The RNA RoNA Awards...the pictures...and the shoes

The RNA RoNA Awards at the RAF Club.....an amazing night with Richard and Judy!

Jane Costello

Jane Costello's shoes

Susanna Kearsley, Charlotte Betts, Nicola Doherty and Liz Fenwick

Victoria Connelly, Susanna Kearsley and Belinda Jonez

Scarlet Wilson's shoes

Veronica Henry's shoes

Veronica Henry

Jan Springer and Giselle Green

Mary Nichols and Carol Townend

Janie Millman, Jan Jones and Jo Thomas

Evelyn Ryle's shoes

Lesley Cookman, Hazel Cushion and journalist

Rowan Coleman's shoes

Mandy Baggot and Lin B Halton

The Transworld team and Belinda Jones

Kate Furnival on the right

Abby Green's shoes

Matt from Waterstones and Jenny Colgan

Judy Astley and Janet Gover

Bernardine Kennedy's amazing bag!

Susam Lamb's shoes

Sarah Mallory receiving the RoNA Rose award with Judy and Richard

Katie Fforde receiving the Contemporary Romantic Award with Judy and Richard

Rowan Coleman receiving the Epic Romance award with Judy and Richard

Charlotte Betts receiving the Historical Romance award with Judy and Richard

Tony Muliken, Liz Harris and Luigi Bonomi

Victoria Lamb 

Victoria Lamb receiving the award for Young Adult Romance with Judy and Richard

Jenny Colgan receiving the Romantic Comedy award with Judy and Richard

Sophie Kinsella receiving her Outstanding Achievement Award

Sophie Kinsella's shoes

Sue Moorcroft, Liz Fenwick, Susanna Kearsley, Brigid Coady, and Pia Christina Courtenay

Jenny Colgan with her publishing team

The room beginning to empty

Caroline Hogg- Pan MacMillan, Charlotte Betts and Cath Burke - Sphere

Susanna Kearsley's fabulous bag and shoes

Veronica Henry Shares a Valentine's Tale of Love on Twitter

THE POWER OF LOVE – ON TWITTER

I was upstairs one evening and my husband was downstairs, when he tweeted me to say he’d opened a bottle of cava and a glass was waiting for me.  I went a bit pink – somehow it was a very spontaneous and romantic gesture, and I realised the power of Twitter went further than I had given it credit for.  At the same time my publisher. Orion, was thinking about doing something based on Twitter, and knowing I was a heavy user, asked me if I would like to get involved.  And so Tweetie Pie was hatched – a little book of romantic tweets, guaranteed to put a smile on your lips and a twinkle in your eye. 

Compiling it made me realise that we don’t often take the time out to say the things we mean to each other, and most of us don’t have enough romance in our lives.  The love letter is long gone; even waiting by the phone for it to ring is a thing of the past, and we communicate in symbols and curt messages.  Even if we don’t get out a fountain pen and a sheet of watermarked notepaper, we can take the time to send an expression of our love.  I’m hoping this little book will be an inspiration and an example to us all.

So go on … say it!  Whether on twitter or by text or email or carrier pigeon … tell the person you love that you do.

To learn more about Veronica's books including TWEETIE PIE: 140 WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU visit her website here

Veronica Henry Reports on the Colman Getty Pen Quiz

There were sore heads for more than one reason, when the RNA team entered the Colman Getty Pen Quiz. Veronica Henry tells all.


We had all been swotting for weeks, glued to Mastermind/University Challenge/Brain of Britain in a vain attempt to improve our general knowledge. But nothing could prepare us for the ferociously hard questions at the 2009 Colman Getty Pen Quiz, hosted by the eloquent and efficient David Mitchell of Peep Show and Mitchell and Webb fame.

We had been lulled into a false sense of security beforehand, quaffing champagne in the splendour of the Royal Institute of British Architects and spotting literary luminaries such as Joan Bakewell, Sarah Waters, Deborah Moggach, Daisy Goodwin, Isobel Wolff and Kathy Lette, mixed in with a good sprinkling of publishing movers and shakers.

Then we moved into the banqueting room for dinner and … agonising torture as the questions came thick and fast. We conferred, debated, scratched our heads, reached for the wine bottle and actually put up a pretty good fight in the end, our best rounds being history [where we played our joker, earning double points] and the picture round.

In the end it was a tie between The Times, The Guardian and Harper Collins [the competition was pretty tough!], so the final winner was decided by a quick fire round, with The Times emerging as victors after correctly answering the question ‘In 1519, the French King Francis 1 bought which painting to put in his bathroom?’ [The Mona Lisa].

Coming last was softened by Liz Harris winning four bottles of fine malt whisky in the raffle, and the knowledge that we had contributed to an excellent cause – the evening raised approximately £20,000 to support PEN’s work defending freedom of expression, campaigning on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide and promoting literature and literacy.

One Writer's Quest For Fitness - Veronica Henry

As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, I am on a draconian fitness regime. It was my twentieth wedding anniversary in May, and I realised I was three stone heavier than when I got married. Something Had To Be Done! I looked at the causes and it was a no-brainer: sitting on bottom in front of laptop all day, regular trips to the fridge/kettle/biscuit tin, and over-dependence on the old Pinot Grigio. I’m sure I’m not the only writer with these symptoms, and I decided that if I didn’t want to keep piling on the weight in the same fashion, I had to take steps. After researching several diets and regimes, I decided to plump [!] for the one diet that is guaranteed to work – eat less and move around a bit more. Here are the changes I implemented:

1 Stop drinking! It was just a habit, after all – a fast track to relaxation, a way of getting all those characters in my head to shut up. But as another friend says, wine = liquid Mars Bars. You wouldn’t eat three of those in a night, but a bottle of PG can go down in a trice.

2 Keep word count and calorie count roughly equal – about 1500 a day. Both of which are totally do-able.

3 Avoid anything beginning with B – namely bread, booze, butter, biscuits. Brie, Bollinger, Battenburg, Beluga. You get the picture. [Broccoli allowed!]

4 Attempt some form of physical exercise every day. It’s amazing how a knotty plot problem can resolve itself while you’re out walking.

Four weeks in and I have lost nearly half a stone, am more toned, don’t get those sluggish slightly hung-over days, and my skin is dramatically less puffy and wrinkled. I’m hoping that by my publication day on 23 July I will have lost a stone – not that I am parading down Oxford Street in a tutu and angel wings to promote my book like Jordan, but it’s nice to have a target.

Veronica's latest book MARRIAGE AND OTHER GAMES is released on the 23rd of July 2009.

When girl-about-town Charlotte discovers her husband has been arrested for fraud, she flees to the wilds of Exmoor to nurse her broken heart ...

This weekend's post will feature a recipe for ice cream to beat the summer heat by author Kate Hardy.

July's Short Stories

July sees RNA Members' short stories appearing in Women's Weekly and People's Friend.


Jan Jones - When Life Hands You Lemons
Woman's Weekly Summer Special No. 2
July
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
http://jan-jones.blogspot.com

Kate Jackson - Seeds of Change
People's Friend July 4, 2009
78p
More than just the plants grow when Hannah plants some seeds.

Kate Jackson - One Small Step
People's Friend July 18, 2009
78p
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind... but will Gerry be allowed to watch?

Tomorrow's post - Veronica Henry and her quest for fitness in time for the release of MARRIAGE AND OTHER GAMES on the 23rd of July. Monday's post will have some additions to the books coming out in July.

Welcome and RNA Member's Books Coming Out in July

This is the first post to the blog for the Romantic Novelists' Association. There is no better way to begin than with a list of the books coming out in July. The Short Stories List will be posted tomorrow and on Friday Veronica Henry talks about her current fitness regime in which she attempts to combat writer's bottom and get match fit in time for publication of next novel.

This month's offerings begin to show the diversity of romantic fiction and, of course, of the RNA's authors.

Which ones will you be reading this month?




Veronica Henry – MARRIAGE AND OTHER GAMES
Orion
23 July 2009 £10.99
When girl-about-town Charlotte discovers her husband has been arrested for fraud, she flees to the wilds of Exmoor to nurse her broken heart ...
http://www.veronicahenry.co.uk/







Olivia Ryan – TALES FROM A HONEYMOON HOTEL
Piatkus
2 July - £7.99
Three couples meet on a romantic honeymoon – but can love conquer all their difficulties?
http://www.oliviaryan.com/
http://oliviaryanblogspot.blogspot.com/












Georgia Evans – BLOODY AWFUL
Kensington
July 7th - $6.99
As the vampire spies gather strength, a lone were fox finds she has more support than she imagined in her quest to foil them. Book 2 in the WW2 Brytewood trilogy.
http://www.brytewood.co.uk/




Anne Whitfield - WOODLAND DAUGHTER
Ulverscroft Large Print
July 1st - £16.99
Eden is robbed of everything, now she must gather her strength and look into her heart to accept what the future offers.
http://www.annewhitfield.com/







Melinda Hammond - MOONSHADOWS
Samhain Publishing
July 2009 - $14.00 (£7.00 approx from Amazon)
Right Man - Wrong Century? A dual-time ghost story
http://www.melindahammond.com/






Nicola Cornick – THE SCANDALS OF AN INNOCENT
978-0373773893 – HQN Books
July 2009 - $7.99 or £4.87
Housemaid turned heiress is courted by a notorious rake
http://www.nicolacornick.com/
http://www.apassionforhistory.blogspot.com/











Louise Allen - DISROBED & DISHONRED
(Undone Historical eBook)
9781426833212 Harlequin Mills & Boon
July 2009 £1.50 ebook
Miss Sarah Tatton has a problem - her virtue. A mysterious and disturbingly attractive highwayman is only too happy to assist her in disposing of this difficulty. But falling in love was never part of the bargain.
http://www.louiseallenregency.co.uk/




Louise Allen -The Notorious Mr Hurst (Those Scandalous Ravenhursts #5)
978-0263867879 Harlequin Mills & Boon
July 2009 £3.79
Lady Maude Templeton wants to marry for love, and she's found the man. But not only is Eden Hurst utterly ineligible, he doesn't believe love exists. It will take all Maude's unconventional courage and the help of her Ravenhurst friends to find a happy ending.
http://www.louiseallenregency.co.uk/






June Francis - TILLY'S STORY
Allison & Busby Ltd.
23rd July £7.99.
After an argument with her elder sister, Tilly Moran decids it is time to fly the nest and moves across the Mersey to Liverpool, but working undercover for a detective agency brings Tilly in contact with the seedier side of the city.
June Francis






Gwen Kirkwood - DREAMS OF HOME
Severn House
£18.99
Steven Caraford longs to get home at the end of the war but he is dismayed to find there is no place for him there, and the schoolgirl who has written to him so faithfully is now a lovely young woman with great prospects of her own.
http://www.gwenkirkwood.co.uk/









Janet Mullany - A MOST LAMENTABLE COMEDY
978-0755347797, Little Black Dress
July 23, 2009 5.99
A racy Regency read about searching for money and finding love instead.
www.janetmullany.com
http://riskyregencies.blogspot.com/


Nine Harrington - ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID
Mills and Boon
July
Amy Edler is a baker – not a wedding planner! But along with making her best friend’s wedding cake, Amy finds herself planning the wedding – with only her friend’s disapproving big brother to help!
http://ninaharrington.wordpress.com/