So RWA came and went. I came home to Queensland sick with flu and was even put on an antibiotic. I was lucky. Shaun (my husband) didn’t get to the doctor in time, and his turned into bronchitis. Yes, he is now on his second course of antibiotics. Another friend from conference didn’t go to the doctor until she couldn’t even write, and has now landed in bed with phenomena. Its a bad flu season this year, and it seemed to hit the Romance Writers Conference attendees in full force.

But what hit me worse than flu was that there is always still so much to learn. I have been in this business for a long time (over 16 years since I wrote and had my first magazine article published.) And yet, in an industry that is constantly changing, evolving, there is so much I need to keep abreast of. Gone are the days when a novelist could just be at home and write, and that was all. Today, so much more is expected from you, and its organisations like RWA that help me to keep up.

A quick wrap up of conference ( a few things I have taken from my FB and twitter pages...)

Hotel Decor:
Never underestimate the power of decorations within a hotel. After check in and within moments of doing this, the tweets and FB posts from us romance writers began about the Dexter influenced room decorations. the blood splattered curtains and the poor victim who’s neck was obviously cut on the bed - and then there was the canvas that went along with this theme too - of the person who attempted to fight back, but lost against the mirror... oh dear... I don’t think it was what the interior decorator had in mind, but thats exactly what everyone in the suspense writing industry saw in these rooms....















Actually I hauled in Jeff Lindsay in Miami of Dexter fame, into this conversation too - this is from my FB page:






















Thank goodness Jeff Lindsay has proved over and over that he has a great sense of humour and luckily we share the love of boats!

Thursday found me at a published author Professional Development Day - and wow was I glad I took the extra time to complete this day along with the core conference.

Firstly - the food on this day was amazing - I could eat almost everything off the normal conference menu for a change!

After listening to Jim Azevedo, Marketing Manager from Smashwords explain not only the growth within the self published market, but the bar being raised on the quality of the work now being self published and put up onto the internet.

I was in the room when the amazing Marie Force revelled that she went from earning $1500 or something like that a year to $3 million with her writing/books. Yip you saw right - SELF PUBLISHED and earning in the big money - and man does that lady work her backside off to achieve that! But it was her family who captivated me, her son and hubby. I had no idea who they were when I was checking in, and yet - when i was having trouble with my iphone and airdrop they tried to help, and didn’t give up until they had sorted out how to do it. For some reason my friend and fellow harlequin Mira author Alli Sinclair’s phone and mine just refused to talk to each other... no matter what we did. But the men in the Force family were not letting it go, they sorted out how to get it to work... I just couldn’t get it to work with Alli.... Thank you to Mr and Master Force for being such techies that you were determined to help us!!! ( And thanks Marie for bringing them to conference - they were an awesome addition!)

I did an interesting session with Susan Donovan about The Users Guide To The Creative Writers Brain, but I seriously enjoyed Maya Hall’s ( Maya Hall Pty Ltd, Chartered Accountant) Practical Issues for your Romance Writing Business more because I feel that this is a side of writing that many writers neglect - they think they can’t or are incapable of looking after their finances. And they are wrong. Thats another change in todays writing world - you need to be business savvy in the market, and if you aren’t or don’t want to be - hire someone to help you - let them look after your money - don’t let it just flow through your fingers like water!

The day ended with a Literacy High tea.This is just my own video so please excuse the shakiness...
The awesome Jennifer St George, Christina Brooke and Cherry Adair singing...


















Remembering this was a debate.... it was hilarious!

Lastly the big news on that day was that I revealed the draft cover for Shooting Butterflies, and it was revealed to all in the Harlequin flyer at conference. Yip I was so excited to see it out there - sometimes I still want to pinch myself to remind me that its real, and Harlequin really do buy my books to share them with everyone!
























This is what my books looked like next to each other on the big screen at our Harlequin dinner.




















And so Thursday came to a close... and Friday called...

James Scott Bell - held onto his every word - what can I say - I’m a fan....Awesome full day masterclass!
















Friday night was the Destiny cocktail party... Shaun and I had planned, and made our outfits - yes I bought the leopard skin print corset as dang I couldn’t have worn anything better for what I write! But he went above and beyond and grew a beard for 3 weeks. Then on the night he sculptured it into this amazing porn star looking handle bar! The Policeman from The Village People never looked so great as when my hubby pulled off this outfit. The judges thought so too as he came 3rd in the line up - and he won a box of chocolates - that we didn’t have to share with the kids who were back in Queensland!








Shaun & I in the foyer about to go into the pink lights....


























Grey, Gayle Ash & me....


Below: Kaz Delaney, Shaun, Me, Amy Andrews and Anna ClearyAbove: Jacinta Di Mass, Shaun and I.

























Harlequin Babes: Me, Lilia Kanna, Michelle LeForest and Cristina Lee.


















Shaun, Me, Michelle LeForest and Cristina Lee. ( Yes these are my awesome BIG bosses....LOL)




















Me, Shaun and Kaz Delaney.

















Me, Cherry Adair and Shaun...An ex-South Africa get together...


















Dakota Harrison, Shaun and I...




















Kendall Talbot, Shaun and I.





























Okay so we had MAJOR fun!!!!

Okay will fill you in on Saturday and Sunday next time.. its time to end this blog pos as its turning into a novella!!!

Chatter soon!

Bye 4 now
Tina