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Goal-less?

January 4, 2014 by in category Writing tagged as ,

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I have no goals for 2014. How can that be? The new year rings in, and yet – not a one.

Oh, I could put down the obvious to eat better, lose that extra five (maybe 10) pounds I’ve gained post-40, be a bit more patient with my daughters! Writing-wise, I’d like to complete my two contracted stories- one a full-length novel, and a standalone short story – on time.
But what else?
Learn a foreign language? It’s hard enough to remember the day-to-day items these days. (Seriously, on our mini vacation, I nagged my daughters to remember their new iPad chargers, and forgot my own phone charger and fancy shoes).  One year I vowed to learn to play guitar. After cutting my nails down super-super short and growing calluses, I decided maybe I didn’t like it so much after all.
One goal I really want to make is finishing the OCC/RWA Book in a Year challenge. I didn’t in 2013. I know, I know. I probably have about 40K written in the YA, with an estimated 50K needed for the first draft. I should be able to get it done. Since it’s my second year going for it, and the umpteenth year I’ve worked on it, you know I want it finished.
There’s also the matter of that publisher who has rejected two of my manuscripts. I need to decide if the third time’s a charm, or accept that maybe my voice is not what they’re looking for. (Plus, I need to submit those other two stories elsewhere. I know they’re good, and they deserve a home.)
As for our particular group of writers, how about a chapter goal? For the past few years, we’ve been flirting with just under 200 members. We’ve done well pulling in some new members, and I love seeing the growing camaraderie. Since I’m a bit of a numbers freak, I’d like to push past that marker. 
So what about you? What are your goals for 2014? No matter what, let’s make it a fantastic year!
 
— Louisa Bacio
http://www.Facebook.com/louisabacio
http://www.Twitter.com/louisabacio
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Calls for Submission — Happy New Year’s

December 31, 2013 by in category Writing tagged as , , ,

Start your New Year with some new creativity. Here’s a sampling of recent calls for submissions. 

Resolutions
How perfect is this new call from Loose Id? Sometimes, such a teaser causes the perfect stimulation, and my brain’s been tingling with this one.
Every year, millions of people make resolutions for the new year. Most of them fall by the wayside within a few weeks, but what about the ones that don’t? Resolutions is an open collection focusing on what happens in the wake of someone’s New Year’s resolution.
Did they resolve to be more adventurous and meet the hunk of their dreams finally going on that skydiving trip they promised themselves? Did they resolve to compliment at least one stranger a day, and pick the just right day to compliment a down-in-the-dumps billionaire? Did they resolve to buy at least one dress that isn’t black, or a pair of pants that isn’t leather? To try out for The Voice, or the local production of Grease? Did they take their artwork into a gallery? Put their profile on a dating site? 
Resolutions features the commitment and the sexily ever after that somehow grows out of it. Anywhere and anyway that the tradition of making resolutions exists, even if it’s a place that only exists in your imagination, a Resolution story could take place. A Resolutions protagonist can be anyone. The sky’s the limit.
Specifics: stories must be at least 30K and preferably not longer than 80K; all genres you can work a New Year’s resolution into will be considered. To be considered for publication as a Resolutions title by the end of 2014, we must have your submission by no later than August 15th, but they can be submitted at any time before that for earlier publication dates. Follow the guidelines below for submitting a proposal, and include “Resolutions” in your email’s subject line.
For more information, visit Loose Id
Science Fiction – East of the Web
We’re seeking imaginative, idea-filled science fiction and fantasy short stories. Stories should be accessible, with strong plots and compelling characters, written with a good knowledge of the science fiction or fantasy canon.
We pay for selected stories starting at $0.05 per word or a mix of an advance and a royalty. Stories should be at least 7,000 words. Stories will be published under a new electronic imprint from East of the Web, one of the world’s leading publishers of short stories.
We encourage the submission of previously published as well as new stories. If you’re looking for a way to make some money from your back catalog or to get those stories in front of new readers, we would like to hear from you.
For more information, visit East of the Web
Love Me Tender
Scandalous Submission call for stories from the 1950s
As you probably know, our regular submission guidelines stop at 1949. We thought it might be fun to see what you creative types could do with some pomade, pencil skirts, and rock-n-roll music, so we invite you to submit a story that takes place anytime from 1950-1959.
    Word count 15-20k
   Heat level: any
 Happy Ever After- please!
Submissions end March 31
For more information, visit Entangled Publishing
Any of these calls sound good? Have one you’re working on? 
Until next time,
Louisa Bacio
http://www.Facebook.com/LouisaBacio
http://www.Twitter.com/LouisaBacio
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That Finished Feeling

December 5, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

I hit submit. On the last weekend of November, when so many members in our chapter were finishing up their NaNo works, I completed my latest novel.
And let me tell you, it feels good.
First, major congratulations go to those members who “won” National Novel Writing Month, which means completing a 50K novel in one month.
Christina Alexandra
Kim Baccellia
Alison Diem
Nancy Farrier
Rebekah R. Ganiere
Rose de Guzman
Claire Hoffman
Mary Kowsloski
Debra Mullins
Samantha Oughten
Jesse Pearle
Nikki Prince
Maria Seager
Tiffany Tran
Beth Yarnall
Joyce Ward
Those same people also finished their Book in a Year! (If that’s what they were counting as their book.)
For those who signed up, but didn’t finish – think of all those new “words” you got that you didn’t have at the beginning of the month! If I missed someone, it wasn’t intentional, send me a note and plan to be recognized at the December meeting.
For me, this book was the first time I was late on a deadline, and not by just a few days. I communicated with my publisher, and everything was all right on that end, but personally: Ugh! That backlog seemed to clog up all the other writing I was supposed to do, and it became a mental chant of “once I finish.”
Funny enough, I liked this book, too. It’s not that the writing process was particularly difficult this time around, it was the time to do it in. The challenges of the past year, family members and friends lost, and my work schedule, finally caught up. Honestly, it felt like it would never get done. So how’d I eventually push through? Basically knowing that I hadto complete it, bundled with Thanksgiving weekend and a few 2 a.m. nights.
The key is getting that butt-in-the-chair, as they say. Many people talk about writing being an isolated experience. For the most part, it is. The wonderful thing about organizations such as our chapter, and RWA, is that common unity and support.
Thank you to everyone who made 2013 such a great year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store in 2014. Hmmm, and maybe how many of those finished projects will get published!
— Louisa Bacio

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National Writing Month

November 5, 2013 by in category Writing tagged as , , , , , , , ,
Many congratulations to writers who finished the OCC/RWA’s very first Book in a Year. Beth Yarnall put together some amazing-looking certificates and pins. So, who’s going to sign up this go-round?
If you want a kick-start, November kicks off National Writing Month, AKA NaNoWriMo.  While I’ve participated for at least the last five years, this year I’m forgoing. 
The pressure has been pretty high. I’m even getting emails from “Your Novel” with the subject heading, “Please write me this November.”
Every year, I dutifully register, donate funds, go to write-ins and I get a lot done. But I never “win.”  Most often, I tend to write short. A full-length novel comes in at 50K. I’ve turned in 52K and had a copy editor suggest cuts in order to get it down to the required length. While writing, I usually “finish” at 45K and then edit, smoothing out transitions, flushing out descriptions and adding in those last 5K.
I’ve met some local (non-RWA) writers through the process and had a blast hanging out with Kara Lennox, Rob Preece, and Tari Lynn Jewett at IHOP and a local grocery store with our laptops. There’s nothing like 10 writers, clustered together working, without talking, garnering attention. Can you imagine? People stared.
Why not this year? I fully support writers signing up, and working hard to complete their novel. I’m taking a realistic approach, and know I have three projects I’d like to finish in the next month:
  1. The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A Wolfe in the City – The manuscript is about 47K right now, and it needs to be completed.
  2. Second For Men for Ellora’s Cave: The Quickie is more than halfway done, and could be finished up within a week.
  3. R&R for Decadent Publishing: Need to polish a few areas, and get it back in. It’s been on the burner for when the other two items were finished.
Plus, I have another 1Night Stand rattling around in my brain. With the recent release of A Dance with Death, this character is clamoring for a HEA.
So officially-no NaNo for me. I’ll be cheering on my chapter-mates, friends, and you can send me some good thoughts for wrapping up my projects! What do you have on slate to finish your goals before the end of the year?
 
— Louisa Bacio
http://www.facebook.com/LouisaBacio
http://www.Twitter.com/LouisaBacio
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Summer Sinsperation!

May 31, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , ,

OCC/RWA’s own Nikki Prince heads up her first anthology, Sinsperationally Yours with Hot Ink Press. It’s been a few months since this column has run – blame it on my new additional duties as president – but with summer’s arrival, and all that “free” time (cough: wait for my president’s message in a few days), I wanted to bring out some calls. If you’re short on time, maybe you should consider working on a short story!
Sinsperationally Yours: Erotic Tales from the Dark Side of Love
Genres: Erotic Romance: Horror, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Historical
Theme: General
Pairings: Any

Ghosts and Vampires and Werebears oh my!

Bring us your immortal heroes and/or heroines who strike fear in those they meet but also ignite passion and lust.

We want your tales of lust flavored with a happily ever after for—Sinsperationally Yours. This anthology is all about the world of immortals and nocturnal creatures of the night. We want the creatures that can incite our fear and our lust. Bring us those magical creatures we all love to read about. It can be the usual mainstays vampires and werewolves or something newly created. Whatever worlds you build make it believable. We’re looking for stories filled with lore and eroticism but most of all they are stories that must have a happy ending.

For this anthology, at least one of the main characters must be a supernatural or immortal creature (werewolf, werecats, werebears, vampire, gargoyle, fairy…well you get our drift). The setting can be historical, contemporary horror/paranormal or urban fantasy. We are looking for dark stories but ultimately your story must give the reader an ending that will satisfy their need for a HEA.

Guidelines:
  • Word count from 6-15k
  • Please edit your work and make sure it is as clean as possible. It will be edited but we want your best work not your first draft.
  • Plot required. Don’t just give us sex. Give us characters we believe in and a premise that flows from one chapter to the next.
  • No previously published work, we want new stories.
  • We aren’t accepting poems, this anthology calls for fiction stories.
  • Submissions must be sent in Word doc or docx, 12 pt Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing, aligned right with 0.5 indents on the first line of each new paragraph (Don’t use the tab), no extra spacing between paragraphs and no headers/footers/page numbers, on space after end of sentence- not two.
  • Send us a query, with a simple synopsis, your author bio max 100 words in the third person with your finished manuscript that has been edited.
  • Heat level: Hot to scorching (this is after all an erotic romance anthology).
  • Submission deadline: August 8, 2013 for a September/October publication.

 Please send your questions and submissions to Nikki@hotinkbooks.com

One Night In …
Imagine the scenario.  One night of passion in an exotic locale, a quick read with a lasting romance, and the promise of a happily ever after.  Could there be anything better?

We don’t think so.  One Night In… is a new line of stories with Entangled Publishing that will take readers on a romantic journey.   Read on for details!

Have a great idea for short, sexy romance on the road?  Entangled Novellas wants to see it! Whether one or both characters have embarked on a road trip, business trip, foreign port visit, planned vacay, spontaneous getaway, or any other short jaunt, characters should step outside of their comfortable worlds and into a fling or one night stand that changes everything. Whether Stateside or foreign, they are two modern adults who won’t back down from a hook up…and won’t want to let go when it’s time to go home.

Stories should be contemporary romances with a moderate to high heat level, 10k-40k words, focused on a one night stand or fling with a ticking clock (e.g. a non-refundable plane ticket home) and complicated by a fun, light-hearted romance trope (e.g. fake marriage, enemies to lovers, boardroom romance) that pulls the characters into bed even as it threatens to tear them apart. Stories should end positively with at least the promise of a HFN or a HEA obvious on the distant horizon. Submit stories at http://entangledpublishing.submittable.com, attention ONE NIGHT IN. If you would prefer to work with a particular editor, address your query letter to that person. Stories of 10k-15k words should be submitted as Flirts, and stories of 20k-40k should be submitted as Ever Afters. We’re open to characters of any ethnicity, race, or nationality and to stories with multi-cultural pairings and f/f, m/m, or m/f pairings.
Visit http://www.entangledinromance.com/2013/04/06/call-for-submissions-one-night-in/
Blissemass Tales – Sexy Seasonal Stories
SexyReads is looking for sexy seasonal stories to spice up the festive season.
Blissemas tales must have a Christmas, holidays or wintery theme, feel free to use all three. We encourage people to think outside the chocolate box and attempt something different. Maybe you could try Christmas in hot places or sexy encounters on snow-capped mountains. Presents for Scrooges, trimming the tree and getting distracted or racing away from loved ones on Christmas Eve.
We want all heat levels from sweetly sexy to log fire and snow meltingly hot. Word count 10,000 to 15,000 words. Submission deadline: Oct. 1, 2013.
For more information, http://sexyreads.co.uk/blissemas-tales/
UBUNTU-STORIES OF AFRICAN ROMANCE
Africa… Land of the Serengeti, of wide savannas, where exotic wild animals like giraffes stroll through your backyard— *sound of a screeching turn-disk*
If this is your idea of modern Africa, you’d be way off the mark! Ubuntu (“I am what I am because of who we all are.”) embraces the notion of community, of roots, of spreading your arms open in welcome. Our stories from the Ubuntu line will reflect this philosophy, and take you to Africa to meet the people from that far-away, unknown-to-many land.
Take a peek at modern Africa. This is a world where, on the backdrop of the famine crisis in Darfur and Somalia, of political unrest in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt, millions step into the global village and embrace the fast-paced life offered by technology and the Internet. Multinational companies have offices in many African capitals, opening the way for a slew of expatriates to settle in those countries, where the world’s biggest brand names like Hugo Boss and Lacoste are opening outlets.
Don’t also forget that Africa is not only the black continent – a handful of islands make up the African territory, as well. From minerals-rich Madagascar (and the land of Black Magic, still practiced to this day!) to tourist hot-spots like Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the Maldives – islander culture opens up another world to exploit in your writing. And in the top, northern parts of Africa, meet the Arab world in the countries of the Maghreb (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, among others).
With its rich history, Africa has native African clans and tribes, colonist white populations – British, French, and Afrikaners –Indian-origin people who emigrated as traders and/or indentured labor, Chinese people who came in as traders.
We want to see your stories set in any of these locations. Whether your characters are expats, foreigners on a visit, native Africans (of black, white, Indian, Chinese, Arab, etc, descent!), show us the true face of Africa as people experience it every day. Think The Joy Luck Club meets Out Of Africa – the former a story of generational conflict between immigrant mothers and their daughters brought up in their adopted country’s culture; the latter a sweeping saga on the backdrop of the African landscape, setting, and context. Give us both; give us either or; but give us something in and/or from Africa.
LENGTH: 7-50k
HEAT LEVEL: 1-5
SUB-GENRES ACCEPTED: Interracial, contemporary, multicultural, sweet romance, suspense, LGBT, ménage
TO SUBMIT: Email submissions@decadentpublishing.comto request a submissions form. Please note that it is for the UBUNTU line when submitting.
QUESTIONS: Email zeemonodee@gmail.com

For more Decadent Publishing calls, visit http://www.decadentpublishing.com/index.php?osCsid=85e6uagt18k4p9dfifqkdehmo3&content=submissions


Compiled by Louisa Bacio
http://louisabacio.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/louisabacio
http://www.twitter.com/louisabacio

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