Janet Gover - Globe-Trotting Author

Today we welcome the RNA’s own technical genius. I give you…Janet Gover.

A lot of people know me as the RNA’s resident geek – doing my ‘techie’ stuff at conference and also creating the big screen presentations at the Awards nights and parties.

Last year, I had the fabulous experience of attending the Romance Writers of Australia Conference – not as a worker, but as the finalist for their Romantic Book of The Year Award. The shortlisted book was Flight To Coorah Creek; the first novel of a series set in a remote Australian outback town. As an expat Aussie living in London, it was an amazing feeling to be nominated by readers back in my homeland. Of course, I immediately booked flights back to Australia for the RWA conference.

RWA presents the awards at its conference. Because of the vast distances involved, there is only one national event each year. It’s always held in a five star hotel – which is fabulous, but expensive, especially when combined with an airfare from the other side of the planet. But there was no way I was going to miss it. Even the delayed flight, lost luggage and an unexpected stop in an airport about 1700 miles from our destination was not enough to deter me.

Apart from the five star hotel, the RWA conference is much like the RNA conference – but bigger. I had a lovely couple of days meeting with authors and publishers and RWA members. There was the same community feel we all love about our RNA events – and the RWA welcomed me with open arms. The gala awards dinner was in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Hotel, which holds more than 1,000 people. And there I was, with my book, up on a big screen presentation not that very different to the one I do each year for the RNA awards. It was such a thrill. I didn’t win – but as a shortlisted author, I received a lovely silver pin.

I made my way home to London (my luggage came with me this time) to find that I had been shortlisted for another award – this time in the US. It was the Aspen Gold Reader’s Choice Award conducted by the Denver chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The American RWA, as we all know, has many thousand members, so a shortlisting for a chapter award is really an achievement- and for an English author writing books set in Australia… well, I was over the moon.

I couldn’t attend the ceremony… I was teaching that weekend at a tutor led writing retreat here in the UK (a double header with the brilliant Alison May). At the retreat, everyone raised a glass to wish me luck. Perhaps it worked. The day after I got home, I received an email to tell me I had won my category. I actually tied for the win with an author who has TWICE been on the RITA award shortlist. Wow! I was quite beside myself over that! A few days later, I received the award in the snail mail, and that plaque now hangs proudly in my office. We all know how hard the US market is to break, and an award like this for a writer from England is rare – even more so when the book is set in Australia. It just goes to show that readers cannot be so easily categorised or predicted … and are always happy to enjoy a the right book, whatever its origin.

That was the highlight of a hugely busy year for me… and here’s hoping 2016 will be just as much fun!

BTW… After the success of last year’s tutor led retreat (and I don’t just mean that I won the award that weekend), I’m joining forces with Alison May again for two retreats this year:  Developing Your Novel in May and Advanced Novel Writing in October. You can find out more about there on my website here : http://janetgover.com/?page_id=1891

And who knows – with luck maybe we’ll find another reason to celebrate that weekend too – if not for me, maybe for someone else.

Links:

Website: http://janetgover.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/janetgoverbooks/

Twitter : @janet_gover

Books : http://www.choc-lit.com/productcat/janet-gover/

What a wonderful year you’ve had, Janet. Here’s wishing you as much success in 2016 and into the future.

The RNA blog is brought to you by Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write for the blog in 2016 please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Romance AND Suspense with Vonnie Hughes

Today we welcome Vonnie Hughes - all the way from the Antipodes. Vonnie was born in New Zealand and now lives in Australia.

As a child she won several writing competitions. She won a pony once but her parents encouraged her to take the substitute prize. After all, there’s not a lot of room in utopian suburbia for a pony. 

After attending teachers’ training college where they encouraged her writing, Vonnie began writing in earnest – poetry and short stories mainly. Now she writes novels and novellas in the Regency and contemporary suspense genres. She will, she says, probably write until the day she dies. Like many writers, some days she hates the whole process, but just cannot let it go.

I asked Vonnie a few questions:

I believe you haven’t always been a career writer. Can you tell our readers what brought about the change in your career?

I’ve always been a writer, just not a full-time writer. As a seven year old I won a writing contest to name a pony and I’ve been writing ever since. At first it was mainly articles and poetry. In my early fifties when I became a self-employed researcher with a houseful of overseas students, I needed a break from real life and began to write Regencies. As the Regency market has become more and more crowded, my stories are seguing more into the Victorian era. (I’ve been reading in that era since I was eleven years old and I love the sense of order and responsibility). But my preference is for writing contemporary suspense novels where I can indulge my love of convoluted plots and forensic clues.

I see from your website that you’re a ‘panster’. How does this work in conjunction with writing suspense? Don’t you need to know beforehand where your story is going?As for being a pantser and knowing where my plots are going – I think about my books for some weeks. Then I do a very small outline of the story generally, about five or six sentences. But the real planning comes from the characterisation. I spend a lot of time working out the characters’ backgrounds, motives and the likely consequences of their behaviour. Then I jump into writing the book. But I never do chapter plans or story arcs. Just go where it leads me.

Writing any period novel must entail considerable research. Is it something you enjoy and do you have any methodology?

As for the research for my historicals, I have to admit I have a LOT of hard files which I’ve compiled over the years. They contain things like bridge building in Britain, the slums near the Thames, maps of old roads etc. Also I belong to Beaumonde, a chapter of the Romance Writers of America and their archives are amazing.

Do you have a typical day?

I have no typical writing day. I write every day, but sometimes for no more than an hour. Sometimes I get restless and bored so I relax by walk/jogging with the dog, going to the gym and reading, reading, reading.

Innocent Hostage was published in December 2014. Is its successor in the pipeline?

At present, although I am part way through another New Zealand set book about a negotiator with one of the Armed Offenders’ squads, I also got started on an idea put forward by The Wild Rose Press about a mythical town in Maine called Lobster Cove. Since I’m not American I had to do some intensive research.  At the request of the Carmichael family’s accountants, their son takes over a lobster packaging business to investigate the reasons behind a consistent drain on the company resources. At the same time he is coming to terms with the fact that he is adopted and that at least one of his natural parents comes from the little town of Lobster Cove.

Innocent Hostage is published by The Wild Rose Press in both paperback and e-book form. In an Alice in Wonderland world where everything is tipped upside down and every value questioned, how do you save the innocent? Two years ago, Breck Marchant handed his son, Kit, over to his ex-wife, Tania, even though it tore him apart. She knows all about kids. Thanks to his own upbringing, he hasn’t a clue. But when the boy is held hostage, Breck steps up to the plate.

Links:

Website:  www.vonniehughes.com

Blog:

Amazon:

Facebook:

It's been lovely talking to you, Vonnie. Thank you. 

The RNA Blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman.

If you would like to write about the craft of writing or perhaps be interviewed about your writing life please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com