Can Alpha males play Barbies!?

Good news is I've FINALLY finished the partial of the mss aimed at Modern Heat, which I hope to submit to Richmond very soon!

I've been really lucky to have the delightful Rachel Bailey and the lovely Anna Cleary look over my chapter. Rachel founds some holes in conflict, which I've hopefully now fixed and Anna thought my lovely hero could be more MENACING!!!

I agree! And I've so I've been asking my crit partners, when they read my partial, to look out for parts where my hero is not Alpha enough and parts where I could really make him more so.

Much of chapter two is spent at my hero's family's Christmas party - he DOES NOT want to be there - and in it, he grudgingly enjoys pretend tea with his nieces using the toy tea set he gave them for Christmas. So... my question is, can an Alpha Male, who doesn't want to have kids or really spend much time with his family, swallow his discomfort and play Barbies or drink tea with his nieces? Or does that make him just too adorable!?

Would love to hear your thoughts!!!

:)

Busy, busy, busy...

I've been quiet lately (still surfing the blogs) but trying not to distract myself too much as my writing time is limited and I'm trying to make the most of what time I do have.

Following my R from MH with the offer to sub a new partial, I've been contemplating conflict and brainstorming what are hopefully stronger internal conflicts for my new characters.

I think the conflict I've chosen is emotional. They both think they want hugely different things in life but a spanner will be thrown in the works, when life chooses an alternate direction for both of them.

Brainstorming this book has made me realise even more so how generous and lovely the romance community is. My beautiful CPs are being so giving with their wisdom, the Bootcamp group I'm a part of has also offered their thoughts and some published author friends have gone beyond the call of duty!

So... I've penned the first chap and am almost finished chapter two. If I'm a little quiet it's because I'm writing and rewriting like crazy in an aim to get my new partial off to M&B by the beginning of November.

It's a deadline... and I'm sticking to it!!

Importance of writing a pearler of a first page!

Thanks to a chat with a lovely writing buddy, I've been pondering the importance of the first page - especially in a category novel where the wc is VERY TIGHT.

This friend, who will soon be published, pointed out that most editors want the conflict CLEAR as MUD as early as THE FIRST PAGE!!

I KNOW!! I almost died? Surely not!!

So...I looked again at the first page of my new mss and found I've introduced the heroine but aside from that she's had issues with a guy called Tim, is looking forward to heading home and doesn't regard the wealthy workers in the offices above very highly, we don't have any real insight on that first page as to what her conflcits will be.

I think my problem may be that I've started the story in the wrong place because for once I think I've got their conflicts fairly developed in my mind.

Anyway... just thought I'd let you know what I'm up too and why the word count isn't shooting up on the side. I'm currently doing lots of research of stellar first pages and contemplating whether I need a totally NEW start to my story!

Go have a look at some of the first pages of your fave category romances!! How much is given away in as little as a few paras?!

Another BIG R!!!

That's right... I finally heard from M&B about the partial I had subbed there - 'Red-Hot Road Trip' and I got a BIG FAT no!! But as I said the rejection letter was nice and juicy (FAT) and there were a lot of positives once I looked past the thanks but no thanks.

They said my style and voice show a great deal of potential for their Modern Heat line and that my characters have spark and I have a wonderful way with dialogue :)

Again the main mss concern was conflicts!! (cue lots of cursing from moi!)

They've asked me to put this mss to one side for now but I can already see ways to improve it ONCE I'm published and may be able to give it a second chance! Power of positive thinking at play here.

The best part? They said that my writing continues to be of a promisingly high standard and they want to see something else. I'm still able to sub directly to an editor, which is a HUGE relief as I was terrified I might have been slung back to the slush pile.

So it's back to the drawing board.

I had planned on entering the new Presents/Modern Heat writing contest but the editor I'm working with has told me to sub directly to her instead. I'd already written a chapter and synopsis for the contest and had tried to think a lot more about character and that elusive emotional conflict...

The plan now is to work on my characters even more - doing a fair bit of pre-writing about their backgrounds, beliefs, etc - and then finish the partial to sub.

So... while I'm playing with my Maverick Millionaire and his Christmas Fairy, I'm curious... what do YOU do to really get to know your characters!

I also finally succombed and bought Lucy King's debut as an ebook, cos I thought reading the most recently debuted MH author might help me get an idea of what they're actually looking for. CAn't wait to read it... even if I have to do so on my puter :)

Yes... I'm still ALIVE

Yes... I'm still ALIVE but I think I'm riding some sort of emotional rollercoaster with my writing.

I've been TRYING (being the operative word) to write OHHN. One moment I'm stoked with it and start writing lots and the next I'm stumped and can't write more than two words. I think my problem is that there's something inherently wrong with the story. I REALLY don't wanna go back to the drawing board but at the same time, I don't wanna waste any more time on a story that is FATALLY flawed and I fear this one is!

After rereading an email from a writing friend, I suddenly realised that if I stripped away the complications my heroine has with her dependent mother, the long-distance barrier that will be between my h&H when she returns home and his playboy reputation, there's absolutely nothing stopping them from jumping into bed and/or having a HEA. There's no internal BELIEF about themselves that is stopping them from committing to the other. ARGH!! So first I had NO CONFLICT and now it's ALL external. Not doing too well here Rach!

So what do I do?! I've written 44k of a Superromance targetted novel (because until I hear back from the editor at Modern Heat, I was trying my hand at something different) and I think it has the bare bones of potential but it's gonna need a complete rehaul.

Do I scrap the lot and start afresh? Or try weave in?! Guess it's back to the drawing board.

Sorry for my rambles but I thought if I wrote a blog post, I'd at least have written something today and that's gotta be better than all the wallowing, I'm currently doing :)

So...

I didn't win the Valerie Parv Award. Piqued at the post by Kylie Short who came first AND third and my lovely CP Melissa Smith who came second.

Congrats to both of you!!! I came fourth btw (out of six), which is the same I came in this same contest in 2007! I'm determined to climb that ladder next year :)

Also want to shout a HUGE congrats to my lovely CP Becca J Heath for coming a BRILLIANT second in the RWA Emerald (full mss) Award. Both of us are eagerly awaiting the final judges comments.

Thanks to everyone who left me good luck wishes!!

Tonight's the night...

I'm in the mood!! Mood for drinking wine and hanging out on email/Twitter to follow the Romance Writers of Australia Awards night.

I'm up for the Valerie Parv Award (of which the prize is a year's mentorship with bestselling author of romance, STs and how-to craft books) and one of my dear writing buddies Bec is up for the Emerald (which is a full manuscript contest).

I kinda feel like I've been nominated for a Logie or an Oscar and can't be there to almost wet my pants with fear/nerves/excitment as I await the annoucement. The competition is VERY tough and I may not even place (there are six finalists) but hey, I'm stoked whatever happens cos the mss that finalled is close to my heart!!!

So... what are you doing tonight?

GOOD LUCK Bec!! And good luck to my other CP Melissa Smith, who although not in blogland is also a contender for the VPA. If I don't win... she better :)