With a mountain of rejections, AWC grad Leearna Shaw was ready to throw in the proverbial towel with her dream of novel writing. But just a few years later, her rural romance A Farm in Golden Clouds wins the Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Award and she lands a 2-book publishing deal! So what happened in the middle to set this success story in motion? In this episode, Leearna shares it all.

00:00 Welcome
09:10 Writing tip: Help other writers
11:48 Writers in the wild
13:08 WIN: Realms of Gold by A.J. MacKinnon
14:48 Word of the week: ‘Heirophant’
15:40 Interview with: Leearna Shaw
17:00 Description of A Farm in Golden Clouds
18:15 Inspirations for the book
20:22 Her early writing dreams
22:20 Getting rejections
24:00 Discovering AWC courses
28:40 Winning the Emerald Award
32:00 Scoring a 2-book deal
38:00 The importance of the writing community
41:10 Advice for writers
42:46 Book recommendations
45:28 Promotion experiences
47:50 Final thoughts

Read the show notes

Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook
Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com

With a mountain of rejections, AWC grad Leearna Shaw was ready to throw in the proverbial towel with her dream of novel writing. But just a few years later, her rural romance A Farm in Golden Clouds wins the Romance Writers of Australia&rsquo;s Emerald Award and she lands a 2-book publishing deal! So what happened in the middle to set this success story in motion? In this episode, Leearna shares it all.
00:00 Welcome 09:10 Writing tip: Help other writers 11:48 Writers in the wild 13:08 WIN: Realms of Gold by A.J. MacKinnon 14:48 Word of the week: &lsquo;Heirophant&rsquo; 15:40 Interview with: Leearna Shaw 17:00 Description of A Farm in Golden Clouds 18:15 Inspirations for the book 20:22 Her early writing dreams 22:20 Getting rejections 24:00 Discovering AWC courses 28:40 Winning the Emerald Award 32:00 Scoring a 2-book deal 38:00 The importance of the writing community 41:10 Advice for writers 42:46 Book recommendations 45:28 Promotion experiences 47:50 Final thoughts
<a href="https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/ep-732/">Read the show notes</a>
Connect with Valerie and listeners in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2346749828883788/">the podcast community on Facebook</a> Visit <a href="https://www.writerscentre.com.au/">WritersCentre.com.au</a> |&nbsp;<a href="http://valeriekhoo.com/">ValerieKhoo.com</a>

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about succeeding in the world of writing and publishing. Learn practical writing techniques, go behind-the-scenes and discover how real-life authors got their big break. Uncover the creative processes of writers who have made it. Your host is Valerie Khoo – author, journalist, creative and CEO of the Australian Writers’ Centre. 

Everything you&rsquo;ve always wanted to know about succeeding in the world of writing and publishing. Learn practical writing techniques, go behind-the-scenes and discover how real-life authors got their big break. Uncover the creative processes of writers who have made it. Your host is Valerie Khoo &ndash;&nbsp;author, journalist, creative and CEO of the Australian Writers&rsquo; Centre.&nbsp;