I just found out my early Victorian romance The Spy Who Loved Me is a finalist in the Historical category of the Chicago North Fire and Ice Contest.  Yippee!!Fortitude.  Resilience.  Rebirth.                  Oh, and this picture is from my garden.  There is something alive under there after all!!

Harlequin Desire author Jules Bennett gave an awesome workshop about deep point of view (POV) for those of us who attended the Cleveland Rocks Romance Conference this past weekend.  Jules gave me permission to post her helpful pointers about writing deep POV and ramping up the emotional stakes in your own work:Before you begin writing, imagine yourself [...]

I have been discovering new authors (well, actually, famous authors who are new to me)--ones who are going to be a part of the Jane Austen anthology coming out this fall by Ballantine books.  I had the great pleasure of reading Very Valentine, Adriana Trigiani's 2009 book about a woman's quest for self discovery in [...]

Do you spend hours every day sitting down at the screen typing away?  Ask yourself these questions to see if you're stressing your body by not doing it properly!Do your ears line up with your shoulders and hips (like they should if you are sitting up straight)?Is the top of your screen at forehead level?  (hard to [...]

"...you never know what you're gonna get."  Forrest Gump was right.  And it looks like this year, I didn't get a Golden Heart final, nor did some of my very talented friends. But for those who did, Congratulations!   You were recognized for your talent and determination, and you earned it!The GH lists are not quite complete, [...]

It's the week we've all been waiting for!  Doesn't last November, when we cautiously and optimistically FedEx'd our bulging packages full of manuscript copies and binder clips goodbye on the crisp autumn breeze, seem SO long ago?On Friday, the calls go out from RWA to the winners of the Golden Heart Contest for unpublished writers.  I'm [...]