A Summer Fling

You have all heard the one about the writer in their Ivory Tower - but we do climb down to the real world sometimes - and when we do it is usually noisy! 

That happened the weekend before last, in Birmingham. The Romantic Novelists' Association has dropped their conference frequency to once every two years because of organisational issues and costs, and this year was not one of them. Instead there was a one day event in Birmingham - the Summer Fling. A large group attended from my local RNA Chapter - the Cariad group - and I think I am pretty safe in saying a good time was had by all. We managed to make the change of trains successfully at Bristol - at the moment there is not always a direct service from Cardiff - and we didn't get asked to leave either train- possibly because the others ignored my repeated requests for cowgirl hats. I have clearly seen too many hen parties for my own good. We went out for dinner that night (Friday) and next day was a packed programme at the very swish Grand Hotel, living up to its name. Apparently the building was derelict in the recent past, but you would never have known. We all actually stayed at the Premier Inn across the square, which was fine and a bit cheaper! The day was taken up with sessions on the writer's craft, some behind-the-scenes looks at the publishing world, advice on promotion, procrastination, and plotting for emotional tension with a break for lunch - a bit spicy for me but very nice deserts - and all rounded off with a glass of fizz. I also managed a quick look at the Cathedral in the company of lovely Anni Rose. The stained glass windows were superb on a sunny day. I hadn't realised they were by Edward Burne Jones, very remiss of me, knowing my enthusiasm for the PreRaphaelites.  As much as anything the weekend was a chance to see friends and spend time with my tribe. I came back on Sunday very tired but happy, over a few days well spent. Looking forward to next year's conference now. 

The Daughter of Time

 For those who don't know, this is a 'crime' novel by the author Josephine Tey, which considers the life of Richard III and the fate of the princes in the Tower as if it was a criminal cold case. It is a Golden Age novel that predates the 'King in the Car Park' discovery, which is consistently heralded as one of the greats and in 1990 was actually voted number one in a poll of the greatest crime novels of all time, organised by the Crime Writers' Association. I was introduced to it by my history teacher while still at school, and have been a confirmed Ricardian ever since.  

In the book Josephine Tey's series detective, Alan Grant, is in hospital, confined to bed with a broke leg and a spinal injury after falling through a trap door in pursuit of a suspect. Not sure about the spinal injury but with a broken leg these days he would be hopping about with a cast, but things were different in 1951. To help with boredom, glamourous actress friend Marta Hallard brings him a set of pictures of famous people with mysteries attached to them, for him to choose one to 'solve'. Caught by the conviction that the portrait of Richard is not one of a malformed murderer Grant starts a cold case, with the help of friends and researchers. The book makes a strong case for the death of the princes at Richard's hand as a piece of Tudor propaganda supporting Henry VII's rather shaky claim to the throne. It's stood up remarkably well to the discoveries made in the intervening years. I'd recommend it if you are interested in history and cold case research. 

And now it has been translated to the stage, for a run at the Charing Cross Theatre in London. I saw it the week before last, and I loved it. The dramatic version is true to most of the book although the ending and the conclusion of who might have been responsible for the murders was changed. Apparently this was on the basis of the playwright's own research and interpretation of events, but not sure I'm convinced.  Didn't stop the enjoyment though. There was a new romantic sub plot which involved Grant being the subject of a Much Ado About Nothing type plot to make him realise that he is in love with Marta which was fun and broke up the investigation a bit. The set and costumes were simple but fabulous, as was the acting. I had a great evening, worth the trip to London and an overnight stay. If you are planning to go and have not read the book it might be a idea to read it first to enhance the enjoyment but probably not essential provided you enjoy history, know a little about the time period and keep your wits about you!

Note - The Daughter of Time is Truth.

Indie Love 2026

 In the late autumn of 2023 I took part in Indie Love 2023 - a fabulous event in the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff that brought together a large room full of romance authors and their readers in what was an amazing day. Tables of books, swag, the chance to have a chat with a favourite author and find a few new ones, get a book signed. If you are a romance fan, particularly of spicy romance, and you weren't there you did miss a treat. But not to worry because it's all happening again in 2026, this time in Swansea at the Brangwyn Hall on 26th October. So make a note in your diary. And keep an eye open for more details. There is a Facebook group that you can join for up dates. 

I don't have a table this time, but I hope to attend as a reader. Maybe I'll see you there. 

Acknowledgements

 You've seen them - that place in the back of the book, or sometimes the front, where the author says a (usually effusive) thanks to everyone who has had a hand or even a finger in the production of the book. Having written them myself, the effusiveness is genuine - we are grateful for all the help we can get and you never know when you will need it again. The only exception to this I am aware of is Harlen Coben, who regularly blames all the people he name checks for any mistakes - but if you are Harlen Coben you can do that sort of thing.

Do you read them? I do. I am perpetually nosey and I love to know all the people who have featured in the writing of the book, right down the the author's pet hamster - especially the pet hamster. Unpublished authors who were looking for a publisher used to be advised to look for names of editors and agents who they might approach with their own work. I'm not sure if that is still a thing? Lists of names can read like an Oscar winner's laundry list, but these days I often find people I know listed - on one memorable occasion I found my own name - and I can't for the life of me remember where it was. Old age setting in. Including people who have given special, often specialist, help is a small way of repaying. When I ask for something and get a response I always ask if I may acknowledge them and am pleased when permission is given. If it is not, I wouldn't go public with a name. 

Writing your acknowledgements takes time. Assembling all the people who should be included, making sure that you have spelled their name and that of any organisation they represent correctly - I check those several times, you know what wily critters those pesky typos can be - making sure you haven't forgotten anyone. It is not an afterthought, or a chore, it's a chance to celebrate those who have contributed to the production of a brand new book. It's a record of the village that it takes to make a book. That's why I like to read them. 

Snail mail

 Does anyone even write letters any more, except for the official ones that arrive in brown envelopes and usually mean money - sadly going out more often than coming in, at least in my house?

I remember being taught in school the correct use of salutations and endings - Dear Sirs - standard for a business letter, yours faithfully if you didn't know the name of the recipient, yours sincerely if you did and had used it. 

I haven't written one of those for a very long time. 

I've just finished reading two books where the story depended on letters. In both case love letters. One was the classic discovery of the faded and scented bundle, written in coloured ink, tied with a ribbon. The second, more contemporary, featuring a relationship that began with two pen pals and moved on from there. Before reading the book I would have questioned if that was still a thing, but now there are sites that will put you in touch with people to write to - I just Googled it. 

I am wondering though if that classic, the bundle of letters, will survive modern methods of communication?  A bundle of printed e-mails, texts, DMs? Doesn't have the same romance - and is it likely? You might save a special e-mail, but a whole correspondence? Will this invaluable plot device recede further and further into the past? 

And it is romantic. The keeping of the letters in the first place, their survival, sometimes a question over the identity of one or both of the recipients. Some classic novels are themselves a series of letters - epistolary novels - although they often contain diary entries and other fragments. These days their place is taken by those e-mails or even voice recordings. as in Janice Hallet's The Twyford Code. 

Authors are finding new ways of using a favourite trope/plot device. But somehow it doesn't have quite the frisson of that shoe box full of letters. 

Over the edge

 Regulars will know my enthusiasm for the British Library re-issues of Golden Age Crime. I'm not a great lover of short stories - prefer something to get my teeth into - but as the anthology Cyanide in the Sun, which is holiday crime, was on offer from Kindle unlimited, I did take a look. I enjoyed the stories, many of which were set in old fashioned British seaside resorts like the one I grew up in.  (And have moved back to - although it is a bit different now.) What struck me about the whole selection was how many revolved around a crime resulting from a fall - usually over a cliff - there being an abundance of those at the seaside. 

I've commented before that I seem to have rather a thing about pushing people off high places - and it seems I am not alone. Actually I am doing it again, as the cosy crime I keep waffling about would start with a car going off a cliff. What is it with high places? 

Thinking about it, there are elements to appeal to a writer - if you have that sort of mind, of course, and if you write crime, you do. My excursions into falls from high places have twice been from buildings, not in nature, but certain principles apply. Always a possibility of an accident, or self harm. to muddy the water. It's a fairly effective method of murder, the human body being a fragile thing when in contact with gravity. and if you are talking cliffs, then there is always potentially the added ingredient of the sea. If the fall can be engineered rather than involving a hefty push -by misdirection of a dangerous path, an obstacle to be fallen over, even the intervention of the weather in storms or fog, the murder doesn't even have to be there. And the up close and personal method, the time honoured blow to the head with a blunt instrument can easily be disguised in other injuries.

Disadvantages? The victim has to be lured to the site. OK if that is a keen walker who frequents the path, but what if they are not? And the experienced hiker would know the dangers of the place where they were walking. And, of course the murder has to go to the location themselves to do the deed, or set the trap. Always the possibility of being seen. 

A fall seems like an easy solution - and it's certainly a popular one. But it actually needs just a much planning as shooting or stabbing - maybe more. But that is what crime writers like to spend their time doing.

Now - about this car, going over the cliff ...

Workshopping

 As regular readers will know, I am a bit of an academic nerd. Not quite -Never seen a course I didn't like - but always open to suggestion. When I was trying to make it as a writer there were a lot of craft courses - some of them useful, some not so much, but a great deal of that was to do with the way I finally found out that like to work, rather than the course and it is always useful to know. 

These days I don't do craft stuff so much. Arrogance? Maybe. Laziness? Probably. More comfortable that I know what I am doing? Probable, if slightly delusional. Research, now that is a completely different ball game. I love that. Huh - who at the back whispered procrastination? 

But yesterday I did do a craft workshop. It was a meeting of the writers' group I attend in Herford and the inimitable Alison May, who is a member of the group, treated us to Plotting, Planning and Theme - at least that's what I think the official title was. And it was a treat. I signed on because I knew it would be an enjoyable morning with friends, followed by lunch, and if that had been all it was, that would have been great, but listening to an expert, which Alison is, is inevitably going to produce some useful insight. 

In the event I got a lot out of it, some of it very unexpected. Alison's approach is plot through character development so we did quite a bit on that. I chose to focus on the currently nebulous heroine of the equally nebulous cosy crime I am sort of threatening to write. I don't find those traditional 20 questions models that used to be taught as a way of getting to know your characters are helpful to me. But Alison's questions were not like that. What does your character have under her bed? gets you thinking in a way that What is her favourite colour? doesn't. As least it does me. Possibly it gets my sub conscious moving. My answer was a hat in a hat box, that belonged to her mother. Now where that came from I don't know. but it has started a lot of interesting trails. I'm not sure that everything I found out yesterday doesn't make the idea of a cosy more complicated rather than easier. But I have got food for thought, so we shall see. 

I'll be sure to let you know.