It's no secret I love border collies. They are beautiful dogs and have always been a part of my life. I've had three. First, there was my big sister Laura, who died when I was seven. Then there was Dillon, who was my lifelong dog. I had him from age 9 through to 24, when at the ripe old age of 15, Dillon moved over to the rainbow bridge. No longer crippled by arthritis, he could chase tennis balls to his heart's content. After losing him, I realised how I had always had border collies and that I needed another one. So, I got Jacob, my first dog of my own. He's a little rascal, but I love him dearly.

This month at Popular Fiction we discussed all things romance! What defines a romance novel, what are the different subgenres, and what type of conflict makes up the story on the road to happily ever after?

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting. We had lots of fun. And if you missed out, come along next month for Genre Expectations! In the meantime, here is a summary of last night's meeting.

As I prepare for writing my next novel, which I hope to start in March, I wanted to read as many different types of romance novels as I could.  So I started with more Forever Romances before picking up some Mills and Boon romantic suspenses. I also managed to get through two kindle reads during my daily walks.

As for writing, I worked on my rural romantic suspense this month, which I read through twice in a week, so it's safe to say I did a lot of reading this month.

New title for 2020 - my reading! Because I don't really review the books I read here, I just explain why I read them and whether I liked them a not. With the new year though brings a whole bunch of new goals, and this year I hope to become more diverse in the type of books I read, as well as devour a whole lot of romance.

I'm very, very pleased with how much I read in January. And in addition, I also read my own manuscript three times in a week, so there you go...can I add that as three more books to the list?

It's a new year and that means I needed to set my reading challenge on Goodreads. For the last two years, I set myself the goal of 50 books, so this year I went for a challenge and am aiming for 75. Considering everything that happened last year which slowed my reading, I'm confident that I'll be able to reach this target.

But I also have more goals than just a number of books to read, which will hopefully help me get through this massive number. So, just for fun, here are all my reading goals for 2020.

It's Christmas time so while I was busy pumping out my manuscript 'Cardiology', I also consumed myself with a couple of really good Christmas reads to celebrate the holidays. December was a pretty busy one for me with work and writing. My story was rolling so I committed to write more every day. Then when it was done, I caught up on a whole bunch of reading. I'll admit, I'm impressed with the number of books I made it through this month!

Look at all the books I read in November! I know it was only five, but that was pretty good going for me. It has been a busy month for me as I attended GenreCon and spent a lot of time preparing to write my next book. But I've discovered that if I read while doing my daily stretches rather than playing games on my phone, I actually manage to read a lot more books!

​So here's November's book review. 

This weekend I attended GenreCon 2019 with writing buddy Deeanna West. This was the perfect conference for both of us, where I could indulge in all things romance and crime while Dee could follow her passion for magic and fantasy. We had a great time attending a writing workshop with Kate Forsyth, buying books at the Night Market, and attending all the crime and fantasy panels that we could. This was also my first conference as a presenter, where I chatted about writing competitions with a panel of other award-winning authors. We got a lot out of the weekend, as well as cute bags and a free book.

This is just a little snippet about my experience at GenreCon, thanks to the Queensland Writers Centre.

This month was a busy one for me as I settled into my new house, took my research trip to the Whitsundays, and worked on draft two of Reunited. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough hours in the day to do all of that, work, exercise, and read, so I didn't get through a lot of books. But it sure was another month full of romance as I enjoyed some of my favourite authors - Michelle Douglas, Barbara Hannay, and Clare Connolly.

Hopefully, I'll get through some more books in November, but we'll need to wait and see. At least Reunited ​is coming along well though.

When I revived an old idea, Reunited in September this year, I knew a research trip to its setting Hamilton Island was on the cards. While it is completely possible to write about a place without actually going there, if you do get the chance, visiting your setting can make the world of difference for your manuscript. I learned this during my research trip to Essex, England, for Rivenhall Manor. So considering Hamilton Island is only a short drive from my home in Townsville, there was no excuse. I had to go!