Golden Heart

Friday was a pretty awesome day! I got a phone call just after 8 AM PST from Pricsilla Oliveras who told me I was not only a RITA finalist, but a double finalist! VIKING WARRIOR RISING is up for Best First Book and Best Paranormal. I’ve been celebrating pretty much all day. The best part of this is that so many of my author friends are on the lists, including some of my darling Dreamweavers, agent sisters, and a local chapter mate. How awesome is that!?   Congratulations, 2016 RITA Best First Book finalists! https://t.co/MlhCSFSQAO #RITAGH pic.twitter.com/ZbWdL8OGZU — RWA (@romancewriters) …

The Romance Writers of America‘s annual national conference just ended. It has been four days of non-stop fun. I can’t decide what I enjoyed more: the workshops, the fangirl moments, the visits with new and old friends, the RITA Golden Heart ceremony, or the amazing shoes people wore. 🙂 It’s hard to put into words how much you learn and how much fun you have at the event. You really have to go to get the whole experience. Imagine a whole conference room filled with women–and a few men–who love what they do, are incredibly passionate about their work–and books …

Tomorrow is the day the RITA and Golden Heart Finalists are announced. These two prestigious Romance Writers of America awards are a huge deal in the romance writing and reading community. The prizes not only gives you exposure to readers and agents and editors, but they are marks of validation by your peers. A sign that you and your writing are stellar examples of everything that romance novels can be. One year ago, I received a phone call that told me I was a Golden Heart finalist in the Paranormal category. It was the most surreal moment and I blubbered and blabbered to poor …

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. …

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 …