Official Results – Indiana Golden Opportunity 2009 contest!

Just got the email off the Dallas Area Romance Authors loop.

Remember, Odin’s End took first place in its category, Mainstream with Strong Romantic Elements, as part of the Indiana Golden Opportunity 2009 contest!

Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management was the finalist judge in this category – and she requested my full manuscript!

Again, thanks a million to my readers and cheerleaders!! You know who you are – and I LUV you!!

So, the official results from the Indiana Golden Opportunity 2009!

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 IGO Contest.

The First Place Winners have advanced to the Best of the Best category, judged by Meredith Giordan of Berkley. That winner will be announced approximately November 20th.

Congratulations to all our finalists!
** indicates a full manuscript was requested by editor/agent
Garthia Anderson
IGO Contest Coordinator

HISTORICAL CATEGORY
1. The Soldier – Patricia Patton
2.  Love and the Heir – Patricia Patton
3.  The Yard Man Affair - Jill Stone

MAINSTREAM CATEGORY
1. Odin’s End** - Dawna Rand
2. The End at River’s Bend** - Cathryn Pritchard
3. Damaged Goods** - Barbara Binns

PARANORMAL CATEGORY
1. Darkness Dawns – Leslie Duvall
2. The Story Queen – Joe Fraser
3. In Like a Lion – Karin Shah

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE CATEGORY
1. Degrees of Death – Linda Lovely
2.  Dangerous Choices – Donna Meier
3.  Trail of Secrets – Greta MacEachern

SINGLE TITLE CATEGORY
1. Chocolate Kisses** – Kelli Zeiher Riley
2. Uncivilized – Meghan Murphy
3. Once Upon a Margarita – Heidi Luchterhand

YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
1. Personal Demons – Lisa Desrochers
2. The Dead Guy Downstairs – Sheri Adkins
3. Seaside Sorcery – Laurel Wanrow

CONTEST UPDATE – Odin’s End Takes FIRST PLACE!!!

YAY, peeps!!!!

Just got news that Odin’s End won first place in its category, Mainstream with Strong Romantic Elements, in Indiana’s Golden Opportunity 2009 contest!!! And the judge, Paige Wheeler, of Folio Literary Management, requested a full!

It now goes on to the Best of the Best competition, but I have to say, it’s already exceeded my wildest expectations!!!

Many thanks to my critique partners who read my stuff and endure despite the pain. Much LUV!!!!

I’ll post the formal results when they become available.

Official Results – 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest!

As promised, here are the official results for the 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest, sponsored by the Southern Louisiana Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Odin’s End placed third in its category – Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. YAY! The results will be published in the local New Orleans paper. This thrills me to no end, because I never thought my name would appear in a newspaper in anything other than the obituaries or Most Wanted listings.

Much love to my many critiquers (who suffer in noble silence and put up with me), and to the Dallas Area Romance Authors. Y’all rock!!!

 

The Southern Louisiana Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, Inc. congratulates the winners of its 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest:

Inspirational: 

 First Place                     Defending Hope by Dianne K Burns

Second Place                The Road to Love by Anne Wolfe

Third Place                   Murder on Ocean Drive by Gloria Ferguson

Honorable Mention      Light the Fire by Mary Manners

 Short Contemporary:

 First Place                     No Bull by Dee S. Knight

Second Place                The Perfect Holiday Mix by Wendy S. Marcus

Third Place                   Beauty and the Feast by Chana Alexander

Honorable Mention      A Thread of Shells by Lucy J. Dixon

 Single Title Contemporary:

 First Place                    Marryin’ the Librarian by Wendy Qualls

First Place (tie)            Murder, Curlers, and Canes by Arlene McFarlane

Second Place                Chasing Miracles by Linda Chubbuck

Third Place                   Courting Disaster by Ellie Kirkland

Honorable Mention      Worth Fighting For by La-Tessa Montgomery     

 Novel With Romantic Elements:

 First Place                    The Choice by Pamela Kopfler

Second Place                Tragic Choices—Far Off Voices by Margot Pleasants

Third Place                   Odin’s End by Dawna Rand

Honorable Mention      Wild Rodeo Nights by Sandy Sullivan

 Historical:

 First Place                     A Mad Passion by Laura Hirneisen

Second Place                The True Confessions of a Lady Novelist by Emily Becher

Third Place                   A Frenchman’s Secrets by Rhoda Fort

Honorable Mention      Thief by Night by Connie Queen

 Paranormal:

 First Place                    Rocky Mountain Howl by Kinsey W. Holley

Second Place                Intergalactic Brides Series: The Triple Bride by Dee S. Knight

Third Place                   Demon Soul by Christine Ashworth

Honorable Mention      A Vision of Death by Gretchen Stull, writing as Evelyn Grady

 Romantic Suspense:

 First Place                    From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerrade

Second Place                The Light of Truth by Shelley M. Masog

Third Place                   Anytime Darlin’ by Julia Barrett

Honorable Mention      Saving Sarah by Robena Grant

 Winner of the Highest Overall Score resulted in a tie:

 No Bull by Dee S. Knight  

From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerrade

Flash Fiction – 300 Words to the Perfect Final Draft!

In a recent discussion with a colleague, she  spoke of her finished manuscript and confessed, “I need to trim my novel.”

And I responded, “Who says? Your critique partners?”

And she said, “Nearly everybody.”

Well, “everybody” is pretty consistent feedback, so I asked the dread question, “How long is it?”

“175,000 words.”

I spewed iced tea through my nose. Yup. To say she needed to “trim” would be like saying Chewbacca the Wookie needed hair remover.

So whoever thought that you could write 300 words and end up with a tool for the perfect final draft?

That’s what happened to me when I accepted my pal Christian Yorke’s “flash fiction” challenge. Generally, flash fiction is an extremely short story somewhere between 300 to 1000 words long. There doesn’t seem to be any real consensus to the length. Keep in mind that there are generally about 250 words to a page, and you see how short flash fiction can be!

I started writing, and my submission to Christian’s contest, Her Winning Smile, ended up right at 300 words. The punchline? I had started out at almost 900 – nearly three times the word count.  So what’s a girl to do?

Cut. Cut big time. Don’t fuss with the little trims here and there.

So, starting out with a 900-word draft, I ruthlessly razored it down. I got rid of entire “scenes” and some fave sentences. Why? They didn’t seem to fit, or were repetitious, or weren’t powerful enough. This got me to about 600 words.

Then I got picky. Is this word the perfect word? Can punctuation – rather than words – help me? Can I rephrase the sentence – and tighten it? It was like trimming a tree – I had taken out the big branches first, now I was “shaping” the little ones.

I reached my 300 words. Then I compared the original (handwritten, I might add) version, and my final.

I would never have believed it. The 300 words said more – and said it more powerfully – than its 900-word predecessor. At last I’d found it – the path to the perfect final draft.

1. Write the first draft freely – don’t edit, don’t revise. Don’t worry about wordcount.
2. Set it aside for some period of time (for my little piece, this was only a day).
3. Come back to it. Set yourself a trim target – your final word count for the scene/chapter. Don’t be a puss! Be aggressive.
4. Cut big. Eliminate digressions, repetition, and anything that slows the pace.
5. Swear a little bit. Cry if needed.
6. Trim it up. Tighten, rephrase, restructure, strengthen.
7. Swear some more. Cry some more. Get a friend to hand you tissues if needed. But reach your trim target.
8. Compare the two versions.
9. Marvel at the honed final product. Marvel at the sloppy first draft.
10. Stop sniveling and repeat steps 1-9 on other scenes/chapters.

No kidding – Christian’s competition provided me with the path to the perfect final draft. Thanks, friend. You have no idea how much I needed it!

Marriage in Viking Society – All You Ever Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask!

Yes, but did they SPEND as much on their weddings as we do on ours?

OK, peeps -

As you know, in Odin’s End, our Viking hero Rorik captures Adele’s ship, killing the crew and taking her and her monk buddies captive. Obviously, not the most successful of blind dates.

Needless to say, these actions present some serious challenges to Rorik’s and Adele’s later romantic relationship. But there’s also another big challenge. OOPS – Rorik is betrothed. (He must have forgotten to mention it.)

So in researching betrothals, weddings, etc., I came across more wicked cool factoids about marriage in Viking society. Here you go:

• The potential suitor had to start the negotiations; the father of the girl could never initiate his daughter’s marriage.
• The woman was totally absent from the negotiations; in fact, frequently marriages were negotiated without the woman’s knowledge. Rarely did the couple meet before the wedding. And as for her approval? Irrelevant.
• There were two levels of engagement, where the woman was either an “engaged woman” (festarkona) or a “promised woman” (heitkona). The promised woman had to wait for the suitor for 3 years, but after that she’d be available for other suitors.
• A father couldn’t force his daughter to marry if she wanted to become a nun (OK – so if she can’t stand the guy, she can either marry him or become a nun. That’s one helluva choice!)
• The marriage was considered legal if 6 witnesses saw the husband go to bed with the wife. (Think of all the weddings you’ve been to – is this something you’d REALLY want to see?)
• However, this was preceded (thankfully) by a lavish banquet, and the partying lasted for days.
• Divorce was easy to obtain, and this, combined with men being killed at sea or in battle, and women dying in childbirth, meant that a whole lot of weddings took place. (Wow – the Lifetime Channel could have a whole lot of those “Platinum Wedding” shows.)
• Another little bit of trivia? The last Catholic bishop in Iceland, Jon Arason, had 6 known children with his acknowledge mistress. (I won’t bother to comment on this one.)

So yeah, Rorik has a problem. He’s betrothed. There are some real consequences if he breaks the engagement. (My, my. He’s offended a family’s honor. And what’re the consequences for that, in Viking culture?) And he’s considering it because of Adele, our heroine who really can’t stand him.

Hmmm….. what’s your average Viking guy going to do?

Odin’s End – 3rd Place in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest!!!

OK, peeps – more great news!!!

The notice just went out – Odin’s End took third place in its category (Novel with Strong Romantic Elements) in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest 2009, sponsored by the Southern Louisiana Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Just so you know, this contest allowed only the first 5 pages of your story. That’s Chapter 1, parts 1 and 2 here on my blog.

Odin’s End has placed in both of its contests!!! And remember, the verdict is still out on final placement for Indiana’s Golden Opportunity 2009. (Click here to see my earlier ecstatic blogging on finaling in that contest!)

I’ll post the official notice when it’s sent out. Many thanks to my critique partners, Patricia Lewin and Aelle Ables, for kicking me when necessary, and for the patient ladies at the Medieval Fiction Writers group on Yahoo…

And of course, this is yet another victory for Barbarian Hotness!

Writing Tips from Published Authors

OK – peeps… yesterday we had our September meeting of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a chapter of Romance Writers of America. Once again, it was easy to see the benefit of RWA membership.

Victoria Chancellor, an incredibly giving member, fantastic writer, and all-around great human being, presented on “Creating Heroic, Believable Characters.” Victoria has written for Harlequin, Kensington, Harper, and Love Spell (Um, hello? Do you see a pattern of success here?) She gave her presentation despite twisting her ankle on her dog’s bone that very morning. (Bad puppy!!) But see? I just SHOWED you what a fantastic human being she is (I didn’t just tell you!).

Before the meeting began, Jane Graves and Jo Davis conducted a witty, informative Authors’ Panel. They provided crisp, no-hold-barred insights into what helps unpublished authors become published ones.

So here’s just a sampling of tips from published authors with extensive track records. I admit I was hastily scratching notes, so I didn’t quite get who said what – but this BenKenobi wisdom is entirely theirs, not mine, OK?

1. If the character is happy, the reader is NOT.
2. End EVERY scene with a hook.
3. Pacing – it’s nearly impossible to be too FAST. If you get feedback that you have a “pacing” issue, it’s because your story is too SLOW.
4. This is FICTION. But your reader must believe your story either DID happen, or COULD happen. The story must be COMPELLING. The reader DOESN’T CARE if your story is “well-written.”
5. Characters must be more VIVID than we are as people. Even (especially!) when the book opens.
6. A compelling story explodes with CONFLICT. What challenges is your character facing? Are they big enough to carry an entire book?
7. CONFLICT must escalate throughout the book. If it doesn’t, you have a boring (read: “unsellable”) story.
8. Illustrate a character’s traits. Do this through quotes, backstory flashbacks, their physical mannerisms, etc… rather than just saying “They’re compassionate.”
9. Readers must understand or be able to identify with an element of your protagonist. They don’t have to be just like that character. But you – the AUTHOR – should know what character aspect you want the reader to identify with.

No matter what genre you write, these same guidelines apply. Often I find folks who wring their hands over the adverbs that might appear in their work. But why not attach the same importance to making your characters really lust after something, and making them swear at, spit on, or claw the eyes out of their opposition to get it?

Get it?

These authors’ insights are AT LEAST as important as how many adverbs you use. So go forth and write it this way!

From the 13th Warrior to Twinkie Diplomacy – 6 Degrees of Separation???

The 13th Warrior Leads to Twinkie Diplomacy - World Peace Through Twinkies

To prove that truth really is stranger than fiction….

As y’all know, there are a few things I just LUV in life, primarily hunky men, Vikings, writing, and meeting new people all over the world (not necessarily in order, but I assure you that the hunky men DO come first).

So in the last couple of months, I’ve gone from musings about the movie 13th Warrior, to helping out the U.S. State Department with a new strategy called “Twinkie Diplomacy.” Proving that there are, in fact, 6 degrees of separation between anything. So here’s how it went:

• On Facebook, Dawna joins a fan page dedicated to the movie the 13th Warrior (a film that celebrates Barbarian Hotness, and perfectly satirized by Rod Hilton)
• On this page, Dawna gets into a drool-fest with another fan about Barbarian Hotness (whom we agreed was Richard Bremmer’s Skeld.)
• These fans begin discussing additional weighty topics, such as hunky men and (other kinds of) sweeties.
• Dawna desperately tries to describe the merits of Twinkies. She fails. The fans agree to a swapping of “sweeties.” (Sadly, due to shipping costs, boxes will not contain hunky men.)
• Texas-originating box will include Twinkies, which are cultural icons in the U.S. Engineering students in Texas even created a page solely based on Twinkie experiments.
• Twinkie Diplomacy  commences. World Peace Through Twinkies!!!

So there you have it. From The 13th Warrior to Twinkie Diplomacy. Don’t you wish the State Department had thought of it first?

Real Barbarian Hotness… Filed His TEETH?

Barbarian Hotness - But (Oh Darn) Not Reality

 OK, peeps – in my online wanderings, I came across this “oldie” article from National Geographic News.

Y’all know I’m all about Barbarian Hotness (aka “Hunky Viking Men”). So I was more surprised than anybody to find that Viking men filed their teeth (yep, you read it right!) as part of their grooming to render them attractive. Here’s the scoop:

• Viking men filed their teeth into deep, horizontal grooves
• These grooves were likely used to recognize some sort of achievement, like participation in a specific battle, or going on a specific journey
• Sometimes these grooves might have been filled with pigment. (Imagine Barbarian Hotness with some scary-looking jack-o-lantern teeth)

You can read the entire article here at National Geographic News. And there are some cool pics, too. I’m wondering if Viking women really found this hot…. if the men were more marriageable…

So maybe my earlier picture of Flava Flav with his Viking hat and teeth grillz wasn’t so far off….

Barbarian Hotness - Really?

 

 

 

Official Contest Results (Final Placement TBD!!!)

OK, peeps – see below for the official announcement from Indiana’s Golden Opportunity 2009 Contest.

Final placement is being determined by category judges. Again, main thing is that Odin’s End didn’t completely reek!!!

And many thanks to all the members of the Dallas Area Romance Authors who’ve sent me their congratulations for finaling - I’m a firm believer in the power of writers writing together!

_____________________________

2009 IGO FINALISTS
Congratulations to all our finalists!
Winners will be announced approximately October 18th.  Best of luck to all!

*****Permission to forward*******

Historical Finalists
Judge — Jesse Feldman, NAL

The Yard Man Affair by Jill Stone
Love and the Heir by Patricia Patton
The Soldier by Patricia Patton

Mainstream Finalists
Judge — Paige Wheeler, Folio Literary Management

Odin’s End by Dawna Rand
Damaged Goods by Barbara Binns
The End at River’s Bend by Cathryn Pritchard

Paranormal Finalists
Judge — Kerry Donovan, NAL

The Story Queen by Joe Fraser
The Chimera Courtships: In Like a Lion by Karin Shah
Darkness Dawns by Leslie Duvall

Single Title Finalists
Judge — Latoya Smith, Grand Central

Once Upon a Margarita by Heidi Luchterhand
Uncivilized by Meghan Murphy
Chocolate Kisses by Kelli Zeiher Riley

Romantic Suspense Finalists
Judge — Megan McKeever, Pocket Books

Degrees of Death by Linda Lovely
Dangerous Choices by Donna Meier
Trail of Secrets by Greta MacEachern

Young Adult Finalists
Judge — Holly Root, Waxman Literary Agency

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Seaside Sorcery by Laurel Wanrow
The Dead Guy Downstairs by Sheri Adkins