Last night it was the 30th annual Romance Writers of Australia Awards night, and this happened . . .

I was thrilled to bits, as this was my first (and so far only) self-published book. And of course, it’s a huge honor to win.

It was a bit of a weird night. You see the conference was in Queensland, and because of CoVid restrictions the Queensland borders were closed to those of us in Victoria (my state) and New South Wales (where Sydney is) — the states with the largest populations. Add to that the rule that people from other states would probably have to do a two week quarantine on returning home — which would take them into Christmas — and pretty much the only people who could attend were the Queenslanders.

So I, and most of the other winners and finalists were watching the presentations on line from our homes.

Still, it was interesting watching the evening from my lounge-room, often like a silent movie because they turned the sound off while people were eating, which felt a little creepy. *g* But I always enjoy seeing who’s finalling and who’s winning and seeing the newer writers come up through the various competitions RWAustralia runs. Some of the multi-published authors who were presenting the prizes, I recall as the unpublished competition winners of some years ago, so the whole affair has an on-going tribal feeling that I really enjoy.

I wasn’t able to make a speech but if I had I would have thanked my friends, in particular Keri Arthur, who helped enormously, Carol Marinelli, Alison Reynolds and Fay Thomev who each gave me excellent feedback on the story draft, and Pat Rice and Mary Jo Putney who gave me self-publishing advice and encouragement, as well as story feedback. I am blessed in my friends.

Congratulations to the other R*BY winners. Here’s the full list:
Contemporary Romance  Her Cowboy Prince Madeline Ash
Historical  Romance An Unexpected Companion Janis Linford
Novel with Romantic Elements  Just an Ordinary Family Fiona Lowe
Romantic Suspense Easy Target Shannon Curtis
Speculative Fiction High Flyer Michelle Diener
Romance Novella  The Christmas Bride Anne Gracie

This photo is of a young Georgette Heyer and her brothers.
I got it from Jennifer Kloester, Heyer’s official biographer.
She has some fascinating posts about Heyer on her website.

Are you a Heyer fan? I am. I’ve been reading and rereading her books since I was eleven. My first was These Old Shades, and I was hooked.

Are you coming to the Heyer Con — “Soirée — on Sunday 19th Sept? It’s virtual, on zoom, so you don’t even need to leave the house. If so, I’ll see you there. I’m doing a reading in the afternoon from my new book, The Scoundrel’s Daughter.

Further info here:
https://heyersociety.com/heyercon-i-soiree-2021/

In mid-August I’m heading up to the Gold Coast to attend the Romance Writers of Australia conference — assuming it goes ahead in person, that is. (Tricky times in travel these days, with border closures happening with little notice.) As well as presenting a workshop at the conference, and having a small get-together with 10 people in an “ask-me-anything” session, I’ll also be doing a signing with a lot of other authors for ARRA (the Australian Romance Readers Association.)  Tickets for the signing here. 
If you were part of that small group, what might you ask me?