Romy Sommer

Sherry Thomas (image courtesy of Kristan Higgins ) My fifth day in San Diego started with a lovely, healthy breakfast while listening to featured guest speaker Sherry Thomas . Sherry was born and raised in China and moved to the US only in her early teens. Her earliest encounters with the English language were not happy ones, but luckily for her many, many devoted readers that all changed when post partum depression and romance novels came together to convince her she needed to write her own books. The standard of speakers and workshop presenters at the RWA conference is very high. Every one of them have been highly entertaining, incredibly well spoken, and often moving - Sherry Thomas was definitely all of the above. After breakfast I managed to slide in a Skype chat with my other daughter (the one I didn't manage to reach the day before) before Maya and I hurried to catch Michael Hauge 's talk on Story Structure , with particular reference to the Will Smith movie Hitc...

By Friday, I was discovering a trend in San Diego's weather - every morning would start overcast and dull until about 9-10am when the sun would burn through the cloud.  San Diego really has ideal weather - not too hot, not too cold, not too humid, mostly sunny and bright. My room-mate Maya and I had a bit of a slow start, and before we emerged from our room I managed to get in a quick Skype with one of my daughters before she went to bed. We then had to hurry to grab some of the free breakfast on offer for conference delegates - only barely making it as the staff were clearing up. We didn't manage to get in to the featured guest speaker but at least we got free food! In the elevator on the way back to the conference venue for the first session of the day, I met and chatted with author Kristan Higgins - though I couldn't shake her hand since I'd just painted my nails and they were still wet! Courtney Milan & Alisha Rai (photo from Courtney's Facebook pa...

On this first day of the full-on conference, breakfast wasn't provided, so I decided to grab a quick coffee and snack at one of the stores downstairs in the Marriott - only to find the queues at least 20 people long! So I had to sit through the first session of the day uncaffeinated! In spite of that, I really enjoyed the talk, which was historical author  Julia Quinn talking about Dialogue. I love Julia Quinn's books and they introduced me to a new, fresh side of Regency romance. She's a great speaker too, amusing and gracious, and though her talk really didn't introduce me to anything new, it was well worth attending to hear her speak. After a little break I joined the queue for the Beverly Jenkins luncheon, and Oh My Goodness! - the queue had to be seen to be believed! It wrapped around the entire conference centre! Fortunately, I bumped into the lovely ladies from the RWA's Orange County Chapter , some of whom I'd met at the pizza party the evening bef...

Day 2 in San Diego started with a heavy grey sky and rain - this wasn’t the weather I expected in California! Happily, by the time my room-mate (the lovely Harlequin author Maya Blake ) and I lazily emerged to face the world, the sun was once again shining. We made the most of this one chance for a slow start, first visiting the goodie bag & swag rooms, then wandering along the marina and enjoying a late breakfast burrito in Seaport Village. The goodie room (courtesy of Pam Jaffee on Twitter) Then we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for a take-away slice of the most mouth wateringly amazing cheesecake anyone can imagine! Maya chose the lemon meringue and I had carrot cake cheesecake and they were both delicious. Even the cream topping was delicious, light and fluffy and sweet. The slices are enormous – enough for 2-3 meals! By this time we were hot and a little tired out from our long walk so we headed back to our room for an afternoon nap. I’m still blaming the jet ...

From my front door to arriving in our hotel room in San Diego took about 33 hours. Since I can never sleep terribly well on a plane, I was pretty shattered but determined to push through until night-time - and the day was too beautiful to waste! San Diego reminds me of the idyllic Durban of my youth - though cleaner, less humid and with fewer Art Deco buildings than Durban! It's sunny, friendly and there are palms and bottle brush trees everywhere. Marriott Marquis & Marina Hotel, the conference venue The Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel, the venue of the RWA2016 conference, has to be seen to be believed. It makes our biggest South African hotels look boutique! With numerous restaurants, bars (and a Starbucks), swimming pools, 38 conference rooms (including 4 ballrooms), plus more than 20 floors of rooms, it's pretty impressive. Lobby at the conference centre The RWA conference has completely taken over the hotel. There are romance writers and ro...

This is the final instalment of my adventures at Penrith 2012. Normal blogging will resume next week. Jane Wenham-Jones – What a Way to Earning A Living  Whatever I expected of this first session of the day, it wasn’t what I got. It was better! Jane is so entertaining she could do stand-up comedy. For an hour she regaled us with stories from her life (including her visit to Erotica UK, the time she appeared on Kilroy, and an unfortunate yoghurt and cucumber incident at an Egyptian spa) as well as the upsides and downsides of writing (including suggestions on how to avoid Writers’ Bottom). There were some valuable suggestions to take away from this talk too. Jane said “nothing you ever do is wasted”. It is all material for our writing. Her whole career has been a knock-on effect, and she recommends we take every opportunity that arises, as we never know where it might lead. Most uplifting of all, she says the best thing about being a writer (and I completely agree!) is tha...

Here is the summary of my Saturday at the RNA conference at Penrith. Talli Roland – On-line marketing for writers  Talli opened the session by looking at the differences between marketing (identifying readers and how to satisfy them) and sales (“Buy my book!”). She recommends that authors first figure out their brand, and suggested a good way to start is to choose three adjectives that describe your writing. Use these words in your signature, and remember them in all promotions and communications. She gave blogging, tweeting and Facebook tips, and recommended using social media as a ‘circle’ – feeding through from one unique platform into another. She also discussed Goodreads, Amazon, Google Reader and newsletters. Talli ended by saying that marketing is a long term exercise, not an immediate solution. Kate Harrison – A Woman’s World: The Future of Women’s Fiction  Following the negative headlines late last year about declining book sales (based on print figures on...

I promised detailed conference feedback here on the blog today, but since I've only just cleared my Inbox, it's heading towards midnight as I type this, and I've just opened an email from my boss telling me to "hit the ground running" tomorrow as they've allocated me to a big project with a tight deadline, this report is NOT going to cover the entire conference, and you're going to have to keep coming back here for the rest! The conference started for me on Friday afternoon, arriving at the train station in Penrith and meeting a veritable crowd of romance writers on the platform. We shared taxis to the campus and were soon 'checked in' and happily enjoying a cup of tea together. The noise level during the tea breaks was something to behold. Can you imagine 160 romance writers all talking at the same time?! Just as the Irish Road Trippers (including our own Sally Clements) arrived, the conference started with the welcome talk, practical notes (i...