FOOD STORIES

Hello reading friends! 

THEMES

When writers write for a while, themes can emerge, and one of the topics that interests me is food. This will be no surprise to friends and family, as I’ve been described as a ‘feeder’. Someone who enjoys preparing and sharing meals. 

FOOD AND STORIES

When growing up, I ran home from primary school each day to enjoy a hearty lunch, followed by tea on the table at five o’clock. As one of four children, there was always plenty chatter around the table. For me, food and stories have always been closely linked. A tradition I’ve tried to pass on to my own family, ensuring the kitchen is the heart of our home. The celebrity baker and chef, Mary Berry says the reason we pine for home cooking is because a special ingredient is added - love. 

FAMIILY MEALTIMES

However, for most of the past year I have been living alone (although I am very lucky to have dear friends and family close by) and realised that it’s not the preparing of food I enjoy, so much as the companionship and shared stories around the table. Don’t be mistaken, when my sons were very young, it wasn’t all sunbeams and laughter that filled the kitchen. Mealtimes could be a challenge. Then during the teenage years, there were several tense meals, when the only sound was the clatter of cutlery! But, often, sharing food also offers an opportunity to catch up. 

USING FOOD IN WRITING

But what has this to do with writing? Well writing about food, or the lack of it, can set the scene for a reader and say much about a character’s background, circumstances, mood. Are they eating alone? Or preparing a celebration feast etc. Always remembering that relationships with food can be tricky, stirring uncomfortable memories, binging for comfort, rationing food as a means of control. 

My favourite comfort food - 
a boiled egg and toast!

POTLUCK ZINE

And then there are those who, for a whole variety of reasons, find themselves in food poverty. Which is why I was drawn to write a piece for Potluck Zine, a publisher who donates 10% of sales of EVERY issue to The Trussell Trust, to help put food on the table for those who need it. The latest issue focuses on Feasts, and I am thrilled that my story, A Welcome Home, is included. 

The title, A Welcome Home feels apt, as over the past week I have done just that. Welcomed my husband and sons home, and I’m in my element again, cooking and preparing family meals. 

So, are you a foodie? Do you like to experiment with new ingredients and recipes? Or do you see food as fuel? Cooking as just another chore to be completed. If you are a writer, how do you use food in your work?

HOW TO PRE-ORDER A COPY (DONATING TO THE TRUSSELL TRUST) 

To preorder a copy of Potluck Zine and help others enjoy a decent meal, just click on the link to order a copy (which will be issued at the beginning of August)... Preorder Potluck Zine 

Issue 4 of Potluck Zine : FEAST

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Rae x

The RNA Virtual Conference 2021

 
The Romantic Novelists' Association holds a yearly writers' conference. It's a great opportunity for members of the RNA, both established authors and aspiring writers of the RNA's New Writers' Scheme, to meet up with agents, editors and other industry professionals for talks, workshops and some social networking. There is also an opportunity to book a 10 minute pitching slot with an agent or editor. This is an amazing opportunity for any writer seeking representation or hoping to further their career.

The RNA conference is usually held at a venue suitable to cater for guests travelling from afar.  The University of Lancaster and Leeds Trinity University have both been used in the past. For members of the RNA, the weekend in July is one of the highlights of the RNA's calendar and I have always wanted to go, but due to my business commitments, a weekend away during the summer was not possible. However, in late 2019 things changed on the home-front and I was free to attend, but then Covid struck and everything was transferred to online. It didn't seem the same so I didn't attend in 2020, but this year I made it a priority to find out what the conference was all about, albeit from the comfort of my own home. I saw my attendance to the online event as a precursor to the real one... a sort of dipping my toe in the water before I dived in next year!

I enjoyed the experience, which ran from late Thursday afternoon to Saturday evening. Each talk had a private zoom link and was well attended, with nil technical glitches as far as I was aware, which is a miracle in itself. Below is a summary of my experience with bullet points of the advice I took away from the talks.

Thursday

Practice Makes Pitch Perfect
Approximately twelve (brave) authors pitched their novels to agents Juliet Pickering, Kate Burke and Sian Ellis-Martin from the Blake Friedmann Agency, who subsequently offered feedback. I say brave, as they pitched in front of the audience, whereas pitches are usually private one-on-one meetings. This was an excellent opportunity to see how others do it and put the intense experience into perspective.

The feedback was informative and specific to each pitch but the general advice was:-
Be positive and enthusiastic about your novel.
Be clear about what the story is about.
Don't get bogged down in what emotions you want your story to convey to the reader. Agents are interested in the plot and your ability to write and the emotions will follow but only if the first two elements are there.

Friday

121 Pitches
Those attending had the opportunity to pitch to an agent or editor. Needless to say, the demand for these slots was huge, as was the administration task to sort out the hundreds of requests received. Those lucky enough to be allocated a pitch was provided with a zoom link for the ten minute slot and instructions to submit the first chapter, synopsis and cover letter prior to the event. If the agent or editor liked the premises of the story, saw potential in working collaboratively with the writer and loved the writing style, they could request a full manuscript to assess its potential further. It will be several weeks, even months, before successful pitches become more public, and those writers will be the lucky few. However, all writers will have been given feedback and advice on their submission from a professional in the industry, which is like gold dust in itself.

Saturday

Building a Writer's Resilience
Hosted by author Nicola Cornick, international best selling author, Dinah Jefferies, shared her experience of building resilience and revealed that even best selling writers can suffer from self-doubt, lack of confidence and impostor syndrome.

Below is a summary of the advice given:-
Bad trauma and experience can be used positively by adding authenticity to one's writing.
Take time out and look after yourself. Not all pressures are external, they can be internal too.
Train yourself not to compare yourself to others.
Regarding feelings of jealousy, be aware that we don't really know what is going on in other people's lives.
A writing career is up and down for everyone.
Rejection is hard. Research who you pitch to to reduce the possibility. While waiting don't stress, just write another book to occupy you.
Don't read reviews, you'll only remember the bad ones.

A talk about the role of the agent followed from agent Felicity Trew. It was packed with information and Felicity's enthusiasm for her job shone through.

Screenwriter and senior lecturer, Marie Macneill, walked us through The Proposal film, using the key plot points to show us how to structure your rom com to create movie magic.

Award winning author Fiona Lucas discussed the anatomy of a scene, followed by Rhea Kurien, editorial director of Orion Dash,who explained how digital publishing works.

The weekend ended with author and podcast host, Dorothy Koomson, chatting with Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award winner Beverly Jenkins. Beverly's wise words, delivered in a calm, no nonsense way, was a joy to listen to as she chatted about her life and how, as a youth, she devoured history from the journals of her local library. As a writer, she hopes her books educate readers about the real history of black people, whilst at the same time they enjoy a romantic read. Author of over forty novels, with decades of writing behind her and a deep love of history, Beverly Jenkins knows what she is talking about. "I was black before it became fashionable," she said at one point. This interview is well worth a listen when it is finally uploaded onto The Happy Author podcast. 

I hope I will have the opportunity to attend the RNA conference in person in the future, in the meantime I shall take on board all the advice given and channel it into my writing career for the future. Writing is a continual journey of gaining experience and wisdom, whether its from the research you do, from your own successes or failures, or gaining knowledge from your peers. The RNA conference is one of many opportunities available to a writer The advice may or may not be used, but the trick is not to be too proud, arrogant or stubborn to listen to it in the first place.

As for the partying and social networking... well enjoying a drink (or two)  with other members of the RNA will have to wait until the time we finally meet face to face again.

Victoria Cornwall

SO, WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE PANDEMIC, GRANDMA/DAD?

The Covid pandemic has been a funny one for writers, I think. There are those who clapped their hands with glee and pumped out a book or three, glad of just about zero interruption and not having to do the daily commute, and not having anyone knock the door wanting a chat or a coffee or to borrow a cup of sugar. And there were those who struggled to string a few words together, all creativity stolen from us along with our freedom to shop and meet mates for lunch and all the other things we have always taken for granted. It has been a very personal response, I think. For myself, I got quite creative during the first lockdown. I spent a couple of hours a day writing a Christmas based novel because it was pretty cold and I didn't have to stretch my imagination too much to think all things wintery. And then ... and then there was absolute zilch. I don't think I could have written a shopping list that made sense. Thank goodness then for my writing buddies at Brixham Writers. We are a small group - just twelve or so - and normally we meet weekly at Brixham Library except for June, July, and August when we meet at someone's house. Zoom was the answer, and that became a weekly event. As we all know the lockdowns came and went, came and went. Some weeks a member or three might have been productive and had something to read out to the others for a critique, but mostly we were all resting on our laurels. And then ... as all good plots go ... someone came up with the idea of putting an anthology together. We are, for the most part, a multi-published group. Kate, Carole, Anne, Brenda, Michelle, Sandra, Ian and I are all novelists. Margaret and Ella are published poets. Marc and David are on the cusp of being published. Catherine has had a travel memoir published. We could do this, couldn't we? So we did. Michelle got to grips with the technology, Kate and Anne became editors, the rest of us offered a story or (in my case) three. This, then, was the proverbial kick up the proverbial backside we needed to actually sit down and write something. I have now finished a second book ... first draft so I know there's work to do and that's good. But it's not going to be all slog because very, very soon WRITTEN IN THE SAND will be out. We have seen the proofs. So here's a picture of us all in Kate's garden (minus Kate who was playing David Bailey, and Marc and Ian who were isolating with Covid symptoms). Multo promo coming up soon once I get the image of the book cover. Watch this space!

Audiobooks for the win!

Fasten your seatbelts, readers. I'm pretty certain this post is going to get some of you pretty riled up, but I've recently gone through an epiphany, and I'm going to bare my soul and share it here. In 2006 when my husband and I relocated across the country, I purged a giant portion of my books. In fact, I only hung onto the tomes that I knew I would read again, crying a little as I parted with the bulk of my childhood books and many of my other favorites. I’ve been carrying books around with me since I left my parents’ home, and throughout my life my books have provided me comfort, in addition to hours of entertainment.

But the wheel turns and attitudes change. Lately (oh, this is difficult to write) my favorite way to get story doesn’t involve a book at all. I hereby declare myself an audiophile. I adore audio books. There’s nothing like being read to by a professional reader, and audiobooks let me go about my day-to-day activities, like cleaning house and exercising, all the while listening to my favorite book. Although I have a well loaded Kindle, and I do read on it occasionally, lately I’m getting my story via audio.

Industry pundits say that audio books are experiencing unprecedented growth. Now, more than ever, there are choices galore and all kinds of content available. As I wondered why I felt such guilt over abandoning the physical books which I’ve loved forever, I realized it doesn’t matter how we get our story, how we absorb the words and sentences that take us to new worlds and expand our minds. Be it physical books, e-books, or audio books, at the end of the day it’s really about a tightly woven plot that resolves in a satisfying way and character relationships that involve us emotionally.

As I curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, headphones at the ready, I like to think that listening to a book is teaching me to use my brain in different ways, to focus on what I hear, and to make me a better listener. I will always have a soft spot for books, of hours spent in bookstores, of the smell of bound volumes, and of the way physical books enhanced my life will always be dear. I’ve just moved on and embraced a new way to get my story.  

How about you? Are you attached to physical books? Do you like listening to audio books? Drop and a comment and let me know.

Happy reading (or listening), everyone.

Terry

 

The Power of Sunshine

I am writing this while sitting in our newly built garden room. It’s a home office, but we’ve put a sofa in it as well as a desk as I like to write (and read) while curled up on a sofa. There are double patio doors that open wide and clip back, so that you feel as though you are outside yet you’re in the shade.

Garden room

In front of the garden room we’ve added a solar powered fountain-cum-birdbath. When the sun is high enough and not behind cloud, water spurts out the top and cascades from one level to the other. As soon as the sun goes behind a cloud it switches off. There’s a lovely relaxing sound of running water when it’s in action.

Today there’s a bit of cloud around so the fountain is switching itself on and off frequently. It’s got me musing on the power and magic of sunshine.

I know a lot of people who are a bit like our fountain – they need sunshine to function at their best. Grey skies depress them and all they want to do is take to their beds and stay indoors. Seasonal Affective Disorder is common – people suffering in the winter months due to lack of vitamin D, which is made in the body after exposure to sunshine.

After a long winter we all feel better in the spring, when we get the first few warm sunny days, and are able to get out and enjoy fresh air. Especially this year, when in the UK we had a long Covid lockdown that started in January and has only gradually been lifted in stages. Sunshine lifts spirits, brings smiles to faces, gives a healthy glow to the skin (when taken in moderation!) adds highlights to the hair, and makes everyone say, “What a lovely day!” to everyone they meet.

Love the sunshine

Sunshine makes plants grow, flowers bloom, birds sing. Cats will seek out those spring rays of sunshine and position themselves so as to soak up as much warmth as they can. (I’ve always suspected cats might be related to lizards and other cold-blooded creatures – they do seem to want to bask in the sun a lot!)

Of course, sunshine’s power can be harnessed in a much larger way, providing energy for something more than our cats, spirits and water fountains. Many years ago, before it was fashionable, my dad toyed with the idea of putting a solar panel on the roof of my parents’ house. He’d worked a lifetime in the electricity industry and was intrigued by the idea that he could generate his own. This was long ago in the 1970s when solar panels were not at all common place. Dad looked into it in some detail, but in the end gave up on the idea because the house wasn’t angled the right way. You need a south-facing pitched roof for best results. Now in some areas every second house seems to have them – it’s become a real industry. And why not – sunshine is free, and using it for electricity is better for the planet than many of the alternatives.

Our motorhome has a solar panel on the roof that tops up the leisure battery, so that you can park up somewhere without being on electrical hook-up (if the weather’s good) without fear of the battery running down. And on our travels in Spain we’ve passed solar farms – row upon row of huge solar panels on hillsides angled towards the sun. Looking it up now, I see that Spain leads the world in generating electricity by harnessing the sun’s energy.

A solar farm

But it’s the little effects of sunshine I like best. The way it makes streams sparkle, the dappling of a woodland floor, the glow of a rose petal caught in a ray of sunlight. The glistening of quartz crystals on a sandy beach, the beauty of a setting sun lighting wispy clouds from underneath, the sight of fluffy white clouds against an azure sky. And the gorgeous sound of our tinkling fountain, making me feel as though all will be well with the world, as long as the sun keeps on shining.

Fountain

What a Year – Its Strange Effects, Also Reflections on the Generosity of Authors

 

First things first! Leah Fleming, old friend, RNA member and reader of this blog pointed out that The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Quotations is a brilliant source of titles! And, of course, she is right.

So back to it!

This has surely been a year like no other – apart from 2020. The more things change the more they stay the same.

For me, the worst part of lockdown has been the physical isolation from family and friends, especially from my writing friends. At the time of writing, we have just had Covid restrictions extended for another month. It will be almost two years before we can see our younger daughter. At least we can see her sister and our granddaughter and hug THEM. When you are a grandparent, it takes extraordinarily little to keep you happy, and there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

Hopefully, my brain fog will lift, too. It’s probably part of advancing age and decrepitude, but we also find ourselves anchored inside a small circle of activities, and for both of us, all our energy has disappeared. We are both remarkably keen on a nap in the afternoon nowadays!  Still a change will be as good as a rest (surely). It may help stop the feeling of life being sucked from our brains!

---

July 1st is the middle day of the year, and also Canada Day, and my birthday. Also last year it was the day that the 2020 version of “Children in Read” was announced.

For those who have no idea what this is, it’s now a major charity fundraiser for the BBCs Children in Need appeal. Last year, it attracted about 600 contributing authors and raised almost £22,000. It was founded by a Liverpool businessman, Paddy Heron, who continues to organise and drive the event forward from year to year. Now in its seventh year, it has raised increasingly larger amounts each year.

Paddy normally “opens the shop” to donations in early July. Most authors are only too happy to donate a book. Children in Need, and Children in Read are both excellent causes to be associated with and have the highest approval of almost any charity in the UK. Last year I got involved and approached Jo Rowling and Philip Pullman, among others. Jo Rowling donated a copy of The Ichabod, and that went for £800. Philip Pullman donated three signed bookplates, and they went for about £350. Members of the Romantic Novelists Association seem to have taken the event to heart – about 200 members donated one or more books.

Once they are open, to donate a book is so easy! Just email Paddy Heron at childreninread@yahoo.com or Tweet (DM) to him (and Follow him) at @ChildrenInRead and tell him you would like to donate a book. All genres and all age-groups are welcome,  BUT NOT YET! 

What does Paddy need? Your name, with a “head shot” photo, your book title and a “cover shot” photo, your bio, and the “book blurb”. He also needs your Author web page and Twitter address. BUT NOT YET!

After the Auction, on November 13th, Paddy and the team will contact you with the details of the winning bid.  You then sign a copy of your book and post it to the winner!

Could it be easier, or more worthwhile? I don’t think so! 

Apart from being a great charity (Children in Need is arguably the best-known charity in the UK) I also see this as an outstanding promotion for ALL participating authors. To be there, on display, on an equal footing with the great and the good from ALL levels and genre of authors in the UK, is fantastic for “putting yourself out there”.  The auction website also comes with “share buttons” for Facebook and Twitter, making it extremely easy indeed to publicise your own generosity, and both the Charity and the Auction.

The costs for this are derisory – for me that works out at around £10 for the cost of a book, an envelope and UK postage. You would be mad not to!!!

And for Readers? You see the widest choice of books in ALL genres, waiting for YOUR bid. From Kate Mosse to Lucinda Riley and Tom Kerridge, and of course, JK Rowling and Philip Pullman!

If your bid wins, you receive a signed and usually dedicated copy of the book – and ALL the money that you bid at auction goes straight to Children in Need!

On the hedgehog front we are having regular visits every night from what I think are two “boars”. No sign of any hedge-sows or hoglets yet, but we live in hope. Hedgies are very much solitary animals, and certainly “do not play well with others!” Their main reactions to each other are pushing and shoving matches, usually ending with the smaller hog assuming the “ball” position until the coast is clear.

And to close - remember, Carpe Diem!! Life sucks, but it's still better than the alternative, 

and I will let you know as soon as Paddy opens the Auction.

 

 

FIVE WAYS TO CREATE A WINNING STORY TITLE

Over the past year I’ve focused on flash fiction writing, completing how-to courses and entering competitions. One piece of advice that is repeated over and over is to choose your story title with care. This makes sense with flash fiction as competition entries usually sit around 250 to 500 words, some pushing the writer even further by allowing only 100 words. With such little material to play with and perhaps hundreds of entries to read, it’s understandable that judges prefer a title that shines. 

And much the same goes for a short story or novel. A title must be memorable, unique, intriguing, genre-appropriate. One that says to the reader ‘pick me, pick me.’ If this all sounds a touch daunting, never fear, as a quick internet search revealed some creative and quirky ways to come up with imaginative and winning story titles… 

RANDOM STORY TITLE GENERATOR 

The first thing I stumbled across was a list of random story title generators. Who knew such things existed? Most are FREE and they are more sophisticated than you might at first think, with different generators focusing on specific genres - Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Non-Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Children's and Comic Book titles. Even if they don't provide the perfect title for your piece, it's still helpful to have a go and hopefully find some inspiration along the way. Click on the link to discover a list of the Best Book Title Generators 2021, shared from the Kindlepreneur blog… FIND YOUR NEXT STORY TITLE HERE!

USE A CHARACTER'S NAME 

If your protagonist is a strong character, worthy of attention, then why not be bold and use their name as the title. My latest book group read was Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (the 20th century novelist, not Elizabeth Taylor the actress). The plot, as well as a cast of minor characters, revolved around Angel, so it made perfect sense that her name should be on the cover. Other examples that spring to mind are Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Rebecca, A Man Called Ove. Daniel’s Daughter by team member, Victoria Cornwall is another fine example. 

Use a character name...

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT? 

One purpose of the story title is to offer a hint as to what is to come, so it can be useful to consider the content and entice the reader with an attention-grabbing statement.  Excellent examples of this include The Hunger Games, The Devil Wears Prada, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Book Thief. Not forgetting great reads by our own team members including The Witness by Terry Lynn Thomas, and The Girl I Left Behind by Andie Newton 

Entice with attention-grabbing statements...

WHERE IS THE STORY SET? 

One of the joys of reading is being transported to another time or place and it can be useful for readers to know where they are headed. One of the easiest ways to do this is to signal the location in the title. Who could resist being swept away by the following; A Passage to India, The Paris Library, The Mermaid of Black Conch. We also have two fantastic examples from team members Kathleen McGurl (The Daughters of Red Hill Hall) and Linda Mitchelmore (Summer at 23 The Strand). 

Transport the reader to a fab location...

POETIC BOOK TITLES 

Still need inspiration? Then try reading some well-loved poetry or favourite song lyrics. All the following titles began life in a poem; The Lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, Far From the Madding Crowd, I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings. Our own John Jackson's, Heart of Stone shares its title with both a beautiful poem and popular song.

Turn to poetry for inspiration...

So, if you are a writer, how do you choose a title? Do you have tricks or tips not already shared?  

I hope these pointers are handy, but most of all I wish you fun creating a whole stack of winning story titles.

Rae x