After a couple of weeks of settling back into the day-to-day grind, I thought a blog post was due. Time to post my heartfelt thanks to the amazing team of Queensland Authors and helpers who put together such a wonderful “Love Gone Wild” 2017 conference for the Romance Community to enjoy.
The yearly RWA conference is something I look forward to, counting down the months and days until I can be surrounded once more with friends and hundreds of like-minded people, all with one aim. To make people happy. What a wonderful job we have ladies and gents. It never gets old. Putting smiles on faces as they turn the pages of our books with wonder, with appreciation, with apprehension, with love as they get to know their next book boyfriend or fabulously independent and resourceful heroine, is something to which we all aspire. It’s like a drug. As one book takes off into the charts, and another is pitched to publishers, the cycle starts again, and we are drawn into the never-ending quest to be “the next big thing”. You know the one… the books the publishers are dying to have on their list. The Gone Girl, or The Girl On The Train, or any number of best sellers that grace our bookshelves and line up for Hollywood movies to be made from their nail biting plots.
I will admit it. I would love my book to be up there, flying off the shelves and into the waiting arms of lovers of Romance. Who does not love “love”? We question ourselves every day, pouring over the words we write, asking ourselves “Is it good enough? Will someone enjoy my story? Will my words satisfy my publisher?” before we chastise ourselves, reading the pages we have struggled over, and close down our computers with a flick of the wrist. Or is that just me?
My first published novel “From Paris To Forever” is off, sent into the wild, in readers’ hands. Chloe and Todd’s story is out there for the world to see. My new characters are now sitting patiently waiting for their chance to shine. This book is different, and is giving me headaches. I am a pantser not a plotter, and I have had to plot this new manuscript, because of the storyline. I have disappeared down the rabbit hole with this one, and I am struggling to bring all the plot points together to make one cohesive and enjoyable story. But as I said, I doubt my work, until it is done. That is until it has been completed, pushed to the bottom of the drawer for a couple of weeks, and I re-read it with new eyes. Then I pass it on to my Beta readers and wait with trepidation.
I challenge anyone to write a book and not be nervous about the outcome. But it is not something I would change. I am thrilled with the positive reviews I have received. I love “love”. I love Romance. What can I say.
I am a storyteller, and as such, your words of encouragement are addictive.