Guest blog - Festival of Romance

Today I have a visitor on my blog! Please welcome Jean Fullerton, award-winning author of page-turning romantic fiction, who is talking about the upcoming Festival of Romance. If you love writing or reading romance this is the place to be this autumn.




Celebrate Romantic Fiction!

Festival of Romance takes place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd October 2011 at Hunton Park, near Watford, Herts, UK.

The programme is based around romantic fiction giving readers the chance to meet favourite and new authors. There will also be fun activities including a chocolate tasting and the Festival of Romance Ball and Awards on Saturday 22nd October. The aim is to celebrate romantic fiction in all its forms.


What are you looking forward to at the FR ?
I'm looking forward to so many things at the Festival of Romance it's difficult to narrow it down to just one but if I have to I'd say what I'd say it's the prospect of meeting hundreds lovely readers.

I know it's a cliché but without anyone reading my books they are just paper and ink. People often think writers spend hours huddled over their keyboards because they dream that one day they will be snapped up for a squillion pound book deal but that is very far from the truth. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn’t turn down a squillion pound book deal but that’s not what keeps me up into the wee small hour grappling with a knot in a plot. Quite simply the reason I write is for that supreme moment of joy when a reader tells me that they love my heroine, adore my hero and wanted to reach through the pages and strangle the villain themselves.


What will you be doing at the FR?
I'm very excited to be involved with the first ever Festival of Romance and Apart from talking myself hoarse, I’ll be taking part in two events The first is on Friday afternoon when I will be joining Christina Courtney for a panel discussion entitled, Love in War and Peace. We will be discussing the issues involved in writing historical romance.

On Saturday afternoon I and my dear friend and fellow historical novelist, Fenella Miller will be giving a talk called, A Beginners Guide to Historical Romance or Everything you Wanted to Know about Historical Romance but Were Afraid to Ask.

Fenella and I are passionate about historical fiction and we will be taking the audience on a trip from Stone Age to the Modern Age. We will be recommending historical romances for the uninitiated in a hope that readers who have not read historical romances before might take the plunge.

I’m also taking part in the Authors fashion parade on Saturday afternoon, which should be fun.


Why should readers come to the FR?
I think the main reason readers should come to the FR is because it's going to be a brilliant weekend. Added to which they will be able to meet dozens of authors, publishers and agents along with other readers with the same love for romantic fiction as themselves. I’m sure the FR will soon become a permanent fixture in the literary calendar it will be exciting to be part of the first one.