A few weeks ago I told you the Mills and Boon first chapter competition topped out at 1090 entries. Well, today they announced the winner, Natalie Charles, for her story The Seven Day Target. Check out her story here
For the rest of us who didn't final: the Mills and Boon editors selected 20 random first chapters and wrote up very short and helpful critiques on each. They are posted in four batches of five here (On the website romanceisnotdead.com, select the dropdown "News.")
This is a wonderful opportunity to read some interesting entries and understand what these editors are looking for.
Nothing like learning by example! Check it out!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Slaying the Dragon--Every Day
Every day, the same fear seizes me. I sit at my keyboard, hands poised, and I freeze. And that horrible, whining voice starts in.
"What if you're not clever enough?" (or funny enough, smart enough, entertaining enough, just fill in the blank) it says, mocking me.
"Do you actually think you can put words into coherent sentences? You actually think you are clever enough to tell a story?"
Every single day, I must find the will to stop this dreadful voice, the voice of my deeptest fears, and continue despite it, drown it out, override it.
It never gets easier.
Desperation, despair, hope. They all mix together as I bleed words onto each screen page. Pieces of my soul I bear for all to see.
Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But it is October, and it is Golden Heart time once again. My goal is to have my manuscript done and in querying shape by the sort-of-end of November. The Golden Heart offers the perfect excuse to do that--the first 50 pages in tiptop shape, a synopsis, and the whole manuscript on disc.
This is a marathon of willpower. Every day I grit my teeth and sit down. Every day I stay planted. It seems it will never end. There are too many pages, I will never get to the end. There is too much to do, too much to fix, too many glitches to smoothe out. And when I finally type THE END, I worry it will suck so badly I will have to write the entire thing over. Sisyphus and his rock, the eternal climb.
Being a writer means for me that I am always conquering myself. It's a constant mind workout, a battle between my strong self and my weak self. A constant buckling down, a discipline to keep going regardless of which voice, the Good One or the Bad One, is the dominant one in my head for the day.
Eventually, the story takes over, most of the time, and the voices quiet (the Haldol helps quite a lot, too--just kidding).
Did I also mention the food voices? The ones that cry, get coffee! Get cookies! Chocolate emergency NOW!!! Have to beat those down frequently, too.
Yet we endure this, day after day, because of something--something great that we occasionally partake in. A process of creation. A yearning to tell our tales, to show that flawed people can prevail regardless of what life throws at them. That love brings out the best in all of us. That forgiveness and redemption are priceless.
The messages we are meant to tell, I honestly believe, are more important than all our fears and weaknesses. And that's the sword I keep by my computer every day.
"What if you're not clever enough?" (or funny enough, smart enough, entertaining enough, just fill in the blank) it says, mocking me.
"Do you actually think you can put words into coherent sentences? You actually think you are clever enough to tell a story?"
Every single day, I must find the will to stop this dreadful voice, the voice of my deeptest fears, and continue despite it, drown it out, override it.
It never gets easier.
Desperation, despair, hope. They all mix together as I bleed words onto each screen page. Pieces of my soul I bear for all to see.
Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But it is October, and it is Golden Heart time once again. My goal is to have my manuscript done and in querying shape by the sort-of-end of November. The Golden Heart offers the perfect excuse to do that--the first 50 pages in tiptop shape, a synopsis, and the whole manuscript on disc.
This is a marathon of willpower. Every day I grit my teeth and sit down. Every day I stay planted. It seems it will never end. There are too many pages, I will never get to the end. There is too much to do, too much to fix, too many glitches to smoothe out. And when I finally type THE END, I worry it will suck so badly I will have to write the entire thing over. Sisyphus and his rock, the eternal climb.
Being a writer means for me that I am always conquering myself. It's a constant mind workout, a battle between my strong self and my weak self. A constant buckling down, a discipline to keep going regardless of which voice, the Good One or the Bad One, is the dominant one in my head for the day.
Eventually, the story takes over, most of the time, and the voices quiet (the Haldol helps quite a lot, too--just kidding).
Did I also mention the food voices? The ones that cry, get coffee! Get cookies! Chocolate emergency NOW!!! Have to beat those down frequently, too.
Yet we endure this, day after day, because of something--something great that we occasionally partake in. A process of creation. A yearning to tell our tales, to show that flawed people can prevail regardless of what life throws at them. That love brings out the best in all of us. That forgiveness and redemption are priceless.
The messages we are meant to tell, I honestly believe, are more important than all our fears and weaknesses. And that's the sword I keep by my computer every day.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Mills and Boon Competition Tops Out at Over 1,000 Entries
The Mills and Boon New Voices Competition just closed today with 1,090 entries. Wow. Read the amazing first chapters of as many as you like in six different categories at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/Open-to-All
And of course you can check out my entry, A Bride for the Bachelor, where a workaholic New York editor and a carefree reality show star spar over a baby, at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/1086-A-Bride-for-the-Bachelor/Chapter-One
Enjoy all the fun!
And of course you can check out my entry, A Bride for the Bachelor, where a workaholic New York editor and a carefree reality show star spar over a baby, at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/1086-A-Bride-for-the-Bachelor/Chapter-One
Enjoy all the fun!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Rubies Discuss GH Tips
Well, my first page was not one of the 4 finalists on the Ruby Sisters blog last week but if you haven't already, go and read the wonderfully creative ones that did final. This little contest underscored the importance of the first line and the first page of your manuscript. From now till October 13th, the Rubies are posting the first pages of their GH-winning manuscripts and offering tips about making your first page GH-worthy. Best of all they are doing it by GH category. Find all this great stuff at http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Fun with the Rubies Today
Are you polishing up your manuscript for the RWA's Golden Heart contest? Pop on over to The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood today to check out the finalists in their First Line contest. The Rubies (who are the 2009 Golden Heart winners) took 100 first-line entries and voted to choose 11 favorites. Those 11 will submit the first 250 words of their manuscripts today on the blog (up till midnight tonight).
So does your manuscript begin with description? Maybe of the setting? Well, take a look at these lines and they will encourage you to look at your ms again and come up with a snappy, clever first-line hook to draw your reader in.
Oh, and BTW, I'm one of the finalists! :)
So does your manuscript begin with description? Maybe of the setting? Well, take a look at these lines and they will encourage you to look at your ms again and come up with a snappy, clever first-line hook to draw your reader in.
Oh, and BTW, I'm one of the finalists! :)
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Book You Wait For
I knew it was going to be one of those books. The kind that keep you from doing anything you're supposed to be doing, the kind that makes you stay up too late and feel terrible the next day. The kind where you cannot STAND not to turn the page, over and over again.
And nope, it was not my usual kind of love. I'm not much into futuristic dystopian societies with high discomfort factors. And this was not only riveting to read, it was also very UNCOMFORTABLE to read.
So what was the book? Well, it was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had it under my bed in my book stash for a year and a half. Knowing I would never put it down once I picked it up, I avoided it, until my fourteen-year-old son needed it for his freshman lit class.
Wow, what a book. Here are my thoughts on what I learned about writing a book that you simply cannot put down:
--You (i.e., the reader) immediately sympathize with the heroine because she is a normal person in an impossible situation, and she immediately makes an unselfish choice that may cost her her life. She makes this choice out of love. We also learn that she has done remarkable things to keep her family alive. She is one tough cookie.
Note to aspiring author self: Don't let you heroine hang about and wring her hands because she's not going to the ball, Cinderella! Make her do something! Make her remarkable! Don't let her be a victim, where things happen to her. Make her make things happen, despite her unhappy circumstances. This can be a problem amongst us historical writers--to have a strong heroine who starts off fighting against her societal constraints, etc., but still be period-appropriate. But it is essential. (The stars aligned for me at RWA and I won a critique by author Kris Kennedy who brought this to my attention. And I saw it played out in this book so well. To see Kris's tough-cookie heroine, just read her book The Irish Warrior and you'll see what I mean.)
--There is a very strong external conflict and it is a high-concept conflict. The heroine's life is at risk on EVERY page. You must turn the page to find out what happens next.
Note to self: You must have an idea that is a twist or turn or a novel spin on the tried and true.
--The book jumpstarts immediately and does not let you go until the very last page. Even when the main conflict ends, we worry about something else until the very last word.
Note: Pacing pacing pacing. High stakes. We are so emotionally involved with this teenage girl, we really CARE what happens to her.
--The love triangle also has high stakes involved with it. And it is a completely mystery how the heroine is going to solve this.
Note: Keep your reader wondering.
This is really a brilliant book in so many ways. The writing is concise, the way the book is constructed (as part 1 of a trilogy) is clever. It stirs conversation about deep topics and moral issues--hence it will be perfect for my son's lit class and many other classes, or for anyone who enjoys discussing important issues. And it will be a classic and timeless read for years to come.
And nope, it was not my usual kind of love. I'm not much into futuristic dystopian societies with high discomfort factors. And this was not only riveting to read, it was also very UNCOMFORTABLE to read.
So what was the book? Well, it was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had it under my bed in my book stash for a year and a half. Knowing I would never put it down once I picked it up, I avoided it, until my fourteen-year-old son needed it for his freshman lit class.
Wow, what a book. Here are my thoughts on what I learned about writing a book that you simply cannot put down:
--You (i.e., the reader) immediately sympathize with the heroine because she is a normal person in an impossible situation, and she immediately makes an unselfish choice that may cost her her life. She makes this choice out of love. We also learn that she has done remarkable things to keep her family alive. She is one tough cookie.
Note to aspiring author self: Don't let you heroine hang about and wring her hands because she's not going to the ball, Cinderella! Make her do something! Make her remarkable! Don't let her be a victim, where things happen to her. Make her make things happen, despite her unhappy circumstances. This can be a problem amongst us historical writers--to have a strong heroine who starts off fighting against her societal constraints, etc., but still be period-appropriate. But it is essential. (The stars aligned for me at RWA and I won a critique by author Kris Kennedy who brought this to my attention. And I saw it played out in this book so well. To see Kris's tough-cookie heroine, just read her book The Irish Warrior and you'll see what I mean.)
--There is a very strong external conflict and it is a high-concept conflict. The heroine's life is at risk on EVERY page. You must turn the page to find out what happens next.
Note to self: You must have an idea that is a twist or turn or a novel spin on the tried and true.
--The book jumpstarts immediately and does not let you go until the very last page. Even when the main conflict ends, we worry about something else until the very last word.
Note: Pacing pacing pacing. High stakes. We are so emotionally involved with this teenage girl, we really CARE what happens to her.
--The love triangle also has high stakes involved with it. And it is a completely mystery how the heroine is going to solve this.
Note: Keep your reader wondering.
This is really a brilliant book in so many ways. The writing is concise, the way the book is constructed (as part 1 of a trilogy) is clever. It stirs conversation about deep topics and moral issues--hence it will be perfect for my son's lit class and many other classes, or for anyone who enjoys discussing important issues. And it will be a classic and timeless read for years to come.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Quirky Things Writers Do
A few days ago, I finished the first draft of a novel I began writing in April under the tutelage of Lori Wilde in her Novel in Six Months Class at SavvyAuthors. It came in at around 77,000 words. Now mentally exhausted and physically drained, I took the entire weekend off to reboot my weary self. Four romantic comedies and one Jane Austenesque book later, I found myself (as I sipped cold sparkling water in my back yard while reclining with aforementioned book) becoming introspective about the crazy life writers lead.
--Writing the climax of this book-in-progess of mine was the most agonizing thing I have ever done. I could not sleep until I got my hero and heroine out of crisis and tucked safely into their happily-ever-after. It took about a week for me to navigate those tricky scenes and I was mentally and physically affected. An example: my daughter asked me a question while I was furiously typing away and I mumbled an answer...and then she asked, "Mom, why did you just answer me in a British accent?!" The characters in my head were coming out to torment the rest of my life!
--Author Steve Berry, when he spoke at RWA in NYC earlier this summer, said something really interesting. He said (and this is from scrawls in my little notebook--so it's a paraphrase)--Every writer he's ever known has a little voice in their head. I have known about my little voice for quite some time now. But this was a revelation! Someone was actually admitting this out loud! On observing someone or something, the voice says particular things like, she cast her weary eyes downward or her skirt pouffed out like a skein of cotton candy at the most unexpected times. What a relief to know that others hear The Voice, too!
--What caused all this reflection was a passage in the book I am currently reading, A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly. The book is about an English professor who's secret passion is reading Regency romance novels, especially ones by a particular favorite author. (You can read more about this charming book here--this review made me instantly download the book.) Anyway, the author character in the book makes this revelatory comment about writers (here's a bit of a setup before the comment for context):
"Warwick watched her as she looked around the hall, tiny white teeth biting her lower lip, and a part of him wanted to go help her--to take her bag and say, 'Come this way,' but the writer in him stayed perfectly still and watched.
That was one of the things about being a writer--one always stood slightly apart, listening and watching. It was hard to tell sometimes, if one were really alive, for life seemd to be happening to everybody else, and yet the writer's lot seemed to be one of permanent stillness. Had Jane Austen felt like that? he wondered."
So, do you get emotionally involved with imaginary people in your head? Have difficulties with the voice that rambles around in there at the most inappropriate times? Or find yourself observing and imbibing the details of life, sort of voyeuristically? You may not need Haldol after all...you just might be a Writer.
--Writing the climax of this book-in-progess of mine was the most agonizing thing I have ever done. I could not sleep until I got my hero and heroine out of crisis and tucked safely into their happily-ever-after. It took about a week for me to navigate those tricky scenes and I was mentally and physically affected. An example: my daughter asked me a question while I was furiously typing away and I mumbled an answer...and then she asked, "Mom, why did you just answer me in a British accent?!" The characters in my head were coming out to torment the rest of my life!
--Author Steve Berry, when he spoke at RWA in NYC earlier this summer, said something really interesting. He said (and this is from scrawls in my little notebook--so it's a paraphrase)--Every writer he's ever known has a little voice in their head. I have known about my little voice for quite some time now. But this was a revelation! Someone was actually admitting this out loud! On observing someone or something, the voice says particular things like, she cast her weary eyes downward or her skirt pouffed out like a skein of cotton candy at the most unexpected times. What a relief to know that others hear The Voice, too!
--What caused all this reflection was a passage in the book I am currently reading, A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly. The book is about an English professor who's secret passion is reading Regency romance novels, especially ones by a particular favorite author. (You can read more about this charming book here--this review made me instantly download the book.) Anyway, the author character in the book makes this revelatory comment about writers (here's a bit of a setup before the comment for context):
"Warwick watched her as she looked around the hall, tiny white teeth biting her lower lip, and a part of him wanted to go help her--to take her bag and say, 'Come this way,' but the writer in him stayed perfectly still and watched.
That was one of the things about being a writer--one always stood slightly apart, listening and watching. It was hard to tell sometimes, if one were really alive, for life seemd to be happening to everybody else, and yet the writer's lot seemed to be one of permanent stillness. Had Jane Austen felt like that? he wondered."
So, do you get emotionally involved with imaginary people in your head? Have difficulties with the voice that rambles around in there at the most inappropriate times? Or find yourself observing and imbibing the details of life, sort of voyeuristically? You may not need Haldol after all...you just might be a Writer.
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