Two New Zealand writers have been selected as finalists in
the Romance Writers of America (RWA) awards which recognise excellence in
published romance fiction. The pair head to New York later in July to attend
the awards’ ceremony in front of around two thousand fellow writers, editors
and agents.
Campbells Bay author Louise Groarke, writing as Louisa
George, is a finalist in the short contemporary romance section of the RITA®,
the highest international award of distinction for romance fiction. Groarke’s RITA
finalist novel, Enemies with Benefits, is one of 11 novels she has
published to date with Harlequin Mills & Boon, a subsidiary of
HarperCollins and the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction.
Hibiscus Coast writer Bronwyn Sell, writing as Brynn Kelly,
finalled in the ultra-competitive Golden Heart awards for unpublished romance
manuscripts with her romantic suspense, Deception Island, which has
already been picked up for publication mid-2016 in hardcover by HQN Books, an
imprint of Harlequin.
The RITA award is named after the first RWA president, Rita
Clay Estrada, up to 2,000 romance novels are entered in the RITA competition
each year before the winners are announced at the RWA annual conference.
Both Groarke and Sell are travelling to New York to attend
the awards’ ceremony, which is part of the huge RWA conference running 22 to 25
July, and are joined by a contingent of around a dozen fellow Romance Writers
of New Zealand members.
Groarke says: “The RITAs are described as the Oscars of
romance writing, so it is a huge honour and very exciting. It's also a great
confidence boost and validation of my writing.”
Groarke is looking forward to
the opportunities to network with editors, agents and industry professionals
from around the world.
Sell, an award-winning journalist and freelance writer with
four non-fiction books to her credit, is equally excited to have her first
fiction book final for the Golden Heart award.
“This is the first time I’ve entered the Golden Heart. In
the same week I was advised Deception Island was a finalist in the
Golden Heart, it sold in a two-book deal to HQN,” Sell says.
“Going to New York is a thrill all round. As well as being a
buzzing city to visit, it’s the international capital of the publishing
industry. The RWA conference is one of the best writing conferences in the
world, covering a mindboggling range of topics, from craft tips to publication
industry insights. There’s even a session about hostage negotiating – just in case
you decide to write about a kidnap crisis! And it’s a very social conference.
Not only are about a dozen New Zealand writers going, but also a bunch of my
writer friends from around the world, most of whom I’ve never met in person,
but have been an invaluable source of encouragement and advice. Usually, we
writers shut ourselves away in a quiet room, so it’s great to get together with
people who are on the same journey, albeit at different stages.”
Both Groarke and Sell are invited to their publisher’s
legendary black and white ball in the Starlight Roof of the historic Waldorf
Astoria, near Central Park.
“For someone who’s always wanted to be a novelist, it’s
surreal to have an entry in my diary that reads: dinner with my agent and
editor in New York,” adds Sell.
Both authors pay credit to the role that their local romance
writing organisation, Romance Writers of New Zealand (RWNZ), has played in
their writing careers to date.
The 2015 RWNZ annual conference, Love Thrills, takes place
at Auckland’s Waipuna Conference and Events Centre from 28 to 30 August. More
information is available via the website www.romancewriters.co.nz.
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