Spark your dreams, Fan your passion, Ignite your story was the motto for the Romance Writers of New Zealand 2026 Conference. And it was a fabulous affair. Unfortunately I missed the Friday workshops, but the reports I heard were glowing. Jennifer Hilt, author and creator of The Trope Thesaurus: An Author Resource on The Emotional Blueprint: How Tropes Create Character,Continue reading “Kiss N’ Tell”
Tag Archives: writing
The spark for Finding Cleo
I can’t remember where I was, or when it was, that I learned about the unsolved 1986 assassination of Olof Palme, Sweden’s Social Democrat Prime Minister. But it was in the early to mid teens of this century. Olof Palme, PM, was murdered walking home from a Stockholm cinema with his wife at around 10Continue reading “The spark for Finding Cleo”
The Power of Words
Lots of people have lots to say about the power of words. And there are words everywhere—in our message groups, on our social media feeds and on our screens. That’s before you add books, journals, magazines and the steady stream of printed words we encounter wherever we turn. I’m also thinking of romance because that’sContinue reading “The Power of Words”
Heart of a Story
This last weekend 15-17 August 2025 was the Romance Writers of New Zealand annual conference held in Auckland NZ this year, and entitled Heart of a Story. I’d forgotten how much I love RWNZ’s conferences. I haven’t been there since before Covid, but this year I decided to attend. Okay, I confess, I was nominated in theContinue reading “Heart of a Story”
Getting Published in Romance
I recently participated in a podcast where I was asked a number of questions by an indie romance author. The discussions in her podcasts are guided by questions she has about the industry, and which she hopes will resonate with other writers just starting out. She’s preparing a few podcasts before she goes live, butContinue reading “Getting Published in Romance”
Jennifer Raines 