by Laura Burkin
The sun was shining as we got together to enjoy our annual summer event on Friday [12 June], at the BMA House [British Medical Association] in Tavistock Square, London.
The event was also a chance for members to pay tribute to the late SWWJ member and author Elaine Everest, with the presentation of the inaugural Elaine Everest Memorial Trophy.
SWWJ Chair Valerie Dunmore welcomed everyone, before Council member and Honorary Secretary, Vivien Brown, gave an introduction to the award named in memory of Elaine.
A close friend of Elaine, Vivien explained that the award was to honour the legacy of the bestselling author, who passed away in 2024.
The theme of the competition was to provide an opening chapter to an unpublished saga – which was a genre of which Elaine produced so many bestsellers in her writing career.
Elaine’s widower, Michael Everest was a special guest and presented the award to winner Andrea Davies, for her entry “The Liverpool Library Girls.”
Upon receiving the award, Andrea spoke of how she had never written a saga before and entered the competition due to being inspired by and to pay her respects to Elaine
Jean Fullerton, Chair of the Romantic Novelists Association [RNA} and one of the three competition judges, said Andrea’s entry “ticked all the boxes” needed for a saga and had wonderful “scene setting.” She remarked that the competition and all the entries paid tribute to Elaine in the best way.
Praise was also given to other entrants, Katie Carr (Second), Lisa Firth (Third) and Jill Steeples (Highly Commended).
Members then enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea, of sandwiches, scones and cakes in the magnificent Princes Room under the chandeliers, before listening to guest speaker, Virginia Heath.
Romantic novelist Virginia, an author of over 30 books, gave an entertaining talk about the life of being a writer from A-Z, with many of the anecdotes resonating with everyone.
From procrastinating instead of getting the words down on the page to too much doom scrolling on social media when you should be getting your novel over the line.
She discussed why most writers still suffer from imposter syndrome even after becoming successful and that every writer needs to have the thickest skin to survive all the reviews and rejections that are part and parcel along the way.
Virginia, who decided to write to overcome her insomnia which began when she was a little girl, gave a light-hearted personal experience with each part of the A-Z and certainly had us all captivated with her humour and honesty.
The talk was followed by a Q&A session and a book raffle, before members made their way out in the early evening sunshine after a wonderful afternoon.
Thank you to all our sponsors: Romantic Novelists Association, Pan Macmillan and individual sponsors: Michael Everest, Caroline Sheldon and The Ethical “Ace”
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