Miranda's April Musings!

ARR2019 fun - my tribe! ❤❤❤

In case you're wondering what ARR2019 means, the translation is A Romantic Rendezvous 2019 with the Australian Romance Readers Association Inc. (ARRA). Over four absolutely blissful days in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, ARRA gathered large roomfuls of absolutely fantastic (incredibly brave) authors, sat them at tables the authors decorated to the nines, complete with books, chocolates, samplers, pens and other sumptuous items, and - opened the doors to the public! 

Folks, this is my tribe. My people. My friends. And, I don't want to go too Lord of the Rings creepy about it, but the books are all my Precioussss…

The first thing I was handed at the Sydney registration was a bag of books, chocolates and little gifts, because I registered as a VIP visitor. Omigosh.

The second thing I was handed was another freebie - and what a funky cover - The Love Experiment by Ainslie Paton:

Photo credit: amazon.com

I mean to say, by this stage I was overwhelmed. A bag of swoony stuff and I'd hardly gotten inside the door. Woot!

The next fun bit happened over the next three hours. I hugged and kissed and chatted my way around the room. YES I DID. In the middle I had lunch with some other lovely reader friends including our dear reader friend Helen S, and the chat went on there, too. Lots of 'Have you read...?', 'Have you read?', 'Have you read?'... Heavens to betsy, my TBR tripled in a nanosecond. And I already had that luscious bag of new books at my feet.

There were so many authors at ARR2019 I can't name them all, but I got absolutely swept off my feet by their love and wonderful-ness. And I got still more books! I might have also gotten more chocolates but there's no evidence remaining *cough*. But, the bliss. Fellow bloggers Alyssa Montgomery (at a splendid table), Enisa Haines, Cassandra Samuels and Marilyn Forsyth were there, plus lots of familiar friends. All for the same purpose: to enjoy the vibe and romance at its best! 

I was very excited to meet Celeste Bradley, who had flown in from the US for the event. I trembled as she signed a copy of Wedded Bliss for me. We shared a little story about the US Deep South, so she wrote in her book: For Miranda, Keep travelling! It makes your life longer. ❤ Celeste Bradley. Ooh. 

Photo credit: amazon.com

I was also excited to meet new-to-me author Michelle Montebello.   Her new book The Quarantine Station is set in Manly, close to where I grew up. The book is now on my TBR and I can't wait! I visited and in fact stayed at the Quarantine Station not that long ago and did a tour (it's now a hotel). Michelle's inscription to me reads: To Miranda. Break all the rules. Fall in love. ❤ Michelle. x Yes please, thankyou very much!

photo credit: amazon.com

The marvellous thing about romance authors is their warmth and love. I'm not kidding. Everyone had a smile on their face, everyone was ready for a chat, everyone was just super amazing - and this included other readers I became instant BFFs with, just standing there chatting about our mutual love of this or that book/author/genre. Everyone shared the love around. The vibe was happy, relaxed and fantastic. 

THANKYOU ARRA! I had the best day!

Love to you all from a very happy Miranda xx

Love to love: 

Going to an ARRA event. It's all romance books, fans, authors, good stuff. And chocolate. Have you been to something like this?

Love to laugh:
  

At heart I'm still a swoony romance reader fan. Meeting authors gives me such a buzz! How about you?

Love to learn:

Are you like me - trembling at the knees when you get to meet someone you've read and loved?

Romance Readers Unite!

with Debbie Phillips from ARRA

When we established the Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) in 2007 we had just 17 members. Having all met online, we started the association to organise an event for Australian romance readers. Who better than romance readers and authors to put on an event that met our needs? We didn’t know if it would work—nor have any idea of how much work would be involved—but we decided to have a go.


ARRC09 in Melbourne was truly awesome! Along with the hard work of our committee members we had support from the amazing community of romance authors. A number of international guests—Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Liz Maverick—came to the event (at their own expense)—and we were delighted to welcome them as keynote speakers. Add in a host of our favourite local authors—such as Keri Arthur, Stephanie Laurens, Anna Campbell and Melanie Milburne—and we ended up with about 30 romance authors attending. There were speeches, panels, giveaways and a mass book-signing event—the first of its kind in Australia. And, of course, we held our inaugural awards. (australianromancereaders.com.au/2009.html) All in an environment that celebrated romance—where not one person sneered at another person’s choice of reading matter.

Inaugural Australian Romance Readers Convention

The huge success of that convention boosted our membership; by the end of 2009 we had over 150 members. We had also established a monthly newsletter, regular lunches in some cities, and we had started planning our first RWA/ARRA signing event. But in the meantime we had to consider what to do about our annual awards—they could hardly be annual if only held at our biennial convention.

People's Choice Awards 2013
Anna Campbell, Amy Andrews, M J Scott, Anne Gracie

Each year ARRA members nominate and vote in their very own awards. That’s right—not only do they vote for the winners, but all nominated titles are put forward by ARRA members. When the awards started in 2009 there were 5 categories. That later expanded to 9, with an additional 3 ‘fun’ Members’ Choice awards selected by members each year.


The second awards night was held in 2010 at the gorgeous Cello’s Restaurant in the Castlereagh Hotel, Sydney. Nalini Singh was our dinner speaker (and scooped up a good portion of the awards). We have also been back to Cello’s for the awards dinner in 2012 and 2014.

Shannon Curtis (top), Kat Mayo

The next awards dinner will be held on 19 March, once again at Cello’s restaurant, with Shannon Curtis as MC and guest speaker Kat Mayo from Book Thingo. If you haven't got your ticket yet, follow the link:
australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/awards-dinner-tickets-on-sale-3/


But in amongst all that we have been doing a lot of other things too. We’ve held three more romance reader conventions
2011 in Sydney http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2011.html
2013 in Brisbane http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2013.html
2015 in Canberra http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2015.html


And we’ve had some phenomenal keynote speakers—Cindy Gerard, Anna Campbell, Nalini Singh, Kristan Higgins, Rachel Vincent, Anne Gracie, Sylvia Day, Helene Young, Kelley Armstrong and Victoria Dahl.




Book Signing Event 2015

We’ve held 9 group book-signing events with as many as 90 authors attending, some held in conjunction with our convention, and others in conjunction with the RWA conference. We’ve held special reader events in Sydney and Melbourne with Julia Quinn, Sylvia Day, Maya Banks and Nalini Singh.








Today our membership has just passed 370 members. So we’re making progress reaching readers. But we are constantly looking for new ways to find and engage with romance readers. Our plan is pretty simple: more events, more promo, more competitions, more engagement.

Regency Fashion Parade 2015

Would you enjoy the opportunity to discuss romance books with other romance readers who ‘get it’? Why not come and join the Australian Romance Readers Association?

You can find us at www.ireadromance.com.au. Or chat with us on our Facebook group or Twitter.


We love to love ... romance books!


We love to laugh ... while reading romance books!


We love to learn ... about new romance authors!

Miranda's Musings

What's made the biggest difference in my romance reading?

But first... Thank you, lovely readers, for visiting with us during this exciting BLOGIVERSARY week! I'm gifting one Amazon $US20 gift voucher for a comment posted below, selected randomly by putting all commenters' names in a hat and pulling one out. Ooh, quick, what are you waiting for? So DO comment, and come back tomorrow when I will post the winner. Good luck!
(Check the comments box below to find out yesterday's Treasure Hunt winner.)

So... what has made the biggest difference in my reading?
Easy. THE INTERNET. I grew up pre-internet (yes, I'm that old, le gasp), and information about romance books wasn't easily found. My best find was the upcoming books listed in the back of the Mills & Boon romances. Or hitting op shops and fetes (my purse was smaller then). The library's always been trumps, bless their cotton socks. Any of this sound familiar?

When I found Romance Writers of Australia I nearly wept for joy. And, I met famous authors. I had some severe cases of writer worship happening ... (ahem, this still happens). Join, everyone, join, or find your sister organisation (eg. Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of New Zealand). The conferences and publications are awesome. You meet authors and get free books. Meet authors! Get free books! Make friends!

From RWA I found RT Book Reviews, which was
then called Romantic Times, and my bliss expanded. I subscribed instantly; a whole new world of information about the romance genre opened up. Not only were there reviews about every romance you could want, other genres and industry trends, but the magazine linked me into a community of international romance readers.

I loved finding websites such as All About Romance and joining a Yahoo romance readers' list. I discovered subgenres within romance (who knew?). I read my way through the early days of the paranormals, and charted the huge change in historicals from bodice rippers (a thing of the distant past) to fantastic I-Can-Save-Myself-Heroines. Cue fave film Ever After...

The Australian Romance Readers Association is also tremendous to belong to. I came home from their last conference with a huge load of books and great new friends. What a terrific way to spend a weekend; and there was much laughing and fun involved. I love ARRA's Facebook page, their monthly newsletter, and the way people enjoy themselves with everything about reading romance.

I'm now so spoilt for choice in my reading. I can choose a 'book' book or an ebook. I can choose chick lit, inspirational, contemporary, historical, paranormal, romantic suspense, whatever! I can find backlists and the order of a series (eg. via Fantastic Fiction, or author websites). If it's on the internet, you can find it. Fabulous.

Tell me, what's made the biggest difference in your romance reading over the years? Anything like my journey? Can't wait to hear from you.

Love from Miranda. xx

I love to love... the fun we're having with the Blogiversary!

I love to laugh... at how easy it is today to find romance books to read.

I love to learn... other people's stories about their reading journeys. Please tell all?

Picture Credits:
Romance Writers of Australia from: www.romanceaustralia.com
RT Book Reviews from: RT Daily Blog | RT Book Reviews www.rtbookreviews.com
 Ever After from: Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) - IMDb www.imdb.com
Australian Romance Readers Association from: https://www.youtube.com/user/ARRAinc

 

10 Reasons Why I Love the RWA Conference

with Enisa Haines


Are you counting down the days to the National Conference? Get fresh RWA Melbourne 2015 kicks off this Friday.

Image: courtesy of romanceaustralia.wordpress.com

It's a weekend of learning and sharing and mingling and cheering. An experience I'll relish. Why? I'll give you 10 reasons.

You will:

1. Meet other writers. From sign-in to the last goodbye you'll be surrounded by hundreds of writers gathered together, including internationally acclaimed authors Anne Gracie and Jane Porter, USA Today best-selling author Patricia McLinn and New York Times best-selling author Mary Jo Putney. Say hello. Engage in conversation. Writers are very friendly and supportive of each other.
2. Attend the Cocktail Party. A break-the-ice, fun-filled way to mingle with fellow writers and editors and agents.
   
   
   

   

   Image: courtesy of cassandrasamuels.blogspot.com.au

3. Meet industry professionals. Not sure who to submit your manuscript to? Hear attending editors and literary agents talk about the genres their publishing houses and agencies seek and what they expect of authors.
   
   
   

   

   Image: courtesy of www.caldreaminconf.org
4. Be informed about other sub-genres. Are you uncertain about the genre to write for? Perhaps you write historicals but fantasy interests you. A genre-specific workshop may help you decide.
   
   
   

   

   Image: courtesy of darlagdenton.com

5. Learn more about the craft of writing. Character. Plot. Dialogue. Narrative. There are workshops aplenty focused on these aspects and others. If the workshop times clash, consult with friends and share notes, or split your attendance between each workshop.
   
   

   

   Image: courtesy of parmitadubey.com

6. Learn about the practical aspects and new technology. You're not sure how to format your manuscript or query an agent or editor? You've had your first book published but are unaware of what you can claim as tax deductions? Which online course, writers' program or digital publishing house to choose? The information is there.
7. Be energised and inspired. Hear how the speakers pushed through obstacles to reach their goal of publication and be encouraged to persevere with your author dream.
   
   
8. Pitch your story to an editor or agent. Talking about your story in a 5-minute face-to-face interaction is nerve-racking but a conference pitch appointment is a great way of getting the attention of an editor or agent.
   
   
   

   

   Image:courtesy of loveismurder.net
9. Attend the Australian Romance Readers Book-Signing Event. An opportunity to meet authors and leave with your arms filled with autographed books. An avid reader's dream.
   
   
   

   

   Image: courtesy of australianromancereaders.wordpress.com

   
   
   

   

   The epic book-signing event (Photo credit TM Clark)
10. Attend the Gala Awards Dinner. It's RWA Awards night. The moment RWA celebrates the competition wins of aspiring authors and the success of those published. Feel the nervous anticipation and excitement. Immerse yourself in the joy! Experience the finale acknowledging the year's feats by aspiring and published authors. An awesome event first introduced by Anne Gracie and now an awe-inspiring tradition not to be missed.

Are you attending this year's conference? What do you see as benefits?

I love to love - the camaraderie among conference attendees.

I love to laugh - at the Facebook personality quizzes and the answers I get.

I love to learn - about all things romance-writing related.