Have A Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Miss Snark's Monthly Secret Agent Contests?

Wow, you learn something new every day. :) Did you guys know about this? I didn't, until today. If you didn't know about Miss Snarks SECRET AGENT CONTESTS either, here's the scoop (I pinched the info from the blog). What are SECRET AGENT contests? By far the most popular event on Miss Snark's First Victim, the Secret Agent: Are You Hooked? contests run monthly (more or less) and include a literary agent on the "critique panel" whose identity remains secret until the close of the contest. Here's how it works: There will be a call for submissions. When the call comes, follow the guidelines carefully and submit your excerpt before the deadline. All submissions will then be posted (anonymously) on the blog, and all readers are invited to leave critiques/feedback. Everyone who has entered the contest is expected to crit a minimum of five entries -- it's the mutual backscratch thing. Our Secret Agent will join the panel of critters (that is, you) and will leave feedback for every entry. When the contest has ended, the Secret Agent will choose a winner or winners. That's it in a nutshell! All excerpts submitted to a Secret Agent: Are You Hooked? contest must be the first 250 pages of your COMPLETED manuscript. Winners of previous contests may not submit the same manuscript in future contests. Previous "Secret Agents" can be found in the labels section of the sidebar under "Unveiling." Questions about the Secret Agent contests can be emailed to Authoress at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. *I suggest signing up for Miss Snark's daily post's by email. There's lot's of great info on the blog, too. Links are below. Miss Snark What Are Secret Agent Contests?

Can't Loose Novel and Memoir Contest

Inspiration for Writers

CAN'T LOOSE NOVEL and MEMOIR CONTEST

Want to bring your writing up to the next level? Enter our Can't Lose Novel and Memoir Contest. Not only will you have the chance to win a prize package that will polish your prose and strengthen your writing skills, every entry receives a detailed critique of the submission package, a comprehensive edit of the first 500 words, and an electronic copy of the Inspiration for Writers Tips and Techniques Workbook. Now is the time to invest in your writing--and yourself. Entry fee: $40 ALL ENTRIES receive a complimentary edit of the first 500 words, a detailed critique of the submission package, and an electronic copy of the Inspiration for Writers Tips and Techniques Workbook.

• First prize: Gift package worth over $500, including a professional edit and critique of up to 15,000 words (value $450) of a single document; books on the craft of writing, including a bound copy of the Inspiration for Writers Tips and Techniques Workbook complete with reproducible worksheets ($25.00), The Little Brown Compact Handbook by Jane E. Aaron (fifth edition, $62.40), Marc McCutcheon's The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters ($14.99), The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic ($21.99); a magnetic copy of The Writer's Prayer ($3.00); set of ten Writer's Prayer note cards ($15.00); and 2 Inspiration for Writers pens ($2.00).
• Second prize: A certificate for 20% off any one service.
• Third prize: A certificate for 20% off any one service.

Entry Deadline: January 15, 2009 Inspiration for Writers will announce the winners on or before March 31, 2009. Submit a one-page synopsis and first three chapters. For additional information, rules and guidelines, please visit www.InspirationForWriters.com/contest.html Good Luck!

Happy Halloween!

Free Comments and Graphics

This N' That

Here's a few things I ran across and thought I'd pass along. Hope you find something useful. :) Grassroots Publishing Co. Inc. is seeking 3-5K short stories that are "contemporary, historic, inspirational, paranormal, or any other theme as long as love and romance are the main thrust of the story", pays $300.00 flat rate for "first global publishing rights and electronic and internet rights in all languages as well as future anthology rights", electronic and snail mail subs okay, see guidelines for more details here (spotted in the November print issue of The Writer.) Manic Readers is hosting a Romance Novel Writing Contest with NAL editor, Becky Vinter judging. Here are the rules: Contest Rules 1. Entries will be accepted between January 3, 2009 and February 28, 2009 2. Entries must be written to the theme of "Men in Uniform". Heat level: Steamy! 3. This is a novel length (80k - 100k) contest. Entry length of the excerpt is 1000 words (computer count). Entries over 1000 words will be disqualified. Excerpt can be any part of the story as long as it follows the above theme. Excerpt must be from a new, not yet published, manuscript. 4. Entrants must be registered with the Manic Readers website 5. All entries will be submitted via a submission form on the Manic Readers website, more info on that coming soon. 6. All entries will be kept anonymous but assigned an entry identification number 7. Beginning March 1, 2009, Manic Readers will post 20% of the entries at the beginning of each of the following weeks: *March 1st *March 8th *March 15th *March 22nd *March 29th 8. Each week registered users can vote for their top two entries (one vote per entry) 9. The top two entries from each week will be posted April 5, 2009 and read by Becky Vinter 10. Contest is open to unpublished writers and published authors not published with NAL Publishing 11. One entry per person – multiple entries will be disqualified Contest Prizes: 1. The top 10 entries receiving the most votes will be read by Becky Vinter 2. The entry with the most votes will be named “Readers’ Choice” 3. Becky Vinter will name one of the top 10 entries “Editor’s Choice” Frequently Asked Questions Q: Does the manuscript have to be finished in order to enter the contest? A: That’s up to you. However, if the editor really loves your excerpt she may ask you for the full manuscript. This might be old news to some of you, but I thought I'd post for those of you who, like me, nearly missed out on. Donald Maass, President of Maass Lit Agency in NY is giving away PDF copies/downloads of his book "The Career Novelist - A Literary Agent Offers Strategies forSuccess" . The book is almost 200 pages and is available for download here: http://www.maassagency.com/books.html Win a professional edit, up to 5,000 words, from FreyasBower/Wild Child Publishing editor Faith Bicknell-Brown. Just answer a couple of questions from her books to enter. Deadline is December 20th. Go here for contest rules. And lastly, you're invited to join the Lyrical Press Author's on Monday, October 27th @ 9:00 PM in our private chat room for fun and prizes! (see announcement below) We do hope to see you there. Happy Writing!

Lyrical Press Looking For Copy Editors

Lyrical Press is currently looking for copy editors. For those of you interested in applying for copy editing positions, please direct your queries to Stephanie McGrath at employment@lyricalpress.com . You will be sent a .pdf chock full of info about the position and instructions on what you need to do next. We’re also looking for volunteer line editors. For more info, email Emma Wayne Porter at editor@lyricalpress.com or emmawayneporter@gmail.com. We've been growing amazingly fast. We have books slotted to December of 09' Awesome, isn't it? To learn more about Lyrical Press, Inc check out the links below. Happy Writing! Lyrical Press Links

• Lyrical Press
• Lyrical Press Blog
• Lyrical Press Forum
• Once Upon A Bookstore

My Apologies

Dear RWW readers, I sincerely apologize for my brief hiatus these past couple of months, but it couldn't be helped. I'm dealing with some minor health issues, which have kept me down for a little while. The good thing is, you can't keep me down for long! Woo-hoo! I'm back and I'm feeling sooo much better! Thanks for sticking around, everyone. I really appreciate it. :)

~Carol

Is Western Historical Romance Dead?

I love Historical Westerns Romances. I love to read them, and I love to write them. However, ever since I got back to writing after a three year hiatus a year ago this past April, I've wondered if the Historical Western Romance was dead. The reason I've asked myself this question is because throughout the years, to my great disappointment, I've been told over and over that they were dead. Long gone. Zip. Zilch. Pouf. But I wrote one anyway. Did I waste my time? I don't think so. And I'll tell you why. First off, what woman doesn't love a strong, sexy Cowboy in tight jeans and leather chaps? Who doesn't love the romanticism of the American Cowboy and the Wild West? You just can't resist it. According to traffic and activity on the western romance sites I frequent, Love Western Romance, and Petticoats & Pistols, the western isn't dead. Oh, no. Just the opposite. It's alive and well. Just take a look at either of these two sites and you'll see. They're chock full of Western Romance info and trivia. New releases, author spotlights, you name it. And check out this Jessica Faust Q&A session I snipped a month or so back from the Bookends blog:

Q. Are there any publishers out there besides Harlequin, Dorchester, and Kensington looking for historical western romance books? Why do those houses seem to have a corner on these types of books?

A. Interesting question because in fact I just had lunch last week with an editor at a house that was not Harlequin, Dorchester, or Kensington who would love to see more historical western romances. The trick is rising above what has traditionally been called historical western. To do this I think you have to make your book stronger and different and bigger. There are a lot of editors out there who love this genre and would love to buy in it, but to break in you really need to write something that transcends everything else. Because that’s an easy task [she says sarcastically].

Good news, right? It is for us Western Romance lovers. :) When I first put pen to paper eight years ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to write. I knew what I loved and I knew what I wanted to read and before long, I began plotting my very first Historical Western Romance, Dangerous Desires, which takes place in 1866 Texas and Mexico. But how and why did I decide to set it during that time? What did I know about this time period? I'll admit, at first, not much. Of course I knew this was just after the Civil War, but what else was happening? I didn't have a clue. I wanted something different for my story. I knew I had a LOT of research to do. I found there are quite a few things happening around this time. In fact, I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted my characters, Mairan O'Donnell and Travis Morrison aka Santa, to be involved in! So I read...and read...and read until finally, I found just the little piece of history I was looking for. There wasn't a lot of American History involved, but there was a lot of Mexican history. Did you know that in 1861, during the Civil War, Mexico was was involved in their own Civil War? France had invaded Mexico and, to the horror of the Mexican people, installed the Austrian Prince Ferdinand Maximilian and his beautiful wife Carlotta, on the Mexican throne. Maximilian had good intentions, but the Mexican people wanted to elect their own leader. They didn't want a foreigner as Emperor. Then a little Indian man named Benito Juarez and his band of rebels, the Juaristas, fought to overthrow the intruders, and with a little help from President Abraham Lincoln, , they won. The French realized the American Civil War was coming to an end, and since the American President, Abraham Lincoln sympathized with the Juaristas and helped them with money and arms, the French figured they'd better split. They moved their troops out of Mexico pronto. Exciting, isn't it? I think so. So when I decided on this part of history to use for my novel, I made sure there was lot's of action and plenty of romance. I bet you could think of a few different plots from this little piece of history, couldn't you? :) Westerns are what I love. To read. To watch. To write. Over and over through the years I've heard the advice, write what you know; write what you love. And that's what I did. That's what I'll always do. I may throw in a contemporary Western here and there, because hey, a cowboy in a pair of tight jeans is a cowboy in a pair of tight jeans, :) but historicals are my first love. And Dangerous Desires is what came out of that love. Whether or not it's something other's love, well, time will only tell. So, do you like Historical Western Romance? If so, what do you like about them? Do you think they're dead and buried or do you think they're making a come back? Come on folks, what do you think? Inquiring minds want to know. :)

*Dangerous Desires has been rescheduled for publication. It will be available in digital format soon, and then in print sometime in the winter of 2009. Watch for it!

Author Banners

Last year I tried my hand at making some author banners. As you can see, my middle name is on a couple of them because at the time, I hadn't made up my mind if I wanted to use it on my books or not. I ended up deciding against it, but I have to admit I sort of like it better with my middle name. And if I really want to use it, it's still not too late. :) Oops. Now I'm getting off track. Anyway...

I messed around and sort of stretched these banners out so you could read what they say, but in doing so, it made the writing on some of them look sort of blurry. So, here's what they say: On banner #1 the bottom line says Hot & Wild Western Romance. Hmmm, I think I really like that one. :) On banner #2 the bottom line says Saddle Up And Take A Ride Down the Hot & Wild Western Romance Trail. Not too bad, but a bit long. I like the first one better. As far as the designs, personally, I like #'s 1, 2, and 5. What about you? What do you think? Which one(s) do you like best?

1.)

2. ) 3.) 4.) 5.)

Win A Sony eReader Contest At Wild Rose Press

If you've never had the chance to use an eReader you are in for a treat! What a pleasure to have your reading material all in one compact "book" that you can take wherever you go. Slim enough to fit into your purse or briefcase or leave on your nightside table, its changed my life! The Wild Rose Press is dedicated to getting SONY eReaders into the hands of every day readers and writers. We are running a contest taht is very simple to enter. You simply purchase a short story or full length book from any of our sponsoring authors and then send your order # to sonyreader@thewildrosepress.com. You can enter as often as you wish. On Labor Day, I will draw a winner from the entrants and that winner will be announced on our usual Tuesday night chat on Tuesday, September 2 at 9:00 p.m. eastern. We will be running this contest again with new authors beginning end of September to give away an eReader just in time for Christmas. For all details, please visit our site and click on SONY contest. Rhonda Penders Editor-in-Chief Wild Rose Press

Call For Submissions - Samhains Cowboy Roundup Anthology

Writing Western Romance? Look what I ran across! *permission to forward granted I'm thrilled to announce my call for submissions for the Samhain Cowboy Roundup! Put on Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man", close your eyes and picture a guy who wears jeans to work and who's real good with his hands, and let your muse have her way. I'm looking for 3 novellas to fit into Samhain's Cowboy Roundup Anthology. This anthology will consist of three novellas to be released individually as eBooks in June 2009 and combined into one print title in 2010. I'm open to any romance genre but the stories must end with a HEA. Submissions are open to all authors previously published with Samhainas well as authors aspiring to publish with Samhain. Submissions must be new material-previously published material will not be considered. Additionally, we will not consider manuscripts previously submitted whether individually or for past anthologies. Please be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor. To submit, please include the full manuscript of 24,000-30,000 words with a 2-5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter if you are an author not previously contracted with Samhain. Submissions are open until December 1, 2008, and the final decision will be made by December 24, 2008. Submissions should be sent to editor@samhainpublishing.com. Please put Cowboy Roundup Anthology Submission in the subject line. If you receive an auto response, your submission has been received. Anthologies are special projects exempt to the general closing of submissions. I'm happy to answer questions about this anthology either on the Samhain Author loop, Samhain Café, or by private email at heidi at samhainpublishing dot com Heidi Moore, Editor heidi@samhainpublishing.com For More Information, go to Samhain Submissions Page *permission to forward granted

Deep POV Workshop by Laurie Sanders At Coffee Time Romance Forum

Black Velvet Seductions founder, CEO, and Editor Lau-rie Sanders will present a workshop on deep point of view at the Coffee Time Romance Forum during the month of August 2008. Mark your calendars now for this event. Laurie will cover:

• What fiction readers want
• Connecting the dots – how does deep point of view give readers a satisfying experience? How is the reader‘s experience different with shallow point of view versus a deep point of view?
• How to decide whose point of view to use for key scenes, and how to make the best use of that viewpoint.
• Deciding when and where and how to change point of view. Is changing viewpoint in the middle of a scene always bad?
• Author invisibility -- avoiding author point of view.
• Choosing details that deepen point of view
• Infusing dialogue with point of view.
• Point of view and character motivation – your char-acter has done a bad, bad thing – how can you use point of view to make the reader still root for him or her?

See ? for information.

Long and the Short of It Anniversary Celebration!

~~Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged~~~ The Long and the Short of It is very excited to be celebrating its ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY -- and we're giving the gifts! Yep, that's right. On August 27, 2007, the website went live. What better way to celebrate than give away a $50 Gift Certificate to Amazon.com along with a TON of books? From August 1-26 we will be giving away one prize each day from one of our author sponsors. You have to enter ON THAT DAY to win the prize for the day. On August 27, all the daily entries will be included in the Grand Prize Drawing for a $50 Gift Certificate from Amazon.com. Here's an easy way to earn an extra entry into each day's drawing AND the Grand Prize Drawing: Just tell people about us and link to our anniversary page (http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/anniversary1.htm) Once you've posted the announcement on your blog or website, put your link in the Mr. Linky (you must have a corresponding daily entry to qualify for the extra entry)! Thanks for passing the word on!

This n' That

My publisher, Lyrical Press, has put together an awesome forum for author's and readers to chat and find out what's new. You'll be able to participate in drawings and contests and whatever else is happening. If you'd like to check it out (and register), you can do so by going here. Also, did I mention our Senior Editor, Emma Wayne Porter is participating in the PBW Blog(Paperback Writer) Virtual Workshop? Visit Emma's blog to participate in her SELF-EDITING BOOTCAMP. Oh, FYI, Lyrical Press is taking part in the huge week-long BITTEN BY BOOKS extravaganza, BLOGGY CARNIVAL. Lyrical Press will be giving away a total of $50.00 worth of gift certificates to LPI's store, Once Upon A Bookstore! We hope you'll play along for the chance to win gift certificates and other prizes from authors and publishers alike. The fun starts today (Monday, July 28th) so hurry and visit Bitten By Books blog for rules and to enter. Lyrical Press Lyrical Press Forum Once Upon A Bookstore Emma Wayne Porter Bitten By Books Paperback Writer Blog