Fiona Lowe's Blog, page 17

Fancy a Readers Weekend in Glorious Victorian Queenslicff?

[image error]Yes, I am getting out and about! From Queensland to Queenscliff! On Saturday September 8th, down in sleepy, glorious Queenscliff (90 minutes drive from Melbourne) there is going to be a fabulous day called Romance By The Sea. It’s all about reading and revelling in the books you enjoy, and a host of authors will be gathering to give readers a wonderful day.

Who will be there? New York Times’ best selling authors Stephanie Laurens and Keri Arthur, local authors Marion Lennox, Fiona Lowe (me), Sarah Mayberry, Anne Gracie, Carol Marinelli  & Jennifer Kloester  and many, many more. Click here for a full list!

[image error]As well as having a fabulous time at the day, you’ll also be helping to raise funds for Cottage By The Sea  …yes, that wonderful place that Olympic champion Cathy Freeman is patron. The cottage provides seaside holidays for disadvantaged children and for families needing respite. In fact, I based my novel, Miracle: Twin Babies around both Cottage by the Sea and Queenscliff…I just changed the name of the town!

All authors and organisers involved in Romance by the Sea are generously volunteering their time, in order to help raise funds for this worthy cause.

Tickets to attend Romance by the Sea are $100 ($70 of which will be receipted as a tax [image error]deductible donation to Cottage By The Sea.)  Price includes a delicious, light lunch at the historic Queenscliff Hotel, insights into the life and loves of some of Australia’s favourite authors, as well as readings and signings at venues all over town.

Book now by clicking here.

You can come just for the day or if you’d like to make a weekend of it, there’ll be a pay-as-you-go dinner at the hotel on Saturday night. On Sunday morning there will be more signings and authors available to chat.  For accommodation in Queenscliff, click here.

Gather your fellow romantics and come and play in glorious, romantic, Queenscliff. I hope to see you there!

 

Will you be near Surfer’s Paradise on Friday August 17th?

Right now I am deep in revisions for Saved By The Bride (Carina Press April 2013) which I need to finish so I can go to the RWA Australia’s annual conference and not feel guilty!

As an adjunct to the conference, the fabulous Australian Romance Readers Association is hosting a book signing on Friday August 17th.  This year it’s in sunny Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

I’m looking forward to signing books along with 66 other romance authors and I think this signing will be the biggest romance signing to date on Australian shores!  I will have copies of Boomerang Bride and Letting Go With Dr Rodriguez along with some other giveaways so please call by and say hello.

Where? The QT Hotel, 7 Staghorn Avenue, Surfer’s Paradise. When? Friday August 17th. Time? 4.30pm-6pm

The map reference is https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=adjunct&ie=UTF-8&hl=en

Hope to see you there!

 

Winning the Rita means Flowers!

Last Saturday night was so exciting when Boomerang Bride won the Rita in the single title contemporary fiction category but the excitement hasn’t stopped there. Since I came home, the flowers and congratulations have continued and I just wanted to share some pictures with you.

My husband met me at the airport with pink gerberas and a congratulatory balloon  Aww, sweet! He also rang the local paper.

 

 

 

 

Harlequin Australia sent me glorious lillies, a bottle of champagne and some chocolates.

Friends sent me this lovely box of spring flowers…the blossom promising that winter will end in a month…always good to know  Today, Carina Press sent me flowers too! My lovely cousins sent tulips which promise to open soon. I feel very spoiled!

And The Winner is…..

Friday at the conference started with the Harlequin book signing (see previous blog) and I think I went to a workshop before the Rita Reception. This was followed by the Carina Press cocktail party. Yes, my liver was working hard that day because straight after that we had the the Harlequin Party.

But back to the Carina Press cocktail party. Angela James loves a cocktail and she had this amazing one as the signature drink. I asked the barman if he could knock back the alcohol content as it was 5pm and I had to pace myself for a big night and Bob the Barman just looked at me as if I had half a brain and said, ‘it’s all alcohol!’

Shh, don’t tell Angela but I failed her and had to water it down with pineapple juice.

I had so much fun meeting up with Carina Press authors and here I am with Tina Joyce who is also a fabulous Medical Romance author too!

The Harlequin party at RWA is something I have heard about over the years as ‘the party’ to attend so I was thrilled that this year I got the chance. Held at The Hyatt, Anaheim, the room was decorated with floating candles, lush, red roses and beautiful orchids.

The dessert bars lined the walls but I was so busy dancing I forgot to eat. I didn’t forget to drink though I hydrated with water and then offset that with dancing and champagne! I think Australians drink a LOT more champagne than Americans as I had to ask for it specially at every function I attended.

The Harlequin Medical Romance Authors can seriously cut a rug and we danced ourselves silly. Here is Connie Cox, Lynne Marshall and Louisa George. 

I also discovered the Presents Authors can dance and Jennie Lucas and I had loads of fun dancing to the Tina Turner iconic song, ‘I Will Survive.’

Saturday was filled with workshops, the Rita rehearsal, which dented the bubble of denial I had been in…I would have to actually attend the night …and great conversations with good mates, Kandy Shepard and Vanessa Barnveld.

Alison Stuart and I glammed up and headed off to Roys, a Hawaiian cuisine fusion restaurant where we met Angela James, the executive editor of Carina Press, Malle Vallik from Harlequin and  Carrie Holden a CP assistant. As the awards night started at 7.30pm we were eating at a time usually reserved for retired seniors from Florida and this crew had only just come from the Carina Press lunch! I indulged in a couple of Mai Tais along with the most beautiful fish.

The waiter then presented me with a congratulatory strawberry shortbread dessert with congratulations written in Hawaiian in chocolate. Here I am with Angela.

Then it was back to the Marriott for the  awards ceremony. Jayne from the eHarlequin community interviewed me on the red carpet…a 12″ square of red carpet She had commandeered a boomerang from the Outback Steakhouse (no names, no pack drill)  which I had to throw. I can’t wait to see the video of that!  

The ballroom was enormous and filled with huge tables of ten and Alison, Angela and I were on table ten along with fellow Aussie, Darynda Jones who was nominated for ‘Best first book.’  Both of us

thought we were unlikely to win and I said, ‘Well the flip side is we don’t have to dust her.’

When Darynda won, I thought, ‘Well, that’s table 10′s allotment for the night.’  Mine was the next category  and I was never more stunned when my name came out. All I can

remember is hearing Boomerang and then this almighty roar went up and it was all white noise after that.

Alison was hugging me and Angela James was as speechless as I. Time seemed to slow down to nothing and then I realised I had to go up onto the stage…after all I’d been to the rehearsal where they’d said that.

Angela seemed stuck to the spot so I grabbed her hand and we started walking. Halfway to the stairs I

said, ‘How the hell am I going to get Rita home?’ If you have never seen a Rita in the flesh she is huge and weighs 3kg!!! (6.6 pounds)

I had written bullet points on the back of a business card a month earlier and shoved it in my evening bag. By the time Linda Howard…yes, Linda Howard!! had given me the statue and I got to the lectern I was shaking. My fingers couldn’t get the card out of the little pocket so money, lipstick and tissues spilled out and I attempted to make a joke based on an expression I had heard at the rehearsal which I figured was American. Turns out it must have been regional to

the woman. Ever cracked a joke in front of 2500 people and got silence?

Thankfully I finally pulled the sucker of a card out of the bag. When I saw the bullet points I felt a bit calmer and although I wondered if it was a coherent speech people said it was. Only huge mistake was naming my eldest son first in

the family thank you rather than my husband! I called them all by the wrong names at

home all the time so I think I might be forgiven.

This book weathered 38 agent rejections and 12 print-house publisher rejections before finding a home at Carina Press. Reading the twitter feed made me realise that Boomerang Bride is not just Carina Press’s first Rita but the first digital-first book Rita. That is kinda special and it validates the belief I always had that the book was a good story.

After that it was a blur of photos and hugs and I was overwhelmed by how

generous my writing friends are. It was a heck of a night. Rita herself glows golden and survived being X-rayed twice and dusted down as she made her way through security. She came home to balloons and flowers and serenely takes it in her stride. Me? I’m still happy dancing albeit through a fog of jet lag.

Oh, and if you haven’t read Boomerang Bride yet, Carina Press has it on a super sale right now for $3.99, down from $5.99 so snap it up now!

More RWA in Anaheim

Friday at the conference started with the Harlequin book signing (see previous blog) and I think I went to a workshop before the Rita Reception. This was followed by the Carina Press cocktail party. Yes, my liver was working hard that day because straight after that we had the the Harlequin Party.

But back to the Carina Press cocktail party. Angela James loves a cocktail and she had this amazing one as the signature drink. I asked the barman if he could knock back the alcohol content as it was 5pm and I had to pace myself for a big night and Bob the Barman just looked at me as if I had half a brain and said, ‘it’s all alcohol!’

Shh, don’t tell Angela but I failed her and had to water it down with pineapple juice.

I had so much fun meeting up with Carina Press authors and here I am with Tina Joyce who is also a fabulous Medical Romance author too!

The Harlequin party at RWA is something I have heard about over the years as ‘the party’ to attend so I was thrilled that this year I got the chance. Held at The Hyatt, Anaheim, the room was decorated with floating candles, lush, red roses and beautiful orchids.

The dessert bars lined the walls but I was so busy dancing I forgot to eat. I didn’t forget to drink though I hydrated with water and then offset that with dancing and champagne! I think Australians drink a LOT more champagne than Americans as I had to ask for it specially at every function I attended.

The Harlequin Medical Romance Authors can seriously cut a rug and we danced ourselves silly. Here is Connie Cox, Lynne Marshall and Louisa George. 

I also discovered the Presents Authors can dance and Jennie Lucas and I had loads of fun dancing to the Tina Turner iconic song, ‘I Will Survive.’

Saturday was filled with workshops, the Rita rehearsal, which dented the bubble of denial I had been in…I would have to actually attend the night …and great conversations with good mates, Kandy Shepard and Vanessa Barnveld.

Alison Stuart and I glammed up and headed off to Roys, a Hawaiian cuisine fusion restaurant where we met Angela James, the executive editor of Carina Press, Malle Vallik from Harlequin and  Carrie Holden a CP assistant. As the awards night started at 7.30pm we were eating at a time usually reserved for retired seniors from Florida and this crew had only just come from the Carina Press lunch! I indulged in a couple of Mai Tais along with the most beautiful fish.

The waiter then presented me with a congratulatory strawberry shortbread dessert with congratulations written in Hawaiian in chocolate. Here I am with Angela.

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to the Marriott for the  awards ceremony. Jayne from the eHarlequin community interviewed me on the red carpet…a 12″ square of red carpet She had commandeered a boomerang from the Outback Steakhouse (no names, no pack drill)  which I had to throw. I can’t wait to see the video of that!  

The ballroom was enormous and filled with huge tables of ten and Alison, Angela and I were on table ten along with fellow Aussie, Darynda Jones who was nominated for ‘Best first book.’  Both of us

thought we were unlikely to win and I said, ‘Well the flip side is we don’t have to dust her.’

When Darynda won, I thought, ‘Well, that’s table 10′s allotment for the night.’  Mine was the next category  and I was never more stunned when my name came out. All I can

remember is hearing Boomerang and then this almighty roar went up and it was all white noise after that.

Alison was hugging me and Angela James was as speechless as I. Time seemed to slow down to nothing and then I realised I had to go up onto the stage…after all I’d been to the rehearsal where they’d said that.

Angela seemed stuck to the spot so I grabbed her hand and we started walking. Halfway to the stairs I

said, ‘How the hell am I going to get Rita home?’ If you have never seen a Rita in the flesh she is huge and weighs 3kg!!! (6.6 pounds)

I had written bullet points on the back of a business card a month earlier and shoved it in my evening bag. By the time Linda Howard…yes, Linda Howard!! had given me the statue and I got to the lectern I was shaking. My fingers couldn’t get the card out of the little pocket so money, lipstick and tissues spilled out and I attempted to make a joke based on an expression I had heard at the rehearsal which I figured was American. Turns out it must have been regional to

the woman. Ever cracked a joke in front of 2500 people and got silence?

Thankfully I finally pulled the sucker of a card out of the bag. When I saw the bullet points I felt a bit calmer and although I wondered if it was a coherent speech people said it was. Only huge mistake was naming my eldest son first in

the family thank you rather than my husband! I called them all by the wrong names at

home all the time so I think I might be forgiven.

This book weathered 38 agent rejections and 12 print-house publisher rejections before finding a home at Carina Press. Reading the twitter feed made me realise that Boomerang Bride is not just Carina Press’s first Rita but the first digital-first book Rita. That is kinda special and it validates the belief I always had that the book was a good story.

After that it was a blur of photos and hugs and I was overwhelmed by how

generous my writing friends are. It was a heck of a night. Rita herself glows golden and survived being X-rayed twice and dusted down as she made her way through security. She came home to balloons and flowers and serenely takes it in her stride. Me? I’m still happy dancing albeit through a fog of jet lag.

Oh, and if you haven’t read Boomerang Bride yet, Carina Press has it on a super sale right now for $3.99, down from $5.99 so snap it up now!

RWA 12 Round-Up Part One

Hi, I’m back in Australia after 13 fabulous days in the US. After spending five days in Wisconsin, (another blog post on another day), I attended the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference. It was four days filled with lunches, dinners, cocktail parties, dancing parties, workshops, book signings and the RWA awards’ night. It was so wonderful to meet face to face with writers I had been emailing since 2005

The event started with the Literacy signing on the Wednesday evening. I had never seen such a big room as the space in the Anaheim convention centre. The fabulous staff at Carina Press (CP) made sure all the CP authors had helium balloons in CP colours tied to their chairs.  I sat next to Patricia Davids who writes for Harlequin Love Inspired line and  Susan Gee Heino from Berkley. They were both such great fun the three hours passed really quickly.

I tried to attend workshops but only managed about 2 a day in between social events. I mean, when the editors from Mills and Boon invite a girl out to lunch, is she going to say, ‘no’? Not this puppy!

It was wonderful to meet Susan Carlise, Tina Beckett and Connie Cox in person. Susan and Connie are fabulous southern women with sensational accents and Tina is quieter but just as gorgeous. They were so much fun. Here are Susan and the lovely Louisa George from New Zealand  at the medical romance authors’ lunch. Later in the week I discovered they are both awesome on the dance floor as well as being great writers.

The intrepid Fiona McArthur led a bevvy of Harlequin Medical romance authors on the Anaheim bus system and here she is enjoying a well-earned drink. I LOVE the hat! 

Thursday night was the Harlequin PJ party and I won $25 worth of books for walking across the road in my PJs. Given that they covered me from neck to knee and I threw a pashmena around my shoulders,  I didn’t think it was a very daring thing to do but hey, I’m not complaining

Friday was the Harlequin book signing, the  Carina Press cocktail party followed by the Harlequin ball. All three events were super  enjoyable and here are some photos.

Here is Shannon Stacey and I just before the Harlequin book signing. Shannon writes the wonderful Kowalski series.

Here is Lynne Marshall who writes for Harlequin Special Edition and Medical Romance. She and I sold within six weeks of each other back in 2005 but this was the first time I had met her.

As wordpress is going all wobbly on me I will stop here and write another blog for the rest of the conference!

RWA Literacy Signing July 25th in Anaheim

I’m so excited to be  attending the Romance Writers of America’s conference in Anaheim. I will be signing at the Literacy Book Signing on Wednesday July 25th on  table 200, to help raise money for literacy.

 I’m bringing Boomerangs, koalas and the fabulous Aussie chocolate biscuits (cookie) Tim Tams!

There is nothing in this world that matches a Tim Tam so if you haven’t tasted one before come find me at Table 200.   Yes, this is blatant bribing because you see, I’m not a super well-known author and everyone will be lining up for Nora Roberts and Susan Elizabeth Phillips and …(you get the picture). I have visions of being like ‘that guy’ on the You Tube clip. If you haven’t see the very clever Parnell Hall clip, here it is

I’ll be signing my RITA nominated Boomerang Bride and my latest Harlequin Medical Romance, Letting Go With Doctor Rodriguez.  If you love a sexy polo player then Marco is for you

If you’re coming to Anaheim, please do call by and say hello!  The official details are:

2012 “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing Wednesday, July 25, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom (third floor)

http://www.rwa.org/cs/literacy_autographing

Proceeds from book sales go to ProLiteracy Worldwide, Read Orange County, and Literacy Volunteers—Huntington Valley.

No outside books are allowed in the event.

Nothing like Fear to Motivate a Girl

Back in the day when I was a nursing mother and weight was falling off me due to the leeches that were my beautiful babies, I fell into a bad habit.

Is that cake? I’ll have two slices. Is that Camembert? Dip? Salt and vinegar  potato chips? Pass the entire bag!

Then the boys grew and were weaned and eating two of everything bad and yummy caught up with me. Nothing like seeing a picture of you and the husband in a family portrait to give you a wake up call. So I cut back, I lost weight and all was good for a while.

In 2009 I joined a gym as the weight had crept back on and I’d hit a certain age when it doesn’t like to come off all that easily!  Problem with the gym was, I justified my exercise and rationalised that it off-set the cakes and chips. So I got fitter than I’d ever been in my life  but my weight stayed pretty much the same. I was on the cusp of tipping out of healthy into overweight.

Then I became a Rita Finalist. There’s a 1:8 chance I might have to walk up on stage in front of 2000 people. Now that makes a girl take stock. Nothing like the fear of 4000 eyes on you to make you get serious. All it took was dropping the treats, which I have always known but when you drink 8 cups of tea a day with a habit of eating something at the same time, it takes a bit of willpower. I summoned it up from the depths.

Today I checked in at the gym for the weigh and measure. I’ve lost 3kg, lost 8 cm off my waist ( I think they must have mis-measured as it doesn’t look that different) lost a few cms here and there also I still need a brick on my stomach but that’s what sculptured underwear is for, right?

So me losing weight guarantees I won’t win but hell, I’ll look good doing it

Final Days in Fiji and Nadi Library Visit

Every morning our beds were made and flowers were left on the bed and the vanity. My favourite tropical flower will always be the frangipani. I think it reminds me of my childhood in Papua New Guinea. I had frangipani on my wedding cake.

As it is winter in Fiji, the frangipani are not flowering profusely but the housekeepers knew I loved them and always managed to find some. Bless! When I found one on the ground I always tucked it behind my ear and enjoyed the perfume.

We spent our last day  doing what we’d done each day…reading…I read Shannon’s Stacey’s Summer Kisses, we kyacked and lost our shirts backing the hermit crab that rolled over on it’s back and didn’t move for the entire race  The water was so clear you could see the coral from the kyack and I paddled out to some exposed rocks and there were crabs the size of a man’s fist. Boy can they move fast!

For five days,  we were summoned to breakfast lunch and dinner by the sound of the traditional Fijian drum and then all too soon it was time to return to the mainland.

The staff work long hours …six weeks on and one week off. Granted, each afternoon, they kick back and relax but it’s not the same as not having to be on duty. We were sad to say goodbye and I got a bit teary during the farewall song.

 On Friday morning I attended the Nadi Library. Nas Dean, from Romance Book Paradise is a volunteer at the library and the original plan was that I would call by and drop in some books however it grew from that and they invited me to speak at the civic centre which was such an honour. Look at this glorious lei they presented to me.

I was lucky to meet with many readers and teachers at the end of the session and signed books for the library. Nas is in the picture below wearing the most gorgeous sari.

Then the whole family went to lunch and Nas took us to her home for a cup of tea. It was a lovely way to end a trip to Fiji. If you’re planning a trip and it takes in Nadi, please take some books to donate to the library.

Poverty in Paradise

The Yasawa islands of Fiji are a chain of volcanic islands that are located north west of the main island of Viti Levu. We stayed on the northern end of the chain which was a 4.5 hour boat trip or a very expensive sea plane ride. We did the 4.5 hours and met all sorts of people from around the world who were backpacking and enjoying a relax in Fiji.

Our island was very close to the island where the 1980 film, The Blue Lagoon was filmed. The sea is azure, the sand golden, palm trees sway  in the gentle south pacific breezes but the local people  are some of the poorest in Fiji.

We visited the local village and some people are living in tiny bures with a dirt floor. The power comes from a generator and last year it was broken for six months. Slowly, NGO’s are assisting villages to convert to solar power.

The village we visited was a bigger one (300) so it had a school but children from the other villages on the island have to board there during the week because there are not enough boats to transport the children to and from each day. There was a tiny medical centre and a doctor in residence but the smaller villages are not so fortunate.Most people in the Yasawa’s have to travel a full day by boat for medical treatment.

Village life is a cooperative in many ways. Monday is the day people work for the village. If a couple are getting married then the villagers build a Bure out of coconut palms and other plants. That is the gift from the village. When a couple want a cement house, they have to arrange for that to be built themselves. With the heat, sleeping in a Bure makes a lot more sense!

Running water is not available at every house and in most cases the

laundry is done by hand by using a washboard. The villages fish and grow vegetables for their own consumption and we saw a few pigs running around. They depend on tourists buying trinkets they make and if they are fortunate enough to be in the Chief’s clan, they might be employed by the resort. There are three clans on the island.

We visited the medical centre, the kindergarten and the primary school. The kinder is run by a volunteer and held in the village hall. They are hoping with donations from tourists and the Yasawa Foundation to get a dedicated building one day.

In full voice

If you ever visit this part of the world do take some school supplies along with you and consider donating some of your time. The Yasawa Foundation  site tells you the many ways you can help. We hope to return and stay for longer.