2009 PRISM Awards...

The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of RWA is pleased to announce the final placements in the 2009 Prism Contest.

Dark Paranormal:

First Place: Mona Lisa Craving by Sunny

Second Place: Immortals: The Redeeming by Jennifer Ashley

Third Place: Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

Light Paranormal:

First Place: Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready

Second Place:La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock

Third Place: The Trouble with Moonlight by Donna MacMeans

Erotica:

First Place: Siren Singing by Isabo Kelly

Second Place:Carnal Desires by Crystal Jordan

Third Place: A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey W. Hill

Fantasy:

First Place: The Dragon Master by Allyson James

Second Place:Dragonborn by Jade Lee

Third Place: King of Sword & Sky by C.L. Wilson

Novella:

First Place: "Dark Nest" by Leanna Renee Hieber

Second Place: "Kung Fu Shoes!" by Jade Lee in These Boots were Made forStomping

Third Place: "The Spacetime Pool" by Catherine Asaro in Analog Science Factand Fiction magazine

Futuristic:

First Place: Shades of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Second Place:Fallen by Claire Delacroix

Third Place: Moonstruck by Susan Grant

Time Travel:

First Place: Twist by Colby Hodge

Second Place:A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers

Third Place: Madman's Dance by Jana G. Oliver

Young Adult:

First Place: Sleepless by Terri Clark

Second Place:CHOSEN: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast

Third Place: Cave of Terror by Amber Dawn Bell

Best First Book:

La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock

Best of the Best:

The Dragon Master by Jennifer Ashley w/a Allyson James

Congratulations to all who placed, and a big thank you to all who entered,all who judged, and to the FF&P board for making it all possible.

Jennette Heikes & Theresa Kovian,

FF&P Prism Contest Coordinators

******

And congratulations to all of my friends who won, and who have been such an encouragement for my writing. Thank you. I hope that I can get to know the rest of you soon. You did well.

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance

Real Love in a Real Future

Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day...

Around the World, today is a day of Remembrance for all of those who have given their lives in the service of their countries. The following countries are the ones that I know are observing this day: Australia, Bermuda, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, and United States. There may be others observing this day. If I have neglected your country, please accept my apologies.

When I stopped in at KimberAn's blogs today, she had posts about Veteran's day. At her Enduring Romance blog, she talks about her family and its military history. She also highlights my review of CORDELIA'S HONOR. At her Star Captain's Daughter blog, she spotlights the amazing group of American military women in the Lioness Program. These women are working to help the military be culturally sensitive to Iraqi women. I think that it would be very difficult to say how many lives they have saved.

Another group that I would like to recoginze are The RomVets. They are former members of armed services who now are Romance authors, and who continue to give of themselves to brighten others lives with their writing.

Thank you men and women who guard the peace of the world,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance

Real Love in a Real Future

I have jumped into the pool...

And I don't know how deep the water is!

Last week, Amber Wentworth, the President of the RWA Futuristic Fantasy and Paranormal Chapter put out a distress call. FF&P had such an overwhelmingly positive response to their On the Far Side Contest for unpublished authors that they didn't have enough judges. And I volunteered. God help me.

I wanted to help, generous soul that I am, and Amber has gone out of her way to help me in the past, so it was time to pony up... but I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. God help the poor unpubbs!

The first thing that I did was to go to the FF&P website (it's listed here in the VERY USEFUL; VERY IMPORTANT sidebar) and copy and read the rules. Then I did the same thing with the judge's score sheet. Amber then followed up with detailed instructions. Ohhh, this is going to take a lot of thinking. I might even learn more from this than if I had entered the contest itself. Cool!

That's all well and fine, but the thing that really excites me is that there were so many unplanned for entries. This tells me that there is a growing interest in my writing genre of choice, Science Fiction Romance. What better way for me to help promote the genre in which I hope to succeed than to encourage other unpublished writers. Those aspiring writers are presently readers. Publishers take note: the market is growing.

Happy writing, happy reading,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

On Getting Published - caveat emptor!

Let me preface this post by saying: I am pre-pub'ed! That is writer-speak for: I ain't been published yet, Sherlock. So what I write here is worth exactly what you are paying for it, or what you choose to make out of it. Understand?

First and foremost: Publishing is a business. The publisher is not in business to help you get your story published. He is in business to make money. If he can use your work to make money, fine. If you happen to make money too, well, isn't that just special. It is a business, not a charity. Don't get the two confused.

There are reputable publishers, and, well, not so... Enough said? How do you tell them apart? The first resource that I always recommend is your writing association. Writing associations keep track of these things. They are in the business of helping you write to the best of your ability and to get published. Their help is well worth the membership dues. I have already talked about the classes they offer.

In my side bar list Very Useful; Very Important, you will find links to some organizations that are extremely helpful. In addition, you should find some help in distinguishing the good guys from the bad guys at the following URLs:

Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
Preditors & Editors: http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/peba.htm
Piers Anthony: http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html

Surf theses sites for both the good and the bad.

I am sure that there are many more, and if you will e-mail me the URLs that you think are helpful, I will be glad to set up a separate side bar list so that it is easier for everyone to check publishers out. I have had too many of my friends burned, and I don't want to be on a fly-by-night publisher's Bar-b-Q, do you?

Do your homework!

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

When Writers SCREW UP!

This picture typifies what I think when writers betray their fans' trust. Duh! OK, this morning, I was over at RBL, and one of my sisters there brought up something that made me want to RANT.

WHEN WRITERS SCREW UP!

I am jumping in here because it seems that it is happening, A LOT. For me, it all seemed to begin a few years ago when Bill Panzer (Highlander) and Josh Whedon (Buffy, Angel) started killing off their major characters. Don't get me wrong, I have truly enjoyed their twisted humor. Now other directors are doing the same. This past week I have seen it happen on at least three of my favorite shows. By favorite, I mean the only shows that I make the time to watch. Anyway, this really ticked me off. You would think that the writers would have a little more imagination than: "Gee, we need a cliff hanger. Gee, let's kill somebody important off! Gee, let's kill an important relationship! Gee, let's have one of our main characters do something REALLY awful."

Folks, what is shocking one time, gets OLD by the tenth. As you all know, I have been taking beaucoup classes in writing from various chapters of RWA. One of the things that is emphasized (without fail) by the successful writers teaching the classes is:

"Thou shalt NOT break the contract with the reader!"

It is OK to have real risk. It is OK to occasionally have a sacrificial lamb to emphasis that risk. But when something irredeemable happens to one of our favorite characters... Writers and Directors... you and your program/book are so SOL.

Writers have a responsibility to readers and viewers not to destroy that which their fans love... at least not without offering them something better. It makes them angry! Angry fans will no longer invest their time or their money.

Now that I have had my RANT:

1) Which shows have really ticked you off lately (besides Desperate Housewives, of course)?

2) Which shows can you think of that have been killed off because of this violation of the fans' trust?

Happy writing,

Frances

Trying to Write Science Fiction Romance

Real Love in a Real Future

The Education of a Writer

Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long.
Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)

Several years ago, when I first started writing seriously, and by that I mean with the intent to sell, I needed and approach... for a lot of things. The first question that my online friends asked me was, “Are you a member of Romance Writers of America?” I was not. I had no idea what RWA was! They told me that I simply must join. MUST? Being the ignorant, innocent, trusting soul that I am, I thought, “Hmm, perhaps I had better check into this group.”

Therefore, I went online and found the RWA website. “Gee, they look pretty legit. I wonder if they have a local chapter? Gee, they do! The Magnolia State Romance Writers.” I went to the MSRW website. Wow! They’re having a meeting this week! I e-mailed the local President and asked if it would be all right if I attended. She graciously extended an invitation. It was the beginning of many friendships, without which, I do not know what I would do.

Let me tell you about Romance Writers of America. If you are an aspiring writer, like I am, an organization of this sort is essential to your success. It is an association of published and unpublished writers, from all over the world. Its only aims are the promotion of the Romance genre and helping one another. That specifically includes new writers. The philosophy seems to be, “Come play in our sand box, and we’ll just make it bigger for everyone.” The organization has an enormous mentoring program. Every member that I have met has been unfailingly generous with their time and advice. In a short blog, I cannot begin to list all of the benefits that are offered. To tell you the truth...I don’t even yet know all the benefits offered. I’m still finding new ones everyday. However, I would like to focus on one, which to me is priceless.

In my last blog, I quoted Edward Gibbon about lacking training and knowledge. I was not kidding. I have an undergraduate degree in English from a fine college, and yet not a single class in creative writing. Not only that, but it was forty years ago! How much do you remember from last week? The important thing for me is that RWA has online chapters, which offer classes, at reasonable rates, taught by experts. These classes cover everything from the nuts and bolts construction of a story through the organization of the global publishing industry. Do you want to build a world in another galaxy? There are classes available. How does the FBI work? Take a class. Did you say that you don’t have a marketing pan? Quick, you have to take the class.

Over the last year, I have been OD-ing on classes taught through the Outreach International (OIRW) chapter of RWA. I cannot praise this group and its wonderful instructors enough. However, they are not the only branch of RWA to offer classes. In the list, Very Useful; Very Important, on the left side of this page you will find links to many wonderful writing organizations. Many have free online articles that the novice writer will find invaluable. Please, surf the list. You won’t be sorry.

Happy writing,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future