Nicola Cornick's Blog, page 17

Festival of Romance New Talent Award!

Here is a fabulous opportunity for all aspiring authors! This year’s UK Festival of Romance is running a New Talent Award.  Here is the press release:

New Talent Award aims to uncover romantic fiction authors of the future

The Festival of Romance is delighted to announce that the New Talent Award will run again this year. The industry judges are Georgina Hawtrey-Woore senior editor at Cornerstones, Random House and Diane Banks, literary agent at the Diane Banks Associates Literary Agency.

The Festival of Romance New Talent Award aims to cast a spotlight on the authors of tomorrow and is open to all writers who have not yet had a book commercially published. Writers may submit the opening chapter (up to 3,500 words) of a romantic novel of any type by 30th September 2012. The winner and runners-up will be announced and presented with trophies at the gala Festival of Romance Awards on Friday 16th November 2012. There is a small entry fee to cover the award administration. Entrants may also gain a critique of their entry written by a professional novelist.

“As part of the Festival of Romance we want to help new writers with talent get their break into the commercial fiction world,” says Kate Allan, chief romantic at the Festival of Romance. “At the Festival of Romance in November we are running writing workshops, an industry conference and chance to meet publishers face to face as well as the New Talent Award. I’m delighted that Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Diane Banks have agreed to judge this year’s entries.”

Winner of the 2011 New Talent Award Henriette Gyland subsequently garnered a book deal from publishers Choc Lit. Her debut novel Up Close will be published in December 2012.

For more details about how to enter the New Talent Award please see www.festivalofromance.co.uk

So I’d like to encourage all aspiring authors to send in their entries. If you are also able to attend the Festival of Romance that will be great. I’m looking forward to it very much.

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Magical History Tour Part 2!

Over on the UK Regency Authors blog today I am talking about Newhailes House, a magnificent Georgian mansion just outside Edinburgh that was designed by one of the pre-eminent architects in Scotland, a man who also had time to father thirty two children. Click on the link here to read all about Newhailes’ shabby splendour, its empty library and its servants tunnel!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Winners and books – and a tribute to a very special dog

Congratulations to Gunda in Germany, who is the winner of the July website contest! Thank you so much for the bumper number of entries. The prize of delicious chocolates seemed to appeal to a lot of people!  In this month’s contest I am offering a set of the Brides of Fortune trilogy plus a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, which I hope will be equally appealing!

Today I received my author copies of Forbidden and was totally thrilled. I had already been quite carried away by the gorgeous gold gown on the cover but when I saw my name in silver lettering, that looked really special. Then I looked inside and remembered that this book was dedicated to my darling dog Monty who died almost a year ago, with thanks for all the wonderful companionship he had provided during the previous 10 years. There never was a finer dog to help me shift my writer’s block with a brisk walk on the hills.

So Forbidden is special to me in many ways, not least because it is something of a fairy tale, rags to riches Cinderella story, and I do love those. I hope you do too. There are 5 copies of Forbidden available to win over on Goodreads and if you would like a set of my special Forbidden-themed postcards, just drop me a line. I’m feeling quite emotional today so I would like to add a big thank you to all my lovely readers.  Thank you! With love, Nicola.

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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The Other Georgian House – a hidden gem!

On Friday over on the Word Wenches I blogged about Edinburgh’s wonderful Georgian House, restored by the National Trust for Scotland. At the other end of George Street, however, is St Andrew’s Square and at number 36 a very well kept secret – Another wonderful Georgian town house, seen here in an engraving from 1820. Number 36 was built for Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse and modelled on the Palladian villa at Marble Hill in Twickenham. It is now the home of the Royal Bank of Scotland and only the Dining Room on the first floor and the ornate cast iron lamps outside date from the original house. However it well worth a peep inside to see what a glorious town house it once was! The most stunning aspect of the building is now the banking hall (in the picture on the left) which is decorated in the style of the Victorian period.  I love hidden gems and this one was stunning!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Life in the Georgian House

Today at the Word Wenches blog I am talking about all the quirky little details I discovered about life in Edinburgh’s fabulous Georgian House.  Drop by at http://bit.ly/OpL0G6  to share your thoughts on those fascinating facts from history that interest you!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Winners, giveaways, shoes!

Congratulations to Keira, whose name was drawn as the winner of the Scottish blog contest! A set of beautiful cards from the Palace of Holyroodhouse will be winging its way to you, Keira. Many thanks for all the entries here on the blog and on Facebook and Goodreads.

Tomorrow on the Word Wench blog I will be posting part 2 of my Magical History Tour when I talk about my visit to the Georgian House, a beautifully recreated Georgian period town house in Edinburgh New Town.

I’m also very happy that the latest edition of Romantic Times Magazine features an article I’ve written about iconic shoes to celebrate the publication next month of the final Scandalous Women of the Ton book Forbidden.  RT called Forbidden:  ”A really cute Cinderella-esque feel-good story,” which was lovely. I wanted to give Margery, the heroine of Forbidden, her very own fairytale romance including her special party shoes for her come out ball!  Shoes are going to feature quite a bit here on the blog in the month ahead. I confess I LOVE shoes and I know I am not the only one!

Over on Goodreads there are 5 copies of Forbidden up for grabs! I have also got some gorgeous postcards to give away – the postcard packs feature the cover of Forbidden plus two beautiful views of historic houses! Please email me if you would like a set!

Finally, Part 4 of Lady Emma’s Disgrace, the web-exclusive short story featuring the adventures of Lady Emma Bradshaw, will be posted on Monday. I hope you are enjoying it! Oh, and don’t forget that the contest here on the website is to win copies of my first three HQN books – Deceived, Lord of Scandal and Unmasked – and a big box of delicious Godiva chocolates!

Happy reading!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Magical History Tour Part 1

I’m back from the fabulous RNA Conference 2012! Every year I say that the conference was the best ever and this year that’s definitely true. It was great! Great food (the cakes were amazing!), great talks and great shoes! There are lots of fun reports here on the RNA blog.

After the conference I headed off up to Scotland for a week of historical research. My first stop was Edinburgh. I’ve always wanted to visit and now I’m wondering what took me so long. I had the best time! So many wonderful historical places to visit! I was in happy historical heaven. I packed in as much as I could and I’ll be blogging about all the amazing places I went to as soon as my photos are ready to post. Meanwhile Rochester the Guide Dog Puppy will also be blogging about his epic train journey up to Scotland and the fun he had training in Edinburgh.

I’ve also brought back some lovely Scottish souvenirs to share with everyone because I know I’m not the only one who loves Scotland! If you would like the chance to win a set of gorgeous stationery from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh, just comment on the blog, telling me your favourite book set in Scotland. Have a great week!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Romantic Novelists of the UK!

Today I am heading off to the Romantic Novelists Association annual conference. This is always a fabulous opportunity to meet up with friends old and new, to listen to some great speakers and to catch up with developments in the industry at home and abroad. Oh, and to admire some killer heels! I’ll be reporting back on the sessions, tweeting and, I hope, taking some good photos! Until then, have a great weekend and don’t forget that part 2 of Lady Emma’s Disgrace will be posted up on Monday!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Lady Emma’s Disgrace!

Part 1 of my new website-exclusive short story, Lady Emma’s Disgrace, is now available here! I hope that you enjoy it! Lots of readers wrote to me asking if Lady Emma Bradshaw would have her own happy ever after. Emma had featured in Notorious and Desired and definitely qualified for the title of one of the Scandalous Women of the Ton!  To give Emma the happiness she so richly deserved, I included a sub-plot for her in Forbidden. It didn’t make the final cut, however, but I was still very keen for Emma to find happiness! Then I had the idea of writing a very special website-only exclusive story for Emma. Lady Emma’s Disgrace is the result. It will be serialised every Monday for the next seven weeks and I hope that you will enjoy following Emma’s adventures on the way to her very own happy ending!

PS There is a happy ending for Francesca Alton too, coming exclusively to the website at Christmas! Happy reading!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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Nabobs!

Today on the UK Regency Authors’ Blog I’m talking a bit more about Basildon Park and the Indian nabobs who made that corner of England their home. Click here to read about Thomas Diamond Pitt and Major Charles Marsack, King George II’s illegitimate son!

©2012 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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