Jenna Lo Bianco, a secondary school Italian teacher, experienced what she calls a magical moment when she was on leave after the birth of her second child. Amid the chaos of the pandemic, she stumbled on a Tweet about the Australian Writers' Centre's Romance Writing course. At the time, Jenna had completed two manuscripts: Love & Rome and The Italian Marriage but she hadn’t yet found a publisher.
Discovering the magic PING!
Unagented and unpublished, Jenna felt she needed something to help take her writing to the next level. “I didn't know what that something was until I saw the Australian Writers' Centre’s Romance Writing course on Twitter. That was the moment I experienced the magic PING!”
After deciding to enrol, Jenna threw herself into the course. “I literally had nothing to lose. That was the attitude I took into the launch of Romance Writing. I listened and took notes and just threw myself at the pearls of wisdom being shared. The description of the course and what I thought it might give me – clarification around the romance genre, its constituent features and writing tools – ultimately encouraged me to enrol.”
Gaining invaluable knowledge
Despite already having written her novels, Jenna found the course materials incredibly useful. “I used the course materials as a ‘checklist' of sorts to edit The Italian Marriage before I sent it out on query to Jacinta di Mase Management, which eventually signed me. What I found most helpful was the content about the love interests and how to plot and plan for the dynamics that draw them together, pull them apart, or challenge them to grow and change. I also really appreciated the structural tips around plotting for action and tension at particular points of the narrative to ensure maximum interest and reader commitment.”
A transformative impact on her writing
Jenna's writing strengthened significantly due to the course. “My writing is so much stronger for those aforementioned points. Now, as I am plotting and scheming my books, my mind does go back to those key tips. I use them to really think about the connection between my love interests and use the tension tips to decide how to open my chapters and when to close them.”
At the core, Jenna's books are tributes to Italy. “Each is a celebration of language, culture, history, and food, and an exploration as to how these elements weave together to form the most perfectly imperfect ode to my beloved Italia.” Both The Italian Marriage and Love & Rome delve into themes of friendship, family, loyalty, and destiny, asking life's big questions.
The Italian Marriage is a “forced proximity marriage of convenience due to inheritance clause romp through the Umbrian countryside,” complete with villa renovation and endometriosis representation. Meanwhile, Love & Rome involves a “friends to lovers, love triangle, job hunting, searching for life's answers by the full moon adventure across Rome's cobblestoned streets,” with a rich overlay of art history. “In both books, you can expect lively characters, to laugh and cry, plenty of spice, and a healthy dose of destiny at play.”
An unexpected publishing journey
Jenna says that her agent, Danielle Binks, truly understood her book. “She just got it. She just got me. She got the work. She's really passionate about strong, smart romance that just moves and challenges ideas,” says Jenna.
With a firm belief in Jenna’s story, Danielle began approaching publishers. “Four weeks later, I had a three book deal with Pan Macmillan!”
The moment Jenna learned she was going to be published was surreal. “I still don't believe it happened! My agent Danielle called to tell me the news. In the moment, all I remember feeling was relief. I had queried for four years and had received around 160 rejections. That sense of relief was closely followed by joy and jubilation, and then determination. I was going to work my butt off to do the best possible job I could!”
With a writing process that is unique and non-linear, she starts with the first and last scenes and then pieces the rest of the book together. “Once it's ‘done', I take a lot of time and care editing the manuscript, really focusing on things like tension and timeline consistencies.”
Jenna recommends that aspiring writers enrol in courses at the Australian Writers' Centre. “I recommend the Australian Writers' Centre all the time! I love how flexible the courses are, especially the work-at-your-own-pace courses. It's a really smart investment in your career and skill set. I have all my notes and scribbles from the Romance Writing course and often refer back to them.”
Unagented and unpublished, Jenna felt she needed something to help take her writing to the next level. “I didn't know what that something was until I saw the Australian Writers' Centre’s Romance Writing course on Twitter. That was the moment I experienced the magic PING!”
Jenna's writing strengthened significantly due to the course. “My writing is so much stronger for those aforementioned points. Now, as I am plotting and scheming my books, my mind does go back to those key tips. I use them to really think about the connection between my love interests and use the tension tips to decide how to open my chapters and when to close them.”
Jenna says that her agent, Danielle Binks, truly understood her book. “She just got it. She just got me. She got the work. She's really passionate about strong, smart romance that just moves and challenges ideas,” says Jenna.
With a writing process that is unique and non-linear, she starts with the first and last scenes and then pieces the rest of the book together. “Once it's ‘done', I take a lot of time and care editing the manuscript, really focusing on things like tension and timeline consistencies.”
