I think every writer–both the beginning and the seasoned pro–should have a submissions tracker. I’m not talking anything super fancy here. Heck, my tracker is just an Excel file that has the following fields:

Title
Person/House Submitted To
Address
Date of Submission
Response
Follow-up

Simple, huh? I just complete the fields every time I send a manusript out–that way, when I haven’t heard from a publisher after a few months, I know exactly when it is (and is not) acceptable to send a follow-up letter.

And looking at my submissions, well, it’s a little ego boost. It’s nice to see that I’ve got stories out there, nice to see all that I’ve done.

So, if you don’t have a submissions tracker, make one, pronto! Use a Word file, use Excel–use whatever works for you. Just use one.

I’ve got a post up today at Magical Musings–please, hop over and take a read (and let me know if you’ve got a name for me!)

The deadline for the Dorchester/Romantic Times American Title contest is fast approaching. This year, the judges are looking for contemporary stories, 80,000-90,000 words. The stories can be chick-lit, romantic suspense, comedies, or paranormals. Entrants have to be unpublished writers. So, if you’re an unpublished writer with a manuscript that you want to submit, send the first 3 chapters and a synopsis to:

AMERICAN TITLE III
Dorchester Publishing
200 Madison Ave., Suite 2000
New York, NY 10016

Hurry up–entries have to be recieved by June 1st.

For complete details, check out the contest requirements from Dorchester Publishing.

I was channel surfing last night, and I came across a movie that instantly caught my attention–Loving Evangeline. I immediately hit the “info” button and discovered that, yep, just as I’d suspected, the movie was a remake of a romance book. And not just any romance–Loving Evangeline is one of my favorite books by the truly awesome Linda Howard. So, when I saw the movie version on Lifetime (I think that was the channel), I was excited…at first.

And then I realized that the writers had–for some reason that I just can’t understand–changed the story. The heroine’s past changed (and her past was dang important to the story) and the hero suddenly got a missing/dead brother. Huh? Why, oh, why were these changes made?

The hero in the book was described as “Seductive, passionate and charming.” Well, somebody needs to shake the casting agent on this movie cuz the actor just came across as seriously um, dorky (and so not in a good, sexy dorky way!). Every time I saw him, I winced. So. Not. Sexy.

Now, I have to re-read the book again, just so I can get those horrible scenes out of my mind.

I don’t understand–why would you mess with a good thing? I’ve seen this happen before, of course. A few years ago, Julie Garwood‘s For the Roses was made into one of those movie-of-the-week flicks. Yep, I was super-excited over that–until the thing aired. I can’t remember the specifics on that one, but I feel like the heroine might have fallen for a character who was actually her brother in the book. Sigh. The story was very much not as I remembered.

I think it’s great that romance novels are being made into movies–the stories get more attention, more fans, and the authors get more money. But when the books are turned into screenplays, I wish those new writers would not hack the story! Please, oh, please, don’t ruin a good thing!

I send a manuscript off to a publisher, thinking it’s all polished and perfect, then I read over it again a few days later…and find mistakes. Grrrrr. Why is it that I can spot errors if I’m proofing or editing someone else’s work, but I miss my own typos?

Sigh. I think maybe I’m just too close to my own stuff. In my mind, I see the words the way they should be, and not necessarily the way they are. So annoying.

Please tell me this happens to other writers out there.