RNA CELEBRATES

The Romantic Novelists' Association is very nearly 50 years old. It was founded in 1960 by Alex Stuart, with an initial membership of 115 published authors, with the declared aim of raising the profile of the genre and garnering respect to match its huge popularity, and sales that made publishers rich and the cash tills ring in bookshops throughout the world.

That it has made huge strides in this aim, is a credit to a lot of very dedicated writers, many of them household names, who spare time from writing to appear on television, the radio and spend hours with journalists to press home the message and to organise the prestigious Romantic Novel of the Year, won by many great writers, and more recently, the Romance Prize which recognises the very different challenge of writing short romance fiction. There is also the fabulous New Writers Scheme, which nurtures and encourages the new talent which keeps the genre vibrant, fresh and the biggest selling section of the book market.

The celebrations will kick off later this year with the publication of LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT, a collection of short stories by members and here's a sneak peek at the cover. Edited by Katie Fforde and Sue Moorcroft and published by MIRA, the anthology contains stories by Joanna Trollope, Adele Parks, Maureen Lee, Elizabeth Chadwick, Anna Jacobs and a host of other well known authors. And me. I'm in there, too with a short story called The Partnership Deal.

You can check out the full list of authors at the RNA website. And when you've done that, make a note in your diary to add the hardback edition to your Christmas shopping list later this year. Your mother, your sister, your aunts and your best friends will be so pleased that you did. A paperback edition will be published in 2010.

WHERE IS MY BOOK?

Last week, full of enthusiasm and excitement, I rushed off an order for Twyla Tharp's book, The Creative Life. It was despatched. It is out there. Somewhere. Fallen off the back of a truck, lying in hedge, mouldering. Dropped behind a ledge in some out of the way post office in the Welsh wilderness. Who knows?

Some day, some time -- probably years from now -- when the envelope has rotted away, it will found by some unsuspecting soul, who, hopefully, will open it and begin to read the wisdom it contains. Maybe it will change their life. Or maybe they'll just toss it in the bin.

Meanwhile the bookshop have despatched another copy.

PURE PASSION

Here, belatedly, is the final selection from the north-west libraries PURE PASSION promotion, which is launched on Monday.

HUSBANDS by Adele Parks

Bella secretly married her childhood sweetheart, Stevie, over a decade ago; two big kids playing at being grownups. When it all unravelled and reality hit, Bella simply got up and left. The secret remained a secret. It’s just a silly piece of paper, lodged at a registrar’s office in Aberdeen, isn’t it?

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN by Annie Proulx

Set in the beautiful, wild landscape of Wycoming where cowboys live, as they have done for generations, Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar are two ranch hands, brought up to hard work and privation, glad to have found each other’s company. But companionship becomes something else on Brokeback Mountain.

A FAMILY OF HIS OWN by Liz Fielding

Kay is a single parent living in a village with her illegitimate daughter and desperately trying to earn a living as a gardener.

Dominic has returned to the dusty house and overgrown garden, five years after his beloved wife died.

This grips from page one with real and vibrant characters.

(That's what they said. I'm just quoting. Honest.)



For a full list of authors and titles being recommended as part of this initative or, if you’d like to recommend your own favourite romantic read to others, follow the link to Pure Passion on Time to Read