{"id":727,"date":"2014-11-22T20:43:40","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T18:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=727"},"modified":"2014-11-22T23:00:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T21:00:06","slug":"parties-poppies-and-a-thames-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=727","title":{"rendered":"Parties, Poppies and a Thames Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10710964_10153178189239879_8460799506547182173_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/poppies.hrp.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

This week I went along to the Romantic Novelists\u2019 Association Winter Party.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the last\u00a0train I could catch leaves at 8pm and the party doesn\u2019t even begin until 6.30, this involves a mad cross-country drive and a two night stay with my Mum instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth it though. It was especially so this time as Phillipa Ashley had organised a river cruise, with lunch on the boat. It was supposed to include Nell Dixon who couldn\u2019t make it, so I gate-crashed!<\/span><\/p>\n

Our party of three, which also included Elizabeth Hanbury, had a wonderful time. It was incredibly relaxing gliding along one of the most famous rivers in the world, sipping champagne and watching the landmarks go past. Great fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we had time to spare before the party, we decided to nip along to see the poppies at The Tower. Although they have begun removing them, there are still enough poppies there to make it a very moving experience. I\u2019ve seen internet and news coverage but nothing prepares you for seeing it for real. Each of the poppies represents a man fallen in World War One and, in fact, they almost look like small figures standing bravely against the elements and stained in blood. <\/span><\/p>\n

Very, very poignant.<\/span><\/p>\n

We met a few other romantic novelists in the bar at Waterstone\u2019s, Piccadilly and then it was a quick stroll along to the private club in St James, where the parties are held. We had an enforced stop on the way, so that Regency writer and expert Elizabeth could take a photograph of the Beau Brummell statue on Jermyn Street. Shame he didn\u2019t come to life \u2013 he would\u2019ve enjoyed the party.<\/span><\/p>\n

RNA parties are legendary. Writing is, by nature, a solitary pursuit, so when writers get together, it\u2019s quite something! I used to find it all a bit bewildering but I\u2019ve gradually got to know people. It\u2019s lovely to catch up with friends who don\u2019t live nearby and who, otherwise, are only in contact via Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Reader, I have to admit by the end of the evening I was feeling the effects of the early start. The long (and delayed) train journey home was made far more fun by having a laugh and a chat with new mates Bernadette O\u2019Dwyer and Bella Osborne. Bella has just been taken on by Harper Impulse. Her debut novel, It Started at Sunset Cottage, is out in February. I can\u2019t wait to read it, it sounds just my thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

This weekend, I\u2019m having some quiet time to recover! <\/span><\/p>\n

Love, Georgia x<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/poppies.hrp.org.uk\/ This week I went along to the Romantic Novelists\u2019 Association Winter Party. As the last\u00a0train I could catch leaves at 8pm and the party doesn\u2019t even begin until 6.30, this involves a mad cross-country drive and a two night stay with my Mum instead. It\u2019s worth it though. It was especially so this time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[263,265,268,203,55,264,269,267,50,167,104,54,52,266,47],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bella-osborne","tag-bernadette-odwyer","tag-cathy-mansell","tag-christina-courtney","tag-elizabeth-hanbury","tag-it-started-at-sunset-cottage","tag-jane-lark","tag-john-jackson","tag-katie-fforde","tag-mandy-baggot","tag-margaret-james","tag-nell-dixon","tag-phillipa-ashley","tag-talli-roland","tag-the-romantic-novelists-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}