Excuse the pun, but what a thrill it was to win the first ever Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award at the Romantic Novelists’ Association 2020 awards ceremony. First and foremost because it is a huge honour to be connected, even in a tenuous way, to such an amazing person. I loved her Lucky Santangelo character when I was a young woman.
Jackie Collins wrote real page-turners that whilst glamorous and escapist, somehow seemed real. And what an inspiration she was, writing 32 novels and achieving over half a billion sales. She was a funny, feisty woman who created kick-ass heroines and it was an extra honour to have the award handed to me by her granddaughter. I was also thrilled to win as the competition was so stiff, the other contenders being the wonderful Dorothy Koomson, Lucinda Riley, Virginia Heath and Lauren Westwood.
Knowing You is my second dark women’s fiction novel – previously I’d had nine romantic comedies published. It was challenging changing my direction, but with my brilliant agent’s help, Clare Wallace from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency, I learned so much and it felt like a real validation, at the ceremony, to hear my name read out. I still remember that moment. A real whoosh went through me and I think I managed to mumble a few words at the podium, in a daze!
I was also so pleased because I’d poured my heart into writing Knowing You. It is a story about being brave enough not to conform, not to fit in. It’s about taking control of your life in the face of adversity. The main character is kind-hearted children’s editor, Violet. When her partner leaves she seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella, whom her old friends disapprove of. However when Violet was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. Therefore Violet is determined that the same thing won’t happen to her new best friend now…
Samantha Tonge (centre) with her husband and her agent
The awards ceremony which took place on March 2nd, in the RNA’s diamond anniversary year, was a glittering occasion, attended by legendary romance authors Sophie Kinsella and Carole Matthews – and Strictly Dancing star Anton du Beke. Yes, I managed to speak to all three! Everyone’s outfits were fantastic and after the ceremony we enjoyed a buffet.
I feel incredibly lucky to belong to such an association that promotes such a popular and wide genre. For some reason it’s been much maligned and romance books rarely get shortlisted for the big industry awards, despite its millions of readers. As Milly Johnson said, at the podium, when she collected the Outstanding Achievement Award: ‘We are the glorious counterbalance to this climate of hate.’ More than ever we need happy ever afters and gripping reads that whisk us away and it’s great to see such stories recognised by the RNA.
Samantha Tonge
Ian Chapman, COO of Simon & Schuster and close friend of Jackie Collins announced the new Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award in 2019 which S&S will sponsor for a minimum of 5 years. Jackie Collins was a creative force, a trailblazer for women in fiction and in her own words “A kick-ass writer!’. Since her debut The World is Full of Married Men in 1968, her books have sold in their millions in more than 40 countries and she is one of the world’s top-selling novelists. She passed away in September 2015 after years privately battling breast cancer.
Click below for all category winners https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/news_article/romantic-novel-award-winners-2020/