On October 8^th, I’m attending the RNA Regency Readers’ Day. www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org  There are a number of interesting talks on offer, together with an opportunity to try out Regency dances, learn a parlour game or two, or go on a guided tour of St James’s, amongst other delights. I then have the thrill of taking afternoon tea at the East India Club in the very room where the Prince Regent was given the news of the battle of Waterloo. I’ve been invited to take part in a special reading to celebrate that momentous day. Reading out loud is something I do and I’m looking forward to it.  

My next big thing is that I’ve been asked to give the Chesterfield Lecture at the Ranger’s House, Blackheath, London on Thursday, October 20th. www.english-heritage.org.uk. I’m thrilled but a bit nervous.

2012 is already filling up with engagements.

I shall be tutoring at the Seventh Writers’ and Artists’ Workshop Weekend at Fishguard, 17^th-19^th February. July will find me at the Writers’ Holiday at Caerleon, 22-27^th July. I’ve also been invited back to teach and be Writer in Residence at Dillington House in August. Not to mention doing something at the Historical Novel Society Conference in London in October.

It’s high time I bought myself a 2012 calendar.

Tresillian

I have, at last, completed my novel Tresillian, an historical romantic adventure involving smuggling in North Cornwall in 1820. My hero, Adam, son of who knows who, makes his fortune and returns to his native Cornwall, where he meets his old enemy, Dr Bennet Retallack, who will stop at nothing to destroy him.

Meanwhile, my heroine, the orphaned Thomasine, becomes a house guest to the formidable Miss Menheniot, chatelaine of Tresillian. It is not long before Thomasine discovers a secret concerning Tresillian which could put her on a collision course with Miss Menheniot …

My problem is that Tresillian comes in at nearly 136,000 words, far too long. I’m frantically pruning. Even though I belong to the ‘writer’s best friend is the delete button’ school of thought, the prospect of losing one’s most cherished passages is a wrench – and one which I’m sure fellow writers will recognize.

Talks and workshops

I have a number of interesting talks and workshops already lined up for this year. On January 24^th, I shall be doing a workshop on Writing that All-important Letter to Agent or Editor, at the South-East Chapter of the RNA.

18^th-20^th February, I shall be at the Writers and Artists’ Workshop Weekend in Fishguard doing the Novel Workshop. I have been there before; it’s a wonderful combination of a welcoming atmosphere and hard-working and inspiring students – I’m looking forward to it. www.writersholiday.net

8^th-10^th July, I am at the RNA conference in Caerleon giving a talk, probably on Plot. I have spoken at various RNA conferences and I always enjoy the lively ambience and the friendliness of my fellow-writers. www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org

7^th-13^th August, finds me at the Summer School at Dillington where I am taking the Novel workshops. I have also been invited to be the Writer in Residence for the week. This is a new venture for me. Dillington House is a fantastic venue and I can hardly wait. www.dillington.com 

Tresillian

I have, at last, completed my novel Tresillian, an historical romantic adventure involving smuggling in North Cornwall in 1820. My hero, Adam, son of who knows who, makes his fortune and returns to his native Cornwall, where he meets his old enemy, Dr Bennet Retallack, who will stop at nothing to destroy him.

Meanwhile, my heroine, the orphaned Thomasine, becomes a house guest to the formidable Miss Menheniot, chatelaine of Tresillian. It is not long before Thomasine discovers a secret concerning Tresillian which could put her on a collision course with Miss Menheniot …

My problem is that Tresillian comes in at nearly 136,000 words, far too long. I’m frantically pruning. Even though I belong to the ‘writer’s best friend is the delete button’ school of thought, the prospect of losing one’s most cherished passages is a wrench – and one which I’m sure fellow writers will recognize.

Talks and workshops

I have a number of interesting talks and workshops already lined up for this year. On January 24^th, I shall be doing a workshop on Writing that All-important Letter to Agent or Editor, at the South-East Chapter of the RNA.

18^th-20^th February, I shall be at the Writers and Artists’ Workshop Weekend in Fishguard doing the Novel Workshop. I have been there before; it’s a wonderful combination of a welcoming atmosphere and hard-working and inspiring students – I’m looking forward to it. www.writersholiday.net

8^th-10^th July, I am at the RNA conference in Caerleon giving a talk, probably on Plot. I have spoken at various RNA conferences and I always enjoy the lively ambience and the friendliness of my fellow-writers. www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org

7^th-13^th August, finds me at the Summer School at Dillington where I am taking the Novel workshops. I have also been invited to be the Writer in Residence for the week. This is a new venture for me. Dillington House is a fantastic venue and I can hardly wait. www.dillington.com 

2010 is definitely the year of the blog. I can even do pictures! I now blog regularly on the 22^nd of the month on www.historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com

So far, I’ve done:

22^nd June, 2010: Jane Austen and First Names – how the system worked  

22^nd May, 2010: ‘A Correspondence between a Mother and her Daughter’ (1817)

22^nd April, 2010: Glamour at Leighton House – an invitation to the re-opening

22^nd March, 2010:  The Ladies’ Pocket Magazine (1824-39) – from my 1831 copy

22^nd February, 2010: Inspired by the Sir John Soane’s Museum

22^nd January, 2010: Inspired by the Small Ads – from The Times in the 1870s

22^nd December, 2009: A Country House Christmas – from my childhood

I also blog for www.buzzaboutbooks.com which is the website for the Islington Children’s Writers’ Group, of which I am a member. Again, I try to blog on the 22^nd – having a set date keeps me up to the mark.

So far, I’ve done:

22^nd June, 2010: The Historical Novel Society Conference

22^nd May, 2010: William, age five, reviews two books

22^nd April, 2010: Dame Trot and her Comical Cats (1850)

22^nd March, 2010: In Praise of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Books

22^nd February, 2010: On reviewing for the Historical Novel Society

The Writers’ Holiday, Caerleon, 25-30 July, 2010

I shall be giving a talk here on Monday, July 26. I did a series of workshops there in 2008 and really enjoyed it: great atmosphere and interesting people to teach. Who could ask for more? I’m looking forward to going there again.

www.writersholiday.net

The Historical Novel Society UK conference 2010

Sunday, 17^th October, Mechanics’ Institute, Manchester

I’ve been invited to do a workshop on The First Chapter – hooking your readers. I’ve done workshops for the conference before and I’m delighted to be asked back. It’s an interesting programme with something for everyone. I’m looking forward to it.

www.historicalnovelsociety.org 

This is the date of my first blog for www.historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com so I decided to do something Christmassy. I’ve written a piece called A Country House Christmas about my childhood at Hall Garth. Some of the divisions in that Upstairs/Downstairs world now strike me as decidedly odd; for example, my brothers and I didn’t even eat Christmas lunch with our parents!

I’m due to blog on the 22^nd of each month, so I’m also wondering what I can do for January. I have an old book called The Ladies’ Pocket Magazine, dated 1831. It has a nicely marbled cover, measures 6 x 3½ inches and is two hundred and fifty pages. It even has some hand-coloured fashion prints – you can see a couple of watercolour smudges on the back of one of the pages! Was it a ‘must have’ book for the fashionable lady of the day?

It could make an interesting blog. We’ll see.

Hurray for Wordwenches

I really enjoyed my foray into the world of blogging. The interview on the front page looked terrific and Nicola tells me it was a success. The questions were intelligent and interesting – what more could one ask?

I am thrilled to have been invited by award-winning author, Nicola Cornick, to do a guest blog on www.wordwenches.com on Friday, November 27^th. The invitation came on the back of my talk at Penrith. Nicola tells me that her fellow wenches will be fascinated to hear about my childhood in a moated manor house. I hope they will but I still find it difficult to take on board that a childhood which was restricted in so many ways (we children usually only saw our mother for an hour in the evening, for example) can, years after, provide good copy that people want to hear about! We’ve done an question and answer interview as a kick off, so I hope you will drop in and leave a comment. 

My talk at the RNA conference in Penrith on how I became an historical novelist (complete with extracts from my childhood novels, written between the ages of ten to sixteen) went splendidly. My ten-year-old self would have been thrilled by the applause for her opening chapter of The Black Arrow, where the heroine Judith meets the devilishly handsome but sinister outlaw, the Black Arrow, in the forest. I was pretty chuffed, too.

   My sixteen-year-old self might have been indignant at her cherished passages in The Sound of the Sea (Daphne du Maurier meets Georgette Heyer) being greeted with gales of laughter but she wouldn’t have been hurt. Everyone in the room had once struggled with similar technical problems and the laughter was both sympathetic and appreciative.

   What was interesting about speaking to an audience of writers was that, whilst they were laughing at the inevitable absurdities in my childhood novels, they also understood what I had been trying to do.

   It all did wonders for my self-esteem!

Every year I try to learn something new. I’ve had the Year of the Moped (scary), the Year of Learning Modern Greek (βοήθεια*), and now 2009, the Year of the Website.

   I’ve learnt a lot. First, a website must please the eye. When I started designing ads for Apollo, the arts magazine, I was taught that ‘space tells’; white spaces are crucial for setting off the text and photos. So, words should be kept to a minimum.   

   And what about my ‘voice’? Could I possibly manage friendly, intelligent, witty and informative with a dollop of the intriguing and a soupçon of sophistication? I had to try.

   Next, what on earth should I say about my peculiar background? In the 21^st century, to come from an Austen-like gentry family is definitely low on street cred. Still, at least it could be my USP.

   Lastly, I am very lucky to have John Hocking designing the website and guiding me through the IT labyrinth. He has the technical know-how, a talent for design and understands what I’m aiming for.

   I hope all my website visitors enjoy the result.

* help!

I’ve just been invited to speak at the Romantic Novelists’ Association conference in Penrith (July 10^th-12^th) on how I became an historical novelist. I’ve decided to be brave and use extracts from my juvenilia (written between the ages of 10 and 17) in my talk. Wasn’t it Mae West who said, ‘Keep a diary in your youth, and it will keep you in your old age.’? My ten-year-old self would be thrilled that extracts from her passionate romance, The Black Arrow, were to be read in public. Whether she’d enjoy those cherished passages being laughed at, is another matter!