Category Archives: Photo Moments

RNA Conference 2017 (Harper Adams) #RNAConf17

July 20, 2017news, Photo Moments, RNA, Writing LifeElizabeth Goudge Award, RNA, RNAConf, Writing friendsRFLong

I spent last weekend at the wonderful RNA Conference in the beautiful setting of Harper Adams University.

The conference is always a whirlwind and when I decided to go for a long weekend rather than just the basic conference I made an excellent, if exhausting choice.

I arrived quite late on Thursday evening and after some fun and games finding the halls of residence with the help of the nicest taxi driver, met up with my usual flatmates, aka Kate Johnson, Immi Howson, Rhoda Baxter, Janet Gover and Alison May. Aka The naughty kitchen. More on that later.

Friday morning allowed us some time to explore the campus and Janet kicked things off with a talk on image manipulation, the first of many highlights.
We all gathered in the main lecture theatre, where I ended up spending rather a lot of time. The panel on the current state of the industry was fascinating and entertaining. It also felt like the most positive of these I’ve attended in a number of years. Things are looking up in the world of Romantic Fiction.

On Friday night there were drinkies. But not too many as I gave a talk on School Visits first thing on Saturday morning. It went very well until the computer decided to apply Windows updates in the middle of the talk, rebooting everything, including my slideshow. But apparently it wasn’t just me. The university has a Saturday morning routine, it seems. I may have gone for a bit of a lie down afterwards!

Other talk highlights over the weekend included Alison May and Bella Osbourne’s Plotter vs. Pantser talk (hilarious, with added aliens), Immi as the sparkly gazelle in the RNA Have Your Say discussion, Fiona Harper’s wonderful workshop on character development, a panel on how to be a helpful author featuring Julia Silk (agent), JB Johnson (bookblogger) & Julia Williams (editor and author) and Kate Johnson’s Guide to Worldbuilding.
Saturday evening was the Gala dinner, when we all put on our finery, have a wonderful meal and great conversation. It’s also the night that the Elizabeth Goudge prize is awarded. This annual competition is always held at the conference, and is hotly contested.

This year the theme was “Runaways” and the entry had to be 2000 words from the beginning of novel. I was absolutely delighted to be announced as the runner up with the opening to the as yet unwritten (apart from those 2000 words) sequel to the Space Opera.

Even better news was that Immi was the winner so we got to celebrate together. Here we are with Jill Mansell and RNA President Katie Fforde.

The naughty kitchen may have imbibed a few drinks that night. But I was not the last to bed. 😀

If you have never been to a writing conference I cannot recommend the RNA one enough. You’ll never encounter a more helpful, supportive and creative group of people.

Dubh Linn settings: Glasnevin

September 25, 2016Dubh Linn, Excerpts, New Books, Photo Moments, YAIEA darkness at the end, Dubh Linn, Follow in Izzy's footsteps, SettingsRFLong

May Day at St Brigid’s Well, Kildare

May 1, 2016Photo MomentsIreland, Photos, St Brigid's WellRFLong

Hallowe’en at the Hellfire Club – A Hollow in the Hills

October 31, 2015Excerpts, New Books, Out and About, Photo MomentsA Hollow in the Hills, Dubh Linn, Dublin, Hellfire clubRFLong

IMG_7986 (2) As A Hollow in the Hills is set at Hallowe’en, and here we are at Hallowe’en, I thought I’d share an excerpt –

“Mist curled around the grass, freezing it where it touched. Dylan pressed against the shadows of the hunting lodge, trying to hide himself and Clodagh. That was how he found the bonfire, a stack of old pallets and bits of furniture, odds and ends gathered together to make an as yet unlit Halloween bonfire.
But it should have been lit by now, shouldn’t it? Like the thousands blazing in the city below them. Bonfires were as ancient as the land, an old tradition of harvest and spring. A celebration. A sacrifice.
With a screech like a demon a firework went up, bursting in a shower of scarlet and yellow. Others followed, the city of Dublin throwing fire into the sky. A terrible feeling of dread swept over him and he knew he shouldn’t be here, that he shouldn’t be on this hillside, that they should never have split up. Holly was here. It was a trap.”

The photo was taken at the Hellfire Club on Montpelier Hill in Dublin, where Dylan and Clodagh are about to find themselves in a lot of trouble. It’s dark and creepy and has the most terrifying stories associated with it. A Hollow in the Hills is the sequel to the award winning A Crack in Everything and is available now from all good bookshops, real and virtual (maybe even imaginary).

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: The Dubh Linn Gardens & Chester Beatty Library

September 22, 2015links and stuff, New releases, Out and About, Photo MomentsA Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills, Dubh Linn, Dublin, Follow in Izzy's footstepsRFLong

DubhLinnGarden

In the grounds of Dublin Castle, the Dubh Linn gardens sit on the site of the original black pool. They are decorated with intertwined brick pathways representing eels. The central lawn double jobs as a helicopter landing pad, while small gardens, such as the Garda Memorial Garden, occupy the corners. It is also the site of the Chester Beatty Library, one of my favorite places to visit in Dublin.

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: The Hellfire Club

September 18, 2015New Books, New releases, Photo MomentsA Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills, Dubh Linn, Dublin, Follow in Izzy's footstepsRFLong

Hellfire

Montpelier Hill looms large in the supernatural tales of Dublin and even larger in Dubh Linn. Standing on top of it is the Hellfire Club, once a hunting lodge built in 1725. Stones from the cairn beside it were used in the construction and that sort of thing never ends well. It was used by members of the Irish Hellfire Club for meetings and the stories of wild behaviour, gambling, drunkenness and deals with the devil soon followed. They abandoned it after a fire which was reputedly started by one of the members when a footman spilled his brandy. His solution? Setting the man on fire.

Strange occurances, ghostly reports and bad luck continue to be associated with the Hellfire Club.

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: Sídheway gate on Bray Head

September 15, 2015New Books, New releases, Out and About, Photo MomentsA Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills, Dubh Linn, Follow in Izzy's footsteps, PhotosRFLong

Sidheway

Doorways to Dubh Linn are everywhere. Sometimes they can be seen and sometimes not, but there’s always some sort of marker, something to identify them. While doing research for A Hollow in the Hills on Bray Head we came across this tree (or maybe these trees?) right in the middle of the path (I use the term loosely, it’s quite a scramble). I had to put it in.

Magical places of Dubh Linn: Shielmartin Hill

September 13, 2015Excerpts, Photo Moments, Publications, Uncategorized, Writing LifeA Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills, Dubh Linn, Follow in Izzy's footsteps, Magical PlacesRFLong

Sheilmartin Hill, Howth in A Hollow in the Hills by Ruth Frances Long — Shielmartin Hill, Howth in A Hollow in the Hills by Ruth Frances Long

Shielmartin hill is part of Howth Head, overlooking Dublin and features in A Hollow in the Hills. Local tradition says that the cairn on the summit was the burial place of Crimthann. Most of the summit appears to be made up of the cairn, with other cairns built on top of it.

One of my many magical places around Dublin featuring in A Crack in Everything and A Hollow in the Hills.

I’m going to post some more of them over the next while. Stay tuned.

In the meantime check out the Goodreads giveaway running for another 8 days.

Booklaunch

September 11, 2015Life Happens, New Books, New releases, Out and About, Photo Moments, reviewsA Hollow in the Hills, book launch, Giveaway, Goodreads, New Books, New Release, ruth frances LongRFLong

Windows

We had a wonderful evening on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who came along or send good wishes. And thank you especially to Bob and the staff of The Gutter Bookshop for putting on such an amazing night.

Meanwhile, over on Goodreads, The O’Brien Press are giving away three copies of A Hollow in the Hills. You can enter here.

And in their review of A Hollow in the Hills Parents in Touch said ‘Brilliantly drawn characters & a tightly knit plot combine to make an exhilarating read.’

#IntheWild

September 4, 2015Cover Love, Excerpts, Free Read, New Books, New releases, Out and About, Photo MomentsA Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills, Awesome readers, Dubh Linn, New BooksRFLong

I think we can all ~~blame~~ thank the fabulous Celine Kiernan for #InTheWild. I asked for pitures of A CavanCK Hollow in the Hills if anyone saw it in the wild. So she put it in a bush and sent me a photo.

As you do in Cavan….

(thank you Celine! You are fab!)

Poor Jinx, however does not appreciate nature in any form. He’s a city fae.

And then others got in on the act. 😀

Eventually, even I gave in.

Luckily the booksellers of Dublin and Drogheda came to ~~our~~ Jinx’s rescue

Here it is on the shelves. Not quite in its natural habitat though. That would be the hands of readers.

If you see A Hollow in the Hills out in the wild, send me a photo – @rflong #IntheWild #Galavanting (because that’s clearly what it’s doing) #HollowInTheHills.

In other news, check out Dublin2019 Irish Fiction Friday today – featuring me!