I'm late... I'm late...

For a very important date... or two... or three!

There's been a lot going on in my life lately... job change, some family stuff and some illness (you know, all the usual stuff!) and it feels like I've been constantly chasing my tail (which is why this blog is going up a little later than normal!) but tomorrow I leave for the annual Romance Writers of Australia Conference, the theme for which this year is TROPE ACTUALLY! 

(Guess who hasn't packed yet?)

I'm very excited about this year's conference as one of the special guests is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE WRITING DUO Christina Lauren (Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) (you should have heard my squeal when they were announced!).

So, as I sat down to write this blog (late, of course!) I thought that in honour of the TROPE ACTUALLY Conference and the special guests, I'd talk about two of my favourite things - Christina Lauren and the first book they published - a workplace romance - Beautiful Bastard.

Beautiful Bastard started its life as one of the most popular Twilight fanfics back in the day - an alternate universe story where Bella was an intern and Edward the demanding asshole of a boss. It was originally written by Christina, and then re-worked by Christina and Lauren into the form it is today - published as Beautiful Bastard.

The story combines a workplace romance with a touch of student/teacher, forbidden love and enemies to lovers. It is funny, very spicy, and also quite sentimental in parts, and gives excellent grovel. Bastard is also the first of a 10 book series (five novels and five novellas) that are well worth your time (Beautiful Secret is also one of my favourites with one of the greatest grovels and sweetest make up sex scenes of all time).

What is it that makes us love workplace romances? 

IMHO, it's because they're usually smart books, with smart characters and nothing is better than 'watching' people be GOOD at something. It's like the Olympics right, watching people excel at their thing (whatever that thing might be) is hot!

It's also got a taste of the forbidden (although, as a HR professional I can tell you that in most cases workplace relationships are allowed, you just have to disclose them - which is the step at which most people fail!) and a taste of reality - as most of us have some experience of a workplace... and maybe have had a wee workplace crush!

And, finally, there are often solid stakes - be it the consequences of non disclosure, or competition over a job or something else, love in the workplace can be a challenge!

Do you also love workplace romances? If yes, I'm taking a moment here for shameless self promotion! 

I have a workplace romance novella coming out on Wednesday 14 August as part of an anthology of workplace romances called Love on the Clock. You can buy it here.

#RWAus22… Baby, we’re BACK!

Over a month ago now, #RWAus22 wrapped up in Fremantle and, as usual, I’m only now getting to wrap my head around the absolute whirlwind that was our first fully national, in-person conference in THREE YEARS! #RWAus19 in Melbourne was SO LONG AGO!

This year, I’m blogging my takeaways for Breathless in the Bush, and those takeaways can, for me, be grouped into three main headings: Decisions, Consequences, and Character.

Check out why these three headings below.

#1 Decisions

International guests Becca Syme and Zoe York both talked at various times about decisions, and how those decisions then impact on writing, and writing careers.

One of the fundamental skills Becca teaches is to ‘question the premise.’ I can hear you all asking what that means, so, to illustrate, here’s an example from Becca’s book, Dear Writer, You Need to Quit (which I have bought in actual book form, read twice, highlighted and it now lives on my desk):

Good writers write every day.

But, do they?

Here’s another one:

You can’t edit a blank page.

But, can’t you? (And, sorry to all the La Nora Stans who are stoning me in their heads right now for challenging this one. I love La Nora too, promise)

Becca’s whole perspective is about finding what works for you, given your particular bundle of strengths and characteristics and ways of doing things. To stop making decisions about how you do things based on how OTHER people do them and make decisions that WORK FOR YOU. And, if you want more about that, check out Dear Writer, You Need to Quit by Becca which is an easy, and FABULOUS read.

Similarly, Zoe also talked about not just doing what everyone else is doing and thinking that will build your career. She talked about not seeking ten-word answers (i.e. the easy answer) but asking better questions (see the three minute scene from The West Wing here which explains this way better than I can, and you can watch the BRILLIANT Martin Sheen doing the BRILLIANT, albeit pretend, Josiah Bartlet). She also talked about questioning the goals of the person giving you advice and making sure that their goals align with your goals before making the decision to TAKE the advice.

#2 Consequences

Following on from Decisions – we have consequences.

Another message I took away from the conference was to be aware of where I expend my energy.

Becca uses the idea of energy pennies to illustrate this idea: imagine you have a finite number of energy pennies to use for each day, and every decision you make expends a certain number. One penny when you decide what you have for breakfast, twenty to process all the negativity when you start scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, even more when you start fighting with posters, whether online or in your head.

The limited number of energy pennies you have is why you need to make good decisions! You don’t want to be expending energy on decisions that aren’t the right decisions for you, or for your writing career.

#3 Character

And then, decisions and consequences come together in your CHARACTERS!

We were lucky enough to get a two-fer when Maisey Yates and Jackie Ashenden presented their Driven by Character session. Maisey and Jackie are both great - #BFFGOALS – and they talked some about the push/pull of decision and consequence as driving characters along.

They also talked about those decisions and consequences having to be in accordance with the character’s character (i.e. what makes them them), and those decisions and consequences having to have emotional ramifications.

You know, it all sounds so easy when I write it in one little paragraph but… This stuff is hard, and this session was a great reminder.

And, finally, the Award Winners

Last, but not least, CONGRATULATIONS to all of the RUBY award winners for 2022 (list here at the end of Amy Andrews’ latest Booktopia blog), and to the EMERALD (Carrie Clarke) and SAPPHIRE (Tanya Nellestein) award winners.

If you were there, tell us below what were your take aways from Conference? If you weren’t there, do any of my take aways resonate for you?

Kristine Charles writes sexy tales where coffee (and red wine) is abundant, designer shoes and handbags are cheap, chocolate has no calories, and men always put the toilet seat down. Find her at www.wordsbykristinecharles.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also get her latest - Catch and Kiss - in the It's Always Been You charity anthology (proceeds to breast cancer research) here.

LOVE TO LOVE: the book I’m reading, Ainsley Booth’s PRIME MINISTER, book one in the Frisky Beavers Series (Ainsley is also Zoe York!). This book is fabulous!

LOVE TO LAUGH:

LOVE TO LEARN: From Becca Syme. Her Write Better-Faster courses, and Need to Quit books are the BOMB!

The RWA 2019 Conference is Over: What’ll I Do Now?

By Marilyn Forsyth

I love the RWAus annual conference! From Anne Gracie’s ‘Welcome’ to Amy Andrews’ ‘Closing Keynote’ speech it was a three-day celebration of the fabulousness of our organisation. Huge congratulations to the whole conference team, under the very able leadership of the unflappable Tanya Kean.

As always, I had the best time participating in inspiring sessions, chatting with authors I admire, catching up with old friends, making new ones. Just spending time with like-minded people is a buzz you can’t beat.

Image courtesy of giphy

The workshops I attended were excellent and I took a gazillion notes. I was inspired. Motivated. Ready to get stuck into my wip.

But then I got home.

Image courtesy of giphy

To real life.

You’ve been there, you know the scenario: a stack of emails to take care of, a pile of dirty washing, a family who want to know all about my days away, and a drained body and brain.




I could have folded. I could have given in and done what needed to be done around the house first. Instead, I took up Jami Gold’s suggestion to maintain the writing conference “frame of mind” for just a few more days. (Jami is one of my favourite bloggers. Click here to go to her page).

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Her suggestion really paid off, so here’s what I did (after a good long sleep - 3 late nights in a row and I’m brain-dead.):

1. Re-read all my notes (I use Evernote, but One Note is also excellent for note-taking) and summarized key takeaways. (See below for just some of them.)


2. Located and sent off the stuff that I promised people I’d send them. (Except for my requests. I’ll send them off asap in the hope of the editors/agent remembering me, but I want to make sure they’re in top shape first.)


3. Updated my Facebook and email contacts, adding details of new people I connected with.


4. Downloaded some books I discovered through conversations with friends and rearranged my TBR pile (again 😉).


Some of My Top Takeaways

From Nalini Singh – ‘Leave your completed ms for at least 2 weeks before re-reading it to send off.’

From Anne Gracie – ‘In one of the paradoxes of storytelling, readers want to predict how the story will end (or how it will get to the end) but they want to be wrong.’ Steven James.

Emily Roach – ‘Show up on social media as the truest version of yourself. The more people get to know the real you, the more they know, like and trust you.’

Tracy Travis – ‘Stories which highlight what you wish to communicate are great, just keep them short and to the point during a presentation.’

Writing conferences are a heap of fun. The real work comes once they’re over, but all it takes is the right mind-set and a bit of organisation to make the most of what you learned.

Huge congratulations to the incoming RWA committee, to all the cheerful volunteers, to the competition finalists and winners, and to everyone who played a part in making the 2019 Conference such a success.

If you attended this year’s RWA Conference, what was the highlight for you?

Love to Love catching up with old friends and making new ones at the RWA Conference.

Marilyn Forsyth, Ali Sinclair, Alyssa J Montgomery

Alyssa J Montgomery

There were plenty of fantastic costumes!

Some of the winners at the conference dinner.

Love to Laugh at some of the amazing costumes at the cocktail party.

The crazy Paula Roe who never fails to make us laugh.

Love to Learn that the max word count for a single title romance is 90-95K words (according to the two publishers and an agent I pitched to).

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So You're Pitching at the RWA Conference...

with Marilyn Forsyth

Image courtesy of sidelinedtrilogy.com

I can’t believe I’m about to air this publicly, but the first time I pitched at a conference and sat down opposite an agent, the opening words out of my mouth were ‘I’m not really sure why I’m here’.


Bah-bow! With a roll of her eyes, she replied, ‘Then you shouldn’t be here. ’Bye.’


Result: shortest pitch session evah! (But, dammit, she was right.)


What did I learn? That you should read everything you can find on the editor/agent you’re pitching to. Know what they’re after and ensure that’s what you’re offering them.

Also, act confident (even if you’re shaking in your boots). Editors/agents are people just like you, but even the nicest ones don’t have time to hold your hand through a 5-minute pitch session.

Image courtesy of forums.mtbr.com

Between that conference and the next, I studied up on pitching. I wrote notes outlining the GMC of my main characters and all the major turning points in my book, then whittled them down to a 3-minute oration which I memorised word for word. I was nervous as all get out but hid it well (I think…). After introducing myself to my requested editor, I launched into my speech. It was going well until, mid-recitation, she asked me a question. Boy, did that throw me! I had my trusty notes but I’d lost my place and spent the next precious 30 seconds trying to find it.


Result: I ran out of time to finish my pitch. I was asked to send 3 chapters (but I suspect it was a pity offer and I didn't hear from her again).


What did I learn? That there’s a huge difference between verbal and written communication. Practise your pitch until it sounds as natural as if you’re talking with a friend. The editor/agent knows your story will end happily; what he/she wants to hear is how and why your characters fall in love, and the conflict keeping them apart.


Keep your pitch to just over 1 minute. Yes, one minute. Don’t try to cover everything. Treat it like speed-dating—intrigue the editor/agent just enough to leave him/her hungry for more and wanting a second date i.e. a request for the full ms.

My Pitch dot points

My last pitch took place at the 2014 conference. With everything I’d learned from my previous attempts, I went in acting (and almost feeling) confident. I’d researched the publisher to ensure my book was a good fit, read up on what the editor was looking for, and honed and practised my pitch to within an inch of its life.


Result: A request for the full ms!


What did I learn? Persistence pays off. Yeah! Twelve months later, my dream is about to become reality. Early next year my debut book will be published by Harlequin Mira!

So, to summarise:

Image courtesy of tinaquaruss.wordpress

1. Look professional by dressing nicely, and try not to be too self-conscious.

2. Start with title, genre, word length.

3. Move on to elevator pitch/tag line, describe MCs and their goals/conflict (dot point notes on cards), and be prepared to confidently answer any questions about your book baby.

4. State how your book fits the publisher’s line and what gives it that point of difference.

5. Thank editor/agent.


Go get ’em! Good luck!


Do you have a story to share about pitching? Or any added advice? Love to hear it.

Public Domain

I Love to Love Buzzfeed Quizzes on Facebook (one of my many forms of procrastination). Who knew I was Vincent Van Gogh in a past life!

I Love to Laugh out loud. Check out my Pinterest page at https://www.pinterest.com/marilynforsyth/fun-stuff/ to see what makes me lol.


I Love to Learn by entering RWA writing competitions. The feedback I've received over the years has helped me achieve my ultimate goal. Big thanks to all you volunteer judges out there.