I went to an RNA London South East meeting yesterday with fellow newbie Rachel to hear Alison Joseph, author of the ‘Sister Agnes’ series, compare story structure in the two genres.
She observed that while crime and romance in the same story may be rare, there were similarities in the framework and essential elements. Both needed conflict and tension, for instance. Alison pointed to a high point in tension in her crime books at around seven-eights of the way through. The last eighth was a wrap-up along the lines of ‘So, Inspector, what about the fate of xxx?’
Alison said she enjoyed writing about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people (often the setting for romantic novels) and the relationships that developed between her characters (an obvious one in romance!). She got a lot of empathic smiles around the table about the necessity of avoiding the mid-book sag.
After a Q&A session from the twenty-odd members, there was a book raffle. For my 50p, I won Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Greatest Knight, the story of William Marshal, which I shall look forward to reading with great pleasure.
An afterthought: I was a little puzzled about the crime/romance mix comment, as were one or two others in my twitter group. David Hewson’s The Lizard’s Bite is an example of a successful mix, I think as are Lindsey Davis’s Falco series. Have just started JD Robb’s (Nora Roberts) Naked in Death which adds a futuristic element to the mix. I’ll report back…
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 Doing a bit of research into the post-Roman world, I came across Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. It’s brilliant!
From the first page, I was enthralled. Now, I’m a self-confessed Roman nut and intrigued by that mysterious time in Europe after the mid-400s AD until the more structured medieval period emerges, so I was keen to find out more. A lot of new research has been carried out in the past 30 years about this period. So are the ‘Dark Ages’ still considered dark?
I started reading with my afternoon cuppa and, vaguely registering my OH coming through the front door some time afterwards, went back to the Merovingians. About eight o’clock, a plaintive voice asked if we were going to have any supper. I was genuinely startled. I had been absorbed for hours by an academic history book. It took me back to when I did my masters (in history) and discovered with joy new facts and insights into a fascinating topic brought to me vividly by an accomplished communicator.
In brief, it’s packed with easily accessible information and balanced, reasoned arguments. Professor Wickham emphasises that the period, and every small scale society within it, needs to be examined in its own terms, not with hindsight or pre-judgements. He charts the many continuities from the late Roman period: law, tax, culture and systems, some of which lasted up to 1000 AD, possibly beyond.
So, sorry, the Roman Empire didn’t ‘fall’ just like that – it sort of localised, got a bit holey and eventually dissolved, but not without leaving us a huge heritage.
You’ll have to read the book to find out the rest…
(No, I’m not on commission and yes, the OH did get his supper. Eventually)
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As a brand new member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, I’m keen to take part in as many events as possible this year. I’d enjoyed myself (and learnt a lot) at the January and March meetings and had been impressed and touched by the very warm welcome given to not-yet-published ‘newbies’.
I was therefore looking forward very much to the 50th Anniversary awards lunch at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. I arrived a little early and bumped into another attendee upstairs – we’d smiled at each other in that slightly hesitating way, and simply said ‘RNA lunch?’ Then we smiled again and settled down to a quick glass of wine. This easy willingness to talk to strangers and take a genuine interest in them was a hallmark of the whole event from the crowed reception through to collecting goody bags at the end.
Delicious food (I love guinea fowl!), plenty of chocolate to eat and excellent conversation made the whole event go too quickly. The award winners were naturally thrilled, some quite shocked they had won. Hugs, kisses, pats on the back and tears of joy all round. Barry Norman was his usual acerbic self, with a couple of risqué jokes, Maeve Binchy (by video), Joanna Trollope and Lynn Barber lent a touch of celebrity glamour.
On the personal front, I was very pleased to meet up with other writers I’d ‘spoken’ to on the RNA forum or on Twitter. Nothing quite like a face-to-face chat. The topping on the event was the post-lunch tweetup-cum-general drinks session at the Goat across the road.
Definitely booking next year…
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No novel writer likes doing the synopsis, a tool for planning and marketing their work. When you’ve written 100,000 words of carefully crafted prose, it’s a bit of a sweat to distil it down to a couple of pages. But it does concentrate the mind…
From the advice I’ve been given or read, the essentials seem to be:
1. Say what what kind of novel it is – crime, thriller, historic, romance, fantasy,etc. I know it’s stating the b**** obvious, but it should get it to the right person (hopefully), save everybody’s time and indicate where you think it should be placed for selling purposes;
2. Start with a really sparky first sentence that’s going to grab the agent’s/editor’s/publisher’s attention;
3. Say what is it about – the big story, the theme (saving the world, money versus family, growth and recognition);
3. Give an outline of the environment – place, date, time;
4. Get the main characters’ names in as soon as possible with a little about their personal situation at the start of the action;
5. The plot should cover main dramatic events from start to finish, including the denouement. I’ve heard that professionals in the publishing industry get mega-peeved if the end is left as a surprise or teaser;
6. Write it in the present tense, in the third person (even if the point of view is first person), in single line spacing;
7. Keep it under 2 pages – the reason? Time. Agents/editors/publishers are very time-strapped and can’t spare it to read pages & pages of a synopsis even though the book may be fabulous. You want to avoid be in the ‘Can’t be bothered to read any further’ heap.
Far more experienced writers can tell you more – see the blogs recommended under Pages (at the right), but this is what I’ve gleaned in my stint so far in the synopsis mines.
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I’ve just read Jayne Ann Krentz’s Sizzle and Burn which I found on the local library shelves by accident.
The female protagonist, Raine, is cut in a different mould to many other heroines – she’s tall, intelligent and independent, but her character avoids suffering from ‘goodgirlitis’. Love interest Zack Jones is tough, sel-assured and pretty hot, but he does get it wrong here and there. The chemistry between the two characters sparkles and their dialogue exchanges are strong and witty. Quite a lot of information has to be got across to Raine from Zack, who is a psychic investigator, but in general, the author avoids the fatal infodump.
The plot is strong, with a good surprise denouement. The book is dialogue-heavy so don’t expect a lot of flowery descriptions. Perhaps a little light, but very entertaining and enjoyable.
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