My First RNA Conference and an Award
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Successes on August 15, 2023
I’ve just returned from my first ever Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) Conference and my head is still in a complete whirl. I feel enthused, energised, educated and exhausted!
It was a hurricane of informative sessions on How to be Happy as a Writer, How to Write 19K Words in a Weekend, Marketing, Author Branding, Synopsis Secrets and much more. Sarah, Duchess of York and successful romance author, Marguerite Kaye were there to talk about how they write collaboratively – unfortunately I couldn’t make that session but I was told that it was brilliant.
All of the above was interspersed with meeting lots of new people, catching up with the few I already knew and meeting, in the flesh for the first time, some of the other Choc Lit (an imprint of Joffe Books) authors.
The weekend had three stand out highlights for me:
Firstly, the chance to meet up with Emma and Jasmine, Editorial Director and Project Editor respectively from my publisher, Joffe Books. We were taken out to to a swish bar off the College Campus and given wine!
Secondly, the terrific atmosphere at the Saturday night Disco. The dance floor was full of women (& a tiny handful of men!) all night. Who knew romance writers were such party animals?! The DJ looked on in a very bemused way.
Thirdly, the announcement that I was the winner of the Elizabeth Goudge Award for my one thousand word opening for a novel on the theme: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder. Nobody can have been more shocked than me!
My award made the evening a full house of awards for Joffe Books because another of their writers, Katy Turner, won the Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers with her novel, Let’s Just Be Friends. This award is for authors whose novels have been through the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and are subsequently accepted for publication.
I now need to go and lie down in a darkened room to get over my ‘conference lag’.
The Seven Sisters Series (continued)
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on August 3, 2023
At the beginning of 2023 I posted about how much I was enjoying the books in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters Series. That post has become one of my most popular ever (alongside Icebreakers for Creative Writing Classes) and therefore I’m following it up with a ‘part two’.
Since January I’ve read books four and five in the series: The Pearl Sister and The Moon Sister. Again, I completely lost myself in the stories and learned something along the way.
In The Pearl Sister, Ce Ce, the fourth daughter of Pa Salt, travels to Australia and follows clues to the discovery of her ancestors amongst the pearl industry of a century ago. There’s love and relationships as well as mystery and intrigue.
It’s Tiggy’s turn to discover her roots in The Moon Sister. Tiggy is a nature lover and wildlife conservationist. Her story spans the wilds of the Scottish Highlands in the present day to the gypsies of Granada in Spain several generations ago. This is the only book in the series that made me do a ‘second take’ on one of the sentences. Towards the end of the book, Tiggy is in conversation with someone she particularly admires and decides that this lady is who she aspires to be one day, describing her as a ‘… wife, mother, homemaker, full-time vet and lovely, lovely human being.’ It made me wonder how healthy it would be for a person to strive to be all of those things. That goal sounds like a recipe for stress overload – I’m sure many of you will agree that for a woman to ‘have it all’ is very difficult. However, it didn’t spoil the book, it just made me think – and surely that’s a good reaction to a book?
I’m going through the stories gradually because I find they are better enjoyed with a gap in between, during which I read lots of other genres including crime and also novels for the book group which I run. I save The Seven Sisters for high days and holidays when I have the time to read big, indulgent chunks in one session. I’m looking forward to picking the next one up in a few months’ time!
And if you enjoy books about people, their pasts and their relationships, you might also enjoy Little Museum of Hope, described in one review as, “
one big blanket of optimism to wrap around the reader. I loved it”.
What I Did on my Holiday plus some Hysteria
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Lifestyle, Travel on July 27, 2023
Other people’s holidays are boring but I’m writing this anyway to show you that I am a real person and not just a continuous, automatic loop playing ‘buy my book‘!
So here’s a bullet point gallop through my seven days in Suffolk last week:
- We stayed at the aptly named (for me) Old Library in Wickham Market, almost directly opposite the current library – which is actually open on a Sunday!
- The best cup of tea of the week came from the Tea Shed in Walberswick. They serve loose leaf tea in a proper teapot with a jug of hot water on the side plus a timing device to indicate how long the tea should be brewed for.
- Full marks to senior National Trust ranger, Andrew, at Orford Ness for his talk about the rare breed sheep on the site. And even better than Andrew, was his trainee sheepdog, Sweep. Sweep did a great job of rounding up the herd and keeping them together during the talk.
- An unexpected highlight was watching the shipping containers move around the Port of Felixstowe.
They were ferried from giant ships to railway line in perfect synchronicity. I was in awe at the size of everything and at the behind the scenes computer system that must be ensuring that everything is in the right place at the right time. - The weather gods were smiling on us and overturned a dismal forecast to provide lots of sunshine. We went walking everyday and only got wet once.
As a reward for politely reading through all of the above, here’s a reminder about the Hysteria Writing Competition.
The categories are: Short story – maximum 1,000 words, Flash fiction – maximum 250 words and Poetry – maximum 12 lines.
The theme is MAGIC and the prizes are: Overall category winner for each category – £300 plus publication in the Hysteria 10 anthology and the 9 runners up in each category will also be published in Hysteria 10.
Entry is a modest £3 and if you sign up to the competition newsletter, you’ll receive a free copy of Hysteria 3 so you can check out earlier winning entries!
Closing date is August 31st 2023. As always, make sure that you read the full rules before submitting.
ALCS Focus Group & Networking
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Resources, Writing on July 11, 2023
Last week I took part in the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) focus group in
ALCS = Free Money!
Birmingham and in the networking event that followed. It was the first time ALCS had ventured out of London since Covid and the first time I’d taken part in any sort of focus group.
For those of you who don’t know, ALCS makes sure that writers receive the money they are entitled to for secondary uses of their work, such as when someone photocopies a magazine article or a book extract. Understanding where ALCS get the money they pay to writers is complicated and I suggest reading what it says on their website.
There were ten of us ALCS members, ranging from academics to poets, novelists and indie authors, around the table in the focus group plus various ALCS staff members (as well as cookies, muffins and hot drinks to fuel us!) Various topics were thrown at us for discussion and the ensuing conversation was recorded. Points that came up:
- Initially some people had been reluctant to sign up to ALCS because ‘free money’ in exchange of bank details sounded like yet another internet scam.
- The fact that the membership fee is only taken from a writer’s ALCS earnings was a major selling point, because there is no risk of not receiving enough money to cover the joining fee.
- Very few of the writers present were aware of the ALCS podcast.
- Few of the writers present properly understood where ALCS source the money and how it is shared out – we were just happy to receive the payments!
- The big discussion point was Artificial Intelligence and how it might be used to plagiarise our work or to create new, ‘original’ pieces of writing. ALCS are currently lobbying MPs and the government to bring in laws that will protect writers from any negative effects of AI.
At the end of the discussion we were joined by other writers and offered prosecco, wine and lovely little canapes! It was interesting to discover all the different types of writing served by ALCS. I spoke to a script writer for the Horrible Histories children’s television series, a feature writer for Bauer magazines, an indie romantic novelist and an academic who got nothing on publication of a textbook but had received regular payments from ALCS because it was widely photocopied.
Conclusion: ALCS are definitely on a mission to protect and campaign for writers’ rights. If you have had anything published then you have nothing to lose by joining ALCS and you may well receive some free money!
(Members of the Society of Authors receive free ALCS membership)
A Plethora of FREE 2023 Writing Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry, Self-publishing, Short Story on July 4, 2023
Four writing competitions for you – in a mix of genres!
Short Story – Run by Green Stories and the theme is ‘Microbes’.
The main prize for the winner is £500 plus up to three runner up prizes totaling £300 (or the local currency equivalent).
It may help to have a scientific bent as the aim of the competition is to use fiction to raise awareness of Environmental Biotechnology and what microbial systems can do for us. However, the website has a video explaining Environmental Biotechnology and there is also a free virtual workshop linked to the competition.
Closing date is 21st September 2023. Full details are here.
Poetry – Poetry on Loan’s 2023 poetry competition is open to anyone who lives, studies or works regularly in the West Midlands (which is a very big area!). This year the theme is ‘Refuge’.
The prize for adult entries is a paid performance as part of a Poetry on Loan event. The junior prize winner will receive book tokens to the value of £25. Plus there is a special ‘fresh poet’ prize.
Closing date is 1st September 2023. Full details are here.
Novel – The Writers College is running a novel writing competition. Any genre of novel qualifies. Submit the first three chapters plus synopsis.
First Prize is a full ‘Write a Novel Course’ and ‘Advanced Novel Course’ (value $4000; 24 months of mentoring with an award-winning writer up to 70 000 words) from the Writers College.
Closing date is 31st July 2023. Full details are here.
Self-publishing – Amazon is running its annual Kindle Storyteller Award. This has a massive £20,000 prize and is very competitive (full disclosure I interviewed Rachel McLean, the 2021 winner, for Writers’ Forum magazine and she worked extremely hard). However, anyone self-publishing a novel on Amazon KDP before the closing date of 31st August 2023 can enter by including “StorytellerUK2023” (without quotation marks) in the “keywords” metadata field as they publish the book. Full details are here.
And if you are thinking of taking your first steps into self-publishing, you might find Kindle Direct Publishing for Absolute Beginners (newly updated for 2023!) or Kobo Writing Life for Absolute Beginners useful.
Good Luck! Let me know if you’re successful in any of these competitions – I have the bubbles ready to celebrate!
Find Your Next Read with Shepherd
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Promotion, Resources on June 27, 2023
Most of us are familiar with Goodreads as a source of inspiration for additions to our To Be Read pile but there is a new(ish) kid on the block: Shepherd.
Ben Fox is the founder and driving force behind Shepherd and he feels so strongly in the concept that he is using his savings to fund its development.
“I created Shepherd to add magic and serendipity to online book discovery,” he says.
Ben (rightly!) believes that books are one of the biggest net positives in the world and deserve something more than the often soulless experience of buying a book online. How does he wave a wand and create this wonderful, virtual cornucopia of books?
“I’ve asked 9,0000+ authors to share five of their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood and why they love each book. This infuses each book with a bit of magic and meaning,” Ben explains.
I was approached by Ben early this year to contribute my five book choices. At the time I was busy editing to a tight publishing deadline and had to delay putting together my list and my reasoning behind each book. But Ben was happy to wait and my choices for The Best Life-Affirming Books are now live on the Shepherd website. What do you think of my selection?
Ben is very approachable and full of exciting ideas to make online book browsing an even more pleasurable experience (beware once you start exploring the Shepherd site, time will disappear in a flash!) – which is brilliant for readers and authors alike.
Have a search around and see what new treasures you discover!
Kindle Direct Publishing for Absolute Beginners – 2023 Update
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Computers & Technical, Self-publishing on June 20, 2023
I’ve just updated Kindle Direct Publishing for Absolute Beginners again. I first published this e-book back in February 2014 – nearly 10 years ago! Over that almost-decade it has continued to sell and I’ve continued to update it every 12-24 months in the hope of not misleading readers with outdated information.
This time, as I was going through the manuscript checking links, processes, new facilities etc., it struck me that over the years it has become much easier to self-publish on Amazon and no one should be frightened of the technicalities – because, mostly, it’s not technical!
Here are a few examples of the changes I’ve seen:
- Product Description (on screen equivalent to the back cover blurb) – In the early days if you wanted to include bold, italics or other formatting it was necessary to use html coding. Now Amazon provide a facility similar to Word where you can select this formatting from a bar on the screen.
- Manuscript Format – In the beginning the self-publishing gurus advised uploading the manuscript in html format, however I now simply upload the Word .docx and find the results are just as good (applies to text-only manuscripts with no illustrations).
- Paperbacks – In the early days these had to be published separately using the Createspace platform and author copies were shipped from America, meaning extra expense plus a time delay. Now paperback publishing can be done via the same Amazon KDP Dashboard as the Kindle version and the books for the UK are printed in Europe, saving time and money. (By the way, if you use one of the Amazon-provided templates, I find formatting a print book is simply a copy and paste exercise).
- Amazon Ads – Those who want to get serious about marketing can now pay (according to the number of clicks on their ad) for the books to show up when shoppers use specific search terms.
Does anyone else think Amazon KDP is getting easier and more user-friendly?
If you’re contemplating self-publishing, Kindle Direct Publishing for Absolute Beginners does what it says on the tin. It will hold your hand and guide you through the various topics and processes you should know about before you take the plunge.
These reviews sum it up:
“My third time of re-reading this excellent how-to book and getting more out of it each time.” – Tektron.
“This book is clear and concise and is a very good guide for beginners. Topics are clearly explained and are well covered.” – John Parnham.
Staffetta Partigiana – A Different Kind of Hero(ine)
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books on June 6, 2023
I wasn’t familiar with the World War II Italian Resistance movement until I came across author Kat Devereaux and her debut novel Escape to Tuscany. Her fictional heroine is a brave young woman who is part of this movement. Kat kindly agreed to share some of her research and knowledge with us (plus her top writing tip!). Over to Kat:
When you think about the partisans who fought to liberate Italy during the German occupation, you might imagine Peppone. A communist hardliner with a red kerchief, a Stalin moustache and a fiery temper, Peppone (“Big Joe”) is the sympathetic antagonist of Giovanni Guareschi’s Don Camillo stories. He was played by Brian Blessed in the UK television adaptation, which tells you everything.
As with any caricature, there’s an element of truth to Peppone. Aligned with the Italian Communist Party, the Garibaldi Brigades were the heavy hitters of the resistance movement: organised, disciplined, and ferocious in battle. It’s not surprising that the image of the red-kerchiefed, gun-toting partisan is so iconic.
But there are many ways to resist. In my debut novel Escape to Tuscany, I chose to showcase another indispensable figure: the staffetta partigiana.
A different kind of hero(ine)
The resistance movements that sprang up after the German occupation of September 1943 had to work in extremely dangerous conditions. In the first months, partisan groups set up camp in the mountains, where local knowledge and harsh conditions worked to their advantage. As the war progressed and support for the partisans grew, the fight spread to the towns. And as Italy was liberated, city by city, partisan brigades played a leading role.
None of this could have been achieved without the staffette: the couriers who transported information, messages, supplies and armaments from place to place. Couriers needed to be inconspicuous and able to move easily even in crowded urban settings. They had to be able to pass through German checkpoints and elude the attention of sadistic Italian Fascist vigilante groups, such as the Black Brigades, who hunted partisans and their supporters. And they needed something to hold their cargo, something that wouldn’t stand out: a shopping bag, a school satchel, a bicycle basket.
So it’s no surprise that couriers were most often young women or teenage girls. My historical narrator Stella may be fictional, but she fits the profile of a courier perfectly. Just fourteen years old, she moves between her hometown of Romituzzo and the neighbouring towns of Castelmedici and San Damiano by train or bicycle, carrying intelligence, notes and even weapons. She has to fear violence from Germans and Fascists alike—sometimes she has to witness it. Stella operates in the shadows, unseen and undersung. But the stories she has to tell speak of tremendous courage.
Many women, many voices
I had a wealth of inspiration when writing Stella’s story. Thankfully for posterity, some of the women who worked as couriers during the occupation have left their testimonies behind. While most of these are in Italian, there are some English resources available. A wonderful place to start is the documentary Bandite, made in 2009 and available for free. You can find a subtitled version here https://youtu.be/iwJlwdBGBQ4.
For years after the Liberation, women partisans were denied the recognition they deserved. This has changed in the last decades, and now the staffetta on her bicycle is a symbol of antifascist resistance. That’s entirely as it should be.
My top writing tip
When researching a historical novel, it’s easy to get caught up in research and end up down a rabbithole. If you come across a book, video or other resource that’s absolutely fascinating but not relevant to what you’re writing at this precise moment, don’t get sidetracked. But don’t dismiss it, either: keep a note of it and store it somewhere easy to find. You never know what stories it might spark in the future.
Thank you, Kat!
Escape to Tuscany will be published on July 6th 2023 and is available to pre-order now. It is described as “A gripping and moving debut novel about two women, decades apart, whose fates converge in Florence, Italy. Perfect for fans of Patricia Wilson, Carol Kirkwood and Lucinda Riley.” Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a great fan of Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series – so Escape to Tuscany sounds right up my street!
About the book:
Romituzzo, 1944
Just fourteen, Stella Infuriati is the youngest member of her town’s resistance network – a secret she keeps even from her parents. She works alongside her brother Achille to relay messages, supplies, and weapons to partisan groups in the Tuscan hills. Fuelled by courage and a fierce sense of purpose, Stella braves incredible danger and survives … but when peace comes in 1945, she vanishes.
Florence, 2019
Writer Tori MacNair arrives in Florence. Fleeing an emotionally abusive marriage, she’s come to build a new life in the city her grandmother taught her to love. As she digs into her family history, Tori uncovers decades-old secrets: the story of a brave young woman who risked everything to save her world.
Rosa – Kat’s Writing Assistant
About Kat:
Born near Edinburgh, Kat Devereaux lived all over the globe before finally settling in Italy in 2019.
As a writer, Kat loves big, controversial personalities, spectacular settings and high-stakes conflict. The rest of the time, she likes being very quiet in libraries. In her everyday life, she is a freelance writer and translator with a special focus on Italian literature, history and religion.
Guest Post: Sally Jenkins – From Short Stories to Novels
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Uncategorized on June 1, 2023
This might interest the writers among you – Helen invited me on to her blog to talk about (& give some tips!) on how I combined a series of short stories together to create the novel that became Little Museum of Hope.
I’m delighted to welcome my writing buddy, Sally Jenkins, onto the blog today!
She’s got a new novel out – (congratulations!), ‘Little Museum of Hope‘ which started life as a series of short stories and in her guest post below, she explains how that came about and also gives some tips, in case you’re tempted to try something similar yourself.
I’ve not read it yet – although I have read some of the short stories involved – but I’ve just downloaded the audiobook and I shall be listening to it in the car as I zoom around and I’m looking forward to it.
Over to Sally…!
From Short Story to Novel – by Sally Jenkins
The leap from short story to novel writing is huge and it’s something that I, like many writers, struggled with. One technique that worked for me was turning a series of linked short…
View original post 851 more words
Listen Carefully!
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on May 30, 2023
Have you ever listened back to a recording of your own voice?
Weird, isn’t it? You never sound quite how you expected. I had a similar experience when I received an advance copy of the audiobook of Little Museum of Hope and listened to a random chapter containing a discussion between two of the main characters, Vanessa and Stephen. I’ve never listened to an audiobook before and it didn’t occur to me that the narrator would change her voice for each character. At first it felt intrusive to have this stranger injecting her own take on my characters, especially Yorkshireman, Stephen, the potential love interest. But gradually I relaxed into it and enjoyed the experience of my characters speaking aloud!
Many thanks to ISIS Audio and to the narrator, Jilly Bond.
While we’re talking audiobooks, I thought it would be interesting to look at some recent statistics, taken from headphonesaddict.com:
- In the UK 24 million audiobooks were bought between June 2020 and June 2021
- The biggest share of listeners is the 18 – 29 year-old age group. 30% of this group listen to audiobooks.
- Science fiction is the most popular audiobook genre.
- The average audiobook length is 7 – 9 hours (Little Museum of Hope is 9 hours and 29 minutes).
- Women are more likely to listen to audiobooks than men.
- Most audiobook listening takes place on the commute (73% of listeners), when doing housework (33%) and when exercising (15%). I know that adds up to more than 100% – but I guess some people might listen when they do all three of those activities, especially if it’s a compelling book!
The audiobook of Little Museum of Hope is available on Audible from today. I hope it brightens up your commute, housework or gym experience!
About Little Museum of Hope
A jar of festival mud, a photo album of family memories, a child’s teddy bear, a book of bell ringing methods, an old cassette tape, a pair of slippers… These are the items that fill the exhibit shelves in Vanessa Jones’ museum. At first glance, they appear to have nothing in common, but that’s before you find out the stories behind them… Because Vanessa’s Little Museum of Hope is no ordinary museum – its aim is to help people heal by allowing them to donate items associated with shattered lives and failed relationships, and in doing so, find a way to move on, perhaps even to start again. The museum soon becomes a sanctuary for the broken hearts in Vanessa’s city, and she’s always on hand to offer a cup of tea, a slice of cake and a listening ear. But could the bringer of Hope need a little help moving on herself?
P.S. There is a free trial of Audible available if you’re not sure whether audiobooks are your ‘thing’. You can try it out for a month with no charge (including Little Museum of Hope) – and it might help you spend more time in the gym or crack on with the housework!
Sally Jenkins 