The 21st Annual Lone Star Writing Competition

DEADLINE COMING SOON - JUNE 8TH!  

Three first round judges, three final round judges!

**Permission to forward is granted and appreciated***

***Deadline will not be extended***

The 21st Annual Lone Star Writing Competition sponsored by Northwest Houston RWA.

Last year, our finalists received an overwhelming response: a total of 14 full and 6 partial requests covering all categories.

• Two published authors and one unpublished author for first round judges.
• Finalists go before a panel of three professionals in the industry which may include any of the following: agent/editor/epublisher.
• Contest is open to unpublished and published authors. (See eligibility requirements by clicking the link below.)

Entry fee: $20 NWH members; $25 non-NWH members. (U.S. funds, only)

All electronic. First 25 pages, no synopsis. Entries must arrive via the entry form on the chapter’s website by midnight June 8, 2013 CDT. Any entries received after the deadline will be deleted unopened.

First place winners in each category will receive the custom made sterling silver Lone Star Brooch AND a website banner !!!! Achievement certificates will be awarded to all finalists.

For more information including rules, the score sheet, and entry form, see our website at http://nwhrwa.com/writers-events/lonestar-contest/.

Eligibility: Unpublished may enter any category. Published may enter any category in which they're not published, or in which they've not been contracted for five years. Open to RWA and non-RWA members.

Questions may be directed to the contest coordinator at jayegarland@gmail.com.

Jaye Garland, 2013 Contest Chair

Lone Star Writing Competition

2^nd Vice President, NWHRWA

Inquiring Minds Want to Know - Flirting

Authors are often asked, is your story character driven or plot driven…in other words, is your story more character oriented or plot oriented?

I’m a panster and I don’t spend a lot of time plotting out either my characters or my plot. I have a general idea of who they are and what’s going to happen when I start the book, but I’m not one of those authors who have a notebook on either.

One book I have on characters is WHATWOULD YOUR CHARACTER DO? Personality Quizzes for Analyzing Your Characters by Eric Maisel, PH.D. and Ann Maisel. “The 30 real-life scenarios include questions and answers that provide you with a window into your characters’ souls.”

The book sets up scenes for your character, then asks a series of questions, with multiple choice answers. You choose the answer that your character would most likely do. The authors then give you an explanation for each answer—why your character would react that way.

An example from the book: Scenario No. 7 – Flirting (page 76). “Imagine your character in a bar and in a flirting mood.” What sort of a bar is she in? What other people are in the bar? Get the picture in your mind. Then ask yourself:

“An attractive someone makes eye contact with your character. What is the first thing she does?”

1) Look away quickly?
2) Meet the glance briefly, then look away?
3) Meet the glance in a lingering way, then look away?
4) Smile and nod?
5) March right over?

What answer did you choose? According to the authors, this is what each action means:

1) Looking away quickly is consistent with a shy character who lets lots of life’s opportunities pass by and who is similarly likely to experience a lot of regret over her missed opportunities.
2) Meeting the glance briefly, then looking away is consistent with a character who, although on the shy side, has enough self-confidence to reciprocate a glance and who is likely to come back for a second glance.
3) Meeting the glance in a lingering way, then looking away, is consistent with a self-confident character who perhaps has a lot on her mind or, alternatively, with a self-confident character who is playing a studied role of casualness.
4) Smiling and nodding is consistent with a friendly, extroverted character who takes easily to new people and who may pop up and visit if another glance is exchanged.
5) Marching right over is consistent with a powerful character high in energy and sex appeal or, alternatively, with a weak character who is used to disguising that weakness through bold gestures.

In this chapter, you are asked five other questions and also given other alternative flirting situations to consider and facts about flirting and modern women.

A few other scenarios given in the book for your consideration are: Family Picnic, Poolside Encounter, Stranger in Town, Poker Night, At the Sex Shop, Deathbed Secret, A Very Busy Day.

So, how would your character react to finding a handsome/beautiful someone looking at them?

Anna Kathryn Lanier
www.aklanier.com annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. ~Doug Ivester 

This post first appeared on the Roses of Houston blog on 12/28/09.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know - Naming Characters

I am a panster, and this carries over to my characters' names. In one book, I asked my daughter for the names, Conner and Layla.  Honestly, I don't recall how I came up with the names of my other characters. There's one of my WIPs where the heroine's name keeps getting changed. I know that I want her to have a boyish name, like Dannie or Sammie, while her real name is more elegant, like Danielle or Samantha. Or something even less flattering, a name one of her brothers came up with, perhaps because he couldn't pronounce her name.  The hero won't realize her name is not actually what he's been calling her all along. I just can't settle on a name for her.

For secondary characters, I usually just look around my house for items with names on them (books) and use that.  I have learned to be careful what you name secondary characters, however...you may want to write a book about them and not be thrilled with their name!

How do you name your characters, especially the main characters?  Do you just pick out a name or do you worrying over it?

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

I've found that the best way to learn the writing craft is to attend conferences and workshops.  So, please share with us one of the best workshops (online or in person) that you have attended.

Jimmy Thomas workshop on branding and promotion

at Northwest Houston RWA, February 2013

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Oh, my!  I found my list of "Inquiring Minds Want to Know" questions.  Where the heck was it last week???? Geez.  I'm so happy, now I don't have to think of a bunch of new questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a whole bookshelf full of writing craft books...most of them I have not read.  But I do not want to get rid of them.  Since I'm not a plotter, I probably should dump the plotting books, but when you look through them, you find something that will help you with your writing, plotter or panster!

So, here's this week's question:

What’s one of your favorite writing craft books?  Tell us about it.

Anna Kathryn Lanier
www.aklanier.com annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. ~Doug Ivester 

Jimmy Thomas Workshop

Marketing, Branding, and Self-Promotion 

An All-Day Workshop

Presented by Jimmy Thomas

Jimmy Thomas, one of the most recognizable faces on romance novel covers, will present his proven ideas on branding, marketing and self-promotion which have made him well known in the world of publishing. Not only do attendees meet the man who graces the covers of over 4,000 books, they will learn techniques that will help authors boost their visibility.





February 2, 2013 9:00-5:00

Houston, TX

Cost: $25

Lunch included.

Limited space so register soon!

For more information and to register:

CLICK HERE

The Case for Conventions

by Missy Jane

Last weekend I attended a convention in Allen, TX called Readers & ‘ritas. Yes, it’s very much what it sounds like. There were authors, readers, books…and drinks. It was a blast. This was my second year to attend and I will be back next year. When it comes to conventions I have to be kind of picky. I attend RnR because it’s close to home. I live in the Houston area and Allen is only a few hours away so I can drive. For some that might sound horrible, but in Texas a couple of hours drive is par for the course. Since I live in Houston, it usually takes an hour to get anywhere anyway.

There are many other conventions all throughout the year, a couple I’d kill to go to. Unfortunately the travel and lodging expense often prevents me from going. So, why go? Whether you’re an avid reader or not I highly recommend attending at least one reader’s conference in your lifetime. The highlight is, of course, meeting authors you admire. But there is so much more. There are LOTS of free books and other goodies given out by the convention and the attending authors. There are usually parties, including a costume ball in some form. There are people you may have met already online and now you can see that they really exist. There are BOOKS, BOOKS, and more BOOKS!

The convention I attended is a small one in comparison to most and that means the attendees were many familiar faces. I heard one say it’s like seeing family again that you haven’t seen in a year. There’s a sense of camaraderie and excitement when you first walk into the hotel and start to see everyone. It’s a fabulous experience.

 

So, since I came home with so many new books I’ve decided to share. Leave a comment on what your convention experiences have been like, or if you haven’t been to one which is your dream conference? Mine is Dragon Con and it’s on my bucket list. The prize (open to International readers) is a copy of Jade Lee’s Dragon Bound. Be warned, her inscription is about how awesome I am, lol. Please include your email in your comment and I will draw a winner on Monday. Good luck!

-Missy Jane

*Make reading a guilty pleasure…*

www.authormissyjane.com

www.msmissyjane.blogspot.com

 

A rose is a rose by any other name…..

By Callie Hutton

How do you pick the names of your characters?

Do you wait until you’ve formed the character either in your mind, or on paper before you give him or her a name? Although I’ve never waited to name a character, more than once I started off with one name, and then as the story progressed, it became evident that this was no Elizabeth. More of a Delilah.

Since I’m a panster, changing a name mid-way through the story is not so unusual for me. A regency I completed a few months ago, and is now in the hands of several publishers awaiting the dreaded decision, I changed the heroine’s name three times. And ended up with the name I started with – Olivia.

Recently I decided to use my daughter and nieces names in my books. For the married ones, as long as I don’t use their husbands’ names for the hero, I can write the love scenes without a problem. What is a problem, however, is my nieces, for the most part have ‘modern’ names. Tracey, Stacy, Kim, Dawne, and so forth. Since I write primarily historical, it becomes a challenge.

In a contemporary I wrote recently, I knocked out two nieces by using them for first and last names. Kerry Mackenzie. It’s rather cool that Mackenzie (in real life) is Kerry’s daughter.

 

I keep a rather extensive list of names I hear that seem different, or unusual. Most times I have the names of my hero and heroine before I start the book. It’s searching for the secondary characters in the story that drives me to the list.

Butlers’ names are fun. There aren’t a whole lot of John or Jim in regency butlers. They have unusual names, like Bonwich or Pembers. I’ve often wondered, is that their first, last, or butler name?

Some characters’ names become so entrenched with their authors, their names are almost synonymous. Who can think of Margaret Mitchell and not conjure up Scarlett O’Hara? How about J. Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes? Or Agatha Christie and Miss Marple? Or in a more modern vein, James Patterson and Alex Cross? Janet Evonovich and Stephanie Plum? J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter? E L James and Christine Grey?

We would probably all love to be so connected to one of our characters.  The notoriety alone would sell books.

In my book that my publisher just released, A Prescription for Love, naming the characters was easy, since it’s the third book in a series. The hero’s name was already set, from the first two stories, but I had to find a character name for the heroine that fit her personality. Heidi just seemed to call to me. I lucked out when one of my critique partners questioned if that name would be used during that time. When I researched the book Heidi, I found out it was published right around the time my character would have been born. Whew!

So tell me how naming characters works for you. Easy? Hard? Do you change names as the character grows, or do you have it all plotted out before you start, so changing anything would unnerve you?

 

Bio:

Callie has been making up stories since elementary school, and writing gave her a way to turn off the voices in her head.  She’s had a number of articles and interviews published over the years, and about two years ago, decided to put her writing skills to the test and write a book.

            Oklahoma is where she hangs her hat with her husband of thirty-six years, two young adult children, and three dogs.

You can catch her hanging out at Facebook, Twitter- @CallieHutton, and her home base, www.calliehutton.com. Stop by sometime and say hello.

Books by Callie Hutton:

Oklahoma Lovers series, #1, #2, #3

An Angel in the Mail

Tessa’s Treasures

Miss Merry’s Christmas, October 31^st

Daniel’s Desire, November 19th

All of Callie Hutton’s books can be found at www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com.

On Writing - Settings

by MJ Fredrick

I admit, I’ve bought books before simply based on setting. When I first started reading romance, it was Ireland—ANYTHING set in Ireland. I expanded to England, then Scotland, before venturing to the United States and gobbling up Civil War romances, then moving to the present day.

 

What I discovered about myself is that I choose to read certain settings based on what I was interested in at the time.

For awhile it was archaeology, thanks to the Mummy movies. There are not many of those, BTW.

For awhile it was California-set romances, thanks to the Virgin River books.

Then Hawaii-set books because of my crush on Alex O’Loughlin in Hawaii 5-0.

My son’s girlfriend recently moved to Alaska, so I have been reading some of those.

Lately, it’s western historicals thanks to Hell on Wheels and the re-showing of Into the West. (I have one episode saved because I want to write a wagon train story now.

That happens when I write, too.

My historical Sunrise Over Texas was written when I was teaching Texas history, about Jane Long, the “Mother of Texas.” I’d taught that lesson in previous years, but that year something clicked!

My hot shot firefighter story, Hot Shot, was written when the Colorado fires were so bad in 2000.

Midnight Sun is set in Antarctica because of a show on the travel channel I saw about cruises that take people to see the 7^th continent.

My series Welcome to Bluestone was written when I was visiting Minnesota, which is harder hit by the recession than my home state of Texas. We drove past a town struggling to stay afloat, and the series was born.

What about you? Does setting influence your choices when it comes to buying books? Are there any settings you DON’T care to read?

MJ Fredrickhttp://mjfredrick.com

Bluestone Homecoming

Guarded Hearts from Lyrical Press

Using Music as Inspiration for Writing

By Suzan Battah

Well, there is a secret story behind the book Mad About the Boy. It's not seedy, or even romantic but just the truth and I'm here to share the secret - music.

Music is a big part of my writing. It is an inspiration and it beats like a heart in me when I am writing scenes. It doesn't matter the genre, music is always there to push me forward.

Since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be swept off my feet by some dashing hero and we'd get married and live in a castle with plenty of children to follow. I was young! But I was a lonely child and we didn't have family around, growing up in a quiet suburb. I was a quiet child and didn't have many friends. Though I loved to read and always had a fascination with the Medieval Period, Regency Period and anything Fantasy or Sci Fi. I also dreamed and dreamed about running away to live in England where I could visit Jane Austen's house, see the massive palaces and maybe the Queen and lots of castles and walk around in the country and who cares if it's raining! That was the fantastical world from my eyes as a child and right into my teens (even now) I still daydream about what it would be like to have lived in those times or my own world. My imagination runs wild, seriously I can't help it - so I write.

Music and writing is a big thing, especially for me. I am very visual and some particular music can evoke visual scenes, some music brings out the emotional scenes. Mad About the Boy is named after the delightful song Mad About the Boy by Dinah Washington and there seems to be a trend in this. I've seen some other romantic books following along those lines.

I use contemporary, classical, rock, pop and especially love hearing original music from youtube. Music is like the words of a book playing out in rhythm. With all my projects, music plays a big part. So as each project comes to an end and ready for publishing so too does the playlist that was developed while making my creation.

Mad About the Boy was born - a Contemporary Romance with a multicultural couple, the song playlist that was developed while writing the book can be listened to on my website. I was so proud of my achievement. I sent out manuscripts, got rejected over a hundred times had it reviewed by countless agents. I've been shredded to bits in writer's competitions by my peers, I've also won two awesome awards for the same manuscript. I've written this beautiful, charismatic love story and wanted to share it with the world. There was a stigma behind Self-Publishing, other authors stare down their noses or put you down. It's considered taboo but not anymore I hope with the great many successes out there. Wonderful authors whose voices may never have been heard if not for taking their own art form and business with their own hands. I'm proud of the choice I made and even more so when the readers tell me how much they love Mad About the Boy. I write for the readers to entertain.

Blurb:

Julia Mendoza is driven by the success of her business. Since her husband Carlos passed away at such a young age, her business By Design is her number one priority. In her late twenties she works too hard and doesn't take time out for fun. Annoyance with a pesky ex-friend has her begging one of the local surfer's with a cheeky smile in the grocery store to pretend he's her boyfriend. Suddenly, life takes a sudden detour from her business plan; much to the delight of her boisterous Latin American family.

Christophe Augustine is groomed to take over his father's successful chain of luxurious hotels. With a wealthy French-American background, Chris has been given privileges that not many have. He works hard, plays harder but seeks approval and recognition above all else. Family is a top priority for him as he fights for custody of his young brother. His parent's divorce has not diminished his faith in romance. When a gorgeous Latino woman changes one boring morning into an interesting game of role play, though reluctant to help at first, he soon realises she's not like the string of other women he's known.

A romantic first date ending dramatically doesn't stop Chris from wanting to know Julia more. And for Julia, she's all for a bit of fun but when things get too serious she's running the other way. Too alike, in some ways and complete opposites, in others ways, Julia and Chris fumble through fun moments, annoying confrontations, passionate times and heartbreaking revelations. 

Love has no boundaries when soul-mates meet but when one is ready to love and the other one isn't....

Buy now at Amazon: Paperback addition or Kindle

Buy now at Barnes and Noble: Paperback or Nook

Suzan Battah

www.suzanbattah.com

www.facebook.com/suzan.battah

@suzanbattah

Proofread of a FULL Manuscript Auction

Here's another great basket available via The Brenda Novak Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

The winner of this auction will receive a proofread of a full manuscript (not to exceed 110K words).

The basket also includes all of the tools you’ll need to edit your manuscript before sending it off for proofreading, including multicolored highlighters, red pens, Post-it© Page Markers, a sticky note cube, multicolored index cards, and a collection of multicolored paper clips, push pins, and binder clips.

Submission must be made by October 31, 2012.

Value: $200

Bid on it HERE!

A graduate of The George Washington University, Ally Broadfield is a former school librarian who runs her own freelance proofreading business. She is also a News Writer for the Best Friends Animal Network and an RWA PRO, and currently has three manuscripts on submission. She writes historical romance and young adult paranormal/fantasy romance.

For more information about Ally and her proofreading services, please visit allybroadfield.com

Please note that proofreading is not the same thing as a critique. Proofreading focuses solely on mechanical correctness (grammar, spelling, punctuation, typos and syntax).

Writing Quotes

A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy


And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath


I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard


What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers. ~Logan Pearsall Smith, "All Trivia," Afterthoughts, 1931


Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth


Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov


The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax. ~Alfred Kazin, Think, February 1963

What's your favorite writing quote?  I'm sure I have some small gift or another to give away to some lucky commenter!  I'll draw for a winner Wednesday.

Links for Writing Tips

Here's a few Links to articles and posts I've come across with gret tips for writers.

What is Tagging? Tag My Book on Amazon Blog

How To Tag a Book on Amazon at Just Write! with Anne Marie Novark

17 Writing Secrets at Writer's Digest

Tip of the Day at Writer's Digest

8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One at Writer's Digest

Writing Tips and Links by Once Upon A Romance

What website or blog post do you recommend?  Leave a comment to help your fellow authors and be eligible to win WRITING TOOLS: 50 ESSENTIAL STRAGEGIES FOR EVERY WRITER by Roy Peter Clark.
Anna Kathryn Lanier
www.aklanier.com

New Year's Resolutions

Yes, I know, it's a little past the New Year, unless you count the Chinese, which was just a week ago.  But there were some glitches in getting this posted....it took awhile for Mary to get back to me with permission to post, then I just plum forgot about it until going through my emails.  I think it's still a good message to post, because it reminds us of the promises we made for ourselves.  And if we didn't make promises, well, there's no reason why we can't make them now, is there.

This was posted by Mary McCall on Hearts Through History RWA's chapter loop back in December....

How to Keep your New Year's Resolutions


It's close to that time of year when everyone decides to correct every flaw they see in themselves as if wishing were magic and saying they will or won't do something will make it so. That's just not true and we all know it.

Are you determined that this year you'll keep those New Year's Resolutions? If you answered yes, then here are a few goal setting tips to get you started.

#1: Separate Your New Year's Resolutions from Working Goals and Objective. New Year's Resolutions are something you do for you alone. Work may benefit from them, but should not be dependent on them. They should be things that will have an impact on your future personal well-being. Goals and Objectives are things you must do wherein negative consequences could have a profound impact on your future. Do not confuse the two.


Don't Try Everything at Once! There's a temptation, with the New Year, to run off a list of everything we've ever wanted to change. Don't fall for it! You'll have better luck fulfilling one or two goals than you will with a list of fifty. You can always add new resolutions to your list later if you choose. Take one thing at a time. Make the change stick and then move on to something else. None of us are God, nor are we Superman, so we shouldn't try to act like we are.

Word it Carefully. Let's say your resolution is to relax more in the coming year. Word this carefully. Try not to think of it as "This year I am going to relax." That's a stress-inducer waiting to happen. It forces you into thinking of the resolution as something you must do, not something you want to do. Try to make it sound a little gentler: "This year I'm going to explore different ways of relaxing." It also suggests more of a plan—you'll fulfill the resolution by experimenting with relaxation techniques. The first resolution sounds as if you're going to force yourself to relax by sheer willpower.

Make a Plan. Once you know what your resolution is, try to break it down. Nobody accomplishes anything of significance by trying to do it all at once. This doesn't have to be a complicated plan; just brainstorm enough to give you a place to start. Whenever possible, put a date on your plans. Remember, a goal without a date is a fantasy and you have nothing to shoot for.

For relaxing, you might devise a plan like this:

1) Surf the Internet to find different relaxation techniques the end of January (how about March).

2) Make a list of all the techniques that interest you by mid February (mid-April).

3) Pick one of these techniques—meditation, progressive relaxation or self-hypnosis, for instance—and try one for a month. Identify and date which techniques you will try which months.

4) Try a different technique every month until you find one you like.

5) If you meet your goal, celebrate!!! You have no idea how big an accomplishment meeting a New Year's Resolution is! For most people they are words mumbled over champagne and lost in the wind. If you've accomplished your resolution, shout it to wind and celebrate. You deserve it.

Write it Down. Write down your resolution and your plan of action. Stick it up on the fridge, in your locker, wherever you know you'll see it. That way you'll have a constant reminder of the resolution. You may want to change the wording as time passes and your goal changes.

Who Invented New Year's Resolutions?

Okay, now to answer the questions we all really want to know: Who's to blame for New Year's resolutions, and do they have an e-mail address or blog so we can flame them?

Well, we're out of luck on the address, but it looks as if the tradition is as old as New Year's celebrations. The Babylonians celebrated New Years Day over four thousand years ago, although their celebration was in March rather than in January, coinciding with the spring planting of crops.

So if you must break your resolution, break it with pride! You'll be continuing a long tradition of broken resolutions dating back to the dawn of recorded history! And if you had a false start, why you can start again in March, à la Babylonia!

The New Year, no matter when people have celebrated it, has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's time to reflect on the changes we want, or often need, if we're to have the motivation move forward. Resolutions are a reflection of the Babylonians' belief that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will have an effect throughout the entire year. Think about that at the New Year's party!

Mary


Thanks for letting me share, Mary!

If Only...

Many people are closet writers. Some could be published authors—if only. If only I had more time. If only I knew the right people. If only I didn’t have to keep my day job. If only I had no kids underfoot. If only I didn’t have to care for my ill parents. If only…

If you have a dream (it doesn’t have to be writing), write an If Only list. Now look closely at each item on that list. I guarantee that for every item on the list, you can find an example of someone with more If Only’s who succeeded at your dream. Paraplegics have climbed mountains and run marathons. A single mother with twelve children wrote a bestseller. A man who worked two jobs and wrote only during his lunch break completed seven novels. If they did it, so can you.

So what’s really stopping you? Most of the time, it’s not your circumstances, it’s fear. Fear of rejection, fear of success, fear of change, fear of what others might say… Spend some time identifying the fear (or fears) holding you back. Those are your REAL If Only’s. Put them on your list.

You can find ways to reach your dreams. But you have to be willing to face your REAL If Only’s first.

For me, keeping my dreams alive while raising five children and holding down a full and a part time job seemed impossible, but I did what I could. I wrote magazine articles after they were in bed at night. I’ve now had more than 850 magazine and educational articles published. It took me almost twenty years to get my first book published, but I held onto that dream and kept working. On May 22 this year, that work bore fruit. Two books from two different publishers came out on the same day!

Now If Only I could figure out this marketing stuff…

I'm giving away a copy of Summer Lovin' to one commenter on this blog. See the excerpt and blurb below. Check back on Wednesday, June 3 after noon to see who won. If only you all could win...

Laurie J. Edwards is the author of “Summer Storms” in the anthology Summer Lovin’ from The Wild Rose Press and Rihanna (People in the News) from Lucent. She is a regular contributor to educational and business publications and is a freelance editor for both fiction and non-fiction publishers. Find out more about her at http://lje1.wordpress.com/ and http://twrpclimbingrose.blogspot.com/. If you are interested in contacting her for freelancing editing, she can be reached at LaurieJEdwards at gmail dot com.

BLURB:

SUMMER LOVIN’ is a collection of love stories by six Climbing Rose authors about life on a ranch, summer jobs, sandcastle competitions, the tragedy of a flood, and falling in love with a rock star. My story in the anthology is "Summer Storms": Sixteen-year-old Paige nearly drowns trying to rescue a Pomeranian trapped in floodwaters that sweep through her town. Chase, the hottie who saves her, wants to help her and her mother, but Paige won’t accept charity. And can she risk him unmasking the family secret she’s kept hidden?

EXCERPT (Paige and her mother are trying to escape the flood sweeping through town. Waves have just smashed the branches of an uprooted tree through their window):

Picking her way over the broken glass, Paige lunged for the uprooted tree. Icy water soaked her sneakers and jeans. The suitcase banged against the trunk and almost slid from her grasp. Her fingers raked down the rough bark, tearing her palms. The tree bobbed up and down as water assaulted it.

Paige climbed on and wrapped one arm around an upright branch. Staying seated was like riding a bucking bronco. She wedged the suitcase between two branches and then leaned forward to extend a hand to Mama, who was scrambling for balance.

As she got Mama situated, another wave rocked the tree. The suitcase slid. Before Paige could grab it, it plunged into the water below. What had they lost? Her mind was a blur. But Mama was safe. That was the important thing.

She wrested the other suitcase from Mama’s grip and slid the handle over an upright tree branch. Mama clung to another branch as the tree shuddered. As long as the tree didn’t roll, they could float to safety. She hoped.

Wood cracked and splintered. Only a bit more and the branch would break free. Then they’d be at the mercy of the river.

A tiny yip caused Paige to turn. A Pomeranian paddled furiously in the sludge between their house and the one next door. Its fur slicked tight to its head, the dog panted as it struggled to keep its head above water. The tree had dammed the floodwaters between the buildings, but once the dog reached the rushing water, it would be doomed.

Paige clutched the branch with one hand and leaned back until her muscles screamed in agony. The dog struggled closer, but she couldn’t reach it. She gripped the trunk between her legs and let go of the branch. Still, the gap was too great.

Mama screamed, “No, Paige, no!”

But Paige ignored her. She inched backward and reached for the dog. With a great rending sound, the branch holding the tree in place tore free of its mooring. And with a sucking sound, the tree shot into the raging current.