Romantic Novelists' Association Conference 2008

Wow. Me thinks I might still be brain dead from all the thinking, talking and dare I say drinking but what a fabulous conference again this year. It is just the boost I needed to set me back into my writing life and remind me that this is exactly where I belong. Upon arrival it was like being greeted by a massive group hug. So many friends to see and chat to but by the end of the weekend I still had missed people or only briefly said hello.

The opening session was a panel of authors who cover the broad spectrum of Romantic Fiction which went to show just what a broad church it is ( yes for those attending it is an intentional pun - all the plenary sessions were held in the chapel). So looking at the photo above you have Anna Jacobs who writes just about everything including Sagas and Contemporary Women's Fictions, Pam Brooks who writes for Harlequin Mills and Boon as Kate Hardy for both the medical line and Modern Heat, the moderator Anne Ashurst who writes as Sara Craven for HMB, Kate Harrisonwho writes Chick Lit, Nicola Cornick who writes Historical Fiction for HMB and HQN Books, and not in the photo was Kate Johnson who writes Paranormal as Cat Marsters.

It was a fantastic start to the conference to see how each of these authors felt about Romantic fiction and how passionate they are about what they write. There was a thread that carried through all their answers about romantic fiction- a journey. This is journey of growth to love and to greater self understanding.

As is appropriate shortly after the opening we adjourned to the bar and there I spotted these fabulous shoes on a HMB editor, Joanne Carr.

I will post more about the conference tomorrow - the natives are rising here and it's time to leave the writing world behind and be mum again.