Romantic Novelists' Association Conference 2015 - What Reviewers Want Panel

image from the RNA blog

A little while ago, I was kindly invited to join a panel of book industry folk at the Romantic Novelists' Association Conference for 2015 at Queen Mary University, London. I was delighted to be asked and though I knew I'd be anxious and nervous I also knew it would be a wonderful thing for me to try doing and I was so pleased to be given the opportunity that I seized the moment and accepted. The conference took place last week and I was getting ready to go along, sorting out what I needed etc the day before, same mixture of nerves and excitement. 

Come the evening before the day of the panel and I develop a really sore throat :( and the next morning it feels worse and I can sense a full on cold too. Sadly my plans to try and attend more of the day prior to the panel session that afternoon, and my hopes for staying to the dinner that evening, didn't seem manageable anymore, I was feeling worse, and probably only thanks to my husband aka my knight in shining armour whisking me to and from the venue for the panel event that I got there. Thankfully I did make it in time for the lovely main conference welcome by Eileen Ramsay and Jan Jones.

On to the panel itself, our session 'The Reviewers' Panel' was entitled 'What Reviewers Want - top reviewers discuss the growing importance of online reviews and give their tips for review success.' I thought the session was very interesting indeed, it was great to see so many people attending it and I really enjoyed both meeting the other panellists - Elaine Everest who runs the RNA Blog, Peter Crawshaw co-founder and director of the book website Lovereading.com, Anna James (chair of the discussion) the book news editor of The Bookseller magazine and editor of We Love This Book and books editor for Elle UK, Charlie Place reviewer from The Worm Hole blog - and hearing what they had to say as well as having the chance to speak myself. I think sometimes when you don't feel so well physically it can take your mind off your nerves a bit and I think I worried slightly less and concentrated even more on the discussion because of this; anyway, I felt braver than I thought I might have. There were some excellent questions and they prompted some interesting discussion, about how we each choose what to review, good ways to go about approaching reviewers (and not so good ways), building up relationships between authors and reviewers, how where books are reviewed and talked about has changed, the role of bloggers, Amazon reviews, Search Engine Optimisation and information gathering, and more, including how blog posts and helping support authors isn't just about reviews, but also features, book extracts, author interviews and so on. Thank you to Anna for leading the panel discussion and the audience questions so well, involving us all and keeping the session flowing.

I'm so glad I was still able to take part and I wish I had felt better, been able to stay longer and had the courage to speak to a couple more writers - there were a few people I thought I recognised from online photos but I didn't pluck up the courage to speak to anyone in the brief time I was there. It was lovely to see Sheryl Browne up in the audience and thank you for saying hi to me Sheryl, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you properly. 

Thank you to Jan Jones for the kind welcome and for ushering me over to meet Anna and Charlie when I arrived, and a big thank you to Jenny Barden for the very kind words and for such an interesting panel. Thanks to Karen Aldous who had some kind words for all the bloggers out there (echoed by Sheryl) and who came and introduced herself to us at the end of the session. 

It was a brilliant event and I'm very glad to have been part of it and I hope I can be part of something similar again one day. From a (budding) writer's point of view the whole event  and indeed the RNA itself looks like it offers both a lot of inspiration and support plus a lot of fun.

PS As I write this the rubbish lurgy seems to finally be on its way out, yay. I really hope I didn't pass it on to anyone else. 

PPS A nice thing was that my dog had her first trip to London and went for her walkies near where myself and my other half used to both live before we knew each other, bit of romance for you :)

~~~~~

Links...

Romantic Novelists' Association 

Romantic Novelists' Association Blog

Lovereading

The Bookseller

The Worm Hole 

Links to some of my reviews of RNA members' books...

Mandy Baggot - Taking Charge

Jenny Barden - The Lost Duchess

Sheryl Browne - Somebody to Love

Christina Courtenay - Highland Storms 

Christina Courtenay - New England Rocks 

Nell Dixon - Renovation, Renovation, Renovation 

Louise Douglas - The Secrets Between Us  

Linn B Halton - The Quintessential Gemini 

Janice Horton - Reaching for the Stars 

Sophie King - Tales from the Heart

Kate Johnson - The UnTied Kingdom

Sue Moorcroft - Love and Freedom 

Evonne Wareham - Never Coming Home 

Nicky Wells - Sophie's Turn 

Carol Wyer - Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines

(Let me know if I've missed any and I'll happily add them!) Also see my Reviews A-Z page for more links to reviews and author interviews. 

The Tail of the Tiger, the Birds, and the Book - Lin Treadgold - Author guest post

I am pleased to welcome author Lin Treadgold to my blog today as part of her blog tour for Goodbye, Henrietta Street!

The Tail of the Tiger, the Birds, and the Book.  

A guest blog from author Lin Treadgold

I first visited the Isles of Scilly in 1969 and have visited a dozen or more times since then. I became involved with nature conservation in the early 1980’s. Like Pippa in my book Goodbye, Henrietta Street, I wanted to learn about the birds and became enthusiastic about conservation, global warming, and wanted to do more to make a difference.

1986 seemed to be a popular time for birdwatching and nature conservation and as Scilly is such a small place, I didn’t want it to be cliché. I decided the era was ideal for going back in time and reminding everyone how it used to be. Children were encouraged to go pond dipping and nature groups were set up with the Wildlife Trusts and RSPB Young Ornithologists’ Club.

As a driving instructor in those days, I had just finished a mock test for a student and we were having an ice cream to celebrate her success. We sat in the car on the side of the road close to the beach. I happened to glance down the shoreline when I noticed a bird in trouble. It was a guillemot struggling to survive the bites of dog, let loose by its owner. 

‘Excuse me a moment, Carol,’ I said as I looked out of the window. (She knew of my interest in birds) ‘See that bird down there?’

I took off my shoes and dashed down the beach. Much to Carol’s amusement she watched as her driving instructor skipped down the beach in her tights and skirt after the guillemot, which was covered in oil.

I managed to catch the bird and brought it back to the car. I had a box in the boot and we took the bird home to try to clean it. It was from this incident that my life changed. Glad to say Carol passed her driving test the next day. 

I cleaned the guillemot and looked after it for about three months until the feathers had become waterproof again. I took it back to sea and launched it from a cliff back into the water. The feelings I had about this rescue were so wonderful, I eventually began to rescue more birds and became the leader of the Teesside branch of the YOC with thirty children as members. The evenings were spent looking for tawny owls with the children on their backs on the forest floor listening to the sounds of the night. Even now, that story sends a shiver down my spine. We were guests on The Really Wild Show with Chris Packham and had our own spot in another programme where the sound man fell in a ditch during filming! Oh boy! Those were the days. 

Later in the eighties, I spent yet another holiday on Scilly. David Hunt, the resident ornithologist had been attacked by a tiger on one of his tour guiding trips in India. We could hardly believe it when we heard the announcer on Radio 4 that morning. We knew David; his knowledge of birds had inspired us. Sad to say, David was no more. Apparently the last picture he took was of the tiger’s mouth around the camera lense!

The people of Scilly are very special to me. When Will Wagstaff took over from David as resident tour guide for birders, we became friends and my experiences on Scilly and with the birdlife made me want to give something back to the residents for their kindness and hospitality. In recent years the tourist industry has been hit by the global recession and now the helicopter is no longer in service from Penzance to St Mary’s, it is even more important that Scilly remains on the map not only for the reasons of tourism, but because the islands are so fragile and need all the support they can get. I thought my book might help keep the islands in mind and make visitors want to keep visiting.  

I started writing Goodbye, Henrietta Street, to see if I could do it. My characters reflect a time of uncertainty, lack of awareness on sexuality issues and two lonely people who cannot be sure if they will see each other again. The story worked for Safkhet Publishing in their Soul genre as a holiday read and will be launched on 1^st July 2013. The book is available soon in download version and in paperback with a preorder on Amazon, in time for the launch in summer.

I look forward to summer and should you happen to be in Cornwall from 1^st July I will be signing my novel at The Edge of the World bookshop in Penzance on 2^nd July and for three weeks all over the five islands on Scilly until 27 July.  Hope to see you there.  Please call at the Scilly tourist office for further information. 

About the novel

Pippa Lambton's life has fallen apart and husband Rob is ready to give up their marriage. Three years before, their son Daniel passed away; he was the glue that held them together. Now, Pippa's left home for the beautiful Isles of Scilly, for a chance to rediscover herself. She meets handsome Norwegian nature warden, Sven Jorgensen, who teaches her about the island wildlife.

Pippa finds herself laughing again. She is aware of Rob's dilemma over his childhood adoption and their turbulent relationship, but after an awkward kiss with Sven, she is torn about how to proceed. There is much to resolve, and leaving Rob could prove a disaster. Is her affair with Sven a holiday fling? How can she walk away from Rob after losing Daniel? Should she leave her home in Yorkshire for Sven and his island paradise? Find out more in Goodbye, Henrietta Street.

About the author

Lin Treadgold is a new author and enthusiastic writer.  She changed her vocation as a driving instructor and tutors of instructors in 2001 and moved with her husband’s job to The Netherlands. To learn more about Lin go to www.itslinhere.wordpress.com
or  http://www.safkhetpublishing.com/authors/Lin_Treadgold.htm

Lin is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.