The Winners Are...

I received approximately 75 entries for my November contest. A huge thanks to all who took the time to enter!

I had my oldest son draw two names out of the hat, and the winners were: Cathy M. from California and Michelle B. from New York.

Cathy chose to receive a copy of Her Protector, and Michelle chose to receive a copy of Finding Passion. Enjoy, ladies!

Please remember to check my website and blog the beginning of December for information about my next contest.

November Contest (ends 11/20/08)

Since my monthly contest was on hiatus last month, this month I’ll be drawing two winners. Each winner will receive a download of either Her Protector or Finding Passion (their choice).

To be entered into the drawing, all you have to do is send me an email and tell me what you’re grateful for this year (since we in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving this month) and tell me which book you would like to receive. You can view the blurbs for the books and read excerpts and reviews at my website.

The contest will run through November 20th, 2008. One entry per person please.

Visit my website HERE for more information.

Good luck!

Week One Winner of Halloween Countdown Contest

The week one winner of Kate Hill’s Halloween Countdown Contest was Caitlin H. from NJ. Caitlin won a download of my novella, Finding Passion, along with several other great prizes. Congrats, Caitlin!

Remember there are still three weeks to go in the contest, with a winner each week, so make sure you get your entries in!

Contests

I was so busy in September that I didn’t have time to plan an October contest, so I’ve decided that instead of rushing to put one together, I’ll take a hiatus this month. My contest will return in November with prizes being offered to TWO winners.

In the meantime, don’t forget to enter Kate Hill’s Halloween Countdown Contest.

And please visit my Ebooks--New Releases and Contests blog for information about even more contests being offered by other epublished authors, along with information on some fabulous new releases. This blog is updated on a regular basis, so make sure you check it often!

An Apology and a Contest

First, an apology. I normally blog from the 20th through the end of the month (once my monthly contest ends until the next contest begins), but in September, I did not, and I apologize to my readers for that. I was busy, busy, busy and barely had time to breathe. But hopefully going forward I will be back on schedule!

Check back in the next fews days for information about my October contest, and in the meantime, I’m also participating in a Halloween Countdown Contest being hosted by author Kate Hill. Visit Kate's Halloween page each week during the month of October for a chance to win some fabulous prizes. My contribution--a download of my novella, Finding Passion--is included in week one’s prize package. You only have until midnight October 7, 2008 to get your entry in for this prize package, so go enter today! Click HERE to visit Kate's Halloween page for all the details.

The Winner Is…

I received slightly over 120 entries for my September contest. A huge thanks to all who took the time to enter!

I had my oldest son draw a name out of the hat, and the winner of the $15 Egift card for Bath and Body Works is....Gail M. from Texas.

Congrats, Gail!

Please remember to check my website and blog the beginning of October for information about my next contest, as well as information about a special Halloween activity that I’ll be participating in.

September Contest (ends 09/20/08)

The winner of my September contest will receive a $15 Egift card for Bath and Body Works (one of my favorite stores!).

To be entered into the drawing, you’ll have to answer four questions correctly, and it will require you to go on a little scavenger hunt, but don’t worry, I’ll give you lots of clues.

1) Name my publishers (hint: there are two)
2) Name the state I live in (hint: check my website)
3) Name one of my favorite movies (hint: check my MySpace page)
4) Visit either my Shelfari page or my Goodreads page, and list any two of the books loaded on my bookshelf

Email the answers to pamelatyner@hotmail.com with the subject line "September Contest". Please include your name and state or country of residency. By entering the drawing you are giving permission for that information to be placed on my website and blog in the event that you are the winner (note: your last name will not be posted).

The last day for entry is September 20, 2008. One entry per person please.

Good luck!

Something To Make You Smile

A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he pushed it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left. Amazing he thought as he flew down I-95, pushing the pedal even more.

Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a state trooper behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120.

Suddenly he thought What am I doing? I'm too old for this and he pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.

Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."

The old gentleman paused. Then said, "Three years ago, my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back."

"Have a good day, Sir," replied the trooper.

Author's Responsibility To Write A Book?

Stephenie Meyers, author of the wildly popular Twilight series, announced at her website that a partial draft of Midnight Sun (her current work-in-progress which is the latest book in the series) was illegally posted on the Internet, and as a result she has put the book on hold indefinitely. As a writer, I can understand that this would cause her to lose the focus and enthusiasm that she needs to finish the book.

There's a reader’s board I visit, which is frequented by some very die-hard Twilight fans, and let me tell you--those fans are pissed. They feel that Meyers is 'punishing' them by refusing to finish the book. The one statement they made which made me stop and think was, "Meyers has a responsibility to her fans to finish it."

Certainly, an author has responsibilities to their readers. They have the responsibility of writing the best book possible. They have the responsibility of treating their readers with respect. But is it an author's responsibility to write a specific book? Maybe, in particular if it’s part of a series and they’ve announced that they’re writing it. Or maybe not. What are your thoughts?

I Did Not See This One Coming…

I try my best not to blog about political issues, but I was so surprised by this...


John McCain chooses Sarah Palin as his running mate



To give equal time to the Democratic nominees...Barack Obama and Joe Biden




As someone pointed out to me--whatever happens, history will be made. The US will either have their first female vice-president or their first African-American president. All I will say on the subject is--for the love of all that’s holy, please do not cast your vote based merely on gender or race.

First Kiss Day

Today is 'First Kiss Day'. On this day in 1929, Popeye and Olive Oyl had their first kiss :)

I remember my first kiss very well. I was 14, it was summer, and we were standing in front of my house under a huge shade tree (I have no clue what kind of tree it was). We were both nervous. The kiss was...okay. But it was just okay. There were no 'fireworks', which I found somewhat disappointing. And sadly, the kisses never improved much with him.

But thankfully that wasn’t my only first kiss. You get a new first kiss with each relationship. And with my second first kiss--the fireworks exploded!

The Winner Is...

I received over 600 (no, that’s not a typo) entries for my August contest! I was a little curious about the HUGE increase, so I did some snooping and discovered that the contest got listed on a contest/sweepstake website, which apparently had a lot of visitors :)

I assigned each entry a number and had my youngest son pick a number at random.

The winner was...Judy J. from Oklahoma. Congrats, Judy!

Thanks to all who took the time to enter. Please be sure to check my website and blog the beginning of September for information about my next contest.

August Contest (ends 08/20/08)

August is Romance Awareness Month. In honor of that I’m giving one lucky winner a $25 online gift card to Victoria’s Secret. You can visit their website by clicking HERE. You’ll find plenty of items--sleepwear, lingerie, beauty products, and more--to help keep the romance and passion thriving in your relationship!

The contest will run through August 20th, 2008.

Click HERE to visit my website for the details of how to enter.

Good luck!

Some Favorite Writing Quotes

"It is perfectly okay to write garbage--as long as you edit brilliantly." -- C. J. Cherryh

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -- Sylvia Plath

"I had a friend who said, “You don’t have an internal critic. You have an internal sadist.” -- Libba Bray

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." -- Mark Twain

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." -- Tom Clancy

"If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write." -- Stephen King

Writing Contests

Writing Contests—I’ve entered them, I’ve finaled in them, I’ve received requests as a result of finaling. I’ve also judged a few.

When I first began entering contests it was basically because I wanted the feedback.

Then it was because I wanted to final/win—that’s always a great feeling, and when it seems as if you’re not making progress toward your goal of publication, that final/win is a nice validation that your work is in fact good. Plus, it looks kind of nice on your query letters :)

Once I began to final, I entered contests based strictly on whether or not the final round judge was someone I wanted to get my work in front of.

If you click HERE you’ll find a list of RWA contests. There are contests for first chapter (the most common), first kiss, best scene, best hook/opening, and more. They all require an entry fee, but it’s usually minimal.

Here are a few of my tips for entering contests:
* Obviously, you should read the rules carefully, because if you fail to follow them, it can result in you being disqualified with no refund of the entry fee.
* Another obvious tip is to send in your best work. Polish, polish, polish. And then polish it again.
* Look for contests that allow electronic entries, because it can save you quite a bit of money (postage, printing costs/copy fees, etc).
* Personally, I preferred contests that guaranteed at least one published judge (more if possible), because I found that most often they gave me higher scores than unpublished judges. My theory--which certainly could be wrong--is that it was because they focused more on the story itself and less on 'rules'.
* Look for contests that either drop the lowest score or that have discrepancy judging if one scores varies greatly from the rest. Too often I got great scores from all but one judge and that one low score would knock me out of finaling.

When you get your scores back, if they aren’t as good as you’d like or you think they should be—shake it off. Don’t argue about it (with the judge or the contest coordinator), because it will serve no purpose.

Okay, you can argue if it’s a situation such as: your manuscript is the story of Dave and Amy who are professional jewel thieves and are running from the law, but the comments on the score sheet refer to Bob and Sue who are ranchers in Montana. In that case, you can argue, because you obviously got the wrong scores. But other than that, let it go. Remember that a judge’s opinion is strictly that—their opinion, and while every opinion holds some value, they are not the person you’re ultimately hoping to impress.

If you can afford them, I think contests are wonderful tools, but don’t go overboard. You don’t need to enter every contest. Keep your ultimate goal in mind and be selective.

One final thought—if I could go back to that time when I was entering contests, the one thing I would do differently is ask if I could enter under my pen name as opposed to my real name. The reason is this—I can’t list my contest wins on my website (or least I haven’t) strictly because they're under my real name. That kind of sucks :(

Writing Websites, Blogs, and Forums

Each year Writer’s Digest comes up with a list of the 101 Best Sites for Writers. You can view their 2008 list by clicking HERE. There are a lot of great sites listed, and several of them are sites that I visit often. However, I was surprised that Charlotte Dillon’s website was not listed this year. In my opinion, she has the absolute best site for authors. You can visit her site by clicking HERE.

Writing Book: Hero and Heroine Archetypes by Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders

The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders




One of my writing friends recommended this book, and I’m so glad she did. I found it extremely useful in improving on characterization and character development.

This book discuses hero and heroine archetypes (ie the chief, the bad boy, the charmer, the lost soul, the crusader, the nurturer, and many others). It lists qualities, virtues, flaws, etc. for each archetype. It also covers layered archetypes (where the character has qualities of more than one), evolving archetypes (where it changes over the course of the story), archetype interactions, and much more.

This is another book that I highly recommend.

You can purchase it at all the usual places (Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Books-A-Million), or you can purchase an autographed copy at Tami Cowden’s website by clicking HERE.

Writing Book: GMC by Debra Dixon

Goal, Motivation & Conflict, The Building Blocks Of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon



I highly recommend this book. Personally, I think it’s an absolute must for all beginning writers. Even more experienced writers will find it helpful.

As the title suggest, the book focuses on the importance of goal (what the character wants), motivation (why they want it), and conflict (what’s keeping them from getting it). It’s a simple concept, but for me, the book really helped it all to click into place. After reading the book, I was able to identify--and correct--some weakness in my work. My writing improved a great deal as a result of this book.

Be warned, if you order this book from Amazon, the price can run up to $100+. Don’t pay that much! Click HERE to order it directly from the publisher for $19.95.

Blogging About Writing Next Week

Next week several thousand romance authors, editors, agents, etc. will be heading out to San Francisco, CA for the Romance Writers of America National Conference.

Unfortunately, I will not be one of them :(

But the next few RWA conferences will be held within driving distance of me—Washington, DC in 2009 and Nashville, TN in 2010—so I’m hoping I’ll be able to attend one of those.

In honor of RWA’s National Conference, I’m going spend the next week blogging about writing--my favorite writing books, writing websites that I find helpful, and more. So, if you’re interested, make sure you check back.

One Of My Favorite Movies

Terminator was playing on TV tonight, so I settled down on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and huge glass sweet tea, and enjoyed! Terminator is one of my favorite movies of all time. I think the plot is brilliant and I love the characters.

Did you know T4, starring Christian Bale as John Connor, is scheduled to be released next summer? I had no clue until my son mentioned it tonight. Personally, I’m not particularly excited about it, probably because I was very disappointed with T2 & T3.