Progress Report on Save The Last Dance For Me

After months of a fairly radical rewrite of certain parts of Save The Last Dance For Me, I have finally printed off all 323 pages (91,000+ words) and sent them to the New Writers Scheme of the Romantic Novelists' Association. This is the third time I have had it critiqued and, as such, will be the last. I wait with baited breath the ensuing report.

One of the changes I made was to the title. It is now called A Suitable Young Man. Which of course my hero is definitely not! This is because he has a rival who is definitely A Suitable Young Man.  As the novel is set in the mid 1950s when mothers were definitely keen on their daughters finding and settling down with A Suitable Young Man. Back then, if you weren't courting seriously or engaged to be married, you were considered to be 'On The Shelf'. Sounds archaic now, but that was how it was then. 

I'm now looking forward to getting back to my follow-on novel, Bittersweet Fellowship. It will be good getting to know my characters again.

Update on Save The Last Dance For Me

Phew! Good news, I have finally finished the latest rewrite/edit on Save The Last Dance For Me. It has been quite an effort mainly because, as I reported last year, I needed to rewrite the time line and add quite a few new scenes. My next step is to rewrite the synopsis to fit in with the new timeline. Synopses are not the easiest things to write. One has to write in the present tense and somehow encapsulate the essence of the plot without giving too much away. 

Once I have done that, I will be sending it off (for the last time) to the New Writers' Scheme of the Romantic Novelists' Association in order for this latest version to be assessed by one of their readers. It will be an interesting wait to see if this latest rewrite works. Watch this space ...

Other news on the RNA front is that I have once again booked for the Conference to take place in July at the University of Sheffield. I'm looking forward to that, especially as it's practically on my doorstep this year, Sheffield only being about 15 miles away from where I live.

Update on novel rewrite

Way back in June, I posted about receiving a critique of my novel Save The Last Dance For Me from the Romantic Novelists Association under their New Writers Scheme. I mentioned that on the whole the critique was most encouraging but that the reader had suggested some fairly major modifications which would have thrown my carefully managed timeline. At that time, I didn't feel I could face up to yet another rewrite.

Now, though, after an interval of several months during which time, for various reasons, I didn't get much writing done at all, I've taken another look at the critique. I've listed all the modifications on a separate piece of paper and suddenly could see the sense in it. The upshot of this has been that I have started the rewrite and have so far written three new chapters and amended several others to fit in with the revised timeline. And it works! 

Any novice writer will tell you, and possibly some published writers, that at times one wonders if it is worthwhile carrying on and whether you really have got what it takes to succeed. I'm so thrilled that I decided to take another look at the critique and now feel that I have got my writing voice back in shape.

RNA Birmingham Chapter Meeting

Last Saturday, I travelled to Birmingham to meet up with the Birmingham Chapter Meeting of the Romantic Novelists' Association. It's the first time I've been for over a year and I really enjoyed it. With ten of us, it was difficult to join in the conversation at the other end of the table but somehow we managed between us. The lunch wasn't without incident as I knocked my milk jug all over my tray and had to mop up what I could with napkins. Fortunately, my sandwiches were well wrapped and didn't suffer any damage. Then someone else knocked over a bottle (non alcoholic!) which soaked the trousers of our co-ordinator. More napkins needed to soak up the contents of the bottle.

I haven't been doing any writing for the past month or so having a lingering virus, plus I've been compiling a porfolio of the work I've been doing over the summer for a short course on 'Historic Landscapes' . Thankfully, that's now almost complete and hopefully I can get back to some productive writing. I'll hopefully have something more to add next time I post.

Romantic Writers' Conference 2012

I had a fantastic time at the Romantic Novelists Association Conference 2012 in Penrith, Cumbria, absorbing myself in the atmosphere, meeting published an unpublished authors, attending various workshops, chatting about writing, meeting and making new friends. I'm a moderate wine drinker but I was amused at the copious amounts of wine being drunk. Apparently the 'kitchen parties', where members of the shared accommodation meet late at night, drink even more wine, are legendary. Say it almost in a whisper for to admit it would be met with looks of horror, but there were only three of us sharing a student house and we were all most circumspect. Suited me though. Perhaps it's my age.

The Conference is noted too for its display of shoes, the more exotic the better.  Lamentably, I can no longer wear high heels so in that respect I am a disgrace to the Association. Despite a nightmarish trip up to Penrith (necessitating three changes), I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I came away so inspired, encouraged and motivated, all fired up to get back to the writing. What happened? I came down with a nasty virus that has laid me low for the past two weeks.

Just to cheer myself up, I'm posting a pic of our table at the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening. The woman on the right of the picture is Marilyn Rodwell, a friend from the Birmingham Chapter of the RNA. Thanks for a great time, Marilyn. That's me in the middle.