Guest Post & Giveaway - The story behind The Wedding Reject Table by Angela Britnell - RNA Awards Week

Thank you Rachel for asking me to be a part of your RoNA Nominations feature this week. I’m still shocked at being included on the shortlist with such a great group of authors and am super excited about going to the awards ceremony on 7 March in London. And yes, I have a new dress and shoes!

My nominated book, ‘The Wedding Reject Table’,  has an interesting background. It started life as a very short story (500 words) that I wrote for my publisher, Choc Lit, as one of the free Treats they send out to readers. Somehow after it was published my main characters, Maggie and Chad, kept nagging me to tell the rest of their story. They insisted on being given a proper happy-ever-after and if your characters talk you had better listen to them! The story quickly came together and became the second in my series of ‘Nashville Connections’ novellas with ‘What Happens in Nashville’ being the first. You can’t go wrong with yummy men from Nashville as your heroes with their delicious Southern drawls, old-fashioned good manners and cowboy boots! 

So many people asked to see Maggie and Chad get married in Nashville that for the first time ever I’ve written a sequel and ‘Here Comes the Best Man’ is with my publisher at the moment. Of course it features a wedding but this story proved to be another case of the characters taking over. Chad’s brother, Josh got a brief mention in ‘The Wedding Reject Table’ but he’s a very persistent man and wouldn’t leave me alone. The army veteran hasn’t had an easy time of life and he told me in no uncertain terms that it was about time for things to get better for him. I hope I’ve done him justice and that he’ll find his own happy ever after with a certain English lady.

Another of my ‘Nashville Connections’ novellas will be coming out soon. ‘European Speed Date’ is the fun story of Sarah and Matt who meet on a European coach tour – think on the lines of ‘If it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium’, an old romantic comedy but given a modern twist.

There are lots of incredible books on the RoNA shortlists so check them out and perhaps find some new favourite authors. If you enjoy my books I’d love to hear from you! 

Giveaway to win an e-copy of The Wedding Reject Table (Open Internationally)

Angela Britnell has kindly offered an e-copy of The Weddding Reject Table to one lucky winner. 

Giveaway open everyone, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

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About Angela Britnell

Angela grew up in Cornwall and returns frequently from her new home in Nashville, Tennessee to visit family and friends, drink tea and eat far too many Cornish pasties! A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she's visited or lived on her extensive travels. Thanks to over three decades of marriage to her wonderful American husband she's a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Romance Writers of America and the Music City Romance Writers. If you'd like to find out more of what Angela gets up to (warning this may include references to wine, chocolate and the hunky Aidan Turner) check out www.angelabritnellromance.com or follow her on www.facebook.com/angelabritnell and www.twitter.com/angelabritnell


I loved hearing about the story behind The Wedding Reject Table and I'm really next Nashville Connectors novellas and hopefully the sequel too. Thank you for giving away an e-copy too.

Congratulations to Angela Britnell on her nomination for the RoNA Rose Award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Book Review - The Wedding Reject Table by Angela Britnell - RNA Awards Week

Amazon UK

Title: The Wedding Reject Table

Author: Angela Britnell

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Choc Lit

Publication Date: 1st July 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

Once on the reject table, always on the reject table? 

When Maggie Taylor, a cake decorator, and Chad Robertson, a lawyer from Nashville Tennessee, meet at a wedding in Cornwall it’s not under the best circumstances. 

They have both been assigned to ‘the reject table’, alongside a toxic collection of grumpy great aunts, bitter divorcees and stuffy organists. 

Maggie has grown used to being the reject, although when Chad helps her out of a wedding cake disaster she begins to wonder whether the future could hold more for her. 

But will Chad be strong enough to deal with the other problems in Maggie’s life? Because a ruined cake isn’t the only issue she has – not by a long shot. 

I first discovered how much I liked Angela Britnell last year, and had been waiting for an opportunity to read another by her. The Wedding Reject Table doesn't disappoint, its a lovely romantic story, with humour, and wedding cake!

Maggie and Chad are from different worlds, one is a cake decorator in Cornwall, and the other a lawyer from Nashville with an impressive family background. Maggie has a sister who can be a bit difficult, and I spent part of the story intrigued as to the reasons behind the family dynamic. 

Chad and Maggie have a clear instant attraction to each other, and over the course of the meal at a wedding, where they have both been assigned to the reject table, they start to get to know each other a bit. Of course they spend more time trying to sort out a slight disaster than sitting at the table, and its through that they bond.

All the talk of wedding cake was really making me hungry, and I do like a book where food features quite highly. I loved the creative solution Chad came up with for the wedding cake problem too. 

There are a couple of other very interesting people at the rejects table, Maggie's godmother, who is a wily older woman, who tries her hardest to scare Chad off, and Tonya who thinks she should be holding top place in Chad affections. 

I thought that The Wedding Reject Table was a well crafted novella, with a bit of depth and I started to feel a connection to the characters. Highly enjoyable and definitely recommended. 

Congratulations to Angela Britnell on her nomination for the RoNA Rose Award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Guest Post - Why Janice Preston is Hooked on Regency Romance - RNA Awards Week

Thank you, Rachel, for inviting me onto your blog to celebrate the Romantic Novel Awards and the shortlisting of my second published novel, From Wallflower to Countess, for the 2016 RoNA Rose, the award for category/series and shorter romance. 

To introduce myself: my name is Janice Preston and I write Regency romances that place the developing romance centre stage and in which the inner conflicts of both hero and heroine drive the plot.

The strictly-correct definition of the Regency is the nine years (1811 to 1820) when the then Prince of Wales (later George IV) ruled as Regent in the stead of his mentally-incapacitated father, King George III. The wider Regency period, or “long Regency” as it is sometimes known, has come to mean the years from the last decade or so of the 18th century up to 1830, when George IV died. It is an era defined by distinct trends in architecture, literature, fashion and style, its tone set by the flamboyant and hedonistic Prince of Wales and his passion for culture.

It was a fascinating time… a time of great social, political and economic change. It was a time of dazzling luxury and over-indulgence amongst the upper classes, but also a time of huge social injustice and unrest for many ordinary folk as Britain made the transition from a rural-based economy to one that was increasingly industrial and urban.  It was the time of Nelson and Wellington; of Watt and Stephenson; of Telford and Trevithick. But it was also the time of Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott; of Turner and Constable; of Keats, Shelley and Byron.

So why did I choose to write romances set in the Regency era?

Actually, I don’t think it was ever a conscious decision. I loved the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer as a teenager, and my love of Regency romance as a genre—both the traditional and the more recent, steamier Regencies—seeped into my subconscious. So when the day came that I tentatively set fingers to keyboard, it didn’t even occur to me to write a romance set in any other time. Plus (as I have confessed before) there is something about a hero on horseback… give me a powerful steed over a swish car any day.

My characters might inhabit the privileged, upper echelons of society, with its manners, fashion and strict propriety (for the women, if not for the men) but this does not mean life for them is charmed. 

I like to explore the predicaments my heroines face when life, for whatever reason, goes awry (and life could go very awry, particularly for women—there was no welfare state in those days). And I love to watch as the hero—whether a hardened rake who has seen and done it all or a jaded aristocrat who has sworn off love —falls in love against his every intention and often his better judgement. 

To put your characters through the emotional wringer and finally reward them with a happy-ever-after… that’s what romance is all about.

All about Janice Preston

Janice Preston grew up in Wembley, North London, with a love of reading, writing stories and animals. In the past she has worked as a farmer, a police call-handler and a university administrator. She now lives in the West Midlands with her husband and two cats and has a part-time job with a weight management counsellor (vainly trying to control her own weight despite her love of chocolate!)

Links (social and purchase)
My website is www.janicepreston.co.uk , where I also blog sporadically and where you can read the first chapter of each of my published novels.
I have an author page at https://www.facebook.com/janice.preston.author and my profile is at www.facebook.com/janice.preston.77
 I’m also on Twitter at @janicegpreston 

From Wallflower to Countess is available to purchase on Amazon - http://amzn.to/1pd9VTO

Thank you so much Janice for sharing your love of the Regency Era with us. I'm sorry to say you haven't converted me to being a Regency Romance reader, however I'm sure plenty of people that read this will know exactly what you mean and love Regency as much as you do. Good luck with your award.

Congratulations to Janice Preston on her nomination for the RoNA Rose Award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Book Review - Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe by Milly Johnson - RNA Awards Week

Amazon UK

Title: Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe

Author: Milly Johnson

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 18th June 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

Love and friendship bloom at the Sunflower Café…

When Connie discovers that Jimmy Diamond, her husband of more than twenty years, is planning to leave her for his office junior, her world is turned upside down.

Determined to salvage her pride, she resolves to get her own back. Along with Della, Jimmy's right-hand woman at his cleaning firm, Diamond Shine, and the cleaners who meet at the Sunflower Café, she'll make him wish he had never underestimated her. 

Then Connie meets the charming Brandon Locke, a master chocolatier, whose kindness starts to melt her soul. Could he be her second chance at happiness? 

Can the ladies of the Sunflower Cafe help Connie scrub away the hurt? And can Brandon make her trust again?

With its fantastic cast of characters, multiple focuses, on various storyline, plots and interesting sub plots, all with some strong female leads, and barely a hint of romance in sight, Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe is a heartwarming and inspiring story. 

It really is a story of friendship, between the most unlikeliest pairing of people. Connie has been married to Jimmy Diamond for over twenty years, so she isn't particularly happy to discover that he has been having many affairs during their marriage. 

Della is Jimmy's most trusted employee at Diamond Shine, the cleaning company he owns. What he doesn't know though is that she has been in love with him for many years, and when she discovers who his latest dalliance is with, she knows she can't carry on working with him.

Connie and Della between them plot a fabulous revenge, which is what the book is leading up to with a fabulous conclusion. In the meantime, we learn a lot more about the lives of various of the cleaners on Diamond Shines books, and Cheryl's story in particular is focused on. 

Cheryl is devastated to discover her man has cleared out her bank account and life savings, not for the first time, due to a gambling debt, and is determined to live life without him. She has a rollercoaster of a time during the book, but she was the character I loved the most. 

I loved the spirit and camaraderie displayed by the employees of Diamond Shine, and none of the ladies were willing to put up with poor conditions for much longer. They unbeknownst to management had monthly meetings at the Sunflower Cafe, to discuss various aspects of the job, and to compare notes on clients. 

Don't worry if you feel the start of the book is a bit on the slow side, it does pick up pace, especially once you have your head around the huge amounts of characters that you are introduced to , and work out how they interlink. The book around half way picked up speed for me, and from that point, I thought it was brilliant. 

I freely admit to being a huge Milly Johnson fan, and this is easily one of  her best books. It feels a bit grittier than some in the past, which may be that her writing is maturing. 

Congratulations to Milly Johnson on her nomination for the RoNA Romantic Comedy Novel. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Guest Post & Giveaway - The Glitz of the RNA Awards by Liz Fenwick - RNA Awards Week

Glitz, glam, frocks, shoes and champagne. The awards ceremony for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic NoNAs and Romantic Novel of Year is all that and more. It’s an event that celebrates the best in women’s fiction in the United Kingdom.

When I attended my first awards ceremony it was a lunch held at the Savoy. I was an unpublished and knew no one. I found myself seated at a table with Jill Mansell. I’m not sure I said I word I was so in awe but she couldn’t have been more welcoming. And that is the thing about the RNA it is welcoming and supporting. Since I joined the association back in the 2005 I have missed only two awards events…I’ve always looked forward to dusting off my finest frock and catching up friends – old and new.

It’s a time to celebrate fellow writers achievements, which lift all of us in the industry including the unpublished. During all those years I learned so much from the generous pros who quietly guided me on my way including the late Penny Jordan. (pictured with me the year she won a lifetime achievement award)

So I cannot find the words to say how delighted I am to have Under A Cornish Sky nominated with so many other books. No matter what happens it will be a wonderful night! 

In past years I’ve snapped pictures so that those members who couldn’t make it to the event could feel like they’d been there…this year someone else may have to take over!

Giveaway to win a paperback copy of Under A Cornish Sky (Open Internationally)

Liz Fenwick is giving one lucky winner a copy of her nominated book, Under A Cornish Sky. 

Giveaway open everyone, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway   

About Liz Fenwick

Writer, ex-pat expert, wife, mother of three, and dreamer turned doer....

Award winning author of The Cornish House, A Cornish Affair, A Cornish Stranger and Under A Cornish Sky. After nine international moves, she's a bit of a global nomad. It's no wonder her heart remains in Cornwall. She is currently editing my next book - The Returning Tide due in January  2017.

www.lizfenwick.com
https://www.facebook.com/liz.fenwick.author/

https://twitter.com/liz_fenwick

Thanks you so much Liz for these wonderful pictures of past awards. I can now see what everyone will be getting up to on Monday, and looking forward to reading al the reports afterwards. Thank you also for giving my followers a chance to win Under A Cornish Sky.

Congratulations to Liz Fenwick on her nomination for the RoNA Contemporary Romantic Novel award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Guest Post & Giveaway - Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme by Georgina Troy - RNA Awards Week

I’m often asked by new writers what I think is the best way towards becoming a published author. There are, of course, many ways towards reaching your publishing goal, the route I took however was joining the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme. You can find out more about it on their website here: http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/join/new_writers_scheme 

This scheme is open to 250 unpublished members each year and as part of your membership you can submit a full or partial manuscript – by 31 August each year – for a critique. The readers who write the reports are anonymous published authors. If a book goes through the scheme and is subsequently published the author is entitled to enter the Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Scheme Award - I was lucky enough to be shortlisted for the award in 2015. 

A Jersey Kiss – originally entitled Bea Stings – was submitted for the New Writers’ Scheme (NWS) twice. Both times I received lengthy reports telling me what was good about my book – characters, plot, sub-plots, etc – as well as suggestions for areas of the manuscript that could be improved upon. For example, one of my readers mentioned that I should consider making more of the beautiful island where I lived rather than setting my novel in an imaginary place somewhere along the south coast. It then dawned on me that there were no other romantic novels set in Jersey and that this was the one place where I knew all, or at least a fair sum of, the exquisite coves and corners in the island where scenes could be set. 

So I re-wrote the book, again, and this time made much more of the place where I lived. It also made my book become more alive for me. After that I wrote A Jersey Affair, which had also gone through the NWS as Reading Paige, and set that book in Jersey and also in Sorrento, a place I loved. It was where my husband and I had spent our honeymoon, so already had romantic connotations for me.

Once I signed a publishing contract with Accent Press for my Jersey Scene series, I was no longer eligible to be a member of the NWS and couldn’t submit a manuscript for the excellent critiques I’d received in the past, although now I’m lucky enough to have an editor to work with. When you’re a new writer and finding your way along the writing process it’s incredibly difficult to know if you’re on the right track. I used to wonder how I was supposed to know if what I was writing was complete rubbish, or if there was some of it that was worth keeping and improving upon. With the NWS you have someone who’ll read every word of your manuscript and point out where you’re going wrong, or at least what’s wrong with your novel. They’ll also help you discover what’s good about the book, so that you can improve it and hopefully one day realise your dream and see your novel in print. 

Giveaway to win a paperback copy of A Jersey Dreamboat (Open Internationally)

Georgina Troy is offering one lucky winner a chance to win the newest book in the Jersey Scene series, A Jersey Dreamboat. All the books can be read as stand alones so don't worry if you haven't read the first two. 

Giveaway open everyone, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

About Georgina Troy

Georgina Troy lives in Jersey, an island fifteen miles off the coast of France. She's a hopeless romantic and when Georgina realised that no one else wrote romances set in her island home with its beautiful wind-swept beaches and intriguing inhabitants, she decided she had to provide some. Her books are published by Accent Press.

Georgina also writes historical romance under the name D M Carr and her book Broken Faces was recently published.

Georgina Troy on Amazon UK

Contact Georgina:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeorginaTroy 

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

Website: http://www.georginatroy.co.uk/

Blog: http://georginatroy.blogspot.com/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/georginatroy/

Thank you to Georgina for this very informative post, I'm sure that it will help a lot of people, and thank you for the giveaway too.

Congratulations to Georgina Troy on her nomination for the RoNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Book Review - Cora's Christmas Kiss by Alison May - RNA Awards Week

Amazon UK

Title: Cora's Christmas Kiss

Author: Alison May

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Choc Lit Lite

Publication Date: 4th December 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Can you expect a perfect Christmas after the year from hell? 
Cora and Liam have both experienced horrible years that have led them to the same unlikely place – spending December working in the Grotto at Golding’s department store. 
Under the cover of a Father Christmas fat suit and an extremely unflattering reindeer costume, they find comfort in sharing their tales of woe during their bleak staffroom lunch breaks. 
But is their new-found friendship just for Christmas? Or have they created something deeper, something that could carry them through to a hopeful new year? 

There is a small part of me that can't quite believe that I voluntarily read a Christmas book in February, but I am so glad that I did as Cora's Christmas Kiss is fantastic, and not too Christmasy. 

Obviously it is festive, in that the majority of it is Father Christmas and Rudolph talking on their lunch breaks while working in a grotto in the run up to Christmas. But its what Father Christmas and Rudolph are talking about that is the majority of the story, as two complete strangers tell each other about their "friends" unusual years. 

The story is split up into months as we get both Father Christmas and the reindeer alternating the tellings of their story, and what is great for the reader to see is just how close they had come to meeting a few times, without realising. It was as though it was fated for them to eventually meet. 

Over the course of the month of December they build up a friendship while still hiding behind their character masks, but its whether anything will happen once the season ends. 

I loved hearing about both of their stories, and wow they couldn't have been more different in terms of fortunes, although neither has had an easy time of it. 

I found the writing very warm and gave took me right into the heart of the story. I am really enjoying the Christmas Kiss series by Alison May, and I can assure you they are easily standalone books. Although there are some familiar characters from the first, but not in vital roles. 

Cora's Christmas Kiss will warm you up and make you want it to be Christmas just to get that feeling of goodwill back, that seems to be lost the rest of the year. 

Congratulations to Alison May on her nomination for the RoNA Rose Award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Guest Post - How to Write Short Romance by Alison May - RNA Awards Week

Novellas are very much in fashion at the moment. The development of ebooks has made publishing shorter titles a much more economically viable proposition, and that’s jolly good news for me, because novellas are actually marvellous fun to write. And one of my novellas, Cora’s Christmas Kiss, is shortlisted in the RoNA Rose category of the RoNA awards this year, so I’m clearly super qualified to wax lyrical about all things short romance related. Here goes…

The first question I’m always asked about writing novellas is ‘How long is a novella?’ to which my answer is a very eloquent, ‘Well… erm… sort of…. Well… it depends.’ And that’s true. There isn’t an official Council of Books where Big Important Authors sit and decide where the boundaries between short story, novella and novel ought to sit. I’ve published three novellas and they vary from 30,000 words to 48,000 words. I know other authors who’ve published novella as short as 15,000 words. Essentially the right length for your story (whether it’s a novel, novella or short story) is the length that the story needs it to be – although if your story needs to be 500,000 words long you might want to think about telling a simpler story at least until you reach JK Rowling or George RRRRRRRRR Martin levels of success.

I’ve heard it said as well, that a novella should always be super straight forward in terms of the plotting and structure. A novel can take in sub-plots and multiple timelines and multiple points of view. A novella has to travel much more directly along its main storyline from inciting incident to crisis to resolution. At least that seems to be the received wisdom. 

Unfortunately I struggle to write that way. I like a flashback. I like stories with multiple timelines and points of view, and Cora’s Christmas Kiss is probably the most complex story I’ve written. It has two viewpoint characters (or maybe four – it’s complicated) and two timelines (or possibly three – as I said it’s complicated!) all in a tiny festive bitesize package. With jokes. And whole lot of falling in love to fit in as well. 

So, so far my advice on writing short romance comes down to:

1. Make it as long as it needs to be.
2. Tell it however you want to tell it.

And that’s good advice, but I do have to concede that it’s a tad nebulous, but that’s the problem with writing advice. Nobody can write your book for you. Nobody can even tell you how to write your book, because it’s your book. The most useful writing advice that anyone can offer is simply to get on and write your book.

But finally I do have one non-nebulous titbit to offer about writing short romance. Remember that the depth of the story still has to be there. You don’t make a story shorter by taking out the intensity of emotion, especially in a romance – romance is all about emotion. You might go lighter on the subplots. You might construct of really short timeline over which your hero and heroine (or hero and hero, or heroine and sentient robot  etc. – really whatever floats your boat) get together, but you can’t compromise on emotional punch. The lows still have to hurt. The highs still have to lift your reader out of their own lives and into the joy of your characters. Short doesn’t mean slight when it comes to making the feelings in your story come alive.


About Alison May

Alison was born and raised in North Yorkshire, but now lives in Worcester with one husband, no kids and no pets. There were goldfish once. That ended badly.

She studied History and Creative Writing, and worked as a waitress, a shop assistant, a learning adviser, an advice centre manager, and a freelance trainer, before settling on ‘making up stories’ as an entirely acceptable grown-up career plan.

Alison is a qualified teacher specialising in adult education, a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors, and an experienced creative writing teacher.

She write contemporary romantic comedy novels, including the Christmas Kiss series, Sweet Nothing and Midsummer Dreams. She won the RNA’s Elizabeth Goudge Trophy in 2012, and has been shortlisted in the RoNAs and the Love Stories Awards.

You can find out more about Alison at www.alison-may.co.uk, by following her on twitter @MsAlisonMay or on facebook at www.facebook.com/AlisonMayAuthor/ 

About Cora’s Christmas Kiss 
(Amazon UK)
Can you expect a perfect Christmas after the year from hell? 

Cora and Liam have both experienced horrible years that have led them to the same unlikely place – spending December working in the Grotto at Golding’s department store.

Under the cover of a Father Christmas fat suit and an extremely unflattering reindeer costume, they find comfort in sharing their tales of woe during their bleak staffroom lunch breaks.

But is their new-found friendship just for Christmas? Or have they created something deeper, something that could carry them through to a hopeful new year?

Thank you so much Alison for this informative piece. I completely agree that novellas need to have emotion and pack a punch, which must be why I'm loving your Christmas Kiss series. 

Giveaway - Win The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley - RNA Awards Week

In many ways my life has been rather like a record of the lost and found. Perhaps all lives are like that . . .

LONDON, 1986: Bequeathed an old portrait by her grandmother, Kate Darling begins to unpick the tapestry of her family’s secret history in a journey that takes her to Corsica, Paris and back to the heady days of the Roaring Twenties where it all began.

PARIS, 1939: Alice Eversley and Thomas Stafford meet once again in the City of Light. Tom is now a world-famous artist, Alice is much-changed too – bruised from the events of the last decade. Perhaps they can lose themselves in the love story that ignited by a moonlit lake all those years ago?

But sometimes there’s no place for happy endings – and there’s no hiding from the shadow of war . . .

Giveaway to win 2 x  paperback copy of The Book of Lost and Found (UK Only)

Due to having 2 spare copies of The Book of Lost and Found laying around the house, I thought I would let two of you win them. 

Giveaway open to the UK only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Lucy Foley on her nomination for the RoNA Epic Romantic Novel award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?

Guest Post & Giveaway - A Beginner’s Guide To Surviving Award Season by Sophie Cousens - RNA Awards Week

Be it the Oscars, the Baftas or the Most Amusing Marrow competition at your local allotment, there are a few universal rules when it comes to surviving awards season. Follow my handy guide to make sure you gracefully glide through the process and avoid making a complete fool of yourself.

Perfect your ‘Who me?’ Face

If you are lucky enough to be nominated for an award you need to perfect your ‘who me?” face. This is a face designed to convey total bemusement at anyone even knowing who you are, let alone nominating you for an award. Here are a few examples of excellent ‘who me?’ faces.

 Learn the Art of Self-Deprecation
Once you’ve perfected the face, you’ll then need to choose a self-deprecating line to use when people ask you about your nomination. Here are a few suggestions:

“Oh I won’t win. It’s an honour just to be nominated.”

“I’m just proud to be considered alongside so many talented individuals.”

“My nomination was probably a clerical error.”

“How do you spell ‘chalk’ again? Is it with a V?” (This really throws people off the scent and the quickest way to make people forget all about your nomination.)

Alternatively, just be bold and say “Yeah, my book/performance/giant aubergine is frickin’ awesome, damn right I’m nominated for an award!” This is harder to pull off as a strategy but highly admirable when delivered with enough gusto.

Let your outfit do the talking
Once you’ve dealt with the initial nomination you’re going to have to put together ‘a look’ for the ceremony itself and as everyone knows, an outfit can speak a thousand million words. To illustrate, here’s what a few award hopefuls were trying to tell you through the medium of their clothing.

I call this look ‘Bridal Bonkers’. She’s trying to say – yes I’m marriage material and yes I’ll do the washing up, BUT I might murder you if you say ‘you missed a bit’ when I hand you the saucepan flecked with crusted on spag bol to dry up. The purpose of an outfit like this is to so entirely distract you from what’s really going on that you soon forget you’re even at an award ceremony. Pretty soon, all you can think about it how the hell she’s going to wash up that spag bol encrusted saucepan without getting it all over her dress. WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE BUY THE WOMAN AN APRON GOD DAMN IT!!

This is another classic. This is the look that says, ‘win or lose I have a fantastic body – so ha!’ It’s a great outfit to go for if you think you are going to lose, mainly because no one is going to feel sorry for someone who has a bottom that toned and legs so silky smooth. Incidentally, this look also works when you’ve got the ‘It’s-Monday-morning-and-I’m-in-Asda-with-a-screaming-two-year-old-what-has-happened-to-my-life-and-career?’ blues. Pull this bad boy out the wardrobe and Asda/motherhood suddenly becomes A LOT more interesting.

Here’s an outfit that simply says, “Don’t look at me, look at my work. Take me seriously.” It’s also an outfit that stops you being able to sit down or go to the loo so a great choice if you’re not a good sitter and have excellent bladder control. Word to the wise, if you do opt for something like this; make sure you wear something sturdy and/or waterproof underneath. You don’t want to be in a situation where you lose, it’s raining outside and your papier-mâché costume starts dissolving around you. You’ll be stuck hailing a cab with nothing to protect your modesty except the award you didn’t win. Suddenly you’re a loser AND you’re naked and no one likes a naked loser – especially cab drivers.

Hone your ‘gracious loser’ face
Make sure you’ve honed your ‘gracious loser’ face for when you don’t win. This is probably the most important preparation you can do. This face is all about conveying the fact that you never actually thought you would win and are just there to enjoy the ambience and the cheap wine. Here are a few excellent ‘loser’ faces to inspire you.

This look is called the ‘Magnanimous Jaw Clench’ – best used when you can’t even muster a fake smile. If you are planning on using the MJC you might find jabbing a compass into your leg to stop yourself from screaming really helps the look along. If no compasses are available make sure you stock up on cocktail sticks when the canapés come around.

I call this one the ‘I’m So Happy For You!’ face. Only attempt this one if you’ve had formal training as it can come across quite sarcastic if you’re not a seasoned pro. If you have no formal training I’d recommend dosing up on some prescription strength mood enhancers or a twelve ounce bag of Jelly Babies before attempting it.

This one I love – it’s called ‘Brutal Honesty’ and involves going bat-shit crazy, screaming uncontrollably and throwing faeces at the winning candidate who stole YOUR award. It’s a real crowd pleaser but can have some undesirable consequences; Firstly you will never be invited to an award ceremony ever again and secondly you will be escorted from the building by hefty security guards who have little regard for your personal space or how difficult it is for you to walk in a new pair of heels. You do not need formal training to attempt this look just a thick skin and an industrial strength deodorant.

The Acceptance Speech

Finally, if by some miracle you do win and you find yourself on stage doing an acceptance speech, here are a few tips to help you get the tone right.

1)  Don’t pull out a pre-written speech from your pocket, it looks presumptuous. If you need a few crib notes get them tattooed onto your hand pre-ceremony, it will look far more subtle.

2)  Remember to thank your mum, your dog, your agent, nail artist blah blah blah – basically attribute all your success to anyone and everyone other than yourself. I’ve seen the “yeah go me!” approach in acceptance speeches before and it never goes down well. If you do want to try it, make sure you team it with a little celebratory dance or a swift call for ‘world peace’ to make it more palatable to the crowd.

3) Cry. Everyone loves tears, so if you can cry on command go for it. With enough tears, it doesn’t even matter that what you’re saying is really boring. Ideally you want to aim for the breathy ‘oh my god I’m so overwhelmed’ tears, rather than a full on snot-fest, so take your cry-style into account on this one.

So, a huge good luck to everyone who’s nominated this awards season, and remember it’s the taking part that counts. (Well, just keep telling yourself that…)

Sophie Cousens’ debut novel How to Get Ahead in Television has been nominated for a RoNA in the Romantic Comedy category. On the 7th March she will be attempting the ‘Magnanimous Jaw Clench’.

Giveaway to win an e-copy of How to Get Ahead in Television (Open Internationally)

Sophie Cousens and her publisher have very kindly offered an e-copy of How to Get Ahead in Television to one lucky winner. 

Giveaway open everyone, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

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About Sophie Cousens

Sophie Cousens has worked in television for over twelve years, working her way up from Runner to Series Producer. She has produced, among other things, The Graham Norton Show, Big Brother, Ant and Dec, Russell Howard’s Good News and most recently Murder in Successville for BBC3. Sophie recently won the LoveAtFirstWrite competition, run in partnership with Corvus and LoveReading with her debut novel How to Get Ahead in Television.


Before launching into a Television career, Sophie gained a History Degree from Edinburgh University. She currently splits her time between London and Jersey, TV Producing and writing. She lives with her husband Tim and spends lots of time growing vegetables, baking cakes and yearning for a time when she will be able to own a miniature dachshund.


Thank you so much Sophie for this fabulous post, I was laughing as I was reading it, and I hope others do too. And good luck everyone in the giveaway, I loved How to Get Ahead in Television and I'm sure whoever wins will enjoy it too.

Congratulations to Sophie Cousens on her nomination for the RoNA Romantic Comedy Novel award. Which of these books did you love? Which do you think should win the award?