Due to the Covid 19 pandamic, the Romantic Novelists' Association - the United Kingdom's romance writers organisation - hosted a mini virtual conference online. I was thrilled to take part in this opportunity from the other side of the world and was especially excited to attend a 'Creating Conflict' workshop presented by the editorial team at Mills and Boon. It was a long night, but well worth it.

This weekend, I attended GenreCon 2019 hosted by the Queensland Writers Centre with writing buddy Deeanna West. We attended workshops, networked, and I presented on a panel Write to Win.

I'm pleased to announce that I will be appearing at GenreCon 2019 in Brisbane as part of a panel 'Write to Win'. On this panel, I will join other winners and finalists of writing competitions to discuss the benefits of entering your work into competitions and what happens after you win.

This weekend, I attended four workshops with romantic thriller writer T.M. Clark. 'Layering Your Novel' reviewed enriching manuscripts with detail and emotion. At 'Life After the First Draft', T.M. took participants through stages of edits to help make a manuscript reach a publishable standard. Then on Sunday, 'Finding Your Voice' was covered followed by a very motivating session 'Finishing That Book!'

Thank you Townsville City Council and Festival of Stories for these workshops. You can read more about my experience here.

​This July, Townsville's Festival of Stories is back and better than ever, keeping me busy for four whole weeks. Today, I attended a workshop 'Hooking the Reader' with crime writer Mark Brandi and discussed first chapters, one of my passions. After all, there is nothing more important than that vital first chapter and page.

I attended the Burdekin Readers and Writers Festival in Ayr this weekend, where I moderated a Q&A with Fiona McCallum and enjoyed sessions with Natasha Lester and Michael Robotham. The festival sessions were very insightful and I left inspired once again.

​Read more on the blog - The Writing Journey.