Anniversary Celebrations and Giveaway!

CHEERS

Can you believe it? Today, The Romaniac blog is a whopping three years old. Three years! We have had the most amazing journey over those years, both with each other and with all you lovely lot, too.

When we launched our blog, back in February 2012, we never imagined we would receive such a warm, welcoming response from everyone. It has been truly amazing.

Over those three years we have each grown as individuals. Some of us have won awards, some of us have bagged an agent, some of us have started new careers and taken writing into a new direction. There are some of us who have taken the plunge and crossed genres and even those who have decided to write in a few different ones. A few have had publishing contracts and we’ve even given talks!

We’ve each had our ups and our downs, but you have all been there, standing firmly by our sides and supporting us throughout it all. For this, we are truly thankful.

One of the things we have achieved as a group, was the publication of our first Anthology, Romaniac Shorts. A collection of 22 short stories and flash fiction, penned by all 8 of our lovely Romaniac girls. There is a real mix of genres throughout our Anthology, a little something in there for everyone’s liking. All our proceeds are split between Dyslexia Action and the Romantic Novelists’ Association and we are delighted to be sending each a cheque this month for the first year’s royalties.

Which brings me onto the exciting giveaway we have. In celebration of our three years on the blog, we are giving away a fantastic book bundle. The bundle consists of a SIGNED copy of Romaniac Shorts (signed by all 8 Romaniacs), Follow Me Follow You (Signed by Laura James) Closing In (signed by Sue Fortin.), together with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits and a mug; ideal reading companions.

All we are asking of you, to be in with a chance of winning this book and gift bundle, is to do one/or all of the following:

LIKE our Facebook page and comment ‘I’m in’ (link HERE)

COMMENT on this blog post with the words ‘I’m in!’

RETWEET the giveaway tweet on Twitter.

*The competition will close at midnight on February 20th and a winner will be picked at random shortly after. Due to postage costs, we are afraid that we can only offer this to UK participants this time. Apologies to those unable to enter, we thank you for your understanding and support. *

All that is left to say is a huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your continued support and encouragement over the last three years. Here’s to many, many more.

Love,

Romaniac Shorts Interview – Celia Anderson

Following the launch of our anthology, it’s been an absolute pleasure to ask our lovely Celia a few questions and to see the fun-loving, warm-hearted person we all know and love shine through in her answers. 

She’s even brought in an extra large chocolate cake! 

Here’s what Celia had to say …

Q1)   Celia, You’re our Romaniac queen of multitasking, so what are you juggling writing-wise at the moment?

Right now, I’ve just finished re-editing my latest children’s book ready for submission and I’m swaying between getting down to a new adult one that’s three chapters in and a similar erotica one. Little Boxes is currently out on submission (fingers, toes and everything crossable crossed) so I’ve been moving and shaking this half-term before I need to get my nose back to the grindstone.

Q2)  What do you most enjoy writing and why?

I love writing for children because I’ve got a captive audience at school to test out the books, but the adult ones are just as much fun to do. I’m not a big fan of writing short stories so getting three ready for Romaniac Shorts was a steep learning curve…

Q3)  Any other creative passions?

I guess cooking is my other creative pastime but I’ve always dabbled in painting and drawing too. The problem with creating beautiful cakes is you have to eat them – the Romaniacs can’t keep up if I make too many.

Yum Yum! 😉

Q4) Which book could you read over and over again?

Elizabeth Goudge’s trilogy – all about the wonderful Elliot family, set in Hampshire near the sea. (The Bird in the Tree, The Herb of Grace and The Heart of the Family). One of my dreams is to win the Elizabeth Goudge award at the RNA conference.

Q5) What was the thinking behind your three anthology stories?

They were all written at different times for different reasons – I was just relieved that they fitted!

Q6) If you could interview any author past or present, who would it be?

D.E. Stevenson – my all time favourite romantic fiction writer. Sadly no longer with us, but her books are so comforting and satisfying when you’re feeling as if you need a hug.

Q7) What was the last book you read?

I’m multitasking with the reading at the moment on my Kindle! Have just finished Stately Pleasures by Lucy Felthouse (very rude!) and am juggling Baggy Pants and Bootees (Marilyn Chapman), our own Laura E James’ Truth or Dare?, The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas and Darcie’s Dilemma – Sue Moorcroft. Phew. No wonder it takes me so long to finish a book!

Q8) Fictional hero you’d most like to spring to life before your eyes?

Inspector Lynley from Elizabeth George’s series. My dream man. Or Foyle from Foyle’s War. A police detective theme is emerging here … I’ve never fancied Poirot though …

Q9) How long did it take you to write your debut novel ‘Sweet Proposal’ and just how excited were you to see it in print?

The book was called The Chocolate Project until it was almost ready for publication and it probably took about 6 months to write – I was beside myself with excitement when it came out (but still prefer the original title.) On publication day I was on a whistle-stop rail tour of the USA with my family and we celebrated with cocktails on top of the John Hancock Tower in Chicago. It was brilliant!

Q10) The sentence that best defines the vibe at Romaniac HQ?

The current one would probably be Onwards and Upwards. Everybody’s on a high after our book launch and we’re loving seeing it up there in the Amazon charts. And all of us have got big writing plans for 2014. I wouldn’t be without the Romaniacs for the world.

 

Celia, thank you so much for answering my questions.

With love,

Jan x

Romaniac Shorts – Out There For Everyone To See

Now the Romaniac blog is 2 years old, we’re toddling around in Shorts.

Our cover depicts each Romaniac. Can you guess who has which shorts?

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Laura: This is stuff of fantasies, so I chose the red Daisy Dukes, 6th on the line. Remember Daisy from The Dukes of Hazard? I’m never going to get away with wearing tight shorts, so I’m dreaming the dream, baby. Oh yeah.

Jan: An easy choice for me. Turquoise is my favourite colour. Proud to be flapping on the Romaniac line … 

Sue: I opted for the pretty green flowery ones. Whenever I’m thinking up plot ideas, I always doodle flowers, so it seemed the obvious choice.

Lucie: I’m a red head … so naturally I went for orange shorts!

Debbie: It has to be the plain green ones for me, to go with my old green wellies for when I’m ‘at one with nature.’

Celia: Mine are the denim cut-offs – one of my friends’ mums once asked me if I was dressed by Oxfam when I was wearing my best pair. Um … yes, actually …

Catherine: Mine are the yellow polka dot shorts for two reasons. 1) Excellent for the cabaret shows I perform for the twins. (The most effective way to keep two girls happy.) 2) They disguise the milk deposits.

Vanessa: My daughters helped with suggestions when I was colouring up the shorts on the cover and they chose the red with white polka dots for me!

Did you guess correctly?

Romaniac Shorts is available as a download from Amazon, at £1, here. We hope you enjoy our briefs 😉

xx

Birthday Celebrations in Romaniac Shorts!

You won’t believe it, really you won’t. I still can’t quite believe it myself. But … The Romaniacs are TWO YEARS OLD today.

Two! Our blog has been running for a couple of years now and still every day, we pinch ourselves at the immense support we receive from you all.  Thank you SO much.

We are celebrating today in usual Romaniac fashion. Can you guess how? Go on, have a go …

Yep, you guessed it – cake! And lots of it, too! The diets have been put on hold and we plan to devour our weight in cake, biscuits and chocolate. Oh, and then there’s the champagne. Got to have a bit of fizz on our blog birthday.

We’re even having a ‘bring your baby to work’ day, just so that we can make it more of a party. So, we have all the Romaniac children having a boogie, too.

I’ve got to say, it’s a lot of fun here and we would be so happy for you to all join us in a celebratory toast – go on, take a glass – and raise it up high.

To all things writerly, what a wonderful two years it has been. And also (no, don’t drink yet, there’s a second part) to our wonderful support network of friends, without whom, we would not be where we are today.

*CHEERS*

Oh, wait! In all the celebrating and, ahem, drinking, I almost forgot to tell you about our other exciting news. As from today, you will be able to purchase an anthology of short stories and flash fiction penned by none other than our lovely team. That’s right, we have all pooled together our creativity and have created an anthology for you. For those who missed our blog last week about it, let me explain …

Romaniac Shorts is a collection of short stories and flash fiction that stretch across a number of different styles and genres. Each member of The Romaniacs has included at least two pieces for you to enjoy. We feel this anthology is fresh, exciting and most of all, a bargain at the mere price of £1 and it is available to purchase for your Kindle as from today.

We each believe that the Romantic Novelists’ Association has played a major part in getting us writers to where we are today – it was even how we met in the first place. We are so thankful to the RNA and especially to the New Writers Scheme which has seen us all as members at one time or another. Some of us even going on to be full members! *fanfare and confetti*

And so, to show our appreciation for such a wonderful and encouraging organisation, we shall be donating a percentage of our proceeds from this anthology, to the RNA, to help encourage and grow other writers. The remainder of our proceeds shall be passed to Dyslexia Action.

We know how isolating, frustrating and difficult writing can be at times and there are some people out there who have the additional struggle of dyslexia and such like. So we are very keen to help those who need it the most, which is why we have chosen the RNA and Dyslexia Action.

We hope you will help us help them by purchasing Romaniac Shorts and most of all, we hope you enjoy it!

Please do get in touch with us and let us know what you think.

Now, where did I put my cake …

Lucie x

Romaniac Shorts: Fashionably Brief

Romaniac Shorts: Fashionably Brief.

There has been much excitement at Romaniac HQ, but in keeping with today’s title, we’ll be brief.

Next Thursday, 13th February 2014, our blog will be 2 years old, and we have a very special celebration planned.

Romaniac Press has gone into production, and we are releasing our first anthology:

Romaniac Shorts

It’s a diverse collection of short stories and flash fiction, ranging from romance, to crime, to fantasy,  and we are thrilled to see one of our early ideas finally come to fruition.

Romaniac Shorts will be available as an eBook, through Amazon.

All profits from the sale of Romaniac Shorts will be divided between Dyslexia Action, and the Romantic Novelists’ Association .

We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have received guidance, advice, and friendship from the writing world, and we always aim to give something back. We hope this goes a little way to saying thank you.

Please enjoy our briefs.

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