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? 

Celebrating with ghosts

“Were you scared?”

That’s the first thing people asked me when I told them where my husband and I spent our wedding anniversary night last week. (Twenty-seven years!)

At the last minute, we booked to stay the night at the hotel on the site of the old Quarantine Station North Head near Manly in Sydney. It’s a magnificent setting, right on the harbour in the middle of a National Park.

What was once a Quarantine Station is now a quirky, lovely hotel in Sydney

 The Quarantine Station was established in the 1830s to prevent diseases such as typhus, plague and smallpox from reaching the main settlement of Sydney. Immigrant ships were stopped and passengers kept in strict quarantine in what, in effect, was a prison. The idyllic setting would have been cold comfort to the internees, many of whom never left there as they died from the disease they had contracted on the long journey from the Northern Hemisphere.

Fabulous views from the old Quarantine Station - the Manly ferries
pass each other on their way between Sydney and Manly 

Over the years the Quarantine Station became like a town in itself—divided into first, second and third class accommodation to reflect the status of the ship’s passengers. It operated right up until the 1980s.

There are three cemeteries on the grounds. The buildings are reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of the poor souls who never left there to start their new lives in Sydney. Ghost tours have operated there for years.

Victorian splendour in the former First Class Passengers lounge - now a guest lounge

So were we scared? Not at all. The place has a sad history but is a beautiful part of Sydney’s heritage. The Q Station Hotel has taken over the historic buildings and everything has been done within strict heritage guidelines. Quirky and interesting it was a fabulous place to stay.

You don’t have to stay at the hotel to visit as it’s all part of a National Park. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Sydney. You can get there by road or by ferry.

In my March release Harlequin Romance Crown Prince’s Chosen Bride, Gemma and Tristan approach the area by boat and swim on the adjoining beach. It really is a gorgeous part of Sydney.

Have you ever stayed or visited anywhere with a creepy history? Or felt something scary in a historical place? Or like me, didn’t sense a thing! Please comment—I’d love to hear about it!

The Lovecats Live!

A few weeks ago Lovecat Sue Mackay posted about getting ready for conference and the anticipation of catching up with old friends, filling the well and generally wallowing in the world of writing. Today I thought I'd show you some cold hard evidence of what it looks like when a litter of Lovecats get together!

Although some very special Lovecats couldn't make it this conference season, quite a few of us caught up in Sydney at both the Romance Writers of Australia national conference and the Australian Romance Readers book signing also in Sydney. A week later a few of us got together again at the Romance Writers of New Zealand national conference in Auckland.

The first night was the Harlequin dinner where I hear there was much merriment and the odd topless waiter..... Always ready to do their bit to help half nekkid men feel comfortable, these Lovecats had a great night.

Lovecats know how to party: L to R: Rachel Bailey, Helen Lacey, Sue Mackay, Louisa George, Annie West. Front (and always centre) Michelle Douglas.

The next night was the cocktail party with a leather and lace theme. Rumour has it that someone in this group wore her Year 12 formal dress!

L to R: Louisa George, Michelle Douglas, Sue Mackay, Lovecat fan Elizabeth King,  yours truly

Apparently the point of conference is to advance your industry and craft knowledge but the Lovecats make plenty of opportunities to drink tea, sip champagne and eat corn chips. Wouldn't you like to do that with this lovely group?

L to R: Michelle Douglas, Rachel Bailey, Jennifer St George, Annie West

Saturday afternoon was the wonderful Australian Romance Readers book signing event at the Pullman Hotel and all of us were enormously grateful to be participating in this fabulous event. We met wonderful readers and I really enjoyed myself.

At the awards dinner on Saturday night we all had our fingers firmly crossed for Amy Andrews and Yvonne Lindsay who were nominated for Romantic Book of the Year. Although they didn't win we all had a wonderful time celebrating their achievements.

L to R: Louisa George and Sue Mackay at the awards dinner

It was only a week later a few of us met up in New Zealand and this time Louisa George took out the Koru award for Short Sexy Romance of the year and I was lucky enough to get the nod for Short Sweet Romance of the year.

 

I can't tell you how much I enjoy getting together with my writing friends. From my fabulous roomie, Rachel Bailey, to the Lovecats panel we participated in during the conference, I'll have wonderful memories of conference season 2014.

The World Inside my Head

As a newly published author one of the most common questions I’m asked is…what inspires you? So, as I’m a new cat on the block, I thought I’d introduce myself by letting you in on a few of my secrets, what inspires me and just what is going on with my brain cells?

WARNING: You may not want to know what’s inside my head –it’s not always pretty! Proceed with caution!

Waipu Township

Places  I love to travel, I’ve been very lucky and visited quite a few places on my bucket list, but there are tons more places I’m burning to see. I aim to use some of those locations in the settings of my stories- but it’s early days, and so far I’ve used the real place Waipu in Northland as my jumping off point for creating fictional towns North Beach and Atanga Bay in books 1,2 and 3. 

Waipu Cove Beach

But in book 4 (currently unfinished), we visit real cities –Auckland and Rotorua here in New Zealand. It’s fun making up your own places, you can decide what’s there, how it looks etc- but it’s also great to use actual places so that readers can visualize exactly where your characters are. I’m planning book 5 and itching to use more glamorous places- London, Paris, Sydney, possibly LA.

People  At first, when creating my characters I used to trawl through websites and find pictures of glamorous people to help inspire me. That’s great for the exterior image- who wouldn’t love the adorable Paul Sculfer or cute Natalie Portman (both inspirations for my The War-Hero’s Locked-Away Heart book)? 

Paul Sculfor- source BangShowbiz

The real essence of my characters comes from people I know- the inner strength they have  when faced with adversity, or people I read about. Recently I read Katie Piper’s story- OMG, what a brave and strong woman – such courage. I’ve also spent 22 years working as a nurse and know first hand what both sick people and medical professionals have to go through every day. Dedication and professionalism, humility, vulnerability, grim determination…

some of my current faves

Food As the owner of over 85 cookbooks I hold my hand up and say I LOVE FOOD! (My first ever writing gig was creating recipes for an organic veggie delivery service in Manchester, UK). So food rates pretty high on my must-have list for my stories. In each of my books I try to match appropriate food with characters- it’s a fun thing to do- and what’s nicer than having the hero cook for the heroine? My most recent cookbook purchase is Marian Keye’s Saved by Cake- which I bought not just for the recipes (and I need all the help I can get with baking) – but also for the story of her recovery from mental illness. I love food of all kinds- although, (dare I admit this?) I’m not a huge fan of ice-cream…

Passion By this I don’t just mean high sensuality rating- although I do love a good HOT book! I mean- belief in something so strongly that you would do anything to achieve it. As a budding writer I made my craft and aspiration my passion (although I do have others too – on a frivolous level I couldn’t live without Zumba, but on a more serious note I’m a passionate proud member of Amnesty International). I tend to create characters who have a passion for SOMETHING. In my first book One Month to Become a Mum my heroine’s passion was for helping underprivileged kids. In Waking Up with His Runaway Bride, Mim’s passion was keeping her GP practice open, despite the odds, in remembrance of her mother. And in The War Hero’s Locked-Away Heart, Skye’s passion was to travel. I just love someone with burning ambition or dedication to a cause, it adds an extra dimension to their character- what do they have to do to achieve their dream? How can I, as a writer, make it difficult for them? (Mwahahaha…)

So, that’s a bit about me, and some of what makes me tick. I’m very pleased to meet you all – tell me, what inspires you? What are you passionate about? Do you love food too –any cookbook recommendations?

I have a signed copy of One Month to Become a Mum to give away to one commenter.