Girl Talk

by Christine Wells

As many of you know, I'm still basking in the afterglow of a wonderful weekend with friends, romance writers and all-round good eggs, Anna Campbell and Denise Rossetti.

It's been so long since I took some quality time to just sit and talk with the girls that I'd forgotten what a pleasure it can be. I have a husband and two young sons at home. My dog's a girl, but much as I love her, she's not the talkative type:)

So it was a special kind of bliss to me that for an entire weekend, all Denise, Anna and I did was eat, drink, swim, go for walks and talk, talk, talk. And you guessed it, the subject of our conversation was most often writing.

We even managed to do some serious story plotting, although it somehow managed to descend into a ridiculous punning challenge--about apples, of all things! Yes, I'm sure you all know that Anna was the instigator of that one. We had imbibed a few glasses of pink Veuve Clicquot by then, so maybe that will rest as our defence:) I wish all the Banditas and our buddies could have been there--especially as Anna was doing the cooking!

I was thinking how lucky I am in my friends, not only here in Australia but on the internet and in particular, in the lair. I wondered how I'd distill the essence of those friendships and explore them in my stories.

Some writers are brilliant at capturing the special, sometimes flawed, but ultimately strong and supportive relationship true female friends have. Jenny Crusie comes to mind, and so does Eloisa James with her Desperate Duchesses series. Reading about solid female friendships gives me such a warm feeling. Experiencing the real thing is priceless.

What's your favourite thing to do with your girlfriends? What great fictional friendships stay with you? Do you have any wonderful friendship moments, fictional or otherwise, to share?