Conference Season

It's hard to believe that a week ago I was in Lancaster at the 2019 Conference of the Romantic Novelists Association.

Apart from the rain while travelling to the venue at Lancaster University (a huge site) the whole weekend was warm and sunny.

The accommodation block I was in overlooked a green area of grass, bushes and trees. In fact it wasn't just bird life that lurked. Waking up early on the Saturday morning it was lovely to look out of the window, just after six a.m, to see not only birds loitering but a couple of rabbits too. Then returning to my block after dinner late Saturday night I saw and heard a hedgehog.

View toward the
motorway...

This year it was quite difficult to choose which sessions I wanted to attend as there were so many great options. So I chose what interested me or would be the most helpful for the stage I'm at now.

After their triumph last year it was good to see Virginia Heath and Liam Living back to help us 'Keep that Sexy Momentum Going'.

I should have been in the get-together for the New Writers Scheme at that time, but I'd enjoyed and learnt so much last year from Virginia and Liam's session that I didn't want to miss this one.

With only an hour available some topics couldn't go into much depth, but with brains buzzing from everything, it was probably enough.

I definitely found the cover design tips from Stuart Bache, helpful. I now know what I need to consider and what to avoid!

But there was lots more.

The Gala Dinner on the Saturday night is an opportunity to dress up if you want to. And of course I did- I don't get many opportunities to do so...

Dressed for dinner...
(thanks to Georgia Hill
for taking the picture)

Finally I got to meet the lovely Rosemary Gemmell after having known her through her blog for some time.

That's the problem with conferences, lots of people  you know but may only see as they rush past in the opposite direction or across the crowded room at lunchtime.

There was lots of walking between the accommodation and the hub where the sessions took place. Lots of stairs to climb- no lift. Rather a considerable amount of alcohol consumed (my lips are sealed) and plenty of water during the day.

The main hub had a device that enabled you to refill your bottle with cold water, while a display told you how many plastic bottles had been avoided.

Every year there's a goody bag (on arrival) and among the contents a paperback or two.

Reading matter...

 I'm glad I brought a backpack with me as I was able to carry my big notebook, jacket and anything else I didn't have room for in my handbag...

As before, I came home buzzing with insights and determined to finish my novel, then start the next one.

I hope to go to next year's conference...

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since I was last able to post to the blog, so apologies for the silence.

As friends on Facebook and Twitter will know, I changed broadband provider and upgraded to fibre, but sadly my 4th June changeover didn't go to plan- basically everything that could go wrong did...

It's only when you don't have broadband you realise how much you depend on it for both major and seemingly inconsequential items. That's when you discover how even those little things are so much easier and quicker with it.

Need to quickly check whether a word was being used around 1800? And did it mean then what it means now? It's so much quicker with a few clicks of the keyboard to check https://www.etymonline.com/ -do have a look at it.

My bookshelf reference library got heavy use...

Fortunately after two weeks offline we were introduced to a little Vodaphone mobile wifi device (I'm not being paid to promote it) when the OH and I were out looking for a replacement tumble-drier (that finally died on us after twenty years, around the same time).

It did mean all the family could access the Internet while we were waiting, but we needed to be careful to keep enough data for the month, just in case the fibre broadband took longer- it did.

Across my various email accounts I deleted nearly 2,000 emails unread, only keeping a few in each account that needed action. I really must cull some of those mailing lists and newsletters.

Eventually the only option was for the new provider to completely start again, which meant we temporarily lost our home phone number for about five days until our supplier reclaimed it. (I had visions of my number ending up somewhere else and the poor recipient being rung up about the writers' club, if they couldn't get our number back.) Fortunately that went okay and the broadband order could then go through.

Last Tuesday- five weeks after we should have originally changed over- we finally had fibre broadband live.

With only a few days before I was off to the RNA Conference in Lancaster I started on all those items that would have been a heavy data drain- still have a few to catch up with.

It certainly makes you realise how much of everyday life now revolves around having a broadband connection...

Next post it's my RNA Conference experience...


Image from Pixabay.com

Writing and Gardening - A Healthy Combination...

The novel continues to progress. I hit a slight blip in the last chapter but I worked out what it was missing and am now onto the next chapter.

I've booked to go to this year's RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) Conference in July.

This year I've been trying to reduce the stresses that get to me. After a very bad day a few weeks ago my distress was eventually eased with a quiet walk by the nearby stream absorbing the quiet and the sights and sounds of nature, while the trees muffled the background noise of constant traffic.

This year I've also decided to grow more in the garden and in tubs on the patio. We've always grown various types of fruit: rhubarb, gooseberries, blackberries  and red currants.

Gooseberries
and Lemon Balm...

I used to have a small greenhouse but that had to go to be replaced by a shed, so space for sowing seeds became non-existent.

Over the warm Easter weekend I began the sowing and planting, Lettuce that you can cut leaves off and leave to regrow, Marigolds and Sage. I'm also trying to grow potatoes as a first time experiment.

I recently bought a Lupin plant locally and transplanted it into a bigger pot. It has a couple of flowers that are opening and providing a burst of colour.

Lupins...

The bees seem to like the Lupins...

After an unexpected passing visit from a Pheasant back in April we've become used to seeing and hearing the sounds of Mallard ducks.

While I was outside taking these photos I could hear the quaking and thought a duck was in the garden next door.

Then I saw the female duck tucking into the bird food under our hawthorn tree and quietly began to move back toward the house.

When I stood up and looked over the top of the clothesline full of drying towels I saw the male duck watching me.

I quickly took a picture and a moment later he took off and joined his mate at the food stop.

Ready for Take-Off...

It's fun to look out the kitchen window and see the ducks waddling around or settled down to a synchronised snooze, each with their beak tucked under a wing.

Some days they lurk for hours, others it's a swift take-away visit.

With the bench in the shade of the old rose bush it's relaxing to sit outside with a book and a mug of coffee even for a short time before returning to normality.

Do you get any unexpected wildlife visiting you?

To Prologue or Not...

After taking a break over Easter to start sowing vegetable and herb seeds in pots and tubs, I'm getting back to the novel.

Moving to Scrivener was definitely a good move, I can concentrate much better using it.

I'm working my way through writing the new scenes (missing from draft one) and am now finding a few of those original scenes in draft one have changed, moved or are no longer needed.

I even have a scene that I thought I'd put in the first draft but hadn't!

On Friday I got together with a couple of fellow romance writers and shared my concerns over how I deal with a particular piece of important information, currently in the second chapter, that still comes over as an info-dump.

Working it out...

While a small part can be slipped in naturally in conversation (where it is now) I need to remove the rest but find some way to show the really important part. As the rewriting has progressed it still can't be worked in elsewhere.

(It has to be dealt with in the third draft...)

So I decided the only way to overcome the problem was to create a short prologue.

Prologues are like Marmite, love them or hate them.

I don't mind them if they are used for a valid reason, but did wonder if my decision for it was reason enough.

So I did some Googling and came across two articles that discuss the do's and don'ts of prologues. First there's a post from the Writers Digest and the Writers & Artists website...

Having had a couple more days to consider the possibilities, I'm sure it's right for the story, as the consequences of that moment will lead to incidents that bring my hero and heroine into contact and eventually together...

By the time I'm ready to go back and finalise the first couple of chapters (I'm not totally happy with them yet) I'll be ready to write that prologue.

Now over to you; what's your view on prologues?





Image by Geralt from Pixabay.com

Multi-tasking...

Are you a multi-tasking writer?

Although I'm concentrating on my novel at the moment I'm thinking about two other projects in-between all the home-life.

More than one
direction...

I've started thinking about a research trip sometime in 2020 for the next novel in the queue, whilst a scene idea for another novel (further down the queue) popped into my mind while I was out in the sunshine.

Maybe it's Spring that has been the inspiration...

Having got over the recent bug that stuffed up my sinuses and then moved to a bad cough, I've also been running errands for a close relative who's recovering from major surgery so I've not been at the work in progress as much as usual, so that's probably why my brain has allowed me to think about two of my other future projects.

I found this article, How Many Books Should You Write at Once? by author Debbie Young, interesting. There was such variation in the answers each writer gave her.

A couple of years ago I did try doing two novel drafts but it didn't work for me; I needed to concentrate on one at a time. But I did then complete two first drafts one after the other...

I am a slow writer, but Scrivener has definitely helped me make better progress now I'm used to it. I know where I'm going with the current rewriting and new scenes so I'm not stopping and starting when I'm writing, like I used to.

Thinking time.
I've discovered I need to do this at the end of the writing day before the next new scene is written- which surprised me as I thought I had it worked out in my head already, but it does help.

(It may just be this particular story, but I'll be prepared and allow extra time for it with the next book.)

So do you write more than one book at a time? Or a mix of books, short stories, articles or other writing?




image from Pixabay.com

How Much Will You Pay for an E-book?

Now I know that authors who are traditionally published have no say on what price the e-book of their novels is sold at. Of course there will be price promotions where readers can buy the e-book for 99 pence for a limited time.

Whereas with self-published e-books the price can vary, though I've heard £2.99 is the ideal price- maybe is is and maybe it isn't?

Of course there's always a selection at 99 pence; but just because they're a low price that doesn't necessarily reflect badly on their quality.

As writers we know the same amount of work has gone into the writing and production of the book whether it's on paper or a digital file.

But as a reader, what price is too high for you to buy an e-book?

Unlike a print book, an e-book- a digital file (while it can last for as long as the technology exists to read it and is available) is more like a rental with no defined end date.

Print or E-book
for the cost?

Plus e-books prices include VAT.

The provider can modify or remove an e-book, likewise if
an online provider has closed a person's account for some reason, the reader will lose access to those e-books they've purchased.

(So if you've got a favourite book it's always a good idea to get a print copy too.)

So back to price.

I recently saw a new  release by one of my many favourite writers (a hybrid author). I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the story having read the blurb, so downloaded the sample. At this point the price was still £3+.

It was a couple of days before I read the sample and decided okay, it has potential I'll buy the e-book. But when I went to Amazon the new release price had gone up to £5+ and I decided no it wasn't worth it at that price...

That response surprised me.

It may just be that I wasn't so intrigued that I just had to read more instantly. Perhaps the author has just lost their edge, that sparkle that would have once guaranteed an immediate buy.

This time it was the price that made the difference between me saying okay I'll buy it- even if it seems not to be as good as previous novels. To saying no, it's not worth it at that price. I probably would have bought it at the £3+ price.

There are a few e-books that I've bought at the £5+ range, but generally I'd opt for a paperback version, as sometimes it can be better value.

I realised that for me, quality + price = value = buy.

So a couple of questions to you as a reader, rather than a writer.

Do you have a maximum price bar when buying e-books?

Or does it depend upon the particular e-book, author or some other combination?

I'm looking forward to reading your responses...




Image from Pixabay.com