We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer McMurrain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

When Sabrina Fish came to me with the idea of starting a romance writing conference from scratch, I knew it was a big risk. Not only were we starting from zero with the financials, the Oklahoma Romance Writing Guild was still a fairly new organization … one that didn’t have membership dues. We were going to have to do a lot of fundraising and convince speakers and sponsors to take a chance on us and if they didn’t Sabrina and I were footing the bill.

The thing is, Oklahoma is flush with romance authors but not a lot of options for conferences and continuing education. Sabrina and I have always had the desire to give back to the romance writing community and I knew she was on to something, so I said yes. We landed two really big names to headline our first conference, RomanceLahoma, Scarlet St. Clair and Jodi Thomas. Even though the event isn’t until August, we have registrations coming in and a number of sponsors lined up.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sabrina Fish and I are both independent authors. Sabrina writes fantasy and paranormal romance novels, where I write small town romance and historical fiction. Even though our writing styles are uniquely our own, we often joke that we share the same brain. We met at the Oklahoma Writers Federations, Inc. conference many years back and just clicked.

Sabrina and I know how important continuing education and networking are in the writing world. Writing a book is a solitary and sometimes lonely act, but it doesn’t have to be. With organizations like the Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild (OKRWG) and conference like RomanceLahoma, writers have the opportunity to feed off the energy of other like minds. It’s a sense of positive peer pressure to get your butt in the chair and your hands on the keyboard that we’re offering as well as the skills to do it. We are building a community of romance writers that goes well beyond the borders of Oklahoma. It is our hope that people walk away from RomanceLahoma, and even our meetings, with not only romance writing knowledge, but friends who know what it’s like being stuck between the pages.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Building a reputation was the most important step for Sabrina and I with OKRWG and RomanceLahoma because we were starting from scratch. Both of us were known for “getting things done” in our smaller circles and I would be lying if I said the news of us working together didn’t help people trust us.

Not only did we have follow-through, we both as individuals worked hard networking over the last dozen years. Not only did we make writing friends, but we supported those friends as they built their writing careers, started families, went through hard times, etc. We made sure our writing friends knew they were more than just colleagues.

When we sent RomanceLahoma into motion we knew we wanted those friends by our sides and some of them had made big names for themselves. Thankfully, they were happy to help and with each new name we added to a roster, people began to trust us more. We didn’t just network, we built relationships, and not because we had this grand plan in mind, but because people matter. Our word mattered. We built a community that is full of trust and people noticed.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I mentioned this above, but OKRWG and RomanceLahoma’s biggest mission is to create a community of romance writers here in the central U.S. that is available no matter your publication status or how big your wallet is. Yes, the conference costs money. There are expenses and as lovely as it would be for everyone to donate their time, venues, food, and talents, that’s just not realistic. BUT all our meetings and membership are free and they are hybrid, so you can attend from anywhere. We’re looking to build a community and have over a hundred members from all over the US and even a few international writers who are ready for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oklahomaromancewritersguild.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romancelahoma/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/romancelahoma
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RomanceLahoma