That's A Wrap: Romancing The Novel
The Adelaide Roadshow
by Helen Katsinis

This article first appeared in the July 2010 edition of Hearts Talk. 
Reprinted on this site with permission.


Photos by Bronwyn Stuart
Picture
Photo by Suzie Hindmarsh-Knight



Romancing the Novel, the second Adelaide Roadshow event promised to be an exciting day and it didn’t disappoint. It was a roaring success!

Over 40 people gathered at the SA Writers’ Centre on the 15th May to have a day of talking shop. Bliss! People who understand the passion for writing. Double bliss! People who did not think it strange I have voices in my 
head—priceless!

Our special guest speakers were the dynamic duo of Avon Regency Noir author, Anna Campbell, and Silhouette 
Desire author, Yvonne Lindsay. Warm, open and friendly, we were so fortunate in having them come to Adelaide to spearhead the day. Of course our wonderful local talent included: Trish Morey, our amazing MC and conference coordinator, Elizabeth Rolls, Claire Baxter, Anne Oliver, Christina Carlisle & Amy T Matthews 
(aka Tess LeSue).


The day started and ended with Fromthe Heart sessions by Anna, Yvonne and Amy. They were a testament to writers working hard and not giving up. Each personal story of the road to publication was heart-warming, amazing and uplifting. Thank you for sharing, ladies. Anna and Yvonne’s tag team workshop on Secrets of aBest-selling Romance was a joy. These ladies work so well together, going back and forth with what it takes to write romance. From subgenres, to GMC, to voice, to the High Concept, to loglines, to writing resources, this 
informative workshop had it all. Including embracing your own process as demonstrated by the differences in their own approaches; Anna—a flimmer, Yvonne—a plotter.


Making your Characters Real with Yvonne was a wonderful session about getting to know your characters 
– what they want to achieve, what motivates them, and what is stopping them getting it. All these are affected 
by the character’s background, perception, vices, actions, and reactions. We split into pairs sharing a picture 
and viewing it from our character’s POV. The examples read showed how different characters would view the picture in the context of their story.


Emotional Punch with Anna delved into the emotional world of characters. Deep Point of View makes one live and breathe via the characters. Rewriting scenes to Deep POV and hearing people’s work was amazing. A look at using the senses without feeling artificial, and making us aware that as writers we tend to focus on one or two senses, so we need to play against type. Looking at emotional punch makes everything more vivid and personal and it was an amazing session to attend.

Writing the Historical Novel panel with Anna, Elizabeth and TessBronwyn Stuart: The panel was fantastic. The ladies shared their call stories (and Elizabeth shared her RITA nomination call story as well). They gave us the dirt on how long it took to get published, their journeys up until the phone rang and answered a heap of questions. The session took on a new level of awesome when I won Anna's ARC of MyReckless Surrender!

Writing for Short Contemporarypanel withYvonne, Trish, Anne, Claire &Christina.Trish Morey: With a great range of HM&B/Silhouette lines covered and the benefit of a multi published small print and e-published author, we were able to cover a lot of ground. This entertaining session covered what's hot and what's not in category fiction and answered major questions about when is the right time to stop polishing and to send the dratted ms out (aside to Marg from Melbourne—has it gone yet? Hmmm?).

Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights: I had no idea about category so it was helpful to learn of the different types in this 
informal chat. I did more listening, probably didn’t ask many questions as I was not sure where I was going 
with my writing. I have given it a go and am about 4000 words short of my first Sexy book.

e-Publishing: The Positives andthe Pitfalls with ChristinaEmmeline Love: A wealth of information was shared in this small session. e-Publishing has been slow to take off in Australia, but is more widespread in the USA and Canada. An increasing number of major publishers (e.g. Harlequin/Silhouette) have e-publishing divisions, and many e-publishers also take authors into print. Christina warned that there are disreputable e-publishers out there, regardless of the content of your work, and recommended that writers evaluate carefully before selecting an e-publisher to target. 

Attendees travelled not only from the Adelaide Metro area but country areas and other states (big wave to you 
all). Seminars are a boost to creativity and a great way to have a day of writing, especially for those not able to 
make the national conference. It was wonderful seeing new faces come along and be inspired, and of course there was the support when attendees read out their work. Thanks to all our SARA members who pulled 
together to host this event.

Our fantastic day ended with a sumptuous Greek banquet at Eros Ouzeri in Adelaide’s vibrant East End. Exhausted,but exhilarated, we all headed home.