#spookyseason
Want a sapphic short story that I wrote a couple of years ago for a spooky season challenge?
Note: this link will sign you up for my newsletter.
dl.bookfunnel.com/ppwhhut8cc

After several bad experiences, I refuse to read a book with a 'writer' main character.

Want a book I wrote in anger, but actually turned out a little soft?
Ravishing Among The Roses releases at the end of this month. It's the third in a series but can be read as a stand alone.
www.amazon.com/Ravishing-Am...

In the scheme of things this is small but it made me smile. My adult son bought me birthday cake yesterday.

Another Australian cultural institution destroying its own reputation for reasons of censorship

Love a writer's subconcious. I've just realised my latest wip is about AI - it's a regency set sapphic romance with themes of education and choice and what happens when people are discouraged from learning, and discouraged from independant thought.

I need to be reassured that the Anthropic settlement isn’t just “and this is how much it costs to steal work, build that into your budget model“ 😭

What would be a nice little appropriate (non-alcoholic) gift for my neighbour who helped jumpstart my car yesterday?

I will never read a romance that tries to turn a tech bro billionaire into a hero. That’s propaganda as far as I’m concerned.

EW EW EW EW EW NO EW
Tell me ChatGPT wrote your book without telling me ChatGPT wrote your book.

Home from RWAus. Aside from the disappointment over the Ruby, the conference was excellent, and even better, I came home to a clean house thanks to my 19yo son (and flatmate) who did the laundry and cleaned the lounge and kitchen. Super work, lad.
Massive news that Alyssa Cole is coming in 2026.

Australia Post announced this today too. No mail to USA from here anymore.

Systemtic issues in Romance Writers Australia exist, just as they did in with the American version, and this shines glaring headlights on them.
They are hard to solve.
Having a white straight woman who wrote one brown character win this doesn't encourage own voices writers and makes it harder.

1. A siloed award doesn't solve systemic issues. It's a bandaid at best.
2. The audacity of the winner to enter this with an interracial romance while being white and straight shines glaring headlights on the systemic issues. It's taken an opportunity away from someone who is own voices. #RWAus

I'm kind of so disappointed in the whole thing that I'm just going to go to bed. I got angry about it when it was first announced and people tried to shut me up, so I'm done.

I did not enter any of my eligible books in this award, because I'm against the concept of a siloed award.
I am also the only author to have finaled in one of the other award categories with a queer book ever (2022), so it's possible without a silo.
Note Australia is 80% white (as a baseline)

The awards are determined by reader judges.
The winner was a straight white woman writing a straight interracial heterosexual book (not own voices).
The other two finalists were sapphic books and were own voices.
At the minimum, a siloed diversity award should be own voices.

For the record, as a previous Secretary of RWAus, I was firmly against having a separate diverse romance award for the annual awards. Our committee discussed it and decided against the idea, but the current committee have gone ahead with it. Unsurprisingly, the 3 finalists were white women.

It's coming up on one year since a shit thing happened to one of my kids - he's doing really well now although it was a tricky few months at first - and I'm about to release the book I wrote at the time. It's my angriest book, stuffed full of all the emotions I couldn't say at the time.

Some new Aussie romance releases for 18-24 August. Includes books by @lexxiecouperwrites.bsky.social @eviemitchellauthor.bsky.social @sofiaaves.bsky.social @reneedahlia.bsky.social @addisonacresauthor.bsky.social @abigailmaderauthor.bsky.social @lexloganauthor.bsky.social

#Booksky #Romancelandia

New free Patreon post. It's free because it's basic knowledge that every romance writer should be getting correct. Also because my friend's photo is the funniest - and yes, he has no weight resting on the pony. He's standing on the ground.
www.patreon.com/posts/nine-h...

There's something amazing about beginning to write a new book. I do not understand why anyone would want a machine (gen-AI) to do this for them? There's a magic in creation that is so very special.
There's a different kind of grit in writing the bit from 75% to the end, but that's also special.

I know lots of you have strong opinions on this topic, so I hope this will be of interest:

"You are being asked to participate in a survey of romance authors and readers that is being conducted by Prof. Bridget Kies in the Film Studies and Production program at Oakland University."

Exclusive character art for Maiden Over will be going out in my next newsletter. Sign up here:
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