Festivals and Workshops: Yeovil Literary Festival

Welcome to Elaine Roberts with another in her interesting series about literary festivals and workshops. 

This month Elaine interviews Liz Pike from the Yeovil Literary Festival.

Welcome to the RNA blog Liz. Can you tell us something about the Yeovil Literary Festival, how it came about and how long its been running?

We had been talking about developing the arts in Yeovil for many years and really wanted a Yeovil

Literary Festival, but all dreams need something else to make them come true.  It was a case of waiting for the right people to be in the right place at the right time.  Our wonderful theatre, The Octagon Theatre in Yeovil, was developing into a major venue for the West Country with a vibrant new manager, Adam Burgan.  Adam, Marcus Bishop, our Waterstones’ manager, and me, Chair of a local group of volunteers the Yeovil Community Arts Association, who do their best to promote the arts locally, came together and talked.   The seed was germinated.  With complete backing from South Somerset District Council we had our main venue, our theatre.  This is now our fifth Yeovil Literary Festival and it’s growing at a thrilling rate. We have other venues now to add to our theatre, making this a festival to come to for the duration moving between events in The Manor Hotel, The Library and the fantastic Brimsmore Gardens. We can also hold major events in our latest venue Westlands.

Who are your main speakers this year?

We have events by some major speakers on sale early as people tend to come to several events, so buying some tickets in June and July leaves time for when the main programme is published in early September to add to the list of speakers.  Our early speakers are Christopher Biggins at the YCAA Literary Dinner in The Manor Hotel.  There are two major gardeners in Sarah Raven and Monty Don this year.  For children there will be Jacqueline Wilson and Cressida Cowell; for crime thrillers we have Martina Cole, Mark Billingham and David Young. We add Michael Portillo, Joanne Harris, Polly Toynbee, Paddy Ashdown, Suzi Quatro, Jay Rayner, Alan Johnson and Jeremy Vine.  In addition there are the popular Professor Robert Winston, Bon Fogle, Dame Harriet Walter, and three well-known actors George Costigan, Hugh Fraser and Robert Daws.  Those are the early speakers and I know there are many more to follow.

As our blog is for writers can you tell me how your festival would benefit our members?

The Yeovil Community Arts Association administers annually the international Yeovil Literary Prize writing competition.  When we hear that people who have been published after entering and doing well in our competition are nominated for Romantic Novelist of the Year, then we are proud.

We hold an event for Yeovil Literary Prize Past Winners at our Yeovil Literary Festival and we meet people who are now published and doing extremely well in the world of books.  Kiran Millwood Hargrave, who won our poetry category a few years ago and is judging our Writing Without Restrictions category this year, has won the Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Year with The Girl of Ink and Stars.  David Young has gained literary success with his books Stasi Child and Stasi Wolf.  Babs Morton and Sophie Duffy are brilliant writers who have several books published.  There are many more who tell us their success stories.

Is there anything to enter, if so could details be provided?

The Yeovil Literary Prize is linked with our theatre and the festival as the people who run our writing

competition are also involved in organizing the festival.  This competition opens on January 1^st each year with a closing date of 31^st May.  Our entries come to us from all over the world and it’s wonderful to hear the voices from other countries and cultures in the entries.

How about staying over for the whole event. Where can people stay?

One of the festival venues is The Manor Hotel, situated opposite the Octagon Theatre.

There is Yeovil Court Hotel and two Premier Inns in the town.  We have The Keep sleep boutique and several B&Bs locally.

What does it cost to attend?

Ticket prices range from £6 up to £25 for the Literary Dinner with Biggins.  We often do an inclusive ticket price with a book, and always have a Members’ rate for people who are members of the YCAA, The Footlights Club at the theatre, hold a Waterstones’ card, or a Somerset Libraries card.  We also give Discovery Tickets for some events that people may not be familiar with when they purchase tickets for major speakers.  To listen to an ‘unexpected’ speaker really widens horizons and these tickets are appreciated.

Do workshops/talks fill up quickly?

Yes. We are now mid-July and many tickets for our early events have been sold. Once the main programme is launched in early-September there are queues out of the door at The Octagon, and, of course, tickets can be bought on-line.

How much time does it take to organise the festival?

It’s rather like a jigsaw. It starts immediately after the last one. We each beaver away using our own skills and contacts, then by May we know how the whole festival is coming together. There is still time for last minute speakers to become available and then we promote them alongside our programme.

We like to include local groups with a Mini-Art exhibition, the Yeovil Floral Society with Yeovil In Bloom enhance the festival with floral contributions. Our local library always supports magnificently, and we have pop-up Waterstones at every event.  It takes teamwork and Yeovil is blessed with people with the ‘can do’ attitude needed to launch a successful festival.

Dates for this year and possibly next.

Thursday 26 – Sunday 29 October 2017.

2018 dates TBC.

Link to website:

www.yeovilliteraryfestival.co.uk

Email for queries:

octagontheatre@southsomerset.gov.uk

Elaine Roberts

Elaine is a member of the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and the SWWJ and is currently working on a family saga. She has sold short stories worldwide and enjoys attending RNA events such as the London chapter and our annual conference. Elaine is a great fan of writing retreats either week long by the sea with friends or one-day retreats with fellow writers in her hometown of Dartford. Elaine runs a writing blog along with writer, Francesca Capaldi Burgess called WriteMindWritePlace.

Thank you Elaine and Liz for an interesting interview and good luck with the festival, Liz.

Rachel Burton: Living with chronic illness

Today we welcome Rachel Burton to the blog to give an insight into writing when one has a chronic illness. Thank you, Rachel for such an insightful piece.

Writing through Chronic Illness

I work full-time as a paralegal in a large law firm in Leeds and I also struggle with chronic illness -

fibromyalgia and endometriosis in my case. As you can imagine, writing books as well is very much a case of careful management of both time and energy. I know a lot of writers, particularly those writing their first novel are in a similar position, so I thought I'd share a few things that I discovered, mostly through trial and error, that helped me.

Write little and often

When I was writing my first novel I set myself a writing goal of 300 words a day. I know that seems a very small amount but it felt manageable alongside balancing my work and my health. And here's the thing. I often ended up writing more than that, but knowing I only had to sit down and write 300 words meant that I sat down and wrote nearly every day. And sitting down and writing nearly every day is how you get that first book written!

Move as much as you can

This is important for all writers but perhaps the most for those of us with chronic illness who feel too exhausted to go to the gym or for a walk. On days when I know I'll be sitting at my desk writing for a long period of time, I set a timer for every 45 minutes and when it goes off I get up and walk around the room, or have a stretch or dance around the kitchen for a couple of minutes. It really helps get your energy moving again!

Meditate

I don’t necessarily mean sitting cross-legged on the floor in silence (although if that floats your boat I highly recommend it - nothing beats it for a restorative practice in this crazy busy world). By meditation I mean allowing yourself to find time to just be, to let your brain slip into neutral and have a rest. Not only is this restorative but it's also the place where I unravel the most plot holes. Otherwise known as daydreaming, it can be done in the bath, while staring out of the window, sitting in the garden or on a gentle walk.

Don't forget to do things you love

It can feel sometimes as though every spare minute that you have should be spent writing. I tried to do that and didn’t find it particularly conducive to either my health or my writing process in the end. Give yourself time to do the other things you love as well. Read, knit, crochet, watch TV, cook, go to a yoga class. We can load the guilt on ourselves sometimes and buy into the idea that a lot of time spent doing these things is wasted time but balance is important for your energy levels and your creative brain.

Make sleep a priority

It's tempting to stay up late writing, or to get up early to write before work, especially if we see other writers doing the same. But when we are living with a chronic condition, good quality rest is important - don't compromise. Your first novel will be done when it's done, enjoy the process because this will probably be the only book you write without a deadline…. And speaking of deadlines, one last little tip…

Be honest with people about your health

I used to try to hide my illness and pretend I was "normal" (whatever that means). It doesn't help, and 99.9% of people will support you in any way they can. My agent and my publisher both know that I need flexible and generous deadlines because of my health. I was really nervous when I broached the subject with them but they were so helpful. So always be honest, always ask for what you need - you'll be surprised how much people want to help.

About Rachel:

Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first learned to talk. After many false starts she finally made one up that was worth writing down. 

 After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in English, she didn't really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as a waitress, a paralegal and a yoga teacher.

 She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

She is currently working on her second novel in which the heroine is a yoga teacher. It has no autobiographical elements at all.....maybe. 

Find Rachel on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday....

Blurb

Can finding yourself allow you to follow your heart?

Julia Simmonds had never been bothered about not knowing who her father was. Having temperamental supermodel, Philadelphia Simmonds, as a mother was more than enough. Until she discovers she’s the secret love-child of the late, great artist Bruce Baldwin, and her life changes forever.

Uncovering the secrets of a man she never knew, Julia discovers that Bruce had written her one letter, every year until her eighteenth birthday, urging his daughter to learn from his mistakes.

Julia begins to dig deeper into the mysterious past of her parents she also begins to unravel her future. With gorgeous lawyer Edwin Jones for company Julia not only begins to discover her roots but she may just fall in love…

Links:

Amazon UK link

Amazon US

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

Competition Monthly – September 2017

Welcome back to another bumper crop of competitions!

October seems to be a good month for writing contests, particularly flash fiction ones, which represent half of the list below. Some good advice on writing flash fictions can be found here.

The love story themed competition run by Writing Magazine should be right up RNA members' street, but you'll have to be quick as it finishes in a few days. You've got a bit longer for the magazine's adult fairy story. Many examples of past winners of this competition can be found on pages 2, 4, 7, 9, 11 and 15 of the 'Showcase', the link to which is on the left hand side of the

competition page on their website.

I've mentioned a couple of times before about being wary of competitions that state in the rules that entering will be seen as you giving permission for them to publish your story, whether you win a prize or not. The Bath Flash Fiction Award is offering publication to fifty longlisted entries. But the fact they're offering, so you have a choice, is the reason I've included it. You might decide you don't want it published without getting some kind of recompense for you work. On the other hand, the Bath award is quite prestigious, so inclusion in the anthology might be something advantageous to add to your CV.

Happy comping everyone, and don't forget to let us know of any competition success you have.



**Closing very soon**
Writing Magazine Love Story Competition
Theme: Love, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 plus publication in magazine / £50 plus publication on website
Closing date: 15 September 2017
Entry: £5 / £3 subscribers
Details 


**Closing soon **
Flash 500 Quarterly Open-Themed Competition
Theme: 500 words max
Prize: £300 / £200 / £100
Closing date: 30 September 2017
Entry: £5
Details 


Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Black, 500 words max
Prize: £100 / 2 x £50
Closing date: 1st October 2017
Entry: £8
Details 


Writing Magazine Adult Fairytale Competition
Theme: A fairytale suitable for adult audience, 1.500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 plus publication in magazine / £50 plus publication on website
Closing date: 15 October 2017
Entry: £5 / £3 subscribers
Details 


Bath Flash Fiction Award
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 4,000 words
Prize: £1,000 / £300 / £100 / 2 x £30
Closing date: 15 October 2017
Entry: £9
Details 


Retreat West Short Story Prize
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 4,000
Prize: £350 / £200 / £100 / £20
Closing date: 29 October 2017
Entry: £15
Details


Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize
Theme: Open, 500 words max
Prize: £250 / £150 / £75 / £15, all prize winners published in anthology
Closing date: 29 October 2017
Entry: £10
Details 


WriteIdea Short Story Competition (For unpublished writers)
Theme: Open, 3,000 max
Prize: £300 / 4 x £50
Closing date: 30 October 2017
Entry: Free
Details


Bare Fiction Flash Fiction Prize
Theme: Open, 500 words max
Prize: £500 / £200 / £100 / 2 x £25
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: £6
Details 


Bare Fiction Short Story Prize
Theme: Open, 3,000 words max (also poetry)
Prize: £500 / £200 / £100 / 2 x £25
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: £5
Details 


NAWG Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 500 – 2,000 words (also poetry)
Prize: £200 / £100 / £50
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: £5
Details


NAWG 100 Word Mini-Tales Competition
Theme: Open, 100 words max
Prize: £75 / £25
Closing date: Ongoing. Each round closes after 100 entries are received
Entry: £3.50
Details 


Dark Matters Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Magical / monstrous / inexplicable / horrific, 200 – 700 words (also poetry)
Prize: £200 / £50 / £25 plus publication
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: £4
Details (scroll down a little)


A Story for Daniel Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Joyful or uplifting, 500 words max
Prize: £100
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: None. They request you contribute to the suggested charities instead.
Details


SWC Annual Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 2,000 words max
Prize: £150 / £80 / £30
Closing date: 31 October 2017
Entry: £3
Details 


Bath Children's Novel Award
Theme: First 5,000 words plus one page synopsis
Prize: £2,000 / £500
Closing date: 19 November 2017
Entry: £25
Details

Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Winchester Writers' Conference, Retreat West, Meridian Writing, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. She's had stories and a serial published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme and the Society for Women Writers and

Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.

Francesca's Twitter

If you would like to write for the RNA Blog, then please contact us elaineeverest@aol.com

This blog was prepared by blog team member, Louisa Heaton.

Lisa Hill: The Editing Process

Visit the RNA Facebook group or browse on social media and one of the most talked about topics amongst writers is – editing! We all have our favourite ways to write and edit our work and it can be interesting to find other views and perhaps use a snippet or two to help with our own writing. Today on the RNA blog we welcome author, Lisa Hill. Here Lisa explains her experiences with the editing process. Welcome, Lisa.

For those of you who know me, you’ll know I’ve not long graduated from the NWS. I was a member

of the scheme from 2010 – 2016 and in that time benefited from some thorough reports full of useful advice. What they didn’t contain, however, is a hand to hold with my downfall; the editing process. Having undergone the process with a professional editor in the past year, I thought it would be helpful to give those, like me, who struggle with editing an insight into perfecting your manuscript:

1. Take yourself out of the manuscript

Your first draft is your creation. It’s where you get to have all the conversations you want your characters to have with each other, let them go off on their adventures, really let your imagination flow. Now it’s time to get a grip on reality and that inevitably means getting tough. You might have the funniest scene which you absolutely love but if it has no relevance to moving the story forward, do you really need it?

2. Start a Novel Log

For me, a novel log was a revelation and I actually started using one from the beginning in my latest novel. Using a log you can diarise what’s happening in your novel and it’s so useful to refer back to. I use a page for each of the following:

·      Main Characters, including mini-bios of their age, appearance, main motivation etc.

·      Cast of Characters, including every character which has a name. This is most useful to look back on, for example, if you have a waitress that gets an odd mention and you can’t remember what you’ve called her.

·      A list of house, restaurants, pubs, shops etc, fictional and actual places.

·      A list of geographical places, again both fictional and actually in existence.

·      A list of songs, films, books and trade names.

·      A time-line. Probably the most important of all in the editing process; if you keep a note of dates and what occurs during your novel on these days, not only will it help you in remaining consistent, it will also assist you in deciding if you need to add time (e.g. are your hero and heroine ‘getting it on’ too quickly?) or condense.

3. Don’t try to edit everything at once

Something I was very guilty of. It might seem like a laborious task, however, the more times you read through your novel, the more times you will pick up errors. I had a manuscript where I had revealed twice (very dramatically) to the anti-hero that one of my heroines was dying! I now break my edits down into the following revisions:

·      Rewriting: The first round of editing is to go through your manuscript and identify what you can do without, what needs adding in (to reinforce your characters’ motivations) or where the sequence of events needs moving around.

·      Editing: On the second round, focus on actual scenes; where you need to cut a conversation short and lose words or lengthen one to add words and create tension.

·      Grammar & Spelling:  Often known as line edits, your final round of edits should be to comb through for grammar and spelling mistakes and to properly polish.

One final tip is that I find uploading my manuscript to my kindle for a final read helps me to identify any left-over niggles. Although if you are like me (and it is probably the creative in all of us) I am usually still agonising over certain lines in crucial scenes.

I wish you luck in getting your manuscript to the next level of publication and please don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have anything you’d like to ask about my blog post.

About Lisa:

Lisa grew up in the village of Bussage, in the Cotswolds until she returned to Cheltenham as a teen.  She is married to her very own hero, Matt, and has three sons, Hamish, Archie and Laurence.  Her first encounter of a romance author was chats over the garden wall between her father, Godfrey, and Mrs Cooper from the neighbouring village of Bisley.  It came as a surprise in later life to find that Mrs Cooper was in fact Jilly Cooper!  Lisa’s writing inspiration now comes from other Cotswolds authors including Jill Mansell and Katie Fforde.

Lisa writes contemporary romance with a light-hearted tone.  What interests her most is people, their interactions, emotions and relationships. Lisa is a graduate of the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme and attributes this supportive and informative scheme to her winning the Choc Lit Search for a Star competition 2016 with her debut novel Meet Me at Number Five.

Links:

Blog

Facebook

Twitter: @lisahillie

Amazon

Thank you Lisa and good luck with your book. 

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

Ask the Industry Expert: Literary Agent Sara Keane

Today we're delighted to welcome literary agent Sara Keane, of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency. Sara has more than 25 years' experience in the publishing industry, in roles including editorial and rights in book, video, audiobook and magazine publishing. Sara is kindly giving up her time today to talk with Helena Fairfax.

Welcome, Sara!

Please tell us a little about the Keane Kataria Literary Agency, how long it’s been established, and how you became involved in setting it up.

Keane Kataria Literary Agency is a small, boutique agency based in Bath, specialising mainly in women’s fiction, historical fiction and crime, and was founded by myself and Kiran Kataria in 2014. We decided to pool our combined 50+ years of editorial and rights experience and set up our agency after the publisher where we both worked as commissioning editors suddenly went bust. We have a growing portfolio of authors, both debut and established, with whom we work very closely on developing their manuscripts before submitting their work to publishers. Our agency is now going from strength to strength, and we have had particular success with commercial women’s fiction, negotiating multi-book deals with UK and international publishers for our authors.

What is it you are looking for when a manuscript lands on your desk? Are there any specific plots or themes you’d like to see?

As a literary agent, I am obviously looking for manuscripts I can sell to publishers, which means I very much have the requirements of commissioning editors in mind. The most important consideration is whether I absolutely love a manuscript and really believe in it, as whenever I submit a manuscript to a publisher I am putting my own reputation on the line. So it is the combination of a strong commercial hook, quality writing and my personal response as I read that makes a manuscript stand out. Specifically, commercial women’s fiction, sagas, dual narrative, psychological thrillers and contemporary crime are what we are looking for at present.

Do you ever find authors outside the slush pile? If so, how?

The slush pile is fundamental and we do find many of our authors that way, but I have also been fortunate enough to find some fantastic authors outside the slush pile. Some through personal recommendation, others we meet at publishing events. Possibly the most unexpected was when I was put in touch with an author by a lady I got chatting to in the changing rooms at my health club. That’s what’s so great about being an agent: you never know exactly when and how the next wonderful author is going to magically appear in your life.

What advice would you give someone submitting to you?

Spend a long time editing your manuscript and be ruthless! Get feedback from other writers, or even from a professional editor. Submissions from authors who have received mentoring on the RNA New Writers’ Scheme would really stand out. Know the market you are writing for and where your book would fit into that market. Please read and follow our submission guidelines (on our website) and don’t submit genres we specifically say we do not work with.

Are you seeing any particular trends in commercial women's fiction/romance at the moment?

We’ve been seeing a shift away from billionaires and bondage, and in these troubling times readers are turning to sagas and feel-good commercial women’s fiction, with escapist, aspirational settings like tea shops in Cornwall. Seasonal books are a big trend, with the emphasis on summer and Christmas. I also think we are seeing more novels about romance in later life: we’ve recently sold one about a woman in her seventies starting over. I’ve heard this referred to as ‘Gran Lit’, but I prefer to call it ‘the Judi Dench effect’.

What’s your favourite romance novel of all time?

No marks for originality, but my favourite of all time would have to be Pride and Prejudice. I first read it in my early teens (well before the Colin Firth/wet shirt BBC adaptation), and it has been my comfort read ever since. And where would romantic fiction be without P&P? Here in Bath we have just had the annual Jane Austen festival, which attracts Austen devotees from all over the world who parade around the city in gorgeous Regency costumes. I’m planning on dressing up myself next year.

Apart from your own authors, which book have you enjoyed the most in the past twelve months, and why?

I re-read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood after the TV serialisation, and got so much more out of it than when I first read it. It seems more relevant than ever, and reminded me that women in many parts of the world are still victims of misogyny and biological determinism - and there is no guarantee that our own society will never experience a backlash against feminism and the freedoms women take for granted in a modern liberal secular democracy. One of those freedoms being reading and writing romantic fiction, of course.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I enjoy amateur dramatics, and usually perform in two or three productions a year. It’s fun, challenging and learning lines is very good for the brain. I also enjoy swimming, walking, gardening, upcycling furniture and visiting my family who are dotted around the world. Plus, I’ve recently started learning Italian.

If you could describe your working-day in just three words, what would they be?

Reading, editing, negotiating.

Thank you so much for taking the time to drop in, Sara, and for your thoughtful answers. It's been fascinating and a pleasure getting to know you.

If you've enjoyed Sara's interview, or have any questions or comments at all, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you!

About Helena

Helena Fairfax is a romance author and editor. Her latest release is a feel good romance called Felicity at the Cross Hotel, set in a hotel in the Lake District (the type of the escapist, aspirational setting Sara mentions!) You can find out more about Helena's books and her editing services on her website www.helenafairfax.com

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