Congratulations to both Leah and to Sourcebooks!

In other news, I am très sad to announce that Penny’s editor is leaving Red Sage. Theresa Stevens has operated the Editorrent website with Alicia Rasley (of the great workshops and how-to pamphlets and books) for a while now. Theresa is leaving Red Sage to begin a new venture with Alicia. Together, they will write and publish writing guides for authors. Theresa was an awesome editor, and I will miss her. But I’m looking forward to more great writing guides from this incredible team. They’ll also begin offering workshops in September. You can read all about the new venture on their blog.

Congratulations, Theresa and Alicia!

The Kensington Brava line is holding a new writing contest in conjunction with RT BookReviews. Not sure when the contest opens. Details are in the June issue of RT. Alas, I don’t have an RT subscription. For now, you can find a bit of information on the Brava authors blog. Editor Alicia Condon, formerly of Dorchester Publishing (she replaced Kate Duffy at Kensington – R.I.P., Kate), introduces the contest. The comment thread poses some interesting questions about contest eligibility that, as of this typing, haven’t been answered. Keep checking the thread to see if they are. Or…rush out and buy the June RT as soon as you can.

Brava writing contests have launched several careers, including HelenKay Dimon’s. I entered Brava contests when I was eligible, but never fared well in them. As in I never made it to the finals. I could never get past the first round of judges. That didn’t stop Kate Duffy from calling me to discuss ideas, so I must have been doing something right for Brava. Just not right for the preliminary contest rounds.

You know…I still have a requested partial on Kate’s desk. Or whatever became of Kate’s desk. I wonder what will become of it? It was an electronic submission, so might have gone the way of the do-do bird with Kate’s passing. I really should look into that. I’ll put it on my For After I Finish Revising SPIAPT List.

My favorite personalized rejection over the last year? “Your story made it to our ‘perhaps’ pile, but sadly we can’t publish them all.” It made me laugh. The editor also apologized for the length of time it took to receive a reply, which is always nice. (No, it wasn’t Angela James!)

Do you have a favorite personalized rejection line? Paraphrase it for me, baby.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I am currently accepting pitches here on the blog for any novel that falls within one of the genres I am presently seeking (list below), as long as there is some sort of romantic relationship in the book. It does not have to be the focus of the book; this does not have to be a romance novel. But most novels have a little flirting or romance in them, even if it’s not the primary subject, so this is going to include plenty of projects.

Accepted genres: Literary fiction, contemporary/mainstream fiction, women’s fiction, historical fiction, romance (including contemporary, historical, paranormal, and romantic suspense), young adult fiction (no children’s or middle grade please), steampunk, and urban fantasy.

Your book needs to be completed and ready to be sent out. This means revised and edited and in a state that makes you proud.

Note, when Nephele says “here on this blog,” she means over THERE on HER blog—not on my blog! I’m just being cordial and passing along the information.

More information can be found on Nephele’s blog, including exactly what is required and how to pitch your project.

They’re taking submissions. Check out the website to learn more.

Oh, and if you’ve ever been rejected by HQ? The site says feel free to sub to Carina Press.

To quote:

Can I submit to Carina Press if Harlequin has rejected me?

Yes, you may submit a manuscript that has been rejected by any publisher, including Harlequin. There may be very good reasons why your manuscript will not fit into traditional print publisher’s program, but we have a great deal more flexibility and opportunities at Carina Press.

You know, it occurs to me, any writers who suddenly found themselves orphaned when Quartet Press went down might do well to examine this opportunity lickety-split. If Angela James liked your sub to Quartet, it might be perfect for Carina Press, too.

Over and out.

The writer pretty much sidelined Kate, introduced us, and I asked about my manuscript. Kate replied quite frankly that if I hadn’t heard by now then the manuscript had likely been rejected. Later, she told me that the look on my face made her feel so guilty (this from the woman many considered intimidating). Because I asked, “But wouldn’t I have received a rejection letter?”

“Tell you what,” she said. (And, yes, I’m paraphrasing, I didn’t tape record our conversation). “I have somewhere to go after conference, but give me about three weeks and then contact me. I’ll let you know what I find out about your manuscript.”

Three weeks later, I was at home wondering when would be a good time to phone or email her when she phoned me. She couldn’t find the manu anywhere, it must have gotten lost, and could I email her another copy? I did, and she read and rejected it within 24 hours. By another phone call. But she didn’t just reject it, she told me why she was rejecting it. And she asked to see more ideas. In fact, she asked me to write up three ideas for her, and she’d choose which she wanted me to develop into a novella for submission to Brava. I did that. Meanwhile, I took her comments on the rejected novella, revised it, and sold it to Red Sage Secrets. Without Kate’s comments during that phone call, would I have sold that novella? I’ll never know.

Back to the three ideas. Kate called me back another month later saying she loved two of the three ideas, and she wanted me to write the full novella of one and then begin the second while she was considering the first. I wrote the full novella and submitted it. Time went by. A lot of time went by. A lot and a lot and a lot of time went by.

Eventually, we reconnected, but she rejected the full novella. Again, full of remorse about doing so. Very apologetic (I’d never experienced an editor apologizing to me for a rejection, and phoning me to make that rejection). So much time had passed, as can happen in publishing, between her approving the idea and looking at the full, that the idea no longer excited her enough to make a sale. But she asked to see another novella, a partial this time.

I did write that third partial novella for Kate. Time went by. A lot of time went by. A lot and a lot and a lot and a lot of time went by. Eventually, we reconnected, and she still loved the idea but wanted me to turn facets of the story upside down. So I did. Resubmitted. Time went by. A lot of time went by. Then I learned that she was ill, and I decided not to bug her.

Meanwhile, I revised the second full novella to suit Secrets, submitted it and sold it. It’s releasing in Secrets Volume 28 this December.

Kate made me laugh. She was very self-deprecating, and she had a dry wit that I identify with. That she took the time to phone me when she could have just sent me form snail-mail rejections said a lot about her character. And still does.

Goodbye, Kate. I’ll miss you. Even though I didn’t get a chance to truly work with you, I appreciate all the help you gave me. Now and always.