RWAus Conference

WooHoo! I'm off to RWA's annual conference today. I'm so excited.

There is so much to love about conference: catching up with friends you only get to see once a year, learning more about the craft of writing and the industry from some amazing people and getting to let your hair down (and leave the responsibilities of home - at home!).

Plus the opportunities at conference are priceless - pitching to agents and editors (which I am doing, keep your fingers crossed for me) and making professional contacts.

This year I'm also a finalist in one of RWA's contests, the Valerie Parv Award. So awards night is going to be a whole lot more exciting.

Above all, conference leaves me inspired. It's like an annual injection of enthusiasm for my writing. It reinvigorates me, reminds me what it is I love about writing, gives me hope and determination that I will be published.

I can't wait!

The Contest Season is Here

The first RWA contest closes in just 2 days. High 5 is for category writers and requires just the first 5 pages of your mansucript - after all, if these don't capture an editor the rest of the pages won't matter.

Not for you? RWA also has the STALI (single title and loving it), Selling Synopsis, Emerald (judged by readers), First Kiss and Valerie Parv Award. Amongst that mix there's a contest for everyone.

Why enter? There are a number of reasons to enter contests... getting your manuscript in front of an editor/agent if you final, anonymous feedback on your writing and incentive of the deadline.

If you want to know more, visit the contest page of RWA's webpage.

I'm going to be entering some contests again this year - wish me luck!

My Blog's 1st Birthday

I can't believe it. It's been a whole year since I started my blog.

When I started I didn't really have a goal, but after I did Susan Meier's goal setting workshops I decided I would blog once a week on my writing experiences and how I was meeting my goals.

I haven't done too badly, having blogged 51 times already this year. Some weeks slide by without a posting, while for others I keep my blog quite busy.

So how are my goals going? Well, I can tick the boxes for the following:
- enter First Kiss competition
- enter Valerie Parv Awards
- attend RWA conference
- pitch at conference
- enter High 5 competition

It's very rewarding knowing I met my goals for the first 9 months of the year.

The last few months of the year are a different story. I was lucky enough to have a successful pitch, and get a request for a partial - with the added requirement of starting the story further on. So my focus has been on rewriting and editing my submission, getting it to shine. So it's not so much I won't meet my goals, more the goal posts have just shifted


So this is my new list for the downhill run to Christmas:
- enter Emerald competition
- submit partial to Mills and Boon

I can't wait to see what the next year brings - and don't worry, you'll read all about it on my blog.

The Write Stuff

The finalists of the Valerie Parv Awards (VPA) have just been announced. For those of you who aren't members of RWAustralia, this is one of the *big* romance writing competitions for unpublished writers.

So what made their manuscripts stand out among the 97 entries?

Of course Point of View, Show not Tell, Dialogue, Story Structure, Pacing... all the functional components must be spot on. But these are all things any manuscript can have tightened during the editing process. Yes, not everyone will have the skill to do this, but over time, and with practice, they can be learnt.

So what is it? I think it's the ability to tell a story. A good story. An intriguing story. One that engages the reader, has heroes and heroines the reader desires or aspires to be. A story with a difference. A story you become, not just read.

What do you think?

With my pitch now gone, I can only hope that my story also has the 'write' stuff.