Well I had so much fun at the Romance Writers Association Conference in Sydney. Look at where we were right on the waterfront at Coogee! On Thursday I attended a workshop and we had Wendy Harmer – http://www.wendyharmer.com/ – who is an author of chick lit, hen lit and YA books and a well known comedian. Yes she had us in fits of laughter as she showed us some of her nags from her book Nagging for Beginners. Hilarious stuff.
We had one of the writers from the Underbelly series talk and many others. We were fed well also…one of my favourite parts…the choc éclairs were scrummie.
On Friday afternoon it was the big book signing event and I was positioned next to Bronwyn Parry. It was great to finally meet Bron along with Helene Young who you can all find on http://www.outbackromances.com/
I also got to meet Bec Sampson who was in an online critique group who helped crit the first few chapters of my book that’s due out in March next year. Yes MARCH next year….i can’t wait.
I spent some time with my publisher and met another Penguin author Katherine Scholes. I got her to sign my copies of her book too. Already finished one and loved it.
I will have some more photos and updates of my trip but when my husband returns home on the weekend with my camera.
We meet family in Hopetoun over the weekend to celebrate our niece’s 1st birthday. We arrived friday night to a mess as the caravan park had huge amounts of rain a few days before and our anix showed just how much. Hmmm….a bit of cleaning was needed but thankfully we had it sorted quickly. We had rain most of the first day…wish I could have brought some home with us as we still have a few farmers who haven’t done any seeding yet. No hair pulling and screaming going on yet but the stress is still there…and the question about wether to seed or not! Come on mother nature…spare us a little bit!
But our last two days were great. This picture is where we fished one afternoon and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. No wind!! Amazing in Hopey. And salmon was caught for tea. *yes – my eating to walking ratio was blown out of the water but it was a weekend off…and it was too cold so I had to eat lots!*
Well we have booked our tickets, we are off to Melbourne and Sydney…mainly to visit family and so I can attend the RWA conference in Sydney. I’ve never been to one before andIi will finally get to meet Bronwyn Parry and Helene Young. Bronwyn is also up for a Romantic Book of the Year award and I’m glad I will be over there for all the excitement! Fleur McDonald is also up for the same award….so even more reasons to be excited. Congrats to them both along with all the other finallists!
As for my own news…at the meeting I got the thumbs up for my next book, offer will be on its way this week and then into the nitty gritty. Book cover, title, final edits and working on the book trailer also. I might even get back to work on book 3 if I have time.
But for now I have pumpkin scones that need cooking as I have a friend coming over this afternoon, I can’t wait!
Here is book two. Still unnamed, but I’ve been calling it Clean Cut for want of a better name. I have just finished putting all these changes onto the computer! Easier said than done. But it’s a huge weight off my mind now its done. I then had a house cleaning frenzy…believe me it was well overdue!!
I went off to Lake Grace on Friday to do a talk for the Volunteers at the Visitors Centre. Beautiful spot there, if you’re ever in Lake Grace you must drop in and have a look around! Next week I will be off to Newdegate to catch up with the local bookclubs at the library for a chat. Not looking forward to the night time driving along the back gravel roads, will have to take the ute and watch for roo’s.
Next on my list of things to do is collect pictures on shearing for the website and start making the book trailer! (Hopefully we will pick a name for the book soon lol)
I was lucky to be speaking at the Lipstick in the Limelight event for 2009 in Wagin [Otober 27]. All about empowering rural women, it was an initiative of the Wagin Woodanilling Landcare Zone and an amazing day.
I met some wonderful rural ladies (90 attended) and we had Maggie Dent speaking up first.
Maggie is an author, parenting and resilience specialist and inspirational presenter. She is currently running seminars nationally and internationally that increase awareness in the importance of building personal and professional resilience.
Her topic was Wonderful Juicy Wise Women! I was blown away by her talks which were spot on the money and very very funny. I feel blessed to have met her and after a minute of meeting her you couldn’t help hug her and feel loved.
Her words of wisdom were wonderful. Girls don’t aim for perfection … its not possible, and that we need to take time out for ourselves … real time out, not having a cuppa whilst doing the dishes, feeding the kids and mopping the floor.
Girlfriends are important too, and to eat that choc muffin, as you never know how long you’ll be around … enjoy life.
I took away a lot of valuable lessons and I can’t thank Maggie enough for her little book on Black Duck Wisdom.
Maggie had us all relaxed so I was ready when it came time for my speech on The Family Farm and my journey.
Among other speakers keep an eye out for Gary Warden and his exciting Days of Change program which aims to help West Aussies to take simple steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2010.
It was a great day and I will be going back in 2011 when it’s next on! Well done girls.
On Monday, 6th July, I will be at the Midland Gate Shopping Centre at Dymocks from 1pm. I am still to set the rest in concrete but will keep you all posted.
