There is always hope. Never give up on your dreams!
June, 2008 - I am happy to announce that I signed with Kevan Lyon with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency! I will be attending RWA's national conference in San Francisco at the end of July.
March, 2008 - I received TWO calls yesterday from RWA. After all these years, it's still a rush to get the Golden Heart call. The first call was from Terri Reed who said I finaled in the Romantic Suspense category of the Golden Heart with my book, FINDING KATE HUNTLEY. One minute after I hung up the phone, it rang again and this time it was Dorien Kelley telling me I finaled in the Single-Title category of the Golden Heart, too! Woohoo! BETTER LATE THAN NEVER is a contemporary love story that I would love to see on the bookshelves--sooner rather than later. Hope to see everyone in San Francisco this year. To anyone who entered and didn't final, don't give up! It takes determination and preseverance. You can do it!
January, 2008 - Happy New Year! I spent the new year with my four kids and husband in New York City and it was the best New Years I have ever had. We couldn't breathe as we tried to squeeze through the crowds in Time Square so we headed for Central Park and watched the fireworks behind us and the ball dropping in front of us. So many people to celebrate with. The last time I was in New York was in 2003 when I finaled for the first time in the Golden Heart. I love that city! Spending the last day of 2007 in New York City was a great ending to the best year of my life (so far). Now it's time to get busy writing books. I am going to make a sale this year if it kills me.
November, 2007 - Trish Milburn SOLD! Yahoo! Recently, I was a double finalist in the FF&P contest, and a finalist in the Book of Your Heart Contest. Still writing. Still hopeful.
July, 2007 - Congratulations to Trish Milburn who won another golden heart necklace for her young adult book, COVEN. Her writing is superb and I"m sure she will be published very soon. I can't wait to attend the San Francisco conference in 2008 and visit with all of my noodler friends.
A quote by Marianne Williamson that was in the movie Akeelah and the Bee: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
May, 2007 - I just found out that I am a double finalist in the Four Seasons Contest in the Single-Title category with Better Late Than Never and Here Comes the Bride. I will not be attending the conference this year, but I will be there in spirit rooting my friends on. Wishing the best to all my WNP friends in the RITA and GH. Today is Mother's Day and I am off to explore a few museums in San Francisco.
March, 2007 - Wonderful things keep happening to me. I have been writing and exercising every day it feels great. I finaled in the Merritt with my single title, Better Late Than Never, and I finaled in the 2007 Golden Heart with my time travel, Return of the Rose. I also won $100 for Worst Opening Hook of 2007 over at www.fogcitydivas.com. I just finished reading Susan E. Phillips, Natural Born Charmer, and I loved it!
January, 2007 - This is going to be my year! I can feel it. Although I didn't write in my journal in 2006, I did write two more books. Both contemporaries. This year I plan to focus on finding an enthusiastic agent to help me make a sale. I also hope to redo my website. I was interviewed recently by a local paper and that interview should be coming out next month. I had a great time meeting with Susan Jameson at the Granite Bay View. As soon as I am published, she promised to come back and visit again.
2006 - Where did the time go? No time for journals, I guess.
August, 2005 - The Reno Conference was awesome, one of my favorites. Despite the casino on the main floor, the atmosphere was relaxed. Every day was a busy one. I attended workshops, GH rehearsals, receptions, and the RWA luncheons. Debbie Macomber and Susan Elizabeth Phillips were awesome speakers. The SEP and Jayne Krentz workshop was a hoot. Brenda Novak's workshop and Trish Milburn and Anna DeStefano's workshops were also very informative. After seeing Stephanie Bond in action I came back ready to write a business plan and set short-term and long-term goals. I returned home feeling motivated and inspired.
April, 2005 - July of last year I wrote that I wouldn't be going to any more conferences until I sold. I guess I lied because I haven't sold and I will be going to Reno. A few weeks ago, while I was in San Diego with my family, I received a call from Karen Fox saying that I finaled in the Paranormal category again! I am now a three-time Golden Heart finalist. It's very exciting, but I am ready to move on to the next step. I want to see my books on the new release shelf at Borders. Can't wait. Preseverance and all of that. I'm not giving up.
November, 2004 - The Dallas Conference was awesome! I volunteered to work at the literacy signing and boy did they keep me busy! I had fun though. One of the highlights of my trip was meeting Rachel Gibson and Laura Gurhke, both fun ladies! Adele Ashworth lives in Dallas, so she didn't room with Susan and I this year, but she was always around, laughing and ready to have a good time. I just bought Adele's new book, Duke of Sin, and I was delighted to see my name on the acknowledgement page. Thank you, Adele! I am a big fan of Adele's. She writes character-driven stories that always manage to touch my heart. Susan Grant has included my name in three or four of her books, my claim to fame! Susan write's wonderful fast-paced adventures that always keep my pulse racing. It's nice to be loved, but I can't wait to include their names on MY acknowledgement page. I don't have any pictures from the conference because my disposable camera did not work (sad face). I had a blast meeting new people and visiting with all of my writer friends. I haven't sold yet, but there's still time before the Reno conference. I was interviewed this past Monday by a reporter from our local paper, The Press-Tribune. We talked for more than an hour and I realized how much I had learned over the years. I believe the article will be about the trials and tribulations of making that first sale in romance.
August, 2004 - The Wet Noodle Posse is up and running! It's a wonderful site for readers and writers started by a terrific group of 2003 Golden Heart finalists. Go to www.wet noodleposse.com to have a look!
July, 2004 - Going to Dallas! This will be my last national conference until I make a sale.
March, 2004 - My very first medieval time travel, Oh, What a Knight (Return of the Rose) finaled in the Golden Heart! I also received a call from the Golden Pen Coordinator, letting me know that I am a DOUBLE FINALIST in the Golden Pen Contest with both Oh, What a Knight and A Knight to Remember! Winners will be announced in Dallas! Yahoo!
July, 2003 - New York, here I come! I met many other GH finalists! Went shopping with Susan Grant and Debra Holland. Had fun meeting the editor of Arabella Magazine. (see photos!) I didn't win the Golden Heart but I came home feeling like a winner. Good friend and brainstorming partner, Susan Grant, WINS the RITA for Best Paranormal with her book CONTACT!
March, 2003 - My second medieval time travel, A Knight in Central Park (aka A Knight to Remember) finaled in the Golden Heart! I get to go to New York!
2003 - My wonderful son, Jesse, created this website! My sister, Cathy, continues to read and critique every word I write, always pushing me onward.
2002 - Finished Here Comes the Bride, another short contemporary that is now under my bed. An uneventful year overall. I tell myself that I cannot attend another conference until I final in the Golden Heart. Miss my first conference in five years (Denver). I heard I missed a great one.
2001 - Finished a short contemporary, An Offer He Can't Refuse (rejected by Silhouette) Also started and finished four more proposals (three chapters and synopsis): Fantasy superman story, TROUBLE IN TEXAS (short contemporary), an FBI suspense titled, FUTUREDRIVE, and another suspense titled, LIFE'S A BEACH. File them away for now.
July, 2001 - Attend RWA National Conference in New Orleans. Adele Ashworth, Susan Grant, and I spend the week in a wonderful hotel suite in New Oreans. The only problem: There was too much to do outside the Hotel...like eat beignets at the Cafe Du Monde. Who needs a suite?
July, 2000 - Attend RWA National Conference in Washington, D.C. Roommates: prolific writer and good friend, Brenda Novak, and Sue Ellen Welfonder who has just made her first sale to Warner!
July, 1999 - Attend RWA National Conference in Chicago, Illinois where I met a wonderful and talented new author, Adele Ashworth. Adele WINS the RITA for Best First Book with My Darling Caroline. Adele has a beautiful singing voice that brings tears to my eyes. Critique partner, Caroline Fyffe WINS the Golden Heart for best short historical.
July, 1998 - Went to my first national conference in Anaheim. Overwhelming, but wonderful! Began critiquing with talented authors Susan Grant, Susan Crosby and Caroline Fyffe. I also met Brenda Novak. Both Brenda and Susan Grant final in the Golden Heart. It isn't long before their careers take off, leaving me in the dust! I stay strong...perseverance, patience, determination...soon to become my own personal mantra.
November, 1997 - Joined RWA and the Sacramento Chapter of RWA, the Sacramento Valley Rose. My sister, Cathy, offers endless support and encouragement. Became Newsletter Editor for the Sacramento Chapter of RWA.
1997 - Finish very FIRST book! Sent out a few queries and even got a request from Pam Hopkins. Unfortunately I also received my first rejection! The good news is that I'm on my way!
1994 - After years of researching Fifteenth Century England I finally start Chapter One of Back in Time (aka Return of the Rose and later, Oh, what a Knight).
1992 - Pregnant with my fourth child, I read Jude Devereaux's Knight in Shining Armor and LOVED it! Decided to write my own romance novel in the hope that someday I, too, could take a reader away for a few hours of fun and romance.