Going Wild In The Country— The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017

It's taken me two weeks to recover enough to write about this—yes, it was that good.

Around two hundred and fifty members of the Romantic Novelists' Association converged on the Harper-Adams University in Shropshire for three days of talks, workshops, networking and fun.

There were sessions on the role of an agent and how to write the perfect submission letter, using images from embroidery and tapestry as inspiration for historical fiction, how to make social media work for you, how to revive your backlist, how technology can help writers and many more. The Gala dinner was the social event of my year so far, and the bookstalls were packed with new titles.

I'll be posting notes here about some of the sessions I attended, so subscribe to my blog by clicking top right to catch them.

The food (one of my favourite areas of study!) during the conference was fantastic. Harper-Adams are used to catering for healthy, country appetites so we began the day with pastries, toast and toppings, a choice of about a dozen cooked items from bacon and eggs to hash browns, plus porridge, fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereals. The lunches and evening meals were all great too. The amazing gala dinner on Saturday Evening of Beef Wellington was particularly good.

The Amazing Raffle-Prize Quilt 

There was only one disappointment. Two members of my local chapter of the RNA, Joanna Maitland and Pia Fenton, were each offering sessions. They were scheduled at the same time, but in different lecture theatres. Joanna, along with Sophie Weston, showed how to add sparkle to your writing. Pia and Anna Belfrage talked about how to make Timeslip work. I wanted to go to both talks, not only to support Marcher Chapter members but because I was interested in both topics. In the end I had to toss a coin because I genuinely couldn't choose. The Sparkle session won! Luckily, Pia offered to give us a quick run-down of her session at a future Marcher meeting.

After hours, the campus came alive with people socialising at the students' bar, The Welly Boot. It's a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones. I'm very shy and find socialising difficult, so I spent every evening in my room writing up my notes. I'd been a member of the RNA for years before Ann Ankers persuaded me to attend my first conference, which I did on a single-day ticket in 2014.  I was hooked from the minute I arrived. Everyone is so friendly. For every conference since then I've been one of the first to arrive, and almost the last to leave!

I enjoyed every minute of The Romantic Novelists' Association's Conference 2017, and got 110% out of my attendance.  There's no doubt I could have made it 200%, if I'd spent more time socialising after hours.

I've made a resolution ahead of #RNAconf2018 to join in more of the fun, and spend less time writing up my notes. Why not join the RNA, then you can hold me to my resolution!