I’d Tell You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Misty Evans

Jane is the winner of my giveaway. Congratulations! (I’ll contact you.)
top secret

Conspiracy theories. When I say that, what do you think of? Elvis? JFK? The Boston bombings?

Last week, I spent time discussing plot ideas with author Lori Wilde. She’s a genius of the high-concept romance plot. I, on the other hand, lack the gene (or the muse) for that type of plotting. That’s why I was lucky to have her mentoring me for a new military romance series.

I had an idea for a heroine who is a conspiracy theory nut. Lori suggested I turn her into a debunker instead who comes across the one conspiracy theory she can’t debunk.

Aha! The light bulb went on. It took me no time to write up Amanda’s motivation and goal for the book, and put her right in my hero’s way. The conspiracy theory Amanda tackles for her TV show, The Bunk Stops Here, involves a rogue group of former special ops guys…and if she reveals they’re real, Ian, the hero, will have to kill her. Oops.

I’ve always enjoyed a juicy conspiracy theory, although I’m too logical to believe most. One of my sons loves to tell me the latest ones making the rounds on the internet, and we hash them out. Debunking them is just as fun and entertaining.

You can find some conspiracy theories that HAVE been proven true on various websites, but even those have a tinge of the unbelievable to me. Here’s one of the sites: http://truththeory.com/2013/02/15/5-conspiracy-theories-which-turned-out-to-be-true/ . See what you think.

So how about you? What’s your favorite conspiracy theory? Share and you’ll be entered to win a copy of one of my super agent books or one of Cynthia Eden’s Alpha One (your choice!).

 

Posted in Misty's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Vicariously Delicious

ATS200I’m reading AFTER THE STORM by Amy Knupp. Amy’s a friend and a wonderful writer. She also has allergies and, because of this, eats a gluten-free diet. So I’m reading her book, thinking the characters would be eating healthy foods.

Wrong. It has cookies. Ice cream. Cakes. Junk food. These foods aren’t mentioned just once in a while, but mentioned often. And as I’m reading this, I’m getting really hungry. And it makes me laugh, because I’m guessing that when Amy wrote this book, she got a vicarious thrill out of this forbidden food.

I don’t eat a gluten-free diet, but for the most part, my diet is pretty healthy. I don’t want to cut out sweets and chips. I do it because I want to be healthy. Lucky for me, my characters don’t have to eat healthy. So I wrote MIRACLE PIE, with a heroine who makes pies. After that, I wrote MO’S HEART, most of which takes place in a restaurant, with many references of food. And near the end, there’s a luscious feast. I indulge myself through my fiction.

MiraclePie200x300It’s not only food. I write in very deep point of view. When I write tense scenes, my neck and shoulders hurt afterward because my muscles tighten so much. This morning, I wrote a sex scene. At the end of the scene, I was panting and wiped out.

And then there’s the way our characters look. For the most part, they’re younger, prettier, thinner, and often richer than we are. Sure they have terrible problems – but they look great while they’re going through it. :) And since I’m in the characters’ POV, that means as I write, I’m gorgeous and young.

It’s even more fun to write the heroes… I sometimes base my heroes on favorite actors. Hey, it’s my book. If I’m drooling over the hero, it makes it easier for my heroine to fall for him.

Are you like me? Do you live vicariously through fictional characters while you’re reading a book?

Posted in Edie's Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Review: Tempting Nurse Scarlet by Wendy S. Marcus

Tempting Nurse ScarletBook info:

Title: Tempting Nurse Scarlet (NYC Angels, #6)
Author: Wendy S. Marcus
Publisher: Harlequin Mills and Boon Medical Romance
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Source: ARC received from Author

Official Summary:

Breaking all her rules…

Head nurse Scarlet Miller’s take-no-prisoners attitude makes her a force to be reckoned with on the neo-natal ward, but no one has ever questioned her devotion to her patients. She thought her hidden vulnerability was impenetrable…but ER doc and struggling single dad Lewis Jackson ties her heart up in knots! Suddenly this tough-cookie nurse is wondering if Lewis and his troubled daughter might actually be her undoing…

My Thoughts:

As with Wendy’s other books, the balance of story, medicine, and romance is done very well in Tempting Nurse Scarlet. There is great character development, a smooth and easy to follow plot and just enough medical snippets to engage readers. There is great dialogue in Tempting Nurse Scarlet, as Scarlet has an endless supply of sarcasm and quips that keeps Dr. Lewis Jackson on his toes and wondering how he could be off his game. He is used to charming any woman he wants. Not this one.

I fell for this book so early with the introduction of Jessie and baby Joey. Children bring such a realism to books that I love. Lewis calls upon the help of Scarlet since she seems to be the only one that can get through to his moody thirteen year old daughter, Jessie. Scarlet is happy to help as she has always wanted a daughter and is a bit honored that Jessie thinks so highly of her. Through Jessie, Lewis and Scarlet become friends and eventually a little more than that. Thought, it takes a few complications, including a preterm delivery of a baby girl that steals Scarlet’s heart, Lewis and Scarlet realize they don’t need to use Jessie as their go between.

Tempting Nurse Scarlet is an emotional read. My heart would swell with happiness at one time and then break for Scarlet, Jessie, and Jackson the next. I love it when books make me feel the same emotions as the characters. Wendy is careful to spread the romance throughout the entire story and writes the intimate scenes so they are appropriate to the characters and story. I am picky about intimate scenes, so I like to mention when an author does a good job with them. If you are looking for a smart, sexy, heartwarming contemporary medical romance that is hard to put down, I highly recommend you try Tempting Nurse Scarlet!

Reviewed by: Amy R.

Five stars

Posted in Category Romance, Contemporary Romance | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Turning up the heat with guest Tracy Cooper-Posey (with Giveaway!)

Update - Tiffany Trumm Jorgenson is the winner of the giveaway!

Welcome fellow Canadian (okay, so originally she was Australian!) - Tracy Cooper-Posey to Magical Musings! She is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author.  She writes erotic vampire romances, hot romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasy romances.  She has published over 50 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

Who Were King Arthur’s Enemies?

swordGood question.

The answer varies wildly depending on who you’re reading…or watching.  Arthur has been depicted in hundreds of books and movies, TV and more and it seems that each variation has endowed a different enemy upon the hapless Arthur.

The variety and shape of his enemies runs the gamut from himself, family in-fighting, magical forces, demons, local tribes, Romans, the French, all the way up to Vikings with horned helmets (excuse me while my self-respecting historian’s button explodes), to Anglo-Saxons.

I am an Arthurian nut and have been ever since I discovered an unremarkable hardcover edition of The Hollow Hills in my high school library.  [The edition also awakened an awareness of page layout and font.  It used a version of Garamond that included diamond-shaped periods, that to this day I’ve never found again…Book Antiqua comes close.] 

Mary Stewart’s Arthur faced internal battles; feuding Bretons, Britons, Welsh.  The incursion of Anglo Saxons was a non-event in her stories even though it was an historical event, and the maps included in her books show the two Saxon Shores where the concentration of Saxon settlements clawed their foothold on Britain.

Another long-time favourite of mine, The Once and Future King, of which the fabulous Kilchurn Castle on Lochawe, Scotland
musical Camelot was based upon, had Arthur fighting a mysterious enemy that seemed to combine at times, the French, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and local tribes…but all his fighting was done off-camera (and off the page) except for the bitter in-fighting with his knights, so only the hints peppered throughout the book give any clue as to who his enemy really was.

The Last Pendragon is not as widely known as either of the last two titles, but it is the only paperback book I hauled over from Australia when I moved to Canada in 1996 because I knew it wasn’t available in North America at the time.  I still have that copy, although I am very careful about handling it because the cover is very stiff and the glue is flaking on the spine.  Still, it is a favourite of mine that had an early influence over my Arthurian education, and in The Last Pendragon, Arthur’s enemies were the Anglo Saxon tribes, who repeatedly and relentlessly raided and pillaged.

And so it goes.  In the recently history-warping movie, King Arthur, with Clive Owen in the name role, their enemy was the Celts…which was ironic, as there is little historical fact known about Arthur, but what is known about him is that he was Celtic…and possibly Welsh to boot.

If you look to the times when historians figure Arthur was most likely to have been around – the late fifth century Roman Britain – the political situation that existed at that time gives you the best clues as to whom Arthur’s real enemies might have been.

  1.  Despite the period being called “Roman” Britain, the Romans had actually withdrawn back to Rome to take care of their ailing empire, decades before.
  2. The Anglo Saxons had been migrating into the now border-free and open Britain for nearly the same amount of time, and had been given the Saxon Shore (most of the south-east toe of the island) for themselves, in order to keep them contained and content.
  3. Apart from the Saxon Shore, Britain was made up of tribes of Celts and Britons, and even older peoples who stayed out of mainstream politics.
  4. There was no Roman authority in Britain, which left behind a vacuum in leadership.

The sudden departure of the Romans and their administrative guidance left Britain in a state of chaos.  The tribes fell back to defending for themselves…and their territories.  Chaos descended to anarchy very quickly.

Into this mix came annual floods of Anglo Saxons, anxious to find arable land to support their families, and the Saxon Shore was filled to bursting.  Not all the Saxon migrants would have landed on the Shore, and not all of them would have come peaceably, especially once they realized how unruly the island was and that they could step in and take what they wanted.  Who was there to uphold the Roman authority now?

This was the disaster that Arthur was born into.

There are no historical sources or authorities to say absolutely who his enemies were, but from the facts of the day it is possible to speculate that Arthur would have:

  1. First fought for recognition as leader over all the tribes.  He would have had to win the trust and leadership of his local tribes, then bound together the disparate races, too.  That alone was not an easy task.  They were inclined to suspicion, in-fighting and treachery among themselves.
  2. Once he had all the British tribes fighting for him, he would possibly have focused on forcing the Saxons back behind their boundaries and keeping them there.

That would have won for Britain the few years or decades of peace that the bards, authors and poets speak of.

Historical fact tells us that the Anglo-Saxons, along with some Viking hoards, eventually claimed all Britain for themselves.  Arthur’s peace didn’t last, and as the Anglo-Saxons had no written language, nothing was recorded about him or his conquered people.

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000026_00025] Kiss Across Time was released on May 1.

A single kiss can change more than one life…or two.

Taylor Yates is fired for insisting the 5th Century Arthurian poet, Inigo Domhnall, existed. When she hears Domhnall’s lyrics in a death metal song, she engineers a meeting with lead singer, Brody Gallagher. An unintended kiss sends them spinning back to the poet’s time, when Saxons were pillaging King Arthur’s Britain.

Brody’s all for kissing her again.  More, he wants her to kiss his friend and lover, Veris, to see what will happen.  When Veris’ kiss sends them back to the time of the Vikings neither man is willing to let Taylor simply walk out of their lives.

But Brody and Veris are more than lovers and sexual playmates, as Taylor learns when they investigate the kisses that send them across time.  The secrets they share have the power to completely alter her life.

Warning:  This story features two super-hot alpha vampire heroes, multiple sex scenes, including anal sex, MM sexual play, and MMF sex.  Do not read this book if frank sexual language and sex scenes offend you.
The time-space continuum was restored to order at the end of this book.  Promise.
This is the first book in the Kiss Across Time Series
Book 1:  Kiss Across Time
Book 2:  Kiss Across Swords (Released June 1)
Book 3:  Kiss Across Chains (Released July 1)__
[She] has created characters that are engaging, unpredictable, outrageously funny and down-right appealing to readers who will steal their hearts.  Shannon for The Romance Studio
I think you’ll be as entertained and affected by the chemistry between the characters as I was. A fast-moving romance that spanned several lifetimes and included a paranormal aspect that was a fun and totally unexpected surprise.  Honeysuckle for Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews
Available in:| Amazon Kindle | Amazon Print |
More about Tracy – She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner.  She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together.  In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

Catch up with Tracy at her websiteAmazonAll Romance eBooksSmashwordsKoboFacebookTwitter.

Blood KnotTracy is doing a giveaway of a digital copy of Blood Knot to one lucky commenter.

To survive they must trust each other.
Only…can they?

 

Posted in Dale's Posts, Guest Posts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Raise your hands if…

Everyone who knew and understood that a full third of 2013 is over, hands up! ‘Cause I gotta tell you, I got blind-sided.

I’m not sure how? After all, I understood it was April. I certainly know that April is the 4th month of the year. And I can do the math to understand that 3 times 4 equal 12 – the number of months of the year. Calendar

But I didn’t GET it. As in I hadn’t seen the big picture and hadn’t seen the passage of time for what it was – faster than ever!

How sad is that. I’ve been buried with my head down and working so hard, that I hadn’t noticed that the year is half over in less than 60 days. Like OMG! I had a schedule and blew that out of the water in the first month with that insane decision to put my books into audio format. I had a regular book release timeline and that blew up even faster.

MP900049286

Of course the weather hasn’t helped. There was the tantalizing taste of spring weeks back and that just disappeared under crazy snowstorms, hail and bizarre winds. So I can be excused for not noticing the change in seasons. Now it’s almost summer. In fact, my son’s term is over and my daughter has four weeks of classes then she’s home for the exam period. Huh, say what?

It’s not that I haven’t gotten anything done. I’ve released 1 adult, 1 YA, rereleased 2 short stories and have 4 books in audio available at this time. No, that’s not the problem – the problem is in what’s still LEFT to do this year.

schedule wall

I just tore up the list of what I should have done by the middle of the year – yeah, I didn’t even look at it!

Now I have to sit down and ask some serious questions of what is reasonable to achieve in what’s left.

And wonder if I’m being foolish for even trying to create and stick to a schedule!

How about you guys? Did you see this time of year coming? Are you one of those organized individuals who has everything nicely planned and the plans work out? (I might just hate you if you are!) Or are you one of those people who got blind-sided – like I did?

Posted in Dale's Posts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Back To School – The Writer Way

MP900341507I feel like there’s been a theme going on here at Magical Musings, and it hasn’t been by design.  Michelle began it last week with her post on Writer and Reader Events.  Then Marilyn posted on Friday about Teachers Who Make a Lifelong Difference. Yesterday, we heard from Liz that she’d Rather Be Reading (and wishing you a quick recovery, m’dear!).

It all boils down to the fact that writers are always seeking ways to improve their craft, find new, innovative story ideas or new ways of telling the accepted tropes. This past weekend, I attended the New England Chapter RWA “Let Your Imagination Take Flight” conference in Burlington, MA.  It was my first conference in 18 months, and it was amazing.

First, there’s the chance to catch up with fellow writers and learn what everyone is working on. It was fun to catch up with Wendy S. Marcus and to meet Stephanie Queen in person for the first time.  Marie Force was there, generous with her time and knowledge as always.

Second, there are always free books for the attendees.  So I’ve refurbished my TBR pile with new titles by Julia Quinn, Terri Brisbin, Caroline Linden and Zoe Archer.  What’s not to love about that?

Third, there are inspirational keynote presentations, where authors share their journeys and truisms about writing and publishing.  Terri Brisbin reminded me to write—and floss—daily. And Caroline Linden reminded me that writing can help center a writer even when she faces adversity in her life.  I can’t recap all the wonderful things they shared, all I know is that I came away fired up.

And then there were workshops. I attended a great session on Point of View by Gail Eastwood. I thought I was pretty good at POV, but Gail proved to me that there were even more layers to the ways I could use it.  Penny Watson was there to talk about social media and promotion (and dachshunds and beards…really, check her site) and I scribbled notes furiously.  And Kady Cross explored conflict between human and non-human characters (and was a huge hit with my fan-girl niece who got to meet her!) And Terri Brisbin helped me see that maybe there is a reason for me to explore writing a novella length story in my Lords of London series.

By the end of the weekend, my brain was humming with ideas.  I’m prepping for a two-week writing sabbatical, so the timing was perfect.  No matter how long you’re in this game, there’s always more to learn.  I’m really looking forward to the next two conferences I’ll be attending later this summer.  Meanwhile, I’m going to take a note from Liz and stay up late and read.

How about you – have you ever attended a conference or taken an adult education class? What else is out there that you’d like to learn?

Posted in Amy's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

I’d Rather Be Reading

This is Edie. Liz had an operation on Thursday. She’s doing amazing. When I was visiting her, one of the nurses said she was going to hang out in Liz’s room whenever she got a chance. because Liz has such a great attitude. And because of this, we’re re-posting a blog Liz wrote three years ago. I picked it because it’s exactly how I feel right now, even down to the weather. And, bonus for Liz, she’ll be able to read during her recuperation. And she’ll be reading this, too, so comment! :)

I think the title of this blog pretty much says it all, don’t you? Picture it … halfway decent day, i.e., the sun is shining, bit of a breeze, sorta chilly but nothing that a jacket couldn’t fix. Nice patio, folding chair, glass of something (anything) at hand and the latest book by an author whom I adore. Oh, and the little darlin’ is out of down with my brother and SIL. What’s not to love?

photo credit: peterworsley via photopin cc

photo credit: peterworsley via photopin cc

The fact that I have edits to work on, photos to download, this blog to write, another blog at my personal website and a book review I’d promised to another author that I adore.

(Sniffle) There goes my little slice of paradise. To top it off … yesterday I visited my friend, Barbara Vey … blogger extraordinaire over at PW … and she generously loaded me down with numerous ARCs of books I’d been salivating over. With the understanding, of course, that I’d write a blurb for her Wednesday blog. But first, I have to find the time to read ‘em.

When did the weekend become so crowded? It’s getting to the point where I have to go to my day job just to relax. How sad is that? :wink: Seems that every time we take a step forward in this profession, we lose a bigger slice of time. Understandable. Books need to be written, edits need to be done and promotion has to be addressed. All of which requires time.

But we still have to make time to read. After all, it’s the reason so many of us got into this business. Authors we might be … but we’re first and foremost, readers. I’ve actually taken to stealing a few minutes of reading at work. How do you find the time to sneak in a few pages here and there?

Sleep? I don’t need no stinkin’ sleep. :shock:

Posted in Liz's Posts | Tagged , | 17 Comments

Teachers Who Make a Lifelong Difference

apple - teacherThis past week I got a wonderful surprise: a message from the Honorary Awards Chairperson for the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) telling me that they’d selected me as their 2013 Illinois Author of the Year! I was thrilled, grateful and more than a little in shock :razz:. But the one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about were my former teachers and the ones who’d influenced me most during my years in school…

As a 3rd grader, I had a amazingly creative classroom teacher, Mrs. Hein. She came up with really fun writing assignments. (That was the first year I kept a journal filled with writing prompts – still have it!) She sang songs and played the guitar. (I loved that she changed the lyrics from The Sound of Music song ”Edelweiss” to “Dandelion” to fit our common Wisconsin flower, LOL.) And she even made me hold a garter snake once, talking me through it and describing its “silky” skin. (Trust me, it’s a sign of my great affection for her that I didn’t run screaming from the school.) When I became an elementary teacher in my 20s, she was the one I tried to emulate, even though I most certainly did not have any reptiles in my classroom! I’m still a little in awe of her creativity, even all these decades later.

Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match - ARe coverWhen I was a high-school freshman, my English/French teacher, Mrs. Liefke, introduced my class not only to the joys of speaking la langue française but, also, to a “little-known British writer” named…Jane Austen ;-). I don’t think I have to explain to those of you here how that literary meeting changed my life.

And then, in my second year of college , I had (for me) the best writing professor I could imagine, Dr. Schoen. I only took one writing class as an undergrad — a required course that I’d been told I should dread — and, at first, I was pretty worried. Our professor spent the entire hour and fifteen minutes of our first session talking about the proper use of a semi colon. Seriously! The whole class period! He came across as gruff and uncompromising, and he was a difficult grader (I quickly learned he wouldn’t let us get away with ill-formed arguments in our position papers or clichés in our essays), but he had the biggest heart. He was the one whose perspective I wanted to hear about life issues, not only academic ones. When I asked him about creative writing one afternoon (our class had been non-fiction oriented), he read me a literary poem he was working on. It was so far over my head, I spiral notebooksknew I wasn’t understanding a fraction of it, but I was truly honored that he’d treated me like an equal and was willing to share his work with me, too.

What about you? Did you have a few favorite or especially memorable teachers? What subjects did they bring to life for you?

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!!

Posted in Marilyn's Posts | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Guest blogger: Erica Hayes (with giveaway!)

RedemptionUPDATE: The randomly picked winner of the giveaway ecopy of DRAGONFLY is Lucy Graham!. Well done, Lucy, we’ll be in touch to arrange delivery of your prize.

Michelle here: Erica Hayes is a fellow Australian writer, and friend. Her urban fantasy series, Shadowfae, set in Melbourne where fairies, goblins and vampires stalk the night launched her career, and she’s gone from strength to strength since then, with her Seven Signs series and now a new sci-fi romance offering. I’m really pleased to have her back at Magical Musings, so take it away, Erica . . .

The fun and perils of crossover

These days, diversification is the thing in publishing. Authors need to have more content, in more different word lengths, available in more formats, from more retailers, at more price ranges. More. You know, in all that spare time we’ve got. Excuse me while I dash off a novella in my lunch break… oh, wait. I’m a writer. I don’t actually get a lunch break.

Excellent for readers (hooray! More stories from my favourite authors!) but challenging for authors. But we’re all trying. Trust me. We want to produce more. Many authors are even venturing into new-to-them genres. Crossover is good. We won’t lose any fans, but we might gain a few new ones. Right?

I’ve given it a go myself. My Shadowfae and Seven Signs series are luscious, sexy, violent paranormals. But I have one book – Dragonfly – that’s a romantic sci-fi action adventure. Spaceships, rayguns and rebels. A different reading experience!

That’s the beauty—and the terror!—of crossover. What if my readers don’t like it? What if they hate me forever? Oh noes!

Well, what if they don’t like it? No rule says everyone has to love everything I write. And those readers will always have my other books to fall back on. If they want gorgeous fairies and sexy fallen angel warriors? I haz them too. We aim to please.

Shadow GlassIn my Shadowfae series, for instance, the world is teeming with mad fairies, vampire gangsters, throbbing nightclub sounds and rainbow colours. The books are sensual romances, so things like the sugary scent of fairy skin, the clotted taste of blood, the crazed glint in a villain’s eye? They matter. Without them, the atmosphere is lost. And much of the tension in those books – aside from the romance! – comes from the threatening, erotic, hungry world, where no one is safe and everyone is out to get you.

In my sci-fi book? Not necessary. Description, yes. Spaceships, gadgets, high-tech mayhem. I hope I’ve created a believable, enthralling far-future space opera world. But the tension in Dragonfly comes from action and suspense. I’ve deliberately kept the pacing high. No time for wallowing in sensuality—let’s get on with it! And my angel books, the Seven Signs series, are probably somewhere in between.

Some readers love one, some will love the other. I’m hoping some will love all! And I think that’s why there can be no rules about what defines ‘too much description’ or ‘good pacing’ or ‘not enough action’. If there were, every book would be the same. And who wants that?

dragonflyHow much is ‘enough’ depends on the story you’re trying to tell. The effect you want to create. The aftertaste you want to leave in readers’ mouths. There’s really only one rule: keep the reader interested.

Anyway, it was fun to write something a bit different. Just the same as it’s fun to try reading a new genre every now and then. You never know what you might enjoy!

So do you stick to your tried-and-true genres when looking for new reads? Or do you like to try something different?

Erica Hayes

Giveaway! Erica will give away a ebook copy of her new sci-fi romance, Dragonfly, to one lucky, randomly-drawn commenter.

Posted in Giveaway, Guest Posts, Michelle's Posts | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments

Writer and Reader Events

photo credit: seychelles88 via photopin cc

photo credit: seychelles88 via photopin cc

I’m really looking forward to this coming August (16-18th), to the Romance Writers of Australia’s annual conference. This year it is being held in Fremantle in Western Australia, about twenty minutes from where I live, and as I’m on the conference committee, I’m really closely involved in the planning and organizing of the event.

There are so many interesting workshops coming up, as well as a signing on the Saturday that readers and the general public can attend, which is being held by the Australian Romance Readers Association at the conference. The Friday workshops are very interesting. There are two separate events, and honestly, I’d like to clone myself because both look amazing.

photo credit: Daniel E Lee via photopin cc

photo credit: Daniel E Lee via photopin cc

But I’m interested, how many of the authors who read this blog attend conferences and large signings, and how many readers would be interested in attending something like one of the Friday workshops, the Elizabeth Joley Conference, which is being hosted by Curtin University, and will consist of three streams of 8-9 papers presented on various aspects of the romance novel, including reader experiences, after a keynote address by Professor Imelda Whelehan on the relationship between romance writing and feminism?

And what about the signing? As a reader, do you enjoy attending signings? Things you love about them, things you don’t like so much?

If you’re at all interested in the Fremantle conference, you can find all the details here (and there is an early bird rate that ends at the end of April, so hurry if you are interested!).

Posted in Michelle's Posts | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments