What a Week!!!

Is writing the second blog as difficult as writing the second book? It might have been except that this past week has been exceptional. I spent the whole of Tuesday with my laptop – at two different venues. A glutton for punishment or what! I may have been driven by the fact that I knew Wednesday was going to be extraordinary and I wasn’t disappointed. It kind of went like this:

I was invited to join the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) committee for the pre-Winter Party lunch. I felt extremely privileged and would again like to thank Pia Fenton and her committee for asking me to join them. Having eaten far too much, helped down by some rather nice red wine, I absented myself while they held their scheduled meeting. How any of them could have concentrated on work after such a lovely meal I am at a loss to understand.

I was easy to 'spot'

With plenty of time to get to a scheduled meeting with my agent, Lisa Eveleigh, I walked along Piccadilly (the weather was lovely) and side-stepped into Fortnum and Mason for a quick browse, as you do. Once in Dean Street Lisa and I had rather a lot to talk about and, while she daintily sipped her tea, all I could manage was some water. I blame the lunch. Amongst other things we discussed the events of the coming Thursday – about which more below.

After parting company I retraced my steps to the Royal Overseas League and settled down behind the reception desk with Sally Quilford (party organiser) and Elaine Everest (RNA committee member with whom I co-run the RNA Blog). This turned out to be an inspired move as, while handing out name badges and lanyards, I had ample opportunity to meet the majority of the guests and spoke to many of them from the comfort of my chair.

Thursday – launch day as opposed to lunch day. Official publication date for Safe Harbour (shameless promotion here). Full on, exciting and an affirmation of what a wonderful group of people the writing community is.

To complete my day my poppy from the Tower of London arrived. What a wonderful idea this was and I now have a perfect reminder for those times when, as we all do, I get things a little out of perspective. 

 

Friday – rest…come on, give me a break here.

Weekend – belated girls’ lunch birthday celebration.

Enough about me. Next week my first guest on the blog will be Elaine Everest to tell us about what a whirlwind year she has had. No, I’m not giving anything away now. You’ll have to pop in again next Monday if you want to know!

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my blog.

For those who don’t know me allow me to tell you a little about myself. I’m a bit of a late starter when it comes to writing. After intensive study I took up my metaphorical pen as a bit of light relief. An initial ten week course had me hooked, though in fact I was hooked by that first session. I spent the first few years learning and honing my craft – not that writers as a breed are ever satisfied with the finished product – before selling my first short story, followed by another (to date) twenty-five. In addition my attempt at sci-fi won me a place in the anthology Fusion while another gritty story appears in the students of The Write Place anthology Things that go Bump in the Night. Most of my work though comes under the genre of Contemporary Romance.

I have been part of a weekly writing group going by the name of Dingbats for some time but three years ago I joined The Write Place Creative Writing School (TWP) in Dartford and it was this that acted as a springboard and set me on my career path. Having become as comfortable as one can be, this one anyway, with short stories, I expanded my horizons and embarked on novels. I received a huge amount of help from the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) New Writers’ Scheme and my first book was taken up and has just been published any under the title Safe Harbour.

I was extremely lucky to have an industry one2one at the RNA Conference this summer which resulted in me securing an agent when Lisa Eveleigh of the Richford Becklow Literary Agency subsequently agreed to represent me.

While not purporting to be as wise as my three friends at the top of this page, I’m doing okay!

This is not my first blogging experience as I have for the past year been part of a five hander, WriteMindsWritePlace Blog, as well as managing the RNA Blog with Elaine Everest. Now feels the right time to dive in and launch my own blog…wondering here if that’s a mixed metaphor. Please feel free to pop in and join me any time. It will be a pleasure to see you.