A Romance Readers Convention

Anne here, writing from the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. And if you want to know why on earth I'm dressed like a slightly demented 1920's dowager and holding a glass trophy — you'll have to read on.

Canberra is a small city, halfway between the two largest cities of Australia, Sydney and Melbourne and is more or less a government city. It was created from scratch — a century ago there was nothing but a few farms and bushland here — as a compromise between competitive states — none of whom wanted another state to be the centre of the new federal government. 

But enough of that history — this was a Romance Readers Convention, and for a full three days I've talked nothing but books and romance and writing, meeting authors and readers from all over Australia, as well as from New Zealand, the US and Canada.

There were book launches, panels galore, some wonderful keynote speeches, a regency fashion parade, a Roaring 20's costume theme for the Awards Dinner and finally a lovely, leisurely luncheon and cruise on Lake Burley-Griffin. I've had a wonderful time, and as it's only just finished and I'm still in my hotel room, I hope you'll forgive me for a shorter-than-usual blog.

The highlight of the Friday for me was the Alpha Hero card game invented by author Kelly Hunter, which involved a lot of laughter, some fierce competition and packs of cards like this.

The afternoon ended with a book signing and it was wonderful to meet so many enthusiastic readers — some of whom had flown from the other side of the country to attend — and remember, Australia is similar in size to the USA.

On the Saturday morning, those of us who woke around dawn were greeted by the magical sight of hot air balloons rising gently over the lake. This photo was taken by author Fiona McArthur. The building you can just see under the red balloon is the Australian Parliament House.

Saturday night was the ARRA awards dinner, which was a Roaring '20's costume theme. Not everyone dressed in costume, but everyone looked fabulous. Unfortunately the photos I took of all the fabulous costumes are on my camera because I left the download cord at home. But here's a pic I pinched from Fb of fabulous blogger and reviewer Kat Mayo with her colleague "Dumbleydore"

The ARRA awards are an annual event. I was delighted when The Winter Bride won the Favourite Historical Romance category. The full list of categories and winners is here.

You will be glad to know that historicals were very well represented in the various categories of the ARRA awards in favourite series, and favourite book, and favourite authors — not just the favourite historical section.

The photo at the top of the blog of me with my award was taken and "glitzed up" by my friend dark urban fantasy author Keri Arthur on her phone while she was sitting at the dinner table. Amazing!

Here I am with fabulous historical authors (from left to right) Christine Wells/Christina Brooke and Anna Campbell. As you can see, I'm one of the ones in a 20's costume.

On the Sunday, among the many and varied offerings were two historical panels — one called "Beyond the Ballroom, in which authors discussed the appeal (or otherwise) of the glamorous aspects of historicals and the "roads less travelled." The second panel explored the appeal of various time periods and settings.

A highlight for many was the Regency fashion parade — organised by Jennifer Kloester, Beverley Eikli and Bronwyn Parry where a number of authors modelled Regency outfits, some of which will appear in the upcoming Jane Austen Festival in Canberra. Looks like fun, doesn't it? From the left are author Beverley Eikli/Beverley Oakley (aka Lady Jane Saxby in a 1780's dress), Alison Stuart (Lady Elizabeth Kentmere 1790's), Bronwyn Parry (Lady Bellingham, 1815) Lauren Sadow (aka Miss Margaret Tallant 1816), Jennifer Kloester (Melissa Craig  (Lady Mary Torrington) and Mrs Aylwen Gardiner-Garden (well known cousin of Mrs Drummond-Burrell). A detailed factual description or each gown was read out along with a delightful imaginary biography of each lady — all, of course (given Jennifer Kloester's background) arising from Georgette Heyer novels. My thanks to Malvina Yock, who took the photo.

And today we ate a leisurely luncheon on board a small cruise boat and explored the various reaches of Lake Burley Griffin — a man-made lake around which the city of Canberra is built.Here's a photo of the old Parliament House with the flags displayed of the various countries with whom Australia has diplomatic relations — arranged in alphabetical order. The photo was taken by my friend Helene Young, multi awarded romantic suspense writer, who won Favourite Romantic Suspense for the second year in a row.

So that's it for the ARRA convention. I'm off home tomorrow, hoping my puppy hasn't minded her time in the kennels too much. Thanks to ARRA members (who are all unpaid volunteers) who did so much work to create this fabulous event.

What about you -- have you ever been to a reader event? Tell us about it.

Or if you went to your "ideal" reader/author event, what author from any era (i.e. dead or alive) would you particularly want to meet?

And where would you set the event?

I'm thinking Georgette Heyer in Bath. What about you?
 

Comments

[Jen Kloester]

Fabulous post, Anne, on a fabulous conference. ARRA deserve a huge round of applause for pulling off yet another splendid conference. Love all these great pictures of the different events and Canberra looks beautiful from Lake Burley Griffin. A wonderful celebration. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Rose]

Enjoyed the pics along with the post. Hmm, ideal? Mary Stewart-Isle of Skye. Definitely.

[Rose]

Enjoyed the pics along with the post. Hmm, ideal? Mary Stewart-Isle of Skye. Definitely.

[HJ]

Many congratulations on your award! This sounds like a fun conference.

[Anne Gracie]

Oooh, Rose, I love the sound of that — but Isle of Skye in warm weather. *g*

[Ros]

I want a Betty Neels weekend in Holland. With ALL THE FOOD.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Helena. Yes, it was a lot of fun. And now it’s back to work for me.

[Anne Gracie]

LOL — what great idea, Ros — she did do a pretty fabulous afternoon tea, didn’t she? I should have mentioned something about the food at ARRA, actually — it was sensational. Lunch each day was a smorgasbord of salads, sandwiches, a hot dish, and a range of delicious little desserts, and then there was morning and afternoon tea, in case we expired from hunger in between meals. I think you would have enjoyed it. g

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Jen -- wish I'd had time to include a little of your clever commentary for the Regency fashion parade. It was a hoot -- and Georgette Heyer fans would have loved all your references.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne--

Sounds like a fabulous conference! I wish I'd been there.

As you may or may not know, locating Canberra in its own separate federal state is straight out of the US history playbook: Washington, DC (for District of Columbia) was located in its swamp as a compromise between Northern and Southern states, neither of which wanted the capital in the other faction's territory. The District of Columnia was originally a square with the Potomac River running sort of diagonally across. Half the territory was taken from Maryland, the other chunk from Virginia. Later Virginia took their chunk back, but the District remains independent and under the direct control of Congress.

[Anne Gracie]

Yes, Mary Jo, it’s the same basic set-up — the gentle art of compromise g. Canberra is in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) which was originally part of New South Wales, but the ACT is under Federal law, and NSW state laws don’t apply here.

[pjpuppymom]

Congrats on the award, Anne! What a fun conference this must be. I follow along each year via the facebook photos and updates of Australian author and reader friends. (and it makes me even more excited for this summer's RWA!)

My first romance conference experience was a volunteer-run reader event called Celebrate Romance. It was on the small side and was attended by readers and authors who came from all over the U.S. It still ranks as one of the best weekend experiences I've ever had.

Thanks for the Canberra history lesson too. I love learning stuff like that!

[LauraR]

Oh yes, congrats on your award. I have never been to a romance conference...yet. Your blog was great. thanks!

[Helen]

Hi Anne

What a fantastic weekend I have just gotten home and am exhausted LOL but I have been to all four of these conventions and had a blast at them all. Huge congrats on your win so well deserved and it was so good catching up :)

Have Fun
Helen

[Malvina]

Anne, congratulations on your award! I was delighted when The Winter Bride won Favourite Historical Romance. This was my first reader's conference, and it was just So! Much! Fun! I staggered home with enough books to last me for months, plus a soft toy horse from Cathryn Hein, various other treasures, including chocolate. I'll be putting my name down for the next, no matter where it is...

[Carol]

Congratulations on your award, Anne. It looks like a wonderful time was had by all at ARRA. I especially like the sound of the fashion parade! They all look wonderful. Carol x

[Sue W. McCormick]

Congratulations on the award!

I have never been to a Romance convention. But I attend a Science Fiction convention every year. I attend a regional convention, rather than a national one. I find that they are cozier. I have made friends with some of the authors there, as well as with many of the fans.

Every year at Archon, a fellow fan and I sit in a secluded area and talk genealogy for a while. This May a national genealogy conference is meeting in her home town. We plan to balance things by sitting in a secluded area and talking Science Fiction!

[Sue W. McCormick]

I should have said "Science Fiction and Romance"! The friend and I are both compulsive readers in many fields. (As are many SF readers.)

[Bona]

Congratulations for your award. It's amazing to see so many talented ladies all together! And in such a beautiful place. In another life, I'd love to be Australian.

Sorry, but I've never been to a reader event.

Your questions made me dream, and I went out of the romance genre to look for an author I'd love to meet in this kind of event. I'd love to see any of my favourite writers in a beautiful landscape. I'll choose two of them, in a warm Mediterranean environment.

*Robert Graves in Deià (Majorca) or
*Gore Vidal in his villa in Ravello (Amalfi Coast)

But I'd take Bath any time -with Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer wrote amazing books, but I'm not sure she would be as interesting in person).

[ML]

Went to Celebrate Romance for many years, and it was a wonderful experience every time!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks so much, PJ. It was a lovely conference -- small, as most Australian ones are, compared to US conferences -- but that makes for a very friendly conference IMO. Celebrate Romance sounds wonderful. Im hoping I can get to RWA, too -- but not sure yet. It depends on a variety of factors. Heres hoping all the ducks line up

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you Laura. If you get the opportunity to go to a romance conference, take it. Theyre the friendliest conferences around in my experience — whether theyre reader based conferences, as this one was, or writing focused. I think romance people are special.

[Anne Gracie]

Helen, it was a blast, wasnt it? I got home last night and went to bed verrrrry early! Ive done my unpacking and my washing, cleared the over 350 emails that had piled up while I was away -- and now its back to work for me. I so enjoyed catching up with you and so many others. And I followed your advice to the letter -- I had fun! :)

[Anne Gracie]

Malvina, youre such a savvy and prolific reader Im amazed you havent hit a readers convention before! This is Your Tribe. LOL. It was fun wasnt it. And thanks -- I was thrilled to get the award — its very special when its voted for by readers. I have no doubt Ill be seeing you at the next ARRA conference, if not before.

[Anne Gracie]

Carol, it was a lot of fun. Those costumes do look amazing -- what an amazing amount of work had gone into them. I expect the Jane Austen festival will be even more spectacular.

[Anne Gracie]

Sue, before I discovered romance novels I was a big reader of science fiction, fantasy and crime, and I would love to attend a science fiction convention. Theres one in Australia every year and I think my friend Keri Arthur goes to it, so I might tag along next time -- if I have time.

I love that you two rebels sit in corners and talk out of school -- I have a genealogist friend in the US who will probably be at that conference. Shes a romance writer, too, so you could add to your rebellion and talk romance.

[Anne Gracie]

Yes, they say that romance readers are generally very prolific readers and most read across the sci-fi, fantasy and crime genres as well. Were just addicted to good stories.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Bona. It was a fun convention. I hadnt been to a reader event either until ARRA started these conventions -- and theyre fun. Theres nothing like being in a hotel full of readers — people youve never met ought to be strangers, but who do you like to read and were instant friends, with no shortage of things to talk about.
Id join you happily with Robert Graves, but Im pretty sure Georgette Heyer would be fascinating -- not exactly warm and cosy, but fascinating. Have you read Jennifer Kloesters bio of her? At one time she lived in a mud hut in Africa. Theres a wonderful photo of her there.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks., youre the second one whos mentioned Celebrate Romance -- it does sound wonderful. I gather its no long happening.

[Susan/DC]

One year the RWA was in Washington DC. It's for authors, not readers, but the first day is open to the public. I took the afternoon off, hopped on the Metro, bought lots of books, and had a wonderful time. I've dreamed of attending again, but generally they are mid-week and too far away. Perhaps when I'm retired and so don't need to use vacation days (one can dream).

Wanted to say that the 1920s clothes reminded me of the Miss Fisher mysteries. As noted on the back of one of the books, Phryne is "she of the green-gray eyes, diamante garters, and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly on those of nervous dispositions." The clothing is wonderfully described on the page and is even better on the TV series where you can actually see the outfits.

[Anne Gracie]

RWA is a fab place for readers, I think -- as well as hundreds of authors, there are all the publisher giveaways. And everyone there is talking about romance. I havent been to RT so I cant compare it.
And yes, Susan, Phrynnes clothes in that TV series are simply gorrrrrgeous. There was an exhibition of them here recently -- the series is filmed in Melbourne, where I live -- but alas, I was deep in deadline mania and didnt have time to go. :(

[Vicki W.]

I too want to say congratulations on a well deserved win. The Winter Bride was wonderful.

Glad you had such an enjoyable break amongst the writing and editing.

No..never been to a book conference. I've gone to knitting convention's and plant conventions but never a book one.

Maybe I should convince several of my sisters to go to one with me one year. That would be a fun sister's event...especially since they all read romance's as well.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for the kind words on Winter Bride, Vicki. As for going with your sisters to a readers event, I think thats a fabulous idea. Whether its knitting or plants or books, I think its wonderful to meet up with people who share an interest or passion.

[Bona]

No, I did not read Heyer's biography by Koestler. I remember a review of that book that said something like -it's obvious that she had an ordinary life and the author tried to infuse some interest in a rather uneventful life.
I don't remember where did I read that review, could it be in the defunct The Romance Reader page? Or was it in The Guardian? I don't remember.
So I decided not to buy that book.

[Anne Gracie]

Fair enough -- I think most writers live fairly uneventful lives -- theyre too busy writing -- but they still hold a fascination for me. :)