And the winner is...

Thanks so much to everyone who voted and gave feedback on my cover. I can't believe that 77 people were willing to give their input. Thanks so much. It was greatly appreciated. I also found all the comments to be very helpful. In the next few days I'll reveal the cover for Against Her Rules. 

And now I'm pleased to announce the winner of the contest for the free book. I used a very scientific and non-biased method of making this draw. For those of you that don't know, I play a lot of games with fancy multi-sided dice. I rolled for the winner!  ​

Congrats to Deanne Morgan. While this book will be coming out as an e-book at first, I do hope to have a paperback version available through Amazon. ​Deanne wants to wait for the paperback version. I'll have a post soon about why the e-book first. 

Once again, thanks so much for helping me out. ​Stay tuned in the next couple of days for the winning cover reveal!

CONTEST - Help me choose my cover!

OK. Serious business here now friends! I'm having cover dilemmas, and I need help. (More help than normal, that is.)

Who knew this would be so difficult? It's my first book, and there are so many things to think about. For example, what should be the larger print - my name or the title? Does it catch your attention? And because this will be marketed primarily as an e-book (don't worry, there will be an option to purchase a paperback version), you also need to think of the image small, on a computer screen. If you read e-books at all, you know what I mean. 

I've created a poll that I would love for you to participate in. And here's the great part. I'll take all the respondents, regardless of if I choose your cover, and at least one of you will win a copy of Against Her Rules when it comes out. I was hoping this poll tool I'm using records voters, but it doesn't so if  you want to enter the draw, just leave me a comment that tells me you've voted. ​

Thanks for your help! ​

Recommended Romance Reads: April Edition

In my last post I promised to point you towards some great romances to get you started. That led to the idea that each month I should post a few of my favourite romances. And I hope you'll comment and share any suggestions you might have. I'm always looking for a new read. ​

I also discovered today when thinking about which books I should recommend (I'm going to keep it to two a month) that most of my reading is in the sub-genre of Regency Romance. Big surprise, hey? But I'm going to do my best to branch out and check out some other sub-genres and share those as well. ​I've also linked to the author websites, in case you want to check them out. I hope you enjoy!

Julia Quinn - What Happens in London

This was the regency that really made me want to try my hand at writing it. I read this book out loud to my hubby, and he enjoyed it as much as I did. It's funny. And I love a good romance that makes me laugh. Keep an eye out for a scene that involves a dramatic reading that had us in tears from laughing. You know it's a good book when several years later, you still remember a particular scene.  Please check out this link, because there's a great book trailer that goes with this one. 

Suzanne Enoch - Rules of an Engagement

​Like Julia Quinn's books, it's hard to choose just one of Suzanne Enoch's to recommend. But this novel takes place at sea, and for a romance novel, has some very eye-opening revelations about the nature of colonialism. The historian in me really enjoyed this book. And who doesn't love a dashing sea captain? Also, this is one of my favourite covers ever; yellow isn't used enough, in my opinion. 

Five Reasons to Read Romance

When I decided to "come out" as a romance writer, it was a hard decision. I have a lot of friends who are writers. I worried they'd judge me. Maybe they do. And that's fine. To each their own. But now, I think reading a little romance is good for your soul. Here's my Top 5 list of why you should give it a shot.

1. The ending is always happy. ALWAYS! Romance novels aren't about "will they get together", they're about "how do they get together". We get enough bad news everyday. Take a little mind vacation and go to a happy place. And if you're single, you might learn something. If you're not single, well, that brings me to point 2.

2. You'll learn what to do to make your love happy (and what not to do!). I'm married. And while my hubby can sometimes pull off something romantic, it's not top of mind for him. Romance novels are brimming with lots of little examples of how to show someone you love them.

3. They don't take long to read. No one ever spends weeks reading a romance. You pick it up, and if it's good, you put it down when you're done. A good romance hooks you in quickly, reads like a conversation with a friend, and makes your pulse quicken when you get to the racy bits.

4. The racy bits! Some romance authors get vivid in details, and others leave more to the imagination. But they all, at some point, get in some action. And whether you choose to skip over the sex, or savour every detail, you're sure to get a little blush, and maybe a little more.

5. They are good books. Period. Like any genre book, sure, there are some predictable things like happy endings, and love scenes, and romantic conflict, but most romance novels out there are written by people who love to write. They've been through reams of edits, and advance readers, and countless rewrites. Romance writers (at least to the best of my knowledge) aren't writing to win the Pulitzer. We write because we love writing, and we want to make people happy. I can't imagine anyone going through the process and not doing it because that's where their heart is.

So do yourself a favour and give one a try. Not sure where to start? No worries. My next post will help you out with that.

A fresh new website!

Welcome to my new website! What an improvement from my old site, don't you think? ​

I had to abandon the name Regency Rising, since right now I'm working on all sorts of things. However, the regency romance will continue. I'll be sure to update my progress as I go. ​

I'm excited about this new site, and my blog, of course. In the last couple of weeks I had the very good fortune to meet an old friend of mine who is also writing romance. We are a hard breed to find here in Newfoundland. She was gracious enough to invite me to join her writing group, that has the wonderful name of "Scribe Wenches." I've always wanted to be a wench, so it seemed a great group to join. They are an active group of writers and bloggers, and hopefully I will learn a thing or two from them! ​

Please let me know what you think of the site, and if there's anything that's looking wonky to you. Or if there's anything you'd like to see on here. There are exciting times ahead! ​

The future is bright...

Sorry for the long time without word. It just took me a while to be able to come to terms with my rejection from Avon. It was, without a doubt, a very awful moment. I took some time, did some soul searching about what I should do next, and then made a plan. I'm going to remain cryptic for now, because I have a lot of work to do.

This might be my last post on this blog. I'm working on a website, and will bring these posts over there. You'll see then how things are looking up.

Suffice it to say that I'm energized, excited, and hopeful that you'll all get to read my 10 day wonder child in the not so distant future!

Stay tuned for the website friends. And thanks for reading.

First lines...

I suppose I should have a better reason for blogging tonight other than I just downloaded the Blogger app for my iPad and wanted to check it out. I mean, I'm writing with the idea that someone out there will read this post, so I should come prepared with message in hand. Alas, I am not that well prepared.

Truth is, Reg and Rowan are sleeping, and I'm up drinking a cup of tea and having some toast from the last of the bread Reg made. (Sorry love... there may be no bread left for you tomorrow morning!) At the moment I have several choices. I could play some random mindless iPad game. I could work on a video project for work that I committed to doing today (despite being on mat leave, I just needed a little project). I could be working on an outline for my next book. Or I could blog. This seemed easiest, so here I am. Oh, and the random picture of my cup of tea is just so I can play with adding photos through this app. I should note I normally drink tea from a cup, not a mug, but it's my Nan's mug and I'm missing her tonight, hence the mug.

So to steer this post into some sort of writerly direction, I was just on youtube and found a video of Avon staff reading the first lines of various books... including Gone With the Wind! Here's the link if you want to watch: http://youtu.be/2vM32myrjvI

Anyway, that got me to thinking about how important the first line of anything you write is. When we are out book shopping and have too many books picked out, we often choose which ones make it home with us by reading the first line. Best first line novels get bought.

When I was writing "Heart's Ease" (that's the working title of the novel I submitted... still not sure if I like it so it may change if I get the chance) Reg wasn't sold on the opening line. I trust his judgement on so many things that now I'm wondering why I didn't go back and change it. If the book is rejected, I'm sure it will be for lots more reasons that the first line, but now I'm wondering if my judgement was off. Ugh. Just another reason to toss and turn while waiting.

Here's the first line: The one thing no one ever tells you about royalty, either of the Hollywood or Aristocratic variety, is that they all leave a hell of a lot of mess behind them.

Thoughts?

Oh. And as for this new app? Not bad as far as the writing side goes. Now let's see how it looks when I hit publish!

On the cusp of knowing

Forgot to mention this. Last week when I posted about the angst of waiting to hear for a reply, I also tweeted it. (You can follow me on twitter.... @vickibarbour). Anyhow, in my tweet I mentioned @Avonromance and lo and behold, their wonderful Director of Publicity Pam Jaffe replied to me. She said she'd see what she can find out. And sure enough, she did. As of last Monday (Feb. 11) they were reviewing submissions from December 1. Well, I submitted December 10. So I'm not sure how long it takes to get through them, but that's the latest. Now with week 10 drawing to a close I'm checking my email even more desperately. I've tried working on other books in the potential series, but my mind keeps wandering back to wondering. Let me tell you, folks, this waiting is excruciating stuff. I have a feeling in my gut that I'm going to hear something next week. Whether it's good news or bad remains to be seen, but it's certain to be in the next couple of weeks. All that waiting, and now I'm getting terrified to hear anything. What's with the human psyche? Anyhow, I suspect the next post will hold the answer.

What's it all about?

I just realized that while I've told you all about how I wrote a novel in 10 days, I didn't tell you what it was about. So here it is. A little sneak peek for you. This is the synopsis that I sent along with the manuscript. It's kind of like the blurb you'd find at the back of a novel. 

What do you think?

___________________________________________

Thriving business? Check.

Sexual exploits with a rockstar? Check.

Complete independence. Check.

Elsie Walsh had it all. Or so she thought. Until Scottish hunk Campbell Scott showed up on the doorstep of her bed and breakfast. He’s making it pretty hard for her to stand by her one rule: No sleeping with the guests.She’s denied some of the world’s hottest actors, musicians, and even royals... but how can she keep Cam out of her bed, when he’s invaded her head and her heart?

Campbell Scott went to the wilds of Newfoundland with one thing on his mind: sketch some birds, and then get back to his playboy lifestyle in London. But one look at his sexy hostess and there’s a whole lot more in the air than sea birds. Rejection isn’t part of his vocabulary, and Cam sets out to not only convince Elsie that he belongs in her bed, but by her side at the Heart’s Ease Inn. 

Toss in a heartbroken rocker, meddling aunt, and a romantic romp in one of the most remote places in North America and you have a love story that’s brimming with banter, and simmering with sensuality. 

Will history prevail?

Nine weeks ago I submitted the novel (See the picture of Rowan helping push send?)

Nine weeks ago I was told, "Thank you for your submission to Avon Impulse. You can expect to hear back from us within eight to twelve weeks, however, due to the amount of submissions we receive, we are unable to respond personally to each query. Thank you again for your interest in Avon Impulse." 

Eight to 12 weeks. Two to three months. 

I told myself I wasn't going to start checking my email like a person with a very bad case of OCD. 

I wasn't going to stay awake at night thinking of all the ways I would prepare for the inevitable rejection that's bound to come. 

And yet, here I am. Counting weeks, and addicted to checking my email, and lying awake at night while my six month old sleeps peacefully through the night. I'm a new mother. I should be sleeping when he sleeps. 

But it's hard. Writing something and then putting it out there for others to read, to judge, to determine its worth is nerve-wracking. 

Little known fact. 11 years ago I wrote a novel and sent it away to Harlequin. Yup. And I waited. And waited. And waited. Those were the days when you printed off your manuscript, stuffed it into a huge brown envelope, and sent it off with a bunch of stamps. I sent it in March. I got the rejection in September. Six months of waiting. When that big envelope came back with all the pages.... which in all honestly looked at if they hadn't been touched... and a little one page letter that basically said, "Nice story but not enough sex", well I wasn't surprised. It was a contemporary romance. I prefer historicals. And it was light on the sex. And I'd written it quickly. I wasn't shocked. And not even overly disappointed. 

You would think I'd have learned a thing or two. After all, I'm a thesis away from a masters in History. I know to look to the past. And yet, here I am repeating myself. Because what have I done ? Written another contemporary romance in a very short period of time that has a little bit more sex than that first one... but not much. 

So perhaps what I should do, instead of obsessively checking my email, is get back to work on the regency that this blog was created to document. If I'm going to be keeping myself awake at night, might as well do something productive with the brain. 

Novel submitted!

Sorry I dropped off the blogosphere for a while. A nasty cold had my brain turned to mush so any writing time was devoted entirely to the novel.

If you don't know already, I did manage to get the 50,000 words in on time for the National Novel Writing Month event! See the pic! It was a hard slog that last day because I felt awful. Still, I did it. Then I put the book away and didn't look at it again until Thursday.

Today was the deadline to submit it to Avon so I spent my weekend editing, and today wrote the synopsis and query letter. The hardest part of the whole submission process was selecting the best scene (of a thousand words or less). Thanks to my friend Anne, hubby, and sister for helping narrow down the choices and helping me pick one.

Hitting submit submission was harder than I thought. All those doubts about if it's a good book, if Avon will want it, if... if.... if....

Finally, my husband brought the baby over and Rowan was the one who submitted mommy's novel. I took a picture which I'll post when I manage to pull it off the camera. '

So now I have an 8-12 week wait before I'll hear anything back. Lots of time to start brainstorming future books for the series that I pitched them based on this book. Not sure if I'll start writing anything until I hear back, but at least I'll start getting some ideas on paper just in case.

I also have to think about contingency plans if Avon rejects this. Things like, should I shop it around to other publishers or should I just go back to work on my regency and try and get that done. Now that I know I can finish if I put my mind to it, it seems a shame not to finish it.

Anyway, that's it. I celebrated with a lovely glass of 12 year old Macallan scotch. Because whether it gets published or not, I did something I didn't think possible. I wrote a novel in 11 days.

Phew....

10,000 word home stretch

Well, it's crunch time. Less than 48 hours till submission time. And while I once was the type of writer who could stay up into the wee hours of the morning writing, having a wee babe at home makes that impossible if I plan to be a functioning mom at all.

Rowan is enroute to his Nan's house - my mother-in-law - for the day and now the parental guilt is settling in. Since last Tuesday I've been pawning him off on anyone willing to take him for a few hours so I can get in some writing. Now I've shipped him out for the day. With just 10,000 words or so left, I should be in the jubilant almost there stage. Instead I'm worrying about my baby. If this project works and I'm lucky enough to get published, I'll need days to write much more often, and that makes me sad because I miss having him around, even in his fussy stages.

Time to suck it up. I'm doing this for him, really. So that we can see if Mommy can make it as a writer. If I manage to convince the folks at Avon that I'm the kind of writer that can appeal to their audiences, it would mean a world of difference for us. Not that I'll get rich doing it. That only happens to the mega-stars. I don't even know if my favourite romance authors are really rich. But if I could manage to at least make what I make as my salary now, I could stay at home, spending much more time with Rowan that I could if I had to go back to work full-time. So that's why I'm doing it. I might feel like a bad mommy this morning, but if it pays off, then in the end, won't I be a better mom?

Ahhhhhh. Life.

Anyway, the book is coming along fantastically. I'm basicially writing the lead up to the ending now. I'd love to get all 10 thousand written today, but I'll have to get into some kind of wild groove for that to happen. Instead, I'll aim for 7000 words. That will leave 3000 tomorrow, which I should be able to do with Rowan at home, and once daddy gets home from work.

I'm off to physio now, and then it's nose to the grind. I can't believe how close I'm getting to actually accomplishing this!

15,932 words to go by midnight friday

Just a quick update... and an apology for typos, etc sice I'm typing one handed. Theres a sleeping baby in my other arm.

As of 11:55 last night, when I wrote my last sentence for the day I'd surpassed 34,000 words!  Still a ways to go till Friday and Rowan has the sniffles and doesnt want to be out of my arms today. Its not likely I'll get much writing till daddy comes home at 5. Maybe I sshould nap with the baby...

Half way there!

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you finally get in the zone. The writing zone is a place that is sometimes hard to find. The littlest things can keep you from finding it. A sleepy baby. A headache from too much sugar and fun at a child's birthday party. A growing sense of doom when you realize it's 6:30 pm and you haven't written one single word for the day.

I started pecking at the key board, getting a sentence here, and a sentence there. But it wasn't flowing out of me the way it has for the past little while. One of the problems was that I had reached that point when I was going to have to write a love scene. Those are always the most difficult for me. So I decided to skip over it and return later. I rocked Rowan to sleep, handed him over to his dad, and got busy. By 11:55 I had crossed the 24,000 word mark. Grand total written for the day - 3424. Not my best writing day, but still respectable. I went to bed content.

This morning I packed Rowan up and brought him down to my mom's. When I left he was happily playing, with an attention nan and great-aunt ready to cater to his every need. 

Now to put that time to good use. In an hour or so I should cross the 25,000 word marker. Half way there, and five days to make it. Still feeling like this is quite possible. 

It's a good day to write!

20,000 Words on Day 5

Yesterday was an amazing day of writing for me. By 10:30 last night I had written 7000 words for the day. Most of the time I was averaging 1000 words an hour, although from time to time there would be slight setbacks.... lunch, supper, feeding Rowan.

Just look at that graph! What a jump!

Reg and the baby spent the better part of the day at the mall and didn't come home till almost 5:30. By then I think I'd reached 5000 words. It is harder to write when they are home, but I can't really expect my family to pack up and move out when I'm writing. I think yesterday I learned that with one or two fairly quiet days I can expect to get in 5-7 thousand words max.

Today I'm going to shoot to hit 25,000. Reg is making french toast, Rowan is hanging out in his mamaRoo, and I'm getting ready to write until Ethan's birthday party... or until my sister calls looking for help.

I'm really happy now with where the story is going. The characters are starting to take on personalities that are recognizable, and I've created a couple of secondary characters that I'm pretty fond of.

I tried to hit 21,000 last night. But only made it to 20,644. I wanted to push about her 350 words out of me but it was an important scene and I didn't want to write just for the sake of words. It needs to make sense, after all.

So there you have it. Today is Sunday. I have until Friday to complete it. At this moment I'm feeling like this is a realistic goal. Hurrah!

Day 4 tally - 13,046 words

Reg and Rowan are about to leave for the day, I have a strong cup of espresso brewing in the mocha pot, and I'm ready to rock the word count for today.

Yesterday was pretty good. See the stats. Almost got to 5000. Rowan was awesome. He snuggled next to me and napped for the greater part of the afternoon. Yesterday evening daddy and son went out for a couple of hours so i could keep writing. It was a great help and i ended up writing my favourite scene to date.

Today will be the only full day of writing uninterrupted I'll get. Tomorrow I have to pause for a very important birthday party - Batman turns 4! Or at least his alter-ego, Ethan, turns 4. :) On Thursday my mother-in-law is going to take Rowan for the day, so that will be the last push I need before the Friday at midnight deadline.


So enough blogging. Time to write.

Almost 10,00 words in 3 days

I have to say I'm impressed that I managed a decent word count at all yesterday. The experiment of trying to write with a baby in the house did not go that well. When Reg got home yesterday I had a grant total of 0 new words. Yet between 5 pm and 12:30 am I managed to get the count up to 9261. My goal had been to get to 10,000. But some words are better than none.

Right now the 4th bar shows my total day 3 progress.

I don't have an update image for yesterday because I updated the word count after midnight, not knowing that the webpage resets itself. Instead, today I'll show you a bar graph of where I should be had I started this project on Nov. 1, and where I am. As you can see, I'm lagging. But right now Rowan is sleeping, and should stay that way till around 10:30, in which case I have to go to physio anyway. Hoping to get some words down in the next hour. Tomorrow Reg is taking baby on some Daddy bonding excursions (i.e. Shopping and visiting, I'd imagine) and I'll get one full day in.

So far I haven't exceeded 5000 words a day and I really need to be if I'm going to get this done. I also realized that when I started I had 11 days, not 10. So I'm still pretty optimistic.

Anyway, enough blogging. Time to write! And eat a scone. I'm starved!

Day 2 complete

I'm happy to say that even with yesterday's limited hours I managed to surpass the previous day's word count. The grand total now stands at 6081.

Day 2 Status

Today I have no plans, so this will be the real test of how much writing it is possible to get done in the daylight hours with a three month old. Should be fun! One indicator is that I began this blog post at around 9:50 am. It's now 10:30. Rowan woke, and then I realized we both needed to eat, so there's the first slow down. But now he's lying happily on the floor and I'm ready to roll.

Other good news to report: I have characters that I now understand, and the plot is coming together. You'd think 18 pages in I'd know where this novel is heading, but I haven't a clue. I am truly flying by the seat of my pants on this one. The only thing we can all be sure of, since this is a romance novel, is that they end up together in the end. But I'd like my novel to have a bit more meat to it than that. Maybe today I'll figure that out.

Day 1 Update

Helpful website keeps me on track!

Well, the first day proved better than expected. I honestly didn't think I'd get any words down yesterday. After all, I don't really have a plot, or any idea where the story is going, but I still managed to write 2855 words. The contest has a neat little device that breaks down my progress into all sorts of facts. Like, if I continue to write at this pace I'll be finished on October 18, 2013. Eep!

On a good note, the folks over at Avon are aware of my endeavour and told me not to stress if I don't make the deadline. Still, I love a good challenge. So I'm not going to stress over this project. I'm just going to try my best to get it done.

Today is going to be a hard one to get much done in the daylight hours. I have physio at 11, have to take my Mom to an appointment at 1, and Rowan has a photoshoot with his cousins at 3. But after that, when daddy gets home, I'm hoping to make a good dent in the word count.

It's also noteworthy that I haven't felt this excited about writing since I found out Rowan was on the way. This is the kick in needed.

A Novel in 10 days

Ok. So I've either completely lost my mind, or I'm about to embark on some brilliant plan that I should have stumbled on a year and a half ago.

Here's the story in a nutshell. I'm lying on the bed at physio this morning, thinking where I'm going to go shopping this afternoon, while wasting time on twitter. Lo and behold, I see a tweet that catches my interest from Avon publishers (you know, the crowd I'm hoping will buy my regency when it's done.) The tweet says "NEWS: Avon Books Issuing a Call to New Writers - NaRoWriMo!" (National Romance Novel Writing Month)

Well, it turns out that theres a writing contest held every year that challenges people to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in the the month of November. It must be a new book, not one you've been working on. Anyhow, the fine folks at Avon's e-book publishing division figure this is a great way to find themselves some new writers, and will be accepting the output of this contest for consideration. A bit more research and I find out that they are really looking for some contemporary romance novels. Well, that's a far cry from the regency book I'm writing, but if it means a shot at having someone read my work and possibly publish it, then sign me up.

Of course, my darling Reg is all for it, and is already trying to find ways to keep Rowan occupied so mommy can write. I'm very lucky to have him.

So my friends. For the next 10 days (until November 30th) I am going to do my best to write a novel. From start to finish. 50,000 words. That' 5000 a day. And given that it's 2:26 pm here in Newfoundland, I doubt I'll get 5000 done today. But for anyone that knows me, I tend to do well with deadlines. Grad school, copy writing and journalism makes that a perfected skill of mine.

I'm going to update this blog daily so you'll know how I'm making out.

I'm not truly crazy....... I think.