Jill Mansell - June 2010

Spring 2007 | Summer 2007 | New Year 2008 | Book Tour 2008 | May 2009 | February 2010

Hello! It’s that time again... time for me to update my not-very-often-updated diary. This month I’m going to talk about the good-fun bits of being a writer, so slap on some lipstick, sit up nicely and wear your tiara at a jaunty angle: we’re about to go all showbiz and glamorous!

Firstly, have you seen the TV ad on the front page of my website? It was part of a series shown for a whole month on CBS Drama when the hardback of Take a Chance on Me came out. You can’t imagine how surreal it is to have your name and your book featured in a TV ad. What a cool thing to have happen!

Secondly, a while back I was shortlisted for an award by the Romantic Novelists’ Association and had the most fabulous day at the ceremony. Well, two days really, because I travelled up to London the day before and had a bit of a shopping splurge, as you do. Quite a few writers were staying at the same hotel so we all ended up having dinner and drinks together, talking non-stop about books and writing. Not too many drinks though, as we had to be up early the next day. (This is officially a sign that I’m becoming sensible in my old age...)

And then it was the morning of the awards ceremony. The sun was out and the sky was blue as we headed through Hyde Park in a taxi, making our way to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. More and more novelists arrived as we shortlistees had our photos taken. It was wonderful to see old friends again, and to meet new ones for the first time. Some of us had been in contact on various social networking sites but had never actually met before in real life – and it felt like greeting old friends.

The event itself was a glitzy, glamorous affair, with pink champagne and heaps of gossip. Almost everyone from the world of commercial female fiction seemed to be there. Barry Norman presented the awards, the RNA’s fantastic chairman Katie Fforde was as brilliant as ever and the food was incredible. Being nominated for an award – in this case Romantic Comedy of the year – is a double-edged sword. In one way, it would be lovely to win. On the other hand, not winning would mean I wouldn’t have to walk up on to the stage, make an acceptance speech, forget my editor’s name and risk falling over and landing flat on my face...

So it was actually a bit of a relief when I didn’t win!

After the ceremony a whole crowd of authors ended up in the bar upstairs, drinking champagne with the winner of the main award, Lucy Dillon. Who was there at that stage? I’m bound to leave someone vital out, but Jenny Colgan, Lisa Jewell, Kate Harrison, Louise Bagshawe, Sophie Kinsella, Victoria Routledge, Jane Wenham-Jones and Chris Manby were definitely some of them. And after a couple of hours I headed across the road to The Goat pub to meet up with yet more writer friends...Katie Fforde, Judy Astley, Sue Moorcroft, Anita Burgh, Julie Cohen, Liz Fenwick, Christina Jones and many many more...

Sadly, like Cinderella I had to jump on a train in order to get home by midnight. When I got back, the house was a tip and the washing up was piled high in the sink. The next morning all the writers were on Twitter wishing we could just swan off to glamorous awards ceremonies every day – so much more fun than being stuck at home writing boring old books! (read more about about it on the Romantic Novelists' Association blog and also see some pictures here).

Last week I had another fabulous day out, courtesy of Good Housekeeping magazine, who were kind enough to invite me to be one of their speakers at a literary lunch taking place in the amazing Llangoed Hall Hotel in Hay-on-Wye.

Well, Hay is hard to get to and I have a tendency to panic when faced with complicated travel arrangements, so my lovely publishers arranged a car and driver for me, which really was the ultimate relaxing luxury. My daughter came with me – she’s halfway through A-levels and currently on study leave  – and the weather was amazing as we travelled to Hereford. I was wearing all-white, and am spectacularly accident-prone, so took spare clothes in case of emergencies. (Doing this should ensure you won’t need them...)

The other speakers were Diana Quick, the actress and writer, and Peter Bowles, who has just written his autobiography and was there with his charming wife, Sue. The organisers were wonderfully welcoming, the food was fabulous and I was nervous, as usual – particularly as I was speaking last and the other two were so amazing. Diana told the fascinating story of her family history and Peter was just the most fantastic raconteur, full of hilarious showbiz anecdotes. Luckily the audience were brilliant and they laughed in all the right places when it was finally my turn to stand up. We all had a great time and afterwards signed lots of books. Despite having been with my agent Jane Judd for twenty years, it was the first time she’d heard me speak – at a proper speaking engagement, that is, not in real life!

We were driven home in luxury, my daughter was thrilled with her goodie bag and I hadn’t spilled anything on my all-white outfit. Result!

Of course, the next morning I was sitting here thinking wouldn’t it be nice if I could just swan off to speak at glamorous literary lunches every day? Again, it’s so much more fun than being stuck at home writing boring old books...

Love