Finding your Tribe or your Mob

Ever heard a group of writers get together? It's loud and the talk is all about writing and the business of writing. It's not much different from a group of doctors gathering together, lawyers, IT specialists, police officers ...the list of careers goes on. Put a group of people together who work in the same field and they can find a lot to talk about because of shared understanding and often shared experiences.

As an author, there are not as many chances in a year to gather with fellow writers face-to-face so I was really excited the other day when Melanie Milburne was within 80 miles of me! I caught the train to the city of Melbourne to meet her. We often brain-storm stories on the phone but we don't get to sit down together very often. Last week we had four hours together!

We caught up at the Block Arcade, which was built during the 1880s when money flowed in Melbourne as a result of the gold rush. No expense was spared from its mosaic floor to the intricately carved stone and domed glass ceiling, it is a step-back in time. It also has the loveliest tea rooms and chocolate shop! We had pots of tea, ribbon sandwiches and shared a decadent piece of lemon-meringue pie.   


As you can see, the choice of cakes was ENORMOUS! You can also see I am holding a shopping bag. Melanie is THE BEST person to go shopping with! She finds you clothes that suit you perfectly. If she wasn't such a great writer, she'd make an excellent personal shopper.  I now have two summer blouses and a jacket!

Of course, the next day, I was back home in my baggy T-shirt and yoga pants but for a day there, I was out in the world, talking writing and have a wonderful time.

Do you find that meeting with someone who works in your area to be invigorating?

And talking writing, Boomerang Bride has just been released in mass-market paperback and is available at Sam's Club, Target and book stores all over the USA and Canada.If you like romance novels about brides, then check out my Wedding  Fever trilogy from Carina Press. The first two books , Saved By The Bride and Picture Perfect Wedding are out as eBooks everywhere

I'm excited about my first Indie-published, short story , On The Road Again. I wrote this after doing a really long bike-ride! So what's it about? Well, Dr. Felicity Hamilton-Smith desperately needs a change of scene so she signs up for a ten-day bike ride. The last thing she expects is to run slap-bang into her former fiancé. For her, the past is over and best left behind, or so she thinks. 
The last time Dr. Drew Baxter saw Felicity was when he broke her heart. Now, seeing her again is breaking his. 

It's 12,500 words and a steal at 99 cents so grab it at Smashwords and Kindle and soon at Apple, Barnes and Noble and all other eBook retailers.

My 15 year-old son designed the cover. What do you think? 





Fiona Lowe is a RITA^® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. You can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Australia Day by Fiona Lowe

Yesterday, January 26th was Australia Day, our national day. Unlike the USA, where the national day is held on a day when independence was granted, Australia Day is celebrated on the day the first fleet from Britain landed filled to the brim with convicts, making us a penal 

colony ;-) 

As an aside, it turns out that really the Brits were after Norfolk Island not Australia. They used the penal colony as a decoy so the French didn't realise what they were up too. You see, they needed a new supply of masts and flax to make sails for their navy and they thought Norfolk Island was the key. Sadly, they were disappointed as Norfolk Island pines are very weak wood and the flax didn't make good sails either. So they were stuck with a penal colony and all the on-costs of that. Ah, irony!

It took until January 1st 1901 until Australia became a united Federation and the Queen of England a figurehead only. Today there is still a push toward becoming a republic but every time there is a Royal tour that idea seems to fade somewhat. 

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.

There are also those in the wider community who share these mixed emotions about our national day, and they appreciate the efforts of event organisers to acknowledge that Australia Day evokes a variety of emotions. For the First Australians. the indigenous Australians, 26 January is an occasion to reflect on past loss and suffering.

There are Australia Day awards recognising service in all shapes and forms and it is also a day many migrants decide to adopt Australia as their country and they take up citizenship. They are given a certificate and a small native plant to mark this significant occasion.

For about 150 years, many Australians were embarrassed to say they were descended from convicts but in 1988, our 200th birthday, all that changed. People were out and proud about their heritage. Sadly, my family history is pretty boring...I am descended from Cornish miners who came to Australia for a new life.  Probably to compensate for my lack of interesting heritage, I gave Matilda in Boomerang Bride some convict relatives who came out in 1788! 

Boomerang Bride is now in print on the shelf in books shops all over the USA! To read more about the story head to my website.

Yesterday,  my family attended a family day by the sea where there was  a parade, free rides, fire works and community groups spruiking their activities. The smell of onions, sausages, falafels, souvlaki and ice cream filled the air....a true representation of our multicultural society.

I'd love to hear what you do in your neighbourhood on your national day! 

Fiona Lowe is a RITA^® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. You can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.