Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Alexis Jakes

I’m delighted to welcome Alexis Jakes, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog. 

Alexis Jakes

 

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers...and includes many more membership benefits..

Hello Alexis – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers can gain insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

 

Arabella:  How did you hear about or discover: The Romantic Novelists’ Association - New Writers’ Scheme?

Alexis:  I came across the NWS quite by chance. I decided to apply. Back then, I seem to remember we had to apply to the scheme just after the stroke of midnight. Sitting there with my finger poised on the send button felt very nerve-wracking indeed. Luckily for me, I was successful.

 

Arabella: Egg and Chips, Tea and Cake, or a Chocolate Treat?

Alexis:  This is a hard one. Egg and Chips is my favourite tea of all time, but I’m also a die-hard chocoholic!

Arabella: Name something on your to-do list…

Alexis:  At the moment? Unpacking forty-four boxes of our belongings. We’ve just returned to the UK after living in hot and dusty Saudi Arabia for eighteen months. Our eldest son remained in our property in the UK, so now we’re trying to squeeze two households into one. Not an easy task, I can tell you! We have so many possessions.

Arabella:  When and where do you write? Early mornings when the world is still sleeping? Late afternoons when you’ve time to relax? Or other opportune moments…?

Alexis:  My favourite time to write is early morning, but I have been known to pull an all-nighter when I’m in the zone. This has happened to me quite a few times. My husband is used to me by now.

 

Arabella:  Which season of the year do you most enjoy and why?

Alexis:  It has to be Spring. The big, fat buds sprouting on the branches never fail to lift my spirits. As do the bulbs popping up in the garden. This year, however, after returning from a place where the weather is constantly hot and sunny, I’ve loved Autumn’s riot of colour.

Arabella: You’ve arranged to meet up with friends and family for an afternoon of fun. Where do you go and what do you do?

Alexis:  My husband and I have two grown up sons, so, now we’re back from Saudi Arabia, our favourite Sunday afternoon activity is to go for a long walk together, and then back to ours for tea. We sometimes shoot up to the Lake District (about fifty miles from our home) or we might stay local. Two weeks ago, before the Ribble Valley got placed in level 3 of the COVID restrictions, we did a great nine miles around Chorley. That’s about my limit, though. I start to ache after that.

 

Arabella:  So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… ☺ ) Tell us briefly about the romance you hope to submit to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a free, friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Alexis:  I’m about three chapters into a first person story set in a fictional Middle Eastern country. This is a new venture for me as I’ve never attempted first person before, nor written about a fictional country. It’s a marriage of convenience story with a difference!

 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself and your writing journey with us, Alexis. Best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope your manuscripts find a home with the romance publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

 

About  Alexis Jakes

Alexis Jakes

I submitted my first book - Red Sails - to Harlequin Mills and Boon back in 1991 when I was 33 years old. The book got rejected, and after re-reading it, I’m not surprised. I didn’t write again until 2015 when I got through to the final 55 of Harlequin’s SYTYCW. The competition that year was different in that our stories were published on Wattpad for everyone to read and vote upon. There were thousands of entries so I was heartened to reach even that stage.

I’m a bit older than 33 now, and still on the path to publication. I’ve been married for 40 years to my own wonderful hero, and I’m the mother of two sons who I love to the moon and back.

Social Media Links

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kim.e.lain

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kim_lain

Blogposts:  https://alexisjakesdotcom.wordpress.com

Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Susan Griffin

I’m delighted to welcome Susan Griffin, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog.

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers…and includes many more membership benefits.

Hello Susan – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers can gain insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

Arabella:  How did you hear about or discover: The Romantic Novelists’ Association - New Writers’ Scheme?

Susan: I heard about the RNA through Facebook, after connecting with other writers. From there I learnt about the New Writers Scheme, and immediately wanted to join, hoping it would help me improve my writing and have a better chance of finding a publisher.

Arabella:  What is your romance genre and why have you chosen this particular type of novel to write?

Susan:  My first book is an Edwardian Drama set against the backdrop of the Suffragette movement, and this has been self-published on Amazon. Since then I’ve written two more novels both of them time-slip. I’m drawn to this kind of book, because I love exploring how the past can impact on the present, and how the present day characters have to unravel the mystery of the past. This doesn’t mean to say that I will always write dual-timeline books; in fact I’m planning to write a contemporary novel next year.

Arabella:  When and where do you write? Early mornings when the world is still sleeping? Late afternoons when you’ve time to relax? Or other opportune moments…?

Susan:  I don’t have a regular time to write, as I fit it in around other things. But I do have a writing room, in fact I have two, one is our small study, and the other is a summerhouse. I alternate between the two places. I try not to write in the evenings though, otherwise I can’t sleep and am conjuring up plots in the middle of the night.

Arabella:  Do you have anyone supporting your writing endeavours? Friends, family, writing groups, etc?

Susan:  I belong to a writing group based around the Brighton area. We all met on Facebook mainly through the RNA, and we are all supportive of one another. We meet up around once a month, and are always there for each other on the writing journey.

 

Arabella:  Which season of the year do you most enjoy and why?

Susan:  I love the summer best as I love the outdoor life, and this also means I can sit in my summerhouse and write. Writing in the summerhouse makes me feel as if I’m still enjoying the sunshine and writing, so it’s a winning combination.

Arabella: Do you set yourself a daily/weekly word target?

Susan:  I don’t set myself a daily target but try to get a decent word count down. As well as being in the NWS I am now an Indie author, and will be launching one of my books in December. The Amethyst Necklace will be out on the 7^th December and I’m currently writing the sequel to it, called Scarlett’s Story; which will be released early next year.

 

Arabella:  So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… 😊 ) Tell us briefly about the romance you hope to submit to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Susan:  A Short Blurb of the Romance I’ll be Submitting to the NWS in 2021…

Scarlett’s story is the sequel to The Amethyst Necklace and tells the story of Scarlett Cunningham, who as a child was affected by a Spanish flu epidemic, which swept the world in 1918 and hit East Sussex in the summer of that year. After finding herself an orphan at the age of nine, she grows up determined to escape her roots and live a better kind of life, while hiding her strange gift of second sight from the seeing eyes of the world.

When she meets wealthy shipping tycoon Eric Johnson, Scarlett is offered a way out of her bleak existence. She doesn’t love Eric but he is a kind man so she accepts his offer. The outbreak of WW2 brings a chance meeting with Eric’s son Frankie. And Scarlett immediately recognises the mysterious fair-haired stranger she’s been dreaming about since the age of sixteen.

My second dual-timeline book, The Man in the Painting, which features the famous fossil hunter, Mary Anning, is currently with publishers and agents. 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself and your writing journey with us, Susan. Best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope your manuscripts find a home with the romance publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

About  Susan Griffin

I love writing romance with a mystery at its heart, and weaving secrets of the past with the present. Being passionate about history means I use this passion to research my dual-timeline novels, and bring alive the past. I am also interested in how pioneering women have managed to overcome adversity, and how their role in life along the ages has changed. I feel as if story telling is what I was born to do and this is the driving force behind my writing.

My website can be found at:  www.susangriffinauthor.com  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susangriffinauthor/

Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Kate Baker

I’m delighted to welcome Kate Baker, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog.

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers…and includes many more membership benefits.

 

Hello Kate – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers can gain an insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

 

Arabella:  How did you hear about or discover: The Romantic Novelists’ Association - New Writers’ Scheme?

Kate:  I learned of the RNA through a reading-buddy in a Facebook group called The Fiction Cafe Book Club. She very quickly became a writing-buddy - the lovely Julie Morris.

Arabella:  What is your romance genre and why have you chosen this particular type of novel to write?

Kate:  I struggle to pinpoint my exact genre, having written one contemporary romance suspense manuscript, and now a historical romance. A third idea is an intergenerational friendship-based contemporary story. If I realise my dream to find an agent, perhaps they’ll help me to hone one genre!

 

Arabella:  When and where do you write? Early mornings when the world is still sleeping? Late afternoons when you’ve time to relax? Or other opportune moments…?

Kate:  This summer I turned a box room upstairs into my writing room, to keep it separate from the farm accounts desk which is in the busy thoroughfare that is our hallway. Upstairs, I can close the door and stare out into the fields, put some music on and type undisturbed. I just hope my self-assembled desk and chair don’t give way!

   

Arabella:  Do you have anyone supporting your writing endeavours? Friends, family, writing groups, etc?

Kate:  My musings blog has been fairly stagnant for six months while I allocate my rare writing time to my novel and, more recently, weekly zoom workshops with Anstey Harris. I watched her win her award at the RONAs in March, and immediately bought her winning title, 'The Truths & Triumphs of Grace Atherton’. I fell in love with her writing, and then discovered she is a tutor. I left school at 16, and had many gaping holes where knowledge should be!

 

Arabella: You’ve arranged to meet up with friends and family for an afternoon of fun. Where do you go and what do you do?

Kate:  I miss meeting friends in Covent Garden, securing an upstairs table at the Punch & Judy and sipping a spritzer overlooking the cobbles where street entertainers brighten any day.

 

Arabella:  So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise, someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… J ) Tell us briefly about the romance you’ve submitted to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Kate:  My suffragette novel went through the NWS system this summer and I had some wonderful advice from my Reader in the Report. So many details I’d not given enough thought to and to have the opportunity to improve those, and to develop the plot is essential. It would be so easy to waste a one-to-one opportunity and submit a first draft, thinking it was good enough. I’ve since gone back to the drawing board and had some further help from a mentor and am about to embark on a serious edit during the remaining weeks of 2020!

 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself with us, Kate.

Meanwhile, best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope your manuscripts find a home with the romance agent or publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

 

About  Kate Frances 

 

I live on a Suffolk farm with my husband of twenty-six years. Our two grown-up children still spend time with us by choice, so we’ve done okay in the parenting department!  I’ve run my own horse-rug cleaning and repairing business in a workshop here for fourteen years and last year was allocated the role of farm secretary by my seventy-something father in law, so that’s been a baptism of fire!

I’ve read more novels since I’ve started writing and there’s nothing I prefer than sinking into my old and thinning beanbag with an emotional yarn.

 

Social Media Links:

Facebook: Kate Baker

Instagram: katefranceswrites

Twitter: @BleuViola 

Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Linn Seanor

I’m delighted to welcome Linn Seanor, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog.

Linn Seanor and Friend

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers…and includes many more membership benefits.

 

Hello Linn – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers will gain an insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

 

Arabella: Egg and Chips, Tea and Cake, or a Chocolate Treat?

Linn: Tea and Cake. I drink tea everyday but cake is an occasional indulgence which takes some time and effort. I either bake something myself or arrange a trip out to enjoy a special treat. It's not something I do often therefore it's more rewarding when I do.

 

Photo provided by - Linn Seanor

Arabella: When and where do you write? Early mornings when the world is still sleeping? Late afternoons when you’ve time to relax? Or other opportune moments…?

Linn: I'm a little and often writer. My most productive writing hours are after the morning school run, and then a few hours after dinner up until bedtime. When I'm not writing, I work through scenes in my head before getting it typed up. My most productive thinking time is when I'm preparing food!

 

Arabella: Which season of the year do you most enjoy and why?

Linn: Spring. It's when the snow finally begins to recede and melt away and the days become longer. After living in a mostly monochromatic world of snow, ice and grey days for up to six months of the year, the sight of crocuses and new grass shoots appearing in the garden are a most welcome and colourful sight.

Photo provided by - Linn Seanor

Arabella: You’ve arranged to meet up with friends and family for an afternoon of fun. Where do you go and what do you do?

Linn: I live in rural Norway so get-togethers revolve around eating and being outdoors. During the warmer months, that's hiking and swimming in lakes. In winter, we go cross-country skiing when the snow condition is right. Luckily for me, all this can be done from my doorstep. Alternatively, we visit friends who own a cabin. Norwegians have a saying, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. Since moving here in 2002, Long Johns and studded walking boots are part of my essential winter attire when venturing outdoors in sub-minus temperatures!

 

Arabella: So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… J ) Tell us briefly about the romance you hope to submit to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Linn: I'm coming to the end of my first year as part of the RNA New Writers' Scheme and my submission this year was a rom-com about a 50-something widow with two teenagers set in Northern England. I've already begun writing the novel I plan to submit in 2021. It's a contemporary, second chance romance set in Southern Norway. My aim to have two novels ready before I begin looking for an agent and/or publisher.

 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself and your writers’ life with us, Linn. You gave us a glimpse of what living in Norway can be like, and the beautiful photos you provided, (especially the cream covered cake!), shows how good it can be – even in sub-zero temperatures.

Best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope your manuscripts find a home with the romance agent/publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

 

About   Linn Seanor

Linn Seanor and Friend

Since childhood, books, paper and coloured pencils have been part of Linn Seanor's life. As an adult, she began writing in 2014 and has participated and won NaNoWriMo since 2016. After two unsuccessful tries to get a place on the Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writers' Scheme, luck was on her side in 2020...proving something positive has happened this year!

When she's not writing, blogging or reading, Linn likes walking in the forest which surrounds her home, taking photographs and scrapbooking.

Born and brought up in east part of God's own county, Linn now lives in the Land of the Midnight Sun after swapping city life to live on a farm where the local horse and cat populations outnumber that of the humans. She's married to a Norwegian she met in cyberspace and they have a teenage son.

 

Social Media Links

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLinnSeanor

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/norwayellesea

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NorwayEllesea

Blog - http://www.ellesea.no/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/elleseanor

Pinterest - https://no.pinterest.com/LinnSeanor

Ellesea Loves Reading

Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Helga Jensen-Forde

I’m delighted to welcome Helga Jensen-Forde, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog.

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers…and includes many more membership benefits.

Hello Helga – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers can gain an insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

 

Arabella:  How did you hear about or discover: The Romantic Novelists’ Association - New Writers’ Scheme?

Helga: As a journalist, I was already a member of The Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Then someone at a writing seminar mentioned The Romantic Novelists’ Association. As I write romance I knew this sounded exactly what I needed in my life. I subsequently discovered the New Writers’ Scheme and, as fiction writing was new to me, I jumped at the chance to join.

    

 

Arabella: Egg and Chips, Tea and Cake, or a Chocolate Treat?

Helga:  Oh, for those who know me they will know that answer. Definitely chocolate treats, although tea and cake come a very close second!

 

Arabella:  What is your romance genre and why have you chosen this particular type of novel to write?

Helga:  I write romantic comedy. I feel quite strongly about this genre because the world can be such a stressful place and, at times, bad things happen. I want to make the world a nicer place with comical stories. My dream is to make people laugh out loud and brighten their day with the comedy I write.

 

Arabella:  Do you have anyone supporting your writing endeavours? Friends, family, writing groups, etc?

Helga:  I am currently studying for a Creative Writing MA. Through the course there are workshops where the students critique each others writing. This has been an invaluable process. The feedback has been extremely helpful on my second book that I am now writing.

Arabella:  Which season of the year do you most enjoy and why?

Helga:  It depends where I am. Definitely summer in the UK. I lived in Dubai for over twenty years, where the cooler winter months were definitely the best. However, wherever I am, as long as the sun is shining that makes me happy.  

Arabella:  So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… J ) Tell us briefly about the romance you hope to submit to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Helga:  The first chapter of my novel, Temptation at Tiffany’s, was a winning entry at the Emirates Literary Festival Montegrappa First Fiction competition a few years ago. It is about the story of Amelia, a Pinot Grigio and Nutella loving woman (any similarity to me is purely coincidental!) When looking through an old suitcase, Amelia finds the telephone number of a handsome man she met twenty years before, whilst on holiday in New York. Now suddenly single, she considers whether she should track him down and finally agree to that date he asked her on and was too nervous to accept. Let’s just say that what comes next is a transatlantic adventure!

 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself with us, Helga. It certainly sounds as if you’ve had many adventures whilst travelling the world.

Meanwhile, best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope Temptation at Tiffany’s soon finds a home with the romance publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

About   Helga Jensen-Forde

Helga Jensen-Forde is a Danish/British journalist and author. Her first book, Temptation at Tiffany’s, was a winning entry at the 2017 Montegrappa First Fiction competition at Dubai’s Emirates Literary Festival. The romantic comedy is now with a number of agents and publishers and Helga is currently looking for representation. Whilst waiting to publish Temptation at Tiffany’s, Helga is working on her second book and a Creative Writing MA, whilst continuing to work as a freelance journalist.

Having lived in the Middle East for the past 25 years, the former airline stewardess is now in the UK to complete her MA before deciding where to jet off next.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: Helga Jensen Forde Author

Twitter: HelgaJensenF