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Want to write romance? We have a writing workshop for you!

| Rhoda Baxter

Jane Lovering and I are running a course on writing romance. And it’s in York. Why should people in the south have all the fun?

Writing Romantic Fiction workshop Oct 17 , York

If you’ve always wanted to write romance but didn’t know where to start, or if you’re just a bit stuck in your writing, then this is the course for you. Come along and have a fun day learning about the basics of plot and writing. It’s ideal if you want have a go at NaNoWriMo in November.

Jane and I are both published romance authors with Choc Lit Ltd. Jane won the Romantic Novel of the Year in 2012 with her book Please Don’t Stop the Music and writes a regular column in The Yorkshire Post. We are both mentors for the New Writer’s Scheme run by the Romantic Novelists Association – about half the books I’ve critiqued have gone on to get publishing contracts. We’ve both been through the scheme (as have a lot of romance novelists. Even the totally awesome Katie Fforde!).

The poster for the course is below. If you want more information, just ask in the comments below!
Writing Romantic Fiction
A workshop led by the best-selling novelists
Jane Lovering and Rhoda Baxter

At Miller’s Yard, York
Saturday the 17th of October 2015 (10am – 4pm)
Price: £80*
*Price includes one to one feedback on a piece of your writing.
Book now by contacting either: rhodabaxter@gmail.com  (@rhodabaxter) or janelovering@gmail.com (@janelovering)

Inheritance Books: Bodicia from a Woman’s Wisdom

| Rhoda Baxter

I’m delighted to welcome a book blogger to Inheritance Books. This blog series is all about the books we love and who better to qualified to talk about them than book bloggers! So, take it away Bodicia of A Woman’s Wisdom.

Hi Bodicia (good name by the way, very traditional), welcome to Inheritance Books. Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Me2I have a book blog called A Woman’s Wisdom where I post reviews of books I have really liked, author interviews and guest blogs. There are also articles and a humour series, Tales From The Manor, written by me as well as a few other surprises lurking in the menu. I am a mother to five wonderful girls and a grandmother to a mischievous three year old girl who has me wrapped around her finger. I have many interests including geosciences, ancient civilisations and planetary science. I live in England where it is currently too cold for my taste. Oh and I am also partial to anything containing chocolate. I am on a mission to get it accepted as a main food group. I’m joking, of course. Well, a bit.

 Chocolate is definitely a main food group. Dietician’s just haven’t discovered the importance of it on the nation’s mental health. It’ll happen. It’ll happen.

 

Which book have you inherited from a generation above? Why is it special? 

Houghton_Lowell_1238.5_(A)_-_Wuthering_Heights,_1847Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a book I first read as a small child, around 8 years old. I found the dusty volume in my grandmother’s book collection. Its yellowing pages, marked with age and use, showed it to be an often read book. It has remained such an important one to me. I was captivated by the descriptions of the moors and of Heathcliff and his love for Cathy. I named my eldest daughter Cathy and recently bought a hardback copy for her which she treasures.

I have read this so many times and it has never lost its magic for me.

 

Which book would you like to leave to future generations? Why?  

Without need of a second thought it would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane 640px-PrideAndPrejudiceTitlePageAusten.There is something wonderful about Miss Elizabeth Bennett, with her fine eyes and equally fine manners. The dashing Mr Darcy who reached a woman’s heart long before Colin Firth came along and stepped out of a lake. The characters are exquisitely described and I still smile at the repartee between Mr and Mrs Bennett every time I read it. Timeless.

I first found it on a bookshelf in a relative’s house when I was a teenager. I curled up with it one dark night and, ever since, I have had it as my comfort read. I would pass this on to every young woman with the hope they will never accept second best when it comes to love.

 Thank you for sharing your Inheritance Books with us, Bodicia. All the best for 2015. 

You can check out more book related wonders on Bodicia’s blog – A Woman’s Wisdom or chat with her on Twitter (@bodiciasapple)

 

Are you a book blogger? Would you like to do a guest post on Inheritance Books? Please get in touch with me (@rhodabaxter or comment on here) and I’ll send you guidelines.

Inheritance Books – like Desert Island Discs, but for books

Children Reading by Valerie Everett
| Rhoda Baxter

In September I will be starting a series of posts called Inheritance Books, where people tell me which book they’ve ‘inherited’ from the generation above and which book they would leave to later generations. It’s open to anyone who has a beloved book (or two) that they want to talk about. BBC Radio 4 listener’s might spot that it’s based on the Inheritance Tracks feature on Saturday Live (which, in turn, is based on Desert Island Discs). If you don’t listen to Radio 4 – you don’t know what you’re missing.

This is my sample page of the sort of thing I want for this blog series- my inheritance books.

A bit about myself: I’m Rhoda, I’m a novelist. I was the sort of kid who treated books like they were my friends. I hoarded books like they were treasure (which, in a way, they are).

I tend to think about book people in the same way I think about real people and it still surprises me that some people DON’T have a load of characters walking around in their heads.

The book I  inherited from the generation above:

There are so many, it’s hard to choose. I read a lot as a child and had rather a large collection. After many hours of dithering, I decided I’d have to go for my Dad’s collection of Asterix books. At first I looked at the pictures. Then I read them for the silly names. As I grew older, I read them for the more subtle jokes. Perhaps that’s where my love of silly names comes from. It still cracks me up that the fishmonger and his wife were called Unhygenix and Bacteria.

I don’t have a photo of them because the actual books were destroyed in a flood some years ago (we tried to save them, but they got wet and bits of them turned to papier mache. It was kinder to put them out of their misery). One day, when I win the lottery or something, I’ll buy another set.

The book I would pass on to the next generation:

No, they're not my kids I would pass on ‘Blueberry Girl’ by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. I read this story to my two kids, only one of whom can somersault tumble and run, and sometimes I even manage not to cry at the end. The pictures are beautiful and it encompasses everything I wish for them. I hope my kids will read it and remember happy times. Maybe they’ll edit out the little catch in my voice though.

Over to you. Tell me about your Inheritance Books.

If you would like to do a guest post about your favourite books, email me at rhodabaxter@gmail.com or tweet me @rhodabaxter.