Found out yesterday I won the First Impressions Contest #2, a pre-RWNZ conference contest. Was pretty damn pleased, as you can probably guess. The past month has been vile so I was dreading to hear the final placings. The last contest I lucked out, coming fifth, and didn’t receive a request which made me sad. To be fair, although the chapter was strong – I STILL think it was – the scenario/conflict it was very, very Presents and probably not different enough to warrant asking for more. My opinion entirely of course.

This other contest though, I didn’t want to know where I’d come, certain it was last. But no. As well as coming first, I have also been asked for a partial and synopsis. Plus I get to talk through the idea with Lucy Gilmour at the conference. So big yays for me!! Especially as they really liked a small twist I’d put in with the heroine. She’s a little bit different. I wondered if it was too much but no, apparently not. Now I just hope I can pull it off.

But with a big win comes also big fear. Did this last year with the High Five win and TOTALLY ballsed up my partial.

However, my writing is so much better than it was at that point last year. I have learned a hell of a lot and one thing is for sure, I will not be making the same mistakes again. Of course I may make different ones but I guess that’s another story…

Anyway, bubbles all round for everyone!

I’m even more pleased because the kind of writing I fluked for the High Five, I put consciously, using all I’ve learned about conflict and character, into this story. That didn’t mean I expected it to come anywhere. The judges could easily have hated my story and my characters no matter how well they were written. But they certainly liked it enough to give it some good scores and I’m pretty damn thrilled about it.

The story isn’t a Riva story, it’s a Presents/Modern, which made it a nice change for me. Anyway, have no idea how the final judging will go, suffice to say that I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got already.

Some wise people have told me to celebrate any success in this tough industry, so here’s what I’m doing – Hoo is passing round some vintage Krug on a silver tray…please, help yourself. And while you’re doing it, share some successes you’ve had lately. It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, let me know so I can raise a glass!

Okay, okay, enough waxing lyrical. What’s the news? Well, I got a nice early Christmas present in the shape of:

WINNING THE HIGH FIVE CONTEST!!!

But that is not all, no, that is not all.

I GOT A REQUEST!!!

Ahem.

Sorry for the shouting but 2010 has been, quite frankly, a b*tch writing-wise so this is a very nice way to end it. Yep, it was for the Hammer Pants ms (for which I will now have to reinstate the beginning that I cut!), the very same one wherein I emasculated my bad boy hero in a bid to make him likeable. Grrr. Naughy Jackie. *slaps wrist*

Anyway, the request is for three chapters and a synopsis and once I send that off, plus my SYTYCW chapter, I will have THREE subs in.

Yes, I am a greedy woman. It could, of course, all come tumbling down and I shall be once more buried under a pile of rejections, but just for now, for this week, I am going to do an MC Hammer dance in celebration.

And in fact, if you look closely at the video below, I’m sure you’ll see me somewhere in there. I’m the one in the gold pants.

I also would like to say big congrats to Rach and Jo for finalling too. You both rock!

One last thing. I want you all to go along immediately to check out brand new Riva author Aimee Carson’s blog. She’s awesome!

Anyway, the High Five consists of the first five pages of an ms (no synopsis – guess why I entered??) so I’m not sure if that’s enough to warrant a request but I would be very happy if so. There is one problem with a request however. I have changed the beginning of the story completely since I sent off the entry! Argh!! Not sure whether to continue with it the way it is now or not.

Oh well, will wait and see what happens. In the meantime there’s my SYTYCW submission which I’m tearing my hair over since it’s a little something different, plus the wait on my MH chapter and synopsis. Crossing fingers that perhaps the rollercoaster will continue its upward climb…

How’s the rollercoaster doing for everyone else?

PS. Big congrats also to my lovely CP Rach and my lovely blog friend Jo Dixon who also finalled.

I pretty much just wanted to remind everyone that a contest win doesn’t automatically equal publication. Nor does a contest placing. If it did, I’d be published by now. All a contest is, is a faster-than-normal submission process. If you’d worked hard on your chapter and synopsis, and subbed them the normal way, the response you would get would be exactly the same. Some will get requests and some will get rejections.
Oh, but you say, didn’t the winners get an editor for a year? That’s different from the normal sub process. Well, actually no it’s not any different. Because it’s been a year since my contest placing and I am still working with an editor. And I was working with an editor before my placing too so me getting runner up in Feel the Heat really had nothing to do with it. It got a manuscript seen faster probably but that’s it. They’re not going to publish me because I got somewhere in a contest, they’re going to publish me because I can write a book they want to publish. I know, it’s all very well for me to say that but if you don’t take my word for it, take Maisey’s. She submitted through the slush, spent a year working with an editor, and sold. That’s the prize right there, no contest required.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t need a contest placing to win the prize. If the editors see potential, they’ll want to see more of what you have. And people always forget that even when you do get to have that wonderful feedback, it’s not the end. No, it’s just the beginning of how hard you need to work. Winning an editor for a year, whether through the slush or the contest, means a year of slogging your guts out. And even when you do slog, you may not be published. Because that last part – writing a publishable book – is all dependent on you, your ability to take criticism and your skill as a writer to apply it to your manuscript, not a contest placing.

No part of this process is easy. Contests are great ways to polish up something for a deadline and get a response to a submission quickly. But they are not the only way. Keep submitting. That’s all you can do.

1. Have no internal conflict.
That doesn’t mean car chases and villains. Internal conflict is what keeps your h&h from their HEA if they met in bar one night. And it can’t be just because he’s a Montague and she’s a Capulet – that’s external conflict people. If you have to introduce a scheming mother-in-law to keep them apart then your conflict isn’t strong enough.

2. Have your hero be the shy, easy-going type.
Sorry guys, he may be sweet but that ain’t alpha. And alpha is what goes in Presents/Modern.

3. Have as many sub-characters as possible.
You love the heroine’s best friend, her wise-cracking husband and their three adorable children. But devoting a whole chapter to them isn’t a good idea.

4. Include vampires and werewolves.
I know, you really liked Twilight, but paranormal isn’t where Modern/Modern Heat is at, even if you think it should be. Remember the guidelines.

5. Force your characters to act the way you want them to for the purposes of the plot.
I’ve been there and it ain’t pretty. You may want your hero to eat some bad cheese so that he gets sick and the heroine has to look after him, but you do have to ask yourself: does he even like cheese? And if not, why not? These are character driven which means you let the characters act they way they want. So go on, let them have their head!

6. Have things happen to your characters rather than have your characters make decisions and act on them.
A fire might make your hero rescue the heroine after their black moment but what would have happened if there hadn’t been a fire? Would he have made up with her anyway? What decision would he have made if you hadn’t cruelly sent him into the fire? Again, character driven.

7. Have your hero enter the story in chapter 2.
If that’s the case, then shouldn’t that be chapter 1? Don’t make us wait! He’s the reason we’re reading it – at least he’s the reason I’m reading it.

8. Make your characters act in seemingly random ways.
Such as your heroine suddenly kissing the hero whereas up till now, she hates his guts. Where is her motivation? Why would she do that?

9. Have either or both of your h&h be drug addicted alcoholics.
This may provide heaps of conflict but not much in the way of sympathy. Your h&h must be sympathetic and though drug addiction and alcoholism are real issues, they’re probably a little too real for category romance.

10. And most important, you definitely won’t win if you don’t enter.

Good luck!

Seeing as how I was a runner up in the previous comp and given what I’ve learned since, thought I’d post a few bits of advice for those keen to enter.

• The key to the romance is the conflict, especially internal conflict. To work out your internal conflict, put the h&h in a room with no one else, no car chases or kidnaps, and ask yourself why can’t they be together right now? It must be something inside the characters, their thoughts, feelings, and experiences that make them think they cannot be together. And their reasons must be strong. It can’t just because the heroine doesn’t like rich men or the fact that he’s arrogant. Why doesn’t she like rich men? Why doesn’t she like arrogance?
• Your readers will live through your heroine so make her someone that everyone can imagine being. Someone that everyone can relate to. Stay away from stereotypes and extremes of behaviour.
• Stick to the guidelines (ie don’t add paranormal elements to what is obviously not a paranormal line).
• Read as many Modern/Modern Heat as you can get your hands on.
• Remember the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid. Which means don’t overcomplicate your plot with intricate suspense elements, lots of secondary characters, or subplots. Keep the focus on the h&h and their conflict.
• These are short romances so the hero must appear – ideally – in the first page or two, and he must be alpha. The guidelines for the MH hero have changed a bit – he’s more alpha than he used to be so keep that in mind.

No doubt lots of published authors will be posting advice too so keep an eye on the blogs of your favourites to pick up some great tips. I Heart Presents will have lots of sage advice for your entries as well.

I posted some of the editorial feedback I received from my competition entry last year on my blog so do feel free to look through the blog archives if you want to see what they told me about mine. And why it wasn’t successful! I think the entry is still up on the I Heart Presents site in the archives somewhere (they didn’t put it up until this year – January I think), so it may be useful to read it and then look at the feedback they posted afterward (this is not a subtle attempt to get people to read my writing by the way, more a look at what they liked and what they didn’t).

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m not published but like I said, I’ve learned a great deal since last year’s competition so I may be able to help. The final caveat though is that all of this is my own opinion – the one that really counts is the editors.

Good luck everyone!

So, I’m feeling much better about waiting on Anna to get back to me, although I had a wobbly moment on Saturday when I found out I didn’t final in a contest I had high hopes of. It’s funny how the fact of not finalling suddenly made me doubt my writing and doubt the stories I had entered. Maybe they were boring? Maybe I’m not as good as I think I am? Maybe I was arrogant in thinking I would final in the first place? Sigh. Whatever, it’s a good lesson in humility and just goes to show that even when you think you’re doing quite well, there will always be people who don’t agree.
It actually got me thinking that that it won’t be any easier if I’m published. You’ll always be worrying about whether the editor likes your next book, whether anyone will buy it, whether they’ll like it, and if they don’t like it, how to cope with bad reviews. Scary stuff. Obviously I need to start growing a thicker skin.
That wasn’t a blatant play for sympathy, by the way, merely a little sulk. I’m over it now – retail therapy courtesy of Great Uncle Visa certainly helped, as did large amounts of chocolate.

Speaking of contests, I just wanted to say a big woohoo to Rach! She finalled in the Valerie Parv and the Great Beginnings contest! That girl’s got talent and if she doesn’t sell soon, I’ll eat my cotton socks. WTG, Rach.

Oh, and you know I mentioned I computer game I bought for my birthday? Well, it’s called The Sims 3 and it’s kind of like a real life simulator. You manage the lives of virtual people. The reason I’m telling you this is that in the game, you can make your little people become writers and make money by selling books. And do you know which books make the most money in the game? Romance books!! If only that were as easy in real life…