Tuesday, October 26, 2010

New Writing Contest Alert

Seize your opportunity to write for the Cave with Tawny’s Taylor’s “Some Like It Hot” writing contest!!

Starting October 25th, 2010, Tawny Taylor will be hosting a writing contest!
The final judge is an editor from Ellora’s Cave.

The Prizes? Read on!

All SubGenres of erotic romance accepted, including:
~Contemporary~Fantasy~Futuristic~ Shapeshifter/Vampire~BDSM~

*You may submit one chapter--not to exceed 5000 words. Stories must be complete and unpublished.

*Each Monday, two stories will be selected by an Ellora's Cave editor who is actively acquiring. At the end, six weekly winning authors will submit a partial (first three chapters, last chapter and synopsis) to the final judge for ranking.

The first place winner will receive ...

A critique of the full winning manuscript by EC editor Grace Bradley!

The second place winner will receive...

A critique of the partial manuscript by EC editor Grace Bradley (first three chapters, last and synop).

The third place winner will receive...

A critique of the first chapter by EC editor Grace Bradley.

Details here.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Round-Up of Awesome Writer Websites & Tools

Lately I've discovered quite a few awesome websites that give great advice and tips for writers and I thought I would share them with you in the hopes that you find a new to you resource.

Here are some of my new website obsessions for writers, or websites I've been following for awhile but think every writer should be:

Agent Blogs:

Nathan Bransford's blog is by far one of the best out there. Insight, tips and updates on all things publishing, you really should be reading this blog.

Rachelle Gardner's blog also offers amazing news and tips for writers.

Writer's Group Blogs:

The Romance Writer's Revenge has long been a favorite of mine and the blog posts there are both thought provoking and humorous. A great group of writers I'm so glad to have found.

A newly launched blog, I'm enjoying the posts at Romancing The Muses very much and think they offer some great tips for newbie writers.

Some of my favorite Harlequin writers are part of Drunk Writer Talk and I'm a frequent lurker soaking up their advice.

An established blog, but one I still want to mention just in case you aren't familiar with it, is Riding with the Top Down. A wonderful cross-section of writers sharing the craft with you.

Writing Tools & Resources:

The writing software Write Way Pro is offering a 30 day free trail right now. (Maybe they always do?) I'm trying it out on the home computer to see what I think, but have been disappointed that it won't work with my operating system on my netbook.

I met Bria Quinlan at RWA10 after following her on twitter for a bit. She has an excellent website (where she is even running a writing contest right now), but she's also set up a great chat room for writers to use anytime for challenges or sprints. Check out her site, and you'll notice the Fast Draft and Chat Challenge links at the bottom. (HINT - we are usually in the Fast Draft room) :)

Finally, Harlequin is doing a So You Think You Can Write week November 1st-5th on their blog that looks chock-full of webinars, editor chats, community posts and more. I'm really excited to see how this goes and hopefully it will offer some great info. Check out the weekly events calendar here.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

I'm a Finalist!


The very first contest I entered at Romance in The Backseat has been progressing over the last month, and it's down to the final two - of which I am one! I'm so excited and can hardly believe it since the drafts I turned in always felt like I was rushed.

This isn't my WIP, but original writing that started from a writing prompt on the website. It's been a nice creative break from the WIP, but the other part of me wishes those 3,000 words had been added to A Passion to Protect!

The contest has been helpful to me in that it got me used to people reading my work, and with working on a deadline each round. Now I just need to set deadlines for my WIP and work to meet those just as stringently.

If you want to check out the final two entries, go here.