Speed dating with publishers & agents – part 1

This was the first of two panel discussions where publishers were pitching to the conference about ‘why you should go on a date with me’.  Some got the concept better than others, but it was a lot of fun. First panel consisted of: Clare Foster – Curtis Brown Australia (agents) Joel Naoum – Momentum Larissa […]

Plenary Session 3 – Harlequin: What we really do

Has many lines Harlequin Mills & Boon – category romance Harlequin Teen Harlequin Mira – single title line Harlequin Spice (erotic line – was digital, now going to print) Mills & Boon – more than 50 originial and 10 reprint anthologies per month Mira and Teen – more than 15 titles per month Digital imprint […]

Conference Day Two

8.45am  Welcome, Group Grants Award and Author  Cafe / Silent Auction information 9am – Harlequin Australia – What we really do.  Haylee Kerans 9.15am – Speed Dating with Aussie Publishers – Part I.  Panel Discussion 10am – Morning Tea 10.30am – Breakout Session Four – The Most Perfect Cloth Fabrics for Georgian and Regency Characters. […]

RWA Conference Awards Dinner

Had a lovely time at the dinner.  I was with people I didn’t know but they were all very nice and welcoming and we had fun. Congratulations to all winners of awards.  Here are some of the highlights. The winner of the LYNNE WILDING MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD is:  Helen Katsinis The winner of the VALERIE […]

Plenary session two: New York, New Directions – Panel discussion

Alison Ahern (moderator) Helen Breitwiesser – literary agent, owner of Cornerstone Literary Agency Monique Patterson – exec editor at St Martin’s Press Alexander Sokoloff – thriller writer and script writer Eloisa James – regency writer and university professor Birgit Davis-Todd – Senior Executive Editor, Harlequin Alison opened by asking the panel what they thought will […]

Breakout Session three: Love in the Face of Danger

Romantic Suspense Panel presented by Bronwyn Parry, Sandy Curtis, Shannon Curtis & Helene Young. Often considered a difficult genre – needs to have equal amounts of romance and suspense. Tension and conflict between characters is always present. need to have climax for romance and climax for suspense (both genres) if you are writing romantic suspense […]

Breakout Session 2: Engaging Your Reader – Anne Gracie

Presented by the wonderful Anne Gracie. There must be a psychological motivation for a character to change, in order to get their happy ending An engaged reader is intrigued by characters in a story  they work to discover a character’s secrets they will wonder about motivation for various acts will read forward, putting clues together […]

Breakout session one: Putting the thumbscrews on your thriller – JJ Cooper

JJ Cooper has written two action thrillers – 17 years in Australian army – 2 tours in East Timor, 1 tour in middle east – was an army interrogator General tips: – write and edit until you are sick of reading your own writing – people read for escapism, but we also write for escapism […]

Panel discussion: Beyond the Big Six

Panelists: Caroline Comito (writing as CJ Archer – self published and Montlake digital imprint) Shannon Curtis (Carina Press) Denise Rosetti (Berkley publications and Elora’s Cave) Elisabeth Rose (Avalon Books, Whiskey Creek Press (digital) Amazon’s Montlake digital imprint) Annie Seaton (Lyrical Press, Entangled, and self published) Kandy Shepherd (Berkley Sensation and self published) Paths to publication: […]

Keynote address 1: Channeling Jane: Eloisa James

Eloisa James:  Channeling Jane PhD,  Professor in Shakespeare at Fordham University in New York Writes Regency romance, married to an Italian Knight (really!) 1. having motivation for writing is not enough, you need to work at it 2. what you write about has to come from your own life experiences, no matter what genre you […]