Firsts

My town has a fantastic independent bookstore. I love browsing for new and favorite authors at Auntie’s Bookstore and I’ve been to so many author appearances at the store. I’ve seen my favorite big-name authors, discovered new authors at all levels of their careers, and seen local writer friends launch their debuts. And now it’s my turn! I can’t tell you what an honor it is to have Auntie’s host my debut party. This is truly a dream come true, both publishing the book and reading at the store. By an amazing unplanned coincident, my mom is going to be here during …

This year was my third time to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I knew there’d be great workshops, fun times at the special interest chapters’ evening parties, interesting conversations in the bar, and amazing moments of meeting favorite big-name authors. But nothing could have prepared me for how special it would be to attend the conference as a Golden Heart Finalist who just sold her first book. I felt like Cinderella at the ball and walked about two inches above the ground the entire event. (Well, maybe not after the author dinner when I decided to wear heels. …

No matter what Jim Hanas says about writers being caught up in the lottery of “rejection porn,” I love reading about successful writers who made it after a gazillion rejections. I’m a sucker for lists that tells me how many times authors like J.K. Rowling, Louis L’Amour, Dan Brown, and C.S. Lewis were rejected. Why? Because knowing others found success after rejections is what kept me submitting my manuscript even though I gained a total of forty-seven forty-nine rejections. (Update: after I sold, I received 2 more rejections from retracted queries.) Fifteen of those were on full requests. And, to make things worse, …

The Romance Writers of America sponsors two incredibly prestigious writing awards: the RITA® for published writers and the Golden Heart® for unpublished writers. This year I was one of the lucky finalists who got “the call,” letting me know that my VALHALLA’S KING manuscript was a finalist in the paranormal category of the Golden Heart. Around 1,200 romance manuscripts are entered in the Golden Heart each year. The project has to be completed and longer than 20 000 words. The preliminary judging is done by RWA members and those entries who earn a 90% or more advance to the final …

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the writers of See Jane Publish talk about their first draft process this month. Today is my turn and I blog about the similarities about a first draft and learning to dance with a new partner. What type of dance does your first draft process resemble? Come on over and join the discussion. I love National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), because I finished my very first manuscript by signing up for NaNo many years ago. Since then, I’ve finished quite a few first drafts. Writing a new story is like learning to …