West Houston RWA

Who:

WHRWA Author Robin T Popp and Tandy M. LaCour, PD (Plot Doctor)

What:

Story Rx – Prescriptions for What Ails Your Tales

When:

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Where:

Memorial Drive Christian Church, 11750 Memorial Drive, Houston, 77024

More about this month’s program:

Is your storyline feeling sluggish? Are your characters pale and lifeless? Are the narrative passages causing reader fatigue? Is the main conflict anemic? Have your love scenes got the blahs? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then it’s time to seek professional help.

It doesn’t matter how experienced a writer we are or how many manuscripts we’ve finished and/or published, we all reach a point when we turn in a manuscript that isn’t all we’d hoped it would be – yet we have no idea how to make it better. We ship it off to our editors, pray that the story fairies sprinkle it with WOW-dust while in transit and transform it into a brilliant piece of literary work. Bad news! We only write fiction – we don’t live it. The good news is that there are things that you can do – simple rules to remember and apply – to rev up your story and your writing – story prescriptions, as it were.

Story_Rx founder Tandy M. LaCour and bestselling author Robin T. Popp will review the more common story ailments and the prescriptions to cure them.

Tandy M. LaCour is an accountant/financial analyst by day but her real passion is reading. Her love affair with the written word began when she was a child and hasn’t diminished with age. She’s a voracious reader, known to read and retain the details of up to a book a day when real life permits. After working with Robin T. Popp on three of her books and at her urging, Tandy has combined her love of stories and analytical abilities to create a customized critiquing business presented from the reader’s perspective. Tandy is single and lives with her two miniature dachshunds and her thousands of books. She’s been heard to say she needs to buy a second house just to store them all!

Bestselling author Robin T. Popp has built a reputation of delivering highly sensual, action-packed reads. Three-time Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice finalist, she is best known for her Night Slayer series, which combines mythology with vampire lore. The first two books of the series, Out of the Night and Seduced by the Night, were both Romantic Times Top Picks. To learn more about Robin, go to www.robintpopp.com.

Schedule for May 12th:

8:30 – Open doors – sign in/coffee
9:00 to 10:00 – Business meeting, PAL reviews & introductions
10:00 to 10:30 – Break
10:30 to 12:00 – Program – Robin T Popp and Tandy LaCour with “Story Rx – Prescriptions for What Ails Your Tales”
12:00 to 12:30 – Booksigning with various authors and Quickie Critiques
12:30 – Adjourn to lunch

Shadows of Truth
By Sharon Mignerey
Love Inspired Suspense
April 2007
ISBN-10: 0373442351
ISBN-13: 978-0373442355

If you’ve never felt God just wasn’t listening, you’ve lived a wonderful life.

The rest of us will relate to Rachel, who has reason to be worried and afraid. She is losing her home, her family is in danger,
and she was betrayed by the man she loves.

Her only fault was in trusting the wrong people. Now she’s having trouble trusting God, but when she asks His help, as always, He is there.

Heartwarming and poignant, Mignerey tells a story of love and forgiveness. It’s not surprising this book received a Four and a Half Star Review in Romantic Times ®.

-Reviewed and loved by Jody Payne

Real Vampires Have Curves
By Gerry Bartlett
Berkley Trade
March 6, 2007
ISBN-10: 0425213773
ISBN-13: 978-0425213773

Reading this fun take on vampires among us is like opening up a bag of M&Ms. You won’t be able to stop until it’s all gone!

Gloriana St. Clair, Glory to her friends, is a curvy, centuries old vamp thanks to a man. She fell hard for the man vamp, Jeremy Blade, a hunky Scotsman she begged to transform her back in the Elizabethan era so they could be together always. Only over the years, they’ve been off and on, mostly due to Blade’s overprotective instincts. But Glory is no frail wimp. She may be “older than dirt” to use her words, but she’s a modern woman intent on making her own way in the world.

When Glory’s stint in a Vegas revue ends, she heads for Austin, Texas to start her own business: Vintage Vamp’s Emporium. But even as business revs up, Blade shows up to protect her. There’s an evil vampire hunter stalking the undead and threatening to ruin all Glory has worked so hard for.

Bartlett draws readers in immediately with her use of first-person and her powerhouse voice. She builds her world effortlessly, and through Glory’s eyes, makes it all seem irreverent and just plain fun. Glory is an adorable character, someone easy to identify with when she sighs over her lush figure. As for Blade — yummy! Real Vampires Have Curves is taking a keeper
space on my bookshelf.

~Reviewed by Vicky Dreiling

Houseful of Strangers
By Linda Barrett
Harlequin SuperRomance
March 13, 2007
ISBN-10: 0373714092
ISBN-13: 978-0373714094

After winning a painful custody battle, country veterinarian Eric Mitchell vows that no one will ever hurt his son, Joey, again. He avoids getting involved in relationships until a broken arm forces him to advertise for an assistant.

Enter Allison Truesdale. She’s a qualified veterinarian from the city who is just beginning to recover after the tragic deaths of her son and husband. Allison is looking for a change of environment and professional challenges, not personal ones. She’s quiet, but spunky enough to handle stubborn dairy farmers. She’s petite, but strong enough to turn a foal… and strong enough to embrace both Joey and a teenage runaway who turns up on the Mitchell homestead.

As the relationships in this “Houseful of Strangers” begin to grow and develop, Eric learns that it’s not only his broken arm that’s keeping him on the sidelines.

As always, Linda Barrett delivers an extremely well written and well-researched book. This heart-warming story about real people with intensely believable issues is one to curl up with anytime. Especially charming is the street-smart runaway, Danielle, a poignant character to whom Linda gives such intriguing sharp edges and vulnerabilities that fans will want to see more of her.

It’s a bravura performance from Linda Barrett. Enjoy.

-reviewed by Fleury Sommers

Nine Month’s Notice
By Michele Dunaway
Harlequin American
April 2006
ISBN-10: 0373751621
ISBN-13: 978-0373751624

Jeff Wright doesn’t know what love is, but he knows he adores Tori, is happy to keep seeing her without speaking of commitment, and working hard to make his company grow.

Tori Adams has had enough of the great sex without a future. She decides the best thing for her is to transfer to the other side of the state, start over, and get over Jeff.

Then she finds out she’s pregnant.

When Jeff learns of the pregnancy, he takes matters into his own hands. He will not be an absentee father and he believes the best solution is for them to find a way to raise the child together. He moves to Kansas City, buys a house and tells her he’s not leaving.

Can Tori accept Jeff and an arrangement to raise their child? Will Jeff finally realize what love is? Can Jeff and Tori figure out that what they have is the real deal?

Michele has written a beautiful tale, laced with humor and real life issues that will have you turning the pages and sighing with satisfaction at the end. Don’t miss this one!

-reviewed by Christy Janisse

The amazing Christie Craig has some news to share. Along with her critique partner, Faye Hughes, she has just signed a contract to write a nonfiction book – The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel. Congratulations, Christie! Does that make five sales for you in the past two months?

Teri Thackston was featured in an interview with Cerridwen Press, the publisher of her romantic suspense debut, Perilous Passions. You can read all about it at http://www.cerridwenpress.com/newsletter/newsletter_0307.asp.Way to go, Teri!

Barbara Dawson Smith’s historical romance, Countess Confidential, is a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. The Rogue Report has also finaled in the Historical Category of the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence. Congratulations, Barbara, and we’ll be pulling for you in the final rounds!

Sharie Kohler’s second release, Too Wicked to Tame, has hit the USA Today bestseller list! Congratulations, Sharie! We’re thrilled for you!

Congratulations to WHRWA finalists in the North Texas RWA Great Expectations contest: in Mainstream with Romantic Elements, Life, Love and Maggie Baldovino by Jane Myers Perrine; in Fantasy, Futuristic, Paranormal & Time Travel, The Stone Warrior by Donna Maloy; in the Steamy Hot Category, Under the Precious Sky by Christie Craig. Donna Maloy also made the finals in Young Adult with Legend of the Fox. Best of luck in the finals!

We also have two finalists this year for the Reviewers International Organization’s Award of Excellent. In the mainstream category, DeeAnn Gist has finaled with The Measure of a Lady. In Romance Science Fiction and Fantasy, we have Robin Popp with Seduced by the Night. Congratulations to the two of you!

Heather MacAllister’s Lone Star Santa came in first place in an E-Harlequin poll for Best Love and Laughter of 2006. Congratulations, Heather!

Michele Dunaway has been asked to be a part of Harlequin’s NASCAR continuity series for 2008. Michele will write Out of Line (working title), a May 2008 release. This marks Michele’s 19th sale to Harlequin!

We have another new sale to report! Colleen Thompson’s romantic suspense, The Salt Maiden, will be published by Dorchester in late 2007 or early 2008. This May, Colleen Thompson (while not writing frantically) will also be teaching a month-long class, “What You Need to Know When You’re about to Sell,” for the Published Authors Special Interest Chapter. The class will cover agent and editor basics, first contract pitfalls, how to establish yourself as a professional, and promotional efforts. FMI, visit http://pasic.net/classes.html.

Jane Myers Perrine and four other writers from Steeple Hill Love Inspired are writing a non-fiction book on how each coped with dyslexia. It will be published by Tsaba Press, a small press. Sounds like a worthy subject, Jane!

Nine months after its release, Deeanne Gist’s The Measure of a Lady was still selling strong enough to hit the CBA (Christian Booksellers Assoc.) Bestseller List once again. This time, she was #17 out of all Christian fiction titles. Wow, Deeanne, that’s impressive!

Gerry Bartlett’s fun, new vampire romance, Real Vampires Have Curves, debuted at #5 on Barnes and Noble’s list of trade paperback bestsellers and was also #63 on the Bookscan list of romance bestsellers. We’re thrilled for you, Gerry! May the good news keep on coming!

Jessica Trapp has started a wonderful new challenge group for those wishing to build the habit of writing by producing at least 100 words a day for 100 days straight. The catch is, if you miss a day, you have to start over. Great idea, Jes!

Christy Janisse, writing as Brandy Jordan, enjoyed a fabulous first few days of sale with her first release, Mistaken. She is listed in the number one spot on her publisher’s site for best selling books overall. www.thewildrosepress.com. Also, Christy/Brandy is running a contest on her website for a lovely spa goodie basket – www.brandyjordanbooks.com.

Sharon Mignerey received some good news. Her book, Small Town Secrets, is a finalist in the Inspirational category of the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence. Member Gail Ranstrom also finaled with her historical, Indiscretions, along with Barbara Dawson Smith as mentioned above. Congratulations, ladies! We’re very proud of you.

Results are in from tabulations involving finalists for RWA contests held for 2006 (unpublished) tabulated by the Divas with Tiaras website. To no one’s surprise, we had several members recognized, including Christie Craig, who made the finals 27 times with 6 different manuscripts (four of which have sold to Dorchester and Triskelion), Sharie Kohler, for her “grand slam,” of first, second, and third place wins with Once Bitten, Twice Shy (which subsequently sold to Pocket). Contest may not be the only path to publication, but things have worked out well for these ladies, among many others in our group. Congratulations to you!

Romantic suspense author Colleen Thompson, a past RITA-finalist whose latest release is Heat Lightning (Love Spell Romantic Suspense, Nov. 2006), announces WHRWA’s glad tidings in each month’s “Who’s in the News” column, wherein she shatters her self-imposed moratorium on exclamation points. Please send Colleen your news at whosinthenews@whrwa.com by the 15th of each month