Donna Maree Hanson, Author, Phd in Creative Writing

Delayed Conflux 8 post

November 18, 2012 by donnamareehanson

This blog post is also delayed. No excuses this time.

This will be a short post because I hung out in the dealers’ room promoting Conflux 9 (the 52^nd Australian National Science Fiction Convention) in April next year. Link here. So I didn’t get to many panels (1.5 I think) so I can’t rave about how fantastic they were.

What I can report is that it went off swimmingly. The atmosphere was lovely and supportive and there were more people that I thought were coming.

I’d been helping out with payments in the lead up to Conflux 8, but the sheer luck of having the eftpos machine. The workshops were selling like hotcakes and so were memberships. So by helping out a little bit, I got an invite to the night before dinner with the committee and guests. We went to Sammys and that was awesome.

I met Tor Roxburgh at dinner, and she was great to talk to. She had been previously published in the young adult area many years ago. Took a break from writing and is now writing fantasy. Apparently, her agent doesn’t do fantasy so she went down the self-publishing route. I was very pleased to make Tor’s acquaintance. I got to say a quick hello to Keri Arthur, Traci O’Hara, Kaaron Warren and Dawn Meredith.

The interesting thing about Conflux 8 was that there was a lunch on the Saturday, included in the cost of the membership. It was a great idea and there was plenty of food and the theme was 1950s. There was a prize for the best 1950s get up and the best Hawaiian shirt. So all day I wore my lovely 50s dress and I’d made a little fascinator/hat thing with a veil. I don’t have a photo. Pooh! If someone has a shot, please let me know.

Kaaron Warren and I were the only ones to dress up. We tied for the prize. She wore her amazing pineapple dress she bought in a market in Nadi, Fiji. I was there. I saw her. She was very clever and told a story about the dress. Me…nah my head was empty.

At lunch I got to sit with Ingrid Jonach, who is soon to be published with Strange Chemistry. We had a long chat about her book, about books and about the convention. Fab Oh!

In the dealers’ room I had been tasked with supervising the decoration of Dalek cookies. This was fun and wiled away the time a bit. I got to mix with people. Pressure them into decorating cookies!

Here are some shots.

There is Yaritji in the purple scarf having a go at decorating the cookies.

One of the decorated cookies

I even have a shot with Nicole, who had the munchies, I think.

Nicole Murphy with her fire spitting cookie

Even the big Keith Stevenson got into the dalek action.

Keith Stevenson with the icing in his hand

On Saturday night I went to the book launches. I dressed in my jeans and t-shirt by then. I think there were five books launched, Craig Cormick’s, Greg Mellor, Jodi Cleghorn’s anthology, Gillian Polack’s and Tor Roxburgh. (I don’t think I left anyone out). That was a hoot. Jack Dann worked hard launching those books.

I got to hang with Keri Arthur, Janeen Webb and Kaaron Warren at the launch. Then we nicked down the pub for steak and chips.

Let’s see if this works. Photo by Cat Sparx here.

Sunday I was in my Victorian gear to promote Conflux 9 and my ol’ time fav event, the steam punk themed high tea. This time Cat Sparks did manage to get a shot of me in it. I was wearing my new hat.

Let me see if I can link to Cat’s photo of me. Here.

I talked to people, got a few people to sign up to the high tea, chatting with KJ Taylor (as she was author in residence) and she talked to me about her latest idea and read a bit from her notebook. It was a fantastic idea and I can’t wait to read that one. I also caught up with Adam Browne, who also launched a book.

My steampunk themed cake was on display all weekend. It was getting photos taken.

Here is one or two here.

This is Katie Taylor checking whether her pocket watch matches the time on the cake.

Katy Taylor with the steampunk cake

I caught up with Keri Arthur and Cora Wright for lunch. We also dead dogged together. Keri is a very generous person. She shares her experience and gives advice and encouragement.

Here is a close up of my cake.

The cake

I managed to get into a panel session on indie publishing. Keri Arthur talked about her hybrid model. She is traditionally published but is also going to self-publish through her agent. The other panel I half got to was the one on point of view, but I got pulled out to attend to closing ceremony business.

At the closing ceremony there was more Jack Dann excellent shtick and Jack auctioned of my steampunk cake. I was hoping to raise some money for Conflux 9 and not bring the cake home to eat. Anyway, the lovely and excellent, Craig Cormick bought the cake for $100 on the condition that all the members of the con ate it. (Craig can’t eat cake himself) so it was cut up etc. Bloody amazing man. I hope we can lure Craig to more conventions because he is good value and way to clever and talented.

So that was my convention. I caught up with friends, Kimberley Gaal, Nicole Murphy (ok she lives up the road). Actually I spilled my tea all over her. Oops!

Here is a great shot of Kimberley in a hat borrowed from Lewis Morley.

Now for those photos from Cat Sparx try here.

Kimberley Gaal

Posted in Cake, Science fiction conventions, Steampunk | Leave a Comment »

The glitz, the glamour, the keys to escape

November 15, 2012 by donnamareehanson

Yesterday I was tweeting about a gig I had in Sydney. I wasn’t too sure what I was allowed to say because I’d been told it was all under wraps. However, I soon let it slip that I was at the Harlequin Escape launch (Twitter# goescape).

I thought people might think it was my amazing smooze power that had secured me an invite. But alas, I was invited because I am one of the authors. (to clarify not the goddess like debut imprint authors). My day will come in January some time. I realised I was allowed to say stuff when Pollina, the Harlequin Escape twitterer, tweeted a shot of me as the new young adult author. Then the questions rolled in.

So I drove up from Canberra and back again yesterday. It was worth the whole six hours in the car and the 2 am home time. What an amazing thing that launch was and what an amazing amount of author love (for the imprint’s debut authors!). Alas I am not one of the imprints debut authors but never mind because I don’t.

So the tweets came early in the day about hair getting done and a white limousine to show the four authors the highlights of Sydney and cosy chat with Harlequin staff. I was thinking wow, this is some launch build up.

I invited my youngest daughter to the launch cocktail party. On arrival we had a photo taken on (maybe red carpet) and then we went into to get our name tags. I was listed under author, which threw me a little bit. Then we chose a key. The picture below is the Key(s) and the lovely invite I received.

There were four cocktails through the night all named after the books, plus wine, beer etc and stacks of people. I had met two of the authors launching their titles so I went over to meet them and congratulate them etc.

I met straight up, the lovely Jane who asked me what my title was. She was like “Hey, I’m going to illustrate that one next. I really want to read it too. And can you give me some ideas for the cover?” It was great, wow.

Then there was food. Oodles of food. The food was still going at 9.30 when I left (it started at 6.30).

I met Rosie from @Fangbooks and Abigail @Bothersomewords. I also met other editors.

Rosie from @ Fangbooks and me

Abigail from @Bothersomewords and me

My daughter took photos and found people to talk to, like Nina who has a book coming out the same month as me. It is a medical romance and my daughter works in a hospital. They hit it off!

Pollina and I slurping cocktails. #goescape twitter stream

My daughter made me pose for this pensive shot. I’m impressed she got the Harbor Bridge in there.

Erana’s shot of me being pensive.

Here is one of me in my lovely dress. (I love this dress and the shoes). Shot taken by Pollina Harlequin Escape.

Me in my party dress! Photo by Pollina, Harlequin Escape

The big announcement moment came. The MD, Michelle LaForest, gave a great talk on what the Harlequin were trying to do with Escape. Also that answers were within 2 weeks and if accepted published in 3 months. A lot of work and corporate ingenuity was behind this imprint. After speaking to the staff, they are all in there working hard and getting it done. Awesome bunch of people.

So remember that photo with the keys above? Well the shiny one is actually a USB with the four books being launch on it available for free. ( I believe you get to download tem for free). Anyhoo what a clever idea! Who thinks up this stuff. Wow!

The other key, it was revealed, was for the Treasure Chest. I’m not sure exactly what was in there. My key didn’t fit. My daughter didn’t either but she said the girl behind her had her key fit. Part of the prize was a $200 voucher for Red Balloon and the surprise was an Iphone 5. Wow. Impressive.

The photographer wandered around snapping shots of people. I got a quick word with Kate Cuthbert (my editor/publisher). Here is a shot of her with Rebekah Turner. They had tired feet.

Kate Cuthbert and Rebekah Turner

My tired feet encased in pretty shoes.

For me it was great to see such pizzaz and marketing might behind this new imprint and also the innovative approach to selling the product. It was also great to speak to people who were excited about what I wrote. That just encourages me to send them more.

I managed to get a shot of my daughter in the lift as we were leaving. She said I was to invite her to the next cocktail party.

My daughter

And one final word, Harlequin Australian and Harlequin Escape are bringing Australian voices to international markets. Escape titles will be available in all the big stores, like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ibooks etc. All DRM free. As well as direct from http://www.escapepublishing.com.au. Link is here.

Posted in Harlequin Escape Imprint Launch, Publication news | 4 Comments »

Donna’s Breaking News!

November 15, 2012 by donnamareehanson

A while ago, I tweeted about receiving cry worthy happy news. Now I can talk about that news. I submitted a science fiction, young adult, romance novella to Harlequin Escape, a very new digital publisher, and it was accepted. Indeed, I did cry. I think it was from shock because I was in the car park at Queanbeyan and saw an email come in on my iphone. I thought I’ll read that rejection in the car. I thought there would be comments. As I sat in the car and scrolled through the message, I did a double take because it was an acceptance. So yes I cried a little bit in the car and rang Matthew to tell him the news. He brought me home lovely flowers. I might have a picture of these. Here it is. My first flowers from Matthew and they were lovely.

A congratulatory gift

I understand my title is due out in January. I can’t say what the title is because it is not official yet. I want to thank Romance Writers of Australia for it was their annual conference in August where I heard about this opportunity. I want to thank Harlequin for really going out there and taking risks with cross-genre works. I also want to that Nicole Murphy for basically twisting my arm to go to RWA Aus in August. I have been writing like a mad person ever since (I am that inspired). My house has not been cleaned properly since as a result. Long live the dust mites!

The next post will be about the fantastic, awesome and stunning launch of Harlequin Escape last night. I need to cook dinner first.

Posted in Sales, Science Fiction Romance, Submissions, Young adult | 6 Comments »

Still here

November 12, 2012 by donnamareehanson

I’m sorry my absence from the blog has been pronounced. I had my Conflux 8 post drafted but had to dash off to New Zealand for 9 days. I’ve been back for a bit but have been hard at it, writing, revising and stuff. I also popped up to Sydney for Genrecon, which was awesome. I’ll have a post and a few photos from that too. As I’ve been away for 3 weekends in a row I had a stay at home kind of weekend. I even planted some tomatoes. Even though I did not achieve the awesome house cleanliness goal I was aiming for, I am well satisfied with my domesticity this weekend.

Uni finishes this week. All I have left to do is listen to a lecture and submit my portfolio and then I’m done with Writing for Young People, which I really enjoyed.

I’m starting a new project at work, always fun. I hope to catch up with my blogs shortly.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Gamesday Aus 2012

October 15, 2012 by donnamareehanson

This blog post is well overdue. My only excuse is that I have been finishing off a novel and that tends to be a very intense closed- in that type of activity, which precludes writing blog posts. Work, family and university studies probably also take away my blogging time. Okay, I can add up that’s more than one and only excuse, but that’s enough excuses from me.

I’m writing this blog now because the Internet is been down in the vague hope that it will come up again, and I can lodge this blog post. Obviously, my optimism was worth it as you are now reading this online.

We went off to Gamesday again this year (September 9) . It went off smashingly well. The night before social gathering didn’t take place with the broader group, who had come out from the UK. Instead, Matthew and I managed to grab dinner at the pub with Anthony Reynolds and friend. We’d turned up to the Sydney city store to catch up with people and meet Gav Thorpe. It was pretty busy with his presentations and signings, so I caught up with Mal Greene instead. Mal and I were table buddies last year. (This year no table for me so I got to check out the place).

Hanging in the store, we managed to check out the new releases. Dark Revenge and it’s a new starter pack for those wishing to start playing. It has very cool chaos army figures. They looked pretty cool to my untrained eye.

I’m not sure what Matt is holding.

We retired to a hotel after arranging to meet with the gang to catch the train over to Redfern to the Technology Park (Locomotive workshop). I’ll save you the pictures I took last year of the contraption I nominated as the Dweeb-catching machine.

However, I took some shots from inside, Victorian machinery/steampunk. very inspiring.

Lathe,which was used to sharpen wheels on trains?

A machine used for maintaining trains or extracting brains.

We got there before and Gamesday opened, walking past the queue. There is something very cool about getting in the before all the people do. After grabbing coffee and stuff for breakfast, as the cafe we intended to have breakfast at had been shut, I took a little tour of the play tables, with very impressive dioramas and amazing constructions. Here I will put up some photos. During Gamesday due to the crowds and people playing games, it is really difficult to get a good view. In Birmingham Gamesday a few years back, I had no idea what was on the tables as people were crowded around sometimes several people thick.

A close up of the detail of those statues. Awesome stuff.

Close up of statue on previous construct.

That last contraption is a Stompa!

The writers and designers who were signing were all lined up in a pretty obvious spot as opposed to hidden away. Next to that staff were advertising the panel sessions. Apparently, that worked really well as these panel sessions were pretty full.

Here is a shot of James pretending to be Matthew at the signing table.

James pretending to be Matt at the signing table.

Of course is that the obligatory shot of us with the Space Marine. Apologies but I just had to put them up.

James posing with the Space Marine guy

Matt and the Space Marine Guy

Me and the marine

The most exciting moment is when the door is about to open and there is a countdown ten, nine, eight….one. People spill inside, rushing forward. My photos of people coming in the door aren’t very impressive, so I took a shot of Matthew taking photos of people surging in.

Matt taking shots of the people charging through the doors. Excitement!

During the day it the boys were pretty busy signing books. I find Matthew is very dedicated. He doesn’t really stop for lunch and gets annoyed if I try and make him. So I just collected his lunch and slid it onto the table next to him. James and I managed a few forays to the tables during the day, just checking stuff out.

Here is a shot I took of the boys signing books.

Matt, Gav, Anthony in shot

I didn’t take a shot of my book haul, because Matthew raided it straight away. He stole my copy of Pariah ( a red hardback) by Dan Abnett. We did, however, get two copies of the Gamesday chapbook, which had a story from Matthew and Anthony. The two stories were linked. It was just very cool.

I think I went back to the black library stall number of times. I bought something from Gav, a bought a print, I bought the best of Hammer and Bolter among other things. James had come along to this Gamesday. He’s resisted geekification for a while now. However, as he was a little bit at a loose end so we joined the painting table. Both of us sat down and we painted Space Marines.

Here is a picture of our efforts.

Mine is blue and James’ is red and blue

Anyway, what happened was that we both got very enthusiastic about painting Warhammer 40 K miniatures. So after a bit of parleying with James and Matthew, we visited the tables once again. We came away with a painting kit, a miniature for me as we had determined that Matthew had stacks of unpainted Space Marines going back some 10 or so years at home. However, I did drop a bit of cash. As we were sitting at the table painting the Space Marines, James looked over to me and said “You’ve turned me into a geek.” He said this with a rather long-suffering and defeated expression on his face. It was just inevitable James. You are surrounded by geekery and it was bound to crawl between your skin cells and infiltrate your brain eventually.

The boys (authors is the correct term) also did a panel session in which some very interesting questions were asked. Like how do you imagine being an alien? Matthew says he gets so alien at times in his fiction, people don’t get the story. He was thinking of his story ‘Faces’.

Henry, Gav, Anthony and Matthew

So after a fairly long day, Matthew and James and I headed to the pub to chill with the gang. Then we began the long trip back to Canberra. I believe that plans are underway for next year’s Gamesday as this one was a big success.

Here is one last shot with Matthew and an Inquisitor.

Matt and the Inquisitor

Posted in Games Day, Uncategorized, Warhammer | Leave a Comment »

I’m overdue for a blog post

September 28, 2012 by donnamareehanson

Things have been busy, with university, with work, with family and with convention planning. Then there’s the cake decorating (new obsession) and writing too.
It is time for a catch up, but first this weekend I’ll be a Conflux 8, actively promoting Conflux 9.
I made a steampunk-themed cake here.
So while it is raining, I’ll be geeking inside the convention space at Novotel Canberra.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

That strange feeling….

September 9, 2012 by donnamareehanson

We’re up in Sydney for Games Day, which is the big hoo-hah get together for Games Workshop fans. In case you don’t know, Games Day is where fans of Warhammer and Warhammer 40000 miniatures games and related things like books from the Black Library are experienced and purchased. My partner, Matthew Farrer, is here to sign books during the even tomorrow.

We are staying near central. I decided that we would walk to the Games Workshop event in the City store, near the Queen Victoria Building, rather than catch a train. I felt like striding out after sitting in the car all day as we had driven from Canberra. My energy was bubbling and I wanted to experience the night. The three of us walked along (young James is with us) and I had this weird sort of experience. The sort of experience you have, I suppose, after rusticating in the country for many years and then plonking yourself in the middle of the CBD.

Sydney is my home town. There are places here I know in my bones and that have been here as long as I can remember from the early trips into town as a child. So you think that visiting Sydney, as I do on occasion, is no big deal. Well tonight I felt I was travelling along a time walk. Part of me, the inner part, knew the city, but felt disconnected. Another part of me was riding the now, the sounds, the sights, the people, effervescing along with the current and another part of me was excited and full of wonderment and yet not really there either.

I’ve been pondering those sensations these last few hours. At the time, I had words running in my head, a sort of blog narrative that I wanted to capture but I had no pen, no moment to scribe it down, no place to pause. I had to keep skimming the moment or I would lose my ride through time. I saw the old things, those icons of youth, the Town Hall, Woolworths, the line of theatres in George Street and a smattering of other buildings. Then I saw the new and the changing, the different food on display, the range of people crowding along the streets, like corpuscles being pumped through veins, some moving slow, some moving fast, some congregating and others randomly stepping out. The traffic, the lights, the confusion all crowding in, smothering memory and thought.

As I pondered this experience, I thought about the cities I have visited and why this experience seemed so strange. I’ve been to London, New York and Rome and they were intense and wonderful experiences. Perhaps that was because I’m not a part of them. I was only ever a visiting organism drifting in the blood vessel of the city, fleetingly feeling its pulse. There was no time travel slide, no sense of disconnection, no tendrils of me reaching out to anchor me on streets I once trod. It is not the city then that caused this frisson of feeling, this spasm of mind and heart, but a moment of time growing taut like a string pulled tight, surging me from the past to a present that is alien and yet not.

Once out of the streets and at the event, the feeling faded rapidly. Later, at the pub over dinner and conversation, the feeling receded further still. Walking back along George Street, I was there in the present, feeling like I belonged, feeling a part of it all. My trip to the city of the past/present had ended. I was no longer sliding between time, but firmly here. I remember wondering what Matthew was feeling or how James was taking it. Then I realised that their experience was going to be different to mine. I don’t think they came time travelling with me.

I thought I’d blog this because that is what was in my head at the time, although these words are nowhere near as articulate as those imagined ones. It’s something I want to remember and also an experience I might find useful one day when writing fiction.

I’m putting this post up now, Sunday morning before we head off to participate in Games Day Australia 2012. I’m sure it is going to be fun and interesting. After playing with fondant and food paint, I’m curious about painting miniatures now. I might give it a go.

Posted in Games Day, Warhammer, Weird experience | Leave a Comment »

Home and revved after RWAus 2012

August 21, 2012 by donnamareehanson

I had an extra day in Brisbane after the RWAus 2012. It was really useful to me to see if the buzz lasted and all those plans I made about being serious were going to stick and whether I really did have a breakthrough in my writing. Well I’m home now, sitting cosy with the electric blanket on because it’s like zero outside. It’s a bit of a shock with 20C in Brisbane today.

I can report that I believe I do have a writing breakthrough. I wrote this morning in the hotel. I think it was about 1500 words on the work in progress. I’ve had trouble with the title of this one but I think it is going to be The Sorcerer’s Spell. So over the weekend, which consists of Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday morning, I’ve written about 6000 words.

As well as talking my head off to Matthew about plans and insights and resolutions, I got this story idea this morning based on something one of the publishers said. During the day the story began to unfold in my mind. We went on a river cruise and more of the story unwound. I had names of characters. I had motive, storyline, beginning, middle and the end. So on the train to the airport I started writing an outline. Now I usually don’t write an outline or if I do it’s usually a poor one with the opening and the ending. I continued to write the outline in the airport lounge and on the plane to Sydney, where we swapped over for the flight to Canberra. By the time I landed in Canberra, I had written 3500 words of the story outline, some 7 pages. I had the whole outline down. If I was to show it to anyone it would need a polish. I think this story is either a novella or category length. It’s romance-focussed with witches in it. I’m calling it Bespelled.

I think I’ll be able to sleep now that the outline is down. I often create whole stories in my head but don’t write them down. Then I forget the excellent detail because I don’t write the things for ages. Well now it is there waiting for me to start. I have to finish The Sorcerer’s Spell first and that’s likely to be single title length as they say in the romance business.

I realised on the trip home that I’m as wired and excited about writing as I was when I first started out. Over the years my enthusiasm fizzed for a number of reasons. My partner didn’t like my writing. My family got annoyed with me about it because I was so fixated and then I was learning to write too so success didn’t come. My progress has been slow and steady. I’ve focused on the spec fic side and left behind the romance side, well not really pursued it. My first attempt at writing was a Scottish Historical romance and I looked at the 900 words I wrote and thought they were crap. I knew nothing about writing then. Later in the year the desire to write came back again and then I got an idea. I wrote Relic in six weeks, practically downloaded it. The writing was pretty ordinary and I had no idea what I’d written. A science fantasy with sex with aliens and feminist overtones. I polished it for years. Nearly got an excellent agent but she dumped me when she heard SF was a hard sell. Then I got another agent but by then I thought Relic was a bit crap. I did get some advice that I should not discard Relic but I haven’t gone back to it in years. It is really a romance when I come to think of it.

So here I am 12 years on and it’s all back, the enthusiasm, the drive and the ideas. I have a different partner now. One that understands the writing, the internet addiction, the weekend long Austen movie fests or Star Trek movie fests. He’s a writer himself and has habits as bad as mine.

A few of those things sitting in my hard drive are going to be subbed pretty soon. Tonight I submitted two short stories. No more procrastination. Now I just have to finish my uni course, get through the next 7 months until the Conflux 9 (a SF convention) is delivered and then I’m home free as far as writing is concerned.

I’m feeling pretty good. Thanks to the RWAus 2012, I’m revved and I’m happy to be so. Thank you fellow romance writers for showing me there are opportunities out there and for being so supportive of writers of any experience. I love your ethos and my membership form was in the mail before I left for the conference. I found something in me that I thought I’d lost. Thanks to Nicole too for encouraging me to come along.

Posted in Paranormal romance, Paranormal romance writing, Romance, Romance Writers Australia Conference, Submissions | Leave a Comment »

So its over

August 19, 2012 by donnamareehanson

The Romance Writers’ Australia Conference is over. It is kind of sad but also a relief because of the fatigue. I’m grateful for what I have learned and the inspiration I derived from those around me. A few little things I forgot last post. At the opening of the conference, the RWA celebrates the first sales of its members. In all 31 tradition and e-published authors were called up. I thought this was wonderful. Your first sale (I haven’t had my first novel sale) must be the most exquisite moment and to have your peers recognise it for those authors, was very moving for me. Well done RWA!

I also gathered that the RWA does a lot of things to help emerging romance writers through its competitions, mentorships and writing intensives. On a personal level, I found everyone I met was welcoming and interesting in sharing a few words with me. It was very nice. By the way, I sent my membership form off before I left for the conference as I was already convinced that it was right for me.

Last night I didn’t attend the awards, but I did write 4000 words after my blog post. It was a bit of a breakthrough for me because I haven’t written that much in one go for over 7 months. All because I was inspired to be more focussed and to put my eye back on the main game. (Note I am currently writing this blog on the train).

One of the funny anecdotes from day one was the difference in Australian English usage and USA English usage. Almost all romance is published in the USA, so writers have to be aware of that if they are aiming for that market. Anyway, one of the writers said on her panel that her novel ended with the final line. “You sanctimonious bastard.” It was changed by the USA editor to “You sanctimonious asshole.” This made us all laugh. Apparently ‘bastard’ is very strong language and a terrible thing to say in the USA so it was changed. However, I think ‘asshole’ or ‘arsehole’ is much stronger and nastier. Judging by the laughter, I think others felt the same.

So today I attended a very interesting session on Georgian and Regency cloths. The underlying message is that silk was not worn as underwear and that the dresses that survive today in museums aren’t the normal every day wear of people in those times. Only the best dresses survived, like wedding dresses, ball gowns, formal wear. So Lizzie wouldn’t be walking around Pemberley in a muslin gown during the winter. The presenter had been working on a thesis on textiles and so it was very interesting as she walked us through the changes in how textiles were made and how some types of cloth was no longer made and they were lost after a while, ie they no longer exist except in sample books. I thought it was a great presentation, which confirmed that most of my Victorian-themed MS has the right detail, but also inspired me for another idea for a Regency romance that has been on my mind for about 10 years.

I went to a session on sub-characters and that was instructive too. The main lesson for me, don’t let your sub-characters (secondary) take over and make your hero look bad. Sometimes we fall in love with our secondary characters, but for a romance they must be focussed on the hero and the heroine. Actually I think it is the same for other genres too.

By the way, most of the publishers said rural romance is hot at the moment and Australian rural romance is selling well here.

The other fun session today was the speed dating panel with publishers and agents. It was hilarious, at times, and also fun to hear agents and publishers asking for manuscripts and even being funny about it. The Harlequin representative said come on a publishing date with us because we are desperate. Then she quoted stats that said they took 7 out of 10 of the submissions in the last three months. They also did a presentation later in the day to explain that Harlequin don’t only publish romance but a range of commercial fiction and even non-fiction. So check out their sites. Also, they have launched the digital first imprint Harlequin Escape. This afternoon, Sarah Fairhall said that Penguin’s digital first imprint, Destiny, would be publishing in print too, next year. So what an opportunity. A new imprint looking for Australian voices. I’d say flirt with your Destiny.

So it is over and I’m inspired. Inspired not only to write, but to write a range of things and to be more focussed on the main game and to treat writing as a business, a serious business. I love romance as well as science fiction, fantasy and horror but that doesn’t mean I can’t explore all of them. Also I need to give myself permission to write romance and pursue a career in romance writing.

The next RWA conference will be in Freemantle. I’m seriously considering it. I hope I am one of the authors receiving my first sale ribbon.

Posted in General writing industry news, Romance Writers Australia Conference | Leave a Comment »

Day one of the Romance Writers’ Conference-Diamonds are Forever

August 18, 2012 by donnamareehanson

Today was the official start of the program, although things have been going since we arrived. Nicole attended the published author day, which is focused on professional development targeted at published writers.

Friday we did our pitch sessions, after spending the morning drafting pitches. Carole George couldn’t make the sessions so we pitched to the lovely Sarah Fairhall. It was a bit nerve-wracking because the appointments were running behind and waiting there felt like I was waiting to see the school principal. It was that sort of thing. I think the pitch session went very well, though I think my pitch needs more work. You see the novel I’m pitching I hadn’t really thought of as romance, even though I know quite well that that is the main thrust of it. The traditional romance tropes are there, but because it is a meld of steampunk and gothic horror, I had been targeting it to spec fic genre rather than romance.

Also, I’m not across how to market the romance side, or I wasn’t until I came here to the conference. Now it is a matter of rethinking how I think about this work. Even with the paranormal romance I’m writing, I have to think about the core elements so I can work out a pitch. I saw a woman today recite her pitch perfectly. I was thinking, my goodness they really mean you have to learn it off by heart and be ready. So they’re not kidding. I have to take this writing gig more seriously than I do now.

So I sent my ms off. Apparently, people don’t always send their ms off when requested so Nicole said we had to make sure we did.

Last night was the Harlequin sponsored cocktail party. I wore an excellent dress. Nicole to a photo so hopefully it is here. (maybe later) I was more like Doris Day than Marilyn Monroe. However, I do like retro- either vintage or reproduction. My dress is reproduction. The cocktail party was fantastic and packed. I wondered about a chatted to a couple of people and also listened to Harlequin talk about their digital first imprint, called Harlequin Escape.

Now that I’ve had my head rearranged, I have some other things that are also romance in my dusty hard drive that I will be reviewing and perhaps submitting.

Today, Nicole invited me to have breakfast at 7.00am with a number of paranormal romance writers and that was cool. I sat down opposite Rowena Cory Daniels and Keri Arthur and got to chat a bit. Nicole and I were a bit queasy from the night before. It could have been the excellent room service we had- bbq beef rib that was a whole chunk of meat in yummy bbq sauce or the canapés or just too much of everything. Then it was the start of the professional development part of the day. Eloisa James did a wonderful and inspiring key note address, then the breakout sessions commenced. I did one on finetuning your suspense delivered by JJ Cooper, author of The Interrogator and Deadly Trust. He had been a military intelligence interrogator so he knew what he was writing about and his presentation was very interesting. He didn’t get through all the presentation because we asked so many questions. It was a very worthwhile session and he has emailed us the presentation.

Next excellent session was Alexandra Sololoff’s Screenwriting Tricks for Authors part one and two. Now there was a workshop on the Friday, which I couldn’t afford to do, so it was great to be able to have these sessions presented as part of the program. Basicall,y what she taught is a plotting/analysis tool, where you divide your story up like a movie is broken up into sequences. She had some terrific tips and I can’t wait to use the tool to analyse what I have done. I think Ruby Heart pretty much meets the analysis, but we’ll see.

Also, while in that session, I had a few epiphanies about myself and how I’m approaching this writing gig. When I first started out I was very enthusiastic and I never wasted a moment on anything else and just wrote. Then after a few years, I think I lost confidence and went into the whole I am not very good etc mode, which I rode as best I could and I never gave up, but nor was I very focussed. I came out of that stage and into the mature stage. Now I see that I have to have a more business-like approach to writing, perhaps something like a business plan. I also need to sit down and do a drafting schedule and plan out what I’m going to be working on during the year. I probably need a spreadsheet to monitor submissions (short and long). I am probably being a little hard on myself as I am just recovering from RSI but I think I need this focus if I’m going to reach my goals. Yes I have goals but I need to acknowledge them more to myself instead of hiding them away. I’ll need this schedule thing because of the Masters in Creative Writing too.

Tonight is the awards dinner. I didn’t buy a ticket as money has been tight this year. So while Nicole frolics with the others, I’m going to write in some capacity. I’m going to order room service first.

Nicole sent me a shot of me in my dress.