I so look forward to the Romance Writers of Australia Conference every year - and every year, it seems to get better. For you guys Over There, think about an organization about the size of a large RWAmerica chapter, and full to overflowing with fantastic, creative, obsessed, loud writers. Oh yeah, did I remember to say LOUD? LOL

The venue was the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Coogee Beach, a southern suburb of Sydney. This is the view from one of the upper rooms. Not, I hasten to add, mine. My room overlooked the tennis court, and though I kept a sharp eye out, there were no hunky tennis players, alas.

The Highlights:

The Book Signing was organized by the Australian Romance Readers Association and they did a fabulous job. It was noisy, frenetic, exhausting -  and a whole heap of fun.

The Cocktail Party theme was Fantasy Island which, um, leaves a certain amount of leeway costume-wise.  There were multiple Lara Crofts, Cleopatras and Princess Leias. Keri Arthur came as a dark angel and looked terrific, but Anne Gracie swept all away (as usual!) to win the prize as Dame Barbara Cartland (left). My personal fantasy was to be able to squeeeze into my purple medieval-type dress,which I did by giving up breathing for the night, so I wore that. Here I am with the Bennett sisters. Aren’t they demure? Get a load of the gowns and bonnets, let alone the spiffy reticule.

Of the workshops, two were standouts for me. Jessica Hart’s A-Z Survival Guide for Romance Writers was funny and touching and wise. This business might be sending me slowly but surely around the twist, but - hey! - I’m not alone. *snort* The other was How to Stage a Fight Scene with combat expert Ray Flores and two incredibly brave assistants. Ray was charming and funny - and absolutely lethal. What he did to a raw lamb roast with the merest flick of a knife gave me the shudders. On the other hand, I learned all sorts of useful techniques, and discovered I’ve been garroting people the wrong way for years. *evil cackle*

I did my workshop on Deep Point of View for an astonishing eighty people.  I survived, and fortunately, so did they. I’m thinking the chockies helped. When it’s my bum on the line, I’m a great believer in bribery and corruption. heh heh

The awards dinner is always such a joy. I love frocking up for a start. (I’ll have you know my evening wardrobe is now almost exclusively red. Wonder why?) Check out the shoe fest (left) with the lovely Lisa Barry - who is now, officially, a Master of Creative Writing (Romance). Go, Lisa!

Below, I’m with Eleni  Konstantine, tireless worker for RWA and total sweetheart. Eleni’s Taverna is the best blog. Also note beloved iPhone. LOL

All the contest winners receive their awards, but the big moment is the announcement of the R*BY Awards. These are a Big Hairy Deal, being our equivalent of the RITAs.It was delightful to see Sharon Archer, Amy Andrews, Tracey O’Hara and Sophia James win their respective sections.

But the best part of the evening - in fact, the most wonderful moment of the whole weekend for me, is when Anne Gracie gets everyone on their feet -

whether they submitted a contest entry or a query, published a book, contracted, finished a book or supported someone who’s writing. By the end, the whole room is standing and cheering. Always makes me want to cry.

On the Monday, I had the day to myself, so I tottered into Sydney city and did a tour of the Opera House. The tour was fascinating and the Harbour was stunning, as usual. Truly one of the great natural wonders of the world.  Next time I’m there, I swear I’m going to climb the Bridge, but I’ve hurt my knee and 400 steps up and back didn’t sound like such a bright idea.  One day…

If you’d like to read more and see more pics, you can try Kate Cuthbert at All About Romance, Paula Roe or Suzanne Brandyn. Plus, there’s the RWA blog. And I’m sure they’ll be more.

If you were there and I missed you somehow, I’m sorry. Don’t forget there’s always next year! Put a link in the comments if you have great pics. I’m not only a lousy photographer, I tend to talk too much and forget. Unbelievable, I know! *snicker*

On his 65th birthday, a man received gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumoured to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction.

After being persuaded, he drove to the reservation, handed his ticket to the medicine man and wondered what he was in for.

The medicine man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to him, and with a grip on his shoulder, warned, “This is powerful medicine and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful and then say 1-2-3. When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want.”

The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, “How do I stop the medicine from working?”

“Your partner must say ‘1-2-3-4,’ ” the medicine man responded. “But when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon.”

He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, “1-2-3!” Immediately, he was the manliest of men.

His wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, “What was the 1-2-3 for?”

And that, folks, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition because we could end up with a dangling participle.

Boom, boom!

What’s that old saying? You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. Or - Friends are your family of the heart.

One of the most precious things this crazy business of writing has given me is friends.  Not just girlfriends, but women who share my obsession, who understand. There’s Joey Hill, whom I’ve never met, though we’ve spoken on the phone and by Skype. From Joey, I get unqualified support and an unsparing critical eye.

Then there’s Christine Wells, who actually lives not far from me. I’m so lucky! We meet for lunch and too much bubbly followed by rather giggly critique sessions. Occasionally, we run away to spend a weekend with the amazing Anna Campbell.

Quite often, Christine and I talk on the phone. Take last week - I was feeling very down. Yeah, yeah, I know, but I get like that sometimes, especially staring down the barrel of a deadline. Writers are neurotic creatures.  In desperation, I rang Christine.

And what did I get? Exactly what I needed, that’s what! Complete support and understanding - straightaway - followed by a good (metaphorical) slap around the chops and the reassurance that I really can do this. I’ve been able to move forward since then. Plus, it’s a two-way street.  I try to give back to the best of my ability. We’re there for each other, you know?

And yet, on the face of it, it’s not a likely friendship. Different professions, different backgrounds and quite an age difference. (I won’t tell you which way it goes. I’m sure you can guess! *snork*)

Christine has a new release, Sweetest Little Sin, a sexy, action packed spy thriller that stars reader favourites Lady Louisa Brooke and that ruthless bad boy of the Beau Monde, the Marquis of Jardine. You’ll love it! Click on the image to read an excerpt.

BTW, my family are terrific. Love them to bits, but they’re not writers!

Do you have a friend who’s always there for you? How do you show them what they mean to you? (Apart from writing blog posts about their new books, that is!)

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*