Romance Writers find Romantic Hair at the 2013 Victoria Women’s Show

The 2013 Victoria Women’s Show was not only promoting happy and healthy living but also, unbeknownst to them, that of the romance reader persuasion.

I was there to help staff the booth for the Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America, promoting not only our chapter but the romance fiction genre and its authors, as well. We gave away over 300 romance novels, the majority of them written by our own local authors. Prizes, candies, bookmarks and information about our chapter were distributed, and many conversations were had with the passing curious – what do we do, how do we do it, and why?

Because we love the romance genre, we love a good story, and we love to write, was our answer.

And in talking with readers, especially those we were trying to tempt with one of our novels, they all said the same thing when it came to discussing what they look for in a book: ‘It has to be a good story.’

How true!

And what fuels a good story is imagination.

Setting, along with how characters look, dress and act, all play a part in the world the writer is trying to create and the world the reader is trying to escape to.

And on that day I, along with a fellow writer, would get to pretend - to imagine - we were a character right out of a historical romance novel - by having our hair done into a romantic up-do.

When not chatting with prospective romance readers at our booth, I was planning what to do at the show after my shift. Would I seek-out the local firefighters who were promoting their calendar (yum), or would I stalk soap opera star, Michael....from the Young and the Restless during his guest appearance? Both were perfect inspiration for romance fiction!

Aromatherapy oil scents wafted around me from nearby booths while I plotted who I would stalk first, when around the corner came Jacqui Nelson, historical fiction author, sporting an up-do to end all up-do’s. With her hair pinned up in a swirl of curl, all she would have to do would be to put on a dress reminiscent of the era of her current novella, Adella's Enemy (August 2013) and she might as well have been on the cover of her own book!

I had only just seen her 45 minutes before, her hair down like mine, and suddenly – a changed woman! After my oogling and fawning over her ‘do,’ she, along with Jodie Esch (Little White Lies – April 2013), told me – no URGED me – to go to the booth by the Richard Mar Hair Academy. They were giving away free up-do’s during the show as part of their promotion, and within twenty minutes a prospective client could have her hair flipped up, twirled around and curled to perfection with a sure hand and nimble bobby-pinning fingers.

My writer-friends didn’t just urge me to go get my hair stylishly coiffed, they all but kicked me out of our booth!

So waving farewell to not only my writing colleagues, I made my way to the Richard Mar booth.

I was excited and nervous - yet skeptical. My hair, thicker and straighter than my friend Jacqui’s, could never be twisted and turned into a ‘do’ as elegant as hers.

I perched in the chair and my stylist, Niki, got to work. I was sure she would throw up her hands in despair, “I can’t do a THING with this girl’s hair!”

20 minutes later Niki asked for the camera I held in prayer in my sweaty hands. After a final squirt of hairspray here, and a bobby-pin adjustment there (I would later count 51 bobby-pins), she snapped a photo and handed me my camera.

I looked and the screen and.....

....started crying.

I LOVED IT!

I had no idea my hair could look like that! How did she do that!?! And with MY hair? I had never had my hair done like that – ever. I felt more royal than any princess; more glamorous than any Academy-award-winning starlet.

I got myself under control. No sense ruining my ‘look’ with blotchy, blood-shot eyes. With a hug and a few photos with Niki, off I went, carefully making my way through the crowds. I was eager to get back to our booth and show the girls my hair.

And when I say carefully, I mean CAREFULLY. I was afraid to turn my head, sure one false move would send the bobby pins flying, the curls unraveling. I wished I had a neck brace, however unflattering, to ensure my head stay perfectly still. I worried someone, or something, would snag my precious ‘do.’ Maybe a dog-cone would have been best. I was the recipient of admiring glances along the way, although by then, many others had had their hair done, as well. But no amount of admiration would quell my worries..

Needless to say, the hair survived the short trek to our booth. My writerly friends ‘oohed and aahed’ over my do, and Jacqui and I posed like the starlets we were for photos. And yes, Jacqui DID say she felt like one of her characters from her historical novel.

My hair survived the rest of the day and through to the next morning – I wore a kerchief around my head when I went to bed. My family of men were supportive, doing and saying all the right things – one said I looked like Princess Leia but better, and the other helped stage multiple photo-shoots of my hair so I could forever preserve the moment on film. The show was a success for our chapter and its authors, and for two of us, we looked and felt like the heroines in our stories.

Jacqui Nelson and I with our new hair.

Featured in photo, left to right Jacqui Nelson, Jodie Esch, Bonnie Edwards, Lee McKenzie

Featured in photo, left to right Susan Lyons, Me, Leanne Ihmels, Jacqui Nelson, Jodie Esch


Special shout out and thanks go to the staff at Richard Mar Advanced School of Hairdressing. Find them at 1675 Douglas Street in Victoria, BC, or visit their website at www.richardmarschool.com

For more information about the Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America, visit www.vicrwa.ca

2013 Fall Workshop hosted by the Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America


With Vanessa Grant, Alethea Spiridon Hopson of Entangled Publishing, and Emily Sylvan Kim of the Prospect Agency

When: November 2, 2013, 9:00 to 4:00 (registration from 9:00 to 9:30)
Where: Vancouver Island University, 900 Fifth Street, Nanaimo
Cost: $20 RWA Members; $30 Non-RWA Members; $40.00 if registering after October 19th or at the door. Lunch, coffee, and tea is included.

Session 1—Character-Driven Plotting
In this workshop, Vanessa explores character-driven plotting, and the technique of using the hero and heroine’s personal territory to build a bridge between character and conflict. We all want the magic formula to work: characters + conflict = a great story. Sometimes, we need a little help, and adding a territorial imperative to the mix could be exactly what your story needs.

Session 2—Pacing to Maintain Tension
Pacing a book involves finding the balance between showing and telling, between emotional intensity and distance, between slow and fast. Vanessa makes this complex technical subject clear with graphic examples. Topics include time and the writer: story time, reader time, and writer time; the simple rule that covers it all; and how pacing relates to viewpoint and narrative style.

Vanessa Grant is the author of 29 novels written for Harlequin and Zebra, and has over 10 million copies of her books sold worldwide. She is also the author of the award-winning Writing Romance, which is in its third edition. Vanessa is currently working on the first book in a new mystery series, while re-releasing her backlist in eBook and print on demand formats.


Pitch Appointments
Pitch appointments, via Skype, will be available with Alethea Spiridon Hopson, Editorial Director of Indulgence and Senior Editor at Entangled Publishing, as well as with Emily Sylvan Kim of the Prospect Agency. Pitch appointment are on a first come, first serve basis. Space is limited!

To Register: Visit the Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America www.vicrwa.ca

Oh What a Day!!! Valentine's Day Celebrations with Romance Writers of America

Food? Inspiration? Celebration? Laughter and tears? Fantastic view? Food?

Did we have all that? You betcha – and much, much more.

Every February the Vancouver Island Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, to which I belong, hosts a celebratory lunch for its members to celebrate writing-related accomplishments and achievements from the previous year. Rightly deemed the annual 'Valentine’s Lunch,' an apropos time for romance writers, the day is one of inspiration and celebration – and food.

And this year's event was, of course, a success for all.

Awards recognizing writing achievements of all kinds were handed out, whether it was for first steps made towards publication in romance fiction; whether it was for further stepping stones made on the journey towards publication; whether it was a feather (in one’s cap) handed out for publication milestones; or whether was receiving recognition for volunteer work throughout the year in the chapter won by Lee McKenzie – all were handed out with support, applause and pats-on-the-back. There was a lot to celebrate, and we eventually ran behind schedule. But that was okay.

The drum roll vibrated on the windows of the restaurant we were in as winners from the in-house contest were announced. Members were previously invited to submit their writing for judging, critique and finalist placement in various categories. Awards, trophies and high-fives abounded as results were revealed.

Goal setting, especially for writers, is a big part of achieving what you want. An annual event at the lunch is a goals exercise organized by fellow member, Susan Lyons, in which members are invited to write down goals for the coming year. But it had me ignoring everyone as I busily scribbled down my own writing goals for the coming year. I had to be tapped on the shoulder to pay attention when my own Stepping Stone Award was handed out, an award achieved by setting and fulfilling my goals set the previous year - stepping stones towards greater writing aspirations.

This year’s venue, the Vista 18 restaurant on the 18th floor of the Chateau Victoria Hotel, lived up to its renowned spectacular view. A 360-view of Victoria sometimes interrupted our never-ending conversation, but not for long. As celebrations continued, we forgot to look outside, which is pretty silly given the view, but when you’re surrounded by fabulous, inspiring, supportive writers, well....I guess it’s pretty easy to forget where you are.

Then there was our fabulous keynote speaker, Jennifer McKenzie, who recounted her own journey to publication which resulted in her first novel published by Harlequin Superromance in January 2012 titled, ‘That Weekend...’ Her humour-filled, down-to-earth inspiring speech had most of us eager to ditch the event and race home to write.

But we weren’t that silly.

There was food to be had.

And who can ditch that?

Soup, spinach salad, beef, salmon or tortellini – we all were stuffed beyond our Spanx. Me, I had the tortellini, and I fought to lick the plate when I was done.

Then there was dessert, which is always a highlight for me, no matter where I am.

White chocolate latte mousse.

Let’s just say I thought I had died and gone to heaven, which I was pretty close to being in, anyways, given how high up we were on the 18th floor. And I know folks looking down on me from heaven were pretty impressed with my high level of self control. I didn’t tackle serving staff as they walked by with half-eaten dessert dishes from other members, demanding they give me the leftovers. Waste not, want not, and all that. But I was aghast – who could NOT finish THAT? Rest assured, however, the gluttonous, sweet-toothed dessert-freak I am maintained a sense of decorum - I licked only MY dessert bowl clean.

Oh, and maybe my neighbours’.

At the end of the day everyone left inspired, a little tipsy (not me), high on sugar (definitely me), and eager to head home and write.

Food? Inspiration? Celebration? Laughter and tears? Fantastic view? Food?

Yup – we sure had all that - and much, much more.

Pickles, Firemen and Chocolate

With pickling salt on one side of us, and an urn on the other, I, along with members of the Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America, chatted-up attendees at the Victoria Women`s Show. Fine ladies selling homemade pickles were on one side of our booth, while on the other side, a memorial/crematorium company sold…well…they weren’t selling anything other than an option of who to go to when you are ready to – go. The urn they had on display was quite nice, and at least a make-up artist was a few booths over to give one last quick make-over, just in case.

The Saanich Firefighters were conveniently onsite, selling their pin-up style calendar for charity. Those guys knew how to work a room – hey, it was the Women’s Show, what do you expect? Sadly, however, they never made it our way, so I resorted to eating a chocolate – or two. Maybe more.

So the weekend of October 1 was full of talking, smiling, talking, and smiling. When we weren’t promoting the chapter, we were promoting the romance genre and our authors. Hundreds of books, bookmarks and chocolates were handed out, all in the name of sharing the world of romance writing. Folks claiming to be ‘closet writers’ were thankful to have found us. There were those who were admirers of our local authors present at the booth, as well as those who were surprised to learn how rich Vancouver Island is with writers, published and aspired.

By the end of the weekend, the shortage of bookmarks and bookmarks was telling – we had done our best in promoting the romance genre. My networking muscles had a good work-out, and A535 was liberally applied at night to my sore cheeks aching from all that smiling and talking. And I neither ended up pickled nor in an urn – so that’s something!



From left to right: Jodie Esch, writer of young adult fiction; Susan Lyons, multi-published author of sexy romance; and me…just trying to look cute.






From left to right: Multi-published author of spicy romance,Bonnie Edwards; multi-published author of contemporary romance, Lee McKenzie; and Susan Lyons, multi-published author of sexy romance.




Mimi Barbour, multi-published author of contemporary romance, and Daniella Hewson, historical romance writer



Pat Amsden and Judy Hudson, romance writers







Not shown: Sharon Ashwood, Multi-published author of paranormal romance

The Vancouver Island Chapter of Romance Writers of America Presents Mary Buckham

September 10, 2011 (all-day fall workshop)
Speaker: Mary Buckham
Topic: From Thought to Plot
Location: Comfort Hotel and Conference Centre, Topaz Room, 3020 Blanshard Street, Victoria (Free Parking)
Time: 9 am to 5 pm (registration 9 – 9:30)
Cost: RWA members: $65.00, Non-members: $95.00 (includes lunch and coffee breaks)
Registration Deadline is September 1, 2011.

Break Into Fiction® From Thought to Plot

Mary will show you how to develop a budding idea before you begin to plot. This is not the two-day Power Plotting retreat, but a brainstorming workshop where she will show you where the stories and characters break down before the point of plotting. The backbone of a strong story begins with developing these critical elements in the early stages of brainstorming so that you aren’t trying to “shore” up your story later. Most stories that “don’t work” had the same problems at the inception stage, but once a writer has invested a significant amount of work in manuscript pages it becomes daunting to back up and make changes so they press ahead, band-aiding weak spots.

Come to this workshop with a new idea you have not fully developed. Learn how to spin your story ideas and characters to be fresh and different build a strong infrastructure for the plot.

You will learn:

Set Up to Character: Knowing certain things before the character steps into the story provides Checks and Balance on the characters as you write to assure your character stays “in character” and does in fact grow internally by the end.

Setting up to Conflict: In setting up the conflict, keep in mind that a conflict is only as strong as the character’s motivation to battle for something and the stakes that make the battle worth winning.

Setting up the Twist Points: In creating twist points, there are key elements to keep in mind: Motivation drives the character’s action. Decisions up the conflict and create a platform for action. Stakes drive the character’s motivation to act.

Do You Really Know What A Bigger Book Is? Tired of hearing, “Great story premise, strong voice, interesting characters…but it’s not big enough” – on a 400-page story with a subplot? Or maybe you’re ready to make the leap from category to single title. Learn what the differences are between a small concept and a bigger book!

Early Bird Draw: Register and pay by August 10th. Winner will receive free registration for the workshop.

Space is limited so register early! Registration Deadline is September 1, 2011.

Visit www.vicrwa.ca for more information on registration.