Taking stock . . . and looking ahead

 I sent off  Diablo's story - aka The Devil and Miss Jones (sort of running a campaign to  hint that I'd like that for a title  but I'm not overly hopeful! And I haveto get the book accepted first) and now I'm in the middle of all the sorting out and planning that comes after one book and before another. Which means I'm  buried in paperwork and sorting things out.

So I was looking ahead to see what I have coming up and as I've had a few enquiries about courses or workshops  that I'll be doing, I thought I'd run a quick recap so  you can plan/book/think about them -

First things first - I will of course be heading for Wales for the fabulous Writers' Holiday week in July  (July 24th - 29th  to be exact).  Although I'm teaching, that's only for half the week and my time in Caerleon is always one of my favourite weeks of the year. (It's the same for the Babe Magnet too - he's teaching Writing Poetry there this time!)

If you're interested in Writers' Holiday - over the  six days there is the opportunity to take two different courses choices can be found here

There are also main speakers, who give talks to everyone there - at the moment, the list of speakers reads -

Raymond Allen Susan Moody  Janet Laurence  Lesley Horton

But I do know that my dear friend and brilliant writer Julie Cohen will be at Caerleon this time because we've just been in touch about finalising the details.

But of course it is  a 'Writers' Holiday' - so if you don't want to do a course and you just want to sit and read - or sleep - or even write! - then nothing is compulsory and love Anna and Gerry want you to do just as you choose.

Last time I heard there were still some places left at Caerleon - you can find the details and book here

Of course thinking of Caerleon means that I also think of Fishguard Writing Weekends - the next one isn't until February 2012 - but I'm already looking forward to that - I look forward to the next one almost as soon as the old one is over. 
Just to remind you that the course at Fishguard is the Advanced Romance Writing course - one that follows on from the basic Writing Romance course I run in Caerleon.  People need to  have been on a basic romance writing course to come along on this one. Again, although it's early, people are already booking. 

This is an intensive weekend course - Friday night to Sunday lunchtime and we cram  a lot into that time!

Here are some comments from past students at Fishguard -

 A blinder of a course. I learned so much and  . . . You were an inspiring teacher and brought so many useful guide posts to life for us. And made it all fun! . . . I ended the weekend with a much clearer idea of just what emotion and conflict mean in terms of novel writing. So thank you so much for laying so many riches before us. I really enjoyed every minute of the weekend.   Janet Laurence

Your course was fabulous: interesting, stimulating and empowering.. .  . thank for your dedication to all of us. You're a marvellous teacher.  Susan Moody

Thank you so much for all your energy and thoughts this weekend - a truly fabulous course which left me happily exhausted and full of enthusiasm for my upcoming week away writing.   Sarah Jane V

The details on the Fishguard Writing Weekend site still have the dates etc from 2011 - but if you are interested in booking, email Gerry and he'll add your name to the list of students. Last year this sold out almost as soon as it went on the site and I know there are already names on the list - numbers are limited to get the most out of this intensive course.

And just last month I finalised the details of another workshop I'll be doing in September - this one might be more suikable for people in the north of England. I'm really excited about this one as it's connected to another great interest of mine- the Bronte sisters and their books and particularly Wuthering Heights. And as many of you will be aware, my next book out - The Return of The Stranger is part of a mini series inspired by the classics of romantic fiction  - Jane Eyre, Emma , Pride and Prejudice  and my  book Wuthering Heights. (This and the other books are in the mini series The Powerful and The Pure - titles by Sharon Kendrick, Cathy Williams and Kate Hewitt) 

So I was thrilled to be invited to appear at the Bronte Society Festival Of Women's Writing in Haworth on September 17th.  I'm running a 2 hour workshop in the morning  and then giving a talk about writing The Return of The Stranger and using my reading  of Wuthering Heights to in spire me in the afternoon.

I don't yet have the details about time and place for bookings yet - though the workshop should be 10 - 12am and the talk 2 -3 pm - but as soon as  I do I'll post them here and on the Events page on my web site.

Finally - can't reveal full details yet - but just yesterday I finalised the discussion about another, wonderful course coming in 2012. And that wonderful is not me boasting about the content of the course  but anticpating this one with real excitement  because it will be in such a lovely place. 

What I can say is that this will be a week long residential course - and it's not going to be in England or even the United Kingdom . ..  Watch this space!

I hope that I'll get to meet some of you at one or other of these events!