Instant Seduction Writing Competition

Thanks. I need good luck. I'd like to avoid the slush pile if I can. I only have one Presents written. Although I do already have a plan for the next and if I want to press myself I could probably produce another before the deadline but I probably won't. How many are you entering?

I usally write romantic suspense and this was an interesting thing to me, the process of writing a Presents.  It was so emotional and I used so many different words than I normally use.  I will still write RS but I know I'll write more books like this too.  I kind of enjoyed the right to be as sappy and love inspired as I wanted to be.  It was kind of refreshing.  I liked it. 

I wavered on whether or not to enter, but ended up entering two. Both were Nanowrimo books. One from 2005 and one from 2007. I started reading romances because of a Presents years and years ago, so I couldn't resist trying to write them, too.

Good luck everyone!

Tina

Oh, I meant to say hello Mary!  are you on the writers challenge??  I haven't been able to work on that piece I sent you but hopefully I'll be able to get something done on it soon!

J

Hi Jules! Modern Extra and Modern Heat are one and the same thing. Modern Heat being the new name for ModX  over here in the UK. I *think* when they arrive in the States they’re called something like Presents collections? Anything out in Presents by Susan Napier, Julie Cohen, Kelly Hunter, Natalie Anderson, Robyn Grady (I know I'm forgetting some) would previously have been out as ModX/Mod Heat in the UK. Hope helps.

Sue - still working on her competition entry

Hi guys!

Modern Heat is what Modern Extras are called now! They're absolutely the same - they just got a name change in the UK from the start of this year. Same books, different series name that's all.

To add to the confusion they're known as Sexy Sensation in Australia/New Zealand!

 But yes - Kate Hardy, Kelly Hunter, Nicola Marsh, Ally Blake, Trish Wylie, Heidi Rice, Anne Oliver ummmm I've left many off too - oops! But there are some names to start with (and me)

 Good luck for the competition!!! 

~Natalie

I was always an apple girl - LOL.

Everything is in computer count now. Just makes it much easier for everyone. 

Hope that helps,

Dee

Thanks for the quick reply! I appreciate it.

.. thanks so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I really like the fun, flirty young feel to MH - go for it!

MOre later - the kids are demanding Postman Pat on the DVD

(could do with an alcopop myself....)

Hi, Kate,

Thanks for offering advice on writing for Presents on your blog. I have always enjoyed your stories. I've written my synopsis for my entry, and I completed a detailed character interview for my heroine. Up next is a chat with my hero. I just hope he's as forthcoming as my heroine was!

Thanks again!

Georgie

I am still working on mine.  I can't decide between two, and I know I could enter both, but hate to do since only one is complete.  The other might be finished by the 14th, but with tax season, it is going to be hard.

Good luck!

One is targeted to Classic, and one to the Modern Heat.  I have tried submitting to classic before and always get form R's.  I believe I also got an R from Modern Heat. 

The one for Modern Heat is the one I am not sure about. I will probably wait another week before submitting my entries. When are you sending yours in?

Hey girls!

I'm just working on my synopsis right now and then I'll submit.....good luck Mary!  I'm targetting the modern heat....I picked up a couple and loved them!

Jules

I may enter but it depends on if my heroine (whose Latino) would be a no-no. I may direct it at Desire though cause I don't recall any truly ethnic heroines.

Good luck to all those who have entered and are planning on entering. 

Candy - there are no rules about the ethnicity of your heroine -  if your writing was good enough and the story was told wonderfully that would matter more. 

I have written a couple of Spanish heroines (in The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and  Bound By Blackmail) and both were very successful. And Michelle Reid had a heroine who was (I think) half Indian in Marriage on the Rebound. And I think there were more though I can't recall titles exactly. So there is scope for different  types of characters  - I know of some interesting new nationalities of heroes coming up for example. Just because there are not many of them doesn;t mean that the line is closed against them.

 The answer will be that it's all in the execution. The nationality of your heroine will not be a reason why your book would fail if you have the passion between the hero and the heroine - and the intensity of the conflict that a Presents novel demands.

My advice to you as a writer would be to consider why you want your heroine to be whatever sort of nationality she  is - whether English, Spanish, Latino - of whatever. My Spanish heroines needed to be Spanish to make part of the conflict work - their family upbringing and the society in which they'd lived affected  and developed their personalities to make them who they were and that contributed to the conflict with their heroes - but  their nationality wasn't part of the conflict - if you see the difference.

So if your heroine's  background lets you create her more strongly and gives more reason for the conflict  so that you can write her well - the only way an editor will judge the result will be on whether she thinks it works well or not.  So yes, it's all in the execution.

 Hope this is of some help

 Kate

I write my characters that way because that's how they come to me. It's what I've longed to see for so long as a reader, that I want my characters to reflect me and my world. I suppose I can write a caucasian or european heroine but it wouldn't be true to me or my writing style and I'm afraid it would come across as awkward.

As I stated in the other thread, the race/heritage of my heroine isn't the conflict but the romance is. But it's not something that's going to be ignored or glossed over like the perverbial "pink elephant" in the room.

And you're right it's about their upbringing and experiences not about any supposed racial conflicts. I'm not writing a book on race relations. It's about love, relationships and above all romance and passion between two people.

Now, that's not to say that it's heavy handed or overbearing or on everypage. But there are some slight cultural differences that can make for interesting minor conflict and for funny or interesting scenes to show how the characters interact, get along, grow in their relationship and get to know each other.

Did that make any sense?

And I thank you for your advice and words of wisdom. I'm not trying to be difficult just trying to make sense of things. And as I said in the other post, I haven't seen a heroine or a presents like I described in a long time. 

Kate, I will bow down to your words of wisdom!  Thanks for the info....now I'm off to finish the darn thing!

Jules

Hey Marcy, nice shiny new pic!

I'm going to take Lauren's advice and use 1.5....a little compromise I think..........and easier on the eyes

J

Good luck with your entry.   I am still working on mine. My full synopsis is 10 pages and so I need to write the short one.

Wow...good luck with your entry. Sorry I didn't get you feedback before you submitted. I'm sure it's great!

I'm still plodding along trying to get it right. Ugggh.

Marcy

I'm emailing you the link right now Mary

J

that I've FINALLY made it here! I've had to create a new account so I can post comments, but it's been worth it - the new eHarl site looks fantastic!

I'm trying not to panic at how close the deadline is to submit my entry. Only 2,000 words left to write but heaps of tightening/editing to make the word count *eek*. Thank goodness they are only accepting online submissions and we don't need to rely on a postal service!

Good luck to everybody.

you can use any original piece of work that hasn't been published anywhere. A contest shouldn't count, I don't believe.

Best of luck!

Dee

Like Dee, I'd understand the rules as meaning that any  unpublished manuscript can be entered as long as it's suitable for Presents.

You contest entry hasn't been published anywhere else, has it  so I think you can get on with that polishing and submit.

Good luck

 Kate