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The amazing Kristen Lamb from Texas – blogger extraordinaire - was the keynote speaker at the recent Romance Writers of New Zealand conference. Kristen blogs three times every week and says three is the magic frequency to attract a growing audience. There was a good deal of quibbling about this - how were we going to find something interesting enough to blog about three times a week?

She says it’s easy, and that the blogs needn’t be long but should be personal. Okay, here’s my first not-long and more personal effort.

Before the conference, I drove almost four hours north of Wellington to stay several nights with my lovely sister. Then I collected my author friend Kendra Delugar and we drove north for several more hours until we arrived in Rotorua where the conference was. The weather on the way home was gorgeous, and we passed the three famous volcanoes looking absolutely splendid and snowy and scenic. We stopped and took photos - possibly at some risk to our lives on this very busy fast-traffic road.

I’ve been writing in my head as I garden. It’s a fine cold winter’s day here, so I’m making the most of the great weather - and using it to think about other people’s successes. That’s one of the nicest things about being a writer - you don’t just enjoy your own success, but all around you friends are having their own great moments.

I’ve titled this blog Knowing Nalini because she’s someone I’ve known for many years, and it has been a total pleasure to watch her go from success to success. I’m talking about Nalini Singh of course. I ‘met’ her at my first Romance Writers of New Zealand conference. Sitting up by the stage was a large blow-up ET-type alien labelled Nalini. When I enquired why, I was told that Nalini was there in spirit, but was in fact in Japan busy writing. Okay – even then she was obviously held in high regard. I found out more.

Her first book was a Harlequin Mills & Boon Desire. I still have it right here - a sheikh fantasy. Nalini’s ‘Desert Warrior’ dates from 2003, and I was obviously enchanted by her made-up kingdom of Zulheil and handsome sheikh Tariq, because I went on to write a couple of my own in the made-up Middle Eastern kingdom of Al Sounam. (I have two more planned for that series, and whereas they’re both started, they’re a long way from finished. Sorry.)

Well, I think readers are pretty great – but writers are just a tiny bit better! Maybe not for any reason you’re expecting though.

I’ve been around for a while – worked in various places – and I can say without word of a lie that writers are the most co-operative people I’ve ever found. There’s no ‘keeping secrets’ in case we’ve discovered something good just for us. We share. Maybe we share too much sometimes, but we’re all in this together! I guess we remember the thrill of finally writing THE END on a manuscript, or selling our first book, or seeing our first royalties arrive. These things are so exciting we want others to enjoy them too.

Case in point: the current Easter promotion I’m part of. This is a whole bunch of authors willing to make a book free or 99 cents. We’re being coordinated by the wonderful Tracey Alvarez, and if you click on this picture, you’ll see all the books listed so you can download what you like. Dozens of them!

The whole big group has written newsletters, blogs, facebook messages, instagrams, and tweets. We’re liking and sharing like mad to spread the joy. Working on behalf of each other – because there really is strength in numbers. 

I wish I could just write. Day after day of peaceful progress would be wonderful. Life surely does get in the way though.

There’s ‘writing stuff’ – replying to lovely reader’s emails, checking out the e-newsletters and buying too many books, (Melanie Harlow, Melanie Harlow!) recording my overnight sales figures, planning and booking promotions - which is really time-consuming - and keeping up with emails from friends who are writers, and sometimes critiquing or proofreading for them. That’s all legit.

There’s the garden, which is just sliding from summer to autumn, but is still full of flowers (including another flush of gorgeous white waterlilies in the pond.) I can’t ignore it. I get a lot of pleasure from it, and so do my visitors.

There’s the curtain work – less of it these days – but there are still jobs that are so big or so high that they require two of us. And I like meeting all those people and seeing their houses and gardens and cats and dogs.

But being self-employed and semi-retired has its drawbacks, because there is, undeniably, the husband. His workshop is right next to my office. I am the shortcut through the house! Would I like a cup of coffee? Tea? What are we having for lunch? Do we need any groceries while he’s out at the hardware store? Did I hear about the terrible flooding up north? Does my car need petrol yet? Oh f……………..or heaven’s sake!