I've been out and about again - this time to the Romance Writing Festival in Bournemouth. I had a very good time and caught up with many old friends who I have not see for a long time.
Bournemouth is quite a long way from Wales - and I have to say that I had the train journey from hell to get there. Delayed trains, cancelled trains, trains that terminated before the intended end of their journey. It seem like the rail networks and their passengers were having a bit of a collective melt down. The result was that I arrived two hours late, in the dark. Not a good idea for a place I have not visited for maybe fifty odd years? My Premier Inn was only across the road from the festival venue though - the large and impressive Royal Bath Hotel - so even without the chance to explore, I could not get lost.
On Saturday the day began early and moved fast - panels on crossing genres, a sense of place, and finding your audience tumbled over each other, I attended the panel on writing about sadness - what I would call a tear jerker - out of curiosity. I know they are very popular - readers apparently love a good cry - but I could never write one. I am happy to murder any number of people in the course of a book, but that is not my genre. It was fascinating to hear from Lola Jaye, Emma Claire Wilson and Sarra Manning on how they approached it, and the effect it had as part of a romance - or romantic writing.
The event I was most looking forward to - and it did not disappoint - was the Slay the Slush Pile panel when Emily Ruston, Ellah Mwale and Sara-Jade Virtue as agents and editors, reacted to unpublished manuscripts, under the watchful eye of Janet Gover. Thirty five brave souls submitted 500 words of a manuscript to be read aloud anonymously to the panel, who then indicated how far into the reading they would go, before making a decision to reject or read on. Thy got through seventeen and none got as far as the whole 500 words. Some were rejected almost straight away - because the topic was considered too hard a sell or because there was some flaw in the presentation. Alternatively some were accepted for a further read almost straight away. Opinions differed - although there was one script set in WWII that everyone liked - it appears that WWII is 'hot' right now. It was an illuminating event. The take-aways were that opinions did differ, so your manuscript has to cross the right desk at the right time, and that the first few lines of your MS are hyper important. So - polish, polish, polish and do research to find out who might be the best fit for what you write.
In the evening there was a reception where the Mayor of Bournemouth presented achievement awards to Katie Forde who could not be there, and Milly Johnson who could and was visibly thrilled and touched by the acknowledgement. I spent some happy time catching up with friends. It was a fabulous day.
Next day - Sunday - it rained torrentially. As I had forgotten my umbrella exploring the town and the sea front was out, but I spent a happy day immersed in the delights of the Russel Cotes Museum and Gallery. But that is a story for another post.
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