Go #Gothic

The East Riding of Yorkshire’s Festival of Words, just finished, covered a multitude of delightful literary sins, from Hitler’s British Isles with Duncan Barrett to The Age of Elegance: from Downton to the Mitfords with Jessica Fellowes, which culminated in that most English of preoccupations, indulging in tea and cakes.

For me, though, the event which hit the spot was the Gothic Thrillers panel on ‘Murder Day’.  Jess Kidd (Things in Jars), Chris Simms (Sing Me To Sleep) and Amanda Mason (Wayward Girls), ably facilitated by crime-writing host Nick Quantrill, kept the 100+ attendees entranced with their insights and discussion.

As the distinction between genres continues to blur, the Gothic, beloved of Victorian melodrama, has reinvented itself for the 21st Century. It flows darkly between Horror and Historical, Psychological Thriller and Contemporary Crime, often acting as a thread in itself or facilitating a sub-plot. It’s twin foundations are a setting both immersive and atmospheric, and a central character or characters haunted by themselves, the past, by whatever catalyst intrigues the novelist. Yet it is the character or characters, who lead the storyline to its compelling, often unsettling, denouement, which may, or may not, be an actual ending. There’s a lot of scope.

As I listened I realised my Torc of Moonlight trilogy, which has never fitted neatly into either Fantasy or Paranormal, joins all the dots. 

 

Mmm… a re-brand may well be on the cards. Tarot cards, obviously.

Networking and Publicity events come in all shapes

Early Birds enjoying the pre-event refreshments

A big thank you to all those readers and would-be writers who yesterday joined a group of East Yorkshire novelists at the Beverley Treasure House for The Romantic Fiction Read Dating event. You were attentive, laughed in the right places, and asked plenty of questions. A dream audience.

It was also a reminder of why I should participate in these events more often. Did I sell masses of paperbacks? No. Did I expect to? No. For the novelist it's a networking and publicity opportunity. Anything else is a bonus. 

My fifteen minute talk and reading of an excerpt from Beneath The Shining Mountains was a little too rusty for my liking, though no one seemed to notice. Perhaps they were intent on the reproduction Medicine Woman's hat I'd brought along. I do believe in props; they can mask a multitude of sins. I'd also distributed postcards of my titles grouped by genre - the reverse carries three lines of information on each including a shortlink to its Amazon page - and I may pick up a few ebook sales. Best of all, hardly any were to be found left on seats when the room cleared.

The event also acted as an injection of enthusiasm for my writing. Life can't help but impinge on occasion, and chatting with attendees about their reading preferences, and explaining how I went about my research, has given me the impetus to crack on with the current work in progress. 

The event also complemented the Authors North meeting I attended in Leeds the previous Saturday. The focus there had been on industry trends, what publishers were looking for, how agents specialise and interact, while the attendee networking concentrated on publicity and marketing. 

Two very different events, but all part of the same whole. And we do need both.

#Romance Fiction Read Dating Anyone?

A novelist giving talks to groups is one thing, being one of six novelists giving a fifteen minute background chat and reading, will be...  interesting.

But which sort of Romance will we be talking about?

As any reader of the genre knows, it comes in all shades, from baby-blush pink to red in tooth and claw. With laughs. With tears. Always with heart-thumping moments, though not necessarily due to the most expected reason.

For more information click the Authors' links to jump to their individual websites:

Rhoda Baxter writes Smart Romantic Comedy, and as Jeevani Charika she writes multi-cultural women's fiction.

Sylvia Broady's 20th century family sagas are set in Hull and Yorkshire.

Ellie Gray writes contemporary romances using settings as different as the Nile and the North Yorkshire coast.

Annie Wilkinson writes pre- and post- World War I family sagas across a swathe of Northumbrian, Hull and London settings.

Jenni Fletcher's Historicals are spread cross time periods as disparate as Roman, Medieval and Victorian.

Linda Acaster - yes, me - writing Medieval and Native American Historicals, and Fantasy Romance set in Hull and North Yorkshire. As I said, red in tooth and claw.

So note it on your calendar: Saturday 18th May at the Treasure House & Art Gallery, Beverley, 12.30-3.30pm. Come make a day of it. There is a very good cafe on hand.

Art in Bridlington - Nick Coley

Now here's something not seen very often on this website: Art - blue in tooth and claw.

Nick Coley is a friend of long-standing who at one time wrote anarchic humorous Fantasy, which is how our paths first crossed. Like most creative people, he has never been creative in just one field, and he has always innovated. Painting on canvas and board soon gave way to glass and, more impressive, to etching on sheets of steel and aluminium. Seeing him give an outdoor demo was something to behold. Who would have thought a standard angle grinder could be used to such light-altering effects? The paints he uses merely enhances the marks, the colours magically changing in hue depending on the angle of view and the cast light. Alas, the internet does not do the artworks justice, but click the image for a larger size.

Although many of his subjects are East Yorkshire landscapes, from the hidden valleys of the Wolds to the North Sea shore, he also creates mystical images - one of which was based on our discussion about my research on British water dieties, used in the Torc of Moonlight trilogy. 

The Exhibition We Live In Hope is hosted by Gallery 49 in Bridlington. There's a preview and a 'Meet The Artist' on Saturday 30 March, noon-3pm, when Nick will be talking about his work. The gallery is open Thursday-Saturday 11am-4pm and his exhibition is on until 20 April.

If you are in the area, go do something different. You can enjoy Bridlington's famed fish & chips afterwards.