<p><span style="font-size: small;">The WIP was a first chapter for the Mills and Boon New Voices comp and that is now finished and posted on the site. Already I can see how it could be better, so I may not look at the text again - only at the wee roses detailing reader approval. If anyone had time, I'd much appreciate a visit and a little fertiliser, please.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">My entry is Beloved Bluestocking and can be found by going to:</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.romanceisnotdead.com">http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/entries/334-beloved-bluestocking</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: arial;">I had a truly memorable time at the 50th Anniversary conference of the Romantic Novelists' Association&nbsp;(RNA). It was held in the wonderful buildings along the Thames now used as the University of Greenwich, in a heat wave.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: arial;">&nbsp;Walking where Pepys walked, on the ground where the palace that was Henry viii's birthplace used to stand and eating in the Trafalgar Gate where Dickens used to eat, was all heady stuff. A girl might have had her head turned but the sessions were all business - with a lot of laughter and some chat about shoes (it's a girl thing) thrown in to the mix.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;Others would choose other sessions as their favoutites but I was particularly taken by Sarah Duncan's "Mind the Gap" in which she set out her pointers for creating that 'must-buy' ms. Tea drinking is banned from her ideal book and the character who, should you phone them, is that person who makes your heart sink. Her mantra is "positive people planning with purpose".</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp; Katie Fforde presided with her usual warmth and humour and the conference organisation, presided over by Jan and Roger, was unbelievably good.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I had secured a ten-minute slot with an editor from one of the publshing houses I'm targetting and that was so useful. Networking opportunities are the really big plus about attending conferences.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;">Alistair Moffat was the opening speaker of EWC's writing club year. I'm always delighted by the generosity of professionals who will drive miles, from rural Hawick in Alistair's case,&nbsp;to deliver a talk to us. It must be an intrusion into some very busy lives.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">He spoke about his most recent book, The Faded Map, and intrigued many of the audience by his erudition, which he wears lightly, his accent when quoting ancient Welsh placenames, and his output, which is prolific. Alistair guided us towards the land itself as a way of reading the history that isn't in writing. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">My own output is paltry by comparison. This week, I've written a 500 word story for the Flash fiction comp but not posted it as I'm really not sure it makes the grade. A poem which I did enter into a comp and re-written the second of the 3 chaps I've been invited to send in to an editor. Trouble with that is the chaos it causes with the rest of the novel. You've all been there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">My entry in the new voices comp, Beloved Bluestocking, didn't make the top ten. Thanks to those who stopped by particularly if you voted. Really disappointed and not consoled by the huge entry - 824. Why do we manage to convince ourselves this is the one?</span></p>