Record of meeting 2 March 2016

March is the month of Romance for Bay and Basin writers

Writers

Wendy, Helene, Juan, Roslyn, Pauline, David C, Elizabeth, Lynn and welcome back David R

Words of the day

Collude = conspire

Firmament = sky or heaven

Intimate = detailed or deep

Latent = hidden or concealed

Lachrymose = tearful or sad

Miscreant = wrong doer, vile wretch

Sirvente = a poem praising someone

Watershed = a river divide or a turning point

Romance = a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love

Writing from words of the day

The writers considered the words of the day and some cried while creating watershed moments with latent talents producing the following stories and poems - Not a fairy tale, Escape on a cruise, Divided loyalties, Romance, Twist and shout, Keeping quiet, In church, Across the dance floor and Your daughter.

Reading of homework

All writers read homework updating an old fairy story into 2016. The stories were Apple Pell, Love is good, True story of Cindy, Driven snow, Black sheep market, Some explaining to do, The Instagram picture and Miss ing u.

Romance writing

Helene made a presentation on romance writing covering

• History starting with the publication of Pamela in 1740 and Pride and Prejudice in 1847
• Statistics - 74.8 million reading an English language romance novel in 2008. Estimated romance sales in 2013 is $1.08 billion (source: BookStats)
• Subgenres (Contemporary, Erotic, Historical, Inspirational, Paranormal, Suspense and Young adult)
• Romance Writers of Australia information
• Writing romance Top ten tips from Helene Young Australian author of Romantic suspense stories
• Interesting quotes
  

Format percentages of romance sales 2014

E-books 39%

Mass market paperback 32%

Trade paperback 18%

Hard cover 9%

Audio 1%

Other 1%

Romance exercise

We wrote short romantic stories and poems including the phrase “they sat facing each other” and using show not tell.

The stories and poems created were - Reminded of another time, On the shelf, Café on the bay, A romantic moment, Heart in mouth, Holding hands, Speed dating, Centenial Park and Pamela and Princess.

Homework

1. Write a romantic story or poem using The Sheik and Pamela identify your subgenre from the list above or create a new one or
2. Research and write a story about a romance writer.