How did you discover you wanted to be a writer? I think I have always wanted to be one. I loved telling stories and although I was a terrible speller I tried writing them from an early age. Later I found out I was dyslexic and gave up the writing. But when computer took off, I got the bug again. So, I guess you could say I have always known. What did you do to actively pursue writing? (Joining RWAus, Mentorship etc) The first thing I did was write the historical history of the Legal firm hubby and I owned. …
Author Spotlight – Michelle Douglas
How did you discover you wanted to be a writer? Books were my very favourite things when I was a little girl, which meant writers were my heroes. From about the age of seven onward I would announce to all and sundry that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. What did you do to actively pursue writing? (Joining RWAus, Mentorship etc) Joining RWAus was one of the best things I did for my writing—so much craft and industry information! I read an awful lot of how-to writing books, which was also a brilliant thing to do …
Author Spotlight – Annie West
How did you discover you wanted to be a writer? As a kid I always had my head in a book and by my teens I was playing with story ideas (very badly) and imagining the fine, easy life of a writer – ha! But I never went as far as believing I could be one. I think it genuinely hit me when I found myself reading romances and loving them until the last quarter when I thought the ending didn’t fit or the characters suddenly stopped caring about whatever it was that had driven their actions all through the …
Author Spotlight – Melanie Milburne
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 …
Kiss and Tell with Karina May
One of the very best things a book can do is make me laugh a lot, swoon a little, set my tummy rumbling and fan the flames of wanderlust, all from the comfort of my lounge room, and I’m delighted to say, the gorgeous new release Duck á l’Orange for Breakfast did all these things and more! This novel is the print debut for Sydney author Karina May, and I’ve been seeing window displays and social media posts all over the place since its release with Pan Macmillan last month. Readers will have a ball with the quirky main character …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Dakota Harrison
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. It’s August. It’s conference month. And yes… you’re getting this blog a teensy bit later than its scheduled delivery date, so sorry. Can I blame it on jetlag? (It’s a thing, right, even with a two-hour time difference?) But anyhoo, without further ado, let’s get the drums rolling for August author of the month, RWA’s own Dakota Harrison. Laugh. Cry. Love. That’s the head’s up Dakota gives us on her website of what she’s packing into her stories. There’s some interesting …
Kiss and Tell | Stella Quinn
Brimming with warmth and humour, Stella Quinn’s new rural romance, A Town Like Clarence, roped me in from the prologue and kept me smiling throughout. There’s so much to love about Kirsty and Joey’s story, from the town committee who spends just as much time planning a community event as they do on project ‘Find Farmer Joey A Wife’, to the restoration of a vintage aeroplane with special significance for pilot Kirsty. Sassy eight-year-old Amy, also deserves a special mention (and quite possibly her own story) and although I’m not usually a poetry fan, I was delighted by the bush …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Maya Linnell
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. From country show baking to raising orphaned lambs, bestselling author Maya Linnell writes about the life she lives and loves. A keen bookworm, wannabe flower farmer and former rural journalist, Maya also hosts a monthly online show called Library Lovers, for the digital app Libby OverDrive. She lives in rural Victoria with a menagerie of animals, sweeping gardens, three young bookworms and the odd tiger snake or three. For those of us in the RWA community, we have been on the …
Kiss and Tell | Sasha Wasley
This month’s Kiss & Tell guest is West Australian writer, Sasha Wasley. The author of three rural romances in the ‘Daughters of the Outback’ series, plus two stand-alone fiction titles, Sasha is also on the cusp of releasing a children’s book for middle grade readers under a pen name Ash Harrier. Her 2021 release Spring Clean for the Peach Queen was one of my favourite reads of 2021 and I’m excited to get stuck into her newest release, A Caravan Like a Canary. RWA members heading to the 2022 conference will also have a chance to meet Sasha in person …
FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Rachel Armstrong
Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. I am so pleased to welcome Rachel Armstrong to the blog. Those of us who have been members of RWA for some time will all know Rachel – by name if not in person – as she is often to be found represented at Awards Night. She signs her emails off with the tagline “Love Stories of Every Kind”, she’s into ribbon gymnastics, and her BFF Jacob is often to be seen on her social media feed, recognisable by his handsome …