RWA TASMANIAN ROADSHOW

Last Saturday, Sarah Brabazon and I are privileged to be with three outstanding writers and speakers, Fiona Lowe, Melanie Milburne and Ebony McKenna.

Fiona Lowe presented workshops on "Maintaining Tension" and "Writing From the Male Point of View".

Read about Fiona, a finalist in this year's RITA contest, on

http://www.fionalowe.com/

Ebony McKenna shared workshops on "The Staircase Of Turning Points" and "Writing Young Adult Romantic Fiction".

Read about Ebony on her website:

http://www.ebonymckenna.com/

Melanie Milburne is well known in Tasmania. We are very proud of her wonderful achievements and so grateful she was able to share some of her insights this day with us.  http://www.melaniemilburne.com.au/

Do check out all three websites.

And then it was over. Melanie had returned to southern Tasmania and I had driven our other two wonderful and generous Victorian guest speakers to the Launceston airport for their flight back home.

An hour or so later my understanding husband quickly helped me unload the car. I was exhausted but after a cuppa still yielded to temptation and checked the Feedback Forms from the thirty writers who had attended that day seminar,  our first Romance Writers of Australia sponsored event in Tasmania.

Had writers been helped on their journey to being published? Had it been as successful a day as I thought it had been?

Very soon, my weary eyes were moist. Page after page, comment after comment. Each one thrilled me, made all the many, many hours of preparation over the months, the weeks and especially those last two exhausting days with my fellow coordinator worthwhile.

Now Sarah Brabazon and I have recovered somewhat, it is time to finalise reports for the Romance Writers of Australia’s Event Coordinator to take to the RWA executive. There is still some tidying up to do, including the list of writers who have indicated interest in forming a RWA Hub group here on our Island state.

And last night there was that email from a writer who had this brief, one day “taste” of what can be expected at our annual RWA Conferences. She is fired up! Encouraged in her writing efforts, she went home and registered to be at the Gold Coast RWA Conference this year. It will be so good to see her there, as well as so many other romance writer friends I’ve made through being a member of RWA for nearly twenty-one years. 

There is still much information and inspiration for me to personally sort through from those workshops last Saturday – as there always is after every RWA event I’ve been to. Now, just how do I improve the way I show my hero’s male point of view, put into practice those other “light bulb” moments in this current manuscript of mine?

My Writers’ Conferences and Seminars




Lynne Wilding
and Emma Darcy

- a long time ago! 

 

Another RWA conference
united with my
 old RWA group



Denver, USA, 2009
With a favourite author,
Loree Lough



I’ve lost count now of the number of these special events I’ve been privileged to attend since I first became serious about trying to write back in the early 1970’s. Until Romance Writers of Australia held their first weekend event they had all been one day seminars organised by different writer’s groups I’ve been a member of – including RWA. 

In the early years, RWA’s main annual events were held in Sydney. I attended my first one way back in 1991. I sold my first manuscript to a publisher in 1992. Since then I have only missed attending a few annual RWA Conferences. Need I say more about what I think of these great times and just how much I owe RWA?

Today our Annual Conferences have grown, quickly spread from that first one day event to two, then three and now four days in August each year. They eventually moved away from only being in Sydney to now alternate between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane or Gold Coast. Over the years, too many romance writers across our large Australia find travel costs, and perhaps even being away from family and work responsibilities also, make it too difficult to attend. The last few years RWA have sponsored day seminars in areas across Australia a long way from the annual conference cities. These are called RWA Roadshows and are only a brief “taste” of what our annual conferences give to writers.

Perhaps I should not have been so surprised October last year when an email arrived in my Inbox from the current RWA Events Co-ordinator. It started with, “In 2012, Romance Writers of Australia would like to take Roadshow across water for the first time—to Tasmania.”

Wow, I was thrilled. Then I paused and thought of the already busy programme ahead of me in 2012! So when I emailed back I mentioned I would certainly support a Roadshow here in my State but because of previous commitments doubted I could help very much with organising it. Famous last words! Perhaps I just can’t help my self?

There have been several times over the years at different writer seminars and conferences I’ve presented talks and workshops to try and pass on a little of what I’ve been learning and trying to put into practice. I’ve even helped in other very minor ways on the actual days but have to honestly say have had no real idea just how much work it all takes. Now I’ve been involved in being one of the Tassie organisers for just one special Roadshow day here on May 19th, I realise how much I have taken for granted those many, many volunteers who each year organise our conferences and special events.

Venue, budget, programme, speakers, catering, registration forms, advertising, Goody Bags, meetings and emails to discuss and make decisions - and so on and so on.

The RWA appointed team have been wonderful helping and guiding us through so many different processes. Published authors are being so supportive. Now the registrations have closed and we now know numbers, there is still much to do.

Excitement is mounting. Several writers are coming from interstate. Some are experienced writers, most are novices. Two of our three speakers, Fiona Lowe and Ebony McKenna come from Victoria, and our own award winning Melanie Milburne from Hobart will be joining us in Launceston. They all write for different romance sub-genres, are multi-published and award winners. We are delighted that since accepting our invitation to be a speaker, Fiona has become a finalist in the Romance Writers America RITA award – the “Oscar” for romance writers.

Just over two weeks to go. Still much to do. Please forgive me if I am slack with posting here for the next few weeks!
The Tasmania RWA Roadshow needs my attention!

Romance Writers of Australia conference “Taster” in Tasmania

How much value do writers put in sharing conferences together?

Last year an email to all members of RWA in Tasmania from the RWA Event Coordinator started it.


With old friends at 2007 conference

 Over the 20 years since their annual conferences over a weekend commenced, I have only missed going to a handful. Last year I was unable to attend the conference across Bass Strait in Melbourne, so I greeted the idea of having an RWA Tasmanian Roadshow here in 2012 with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I had several commitments booked already this year so felt compelled to state that while I was very happy about this, I would be too busy to be able to help very much with the organising of this one day seminar.

Famous last words?

First of all a decision had to be made where this special one day event could be held. One multi-published author in the south near our capital, Hobart, was facing surgery in the new year and unable to help. Another keen supporter there also would be out of the state for some time at the beginning of the year. It seemed there were at least three of us in the north who were able to look into venues. Bit by bit, I became more and more involved, especially when Launceston area was decided on. Different responsibilities were divided up amongst the three of us and another couple of writers in different parts of our island state.

We wrote down the names of speakers we would like to have share workshops and speaking sessions with us. I became the Speaker Liasion and so became more and more involved. I wonder how many of you are smiling at me by now – especially those who know “Mary just can’t help herself!”

For far too many years I wrote without regular contact with other writers. We lived in a country city hundreds of miles from Sydney when I went to my first ever writers seminar in Sydney. It is now many, many years since that wonderful day which helped confirm my dream of one day becoming a writer. There was only irregular contact with other writers after that for years until a small number of folk interested in writing for the romance readers began to meet in out town and I heard about the new organisation, Romance Writers of Australia was being commenced.

A short time after becoming a member of the fledgling RWA, in one of their newsletters I read about a new bookclub of Christian Romance novels by being commenced in Ohio. I will be forever grateful to the editor of that HeartsTalk margazine for the information that eventually led to my first contract and first book published.

In previous blogs I have shared other photos from conferences.

Here are a few more of writers at RWA annual conferences over the years. Some I have met for the first time and always a delight to put faces to author's names on books I've enjoyed. Other writers seeking to be published have been met year after year and how wonderful to be able to see them after they too have been published.

So now, I am looking forward to be able to help provide this opportunity for other romance writers to hone their skills, to encourage them in their journey to publication. We are thrilled that we have three wonderful, multi-published authors coming to share with us at the RWA Tasmanian Roadshow on May 19th. While this will only be a one day event we are trying hard to make it a true “taster” of some of the things writers can expect from the annual RWA conferences.

Meet our special guest speakers!

All three are multi-published, award-winning romance authors in different romance sub-genres.

On the left meet Melanie Milburn from Tasmania. We are so proud of our "home-grown" author!

On the right is Ebony McKenna from Victoria who writes Young Adult books.

And Fiona Lowe also from Victoria is published in medical romance novels.

It is a big commitment for these generous writers to take time from their own busy schedules to share their expertise with us.

Registrations are now open but close on April 20th. Please have a read of what is in stoer – and while it is a taster it will be every bit as digestible and nourishing as we can make it for one day.

Do click HERE to read about this very special event - the RWA Tasmanian Roadshow. This is a first for us here and we are excited about being able to offer this in our island state.
Remember that as wonderful as this will be, it is a mere Taster of what writers feast on at the annual conference - this year to be held at the Gold Coast in August. While on the RWA website do check it out also. I might meet you there!