! People were apparently bartering online and my inbox was buzzing with folk wanting last minute tickets. I hated having to turn people down, but sadly I had no choice as the room was at capacity and the venue had sought my assurance  due to there wouldn’t be any more guests.

The best thing to do is book early to ensure your place at the event. I’m not sure everyone realises that there is a deadline of a week before the parties and the awards by which tickets should be booked.

I will do my best to honour any bookings that come in by the deadline, provided we haven’t reached capacity for the rooms at the Royal Over-Seas League or the Gladstone Library. The deadline is there because I have to send in final figures to both places about a week before each event so they can ensure there is enough food and drink, and in the case of the Gladstone Library, adequate seating. There are also health and safety reasons why the rooms cannot go over capacity and we have to abide by those rules as part of our contract with the venue.

If you are booking late in the day, even if it’s just before the deadline, I would advise not paying money by BACS, or posting a cheque, unless you have first checked with me that there are tickets left.

It’s worth pointing out that no one is officially allocated a place at the party until they have sent payment for it, either by BACS or cheque. So if you’ve promised to send payment but haven’t been able to do so for several months (and I do appreciate real life gets in the way) it’s best to contact me and check that I still have tickets available.

For all the reasons stated above it is not possible to just turn up on the night and pay at the door at any of the RNA parties or awards receptions.

What is the best part of your committee job?

Once the party/parties get going and I know everyone is having a good time. Oh and choosing the canapes! I really enjoy that job. I tend to choose what I would fancy eating and it seems everyone else agrees that the mini cream scones at the Royal Over-Seas League are delicious!

Mostly it’s great to be working alongside a fantastic group of ladies committed to making the RNA a great organisation. They know I get really nervous before each party and are always on hand with soothing words, and in the case of our lovely Chair, a calming cup of tea when I needed it the most!

What is the next RNA event?

The next event is the RNA Awards on 7^th March 2016. The booking form should be in the January edition of Romance Matters, so look out for it and do book early!

Link to all RNA activities

About Tracy:

Tracy Hartshorn writes as Sally Quilford, and has had over 20 romantic novels published by My Weekly Pocket Novels and Ulverscroft. She has also presented writing workshops at various venues in the UK, and at the RNA Conference. Tracy lives in Derbyshire with her husband and two Westies.

Tracy’s blogspot

Thank you Tracy. We feel exhausted just reading your answers. More mini cream scones at the next party please!

The RNA Blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

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