Monday 18 July 2011

RNA Conference, Caerleon, 8-10 July 2011

For the first time, the Romantic Novelists' Association Conference took place in Wales, at the town of Caerleon where once the soldiers of Rome's 2nd Augusta Legion had their military base.

What a thoroughly enjoyable weekend it was. There were seminars by RNA members, and talks by editors and agents who also offered us opportunities to discuss our work with them. The most memorable session was given by Freda Lightfoot who generously shared with us her experience of publishing novels on Kindle. See below.


Liz Fielding advised us on how to blend humour with emotion, Rachel Summerson on creating characters we can believe in, and Lesley Cookman, Jean Goodhind and Penny Grubb revealed how they turned to crime! Another useful workshop was given by Linda Gillard (pictured below) on the virtues and pitfalls of using description.


There were some practical sessions too. Alison King had strategies for helping us sit down and get words on the page, while Valerie Webster got us back on our feet with a dance practical!

For next year's conference the RNA will be back in the north of England at Penrith. The date has already gone in my diary.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for these lovely pictures Maggi. Made me feel even more homesick (I was born not far from Caerleon and lived most of my life in rural mid-West Wales.) I'd have loved to have been able to go, but one can't do everything and I've booked for the FoR so had to forego it. I hope to make a RNA conference at some stage though

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  2. Hello Hywela
    Do try to make the RNA Conference next year because it is great fun and everyone is so friendly. The next one, in July 2012, is in Penrith.
    My brother and neices lives in Wales on a farm in the Merthyr Vale. You'll find a few more photos of Wales in earlier blogs.

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