The lovely Cathryn Hein, author of rural romance books Promises and Heart of the Valley, has asked me to be her guest on her Friday Feast blog this Friday 16th. Friday Feast gives readers a idea of what the guest author writes, and a recipe they love and want to share.
I hope you will stop by Cathryn’s blog and feast your imaginations on my Chocolate Rum Pie recipe.
There’s something especially wonderful about catching up with fellow writers. As Kate Eltham, former CEO of the Queensland Writers Centre and now Director of the Brisbane Writers Festival, says, it’s so good to find your “tribe”. A lot of writers today belong to several “tribes”, with some writing sub-genres that cross two or sometimes more genres, and others writing in different genres, sometimes with different author names.
GenreCon was Kate’s brainchild, and when she left the Queensland Writers Centre she passed the mantle to the new CEO, Meg Vann, who has very capably brought the event to fruition. GenreCon is the conference for Australian genre writers and is presented by the Australian Writers Marketplace.
We writers are an odd bunch – seldom do we look at people in the street or read newspapers or watch television without thinking about how we might be able to use what we see in a story somehow, somewhere. Kind of scarey, when you think about it. We then ask ourselves the “What if?” question that leads our minds onto different ideas and different paths.
I sometimes wonder if readers would like to take a peek inside a writer’s mind 🙂
The Gold Coast Writers Festival is on 26-28 October, and I’m heading off on the 25th on the long drive down. There’s a fabulous line-up of authors, publishers, and industry professionals all sharing their expertise with aspiring writers as well as giving readers insights into the industry.
On Saturday I’ll be joining Rowena Cory Daniells and Tony Cavanagh on the The Thrill of the Chase panel, with the CEO of the Queensland Writers Centre, Meg Vann, as chair. Meg also runs the Brisbane arm of Sisters-in-Crime and I’m sure she will have some interesting questions for the panel. The audience might go away with more than they bargained for 🙂
The panels at the festival are free, with seminars and workshops costing a minimal fee. It’s going to be a great event and I hope both writers and readers take advantage of the hard work the Gold Coast Writers Association has put in to bring this fantastic opportunity to the Gold Coast.
I know the Romance Writers of Australia national conference took place in August and it’s now October, but my friend Jacque Duffy has just sent me a photo she took of me with the gorgeous bellhop and the fabulous shaggin’ wagon … ooops, I mean panelvan, that was parked in the entrance to the QT Hotel at the Gold Coast where the conference was held.
Next year’s RWA conference is in Perth, Western Australia. I wonder what they’ll have on offer …
Book covers – ever wonder what goes into them? Ever thought about the the time spent searching for an appropriate background, about whether to have figures or symbols? About what can go on the cover that will give the reader an idea of the story inside?
Graphic designers get a brief from the publisher about the book contents and what they think will work and try to come up with something they hope the publisher likes. But it’s not easy. Sometimes a cover hits the right note, is eye-catching, draws the reader in, gives a good indication of what type of story is between the covers. I’ve had a couple of those in the past. But I’ve also had some that fell flatter than my first attempts at making gluten free scones (even the dog wouldn’t eat them – the scones, that is, not the covers).
With my current publisher, Clan Destine Press, I’m lucky to have a fair bit of say in the cover content. This is wonderful, but it can also be frustrating in that I get to experience the limitations that can sometimes happen for the graphic designer when trying to mould several disparate pieces into a cohesive whole.
Lots of head scratching has been happening with the Grievous Harm cover. Several potentials have been slaved over only to be discarded because they just didn’t “work”. And now we’re down to a great background, with good colouring and scene composition, but needing that particular element that makes the reader want to pick up the book.
So I’m asking all those readers of romantic suspense, or crime and romance, or thriller with a love story, what do you think that element is? What is it about a cover that makes you pick up the book?
Sleep deprivation aside, the Romance Writers of Australia 2012 Conference at the Gold Coast was a fabulous time. With all the roadworks it took nearly seven hours to drive down, but all fatigue lifted at the sight of our fabulous accommodation at the Surfers Paradise Crown Towers Resort.
My daughter-in-law, Cherie (writing as Cheryse Durrant), and I were sharing with fantasy author Rowena Cory Daniells (who also writes paranormal crime for Clan Destine Press) and artist/writer Jacque Duffy. Clan Destine Press Publisher (and author), Lindy Cameron, took advantage of being in Brisbane for a few days to pop in for a visit. Apart from catching up with her CDP authors, Rowena and me, her ulterior motive was to surprise Cherie/Cheryse with a three-book contract for her fantasy Heart Hunter trilogy. This trilogy tells the story of Shahkara, half-Taloner, half-human, and all kick-arse heroine. “Demon Hunter”, book 1 in the series, will be launched in either April or May next year. As you can imagine, that led to much celebration, followed by lots of brainstorming on the best way to promote Cheryse’s forthcoming books. LJ Smith (Vampire Diaries) has read the first one and endorsed it: “SHAHKARA, the book, is unique, and Shahkara, the character, is one of the most engaging strong female role models I’ve seen in a long time. This girl can handle herself! The plot is full of ingenious twists, turns and surprises, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.”
And if that wasn’t enough, Lindy’s other motive was to bring Rowena her first copies of “The Price of Fame“, her paranormal crime now out with Clan Destine Press.
And, yes, we did make it to the RWA conference, but that’s for the next blog 🙂
After two months of my mother being in and out of hospital, she was finally offered a place in the nursing home of our choice, one where we knew she’d be happy. But we’ve had to move her from a two-bedroom unit to one room, and it’s sad to think that a lifetime of possessions now has to be condensed to fit this new part of her life.
I’ve always known Mum was a hoarder, but what we’ve discovered amazed me, especially as she and my late step-father moved here only six years ago and so much had to be discarded on that move. The hardest part of all this is having to decide what books can move with her and what can’t. But I’ve found one little treasure that has reminded me that I too, am a hoarder – but a hoarder of words. Along with all the other books – classics, romances, poetry, atlases, etc – I found a slim volume titled “The Treasure of Friendship”, and tucked inside were some yellowed pages from a magazine that, when folded, became a small booklet of poems.
One of these poems is “Love is a Solvent” (copyright 1971) by Patience Strong. An internet search revealed that was the pen name of English poet Winifred May, who died in 1990. I’d love to share this poem with you, but copyright law prohibits this. But if you get a chance to read this poem, please do so.
So why am I mentioning this? Well, my mother and I are as different as it’s possible for two people to be. We love each other, but have totally different outlooks, needs etc. I would need pages and pages to list our differences. But one thing we do share is a love of words. There were always books in our house, and I shall always be grateful for this gift, this love of reading, that she has given me. In turn, I have tried to pass this on to my children, and my heart is full of joy when I see my grandchildren, tiny though they be, demanding to have books read to them.
As I read through these crumbling pages that my mother has kept for so many years, I wonder if, many years in the future, my children and their children will one day discover a similar treasure when they are forced to decide what of their parents’ belongings are to be kept and what has to be discarded. I doubt that ebooks will have the same tug on heartstrings that this small volume, with its wishes from a friend for future happiness, has brought to me. I know that ebooks are here to stay, and I have embraced their practicality and their economy, and am grateful that my stories are now available to my readers for many years to come, but I think they cannot evoke the same sentimentality that I feel as I turn the pages of a book my mother has treasured for many decades of her life.
Have you a special book that you cannot bear to part with? Is there some collection of words that has moved your soul and stayed with you? I’d love to hear your stories.
Like a lot of people today, I often feel that I don’t have enough time to do all the things I need to do. I look around my office and wonder, if it was ransacked, would I notice? So many things are happening in my life at the moment that it’s difficult to see spare time landing in my lap so I can do those chores that pile up, like going through my winter wardrobe now the colder weather is here. After all, I’d planned to go through my summer clothing several months ago, failed miserably, and ended up wearing old faithfuls that I knew I didn’t have to make a decision about.
Organising WriteFest has taken a bigger chunk out of my time this year. So many glitches – even the flights I’d booked for the workshop presenters were changed by the airline almost before the confirmation email arrived in my in-box. But everyone I’ve spoken with seems to be having just as hectic and chaotic a year.
So is it a universal happening? On the news tonight it showed the unrest in Europe, the governments that are changing, the possible collapse of the European Union. Is the continuing fallout from the global financial crisis gathering like a snowball down a slope, pulling everyone into its ever-growing unrest? We in Australia have been relatively isolated from the terrible effects of the GFC felt by other countries, but I doubt this will continue for much longer as we are part of the global market. Publishing is part of that global market, and the caution being displayed by publishers here in Oz makes it harder than ever for writers to sell their manuscript. The other side of that coin is the rise in e-book publishers and the increase in e-book sales.
As an author with books in both mediums, print and electronic, I am filled with hope that e-publishing allows my stories to reach a wider readership than my print books ever could. But I’m also sad that the time might come that a print version of my books simply won’t exist.
How do you, the readers, feel about e-books? Do you rejoice at the lower price, the lack of cluttered bookcases, the joy of many many books on one slim e-reader? Or do you crave the tactile sensation of turning a page, of smoothing your hand across the cover of your favourite book? I’d love to hear your feelings about this.
Join me at the Romance Writers of Australia national conference at the Gold Coast in August where Bronwyn Parry, Karlene Blakemore-Mowle, Shannon Curtis (no relation but a great gal) and I will be on a panel called Love in the Face of Danger: Romantic Suspense, with Helene Young moderating.
The blurb for the workshop is: Find out how far these writers have gone in pursuit of their stories, their tips on finding unusual sources and methods of research, and what publishing avenues exist in Australia for Romantic Suspense stories. Learn what makes Romantic Suspense different to Crime novels with love stories, and how to balance romance with suspense. Uncover which careers work best for the heroes and heroines and if there’s room for ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
If you’ve read our books, you’ll know that although we all write varieties of romantic suspense, there are definitely differences in the way we approach this sub-genre. From kick-arse to heart-rending, you’ll find it all. I have to confess that I feel my books are very gritty in not only subject matter, but in the style of writing, which probably explains why I have a strong male as well as female readership. Perhaps the men want to be like my heroes and the women fall in love with them like the heroines do 🙂 I also love writing complex plots covering a variety of crimes.
When my next book, Grievous Harm, is published, it’s going to be interesting to see what reactions I get from readers. My hero and heroine go through an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but that’s the way the story wrote itself. Sometimes I have no idea where my stories come from and why they twist and turn they way they do but still come out so cohesively in the end. No wonder my very good friend Sara Bennett said she didn’t know I was so devious 😉 Thank heavens she was only referring to my writer’s mind and not my personality lol
After two weeks with the flu I’m very happy to finally be back blogging and organising WriteFest – and soon doing some writing 🙂
Was that heading a shout? It sure was. That was my reaction when I read Kelly McLean’s review of Fatal Flaw. I just have to share, so hope you like it 🙂
Thank you, Kelly, for taking the time to read my book, for your wonderful review, but especially for your support of Australian authors through your reviews and through Australian Writers Rock.