West Houston RWA

“From Teasers through the Main Attraction: 7 Steps to Building Sexual Tension that Every Romance Author Should Know

We have been moved to the ATHENS ROOM for this meeting. (Our old meeting room)

Want to help your writing go from ho-hum to hot in the space of one evening? Want to take the sexual tension in your latest novel from sweet to sizzling? Then join multi-genre romance author Tracy Wolff as she guides you through seven steps that will make your characters’ attraction to each other pop right off the page.

Tracy Wolff collects books, English degrees and lipsticks and has been known to forget where—and sometimes who—she is when immersed in a great novel. At six she wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow and a prince– and at seven she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she’d read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she’d found her life-long love. Now a writing professor at her local community college, Tracy writes for New American Library, Harlequin Superromance and Spice. She also gives workshops around the United States–teaching students how to write everything from poetry to literary narratives and short fiction and instructing teachers on how to teach writing. Her first novel, A Christmas Wedding, was published by Harlequin in November of 2008 and will be followed by five more books in 2009 that run the gamut from contemporary to paranormal to erotic suspense.

She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and three young sons.

Welcome to August, and the fact that fall is right around the corner. Eke? Where did summer go? Although for WHRWA members, July was a very hot month and filled with tons of great news.

First, congrats to Tera Lynn Childs who is still on cloud nine after OH. MY. GODS. won the RITA for Best First Book.

WHRWA members also won or finaled in other contests as well. Donna Maloy is thrilled to announce she won second place in the Beau Monde chapter of RWA’s Royal Ascot contest, “sweet and mild” category. The cool thing is that this was for a YA book in a category that was not specifically YA. The ms. was actually labeled Middle Grade, though it did have a “sweet and mild” attraction between a girl and a boy (or should she say between a shapeshifter and a werewolf?)! Donna did get a recommendation from the final judge for a full to be sent to the YA editor at Source books—and a subsequent rejection. Not for the writing, characters or plot (which were praised), but because their list is overfull with fantasies that have girl protagonists. They want boy-book fantasies—which is why her next book is probably going to be a Victorian steampunk boy-book!

Jo Anne Banker’s THIS CHILD IS MINE finaled in the Orange Rose Contest! She’s excited about this one, since the  Orange Rose is a heavy hitter contest, in which there are no categories. The top ten best scores are finalists. So Jo Anne’s contemporary series romance was the only category manuscript to final along with historicals, paranormals, and even a mainstream with romantic elements. They do not announce their final judges, but two ‘genre specific’ editors will be looking at it.

And there is sale news! Long distance member Kathryn Kelly is pleased to report she has sold HEARTS UNDER SIEGE to The Wild Rose Press. Her release date is March 12, 2010. It’s a historical romance and will be available in print format. Congrats Kathryn!

Kimberly Frost’s first novel in the Southern Witch series, WOULD-BE WITCH, was a May 2009 Recommended Read at PNR Reviews and was named a Blue Ribbon Favorite of 2009 by Romance Junkies. Also, Kimberly just accepted an offer from Berkley to write a third book in the Southern Witch series that is tentatively-titled, HALFWAY HEXED. Way to go!

In other sale news, Vicky Dreiling sold her debut Regency historical CONFESSIONS OF A DUCHESS: A MATCHMAKERS MISADVENTURES in a three-book deal to Grand Central. She is officially jazzed.  Congrats Vicky! You deserve to be.

Colleen Thompson is also celebrating another sale, this one foreign. Her Rita-nominated TRIPLE EXPOSURE will be published in Norway.