How did you discover you wanted to be a writer? I wanted to be a writer from the age of five. I was fascinated by stories, both reading and writing them. I always got excited when there was a creative writing lesson at school. I never had any trouble thinking of things to write about. And I’m happy to report that even after all these years later, that hasn’t changed. What did you do to actively pursue writing? (Joining RWAus, Mentorship etc) I actively pursued writing by writing manuscript after manuscript, then I discovered RWA and joined. I am quite …
Members New Releases
Some fabulous new releases for Autumn! Title: Marrying Her Outback Enemy Author: Michelle Douglas Date: April 17 Publisher: Harlequin Mills & BoonFormat: ebook Blurb: “MARRY ME, LINCOLN.” Rose has put everything into running her family’s farm, so she’s furious that her father’s will states she must marry to keep it! All she can do is propose—to anyone. She picks Lincoln—her neighbor, her enemy and the man she once shared a pulse-racing moment of passion with… She offers him a coveted plot of land in return—but she’s still surprised when he says yes to making her his billion-dollar bride! Paragraph from Author about the book: This is …
Flash Fiction February and March
Welcome to the Romance Writers of Australia Flash Fiction for February and March! Our winner For February is Alison L Robson with ‘Tomorrow’ for the theme of ‘Second Chances’ and our winner for March is Kylie Maguire with ‘Loathe Thy Neighbour’ for the theme ‘Enemies to Lovers’. Congratulations Alison and Kylie! Please note that due to the ‘quick’ nature of flash fiction, our flash fiction entries are unedited by RWAus prior to publication. Tommorrow by Alison L Robson I feel my cheeks warm as he glances in my direction. My breath catches in my throat and I look down at …
Library love stories: Romance in the National Library of Australia’s collection
Author: Alice Quinn (Article reproduced with permission from https://www.nla.gov.au/stories/blog/library-love-stories-romance-national-library-australias-collection#) When it comes to romance writing in Australia, it’s a been a long affair. Romance is one of Australia’s largest and most impressive literary exports, and since the 19th century has been a way for readers to explore tales of intimacy from the innocent to the risqué. Our collections of these stories ensure the voices of authors who write and read this genre are preserved, so that readers of the future can indulge in and re-examine the love stories under the covers of Australia’s literary history. Mills and Boon, dust …
Flash Fiction
Welcome to the Romance Writers of Australia Flash Fiction series! And our inaugural winner this month is Athena Law – congratulations Athena! The Perfect Pairing – Athena Law My earring was caught up in the blindfold. I was paused on the top step attempting to untangle it when a body bumped into me from behind. From the distinctive snort-giggles I could easily identify my friend Jules sight unseen. ‘Move it along, Becks! A room full of delectable men awaits!’ She pushed me through the doorway, feeling foolish as my hands groped the empty air in front of me. ‘They’re probably …
3 reasons why romance writers should send regular newsletters to readers.
You hear other authors, publishers, and book agents telling you that you need an author newsletter, but sometimes they don’t say why? What’s in it for you? Well, here are 3 top reasons why romance writers should send regular newsletters to readers. #1. Your author newsletter doesn’t have to fight with any social media algorithms Whenever you sign into social media, you are subject to their terms and conditions. In other words, it’s borrowed land and you’re just a guest at their online global cocktail party. What you post just gets lost among the other 300 million photos that get …
The Power of Backstory Revelance
With Author Sandy Vaile Creating compelling backstory is essential for developing rich well-rounded characters that capture the interests of readers. But it needs to be relevant to the story you are writing to be effective. The wrong backstory can turn into an information dump or irrelevant information, which slows a story’s pace to a yawn and disengages readers. Backstory is there to support the main plot and add dimension to characters; therefore, it needs to be relevant to the entire story, as well as what’s going on when it’s delivered. Make Backstory Relevant to the Character When thinking about your …
Should a romance writer invest in a website?
Should a romance writer invest in a website? Yes. But not just any website. You want a website that’ll grow with you and your author career, making it one of the most important assets as part of your author platform. Here’s why… The top 3 reasons for a romance writer to invest in a website: 1. Basically, your author website is a marketing tool that shows you off to the masses in a noisy digital world. 2. It gives you credibility by showing the world you mean business! Especially when it comes to attracting publishers, book agents, and the media …
DO ROMANCE WRITERS NEED AN AUTHOR BRAND?
Most think of February as the month for romance, proposals, flowers, chocolates, Hallmark Cards, and overworked cupids. For weeks we’re blinded by flashes of red hearts and roses, as lovers get high on the possibility of romance – especially romance readers. But if you think about how well branded Valentine’s Day is, romance writers prepare months in advance just for this annual event, ensuring they fit the brand of V-day. Branding. It’s a thang. And when it’s done well, readers don’t realise they’re following a brand – like 80% of the people on social media do. Do you think romance …
Want to set some author goals for 2023?
It’s that time of the year when authors reflect over the past year and start focusing on their future, making it the best time to start planning your author goals. WHAT ARE AUTHOR GOALS? Author goals list out your desires, helping you to work out the steps you’ll need to take towards achieving them. It’s where you map out a way to turn your dreams into realities. And it’s not that hard. DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF AUTHOR GOALS? According to some goal-setting geniuses, there are three types of goals. For an author we have: To achieve …