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Author Archive

Award-winning Helene!
Author:
• Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Fiona, Helene and I were amongst the 350 romance writers who had a fantastic time at the Romance Writers of Australia conference this past weekend in Melbourne. The conference is always wonderful – warm, friendly, inspirational, and full of learning and fun. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones, and to hear about so many great books that are on the horizon.

But the absolute best part of the conference for me was the awards dinner on Saturday night – when the Romantic Book of the Year Award for a book with Romantic Elements went to our very own Helene Young for her debut novel, Wings of Fear. Here’s a slightly dazed Helene with her award:
Helene Young, winner of Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year Award

And here is a photo of Helene, me, Fiona and soon-to-be-published rural romance author Margareta Osborn:
Helene Young, Fiona Palmer, Bronwyn Parry and Margareta Osborn at the Romance Writers of Australia conference, 2011

Unfortunately Fleur couldn’t join us at this conference, but there were a number of phone calls to her, and we’re planning to ensure that she’s at the Perth conference in 2013!

Category: Awards, Helene Young  | Tags: , , , ,  | One Comment
ARRA Awards – congratulations, Helene!
Author:
• Friday, April 01st, 2011

At the Australian Romance Readers Awards dinner on Saturday night, Helene’s debut novel, Border Watch – now re-released as Wings of Fear – was the winner of the Favourite Romantic Suspense of 2010.

Here’s Helene, on the left with her award, presented by award sponsor Nicola Pitt from Love Books:

Helene Young & Nicola Pitt

Congratulations, Helene!

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February new releases!
Author:
• Sunday, February 06th, 2011

This month we have two new releases to celebrate! Helene’s new romantic suspense novel, Shattered Sky, is already out on the shelves, and Fiona’s Heart of Gold will be out on February 28th.

Shattered Sky by Helene Young front cover Heart of Gold by Fiona Palmer - front cover

Congratulations, Helene and Fiona, on your new releases!

Category: Book News  | Tags: , , ,  | 9 Comments
Sydney Mega Booksigning!
Author:
• Wednesday, August 04th, 2010

If you’re going to be in Sydney on Friday 13th August, and you love romance, women’s fiction, paranormal or fantasy books, then come along to the Australian Romance Readers Association Book Signing Event! The event is being held in conjunction with the Romance Writers of Australia conference, and there’ll be 45 authors – yes, 45! – signing their books, and you can either bring your own books, or buy them there.

It’s on at in the Terrace View Rooms, at the Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach, Sydney, from 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm. It will be open to everyone. Entry is free for ARRA members and delegates at the RWA conference. There will be a $5 entry fee for members of the general public. Bookings are appreciated, but not required – you can just turn up. You can book right up to the event: the registration form can be downloaded from here.

Fiona, Helene and I will be there, so please, do come along and say hello!

You can find the full list of authors attending at the ARRA website – and as well as we outback romances authors, there’s some big names, such as paranormal authors Keri Arthur, Nalini Singh and Denise Rosetti; historical romance authors Anna Campbell, Anne Gracie, Christine Wells & Elizabeth Rolls; and contemporary romance authors Bronwyn Jameson, Kelly Hunter, & Melanie Milburne… and more!
ARRA book event logo

Category: Book News, Bronwyn Parry, Events, Fiona Palmer, Helene Young  | Tags: , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Fast fiction contest
Author:
• Friday, July 09th, 2010

Fleur, Fiona, Helene and I are all busy working on our next books. So, over on my blog, I’m inviting our readers to do some writing, and be in the chance to win some books.

But you don’t have to write a whole book! For my Fast Fiction contest, you just need to write a story – with a beginning, a middle and an end – in 55 words or less. Yep, just 55 words – including the (optional) title. Easy, right? Well, maybe not easy, but fun!

The contest closes on Friday 16th July, and the wonderful Valerie Parv, one of Australia’s most loved romance writers, has agreed to be the judge. The prizes include one of my books, and Helene’s Border Watch, and the beautifully whimsical book, The Wisdom of Yo Meow Ma by another of my talented friends, Joanna Sandsmark.

So, get your pens out and start thinking about those entries, and then hop over to my blog and post your entry in the comments!

Category: Events  | One Comment
Great news this week
Author:
• Sunday, May 30th, 2010

It’s been a good week for the authors here at Australian Outback Romances and Mysteries!

Fleur, Fiona and I have all been enjoying the after-effects of autumn rains… we’re all in dry parts of the continent, so rain is (usually) a good thing, and it’s great to inhale the scent of damp soil and see new green growth emerging. (Helene, being in the tropical north, gets more rain than we do!)

Fiona has sent the completed manuscript of her second book in to her publisher – who is reading it and loving it! Congratulations, Fiona, on achieving another milestone! Helene is also busy putting the finishing touches to her next manuscript – I can’t wait to read both them!

In award news, Fleur’s Red Dust has been shortlisted for a 2010 Australian Book Industry Award for Newcomer of the Year (debut writer). Congratulations, Fleur – that’s a huge vote for your books from booksellers! Winners will be announced in Sydney on 30th June – we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for Red Dust!

And I was notified yesterday that Dark Country is a finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Awards, in the Single Title Romantic Mystery/Suspense category. The Daphne du Maurier contest is run by the Kiss of Death Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, and it’s a wonderful honour to be a finalist. The winners will be announced on July 29 at the Chapter’s annual Death by Chocolate party at the RWAmerica conference in Orlando.

Category: Awards, Book News, Bronwyn Parry, Fiona Palmer, Fleur Mcdonald, Helene Young  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 3 Comments
German editions
Author:
• Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

German publishing house Blanvalet (a division of Random House) has now published translations of Fleur’s Red Dust (as Wilder Eukalyptus), and Bronwyn’s As Darkness Falls (Schwarze Dornen), with Fleur’s second book, translated as Unter den Sternen des Südens, due out in February next year.

Bronwyn Parry - Schwarze Dornen

Aren’t those covers wonderful? They’re very different to the Australian editions, but just as eye-catching!

The Blanvalet website is great, and includes previews of the first chapters of each book for download. The relevant links are:

Wilder Eukalyptus (translated by Claudia Geng) – Download Leseprobe

Unter den Sternen des Südens (translated by Claudia Geng) – preview not yet available, but check the Blanvalet book page later in the year

Schwarze Dornen (translated by Carsten Mayer) – Download Leseprobe

So, a big welcome to our German readers, and huge thanks to Claudia Geng and Carsten Mayer, the awesome translators!

Fiona’s and Helene’s books aren’t yet available in translation, but we’ll let you know when they are.

Category: Book News, Bronwyn Parry, Fleur Mcdonald  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Bookmarks!
Author:
• Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

A few weeks back, Helene, Fiona, Fleur and I decided to have some bookmarks printed that feature a book from each of us, so that when we’re talking to readers about books, and recommending each others’, we won’t have to go scrambling for paper and pen to write down titles and author names! I collected my share of the bookmarks from the post office today – and I love how they’ve come out :-) They’re printed on glossy board, with two book covers on each side, and look like this:
bookmarks - Australian Outback Romances and Mysteries

If you’re a librarian, a bookseller, conference organiser, or in a bookgroup, and you’d like a bundle of bookmarks for your readers, just use the form below to let me know your address and how many you’d like, and I’ll send some out to you.

Now, I need to go and start reading some more books, so that I can use my new bookmarks in them :-)

(Form removed – please contact one of us through our website if you’d like some bookmarks).

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