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Novelists Association Conference 2012 in Penrith, Cumbria, absorbing myself in the atmosphere, meeting published an unpublished authors, attending various workshops, chatting about writing, meeting and making new friends.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.
Last week, our small book club (we only have five members!) went on our summer outing to the D H Lawrence Heritage Centre and Birthplace Museum in Eastwood, Nottingham. Despite all the rain we've had here in the UK this summer, last Thursday was a rare warm and occasionally sunny day so we were well blessed. Personally, I'm not that keen on D H Lawrence but it was interesting so see how a miner's son, born in relative poverty, became such an esteemed writer. Many of his books, such as 'Lady Chatterley's Lover,' were banned for being too obscene. Reading extracts from the book now, it all seems rather tame, but I remember the furore at the time the book went to trial under obscenity laws. The judge apparently asked the question, 'Would you want your wife to read this? Or your servants?' Even then in 1960, there weren't that many servants around! I wonder what that judge would make of the current best seller, 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'
After a period of only about three weeks, I have received my critique of my novel, Save The Last Dance For Me, from the New Writers' Scheme of the Romantic Novelists' Association and it's left me all fired up with hope and enthusiasm! The reader, who remains anonymous for obvious reasons, has given me an encouraging and complimentary report, all five pages of it. Understandably, I was thrilled by this. Of course, there's a drawback. She has suggested changing the plot as my original was 'cliched.' To follow her suggestions would throw my carefully planned timings out. So, as they say in Lancashire, 'I'm going to give it a coat of looking at.' Still, there's light at the end of this particular tunnel.
I read in a magazine this weekend that there is a new musical out based on songs from the early 1960s. Guess what it's going to be called! Yup! Save The Last Dance For Me. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing ....
Many apologies for not blogging for such a long time. I had been busy editing my latest rewrite (seven so far plus numerous edits) of Save The Last Dance For Me in preparation for resubmitting to the New Writers' Scheme of the Romantic Novelists' Association. On 18th May, with huge sighs of relief, I sent off the finished manuscript and am now awaiting a reader's critique. I fully intended taking a break of a few days before tackling anything else but a short holiday in the Cotswolds and catching up with garden tasks and, most recently, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, means that I have not yet done so. But, back to normal now, and I am resolved to start again tomorrow!
A few weeks ago, in the May issue of Writing Magazine, I read an article by Adrian Magson on what it takes to be a writer. One of the things he said really struck a chord with me and, I guess, with many of my fellow writers. I quote: "A hunger to write. Not to be confused with an obsession for compiling lists, but that innate passion to be a writer, in whatever form. This usually manifests itself early in life, leading to a relentless haunting of bookshops and libraries, or a deep attraction to writing materials. And writing, of course. Goes without saying." Sums me up in a paragraph! I can't resist bookshops (especially second-hand ones), libraries (all those books promising a good read) and stationery shops (to buy notebooks, of course!).
I've been asked to write a short review of one of Elizabeth Chadwick's novels, 'Lady of the English' for a national geneaolgy magazine, Your Family Tree. I'm chuffed to bits about this because it gives me the opportunity to promote Elizabeth to a wider audience. Not that I think she needs any help from me!
Elizabeth is the queen of the medieval novel and writes comprehensively of how people lived their lives at that time. Originally, she wrote novels about fictional people but now she bases her books on real people who lived at the time. 'Lady of the English' is about the Empress Matilda, widow of the Emperor of Germany, daughter of Henry I, mother of Henry II and who is famous for the civil war between her and her cousin King Stephen for the crown of England. She is currently writing the first in a trilogy about Eleanor of Aquitaine.
I'm half way through yet another rewrite of Save The Last Dance For Me. A Facebook friend and follower of this blog pointed me in the direction of some excellent notes on self-editing and it has been a great help. I'm finding I keep referring to them to remind myself what I'm striving for. I've been working on a pivotal chapter today and although it's taken me a few hours to do, I feel reasonably happy with it.
I had good news in my search for any Buttolph cousins in that I was contacted by someone who is descended from the brother of my great-grandmother, Anna Maria Buttolph. She has traced their ancestry back as far as 1640! That's great going, only possible because the family stayed in more or less the same area for the whole of that time.
The quarterly journal of the Norfolk Family History Society arrived today. It included an article on an aspect of my family history that had been perplexing me for a long time, that of not being able to find a birth certificate for my maternal grandfather, for without that, I was unable to ascertain who my great-grandmother was. I wrote the article in the hope that some descendants of what was quite a large family, the Buttolphs in Wymondham, will still be around. That would be nice.
That was the good news. The bad news is that Family History Monthly, who were to print an article of mine in the May issue is to close down. This is such a shame as in my opinion it was one of the best family history magazines around and excellent value for money.
The other good news is that I've nearly finished amending Save The Last Dance For Me. It still needs a bit more work but I shall keep trying. Ever the optimist!
