August is romance writers conference time in Australia and New Zealand. This year New Zealand went first, with its conference in Christchurch over the weekend of 9-11 August. This weekend is Australia’s turn with Trope Actually being held in Adelaide, South Australia. Adelaide deserves it. They’ve often had to trudge to Sydney or Melbourne to be ableContinue reading “Living vicariously from my writing cave”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
What’s so special about a table? (aka Quinn, by design)
Absolutely everything. In Quinn, by design—Choosing Family Book 2, one of Niall Quinn’s major creations is a table made from a single bark to bark piece of Huon pine (pictured on my website jenniferrainesauthor.com). The Huon pine or Macquarie pine, Lagarostrobos franklinii, is a species of conifer native to the wet southwestern corner of Tasmania, Australia. While known as a pine, it’sContinue reading “What’s so special about a table? (aka Quinn, by design)”
Familiar or unfamiliar settings?
Do you like to read novels set in a familiar or a foreign—by which I mean unfamiliar in time and space to you—location? A long time ago, I overhead someone say they loved Peter Corris’s crime novels because they were set in the city where the reader lived. That reader knew the streets, the spacesContinue reading “Familiar or unfamiliar settings?”
Writing the little black dress
Do a web search for “little black dress” and you’ll discover that fashion historians credit Coco Chanel for this 1920s design. It’s a clothing item that’s so well known it’s often referred to as “LBD”. The LBD is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible symbolising class, business, elegance, and sexiness. I’ll have whatContinue reading “Writing the little black dress”
Masquerade—giving birth to an elephant
When I spotted this artwork (see website), I immediately thought of my book Masquerade—Choosing Family Book 1. Preorders now available. It’ll drop into your mailbox on 5 March. I liken getting Masquerade from idea to publication as giving birth to an elephant. Elephants have one of the longest gestation periods of all living mammals—nearly twoContinue reading “Masquerade—giving birth to an elephant”
