Romance writer in with award chance
The latest book from a Dunkeld author is up for a romantic writing award.
Perthshire-based Fiona Valpy has been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) prestigious 2021 Romantic Novel Awards.
She is one of nine finalists competing to take away the historic romantic novel award with ‘The Skylark’s Secret’.
Fiona’s novel is praised for being “a tragically beautiful love story exploring themes of home and Highland hospitality, of community and courage.”
“The Skylark’s Secret is my fourth book for Amazon Publishing’s Lake Union imprint and my seventh in total,” said Fiona, who said that despite the award ceremony being held online this year, she will still celebrate at home in Highland Perthshire.
“It’s my first book set entirely in Scotland, a love story set against the backdrop of the Arctic Convoys during World War II, when Loch Ewe was designated as a mustering point and became a strategic military base almost overnight.”
Fiona has woven the vivid, first-hand accounts of the locals from Loch Ewe into the historical timeline of the war in order to bring to life the impact on the community.
Her characters are fictitious but the setting and their experiences are based on a great deal of research.
Loch Ewe continued to act as a military base until August 1945. Vestiges of the wartime infrastructure still encircle the loch and you can see the concrete bases of gun emplacements and lookout points on all sides.
Today, it still contains a jetty for British and American nuclear submarines that need to stop for repairs but the great fleet is long gone.
“I’m absolutely delighted that The Skylark’s Secret has been shortlisted for the RoNAs this year and the Goldsboro Books Historic Romantic Novel Award,” Fiona continued.
“It’s thrilling to be shortlisted for this prestigious prize, especially at this challenging time when books have become all the more important as a means of connecting and uplifting people.
“We can learn so much from history. The courage and determination of the tight-knit crofting community was a beacon of light in a dark time, and one that continues to inspire us today.
“As well as a love story, it’s a book about the importance of community, coming together in challenging times to support one another and get through.
“Little did I know when I started writing it just how important that theme was about to become for us all.”
Her previous books include Sea of Memories, The Beekeeper’s Promise and The Dressmaker’s Gift,
The awards will be presented by actor and presenter Larry Lamb at a digital event on Monday, March 8.
The RNA’s awards are the only national literary prizes that recognise excellence in the genre of romantic fiction.