RWA Conference Report

Glenelg, South Australia, before the Jetty

I went to the RWA Conference.

I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed myself. I did conference a little differently this time - I didn't stay in the venue but a short walk away, I got outside, I didn't have majorly late nights talking to everyone, and I didn't have high expectations. These changes worked for me!!!!

View from the Jetty - the conference hotel is on the right

Adelaide is my favourite city in Australia, and Glenelg is gorgeous. The Stamford Grand is functional elegance and a fantastic location for a conference. I enjoyed the venue and location a lot. Great food nearby. Lots of space around. Short walk to shops, tram, beach, fresh air, parks, other motels. Just a great spot to be.

My conference highlights were:

• Listening to Keri Arthur's talk. She's one of my favourite authors and Dad and I fight over who reads her new book first. Her talk was so honest, that it gave me a new look at the industry. She's a big name, NY Times best seller, and yet she has hassles. She struggles to know what's the right thing. She gets messed about. She has to stand up for what she believes is right, even when it costs financially. On the outside, her career looks like smooth sailing - it was refreshing to hear that no matter where or who you are, not everything is smooth sailing.
• Daniel DeLorne gave another honest, open talk about gay males. I really enjoyed his light humour, his openness, honestly and the refreshingly normal way he spoke about sex. There isn't a lot at conference targetted for the erotic author, so this was great!
• There was an Academic Conference stream and I LOVED IT! I loved being challenged to think about what we read and write. I loved the depth and breadth of the views expressed. This is the second academic conference held as part of RWA and I hope it continues. It makes the conference for me.
• Catching up with fellow Naughty Ninjas, Lily Malone and Sandra Antonelli. I was so lucky to be talking to Lily when Sue brought Lily's new book to give to her. It was Lily's first look and it was such a privilege to be there. And Sandra presented the work from her PhD at the Academic Conference, which is fab!

  

  Lily, her new book, with Sue Brockhoff from Harlequin Mira

  

  Lily and me

Sandra and me

Some of my personal 'funny' moments were -

• Running 'home' in the pouring rain, heels in hand, after the Harlequin Author Party. The ground was slippery (great excuse, hey?) and I felt all of 16 and sneaking home late :)
• Taking a great sunset shot under the jetty, all dressed up, thinking I wouldn't get wet - and of course I did! My boots filled with water, my good trousers were soaked to the knee. Luckily it was after my publisher meeting! I do need to grow up, but there's no fun in that :)

View under the jetty - at sensible low tide

View under the jetty - at high tide, when you might just get your feet wet (or your legs!)

I still have problems with my attendance at conference. I find so many people are all about themselves - that's all they want to talk about, how great they are. I find a lot of people have different views to me about the publishing business, and I struggle with that. There are entirely too many people and it's much too noisy!! (I'm such a hermit!). There's too many options - at one stage I wanted to be in 3 places at once. It's still expensive. And erotic authors are generally not catered for - but I suppose that can be said about a lot of sub-genres. It just gets on my goat when people talk to me and acknowledge one type of my writing, yet this side of me is 'just sex' - as if I don't craft a story with as much care and diligence.

But, all up, I'd go again. I'd do the more casual approach again too. So far, I'm tired but I'm not sick and out on my feet like in 2014. I might finally be working it out :)

Fairway to Heaven

Just breaking normal scheduling because yesterday was the release day of Lily Malone's Fairway to Heaven.

This book features a dodgy vagina, and since we're all about interesting stuff, sciencey and sexy, dodgy vaginas are a fascinating topic!

Okay, so there's a LOT more to the story than just that. And it's set in beautiful WA, and features Busselton jetty and squid jigging, so there's lots to love about it.

If you haven't read it (or written it!), may I suggest you grab yourself a copy.

Here's the blurb to tempt you more:

It’s going to take more than summer loving to heal old wounds, but a remote beach, old friendships and a bit of sunshine might just spark a second chance at love.

When Jennifer Gates drives to Sea Breeze Golf Club to kick off date-night with her boyfriend, the last thing she expects is to find Golf Pro Jack giving one of his lady students a private—and very personal—lesson in bunker-play.

Lucky for Jenn, her best friend gives her the keys to the Culhane family’s beach shack on the white-pepper shores of Western Australia’s Geographe Bay. Jenn hopes a weekend on the coast with her young son will give her the space she needs to rebuild her confidence after Jack’s betrayal.

But she’s not the only person seeking sanctuary by the sea. Brayden Culhane is there too, and Jenn can’t look at Brayden without remembering the tequila-flavoured kiss they shared on the shack steps years ago.
As long-buried feelings are rekindled, and a friendship is renewed, Jenn knows it is more than lazy summer days bringing her mojo back. Romantic sunsets, ice-cold beers and the odd round of golf can only go so far, because this time trusting Brayden with her heart won’t be enough. Jenn has to learn to trust her body, too.

Bunker Play Blog Hop

Today I'm doing something a little different.

Lily Malone is a major supporter of this blog, great commenter, and all around fabulous person. She has a new book out, so to celebrate, we have a Bunker Play Blog Hop for your enjoyment - her book is about golf, but not as you know it!

Lily's book has the most divine cover, which you can own when you go to buy her book at Amazon or Smashwords, or you can drool over it right here!


Golf and Cate Ellink
So, I'm supposed to talk about golf. Golf and I are not friends, although I have tried! When I lived in a small country town in western NSW, golf was one of the pastimes to take up. We had a pro come to town for lessons, and along I went to the women's classes.

I had a great time - being useless! I learned to hold the clubs and swing, and line up shots and do all the technical things...but putting it into action was a test of my patience.

I'm not naturally sporty. I love sport but it usually doesn't like me with the same passion, and golf is no different. I could whack one great shot in 18 holes... the rest sucked!

But I like to watch. I grew up near a course in Sydney where there was a big event each year. My Mum and I would walk down to stand at the corner and see Greg Norman tee off on this one hole. It was fabulous. When I was a kid, great crowds didn't seem to attend things, so often there was just a few locals there to oohh and ahh...but you don't get to stand on the corner and watch people play any more. It's a much more professional and organised outfit, and I'm still disorganised and unmotivated to get organised!

But I'll be reading Lily's book. Actually I have already. She's teased me with sex in bunkers, and all sorts of golfing fun. So I'm looking forward to reading Fairway to Heaven on my e-reader.


GIVEAWAY
I'm going to give one commenter on my blog a copy of Lily's book, plus a copy of my latest release, The Virginity Mission, and a fridge magnet of that drool-worthy cover. All you have to do is leave a comment about your golfing prowess - or something about golf! Local and International visitors welcome. Drawn 15th January.

If you leave your email address in the comments (just write 'at' instead of @; or email me if you prefer) then I'll contact you and mail you a fridge magnet of The Virginity Mission cover. Local and International visitors welcome.

The overall Rafflecopter is here

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck in the Blog Hop. If you get lost, you can always go back to the blog of our intrepid leader, Rhyll Biest.

Cate xox

Avon Romance Tasty Summer Reads Blog Hop

Lily Malone tagged me for this blog hop - even though it's winter here, I thought I should do it! It began with the Avon authors and you can read the start here if you want to (it could be a good way to collect some recipes!).

What's this all about?
Well, as I understand it, these blog hops are linked back to each other, so it's designed as a way to build up traffic to your website, make people aware of your books, and to generate a following. This blog hop has a recipe included, so it's giving something back to the people who follow the hops.

I'm supposed to tag 5 people to continue this, but I'm not a fan of these chain-letter-things. However, if you'd like to be tagged, please let me know and I'll amend this to include you :)

My Work In Progress
This is nameless at the moment but it's a fun sex romp, set on Lord Howe Island, with two sporty people - a retired Olympic triathlete, Samantha, and a rugby league player, Cooper. I didn't want to go for a huge angsty conflict novel, I wanted a fun story with lots of sex. I'm halfway through writing/editing it. I'll let you know when it's ready to see the world.

Five Tasty Questions
1. When writing are you a snacker? If so, sweet or salty?
I don't snack while writing or I'd no longer fit in my house! I do drink tea, by the bucketful!

2. Are you an outliner or someone who flies by the seat of their pants? Are they real pants or jammies?
Seat of my pants. If I plan, then I get bored and the story is done in my head and is never written. So I have to zoom off into the unknown, write like fury, and then spends months fixing it up! I'm a tracksuit person when I'm writing.

3. When cooking or baking, do you follow the recipe exactly or wing it? 
I wing it. Even if a recipe book is open, I'm a bit slap-dash about it. I like to experiment too. I like having some taste ideas in my head then mixing flavours to get it. I'm more success than failure, thank goodness!

4. What is next for you after this book?
After this book, I have one about fellatio to finish. Then I have one on fetishes that's started but is still fermenting in my mind.

5. Last Question...on a level of one being slightly naughty to ten being whoo whoo steamy, where does your book land?
10 - I like whoo whoo steamy!

RECIPE for Banana and Mashmallow
This is a great summer dessert.

You need: 
3 bananas
8 oz mashmallows (I use a whole pack and doesn't matter if they're coloured or not)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup whipped cream (or thickened cream)

What to do:
Chop up walnuts.
Quarter all the mashmallows (I use a knife dipped in hot water - but it's messy!)
Chop bananas into slices. 
Mix all the ingredients together.
Refrigerate.

You have to eat this within 2 days or the bananas go brown - but it's not usually a problem! It may not look pretty but it's a taste sensation - and a family recipe, I didn't wing it :)
  

Sunday Story

Lily Malone is one of my regular readers and commenters and she has her first book out this month and His Brand Of Beautiful is beautiful. Christina Clay is a likeable heroine, who is not your typical rich girl. She has a wicked sense of humour and great timing. Tate Newell also has a good sense of humour, which is just as well because he's often the brunt of hers. He assumes she's the rich girl of his mind, without taking the time to know her, and this leads him into all sorts of scrapes.

I thought this was a fun read. I loved Lily's word choices and her voice. The main project that brings Tate and Christina together is that she wants him to develop a wine brand for her. And this is the part I loved. I adored the wine brand. The campaign was fun. I could see the labels in my head. I wanted to go buy a few bottles and enjoy good wine. This is a book that made me want to read it out loud to friends, laughing, over a few glasses of red!

If you're looking for a nice read, and don't mind a giggle and a wine, you can't go by His Brand Of Beautiful.

Hope you enjoy it!