You Write What?

Romance, baby.  With a capital “R.”

Why?

Because in romance, the good guys win – all the time.  It’s what separates romance from love stories.  Only bad guys die in a romance.  Romance stories always have an emotionally satisfying end.  After three or four hundred pages of the hero and heroine fighting the odds–and each other–they wind up living “happily ever after.”

And then of course there’s the sex.  With a capital “S.” And that can be pretty darn satisfying, too.  On several levels.  

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Confessions of a “man” in romance, 2010 Golden Heart Finalist Kenneth Zak:

 Golden Heartfelt thanks Elisa for my first ever guest-blog invitation.  Talk about trying to squeeze into ruby slippers, well here it goes.  I’m a Vespa-driving poet, writer, surfer, swimmer, attorney from San Diego, California.

But a man in romance you ask?  Well, I was haunted by a poet contemplating suicide and a woman searching for eternal love and realized they were plodding along opposite ends of the same path.  Realizing nothing more than a breath separated the two, poetry and prose poured into a tale filled with mystical sea turtles, mermaids, sunken treasure and the young woman’s search for the reclusive poet, his muse and the myth of eternal love, culminating in The Poet’s Secret, 2010 RWA Golden Heart Finalist (romantic suspense).

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Midwest Fiction Writers, the Twin Cities-based chapter of The Romance Writers of America, had a stellar contest showing this year, with two members (Helen Brenna and Kathleen Eagle) being nominated for RITAs, and five – count ‘em, FIVE – members being named as Golden Heart finalists.

Four-time Golden Heart nominee Greta MacEachern, nominated in the Romantic Suspense category for Dangerous Summer, couldn’t be with us today (hi, Greta!), but Minnesota’s other four Unsinkables are here for a round table chat! (more…)

Thank you for the wonderful welcome and for this opportunity to chat a bit on your Free-For-All-Friday.  The warmth and fellowship of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood is one of the terrific surprises that came with being a Golden Heart Finalist this year.

Before I jump to today’s discussion topic, I thought I’d briefly introduce myself.  I write contemporary and historical tales, and have recently completed The Perfect Adventure, a medieval paranormal romance for which I’m eagerly seeking a publisher.

When I’m not writing or earning my keep as a busy executive assistant, I travel as much as budget and time will allow, snap photographic masterpieces prominently displayed in my mother’s home, and read a multitude of steamy romance novels.  My loves in life include living in Manhattan, my two precocious cats, tall black boots, dangly earrings, cabs on rainy days, eggs Benedict drenched in hollandaise, and rich velvety dark chocolate. (more…)

Jen’s  To Do List for Today

1. 2. Prep notes for a.m. meeting with supervisor

2. 3. Review documentation for new offshore vendor

3. 4. Call vet

**10 5.1. Buy new coffee maker

5. Try on clothes for Nationals (note to self: GH finalists should not dress like they don’t own a mirror!)

6. Pick up Rx from pharmacy

7. Finish final edits for Trail of the Tudor Blue

8. Update website

9. Prep tomorrow’s To Do list

****1.  10. Write ****

Oh, and somewhere in there I need to get some laundry done. And pay my Lord and Taylor bill.

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Today’s Top Ten List

Hi Rubies and fellow Unsinkables. It’s a huge treat to be guest blogging at the Sisterhood today. I really do love this site, so I thank you for the invitation.

The cliché topic we’ve been asked to address as new Golden Heart® finalists is how the experience has affected us. I’ve avoided that subject until, recently, I got to wondering how we GHers are perceived by the rest of the world, and what lessons I’ve learned from the things they see. So, in homage to a famous late night talk show host, Hi-ho Girls and Boy!—here in my hand is today’s top ten list:  The Top Ten ways you know your neighbor (or friend) has been named a Golden Heart® finalist.

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Young adult author Erica O’Rourke reads anything she can get her hands on – including cereal boxes and train schedules. But she writes what she loves: dark urban fantasy about girls who fall for boys they shouldn’t, learn to use their loud voices, and take control of their fate.  She likes the Oxford comma, anything ginger-flavored, driving stick shift, and flawed characters. Whenever possible, she avoids iceberg lettuce, live fish, algebra, and emoticons. Erica lives outside of Chicago with her husband, three daughters, and two very, very bad cats. To learn more about her, including her quest to create the perfect fish taco, you can visit her website, www.ericaorourke.com or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Erica_ORourke.

Erica’s Golden Heart manuscript, UNCHOSEN, is a finalist in the Young Adult category.

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Getting the Golden Heart News – Office Style

Normally, I don’t check voice mail between meetings, but it was GH notification day.  I had critiqued Linda Lovely’s GH entry and knew my friend had a real shot at being a finalist, so when the flashing light beckoned, I suspected she had great news and keyed in my passcode.

“This is Sharon Sala…”

My “YIPPPPEEE” probably woke the bats in the Carlsbad Caverns.  I mean, Sharon is one of my favorite authors, so I was entitled to act like a teenager at a Springsteen concert, right?

(Did the Springsteen reference reveal my age?  Eh….I meant at an Usher concert.)

In the process of doing pirouettes in my office chair, I knocked over my coffee cup.  And tie-dyed my favorite blazer with brown caffeine.  Fortunately, I didn’t scorch any body parts because the stale Java had cooled while I’d tried to stay awake in meeting number one. Unfortunately, my jacket was a pale ecru.  I completed my new look by running fingers through my hair, and dislodging the casual topknot I’d spent a half-hour arranging.

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Going for Gold

What was your reaction when you found out you were a Golden Heart finalist?

Friday, 26th March 2010 is a day I’ll always remember. It was the day I almost hung up on the woman from RWA who rang to tell me I was a Golden Heart finalist. Yep, I’d been milliseconds from regret, heartache and idiocy. (more…)

The Healer, by Elisabeth Burke

In 1866, prejudice and postwar violence plague the foothills of southwestern Missouri. Healing seems a long way off.

Dr. Emily Sanders arrives in Buffalo Creek intent on being recognized as a capable doctor in her own right.  Having served in the shadow of an overly controlling husband, the widowed Emily has no desire to depend on a man for anything ever again.  From the start, she faces a host of setbacks in a community torn apart by war and suspicious of outsiders.  To her dismay, she must rely on a man to smooth her way—a man who once deceived her but now wants to woo her.

Jay Parker, a half-breed farmer who dreamt of bigger things, returned from war lame and impoverished.  Facing years of back taxes and a trumped-up robbery charge, he’s nevertheless determined to save the family farm to make up for past mistakes.  Though the chips are stacked against him, Jay doesn’t know the meaning of quit.  The way he sees it, if he can win a woman like Emily he can accomplish anything.  However, he must first convince her he isn’t a liar and a thief.

Against all odds, passion blooms between these two mismatched lovers as they struggle to achieve their ambitions in the face of overwhelming odds.  But their greatest challenge comes when Emily receives the opportunity of a lifetime and must make a choice between the two great loves of her life—her husband or her calling.

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