The New Writers Scheme

Today we are talking to Melanie Hilton, organiser of the New Writers Scheme.

The RNA accepts 250 writers into the scheme each year and these places are hotly contested. We asked writers, who were either current members or graduates of the scheme, if they had a question about the NWS for Melanie.

Thanks for asking me along – it is always a pleasure to talk about the New Writers Scheme.

I’ve been the NWS Organiser since 2008 (and 2014 will be my last year in the job.) Yes, it definitely has changed over that time and I think that is largely due to the rapid development of ebook publishing options and the impact of social media. Members are far more willing to ask questions and seek advice and they have a far wider field of publishing choices in front of them.

Two things have changed for the worse – navigating the Royal Mail requires a PhD in post-ology and punctuation has got much, much worse, especially the punctuation of speech.

How do you match up NWS submissions to the Readers and how many readers are there?

There are about 70 Readers – it varies slightly from year to year. Without them this Scheme would be impossible and they make a huge contribution in time and expertise. I match submissions to Readers who write in the same genre, or have a specific interest or expertise in that type of book. Obviously Readers will tell me how many submissions they can take, and dates to avoid, and certainly, up to August, I will avoid sending someone more than one at a time. I also try to avoid sending work to a Reader who has read that particular author before so that members receive as wide a range of viewpoints on their work as possible. However, sometimes either the Reader, or the author, will request that partnership again and I will discuss it with both of them first. But in August everything becomes much, much more difficult with over a hundred typescripts arriving, most of them in the last fortnight. The Readers who are still able to take them find themselves with several typescripts on their desks, especially if they read for a genre with few other Readers in the pool. This is why I nag on about submitting well before the deadline (not that anyone takes any notice of me…) – I will have a wider field of Readers to choose from and the Readers are unlikely to have a queue. But don’t forget, all the Readers are busy professional writers and deadlines, proofs and revisions can crop up unexpectedly at any time.

Are there any plans for NWS members to submit via email rather than post?

We’re looking at this, and I’m sure we’ll be doing it fairly soon, but it isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Many Readers, who spend hours at a computer screen as it is, find they are much more comfortable, and effective, reading ‘hard copy’ and some know they will have to give up as Readers if we insist on electronic submission. There are other issues, including security and making notes on typescripts. This will be one for my successor in 2015 to take forward!

In your experience would you consider an unfinished but polished submission a better option than a complete but unedited novel? Do the Readers approach completed and incomplete manuscripts in the same way?

The answer to this is, unhelpfully, ‘It depends.’ It is probably easier for a Reader to deal with an unfinished novel that has been thoroughly revised, provided it has a really good synopsis so they can see where it is going. A complete but unedited one will result in them spending a lot of time telling you about points that you know you’ll have picked up for yourself when you started revising. On the other hand they’ll see the work in its entirety and be able to judge pace, structure, the effectiveness of the ending and so forth. The shorter a partial, the harder it is for the Reader to give you as much help as they would like to, and the greater the importance of the synopsis. Having said that, we’ve taken partials as short as one chapter and unfinished novels which consisted largely of chapters of notes. Always better to submit something than nothing and Readers will approach a partial just as seriously as they will a complete novel.

How much do you think the NWS influences a writer’s success?

You would have to ask NWS members and ex-members that! Many, when they tell us about their publishing deal, will say that they don’t think they’d have made it without the NWS or that they are certain their Reader's advice was a great help. This is another of those ‘it depends’ questions. Some NWS members join when they are on the brink of success and just need that little extra polish, others have started from scratch and need quite a bit of help and some, I suspect, may well never have made it on their own. If nothing else, it helps writers understand the importance of feedback and the role of the editor.

In percentage terms, how many members of the NWS would you say go on to find publishing deals and how many years on average does it take them to reach that point? How many give up and drop out?

I can’t give you a definitive answer on publishing deals because I don’t have statistics for NWS members who become Full members with a book which doesn’t qualify them for the Joan Hessayon Award. (ie it must have gone through the NWS in some form and they must have remained in membership from that time). However, in the time I’ve been Organiser the numbers for the Joan Hessayon Award are as follows (the year is the year of the award, so the contracts would have been in the previous year):

2009 – 2; 2010 – 4; 2011 – 5; 2012 – 9; 2013 – 10; 2014 – 17.  We already have 5 contenders for 2015!

The length of time it takes to secure a deal is incredibly variable. We have had ‘instant’ successes – but these are often authors who were already almost there when they joined. We have had members who have been in the NWS for 10+ years, often not because their writing was not good, but because they just weren’t the right match for mainstream commercial market requirements. This is where the greater variety of publishing outlets of recent years has been so helpful.

As for those ‘giving up’, that is impossible to say. I know how many don’t renew each year of course, but that can be for a number of reasons – a change of genre, family pressures, illness and so forth. The number who feel, ‘I just don’t want to do this anymore,’ is, I suspect, very low.

With 250 NWS members to coordinate each year I wondered how much of your time is spent working with these new members and how do you plan your own writing life around this work?

When September 1^st arrives I will always get emails saying, ‘I’ll bet you’re glad that’s over for another year!’ at which point I hoot with laughter (or reach for the tissues!) Most of the year it takes from one to three hours a day. January to July I’m receiving typescripts and distributing them and dealing with queries, September through to December is following up outstanding typescripts, answering queries, organising the Joan Hessayon Award books coming in and working with the Membership Secretary on the next year’s forms etc. August it is full time and I will never go on holiday or schedule a deadline then. But it is incredibly satisfying to be able to help aspiring authors and I know I am going to miss it when I stop.

How about your own writing, Melanie?

At the moment I’m working on a book for the Waterloo anniversary in 2015. It will be part three of a trilogy - the other authors are RNA members Linda Hooper (Sarah Mallory) and Chris Burrows (Annie Burrows). I’m also getting my self-published book Walks Through Regency London ready to go up as an ebook and researching the Georgian seaside for Shire Publications. In January Harlequin are publishing my 44^th historical romance, From Ruin To Riches

Melanie’s website: www.louiseallenregency.co.uk

Many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Melanie.

Thank you also to Karen Aldous, Francesca Capaldi Burgess, Natalie Kleinman, Elaine Roberts and Vivien Hampshire for asking such interesting questions.

Compiled by Elaine and brought to you by the blogging team of Elaine Everest, Natalie Kleinman and Liv Thomas.

TALKING WITH JO THOMAS

When runaway bride Fiona Clutterbuck crashes the honeymoon camper van, embarrassed and humiliated she knows for sure she can’t go home. Fi’s thrown a lifeline, a job on an oyster farm.  But nothing could prepare her for the ride ahead or her wild and unpredictable boss Sean Thornton.

 As oyster season approaches, will there be love amongst the oyster beds of Galway Bay or will the circling sharks finally close in?

Jo tells us she got the idea for her book, The Oyster Catcher, while enjoying dinner in Galway with her husband. They were in a restaurant overlooking the sea. The candles were lit, the fire was roaring and they were eating Pacific oysters. Both the view and the delicacy inspired her. When we asked how long it took to write she said as long as an oyster takes to grow, some three years. 

A keen fan of romance, she grew up with Little Women and Gone with the Wind, later moving on to authors like Christina Jones, Katie Fforde, Carole Matthews, Wendy Holden. Her comment on being asked how it felt graduating from the NWS to full RNA member…“Absolutely delighted. It’s only because of the friendship and faith from others that I’ve finally become a published writer,” a sentiment many will recognise. She was lucky enough to meet her publisher, Hazel, from Accent Press, through mutual friends in the RNA, telling us, “those parties are great for meeting people”.

Jo began writing when she realised as well as reading romance she wanted to create it. At the time she had three children under three but she was able to go to that place in her head, relegating the untidy toys, piles of washing and other housewifely things to a more convenient time. Later, she would drop one child at school, the next at nursery and, when the baby fell asleep in the car she would stop at the first suitable place and pull out her laptop.  

Research for Jo must have been a bit of a mixed blessing, eating lots of oysters in restaurants and at home. She bought them at farmers’ markets then went on a seafood cookery course. Returning to Wales she took a weekend off one cold November to visit an oyster farm in Scotland, donning wet weather gear and wading into water, working in a shed, grading and washing the oysters ready for market. Nothing, she assures us, had ever tasted as good as the champagne and the oysters she had herself picked from the sea. 

She is already writing her next book, A Festival Fling, about three women who discover that sometimes in life you have to go back before you can move forward.

Jo celebrated publication day having Sunday lunch at her local pub. I wonder what she ate? 

Jo Thomas started her broadcasting career as a reporter and co-presenter with Rob Brydon on BBC Radio 5, reported for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and went on to produce at BBC Radio 2 working on The Steve Wright Show.  She lives in the Vale of Glamorgan with her writer and producer husband, three children, three cats and a black lab Murray.  She writes light hearted romances about food, family, friendships and love; and believes every story should have a happy ending.

 

The Oyster Catcher is available from Amazon and also Accent Press

Blog: jothomaswrites.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook: Jo Thomas Author

Twitter: @jo_thomas01

 

 

Thank you for joining us today, Jo.

Compiled by Natalie and brought to you by the blogging team, Elaine Everest, Natalie Kleinman and Liv Thomas

Please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com if you wish to be featured on our blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lessons in Love

Today we welcome author, Sally Quilford, who explains how she teaches the subject of romance to new writers.

I’ve always been a ‘pay it forward’ sort of author. I had a lot of help and support when I first started out, and I’ve tried to repay that by giving advice to new authors. With this in mind, as soon as I had a few romance novels under my belt, I decided to start running workshops, at a reasonable rate, to pass on what I have learned.

The biggest obstacle to teaching romance writing is that the information is pretty much the same, and so can get a bit repetitive. So I try to look at different and (hopefully) interesting ways to get the points across. At the last workshop I did for the Write Place Writing School in Dartford, called The Recipe for Making Love Stories, I presented the information in the form of flash cards. Everyone had the chance to pick out the name of a hero and heroine (or two heroes or two heroines if they wanted to write same sex relationships), a conflict, and professions for their characters. I added ‘recipe’ sheets so they could fill in more information about their characters as they went along.

But first I encouraged everyone to work with the same information, giving them the characters Esther and Rand, two conflicts and two professions. This proved that you could have a hero and heroine with the same names, the same conflicts and same professions, but still come out with 13 or 14 very distinct stories. Even if the elements of writing romance may seem formulaic, the fact is that everyone can bring their own voice and ideas to the genre.

This not only made the lesson interesting for my students (and I’m assured a great time was had by all), but made it great fun for me too.  I wanted to read every one of those novels and look forward to doing so one day. Several of my students have gone on to be published, and I’m as thrilled for them as I am for myself when my work is accepted.

My online workshops can’t be arranged in the same way as the face to face classes, but I have now created a text book, and set six tutor marked assignments for the course. This is done by email and covers the basics of romance writing, including the hero and heroine, the conflict, the ‘getting to know you’ moment, the pivotal moment, the black moment, with critiques from me on all those elements, and then ends with the students able to send me the first 2000 words of their romance novel to me for critique.

I continue to look for new ways to teach romance writing, but have not yet persuaded Sean Bean to come along to my workshops as an example of the ultimate hero!  One day…

Sally’s next course begins on 1^st February 2014.

Contact Sally: squilford@hotmail.co.uk

Thank you, Sally!

Compiled by Elaine and brought to you by the blogging team of Elaine Everest, Natalie Kleinman and Liv Thomas.

Please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com if you wish to be featured on our blog.

CHATTING TO ANNA JACOBS

Today we are talking to Anna Jacobs who is addicted to storytelling, has over sixty novels in print and more under contract. Stories are nagging to be told, but sadly she has to waste time sleeping. Anna’s extremely happily married to her own hero, with two daughters and a grandson.       

Anna avoids winter by splitting her year between homes in the UK and Australia. She writes for three traditional publishers, historical novels for two and modern novels for the third.          

Was it easy to start publishing some of your back catalogue on Amazon’s Create Space and would you recommend authors try this rather than go to a company that provides the service? 

It’s my husband who does the publishing of my backlist on Create Space (and Kindle). The first book took him over a day, the second only a couple of hours. He used the templates supplied by CS. We’ve used stock photos bought on line for the covers, and some family photos. I think most of us have friends who can help with the baffling bits of publishing on CS so to avoid payment go to a company for help only as a final resort. CS is free.

With moving house and hitting the festive season how did you fit writing around so many distractions?

I’m used to fitting my writing into busy times but I managed to dabble with the first chapter of a new story. I didn’t produce much but I got started, that was the main thing. There are still boxes to unpack but they can wait, my heroine can’t . . . She’s in trouble . . .

Can you tell us something about your latest books?

I’ve just finished writing ‘Mistress of Greyladies’, the second in the series set from 1900 to just after the Great War. Our heroine is a nursing aide and general dogsbody and Greyladies has been converted into a convalescent home. But the old country mansion and its resident ghost are still helping the Latimer ladies.

I’ve just started is the third in the ‘Hope’ series of modern novels, romantic suspense set mainly in the Pennines and linked to the antiques world. My heroine is going through a divorce. The hero was a minor character in the first two books.  Once I’ve got the story and characters set up, I can’t plan ahead. I just walk through the adventure with my characters. I do know the ending will be happy, though. Before the end of June I have to finish the first in a new series for Hodder & Stoughton and have already started the research.

For members of the New Writers’ Scheme at the beginning of their writing careers, can you tell us how you started out as an author?

I started in the days before the Internet, so things moved more slowly. I spent about ten years writing one book after another, working full-time, studying for a Master of Business and raising teenagers, so it was hard to fit in as much writing as I’d have liked. When I had long service leave I took several weeks off to write full-time.

I entered a national novel writing competition in Australia and came second of 800 entries, with a $10,000 prize and publication. The latter was far more important to me than the money. Then the publisher abandoned the competition. I came down with ME but found I could still write between resting. I think the writing helped me recover. The following year I had six novels accepted for publication, three already written and also contracts for sequels. My first novel was never good enough to see daylight but years of writing and polishing taught me to write and paid off big time. 

To sum up, never give up. Learn the trade and don’t expect your first novel to be publishable till it’s been polished later, after you’ve learned your trade by more writing. 

I have two books coming out in January: 

‘The Trader’s Gift’ published by Hodder & Stoughton 

‘Winds of Change’ a novel set in Australia and England, published by Severn House.

Anna’s website:  www.annajacobs.com      

Visit ‘Anna Jacobs Books’ on Facebook 

Thank you for joining us today, Anna. 

Compiled by Natalie and brought to you by the blogging team of Elaine Everest, Natalie Kleinman and Liv Thomas

Please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com if you wish to be featured on our blog.

THE MYSTERIOUS NON-DEATH OF THE SAGA

We are pleased to welcome literary agent, Caroline Sheldon to explain why the saga is alive and kicking.

I have long noted there has been an almost indecent haste among editors to announce the death of the saga.  Reasons for the diagnosis of its demise vary from the perceived declining readership because the books are only of interest to older readers to a perceived lack of understanding of the category by young supermarket buyers who are only interested in chic lit written for their contemporaries. But I am pleased to report that rumours of the death of the saga are greatly exaggerated.  A new generation of readers is springing up, supermarket shelves groan under the weight of sagas each month and e books sales are strong. In a very difficult market, books by authors such as Katie Flynn, Maureen Lee, Donna Douglas, Rita Bradshaw, Ruth Hamilton, Lilian Harry, Dilly Court and Lyn Andrews continue to reliably generate bestselling sales.  One or two sagas are always in the bestseller list - and editors are now keenly looking for authors who can write in this genre and write regularly with a minimum of one or two books a year.

What makes a great saga?  Of course, as in any genre, the formula varies, but at the centre of the story there is usually a heroine battling against the odds holding her life (and often the family) together through her determination. Despite the landscape often being grim and grittily industrial, there is always warmth in the writing and a nostalgia for sense of community that is past – a time when neighbours helped each other and in need went to borrow a twist of sugar or a candle –end from next door.  Sense of place can be very important with books set in the back streets of great cities such as Liverpool or London or Sunderlandoffering a picture of a tough urban landscape but rural life can also play a part.  A wartime setting or a setting between the wars works well but the background can also be Victorian or just post the Second World War.  But the most important facet is that the author writes from the heart: the author has to deeply care about their characters and the world in which those characters live and most importantly the author must feel no snobbery about the genre itself. The emotions and warmth of saga writing cannot be faked.

And in today’s perilous market, I feel sagas have another advantage.  As an agent I feel to sell a rom com or mid-age read to one of the major publishers the book needs more than just to be very good of its genre.  Maybe it’s just New Year blues but sometimes I think the bar has been set almost impossibly high for print publication – the manuscript has to feel like the best book ever-written, or be written by a celebrity or to be based on such a dazzlingly brilliant high concept idea that no-one can resist or of course be by an author with well-established sales.  The saga market is more open – it just has to be very good of its type and of course tell a great story. 

   

Caroline Sheldon runs the eponymous Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency which she set up twenty five years ago and represents a roster of bestselling authors writing in the broad church of woman’s fiction.  She welcomes submissions from authors.  Her submissions requirements are a full email describing the project you would like her to consider and telling herself about yourself and your ambitions as an author.  Email subject line should include the word Submission and her email is carolinesheldon@carolinesheldon.co.uk.

Thank you for joining us, Caroline.

This was brought to you by the blogging team of Elaine Everest, Natalie Kleinman and Liv Thomas

Please contact Elaine at elaineeverest@aol.com  if you wish to be featured on our blog.

Merry Christmas from Mary Nichols

One Christmas, when my children were still living at home which was some time ago now, I couldn't find the fairy to put on the top of the tree. Instead I fixed a card to it which read: Situation vacant: Christmas tree fairy. Duties: to guard the tree and the presents under it and to grant wishes wherever possible. Hours of work; 24 hours a day for fourteen days a year. Remuneration: Smiles.

It did produce smiles and was a talking point for everyone who came to our home that Christmas. The following year I received, through the post from my sister, a rather smart fairy, dressed all in gold, with a note to the effect that she would like to apply for the vacant post. She topped our tree every subsequent year until the children left home and we no longer had a big tree. But I still bring her out at Christmas and sit her on the bookcase to remind me of Christmas past. 

Mary's latest book…

Summer, 1939. The de Lacey family of Nayton Manor believe they are ready for the changes the war will bring. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, is due to return home from her grandparents' farm in France and is expected to marry the dashing Captain Max Coburn. But when Grandpere suffers a stroke while driving Elizabeth to the station, her future is changed. Instead of returning home to Norfolk, Elizabeth chooses to stay and help her grandparents. Max is also stationed in France - but will this help their courtship, or will the war threaten to separate them for ever? Meanwhile, in the village of Nayton, Lucy Storey dutifully cares for her father the stationmaster, running their home in the little cottage by the railway. Her long hard days are brightened by meetings with the handsome Jack de Lacey, who brings a brief escape from her daily routine. As their friendship grows, can they overcome the class prejudices set in their way, or will the jealous signalman Frank Lambert succeed in destroying their romance? For all at Nayton, war becomes a time of risk and danger, of secrets and betrayal, and of finding love in the most unexpected places.

marynichols.co.uk

A Year of Living Dangerously

Margaret K Johnson was born in Hertfordshire, England. She was first published by Women’s Weekly and Robert Hale before going on to write many readers for people learning to speak English. These are in various genres, including romance. Earlier this year she self-published what she describes as a roller-coaster women’s fiction romance novel – The Goddess Workshop – about 4 very different women in search of sexual fulfilment. Last month this was followed by The Dare Club. As well as fiction, Margaret has written plays and screen plays. Her comedy Goddess was performed at Cambridge Drama Centre to rave reviews. Margaret has an MA in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) from the University of East Anglia.

2013 has been a year of living dangerously for me. Well, if not living dangerously exactly, then a year of challenging myself.

It all started last November, when I began writing my novel The Dare Club, which I’ve just published. The Dare Club is about a group of four very different people who meet on a course for the newly divorced and separated. At first they don’t all get on, but as the group begins to gel, they decide to challenge each other to do scary things as part of their recovery process. But things don’t turn out as they expect them to as life – and love – get in the way.

It was easy for me to use my imagination to write about some of the activities of the dare club – gate-crashing a stranger’s party, for example. But other things needed to be researched – and not just by using Google. They had to feel authentic, and for that, I needed to experience them myself.

First off was the Tree Top Challenge at Go Ape in Thetford Forest. For those of you who don’t know, this is a kind of assault course undertaken several metres off the ground. It’s absolutely the type of thing I wouldn’t normally dream of doing. Why would I? I was a wimp at PE at school, I’m not in the habit of going to the gym, and what’s more, I’m very happy on the ground, thank you very much! However, my characters had decided this would be an excellent challenge for them, and I knew it would be an effective way to show not only their individual characters, but also the relationships between them all. So, Go Ape it was.

My highlights of the day included: walking from one moving piece of wood to another piece of moving wood, twenty times over high up in the sky. Dragging inelegantly along on my behind through wood chippings, at the end of the longest zip wire in the history of zip wires. Leaping from a platform towards a Tarzan net and plummeting towards what felt like my certain death. Oh, and then discovering that it actually took a great deal of upper body strength to climb up the net to the next platform – strength I wasn’t 100% sure I had… All ridiculous activities for non-sporty, skinny me. But after I’d finished the course, and hadn’t chickened out at anything, I felt AMAZING. So, thank you, The Dare Club characters – I would never have tried it without you.

Another thing I probably would never have tried without them was stand-up comedy. Colette, one of my characters, was determined to give it a go, so I had to as well. Like her, I did a weekend stand-up comedy course in London, and like her, I returned later to give a three-minute performance at the Up The Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich. It was very scary, but fantastic! People actually laughed, and in the right way too. Did it go as well for Colette? Ah, that would be telling…

By now I had developed a taste for doing scary things, so recently I volunteered to be a model in a charity fashion show. The event was a sell-out, with hundreds of women eager for a taste of the clothes they might want to buy. With our hair and make-up done and our outfits chosen for us by Sarah Morgan, the image consultant organiser, we took it in turns to launch ourselves out into the crowd. Walk, smile, count to seven; don’t forget the people in the gallery. More smiles; walk again, repeat three times. I didn’t fall over, my smile wasn’t too wobbly, and I was introduced as Margaret K Johnson, a famous writer. OK, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I could hardly cry out, “Sarah, you’re exaggerating!” could I? I was busy modelling.

So, what’s next? Well, later this month, a friend and I are going to give Norwich Speaker’s Club a try… Oooh, help!

The Dare Club is out now on Amazon.

Margaret’s previous novel, The Goddess Workshop is available from Amazon. 

Link to see me performing at Up the Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich (but better put a warning that the clip includes some swearing so might not be to everyone’s taste): 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc3t--LZcsc 

Website: http://www.margaretkjohnson.co.uk 
Blog: http://www.margaretkajohnson.wordpress.com 
Facebook Page: Margaret K Johnson Author 
Twitter: @margaretkaj 

Five Tips for Writing a Sequel - by Victoria Lamb

Today, we welcome Victoria Lamb to the blog.

Victoria  has written two historical trilogies for Penguin Random House, one for adults and one for Young Adults. Here she talks about writing a sequel and shares some ponderings on the process.

1. Where To Start

Choosing the point at which you need to pick up your story again in a sequel is a delicate process. It’s best to end each book in a series in a well-rounded way, not on a cliffhanger – though some authors would disagree – so picking up exactly where you left off may not be an option. Consider these questions: does this opening work for someone who did not read the previous book, and does it contain the seeds of the story ahead?

2. Back-story

If your first few pages are a summary of the plot so far, you will bore everyone, including yourself. Drip-feed information only when required, preferably through dialogue, but especially whenever a new character enters the scene. Never assume the reader has read or remembers your previous books. But keep references to back-story very light, more stage asides than whole paragraphs, and introduce them into the narrative as organically as possible. Don’t let them clunk about, knocking the furniture over. Don’t use flashbacks to reveal back-story. Ever.

3. Character Development and Continuity

If your main characters have not changed since the start of the series, you need to ask why. Since character development is best revealed through action, have them do something they did in a previous book, but show them experimenting and learning. Keep developments logical and consistent. Early on, briefly touch base with characteristics/plot points familiar from the last book. This allows readers to relax and remember how much they enjoyed your previous story.

4. Plot development and continuity

There are two story arcs in a series. First, your overall arc, which may contain several threads. For my Lucy Morgan trilogy, one of these is: ‘Will Queen Elizabeth I survive all these assassination attempts and keep her throne?’ (Spoiler: yes.) The other is each book’s individual story arc. This should reach a satisfactory conclusion in each book. It can carry on to the next, especially if it’s a major sub-plot providing continuity, but it should be seen in a new light in your sequel. Same romance, new circumstances. 

5. Middle and End Books

Middle books suffer from not really having a beginning or an end. But this can make them great! There’s no rush to draw story threads together, so concentrate instead on character development and narrative voice. Conclude your story arc, but leave the ending tantalisingly open to seduce the reader into returning. For end books, hit the ground running and beware of having too many endings as each sub-plot concludes. There never feels like enough time in the book of a series. So make the most of each chapter.

 Victoria Lamb with Book One, The Queen's Secret

His Dark Lady is out in paperback now, the middle book of the Lucy Morgan, Shakespeare’s Mistress trilogy, a novel of romance and intrigue set at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. (Book One was The Queen’s Secret.)

Book Two, his Dark Lady, out now

Follow Victoria on Twitter:       @VictoriaLamb1
                            Website:      http://www.victorialambbooks.com/
                            Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/victoria.lambauthor
                           

Thank you such an informative, interesting article, Victoria. We wish you every success with His Dark Lady, and with all your books.

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Elaine, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: elaineeverest@aol.com

From self-publication to finding a publisher - with Anna Bell

Anna lives in the French Pyrennees with her husband, new baby boy and lively labrador.

It’s hard as an author to know what book to write. We’re always looking to write something that we believe in, that we think is the best we can write, but we often have to be mindful about writing a commercially viable novel too. Before I got my publishing deal with ‘Don’t Tell the Groom’ I self-published two novels and it’s been interesting doing as Alan Sugar says ‘smell what sells.’

My first novel I published, Millie and the American Wedding, sold itself. I did very little marketing, and it ended up in getting high up the Kindle charts (just shy of the top 100) and I sold over 25,000 copies in its first year. I thought naively that was how ebooks worked, but after publishing my second novel, Universally Challenged, I realised when it didn’t sell as well that that wasn’t always the case.

I had subbed my now agent that novel, and when we spoke about it a year later she told me she’d not been interested in it as it was a mixture of genres and it contained elements of fantasy that made it a hard sell. I also was talking to a reader about my two self-published books and she reminded me that everyone loves a good wedding. When you think about it, it’s true, people do love weddings. From the two titles, you know instantly what you are going to get with the Millie book.

Which meant that when I was trying to work out what the next book I self-published would be - I chose Don’t Tell the Groom. Not only was it about weddings, but it had an interesting hook to it containing a darker side of internet gambling addiction and it is based on the idea of planning the wedding ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ style. It has, what I think is clear elevator pitch: It’s a story about a bride-to-be that gambles away her wedding fund playing internet bingo who then has to plan the wedding on a shoestring wedding without telling the groom. In short, it’s easy to translate what the book is about and makes it more marketable.

I absolutely loved writing Don’t Tell the Groom and I’m sure I’d have written it if it wasn’t marketable and commercially viable - but that helped to secure me an agent and a publishing deal for a series of books based around the same characters. Whilst it perhaps shouldn’t be an author’s main consideration when starting a new book, it can’t hurt to have it in the back of their mind.

‘Don’t Tell the Groom’ is the first in the ‘Don’t Tell’ series of novels published by Quercus, and is out now.

www.annabellwrites.com
twitter: @annabell_writes

Thank you for sparing time to talk to us today, Anna. We wish you continuing success with your books.

Best wishes, Henri

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Elaine, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: elaineeverest@aol.com

The Joys Of Research

Zanna Mackenzie lives in the UK with her husband, four dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read. Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!

As an author, one of the many things I love about creating a new book is doing the research. Plus it gives me an excuse to buy a pretty new notebook or folder in which to keep all my research scribbles and ideas.

One of the first things I get excited about investigating for a book is a potential location and setting. So far my novels have all been based in areas I have visited and fallen in love with – the Lake District, North Yorkshire, Peak District and the Scottish Highlands. Though the areas are real, the actual towns and villages mentioned in the books are fictitious but based on actual places so, with the help of photos from my visits, the internet, tourist guide books and TV programmes, I have great fun creating and naming my locations.

Next up are the characters. I have on my shelf two brilliant research books about zodiac signs which were written specifically as guides for writers to use when it comes to character development. I adore these books. I always have some ideas in mind for the type of person a character will be and what their main issues are but then I use the books to see what star signs fit the bill and to flesh out their personalities, strengths and weakness, motivations, mannerisms and much more.

The next thing to be investigated is the theme of the book. One of my novels, The Love Programme, was set on a private country estate in Scotland so I dug out photos from when I visited just such an estate a few years back; I watched lots of episodes of the wonderful BBC TV programme Monarch of the Glen and learnt all about Lairds and the Gaelic language. How Do You Spell Love? - one of my other books - had a magical element to it with the character Summer being a modern white witch, practising her craft to help others.

In the book Summer uses herbs, crystals, essential oils and folklore to create her spells in a shed on her allotments. As I’m a qualified (but no longer practicing) therapist in crystal healing, herbalism and clinical aromatherapy I had a knowledge of these disciplines in wellbeing terms but not when it came to magic, so I hit the internet and books again and had a thoroughly enjoyable time inventing combinations of stones, oils and plants for, amongst other things, lunar love spells!

Since that book I have plotted and written others with themes as varied as hotel management in Norfolk to extreme sports activities in the Peak District - before you ask, no I wasn’t tempted to try climbing or abseiling, I don’t have a good head for heights… well, that’s my excuse anyway.

For another work in progress a character had to investigate her family history to try to solve a mystery about some letters she was sent – the perfect excuse I thought to investigate my own family history. I’d long fancied the idea of doing a spot of family history research and I found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. I had to somewhat reluctantly admit defeat though on one aspect of my husband’s family tree, when even sending off for a full and original birth certificate for his great grandfather didn’t reveal who the man in questions father was, as those particular details had been left blank– that one will forever remain a mystery!

At this point I feel it is my duty to issue a warning – if you’re tempted to give researching your family history a go then beware because it is seriously addictive! I found myself saying ‘just ten more minutes’ on the family history website on many an occasion, sometimes when it was close to midnight, and my husband ended up having to turn the computer off otherwise I might have been there all night…

Special Offer:
If you fancy learning about lunar love spells and why Summer needed to use one for herself, then my book How Do You Spell Love? will be on ebook sale between Dec 7th and Dec 14th and you can grab a copy for just 77p on Amazon:  

Zanna has written two published novels, The Love Programme (Astraea Press) and How Do You Spell Love? (Crooked Cat Publishing) and both were published in early 2013. 
Her next book If You Only Knew is being released on Feb 7th 2014. 

Find out more: 
http://www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk 
http://www.zannamackenzie.co.uk 

Interview with Ann Lethbridge

Today we welcome Ann Lethbridge to the Blog. Ann calls herself a British army brat. She is also an award winning author who likes to be footloose and fancy free. She lives in Canada with her husband and daughters, but still returns regularly to the Britain she travelled from end to end growing up. 

Do tell us Ann, what made you want to write and how you got your first break? 

Involved in negotiations off-site during a labour dispute and the guys I worked with were into sports and politics. Boring! I could have read a book, but for some reason unknown to me, the idea that it might be more interesting to write one popped in to my head. So I did. Once I had a few manuscripts finished I entered one in the Romantic Times/ Dorchester American Title in 2006. Talk about jumping into the deep end. I learned a lot about promotion, and reviews and being out there in a big hurry. I didn’t win but the book, No Regrets, was bought by Sourcebooks and won an award for Foreward Magazine. I then sold to Harlequin Historicals and have almost twenty books out with them.

Which author has most influenced your work?

I would have to say Georgette Heyer. My Dad introduced me to her books when I was a teen. We used to fight over who would read them first. I love her world building and her language. While I have my own voice and write a much more sensual book, I still like to read her books on a regular basis.

Which particular period of history do you most like to write about and why?

All my books have been set in the Georgian era so far, mostly the long Regency. It is what I like to read. Though I do like to read other periods of history as well as contemporaries and paranormals. I think it is the glitz and the glamour that draws me to the long Regency. It is also accessible to the modern reader, being on the very cusp of the modern age in terms of art, architecture and science.

What was your worst subject at school?

Math. Numbers and me don’t have a smoochy relationship.

If you could have the best seats to any concert, what would you choose?

I would love to go to the last night of the proms. I think it looks like fun. And all that singing!

Which temptation do you find the hardest to resist?

Chocolate. We definitely do have a smoochy relationship.

Disgraced lady Charity West lives in the dark world of the city's seedy underbelly. While yearning for freedom, her distrust of men runs deep... until she meets Highland rogue Logan Gilvry. A whisky runner, Logan lives outside the law. Charity may just prove to be his most dangerous challenge yet. Her beauty is unrivaled, but it's her fire that lures Logan. He'll do anything to save Charity and even face her inevitable betrayal... 

Find out more: 
Website: http://www.annlethbridge.com 

Interview with Alison May

Today, we welcome Alison May to the blog.

Alison grew up in North Yorkshire, and now lives in  Worcester. She worked as a waitress, a shop assistant, a learning adviser, an Advice Centre manager, a freelance trainer, and now a maker-upper of stories.  She won the RNA's Elizabeth Goudge trophy in 2012, and her winning story will be published in the RNA/Harlequin anthology Truly, Madly, Deeply in 2014.

She writes contemporary romantic comedies.  

Alison's debut novel Much Ado About Sweet Nothing is published by Chocl Lit Lite

What (or who :) ) would you most like to find in your Christmas stocking?

 What I really want for Christmas is a new computer. The one I’m writing on now is antique. It has a little man who has to shovel coal into its boiler to make the steam to make it go And the little man is tired, so very very tired. It’s probably time he retired to the countryside and concentrated on growing the perfect begonia. So, for the sake of the little man, a shiny new laptop please!

Who is your favourite hero? Your own, or another - or maybe both.

 This is tricky. I’ve never really been a fan of the traditional tall, dark, handsome brooding hero with an air of arrogance and a certain cruelty in his gaze. That doesn’t mean I’m rejecting all the classic romantic heroes. I retain a sneaking fondness for Captain Wentworth, but generally I prefer a clever, possibly slightly nerdy, man. David Tennant or Matt Smith as The Doctor or, of course, Ben Messina, the mathematician hero in Much Ado About Sweet Nothing, would all do very nicely indeed.

What did you love most about your childhood?

 I actually had a very nice and uneventful childhood with much to love about it. The thing I miss most, as an adult, is living by the sea. I grew up in Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast, a town right on the edge of the cliff. Indeed some bits that were on top of the cliff when I was a child, have now fallen off the edge. I miss the unending open space of the sea being right on my doorstep, especially on slightly grey days when the sea and the sky would merge together into a massive great expanse of vastness.

Fictional characters have flaws. Do you have a flaw you'd like to be rid of?

No! I’m completely perfect in all my thoughts and deeds. So maybe, arrogance?

Do you have any phobias or superstitions?

I’m not superstitious. In fact I walk under ladders, invite black cats across my path, put shoes on tables etc. specifically to wind up superstitious friends. I do have on phobia though, and it’s a really awkward one that interferes with life. I’m terrified of driving. I passed my driving test about five years ago, but even now the idea of getting in a car on my own and driving, properly freaks me out. It’s something I very firmly intend to get over, and that is going to be my main New Year’s Resolution for 2014, just like is was in 2013, and 2012…

If aliens landed, which book would you recommend they read first. (Again, one of yours, and maybe one of your own).

 Well, Much Ado About Sweet Nothing, obviously. And then after that, The House at Pooh Corner, which includes the story in which pooh-sticks is invented. I feel that any alien wishing to assimilate into human society should first learn how to play pooh-sticks.

Is something always better than nothing?

Ben Messina is a maths genius and romance sceptic.  He met Trix at university and they have been quarrelling and quibbling ever since, not least because of Ben’s decision to abandon their relationship in favour of … more maths. Can Trix forget past hurt, or is their long history in danger of ending in nothing?

This is a fresh, funny, modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

http://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/sweet-nothing/

www.alison-may.co.uk

Twitter: @MsAlisonMay

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Alison.  We wish you every success with Much Ado about Sweet Nothing, and with all your future books.

Interviews on the RNA Blog are currently carried out by Freda, Henri, and Liv. They are for RNA members, although we do occasionally take guests. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk

Interview with Katherine Garbera

USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 60 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund. 

1. Describe your journey as a writer. How did it begin?
I started writing when I was 23 right after the birth of my daughter. I had started a lot of things prior to her birth and decided that from her birth forward I would finish everything I started. I wrote my first manuscript in less than six months and found the Romance Writers of America. I joined them and started learning more about the craft of writing. Three years later I sold my first book to Silhouette Desire.

2. Which craft tip has helped you the most?
Storytelling isn’t every thing that happens, it’s every IMPORTANT thing that happens.

3. What do you enjoy most about being a writer, and the least?
I love writing every day just sitting down at my keyboard and getting into the meat of my story with my characters. I also love meeting readers and other writers and talking about books. The thing I like the least is promotion. :)

4. What do you look for in a hero?
In a fictional hero I’m looking for someone who is confident, sexy and just a little bit stubborn. He needs to be able to admit he’s wrong when he knows it but still has to always appear like a hero.

5. If you could reincarnate yourself as some other author, who would it be?
No one. I mean there are other careers that admire and writers who’s style I adore, but I haven’t walked their path and I love my life so I’m happy where I am. :)

6. Apart from writing, which of your accomplishments are you most proud of?
My kids. I’m also proud of the fact I have followed my dreams of leaving my small town and seeing what the world had to offer. It’s been scary at times both parenting and leaving home, but I have found a strength in myself that I didn’t know I had.

Annie Prudhomme never expected to be back in Marietta, MT and her family is fond of reminding her that she left them and the town behind in search of better things. A humiliating divorce that cost her everything she’d gained has driven her back home and her family isn’t about to welcome her back into the fold. She’s in town to rebuild the old home that she inherited and to move on once again.
Carson Scott never forgot Annie or the way she left. Now that she’s back in town he’s realizing that the old flame still burns hot but he can’t risk his heart the way he did last time now that he has his son to think about it. Being trapped together during a December snowstorm gives them a chance to rekindle their romance but is Annie back for good or is she just looking for a cowboy for Christmas?

Find out more:
Website: http://www.katherinegarbera.com
Twitter: @katheringarbera
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/katherine.garbera

Thank you for sparing time to talk to us today, Katherine. We wish you continuing success with your books.

Best wishes, Henri

Interviews on the RNA Blog are carried out by Freda, Henri and Livvie. They are for RNA members only. If you are interested in an interview, please contact: freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk