Edition #271 December 2015 Hearts Talk The official journal of Romance Writers of Australia Ruby Award for 100th Book

Victoria’s Marion Lennox has been writing category romance for a quarter of a century and has no plans to step away from the keyboard. We talked to her about winning this year’s RWA Ruby Award in the ‘short sweet’ category for a milestone novel. Marion, have you won a Ruby before? And what does winning one in 2015 mean to you? This was my 23rd nomination and my third win, and you know what? Every single nomination takes my breath away. The phone call that I’d finalled this time left me as weak at the knees as the first call did. That I’m still writing books that readers love, after all this time, fills me with wonder. I don’t know how it’s happened but I feel truly blessed that it has. Can you sum up Waves of Temptation for us? Waves of Temptation sprang from a writers’ retreat two years ago, when the Australian Surfing Championships were moved from a rough northerly beach to the waves right under my apartment window. I was surrounded by fellow writers to bounce ideas off and the book just sprang into being. Surf-pro physician Kelly Eveldene thinks she’s left her past behind. But when her son’s injured in a surfing accident she finds herself face-to-face with the one man she’d prayed never to see again, her late husband’s brother, the delectable Dr. Matt Eveldene. Seeing Kelly again brings Matt’s painful past back to haunt him and sparks a desire he shouldn’t feel. Kelly is strictly off-limits, but who can resist the temptation of Ever had the urge to write a single-title novel or to the forbidden? self-publish? It’s my 100th romance novel and it was pure joy to write. I have a very short attention span. After 50,000 words, I cried as I wrote the first two pages—that’s a first for me. I’m itching to get onto a new story. As for self-publishing, Harlequin has been very good to me and for me. I can’t What has drawn you to medical and ‘sweeter’ romances? see myself in 30 languages, plus my gorgeous [Japanese For my first foray into romance I wrote my heroine as a comics] Manga—why do I love Manga so much?—if I doctor. It landed in London just as Mills & Boon (as they self-publish. were then) were changing their Doctor Nurse series to a You’ve been published since 1990. What have been the broader base. So initially I was in the right place at the biggest changes you’ve seen in the industry? Do you right time. think it’s harder or easier to be a writer today? Since then I’ve written for both lines. I love the excitement The changes are breathtaking. On the upside, it now seems of medical drama and I love the fun I can have with a easier to get your work into the public arena. There are pure romance. I have written a Sexy and an Intrigue, but so many new platforms that traditional publishing is now Romance and Medicals are my best fit. My books seem only one of many options. But 25 years ago, my biggest to be action-packed, fun and real, with sexual attraction always a simmering undertone. Continued page 4... Romance Writers of Australia Inc Romance Writers of Australia Inc ROMAUS e-List Moderator PO Box H120, Hurlstone Park NSW 2193 Imelda Evans [email protected] phone: 0477 661 549 To join our online email group, go to http://au.groups.yahoo.com/ www.romanceaustralia.com group/romanceaustralia, click on the “join this group” button and Romance Writers of Australia Inc ABN 30 075 409 728 is registered in follow the instructions. NSW as an Incorporated Association the liability of whose members CRITIQUE PARTNER SCHEME is limited. Bec Sampson [email protected] Please note that RWA is run by volunteers. Currently, the FACE-TO-FACE GROUPS exist throughout Australia, and for best way to make an enquiry is via email, but if you call queries on how to join an existing group or start one yourself: the phone number, please leave a message and someone will Clare Jude [email protected] contact you as soon as possible. INDIVIDUAL WRITERS SUPPORT SCHEME Nas Dean [email protected] RWA COMMITTEE For unpublished members. Priority given to those challenged by PRESIDENT distance or unable to access creative support by other means. Register Leisl Leighton [email protected] for a one-off critique of either 1 or 3 chapters by a published author/ VICE PRESIDENT advanced unpublished writer. Daniel de Lorne [email protected]

TREASURER RWA SOCIAL MEDIA Alison Leake [email protected] BLOG http://romanceaustralia.wordpress.com/ SECRETARY Vicki Vuat [email protected] TWITTER www.twitter.com/RWAus COMMITTEE MEMBERS FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersofAustralia Sarah Brabazon, Susan Downham, Imelda Evans, Imogene Nix, Lana FORUM www.romanceaustraliaforum.com Pecherczyk and Victoria Purman. GOODREADS www.goodreads.com/user/show/2714779-rwa RWA CONTACTS PINTEREST www.pinterest.com/RWAus ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Shannon Curtis [email protected] HEARTS TALK TEAM VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR EDITORS Vicki Vuat [email protected] Carla Caruso (content) [email protected] WEBMISTRESS Daniel de Lorne (design) [email protected] Lana Pecherczyk [email protected] MEMBER NEWS WEBSITE PASSWORDS: To gain access to our members only [email protected] section, email [email protected]. TEAM MEMBERS MEMBER SERVICES COORDINATOR Rachel Bailey Erica Hayes Nicole Pfeiffer Vicki Vuat [email protected] Rhyll Biest Sara Hood Patsy Poppenbeek CONTESTS COORDINATOR Frances Burke Vonnie Hughes Serena Sandrin-Tatti Erica Hayes [email protected] Carla Caruso Clare Karacsonyi Janette Whitehead Pam Collings Moraig Kisler Malvina Yock All deadlines, entry forms and sample scoresheets are at Anne Gracie Leisl Leighton www.romanceaustralia.com. If you have a query about a contest, Laura Greaves Jodie Morphett please email the contest manager for that contest in the first instance, then the contest coordinator. All contest managers are volunteers.

JUDGE COORDINATOR HEARTS TALK RIGHTS INFORMATION Margaret Midwood [email protected] Deadline for contributions to Hearts Talk is the 8th of the month before. RUBY COORDINATOR Annie Lynch [email protected] Hearts Talk is the official publication of RWA Inc. and no part may be Gemma McBride reproduced or used without prior written permission from the Editor. ESTABLISHED AUTHOR AMBASSADOR Reproduction rights may be arranged between agreed parties only on the Rachael Johns [email protected] condition that appropriate credit is given to RWA, Hearts Talk and the author of the article. EMERGING AUTHOR AMBASSADOR All material appearing in Hearts Talk may be reproduced by RWA in any Renee Hammond [email protected] form for any purpose. Copyright remains with the author. ASPIRING AUTHOR AMBASSADOR The views expressed in Hearts Talk do not necessarily reflect the official Dee Scully [email protected] policy of RWA. All care is taken to verify details included in these pages We also have a number of specialist e-groups available focusing on but no responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies or actions arising from specific sub-genres in romance that you are welcome to join. They the information. If notified of errors a correction will be published in a include Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Young Adult, subsequent issue. Historical, Paranormal, Blaze and Steampunk. © Copyright 2015 Romance Writers of Australia Inc.

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 2 www.romanceaustralia.com This Month

From the President In this issue... I can’t believe I’m sitting here writing a Christmas message Ella Win For Indie Sci-Fi Book______4 again as President of RWA. So much has happened for Tantalising Holiday Reads______5 RWA in the past year. We introduced our new member classifications, employed our first staff member, Hearts The Write Craft______8 Talk went digital, our OWLs program started with How Do I...?______10 great success, not to mention the success of our biggest Romance Awards______12 conference to date and the fact we hit 1000 members. The year ahead looks just as busy and we hope to celebrate Queen of Regency Romance Honoured_____ 14 many big things in our 25th year. The Great Debate______15 I was recently watching The Librarianswith my sons. It’s a Contests______16 silly, yet fun show, full of people with vivid imaginations, a Marketing Questions Answered ______17 love of learning and a joyous acceptance of the differences that makes us all special. A particular episode that was on A Writer’s Life______18 recently struck me as being pertinent to what RWA means Adelaide 2016 RWA Conference______19 to me and it seems pertinent that I share it with you now. New Releases______20 The Librarians were sent out to rescue Santa Claus from being kidnapped. The Santa in this series is a mix of Santa myths from across the globe, all different and yet with of hope, it’s a gift of education, a gift of community, a gift one thing in common: the ‘gift’ he/she gives to the world. of special friendships, a gift of growing confidence, and During the year, Santa would soak in the good deeds and the never-ending gift of love for a genre that celebrates the kindness that had brought hope to people across the world, building of positive relationships, of love, of happy-for no matter how small. Then, on Christmas, he/she would -nows and happy-ever-afters. release the ‘gift’ of hope to the world so that this hope, Being a member of RWA has been a gift to me, being a in many small ways, would go on changing people’s lives, volunteer my way of paying that gift forward. And because making a difference when needed most. of that gift, I now have the great pleasure of wishing you This made me think of RWA. Starting with those women all the very best for the holiday season, and like Santa, I who had an idea back in 1991 to bring together romance hope that what we are doing on your behalf will bring writers, RWA has given a gift of hope to many. Those hope, friendships, positive relationships and love. Be safe, women were RWA Santas, passing the baton to others who be happy, learn and grow, and may your Muse be with you wished to continue giving that gift of hope to their fellow and your Well be always full. writers; hope that, for many of us, has helped us through Leisl Leighton incredibly difficult personal times. But it isn’t only a gift RWA President 2014-2016 From Your Editors Happy festive season to you! Whatever your religion (or lack thereof) December generally offers a chance to kick up your heels—or loafers, Dan ;)—and enjoy some time out. That’s after you’ve met all your crazy deadlines and gift-shopped ‘til you dropped. Whatever’s on your holiday itinerary this year, we wish you all the best. Hearts Talk will return in 2016 with a brand spanking new look. In the meantime, here’s what’s on our minds this month:

Carla Caruso: Daniel de Lorne: ♥♥ Being inspired by Aussie author Jennifer ♥♥ Working on backstory, baggage and Kloester who’s ensured Regency romance background in my current WIP with queen Georgette Heyer won’t be Rachel Bailey’s help in The Write Craft. forgotten (page 14). ♥♥ Thinking about themed stories (and ♥♥ Adding to my ‘book binge’ list of festive and summer reads, thanks to Lisa whether I’ll write one) thanks to The Stanbridge’s spread from page 5. Great Debate on page 15. ♥♥ Coming up with New Year’s resolutions ♥♥ Trying to not stack on weight during the I’ll stick to. silly season. www.romanceaustralia.com 3 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 2015 Ruby and Ella Winners Ruby Award for 100th Book Continued from page 1... hurdle was publication. Once my book was accepted, Finally, what’s next on the marketing was taken care of and I could happily get on horizon for you? with my next book. More of the same? Definitely. I am also playing with the idea of “I cried as I wrote the a bigger book but I’m not sure first two pages.” my attention span’s up for it, especially now we’ve moved to Now the expectation seems to be that an author will do the coast. My kayak’s outside and her own marketing, pushing her work every way she knows the water keeps beckoning. But I how. The publication house role seems to be lessening. will keep writing. People ask me Frankly I worry about the amount of creative energy this if I have plans to retire and this entails, when early in a writing career most of us struggle fills me with incomprehension. to find time to write the book, much less push it online. Writers write and that’s who I am. Ella Win for Indie Sci-Fi Book

WA’s Anna Hackett tied for first with Anna Campbell in this year’s Ella Award, which honours authors of published novellas. We spoke to Hackett about her win. Anna, have you ever won a RWA award before? And A fortune teller with a dangerous secret. A lawman who what does winning an Ella in 2015 mean to you? leaves no stone unturned and no secret covered. An ancient old Earth artifact that everyone is out to find. I have never won a Ruby or an Ella before! I was beyond What book number is it for you? thrilled when I found out my novella had won. My space marshal was up against an earl, a soldier and a bad boy… Beneath a Trojan Moon was book number 17 for me (many of those have been novellas)! It’s part of my award- he had some tough competition. Any great recognition of winning Phoenix Adventures series (think treasure-hunters your writing is always a brilliant feeling. in space) and all the stories in the series are fast-paced, Can you sum up your novella, Beneath a Trojan Moon? action-packed romances. What did it feel like to jointly win with Anna Campbell? Absolutely amazing! I had the pleasure of meeting Anna at the very first conference I ever attended in Australia and we’ve always caught up at future conferences, and kept in touch online. She is a fabulous author and such a beautiful person, so I feel very privileged to win jointly with her. Do you think it’s good for sci-fi romance to have a book like yours in the spotlight? I think it is very good for sci-fi romance as a genre to have sci-fi romances, both as finalists and winners, in contests like the Ella. The genre is a small but growing one and any recognition helps it get noticed by future readers. Is sci-fi romance making a comeback? Well, I don’t think it’s had its moment yet, not like paranormal romance did. Some traditionally published authors have had some sci-fi romances out, but currently many of the most popular names in the genre are self-published and writing some great books. I’d like to think sci-fi romance’s time in the limelight is coming…one day soon. Your novella is self-published. When did you try the indie route and how have you found being a hybrid author?

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 4 www.romanceaustralia.com 2015 Ella Winner continued I got my start writing short stories for Harlequin, and then focus on a single, clear plot, published my first two sci-fi romances with Carina Press. focus on a single theme. And The first book in the Phoenix Adventures series, At Star’s there is no room in a novella End, is published with Carina Press. At the same time, I for wasted words—everything dipped my toe into self-publishing to see if it suited me needs to mean something, link and learn how to do it. to something else, and move the story forward. I loved working with my editors at Harlequin and Carina Press, and learned a lot, but the pace of traditional What’s next on the cards? publishing just wasn’t fast enough for me. I wanted to Right now I’m working on get stories to my readers much quicker…and I won’t lie, more Phoenix Adventures I fell in love with the absolute control you have as an indie stories. I just released two more author: control of brand, cover art, publishing schedule, this year, with a third one, On pricing. I’m currently focused on self-publishing, but a Barbarian World, due out soon. I also have another series certainly would never say never to putting the right project (a post-apocalyptic, alien invasion sci-fi romance series) with the right publisher [again]. called Hell Squad. It focuses on a group of rough, tough What are the secrets to writing a successful novella? soldiers fighting for humanity’s survival. TheHell Squad fans are not shy about asking for more stories! So I have A novel is like a cake—one you’ll savour over a few days— plenty more Hell Squad books coming soon. and a novella is a smaller, decadent slice that you get to devour in a single, delicious sitting. There is an immediacy I’ll also be launching a new action-adventure romance and intensity to a shorter story that you just can’t get in series in 2016. These books will be romantic suspense a novel. I think the secret to writing short is to zoom in crossed with some action-packed, modern-day treasure- your focus: focus on a single (or just a few) characters, hunting. Fast, sexy and fun! Tantalising Holiday Reads by Lisa Stanbridge It’s that time of the year when the weather heats up, family gets together for Christmas and life in general gets better. If you’re planning a family holiday or staying home, you need a good book to go with it. Perhaps you want a Christmas read? Or a sizzling beach read? Well, as always our fabulous RWA authors have been hard at work. Find out a little about some of these amazing, talented writers as they answer a question about themselves and also reveal one of their upcoming Christmas or beach-themed books. Find Lisa at www.wattpad.com/user/LisaStanbridge, mycreativeflows.wordpress.com or www.facebook.com/ LisaStanbridgeAuthor Hold On To Me by Victoria Purman ‘Stella wasn’t looking for love…especially with a younger man.’ What is your favourite Christmas/beach read and why? “My favourite read for this time of year is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I heard someone say once that they read it once a year and I’m trying to implement that plan! It’s such a holiday pleasure to lose myself in her wit and her language and reacquaint myself with the desirable Mr Darcy, of course!”

Mistletoe, Marriage & Mayhem box set ‘A bluestocking belles collection.’ Check out All She Wants for Christmas by Amy Rose Bennett. ‘A frosty bluestocking and a hot-blooded rake. A stolen kiss and a Yuletide wedding. Sparks fly, but will hearts melt this Christmas?’ What is your favourite Christmas/holiday movie and why? “I would say Love Actually is my all-time favourite holiday movie. Our family watches it every Christmas. I love it because it’s funny, poignant and full of delightful romance…and Colin Firth is in it!” www.romanceaustralia.com 5 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 Festive & Summer Reads

The Billionaire’s Christmas Giftby Cheryl Adnams ‘A deliciously indulgent Christmas novella—take one broken-hearted billionaire and a woman who wants to save the world, mix in some holiday romance, and you might just get a Christmas miracle.’ What is your favourite childhood Christmas memory? “I have a large family with a lot of cousins, particularly on Mum’s side. We had a Christmas in Horsham, Victoria, once with all the cousins (17 cousins), not to mention all the aunts, uncles, great-aunts and uncles etc. There were so many Christmas presents under the tree, they almost hit the ceiling. Imagine that as a kid!’

Under the Spanish Stars by Alli Sinclair ‘An Australian woman’s life-changing journey, a family secret from the past, a passionate encounter...under the Spanish stars.’ Tell us about your favourite beach. “Montañita, Ecuador. Situated in southern Ecuador, this small coastal town is a melting pot of nationalities that is popular with surfers and hippies. The off-the-beaten-track town boasts pristine beaches and a warm, clear ocean. It’s not uncommon to find musicians jamming on the shore in the evening. Montañita is the perfect place to sit on the deck of a bungalow with your favourite book while you eat fresh mangos and watch the fiery sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Pure bliss.”

Christmas Assortment Box Hot Stuff: Surfing Loveanthology ‘Holiday stories you’ll never forget’. Hot sun, warm bodies, tight skin, electricity in the air... four romance authors including Carla Caruso, Maria Lewis, and Alli Sinclair—give Check out The Avoidable Orphanby T.M. their take on summer. Check out Tess Woods’ yarn where ‘a Cornish Clark. ‘How saving one small elephant helped beach retreat proves a full reawakening’. mend and unite a grieving family.’ My favourite summer holiday memory. What is your favourite summer holiday memory? Tell us about it. “I fell in love with a boy in Vanuatu in 1990! I was 17, had graduated high school and went for a family holiday. He was an Aussie too. His “I got married in December and we flew north to name was Aaron, and he was a total hottie who was also on holiday honeymoon in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. with his family. Within two days of meeting, I was head over heels. For 10 glorious days, Shaun and I were totally We snuck out on a catamaran one afternoon surrounded by the beauty of the African bush, when our parents were distracted at the bar the animals, the tranquil water, everything and I had my first real kiss while we sailed the nature. My favourite memory is opening the zip beautiful lagoon. It was picture-perfect. I was in the morning and seeing that a lion had walked there with my traditional Egyptian parents right outside our tent as we slept inside. Curious, who would have shot me had they known so they had investigated our campsite, but left to it was top-secret. We met up when we returned continue their hunt in the dark night. It was like to Melbourne but the sizzle of the tropics was reading a newspaper in the morning with all the gone and we had nothing in common except animals spoor in the sand. Sharing the bush with for being horny teenagers. One date and it my husband—amazing!” was over. I was pretty upset. He was my first boyfriend. But I had to laugh when my parents saw me moping. ‘Did you break up with Aaron then, hey?’ my dad asked. They had seen us every time on what we thought were our incredibly clever sneaky dates and they had been at the bar with Aaron’s parents, laughing at their kids who naively thought they could get away with a holiday romance unnoticed!”

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 6 www.romanceaustralia.com Festive & Summer Reads continued

Hot Christmas Nights box set Comments from authors pictured left to right. A LoveCats DownUnder boxset. Features seven sexy holiday looking for a little solitude of his own. When a summer storm stories from award-winning, bestselling and rising star traps them together, Neve realises that maybe Santa has been authors including Rachel Bailey, Michelle Douglas, Louisa listening to her wishes all along.’ George, Helen Lacey, Stefanie London, Kandy Shepherd and What is your favourite summer activity? Jennifer St George. “My fair skin absolutely hates the sun! So the best Check out Baby, It’s Hot Outside by Louisa George.‘When summertime activity for me is enjoying some good rugged cop Daniel Wade agrees to help organise his friend’s company, a cold beverage (probably a cider or a nice chilled Christmas wedding, it brings him face-to-face with the white wine), and a lovely shady spot to keep the sun off me. bridesmaid, his estranged wife. Emma is determined that One of my favourite spots in Melbourne is a place called divorce is on the cards, but sometimes all it takes is another The Boatbuilders Yard that’s right on the water, has huge chance to get things right.’ umbrellas and great food. Add a good book and that’s my What is your dream summer holiday destination, and perfect afternoon.” why does it appeal? Check out Christmas Wishes, New Year Kisses by Michelle “Waipu Cove, Northland, New Zealand. We go every year Douglas. ‘For small town veterinarian Josh Halliday, with seven families—camp, swim and barbecue. Lots of fantasising about his best friend is one thing. Falling in love fun and laughter with good friends. BLISS!” with her is quite another.’ Check out Her Small Town Christmas Wish by Jennifer St How do you spend your Christmas morning? George. ‘When superstar songbird Giselle Harrington is forced “My Christmas morning always starts with coffee...and to return to her hometown, she’s faced with a house full of chocolate! It’s the only morning of the year where chocolate terrifying childhood memories. Jake Carlton has never forgotten is on the breakfast menu. We’ve decided it’s a rather grand his teenage sweetheart and now that she’s back, he’s determined tradition to uphold.” to have a second chance to convince her to stay.’ Check out Her Christmas Cowboy by Helen Lacey. ‘Elyse What is your favourite Christmas meal? Prescott returns to Denary after 10 years with one thing on her “Any type of Christmas-themed cheesecake would have me mind—to make sure her teenage sister is home where she belongs. decking the halls with boughs of holly!” She doesn’t plan on seeing Brett McCrane again…but she finds a whole lot more under the Christmas tree than she planned.’ Check out Sleigh Bells in the Sand by Stefanie London. What is your favourite summertime activity? ‘American Neve Ritter has travelled all the way to Australia to avoid her family for the holidays. But her plans did not include “My favourite summer time activity is riding my horse accidentally breaking into the house of a hunky lawyer who’s along the beach.”

Summers with Juliette by Emily Madden ‘A story about love, loss and friendship—about how facing the past is the best way to face the future.’ When did you stop believing in Father Christmas, and why? “I can’t remember exactly how old, maybe nine or 10. I was a cynical child (maybe I still am!) and questioned logistics—we didn’t have a chimney, so how could he possibly deliver presents? Having all presents wrapped the same was a giveaway, too. I wrap the ‘Santa’ presents in completely different paper now. So far my kids haven’t cottoned on!” www.romanceaustralia.com 7 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 The Write Craft with Rachel Bailey Characters Part 1: Backstory, Baggage & Behaviour by Rachel Bailey Think about characters who have stayed with you, those even identical backstory. Think of two sisters whose parents who were so strongly drawn that they lived on in your divorce—their reactions are probably wildly different. Or memory when others faded. One of the attributes they four teenage boys who witness their friend’s death. Chances probably share is having a juicy backstory that affects their are all four will have different reactions to the event and actions during the story. Like John Thornton in North & carry different baggage from it. South whose father suicided when John was young, leaving Make the baggage specific to your character. How your him to support his family and pay off his father’s debts. You character perceives their history and how they feel about it can see that backstory influencing Thornton’s actions and will determine their baggage. decisions all through the story. Baggage examples: Or Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, who has been poor and starving and had to practically raise her younger Let’s go back to Jed from In The Blood. His backstory is that sister. Her character and her actions in the story are fully nine months ago he found out his father and grandfather informed by her history. are paedophiles. This is an original, complex and interesting backstory and there are heaps of ways a 17-year-old boy might To bring that roundness, the completeness, to the character, perceive what’s happened and feel about it. He might be it’s helpful to break their past down into three elements: disgusted and angry. Or he might be overcome with guilt that their backstory, their baggage, and their behaviours. his family has perpetrated this evil on the world. I’m sure you can think of several other options as well. But what about Jed? Backstory How does this backstory affect this specific character? Backstory is the life of experiences that have shaped your The baggage Jed developed from his history is a belief that, character. Every character needs a solid backstory and it’s since it was both his father and his grandfather, paedophilia a good idea to have a handle on their backstory before you is “in the blood”. And Jed is petrified. Even though he start writing, or soon after (though characters will often doesn’t have those types of feelings, he’s convinced himself throw in some extra surprises as you go!). that as he gets older they will surface and he won’t be able to Their backstory is what will motivate them and is the reason do anything about it. for acting and reacting the way they do in your story, so Jed’s backstory: Discovered his father and grandfather are don’t skimp on the time you devote to developing this. paedophiles. Strive to make their backstory complex, original and Jed’s baggage: Thinks it’s in the blood and he’ll turn into interesting. If it’s too simple, clichéd or uninteresting, one as well. your characters might not be able to pull the reader Another example, this time Zoey from The Honeymoon Trap. through your story. You’ll remember she has a congenital heart condition, which Backstory examples: is a constant threat to her life. As a child she spent a lot of ♥♥ Nine months ago, 17-year-old Jed found out his father time with dying children. Again, this is an original, complex is a paedophile. Then he discovered his grandfather is and interesting backstory and there are many ways a character also a paedophile who abused his father. – In The Blood might react to that childhood. Perhaps she became a fearful by Sara Hantz adult after internalising the ‘don’t stress your heart’ messages. Or maybe she’s desperate to help find a cure for her disease ♥♥ Zoey has a congenital heart condition, which is a and trained to become a paediatrician, nurse or medical constant threat to her life. As a child she spent a lot of scientist. Or perhaps she’s a hypochondriac because there’s time in hospital wards with children who were dying of been so much attention focused on her health all her life. But cancer. – The Honeymoon Trap by Kelly Hunter what effect did the backstory have on this specific character? ♥♥ Five years ago, when Finn was 18, his parents died and Thebaggage Zoey developed from her history is that she’s now he became legal guardian of his two younger sisters (who determined to seize the day and doesn’t like being wrapped were 16 and 11). – The Finn Factor by Rachel Bailey in cottonwool. She doesn’t hold grudges, is a good loser, and searches for the joy in everything. She’s also gregarious from Baggage having to regularly make new friends in hospital and is acutely What happened in the past (backstory) gives your character aware that people she knows could die. baggage that they bring forward into the present. The Zoey’s backstory: She’s always had a heart condition that backstory is what happened. The baggage is its effect on your risks her life. She’s spent a lot of time with dying children. character. Zoey’s baggage: She seizes the day, doesn’t like being Not everyone will bring the same baggage from similar or wrapped in cottonwool and is aware that people could die.

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 8 www.romanceaustralia.com The Write Craft continued The third example we looked at in the baggage section was feed her senses: the feel of velvet, the taste of strawberries, Finn from The Finn Factor. Five years ago, when Finn was and is tactile with people. 18, his parents died and he became legal guardian of his two Zoey’s backstory: She has a heart condition and spent time younger sisters. And like the first two examples, I’m sure you with dying children. could list several different ways a person might be affected by that history. What about Finn’s reaction? Zoey’s baggage: She seizes the day, doesn’t like being Thebaggage Finn has developed from his history is that he has wrapped in cottonwool and is aware that people could die. trouble drawing the line in his role as substitute parent and Zoey’s behaviour: She’s tactile with people and things, takes can be overprotective. He’s struggled to be the best parent time for goodbyes, and is brave even in the face of rejection. figure he can for his sisters but often thinks he’s failing. He also has trouble drawing the line in other relationships and Behaviour: Automatically falling into a ‘guardian’ role, slips into ‘guardian’ role with the people he loves, including Finn vets his best friend Scarlett’s boyfriends without her his best friend, Scarlett. knowledge. When he finds them wanting, his overly- developed protective instincts kick in and he scares them Finn’s backstory: For five years Finn has been legal guardian off. Now his sisters are older, he feels out of his depth of his two younger sisters. and struggles to let his 21-year-old sister choose her life’s Finn’s baggage: He worries he’s failing, can be overprotective, direction and to acknowledge that his 16-year-old sister is and slips into a guardian role. growing up. Finn’s backstory: For five years Finn has been legal guardian Behaviour of his two younger sisters. So you’ve created a solid backstory for your character. It’s Finn’s baggage: He worries he’s failing, can be overprotective, original, complex and interesting. Plus, there’s juicy baggage. and slips into a guardian role. Excellent. Now we need to look at how that backstory and baggage are brought forward into the story. How does it Finn’s behaviour: He crosses the line by interfering in his affect the way your character acts, the things she/he does in best friend’s love life and struggles to let his sisters make the story? How does it affect the way she/he reacts to events their own decisions. and the things the other characters do? Over to you. Have a look at the characters in your work- If you don’t carry off this step properly, you’ll get feedback in-progress. Make sure you’ve created a backstory for your saying that you need to show character not tell. You’ve told character that is complex, original and interesting. Consider the reader one thing about the character (the backstory and what baggage your character takes from the backstory. And baggage), but you’ve shown them something different by finally, show the behaviours your character has developed having behaviours that don’t match. When readers have to from the baggage in the story. make a choice in what to believe, they’ll believe what you show them, not what you tell them. So if you don’t get this Despite spending her life trying to scam more time to last step right, creating your great backstory was for nothing. read, Rachel Bailey managed to graduate with degrees in psychology and social work, and now makes up stories Behaviour examples: for a living. She writes intense and sensual books for Behaviour: Jed withdraws into himself. Most of his friends Harlequin Desire and fun and flirty books for Entangled. drop him and are mean. He doesn’t care. He begins to drink Her books have hit the USA Today bestseller list, are to dull his senses. The only thing keeping him sane is having published in over 26 countries and have been translated to look after his younger sister because his mum totally lost into 16 languages. Visit www.rachelbailey.com. the plot, and having his friend, Summer (who he loves). But at the back of his mind is the fear that he will end up hurting them both. Jed’s backstory: Discovered his father and grandfather are paedophiles. Jed’s baggage: Thinks it’s in the blood and he’ll turn into one as well. Jed’s behaviour: He’s isolating himself, drinking, worrying and trying to protect his sister and friend from himself. Behaviour: Zoey knows how fragile life is and goes after what she wants. She’s brave and puts her own wants on the table at several key points in the story, risking rejection. When they leave an event, she takes an hour to say goodbye to everyone. “Got to appreciate people.” She does things that www.romanceaustralia.com 9 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 How Do I…? Building Your Own Author Website and Blog – Pt 2 by Hazel Key In Part 1 of this article, I explained the initial steps I took in building my own website using WordPress. I described how to identify the purpose of your site, choose a host, domain and style, and establish a basic WordPress setup. In this article, I’ll be discussing themes, plugins, pages, menus, posts, SEO, and finally, your content. Let’s first review the mission statement for my own example Plugins website: Though plugins are essential for adding features to your ‘I want to sell more books by gaining the attention of visitors site, be careful with them. They can seriously conflict quickly (under three seconds) and hold it long enough to either with other features and functions. Check the plugin has get them to subscribe, read an excerpt, read a review or buy the been tested with you current version of WordPress before book—hopefully all four! I want visitors to feel good, to have activating. Update them regularly, backing up your site fun, to be intrigued and surprised, to laugh and cry, and to beforehand and checking that they’ve been tested with have so much fun that they spread the word as far and wide as possible. I want them to come back again and again, and I your current version of WordPress every time. I added a would love it if they wrote a review.’ Live Chat feature, a MailChimp ‘subscribe’ box plugin, and a great security plugin call Wordfence. My personal How to Choose a Theme favourites include the SiteOrigin range of themes and plugins, in particular their great new Custom CSS plugin, A theme is a basic design template that will define your which provides massive capability for changing the look of site. First rule: don’t use a theme that doesn’t have a ‘pro’ your site without requiring any knowledge of CSS. version. Many free themes come with viruses and spyware. Buying a well-built, reliable theme will cost you around $25, so why risk it? And that $25 usually entitles you to email support (which is a godsend, believe me). The safest place to find a theme is via the WordPress dashboard of your website or from WordPress.com. Have a good look around and consider carefully—if you have to change themes later, you’ll have a lot of work to do. At this point, it’s worth thinking ahead. Check that the theme you choose includes all the features you’re looking for. For example, as part of my strategy to immediately engage visitors, I decided I wanted a slideshow (or slider) to function as the blurb. A Responsive Layout option, which Pages means it adapts to being viewed on mobile devices and Decide what pages you want and then create them by tablets, is essential. clicking on Pages, giving the page a title (e.g. Home, And consider your shopping cart option—will it work News, Reviews, Buy, About). Take a look at my site for with this theme? I wanted to use a plugin called WP inspiration. Don’t worry about the content just yet; just eStore. It cost me $45, is easy to install and customise, and click Publish once you’ve inserted the title. Now, when you it’s perfect for selling books (sadly it’s not functioning yet set up your menu you’ll see these pages listed and have the though ‘cause I haven’t finished writing the book!). option to add them to the menu bar. Later you can edit Once you’ve chosen a theme, you’ll need to install it. Do that by logging into the dashboard. Here’s where you’ll do most of the work on your website. Here’s my URL for hazelkey.com: http://www.hazelkey.com/wp-admin/ index.php. The section in bold is of course what directs you to the login page. You’ll set up a username and password on the dashboard at your service provider—ask them for help and remember to keep a note of your login information somewhere safe. Once in the dashboard, you’ll see all the options listed in the menu bar on the left (LHS).

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 10 www.romanceaustralia.com How Do I…? continued

each of the pages to make it look the way you want. Your copyright-free images. The internet’s a great resource for theme provider’s email support will be useful here. quality images, and Google Images is a good place to start, but make sure you select the copyright-free option from Menus the menu at the top. Find the menus option in the LHS menu bar. Click Create I’m hoping at this point that you’ve taken a look around the a New Menu at the top, give it a name and click Create WordPress dashboard, tried a few things and learned that Menu to finish. On the LHS, there’s a panel listing pages you can change fonts, colours and layouts all by yourself, you previously published. All you do is drag the box for and that you don’t need me to describe the details here. If that page name into the menu pane on the RHS. You can you’re stuck, though, or bored, or just too busy, then email change the order and remove pages simply by dragging, me. I’ll be glad to help. too. Changing the appearance of your menu (colour, Now the really fun bit: the written content. I find that if font etc.) is decided by your theme. I called on my theme an author spends too much time talking about family or provider’s email support to help me with that. pets (what a cliché that’s become!) or their latest favourite Posts recipe, then they’ve lost me (unless it relates to their books, of course). I have no idea where authors get the idea readers The content of your site appears as a post and can include are interested in that stuff. Some might be, but I reckon text, photos, illustrations and videos. My posts appear on many are not. my News page—this is the blog element of your website, Instead, readers are interested in your characters, your plot, the stuff that you add to regularly. when the next book will be released and what it’s about. In What about SEO (Search Engine other words, they’re interested in themselves, because we all know that when a reader attaches to a book or an author Optimisation)? it’s because they identify with the premise of the story, the There’s a one-word answer to that—Yoast. This is currently characters, the plot. Stick to that and keep the rest to a one of the most reputable sources of information on minimum. SEO, and quite a bit of it is free including a free plugin: Good luck, and don’t be afraid to email me questions. I’ll WordPress SEO. Install it, and all other plugins from the do my best to help at [email protected]. dashboard. Simply click on plugins in the LHS menu and click on Add New at the top LHS of the screen. Type the name and WordPress will find it for you. As usual, you’ll need to install, activate and customise its features. Yoast publishes tutorials about WordPress SEO: yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/. What should I publish on my site? Images and photos are essential, but not too many. And make sure they, and the content, are relevant. If you don’t have a resource of images and photos, look online for www.romanceaustralia.com 11 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 Award Season Romance Awards: Telling Them Apart

There are a few local romance awards kicking around now and it can be confusing knowing the difference. Here’s a guide to who’s behind each and how their contest’s votes are tallied.

Australian Romance Readers Association and how long have they been running for? Chair Debbie Phillips The main aim of the AusRom Today Reader’s Choice Awards is to give readers another platform to rally behind What is the aim of your awards? How are they different their favourite Australian romance authors/novels across to the others and how long have they been running for? categories that include Best New Author, Best Established The Australian Romance Reader Awards were established Author, Cover of the Year, Author of the Year, and the in 2009 (with awards for books published in 2008) to coveted Book of the Year. recognise readers’ favourite romance fiction. AusRom is not too dissimilar to other key organisations, All awards are nominated and voted on by our members. such as ARRA and RWA, in that we maintain a similar philosophy: support the Australian romance industry and How are the awards judged? authors and help spread the word internationally that there The awards are based solely on our members’ reading is a plethora of talent Down Under! experience. Our members nominate the books they loved That philosophy, which was my inspiration for starting and then vote on a shortlist in each category. AusRom Today, is the catalyst for anything we do with the Who can vote? website. Awards seemed a logical progression in celebrating the achievements of authors. Only ARRA members. AusRom Today and the awards were established in 2014, ARRA is currently reviewing its awards process. Why are so this is our second year of operation overall. changes necessary and when will they come into effect? How are the awards judged? This year, for the first time, we have had a large number of complaints from both reader and author members about The process begins with a nomination period throughout authors trying to do deals for votes, voting as a block, or trying to influence the nominating and voting process in some other way. As a first step, this year we are precluding authors from nominating themselves. We are trusting them not to simply do deals with friends to ensure they are nominated. We want them to nominate and vote as readers. The review process will continue during this awards period and we may need to tighten our nominating and voting processes further if authors don’t follow these new guidelines. AusRom Today Publisher J’aimee Brooker (pictured with husband and business partner, Jason) What is the aim of your awards? How are they different

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 12 www.romanceaustralia.com Award Season continued September and October whereby readers worldwide are romantic book by an Australian or New Zealand author encouraged to nominate their favourite Australian romance can be entered. The books are judged by readers and scored author/novel through a private online survey. rather than voted for or nominated. The first Ruby (for The 10 most nominated authors in each category then Romantic Book of the Year) was awarded back in the ‘90s, progress to the public voting stage, which happens on and since then, the awards have adapted to reflect changing Facebook throughout November. Each nominee is tastes and markets in romantic fiction. announced with an image and the image with the most How are the awards judged? ‘likes’ wins. Books are entered in five sections: Long Romance, Winners are announced 7 December. Short Sexy Romance, Short Sweet Romance, Romantic Who can vote? Elements, and Novella. Our judges are romance readers Voting is open internationally and we’ve certainly seen from around Australia/NZ and overseas, who tell us the an incredible influx of voters (compared to the inaugural subgenres they prefer. awards held in 2014) from the US, UK, Canada, New Each book is read and scored by several judges against Zealand, and surprisingly European countries such as Italy specific criteria, such as characters, story and emotional and France. engagement with the reader. The four highest-scoring Essentially any reader who loves romance and Australian books in each section are the finalists and each section has authors is encouraged to vote. a winner. ARRA is currently reviewing its awards process so Who can vote? writers can’t vote for themselves or use ‘street teams’ to rack up votes. Do you foresee making any such changes? Seeing as the books are read and judged, there’s no voting involved. But anyone who loves reading romantic fiction I believe the transparency of voting has the potential to can be a judge. The only requirement is that you’re not a become a contentious issue and is likely to be just that in writer. the coming years. We aim for the Ruby awards to be a genuine reflection Street teams do divide opinion: people are either for of how our books are viewed in the marketplace, so the or against them. However, coming from a media and judging is by readers only. If you’d like to be involved, marketing background, I see it a little differently. contact [email protected]. To me a street team is akin to old-fashioned networking In the past, the awards have often had a ‘category with the bonus that, as authors, we’re able to routinely reward, perhaps incentivise, our particular network to help romance’ bent. Can the challenge be finding a broad spruik our product. range of readers as judges? Do you see foresee any changes for the awards process in light of this? From a branding perspective, that’s exactly what’s required to achieve sales outcomes and brand recognition. And Well, that’s a myth. Ruby winners have actually been whilst I understand that the purpose and indeed rewards skewed away from category romance! Each year we give of writing run deeper than simply making sales, it is an four Ruby awards—from 2016, there will be five, as we’re integral part of the writing process. including a section for novellas [replacing the Ella]—and From the AusRom Today Awards perspective, if you have only two of them are for category-length romance. And developed and nurtured a strengthened support network, in the ‘Long’ sections (60K+), only four out of 15 awards who can aid your growth as an author by boosting you since 2006 have gone to a book from a category line. along, then that’s certainly a marketing tool you should use Certainly, in our Short Sweet and Short Sexy sections (40- to your advantage. 60K) the majority of entries are category books. Until I don’t anticipate making any major structural changes to very recently, Harlequin Mills & Boon lines were the only the nomination/voting process, however, the digital world markets for short romances, and many Aus/NZ authors is very fluid. So we will continue to adapt and grow with still write for them. But we’re getting more short entries the market and in keeping with marketplace expectations. from other publishers as the markets—especially digital markets—diversify. Romance Writers of Australia So, no, we have a range of judges for all kinds of books. Contests Coordinator Erica Hayes Our main challenge has been the transition to digital What is the aim of RWA’s awards? How are they different books. Not all judges have an e-reading device and not all and how long have they been running for? books can be entered digitally. So for the moment, we’re Our aim is to promote excellence in romantic fiction. Any accepting a mixture of digital and print books. www.romanceaustralia.com 13 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 Georgette Heyer Remembered Queen of Regency Romance Honoured

In June, English Heritage installed a blue plaque on noted romance novelist Georgette Heyer’s birthplace in Wimbledon—and it was all thanks to her Victorian biographer, Jennifer Kloester, putting forth the idea. We spoke to Jennifer about flying in for the launch. How did you come up with the idea of a plaque for knew his Heyer, too! He spoke so well, as did Georgette’s Georgette Heyer and why is it significant? daughter-in-law, Susie, Lady Rougier, and her nephew by marriage, Major-General Jeremy Rougier. I had known of the famous English Heritage Blue Plaques from my research trips to England. You can’t really miss Susie and Jeremy both spoke about Georgette Heyer as them as they are on houses across London and in other they knew her and it was wonderful to hear their memories parts of the country. They only award 12 a year so it’s very and to get a strong sense of the woman behind the books. I prestigious to be selected. I always wanted to see Georgette felt so privileged to be there and to be able to speak about Heyer’s literary achievements properly acknowledged— her writing life and her contribution to literature. It was an that was probably my biggest motivation in writing her amazing, unforgettable experience and totally thrilling. I biography. I get sick of female authors being sidelined or also feel like I actually made a difference. dismissed as if novels by women are somehow less worthy How did you come to be Heyer’s official biographer? of notice. I think Heyer is a terrific writer and she created I was lucky enough to meet Georgette Heyer’s son, Sir a genre, so I felt her achievements should be recognised. Richard Rougier, on my first-ever research trip to England Fortunately, English Heritage agreed! for my PhD. I’d written to him and asked for an interview What was the launch like and getting to meet English and he very kindly wrote back and asked me to lunch. comedian Stephen Fry? That was the first of several trips and each time he and his The launch was amazing and thanks to the wonderful Jenny wife, Judy, would have me to stay. We got on very well and Richard gave me total access to his mother’s papers and Haddon, who organised the post-unveiling afternoon tea, archive. He used to tell me ‘you have carte blanche’! He was it was a truly marvellous celebration of Heyer. About 60 so kind and generous. people turned up for the actual unveiling and most of them then went on to the afternoon tea at St Mary’s church He was a bit hesitant about a biography in the early hall (the church where Georgette was married) where we years but thought very highly of my first book, Georgette were treated to readings from Heyer and some fabulous Heyer’s Regency World, and by the time I began writing anecdotes from her family and friends. the biography he was more open to the idea. Over time, he came to trust me and I think he knew I would do my It was a fabulous celebration and Stephen Fry was brilliant! best to do his mother justice—not by showing only the Utterly charming and erudite and delighted to be there to good stuff but by trying to write a balanced account of unveil the plaque for one of his favourite authors. He really the woman and her writing life. I hope I achieved that. Sadly, Richard died before the biography came out, but he did read an early draft and approved it. He also gave me full copyright permission to quote from Georgette’s letters, novels and short stories. That was a really huge thing for which I am deeply grateful. You also write young adult fiction (including The Cinderella Moment and The Rapunzel Dilemma). What are you working on now? Right now I’m having a lovely time writing a contemporary novel with a strong Regency element. It’s not like anything I’ve written before but I’m loving the writing! I find the Regency language comes fairly easily and it gives me real pleasure. I sort of feel at home in the era but that may be because of reading Heyer’s and Austen’s marvellous novels Australia’s Jennifer Kloester, comic Stephen Fry, Georgette Heyer’s daughter-in-law, Lady Susanna Rougier, and Heyer’s so many times! I’m hoping the book will be out in 2017. nephew by marriage, Major-General (retired) Jeremy Rougier, Check out a link to the Georgette Heyer tribute video: www. at the launch. youtube.com/watch?v=sXn9rnYEQgs.

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 14 www.romanceaustralia.com The Great Debate Themed Books: Yay or Nay? Moderated by Laura Greaves Christmas is almost upon us, and as well as being the season to be jolly, ‘tis also the season for a deluge of festive- themed books. Then there’s the Valentines-themed stories in February, the family sagas around Mother’s Day, and so on… This month’s Great Debate investigates whether writing to a theme is a help or a hindrance.

THEME FAN THEME AVOIDER Carla Caruso is the author of the festive novella, Secret Georgina Penney is the author of two chick-lit novels, Santo, as well as several rom-com novels. Published by published by Penguin. Her third, Summer Harvest, Penguin and HarperCollins, she can be found at will be published in January 2016. Connect with www.carlacaruso.com.au or www.theunitalianwife.com. Georgina at georginapenney.com. “If people didn’t love themed “The idea of writing to a entertainment, why else would theme is anathema to me. I’m TV networks screen National a full-time writer, so let’s face Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation it, I’m completely financially every silly season (and why motivated, entirely neurotic would it rate through the roof, and willing to kiss buttock, even though viewers must but I can usually get away with have seen the flick roughly a doing all that without having gazillion times before)? Not to fit my writing into a theme- to mention Love Actually or shaped box. Miracle on 34th Street… It’s not that I don’t like reading Don’t listen to the cheeky themed books. In fact, I rather Grinch to my right, the reason themes are a winner, enjoy them. I just have immense trouble writing them. from film to fiction, is because they’re FUN. Like my Why, you may ask? Well, in short, I’m a contrarian. nephew’s garbage truck-themed fifth birthday soiree last It’s the curse of my life. The minute someone tells me month (complete with ‘Pin Emmanuel in the Garbo to do something, no matter how logical or how much I Truck’ game), themes give you a chance to let your inner might enjoy it, I can’t do it. My fellow contrarians out child frolic. And even if they surround a religious holiday there will be able to relate. The minute someone tells you like Christmas, they’re usually more about the spirit and to do something, a part of your brain flashes ‘no’ in big frivolity of the season. neon letters. It’s entirely subconscious. My logical brain I fully embraced the season’s silliness in my festive novella, knows full well it isn’t helpful, but that little voice in my Secret Santo (Destiny Romance). It’s about a romance subconscious is already digging in its heels. blogger who heads off to a publisher’s party on Christmas In my case, this exasperating inner quality comes out in Eve. While not everyone’s cup of eggnog, others like the strangest of ways. For example, I was recently asked blogger HeySaidRenee loved it. Renee wrote: “Every time to write a themed short story. The brief was ‘sun, sand a new character was introduced, I smiled a bit more, as and fun’. they all have Christmas-themed names. The book was full ‘Righto,’ I said cheerfully. ‘I can do that.’ Feeling optimistic, of tongue-in-cheek humour... A perfect read after lunch on I sat at my keyboard, and moments later, had written Christmas Day, just before your afternoon nap!” the word ‘sharks’ twice, had invented a heroine who got Maybe it’s also because my background is in features sunburnt at the first shimmer of sunlight, and who was journalism, where you’d often have to dream up a theme wearing something entirely inappropriate for sun, sand and for a story or lift-out and run with it. For example, you surf. Sigh. might put together a Halloween-themed fashion shoot and And while I was happy with the story in the end, even then let the ‘ghoulishness’ touch the rest of the pages, from proud of it, I’m afraid this theme thing isn’t for me. Or the homewares to the books reviewed. A bit of fun! at least in the future, I’ll tell myself my theme is about I think of it like a fancy-dress party. If you’re not going to sharks, sunburn and badly fitting swimsuits and I’ll get use such an excuse to be a little silly, when will you?” the desired result!”

Laura Greaves is the author of The Ex-Factorand Be My Baby (Destiny Romance). Visit www.lauragreaves.com. www.romanceaustralia.com 15 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 Contests Contests with Erica Hayes The Ruby is Almost Here demand (PoD) edition, you can choose whether to enter digital or print. This might help you if your digital edition The 2016 Ruby Awards are nearly upon us! Entries open has DRM or is difficult to read because of a watermark. from 4 to 29 January 2016 for books published in 2015. Entry limits. A few changes for this year: To ensure we have plenty of room for everyone, there’s a limit of two novel-length books and four novellas per Farewell to the Ella. With RWA’s updated membership person (that’s per human being, not per pseudonym). categories in place, there’s no need for a separate contest for novellas (10K–40K). Instead, we’re including a Novella Publishers can no longer enter for you. We accept entries section in the Ruby. It’ll be just the same as the Ella, only only from authors. Some of you are used to your publishers you’ll enter your novellas on the Ruby entry page on the entering for you, but that no longer happens. So don’t forget! website, along with your novels. In the contest guidelines, you’ll find information on Going digital. Our online entry system was a great success how to enter, which section to choose (including the new in 2015, so we’re continuing it in 2016. Novella section), and more. Download the guidelines from www.romanceaustralia.com/p/116/Ruby For print books, you’ll submit by post, but still complete . your entry form online. Little Gems ‘Sunstone’ Short Story Contest If your book is digital-only, you’ll be uploading digital files. These will need to be DRM-free and uploadable. We accept Our ever-popular Little Gems short story contest will open .epub, .pdf and .mobi. Enter ALL of these formats that you on 11 January. The 2016 gem is sunstone. have available to help us allocate your book to judges. Enter your 3000-word romantic short story (on the ‘sweet’ Make sure your files are clearly readable and free of side— no higher rating than ‘M’, please!), and don’t forget watermarks. Our judges have reported problems viewing to include the sunstone gem in your tale. the files on certain devices. Give yourself the best chance There’s prize money for the top three placegetters. And the and make sure your files are clean! top 12 to 14 stories will also be published in our annual New for this year: if your digital book has a print-on- Little Gems anthology. So get your stories ready!

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 16 www.romanceaustralia.com Marketing Marketing Questions Answered by Sara Hood What is the biggest enemy of That’s it. Simple! the perfect marketing plan? – APOLOGY. Last month I promised Q Savannah, Melbourne that you would find a Facebook &A cheat sheet on my blog. Erk! As This question is so easy to answer because you’ve actually those who follow my blog or social answered it yourself, Savannah. media will know, I went viral with The biggest enemy facing any marketer is seeking a Facebook post last month (and, perfectionism. Simply because there is no such thing when of course, blogged about it). I got it comes to marketing. It’s not like adding up a column so excited that I completely forgot of figures and getting an answer that’s right or wrong. to provide the cheat sheet. Actually Marketing is part science but part art. I completely forgot to even write It’s that art bit that means you can never find perfection. it. Grovelling apologies. I will get onto it and will advise on As you know from the art of writing, there is no perfect Facebook when it’s done. PS. If anyone knows how to add an paragraph, sentence or even book. In the same way, there eighth day to the week or maybe some more hours between is no perfect marketing plan. In your writing you create sunrise and sunset, please urgently advise. the best book you can, so do exactly the same with your Have a marketing question? Send it through to marketing plan. Create the best one you can and then (very [email protected]. Sara Hood has more important) implement it. than 30 years’ experience in marketing and marketing As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a communications. Head to www.marketing4writers.net. cat. It’s the same with marketing. So whilst there’s no such thing as perfection, there’s also no such thing as ‘only one way to do it’. A good plan needs to be well thought through, MEMBER NEWS well-planned, and then stuck to like glue to the end. That Janet Gover is, unless of course, you realise part way along there’s a fatal ’s outback romance, Flight to Coorah Creek flaw, so then, yes, you do need to revise. But really only if (Choc Lit), has won the Aspen Gold Award, presented it’s a truly fatal flaw. Having said that, jumping from one by the Heart of Denver Chapter of the Romance Writers idea to another is a sure-fire way to fail. It’s better to stick at of America. It is the same book which was a finalist in implementing one average plan than lots of different bits of the ‘romantic elements’ category of this year’s (Aussie) fabulous plans. Ruby Awards. Janet says: “I tied for the award with Nancy Herkness, The other thing about seeking the perfect plan is that it who is a two-time RITA award nominee. I am so means you may never start because you are always looking pleased, as an Australian author of Australia-set books, to make it perfect, which is, as I’ve said, an impossible quest. to get such recognition in the US.” So to revise the statement in the previous paragraph: it’s better to get going with an imperfect plan that will do the job and do it well, and then stick at it, than it is to continue Janet Woods has signed a contract with Soundings for to refine, revise and seek perfection—and never start at all. the audio version of her December release, Foxing the So, Savannah, the answer is that the biggest enemy to the Geese (Severn House). perfect marketing plan is you seeking to create the perfect marketing plan. Bet you didn’t think that would be my SUBMISSIONS answer, hey? Think of the stress that immediately relieves you Due to the success of its 2015 Rocky Romance anthology, WA of! Instead, it’s quite simple: relax and create a marketing plan publisher Serenity Press is making it an annual occurrence. that will do the job and do it well, and then get going on it. Serenity will open submissions early January 2016 to WA Of course, once you get going you’ll come up with lots of romance writers. The theme will be ‘hometown romance’. wonderful new ideas and I just wrote that you need to stick to Serenity says 10,000 words per story fits this collection the plan and not jump about. Does that meant those ideas are well and asks writers to stick with the theme. lost? Absolutely not. Write them down and tuck them away Contact Karen at [email protected] for in a safe place for when you need to create a new plan. No submissions. You can also request to be added to its plan lasts forever. So whilst I said stick with the plan and don’t private Facebook page. There is no cost for authors hop about, you also need to set an expiry date for your plan and there will be a share of royalties based on sales. (usually 12 months) and then review, revise and refine. That’s www.serenitypress.org. the time to dig into that pot of ideas you’ve been collecting. www.romanceaustralia.com 17 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 A Writer’s Life with Anne Gracie Christmas Wishes by Anne Gracie It’s nearly the end of the year and cards are starting to like into it, have fun with it, toss whatever you like into arrive, bearing words like ‘peace’, ‘joy’, ‘hope’, ‘faith’ and the mix. Surprise yourself. Yes, you will get stuck/lost/ ‘love’. I don’t know about you, but at this time of the year, confused/frustrated—that’s the job. The struggle is often I usually take some time to reflect on the year that’s been. I what makes the story deeper, richer, better. The joy in look back at the fresh bright plans I made at the beginning writing is the excitement you bring to it, the feeling of of the year and compare them with what I’ve achieved. delight when you finally see how you can make it work. If I’m not careful it will turn into a litany of failures— And the big happy sigh when it’s finally done. the word counts I didn’t achieve, the books I didn’t finish, And then there’s the very special joy you get when a reader the lists I didn’t make, and so on. Writers are really good falls in love with your world or characters or story, when at embracing the negatives; we have a tendency to beat somebody ‘gets it’. We are all readers as well as writers, ourselves up. We are drama queens—in our heads, at least. so don’t forget to share the joy around. Write to authors It’s what makes us good writers. Fiction thrives on drama. whose books you loved, tell your friends about them. So we need to work to ensure we nurture ourselves, embrace the positives, recognise the many positives, and Balancing Hope with Faith above all, be kind to ourselves. So that’s the first wish I’ll Hope is a two-edged sword. In one sense, we exist on hope. make for you: peace. Every time we put pen to paper or create a document, it’s an exercise in hope. Each time we send out a story to an Giving Yourself Peace editor, agent or direct to the market, it’s an exercise in hope. Come up with a regular strategy to give yourself peace, And the genre we write in is ultimately all about hope. peace in which to dream, peace in which to write. Fiction It’s the most positive, the most hopeful genre of all—the is all about stress, worry, drama—for the characters, not belief that love can change the world, that bad times can be the writer. So stop worrying about the things you cannot overcome, that it’s all possible. It’s an amazing gift to write control—your numbers, how it will sell, how readers will a book that gives people hope, and it’s what we do. react. Instead find a place of peace in your mind where you can play with your story, go deep into your characters, find But hope can also spin into expectations and when our the unique world that only you can create. hopes are not fulfilled, we tend to be crushed. So balance your hopes with a daily reminder of faith—faith in yourself Above all, stop comparing yourself to other people. There and your writing, faith in the intrinsic value of what you is no point. There will always be people doing better than write (quite apart from sales, lists and reviews). Because we you, writers who are more successful, some of whose write about the most powerful force in the universe: love. success you think is unjustified and undeserved, compared to yours. Thinking like this can drive you crazy and make Celebrate Love you bitter and twisted. Envy is not a good position from which stories are grown. It can poison your joy in writing. We do it every day in our books. We share it with readers and with those who depend on us. But spare a little love Reclaiming the Joy for yourself and your muse—that little child still inside you, who first fell in love with the magic of stories and felt Joy is your fuel. Remember when you first started writing, the joy of spinning worlds and people and tales out of her when stories first started spinning in your mind, what fun imagination. She needs to be loved and cared for, and so you had making up those stories—for no other reason than do you. to have fun with it. You were probably just a kid at the time. That kid is your muse. You need to protect her—she’s So look back at 2015, smile and be proud of whatever you’ve very vulnerable. You need to work to keep her playing and done. Whether you’ve only joyful, free-spirited and unfettered. just started writing, finished your first manuscript or Grinding out story after story will exhaust you. You want have published a heap of the stories to bubble from you, like a mountain spring, books, we’re all on the fresh and full of delight. You cannot do this if you’re always same journey. Celebrate worrying about the market. Stop thinking about your your work and that of audience—think about your characters, your world. Play, your fellow writers. We’re a experiment, have fun with your writing. community to be proud of. Finding the joy of writing doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. The first draft is the exploratory draft. Throw whatever you Anne Gracie

Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 18 www.romanceaustralia.com Adelaide 2016 RWA Conference The Husband-and-Wife Team Heading to Our Shores

Adelaide is set to play host to a number of esteemed writers and academics come conference time next year. And two names on people’s lips are bestselling historical romance author May McGoldrick and suspense writer Jan Coffey, who are, in fact, the pen names of American husband-and-wife team Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick. We’re delighted that both Nikoo and Jim will be speaking at our 2016 conference, plus Jim will be presenting an academic paper under the History of Love stream. The pair recently signed a three-book historical romance deal with St Martin’s Press, with the first title due out next year. On the couple’s website, it says: “Nikoo, a mechanical engineer, is a born storyteller. She is all about characters and feeling. Jim is about sense of place and action. “Together, they have crafted over 30 fast-paced, conflict- filled historical and contemporary novels and two works of nonfiction under the pseudonyms, May McGoldrick and Jan Coffey.”

Jim also tells how they first started writing together. We both knew it was better than anything we could have “When our first son was born, we were looking for a way done individually. We sent it off, certain that it was a prize- to support ourselves and not put the baby in day-care if winner (and it was!). The ink was not dry on that story we could help it. So Nikoo went back to her career in when I turned to Nikoo and said, ‘That was cool. What do engineering and I went to graduate school. That way we you want to do next?’ Without a blink of an eye, she said, could take turns at home with the little guy. ‘Let’s write a novel.’ And that’s how it all started.” “We always knew that we were storytellers at heart. So Nikoo and Jim continue to write historical romance, while I was in grad school and had a chance to take a suspense, mystery and young adult novels together. The creative writing seminar, I jumped at it. The students wrote prolific authors are also two-time Rita finalists and the stories and then read them to the class. After each story, winner of numerous writing accolades, including the we’d all give our critique of it.” Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers’ Choice Award and Jim continues: “When I would write my story, Nikoo read the Daphne du Maurier Award. They reside in a lakeside it first. Her comments always went something like this: community in Connecticut. ‘Jim, the prose is beautiful and the setting and descriptions For more on the upcoming speakers, visit www.facebook. are pure poetry, the plot is tight, and the action is riveting. com/MayMcGoldrick and www.nikooandjim.com. But there’s not a single character in here that I give a Or check out their recent ebook novella, Thanksgiving damn about.’ So I, of course, simply chalked up her final in Connecticut, at www.amazon.com/Thanksgiving- comment to the fact that she was an engineer.” Connecticut-A-Romantic-Comedy-ebook/dp/ Fast forward a few years and Jim was teaching in a B009KOQS80. university in Pennsylvania and saw a call for submissions The 25th anniversary annual RWA conference will for a national writing contest. be held in Adelaide from 19–21 August 2016 at the “It occurred to me that one of my stories would be perfect Stamford Grand Hotel, located at vibrant Glenelg. Visit for it. I dug it out, polished it up, but before I could mail www.romanceaustralia.com/p/229/Adelaide-16 to book. it, Nikoo said, ‘Let me read it over.’ She did. And then, with that diplomatic way she has, she looked at me and said, ‘Don’t bother.’ University ain’t of “After a brief, more or less civilised discussion, we decided Love to sit down, side-by-side, and revise the story together. We love worked on it for the entire weekend. rand! Popular Romance Studies History of Love “In the end, the story was transformed from a one- Adelai e 2016 dimensional action tale into a story with feeling and depth. d www.romanceaustralia.com 19 Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 NEW RELEASES DECEMBER 2015

E E E P E P P P E E 1916-ish A Christmas In A Kiss From Kringle A Mummy to Make An Outback Between The Vines Bodyguard…To Broken Threads By Her Side Christmas Ebony McKenna Cornwall Rhian Cahill Christmas Christmas Tricia Stringer Bridegroom? Maggie Lizzy Chandler Assortment Box Indie Published Tamara Gill Escape Publishing Susanne Hampton Louise Reynolds Harlequin MIRA Nikki Logan Christensen Escape Publishing T.M. Clark & Mel Indie Published Mills & Boon Destiny Romance Mills & Boon Indie Published Teshco Medical Forever Romance Indie Published

E E E E E E P P P P Christmas at Coorah Dark Child: Dark Child: Dark Child: Dark Child: Fire in the Kitchen Foxing The Geese From Christmas to Her Doctor’s Hold On To Me Creek Bloodsworn Bloodsworn Bloodsworn Bloodsworn Donna Allen Janet Woods Forever? Christmas Proposal Victoria Purman Janet Gover Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Liquid Silver Books Severn House Marion Lennox Louisa George Harlequin MIRA Choc Lit Adina West Adina West Adina West Adina West Publishers Mills & Boon Mills & Boon Momentum Momentum Momentum Momentum Medical Medical

E E E E E P E E P E Home to Bindarra Hot Christmas Hot Stuff: Surfing Journey’s End on the Lady Hope and the Lone Star Holiday Love, Dogs and Melting Her Dom’s Open Wounds Pieces of Me Creek Nights Love Western Plains Duke of Darkness Proposal Other Catastrophes Heart Camille Taylor Jacquie Juanita Kees Rachel Bailey, Carla Caruso, Isabella Maggi Andersen Yvonne Lindsay Coleen Kwan Suzy Shearer Limitless Publishing Underdown Indie Published Michelle Douglas, Maria Lewis, Hargreaves Indie Published Mills & Boon Escape Publishing Siren Bookstrand Escape Publishing Louisa George, Alli Sinclair & Indie Published Desire Helen Lacey, Tess Woods Stefanie London, Harper Impulse Kandy Shepherd & Jennifer St George Indie Published

P P E E E P P P E Ravensdale’s Defiant Second Chance Secret Confessions: Sidekick Returns Summer and the Summer Blockbuster Summertime in Tears Of The The Billionaire’s Captive Angela Verdenius Backstage – The Auralee Wallace Groomsman Carol Marinelli, Sydney Cheetah Christmas Gift Melanie Milburne Indie Published Complete Collection Escape Publishing Cathryn Hein Kate Hoffmann, Carol Marinelli, T.M. Clark Cheryl Adnams Mills & Boon Sexy KM Golland, Indie Published Marion Lennox & Fiona McArthur, Harlequin MIRA Random Romance Eden Summers, Brenda Jackson Emily Forbes & Lexxie Couper, Mills& Boon Amy Andrews Zaide Bishop, Special Releases Mills & Boon Shona Husk & Special Releases Rhian Cahill Escape Publishing

E P E P E P The Cowboy’s Gift The Perfect Husband The Protector The Seer’s Daughter: The Slave Trap What Rosie Found S. E. Gilchrist Chris Taylor Allison Butler Beyond the Grave S. E. Gilchrist Next Indie Published LCT Productions Escape Publishing Series, Book 1 Indie Published Helen J Rolfe Athena Daniels Fabrian Books Indie Published

E Title available as ebook Please visit www.romanceaustralia.com/newreleases to upload your new release cover for a future edition of Hearts Talk. You can also include a URL to link to a book page or author website. Covers P Title available as print book (and often ebook too) and information must be received by the 8th of the month prior to publication.

Romance Writers of Australia is proud to employ the Endeavour Foundation to produce Hearts Talk and many other official RWA publications. www.endeavour.com.au Hearts Talk ~ December 2015 20 www.romanceaustralia.com