I left Putney on Friday morning, braving rush hour traffic to push my way through to Euston Station. There I boarded the train to Birmingham, at which point I changed to another that took me to Telford. Getting out of the train and crossing over the bridge, I was overjoyed to see my friend, Nikki, waiting for me. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen her in person (we’ve Skyped) and Friday was the start of five days together.

First up on our itinerary was the Romance Novelists’ Association’s 2014 conference at Harper Adams University. When people ask me why I’m in UK, I first tell them that I’m here for the Monty Python Live show (which is true), and then follow that up by saying I’m hearing for the romance writers conference.

The sat-nav (who we’ve named Roger) guided us to the university, a lovely campus with on-site accommodation, fields, and livestock. We registered early, meeting the conference organiser, and then went to settle into the digs.

We drove the wrong way and had the biggest surprise of the weekend – a young emu running around the car park. It was safely herded between two people and a woman picked it up and carried it off. We never found out where it went or why it was there. We’re at an agricultural college but it wasn’t in an area where there were any livestock. Maybe it’s someone’s pet?

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The accommodation was fairly simple student accommodation but had everything we needed – a single bed, a cupboard, a desk, block-out curtains and an ensuite bathroom.

After settling in, we took a drive into Newport to find some food (or at least, I bought food, Nikki just drove) and then made it back in time for the first session of the day. Over the next few days, we saw a variety of presentations covering craft, industry and research. Nikki delivered her presentation on the chemistry of reading, which went down very well, and talked about our Australian romance writers’ organisation. Lots of people came up to talk to her over the weekend, so she was something of a rockstar (but in a good way).

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The meals were great. A wonderful array of choices at each meal and we got three squares a day. Plenty of people to chat to, making new friends and discussing the differences between the UK and the Australian organisations and the conferences. It’ll be interesting to see if the UK organisation looks into adopting some of the things we do.

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The weather has been a bit weird. It’s been drizzling, or raining, or hot, and the temperature inside the buildings hasn’t really coped. The main lecture theatre was well air-conditioned (almost to freezing) but the other rooms weren’t cool enough, and the dinner on Saturday night was a little bit uncomfortable with all the bodies and complete lack of air conditioning. England really isn’t setup for hot weather.

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Sunday we took a break from proceedings and headed out to look at Ironbridge, the oldest cast-iron bridge in England, built in 1779. It wasn’t too far away and is one of the local attractions. It’s a nice bridge, the village is quite pretty. Really, it was just nice to get away for a while. I find that at conferences, after a while, my brain gets full and I start to get itchy and think there’s nothing else I need to do but get on with writing. I haven’t done any since getting to the UK but I’m taking the time off and will attack the new manuscript when I return.

Ironbridge

Me and Ironbridge

Ironbridge, side B

By the river

Poppies in Telford

Telford

Returning to the conference in the afternoon, Nikki and I had a meeting, then went back to our rooms. I organised meet-ups for the coming weekend as I’m seeing about eleven people and hadn’t discussed when and where. I don’t think I’ve spent that much time on the phone since I was in high school.

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Most people left the conference after lunch, dispersing to their various corners of the country, so at dinner there were only about 30 people. After dinner was the quiz, a tradition at the conference. It was brief, only two rounds, which was perfect. I was on a team of six and we won! Scoring well above the other five teams with 22 out of a possible 28 (I think). We won bragging rights and glory, which is good because my suitcase is stuffed.

It’s been a good conference, meeting new people and being in a generally positive atmosphere. It’s made me homesick for the Australian conference, which I’m already looking forward to in August 2015 in Melbourne.

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