I signed my Harlequin Contract!!!!

I'd meant to post more pics from the writers retreat, or even some of the fabulous photos my pal Tawny sent me of Matthew McConaughey surfing, but my Harlequin contract came today. So, what you see above is me signing the piece of paper that represents a 20+ years dream. I had to sign in triplicate so the below picture is also of me signing!!! How freaking cool is that?????
I pinch myself and just can't believe it's really happened. If you've ever wondered if dreams really can come true if you work hard and never give up---THEY CAN. THEY REALLY REALLY REALLY CAN. :)
And if signing my contract wasn't enough--I got the title & release date of my second book today! THE HEART SURGEON'S SECRET SON, February 2008. Yea!!!

MCRW Writer Retreat

Wow! This weekend was fabulous. I didn't make it down to the retreat until Saturday morning because of sick children, but it was well worth making the effort. Elaine Spencer and Candace Haven were the guests and WOW! Wow! WOW!
Candy is an absolute riot and so, so generous in her sharing of knowledge. Such a pleasure to meet. I can't wait to read her book Charmed and Dangerous. She describes it as Buffy meets James Bond. Way cool!!

Elaine Spencer is an agent at The Knight Agency, which is the fabulous agency I'm with. I've always liked Elaine and thought her a wonderful person, but OMG! she's also a talented speaker and her comments on pitching to editors & agents--if you ever get the chance to hear her speak, GO!!!! I was mega-impressed and so were quite a few of my chapter mates. :)

Although Candy's workshop was on the Fastdraft & to do so you write 20 pages a day no matter what, I haven't started it yet. I've got about 35 pages to go to finish medical #3 and plan to do this, polish it, and then plot my next single title. When I start writing on the single title, I hope to incorporate Candy's plan. :) Another workshop that if you ever get the opportunity to take, I highly recommend doing so.

Taking a weekend off...

It's rare a weekend goes by that I don't write at least something. Next weekend I'm going to a writer's retreat with the Music City Romance Writers and will be out of town so I pretty much took this past weekend off and spent the time with my family. It was a nice change of pace and I feel refreshed and ready to dig back into medical number 3. I'm over half finished with it and feel good about the characters and plot. I did work on some FTHRW board stuff & my monthly column I do for the newsletter. :)

Although I've been to numerous writing conferences, I've never gone to a retreat. Elaine Spencer from The Knight Agency is going to be there. I'm with TKA and look forward to spending time with Elaine. I'm hoping there will be lots of down time for actual writing. I'd love to finish this book. It's possible, although not likely unless there really is a lot of free time.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Mine was fabulous. Got several Matthew things from pals--imagine! ;) And hubby came home for lunch and took me out to eat that evening. Plus, he's made reservations to take me back to the Opryland Hotel. Yea! You might recall he took me there for my birthday. I posted pictures here of some of the features. Lovely, lovely hotel and where the 2010 RWA conference will be held.

Harlequin American Contest!

I am about to bust because I had fabulous news earlier today and I can't wait to share it! My pal Lindsey Brookes WON the Harlequin American contest and got a call today from a Harlequin editor letting her know!! It's not a guaranteed sale, but ohmigosh is it close! You might recall that the fabulous Tawny Weber (no, I am not biased!) won the BLAZE contest and went on to sell to them. Actually she's sold 3 to them. :) And they are ALL awesome. :) It'll be the same from Lindsey because I've read what's written of this story & it is absolutely fabulous! I am so so so proud of her. :)

I have such talented friends. :)

I think even Matthew is excited about Lindsey's good news! ;)

Copy Edits

On Friday I got my second ever set of copy edits. I wasn't really expecting them so it was a nice surprise and makes the sale to Harlequin feel all the more real. Copy edits are a print out of the book with numbered pages and lines. A copy goes to me and to my editor and we get to proof it and I can request any necessary changes at this time. With Dorchester my copy edits were minimal. Very little of the book was changed from what I originally wrote. Very, very little. As in so little that I didn't catch changes if there were some made. I'd done a revision for my Dorchester editor and changed my hero's likeness from Ricky Martin to Benjamin Bratt (good change, I know!) but other than that, Jane is pretty much like I wrote her. The book to Harlequin is different. The HAD monster has taken over and although technically correct I cringe at 3, 4, and 5 HADs showing up in a single sentence. There are also changes with my phrasing of things where perhaps it'll translate into foreign languages easier? And some specific references have been changed to more general things. I found it very interesting to see the differences in the process from one publishing house to another. I only found a couple of typos, but I plan to go through the copy edits another time just to make sure I didn't miss anything. As a writer I cringe at the thought of picking up a book I wrote and seeing typos. Some happen later in the game, where the author has no chance to find them and correct them, but I don't want any overlooked that I have the power to correct.

Will keep you posted as I go! on this wonderful process of publication.

Dr. Matthew

I belong to this wonderful group called the Writers Playground and mostly it's a group of twenty of my nearest and dearest writing friends. We're supportive and fun and playful and the group is overflowing with talent--Terri Garey, Kathleen Long, Tawny Weber, Stacey Kayne, Sheila Raye, Anna Sugden, Tammy Johnson, Lindsey Brookes, Cheryl Wilson, Beth Burgoon, the list goes on, but you get my drift! I sold to Harlequin Medicals in December and my pals sent me this really awesome Build a Bear named Dr. Matthew--bet you can't guess why they named him that? ;) And Dr. Matthew has this adorable medical kit with a stethoscope & blood pressure kit and syringe and thermometer. The kit id darling. AND they sent me a Cross pen engraved with my sale date and the book title. Have I ever mentioned that I have super, duper friends???? I do. They are totally amazing and never cease to fill my heart with love at their thoughtfulness. Isn't Dr. Matthew just huggable??? And surely if they couldn't send the real deal, this cuddly bear is the next best thing? Actually, my pal Tawny did sorta send me the real thing today, too. I posted below. SURF'S UP!

Writing

I recently turned in book 2 and have started a 3rd Medical. I have to be honest, book 2 was a bit of a struggle for me. I'm not sure if it was getting past the 2nd book hump or what, but I really stressed that book. Perhaps with good reason as I've not heard back from my editor yet. I do think it's a good story, but what really matters is what she thinks, eh? Anyway, I'm having fun with book 3 and hit page 50 last night and thought, "Oh crap! I don't have any internal conflict." So I was chatting with a writing pal and she asked me what the book was about and I told her and she pointed out that I had a lot of IC. Not only that, but I'd set it up to where it was easy to add more external conflict, also. BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANY OF IT. LOL. Just goes to show that we writers really can be too close to our work. After our chat last night, I'm itching to dig in and get lots written. Unfortunately life has a way of interfering, though. Work (darn bills that have to be paid!), kids (okay, so they are cute and cuddly, but still!), and exercise (yes, I'm still trying to get back to walking routinely despite the bum knee that's slowly, slowly healing). Off to try to find a quiet corner to get lost in my make-believe world of Montgomery Medical. :)