Winning a Romantic Book of the Year (RuBY) award would have been a great way to end 2021, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. But I’m still in a high that my debut book Ryan’s Return: A Granite Ridge Outback Romance was one of four finalists in a national romance writing award.
The RuBY in the novella category went to Anne Gracie for The Christmas Bride.
But I was super excited to attend the Awards Presentation night at the Romance Writers of Australia 30th anniversary conference at the Gold Coast with by writing group buddy and fellow finalist LJ Langdon. LJ’s book Blood Secret was also written for our writers’ group’s anthology Revealed, which had a limited release early in 2021. And her book earned second place! I’ll never forget the look on her face. (Ryan’s Return came in fourth, pretty cool for a first timer!)
And making the fun night truly memorable was having our writer friend Jo Edgar-Baker there to calm our nerves and share the magic, it was so special. She took this very cool photo for us.
It was a fantastic night and a wonderful conference as always. If you’ve ever wondered about writing a romance novel, I highly recommend entering RWA’s contests to help learn your craft and for feedback. Or try the organisation’s short courses; they’re incredibly helpful and quite affordable.
Perhaps sneak one into the Christmas gift bag, you still have time.
And if Santa forgot to put a print copy of Ryan’s Return into your stocking, I have a few discounted copies available for $10 plus postage and handling if you email me direct at inthehartland@gmail.com. It also available as an ebook for less than the price of a cup of coffee, just download the app of your choice if you’re not already an ereader. I like reading on my phone, or tablet, or laptop, or desktop.
But most importantly, stay safe, Happy Christmas and best wishes to readers everywhere for a sparkly 2022.
