Christmas at the Island Hotel

"Jenny is a very popular author and you can see why when you read this latest festive treat. It’s very atmospheric and gives you that lovely, chilly feeling whether you want to wrap yourself in a blanket and drink hot chocolate. That’s really appealing to lots of people Even if we didn’t do it in person last Christmas, we it’s still nice to remember all the things that we like about it and hope for the for the next time. Jenny Colgan is equally talented at the summer and the winter books. A lot of authors do both every year. They always do a summer and a winter one, so you’ve always got that contrast. It’s quite hard for them because they have to write it at the wrong time of year. They’re imagining Christmas when they’re sitting on the beach, or in the garden in the sun. It depends on the publisher. Some prefer their authors to just focus on one book a year, some make it clear that two are welcome or even essential. My books with harper Fiction always come out in September but other publishers— particularly the digital ones—operate in other ways. Fans then know there’s a new book coming soon, and the momentum carries it all along. Either way is fine, there are pros and cons. Also, it depends how fast the authors are prepared to write. Our styles are very different. Some need to do a lot more research, depending on what sort of book they’re working on. So it’s very variable. It’s difficult to say, but generally I think the current crop of books have more depth, more emotion, more interwoven and varied relationships, which can involve a diverse range of protagonists; any age group, any combination of girl-meets-boy, boy-meets-boy or girl-meets-girl. There can be a combination of several themes running in parallel and crossing over. There doesn’t have to be just one relationship taking centre stage all the way through. As an organisation with more than 1000 members, we’re trying hard to be more inclusive. Diversity is very important to the RNA. We aim to encourage writers from all backgrounds, ages, races, colours, sexualities to join us and want everyone to feel welcome in the RNA. For this reason we’re currently trialling a listening exercise to find out how our members really feel about this situation. We’re always open to ideas as to how we can be more inclusive. Going back to the short-list, I think we have a good variety of relationships, settings and backgrounds. So the trend is more depth, if there is a trend. Oh, and possibly even more warmth and cosiness! That’s what we need at the moment, and it will carry us into next year. Next year’s books will all have been written during the pandemic, but after that, who knows? They might go completely off the rails! But we will keep supporting and celebrating romance in all its forms"