Last night was the awards banquet for the annual Royal Palm Literary Awards. This is the biggest of the competitions run by the Florida Writers Association, and the winners are always announced at their major annual conference. Participants submit three copies of the first fifty pages of a complete short story, poem, essay, or novel in a variety of categories. If the first three judges give the piece enough critique points, you make it to the finals and submit the entire manuscript to a fourth judge. The tallied points determine honorable mention, second, and first place winners.
Last year I made the finals, but didn't win an award. I will say, however, that the critique sheets I got back from the contest were helpful in making revisions.
This year I won first place! (I guess all the revisions paid off.)
The banquet was held at a very nice hotel in Lake Mary, Florida. They even had a red carpet for the winners to walk down in order to receive their awards. I will confess that as they called honorable mention and second place I really didn't think I had a chance. I knew some of my competition, one of whom had beaten me last year.
When they DID call the title of my novel, I actually didn't recognize it. My husband was cheering beside me, and I couldn't figure out why. The reason was because they used the novel's full name, which is AGENCY FILES--ASSASSIN'S NIGHTMARE. AGENCY FILES is the title of the series, and ASSASSIN'S NIGHTMARE is the title of the individual book in the series. I haven't heard it referred to that way out loud. Everyone just calls it ASSASSIN, or ASSASSIN'S NIGHTMARE, so it took a few seconds for me to realize they had called for me! Pretty funny, actually.
At least I managed to make it down the carpet without tripping or anything. We sat in the very back of the hall, so I had the longest walk. I collected my trophy (very pretty, an open book with the name of the award, the year, my name, first place, and the name of the book engraved on it). Then I had to pose for multiple pictures, and a big group shot with all the winners at the end of the evening which will go on the Florida Writers Association website.
Lots of fun!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I Won!
A few weeks ago I entered a contest to win a scholarship to the Backspace Agent/Author Seminar in New York in November. You had to submit your query letter and first two pages of your manuscript for judging. They received over 600 entries and picked four winners. I'M ONE OF THEM!
I am beyond excited. This will be a fantastic opportunity to get some further professional feedback on my work, meet and make connections with a number of wonderful agents, and immerse myself in writing for a few days.
I am beyond excited. This will be a fantastic opportunity to get some further professional feedback on my work, meet and make connections with a number of wonderful agents, and immerse myself in writing for a few days.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Book Review of the Day - S. L. Viehl
Few authors can affect me as emotionally as S.L. Viehl does. That is her strength, and my frustration.
As I believe I said in an earlier post, she is the only author who has managed to make me angry, irrationally angry, after reading one of her books because of something a character had done to another. It took me several days of biting people's heads off and just feeling internally mad before I figured out the source. And I praise her for that ability. My anger was her desired result. Still, until the next book in the series came out, I got to be frustrated with her for it.
CRYSTAL HEALER is the ninth book in the STARDOC series. It's a great read, full of action, drama, and a good dose of romance. She manages to interweave characters we haven't seen for awhile with great skill, reminding us, and the other characters in the story, who they were a little at a time until we have the big picture.
But, she's done it again. She leaves the story on such an emotionally powerful note that I'm thinking about one of the characters for days after I've finished the novel. I'm sad for him. Ironically, it's the same character I was furious with earlier in the series. He's gone through so much, grown as a person. I won't give spoilers here, but I hope Viehl will make everything all right for this character in the next book, because he doesn't deserve what has been done to him now. And I know my feelings are exactly her intention. To make me this concerned for a fictional character is an amazing talent.
As I believe I said in an earlier post, she is the only author who has managed to make me angry, irrationally angry, after reading one of her books because of something a character had done to another. It took me several days of biting people's heads off and just feeling internally mad before I figured out the source. And I praise her for that ability. My anger was her desired result. Still, until the next book in the series came out, I got to be frustrated with her for it.
CRYSTAL HEALER is the ninth book in the STARDOC series. It's a great read, full of action, drama, and a good dose of romance. She manages to interweave characters we haven't seen for awhile with great skill, reminding us, and the other characters in the story, who they were a little at a time until we have the big picture.
But, she's done it again. She leaves the story on such an emotionally powerful note that I'm thinking about one of the characters for days after I've finished the novel. I'm sad for him. Ironically, it's the same character I was furious with earlier in the series. He's gone through so much, grown as a person. I won't give spoilers here, but I hope Viehl will make everything all right for this character in the next book, because he doesn't deserve what has been done to him now. And I know my feelings are exactly her intention. To make me this concerned for a fictional character is an amazing talent.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Book Review of the Day - Vicki Pettersson
Bittersweet is the word I would use to describe the fourth book in Vicki Pettersson's Zodiac series.
CITY OF SOULS is not the kind of book I normally read. I've said it in previous reviews for this series. I am not a superhero person. But this story and its incredibly deep characters drew me in. Not an easy feat. I'm the sort of gal who reads in a rather narrow genre. To get me to venture outside that comfort zone, it takes an exceptional piece of work. The Zodiac series is exactly that--an exceptional piece of work.
No corny lines, two-dimensional villains, or pure heroes here. None of them are black and white. Every character has shades of gray. They have nuances, personal interests beyond crime fighting. They are people . . . who happen to have super powers. And that helps the reader relate to them, cheer their victories, and mourn their losses.
Add to that the backdrop of Las Vegas which is intrinsically interesting in itself, and you have an amazing story that keeps the reader turning pages rather than accomplishing any of his or her other daily tasks.
My only concern with this installment, CITY OF SOULS, is that it ends on a down note and seems to close a door. I won't give away spoilers here, but I'm sincerely hoping it's a teaser, and we'll see more of the character I've most grown to love.
CITY OF SOULS is not the kind of book I normally read. I've said it in previous reviews for this series. I am not a superhero person. But this story and its incredibly deep characters drew me in. Not an easy feat. I'm the sort of gal who reads in a rather narrow genre. To get me to venture outside that comfort zone, it takes an exceptional piece of work. The Zodiac series is exactly that--an exceptional piece of work.
No corny lines, two-dimensional villains, or pure heroes here. None of them are black and white. Every character has shades of gray. They have nuances, personal interests beyond crime fighting. They are people . . . who happen to have super powers. And that helps the reader relate to them, cheer their victories, and mourn their losses.
Add to that the backdrop of Las Vegas which is intrinsically interesting in itself, and you have an amazing story that keeps the reader turning pages rather than accomplishing any of his or her other daily tasks.
My only concern with this installment, CITY OF SOULS, is that it ends on a down note and seems to close a door. I won't give away spoilers here, but I'm sincerely hoping it's a teaser, and we'll see more of the character I've most grown to love.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Book Review of the Day - Kristin Landon
Taking a break from the David Drake series to read the latest in Kristin Landon's series.
THE DARK REACHES is the third book in the story of Linnea and Iain. I've enjoyed this series so far, and this installment is no exception. While it is heavy on the characterization, which is what I prefer, it also has plenty of interesting technology. The romance between the two main characters is a big factor, though it doesn't quite cross over into the science fiction/romance category. Lots of great action and suspense as well. Landon certainly knows how to torture her characters to good effect. You feel for them, together and separately. You want them to succeed. And the antagonist is so well-developed the reader wants to participate in his defeat.
Certainly, Landon has left herself open for more books in this series. I look forward to those as well. I do wish they were a bit longer. Compared to other science fiction I read, these are a little on the short side. I guess that's a compliment to the author. I'm a reader wanting more.
THE DARK REACHES is the third book in the story of Linnea and Iain. I've enjoyed this series so far, and this installment is no exception. While it is heavy on the characterization, which is what I prefer, it also has plenty of interesting technology. The romance between the two main characters is a big factor, though it doesn't quite cross over into the science fiction/romance category. Lots of great action and suspense as well. Landon certainly knows how to torture her characters to good effect. You feel for them, together and separately. You want them to succeed. And the antagonist is so well-developed the reader wants to participate in his defeat.
Certainly, Landon has left herself open for more books in this series. I look forward to those as well. I do wish they were a bit longer. Compared to other science fiction I read, these are a little on the short side. I guess that's a compliment to the author. I'm a reader wanting more.
Silence on the Writing Front
I know I haven't blogged much in the past month. Mostly, that's because there hasn't been much to write about. I haven't stopped reading. I've been going through the RCN series by David Drake, but I thought I'd review the entire series at once instead of doing the individual books. I've read four of them with three more to go.
I'm also still writing. I'm about 30,000 words into the sequel to Assassin's Nightmare. That's actually going very well. I may need to tweak a few things in the first book to make it work better with the second, but I suppose that's the advantage of no one having picked up the first one yet. I can still change things a bit and not mess anyone up.
Last night was the writers group meeting. People really praised my first flashback scene. That pleases me greatly. Flashbacks are notoriously tricky.
Still waiting to hear on the three full manuscripts I've got floating about in agent/editor land. I suspect it won't be much longer, now.
I'm also still writing. I'm about 30,000 words into the sequel to Assassin's Nightmare. That's actually going very well. I may need to tweak a few things in the first book to make it work better with the second, but I suppose that's the advantage of no one having picked up the first one yet. I can still change things a bit and not mess anyone up.
Last night was the writers group meeting. People really praised my first flashback scene. That pleases me greatly. Flashbacks are notoriously tricky.
Still waiting to hear on the three full manuscripts I've got floating about in agent/editor land. I suspect it won't be much longer, now.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Michael Jackson Photos
My husband has uploaded the Michael Jackson photos from the Hoop Dee Doo Revue onto my Facebook page. We're working on a way for people to see them without having to join Facebook or friend me.
Okay, here we go. You can view the photos here:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs190.snc1/6400_1168467301075_1509735743_30450038_4612152_n.jpg
and here:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs190.snc1/6400_1168467421078_1509735743_30450039_2658764_n.jpg
Okay, here we go. You can view the photos here:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs190.snc1/6400_1168467301075_1509735743_30450038_4612152_n.jpg
and here:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs190.snc1/6400_1168467421078_1509735743_30450039_2658764_n.jpg
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