Things That Go Bump in the Night in Australia by Susan Horsnell

As an Australian, Halloween is not a celebration that was widely recognised until more recently so like many families, there is no tradition for mine.

I do have a huge interest though in the past, anything historical, rituals and traditions. I do also believe in spirits but this was not always the case.

My husband and I, along with our almost 2 year old Jack Russell-Miss Gemma-Jean, have been travelling the state of Tasmania, Australia in our caravan (RV) since February this year. One of the main reasons we came over was to explore the natural, untouched beauty but what I have found is an amazing history that is almost unknown. For years successive governments and individuals have seemingly attempted to wipe the past of the island, one which is extremely dark in some instances, from the history books with only a few exceptions. 

It has proved to be Nirvana for me and I will be bringing out numerous Australian Historical Novels under the name of Annabel Vaughan beginning in 2023. Most will focus on the Convict Days and will fictionalise, while keeping a large amount of fact, some of the horrendous treatment and stories of those transported from Britain. 

Identification of young girl 
transported to Tasmania.

The first story I have underway is in diary form and covers the story of Millicent ‘Millie’ Staples. Her story titled “The Cascades: A Female Factory Convict Love Story”  will take readers from her transport at the age of 11 through to her love story with one of the guards and eventual freedom. Her history is one unknown to her present day family until the diary is found as previous generations found the history deplorable and a stigma not to be acknowledged.

11, you ask? I have actually increased the age of her transport from 9 and made her a female who was sent to The Cascades Female Factory in Hobart. The factual story is of a 9 year old boy who stole some toys and was transported to the Port Arthur penal colony! Yep, 9 years old! As I said earlier, it is an horrendous past.

Now, to the title of my article. Earlier this week we visited the ruins of The Cascades Female Factory. It is a place where dogs are allowed and so we had Miss Gemma-Jean along with us. There is not a lot left of the site as there were attempts to wipe it from history but fortunately, it has now been noted as an important part of history and is World Heritage Listed to protect further decimation. The only original building remaining is the Matron’s Quarters.

Baby Cradles at The Cascades

Yards 1, 3 and 4 remain with some of the original stone walls and there are markings as you will see in the photos that show where original buildings around the perimeter once were. There were around 2,000 deaths of babies and young children at The Cascades during it’s lifetime, a terrible tragedy. Girls fell pregnant to guards and men they were ‘consigned’ to outside the factory. Once pregnant, they were sent back for punishment.

Two thousand names of babies and young children 
who died at The Cascades.

Miss Gemma-Jean was fascinated by various ‘smells’ in these yards but when we reached the area where the Solitary Confinement Cells had been located, she became so distressed, she actually squealed and my husband picked her up and carried her away from the yard and into the information building. She was shaking and her heart was racing. It was some time before she settled and the rest of the visit was uneventful since ‘daddy’ carried her to protect her from having it happen again.

A forgotten soul. Say her name

Inside, the staff petted and soothed her while informing us there had been several reactions from people in that solitary confinement area. I believe tortured souls walk the earth in that once soul-destroying site.  It would be interesting to know if those souls really do go bump in the night when darkness falls and all is quiet.

Happy Halloween to your and your families.

Sue Horsnell

I write in several sub-genres of romance so check out my website at: http://susanhorsnellromanceauthor.com

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SUSAN R. HORSNELL

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Romancing The Genres Down Under

Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Sydney, at the amazing Sofitel Wentworth hotel. It was a bit spesh, a lot posh...crystal chandeliers in the seminar rooms and Moet Champagne apparently on tap. To put it simply, I was in my element!

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

FIVE DIAMONDS FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

Hi everyone!

It’s great to be back at Romancing the Genres. I hope you are all well and enjoying 2018 so far.

I’m back this month to introduce you to some of the fabulous authors we have Down Under in Australia. 

Just last month, the Rita finalists were announced. I’m proud to say that there were a few Aussies amongst those finalists. Aussies I know and respect when it comes to their writing. And then there are others I believe deserve recognition, despite not earning a mention in the Rita Awards to date.

So, let’s take a look at five amazing Australian authors whose work I love, and I hope by doing introducing them to you today, you’ll discover some new favorite authors to love and enjoy too.

1. AMY ANDREWS

 

Amy Andrews is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling author who has written sixty plus contemporary romances. Her books bring all the feels from sass and quirk and laughter to emotional grit to panty-melting heat. For many, many years she was a registered nurse. Which means she knows things. Anatomical things. And she’s not afraid to use them! 

Her extreme bull rider story, Troy has just been announced as a finalist in the 2018 Rita Award. 

Cocky, young Aussie bull rider Troy Jensen has been busted down to the pro-circuit. He needs wins and points to get him back into the big league and a shot at being crowned champ but an injury forces him off the circuit and into the arms of the woman fate keeps putting in his path.

The first time local Doc Joss Garrity meets Troy, she’s brandishing a lug wrench. The second time, he’s dragging her delinquent teen son home. The third time, he’s in her ER. How he ends up convalescing at her house she’s not quite sure. But it does make it hard to ignore him and their simmering attraction.

As Troy gets to know Joss, he starts to see a life after bull riding for the first time. But can Joss risk her heart on another man who may not come home one day?

2. AVRIL TREMAYNE

Avril was born into a big, chaotic, Italian/Irish family that was heavy on the laughs. She writes sexy, funny, modern romances, featuring strong, successful heroines who refuse to swoon, and heroes with enough alpha in them to make swooning a clear and present danger. Her hallmark is fast-paced, witty banter, which can tend toward the screwball, delivered with a strong emotional punch.

Avril's novel The Dating Game has been announced as finalist in the 2018 Rita Award. 

You need to learn the rules, fast!

Book two in the new steamy romance duet from Avril Tremayne!

Sarah’s brother Adam has been educating her best friend Lane in the arts of the Kama Sutra for weeks, all in the pursuit of Lane’s real target, David Bennet. So when Sarah finds herself alone with David at an exhibition, weeping over her own terrible dating history, they strike up a conversation. A budding artist, he wants to paint her, so she agrees in return for a guarantee that he’ll find her a relationship that can last more than three weeks (her rather dismal personal best).

She reassures herself that she isn’t betraying Lane. After all, Sarah wants marriage and 2.4 kids, and David has made it more than clear he will never want that. Plus he’s going to sleep with Lane any day now. Isn’t he?

3. P J VYE

PJ Vye lives on the plains of central Victoria where the sun shines nearly every day, even when it’s freezing. Her passion – when she’s not writing witty, off-the-wall romance – is gardening and transforming her six acres into a writer’s sanctuary.

Her debut novel, The Hermit Next Door, won Australia’s Emerald Award in 2015.

Smart, sassy and drop-dead insensitive, Pip Lessis has learned the only way not to upset colleagues is to work alone. She's completely unsuited to a job in the service industry, and yet when she inherits a funeral home, she figures it’s a good fit for her personality type. Dead people don't require small talk, right?

Pip discovers her new small town business can't prosper without the support of the community, and when she starts accusing the town folk of a murderous conspiracy - well they'd rather invite a serial killer in for tea and toast than trust an outsider.

Jaimes Everest, her largest competitor, seems determined to strike a deal, but when he reveals a surprising truth about his deceased wife, Pip believes he might be slightly unhinged. And why is it, slightly unhinged seems so damn attractive to her?

With one foot in the grave and one foot in her mouth, can Pip find a niche market in the funeral business, uncover a killer and find friendships worth risking everything for…without having to join the netball team?

I Bury Dead People is a cosy tale with a touch of romance, a touch of mystery and a hearse load of laughter.

4. STEFANIE LONDON

Books that make you laugh a little, and love a lot.

Stefanie London is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen contemporary romances and romantic comedies.

Originally from Australia, Stefanie now lives in Toronto with her very own hero. She frequently indulges in her passions for travel, good coffee, lipstick, romance novels and anything zombie-related.

Everybody's talking about the hot new app reviewing New York's most eligible bachelors. But why focus on prince charming when you can read the latest dirt on the lowest-ranked "Bad Bachelors"—NYC's most notorious bad boys.

If one more person mentions Bad Bachelors to Reed McMahon, someone's gonna get hurt. A PR whiz, Reed is known as an 'image fixer' but his womanizing ways have caught up with him. What he needs is a PR miracle of his own.

When Reed strolls into Darcy Greer's workplace offering to help save the struggling library, she isn't buying it. The prickly Brooklynite knows Reed is exactly the kind of guy she should avoid. But the library does need his help. But as she reluctantly works with Reed, she realizes there's more to a man than his reputation. Maybe, just maybe Bad Bachelor #1 is THE one for her.

5. SHANNON CURTIS

Shannon Curtis was born and raised in Sydney, Australia.

She’s always enjoyed reading mysteries. In primary school she hid her Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books behind her textbooks in class, and her teachers just thought she was being studious. 

When she was old enough to realize boys didn’t have ‘germs’, she became interested in romance and used to ‘borrow’ her mum’s books and read them in her room while she pretended to clean it (Ahhh, the subterfuge!).

Then she discovered romantic mysteries, and an entire new world opened up to her. How could she not write a genre that encompassed her two loves: romance and crime? 

She'll do whatever it takes to track this killer ...

Harmony Talbot's world is destroyed when she arrives home and discovers her cousin's dead body, left with a single white rose as the killer's calling card. Lightning shouldn't strike twice, but this is the second unsolved murder in Harmony's family. Harmony is determined that this time there will be justice, even if she has to track down the culprit herself.

Homicide detective Bern Knight is good at catching criminals. Though meaningful, his work leaves little time for relationships, and the last thing he needs is a beautiful, bumbling amateur sleuth getting herself into trouble. Whoever committed this crime is no ordinary murderer; he's a ghost, leaving behind no evidence until more bodies with the same sadistic markers start turning up.

As a digital forensic investigator, Harmony has a special set of skills that she's fully prepared to use, no matter how much the stern detective is against her interference. Tracking the killer is no easy feat, but Harmony lures him out of hiding. Except now she's the one in the killer's crosshairs…

And there you have it, five fab Aussie authors with five fabulous stories.

I hope I’ve introduced you to one or more authors who may just become one of your new go-to’s or favorites. If so, I’d love to know, no matter how far down the track J

Have you heard of or read any of these books? Do any intrigue you more than others? Have you read any other Aussie-authored novels that you’d recommend? I’m always looking to expand my horizons J

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Michelle xx

 

Michelle Somers is a bookworm from way back. An ex-Kiwi who now calls Australia home, she's a professional killer and matchmaker, a storyteller and a romantic. Words are her power and her passion. Her heroes and heroines always get their happy ever after, but she'll put them through one hell of a journey to get there. 

Michelle lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her real life hero and three little heroes in the making. And Emmie, a furry black feline who thinks she’s a dog. Her debut novel, Lethal in Love won the Romance Writers of Australia's 2016 Romantic Book of the Year (RuBY) and the 2013 Valerie Parv Award. 

You can find out all about Michelle, her adventures and her books at www.michelle-somers.com

Please pop by and say 'hi' 😊

HISTORICAL ROMANCE - MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH IT

WHY DOES MARGARET TANNER WRITE  AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL ROMANCE?

There is nothing more gratifying than a well researched historical romance novel. Nothing worse than a historical novel filled with historical errors, either. To write historical romance novels I feel that you must have a love of history, as well as a love of romance. You must be passionate about your subject.

 

Like the heroines in my novels, my forebears left their native shores in sailing ships to forge a new life in the untamed frontiers of colonial Australia. They battled bushfires, hardship and the tyranny of distance in an inhospitable and savage land, where only the tough and resilient would survive. They not only survived but prospered in ways that would not have been possible for them had they stayed in Europe.

 I would like to think I display the same tenacity. My goals are a little different from those of my forbears. I want to succeed in the publishing world.

I received my baptism of fire on the literary field of battle at an early age. I have known the highs (winning awards and having my books published), but also known the lows of the volatile publishing world. Publishing company closures, an opportunity for one of my novels to be turned into a film, only to be thwarted at the last minute by government funding cuts, and writing friends dropping off because they couldn’t get published and gave up the struggle.

 I am a fourth generation Australian. We are a tough, resilient people, and we have fought hard to find our place in the world.   We have beautiful scenery, unique wild life, and a bloodied convict history.

 

I admire heroines who are resourceful, not afraid to fight for her family and the man she loves. I want my readers to be cheering for her, willing her to obtain her goals, to overcome the obstacles put in her way by rugged frontier men who think they only want a wife to beget sons.  A chance for revenge.  To consolidate their fortunes. That love is for fools.  Oh, the victory for the reader when these tough, ruthless men succumb to the heroine’s bravery and beauty, and are prepared to risk all, even their lives to claim her.

 

Then there are the brave young men who sailed thousands of miles across the sea in World War 1 to fight for mother England, the birth country of their parents and grandparents. I also wanted to write about the wives and sweethearts who often waited in vain for their loved ones to return. Who were there to nurture the returning heroes, heal their broken bodies and tormented souls.

 This is why I write historical romance, even if it means trawling through dusty books in the library, haunting every historical site on the internet, badgering elderly relatives, and risking snake-bite by clambering around overgrown cemeteries.

 

Falsely Accused, the winner of the historical section of the Easy Chair Best Book Award, is one such book.

 

1820’s England. Visiting from America, Jake Smith is betrayed by a member of the aristocracy. Convicted for a crime he did not commit, he is exiled to the penal colony of Australia. Jake carries a dark secret that will send him to the gallows if it ever comes out.

On board the convict ship he meets and falls in love with Maryanne Watson.   

Escaping their captors in Australia, the lovers set up home in a hidden valley and Maryanne becomes pregnant.  With a price on his head, will Jake come out of hiding to protect his fledgling family? And how can love triumph over such crushing odds?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LEXEVES

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Falsely-Accused-Margaret-Tanner-ebook/dp/B00LEXEVES/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1432889303&sr=8-1&keywords=falsely+accused+-+kindle

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LEXEVES#reader_B00LEXEVES

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-falselyaccused-1869092-153.html

 

 

 

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS - MARGARET TANNER

MARGARET TANNER - HISTORICAL ROMANCE AUTHOR

I am not an animal lover, but I can’t stand to see cruelty inflicted on them.  I believe that people who mistreat animals should be severely dealt with by the law. There is no excuse, and no mitigating circumstances for such despicable actions.

The strange thing is, in nearly every historical romance I have written there is at least one scene with an animal in it.   The animal, usually a horse or a dog is in distress and is rescued by either the hero or the heroine.

This is an early scene taken from my award winning World War 1 novel, A Rose In No-Man’s Land. The heroine is Sister Amy Smithfield, an army nurse, the hero, Captain Mark Tremayne an English officer serving in the Australian army.

                                                ***

An over laden cart rumbled past and as Amy glanced at the thin, miserable horse straining between the shafts, her blood ran cold. The driver flailed the beast with a long cane.  Several times in quick succession it fell on the laboring animal’s back as he struggled to pull the cart through the churned up mud.

She dashed over. “You stop that this instant or I’ll have you arrested.”

“Clear off, lady.” The driver raised the cane again and she grabbed at his arm.

“You callous beast.”

His virulent abuse shocked her almost as much as the swipe of his beefy paw, which sent her sprawling.  She scrambled to her feet and launched herself at him again.

“What the hell’s going on?”  Captain Tremayne’s fingers biting into the flesh of one arm stopped Amy’s maddened onslaught.

“This crazy woman attacked me.”

“He wouldn’t stop flogging his horse.”

“Put your shoulders to the wheel men,” the captain ordered several soldiers who ran over.  “Get the cart back on to the gravel.”

“Plucky thing you did, Sister,” one of the soldiers growled.  “I would have flattened him if I’d got here first.”

“Unload your wagon and get out of here.” Captain Tremayne reached across, grabbed the cane from the man and snapped it in half across his knee.  “Overload your wagon like that again and you’re out of business. Permanently.” He flung the pieces to the ground.

He sounded so savage that Amy quaked.

 “I’ll leave you in charge, Corporal.”

Captain Tremayne strode over to where she waited.  “What on earth possessed you?”

“I can’t stand cruelty to animals.” Her lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

With a muffled oath he peered into her face. “Oh for God’s sake, don’t cry again.”

“I’m not.” She scrubbed at her eyes with trembling fingertips.

His long lashes fanning out over his eyes hid his innermost thoughts, but she watched in fascination as a pulse convulsed at the side of his jaw.

“Here, into my office.”  A hand in the middle of her back propelled her forward.

She looked so little and frail he felt like drowning in her tear-drenched, gray eyes. A feeble ray of sunlight shafting through the window turned her hair to silver. Except for the army nurse’s uniform, she could have been an angel in a religious painting.

“Would you like me to send my orderly out for some tea?” He cursed the fact he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss all the hurt away.  Dammit, why should he care about her being upset?

“No, thank you.  I’m glad you broke his whip.”

“He’s lucky I didn’t smash him across the head with it first.”

“You cared too?”  Her heart skipped a beat.

“I don’t like seeing animals mistreated.”  He ran a fingertip along her cheek before stepping away.

The male scent of him, the heat of his body, his feather-light caress almost had her reaching up to touch his face.  Curling her fingers into her palms to keep them from straying, she fought to get her emotions under control. She didn’t want him to know how his touch affected her. How it burned through the layers of skin and seared her soul.

“If you’ve recovered, Sister Amy, I’ll escort you back to your quarters.” His tone sounded all army captain now, unemotional, brusque, as if he couldn’t wait to get rid of her.

A ROSE IN NO-MAN’S LAND:

Nurse Amy Smithfield finds a once in a lifetime love on the French battlefields, but risks losing it when she has to fight for survival in the slums of London’s East End.
 

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_145&products_id=5179

 

 

http://amzn.com/B00B64HHAU