At the beginning of this month, I took one week off writing. That's the only reason I managed to read so many books! It started with reading Phillipa Nefri Clark's latest release and then, I binge read everything. Nine out of the thirteen books I read this month were hers. Ha! 

The 'break' only lasted a week because I was anxious to get back to my own writing, but I always need something to do while doing my many steps a day on the treadmill, so I got a lot more books under my belt. What a big reading month!

So, I haven't forgotten about my ebooks! In fact, it's nearly all I've been reading as it is soooo much easier to hold my phone on the treadmill than a book. Books are good when I'm in the middle of them as they stay open. But it's almost impossible to read the beginning or end of a book on Teddy the Tready. And since that's where I do most of my reading, it seems ebooks may be the way to go to keep me walking!

I probably didn't read a lot this month as I've been very busy writing, but I did get through some interesting, and long, books!

My rural romance was long-listed for the 2021 Publishable manuscript development program with the Queensland Writers Centre.​ This story has been with me for a long time so I'm glad it received this recognition and feedback. As part of the long-list, I was provided with a consult on how to improve my work and participated in three online workshops.

Here's just a little post about my experience with the Publishable program. 

I know it's been a while! I stopped doing this about twelve months ago, but I'm back because I've been reading a whole lot of brand new stuff! I've kind of gotten over my unwillingness to read ebooks. Yes, I like a paperback and yes, I still forget about my ebooks, but they're very handy to sneaky read (when I should be doing something else!) and they don't fall off the treadmill! 

​Please note, these are simple and quick reviews of the books I've read and are meant to be fun. So here we go!

On Sunday, I attended a workshop with Edwina Shaw titled The Healing Power of Story. This was an interesting workshop where we wrote about life experiences. The first prompt was 'a happy moment, how did you feel, use the five senses'. The second was 'something good that came out of a bad situation'. And the third, 'use some magic to change a bad situation', just for a little bit of fun.

Here, I share my happy moment. I wouldn't say this is a big happy moment in my life. I'd thought of a few different occasions. But this was what inspired me as it had occurred that morning and I felt like writing about it.

​Happy reading!

I am thrilled and absolutely honoured that Reunited with the Millionaire ​is the recipient of Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award for best unpublished romance manuscript. The feeling is no less sweeter or exciting the second time around.

I have to admit, I love the Emerald Award. It is it's only kind in Australia and the contest I've found the most valuable. Initially, we submit the first 10,000 words, which is read by reader judges. Full manuscripts are then requested for the highest scoring entries. The top three - or this year four - entries were then sent to the final judge, Meghan Farrell at Tule Publishing.

This was without a doubt my biggest reading month ever. July was full of surprises. I started off the month with the goal to read new and different books, which I definitely achieved. While I've read some historical novels before, this month I discovered and fell in love with the Australian Historical. Reading is all about escapism and historicals have that added factor of escaping to another time. This allowed me to read more books from my Facebook friends and also led to the purchase of more books! And I'll admit, I've had a wonderful time journeying back to colonial Australia. I've discovered and learned so much! In addition, I managed to catch up with some old titles I've had sitting on my shelves, read one book for Ruby Readalong, and binged some more Mills and Boon Forever Romances.

This weekend, I attended the Romantic Novelists' Association's mini virtual conference. It was a late evening, but I was able to enjoy a whole range of writing webinars from the comfort of my own home. It was such a fantastic night! I was especially keen to attend the Creating Conflict presentation from the Mills and Boon editors.

​There was a lot of information, but these are just three take home messages from each of the sessions.

Am I obsessed or I do just have nothing else to do? This month, I finished my manuscript 'Bali Holiday', completed the second draft, and read twenty books! Honestly? No, I don't have much else going on in my life. Books are my life and I've had a great time reading a great range of them this month. I got hooked on the Mills and Boon Modern line's Once Upon a Temptation, reading four of the fairytale stories. In total, I read thirteen Mills and Boons, three novellas, and four big books. What a month!

Thank you to everyone who attended Popular Fiction's online meeting about creating characters, the most essential part of writing a book! It was great to see all again and to share what I've learned about creating characters with you.

Last night, we covered the basics - characters need a goal, motivation, and conflict to create your story. We will cover this again when we rehash everything we've learned next month.