Friday, August 08, 2008
Lesson 3: I Still Love San Francisco...
...although I didn't see as much as I'd intended, thanks to the specialness and so-much-to-do conference and a hotel that didn't drive me out the door in search of air and space and solitude as often happens. In fact I didn't even scout the shops around Union Square or the big Westfield Mall in the next block to the hotel or Macys or Bloomingdales or Borders (shocking, I know!) The great thing: thinking about this on the trip home and now as I'm writing this post, I have no regrets. I did what I felt like doing, went to the workshops I felt like attending, kicked back with a coffee or a drink and a chat with friends when I wanted, and didn't succumb to the pressure of being here, there and everywhere that has exhausted me at previous conferences. This all sounds as though I didn't make it out of the hotel which is so not the case. Day 1 we found Mel's Diner for breakfast and returned again for a post-literacy signing hamburger and root-beer float (the addiction, I tell you, had to have). Then there were the daily Walgreen visits for the staples: bottled water and bandaids and breakfast snacks. How does anyone make it to the conference breakfast, I ask, when I'm lucky to stagger into an 8.30 workshop with coffee in hand and eyes barely open? A lunch at Annabelle's, the PASIC reception at Neiman Marcus, the Harlequin party at the Four Seasons, were all further excuses for a short, manageable even in heels, walk. On Saturday afternoon we had a couple of hours, a window of opportunity that beckoned, and of course we found ourselves drawn to the bay. Along with every tourist west of the Rockies. We'd thought about doing one of the short cruises that take you under the bridge and around Alcatraz, mainly because getting out on the bay gives another perspective. Due to the crowds, we didn't and so glad.  We stood on the now-uncrowded pier and watched the packed ferry rock by and decided that being by the water was enough, that leaning on the rail and looking back at the hillsides was enough, that the whip of the breeze and the bark of the sea lions and the stretch of choppy blue-grey water at our backs was enough. My favourite cities are all built on harbours or bays or by the ocean. It's not as though I was born near water or feel compelled to live by water. I'm not a water sign. I don't have a pool. But by the water I feel a drawing power and an elemental response that is both calming and stimulating. Paradoxical, I know, but that's how it is.
Down by the bay with fellow Aussie authors Fiona McArthur (Hq Medicals) and Barbara Hannay (Hq Romance.)Labels: Conference, RWAmerica, San Francisco
Thursday, August 07, 2008
What I Learned At RWA 2008, Lessons 1 & 2
It's been a while--far too long!--since I blogged here. One of the main reasons was my preparations and the work I needed done before leaving for the Romance Writers of America national conference, held last week. I had intended blogging before I left and possibly even from San Francisco but where did the time go? Adopting the tenet of better late than never, over the next week I'll be tapping into my memory bank for a series of posts. The theme: lessons learned (because, after all, isn't a conference trip always a learning adventure?)  Lesson 1: shortening the length of travel into doable chunks and arriving at conference fresh and relaxed and not shattered with exhaustion is a very, veRY, VERY good idea. Kind of makes me wonder: why didn't I think of this before? Duh. Travelling with a group of friends and hanging out a couple of days and nights in Hawaii (that's our hotel centre back of the picture) = the perfect place to break the Pacific crossing and the perfect start to a conference trip. Which segues rather nicely into...  Lesson 2: select your travel companions and room-mates well (See picture, with fellow Harlequin authors Alison Roberts, Kelly Hunter, Trish Morey and Fiona McArthur.) Medical authors, for example, are fabulous travel companions. As well as a (sometimes black) sense of humour, they know important stuff such as the importance of aspirin and support socks when flying long haul AND how to travel in style. Most important is choosing friends you can relax with, be yourself with, laugh with, shop with, gossip with, and brainstorm with. This is all particularly important when your plane is delayed and you have four hours to fill in at airport.  Sure there is a serenity garden at Honolulu airport, which we really did appreciate, despite the serenity being slightly bruised by the scent of aviation fuel and the persistent screech of jet engines. Other top Hawaii moments: Watching the sea turtles from our balcony. Swimming by moonlight. Shopping, day and night (gotta love 11pm closing.) Mai tais, pina coladas, daiquaris and my first root-beer float. The Waikele Outlet Mall. And the fire-knife dancer. Labels: Conference, RWAmerica, travelling
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Photos and Memories
Our middle son turns 21 in a couple of months. I gather that this isn't such a big deal in America -- correct me if I'm wrong -- but here in Australia it is the landmark birthday that traditionally signifies the step into adulthood and independence. There is often a party, large or small. In the case of our James we opted for small, mostly family, but then we don't exactly have a small family. The list passed small several pages ago.
This weekend I'm working on invitations. I chose a template from an on-line site. The design includes a series of photos from then and now, which means I've spent hours and hours poring through photos choosing which seven to include. Have also sorted out the best to use in his memory book, which is the next big (fun) task.
While sorting through photos and photo albums I found all kinds of stray and miscellaneous snaps. This one is stray because it's a panorama print: long and skinny and not fitting it any albums. In fact it's so long and skinny that it didn't fit in my scanner and so you're seeing just a portion of the literacy autographing at the New Orleans RWA Conference in 2001. My first conference, my first book, my first signing. I couldn't believe the size of it and it's only gotten bigger since.
 This year will be my fifth RWA conference and my fifth signing. Here is the list of participating authors. All 520 of them. If anyone can fit THAT in a photo, I would love to see it! Labels: Australian life, Conference, RWAmerica
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Readers Wanted
I'm not entering any books in RWAmerica contests this year. There, I've said it out loud -- now I can't renege! But that decision hasn't stopped me clicking on links to various chapter contests as the announcements appear in my in-box. It's force of habit (yes, I am a recovering contest addict)...and it's curiosity. I'm interested to see which categories each chapter contest includes this year; if they've taken aboard the shortened word count of category/series books, if they've acknowledged the surge in popularity of some sub-genres and the apparent wane in others. So, while scanning one contest's set of rules/conditions this morning I noticed the link to find readers as contest judges. And I thought of my faithful readers (seeing as I'm not entering, no conflict of interest.) If you think you might be interested in judging a panel of books (usually you choose the genre or category, the number, and you get to keep the books!) then try these couple for starters: * The Holt Medallion* National Readers Choice AwardLabels: contests, readers, RWAmerica
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
RITA Award Finalists, the Long and Short of It
The finalists in Romance Writers' of America's 2007 RITA Awards were announced this week. There's been an amount of blog talk recently (and not so recently) about the relevance of the RITAs to readers. Apparently most readers couldn't care less, but to the authors this is meaningful, a thrill, an honour, so congratulations to all listed finalists with a special shout-out to my Aussie friends Barbara Hannay and Sara McKenzie and RITA goddess Marion Lennox, already a two-time RITA winner and is a double-finalist again this year. I'm also thrilled to see my friends and fellow Desirables, the mega-talented Kristi Gold and Emilie Rose and Cindy Gerard and Roxanne St Claire amongst the finalists. (Readers, anyone on the list whose books you love and adore???) If you've taken the time to pore over the list of finalists, you may have noticed what appears to be an oddity. Like, why are books from the same Harlequin/Silhouette series finalists in both Short and Long Contemporary categories? What gives? What is the difference? The difference between the two categories comes down to word count or length of the books. Books of 70,000 words or less are eligible for Best Short Contemporary. This covers series such as Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Presents, M&B Modern Extra, the Harlequin Romance and Medical titles with premises and/or sensuality that don't fit the Best Traditional Romance guidelines. Category romances of more than 70,000 words go in the Best Long Contemporary Romance section. In the past this included Harlequin SuperRomance, Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Intimate Moments and Harlequin Intrigue (although some authors choose to enter Best Romantic Suspense.) Harlequin Blaze has always straddled the two categories, with finalists in previous years in both long and short categories. Harlequin American -- I'm not sure. But last year there was a shortening in word count requirements for many (all?) of the longer series lines. So, some books published late in 2006 became eligible for the "short" category, while longer books from the same line published earlier in the year were over 70K and so "long" contenders. Hence, finalists from Special Edition and Intimate Moments--as well as Blaze--appear in both long and short categories, and the list of eight short category finalists includes just three books from what used to be considered "short" lines. All clear as mud? No? I don't blame you. An RWA committee is currently looking into the contest and the relevance of all categories. I'm hoping they don't combine all category romances into one section, although that is a possibility. I'd love to see both short and long contemporary categories retained, but with a cut-off that doesn't straddle any series word count...which isn't an easy ask given the range within any one line. Looking at the current guidelines, I'd say the cutoff should be 55-56K. But then I write for one of the shorter of the short lines and so I might just be a wee bit biased...not to mention rather glad I didn't enter this year. Labels: awards, RITAs, RWAmerica
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