Congratulations and Celebrations

This past weekend several LoveCats attended Romance Writers of Australia's annual conference at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney where they were busy teaching and learning, catching up with writing friends, and celebrating some amazing accomplishments.


We are delighted to share a few highlights from the weekend:

Rachel Bailey presented a stellar Friday workshop for aspiring and emerging writers.

Conference presenters Clare Connelly and Rachel Bailey with Amy Andrews.

Shannon Curtis co-compered the Awards Night ceremony with her customary charm and wit.

Michelle Douglas received her 25-book pin at the Harlequin cocktail party.

Toasting Annie West's recent addition to the Romance Writers of America's Honor Roll with double-RITA finalist Amy Andrews and 2018 Ruby finalist Rachel Bailey.

Kandy Shepherd mid-speech after accepting the Ruby Award for Best Short Romance.

The LoveCats are an extremely proud pride and we are thrilled to congratulate our fellow Cats on their recent achievements, with a special shout out to Kandy Shepherd on winning the Ruby Award -- that is shorthand for Romantic Book of the Year -- for Best Short Romance with Conveniently Wed to the Greek.  Well done, Kandy!

Conference Hopping with Stefanie London

My Romance Writers of America badge

This year I'm attending more conferences than ever. As you're reading this, I would have just finished up at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane. I also attended the Romance Writers of America Conference in Orlando, Florida back in July. Then I'm off to speak at both Fiction Fest in Connecticut and the Put Your Heart in a Book conference in New Jersey in September and October.

Phew! That's a lot of travel.

Conferences are a great part of being a writer, in my opinion. Yes, they're often expensive to attend and for introverts (including me) they can be challenging. But the pros far outweigh the cons.

So what are the best bits about attending a writers conference?

• Getting to spend time with my friends that live in other locations. Sometimes conference is the only time I get to see them face to face!
• Meeting readers. Many of the big conferences, like the Romance Writers of America one, have signings where I get to people who read my books. This is always a surreal moment.
• Free books. I try to restrain myself from not filling up my suitcase, but it's tough!
• Meeting editors/agents/publishers and other people whom I often communicate with via email. It's great to speak to the people who help make bring my stories to readers, and to build those relationships.
• Education. These days I don't always make it to a ton of sessions, so I choose wisely. There's so much information to be gleaned from conferences - both from the presentations and from chatting to other authors.
• Being around like-minded people. Being an author is a very unique experience, so chatting with other authors always makes me feel better about the ups and downs this career has to offer.

Me and the lovely Alison Stuart

If you're an aspiring author then I definitely recommend that you attend a conference at least once to see what it's like. If you're a reader, there are plenty of reader-focused events in the writing community such as the RT Booklovers Convention.

Attending a writers conference for the first time and not sure what to expect? Here are my tips:

• If the conference has an app, download it! This will make navigating the schedule so much easier.
• Leave some space in your luggage for books and other goodies that you will inevitably pick up.
• Find some cute and comfy shoes to wear, conference involves a lot more walking that you'd think. Especially if the hotel is big and the events are very spread out.
• Take the opportunity to talk to people. Even if you're shy (don't worry, I am too!) try to say hello to people next to you in the elevator/line/workshop. You're all there for the same reason, so you have inbuilt conversation.
• Keep all your receipts. In many places you can record such activities as deductions from your taxable income even if you are not yet published. For more information, speak to a tax expert in your area.

Have you ever attended a conference before, whether for writing or something else? What's your best tip for new conference goers? 

A Gaggle of Romance Writers

by Emily May


Reading: The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

Listening to: Twinset

Watching: Pride and Prejudice (BBC miniseries)

Making me smile: a visit to Wellington, the most wonderful city in the world!



Conference registrations have just opened for the 2011 Romance Writers of Australia Conference and I've been trying to decide what the collective noun is for romance writers. A pack? A swarm? A gaggle? A clutch? A mob? All in all, I think I like gaggle best -- to me it comes closest to implying all the noise and excitement and energy of a romance writers' conference -- but the word 'gaggle' isn't quite BIG enough, because there's A LOT of noise and excitement and energy at a Romance Writers conference!


The annual Romance Writers of Australia conference is always something to look forward to, but this year's conference is more exciting for me than usual. Not only because it's RWAustralia's 20th conference, but also because ... the LoveCats have put together a panel! It's called The Learning Curve, and we'll be talking about what we've learned about the craft of writing and the business of writing since selling to Harlequin Mills & Boon.

The very first Romance Writers conference I ever went to was back in 2003 on the Gold Coast, when I'd just started writing seriously again. That conference was just The Most Amazing Experience -- the energy, the wealth of information, and the sheer marvellousness of being around so many other people who had the same dream as me was intoxicating. I went there knowing absolutely no one (and rather terrified actually) and utterly clueless about the romance writing industry. I came back filled to the brim with information -- and knowing that one day I would achieve my dream of being published.

I have many wonderful memories of that conference -- and one of them is of listening to a panel of newly published authors talk about their path to publication and what they'd learned since publishing. I did more than listen -- I drank up every word they said!

Last year, when the call for conference proposals went out, I remembered that very first conference and I realised that the LoveCats are in the perfect position to give that panel back to other conference attendees! The upshot was the Learning Curve panel on Saturday afternoon, where seven LoveCats, writing for seven different lines, will talk about what we've learned since selling and answer any questions people may have. I hope those attendees who choose to come to our panel will find it as valuable as the panel I heard way back in 2003!

Those of us taking part in the panel are:

Rachel Bailey (Desire)
Zana Bell (Superromance/MIRA)
Michelle Douglas (Sweet)
Robyn Grady (Desire/Sexy Sensation)
Nikki Logan (Sweet)
Sue McKay (Medical)
Emily May (Historical)

and our super duper moderator is Barbara Jeffcott Geris!






The Learning Curve panel is featured on the Romance Writers of Australia blog tomorrow (March 10th), so come along to find out more about what we have planned for our session -- and also check out the other workshops and sessions on the conference pages on the RWA website. I guarantee you'll want to register once you've seen the line-up!

I'm just as excited about this year's conference as I was about my very first Romance Writers conference in 2003. (And just as terrified, too -- I've never presented anything before. EEK!) I hope I see some of you there!

So tell us ... are you going to any conferences this year, Romance Writers or otherwise? Will we perhaps see you at the 2011 RWA conference in Melbourne??? I hope so!

(And can anyone tell me what the proper collective noun for a loud and enthusiastic group of romance writers is?)

The sword IS mightier than the pen!

Reading: Fanny Hill by John Cleland

Watching: Dr Who

Listening to: Bach

Making me smile: The sunshine and the flowers. Spring is arriving!




Two weekends ago, at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Coogee, I attended the best workshop EVER. The workshop was How to stage a fight scene, presented by Ray Floro, and it was as fascinating as it was side-splittingly funny. Yes, I know, there's nothing funny about maiming and killing people -- except that Ray Floro had us in gales of laughter as he showed us how to do gruesome things to the characters in our books.

At one point, Ray demonstrated that a sword (well, a machete) IS mightier than a pen, by attacking an uncooked leg of lamb with a number of implements. The depth that the pen went into the lamb was sobering, the wound caused by the knife made us cringe -- but the machete ... let's just say that the leg of lamb didn't fare very well.

I'm now bursting with all sorts of anti-social information, from the best way to strangle or garotte someone to a rudimentary understanding of knife-throwing (thanks to a quick session with Ray after the workshop). Thanks, Ray Floro. That was the best workshop ever!

Do you like fight scenes in books or movies? I confess, I'm a martial arts movie junkie...