Kate and Kat talk about their favourite Australian romance authors. Part 8 of a series of vodcasts for Aussie Author Month 2012.
In this series, Kate and I talk about some of our favourite Australian romance authors, with some digression into our to-be-read lists. This time we talk about romantic suspense. No prizes for guessing our author picks. :-)
If you can’t see the video below, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just over five minutes.
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Kate and Kat chat about romance fiction in Australia. Part 1 of a series of vodcasts for Aussie Author Month 2012.
So the lovely and extremely knowledgeable bookworm Kate (@katydidinoz) and I have joined forces to do something a little different for Aussie Author Month. Look, mum, we’ve made a vodcast!
I’ve been thinking about doing vodcasts for a while, and sharing camera time with Kate seemed a lot more fun and a lot less talking-to-a-wall-ish than doing it on my own, so I’m chuffed that we’ve been able to do this.
In this video we touch on what it’s like the to read romance books in Australia, our experiences with local romance communities, the general awesomeness of Australian romance authors, romance in the broader literary community and, most important of all, what we’re currently reading.
It’s our first attempt, so please forgive the shady (ha!) lighting and dubbing problems. I would fix these if I could but, as you will come to realise from my over-enthusiastic use of iMovie themes, this was my first time. (Vodcast deflowering, yay!) Getting this up on YouTube almost broke me.
And now I have run out of stalling tactics, so here goes. Enjoy!
If you can’t see the video below, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just over eight minutes.
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Photo: Decadence
How could I possibly turn down an evening of romance chosen by Kat and read by Aussie media personalities? Especially when it’s all in support of International Women’s Day.
Alison from Customs House Library introduced the evening’s players: curator, blogger, freelance writer and romance expert Kat; entertainer PJ Lane; lawyer and alter ego of Elle McFeast, Libby Gorr; and actor Rhys Muldoon turned out to support International Women’s Day.
During Rhys Muldoon’s introduction, it was revealed that he has a passion for crime writing. ‘Not romance?’ Alison asked. He got a few laughs when he replied that they are two sides of the same coin.
Kat asked who has read a romance and enjoyed it. Most of the audience raised their hands. When Rhys got Kat to allow Jane Eyre as a romance, he raised his hand. Libby joked that hers come in a paper bag and PJ was ‘noticeably silent’.
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To kick-off #AWW2012, I thought I’d post a list of reviews we’ve previously posted for books written by Australian women. I’ve included a short except from each review to give you an idea of what we thought of each book.
If you’re on Twitter, I’ll also be retweeting links to these reviews because, in the era of e-publishing, there’s no reason why you can’t grab a copy of their books and try them yourself! Click here for a full list of our #AWW2012 reviews.
As Darkness Falls by Bronwyn Parry (romantic suspense)
An excellent debut novel, and it makes me so glad to finally read an Aussie romance that never once had me rolling my eyes. You can read the first chapter here. If you’re still not convinced, I’d encourage you to check your local library. If, like me, you’ve basically been reading decades worth of US-centric romances, you may find something refreshing and real and genuinely touching in this novel.
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This is a transcript of my introduction and interstitial talks at the Raunchy Romance Storytime event at Customs House Library last Wednesday. (It will differ slightly from the actual event because not everything I said was written down.) Items in italics are asides. I’ve linked to sources where relevant. Click here for a list of all the books featured on the night.
Photo: Decadence
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Raunchy Romance Storytime. I’m Kat Mayo and I run a book blog called Book Thingo, which focuses on romance fiction and, to some extent, genres that intersect with romance.
Here I asked the audience and the presenters to indicate if they’ve read a romance book before. There were quite a few of them!
I’m glad to see that we’re so well represented tonight, because romance, generally speaking, doesn’t hold an exalted place in our literary culture. Even when you look within genre fiction circles, there’s a sense that romance is the lowest common denominator and there’s a tendency to justify romantic elements within stories. That, or to kill romantic leads off, usually quite violently.
You also might not realise this, but Australia has the highest number of romance authors per capita in the world. The local market can’t actually support support their output, so they end up being published by overseas publishers.
So when Alison emailed me and invited to curate this event, I was extremely chuffed, for two reasons:
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Last weekend I went to Melbourne for the R*BY awards, but I thought I’d let you in on some of the things I heard and experienced which I think would be of interest to other readers. You can find all my photos on Flickr.
Anna Campbell now with Grand Central
Anna Campbell has changed US publishers. Her next book will be published with Grand Central, which is part of the Hachette group. She will still be published under HarperCollins in Australia. I had a chat with her about the Australian format for her books (C format, which costs about $30 retail), but I’m not sure if the change will have an impact on the Australian editions.
Dymocks trade stall
The trade stall by sponsor Dymocks (234 Collins St), managed by the lovely Helen, was fantastic. They arranged books in bookshelves and had couches and seating set up for browsing. It was lovely and cosy and so entirely appropriate for a romance convention.
Plenary session – Publishing panel
I heard separately from two people who attended the Saturday morning plenary session featuring representatives from various publishers. The impression I got was that the Australian (non-romance specialist) publishers were very reluctant to even say ‘romance’ and that they didn’t want to know who ends up with whom in the first page.
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This month is Get Reading! month (previously Books Alive) in Australia. I unearthed an article I wrote for the ARRA newsletter last year around the same time. I’m posting it in full with some additional notes at the end.
If you’ve been book shopping recently, you may have noticed signs promoting the Books Alive campaign. Visit a participating bookshop before September 30 and you can pick up a free reading guide called 50 Books You Can’t Put Down.
I’ll be honest. I find it difficult to get excited about most of the books in the guide. We’re not likely to find Stephanie Laurens or Anna Campbell on the list, let alone the many Australian romance authors who write category novels or who are primarily e-published.
So what’s a romance reader to do? The good news is that there are romances listed—even if it’s not easy to spot them!
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Ann Gracie as Dame Barbara Cartland (RWAus 2010 Cocktail Party)
Last night I attended my first ever Romance Writers of Australia conference event: the Harlequin-sponsored cocktail party. What? You thought I was going there to work? No, no, I signed up for all the parties!
The cocktail party is a themed event and this year it was ‘Fantasy Island’. Never say that writers aren’t a creative bunch because some of the costumes were pretty amazing. Anne Gracie was awarded the best costume prize for her fabulous Barbara Cartland.
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Bronwyn Parry’s third Dungirri book shelved
In case you missed her announcement, Bronwyn Parry is no longer working on her third Dungirri book. If there’s one thing I admire in an author it’s knowing when to let go of a book or series. The good news is that Parry seems to have a new book in the works, so yay for her and for us readers!
FANGtastic Fiction’s change of focus
I noticed that our friends over at FANGtastic Fiction have decided to stop selling books directly but have become a kind of portal for book recommendations. If you love your books with a touch of the supernatural, it’s worth checking out the site.
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The finalists for this year’s Romance Book of the Year (R*BY) Awards have been announced. Congratulations on the finalists and good luck!
Long Romance Category
Mistletoe Magic by Sophia James
Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens
Temptation and Surrender by Stephanie Laurens
Wicked Little Game by Christine Wells
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