Getting 'The Call'

It's been a roller coaster ride of a spring, and I'm liking it!  

Last Friday, June 3rd, Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency called me and offered me representation!

Laura said she was up until 4:00 in the morning reading my manuscript so she had me to blame for her sleepless day. Admittedly, I felt a pang of guilt at keeping her awake, but it was fleeting. I mean, honestly, what writer doesn't want to keep a reader awake to all hours of the night turning those pages? Isn't that the goal?  Touchdown!  

So now my writing journey is really beginning.  Next week, along with about 2,500 others, I am attending RWA's 31st Annual Romance Writer's Conference, Bright Light Big Stories in New York City!  So exciting.  I received my invitation to a reception to honor the Golden Heart Finalists, and it looked like a mini wedding invitation -- so of course, I had to buy another dress!

I can't believe I will be lifting a glass of champagne surrounded by the likes of big name authors like Nora Roberts, Cathy Maxwell, Eloise James, Loretta Chase, Madeline Hunter and so many talented others...  And Meg Cabot is hosting the Golden Heart® Awards ceremony on Friday, July 1st. It just gets better and better.

I will take lots of pictures, hopefully without my jaw hanging open.... some videos, hopefully without my tripping over my heels.... and remind myself to have fun!

I'm excited and nervous, but most of all I can't wait!

Nationals here I come!


  

Two Creative Muses

I'm really excited about being a RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist.  I love to write and have been compiling stories all my life. I completed my first serious manuscript in junior high and titled it The Last Ten Days of My Life. I couldn't understand why my mother didn't want to read it...


As much as I was spinning stories in my head and jotting them down, I also had a second love -- art.  Sometimes my pencil went to paper and a heroine's journey came alive, while at other times, pencil went to paper and I captured their world in vivid detail. I've always been an amateur artist, taking numerous classes and dabbling in several mediums from graphite to charcoal, pastels, and pen and ink. Then I discovered Winslow Homer's paintings and fell in love with watercolor.

I love the beauty of the flowing, merging washes. I love its transparency. I love how it can be extremely detailed like some of Edward Hopper's works or incredibly loose like those of Maurice Prendergast. I love the wet, luminous qualities of J.M.W. Turner's London sunsets and the dry, scraped, churning seas by Winslow Homer.

I've studied under wonderful New England watercolor artists such as Nancy Walton http://www.jackjonesart.com/artisthomepage.cfm?AcctNumber=238 and Andrew Kusmin www.kusminsarts.com .  I am presently doing a five week workshop taught by Marla Greenfield http:/marlagreenfield.com who was featured in the Winter edition of American Artist Watercolor. I'm learning to do layered glazes and loving it!

Through the years, I've discovered a lot of similarities between the two arts.  In writing, a story comes alive through conflict. In art, the contrasts of lights and darks make a painting more vibrant. Both need good composition with a compelling subject matter.  While one can revise a manuscript forever, it's also hard to know when painting is quite finished. Both can become overworked.  While sharp dialogue makes the characters jump off the page, adding a shadow to a shape can make it spring from the canvas. Writers struggle to find their voice, artists strive to get a signature, something that makes their work recognizable.  


Alas, in both mediums, one can get blocked.  So when my writing muse is stubbornly silent, I pick up brush and palette and hope to release my creative outlet there. When the blank canvas defeats me, I turn to writing.  If both outlets fail me, I pick up a good book and dive into another love!

Inspiration for Changing Fortunes

I love historical romance because while I want a romantic happily-ever-after, I enjoy learning about the time period in which the book was set.  Whether it's learning about how ships were built in the 19th century or the strict rules of social etiquette during the Victorian era, I love books that weave small kernels of historical facts into the story (without giving a tutorial information dump).  


Changing Fortunes was inspired by Lord Alfred Tennyson's infamous poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade.  It fascinated me that the poem glorified a battle that was a colossal failure.  The men who rode were embarking on a suicidal charge, as Tennyson eloquently laments 'into the Valley of Death Rode the six hundred'.  I started wondering about those men and what the survivors might have felt when so many of their comrades had died in battle.  These men lived in a period before post traumatic stress was identified.  Thus my hero, Garrett Sinclair, the Earl of Kendall was born.  I then introduced Lady Alexandra Langdon, a practical heroine who is strong enough to combat Garrett's demons.  Below is a book blurb and a short excerpt.

Changing Fortunes is the story of Garrett Sinclair, the Earl of Kendall who is a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Suffering from post-traumatic stress and survivor guilt, he has spent the last six months trying to drink himself to death. It is not until he learns of a plot to kill him, that he is surprised to discover he wishes to live.

The only person holding clues to the men plotting his murder is Lady Alexandra Langdon, who recently lost her fortune to Garrett in hand of cards. While preferring to see the murderous plot succeed and Garrett six-feet under, Alexandra reluctantly agrees to assist Garrett in identifying his assassins. If the two don't kill each other first, Garrett might survive.

Despite these obstacles threatening to tear them apart, the two are drawn together when Alexandra assists Garrett with his post-traumatic stress and Garrett begins to unravel the secrets to Alexandra's past. Defenses are lowered, hearts are opened, and they find that their life together is worth fighting for.

Changing Fortunes Excerpt:

Chapter One

London, England 1855

         Sometimes a woman runs out of choices.

         Alexandra Langdon glowered at the door, willing herself to turn its brass knob.  She didn't belong inside the chamber.  She risked discovery, expulsion and scandal.  Her stomach growled and reminded her why she was entering anyway.  What did the pampered heirs inside their exclusive chamber know about hunger?  The hollow, empty rumble of it.  The slow insidious gnaw of it.  She had experienced it for so long, it was like a familiar adversary.  One she vowed to conquer.

        That is, if she could open the damn door and cross the forbidden threshold.

        There was money to be had inside the gentlemen's card room.  The Duke of Hammond hosted the grandest balls of the season.  The cream of society attended, and while wives and debutants danced the night away, husbands and bachelors sought refuge behind those doors. Rich men with fortunes to win or lose at the turn of a card.  Alex just needed to possess the winning hand -- and she would.

        Her father had given her a gift and she planned to use it.  It was the only thing he had given her.  For this, she loved and hated him.

        She shook her head, wiped her clammy hands down her black trousers, and for the third time in her life, crossed into forbidden territory.

The Golden Heart

On Friday, March 25th, my life changed -- or rather, my writing career. I learned that my manuscript, Changing Fortunes, is a Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® Finalist in the Historical Romance Category.

I had a Sally Field moment of, 'they like me, they really like me' -- finally. Then I hung up the phone and screamed loud enough to have my dog cowering.  Okay, before I hung up, I might have also screamed to the board member who called me that she had made my day and something about never winning anything...  It wasn't a Sally Field moment, but it was close.

It's an incredible honor to be a finalist in such a prestigious contest.  I feel like my writing has been riding a wave that has finally crested.

I still might get knocked around on this journey to publication, but for today, I'm so enjoying the ride.