On 11th June 2016 there will be a whole day devoted to romance and romance writing as part of Tamworth Literary Festival. The event is called Romancing the Word, and I’m very excited to be hosting a workshop on How to Write a Great Romance as part of the day. The workshop will focus on romantic conflict and how to create that all-important romantic tension that keeps readers glued to the page.

If you live near Tamworth and you love reading, love reading romance novels, have ever wanted to have a go at writing a romance novel yourself, or would just like to improve your romance-writing skills, I do hope you’ll be able to come along and join us. The event is being organised by Tina Williams of the review site A Reader’s Review. Tina and her blogging colleague Caroline Barker are wonderfully enthusiastic about all things romance, and their review site is well worth checking out. It’s fantastic that a whole day of the festival is being set aside to a genre that’s so often overlooked at literary events.

There will be author talks and readings on the day, plus a free multi-author signing session. The poster for the event is here:

You can follow the event on Facebook, and tickets can be bought at Tamworth Information Centre, or directly from the festival by emailing tamlitfest@gmail.com.

In recent years there has been massive growth in literature festivals both large and small, and I think it’s brilliant. I went to three festivals last year in my home county of West Yorks – in Bradford, Todmorden (where I also gave a workshop) and Ilkley – and it’s great to see reading and the written word talked about and discussed in a way that’s accessible to all. Reading is definitely not dead – it’s alive and well, and thriving!

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Do you have any literary festivals in your area? Have you ever attended one, and what sort of sessions do you enjoy? Have you ever been to a writing workshop, and if so, what sort of things did you learn?

If you have any comments at all, I’d love to hear them!