Romance v Real Life

This past weekend I and fellow LoveCats Amy Andrews and Michelle Douglas had the pleasure of attending the Australian Romance Readers Association awards night. ARRA functions are always a lot of fun and the awards night was no exception. At the start of the evening the audience was challenged to give the differences between real life and romance novels. Much hilarity ensued. As you can imagine, several answers referred to expectations of sexual performance!

What would you answer if you were posed that question?  I’ll kick off with a few of my own:

• Romance heroes and heroines often (but not always) have perfect bodies while seeming to eat what they want and not do a lot of exercise.

• They rarely have to visit the bathroom.

• Inexperienced heroines achieve amazing orgasms with little or no foreplay.

• Heroines can have hours of energetic sex but never seem to suffer from cystitis (I’ve only ever seen this in one story.) 

• The reaction to stress of romance heroines is often to lose their appetite and fade away to thinness instead of binge eating and stacking on weight. (Yes, I’ve written heroines like this in maybe a fit of wishful thinking!)

• One from the ARRA night: characters on the run from people hot on their heels trying to kill them have plenty of time to have showers and leisurely sex.

 Of course much of the enjoyment of our favourite genre is that real life (such as trips to the bathroom) doesn’t intrude on the fantasy, while the emotions expressed are heart-wrenchingly real. So perhaps we don’t want too much of the nitty gritty of everyday life to intrude!

Do you have any differences between real life and romance novels you’d like to share? I’d love to read your thoughts!

Author Life and a Freebie!

I've just returned from Sydney where the annual ARRA (Aust Romance Readers Australia) awards were held.

Fab night, very glam and I got to catch up with fellow LoveCats Michelle Douglas and Kandy Shepherd!

***EDITED TO ADD - it was Kandy's birthday too, one of those big ones :-) ****

 

I also spent the next day with the fab Kelly Hunter - who BTW swept the awards on Saturday night!! - in Sydney. We went for a ferry ride on Sydney Harbour then found a restaurant with an amazing view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and felt very "it" for a couple of hours until last night when I realised how sunburned I was.....This being "it" thing is not for the weak!

Weekends like this make all the hard grind of a daily word count and the zillion other things in an author's day totally worthwhile!

Before I go, thought you might like to know the first book in my Sydney (appropriately for this blog :-) ) Smoke rugby series is FREE for the week. If you want to check it out, click on the cover! 

 So....what did you do this weekend? 

Big Day (And Night) in Romance

Some of you may already know, but on Saturday the Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) had a BIG day out.

I had the pleasure of attending a Romantic High Tea as a special guest, along with good friends and too-fabulous authors, Kandy Shepherd and Avril Tremayne.

To say it was a lovely afternoon would be an understatement. The food was quite delicious at the Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, but the conversation was even better. You know when you sit down with romance readers you're going to have a fun time. You never know what will pop up in the conversation!

We had a few hours between the High Tea and what was coming that night - the ARR Awards! So obviously that was spent in the bar chatting with other authors who were coming in from all corners of the country for this event.

To put it into perspective, these awards are for the Favourite books from the preceding calendar year, as voted by Australian readers. Readers vote as they go, supplying their reading list to ARRA, with points, and this goes towards compiling a list of finalists for a final round vote. These titles must be published within that calendar year, and are not restricted or limited to Australian romance authors - although it is so humbling and pleasing and pride-inducing to see there ARE so many Aussie (and NZ) authors who feature in the finalists lists.

Admittedly, I've always viewed these awards as very special, as its READERS who suggest the books they've really enjoyed, and then vote on at the end. To get your book on the list in the very first place is an achievement in and of itself. And yes, when finalist authors in those categories say 'we're just happy to be nominated', we really mean it, because we know how this contest works, and it really is of huge import to us that readers cared enough about our books to include us.

I was nominated in two categories, one of which was Favourite Australian Romance Author. Well, that nomination totally blew me away, and I'm so grateful that readers put my name forward for it. This is a category where you have the mavens of Australian romance (yes, I do sound like I've got tickets on myself, don't I, but this is why I was so stunned to be included for the first time, this year). Historical romance author, Anne Gracie, won (along with her slew of other awards), and you must check out her Merridew Sisters and her Chance Sisters books to get an idea of why she keeps winning awards...

For me though, the biggest surprise was winning the Favourite Romantic Suspense Award for my novel, Heart Breaker.

See. That expression is shock. It was such a strong category (OMG, again I sound like I love myself sick), with some really great books, and I always have a plan for this event: Tackle the person who wins the award at the end of the night. I already had my strategy mapped out for each potential winner, but yet reluctantly because they're also really beautiful, lovely ladies. Alas, I didn't actually have a strategy if I WON, and I've discovered I suck at thank you speeches on the fly... Anyway, the other authors in this category are very, very talented, so you should definitely go check out their books. Pay close attention to Amanda Knight and her debut novel, Situation Critical. Amanda won Favourite New Author, and was nominated in FOUR categories, so she is an author star on the rise.

From L to R: Shannon Curtis, Keri Arthur, Anne Grace, Kelly HunterARR Award Winners

It was a fantastic evening, and I wanted to send a shoutout to the ARRA organisers. This event is at least a year long in the making, with collecting and collating scores and titles, and then opening up for votes, tallying, etc, and the organising of the night itself. It truly is humbling to see all that hard work in the name of the romance genre. I also wanted to say thank you so much to the readers for buying our books, reading them, commenting on them, voting for them, and also for turning up on the night, we LOVE meeting you all and talking books.

Thank you also to the sponsors - Booktopia, Harlequin Australia, Hachette Australia and Allen & Unwin - it is such a special night. I treasure my new shelf buddy.

Australian Romance Readers Convention 2017 by Amy Andrews

Yes....I'm  a little late!! I've not long returned from a sojurn to Melbourne where I attended the Australian Romance Readers Association biennial convention. It was fabulous as always!

Here are some highlights -

Food and booze!

Swag!

Book signing!

Awards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💖💖💖

Fellow LoveCats!

 So.....that was my weekend! How was yours?

Lemons into Lemonade (or Limoncello)

Next weekend some lucky, lovely LoveCats -- along with several hundred readers of romance -- will be attending the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Canberra. Sadly I am not one of them. 

Last year I cancelled my registrations to both RWA conferences, in San Antonio and Sydney, when my mum needed post-surgery care. I was okay with this because family=first. Plus details were already out for ARRC2015 at the QT Canberra, only a few hours drive away. I booked my hotel room straight away and anticipated a self-indulgent weekend talking books and romance.

I was, quite desperately, looking forward to catching up with some of my favourite people but family still comes first and a few weeks back I made the big, horrible decision. I can't go to ARRC2015. *insert sobbing* I wrote "Cancel Canberra Hotel" on my To Do List but dragged my feet (or hands) on picking up the phone.

And for once my procrastination was a good thing.

Turns out I was not the only author who'd had to cancel ARRC2015.  Wendy L Curtis chose to donate her registration to a reader who couldn't afford to attend and I jumped on board Operation Cinderella with hotel accommodation. This reader will now be attending her first ARRA convention and after an incredibly tough year she deserves a happy ending…or at least a romantic respite from real life.

She is soooo excited by the prospect of meeting her favourite authors including a LoveCat or two, and I am no longer despondent about missing out. Lemons into lemonade? You bet.

What is your favourite lemons into lemonade/limoncello moment?

 PS:  The ARRA Awards for favourite books of 2014 are voted by members and presented during ARRC15. Wishing LoveCats Annie West (3 finalists!!!) and Amy Andrews the best of luck for Favourite Short Contemporary Romance and for Favourite Australian Romance Author, and Stefanie London for Favourite New Romance Author.

Putting on the Glitz!

There are a lot of pros and cons to being a writer. One of the pros is I don’t have to get out of my pajamas to go to work! That can also, by the way, be a con  :-)

But occasionally, I do get to frock up and go out and this weekend just gone in Sydney was such an occasion. ARRA (the Australian Romance Readers Association) held their annual awards and as I was up for a few - as were some other Love Cats - I decided to make a bit of a weekend of it.

You can just see the arch of the Syd Harbour Bridge in the distance

Firstly Shannon Curtis and I visited the Momentum offices and chatted with the lovely Joel Noaum and the gorgeous Tara Goedgjen who had worked on our Bold and Beautiful books. The lovely Patrick got us coffees. And then I insulted him by asking him how long he’d been the intern for. Ooops!  But now it’s a bit of a running joke which we all think is hilarious and he’s humouring us :-) He took this pic. 

Note to self - never piss off the guy who takes the pic! :-)

Then, in the evening, Shannon Curtis, Ainslie Paton and I were on a panel at Parramatta Library. I think a good time was had by all and we had a great Thai meal afterwards and were joined by the lovely Ingrid (a reader) who helped us brainstorm titles!

Shannon put me up at her house that night and, after a rather late night, I was treated to her sexy dish washing display in the morning.

And then we left for the hotel and had a sneak peak at the stunning room we’d all be partying in later – isn’t it gorgeous?

Then I bumped into fellow Love Cats – Annie West and Michelle Douglas, who were also up for awards and we did lunch.

In the evening, in keeping with 2014 being my Year Of Purple, I frocked up in a purple gown and wore my new purple earrings made for me by fab new medical author Amalie Berlin. They’re tatted and absolutely gorgeous! So many people complimented me on them, so thanks, Amalie!

Doncha just love soft focus? :-)

And then it was time to wine and dine and catch up with old friends and fabulous readers

Tina Clark

Rachael Johns and Cathryn Hein

Mel Scott and Kelly Hunter

Barbara and Lynne - two lovely readers. 

Dakota Harrison

Anna Valdinger from Harper Collins

And to cap it all off,  I won the best contemporary romance category for Holding Out For A Hero which was so exciting and thrilling and I even remembered to thank Patrick the intern :-) 

I’m still on a high! 

Joel Noaum from Momentum

In fact there were 3 winners at our table - Kelly Hunter and Kylie Griffin being the others.

Aren't they all pretty?

 Then there was a lot of posing with the gong ;-)

Shannon looking tres glam without her pink gloves!

Cathryn Hein

The oh so lovely and supportive Helen Sibbritt

Fab blogger Kaetrin

Joel from Momentum (who had a fabulous night with another of their authors the amazing Kylie Scott winning 2 awards as well!) took us out for celebratory drinks after so, consequently, it was a very late before Shannon and I got to bed but we couldn’t resist one last pic with my baby. 

I’d like to thank everyone in ARRA who made the night so amazing and to all the members who voted in the awards.  Am looking forward to frocking up again next year!

New Year, New Book and a few New Nominations

Happy New Year!!!

ARRA Awards

The year is still shiny and new and already exciting things are happening.  

A couple of our lovely Cats have been nominated in the Favourite Short Category Romance category of the 2013 Australian Romance Readers Awards. Amy Andrews features twice with Driving Her Crazy and The Girl Least Likely to Marry. Also nominated are Annie West’s Imprisoned by a Vow and Michelle Douglas’ The Redemption of Rico D’Angelo. And it was a huge shock and absolute delight that I discovered The Love Deception is also nominated. Just to be in a finals list with such incredible authors is an unbelievable thrill.

 

Amy also blitzed other categories including a nomination for Holding Out for a Hero in Favourite Contemporary Romance. Amy’s fabulous hero Jake Prince from Holding Out for a Hero is nominated in The Sexiest Hero category and Amy’s also up for Favourite Australian Romance Author 2013. So wonderful, Amy!

The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love

My new release, The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love, is out this week. I love this story and cried a couple of time while writing it, so I hope I’ve been able to capture that emotion on the page.  The story features wildlife warrior Sarah Walker and international technology guru Blake Huntington-Fiennes. The premise is…

When Sarah Walker's beloved wildlife sanctuary is threatened with closure, she heads for London and goes straight to the top to find out why. But the man responsible is the one man she's never forgotten, and the only person who can destroy all her happiness.

Billionaire CEO Blake Huntington-Fiennes can't believe that the girl he's spent years searching for has just marched into his boardroom. And this time, he's willing to resort to any means necessary to keep her. But Sarah has a secret she must protect at all costs or risk losing something even more precious than the sanctuary…

Excerpt

Blake and Sarah have just finished dinner at the luxury Dorchester restaurant in London. They’re seated at a special private table, surrounded by an oval wall of lights. Sarah has a secret and she has to escape Blake’s charms to keep it...

‘Blake . . .’ He took his name from her lips with a kiss. She softened under his touch. She wanted this, too. God, he had to have her.

She dragged her lips from his. ‘People will see.’

‘I don’t give a damn.’ He found her mouth again. She tasted of chocolate and strawberries. Of hot passion and erotic promise.

‘Let’s get out of here.’ He pulled her towards the wall of light. He’d book the penthouse suite.

‘No.’ She wrenched herself from his grip and slipped through the luminous curtain.

He flung the lights aside and strode after her.

‘Put this on my tab,’ Blake ordered the maître d’ and followed her out onto the street. Sarah stood hailing a cab.

‘Running again?’ he said.

‘You were the one who ran. Disappeared. Vanished from the face of the earth.’ Her red-hot anger hit him with surprising force.

‘I think we’ve established that I didn’t.’

‘No. You denied it. That doesn’t make it true.’

A black cab pulled up and Sarah opened the door. ‘I have to go. Goodbye, Blake.’

Hell, were those tears in her eyes? The cartilage between his ribs felt as though it had fused solid. He grabbed the door of the taxi. ‘Stay with me.’ The passion in his voice scared him. He cared too much.

‘Blake, that time is gone. I can’t . . . Please . . .’

The tone of her voice told him everything. She’d known that passion, deep enough to transport you to a place so heavenly that without it, life was forever grey and lifeless and desolate.

He caught her about the waist and drew her hard against his body. His pulse flared and smashed away every rational thought. He slid his other hand up the back of her neck and claimed her mouth. Her lips were as warm and lush as a tropical afternoon. He kissed her, hoping all the words he wanted to say were there in his kiss. All the time they had wasted could be washed away. They could relive their hot passion. He wanted her. Now. Now. Now.

She slid her hands onto his chest and pushed.

‘No, Blake. We can’t . . .’

‘Why the hell not?’ He hadn’t meant to sound so callous.

‘Because . . . Because . . .’

She yanked free, climbed into the taxi and slammed the door shut.

The cab pulled into the traffic. Sarah turned and watched him until the taxi rounded the corner.

Blake stared at the spot where the cab had disappeared. His blood pumped hot and fast. Sarah had no idea who she was dealing with if she imagined she could just evaporate.

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt. The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love is available now from Amazon, iTunes, Google, Destiny Romance and Penguin.