Romance Writers of Australia - conference day three wrap up

The shoes! 

So, how long can Emmie live on too much wine and not enough sleep? Three days, apparently. The red wine this evening, although the exact same wine as I've been merrily gobbling up for the past few nights, just didn't taste quite right. But that's okay, because there was so much going on that made being a little more alert and alive worthwhile.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First off, the question everyone on Facebook wanted to know -- would I be brave enough to wear the leopard-print platform heels I'd bought a few weeks back?? And the answer was YES! But only up to lunchtime, then I had to swap to ballet flats. They were actually surprisingly more comfortable (and stable) than I'd thought. Although I did feel VERY tall in them.

Fuzzy pic of
Eloisa James

The keynote speaker this morning was Eloisa James. She gave a terrific keynote full of touching moments and personal anecdotes about her personal journey to writing success. She had the entire room swallowing back tears as she told the story of her mother and her own journey into motherhood. Her key messages were about using the emotions and moments of your own life to build your stories -- "best sellers are born of strong emotion," she said.

Fun fact I learned from the Harlequin presentation this morning: 1 in every 6 mass market books sold in North America is a Harlequin. Whoa.

The lovely Paula Roe took
this photo of me at lunch
with my virgin pina colada!

After this, I have to admit, my conference coverage is woefully inadequate for a while. I had a couple of people to meet, and then Birgit Davis-Todd from the Toronto office of Harlequin took me and a few of the other authors from the Toronto-based lines out for lunch and to catch up. Yes, you heard it right -- I had to go have lunch with my publisher (still so exciting to say that). :)

So the next session I attended was titled New York, New Directions, and it was a panel made up of literary agent Helen Breitwieser, editor from St. Martin's Press Monique Patterson, authors Alexandra Sokoloff and Eloisa James and Harlequin editor Birgit Davis-Todd.

I wrote quite a few notes from this session because I thought there were some interesting things discussed. The two questions that were asked that provoked the most interesting answers were:

What will publishing look like in two years?

• people will continue to be reading more than ever
• we will need to find new ways to reach readers who are no longer browsing for books in bookstores -- options like "gamification" and using online algorithms to find them will become important, as readers want to become immersed in the world of their authors (I'm really interested in exploring this topic further!) 
• there will be more overlap between books, TV, movies and games
• e-readers continue to provide a more immediate and intimate connection between authors and readers -- and so does social media
• authors need to be aware of their on-line brand (their franchise, Eloisa James called it) and reputation and of the intimacy of relationships with readers now -- readers think they know you
• marketing, distribution, etc, might change, but at heart readers will still always want a good story
• writers shouldn't worry too much about trends -- your book might be the one that starts the next trend! 

What are you buying?

• yes, stuff like 50 Shades of Gray -- it is big right now, but it could die quickly too
• stories with strong elements of home and community and comfort -- given how much people travel these days and live away from extended family, they like to feel they are "going home" when they read fiction
• war themes are not very popular right now -- too close to difficult realities esp, in the US
• highlander romances

It was a very good panel session and all the speakers provided great information.

And so the Awards night begins! 

Pretty jewelled table decorations at the dinner
- plus plenty of Baci chocolates too! 

This evening, of course, was the fabulous RWA Awards dinner. This time last year, I was on the high of my first sale, I won the Emerald, and I was emcee for the dinner as well. It's been quite a year! I have to say, it was lovely to sit back and relax and enjoy the evening and applaud for all the worthy winners. Anne Gracie's traditional "stand up" closing was as energising and awe-inspiring as usual.

Me and my room-mate for the conference, the amazing
Ebony McKenna. Despite the dim lighting, I'm sure my
bloodshot eyes are detectable.. ;)

Definitely time for me to hit "publish" and then hit the hay! Another big day tomorrow!

Romance Writers of Australia conference - day two wrap up

Okay, so you know how yesterday I said you needed to forgive me any typos and grammatical errors? That goes triple for tonight's post, which I'm posting after a VERY lovely night at the Harlequin cocktail night, thank you very much. (In fact, I'm pretty sure I did see Elvis there, and that it didn't have anything to do with the red wine -- much.)

Alex was kind enough to pose for a photo for me with her
plotting white board of magic!

So, today was a primarily a workshop from Alexandra Sokoloff on Screenwriting Tricks for Authors. As someone who runs training regularly, I first off have to give Alexandra kudos for being such an engaging speaker for a full day workshop with a large group of people. Absolutely the least easy thing in the world.

I have read her book and it is really awesome -- even for a confirmed "pantser" like me! I loved the fact that her workshop absolutely reinforced that although I might not be as planned, up-front, as some other authors, my technique and storytelling is on the mark in terms of structure and pacing. Nice to know, for sure. And her presentation style was great -- even when I was getting tired (and if I was tired in the audience, I hate to think how she was feeling!) I wasn't bored for a moment. I loved when she deconstructed "Four Weddings and a Funeral".  I think because it's a movie I love and am familiar with, and because I hadn't consciously been aware of some of the structure and symbolism she pointed out.

A few learnings from Alex's workshop (I tweeted a few things too, so check there as well.)

• Try using index cards! (You need to read Alex's book to know her method.) The physical experience of arranging them can help you to get your brain clear about story structure. 
• Give the visual! Too many first chapters skip over the visual details of the scene. You need to help your read visualise where they are and what's happening. 
• It is your favourite writers who reveal the kind of writer you want to be. Use them as inspiration. 
• The theme of your book -- think of it as a collection of symbolic and emotional images, not just one idea.
• She gave us lots and lots of detail about how to structure the second "act" of your story and what needs to happen there. So much so that I don't think I'll ever accept the excuse of a book having a "saggy middle" again. Understanding that can help (again you need to read her book!).
• Romance stories need to include a scene that's commonly called "The Dance", where you show your hero and heroine doing something together that demonstrates how perfect they are for one another.
• The whole journey of a story is the character learning that what they want and what they actually need are two different things. 
• Characters always have a "ghost" or a "wound" from life that has to be worked through in order for them to find true love. 

That's only a tiny gist of what she went through. I highly recommend her book, and her blog to get more information. Even as a pantser, I found the plotting very helpful and it confirmed a lot of what I'd like to think of as my "natural" storyteller instincts.

At the beginning of the signing with
 stacks of books around me! 

Following Alex's workshop, it was my turn to be the star at my very first ever ARRA book signing. It was absolutely wonderful to meet with readers, to share my books with them, and to sign some copies for them to take away! It was also lovely to meet with some other authors I haven't had the chance to catch up with yet and say hello.

I started out with a stack of books and by the end of the afternoon there were only three left! And, in fact, by the time a few fellow authors popped by, those three were gone too!

By the end of the signing --
almost none left! 

It was fantastic to be a part of this amazing event --especially since I had attended as an avid reader only the year before! So amazing to be on the other side of the table and getting to meet and chat with everyone.

I'm hoping there might be a few people that I've convinced to give SuperRomance a try. I come from a long line of retailers, so I'm hoping that my heretofore latent retail talents may have come to the fore!

The end of the evening was the Harlequin cocktail party. There were, as there are every year, an amazing array of costumes and gloriously-attired authors. I didn't make much of an effort this year, I'm ashamed to admit, but hiring a costume and getting it to the Gold Coast and back again was just too much hassle for me.

Hard to convey the noise and excitement thru a pic! 

However the cocktail party is all about letting your hair down and chatting and getting to know new people and catch up with old friends.

That's definitely what happened.

I didn't take many photos, sorry! Too busy having fun and socialising. :)

 Not sure how much I'll cover from tomorrow, but I'll do my best for you folks!!