Port Meirion

 This was a bucket list trip. It's been on that list since The Prisoner  TV series used it as a location - yes, I am that old.

It is colourful and a bit crazy - a little piece of Italy on a Welsh hillside, running down to the sea - a folly in the form of a whole village, and I loved it.

The sun shone, I rambled around, ate ice-cream and soaked up atmosphere. It has given me ideas for the colour scheme for my garden, when I finally get that sorted out and can paint some currently grey block walls. Next summer, now. I have a wooden container that holds the recycling bags that I painted blue and which came out a bit more vivid that I expected, Now I know that it is Port Meirion blue  and that I might be painting some of the walls terracotta. I'll keep you posted on that.

In the meantime I have pictures. 

Archways were a thing

This could be on an Italian hillside 

See what I mean about the colour scheme. 

More colour here

This might be my favourite view -
 and you can just make out the sculpture in the exotic planting. 

Research Holiday?

 Regular readers will know that I'm taking a break from the Riviera and the next book, which is making very slow progress, is set mostly in Wales, although the location is one that I have made up. I live in South Wales and have spent time in West Wales - many childhood holidays for starters, but I have only been an infrequent visitor to the top end of the country.  I've never set a book in North Wales, but maybe that will change in the future as I've just had a very enjoyable holiday in Llandudno and its environs - an escorted tour with Great Rail Journeys. 

It was billed as railways and castles, both of which featured, but it was two other locations in particular that captured my attention - more of those in future posts. The castles were Conwy and Caernarvon and the railways were Ffestiniog, the West Highland Railway and the Snowden Mountain Railway.  The first two were steam - memories of my very early childhood - and the last one was rack and pinion, because of the gradient and was a bit scary with some jaw dropping sheer drops. It was a perfect clear day and now I can say that I have been to the top, (almost, as I didn't climb up to the summit) of the highest mountain in Wales, and have the pictures to prove it courtesy of Helen and Paul, my fellow holiday guests. 

I haven't been on an escorted tour like this for a long time and was a little nervous, but I really enjoyed myself and saw one place = Port Meirion - that has been on my bucket list for a long time, and also a lovely garden which was definitely research material. 

I'm not sure that steam trains and castles will be making an appearance in a book anytime soon, but never say never to an author. Port Meirion might - although I suspect it maybe a re-invented place by then. A bit like the gothic buildings I have written about in the past, which owe a lot to Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch.  And the garden ...

And I even managed to take pictures. 

Paragliders - and an amazing view

Proof I was there, plus the train. 

This one is steam. 

Work in Progress.

 Yes - it is slow. but it is happening. 

I've moved on to what I think of as the second part of the book - in which the heroine Eleri is moving on -  to a new and totally unexpected life in a house she has inherited. It's an idea I have used before - in A Villa in Portofino - but the setting and circumstances this time are very different, and it still spoke to me of something I wanted to explore. 

The next part is spinning around in my head, which is always exciting - if writing it down and getting it right is more laborious.

Eleri is moving into a small community and while I have known the people in it for a long while, I have only just realised that they are going to want to know as much about her as she does about them. Actually probably more so, as she is keeping a low profile, for various reasons. Now I get to work with some minor characters, at least one of whom has long roots in the community, the significance of which will only be apparent at the very end of the book.  

There are a number of mysteries to unravel involving the house and there are exterior threats from at least two quarters, so I have plenty of things to keep me busy. I have no idea how big this books is going to be - write first, edit later - but I suspect it may be big. 

At the moment it is a messy sprawl of papers dotted all around the place. I am going to have to have a comprehensive round up session in the near future to get it in some sort of order. The thing is, I am enjoying it, so I hope readers will too - once I finally get it finished and out in the world. 

Radical Victorians

 Regular readers will know that I have a bit of a thing for the Pre-Raphaelite painters. As I don't have the bank balance of Lord Lloyd Webber, who has a notable collection, I have to get my fix visiting galleries and exhibitions. And the place to go has always been Birmingham, as the museum there has a fabulous collection. 

That collection is the basis for an exhibition that has been running most of the year and will be on until Xmas - Victorian Radicals.

 The Pre-Raphaelites had a distinctive style - brightly coloured painting told stories - from the Bible, from legends and from literature. It appeals to my love of story and drama. I've wanted to visit this exhibition for months but health issues have interfered, but on Thursday I finally made it. It was well worth it. Fabulous paintings, but not just them - the art movement gave rise to the Arts and Crafts movement - with the same artists designing or inspiring household items - everything from textiles to glassware. The exhibition had many examples on display. I was a happy bunny - this was a fun day out but it was also RESEARCH. The Arts and Crafts house I am creating for the WIP would have been built and fitted out around the time all these items were being created. As the country home of a wealthy man who would have wanted the most up to date furniture and fittings, many of these things will still be there when my contemporary heroine inherits the house.  With my memories of studying the exhibits and the very expensive catalogue - which is absolutely gorgeous - I am going to have so much fun selecting items. When I have had the chance to study the book and make some choices I'm sure I will be posting again about the exhibition. In the meantime, I do have a few pictures. 

You can't really see it clearly, but the painting on the wall - of a young Jesus in the Temple
was one I remember from Sunday School. 

An unfinished painting of Jane Morris by Rossetti 

I think this marble sculpture was commissioned by Gladstone.
More background research needed. 

Sorry about the glare from the flash. This is a late scene from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona.
I've had a copy of a postcard of it for ages. You can see the level of detail and the wonderful colours. 

Secondary Tropes?

 Tropes seem to be a big thing in the romance writing world at the moment - enemies to lovers, fake relationship, grumpy/sunshine - you can fill in the list. 

It has occurred to me during my recent reading that while these might be the main tropes - the headline acts as it were, there are other supporting 'tropes' that feature in the action. Including, but not exhaustively:-

 A controlling and interfering ex

A protagonist who likes to cook with a love interest who can burn boiling water

Extended family, as demonstrated by the Sunday lunch. This can be a hostile affair or a lovefest of homely togetherness and warmth,

Houses and gardens as 'characters' in the action

Evocative locations = bakeries, libraries, universities, bookshops,

Animals - I've read a few lately with working or service dogs, but also with animal familiars, I have wide reading tastes. 

The power of scent. Clothing, bed linen, or just general smell. 

I'm sure you can add a few. I'm still collecting them. 

While those headline tropes define the book these are the ones that give it substance and help create a world you want to inhabit for a few hours or even longer. 

Life of a romance writer?

 This week I thought it might be fun to think about what an author actually does with her time. This author, in fact. 

So what have I done this past week? 

Well, one day was spent in Herford with a group of like minded writers catching up on news and life in general. Gossip, giggles, exchange of experiences, commiserations over rejections, professional support and general bookish chat. Cake and lunch were involved and as I managed to catch an earlier train, because it was late (are you with me?) there may have been a sneaky bacon butty in Morrison's cafe on the way to the theatre where the meetings are held. It was an enjoyable if tiring day. 

There has been the usual social media and e-mail stuff, including fixing another writerly get together later in the year, a research trip to Birmingham, and admin connected to some future personal appearances. Watch this space. Some time was spent on searching for the script of the book trailer that I scribbled down on the train the week before last. I did not find it. I hope it will turn up in due course in whatever safe place I have stashed it. 

I spent a couple of happy hours looking at weddings a Chelsea Old Town Hall. Lots of snazzy photos of brides, grooms and guests, confetti explosions and a good gawp at the venue rooms available from large halls to intimate spaces seating only a handful of people. And don't get me started on the rabbit hole of  the rich and famous who have married there, including the wedding that didn't happen. If you have an idle moment or sixty and like weddings, have a google,  This was RESEARCH for the wedding of a secondary character in the WIP. It may eventually only occupy a line or two in the book, but the devil is in the detail. 

And writing? Oh yes, there has been a bit of that. This week I have been inhabiting the mind of a serial killer. An interesting place to be, if not always comfortable. I think it is a thread I ought to included in the new book, but it has to be married to the romance in the right way, Much grittier than I have been writing lately and stretching a bit, but good for the writing muscles.  I'm working on the principle of getting it down and then seeing what I have got. 

A bit like writing a blog post. 

Oh, and I did that too. 

Romantic Novelists' Association Conference 2024

 Let's get this clear from the outset. I had a really good time. 

This year's conference was at Royal Holloway, University of London - which is actually in leafy Egham. It is a sprawling campus - much puffing and groaning between venues - with a very fancy set of gothic buildings at its centre. 

The weekend was hot, the food was good, the accommodation studentish but comfortable - I was not in the block with a dead lift and dodgy lights - the company excellent. 

I went to some enthralling if slightly scary talks on various techy topics - Artificial Intelligence, keywords, self publishing - and now know more than I did about all of them. I'm looking forward to putting all that learning into practice. I particularly enjoyed a talk on making book trailers. I used to do that for my books years ago. Apparently this time around they can be used for Facebook adverts and for some quick book plotting. I had a go at that on the train home - about 20 words for about 30 seconds of air time. I now know a bit more about the WIP and have found out that is a slightly different book from the one I thought I was writing - all good. 

Lots of friends had good appointments with agents and editors and were asked for full manuscripts. Fingers crossed that stuff happens for them. Imogen, my fellow Cariad Chapter member did not win the Joan Hessayan trophy- sad about that as I would have liked to see another Cariad's name on the cup. Quite a lot of the group were featured in the shortlist for the Elizabeth Gouge trophy,  though, which is awarded for a conference based contest set by the Chairperson, which shows what a talented group we have with Georgia Hill coming second.  

There was a barbeque in the Quad, a quiz, a disco and a lot of giggling and gossip - what you might expect if 200 odd romantic novelists get together. Yes, alright, some of us are very odd. 

I didn't take any pictures so I shamelessly stole this one from Sue McDonagh.  As usual I am gurning at the camera. It's a good one of Sue and Jan though,

Photo stolen from Sue Mc Donagh

I say again  - I had a really good time, 

Only sadness is having to wait two years before doing it again. 

Of course we have the internet now ...

As you know, I'm a fan of vintage crime and the differences in what could be written even in the 1940s and now are often striking. Books like Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar, with a plot about a mystery claimant who may or may not be heir to a country estate could now only be written as an historical, or not at all. These days DNA would settle the matter in a few weeks. We have CCTV, forensics, social media. Ah yes, social media. 

Even twenty years ago the world would not be getting moment by moment updates on what you had for breakfast, but some of that vintage crime I have been reading lately have got me thinking about some of the parallels. 

I've read two which feature poison pen letters - the equivalent of trolling? And when mail would be delivered within 24 hours and possibly more often during the day a barrage of unpleasant correspondence would be possible. We have 24 hour news - but when newspapers were the main means of communicating events, editions could be produced several time a day.  Social media can give instant glimpses of what celebrities are doing - but newspapers and magazines had their society pages for the great, the good and the not so good.  Now authors are encouraged to keep their readers in the loop with newsletters - but the likes of GK Chesterton and William Morris produced their own newspapers. Print was more cumbersome, but possible. 

As someone who writes crime I have to admit that technology can be a bit of a bother. How to get around that pesky CCTV isn't just a matter for the criminal fraternity! The aforementioned DNA is a consideration, and what about mobile phones? So many crime novels from the past could be solved by a simple phone call. Authors have a fun time making protagonists lose phones, drop them in water, have them stolen, forget to charge them. Then there is the good old standby  - no signal. This feels like a cliche, but if you listen to the Today programme on Radio 4 - which I do - you will know how often a line disappears mid call - and not just those spanning long distances. 

Communications are not new, if technology is. In the past it just took a bit longer. And sit was ometimes more difficult - but not always. 

It's a man's world?

 Regular readers will know I have a bit of a weakness for the vintage crime put out by the British Library. Haven't succumbed to a subscription yet, but they are trying hard in my Facebook feed, 

One of my favourite Golden Age authors is E C R Lorac, in real life Edith Caroline Rivett. As you can see as well as reversing one of her names, Carol, for her pseudonym she also adopted the use of initials, a device often used by female writers and still being done today, particularly in the crime genre. The general feeling seems to be that this widens the prospective audience. Women will apparently read a crime novel by a man, but  a man read a woman author? Not so much. 

It's a matter for discussion, and one that is not new. The most recent Lorac I read was Death of an Author in which the debate over whether a critic/reader can tell whether a book has been written by a man or woman forms a keystone of the plot. I enjoyed it - and it shows that the discussion has been around a long time - and it is probably not going away anytime soon. 

I'm not entirely sure where I am going with this post except to flag up something interesting. 

Although there are a great many females being just as gory and twisty as their male counterparts is there an implicit assumption that crime is a male thing? 

One event I will be interested in is the first short list for the new cosy crime category in the CWA Dagger awards which makes its appearance for the first time next year. It is a genre with a lot of women writers and writing well too. Certainly worthy of a dagger. So - is there a possibility the the CWA might have an all female short list for this one? 

An intriguing idea. 

Eavesdropping

 You've all seen the mugs, tee shirts, etc. with the writer threatening to 'put you in my book'. Yes, it's funny, but I would never do it. Some authors do base their characters on real people, but for me it's an an invasion of privacy. And I'd be afraid that the victim might recognise themselves and come round and punch me on the nose! 

Which is not to say that I am not an inveterate eavesdropper. Public transport is a great place for this, but anywhere that people gather can be a prime source. What do I get from it? Apart from fascinating snippets that I could/would never use? Rhythm, pace, the pattern of speech and the flow of conversation, which all help with making dialogue sound real.

One of my favourite playwrights is Harold Pinter, who was the master of using a pause - which is something I do - listening to conversation gives the patterns that can be adapted for the book. The way conversations overlap, repetition - although you have to be careful with that or your editor will be putting a red line through it, Local colour and frequently used expressions - swearing too perhaps. Ums and Ahs - we are all guilty of those - make speech realistic, judiciously used. 

And then again, despite what I said above, there are occasionally snippets that no one would recognise as theirs. This post was inspired by one I heard last week. Two colleagues in the Premier Inn as everyone trooped back into the building. 

'And where were you when the fire alarm went off? 

It seemed to me that it would make an intriguing first line for a story. 

Maybe I'll use it one day.

And no one will ever know where it came from, will they? 

What would you write if ...

 They say everyone has a book in them. I've always taken that to mean we all have a life story that could be told - but writing fiction is not the same. Life experiences are important but they are not the whole thing.  

So -if you were unpublished, just taking the plunge, what might you choose? What you like to read? What you think you are suited for? What will make money? 

All of the above? 

I think the big thing is that you enjoy what you write, because IMO it shows.

I experimented with a variety of genres before I settled on romantic suspense. Even so my early books are different from the most recent Riviera Series as my publisher wanted something lighter - holiday reading. 

The WIP? Don't ask. Really. I have no idea what genre it is - probably still romantic suspense as there is romance and crime/suspense but there is a lot else besides, Main thing is, although it is slow, I am enjoying it. 

It is natural, I think, to squint occasionally at other genres and wonder. Particularly if you have read something good and/or interesting by another author.  

A number of romance authors are making a very successful transition to cosy crime at the moment. And I admit to temptation. 

Theoretically I could write historical/saga - World War Two, as that is my academic thread, and I do have a completed WW2 family saga in the bottom drawer that twice went through the RNA's New Writers' Scheme but didn't find a publisher - possibly because I didn't push it hard enough. Having done it, and proved I could, I didn't want that to be my future - although you will have noticed that the war does get into my contemporary plots - and the WIP is no exception. 

Having just read K J Charles Death in the Spires which I enjoyed very much and which is an unsolved murder mystery with a strong slant of the dark academia genre, I am now re-reading M L Rio's If We Were Villains (I am drawing the line at Donna Tart's The Secret History. Not going back there, good and clever as it is. Don't have the stamina any more.)  

Of course, now I am wondering ... 

I'm an academic, with the letters to prove it., I have a thing for books, libraries and Gothic architecture - all of which I understand are ingredients - and I have a much professed desire to write something Gothic (is that actually another genre?)  I don't think I can reproduce the hot house atmosphere of the DA genre though, and despite my qualifications I certainly don't have the scholarship to twist into the plot, And I am strictly red brick, not dreaming spires so that is probably a no.

But it is tantalising...

Write what you know. Maybe that's write what you enjoy? Maybe the knowing bit is knowing your limitations? 

Competitions for debut authors?

 One of the ways that an unpublished author can attract some attention to their work, possibly get feedback and maybe win a prize is by entering competitions. If nothing else, to be long or short listed gives you a confidence boost. I worked for me, although even then it was still a while before a UK publisher was willing to take a chance on a genre that mixed crime and romance. 

Of course you do have to get onto the long/short list! But that is down to writing the best book you can, making sure that you meet all the competition criteria and presenting your work in a professional way in whatever format the rules require. Debut contests are usually looking for potential, not perfection - although if you can produce that, it will be welcome! 

If you live in Wales, are unpublished and write crime, you might like to consider the Gwobr Nofel Gyntaf/Crime Cymru First Novel Prize., which is open now and closes on 1st September. There are two sections - Welsh and English, judged separately.

Crime Cymru is a collective of crime authors with Welsh connections, and is offering a fledgling writer the chance of winning a series of mentoring sessions. There is only one first prize winner, but if that's not you (this time) there is still the chance of appearing on one of those encouraging short lists.  

The entry fee is £10 and you can find  the details HERE

I was one of the judges in the initial stages for the English language side last time the contest was run, and have volunteered to do it again this year. I am looking forward to it. The quality and variety of the entries was impressive. It was not an easy choice. Every one I read had potential, although they were very different. Some were further along the way than others. I hope those contestants will be trying again with a new entry. 

Maybe one of the entries I will be reading this year will be yours? 

What happened to our sunshine?

 Here in the UK the summer of '24 has been notable by its absence - although I gather we are promised some warmer weather later this month. 

Apart from the fact that it is COLD, the lack of sunshine was brought home to me while I was limping around Cardiff in the search for a frame for my second Jackie Collins finalist's certificate. The limp because of back and hip problems and the search because no one had what I wanted - the right size frame capable of standing up rather than being wall hung. Wilko, we miss you! I didn't find a frame, but I did notice large areas of stores given over to the goods of summer - picnic blankets, hampers, outdoor furniture and tableware, lanterns, barbeques - and the kind of food cooked on them - were pretty empty of customers, which was rather sad. All that bright cheerful merchandise sitting neglected on the shelves.  

So - where do we go for that summer feeling - other than leaving on a jet plane? You could try a book. Increasingly these days in the romance field, publishers are looking to issue two offerings  a year. Summer and Festive. Both designed to compliment the season, or get you in the appropriate mood if weather and circumstance are not coming up with the goods?

Do you buy the Summer book to read by the pool - or to replicate the feeling?  Does 'summer' in the title - and there are quite a few of them out there - make you disposed to buy? I have to say it does me - but I have always been one for warmth, sun and escape. 

When I was a kid and my dad went off on one of his Sunday day trips to a meeting - he was very involved in the national administration of his hobby, sea angling - mum and I often had an indoor picnic instead of Sunday lunch- all the picnic things, complete with table cloth on the living room floor. It was fun, and it didn't matter if it was cold or raining. 

If it won't happen you have to invent it - and a book is as good a place as any. Only one thing that worries me. If the summer season has been disappointing will all those retailers be starting their Christmas even earlier?

At least the weather is appropriate. 

Managing expectations

 I've just finished reading a book - spooky goings on and ghosts - where it was mentioned several times that good things rarely happen in basements. Very true. Places where young women should not venture in the dark when the local serial killer is on the loose. 

It got me thinking about 'short cuts' in novels - ways of telegraphing expectations to the reader. This can be very obvious - publishers' obsession with covers showing women in red coats running thorough various landscapes to denote a thriller is an obvious one - but it can be more subtle than that. 

As in life - a phone ringing between the hours of midnight and 5 am is unlikely to be  a Good Thing. Basements are creepy - although for some reason a cellar doesn't have quite the same connotation, possibly because of the link in the mind to wine cellar? 

Attics mean secrets - storage for old papers, dressing up boxes, childhood debris. You can have a good time in an attic. I had fun in A Villa in Portofino making mine virtually empty, but of course there was still a room full of luggage.  A character who announces they are going up to the attic - well, you just know they are going to Find Something. Libraries and studies mean books and papers, desks and filing cabinets so more potential for secrets. Kitchens equal meals and baking - places of comfort. Similarly cafes. 

Town houses, cottages, mansions, lofts - all property that denotes a certain style of life and inhabitant. Writing seasonal and festive books gives you a whole lexicon of images from carved pumpkins to fairy lights and tinsel to set a scene. 

At the moment I am heavily into creating a garden. Now gardens can have multiple personalities. The one I am working on is a sanctuary - a place where a WWI veteran coped with his shell shock and decades later a woman running from an abusive marriage can find a refuge. But I also have in mind another story with a derelict garden, a creepy half ruined green house, maybe a falling down summer house ... 

Some things are great for signifying an activity or a mood - but it's also good to have a wide open canvas. 

Work in Progress

 'Progress' is a bit slow, but I am working and enjoying it. Not sure what the finished product will look like - definitely not a 'Riviera' book, or even in that style. I've envisages it as one of a pair of books, the link being that security business run by the two heroes- Nathan and Luke, but it is going to be a while before we get there. 

But writing is not just about actually putting words on paper. Not words that will eventually be read, that is. Knowing I was getting myself into a few knots with the time lines of the various characters in the secondary plot that is the pivot of the story I spent an afternoon sorting out their overlapping time lines and producing a fancy board to prove it. As shown below. Now I have a better idea of what I am doing! Emrys - who is a famous artist - was born in 1924 and was old enough to serve in WW2, which is an important part of the story. The other lines on the chart are the women in his life - his first love, the woman he eventually married and the Shakespearean actress who became his muse in later life. The ramifications of those relationships play out in the contemporary part of the story. It's not exactly dual time, maybe a present day story with roots in the past? While I was doing it I discovered some important facts about the personalities - notably that although it was generally assumed that Emrys and the actress were lovers, in fact their relationship was platonic as they were both married to other people.

I also had to do some ongoing research. I have a list. 

• Obituaries of the great and the good.
• Honours awarded to servicemen for bravery in WW2
• Dates and ages for call up during the war.
• Dates and details of the Nuremberg Trials and Dame Laura Knight, who was an official war artist. 
• The rules of probate
• Herbs with associations with Wicca. What every good witch would have in her rather wild garden. That one was fun, as I did an on-line course and now I know what my 'witch,' Iris will have in hers. 

  

All of the above are essential to the plot but probably won't merit more than a passing reference. They are building blocks that are the foundations for the book. 

And a wonderful excuse for productive procrastination. 

 

Chelsea Flower Show

 As I special treat I got myself an 8a.m to 8 p.m  ticket for the first members' day of the Chelsea Flower Show. Staying just moments away I fully intended to be there when the gates opened. But then the RNA Awards came along and my plans went up in smoke with a late night of celebration! I made it to the show a little later than planned and reading the runes on the weather did the marquee first. This was the voice of experience as once the rain began everyone came flocking in and I was ready to wander around the other exhibits under my trusty umbrella. The gardens were lovely - I got a few ideas for the Tuscan idyll I eventually want to create outside my back door. There were some drool worthy plants. I celebrity spotted Monty Don and Rachel De Thame being interviewed for the TV. I bought lilies and a mushroom growing kit and a few other odds and ends and had a good time, despite the weather. 

The Newt's Roman Villa garden

This is a hydrangea - I thought it was an azalea. On the plant of the year shortlist and on my wish list. 

An Italian Balcony - Venice, not Tuscany, but I'll take it. 

The lilies I hope are going to grow for me.
I'll try anf rememebr to post the results, and the mushrooms! 

The Joffe Garden party

 As part of my fancy week staying in London I was able to attend my first publisher's party - a garden party no less, in the grounds of the Royal Overseas League, off Piccadilly. Luckily it was a lovely evening - the rain had stopped. The Choc-lit authors met up first in the pub around the corner and then it was on to the party. It was a lot of fun with the chance to meet and talk to the staff of the publishing house - including the man himself - Jasper Joffe - and other authors including a few friends from the Crime Writers' Association, as Joffe publishes crime as well as romance. It was the tenth anniversary for the publisher, although the Choc-lit family has only been with them just over a year. It was good to celebrate with glasses of bubbly and some very fancy - and tasty - canapes. We all enjoyed ourselves, photos were taken (I've stolen a few again) and the rain stayed away. Looking forward to doing it again next year. 

Meeting in the pub. 

Me. Carol Thomas, Jasper, Morton S Gray
and Jan Baynham

The Joffe authors. 

What I did in Chelsea.

 My original plan for my recent London trip was a day at the Chelsea Flower Show. I decided to do something I'd had in mind for a while and book a couple of nights in the mansion block where I lived when I worked in Eaton Square. Then the awards were announced, and my new publisher Joffe invited me to their annual garden party and the few nights became a week. Cost a fortune, but I had a wonderful time. The apartment in the mansion block is the one that features in Summer in San Remo and Masquerade on the Riviera. It was good to re-visit old haunts.  I had a studio, which was fun and spent a couple of days flaneuring around the neighbourhood.  I did the RHS show - more of that in a future post -  and the party - more about that later too. I spent some time in the re-vamped Battersea Power Station - lots of shops, a very nice bookshop and lunch at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. I accidentally had dinner in Tom Kerridge's London pub too, without realising. It was raining, I was tired after wandering around the show and the pub was the nearest eating place, at the end of the street. And very good it was too.  I ate icecream in several up market icecream parlours, went to a concert in Cadogan Hall, which was just around the corner,  a ensemble called Voces8 which I had never encountered before, and which was very enjoyable. As well as the flower show, Chelsea had it's own flower festival going on, with all the shops dressed to the nines, so the place was manic on Sunday with florists getting ready and then on all the days after with tourists taking selfies. I intended to take some too, but it was just too crowded! I had a wonderful, if expensive, time. Now I'm wondering if I can do it all again next year. 

There will be a full post on the flower show later - but until then these are a few of the friends I made along the way. 

Well - I didn't win ...

 But I had a wonderful evening. 

It was great to be on my publisher Joffe's table to celebrate simply being nominated. Sue Fortin won the Jackie Collins but she is a friend so I have forgiven her. Next time! 

I enjoyed wearing my sparkly jumpsuit. I took the long gloves then forgot to put them on! I wondered if traveling on the Tube to the venue at Tower Hill from Chelsea at 4 p.m. in all my finery would be 'interesting'  but except from one young girl no one batted an eyelid. 

Anton Du Beke was an excellent celebrity presenter, along side the RNA's Brigid Cody and he was super generous in posing for selfies with everyone. There was food and drink and photos and excitement. Lots of gossip and laughter and the chance to see old friends.  Finalists had to arrive early for a photo shoot, but I haven't been able to get those photos to open! The tension built up from there until the moment when the envelope was opened. If you want to see - and read - all the winners you will find them on the RNA website. A real variety of popular romantic fiction. 

The awards were only the start of a fabulous week I spent in Chelsea. More posts over the next few weeks. 

I've  borrowed the photos from Fellow finalist and Cariad Chapter member Jan Baynham and from the official photographer Katie Hipkiss Visuals. Ownership acknowledged with many thanks. 

Table awaiting guests.

My name in lights

Deep in conversation - and where did the sumo wrestler arms come from? 

Posing with Anton along with fellow Joffe contender Jan and her daughter Jo. 

The RNA Awards

 Well, the awards event was on Monday so we know by now if I won, but as I will still be in London today and away from the nuts and bolts of creating the blog, I won't be talking about it until next week, as this post was written before I left. Are you with me so far? 

Whatever the outcome it is always a privilege to be chosen to compete for an award and the RNA awards, with the short lists selected by panels of ordinary readers, are particularly special - at least I think so. I admit I am a bit of a pot hunter - been that way since age 13 when I made up my mind to win what my dad called the Victor Ludorum at the school Eisteddfod. And I did - next time around. But the big prize for me, as a writer, is that people should enjoy my books. 

If you don't win you don't get to make a thank you speech - so I am doing mine here and if you've heard it before - I will be delighted! 

Thanks have to go to Lu, my long suffering editor, who deals with all sorts of holes and hiccups with patience and humour. To Berni for the lovely covers and for Choc-lit who took a chance on me over a decade ago and were willing to try the American style genre, romantic suspense, on a UK audience. Happily they seemed to like it!  Thanks to friends, inside and outside the RNA, for their help and support, listening to half soaked plot plans, patchy word counts and general moaning. To the RNA and the award organisers for the work they put in, all on a voluntary basis

But the  biggest thanks have to go to the readers who buy and enjoy the books, That is what makes it all worthwhile. 

So - what are you going to wear?

 My mother was a dressmaker by trade. Fashion and sewing were her passion the way words and writing are mine. It's not surprising that I was a clothes-horse before I could walk. It was natural that if I had an event coming up, she would make something for me. In fact, we would sometimes sit down and review the next few months to make a programme. She was a fabric addict, collecting supplies in sales in advance of requirements which were stored in 'The Trunk'. It's big tin affair which now has the paperwork for my PhD in it, as I wanted somewhere to store all my precious hand written notes that I thought might be a protected in the event of fire. The fabric has migrated to other locations and I've donated some. When we were doing one of those reviews the trunk was always raided to see what goodies it might contain that could be used, without having to spend much more than the cost of cotton and a zip and maybe a pattern, if she didn't cut her own, or adapt one. During the war she had enough fabric stored to clothe herself, my grandmother and my aunt for the duration, when dress material, like many things, was scarce. You can imagine the size of the stash - I think it must have overflowed the trunk then. 

Now she's gone I am on my own. If I want a new outfit I have to buy it! One of the last things she made me was a floor length sequined dress for a convention ball in America. I still have it and planned to wear it for the Awards when A Villa in Portofino was nominated. Unfortunately when I tried it on, it had got a bit snug around the middle, so I wore the green jumpsuit I'd bought for a gala dinner at the RNA Conference. Not sparkly.

Now I am a nominee again for Masquerade on the Riviera and this time I am going sparkly - a jump suit I bought in the Phase 8 sale after Xmas. That was a speculative purchase, a bit like the fabric in the trunk. I knew I would have the chance to wear it somewhere, but I really didn't think it would be another trip to the awards.  It was a bargain, but like all Phase 8 garments much too long, so I have had to shorten it. Took a while, with much trying on and a brief panic over whether I had done the same leg twice, but it is now done and gives me a buzz every time I pass it hanging up in the spare room. 

It's black - or at least dark grey - and I don't wear much black these days as I think it doesn't suit me as much as it did when I was a teenager and wore it all the time - as you do. But well, it was a bargain, and I shall just have to go heavy on the blusher. I'm looking forward to wearing it, with some sparkly shoes and jewelry - may as well go all out. 

There is one big question though - if I can find them, do I wear my elbow length evening gloves?

Where did Masquerade come from?

 Masquerade on the Riviera is currently a nominee for the Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller of the Year, and I did threaten a couple of posts ago to talk some more about it. I'm over the moon to be in the contest for the second time! 

How did I come to write it? Well -  it's the fourth in the Rivera Series, which are my sunshine escapist romantic suspense books, so it already has siblings, but this one is a bit different. For a start it's partially set on the English Riviera. My editor did get a bit worried that we were not going to end up in France or Italy, but the book concluded in Monaco, so she didn't need to fret. 

I have said before - often - that writers can get a bit sniffy when asked about their inspiration, because often we don't actually know.  In this case, with my contrary nature, I knew I wanted the English Riviera setting, just to mix things up a bit, and once I was in Torquay then the town's most celebrated literary inhabitant was a no-brainer. In a bit of homage I went truffling though some of the most famous Agatha Christie  motifs - so - there is a body in a library, a lot of Egyptian artifacts, a slightly creepy gothic style house, with a secret passage.  I think Enid Blyton might have got a look in with that last one.

Visiting Torquay for that year's Crime Writers' Association conference added some local colour.  The heroine, Masie, was already in place as she had had a minor role in the previous book and was due for her time centre stage. Quite how Elliott got to be an Egyptologist I'm not certain, but as the book revolved around a cursed Egyptian necklace I suppose that was fairly obvious too, when you think about it. I am NOT an Egyptologist, so I had to research that one, which  I enjoyed. The academic
background is me, I suppose, the convoluted plot - I have no idea. The Masked Ball might owe a bit to Georgette Heyer - doesn't everyone know what a domino is - no not the game with the spots. The Monaco setting and the private yacht is pure wish fulfilment - one of the up sides of past me choosing to make the head of the detective agency which roughly cements the series together, into a billionaire. It was fun to write, and it is brilliant to know that the reader judges for the RNA Awards enjoyed it enough to put it into the final. 

That, after all, is why we write them - to give enjoyment to readers - although a few have said they learned a few things too - hopefully about Egyptology and artistic provenance and not stealing valuable jewels - which I hope was an added bonus.  

First of May

 May Day - the date, not the distress call. Apparently that comes from the French m'aider - 'help me' and is a fairly recent invention, as is the designation of 1st May as International Workers' Day. It's been a Bank Holiday sine the 1970s but now rationalised to the nearest Monday. 

I'm thinking of something much older than all of these - Beltane - the Celtic festival between the spring solstice and midsummer. The start of summer, the coming of light, traditionally celebrated as a fire festival with beacons and bonfires. The light side of the celebrations are maypoles, Morris dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. Of course it is the darker side of the festival that interests me. I do write romantic suspense, after all, It has fascinated me since reading Mary Stewart's Wildfire at Midnight, many decades ago. The book is set on the Isle of Skye  with a series of murders and unexpected fires, with pagan overtones - very creepy. with lots of suspense.  

I always credit Mary Stewart with setting my taste in reading and I have nurtured the idea of a book featuring the pagan festivals for a long time. 

 I might actually be writing it at the moment. I'm indulging myself with the current WIP and a hint - maybe more than a hint - of the supernatural seems to be part of it. Not sure yet how it is going to work out - but all those folklore courses at the Lifelong Leaning Department of the University have to go somewhere. Beltane is a big draw, of course, but Midsummer might be a candidate as I think it may better fit my time line.

I'm inventing a village on the South Wales coast to go in the book so I can invent my own local celebrations to go with them.  I hope I can do it as well as Mary Stewart. 

In Brighton, talking crime

 I've been in Brighton for a long weekend for the Crime Writers' Association Annual Conference.

 It was a bit disconcerting to be greeted at the station by a very large contingent of police along with three very enthusiastic sniffer dogs. What they were looking for I don't know, but they didn't find it in my bag, I am glad to say. 

I had a really good time. Lots of technical style talks - research techniques, police procedure, courtroom dramas, criminal psychology - I now know more about what makes a serial killer than I did before.

Be afraid ... 

The hotel was big and modern, right on the sea front. 

I had a very nice room but declined to pay for the upgrade for a sea view. Breakfast was spectacular. I adore hotel breakfasts and this was top ten class. Saturday afternoon featured a crime walk - the dark side of Brighton, including historic murders, bodies in trunks and a man who was on the run for seventeen years. I was a bit dubious as my back is still playing me up but I managed most of it before limping back to the hotel for a cup of tea. The gala dinner included the announcement of the long lists for the CWA Awards - the Daggers. It was a pleasant surprise to recognise the names of two Crime Cymru friends who had made the list  - Alis Hawkins in two categories and Matt Johnson in the true crime award, along with my new publishers, Joffe in the crime publisher of the year category. Bets were being taken on what would be served at the dinner - predictably it was chicken. The food was good and the company excellent and afterwards Elly Griffiths - a Brighton local - gave us a whistle stop tour of her local area. I learned things, saw old friends and made a few new ones. The proceeding finished at lunch time on Sunday. As I refuse to travel by train on a Sunday if it can possibly be avoided I stayed on until the following day, doing day-at-the -seaside things - fish and chips, ice-cream, a wander in the Lanes when I heroically avoided the vintage jewelers. 

I took some pictures - the pier, the pavilion. It's a very long time since I was in Brighton. It was very busy and very much a seaside town with lots going on. Last time I was at a CWA Conference - in Torquay - I used the town as one of the locations for the book I was just finishing - Masquerade on the Riviera - which is currently a nominee for the Romantic Thriller of the Year. There are no current plans for a book set in Brighton, but you never know.

A J R Hartley moment

 Those readers of mature years will probably remember a Yellow Pages advert from the early 1980s in which an elderly gentleman tours bookshops in search of a book on fly fishing. He returns sadly home after a fruitless search and his daughter hands him a copy of Yellow Pages. When he finds a copy of the book  - well you know the story, or can imagine. 

Original Advert link Here

I had my own J R Hartley moment on Saturday when I finally got a copy of the Chinese version of Never Coming Home. 

Authors are supposed to get at least one copy of a book put out in their name, but somehow it never happened. I knew the book was out because I'd seen in on Amazon, but I never remembered to ask my then publisher and now water has flowed under that bridge...

I made up my mind finally to see if I could get a copy. Two orders were cancelled by Amazon, but I tried a third time - although the price had increased considerably!

This time it worked. Third time lucky and now I have it. No idea what it says, but I am thrilled with it. 

I don't expect the Amazon automated systems twigged that I was the author asking for my own book though. My very own J R Hartley moment. 

The Cat is out of the Bag.

 

Well, now you know. I've been nursing this piece of news since February! 

The fourth book in the Riviera series, Masquerade on the Riviera has followed its sibling A Villa in Portofino into the finals of the Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller of the Year Award. 

The Jackie Collins is one of a bundle of awards made annually by the Romantic Novelists' Association for books chosen by a panel of reader judges as best in their genre. This category is sponsored by the publishers Simon and Schuster in commemoration of their mega successful, much missed author. 

As you can imagine I am thrilled to be nominated for the second time. 

Will I win? 

Who knows?

The competition is strong and there are some fabulous books in the list. I'm just happy to be in their company. The knowledge that the nominees are chosen by ordinary romance readers is the icing on the cake. 

The awards will be made at a very posh ceremony in London on 20th May. I have a sparkly outfit, courtesy of the January sales, that I haven't worn yet. Only fly in the ointment is I have to shorten the legs. Sequins. That will be fun.  

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to be talking a bit about the book and the process of writing it. I'm looking forward to that. It was fun to write and it will be fun to talk about it again.

Hard shell, soft centre

 This post came about because I have read a number of books recently - crime, not romance- where I didn't find a single character I could like or identify with.

I disliked all of them.

Even the ones presented as the protagonist. 

Now yes, I know a lot of people would say that this is realism - that we don't always like everyone and that even protagonists have flaws. But I'm old school. There has to be someone in the cast to attach myself to. Someone who has some positive characteristics. 

This is one of the reasons why I write romantic suspense. It gives me the chance to explore the good stuff as well as the bad. Yes, it's crime, the bodies pile up and I can have real fun creating villains, but in the centre is a couple falling in love, and whatever happens to those villains - and I do tend to kill them off- there is always going to be a happy ending - or at least a positive one. The road to romance will be rocky - secrets, misunderstandings, the effect of past trauma, but it will end in the right place.

Am I expecting things to be too nice, too neat, with too much feel good factor? I don't think so. Those books with the dislikable characters left me discontented - sufficiently so that I am blogging about it. Fiction is just that, fiction. Creating a world where everyone is unpleasant, untrustworthy or downright nasty seems very negative to me. The real world is difficult enough, I don't need it in my reading matter as well. It's all too downbeat and leaves me with the feeling of having wasted time reading the book.  Actually, to be honest in two cases I bailed out at about the three quarter mark and just read the end. In neither case did I regret it. Am I getting to be a sloppy reader, one who can't stay the course?  I do give myself permission not to finish a book these days. Life is very short and there are so many good books out there. I'm just going to have to be a bit more careful in finding the upbeat ones! 

But the detail is right.

 I've had a few discussions with groups of writer friends recently about books set in made up locations. Quiet a few writers I know, me included, use familiar real locations but re-invent them, with new features if necessary, to suit the story.  

One thing that I have noticed though - that even if the location is made up other details have to be as correct as possible. Which is why a fellow author has carefully researched a medical condition experienced by her heroine and why I spent half an hour earlier in the week checking out what long distance trains leave from Bristol Temple Meads station. The devil is in the detail.

Does it matter to readers? I think it does. 

I've just completed two fabulous on line courses offered by Cardiff University on historical gardens so that I can get my facts right in the WIP. For the most recent in the Riviera series Masquerade on the Riviera  I researched all things Egyptology (well, maybe not all, but a lot) because my hero was an Egyptologist and the plot turned on a cursed necklace that may or may not have been genuine. The same friend is off to Greece shortly with a list of questions to answer so she can be sure that the details of real places in her latest WIP are correct before she submits it to the publisher. Hmm - that piece of research may not be that much of a hardship - but you get the picture! 

Authors who write romance, any variety, are often accused of peddling illusions. Encouraging unrealistic expectations of life and relationships. Seeing the world through rose coloured glasses.  I think romance readers are better than that. Books are escapism. I'm unashamed of saying that about the ones I write. I think that readers understand, within certain parameters, that what they are reading is not necessarily a complete mirror of life. But the details matter. And so do emotional truths. Love, betrayal, pain of separation, joy of reunion, uncertainty, grief, achievement, simple happiness. Okay - probably not many of us are going to experience that meet-cute that sets up the romance or love at first sight, or even a marriage of convenience, but the feeling accompanying falling in love is exactly the same, whoever you are and whoever the object of your affections. If authors can get the detail right then the book is valid, however escapist the subject matter.  

Which is why we do our best to get the details right.

Written by hand

 I am a dinosaur. 

My manuscripts are written by hand for the first draft. 

I say written - after years of note taking professionally and as a student my writing now resembles a kind of short hand - or maybe hieroglyphics!  If I want anyone but me to read it I have to print. And yes, sometimes even I can't read what I have written. Apparently for writers the connection between hand and pen and the act if writing can benefit the flow of words. All I can say is, it works for me. 

Handwriting is very personal. Your signature is still your most significant distinguishing mark. Even so, my handwriting, in the days when it was more legible, resembles my mother's'- taught in the same school system, but is nothing like my father's, brought up in a different area. I have to say that coming unexpectedly across a sample of their handwriting is one of those moments that can make you catch your breath with memory.  

This post was inspired by a recent Point of View broadcast on Radio 4 by Tom Shakespeare when he was musing on the art of writing and why his own handwriting had got so bad. I can't remember what  his conclusion was, I think it was that he was not called to write very much these days. I know he mused on whether the skill of writing might be endangered. Would future generations need it? Texts, computers, audio communications - maybe not. The thought of not being able to write to express my self disturbs me a lot. 

But then I am a dinosaur. 

Food Glorious Food

 I have been noticing lately in my reading some distinct trends in what characters in books have to eat. 

Eating is a basic human requirement so it is not unexpected that it should happen in books. It is also often linked to social activity - meeting friends, going on dates, business meetings ... so double reason for food to make an appearance. 

So - what are the most popular foodstuffs for fictional characters? Based on my own reading?

Pizza

Donuts

Other sugary items such as cinnamon buns 

Eggs - often but not exclusively as breakfast items, often paired with toast or with sausage. 

Burgers 

You can probably guess that my reading tends towards the criminal side of the spectrum and police and law enforcement all over the world seems to run on dough and sugar - pizza and donuts.  

All washed down by oceans of coffee . 

I must admit to having been guilty of feeding my character pizza on occasions, but I would never offer donuts as I don't eat them myself. I don't drink coffee either, but recognise its popularity.

When my mum was still with us she always said how much she enjoyed reading about what people in books had to eat. In her memory I always try and include some meals and give descriptions. And I find it fun. Meals in the 'Riviera' series involve a bit of research to find out what local specialities would be applicable to the location.  There is a scene in Masquerade on the Riviera that has hero and heroine having dinner on the terrace, and I had a lot of enjoyment from creating both the setting and atmosphere and the food. That book also has a full scale afternoon tea in it - also fun. And I broke the mould on the coffee by giving Elliott a partiality to Oolong tea. 

I was going to say that I haven't managed a meal yet in the WIP, but then I realised that I have, but not in the way that you might expect. That's all I'm saying for the moment. We'll all have to hope that the book makes it into print and everyone will understand. 

Families

 I mentioned this in a previous post. Friends and families are quite a thing in novels at the moment - especially found families - the ones you make, not the ones you are born to.

And that actually opens a whole can of worms. You have a 'new' family - what happens to the old one?

I've had several occasions when I've scratched my head  over what to do with the protagonists' parents. You can deal with siblings by not giving them any, but I had very supportive parents who would never have let me flounder around in the trouble I have dropped my hero or heroine into. This might be the reason that this bothers me when writing. I can't just ignore the parents. So, sorry, but they have to go. Divorce and loosing touch is an option, but then they are still THERE. The obvious thing is kill them off - heartless but convenient - but there are only so many fatal car crashes you can stage - and I know I wince a bit when I am reading and come across yet another one. It's a dangerous business having kids in fiction. Emigration is a possibility and I have used that for a sibling that I carelessly allowed my hero to acquire. Other than that - I've made the parents older - to allow for natural causes, I've staged a fire, a drive by shooting, an accident on an archeological dig ...

Or you can keep them around and make them a problem in themselves. I must say I have a bit of a weakness for books where the family is trying to coerce the protagonist into something and there is an on-going battle. Always good to be able to cheer for the protagonist. 

And if all else fails, there's always that fatal car crash ...