As always, the annual Romantic Novelists’ Association conference is always a blast. This year was no exception. Held at the Harper Adams University in Telford, the talks were great, very inspiring and the company fantastic.
For me, it started the Thursday night after an epic drive to meet my Romaniac girls at Debbie Fuller-White’s house which is approximately 40 minutes from the campus. I eventually arrived at Debbie’s around 11.30pm and the girls, who had held off eating until I got there, had quelled their hunger pains with wine – say no more!
The following morning, we started the day with a lovely walk near to where Debbie lives. I was instantly taken with the beautiful scenery and have made a note to come back with my walking boots to explore this part of the country more.
Conference started on Friday afternoon and continued through the weekend. The talks I attended were very interesting. I would like to have gone to many more but, sadly, with 3 or 4 going on at the same time, you have to pick and choose. The talk given by Waterstones and WH Smith Travel was very insightful. It was interesting to hear about their approaches, vision and restrictions. Talli Roland and Nick Spalding gave another great talk on being both a traditionally signed author and a self-published one. While Phillipa Ashley and Nell Dixon gave some excellent advice on writing series novels.
The gala dinner was fabulous. Catering for 250 RNA members, is not easy task, but they managed it with ease. The food, all sourced locally, was delicious.
I have to mention that Romaniac and friend, Vanessa Savage, came second in the Elizabeth Goudge opening chapter competition with her modern take on a fairy story – Vanessa used Sleeping Beauty as her inspiration for a YA version entitled ‘Hush’. I have actually read it and, although I am biased, it is a great opening chapter; dark and intriguing.
A big thank you to the RNA and everyone involved in making it such a success.
I’ve shared some photos here and put more on my Facebook page.
Suzanne Fortin | Sue Fortin 