Hi all. So happy for it to be summer. I'm one of those sickos who actually likes the heat, the feel of the sun beating down. My husband loves the A.C., and this is a constant fight between us all summer. I usually end up sleeping in the guest room with the cats, who hate the noise of the A.C. Or maybe they just love me best.
Yeah, probably that.
I'll miss you all at the Romance Writers of America Convention this year. It's in Disneyworld, which is very cool--or rather, in July, rather hot! It's too bad, because I'd really love to break out my Snow White dress. Or, better, yet, my Evil Queen dress. Snow White really was a bit of a wuss, wasn't she?
I know I blogged last month about judging writing contests, and I really shouldn't again. But who's going to stop me? (Cue evil laughter here.)
I just judged two more writing contests these last few weeks--one for published authors, one for unpubbed manuscripts. Boy, writing sure is hard. Or rather, writing well sure is hard. Here's what I'd like to shout at all the entrants:
DON'T WRITE IN CLICHES!
Please. Pretty please.
If your characters are walking cliches, please don't also make them talk in cliches. Or have sex in cliches. ("It was the best he'd ever had...it was different... somehow...") The men were rich. They were handsome, tall, and had excellent shoulders. You could have plucked "Hank" from the pages of his book and dropped him into "Leonardo's" book and no one would have noticed. And the heroines? Don't even get me started on the heroines. Cute and feisty? Check. Down on their luck? Check. Good-hearted, but scarred by emotional experience any real human would suck up and get over? Check.
Then, I read this entry. I can't tell you about it, but let's just say it was different. The heroine wasn't 28 and feisty and smart. She was....ergh.....I can't say. Judging rules and ethics and all that. But I want to. I want to shout it from the rooftops because it made my spine tingle. It wasn't the best written entry and it broke down a little in the end. But that heroine, baby. She kept having unique and interesting thoughts. She had an outlook on the world that was so warped and wonderful and innocent and smart. I hadn't read about her before.
So thank you to entry J-42-6, whoever you are. I hope you'll make it out there in the great big publishing world.
The RITA awards are, arguably, the Oscars of the romance writing world. To win a RITA is the highest honor a romance author can achieve. All entries are judged by other published romance authors on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest. Romance Writers of America, the group that gives out the awards, sends a complicated judging sheet so that all the judges are on the same page. However, having just read the last of my RITA entries, I propose this new judging rubric:
9=Raging jealousy
8=Mild jealousy, able to be tempered by fact that author is much older than you
7=Sporadic jealousy, made bearable because author sucks at grammar, characterization, or dialogue (more…)
Just turned in the next book, tentatively titled, "Thank God That Sucker's Done."
Just kidding.
Actually, it doesn't have a title yet, but when it does, you'll be the first to know. This is a pretty exciting time for an author, that blissful period after the book is off in the world and before the editor comes back with massive changes.
It lasts about five minutes.
Because the instant you send the book in, you start thinking of changes that you wish you'd made. Parts that you really should have put in. Better solutions to plot problems that it's now too late to address.
Good thing I have another book due soon. Gotta get on that one.
Contest is over: the winner has been crowned. Thanks for playing, everyone. Randomly picked winners from the correct answers are: Cindy C and Terri D. If you won, send me an e-mail at diana@dianaholquist.com with your snail mail and I'll send you the book!--Diana 11/18/09)
It's time to crown the Sexiest Man Alive 2009.
I know, I know...it's a hard job. But someone's got to do it. And once again, Julie James and I have decided that before People magazine gets their say, you should get yours. So we've joined forces to celebrate the fact that:
(a) our books have, um, almost the exact same title, and more importantly,
(b) the announcement of People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2009 is just days away.
(And hey–it’s a good excuse to look at pictures of some really attractive men.)
I had so much fun doing this T.V. interview for my new book, How to Tame a Modern Rogue. I was unbelievably nervous, but everyone tells me they can't tell.
We put this video together as a tribute to the amazing Smart Bitches Trashy Books romance site as a thank you for all they've done to promote the cause of trashy romances everywhere. I can't thank all these great authors enough for participating. It was totally fun. (And also a huge shout-out to the amazing Lindey Faber, who put the video together.)
When Sexiest Man Alive was nominated for the RITA award for Best Single Title Romance, I yelled and screamed....and then I thought--how can I milk this baby for everything it's worth? So I took a deep breath and asked the other finalists if they'd make a video with me. Amazingly, most of them said yes.
We had such a great time making this Trash Talk video. It went instantly viral and had over 10,000 hits before the RITAs.
This was the first video I ever made (can you tell?). But, I still love it. It spurred a campaign of "Talking Book" videos. Pure fun. (Don't you like the music? Very 1972!)
