A shot of inspiration…
I've just returned home from the Romance Writers of Australia conference, which was held in Sydney over the weekend. Picture 350+ avid romance writers. It's a little like a flock of seagulls; noisy and circling the food tables, going ‘MINE! MINE! MINE!!' before they pounce on the pastries. The keynote speaker was Cherry Adair – who is my new lady crush, with her fabulous shoes – and Marie Force was an international guest, plus a VERY savvy business lady. I want to be Marie Force when I grow up. Or maybe I just want to have her daily word output.
Highlights of the conference:
* Cherry Adair. Seriously, this lady is hilarious and such a ball of energy. If you ever need a keynote speaker, send her an invitation! She was still going strong in the bar on Sunday night I hear, regaling everyone with either words of inspiration or possibly tall tales…
*Cocktail Party. The costume theme this year was Leather and Lace. Kudos to the lady who pulled off Cher.
Yes, in that outfit.
* Finally meeting Anne Gracie in person. She has been raving about my series online and spruiking it to everyone she meets, and is just such a lovely, gracious lady, as well as a top-notch writer. For a debut author (well, kind of debut), it's kind of like being a newbie on the music scene, and having Beyonce rave about your work. I'm like, OMG, but you're Anne Gracie!
* Getting to meet so many fabulous readers – and authors – at the Australian Romance Readers Association book signing.
*Watching the waitressing staff try not to piss themselves laughing during Cherry Adair's Literacy High Tea speech. I could just see the poor girl near me repeating, ‘You must be professional. Be professional, be professional…', in her head as she poured my tea while Cherry described a sex scene on horseback during a chase scene, along with accompanying gestures. I'm guessing that's been the craziest – and most entertaining – conference the waitress has ever worked at…
* The ‘blood-splash' curtains in the hotel rooms. Whoever thought that would be a good idea in decorating?
* Meeting all my writing buddies again, and making many more new friends!
Shenanigans were involved, as always, with my writing buddies (from left to right): Kylie Griffin (fantasy romance), Jennie Kew (erotic and contemporary), moi, and Dakota Harrison (contemporary). PS, this is the costume party, we don't usually dress like that.
* Turning up to the cocktail party and walking past my friend Kylie Griffin forty times, because I didn't recognise her in her costume – and she doesn't usually attend. (Also, I didn't have my glasses on, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I kept thinking, ‘Who is this woman that is grinning at me? Do I know her?' Kudos to Dakota, who saw her name tag and demanded to know where she'd gotten Kylie Griffin's name badge from, before the penny dropped!
*The amazing food! It's been the best conference in terms of food – was devastated to get to the cocktail party after eating a burger, only to find heaps of delicious platters being circulated! Usually we are all starving and that one glass of champagne goes straight to your head! (Ha, ha, one glass…) We thought we'd be so wise this year and it totally backfired. Also, the awards dinner menu was superb! It's alternating plates, and usually I always get the meal I don't like, but everything on the menu was fantastic.
*Eating my body weight in passionfruit over the weekend. The fruit platters were OMG, Nom, nom….
In summing up, conference is always a shot of inspiration, and my mind is reeling with ideas I can't wait to get to work on.
In other news, there was a Facebook Chat Party this morning (or yesterday's evening if you're American), and if you want to check out what went down, click here (in which we bribe you with pics of tattoos and hot, bearded men). Featuring Meljean Brook, Karina Cooper, Kristen Callihan and Delilah S. Dawson (and me), it was a blast.
