Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane and a chance meeting with Valerie Parv

Last weekend over 250 like-minded women (nary a man in sight) gathered to discuss their passion for writing at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane.

It was full-on. After two days holed up in the SebelCitigate Hotel, frantically trying to absorb the wisdom of the guest speakers, catch up with my Bootcamp mates, and attend a cocktail party and awards dinner, I was buggered!

Overall, it was a huge learning experience.

One of the highlights (and there were many) for me was meeting romance writer and educator extraordinaire Valerie Parv.

Deadset, the poor woman thought I was stalking her (and she did ask: "Are you stalking ,me?). After I got her to autograph my copy of her new book Heart & Craft, she said: "Where's the camera? I know you want to have your photo taken with me."

She's such a generous person. I mean, who on earth would let a bona fide stalker such as myself be photographed with them?

I am now on a mission to become a Valerie Parv mignon - I'm giving myself 12 months!

But for now, it's back to reality while romance moves to the backburner for a little while.

As my youngest daughter says, "Life goes on..."

(Photo: Bootcampers 109)

Ocean swimming in the UK is a costly pastime

When I'm not working my bum off or whinging about the corrupt NSW government or whining at my daughter to please return the pile of damp towels on her bed to the bathroom, I like to swim.

Lately I haven't managed to get to a pool, so I feel like a kettle about to boil all the time. A blimp. A butterball. A blobby blogger.

For me, swimming is a form of relaxation and rejuvenation. In spring, I join a bunch of eejits who compete in the ocean swims in Sydney.

But what to do in the cooler months? Well, I could visit Europe.

The website www.oceanswims.com has a link to the European ocean swims calendar, which is chock-a-block. I had a peak at this and discovered that this weekend (Aug 15) the inaugural Great London Swim is being held at the Royal Victoria Dock.

I was thinking what fun it would be to dive into the icy cold, dark and murky water when I noticed an even greater deterrent.

Here in Australia, where we like to whinge about most things, ocean swimmers complain loudly about the entry fees for many of the local swims. Most cost around $25-$40.

But in the UK, you have to fork out a whopping 35 pounds to enter this swim. That's well over $60 in Australian currency. Then there's the wetsuit hire!

I think I might just tough it out here until the weather warms up and I shed my winter coat in time for the Aussie season to start.

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it... Hot August Nights is just around the corner

This time next week I will be in BrisVegas for the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference.

Its title Hot August Nights revives memories of Crunchy Granola Suite being piped through the sound system at Chatswood Chase on a Thursday shopping night in the '70s!

But the conference Friday night cocktail party has nothing to do with Neil Diamond. The (optional) fancy dress is Arabian Nights.

So, after some hectic op-shopping, I've found an outfit that is more Byron Bay middle-aged hippy than I Dream of Jeannie. And there is definitely no muffin top exposure.

Saturday and Sunday will be jam-packed with workshops and catching up with some of the wonderful women I've met online since Romance Bootcamp 109 in February.

Let's hope the weekend brings me my three wishes (no, I don't want three packets of Tim Tams).

For info go to www.romanceaustralia.com

A rant about the Rees Labor government in NSW and why they're a bunch of thugs

I live in a state of resignation.

What I'm talking about here is New South Wales, a state run by a bunch of eejits who pretend to listen to the concerns of the public, but then blithely ignore them.

In the end, the public just lays down and takes the kicks to the guts inflicted by a gang of rampaging ratbags.

I do not like the NSW Premier Nathan Rees and his bunch of thug-like helpers, who are no more sincere than a used car salesman and have the collective brainpower of a nightclub bouncer.

Example: to and from my work in the city, I cross the Iron Cove Bridge at Rozelle. For a long time there was a fiery debate about whether to add another lane to the bridge. Logic says it's a stupid idea because it won't solve the horrendous peak-hour traffic problems. Drivers will simply be caught in a bottle neck at either end of the bridge. Lots of clever people came up with solutions, which mostly involved public transport.

But god forbid! NSW is part owned by the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) - this is my opinion - and it is not in this monolith's interests to promote anything as forward-thinking as a competent public transport system.

The government did not listen to the people or heed any of the wise advice. An extra laneway is now under contruction.

Every day the people of NSW watch the Rees government hand out jobs to their mates and suck on the public purse like a leech.

The sad thing is the opposition's no better.

Oh, well. At least it's a sunny day.