Golden Heart Prep Contest

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North Texas RWA's Great Expectations Contest

Is your manuscript polished and off to the Golden Heart? Just have a polished first chapter? Well, have we got a GREAT contest for you !! Lots of feedback, category-specific score sheets, a super-fast turn-around,electronic or paper entries accepted.

Deadline = December 29th
enter = 25 pages & a query letter
fee = $25.00
judges = Contemporary Series: Megan Long with Harlequin Books, Erotic Romance: Raelene Gorlinksky with Ellora's Cave, Historical: Tessa Woodward with Avon Books, Inspirational: Melissa Endlich with Harlequin Books, Mainstream w/ Romantic Elements: Liza Schartz with NAL, Romantic Suspense: Allison Bandau with Berkley/Jove, Single Title: An editor TBD with Grand Central Publishing(formerly WarnerBooks,) Special (FFPTT): Chris Keeslar with Dorchester Publishing, Young Adult: Karen Chaplin with Puffin/Speak Books.

For detailed information, check out:http://www.ntrwa.org/

Kindle Concerns

There's been a bit of on-going discussion about Amazon.com's new e-book reader "Kindle." I discovered my book Tall, Dark & Dead is available in Kindle format. When I expressed some concern about this on BroadUniverse, I got a lot of confused looks, electronically speaking. When I asked if I was going to "get any money" for this, people patiently explained to me the Kindle was new technology and that OBVIOUSLY I wouldn't know if I was going to make a profit on it until I got my royalty statement.

Here's my reply: That's not how things normally work. When SF BookClub, for instance, wants to change the format of my book, i.e. publish its own version, they pay Penguin USA a fee UP FRONT -- an advance -- for the rights to do this. A percent of this advance is credited to my royalties. Any time anyone changes the format of my book (audio, book club, e-book), Penguin should get an advance BEFORE they make that new format available.

Of course, I may see royalties from the sale of my books on Amazon.com the same way I see royalties from any bookseller. But, think about it. If Uncle Hugo's decided to make an audio book of Tall, Dark & Dead available to their customers, Penguin USA would sue their a**es. Uncle Hugo's, though they have copies of the book laying around that they paid for, doesn't have the right to do anything but sell them in the format they bought them in. Can you imagine if SF Bookclub (or, let's say, I) said to themselves, "Hey, I know let's make an e-book of this book I bought at the store today. I'll just scan the pages here and I'm golden. I'll put it up on the web. Anyone can buy it."

That is exactly what Amazon.com did.

Penguin owns the right to all formats that my book could potentially appear in (book club, audio, e-book, etc.), in order to stop people from just randomly making their own versions available. Amazon.com, as far as I understand it, certainly never paid Penguin an advance, because I'd have heard about it from my agent. This is the money I'm talking about.

It's not greed that makes me concerned, although I would expect to see some profit from any format change. If Bob Smith wants to sit down with Audacity and make a audio version of my book, I think he'd get sued for copyright infringement, which this is. Bob Smith doesn't have the right to SELL my book in any format other than the one Penguin Putnam produced (or any other publisher who bought those rights from Penguin.) And, Penguin doesn't have to wait for Bob Smith to make a profit. They should be paid in advance of publication of the new format. Period.

Kudos to Minnesota!

(December 6, 2007) — Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra today received a Grammy Award nomination for their acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s Ninth (Choral) Symphony, the third release in a five-disc cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies recorded on the BIS label. The nomination, the Orchestra’s first during Vänskä’s four-year tenure as music director, comes in the Best Orchestral Performance category. A full list of nominees is available at the Grammy Awards website, grammy.com.

So....

My alternate personality has just joined Facebook, and I'm planning to open up an account for myself. However, my alternate personality just got bitten by a werewolf, and I'm wondering if any of you out there know if you can chose to join the game or does it have to be random? Thing is, I think it would be cool, of course, to become a vampire. Anyone willing to help me out?

OnLine Class: Productivity

Online class: January 2-31, 2008
"Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors: Allow Writing Productivity & Creativity To Soar"
by Margie Lawson
Registration $30 at www.WriterUniv.com/

Check out the new, expanded version of DSDB. It's Margie Lawson's popular and successful course with FIVE NEW TOPICS: The Power of Sleep, Stretch Breaks, Blasting Writer's Block, Optimizing Productivity, and . . . Simple Self-Hypnosis.

What's preventing your success? Thoughts? Behavior? Low energy? Procrastination? Perfectionism? Overdoing? Counter-productivity? Negative self-talk? Disorganization? Time mismanagement? Unrealistic expectations? Defeat your self-defeating behaviors with this one-month mental boot-camp. You'll explore the new topics, plus the list below, and more!

* Address the three fears that paralyze writers:
* Analyze yourself: Strengths, Weaknesses,Opportunities, Threats
* Challenge your internal dialogue
* Redirect resistance and manage your moods
* Duct-tape your Inner Critic
* Protect your priorities
* Practice Conscious Competence
* Apply Margie's DUH Plan

Margie Lawson’s resume includes counseling psychologist, college professor, hypnotherapist, and keynote speaker. Margie analyzes writing craft as well as the psyche of the writer. She presents 1) Empowering Characters’ Emotions, 2) Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices & More, and 3) Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors in full-day master classes internationally. For more information, visit www.MargieLawson.com.

***OKAY TO FORWARD***

Submission call for Traps and Terrible Beauty

From Broad Universe:

Scott T. Goudsward and Lisa Manetti are editing two upcoming anthologies for Dark Hart Press. His is called "Traps" and hers is called "Terrible Beauty."

Each anthology pays $.01 per word up to 7,000 words. Story length is 1,000 to 7,000 words. Submissions close on 12/31/07 for both anthologies.

More information and guidelines can be found on the website for Dark Hart Press at http://www.darkhart.com A little more information... Dark Hart is owned by three women. They're a new press, but they are getting a ton of great exposure in horror circles, at the moment, and they hit a lot of east-coast cons to try and keep that rolling. They take all sorts of dark fiction (dark fantasy, science fiction, horror,cross-genre romance but not erotica). They are actively seeking novels, as well as anthology shorts. Strangely, they seem to get a lot of novels from male authors but anthologies have some women submitting. One of the owners, Pam Marin-Kingsley, and one of her authors, John Dimes, can be seen here with Judy Comeau (Tombkeeper) for Count Gore's show... http://www.countgore.com/Vault.htm. Reviews of three of their first four stand-alone books can be found at http://www.countgore.com/Tomb.htm

On-Line Query Letter Workshop

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Announcing the Heart of Carolina Romance Writer's January Online Workshop: Query Letters That Sell and Submission Packages That Shout, "Buy Me!"

Instructor: Julie Rowe
When: January 1-31, 2008
Cost: $15 for HCRW and CRW Members, $20 for All Others

SPEAKER BIO: A double Golden Heart finalist in 2006, Julie Rowe has had multiple requests for full or partial manuscripts from editors and agents from her query letters and has also sold many magazine articles from a query letter. Her work has been published in a variety of publications including the Fort McMurray Today newspaper, Today's Parent magazine, Reader's Digest (Canada), Writer's Digest, Canadian Living, the Romance Writer's Report and various RWA chapter newsletters.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: This workshop will focus on writing fiction query letters from both a romance writer and magazine freelancer's perspective. Participants will be coached on how to turn their fiction query letter into an effective sales pitch, their cover letter into a fabulous calling card and their submission package into one that stands out from the crowd. Topics covered by this class will include:

What is a query letter?
Elements of a good query.
Start with your title.
Your writing credentials.
The pitch.
Endings & pulling it all together.
Query letter checklist & presentation tips.
I got a request for a partial/full - now what?
Cover letters.
The submission package.
Interpreting rejection and revision letters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Cost for the workshop is $15 for HCRW and Carolina Romance Writers members, $20 for all others. The workshop will run from January 1-31. Registration deadline is December 27th. Once registered, you will be subscribed to the workshop loop prior to and for the duration of the class. To register, please visit the HCRW website at: www.heartofcarolina.org and click on the Online Workshops page. You may pay by check made out to HCRW or by credit card (via Paypal on the site). PLEASE NOTE: You do not need a PayPal account to use PayPal and you may pay by credit card through PayPal. However, if you want to join this class, but prefer to pay by check or money order, please print the registration form and sendy our check or money order made payable to HCRW to: HCRW Online, PO Box 80412, Raleigh, NC 27623.

You may contact the coordinator at : HCRWonline@heartofcarolina.org with questions. If you pay for a workshop and do not receive an invitation to join the workshop loop by the first of the month, please contact Elizabeth at HCRWonline@heartofcarolina.org. Cancellation and refund policy: No registration fees will be refunded. All payments for a workshop must be received by the registration cut off date. Late payments can be applied to a future workshop of the applicant's choosing. If a workshop does not have 10 students enrolled by the first of the month, the workshop will be canceled and registration fees will be applied to a future workshop of the applicant's choosing. Hope to see you in class!

Laura Maldonado
Heart of Carolina Romance Writers ~ RWA Chapter 114

Asto Alert: Uranus Direct

This breaking astrological news from Astrology.com:

Uranus turns direct on November 24, triggering a powerful time known for change and surprising events. With Uranus, planet of liberation and freedom from earthly bonds, straightening out its course just hours before the full Moon, your need for independence and freedom will be heightened. Remember to honor your emotions, but keep the feelings of others in mind as well. While change is in the air, remain flexible as you ride out this roller coaster of a transit. Now is the time to break free of routines and patterns that no longer fit, trusting that the new pieces of your life will settle later.

SF&F Prose Poetry/Flash Fiction Contest

This one from BroadUniverse:

Odyssey Con, a science fiction convention in Madison, WI, is sponsoring a contest for 500 words or less, paragraph form, to be judged by Bruce Boston. Preliminary details can be viewed at http://fibitz.com/oddcontest.html. $500 to winner; $10 entry fee. PayPal should be available on the OddCon site by December 1, but you can also mail a check or money order.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Over the weekend, I turned forty.

I spent birthday-actual driving back from a visit with the in-laws in Indiana. As I told Shawn when we arrived home, "You know how you sometimes have birthdays and you don't feel a day older? I definitely feel forty after driving nine and a half hours."

Today is birthday-observed. It's been spotty so far, though in a fit of retail therapy I bought a terrarium. It is now the home for a slug which Mason and I discovered crawling on the sidewalk this morning. We were on Summit Avenue, strolling around looking at the beautiful houses there (and surreptitiously hoping that "Mr. Cat" -- a cat we've seen several times before -- would come out and follow us down the street in his usual way.) Shawn also took Mason and I out for lunch, and now in a few minutes I'm going to be headed off to the gym to work out. Much fun!

Romance Contest

***Permission to forward***

Chicago North RWA's 10th Annual Fire and Ice
Contest Fee: $25/RWA Members - $30/non-RWA Members
Postmark deadline: February 1, 2008
Eligibility: Not published in book-length fiction in last 5 years.
Enter: prologue/first chapter (25 pages max.)

Categories/Final Judges: Historical: Hilary Sares, Kensington, Mainstream Fiction with Strong Romantic Elements: Allison Brandau, Berkeley, Paranormal: Nephele Tempest, Knight Agency, Series Contemporary: Gail Chasan, Silhouette Special Edition, Single Title Contemporary: Scott Eagan, Greyhaus Literary Agency Young Adult: Michelle Andelman, Andrea Brown Agency

Top prize: $30.

Winners announced at Chicago North's Spring Fling Conference chicagospringfling.com. All entries come from outside Chicago North RWA. FMI, entry form, and rules contest@chicagonorthrwa.org, www.chicagonorthrwa.org

Astro Alert: Mars Retrograde Today!!!!

This important announcement from Astrology.com:

Does it seem more difficult than usual to find forward momentum? Do you feel like you are trying to move a mountain? Whether it is a cause that is close to your heart, a relationship or a project that you would like to advance, it's time to put on the brakes, slow down and make a U-turn, as Mars turns retrograde starting November 15.

Mars turns retrograde once every two years. And when it does, as with any retrograde period, it's time to review events already set in motion. Since Mars is going retrograde in the emotionally intense water sign Cancer, make sure you pay attention to your feelings, including instincts and hunches. Actions are now governed by your heart and gut, rather than by logic. If something doesn’t feel right to you, stop, review and make necessary corrections. Remember to pace yourself, since you will be in the review process until January 30 of next year! That’s plenty of time to prepare for putting plans into action once Mars turns direct.

Workshop: Enlivening a Scene (Romance)

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Outreach International presents:

TITLE: Breathing Life Into A Scene
DATE: December 10 - December 14, 2007
INSTRUCTOR: Beth Cornelison
COST: $10 Outreach Members/Others $20
Deadline to receive application and payment: December 7, 2007

For more information on this class or to register go to: http://www.oirw.net/campus/currentcourselist.htm

Course Description:"Breathing Life Into A Scene" offers a step by step approach to layering vivid details about setting, emotion and character into each scene you write. Silhouette Romantic Suspense author Beth Cornelison will show you how to select the right details and character-specific information to place your reader in the scene and make a powerful impression, without bogging down your pace. Elements discussed include environment, setting, costume, five senses, physical presence, mood and emotion. The workshop helps writers select the best details to support their story, weave it in through character perceptions, and avoid slowing the pace with unneeded information or overlong description. Well-chosen description can make your writing come alive and lift your manuscript out of the slush pile!

Bio: Three-time Golden Heart finalist, Beth Cornelison received her degree in Public Relations from the University of Georgia. She debuted with Silhouette Intimate Moments in April 2005 and her June 2006 release, IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY, won the Golden Heart in 2001 and received a Top Pick from Romantic Times. In September 2006, she made her hard cover debut with Five Star Expressions with CHASING A DREAM. Her latest book from Silhouette Romantic Suspense, DANGER AT HER DOOR, was released in August 2007. Beth has served as the conference coordinator and contest coordinator for her local RWA chapter and has presented workshops to numerous conferences across the country. Mrs. Cornelison lives in Louisiana with her husband and son.

Re-Direct: Analysis of Successful Openings

Thanks to one of my students (Gary) who found this post over at Slushmaster's LJ: It Came From the Slush... And Survived! Interesting stuff.

New License Plate (Still no WV)

Many months ago, Mason and I were obsessively scouring Saint Paul for license plates from around the country (and the world.) We've seen all but one of the fifty states (plus Washington, D.C.) and many of the Canadian provinces. We still haven't seen West Virginia, but a couple of our friends have spotted the elusive plate, so we know that Mason has conjured one into the area.

Today, however, we saw a Consul plate parked outside of the governor's mansion on Summit. It had the call letters: "PK," which wikipedia informs us stands for Norway.

Cool, huh?

Cover Art!

OOh!! I am so excited!!!!

One of the best parts is that she is wearing one of the actual outfits Garnet favors. Cool Yule!

Here's the back cover copy: I’m on the top of the world. The Vatican witch hunters think I’m dead, the FBI has closed my file, I might get to buy the occult bookstore I manage, I’m co-founding a brand-new coven—and the vampire I love has just proposed. How lucky can a girl get? Wait, wai—

Oh, crap. I’ve jinxed myself. My fiancé, Sebastian, is missing and I’m worried sick. Has he been kidnapped? Or could he have run off with that leggy blonde from the coven? Now I’ll have to seek the help of my future stepson—the same brat who once turned me over to the Catholics, all for a pimped-out Jag. Plus, the Goddess Lilith, who camps out in my body, has been making embarrassing appearances. Now all I need is some crazy killer on my tail. Hold on, hold—

Double crap.

Also, if you're itching to read the first chapter you can find it at my website: Romancing the Dead Excerpt

Love Scene Contest (Romance)

***permission to forward***

WHERE DOES THE HEART OF A BOOK LIE? IN THE FIRST CHAPTER? OR BETWEEN THE SHEETS?

Announcing the Greater Detroit RWA annual Between the Sheets contest. Enter your best love scene, up to 10 pages - anything from sweet to erotic.

Final judges:
Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester
Diana Ventimiglia, Harlequin/Silhouette
Elaine English, Elaine P. English Literary Agency

1st Place: $100
2nd Place: $50
3rd Place: $25

Open to all unpublished RWA members, $20 entry fee, multiple submissions allowed. Deadline: February 14, 2008. Entry includes one page unjudged setup. For more information, entry form, and guidelines, go to www.gdrwa.org or email eheiter@hotmail.com

On-line Agent Class (Romance/Mystery)

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Southern Magic is pleased to host an on-line workshop, Everything You Wanted to Know About An Agent But Was Afraid to Ask, with literary agent Caren Johnson.

Description: This is a soup to nuts guide on what an agent does, how to work effectively with yours, and danger signs in any agent/author relationship that you should watch out for. Come join us to ask questions,learn about the benefits and drawbacks of having an agent and when you really need to have one.

When: December 3 through 14, 2007

Cost: $10 for Southern Magic Members, $15 for All Others

Class Advisor: Caren Johnson began her literary career at the Peter Rubie Agency. She stayed for three years, working her way up from intern to agent. She went on to work with Nadia Cornier at Firebrand Literary for a year before starting her own agency in early 2007. She works closely with each of her authors, not only acting as an agent, but offering career guidance and publicity consultation. Her goal is to make sure each of her authors gets published and has a long-lasting, lucrative career.

Caren is full up at the moment with wonderful romance and mystery authors(though any who have written brilliant novels in these genres are more than welcome to submit to her as she is always on the lookout for great contemporary romance, exciting romantic suspense and fun mysteries). She is currently looking for women's fiction in the vein of Monica McInerney, Jodi Picoult, Alice Hoffman, Sue Monk Kidd, and Laura Moriarty, fiction in thevein of Lisa Lutz, Christopher Moore, Michel Faber, Kate Atkinson, Louisa Luna, Audrey Niffenegger, and Jeffrey Eugenides, and YA in the vein of Scott Westerfeld, Stephanie Meyer, Markus Zusack, Gabrielle Zevin, Libba Bray, and Kevin Brooks. In nonfiction she is currently looking for more narrative nonfiction in a variety of subjects, pop culture, women's interest (though no self-help), humor and quirky gift books.

Please check out her publisher's marketplace page at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/carenjohnson

Registration deadline is December 2 via PayPal/credit card.

The class is conducted through a YAHOO group format and you will receive an invitation to join at the time you pay. For more information, please check out our website at www.southernmagic.org and click on the WORKSHOP icon.

ROMANCING THE DEAD Pre-Order

I just noticed that you can now pre-order Romancing the Dead on Amazon.com!!!! That means that I'm going to have to take some time this weekend to put up an excerpt on my website.

Oh, and I notice that Amazon.com is having one of those bargain price things for Tall, Dark & Dead again.

Astro Alert: Mercury Direct

Breaking astrological news from Astrology.com:

Mercury turned retrograde on October 11 in the determined water sign Scorpio, encouraging you to revisit and explore your ideas and conversations. By October 23, Mercury re-entered Libra and fairness became the top priority. Now, the messenger planet turns direct in Libra on November 1, signaling that it is time to put everything you learned during the past three weeks into a cohesive plan of action. If you have done your homework, you will find yourself moving forward with confidence –- which is just what using a Mercury retrograde period is all about!

Certainly, confidence should be influencing your love agenda now. If you have been hesitant to make that first move, now is the time to abandon inhibition and let that crush know that you want to take things to the next level.