Category: Contests

Psst…Wanna Know a Secret?

A little birdie told me that the finalists of the Red Sage writing contest will be announced tonight, at the monthly Red Sage chat at Writerspace. Nine p.m. EST. Be there or be…well, uninformed, I guess.

Also, this recently in from the Red Sage blog:

Meet a Red Sage Editor!  

Will you be attending RWA’s national conference in San Francisco?

Would you like to pitch your work in person to a Red Sage editor?

If so, email your name and email address to [email protected] and you will be scheduled for a short, one-on-one pitch appointment! Most pitches will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2008, though some may be held on Friday, August 1, 2008.

These are “bonus” appointments. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already scheduled pitch appointments through RWA. You can still get one of these special pitch meetings! All you have to do is email your name and email address to [email protected].

Pitch appointments will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Don’t delay! The schedule is filling fast!

Red Sage Publisher Alexandria Kendall, managing editor Theresa Stevens, and senior editor Alicia Rasley will be taking the pitches.

The latest from the Red Sage blog:

Bonus appointments for RWA nationals are filling fast. We will make every effort to accommodate all requests, and are seeking alternate room arrangements to handle the overflow. If you’ve already requested an appointment, you should be receiving an email confirmation within the next few days. If you haven’t already requested an appointment and would like one, please email your name and contact email address to:
[email protected]

All appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, but we really do want to hear pitches from everyone who requests appointments. Details of time and location will follow just as soon as we can provide them.

You heard it here first! (Or second, or third…depending on how blog-hoppy you are).

More than Magic

The good news I hinted at yesterday? BORROWING ALEX is a finalist in the Romantic Comedy category of the More than Magic writing contest! The finalist names aren’t announced on the More than Magic website yet, however I noticed that the Romantic Comedy winner from last year was none than other than Vicki Lewis Thompson. Am I thrilled that my book is even sharing “former finalist slot space” with a writer of Vicki’s caliber? You bet!

Of course the coordinator needed the 2 books for the final rounds delivered in two days—a difficult task when shipping from Canada unless you want to pay mega, mega-bucks. But the coordinator came up with the great idea for me to order my 2 copies off Amazon and have them shipped to her house. I hadn’t thought of this option, because neither BORROWING ALEX nor HEAD OVER HEELS are available on Canadian Amazon (although Canadians can order them from U.S. Amazon—hint, hint). What a wise and helpful contest coordinator, huh?

What made the news about my final even more wonderful is that I logged on to one of my email loops yesterday morning to learn that my good friend, the talented Diana Cosby, is also a More than Magic finalist with her November historical romance, HIS CAPTIVE. I’ve read HIS CAPTIVE, and it’s a fantastic debut from Kensington. Congratulations, Diana, my friend.

Tell Me Tuesday-Good News Galore!

I’ve had two excellent pieces of news this week. On Friday, I learned that one of my WIPs, SEX, P.I.s & PACKING TAPE, is a finalist in The Lories Best Proposal by Published Author contest. This necessitated a mad afternoon of printing seven copies of the proposal for the final round and zipping them to the post office, so they’d make it to the contest coordinator in time for the deadline. There are no categories in the Best Proposal contest, so the six finalists are all lumped together (there were only supposed to be five finalists, but there was a tie). Seven industry judges are participating in the final round: two editors, two agents, a bookseller, a book reviewer, and a publisher reader (for non-writers, a “publisher reader” usually freelances, reading and giving her or his opinions on the suitability of a manuscript for a particular publishing house’s needs, and then the editor decides whether she (or he) reads the manu, dependant on the reader’s report.

My other piece of great news is that yesterday I received a phone call from RWA informing me that my name had been chosen in a draw as one of two recipients for the Rita Gallagher Memorial Conference Scholarship. I entered the draw through an ad in the Romance Writers’ Report a couple of months ago. As far as I know, one recipient is a PRO member, the second (moi!) an author with a sale in the past year newly qualifying her for PAN. (Note, if you’re not an RWA member, those designations won’t make sense, and they’re too complicated to go into now, but, rest assured, they make sense to me). When I saw the ad, I thought, “What the heck,” and now am I ever glad I entered the draw—because RWA is comping my San Francisco National Conference fee! This makes the conference a lot more affordable for an author on the…ahem…low end of the pay spectrum. I’m extremely grateful. Thank you, RWA!

Because of other commitments and recovery from the Devil of all Head Colds, I didn’t get as much writing done last week as I would have liked. The cold is still lingering, but I have my energy back, and I’m looking forward to diving into the WIP this week…and next week…and the week after that.

How about everyone else? Have good news to report? Experienced a bump on the road to publication and need a boost? Share your news, good or not-so-good. What are you working on?

Chick Lit Beach Read Giveaways

South Jersey MOM book reviewer Keri Mikulski has selected BORROWING ALEX as one of her 2008 Chick Lit Beach Read Giveaways. Yay! Cymbals crashing, drums rolling, angels singing. I’m very pleased, as it’s not easy for small press books to get media attention. South Jersey MOM is a parenting magazine in New Jersey that distributes to doctor and dentist offices, etc., and also has an on-line version. The contest is announced in both versions of the magazine, but you have to go on-line to enter. (It’s the second giveaway on the page, so scroll down past the first one).

And…you can win a lot more than little ol’ BORROWING ALEX. Keri has chosen ten books for the Giveaways, featuring such authors as Julie Kenner and Lani Diane Rich. I’m very happy to be rubbing shoulders with those ladies. The grand prize winner receives five new books, and two runners-up will receive two or three books each. The contest is open to US residents and runs until May 31st, so there’s still plenty of time to enter.  

And the Winner Is…

Tina from Rhode Island won my contest for an autographed copy of BORROWING ALEX! Yay, yay, cheer, cheer! Tina, your book will go in the mail this week…as soon as I am healthy again.

Yes, folks, I have a doozy of a head cold. Kept me in bed for two days. Not usual for me. And definitely not fun. And it’s still not over! At times like this, I feel like a wimp. How do people with serious illnesses manage?

I have another contest to announce – I’m not giving away a copy of BORROWING ALEX this time, but someone else is. Well, some other “entity,” I guess. Yes, an “entity” is giving away three copies of not only BORROWING ALEX, but several other romance novels. What entity, you ask? And how can you enter? Come back on Wednesday, and I’ll tell you. Yes, I’m drawing this out. Because I’m sick, that’s why. And I can’t count on myself to be witty and charming on the blog this week, so if I make you return on Wednesday to find out about the new contest, I won’t have to worry about writing another witty and charming blog post. Because, you know, I didn’t intend to blog every weekday when I began Muse Interrupted (that’s the name of the blog – yes, I’ll explain it someday – sheesh, tough audience). Yet somehow here I am, blogging every weekday. Of course, the blog is new. I’ll run out of steam soon. Until then, you’ll have to put up with my head-coldish meanderings.

And, no, I’m not on medication! Hmph.

Oh, little note. The new contest will not feature autographed copies of BORROWING ALEX. If you absolutely, positively MUST have an autographed copy of the book (and who wouldn’t?), I have a handy-dandy mail order form on my website.

Only 2 Days Left…

…to enter to win an autographed copy of BORROWING ALEX. I’ll pick a winner out of a hat at noon PST Friday, April 18th and contact the winner by email. You know what this means, don’t you? You have to enter by email. But only emails with a specific subject line qualify to enter the contest. If you haven’t already entered, it’s not hard. Just visit my home page. Details are there.

Good luck, everyone, and if you don’t win, please visit again on Monday. I’ll announce the winner on my blog then, plus…I have another giveaway to announce featuring not only my book, but several more. Tut-tut, no further details until Monday.