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.

New Posts

I apologize for the lapse in making new posts. Some good news on the personal front has kept me busy for the past few months: I'm engaged! It's an exciting time, especially since I'm still working on two joint educational ventures: an MS in Information Studies (emphasis: Web Design and Instructional Technolgoy) and a Ph.D. in English (emphasis: Regency Women Writers). I'm in the process of creating a new website to showcase my research on the Regency era and on its women writers, in particular. So, I'll be sharing a lot of different news over the next few months. At this point, I'm half-way done with a new story, which will be historical-paranormal, though no time-travel this time.

Call for People: The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)

Exciting news: the scholars behind the educational and entertaining blog Teach Me Tonight are looking for volunteers to help out on with the creation of a new society and new journal. I've copied and pasted the information below:

Teach Me Tonight: IASPR and JRPS
This is a Call For People, rather than a Call For Papers. It is time for an academic society for the study of popular romance fiction, with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereunto, like a journal and conferences. So we have decided to start one! "We" being myself, Eric Selinger, and a few other people who are already interested in being involved.

The society will be called The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR) and the journal will be an online, open-source journal called The Journal of Popular Romance Studies (JPRS).

So, we're looking for people who might be interested in helping us build these institutions. Do you want to get in on the ground floor? Do you already have experience in the hierarchy of an academic organization or with an academic journal that you'd love to share with us, even if you don't want to be involved in the day-to-day aspects of running either? Please let us know! For minimum involvement, for example, we're going to need people to act as peer reviewers for the journal, so please let us know your specific area of interest in romance novels (paranormals? inspirationals? Regencies? heroes? romances published in the 1950s?). For maximum involvement, we're going to need journal editors and IASPR board members. We especially need the input of people who might have done any of this before, so you can at least tell us what to avoid! :)

For now, the contact person for both the society and the journal is myself, Sarah Frantz. Comment here with a way to contact you and I'll email you post-haste. (Or you can contact me at my Gmail account, which is my full first and last names as one word.)

Let me know what you're interested in doing (A highly-valued affinity for numbers? You could be Treasurer! Technical Know-how? We need Web Gurus! Organization? We need a Membership Chairperson!). Or if you don't know specifically what you might be able to contribute, but are really interested in being a part of the process, let us know that, too! We promise, we'll find a use for you.

Romance Writing Contest

Unfortunately, I've been sick for over a week now; hence the delay in writing new posts. In the meantime, however, I thought some folks may be interested in this new writing contest sponsored by MyRomanceStory.com.

“Forever After”
Romance Short Story Contest

Don’t let something as simple as “The End” get in the way of a good romance.

MyRomanceStory.com is holding a romance fiction short story writing contest from March 24, 2008 to August 31, 2008. Winners will be announced in September 2008.

Select one of MyRomanceStory.com’s romance novellas and write about what happens when happily Forever After begins. Each of our stories has its passionate ups and frustrating downs. So select the hero and heroine from your favorite novella and tell us how their love deepens and their relationship is cemented in the Forever After of their story.

How it works: Submit your follow-up to one of our novellas as a 2,000 to 2,500 word short story using our online submission form. (Submissions are limited to no more than two per entrant.) The novella can be chosen from one of our free stories, member’s stories or one of the stories from our Buy E-Books section. You can find our novellas online at MyRomanceStory.com, many can be read for free, so no purchase is necessary. Your submission should focus on the challenges the couple face after our novella ends and what circumstances occur to fortify their love for each other.

Our editors will judge all qualifying submissions on:

1. creativity
2. faithfulness to the original story and characters
3. strength and appeal of romantic elements
4. overall writing.

The contest is open to all U.S. citizens who are 18 years of age or older by the end of the day on August 30, 2008. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2008. Prizes will be awarded during the week of September 30, 2008.

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Prizes

1st Place: $250 in cash a gift package valued at $25 a two-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com plus a written critique by one of our editors on one of your other short stories or a sample chapter from a novel (no more than 5,000 words).
2nd Place: $200 in cash a one-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com a MyRomanceStory.com tote bag	3rd Place: $150 in cash a one-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com a MyRomanceStory.com tote bag
4th Place: $100 in cash a one-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com a MyRomanceStory.com tote bag	10 Honorable Mentions (each will receive): $50 in cash a one-year subscription to MyRomanceStory.com a MyRomanceStory.com tote bag

All qualifying submissions will be posted on MyRomanceStory.com, so readers can vote for their favorite romance short story. The top vote getter will receive the Readers’ Favorite Prize. (Only one vote per person a day). Submissions can be awarded one of the above prizes and the Reader’s Favorite.

Reader’s Favorite:

• a gift package valued at $25

See MyRomanceStory.com for
a complete list of Terms of the Contest

Southern Lights Conference- Recap 1

The First Coast Romance Writers Southern Lights Conference officially ended today, and it was a well-organized, rewarding event for writers at all stages of their careers. I just arrived home a few hours ago and am in the process of sorting through all my books and materials. Over the next week, I plan to post information and news I learned during the course of the conference. Listening to Suzanne Brockmann and attending the various workshops was definitely a treat, and I learned a lot over the two days. Also, visiting the book signing was a highlight of the weekend, given the wide variety of books and authors.

For now, I will post the major points from the Q & A Session with Suzanne Brockmann. Brockmann started with some insights into her drafting process, stating that she likes to set down 8 pages outlines before sitting down to write. However, she emphasized that "writing is so organic- it has to work for you." She also reminded authors that something has to happen in each scene to propel the story. She cautioned writers that we are currently in a 'white knuckle' period when agents/editors are more hesitant to take risks on unusual plot lines and/or characters. Brockmann then noted that authors should write what they want, and their passion will reflect on the pages. In addition, she stated that when she was first starting out, she would take note of her favorite authors and observe the types of books they first wrote and how long it took for them to achieve success. Finally, she said her husband's career as a lawyer inspired her to label of daily word count as "billable hours," which is a wonderful idea since writers don't have a specific product to show until the story is written and published.

The Southern Lights Conference

I'm a little late posting this information, but I'll be attending the First Coast Romance Writers Southern Lights Writers Conference this weekend. Suzanne Brockmann is serving as the keynote speaker, and a variety of agents and editors will be taking appointments throughout the conference. I'm particularly looking forward to the workshops that are being offered. Alyssa Day and Deidre Knight's workshop on World Building for the Paranormal Romance sounds interesting and instructive, Simone Elkeles and Shannon Greenland's Transitioning to Writing for Young Adults. I look forward to reporting back on what I learn!