Wrap-Up: Moonlight & Magnolias Conference

In conclusion, I would highly recommend the GRW Conference to fellow writers. When you're constantly sitting at the keyboard, immersed in writing stories, it's easy to get caught up in the solitary writer's life. Attending a conference such as the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference reminds you that you're not alone in the journey toward publication. If you missed the conference, the Georgia Romance Writers have been kind enough to post the entire conference booklet online. Also, they're already gearing up for the 2009 conference, which will feature Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, and Tami Cowden, the author of one of my favorite writing books, Heroes and Heroine: Sixteen Master Archetypes.

New Themes: November

In the interest of keeping things fresh here on the blog, I've decided to start having different themes each month. Because of my research and writing interests, I've decided to devote the month of November to profiling different websites focused on the Regency era. When I first began writing Regency romances, I had a difficult time narrowing my search results when I used Google. Now, every time I find a good website, whether from a friend's tip or Yahoo group suggestion, I bookmark it. In November, I'll be celebrating the best of these websites and providing links and profiles.

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference: Leanne Shawler

One of the most interesting sessions I attended was held by Leanne Shawler and entitled "Let's Get Physical." In this particular workshop, Shawler emphasized the importance of incorporating body language into our writing. Like other instructors, Shawler noted the importance of showing and not telling, and her best tip was to "replace adverbs with descriptive action tags."

Toward the end of the session, Shawler discussed and listed some helpful websites for writers who are interested in learning more about body language and how it can add emotional intensity to you writing. I've included two of the best websites below. If you're interested in finding out more about Shawler's work, please visit her website at http://www.leanneshawler.com.

Highlighted Websites:
Police Body Language: http://www.hodrw.com/cop2.htm
Sexual Tension & Intimacy: http://groups.msn.com/RomanceWritingTips/sexualtension1.msnw

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference: Teresa Medeiros

At the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference, I was excited to hear Teresa Medeiros speak at the luncheon on Saturday. She reminded all the writers in attendance that we participate in a business and should remember that when we approach our careers. For the unpublished writers, she urged them to take pleasure in creating and to remember that without a contract and its attendant responsibility, you can be fearless in what you write. For the published folks, she gave upbeat advice on dealing with critics; I especially liked her quotation from one of VH-1's One Hit wonders: "That's one more hit than you had." Most importantly, Medeiros emphasized to write for yourself, and not for your audience. I had never heard Medeiros speak before, and since she's one of my favorite authors, I'm happy I finally had the chance.

For more photos of Teresa Medeiros and her fellow authors at the conference, please visit her blog here.

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference

Recently, I attended the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference and was impressed by the lineup of authors and workshops. This is the second time I've attended the conference, and I highly recommend it to my fellow writers. Also, readers have an opportunity to meet their favorite authors in person, and I enjoyed hearing the speeches of authors such as Theresa Medeiros and Stephanie Bond. In fact, for writers who are looking for inspiration and/or motivation, I highly recommend visiting Bond's Writers' Pages, which feature articles available at Amazon Shorts (I especially like "Mind Your Own Writing Business, article series 2," which covers how to create a business plan for your writing career). Over the next few weeks, I'll post highlights from the conference.

Just Married!

Some exciting news- my wedding was this past Friday, August 15th. It was a small ceremony in my family's home, and my new husband and I are thrilled to be married. He's been the inspiration for my romance stories, and it's a treat to finally have our happily ever after. I have a lot to celebrate these days, and I anticipate this jubilance will be reflected in my stories and work.

Book Recommendation: The Story of Ernestine

Written in 1765, Marie de Riccoboni's The Story of Ernestine is one of the earliest romantic narratives. At 80 pages, it's a quick read and a charming tale of the love story of the orphaned Ernestine and the wealthy and handsome marquis de Clemengis. Since most of the historical romances I read are set in England, it was a nice departure to read the French setting. You can read the entire first half of the story at Google Books.

Website Tip

Now that I'm taking classes on website development and search engine optimization (how to improve your search rankings on popular search sites such as Google), I'll be sharing simple tricks and tips from time to time. Many authors are now choosing to develop their own websites or enlisting web development firms to create websites for them; either way, it's useful to know some of these ideas.
Today, the tip is how to check which websites are linking to the domain names that you own. All you have to do is to go to a search engine such as AltaVista and type in +link:your domain name. So, if I wanted to check who's linking to my Sara Freeze website, I'd type into the AltaVista box: +link:sarafreeze.com.

Romance Short Story Contest

I received the following press release in my email today and thought it might be of interest to other writers.

MyRomanceStory.com Announces Romance Short Story Contest

Winner will Receive Cash & Prizes

Gathersburg, MD – July 16, 2008 – Arrow Publications, publishers of the online romance novel website MyRomanceStory.com, today announced the "Forever After" Romance Short Story Contest. The contest invites readers to continue one of the site's romance novellas to win cash and prizes.

"You know, something as simple as 'the end' should not get in the way of a good romance," said Patricia White, publisher. "So we thought, why not let our readers continue their favorite novella and let us know what happens during the 'they lived happily forever' after part?"

Contestants are invited to pick any of the MyRomanceStory.com's online romance novellas and write about what happens next in the character's lives. Did they encounter bumps along their road to romance? Did they truly spend the rest of their lives happily together or did the passion fizzle? Were the characters living secret lives we didn't know about in the original novella? Who knows? "We want our readers to tell us," said White.

"This is a wonderful way for someone who would like to become a romance novel writer to get their foot in the door and receive some valuable feedback," said White. "We'll be judging the stories on creativity, faithfulness to the original story and characters, strength and appeal of the romantic elements, and the overall writing."

Submissions are due August 31, 2008, and must be between 2,000-2,500 words. The story line should focus on the challenges the couple face after the novella ends, and what circumstances occur to fortify their love for each other. The writer of the winning story will receive $250 in cash, a $25 gift package, a two-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com, and a written critique by one of the sites' editors on another of the writer's short stories or a sample chapter from a novel.

Cash prizes will also be awarded for the 2nd through 4th place winners and 10 honorable mentions. In addition, visitors to the site can read all qualified submissions and vote for their favorites. The top vote-getter will receive the Reader’s Pick prize valued at $25.

To enter visit www.MyRomanceStory.com/foreverAfter/. All qualifying submissions will be posted on the site.

About MyRomanceStory.com:

MyRomanceStory.com, the premier online romance graphic novella site, is published by Arrow Publications, LLC, a 24-year old Potomac, MD corporation. In addition to graphic novellas, MyRomanceStory.com features lifestyle columns, book reviews, online shopping, a reader blog and quarterly newsletters. The site is enjoyed by millions of readers worldwide.

Article on The Wild Rose Press

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the romance-writing website Roses Colored Glasses, I encourage you to check it out. They have newsletters, writing advice, and workshops, all of which are very inspiring for the new and established writer. This month, their newsletter features Rhonda Penders from the Wild Rose Press. I especially like Penders' advice to actively seek support from other writers. The writing process can be lonely sometimes, and I've found it helpful to network and socialize as much as possible with the writing community.