Books I’ve enjoyed reading in August and September:

“The Sevenfold Spell” by Tia Nevitt. Cute fairy tale based on Sleeping Beauty.

“too good to be true” by Kristan Higgins. I got this in a goodie bag at the RWAust conference. Loved it. Must read more of her books.

“The Thorne Maze” by Karen Harper. Cute mystery with Queen Elizabeth I & co as sleuths.

“Cruel Venus” by Susan Lewis. I really enjoy Susan Lewis’ books.

“The Heretic Queen” by Michelle Moran. About Queen Nefertari and Ramesses II. A must for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt.

Now that the weather’s getting warmer, I’ve been working in my vegetable garden. Harvested lots of snow peas. Great for a stir fry. Even better eaten raw straight from the plant. I have lots of radishes too. A few lettuces. Parsnips and carrots. Thyme, parsley and rosemary. The pumpkin, sweetcorn and cucumber are just poking their heads above the soil. I’m having a ball fertilising and watering.

My worm farm is up and running although less than a tenth of the supposedly 500 worms I bought actually appeared. It’s not like you can count them in the shop either. Mainly because the 500 includes both worms and eggs. How big is a worm egg? What does it even look like?

It’s spring in Australia so in honour of the season here are ten great things about spring:

1. Warmer weather (Duh!)

2. More energy. I always feel better when the weather is warm.

3. My vegetable garden is springing to life.

4. There are blossoms on my orange tree. It smells amazing.

5. Washing dries quickly. (I don’t have a dryer.)

6. Lots of BBQs and eating outdoors.

7. A sunny spot in the garden with a good book.

8. Maybe a swim. (Okay now I’m being really optimistic.)

9. Wearing t-shirts and shorts and feeling warm air on my skin.

10. Walking in the park.

If Australia has a hung parliament, will it also be drawn and quartered?

Okay, here it is. My most embarrassing moment at the conference.

I was in a lift (elevator) with a lovely lady. Our conversation went something like this…

Lovely Lady: I know you! Allegra Fairweather!

Me: (pointing at my name tag and assuming she’d mistaken me for this Allegra person) I’m – um – Janni Nell.

LL: (looking at me like I was crazy) No, your book Allegra Fairweather: Paranormal Investigator. You wrote it!

Me: Oh right, that Allegra. (wishing we weren’t in an elevator and I could quietly creep away)

When the various shades of red drained from my cheeks, we had a nice chat. I hope we meet again at a future conference.

Note to self: Repeat at least twice a day: My heroine is Allegra Fairweather. My heroine is Allegra Fairweather.

The critique group I belong to boasts not one but two Emerald Award winners this year. Go girls! Today it’s my pleasure to welcome the winner of the Category Section (drum roll) Coleen Yan.

Over to you Coleen.

About a year ago I joined RWA and discovered their competitions. The first one I entered quickly deflated any remaining writer’s ego when I failed to final, but the judge’s comments were invaluable. Fired up, I entered two stories in the Emerald competition, and when I learned one had made the finals, I couldn’t stop shaking. Several nail-biting months followed. In the meantime I joined the Claytons Critters group and discovered some wonderful critique partners.

I couldn’t make the RWA conference, so I did the next best thing and joined the Claytons Conference. What a crazy weekend it was, filled with author chats and writing challenges. On awards night I sat with my husband and daughter and joined the chat room to find out who the winners were. When I saw my name pop up on the screen, I was speechless. My daughter squealed. My husband woohoo-ed (He’s my biggest supporter).  And then my laptop began to beep as the chat room filled with congratulations. There was no champagne handy, but we improvised with apple juice and cooking chocolate!

I’m so thrilled about my win, but also humbled. You see, of the two stories I entered, the one I thought the strongest tanked badly in the first round and ended up almost at the bottom. Whereas the story which ultimately won was one I struggled with and rewrote several times, never thinking it was good enough.

So it’s great that I won. Now I just have to figure out why.

My guest today is this year’s Emerald Single Title winner. I met her about four years ago at an RWAust conference on the Gold Coast, Queensland. A couple of years later I joined a critique group she belongs to. I’m not stalking her – well, maybe just a little to get her to post on my blog. It’s a great pleasure to welcome (drum roll) Alli Withers.

Janni, thanks so much for inviting me to share my feelings about winning the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Award.

Magical!

Well, once the winner is announced. You see, unlike some other contests, the place-getters in the Emerald don’t know the results or in what order they’ve been ranked by that competition’s particular final judge, until the Awards night. There’s no way for me to really prepare for the final outcome. I try but…

Anticipation!

One explanation for this word taken from my dictionary is:

a pleasurable expectation.

Hmm! Sorry. I’m not sure this is the overall feeling I experienced on the Awards night. I did my best to pretend my gorgeous husband and I were going out for a delicious dinner with quite a sizeable group - around 250 – of lovely people. But every now and then my control would slip, allowing a betraying happy thought to flash through my mind –

I AM AN EMERALD FINALIST!

HOORAY!

OH DEAR!

The four finalists are named – though there’s usually only three. I clap to celebrate my fellow finalists. My heart beat quickens. Fourth place is announced. Not me. My breathing sounds a little shaky. Third place is announced. Again, not me. My heart actually starts knocking against the inside wall of my chest. Not good. Not a nice feeling. I grasp my husband’s arm. Second place is announced. Not my name. Breath! Dumb moment – if it’s not me then it must mean…OMG!

I WON!

OMG! I cover my face with my shaking hands. Words of congratulations from my husband. I have so many people to thank. Can’t stop shaking. My husband’s kiss gives me strength. I rise on trembling legs and hobble in my heels to the stage. Smiling faces. I think I smile back.

I’m there, on stage, shaking all over, accepting my certificate and wonderful trophy with a wobbly grin on my face. Wonderful! Stunned! Wonder! Thrilled!

Dry mouth. But I start speaking and thank everyone who I need to thank. I get all the words out, despite a tiny hitch in my voice near the end. YAY! Flashing lights. Photos. More smiling faces. So many tight hugs and congratulations. So much support and encouragement.

Special!

An editor enjoyed my whole story enough to place my entry first. Two days later that single thought has me slowly shaking my head in awe. WOW! Truly motivating. Makes me want to write more. I’m still floating on air and grinning like a fool.

Inspired!

Thanks so much to everyone for your hugs and congratulations, both in person and via email.

Allison Withers.

The Awards Dinner was… (I will not write awesome. I will not write awesome.).

The Awards Dinner was… AWESOME! (Oh crap)

I sat with members of the Claytons critique group, who are all wonderful. But this year two of them were particularly wonderful since they made the final of the Emerald. This award, for an unpublished full manuscript, has two sections: one for Category (aka series romance) and one for Single Title. With two member finalists in different sections, we knew there was a chance Claytons girls could take out both awards.

And they did!!!! In a small crit group that is an amazing achievement.

Congratulations to Alli Withers (ST) and Coleen Yan (Category).

The lovely Alli Withers will be my guest on the blog tomorrow.

I’ve spent the last four days at Romance Writers of Australia’s annual conference. It was an amazing awesome fantastic terrific magnificent marvellous experience. Okay too many adjectives (and not enough commas) but I don’t care.

We had fabulous overseas guests in Debra Dixon, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Dianne Moggy and Jennifer Schober.

A wealth of information was presented in the many workshops. My personal favourite was Terri Green, a writer and physiotherapist, who gave tips on posture at the computer, and stretching and strengthening muscles. I purchased a wonderful back support, which is currently blissing out all my tense muscles. Thanks Terri.

The wonderful, warm and witty Kerri Lane once again acted as MC. She is one of the true joys of attending an RWAust conference. A real treasure. And she hugged me! (Even though it wasn’t my first conference.)

The conference committee of Carla, Kandy, Jen, Christine, Shannon and all the many people who assisted them did an incredible job of bringing everything together. (cue applause)

My favourite moment was, of course, joining a wonderful group of debut authors to receive my first sale ribbon. The acknowledgment was wonderful but what I’ll cherish is the warmth of those big hugs from Annie West and Alison Ahearn. (cue happy tears)

I’ll be blogging more about the conference later this week including my most embarrassing moment.

Next week I’ll be attending Romance Writers of Australia’s conference at beautiful Coogee Beach. For non Sydneysiders, Coogee is a suburb south of Bondi. Less busy than Bondi but the beach is just as beautiful. Not that it’s swimming weather since Sydney is in the middle of a wintry cold snap. Anyway I’ll probably be too busy to do more than glance at the beach through the hotel windows. If I’m up early enough I’ll see the sun rise over the ocean during breakfast.

I’m particularly excited about this conference because it’s the first I’ve attended as a published author. I’m making the most of it and going to the Published Author Day, which is sure to be great but I think the highlight will be receiving my first sale ribbon. Yay!

This year the cocktail party has a Fantasy Island theme. I’m hopeless at coming up with clever costumes but I figure if I throw on a lei and some bright summer clothes, I might just pass muster.

I’ll be blogging about the conference when I return so don’t forget to check back in a week or so.