With the title Ain’t Love Grand, the Romance Writers’ of Australia 2016 conference will run over three days in Glenelg and is expected to attract around 350 participants.

The conference celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and it will be the first time it has been held in Adelaide.

Hauge, one of the key guest presenters, has worked with Hollywood stars such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise and Reese Witherspoon. He has also consulted for Disney, lectured to more than 70,000 writing students and written a bestseller on how to write screenplays.

He says the principles he covers are as applicable to novels and short stories as they are to screenplays.

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In a full-day workshop at the RWA conference at the Stamford Grand Hotel in Glenelg, Hauge will teach participants what makes a great love story.

“Hollywood knows how to do two things really well,” he says.

“One is to create an emotional experience for the audience, and the other is to make money doing it.”

Hauge says he has previously consulted on Australian films, usually through Screen Australia.

“They asked me to consult once on the script for Last Cab To Darwin. I know that was very successful in Australia and won some acclaim, and it’s also being released this summer in the US, which is a real accomplishment for a foreign film.”

In addition to Hauge’s “The Story Mastery” workshop, the conference will feature a full weekend of events, including discussion panels, author talks, breakaway workshops, and opportunities for attendees to pitch their work to agents and publishers.

Other guests include international authors Heather Graham and Jim and Nikoo McGoldrick, and Australian writers Fiona McIntosh, Trish Morey, Victoria Purman, Anne Gracie and Rachael Johns.

The Romance Writers’ of Australia 2016 conference will be held in Adelaide from August 19-21 at the Stamford Grand Hotel in Glenelg, with Micheal Hauge’s story masterclass on August 19. The closing date for registration is July 21. You’ll find more information on the conference here, and about Hauge here.