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Kate Allan's Blog – May 2011 Archive (5)

Three new literary awards for Romantic Fiction

Press release

London, 23 May 2011. Three new literary awards are announced today by the Festival of Romance: the Festival of Romance Reader Award for Best Romantic Novel, the Festival of Romance Reader Award for Best Historical Novel and the Festival of Romance New Talent Award.

The Best Romantic Novel and Best Historical…

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Added by Kate Allan on May 23, 2011 at 8:48 — 5 Comments

Death of the women's hardback

What is the future of book formats? We know that ebooks and download audio books are growing in popularity but paper book formats are going through troubled times. This is a really interesting article by Emily Rhodes for The Spectator on the rarity of hardbacks now by women writers. According to Ian McEwan "when women stop reading, the novel will be…

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Added by Kate Allan on May 13, 2011 at 14:00 — No Comments

Romantic fiction must be... erm... romantic

Yesterday evening I participated in a special evening at local writers group Leighton Buzzard Writers which was all about writing romantic fiction. The evening attracted a good turnout of writers and among them many men. "Do men write romantic fiction?" one asked.

"Yes," replied co-host Vanessa Byham. "But I can only think of one."

I could think of another one, which made two in our total…

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Added by Kate Allan on May 11, 2011 at 8:30 — 2 Comments

Danger: to be read pile

My to be read pile is always on the brink of toppling over. Actually, make that piles. I have an almost entire shelf of books waiting to be read on the small bookshelf in the bedroom. They are on the shelf in the bedroom to be handy. Not that I get them read any quicker but when you live in a house of so many books like me, I'd lose them otherwise. Downstairs there is a small and growing pile of books I'm lining up especially to take on holiday to read. In the study are books net yet…

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Added by Kate Allan on May 5, 2011 at 20:31 — 2 Comments

Write romance? No apology

"For the skirl of that bulletin unpicks the world like a knot," wrote depressive English poet Philip Larkin in his 1950 poem If, My Darling. One of my favourite literary quotes because of the sound of the language - skirl, bulletin, unpicks - and the metaphor.

But what was this bulletin? That his loved one, should she jump like Alice [in Wonderland] into his mind, would not find a cosy fireside seat and drink but that things were rather more unwholesome. "A…

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Added by Kate Allan on May 3, 2011 at 22:00 — No Comments