Annnnnd, breathe! August has been quite the month. It started with my aunt taking a tumble and breaking her hip (she is on the mend!). My first bout of COVID followed (was rampant in the hospital where the aunt was having her hip replaced) and then there was the Romance Writers of Australia 2024 ConferenceContinue reading "Top 5 Takeaways from #RWAus24"

Peeps! As this year comes to an end (honestly, much sooner than I expected it would!), I’m starting to think about 2024… and for the last year or so I’ve done that thinking with the help of the HB90. What is HB90, you ask? HB90 is a planning system that helps you identify and prioritiseContinue reading "Ahoy me Hearties! It’s HB90!"

Sexual Tension So, this month’s column is brought to you by my very late-to-the-party obsession with Rookie Blue (a 2010’s police drama, set in Toronto, Canada, following five newly graduated police officers) and, specifically, the sexual chemistry between the lead rookie, Andy McNally, and her training officer, Sam Swarek. Google #McSwarek. Watch the shorts onContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

Writing the senses As you are reading this, are you drinking a cup of coffee or tea? If you aren’t, just go with me here and imagine you’re drinking a warm beverage of your choice. Take a moment to look at the cup where it sits. What does it look like? Does your latte haveContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

Universal Pleasures Depositphotos: 162951400 This month I wanted to talk about Universal Pleasures, maybe because I’ve been watching a lot of the series FBI which, I think, hits a lot of my Universal Pleasure spots (Danger! Competition! Power!) but, I digress. You might have already heard about this idea – it’s been kicking around forContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

Safe Sex and Contraception More than 10 years ago now, Susan Quilliam published an article which, while it has been fairly criticised for various reasons, raised an interesting point. Quilliam observed that women’s exposure to formal education about sex and relationships might be as little as a few hours in a lifetime, while their exposureContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

Consent Consent is as fundamental in romance novels nowadays as a HEA. The enthusiastic consent of your characters to whatever it is that they’re doing together is essential (even though it hasn’t always been that way). And, while there are any number of ways we might criticise Fifty Shades of Grey (the book and/or theContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

This article was developed from part of my Let’s Talk About Sex Workshop presented at #RWAus22, exploring the usefulness (or otherwise) of heat levels and other labels to describe sex in romance. I've taken that workshop session and developed it into an ongoing series of sex in romance articles for Heart's Talk (the monthly magazineContinue reading "Let’s talk about sex in romance"

I'm still here, see <waving> See, in case you might have missed it, there's been a bit going on in the world since, oh, I don't know, March 2020 (and, honestly, in my family from a bit before that). Which means I've not been here as much as I'd have liked... But I'm back! AndContinue reading "ICYMI: #RWAus22 – Baby, we’re back!"