Summer Reading

by Dawn Marie Hamilton

On the east coast of the US, Summer 2010 hit hot, hazy and humid with record temperatures. I stopped by the county library yesterday, and the reading room was packed. Are heat waves good for book sales?

Since I've been writing toward publication, I've met many other writers through my local RWA chapters and online writing groups, both published and unpublished. Need I mention, my TBR pile has grown and is threatening crashing to the floor? I managed to carve out some time to read over the last month. So what have I been reading?

Being of Scottish heritage, I have a passion for all things Scottish and love to read Scottish historical romances. I enjoyed Highland Dragon by Kimberly Killion. I met Kimberly through one of my Yahoo loops, Writers of Scottish Romance.

I also love paranormal romances heaped with great world building. And I prefer series. Series give me the opportunity to meet beloved characters again in follow up books. A couple of years ago, I was fortunate to attend a workshop on world building conducted by JR Ward and Jessica Andersen at the NJRW conference. Inspiring. I added their books to my TBR list and was floored when I read them. Couldn't put them down.

Lover Mine is the latest book in JR's The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. In preparation for the release date, I reread all seven previous books in the series. Great worldbuilding, great character development, great reading.

I most recently read Jessica's Sky Keepers, book three of The Final Prophecy novels. I'm looking forward to getting the latest release Demon Keepers in the mail. Where will you be on December 21, 2012?

So what are you reading? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Writing Contests-The Pleasure and The Pain

Most writers have entered a writing contest or two and writers’ feelings about writing contests seem to be mixed. I’ve read posts on chat loops from authors who’ve had bad contest experiences with critical judges and poor feedback, conversely, I’ve also heard of authors who have sold their first book after winning a contest.

The topic of writing contests is a pertinent one for me because I’m one of those authors who sold a first book through a writing contest. I won the American Title IV contest run jointly by Dorchester Publishing and RT Bookreviews magazine and a publishing contract was the prize for winning.

The American Title contest was unlike most writing contests, being based on American Idol. For five rounds, character studies, story summaries, or book excerpts were published in RT Bookreviews magazine. Each round, the writer whose book received the fewest votes was knocked out.

I also have experience of many conventional writing contests where judges, usually fellow writers, judge the first round, marking and giving feedback on a score sheet before the top three or four entries are passed on to an editor or agent for final judging. There is definitely an element of luck involved. Some judges never mark high no matter how great the entry, while others are overly critical or just plain wrong in their assessment and advice. The funniest comment I ever received from a judge was that my English character sounded too American and I needed to research British English. If only she’d known that I’m British!

Despite all their faults, I found writing contests tremendously helpful in giving me feedback on my writing and in helping me grasp the subtle differences between British English and American English. In the early days when I was new, some contest judges put a lot of time and trouble into explaining to me how to improve my writing. Those judges alone were worth the entry fee.

Later when I started to final in and win contests, the boost to my confidence helped me to forge on toward the goal of publication with renewed enthusiasm. For me the ultimate contest achievement for an unpublished romance author was to final in the Golden Heart. The experience of attending the Romance Writers of America National conference in San Francisco as a finalist was so much fun I wouldn’t have missed it for anything, and the camaraderie among the group of finalists is still important to me two years on.

My writing contest experience has generally been good, and I’d recommend unpublished romance writers to enter RWA chapter contests to gain feedback on their work and also to get in front of the agents and editors who judge the finals. My one proviso would be to check the score sheet first. It is often available on the website of the chapter running the contest. If not, the contest coordinator should let you have a copy. I also recommend that you ask if judges are required to give a reason when they knock off points. Certain contests are known for having good judges and giving good quality feedback. Two that come to mind are The Golden Gateway contest run by FTHRW, an online chapter of RWA, and another is The Golden Pen, run by The Golden Network.

I have recently entered my first book The Magic Knot in a few contests for published books, so I’m now entering a new realm of writing contests. Once again, I feel like the new kid at school!

I’d love to hear your experience of writing contests if you’re a writer. If you have entered contests, has the experience been useful or not? If you have chosen not to enter, why not?

For anyone who is interested in entering a contest similar to The American Title contest where first prize is a publishing contract, Alicia Condon is currently accepting submissions in Kensington Brava's Writing With The Stars contest.

Summer Garden Surplus

It’s summer and the livin’ is…overwhelming

It’s that time of year—you know—when gardeners start desperately searching for people to dump produce on. If you were unwise enough to plant squash, you’re now starting to dread looking under those leaves of your plants because you know you’ll find another basket-full of squash you have to pick. Then, you actually have to use it somehow, when your family is giving you dirty looks when you say in a spritely voice, “We’re having squash tonight!”

Believe it or not, this picture includes a giant cucumber (foreground) that I forgot to pick when it was a sweet young thing. Perhaps I’ll have to make pickles out of it.

One of the nicest things about growing your own produce is that you can grow odd varieties that you just don’t find in the store.

Around here, people get downright sneaky. Neighbors will visit for no reason at all, armed with a plastic shopping bag stuffed full of squash, tomatoes and peppers. Even if you spot them through the door curtains and refuse to answer, they’ll leave those little gifts for you. And of course, a day or two later, they’ll be dodging you as you visit them with armfuls of produce you think they might just need because, after all, they probably gave you all the ones they had that week.

Or, you may just find that squash, tomatoes and peppers are a lot cheaper at the store this time of year.

No matter…this blog is devoted to what the heck you can do with all that produce.

Sure, you can wash it, slice it up and freeze it. Or can it.

Or, you can make your family eat it, even if they’re heartily sick of it.

The nice thing about squash is that it has a mild flavor and can be disguised in almost anything your family will eat. So I thought I’d share a few of our favorite ways to use the produce that is so prevalent now.

Spaghetti

Spaghetti is the single most effective way to force veggies down the collective throats of your family without too much of a struggle. If they tend to like veggies, then no worries, you just leave them in recognizable condition. If your family hates veggies, then you can pull out the Salad Shooter to grate them so your kids (and husband) will never know the difference when you add them to soups, meatloaf, and sauces.

So here is one of our favorites at this time of year.

Take any squash, peppers, onions, eggplant—basically, whatever you have on hand, and slice it up. I tend to slice it into thin slices as if I was making pickles, and then cut those into quarters. Sauté in olive oil, then add some crushed/chopped garlic. Cook a couple of minutes over med-high, just until everything is tender.

Add a can of fire-roasted tomatoes (or any fresh tomatoes you have, diced) and a can of diced, Italian tomatoes. Then add about 2 Tbsp of tomato paste. If your family likes their sauce sweet, then grate some carrots finely and add those. Cook for about two-three minutes on med. Add about a teaspoon of Italian herbs and maybe a fistful of fresh basil chopped up.

If you like meatballs or meat in your sauce, add the meatballs or place the cooked veggies in a bowl, cook the meat, then add the veggies again. When I’m in a hurry, I use frozen meatballs and it takes about 10-15 min of cooking in the sauce for them to warm up. If I’m ambitious, I bake meatballs ahead of time and freeze them, so I just need to grab a bag.

You can also substitute tofu for a vegetarian twist, or no meat at all.

While the sauce cooks, cook your spaghetti.

This is a terrific way to use all of that produce and get a few more helpings of veggies into your life. When veggies are in season, I’ve been known to just use fresh tomatoes in place of the canned. And, you can also freeze this to use in the winter months when veggies are more expensive. I just fill one of those quart freezer bags and freeze it—no problem.

It also makes a great sauce to use for lasagna or any other Italian meal.

Zucchini Pancakes

I also love zucchini pancakes. On Saturday morning, I go out and pick a few baby zucchini and yellow squash and then grind them up. I add some grated onion (I like Vidalia), a few spoonfuls of flour and a beaten egg. I stir that together (add more flour if necessary) until it has the consistency of pancake mix. Then I fry it like a pancake and top with a bit of butter when serving.

The recipe depends upon how much zucchini/squash you grind up. I do about a cup, add 1 beaten egg, and about 2 Tbsp of grated Vidalia, along with about 2 Tbsp of flour more or less to get the right consistency. This is a rough estimate because I don’t measure it—I just grate up whatever baby squash I have and then add whatever I need to make something similar to pancake batter.

It’s a great breakfast or side dish for dinner. You can serve it whenever you would normally serve potato pancakes.

Some folks find they want the grated squash softer. If that is the case, after you grate it, simply nuke it in the microwave for one or two minutes before you mix it into the rest of the ingredients.

It’s simple and delicious.

And...I just walked around our garden and discovered...MORE PLUMS! I've already made 24 pints of plum jam. Sheesh. Guess I'll have to think of some creative ways to use plums now, in addition to the squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Maybe it's time to learn how to make wine...

Have a happy and productive summer!

Amy Corwin, author and overwhelmed gardner

http://www.amycorwin.com/

Celebrating Number 15!

I've been writing romance for a lot of years. I wrote and completed and submitted a lot of manuscripts before I made my first sale. My family was there for all of it, supporting me through the good and bad, and celebrating with me when I made my first sale. And each sale after that.

My daughter kept track of each sale, keeping count and letting me know that it was the 5th sale or the 10th and so on. Early on she'd joked that after I made my 15th sale, we were going to have to go get tattoos together. Well, after writing for years, 15 sales seemed like a distant goal, maybe never even attainable. Guess which contract I just signed. Yep... See Me, my erotic short for Samhain, was my 15th sale.

So this past Thursday, my daughter and I went to Wild Side Tattoo and Piercing. Everyone there was great and when they found out I was a tattoo virgin, they did all they could to make sure my first experience was a good one. I explained what I had in mind and they drew up the perfect design. I was pretty nervous, even though I was excited. I had no idea how I was going to react to the pain, but I was pretty proud of myself. I spent over an hour in the chair and walked out with this beautiful celebration.



If you can't tell from the photo, there are 15 hearts to signify my 15 romance sales. With any luck, I'll be adding some more little hearts in the future...

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com

Envy

Right about now, the green eyes of envy kick in. I mean the 'RWA National Conference envy' of those of us not going. Conference envy is not a pretty sight. It can make the most calm, well-mannered people become someone they don’t know and don’t like very much. Something like a witch with a B.

For example, about now, the yahoo loops and chapter boards start heating up with newbies asking all the ‘about conference’ questions. Chapter presidents are asking for head counts for conference dinners and get-togethers. If you are not going to the conference this gets those ‘green eyes’ going.

You start whining; to yourself, to your family, and to other writer friends. It’s not pretty and you know it, but you can’t help yourself.

Yes, you can. There are other options than National. Maybe not as big. Maybe not as many friends will be there. But, there are options.

1. Take extra workshops: the boards will be slow, now may be the time to take one or two workshops this month. You are in a lull period with agents and editors gearing up for National. Take time to take a class or two you’ve been meaning to check out.

2. Romance Divas has a Not Going To Conference Conference. They have pitch practice, workshops, networking, door prizes, etc. Last year I won my name in a book. Cool!! Sign up is free and the Divas are fun at any time of the year. http://www.romancedivas.com/

3. Spend some time on your current manuscript. Things will slow down online at this time of year. Spend the time polishing your baby. You have time to try new things; a different POV, a different kind of character, etc. Try something new while the pressure is low.

4. Do something for yourself. Never had a mani/pedi? Or a massage? Maybe now is the time to take time for you.

Just remember, nobody likes the green eyes of envy. Especially you.

June News

Come and celebrate our members' news.


1-I have two releases this month. Memories Undone by Cricket Starr was released in ebook format by Ellora’s Cave on the 18th and last week it went out in print along with Memories To Come and Memories Revised in a book titles Memories Divine.

Cricket Starr

2- I recently signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press. The edits went quickly, but I don't have a cover or release date yet. Unless they decide to change it, the title is The Mitchell Money, and since the heroine is 45 and the hero pushing 50, it'll come out under the Last Rose of Summer category.

Sue Fineman

3- My book NEW BLOOD was a finalist in the Golden Quill contest and is also a finalist in the Booksellers Best Award in the paranormal romance category. It didn't win Golden Quill, and I won't know how it did in the Booksellers' Best until after RWA National. :)

Gail Dayton

4- The Magic Knot has won an award of merit for best first book in the Holt Medallion contest.

Helen Scott-Taylor

5- Rx For Trust received a five stars review at Readers Favorite.

Mona Risk

6-Seduced by the Wolf, to be released by Sourcebooks in August 2010.

Terry Spear.

7-I have my first sale to The Wild Rose Press. Edits have been exciting so far. If they don't change the title it will be Tempting Adam, no release date yet.

Amanda Murphy w/a Jill James

8- My first book Simple Wishes was nominated for the Booksellers Best Award.

Lisa Dale

If you have more news please add them in the comments and I will post them.

Congratulations to our members.

My Way

Last week I finished the first draft of my category romance.  Hooray!  According to Stephen King's On Writing he advises to stash away the draft for six weeks, not to touch one word, a comma or anything else.  Since he's Stephen King, I'm following his advice and letting my mental batteries recharge.  Before I waited at least a couple of weeks but during that time, I  tweaked a scene or added one.  I never gave my eye to freshen for my work.  Not anymore, I'm a convert and it's wonderful.

My TBR pile is shrinking from a shaking beanstalk to a manageable size that won't collapse on top of me.  I'm catching up on my favorite TV shows I recorded.  It's like rediscovering the outside world.  The greatest part is feeling the surge of writing energy building.  For me, this humming starts beneath my muscles and in the depths of my core and spreads to the tips of my toes and fingers.  Slowly, this force builds until it vibrates through me. My skin tingles from it and never lets me rest.  My mind comes alive with scenes, characters, dialogue, and anything and everything to do with my new work.  It percolates until a moment when I have to sit down at my computer and let the energy transform into a novel.

Right now, the hum shakes through me.  Even as I'm writing this, my leg is jiggling from the restless power.  I'm still at the beginning stages where my characters are starting to form and breathe in life.  The story is thickening and soon I'll write it.

Once that's finished, I'll pull out my waiting work.  I'll blow of the figurative dust and bring out my pens and start my revisions while another work slumbers and the mind is refreshing and the eye is new so that draft can be tweaked, rewritten, polished and everything else. I like always having something to work on. My way propels me forward like a rolling stone and never lets my writing collect moss.

That's my process.  It works for me but I'm always searching for new ways that might improve it.  What's your process?  Do you have any advice to share?

Fodder Alert!

In my last post, I chatted about my madness as a romance writer. I may, perhaps, have another writer’s flaw. My non-writing friends consider it far worse than voices that wake me in the night. After all, my characters don’t disturb their sleep.

Latest hunky hero says “Hey.”*

This flaw strikes anytime, anywhere. It favors inopportune moments: a sob-broken eulogy, a co-worker’s tale of woe, over crème caramel in a romantic restaurant.

Some insignificant thing captures my writer’s fancy.

Suddenly, I’m scrounging for notepad and pencil. I've worn countless pencils to the nub. Really, a writer should come with a built-in version.

It happens so often, the Loving Husband coined a phrase for this special spasm of my mine: Fodder Alert.

I confess. I hang my head in shame. I apologize in advance and arrears. Not only am I a mad writer, I’m a scene spy. Shh!

Family, friends, acquaintances; all are surreptitiously observed for story ideas. Strangers are better as they never find out they've been—OMG—used.

Before you all shun me, please know that the final scene seldom mirrors the originating incident. My peculiar madness bends and twists the original beyond recognition. Innocent contributors are protected by a thick veil of privacy. I do, after all, want peaceable relations with my family and friends.

When and where do your Fodder Alerts sound? Which was your favorite?

*Ryan Chisholm, hero of Above Scandal (my romantic women’s fiction work-in-progress) informed me last night, “I'm not idiot enough to use a little girl against her own mother”. He and Carter of The Painted Ladies must be gossiping behind my back.

Joan Leacott

Heart, humour and heat...Canada style

Further musings by Joan

Photo Credit: Carlos Porto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Romance at the Drive-Ins???

"A Nat King Cole song of the era proclaimed that at the drive-in
“you’ll see more kisses in the car than on the screen,” and often kissing was just the beginning of the
festivities. By the mid-‘50s the adults had caught on and drive-ins were condemned as “passion pits” by
America’s clergy."--From Palo Alto History


When we were kids, we loved to go to the drive-in theater to watch the epic movies in California and Florida. A playground gave us a chance to swing and slide before it got dark and we returned to the car to watch the movie. With tubs of popcorn, wearing flannel nightgowns, and tucked up with our pillows and blankets, we watched until we were too sleepy to see the end.

So when I had kids of my own, I wanted them to enjoy the experience too. With our silly standard poodle, we went to a drive-in and had a blast. The idea of eating anything they wanted that we had brought with us, wearing pajamas, bundled in blankets and resting against pillows was a lot of fun.

It's too bad that very few drive-ins exist any longer.

I was reading a romance book that had been written about 20 years ago, that talked of romance at the drive-in. I thought about including a drive-in scene in my current book, but alas, there are none within three hours drive from their location. Sooo, no drive-in.

I was reading an article that spoke of how so many have never even seen a drive-in theater. The one we have locally is now a flea market downtown. But when I've gone to it, I think of what it had once been with it's huge movie theater screen, sign post that at one time would have announced the features playing, and ticket booth. I'm afraid like men washing windows on your automobiles or filling the gas tank is a bygone era...so are drive-in theaters. :)

If you've ever been to a drive-in theater, what was your favorite thing about them???

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male."
www.terryspear.com

Time to post and run

I'm scheduled to leave town in a few hours, so I have to post and run.

Which brings me to today's topic: am I the only person who makes plans then later wonders, "What the hell was I thinking?" This seems to happen to me often. I'll merrily book a trip then a few days beforehand I'll think: "Wait a minute -- I don't have time for this? Why did I think I could do this?"

Now this is a minor trip: an overnight stay at a 'camping cabin' in a State Park. We carry in our bedding, etc., stay overnight, do some hiking, etc., then head for home. The key words here are "we carry in..." My DH said, (and I quote), "We'll just play it by ear. Toss a few things in the car and get there whenever we feel like it and..."

Can you spot a potential problem in the offing? (1) It's the weekend at a State Park. It will be crowded. It will be busy. We can't just plan to get there whenever because we'll probably be in traffic. (2) I don't know about you, but I like a sheet and maybe a towel. Maybe a pillow. So I need to gather a few things. (3) Food? Hmm. Should we consider that?

All in all, this took about an hour of my time to gather a few things together. I'll make my DH drive tomorrow, so at least I can read while we sit in traffic. And I printed out a few "things to see" along the route in case we decide to sightsee. So it's not a biggie -- except I was out of town for 5 days last week, I'll be out of town for 4 days in another week, and I'd like to do some gardening, and maybe some writing, and ...

What was I thinking?

And on that topic (and related): Is anyone else going to RomCon in July? I'm booked to fly in on the 8th for that brand new conference. I don't have a costume yet for the party, have no idea what I'll take for the dinner on Saturday, and I need to get in touch with my niece and firm up our plans for the 8th (since I'll be meeting her there).

Anybody else going? If so, let's meet up! Of course, I'm going to be out of town for a few days beforehand, then I leave town when I get back ...

What was I thinking?