I tried to put this here yesterday but for some reason it didn't have the submit entry at the bottom of the screen, so have to do it again today.  Here goes.  I can't remember in what order I went to the talks but I do know that the first talk I went to was by Jodi Thomas, a US suspense author.  She talked about how she got the idea of first suspense book when she bonded with a few other women on a plane, and then came up with the idea what they could bond from.  Then she talked about the idea for her second book and then gave us tips on how to write a good suspense.  The main tip being to end chapters with a hook.  Jodi is a very friendly and approachable person to talk to.  I did so want to buy both her books but missed out because I didn't realise she sold them at the end of her talks and by the end of the conference they were sold out.  Fortunately, I've managed to buy them via Amazon.  Another talk was by Alison Baverstock on how to churn out a novel and she was inspirational.  I bought her book Is there a book in you? and am currently reading it. Lunch was a bit disappointing and unimaginative.  Although I don't normally eat bread due to my wheat and yeast intolerances, I had no choice as they only had sandwiches there and not very imaginative ones either.  I had ham and tomato and took the tomatoes out, plus some Dorita crisps.  Thankfully I took my own snacks of energy bars and rich tea biscuits for coffee times so I didn't go that hungry.  We also had talks by a chap who runs a small publishers called Mymirdon books which I was disappointed in because it wasn't what I thought it would be.  Dinner was nice.  We had pork steak, which was tough and by the end of eating it my fingers were sore from pushing the knife in to cut it, it was with chips and carrots.  Then we had an intermediate of lemon sorbet which was yummy and tangy.  Dessert was apple pie and cream but due to my dairy intolerance, I had fresh fruit instead which was still nice.  Then after dinner we went back to bar where we had the presentation of the Elizabeth Goudge tropy and that proved a v good night for my local RNA chapter.  Sue Moorcroft came in the top 5, Henrietta came 2nd and Janet won the prize and she was gobsmacked.  I later came out of the bar and saw her in tears from the shock of it.  Well deserved, I think.  I had a headache by the time I got to my room but silly me didn't take anything for it and ended up going to bed with headache and still having it during the night.

And then there was Sunday...until tomorrow.