Conference in Colorado – Kandy Shepherd

 Last month I travelled from Sydney, Australia to Colorado, USA for the Romance Writers of America annual conference. I love the buzz of the conference where romance writers and publishing professionals from around the United States and the world gather. Of course a lot of fun and catching up with friends is involved! (Not to mention yummy meals.)

I started the conference with three days in wonderful Colorado Springs with two friends. What an awesome landscape! I need to go back and explore even more.

Then the conference itself—four days of meetings, talks and inspiration. The RITA awards for best romance novels published in 2017 was exciting and I had several finalist friends to cheer. Meeting with my wonderful editors from Harlequin Mills & Boon was such a pleasure—culminating in the amazing Harlequin author party. Catching up with industry news, attending workshops and chatting with fellow authors was inspiring and enervating.

However for this conference for me the highest of highlights was meeting some of the readers who attended the book signings. It was heart-warming to hear them thank me for the stories I write and tell me how my books not only entertain them but have helped them through illness and dark times. As an author, what more could I want to hear?

Kandy Shepherd’s Best Man and the Runaway Bride is a July 2018 release from Harlequin Romance in North America; Mills & Boon True Love in the UK; and Mills & Boon Forever Romance in Australia and New Zealand. 

Kandy Shepherd is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Connect with Kandy on Facebook, Twitter,Pinterestand Instagram

Susan Sands: Hottest--Happiest Place on Earth!

I just returned from the Romance Writers of America annual conference in Orlando. Disney at the

end of July ain't for sissies, y'all. The conference was held at the Dolphin resort, adjacent to its sister hotel, the Swan. Our rooms were located in the Swan, wouldn't you know? We made the "hot walk" several time a day between the two, where my sunglasses fogged up and my deodorant was challenged in ways that you don't want to hear about.

As always, RWA did an amazing job of hosting a few thousand of us writers, and keeping everyone darting to and fro to super informative sessions and workshops hosted by the industries' most savvy authors and professionals. My takeaway is, as always, that things are rapidly changing in the publishing world, and if you close your eyes, you might miss it. Don't chase trends. They will be gone by the time you arrive. Nothing is truly dead. Not chick lit, not paranormal, nothing. The names might change, but it's all semantics.

So far, I've managed to avoid the conference crud this time. Fingers crossed it doesn't catch up with me. I'm feeling a little discombobulated, though. I turned in a book I'd been frantically trying to finish just before I left, and now that I'm home, it's strange not to have that deadline looming. Of course, my daughter is a senior in high school, so there are many other obvious deadlines coming up, not to mention more college visits and the pace that is senior year. She's my third, and final child. I've now got one out of college, one in college, and one about to finish high school. The empty nest is just around the corner. We can discuss that later.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last sliver of summer.

My first book, Again, Alabama, is still free in all digital formats! Look for Christmas, Alabama coming up for pre-order very soon!!

Susan

Christina Hollis—Writing, Learning, and Networking: The Romantic Novelists' Association Conference 2015

My Souvenir

I arrived home only five minutes ago, straight from this year's Romantic Novelists' Association conference. It was my first full conference, and it was such a great experience I dumped my case and came straight online to tell you about it.

The conference started at 8:30am on the 10th July, and went right through to 10pm on 12th of July. It was held at Queen Mary's University, Mile End, in East London. Delegates used student accommodation on the campus. It's a great way for the university to earn money while its students are on their long summer vacation.

Jan Jones, Roger Sanderson, Jenny Barden and their RNA team plan these events years in advance, so nothing could be done when a strike of London Underground (subway) workers was called last week for 9th July. That was the day when most people would be arriving at the campus. Worse still, mainline trains running from the west of the country into London would be cancelled, too. People like me who live right out in the shires wouldn't have a hope of getting to the university, as the total lack of parking space there meant bringing a car was right out of the question.

I went up to London a day early to avoid the problems, but lots of people didn't have that option. They battled in on foot on the day, hired cabs, and tried to find a space in one of our traditional red double-decker buses. British people are famously good at queueing, but things got heated and the police had to be brought in to calm things down. You couldn't make it up. We English are usually so peaceful!

The (Prince) Regent's Canal, On Campus

The first day of the RNA conference, Friday, was an industry special. There was a panel of agents discussing their part in an author's career, and talks by editors, publishers, mass book buyers and reviewers. Workshops on character development, finding your writing voice and how to promote yourself, your brand, and your book filled the rest of the weekend. You could learn to punctuate with confidence, experience the intricacies of dressing like a Geisha or a Victorian woman, or (and this was my favourite workshop) learn to shed your inhibitions and project your voice at the same time by jumping up and down and grunting like Bigfoot. Anyone who could do that in a room containing thirty other people had no worries when it came to a one-to-one appointment with one of the agents or publishers who also attended the conference.

Saturday Evening's Gala dinner gave the 300 delegates the chance to dress up and glitter beneath the spectacular vault of books contained in the university's grand Octagon library.

A Touch Of Hogwarts At Queen Mary's

I'm not really a party person—I'd rather read ( or write!)—but the atmosphere was infectious. Joining the Romantic Novelists' Association and taking part in its local chapter meetings has boosted both my career, and my social life. If you've never got around to joining a special interest group like the RNA that's local to you, why not take the plunge? I enjoy being an overseas member of the Romance Writers of America, but however good their online seminars, magazines, message-boards and loops, networking is much more fun when you do it face to face.

What do you think are the best things about belonging to a creative writing group?

When she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women.  Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold more than two million books worldwide. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books on her website. Her current release, Her Royal Risk, is published by The Wild Rose Press and is available at getBook.at/Her_Royal_Risk and http://bit.ly/1MpGd3D

Susan Stephens: Some Really Great News!

It’s so good to be back chatting with you—and with some really great news!

For those of you who will be attending RWA conference in New York this July, I am so thrilled and honoured to tell you that I have been invited to introduce my dear friend and fellow author, the fabulous Ms M... Carole Mortimer, when Carole receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers Of America. This is also the year Carole celebrates the publication of her 200^th book. Yes. 200. Incredible, isn’t it? And with 90 million sales at the last count, it is impossible to calculate the number of people to whom Carole has given reading pleasure. What an inspirational career, and I can tell you from personal experience, what a wonderful woman.

* For those of you who won’t be attending the conference—don’t worry! It’s going to be ‘live streamed’ so you don’t have to miss a thing. And I will give you a personal update in August to fill you in on all the exciting things that happened ‘back stage’. J

And now my news...

With the first 2 books in my Hot Brazilian Nights series releases in March and April 2015, I am eagerly anticipating the next two releases in this series in November and December 2015.

November, The Brazilian’s 9-Month Notice.

December: Back in The Brazilian’s Bed.

It might seem a long wait until November, but there will be more Susan Stephens stories in my Cosmic Hot Shorts series.  The first three are available now:

1.      Christmas Nights At The Ladies Club

2.      Valentine’s Night At The Ladies Club.

And have you read the latest?

3.      Hot Spring Nights At The Ladies Club.

Look out for the next one... up for pre-order today!

4.      The Bride Wore Red At The Ladies Club

(Release date July 17^th 2015)

I think you’ll agree that the covers for this series of short stories are just phenomenal...

And that’s it from me until next month...

Wishing you all good health and happiness with the best of friends and the warmth of family around you. And, of course—non-stop reading pleasure!

With my warmest good wishes to you,

Susan xx 

Travel Ahoy! - Anna Campbell

 by Anna Campbell

It's that time of year again!

Yup, conference season is in full swing in the U.S. and I'm getting ready for some travel.

This year is a bit of a bumper year for me (I hope that's not cursing my flight - bumper is NOT good in that context!). I've got a whole month in America so I'll be seeing lots of the big white flying guys in the picture before I'm done.

I've got two big conferences while I'm away (one of the reasons I'm away so long). One is the fabulous RomCon. This is their first year and they've put together a marvelous program. It runs from July 9-11 and takes place in Denver, Colorado. You can get more information here: http://www.romconinc.com/index.php I'm one of the spotlight authors so I should be pretty well everywhere! They've got a whole stack of special events planned and couple of signings so if you're around, please drop in!

One of the things I'm really excited about with RomCon is that CAPTIVE OF SIN is a finalist in the Readers Crown Awards. You can see a list of all the finalists here: http://www.romconinc.com/index.php/conversations/post/327

I enter a lot of published author contests and I'm almost never there for the award announcements because I live in Australia. But I'll be at RomCon, so this time I'm there with bells on.

Actually speaking of CAPTIVE OF SIN, do you mind if I have a little bask? I've had some great news about COS in contests lately. It finaled in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the Greater Detroit RWA Booksellers Best, and the Wisconsin RWA Write Touch Awards. It won the Phoenix Desert Rose RWA Golden Quill Award as best historical (and finaled in the Regency category which TEMPT THE DEVIL won, wow!). It was voted most popular historical of 2009 at the Australian Romance Reader Awards (I'm delighted to say I was voted most popular Australian romance writer of 2009!). COS was also chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their 100 best books of 2009. You can read an excerpt at: http://www.annacampbell.info/captivesin.html

I'm so pleased that Gideon and Charis are making so many friends!

Anyway, back to my trip. Another reason I'm really excited about RomCon is that I'll get to see the Rockies. They've been on the list of things to do before I turn off my typewriter forever. Can't wait!

After Colorado, I'm off to New York for a few days then Washington D.C. Then it's the Romance Writers of America Conference at Orlando in Florida.

As many of you know, this conference was scheduled to take place in Nashville but the major flooding in Tennessee put paid to that. My best wishes go out to the people of Nashville - my home town had a huge flood in 1974 and the devastation has to be seen to be believed. I hope one day RWA can come back to your city!

In Orlando, I'll be taking part in the huge literacy signing that opens the conference. That's always great fun so if you're in the area, please put Wednesday, 28th July in your diaries. The signing takes place at the conference venue, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, between 5:30 and 7:30. It's a great opportunity to catch up with all your favorite romance writers in one place! For more information on the RWA conference, check out: http://www.rwanational.org/cs/conferences_and_events

When I get home, I'll basically have time to unpack and then it's the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Sydney. That's always such fun!

So do you have any summer (well, your summer - we're heading into winter down here in Oz!) travel plans? Been anywhere interesting lately? Are you coming to RomCon? Are you coming to RWA? Any travel tips for me?