Author Spotlight no.12 – Sarahjane Funnell

To complement my daily blog interviews I recently started a series of Author Spotlights and today’s, the twelfth, is of children’s author Sarahjane Funnell. You can read the others here.

Sarahjane Funnell is the Regional PR Officer for LUSH Cosmetics and a newly published children’s fiction author. Predominantly she writes young children’s picture books and middle grade stories set in magical places and enchanted lands but is soon to self publish her first short story written for YA readers. Launching as an Amazon ebook in October 2011, Sarahjane’s latest literary addition to her published repertoire will be the fantasy story Blake – a short story which Sarahjane hopes will capture the imagination of young readers in particular those who would prefer a shorter fiction book.

Blake is an aloof and mysterious guy. He possesses a sharp glint in his eye and harbours a hidden secret. Ebony, a schoolgirl, becomes completely mesmerised by him and his strange character. Longing to unveil just what it is that makes Blake so different, she desperately searches for him in need of an answer. When Ebony finally has an opportune moment to discover the secret that surrounds him, she learns that it is not only he who has an unknown mystery but that she too has a secret that stretches far beyond her own identity, one that indeed changes not only her thoughts, but also her physical human form.

Blake will be available to download as an ebook from Amazon on Monday 10^th October 2011 by Sarahjane Funnell. Cover Illustration by Dimitra Mathioudakis.

And now from the author herself:

I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember but I never set out thinking one day I would be a children’s author. Writing is just something I’ve always done. I can remember as a young girl at home writing little stories and drawing pictures then putting little books together. I would do this in my room at home or sat in the back of the church hall when my mum had her church singing practice. I also loved colouring in and reading adventure books such as Enid Blyton classics and Alice in Wonderland and watching fantasy films including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Disney’s films such as Beauty and the Beast and sleeping beauty. These stories and many others probably explain my love for castles, magical lands and imaginative creatures, which are usually the main themes within the stories that I write.

As a teenager I loved watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was my favourite teen series and I always wanted to be just like Buffy and became fascinated by Angel and the mystery that surrounded him. I think aspects of all these stories and genres have influenced my writing and my creativity. With Blake in particular, I have been inspired by the likes of other current fantasy films such as Twilight and Avatar. I also have a fondness for nature, beautiful gardens and historical houses from living in Plymouth in Devon for most of my life. With natural and picturesque surroundings such as Dartmoor and many National Trust houses my imagination is constantly sparked and inspired.

Blake will be my debut, solo published works following on from my previous published story entitled Princess Rose and the Royal Tea Castle appearing in the anthology A Pocketful of Moondust published by Rebel Books. I feel very excited to be releasing my first solo material as an ebook and I am also very proud to have such a brilliant cover designed by my university friend Dimitra Mathioudakis who has just completed an MA in Graphic Design Communication at Chelsea. I hope readers will enjoy the story and I feel the ebook market is a great way to prepare for releasing my next story which will be a children’s picture book scheduled for release in print and digital formats during Easter 2012.

Blake will be available to download as an ebook with Amazon on Monday 10^th October 2011.

Thank you Sarahjane. You can find more about Sarahjane and her work via…

www.theenchantedpages.blogspot.com and you can follow her on Twitter @sarahjanestyle.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with novelist and short story author Alberta Ross – the one hundred and thirty-seventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the authors further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com. You can also read / download my eBooks here.

 

Blog interview no.136 with historical romance novelist Freda Lightfoot

I’m thrilled to bring you the one hundred and thirty-sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with the prolific author Freda Lightfoot. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/blog-interviews. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello Freda. Lovely to meet you. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Freda: I was born in Lancashire, and brought up behind my parents’ shoe shop. I still remember my first pair of clogs, made by my father, which I wore to school for many years. My parents were passionate about reading and I spent many happy hours in our local library. I would write my own stories in little red exercise books, always rather similar to what I had recently read: Enid Blyton mysteries, Chalet School, and my all time favourite, The Secret Garden. I always wanted to be a writer but this was considered a rather exotic ambition, so I qualified as a teacher and it wasn’t until I was bored with the nappy routine that I tried it again. Writing started as a hobby with articles and children’s stories. But after I opened a bookshop it again fell by the wayside as I was busy bringing up my kids and helping prop up the family budget. After ten years of this, with my husband better established in his own job, I sold the business and we moved out onto the remote Lakeland fells. Here I became thoroughly involved in rural life. Fortunately the weather was so bad I was able to stay indoors a good deal and write, short stories, articles, serials, children’s novels, puzzles, anything that took my fancy. The object was to send them out faster than they came back. Not easy, but eventually I learned to target my efforts and sold over forty short stories and articles.

Morgen: I love the idea of you beating the rejections and it is all about practice, honing your craft. What genre do you generally write now and have you considered other genres?

Freda: I write historical romantic fiction in some form or another. When it was out of fashion I wrote family sagas. Now it is very much back in fashion so I am writing both, which is a good way for me to keep my writing muscles fresh.

Morgen: It definitely is popular. I met three agents at this July’s Winchester Writers’ Conference and they all wanted more historical (and crime). What have you had published to-date? Can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Freda: I’ve had over 35 books published to date. I rather lose track of the exact count. Following my success with the short stuff I tried my hand at novels, and after a couple of rejections my third historical romance was accepted by Mills & Boon. After that I turned to family sagas set in the early part of the twentieth century. I remember seeing a whole rack of Luckpenny Land in terminal 1 at Manchester airport, and was absolutely overwhelmed.

Morgen: Have you ever seen a member of the public (whom you don’t know!) reading your book… in any unusual locations?

Freda: Thankfully, no. That would be terribly embarrassing.

Morgen: Really? I know one person (a colleague called Mary at the Red Cross shop I volunteer at) who is a big reader of your novels and her eyes lit up at the mention of your name. As they did when I mentioned Anna Jacobs, who I interviewed back in July, which is how I knew I’d get that reaction. Given that you’re so established, how much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Freda: It is a fact that most writers, other than the big names, are entirely responsible for their own publicity. Building one’s ‘brand’ is very important, and I’ve done hundreds of talks, workshops, and courses over the years. These days I promote mainly online, and although it is very demanding on time I would much rather spend writing, it is an essential part of the job. Fortunately, it can also be quite good fun.

Morgen: <keeps fingers crossed that this is included in that> Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Freda: The first novels I wrote for Mills & Boon were written under the pseudonym Marion Carr. Since then I’ve used my own name.

Morgen: Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Freda: Most of my backlist is now up on Kindle and other platforms. I was fortunate in getting many of the rights reverted so published them myself, and I must say they are selling surprisingly well. They really took off a few months ago. I have a Kindle myself and absolutely love it. So now I have an ebook habit to feed as well as a print one.

Morgen: Not a hard habit to endure, I’m sure. What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Freda: There is nothing to compare with the sale of your first book. That ranks alongside the birth of my children, the day I fell in love, my wedding day, and such like wonderful events in my life. But an acceptance is still a joy and also a relief that you haven’t lost whatever talent you might have.

Morgen: Presumably you’ve had some rejections along the way. If so, how do you deal with them?

Freda: Every writer suffers rejections. You deal with them by drying the tears, put on a pot of coffee, then write another book taking any criticisms into account. Persistence, patience and practise are the three essential ps. I was fortunate that having cut my teeth on shorter work. my first saga, Luckpenny Land, had three offers for it, so that was hugely exciting to have a telephone auction. Writing the second book though, was quite terrifying. Writing is never easy.

Morgen: But you’re practiced at it now. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Freda: I am just getting started on the next saga, title undecided, in fact much of the plot is undecided at this stage. I have an overview, a beginning, a middle and an end, although how I will get there has yet to be determined. I’m not a great plotter and planner. Once I have an idea of the main characters and the premise I start writing into the mist and see what comes. Usually by chapter four and five I know where I’m going. After this, will come another biographical historical. The desire to write the next book always acts as a spur to work hard on the current one.

Morgen: Most of the authors I’ve interviewed have said they don’t plan much and as the characters to have a tendency to take over it’s probably wise. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Freda: Writing is my job, and one that I love, so I keep to a strict routine. I award myself a holiday each year, and a little time off at weekends, and in the summer. Other than that, yes, I write 7 or 8 hours a day for at least five days a week, more as the deadline approaches.

Morgen: Wow. So I don’t suppose from writer’s block…

Freda: I don’t have time for writer’s block, not if it stops me writing. I accepted long since that writing is a painful process, one that even after 37 or 38 books, doesn’t get any easier. That feeling can still sneak in that I can’t really do this, that what I’m writing is rubbish. But as I say this for every book, it’s something I just have to live with and keep going. I tell myself that it will get better, that it doesn’t need to be perfect in the first draft, that it can be revised later. But I can’t improve a blank screen. Write first, criticism and edit afterwards.

Morgen: I’m sure it’ll reassure anyone reading this (it does me) that it can still be a struggle even after so much writing, although you clearly love it. One of my Monday night poets says she finds writing tortuous but she wouldn’t want to do anything else (nor would I, although I’ve only really found scriptwriting hard enough not to want to do any more). I mentioned characters earlier on, do you have a method for creating yours, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Freda: The appearance of a character can come about as you write, but I like to work out in advance what kind of people they are. What is their main characteristic, and their major flaw? Often the two facets are linked. Independence can easily slip into stubborn obstinacy. Everyone has faults and it is these human failings which can bring a character alive for a reader, and explain their motivation for behaving as they do. Back story is also important, and how they relate to other people. We do not behave towards to our daughters, for instance, in the same as we do with our father. Nor do they see us in the same light, so considering other viewpoints about a character can help to round them out.

Morgen: Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Freda: My editor. But even she doesn’t see it until it pleases me first. I am my stiffest critic.

Morgen: Not a bad thing at all. I’m the same really. If I’m not happy with it I don’t email it to Rachel until I am, otherwise I’m wasting her time which will ultimately cost me more in money and time as she’ll find more errors and I’ll have to correct it all anyway. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Freda: I revise as I write for the first 30 – 40% of the book. Once the foundation is built and I know where I’m going, I sprint to the finish, or almost. I like to reach the end, although the final chapter might be a bit rough at this stage, then I go back and revise the whole thing, a notebook beside me to keep track of loose ends that need tying up, details which need checking, and so on. Scenes may get rewritten or moved, and I go over the book as many times as is necessary till it is as polished and perfect as I can make it. This is a method that works for me. But everyone has their own system.

Morgen: I found, certainly with my big chick-lit (the first draft was 117,540 words!) that four times was plenty, although I was still finding ‘thought’ instead of ‘though’ and so on. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Freda: To be prepared to work hard and practise their craft until they’ve learned all the techniques and tenets of the novel. Many aspiring novelists make the mistake of sending work out too soon. Perhaps excited by the thrill of actually reaching the end of the story, they rush it out, thinking it’s ready to be seen. Wrong! Put it away for a month, then look at it again. I guarantee you will want to revise and improve it. You wouldn’t expect to master a musical instrument quickly, and even though we might all possess writing skills, they need to be honed and adapted to suit a market. It isn’t enough to write beautiful prose, or to be clever with words and grammar, we have to be good story-tellers and to be commercial. Study where you think your book will fit in the market. Which shelf would you expect to find it? And who would read it? Then you have made it as perfect as it can possibly be, then you can send it in. And start on your second novel at once.

Morgen: Absolutely, I often compare writing to piano playing. Who would sit you in front of a Steinbeck and expect you to play a concerto? We shouldn’t expect that of ourselves. What do you do when you’re not writing?

Freda: I garden, go on long walks, do yoga, watch drama on TV, and read, read, read. Never enough time in my day for reading.

Morgen: Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Freda: I do a lot of social networking as it seems to be essential these days. I’m on Twitter and Facebook, Goodreads and Writer’s Café on Kindle Boards, among others.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Freda: My latest two hardbacks are published at the end of September.

THE PROMISE, which has two time strands.

Chrissie Kemp visits her grandmother and discovers a shocking family secret that is about to throw her family into turmoil. As the truth unfurls, the passion, emotion and astounding love that blossomed in San Francisco over forty years earlier is revealed. Georgia Briscoe is in love with British sailor Ellis Cowper but unwillingly betrothed to Drew Kemp, a businessman mired in the San Francisco underworld. Georgia plans escape to be with the man she loves, but then comes the earthquake…

THE QUEEN AND THE COURTESAN, which is the last in the Marguerite de Valois trilogy.

Henriette d’Entragues isn’t satisfied with simply being the mistress of Henry IV of France, she wants a crown too. Despite his promises to marry her, the King is obliged by political necessity to ally himself with Marie de Medici, an Italian princess who will bring riches to the treasury. But Henriette isn’t for giving up easily. She has a written promise of marriage which she intends to use to declare the royal marriage illegal. All she has to do to achieve her ambition is to give Henry a son, then whatever it takes through intrigue and conspiracy to set him on the throne.

Morgen: Thank you so much Freda. I really appreciate your time, and I love your covers.

Born in Lancashire, England, Freda Lightfoot has been a teacher, bookseller and smallholder. Moving out on to the remote Lakeland fells for a ‘rest!’ she became thoroughly involved in rural life, kept sheep and hens, various orphaned cats and dogs, built drystone walls, planted a small wood and even learned how to make jam. Fortunately the weather was so bad she was forced to stay indoors a good deal and wrote and sold over forty short stories and articles. She followed these with five historical romances for Harlequin Mills & Boon. Inspired by this tough life on the fells, and her passion for history, she has published over thirty-five family sagas and historical novels. She has now given up her thermals to build a house in an olive grove in Spain, where she produces her own olive oil. To find out more about Freda visit her website or blog, or find her on Facebook  and Twitter.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast special ep.5 – review of Chorleywood Lit Fest Nov 2010

My review of this festival was originally broadcast on 9^th December 2010 and the content has never been released other than a summary with website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you enjoy it.

I attended the recent Chorleywood Literature Festival as a volunteer and thought I’d write a review about my experiences. Although this episode had the approval of the festival’s Committee, please note that this review contains purely my opinions and observations of the weekend and in no way reflect those of the participants, organisers or Committee.

The outsider’s insider review…

Based in Hertfordshire, England, the Chorleywood Lit Fest, now in its 5^th year, was opened on Tuesday 16^th November by latest Man Booker winner Howard Jacobson at, I understand, a much larger venue than originally planned.  Unfortunately I was working up until late Friday afternoon so only attended for the weekend. I soon learned, though, that the events leading up to the weekend had been incredibly popular as many people turning up on the two days that I was there, had been to almost every other event. Novelist Simon Scarrow was the second talk (on the Wednesday evening), followed on the Thursday by the ‘New & Local Author Showcase’ (which I’m disappointed I missed and will definitely catch next year). The week ended with The Greatest Monarch Debate – I’m told that James 1st won with 40 votes and Queen Victoria came last with just 4 votes; with Elizabeth 1st and Richard 1st somewhere in between) on the Friday evening.

Saturday

It was the first time I had been to a festival as an insider was even more of a treat to be surrounded by everything literary. I live in Northamptonshire but was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire which is divided from Chorleywood by Little Chalfont, where I went to secondary school, so it was lovely driving ‘home’. I hadn’t been to Chorleywood for years and if you didn’t know about, and could ignore the signs for, the village centre, you could imagine that Chorleywood consists of just the one single-sided postcard-picture row of houses with the common and golf course to one side and the two rustic halls at the end.

The first event Pirates Ahoy! started at 9.30 on the Saturday morning so families arrived soon after the doors opened. Most of the children were in fancy dress, from princesses to Batman, and of course pirates and were soon captivated by Danya Miller, a storyteller based in nearby Kings Langley. This was her first year at Chorleywood and the success of the event was shown by how well the children behaved throughout the reading (I liked her immediately because she wore purple head-to-toe). A very intimate affair, the reading was held in the smaller section of the hall, which was later turned into a bookshop, and was very relaxed with Danya crouched on the floor with a variety of props, in front of a colourful blanket-covered room packed with children and their parents doing likewise.

Since finding out about the festival in the summer (thanks to an online search for events in my family’s area), I had been in regular email contact with Committee Member Gill who was one of the first people to welcome me on the Saturday morning. I had promised beforehand that I was at her disposal for the weekend and that I was more than happy to do anything that was asked of me.

From the events that followed though, it was quickly obvious what needed doing, and we all just cracked on with ‘mucking’ in. Apart from stopping for a delicious ploughman’s lunch (for listeners outside the UK who may not know what that is, it consisted of crispy French bread (I know, not very English!), for me some tasty Vintage Cheddar (others also had Brie), apple, salad, ham, and rounded off with tangy pickle sauce.

It was then time to put the 200+ chairs out for Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy – another sell-out event, and whilst most events have ‘no-shows’, the packed hall certainly implied that no-one had wanted to miss out. In fact, more chairs had to be obtained from next door’s British Legion Hall with standing room only at the very back.

Apart from occasional minor sound issues, Carol Ann’s readings were a mix of amusing and thought-provoking. I had heard little of her poetry before and from what and how she read, can see why she was appointed the poetry for the people role, as it is the sort of writing that most people can relate to, my favourite being ‘Cold’ which I have since found on the PoetrySociety.org’s website.

The third event of the day featured 72-year-old former newscaster and TV presenter Peter Snow who was incredibly impressive recounting the history of The Duke of Wellington right up to the battle of Waterloo. Speaking continuously for over an hour, accompanied only by a digital slide show, he was so comprehensive that you almost felt you didn’t need to buy the book but the extensive question and answer session and book-signing queue proved me wrong. One of my claims to fame would be handing him a glass of water.

British author, historian and Times columnist Ben Macintyre was equally entertaining as he read extracts from his intriguingly titled book ‘Operation Mincemeat’ (of which Wikipedia has a great explanation – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat).

I had to leave straight after Ben’s question and answer session but again, judging by the amount of people attending to the event and asking questions, I am sure that the book signing went well.

Sunday

After an overnight stay in nearby Tring, I started the day as an attendee of the Toby Litt writing workshop. I already had his anthology ‘Exhibitionism’ which, unfortunately, I’d only read up to, and including, the sixth story but it did give me a feel for his style of writing (quirky, which I love!) although I had bought his latest novel ‘I play drums in a band called okay’ from the Chorleywood Bookshop stand at the festival the day before but hadn’t had a chance to start reading.

The workshop itself was another sell-out and was held in the intimate, though unglamorous-sounding, setting of the Royal British Legion Hall. Situated at the back of the main War Memorial Hall, it again had a very friendly feel to it, added further by the tea and coffee, homemade cake, croissants and mini mince pies.

The three hours flew by with barely time for a 5-minute comfort and refreshment break in the middle. The standard of writing overall was impressively high and although one young lady was rather nervous about reading her work out, when she did she didn’t disappoint.

Meanwhile a Joke Workshop for 5-9 year olds (though younger and older children were in attendance), lead by children’s author (of the wonderfully named ‘Dinopants’ and others) Ciaran Murtagh, was taking place in the Memorial Hall and by all accounts, it too was a roaring success.

Still on a high from the workshop, I joined the other volunteers for another ploughman’s (this time with brie, which wasn’t actually as bad as I remember, as the cheddar had gone AWOL) in the side room formerly used for the Pirates Ahoy-turned-bookshop, during which I had a bit of a chat with Bloomsbury novelist and Sunday Telegraph dance critic Louise Levene about a PC vs Mac (before I got my Mac in June, I would have said the former from personal experience but as they say ‘once you go Mac you never go back’ and it’s so true for me). Around us, others were finalising the preparations of the final event of the day; ‘The Bloomsbury Reading Group’.

Author Marika Cobbold joined us as we were on desserts and enjoyed a piece of homemade lemon cake while we chatted about trains, Andre Rieu (my aunt’s a huge fan) and cushions! With half an hour to go, Jane Rusbridge joined us and the conversation was again far from literary until Jane produced a book by Clifford M Ashley called ‘The Ashley Book of Knots’ and two example rope knots! Then it was time for the off and we headed into the main hall.

Scheduled to run from 2pm to 5pm, the Bloomsbury Reading Group started with an author-to-audience session facilitated by David Ward, Bloomsbury’s Sales Director who initially invited the three authors to introduce their books and read extracts from them.

Marika started and told us about Rebecca Finch, the protagonist from her sixth novel ‘Aphrodite’s Workshop for Reluctant Lovers’ followed by Jane who discussed her thought-provoking debut novel entitled ‘The Devil’s Music’ and finally Louise with ‘A Vision of Loveliness’ which she read brilliantly – I’d vote for her as the voice for the audiobook!

The audience then split to the three tables (one for each novel) for a discussion session, initially without the authors present, allowing the readers to discuss the book amongst themselves accompanied only by some warm mulled wine (which was lovely – I had a tiny glass as I was driving). While this was going on I retired to the smaller room to start typing this review, leaving the Marika, Jane, Louise and David to chat amongst themselves on the stage for a few minutes before coming to the side room.

After about half an hour, the authors joined their relevant sessions and I caught a few minutes of each group. Starting with Marika’s, I heard her say that she doesn’t write about her life as she doesn’t feel that it is particularly interesting but rather uses her experience in her writing, and was a translator before becoming a novelist.

I then moved on to listen in on Jane’s group where the discussion was mid-flow regarding knots (a key feature in ‘The Devil’s Music). One of her readers brought up the subject of second-person point of view (‘you’) and whilst some people felt uncomfortable with the narrator talking to them so directly (it can feel intrusive) others didn’t mind it at all, which was good to hear. Jane explained that whilst her editor was happy for her to use the second-person, she had anticipated that it wouldn’t get past the Sales and Marketing team which thankfully it clearly did as it’s so rarely used. I covered viewpoints in episode and gave Jay McInerney’s ‘Bright Lights Big City’ as an example of a second-person novel. Although I only started writing this point of view quite recently, I love writing it, so asked Jane if it changed the style of her writing (mine, I explained, can be quite dark in that viewpoint). She said that she tries not to write the actual word ‘you’ very often so that’s something I’m definitely going to have a go at, probably at next Monday night’s writing workshop.

Finally, I caught the tail end of Fiona’s group discussion where she was saying that she’d been put off writing novels by being bullied into writing one (a chapter a week) at school when she was 12. I got the impression from her that she is a planner – she mentioned that she writes a lot on index cards (very popular with authors when giving speeches – I’ve got as far as buying a load but they’re all still blank!). She did say that you should write only what you can imagine happening on stage (a tip I think she was given) which is great advice.

The groups then disbanded for refreshments; tea, coffee and traditional English village-style cream teas (fresh homemade plain and sultana scones – I’m told made by Committee Member and Chorleywood Bookshop owner Morag) strawberry jam and of course fresh cream – of which my brother is allergic but that is another story!

The afternoon then reconvened with a final panel question & answer session – mine was ‘Is there a question that you’ve never been asked that you would like to have had’. I figured that they wouldn’t have an immediate answer, and said as much, so wasn’t surprised when no-one could think of a reply and moved on to the next question, although Marika said a little later that she’d loved to be asked why she’s never received a Nobel prize which had the room in stitches.

After the Q&A, the authors signed their books; most of the audience had brought their own copies although many people bought the other two books they hadn’t read from the bookshop’s stand which they then had signed and some, including me, bought all three. My other purchase of the weekend was a canvas ‘I heart Chorleywood’ bag to send to a long-time friend in Germany (probably containing a few hefty thrillers – she’s a big Ken Follett fan, although as a fan of the TV series ‘Bones’, she’s currently working through some Kathy Reichs I sent her earlier in the year).

Marika, Jane and Louise were all very approachable and clearly delighted that people were so interested in their writing, which is how you would want an author to be. I had a wonderful chat with Marika and Louise about NaNoWriMo amongst other things and once they and the public had departed, it was then left to return the hall to its original state which, with all hands on deck, was done very quickly. I returned to have a meal at my mum’s in Tring, a 20-minute drive from Chorleywood, drive home (my dog strapped safely on the backseat – the only part about being in the car that he doesn’t enjoy) to Northamptonshire, still reeling from such wonderful two days.

The future of the Chorleywood Literature Festival

I chatted with Nikki over the weekend who has been one of the organisers of the Festival since inception and is responsible for the writing of the promotional literature and website content. The website itself is run by another of the Committee Members, Adrian who, with his lovely wife Ellie (who also took part in Toby Litt’s writing workshop), were also there for the weekend. The website (www.cwlitfest.org) has all the information and photos.

Gill, Penny and I did also discuss developing the Short Story Competition. I provided them with information of two that I am involved in, one short story and one poetry, and gave them a stack of back issue magazines (women-only Mslexia, The New Writer – both quarterly, and monthlies Writing Magazine and its sister publication Writer’s News) so the festival itself, with such dedicated volunteers, can, I hope, only go from strength to strength.

Conclusion

Throughout the weekend (and no doubt during the evenings leading up to it), feedback cards were handed out and reading some of them, they were full of praise. I get the impression that most of the Committee and many of the attendees are residents of Chorleywood which could only have added to the warming and welcoming ‘village’ feel which must make the Chorleywood Literature Festival a favourite amongst lit fest attendees. I’ve been to a few but this was the first time as a volunteer and within a few hours of arriving home, I’d volunteered for two other festivals next year nearer to my home. One of these was Oundle which was March 2011 and formed a 5-part podcast review which will be posted in the not too distant future.

The events were captured on film by Rob Avery, a photographer based in nearby Stevenage. It was his first year covering the event, as the previous years’ photographer was unable to attend, she recommended Rob (www.robaveryphotography.com) who was a constant, though unobtrusive, presence before and during events.

And the downside? Apart from parking being an issue for some, naturally expected when catering for over 200 people in a village setting, and the occasional sound blips, the weekend went without a hitch and it’s difficult to believe that it is only its 5th year.  And probably the best thing about it for me is that it was where I met Rachel, my now editor!

I hope you enjoyed my review. Everything mentioned here was purely my opinion and observations of the weekend and in no way reflect those of the participants, organisers or Committee of the Festival. In the meantime, if you have any feedback, do email me or via the Contact page of my website www.morgenbailey.com.