Author Linda McEvoy on how finding her writing tribe with Writers Ink and others led to her new novel, The Christmas Market . . .
‘You don’t need confidence; you just need courage.’
These were the words of advice, from Writers’ Ink mentors, Maria McHale and Sam Blake, that resonated most when I began my writing journey in the winter of 2022.
Like a lot of people, I often thought I might write a novel someday. But I didn’t make any attempt until I wrote one story, not very well, in 2014. I moved back to my home town two years ago and found the novel buried in a box while unpacking. I remembered how much fun I had writing it, and I decided to try again.
In November 2022, I took an online writing challenge with Writers’ Ink and signed up for a short Curtis Brown Creative course with David Nicholls. A writing prompt, ‘the walls were covered with ivy’ coincided with walks by the walled garden in beautiful Emo Court and the seeds of The Christmas Market were sown.
In 2023, I reconnected with an old friend who writes as Catherine Tinley. She told me about the Romantic Novelists’ Association and her own online community of romance writers, Tinley’s Tattlers, and encouraged me to join both. As a writer of romance, I’m so glad I did.
I attended the RNA conference in August 2023, and submitted three chapters of my first novel for feedback from editors at the I2Is. I was shocked and delighted at the positive response, and thrilled when my wonderful agent, Nicky Lovick, asked to see my manuscript and offered to represent me.
At this point I had also written a third of The Christmas Market. Nicky and I agreed this was the novel to submit. I finished it over the next few months and got the very exciting news that Bedford Square Publishers chose it from a host of festive submissions in December 2023.
The story and characters are completely fictional, but the mood and setting are inspired by positive Christmas memories growing up in my home town and by the beautiful walled garden at Emo Court.
My lead character Jas has a mind of her own and practically wrote herself, while I laughed along or tore my hair out depending on what she chose to do next.
The book has been described by fellow romance authors as ‘magical, quirky, and romantic,’ ‘full of warmth and Irish humour,’ ‘with a sparky main character in a charming town full of community, heart, and hope’.
I did try plotting my next book, and had an outline of a forty-year love story set in Dublin that disappeared as soon as I began to write and turned into a completely different novel set in a fairytale French village in 2024.
I recently started a writing process journal to get a better handle on what works for me. I had no idea what I might write when I began, but it turns out I love to write romance. So far, I realise that I spend time getting to know my characters, either in an early, discarded version of the story, or through writing childhood/teenage scenes. I also know the final scene. I picture it in my head and I write towards that. I need to get my characters through and give them the ending they deserve. The how only reveals itself as I write.
I was lucky to find great writing tribes in Writer’s Ink, The Romantic Novelists’ Association, and Tinley’s Tattlers. And my local library has been an amazing support. It’s wonderful to connect with like-minded writers and to encourage and support each other. I love writing and I find that part fun, but putting your work out there is a whole other world. It helps to have writing friends that understand, and that you can share the journey with.
And it’s never too late! I’ll be 58 when my debut comes out. If you want to write, soak up all the learning and advice. Then find your tribe, have fun, trust your own voice. And write.
(c) Linda McEvoy
About The Christmas Market by Linda McEvoy:
Jas saw the light when her ex dumped her treasured vintage fabric all over the street. She’s back in her home town with a plan to launch her hat-making business at the Christmas market in the beautiful Georgian square.
But the Ballyclane she returns to is not the one she left nine years ago. Her mother has a new man and Jas’s old room is a walk-in wardrobe now. Her beloved gran has died and the house Jas hoped to work from is a bonanza for property developers instead.
And no one is organising the Christmas market! There’s just enough time to manage that and keep her business plan on track. She certainly doesn’t have time for Niall, the smoky-eyed, posh boy builder, hell-bent on breaking her heart.
With a best friend hiding a secret, a childhood nemesis determined to take her down, and a beautiful French angel enchanting everybody, Jas struggles to get a grip on what’s real.
Still, she might find everything she needs at the market this Christmas if she can let herself truly believe…
“A fun, sparkling read with the perfect mix of romance and charm – you won’t be able to put it down.” Sharon Black, author of The Last Saturday in July, Poolbeg Press.
Order your copy of The Christmas Market by Linda McEvoy online here.
