I’ve Finished my RITA Books!

Every year, members of Romance Writers of America donate hours of their time to judge RWA’s two major contests – the Golden Heart and the RITA. This year, I ended up with 7 or 8 books to read for the RITA (I’ve lost count) and I’ve been reading up a storm trying to finish every book and turn in my score. Last night, I finished the last book in my stack, and I’m deliriously happy.

Unlike past years, this year I ended up with a bunch of books that I probably wouldn’t have picked up to read if they hadn’t been sent to me in my contest packet. I get a few of those books every year. We all do. After all, what are the chances that you’re going to get a package filled only with books you’d pick out for yourself to read?

Like past years, this year I discovered a couple of treasures – books that surprised me for one reason or another. Books I enjoyed much more than I expected to. I also ended up with a couple I didn’t enjoy at all. That’s no surprise, either. It happens every year.

I enjoy the experience of judging books in the RITA contest, even if it is time-consuming and takes me away from my own TBR stack for a few weeks. But I’m also happy to get back to it when I’m finished :)

Creating Compelling Characters

It's that time again! Registration is open for March's workshop on creating compelling characters.

March 2 - 27, 2009

Registration Fee: $40

CREATING COMPELLING CHARACTERS: From hero and heroine to protagonist and antagonist, from main characters to sidekicks and walk-ons, you'll learn the art and craft of breathing life into the people who walk the pages of your manuscript. Learn how to discover your characters' motivations and conflicts, and how to add those little touches that take characters from ordinary to extraordinary.

In this workshop you'll learn:

• How to discover what moves your characters
  
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• How to learn what your characters value
  
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• How to identify the conflicts your characters face
  
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• How to conduct character interviews
  
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• How to see the world through your characters' eyes so you can adequately portray that on the page.
  
• How to create a strong, interesting character arc

Workshops are conducted through Yahoo! Groups listservs, so discussions are delivered into your e-mail in-box. Each lesson contains an exercise geared to let you practice the tools of your craft on your own work in progress, and you'll get in-depth feedback on each exercise you submit. In addition, your registration fee entitles you to a 20-page in-depth critique of your actual manuscript.

Email Sherry (sherry@dancingoncoals.com) for more information or click here to register.

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Copyright © 2009 Sherry Lewis

Glitter and Lace

I've mentioned before that I'm not exactly a fan of Valentine's Day. I can attribute some of my dislike of the holiday to the fact that I was married, briefly, many years ago and that I've been single ever since. It's not that I've been alone ever since, but back when I was still thinking a relationship sounded like a good idea, I was notorious for picking the wrong guys -- the ones who wouldn't acknowledge Valentine's Day if their lives depended on it.

The other part of my intense dislike for the day stems from the fact that a couple of my most painful experiences happened around Valentine's Day -- both on February 13, as a matter of fact. They're so painful, it's difficult to talk about them, even though one happened 20 years ago, and the other 5.

My only good memories of Valentine's Day are from when I was a kid -- back when we spent a couple of days decorating an old shoe box, cutting a hole in the lid, addressing Valentines to the other kids in the class, and then opening the cards we got, making special note of the friends whose parents were cool enough to let them slip in a candy heart or (be still my heart) a sucker! More than anything, I loved making those Valentines for my mother -- the ones with the red construction paper and lacy paper doilies.

This year, I thought maybe I should revisit those good old memories and see if I could revive some kind of relationship with Valentine's Day by making my own Valentines. But that's all it was -- a thought. I happened to mention it to Daughter #2, and this afternoon a package arrived on my doorstep. Among other things, it contained colored paper, a variety of lacy paper doilies, ribbon, stickers, glue and glitter pens.

So guess what I'm going to be doing between now and February 14th! Yep, you guessed it. I'm going to be making Valentines!

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Copyright © 2009 Sherry Lewis

ONE DOWN ... ELEVEN TO GO

Last month, I blogged about my decision to take part in the 2009 To Be Read Challenge. At the time, I was struggling to read a book every two weeks -- not because I don't love to read, but because I was making everything else more important than reading. But I'm an author, and I can't do my job well if I don't read.

Last weekend, my oldest daughter realized that I was spinning my wheels, which is something I tend to do more often than is good for me. She grilled me, as my daughters tend to do whenever they notice my world getting out of whack. "When you tell people what you do for a living," she asked, "what do you tell them?"

"That I'm an author," I said. I mean duh!

She nodded as if I'd just proved her point, not my own -- which is another thing my daughters do. "Exactly. That's your career, right?"

Again ... duh!!!

"So," she said, narrowing her eyes and getting ready for the kill shot. "isn't that what you should be doing all day instead of all this other stuff?"

Oh. BIG duh! Yeah. I should be devoting my working hours to actually ... oh, I don't know ... working. At what I do for a living. Hmmm. What a concept.

All this to say that I have a new work schedule, to which I'm sticking like glue. At 7:30 every morning, it's time to write, and I write steadily until 12:30 when I break for lunch. My lunch lasts an hour, after which I write again until 4:30 -- and then (and only then) can I tackle all the other things on my ever-growing to-do list.

The beauty of this schedule is that when I break for lunch, I read. Yes! I actually spend an hour having lunch, relaxing, and reading! And because of this glorious new schedule, I read two (count them TWO!!!) books last week. And one of them (circling around so that I can finally get to my point) was from my 2009 To Be Read Challenge List!

The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank.

I feel so very accomplished!

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Copyright © 2009 Sherry Lewis

The Selling Synopsis

February 2 - 27, 2009

Registration Fee: $40 (includes critique)

For more information, or to register, go to DancingOnCoals

THE SELLING SYNOPSIS: A synopsis is one of the most valuable tools in your writer’s toolbox, but to write a successful one, we need to shift gears and forget almost everything we've learned about writing a great novel. Learn how to show editors and agents that you can put together a compelling story filled with sympathetic characters. That you understand motivation and know how to work with and layer conflict.

In this workshop you'll learn:

How to format your synopsis

How to decide what to include and what to leave out

How to write a functional query letter

How to establish conflict

How to present motivation

How to pace your synopsis to keep the editor hooked

Reading is still FUNdamental

My daughter sent me this photo from her phone's camera this afternoon, and I just had to share. As an avid reader, not to mention an author, it makes my heart soar to see a child enjoying a storybook. This child is definitely a chip off her grandmom's block :)

When she was born, 13 1/2 weeks early, doctors told those of us who weren't allowed to touch her yet that the best thing we could do for her was to read. It didn't matter what we read, they assured us, we just needed to read to her. Reading would be the best way for us to assist in her development.

When she contracted meningitis a couple of weeks later, we were told that she was almost certain to have some brain damage; yet she's developing normally, with only very minor complications from her early physical challenges. Doctors who see her now are astounded to learn that she started life so small and that she fought such incredible odds to be here.

A couple of days ago, I told her that I'd be coming to her house to visit soon and I said I wanted to play when I came down there.

She said, "I want to play too, Ooma."

"Well, of course," I told her. "We'll play together. And we can read books, too. Do you want to read books?"

"Uh-huh," she said, and then she paused. "I want to read a story," she told me firmly. And, of course, I assured her we would do exactly that.

We'll probably never know whether she inherited her love of books from family members who would rather read than sleep, or if having been read to for hours while she was in the NICU out of storybooks, issues of the Romance Writers' Report, mystery novels, and non-fiction books about Egypt sparked that love in her. But there's no denying that the thing this child loves most is a good book.

Wouldn't it be great if more kids felt that way?

Happy?!? Valentine's Day

Romance writers start thinking about Valentine's Day long before February rolls around, but I’m going out on a limb to admit that Valentine’s Day isn’t my favorite holiday of the year. It doesn’t even come close. This year to celebrate the traditional day of love, I want to hear from you! E-mail me with the worst Valentine’s Day gift you ever received, or your worst Valentine’s Day experience. We’ll pick the 10 least romantic Valeantines Days ever and share them here on my blog on February 14.