A whirlwind of a month!

August has traditionally been a busy month writing-wise for me and this year it multiplied three-fold! For those who may not have kept up-to-date on my Facebook Author Page, here’s a quick rundown on my crazy (but oh-so-fantastic!) August:

What’s Love Got To Do With It Panel – Jess, Alli, Kerri, Erica, and Fleur (Image by Helen Konstan)

Let’s start with the Bendigo Writers Festival. I was lucky enough to participate on three panels – What it Takes; What’s Love Got To Do With It?, and Writing Game. To say I was nervous is an understatement, especially when the first panel was broadcast through The Wheeler Centre and people all over the world could watch it – and they did! I’ve provided a link below to the video if you would like to see what I got up to. A special thanks to the AMAZING team at the Bendigo Writers Festival who put on such a fabulous event that ran smoothly and was held in some gorgeous venues. I hadn’t been to Bendigo for years and after spending such a wonderful weekend there I have made a promise to myself to visit this beautiful place more often. And a very big thank you to my fellow panelists and hosts – Emily Sexton, Luke Carman, Fleur Ferris, Alicia Sometimes, Jess Anastasi, Kerri Arthur, Erica Hayes, Kate Larsen, John Purcell, and David M Henley. You all made this nervous author feel comfortable and I loved the conversations we had on our panels. Thank you to all the people who attended the festival and the panels – I loved your questions and enthusiasm for reading.

Image by Ballmann-media – Wikimedia Commons

Next up was the announcement of the Dance Card Series sale to Kensington Books. That alone would have made August a super happy month! So for those of you outside Australia and New Zealand, you’ll have a chance to read this series when released (dates to be advised). I am super excited to see this series travel the world!

And if that isn’t enough, I attended the annual Romance Writers of Australia conference which is always a major highlight of my year. It’s a chance to meet old friends and new, learn about craft and marketing, and revel in the joy of hanging with my tribe. This year was extra special because Luna Tango won favourite contemporary cover of the year. Woo hoo! I have some super fabulous cover fairies at Harlequin MIRA (Australia). They truly are wonderful.

Here are some snapshots from the conference:

Winner of favourite contemporary cover!

The super charming Graeme Simsion and I sat next to each other at the Australian Romance Readers Association book signing (note Graeme’s red rose in his lapel matches my tango dancer’s!)

The wonderful Angela Ackerman who writes amazing craft books with Becca Puglisi. Their books changed the way I write – in a super positive way!

And if you would like to check out the panel I did at the Bendigo Writers Festival, here it is (it starts about 34 minutes in).

http://www.wheelercentre.com/events/what-it-takes

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Book signing in August!

For those of you who’ll be in Melbourne towards the end of August, I’m happy to announce I will be part of the Australian Romance Readers Association’s book signing event. This will be my third one and they are so much fun – loads of give aways for readers. I would love to see you there!

Australian Romance Readers Association signing event – click for the list of authors attending.

Also, stay tuned for a couple more announcements – but I can’t divulge just yet!

Unveiling my animated gif!

I recently won an animated GIF in a competition run by Trailermade Production and the lovely Gabrielle came up with this gorgeous piece of artwork. I’m so happy!

Spreading some Christmas cheer!

If you’re in the Geelong region and you’re stuck for ideas for Christmas presents, maybe I can help …

World Ballet Day – LIVE!

On Wednesday, 1 October the world will witness the inaugural World Ballet Day where five internationally acclaimed ballet companies will dance live and you can watch it online. The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and the San Francisco Ballet have teamed up to give fans around the world the chance to see what goes on in rehearsal studios as well as interviews with dancers and artistic directors.

The schedule is as follows:

The Australian Ballet October 1st at 12pm (AEST)

Bolshoi Ballet October 1st at 4pm (AEST)

Royal Ballet October 1st at 8pm (AEST)

National Ballet of Canada October 2nd at 12pm (AEST)

San Francisco Ballet October 2nd at 4am (AEST)

Who knows, you may discover an up and coming dancer who will become a worldwide sensation and you can say “I saw him/her when …”!

Psssst …. Have you heard?

I’ve been inspired by a really fabulous post by Aussie writer Kate Forsyth about helping out authors and the power of word-of-mouth. Talking about a book, band, movie, restaurant, etc can have a massive impact on how that endeavour goes and I would like to set a challenge. If you have had exceptional service or read a book or seen a movie or heard music that has made you smile or appreciate what/how it was done, then please put it in the comments below. Feel free to link to their website and encourage others to add their own. Let’s get the word out there and help some people gain some new followers! I’ll start with mine below in the comments.

 

A VIP Club and a competition!

If you would like to get the latest scoop on book cover reveals, special sales and events, sign up for my VIP Club and you’ll go into the draw to win one of two signed A3 posters of Luna Tango. Pop on over to the newsletter page to sign up! Winners will be drawn on 31 October (AEST).

https://allisinclairauthor.wordpress.com/newsletter/

A Tale of Two Libertangos

Elegia is a group of talented musicians from Spain and in this video of stunning animation they pay homage to one of tango’s greatest, Astor Piazzolla and his composition “Libertango”. I’ve also included the original by Astor Piazzolla himself so you can compare – quite the contrast but in my humble opinion, both beautiful in the own ways.

 

Argentina’s Disappeared

The symbol of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, painted on the bricks outside Casa Rosada. Picture taken by a user of the b612 blog (Wikimedia Commons)

Sometimes there is a news story that breaks my heart but also brings tears of joy and this week I discovered a new one. In Luna Tango there is a thread in the story that delves into the Desaparacidos – the Disappeared. Since the Dirty War in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, a group of women have marched every Thursday in front of the Casa Rosada, the Presidential Palace, in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires as a form of protest against what happened in that period. Thousands of people who protested against the government’s actions during the Dirty War disappeared or were murdered, including babies and children associated with those adults. Most were never found.

When the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of Plaza de Mayo) march in protest, they wear a white scarf embroidered with the names of their loved ones who have disappeared. On my very first trip to Argentina, way back in 1995, I witnessed this silent march and it brought me to tears, especially when I looked in to the large, sad eyes of these women who are burdened with the heaviness of never knowing what happened to people they loved with all their heart.

So it brought great joy this morning when a friend forwarded an article to me that one of these mothers has finally reunited with her grandson who was stolen as a baby. Thank goodness for science, because a DNA test is what brought them together. I can only imagine the feelings that overcame them when they embraced for the first time. It must have been a beautiful moment, one that neither probably expected until a short while ago.

If you’d like to read more about this grandma and her grandson, you can click here.

Touring the blogs!

Aside from finishing the first draft of book number two in The Dance Card Series, I’ve been visiting a few blogs. Here’s the latest list if you would like to find out more about me, Argentina, writing, and tango:

The Reading Room asked me about my dreams and which writers and books inspired me to become a writer.  More here

I talk to author Rachel Johns about my favourite souvenir and how it inspired me to move to the other side of the world. Here

Australian Romance Readers Association ask me how I came up with the idea of writing a book set in Argentina. Here

Author Sarah Belle asks some curly questions including making me name my favourite character (that’s like choosing a favourite child!) and revealing what my ideal super power would be. More here

My critique partner Juliet Madison wanted to know who I would cast in the movie of Luna Tango and why. Here

Author Maureen McGowan asked me to reveal my hidden talent and makes me choose between vanilla and chocolate. More here

Phew! Busy times! I hope you get the chance to visit one or more of these blogs and you might find a new writer in the process!

Happy reading everyone!