I had a great time at the Silken Sands Conference. I met so many wonderful folks, heard some fabulous speeches (Dianna Love and Karen Rose were amazing), and had the chance to sit in on some informative workshops.  And, since the conference was at the beach, I had an awesome view, too.  So thanks to all the GCC ladies for a great time! It was great to be able to reconnect with the writers I know–and to make some time for new networking.  Everyone I met was friendly and excited about writing.  How could I ask for more?  The agents and editors were all super knowledgeable about the industry and Barbara Vey (from Publishers Weekly) had me smiling every time she shared some of her industry info (Barbara knows those readers!).  Overall–a great event. Can’t wait for Silken Sands 2010!

So what’s next on my conference agenda?

My next conference is a virtual one! I won’t be able to attend the RT Convention this year, so I’m making plans to attend Lucy Monroe’s Reader At Home Conference.  And here are all the details for you…

“What do tons of authors, tons of prizes, tons of hotties and tons of readers have in common? They’re attending the first ever Readers at Home Conference! During the week of April 26-30, authors and readers will converge on Lucy Monroe’s blog to celebrate their favorite genre – romance!We are giving away Swag Bags to the first 50 readers who register for the conference. To register, all you have to do is send an email to Lucy Monroe with your name and mailing address (for the Swag Bag) stating your intention to attend the RAH Conference. The Swag Bags are for conference attendees only and we are trusting that you truly intend to attend the conference and interact with the authors and other readers on the blog. 🙂 Lucy is shipping the Swag Bags at her own expense, but many authors have donated loot for you all, and each Swag Bag will have a free book inside.

Yes, that’s right – the conference is FREE. How cool is that?

Every day there will be multiple authors visiting and guest blogging, with new posts going live every 3 hours between 6 AM and 6 PM. Lucy will post a hottie who is definitely hunky enough to be a cover model and there will be daily drawings for multiple prizes (more than 50 over the week!!!), including dozens of signed books, a B&N gift card, a t-shirt, 3 prize tote bags filled with books and goodies (from Sue G at BTRB and Becke Davis), free online subscriptions to Affaire de Couer magazine and 2 more Swag Bags given away each day. What could be better?

Hope to see YOU there!”

Fun news! BELONG TO THE NIGHT received an honorable mention in the PEARL Awards (category: anthology). How very cool! Thanks so much to everyone who voted for the anthology! And congratulations to all the winners!

Come see me at the beach!  🙂

This weekend, I’ll be attending the Silken Sands Writers’ Conference in beautiful Pensacola Beach.  On Saturday, I’ll participate in a huge multi-author signing that is open to the public. So if you happen to be in the Pensacola Beach area and you’d love to get some autographed books, come on by!

Here’s the address:

The Hampton Inn–Silken Sands Room

2 Via De Luna

Pensacola Beach, FL

See you at the beach!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! Since I’m feeling semi-Irish…

May you be in
Heaven a half hour before the
Devil knows you’re dead!

🙂

And may you find a pot of gold today! (Then share that pot of gold with me!)

For my Write On! segment today, I thought I’d share 10 ways to become a successful writer:

1. Write. Yeah, I know, this does seem obvious, but I had to put it on my list. A lot of people talk about being a writer, but they don’t actually write. You have to sit your butt down in the chair and *write* to be a writer.

2. Read. Another obvious one.  If you want to be a good writer, then you need to read–a lot. And you particularly need to read in your genre. See what’s selling. See what’s hitting all the lists. See how other authors handle tension and pacing and character development. Just read.

3. Set realistic goals. Don’t decide to jump into this writing business with the immediate goal of completing a book in a month and then making the NYT list within a year.  Sure, it could happen. But why not put a little less pressure on yourself and set goals that are a little smaller? Like…write a chapter a week.

4. Learn everything you can about the industry. The Internet is a wonderful tool.  You can follow agents and editors on Twitter–you can see what they are hoping to acquire.  You can go to conferences and attend publisher spotlights.  You can join writers’ groups. Knowledge is power, don’t ever forget that.

5. Don’t compare yourself to other writers.  Jealousy can be an ugly thing.  Just focus on your story and write the best tale you can.  Don’t worry about what your buddy is doing or the deals she is getting.  Be selfish and focus on yourself!

6. Always know that you’re not perfect.  Or, rather, your writing isn’t. We can always learn more. We can always improve our craft.  The goal is to keep improving. Always–improve.

7. Celebrate your successes. You need to stay positive in this business. So celebrate!

8. Know when to step away from the keyboard. If the scene isn’t coming, maybe you need a break. If you’re really writing crap, go take a walk.  Don’t keep pounding away until you’ve had a chance to clear your head.

9. Don’t dwell on the negative. Did you get a rejection?  Ok, that sucks. No doubt. But keep writing. Keep going forward.  Cry a little if you’d like. Then go forth and make a better, stronger story.

10.  Don’t give up. Ever. If you stop, then how will you sell?

If you’ve got more advice to offer, please do! And enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day!!

Great news!  Two of my stories finaled in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Contest.  In the paranormal category, IMMORTAL DANGER was named a finalist.

And in the novella category, “In the Dark” (from BELONG TO THE NIGHT) made it to the finals.

Thanks very much to all the judges! And congrats to all of the other finalists!  (You can see a full listing here.)