http://www.elizabethhawksley.com en-gb elizabethhawksley.com 2011-9-28T00:00:00Z elizabethhawksley.com http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#103439 On October 8th Im 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 Jamess 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. Ive been invited to take part in a special reading to celebrate that momentous day. Reading out loud is something I do and Im looking forward to it. My next big thing is that Ive been asked to give the Chesterfield Lecture at the Rangers House Blackheath London on Thursday October 20th. www.englishheritage.org.uk. Im 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 17th19th February. July will find me at the Writers Holiday at ... 2011-9-28 09:34:55 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#84723 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 136000 words far too long. Im frantically pruning. Even though I belong to the writers best friend is the delete button school of thought the prospect of losing ones most cherished passages is a wrench and one which Im sure fellow writers will recognize. Talks and workshops I have a number of interesting talks and workshops already lined up for this yea... 2011-1-16 15:44:22 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#84722 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 136000 words far too long. Im frantically pruning. Even though I belong to the writers best friend is the delete button school of thought the prospect of losing ones most cherished passages is a wrench and one which Im sure fellow writers will recognize. Talks and workshops I have a number of interesting talks and workshops already lined up for this year. On ... 2011-1-16 15:36:30 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#68716 2010 is definitely the year of the blog. I can even do pictures I now blog regularly on the 22nd of the month on www.historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com So far Ive done 22nd June 2010 Jane Austen and First Names how the system worked 22nd May 2010 A Correspondence between a Mother and her Daughter 1817 22nd April 2010 Glamour at Leighton House an invitation to the reopening 22nd March 2010 The Ladies Pocket Magazine 182439 from my 1831 copy 22nd February 2010 Inspired by the Sir John Soanes Museum 22nd January 2010 Inspired by the Small Ads from The Times in the 1870s 22nd December 2009 A Country House Christmas from my childhood I also blog for www.buzzaboutbooks.com which is the website for the Islington Childrens Writers Group of which I am a member. Again I try to blog on the 22nd having a set date keeps me up to the mark. So far Ive done 22nd June 2010 The Historical Novel Society Conference 22nd May 2010 William age five reviews two books 22nd Apr... 2010-6-24 10:26:31 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#54861 This is the date of my first blog for www.historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com so I decided to do something Christmassy. Ive written a piece called A Country House Christmas about my childhood at Hall Garth. Some of the divisions in that UpstairsDownstairs world now strike me as decidedly odd for example my brothers and I didnt even eat Christmas lunch with our parents Im due to blog on the 22nd of each month so Im 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 3189 inches and is two hundred and fifty pages. It even has some handcoloured 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. Well see. 2009-12-21 14:01:53 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#53740 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 2009-12-1 13:03:04 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#53319 I am thrilled to have been invited by awardwinning author Nicola Cornick to do a guest blog on www.wordwenches.com on Friday November 27th. 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 Weve done an question and answer interview as a kick off so I hope you will drop in and leave a comment. 2009-11-24 15:48:30 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#45119 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 tenyearold 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 sixteenyearold 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 wouldnt 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... 2009-7-18 10:06:45 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#39211 Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostyleparent msopaddingalt0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt msoparamargin0cm msoparamarginbottom.0001pt msopaginationwidoworphan fontsize10.0pt fontfamilyTimes New Roman Every year I try to learn something new. Ive had the Year of the Moped scary the Year of Learning Modern Greek 946959942952949953945 and now 2009 the Year of the Website. Ive 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 soup231on of sophist... 2009-4-1 17:39:20 http://www.elizabethhawksley.com/page5.htm#39210 Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostyleparent msopaddingalt0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt msoparamargin0cm msoparamarginbottom.0001pt msopaginationwidoworphan fontsize10.0pt fontfamilyTimes New Roman Ive just been invited to speak at the Romantic Novelists Association conference in Penrith July 10th12th on how I became an historical novelist. Ive decided to be brave and use extracts from my juvenilia written between the ages of 10 and 17 in my talk. Wasnt it Mae West who said Keep a diary in your youth and it will keep you in your old age. My tenyearold self would be thrilled that extracts from her passionate romance The Black Arrow were to be read in public. Whether shed enjoy those cherished passages being laughed at is another matter 2009-3-4 17:36:06