2012 Creative writing course:
"Writing romance"
Saturday 5 May - Saturday 12 May 2012

 

Latest publication:
Kat and the Dare-Devil Spaniard
Publisher: Harlequin

Profile

"Sharon Kendrick writes an edgy romance with tons of tension, passion with a dynamic alpha hero and a delightful heroine." "Kendrick's book is sizzling hot and full of passion and emotion."

Sharon has written more than 80 books for Harlequin, Mills & Boon. She regularly tops the Waldenbooks list in North America as well as selling well all over Europe, Asia and South America. She gives many talks and workshops and loves interacting with other people in particular nurturing the passion and talent of new writers.

Sharon knows only too well how lonely it can be to write a book on your own. That's why it's so valuable to spend some time away with like-minded people. This will help to hone your ideas and really get your book moving. She says: "Everyone thinks a writer's life is a terribly exciting one (and when the book is going well, believe me - it's brilliant) but it is also a very isolated one."

She says of her own literary beginnings: "I grew up in a little house underneath the flight path of Heathrow Airport -- but I was always off in a world of my own, so I never really noticed the sound of the airplanes (except for Concorde, of course!). There was nothing very much to do where I lived. The nearest cinema and swimming pool were a bus-ride away and there were never very many buses. As I didn't have any brothers or sisters I spent nearly all my spare time reading.

"When I was twelve I asked for `The Complete Works of William Shakespeare' for my birthday and used to spend hours in my room studying it and learning the speeches and the sonnets. It was magical to discover that I could be Lady Macbeth or Cleopatra whenever I wanted and I guess that's when I first learnt how powerful the written word could be.

"I wrote my first book at the age of thirteen, in the back of one of my school books - it was set in a boarding school and featured identical twins who were fighting evil (!) and I did all the illustrations for it myself (both girls had raven bobs and were not a million miles away from Cleopatra!). Sadly, this early manuscript has been lost!

"I left school at 16 and had millions and millions of different jobs – I demonstrated ironing-board cupboards in a very posh department store and then got sacked for attracting the wrong kind of customer! I walked up and down a London high-street wearing a sandwich board advertising a job-agency and I was the cook on board a double-decker bus which "did" Europe in just three weeks! After this I became a nurse and travelled to Australia, where I drove an ambulance through the desert. But I had always wanted to write.. and if you want to write then it's no good just talking about it. You have to just sit down and do it.

"My very first book for Harlequin, Mills & Boon was called Nurse in the Outback -- and it doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to work out what it was about! It was published exactly as I wrote it with no changes (beginner's luck!) and it sold very well."

Since those early days Sharon has hardly looked back and has become one of Harlequin Mills & Boon's most prolific writers. She says: "Writing is the best job in the world. It means you can go and see a French film in the middle of the afternoon and file it under 'research'. Likewise, a walk in torrential rain is very necessary because how can I send my heroine out in terrible weather if I can't remember how it feels to have the cold rain lashing against your bare cheeks? Writing is flexible but compulsive. Sometimes you long to get away from the current work in progress, but then you miss it like mad (and feel guilty) when you do.

"Writing makes you look at the world with hungry eyes - eager for inspiration and ideas - and to long to live life in the fullest, richest way imaginable. If I had a tattoo, it would say Carpe Diem (but I don't!)

"I'm loving writing just as much now as when I began."

Sharon regularly gives talks and workshops and loves interacting with other people. She's very happy to share the benefits of her vast experience in writing romantic fiction and her intimate knowledge of what publishers are looking for in a romantic novel.

To find out more about Sharon, see her website, www.sharonkendrick.com.

Itinerary

Sharon says: "I hope, before the course starts that most of you will have sent me two to four pages of the beginning of a romance, which I'll have read when we meet. During the week I'll have individual discussions with each of you about your work. Here's a rough breakdown of what we'll be doing during the week. The 'order of play' might change a bit, but we'll cover all the topics at some point during the week."

Saturday
Transportation from Pisa airport, settle in at mill and get to know each other..

Sunday am
Destroying myths about romance. Do's and don'ts. What makes a classic romance?

Sunday pm
The writing process. Plot-driven, or character-led? I'll ask you to invent a hero and heroine for the following day's class.

Monday am
Importance of characters. Dissection of alpha-male. Making a heroine that reader's can identify with.

Monday pm
Detail and back story.

Tuesday am
Storylines. Logical loopholes. Talking through a plot.

Tuesday pm
The Importance of emotion. What makes the group emotional?

Wednesday - excursion day (everyone goes to Lucca or the Cinque Terre)
A chance for us all to enjoy the stimulus of new, beautiful surroundings.

Thursday am
Narrative. Getting the right balance. Style.

Thursday pm
Effective dialogue. I will ask you to write two pages of dialogue between hero and heroine - this can be anything - first meeting/pivotal love scene/argument.

Friday am
Sex!

Friday pm
Selling your story/agents/nuts-and-bolts stuff.

Saturday am
Farewell breakfast and transport to Pisa airport.

Obviously, this isn't completely prescriptive - the format is likely to vary and change depending on the participants' needs. During the week I'll have one-to-one discussions with each of you to talk about your work and your aspirations.

Praise

"My writing course at the watermill was so much more than I expected it to be: it was not only inspiring but amazingly relaxing - great hospitality and lovely food meant that we students were able to concentrate on our writing. I enjoyed it so much I am going back next year."

"It really is such a wonderful place. I can't imagine anywhere more peaceful. So thanks to the team in Italy who made the stay so relaxing and I look forward to seeing them again.” UK student

"We had a fantastic time at The Watermill at Posara. Sharon is an enthusiastic tutor who really encourages and brings out the best in her students...the location is of outstanding beauty...and the food is out of this world." BBC producer

"As a newly published author, attending the writing course at the Watermill at Posara was not just one dream trip for me, but three dream trips rolled in a single week! I gained a better understanding of my own writing process, had a "girls' week away" with other writers who quickly became friends, and had a fabulous reason to visit Tuscany. I would recommend the writing course at the Watermill to anyone who wants to improve her writing skills, see a bit of Italy and have a lot of fun!" US student

"For me, my stay at the watermill has always been perfect. How can you improve on perfection? That is why I am looking forward to my fourth visit next May, which will hopefully not be my last!" UK student