Tree Love Is In The Air. . .

Last week I made an executive decision as captain of my own writing ship. I decided to indie publish a romantic short story of mine, Tree Love. This story was previously published a year ago in the Taste of Romance anthology along with other stories from authors in my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild.

Tree Love is a short and sweet story about first loves reunited, emails to trees, art, nature and taking chances. It’s now up for pre-order, ready for release on 13 February, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Tree Love: A Romantic Short Story by Cassandra O'Leary, cover design

Here’s the cover for Tree Love. I designed it myself with a gorgeous stock illustration (copyright warawiri) sourced from 123rf.com. Isn’t it pretty? Well, I think so.

Tree Love story inspiration

I was actually inspired to write this story after reading a wacky newspaper article about something that happened in my home city of Melbourne, Australia.

Under a new environmental plan, the city assigned email addresses to trees. And people started emailing, not just to report on the condition of the trees as had been expected, but they wrote to the trees. Letters, poems, confessions. This was pretty hilarious to me, but also sweet. So a story idea was born!

The original article is on the News.com.au website — People around the world have been emailing trees in Melbourne to confess their love.

In Tree Love, I imagined my heroine, Natalia, was the admin person working for the Parks and Gardens department tasked with answering the Tree-mails. It’s entertaining but also baffling at times.

Blurb

If your first love fell out of a tree. . . would you catch him?

Natalia Bianchi is a botanical artist, who finds herself accidentally working for the city’s Parks Department in admin and also accidentally engaged to her boss. It’s not what she had planned.

One day she checks on ‘her’ tree in the botanical gardens, and her first love, Dan “The Man” Mancini falls at her feet. Literally. Almost like it was meant to be. But that’s what she thought ten years ago when they were friends at university.

Should Natalia shake up her entire safe, convenient life to climb Dan like a tree? Could this be her second chance at love that could last forever?

Buy links

You can pre-order Tree Love now from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books. It’s only 99 cents or 99p.

Universal link:

books2read.com/TreeLove

Inspiration pics

Stock photo of tree from Pixabay

Check out my Tree Love Pinterest board for some great pics of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, and some character inspiration too.

P.S. join my newsletter list if you’d like to know more about my writing and receive a free novelette, Chocolate Truffle Kiss!

Love Gone Wild!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Love Gone Wild conference run by Romance Writers of Australia in Brisbane. I don’t think I’d be underestimating if I said the effect of the weather on my mood was magical. Goodbye, frosty Melbourne! Hello, sunny Brisbane!

As soon as I arrived on Friday afternoon, I shucked off the multiple layers of Melbourne clothes and enjoyed the sunshine and 28 degree C temperature. And the super swish room at the luxury Pullman Hotel and my two fun room mates didn’t hurt either.

Love Gone Wild cocktail party

Then it was a chance to get ready for the Love Gone Wild cocktail party, a costume or fancy dress event that’s always a hoot! It was amazing to see some of the wild animals let loose on the dance floor. I especially loved the flamingos and a certain ninja turtle who I didn’t even recognise under her body paint! Check out the pictures below, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean!

Business Hub

Over the next two days I set about learning lots of new information from the fantastic guest speakers in the new Business Hub stream. The content from Google, Draft2Digital and iBooks left my head spinning…but in a good way. I came away with heaps of things to research and study. I’m looking forward to implementing some digital marketing and promotional ideas over the next few months.

Awards Dinner and Butterfly Ball

The Awards Dinner and Butterfly Ball on Saturday night was a great chance to shake our tail feathers, too. And so many writers that I know and admire were up for the big awards. Special super-dooper congratulations to my fellow Melbourne Romance Writers Guild members, Miranda Morgan and Janis Linford, who were both contest finalists. Correction, Miranda also won the Ripping Start contest!

Of course mega-awesome authors Avril Tremayne and Amy Andrews are two of my absolute favourite Aussie authors, so it was wonderful to see them pick-up the big gongs. Congratulations to both of you. Mwah!

Networking like a #LoveArmy

But most of all, the conference was a chance to network with like-minded romanciers, the fabulous (mostly) women writers who focus on the positive, the good, the love in the world. Something we all need right now. Someone on Facebook mentioned that RWA is like an army of love. I totally agree and propose we all need #LoveArmy buttons.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy this Storify round-up of some of the social media around conference including lots of photos.

P.S. I’ll also be writing something else about the conference soon for the Romancing the Genres blog! Yes, I’m going to be a Genre-ista! How exciting. 🙂

Holly Jolly holiday giveaway!

*UPDATED* — This giveaway is now closed. I drew a prize winner at random from all eligible entrants at 7.30 pm my time (in Melbourne, Australia), Friday 16 December 2016. The winner is Denise Austin. I’ll email Denise shortly. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered.

Since it’s December and the holiday season is already upon us (Argh! Where did 2016 go?) I’m joining in the fun with a giveaway as part of the Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop. The group is running the promotion from 5-16 December 2016, with Amazon gift vouchers, books and other prizes up for grabs.

So, confession time… I’ve actually done NO Christmas shopping or decorating around my house yet. I’m madly trying to write and finish off some important admin tasks (overdue taxes *cough*) before the end of the year. But I have taken the time to organise what I think is a fabulous giveaway prize!

Giveaway prize details

Photo of giveaway prize – Sweet and Spicy print book, silver angel wings necklace and Hoppy ornament

Sweet and Spicy – A celebration of romance (print edition)

A lovely shiny copy of my first-ever print edition of a story I’ve written! My romantic comedy novelette, Chocolate Truffle Kiss, is included in Sweet and Spicy – A celebration of romance, an anthology of over 100,000 words of love stories, published by my amazing writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild. I’ll sign it for you!

Silver angel wings pendant necklace

A sterling silver plated angel wing pendant on a snake chain. It’s a little bit Christmassy and similar to the pendant my heroine, Sinead, receives from the hero, Gabriel, in my romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane. But without the black pearls, because I’m not a millionaire CEO!

‘Hoppy’ Christmas tree ornament

Since I’m an Aussie, I thought I’d throw in a cute ceramic kangaroo Christmas tree ornament. Let’s call her Hoppy. She has a little baby Joey and is wearing a Santa hat!

How to enter*

Here’s what you need to do:

Add a comment here on my blog page or on my Cassandra O’Leary Author Facebook Page, telling me your number one Christmas shopping tip! (Because I need all the help I can get) AND
Sign-up to my email newsletter list (add your name and email address to the Newsletter form on this web page). My newsletter has exclusive content such as sneak peeks at my upcoming stories, more giveaways and promotions. My December newsletter is coming out next week.

P.S. – my current newsletter subscribers are eligible to enter.

P.P.S – everyone who signs-up for my newsletter in December will receive a free e-book download copy of Chocolate Truffle Kiss! That’s right, everyone!

Thanks to the fabulous group of authors at Chick Lit Chat HQ for organising the Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop group promotion on Facebook, especially Tracie Banister and Laura Chapman. If you haven’t already checked out their books, hop to it!

Happy holidays!

*Entry is open internationally. I’ll select one winner on Friday 16th December 2016 and post the winner’s name on my blog page and Facebook page. The winner must provide their postal address to me by email or personal message to claim the prize. I am responsible for running this giveaway in association with Chick Lit Chat HQ and it is not affiliated with Facebook.

Best New Author nomination in AusRomToday Awards!

Best New Author nomination – Vote for me in the AusRomToday Reader’s Choice awards now

Earlier this week I was excited to learn that I’ve been nominated in the Best New Author category of the AusRomToday Reader’s Choice Awards, celebrating excellence in Australian romance fiction.

This is such exciting news I could barely breathe when I saw the email come through…actually, I’ve had a bad headcold so I could hardly breathe anyway, but that’s not the point! It’s such an honour to be nominated alongside a bunch of super talented authors who I admire.

What an amazing year 2016 has been for me so far. I’ve gone from publishing one short story last year to winning the We Heart New Talent contest and having my first romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane, published by the wonderful team at Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. And I’ve seen that book fly high in the Amazon and iBooks charts.

I also quit my day job in corporate communications in June to focus on my writing. That was something of a leap of faith, and so far it’s been a good decision (although I’m not raking in the millions yet, and Hollywood hasn’t come knocking to buy any movie rights…come on Hollywood!) as it’s allowed me time to write and focus on promoting my book properly.

Now, with a nomination for a major national award, I’m almost dumbfounded at how much can happen in a year. It makes me wonder what 2017 will bring!

Hopefully, I’ll soon finish editing my next romantic comedy novel, then I’m working on another manuscript that’s at around 30K words. And there’s another anthology of short stories coming soon from my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild, which I’m pleased to be a part of again.

Action stations everyone – 2017 looks set to be huge! I’d better buy some more champagne…

Cover reveal – Chocolate Truffle Kiss

Cover reveal time! It is with a little too much excitement that I show-off my very first cover for my very first self-published novelette (which is a kind of long short story). Chocolate Truffle Kiss is a 9500 story, originally published in 2015 in the Sweet and Spicy anthology from my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild.

But now I’m letting it go, into the world, with its own, fresh cover. I actually designed it myself! It may not win any design awards, but I’m happy with it. I think the woman on the cover is gorgeous and it suits the genre of romantic comedy.

Let me know what you think!

P.S. if you sign-up to my newsletter here on my website before 10 October 2016, I’ll give you a FREE copy of this story! Sign-up with your name and email address, that’s it. Easy-peasy!

Chocolate Truffle Kiss cover design

Blurb

Your eyes meet mine, then retreat
Softness behind glass
Let me break your barriers

The poem on the blackboard enticed her to enter. Just like everyday…

Writer, Beth, visits the same café every afternoon, enjoying her latte and a chocolate truffle while scribbling in her notebook. The delicious treats keep her coming back day after day, not to mention the inspiration she finds there – Samuel. The barista is tall, dark and delicious, and his stare could melt chocolate from a hundred paces.

Since her divorce, Beth’s love life has been close to extinct, but the sight of Samuel, his dark, brooding good looks and amazing dragon tattoo, kick it into overdrive. A smouldering volcano waiting to erupt in flames of passion. But Beth knows it’s unlikely he’d go for her, an older woman, when he could have anyone.

Over the course of a week, the tension between them rises almost to boiling point. When Beth’s friend lets it slip that Beth fancies Samuel, in fact she has a mega crush on him, their customer/barista relationship is tested…but could it be more than one-sided? Is Samuel writing the blackboard poems especially for Beth? Could he be watching and wanting her too?

Pre-order links are live on my Books page!

Winner – We Heart New Talent contest and book launch madness!

In 2015, Avon Maze, Harper Impulse and Carina UK ran a joint global writing contest to search for new romance writing talent. I entered the We Heart New Talent contest in February 2015 and now, my debut novel Girl on a Plane is being released globally as an e-book today, 18 July2015.

Woo-hoo! It’s been an exciting few months since I WON the We Heart New Talent contest run by HarperCollins UK. A few months later, I was offered a publishing contract with the digital-first imprint, Avon Maze.

Let me just backtrack a little… I entered a contest in February 2015 and after almost 18 months of gestation, my book-baby is born! How amazing is that? I’ll tell you what, it’s totally amazing to me, and I wrote the book.

How did I get here?

As a new-ish romance writer – I’ve been writing fiction seriously for nearly three years now – I’ve been lucky enough to participate in some fantastic writing workshops and events such as the Romance Writers of Australia conferences. These have been valuable learning and networking opportunities that were pure gold in terms of giving me direction in my writing career. I also absorbed writing articles and blogs almost by osmosis, subscribing to all sorts of feeds.

The first novel I attempted to write, I drafted in three months. Probably complete rubbish, if I look back on it now (I don’t want to, and you can’t make me). But the next story started as a 10,000 word short story or novelette, which I re-worked and then added words, until finally it became a full length contemporary romance novel. That’s the one that finally became Girl on a Plane.

I entered a lot of writing contests. I mean, a lot. Fifteen or sixteen contests in about two years, which is pretty exhausting-sounding if I think about it. So I try not to think about it. But the reality was, those contests were a training ground for me as a writer. I learned how to write a ‘hook’, a blurb, an interesting first sentence, how to format a manuscript and how to write a synopsis (sort of – I still don’t want to write one and you can’t make me). And I received pages and pages of notes from more experienced authors, which were amazing feedback.

My big break was entering and WINNING the We Heart New Talent contest run by HarperCollins UK in 2015. Several months after entering, I received an email from an editor from HarperCollins in London which was an OMG moment… followed by many months of re-writing and eventually going through the editorial process.

The team at Avon Maze also produced a sensational book cover. It’s so graphic, it stands out well branding-wise on Amazon and everywhere online. Which brings us to the marketing side of the equation.

Promo Central – welcome to your destination!

Once I signed my book contract (SQUEE!), I soon realised the importance of planning and building my marketing promotions online. As a new digital-first author, online content and social media interaction are vital for building your profile. Promo Central seems to be my new address! I don’t mind, in fact I enjoy the promotional side of the publishing cycle, from what I’ve experienced so far.

I’ve had a bit of fun playing around with promo graphics in Canva and also commissioned an awesome teaser trailer video from Trailermade Production. Check it out:

Release day articles and blogs

I’ve also had some fabulous promotional opportunities that I’d love to share with you all again – if you haven’t already stopped by my Facebook and Twitter profiles.

AusRom Today – Tell Us Your Backstory feature

Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) release day blog

Melbourne Romance Writers Guild blog – Fun In the Sun or Grey Clouds on the Horizon?

Where to next?

I’ll be continuing the book promotion, blog writing, and maybe get some actual fresh-words down on paper for my next book! Yes, that’s right, somewhere in between all the exciting pre-release madness, I’ve managed to write another almost complete novel. It’s going to need a lot of editing though, so once I have my debut book-honeymoon love-goggles off and I can think clearly again, I’ll crack on with editing the new one.

I’ll probably write some short stories or novellas too, since I have a few more ideas bubbling away in the background. Exciting times!

Girl on a Plane has now taken off — go to my Books page for all buy links!

Sweet and Spicy and all things nicey…

Cover reveal

I’m very excited to be able to share a cover design! This is the gorgeous cover for the upcoming Sweet and Spicy anthology being published by the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild to celebrate its 25th anniversary. And my short story, Chocolate Truffle Kiss, will be included. Yay!

Without further ado, here’s the cover:

Sweet and Spicy romance anthology cover image.

Sweet and Spicy romance anthology cover design. To be released by the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild in November 2015

To read more about this anthology, go to the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild blog. More details will be coming soon.

Sweet success — delicious book news!

I’m calling it – as of 10 November 2015, I’m officially a published author. It’s just over two years since I got serious about fiction writing and now one of my story babies is out in the world. Hopefully, this will be the first of many book-aversaries.

Sweet and Spicy romance anthology. Cover design by Jay Aheer.

I’m so excited that the Sweet and Spicy anthology from my fabulous writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild, is now live and available to purchase from a variety of e-book retailers. This collection of romance and love stories is a celebration of the MRWG’s 25^th anniversary, and includes my first published long-ish 9,000 word short story, Chocolate Truffle Kiss.

The MRWG took on this project a few months ago, creating short stories from scratch, critiquing and editing, undertaking a cover design process and developing a promotional plan. All in all, it’s been a fantastic learning opportunity for the whole group, getting the chance to be indie published to professional standard.

Chocolate and coffee fuelled inspiration

My story, Chocolate Truffle Kiss, is a romantic comedy, inspired by my home city of Melbourne and the art of people watching, which I enjoy when out and about in cafés, restaurants and around town. As fellow Melbournites know, food and drink is a serious business to us.

Coffee and chocolate are a couple of the hot button topics for Melbourne foodies, and someone’s favourite café can be a definitive make-or-break in the friendship stakes. Overheard snippets of conversation in the city might go something like this:

She likes Gloria Jeans and Starbucks…whaaat?? I’m more a Degraves Street and Market Lane kind of girl.

So, when a story idea on this theme popped into my head when I was jotting down notes in a café one day, I knew I had to write it. Here’s the full blurb:

A writer, Beth, comes into her favourite café every day for her coffee and a chocolate truffle fix, a decadent treat that fuels her creativity. But what really keeps her coming back, day after day, is the delicious looking man behind the counter. The barista, Samuel. Could he be watching and wanting her too?

There may be some postmodern self-reflexive references going on here, but just so you know, I’ve never fallen in love with a hot barista. Aww. Never mind, I have a spunky hubby at home who just happens to be a whiz with our espresso machine and is an excellent cook. As I love to drink coffee and eat delicious treats, it’s true love!

If you need more mood-setting, have a look at my Pinterest board for the story or read an excerpt on my Writing page. There’s lots of Melbourne-ish goodness, plus my inspiration pics for the hero, Samuel, are kind of nice eye candy. Ahem.

I hope I’ve encouraged you to try a taste of romance, and not just made you hungry.

Read more about the Sweet and Spicy anthology and the other great authors in our group, and find the ‘buy now’ links on the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild website or see my Home page.

Confessions of a writing contest junkie

This blog post was originally published on the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild site on 14th February 2016. However it has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. Did I plan that badly? Sigh…

I’ve been entering writing contests for just over two years. I did the maths in my head and realised in that time, I’ve entered about 15 contests. I know I may have a minor writing contest addiction problem.

What’s a writing contest?

This is what my family and friends asked me when I first entered one in mid-2013. I hardly knew the answer at the time, having just decided to get serious about creative writing for the first time in (mumble, mumble) years.

For the uninitiated, writing contests are run by publishers and writing organisations such as Romance Writers of Australia and offer the opportunity to:

win a prize, sometimes cash, often a publishing contract
gain feedback from fellow writers or editors
develop your writing, working to specific guidelines
finish something, in time for a contest deadline
grow your network of writer contacts
avoid the ‘slush pile’ of unsolicited manuscripts
get your work ‘out there’ in front of key editors, agents and publishers.

Romance novel contest leads to madness…

My little problem started in 2013 when I joined Twitter and started following authors I admired, then a few publishers. I stumbled across a little thing called So You Think You Can Write or #sytycw in Twitter hashtag speak. This is a global writing contest run by Harlequin, one of the biggest romance publishers in the world. A publishing contract was on offer for the winner, but not only that, a squad of fifty editors were on hand to provide tips and feedback.

I asked myself, “Could I write a romance novel?” and despite never having tried before, I answered, “Why the hell not?” I started to write, and I loved it. Was it mad to try to write my first novel in three months? Of course it was, but I’m so glad I did it.

This contest taught me so much about writing, it’s not even funny. I participated in online ‘boot camp’ activities such as writing a 100 word pitch and a synopsis, having work critiqued by other aspiring writers. I was also selected for a first page critique by an editor, which was so valuable it should have been sprinkled with gold dust.

I also had barrels of fun interacting with the other entrants on Twitter and Facebook, and made heaps of writer friends. Some of them formed the core of an international online writing group I still hang out with.

Twitter pitch opportunities

Twitter pitch contests such as PitMad (Pitch Madness) or #pitmad hosted by author Brenda Drake, offer writers the chance to pitch their book in 140 characters or less. Try it! It’s really hard and will make you crazy! Editors/publishers and agents watch the tweets over the course of a day and favourite the ones they’re interested in. Then writers can send it manuscripts or queries in the requested format. Warning: this contest can be really fun and addictive!

Also, look out for regular Manuscript Wishlist or #mswl tweets and other specific calls for manuscripts.

Publisher ‘open call’ contests

Publisher contests offer the chance to post a pitch or blurb relevant to a particular call for submissions. Some examples are the Entangled Publishing blog wishlists or the recent Tule Publishing ‘Pillow Talk’ contest for the new Eros imprint.

The Harlequin Community runs regular writing challenges and series contests e.g. the recent ‘Blaze Blitz’. I know several writers who have fast-tracked their way into book contracts through these types of smaller, more specific contests.

So, follow publishers on Facebook and Twitter, subscribe to their blog pages and keep an eye out for those opportunities. Get to it!

Romance Writers of Australia contests

I was recently chatting to some other emerging authors and realised that the Romance Writers of Australia contests are probably the most helpful thing I’ve done to improve my writing. I started with the First Kiss contest (and was a finalist!) then entered the Valerie Parv Award twice, not making the finals but doing pretty well, also the Emerald Award and Ripping Start were good learning experiences.

I haven’t entered any of the published author contests…yet. I can’t wait until I can.

International romance writing contests

Last year I entered (and came third!) in the Lone Star contest, run by Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America.

My Lone Star contest 2015 finalist badge – any excuse to re-blog about this!

Most of the US state-based chapters of RWA run contests, many open internationally. The Golden Heart is the big contest for unpublished authors with a full manuscript ready to go.

In return for a small entry fee, you gain feedback from authors more familiar with the US market, your specific sub-genre or simply offer a different perspective. You might not always agree with the feedback but it can be an eye-opener. For example, if that anonymous US judge is reading this, I still don’t agree that ‘British’ English is wrong or distracting…

See the Romance Writers of America website for details or check websites such as Stephie Smith’s writing contest list for contests coming up across multiple genres.

What I’ve learned as a contest junkie

They’re fun! The online contests especially have a sense of community and excitement.
They offer great insights into your work. You might have to sit back and mull over some of the feedback for a while, or even rant a little if it’s negative, but it’s all a learning experience.
They don’t hurt. I was slightly terrified of entering a US contest. I thought, small fish, big pond, they’re going to hate me and I’ll do terribly badly. I was wrong.
They give you something to shoot for. A deadline, a goal, a reason to think of a new idea, all of these reasons are gold.
They could raise your profile. If you’re working away in your writing cave, getting ready to submit a manuscript, a writing contest credit on your website or in your query letter may help you get noticed (I’m hoping).

As I wait patiently (crazily) to announce something related to another international writing contest, I’m toying with entering (you guessed it!) another writing contest.

It’s the circle of life for a writing contest junkie.