Did you see Dick Francis died? I feel personally bereft. I don’t follow horse racing. let alone steeple-chasing. (In fact, I’m scared of horses, beautiful creatures though they are. They’re so damned big.) But Francis was an uber-champion jockey. He rode for the Queen. He was also a real gentleman and an extraordinarily gifted and interesting person. He didn’t have much of an education, but when he gave up riding and turned to writing, he was amazing. He wrote a book a year for years on end, all of them terrific reads.

If you want to learn what tension and narrative power is all about, read Dick Francis.  I used to swallow his books whole, in one big gulp, they were that good. I bet he was a dream to edit. His heroes are usually quiet, competent men, assured in their masculinity - rather like their creator, I imagine. Not chest-beating alphas, but real men! There’s generally a romance, though it’s low-key and understated.

One of the things I loved was how hard he worked and how much attention he paid to detail. His research was always meticulous. Not all of his heroes are horse or racing people. I remember one about a toy inventor, another about an actor. But whatever it was, he knew everything there was to know about it.  And he made the research an integral part of the story without beating you over the head with it.

Haven’t read them? I envy you. If you’re looking for a place to start, you couldn’t do better than the Sid Halley books. (The three covers pictured here.) Sid is brave without bravado and he makes brains sexy. Your local library will have them for sure. 

I’m over at Victoria Janssen’s blog for the next few days, discussing what lies beneath.

http://victoriajanssen.blogspot.com/

And no, it’s not what you’re thinking! Honestly!

It’s the writer’s mind I’m interested in. Pretty scary stuff from my point of view, all about revealing the self.

Come and talk to me at Victoria’s. I’d love the company.

3rd November 2009!

Steampunk is the new buzzword around Genre World. Exactly what it means is open to interpretation, but there do seem to be a few constants. Like dirty great steam machines. heh heh

This video is an absolute hoot. Totally brilliant. What’s more, it contains most of the elements of ’steampunk’ - especially the aforesaid dirty great steam machines. *grin*

Enjoy!

Thanks to Eleni for drawing my attention to it.

I’m particularly interested in your opinion of review sites at the moment.  And I have particular reasons. First of all, I just received a glowing review from Dear Author for Strongman. I’m always delighted when someone “gets” what I’m trying to do. Joan/Sarah F. did.

The romance is most beautifully perfectly done. Each step in their relationship reveals more about the individuals, where they come from, who they are, why their partner attracts them, and what they’re going to do about it. The focus of the story is mainly Fort’s journey and I just fell in love with him as he fell in love with Griff but had to push himself to accept it.

The sex, by the way, was amazing. Fort is the title’s “Strongman,” but Griff is a tumbler and can give as good as he gets. Evenly matched, each sexual encounter is a fight for dominance and it’s hot and fascinating and each scene is integral to both plot and character development. B+

Read the rest…

Isn’t that great? I’ve been beaming ever since. OTOH, I did wonder what on earth you have to do to be awarded an A from Dear Author. There are writers I consider waaay above me reviewed on this site who remain “A-less”.

Which brings me to my second reason for seeking your opinion. I need to organise my promotional activities for Thief of Light - like, yesterday. *sigh* Being me, I’m dithering. I only have so much time to give and I don’t want to waste it. Haaalp!

Tell me, which are the review sites you trust? What do you think of their rating system? Which are the blogs you read on a regular basis?

And more to the point, do they influence your book purchasing behaviour in any way whatsoever? For example, I won’t buy a book online unless I can read an excerpt first. No excerpt, no sale.

Introducing… Amber Sand, creator of, Write First Time,  a nifty new blog for writers. http://write-first-time.blogspot.com/ She’s kicking it off by interviewing meee! But - ahem - that’s not the best part, not really. What’s she done is brilliant, a great resource for new writers - an alphabetic glossary of the terms you’ll find in this crazy industry. Amber not only has a great imagination, she possesses a keen and logical mind. Take advantage, my dears. *smile*

• Battling with backstory?
• Confused about conflict?
• Angling for an agent?
• Reflecting on royalties?

Amber has the answers. And she’s putting more of them on the blog every day. Check back often for your “writing ABC’s” , or suggest a term that puzzles you.

She’s a wicked woman, that Amber, plying me with wine over a pleasant lunch. The most enjoyable interview I’ve ever done! Potential interviewers, please take note. *hint, thud, drop!*

What piece of publishing jargon particularly confuses and/or irritates you? I’d love, love you to pop over and tell us all about it - say g’day while you’re there.

I’ve always wanted to sound like Lauren Bacall - all husky and sexy. Well, now I do, because I’m still recovering from the Romance Writers of Australia conference last weekend. I’ll be back to my usual girly soprano soon, but I’m enjoying the “femme fatale” effect while I can.

So, how was it? I can say, hands-down, it was the best conference I’ve attended. Maybe that’s because I was on the organising committee, but truly, it was great.  I estimate I walked/ran the equivalent of a marathon over the weekend. There was sooo much to do! But I loved it.

So many highlights -

• our wonderful guest speaker, Mary Jo Putney, so knowledgeable and so gracious.
• the editors and agents who attended, and patiently and kindly listened to pitches - Mary Theresa Hussey, Melissa Jeglinski, Clare Foster and Annette Barlow.
• a brilliant selection of workshops - ranging from great craft sessions to experts like a high-ranking police officer, a practising psychologist and a pharmacist. Did you know it’s much harder than you might think to get away with murder by poison? Shame, really.
• a cocktail party on an Arabian Nights theme. The room was crowded with harem girls and sheiks! Some of the costumes were genuinely…um…extraordinary. Here’s our visiting (real) bellydancer. So supple and light on her feet.  She was delightful - and very, very careful with the swords! You will be relieved to know I managed to put together a bellydancer costume that didn’t expose my belly. A Very Good Thing!
• the Awards Dinner. IMO, flowers “make” any occasion and these were gorgeous.  The table centres were heart-shaped.  BTW, the “point” of the heart is on your upper right. As a photographer, I make a great writer. Tilt your head and squint, okay? Even better, the little green thingies (think they’re cacti) form the shape of the Southern Cross. Isn’t that cool? Just like the RWA logo.

• the ’stand-up” at the end of the dinner - my absolute favourite part of any RWAustralia conference. Each writer is called to stand - and stay on her feet - if you’ve had a book out in the year, signed a contract, queried an editor or angent, finalled in a contest, entered a contest and so on and so on… By the end, virtually the whole room is standing,  wildly celebrating their achievements.
• the last “stand-up” of the evening, which was for husbands and partners. That was particularly heart-warming and we had more of them attending than ever before - including My Beloved, who wore his best cowboy-ish boots for the occasion. Heroes, each and every one of them.
• and finally - but this is at the heart of it - the friendship and support members offer each other. It’s such a joy to catchup with old friends and to welcome new ones. I’m convinced there’s something special about romance writers. Yes, we all covet much the same prizes. Yes, there’s definitely competition, but it’s tempered with an extraordinary generosity of spirit.

Here I am with my dear friend and critique partner, Christine Wells. Just to prove I was there - and to show that I wore the red shoes. Honestly, my entire evening wardrobe is now a certain shade of red! Oh, and I’m not a tall person. My heels were a tad higher than Christine’s! You can also tell that the flash on my camera didn’t go off. *sigh*

What’s the best conference you’ve ever been to? Or the worst? And why? Any interesting tales to tell? 

Tomorrow I’m off for the Romance Writers of Australia Annual Conference. Not that I have to go far this year, it’s in my home town, just a short drive to a swanky hotel in the city centre. I’m on the Conference Committee, though I’m still not certain how it happened. One minute I said I was terribly, terribly busy, but I might find a few minutes to help stuff envelopes, the next - WHOOSH! - on the Committee. Aaargh!

We had our early meetings in this extraordinary room in the new city library. It’s kind of suspended over the escalators. It made me feel very much like a tropical fish. You know the sort, the ones in a tank in a dentist’s waiting room.

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to do a smart side-step when the Registrar’s job came up, because fine detail is Not My Thing. I can do it if I have too, but it drives me insane. I’m always terrified I’ll miss some small, but crucial factor and the whole thing will come crashing down. As it is, I am simply amazed at the other women on the Committee. They should be running the country, no joke. Talk about AWESOME! Nothing forgotten, every detail covered, right down to the most minute things.

Volunteers are wonderful people, IMO. Not only the Committee members, but an army of willing folk who simply pitch in and damn well DO it!

I always enjoy these conferences to the max. Generally, I come home sounding like I’ve been on a smoke and whiskey binge, but it’s just too much talking. Yeah, I know, unbelievable.  *cough, cough*I love catching up with old friends and meeting people I’ve only known as email addresses.

But this time, I’m totally looking forward to Sunday night, when it’s all over and we can all relax and have a drink - or several!

I’ll see if I can find time to draw a breath and post some pics for you over the weekend - but no promises!

Are you good at detail? Or do you always forget something like me? Every time we travel, I leave something behind. I know I’m going to do it, so generally I just pray it won’t be anything vital. *sigh*

I threw a book at the wall the other day. Okay - I actually tossed it onto the desk - but it was from a distance of a couple of feet. I don’t usually treat books that way, not my dear friends and companions.

So why the fit of pique?

Overload - that’s why! A huge honking overload of information, all in the first two chapters.

Now, I love me a good helping of things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, honest I do. I read a lot of paranormals. I’m cool with devils and witches and demons and succubi and faeries and Sidhe and elves and goblins and imps and trolls and shifters. Well, of course, I write fantasy. Duh!

For heaven’s sake, I even wrote a paranormal story about a devil and a banshee. Come Howling, in Ellora’s Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction 1 I don’t write vampires, because unlike the incredibly wonderful Joey W. Hill, I can’t think of anything new to do with them.  Besides, they’re D.E.A.D. *whispering*

But this book? Aaaargh! There were demons and vampires and succubi and Goddess knows what running around. And either they were related to each other in extremely convoluted ways or they were having mad alien-monkey sex, breaking up, killing each other and then starting all over again. The author must have a brilliantly detailed world living in her head - with the emphasis on detailed. This is the first of a series, so to be fair, she had to set up not only the story arc for this book, but for the series as a whole.

Nonetheless, I completely lost patience with it. Couldn’t be bothered going on. I don’t have much time to read anymore and I want to be hauled headfirst into a tale so gripping it won’t let me go. Perhaps if I’d persevered I would have had my reward. But hey, I didn’t, I was tired. My internal Picky Bitch from Hell was yelling in my ear, “Life’s too short!”

And no, I’m not going to name names. I’m being mean enough as it is. Suffice to say, this series is doing quite well. And you’ll notice I’ve travelled far enough up my own fundament to think I’m beyond info-dumping. Hah! (Don’t tell me, okay? I don’ wanna know!)

This is something I think is particularly endemic in paranormals. Do you agree? I wonder if it goes with the world-building territory and I should suck it up? Is it just me? Perhaps I’m being unfair. How long do you keep going before you launch the book across the room?

Okay, here it is - the lowdown on the very first Australian Romance Readers Convention! Yeehah! It was da bomb!

It was such a total blast! For the first time, I had readers come up to me with wide eyes, saying how much they love my books and would I sign - pretty please? Well, gosh, let me think about that for an entire nano-second… I can’t imagine the thrill of it would ever get old, not for me, anyway.

Hardly any of these pictures are actually mine - I stole ‘em from other blogs all over, but I’ve linked to them further down so you can go read about all the stuff I missed. I’m such a doofus - or possibly such a gasbag (ya think?) - that although I carried my shiny new camera everywhere, I clean forgot to take photos. Well, duh!

Best memories?

• The absolutely incredible, ear-shattering noise as I walked into the Friday night welcome reception. Hundreds of women, all shrieking with joy as they greeted each other. A tree full of screaming rainbow lorikeets had nothing on it.
• If MaryJanice Davidson gets tired of writing, she could make her living as a stand-up comedian. That woman is seriously FUNNY!
• Sherrilyn Kenyon describing her Deep South family - “We ain’t real bright,” she said in her Southern gal drawl. The word bogan springs to mind. (The Aussie version of redneck for you Over There.) She was so gracious and giving. The readers just ate her up!
• Amy Andrews talking about the man who came into Emergency with a can of hair mousse shoved up his rectum. Yep, that was funny enough, but the looks on the faces of the American authors - MJD, Susan Grant and Liz Maverick - were priceless. “Moose?” they said. “You mean with…antlers?” OMG, it’s all in the pronunciation!

 This one time, at band camp… Authors share anecdotes about where their story ideas come from..

Left to Right:  Liz Maverick, Amy Andrews, MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant

• I moderated a panel, “Love and Alternate Realities”. The panelists were Susan Grant, Keri Arthur, Tracey O’Hara and Angela Verdenius. Gulp! I was a tad nervous, I must admit, but the panelists were so responsive and so damn funny, and the audience so warm, I forgot all about the nerves after a while.
• Tracey showed off her dragon tattoo, Angela talked about her eleven beloved cats, Keri confessed her Labrador dog weighs 50 kilos (almost 8 stone) and Susan, the fearless fighter pilot, is afraid of ants. Go figure.
• The conversation rapidly became very um, interesting, ranging from centaur sex to vampire sex to alien sex and also to that alpha male soul mate thing - as in, “You are my mate! I shall now ravish you - and you will enjoy it!” Yeah, well - I have news for you, idiot. See this frying pan? DONG!

Urban fantasy, Sci-fi, futuristic - Love and Alternate Realities

Left to Right: Tracey O’Hara, Susan Grant, Keri Arthur, Angela Verdenius and me (moderating)

• The Author Signing sessions were great. I sat next to Stephanie Laurens. (Not bragging, oh no!) Poor woman had no choice, I simply plonked myself down next to her. I signed my books and conversed with my charming, though very short queue - but mainly I chatted with the long line of readers waiting patiently for Stephanie to sign. Was  fun!
• And in another Brush with Fame, I was on a panel with Sherrilyn Kenyon. I actually sat next to her! Yep, no kiddin’.
• The duelling cameras were a hoot. That was when I finally recalled I possessed a photographic device and pointed it at Harlequin author, Paula Roe. Being Paula, she pointed hers right back at me.
• I’m in awe at the organising skill of the ARRC gals. The whole thing went like clockwork. And they raised over $7,000 for the Bushfire Appeal with a silent auction!
• The Jasper Hotel itself constituted a highlight. Each floor was painted a different very VIVID colour - as in eyeball searingly vivid. My floor was purple, others tangerine, neon green, electric blue. But the best was what the girls called the “Barbie Exploded” floor - a hot pink so completely unrepentant, I winced every time the lift doors swished open. Ouch!But the rooms themselves were soothing and comfortable, and the staff delightful.
• The gala dinner was luverly. Everyone got gussied up and I wore my favourite red hooker heels. Go me! Picture below courtesy of Erica Hayes’ blog. Erica is about to hit the romance world with her dark underworld of fairies and Things That Go Bump in the Night. Can’t wait!

From Left to Right: Me, Keri Arthur, Tracey O’Hara, Erica Hayes

If you’d like to see and read more, visit Liz Maverick’s blog. She even has a couple of videos!

Then there’s Kat and Wundergurl on Book Thingo. They did the Twitter thing.

Marg’s Reading Adventures and Tez Says. Not to mention the ARRC site itself!

There was much talk about the NEXT ONE! Oh, I do hope so. Sydney in 2011 was the buzz. We’ll see…

Don’t you wish you’d been there? *chuckle* I should mention, BTW, that everyone staggered away with armloads of free books. So - who’s on board for 2011? How many of you go to the Romantic Times Convention? Did you enjoy yourselves? I’m actually considering it for next year in Nashville. Woohoo!

Interested in the Sexual Journey? Well, let’s face it, most people are!

But how does this journey unfold in erotic romance?

JANUARY 16th and 17th, 2009

Come participate in a Romance Divas workshop with an in depth look at the way successful Erotic authors have created a story that’s not only HOT but also meaningful.

Join myself and fellow authors, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill, Zane and Tina Burns (publisher, Liquid Silver).

Readers and authors are welcome! And speaking personally, I’d love to see some friendly faces, uh, names!

NOTE: You need to do TWO things to participate.

1. Click the link to the Romance Divas Forum and Register. It’s a teeny tiny link up the top of the page. Huh!

2. Once you have an account,  contact an administrator HERE. Because the workshop will be held in the Diva’s Secrets Steamy section which requires special permission. There are no requirements other than your statement that you are over 18.