Glitz. Glamour. Prestige... killer tag line!
A gangette of romance writers descended and took over, adding a splash of colour and life to the place, starting with the Tuxedos and Tiaras Cocktail Party on the Friday night. This is a chance to dress up, mingle and be merry. While sipping (necking) Moet, of course.
I met up with a few old friends and some awesome writers I only know from Facebook and Twitter. Some of the notable names were Jackie Ashenden and Maisey Yates, Rachael Johns and Amy Andrews. Anne Gracie was a terrific evil queen and I was just a girl in a tux and tutu who looked like she forgot her pants, with a tiara (from eBay) for all the sparkles. Plus I met some zombie brides...and that's a tale for another day!
Me in the middle, with Miranda Morgan and Samara Parish.
Seminars to get the wheels turning
The next day we were into the serious stuff -- professional development you simply can't get anywhere. I gained a lot of in depth information in the seminars on character development by Kelly Hunter, and on pre-writing from Christine Wells.Both of these incredible writers offered a window into their own methods, such as studying research on character traits and archetypes, the meaning of names (including cultural associations) and using research tools such as Pinterest and music playlists to spark inspiration. I'll be going back through my notes from both of these sessions to soak up some ideas.
Women's fiction or women-centered fiction?
As a writer who's dabbling in women's fiction, the panel discussion on this topic was super interesting. Have you heard of the term, 'alpha protagonist'? I hadn't, but now I get it. In a genre centring women's stories and experiences, sometimes a group of usually female characters gets a point of view (POV). This can be handled by making one character the alpha, central POV, or alternatively in could be an ensemble cast with equal time on the page for each character.
Women's fiction panel: Rachael Johns, agent Hayley Nash, Christine Wells, Lisa Ireland and Victoria Purman.
The Big Night
The Awards Dinner was fabulous food-wise, as you would expect at a 5 star venue. But it was all about the nominees and winners...
Here's a list but my apologies if I've forgotten anyone, and congratulations to:
Novella - Cassandra Dean
Emerald - Rachel Armstrong
Emerald Pro - Fiona M Marsden
Romantic Elements - Ebony McKenna
Short Romance - Kandy Shepherd
Long Romance - Emily Larkin
Romantic Book Of The Year - Jodi L Perry
Legendary inspiration
A highlight of the last day of the conference was a panel of RWAus legends -- members who have been around and seen it all, and survived. Valerie Parv was remembering the time before RWAus existed, when there was just an Australian chapter of RWA (in America). Others on the panel, such as Alison Stuart, discussed the importance of persistence. It took her 25 years to become an overnight success with multiple international book deals!I'll be trying to get back into my writing in the next few weeks, since life has got in the way lately. Let's hope the wisdom I absorbed at the Sydney conference will flow out of my brain, through my fingertips and bleed out onto my keyboard. But not in a gross, zombie bride way...
For more info on the conference including notes on the awesome keynote speech from Kate Cuthbert of Escape Publishing (Harlequin Australia), I recommend a hop across to romanceaustralia.com or author Renee Dahlia's blog. Oh, and more pics are on my Instagram!
About Cassandra O'Leary
Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and women's fiction author, winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest and finalist in Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of America contests. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was published in 2016 by HarperCollins UK and was a top 50 iBooks bestseller in the UK and Australia. Her indie published Christmas romcom novella, Heart Note, was released in November 2017 and was a top 50 Amazon bestseller in Holiday Romance and Humor Fiction in several countries. Cassandra is currently trying to write all the things while being distracted by the internet and drinking coffee in Melbourne, Australia.Read more at cassandraolearyauthor.com
1 comment:
Cassandra, I certainly turned a bit envious of your descriptions of RWAus 2018. Of course I love champagne! but you did more than sip bubbly there. Such fun to connect with old friends and make new ones. RWA (US) caps attendance at 2,000 (I think) which is too big for me to enjoy. How many come to RWAus?
And, I'd love to know a bit more about the difference between Women's fiction or women-centered fiction or women's fiction with strong romantic elements or romance with strong women-fiction elements. I'm thinking my Sacred Women's Circle novels fits in the "alpha protagonist" description with the ensemble cast but in each novel one of them is the alpha protagonist because she is the central character in that story. Am I close?
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