Tag Archives: romantic fiction

EVA GLYN’S HIDDEN CROATIA: ROMANTIC FICTION

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In celebration of the #RespectRomFic campaign, today I’m sharing some ideas of how you can visit Croatia from the comfort of your own armchair – and perhaps even fall in love.

The classic summer read: The Getaway by Isabelle Broom

This sun-drenched holiday book is set on the island of Hvar, loved by international jetsetters and backpackers alike.

When Kate’s life falls apart in a spectacularly public manner she joins her brother in Hvar to disappear from the world and lick her wounds. But then she meets Alex, a loner with a secret to hide. As he shows her the beautiful island she begins to have feelings for him that seem to be reciprocated. But will he ever be able to confront his demons and move on? And can Kate be there for him if he does?

 

The romcom: The Secret Cove in Croatia by Julie Caplin

Many people’s first experience of Croatia is on a cruise around the islands, and one of these small luxury boats setting out from cosmopolitan Split is the setting for this book.

When no-nonsense Maddie Wilcox is offered the chance to work on a luxury yacht for the summer, she can’t say no. She will be waiting on the posh guests, but island-hopping around Dalmatia should more than make up for it – especially when Nick, her best mate’s brother, is one of them. In this will-they won’t-they romance, sparks fly when they meet on board and Maddie can’t believe self-entitled jerk Nick is really related to her friend. But in a secret, picture-perfect cove, away from the real world, Maddie and Nick discover they might have more in common than they realise.

 

The biography: The Girl Who Left by Debra Gavranich

Set in a small rural village on the island of Korcula during and after the Second World War, this biography is a love story too.

The author’s mother Marija’s Yugoslavian childhood was tough but happy – until first the Italians, and later the Germans, arrived to occupy their island. Her older sister fled to join the partisans and she was left, frightened and hungry, to cope with the rest of the family when she should have been in school. After the war her best chance of a bright future was to travel to Australia as a proxy bride, married to a man who had emigrated from the village years before, but who she had never met.

 

The dual timeline: An Island of Secrets by Eva Glyn

The smallest of apologies for including my own book, but I would so love take you to the island of Vis in Dalmatia, and in particular the small fishing town of Komiza.

In 1944, British commando and SOE operative Guy Barclay is stationed there alongside Yugoslavian partisans. Not only does his war change when he witnesses a brutal execution, but he meets and falls in love with local fisherwoman Ivka. But can their love survive the war? Seventy years later Guy sends his investment banker granddaughter Leo to the same island. Battered and broken by a loveless marriage and her desire for a baby, she meets local travel agent Andrej. But are their worlds too far apart for their love to have a chance?

 

 

#RespectRomFic is a movement started by publishing luminaries to try to assure that romantic fiction is given the respect it deserves, and that matches its importance in readers’ lives – and its commercial value in the book market. For far too long the contribution to the literary landscape of the books written by the authors writing in the romance & saga space has been at best ignored, at worst dismissed. Show your support by using the hashtag to talk about your favourite romances.

 

 

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: HELGA JENSEN ON WALES AS A SETTING FOR COMMERCIAL FICTION

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When I was planning my debut novel, Twice in a Lifetime, there was only one place for me to set it in. Having been brought up in West Wales, I was determined that any book I wrote would focus on some of the stunning areas around us. How you could possibly put those scenes into words was a completely different challenge! However, I knew that I wanted to promote Wales and see it featured in more commercial fiction. We have many women’s fiction books set in Cornwall or Ireland, so why not Wales?

When I first queried my book and sent it to agent’s I had a mixed response. Some loved the idea of a different setting, but one agent stated that perhaps Cardiff would be acceptable for my romantic comedy, but nothing further west. I was quite surprised at this. We often see Cornwall with its beautiful beaches, so why not West Wales with its similar beauty?

Whilst I was surprised at this observation, as always, when someone tells me something might not be possible, it makes me more determined. Therefore, I persevered and, although my book is also set in New York, I finally saw success with my romantic comedy that features the beautiful township of Laugharne.

After all, Laugharne is famous for many things, including the more recent television series, ‘Finding Faith,’ which has helped put it further on the map. But, of course, the association with Dylan Thomas is probably the most famous claim to fame that Laugharne has, so as Dylan spent his time in New York too, I felt a setting for a book with Laugharne and New York were the perfect marriage for my debut novel.

Since Twice in a Lifetime was released, I have had lovely messages telling me how refreshing it is to have a romantic comedy set in Wales. Naturally, I was thrilled at this feedback, as this is precisely what I set out to achieve.

I am now working on book two, which will have a combined setting of Wales and Denmark. It remains my ultimate goal to promote Wales in the world of women’s fiction. There are so many opportunities for the glorious parts to be shown to the world that I simply can’t help promote it through my books. Just as there are many prolific Irish writers, such as Maeve Binchy, with her incredible story, ‘Circle of Friends,’ I hope there will be similar best-selling commercial love stories and adventures coming out of Wales.

Trends are certainly changing, and more and more books are getting published in the mainstream from the region, but I would still like to see Wales in more romantic comedies. We have ubiquitous books traditionally set in mining villages or used in historical fiction, so I would now like to see it featured as a setting in comedies and romance. After all, welsh men can be funny and romantic when they want to be!

So, there might be many tales of Wales in books on folklore, myth and magic and eras gone by, but here’s hoping for a future filled with books set in Wales for romantic comedies and similar commercial women’s fiction.

 

 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/HelgaJensenF

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: JESSICA REDLAND ON TWO HEADS BEING BETTER THAN ONE

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Writing can be a solitary business. Some writers dip into the general online community for support, others – like the Sister Scribes – get together in a more formal group. This week guest is Jessica Redland, who talks about getting together with her chum, Sharon Booth, to form the Yorkshire Roses.

They say that two heads are better than one and that’s exactly what Sharon Booth and I were thinking when we joined forces in late 2018 to become The Yorkshire Rose Writers.

We’ve been friends for several years, having met through the Romantic Novelists’ Association when we were in the New Writers’ Scheme. Sharon lives in Hull in East Yorkshire and I live in Scarborough in North Yorkshire so we’re well placed for a regular meet-up for tea, cake and a good old writerly catch-up.

Last autumn, over cake, we chatted about our discomfort at promoting our own work but how we didn’t feel this when promoting each other’s books or blog posts. The idea of joining forces was mooted to overcome this and, the more we talked about it, the more it seemed like a great idea. We both write romantic comedies and contemporary romances set in Yorkshire that would appeal to a similar readership so a collaborative approach could be a good way of gaining us both new readers.

Coming up with a name was probably the hardest task. This wasn’t because we couldn’t agree but simply because we couldn’t find something that was quite right. When we finally decided on a name, we discovered that a Canadian website already had it! Back to the drawing board. We then came up with The Yorkshire Rose Writers, the white rose being the county’s heraldic flower, and we both loved it as we felt that this conveyed what we are: Yorkshire-based writers who write about Yorkshire.

We set up a blog and began posting twice weekly with a long post on a Tuesday and shorter magazine-style snippets every Friday. This turned out to be too ambitious with posts being frantically prepared late the night before so we cut this back to one post on a Friday, alternating the style of content. We both contribute each week although we’ve learned by experience that one of us needs to take the lead on the longer posts, writing the start and conclusion, to avoid duplication. It’s all a learning experience but, because we’re good friends, none of these teething issues have been problems. Typically, we just laugh about them. We plan the schedule about 4-6 weeks in advance which means that, if deadlines are looming, we can prepare our part ahead of time or, if not feeling inspired by one of the subjects, the person taking the lead has plenty of notice to write the full post.

We’re on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Sharon’s brilliant at keeping on top of these, regularly posting new content. I confess to barely adding anything but we’d discussed this at the start and knew that Sharon would need to do the lion’s share of the promotion work during the first year. Sharon’s a full-time author but I squeeze writing around a day job and studying a Masters in Creative Writing so time is a massive struggle. When my Masters finishes in October this year, we’ll share this more evenly. Although Sharon’s so good at it, maybe she’d like to keep this ;-)

We’ll introduce a newsletter and competitions/giveaways later, but we need to do a lot more planning around this. There’s an excuse for more cake if ever I heard one!

So far, our joint venture has worked well and we love working together. We’re both excited to see where it could go in the future. My advice to anyone thinking about such a venture, though, is be really clear on your aims and your time commitment right at the start so you’re on the same page.

 

Jessica Redland on behalf of Yorkshire Rose Writers

www.yorkshirerosewriters.com

@YorkRoseWriters

https://www.facebook.com/yorkshirerosewriters/