Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but could’ve sworn I caught a whiff of fall in the air today. The temperatures were less punishing and Mother Nature seemed to dial down the humidity a smidge. Yes, I know, it’s not even Labor Day, but the Pumpkin Spice lattes are back at Starbucks! Autumn has to be close.

According to sources at the U.S. Naval Observatory, fall won’t officially grace us with its presence for twenty days – September 22, 2010; at 11:09 PM EDT, to be exact. Not that I’m counting or anything. But fall is my favorite season of seasons, and I’ve been pining for it all summer long.

What’s your favorite season?

Congratulations to Elaine and Laurie G!!! You are the winners of a selection of books from the RWA conference. Please e-mail me your snail-mail address at nrobardsthompson@yahoo.com.  

Here are the answers:

1. What was the original name of the RWA contest that “recognizes outstanding published romance novels and novellas”?  The Golden Medallion
2. What year was it first awarded? 1980
3. How many categories did it first have that first year? There were no categories, only 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners
4. How many categories did the Rita have in 2010? 12
5. What year did the contest’s name change to the Rita Award? 1990
6. For whom is the Rita Award named? RWA founder and first president Rita Clay Estrada
7. What significant honor is bestowed upon authors who win three RITA Awards in a specific Rita category? They are inducted into the RWA “Hall of Fame.”

 Terri Brisbin has posted a fun blog below. So please keep reading.

In celebration of Kristan’s Rita win, I thought it would be fun to have a contest of our own… How well do you know the Rita?

Answer these questions, and I’ll draw two winners from those who have the most correct answers.

Ready…set…GO!

1. What was the original name of the RWA contest that “recognizes outstanding published romance novels and novellas”?
2. What year was it first awarded?
3. How many categories did it first have that first year?
4. How many categories did the Rita have in 2010?
5. What year did the contest’s name change to the Rita Award?
6. For whom is the Rita Award named?
7. What significant honor is bestowed upon authors who win three RITA Awards in a specific Rita category?

I’ll post the answers after midnight, as well as the names of two winners who will each receive a surprise. Good luck! And, again, congratulations, Kristan!!

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Be sure to check out Nancy Robards Thompson’s Silhouette Special Edition, Accidental Father. RT Book Reviews gives it 4 ½ stars and says: “…This heartwarming story with strong, genuine characters and a strong plot to match is definitely hard to put down.” Now available.

In less than a week, more than 2,500 romance writers, editors and agents will gather in Orlando, Florida for the Romance Writers of America’s 30^th annual conference!   If you’re in the Central Florida area be sure to stop by the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel on Wednesday, July  28  between 5:30-7:30 for the annual “Readers for Life” autographing.  The event is open to the public, and it’s your chance to see more than 500 of your favorite authors and have them sign the books you love.  Best of all, 100% of the proceeds will benefit literacy. Most of the Quills will be there. So, please stop in and say hello. It’s a fun time and it helps a worthy cause.

Then on Saturday night, there’s the big Rita and Golden Heart awards ceremony that we’ve been talking about for a couple of weeks.  It’s only open to registered conference attendees, but we’ll let you know how it all shakes down.

In the meantime, I’d like to turn the spotlight on the Rita nominated books in the Strong Romantic Elements category. RWA describes books in this category as, “A work of fiction in which a romance plays a significant part in the story, but other themes or elements take the plot beyond the traditional romance boundaries.”

One this is certain, all the nominees sound like winners!

The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay  

Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She’s recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.’s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim — but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

Scandal Sheet by Gemma Halliday

Gossip columnist Tina is stopped in her tracks when she learns one of the celebrities she’s reported on wants her dead. Teamed with an oversized bodyguard, a bubbly blonde, and an alcoholic obituary writer, Tina sets off to find out which juicy piece of

Hollywood gossip is worth killing over.

Red’s Hot Honky Tonk Bar by Pamela Morsi

Unruly Red knows she’s no one’s idea of a sweet old granny. But with one long-distance phone call, the fortysomething bar owner with the tattoos and tight jeans is suddenly responsible for two young grandchildren she hardly knows.

Red’s rowdy friends, late-night lifestyle and tiny apartment above her San Antonio saloon definitely aren’t kidproof. And Red’s pretty sure the hot young fiddle player she’s been dallying with will run for the hills when he learns she has a daughter, let alone grandkids.

But Red is about to learn that age doesn’t necessarily come with wisdom. That a nine-year-old girl can be as exacting as the strictest parent. That the school of hard knocks never had bake sales. And that her boy toy is more of an adult than she is.

The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O’Neal

When Elena Alvarez is offered her dream job of executive chef at an upscale Aspen restaurant, she quickly accepts. But beneath her excitement about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Elena is haunted by tragic memories of a car accident that killed those closest to her twenty years ago, and the ghosts from the past that follow her wherever she goes. As she forges new friendships and creates enticing cuisine in her new surroundings, she begins to place her trust in others, and finally learns to confront her past, accept love, and truly heal.

Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

Despite his admonitions to stay away, Lady Julia arrives in Yorkshire to find Brisbane as remote and maddeningly attractive as ever. Cloistered together, they share the moldering house with the proud but impoverished remnants of an ancient family: the sort that keeps their bloodline pure and their secrets close. Lady Allenby and her daughters, dependent upon Brisbane and devastated by their fall in society, seem adrift on the moor winds, powerless to change their fortunes. But poison does not discriminate between classes….

A mystery unfolds from the rotten heart of Grimsgrave, one Lady Julia may have to solve alone, as Brisbane appears inextricably tangled in its heinous twists and turns. But blood will out, and before spring touches the craggy northern landscape, Lady Julia will have uncovered a Gypsy witch, a dark rider and a long-buried legacy of malevolence and evil.

The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

Mallory, Tanya, Faye, and Kendall are best friends-and veterans of the cutthroat world of New York publishing. So when Kendall gets writer’s block, they all collaborate on her new novel, using their own lives as fodder. And what a bestseller the truth makes.

The Virgin’s Daughters: In the Court of Elizabeth I by Jeane Westin

The story of Elizabeth I, as it’s never been told before-through the eyes of two ladies-in-waiting closest to her…

In a court filled with repressed sexual longing, scandal, and intrigue, Lady Katherine Grey is Elizabeth’s most faithful servant. When the young queen is smitten by the dashing Robert Dudley, Katherine must choose between duty and desire-as her secret passion for a handsome earl threatens to turn Elizabeth against her. Once the queen becomes a bitter and capricious monarch, another lady-in-waiting, Mistress Mary Rogers, offers the queen comfort. But even Mary cannot remain impervious to the court’s sexual tension-and as Elizabeth gives her doomed heart to the mercurial Earl of Essex, Mary is drawn to the queen’s rakish godson…

Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs

The prim librarian is finally getting her chance to direct Avalon’s annual holiday pageant, and she’s determined to make it truly spectacular. But it might just require one of those Christmas miracles she’s always read about.

The problem is her codirector is recovering former child star Eddie Haven, a long-haired, tattooed lump of coal in Maureen’s pageant stocking. Eddie can’t stand Christmas, but a court order from a judge has landed him right in the middle of the merrymaking.

Maureen and Eddie spar over every detail of the pageant, from casting troubled kids to Eddie’s original — and distinctly untraditional — music. Is he trying to sabotage the performance to spite her? Or is she trying too hard to fit the show into her storybook-perfect notion of Christmas?

And how is it possible that they’re falling in love?

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Be sure to check out Nancy Robards Thompson’s Silhouette Special Edition, Accidental Father. RT Book Reviews gives it 4 ½ stars and says: “…This heartwarming story with strong, genuine characters and a strong plot to match is definitely hard to put down.” Available July 2010.

Thank you everyone for commenting on the blog yesterday!

The winner of the first two books in the Accidental series is… Chey!! Congratulations, Chey! Please e-mail your full name and address to me at nrobardsthompson@yahoo.com.

Be sure to check the blog every day because there will be many more prizes in the days to come.

Wishing everyone a fun and safe holiday weekend!

Nancy

Last week, I accompanied my daughter and two friends to the Chicago area for a drum major camp.  As we were boarding the plane, a little girl in front of me decided to demonstrate her stop, drop, and roll skills all the way down the jetport – from the gate to the plane.

Her mother looked at me and shrugged. “I suppose I should be freaking out about all the germs, but for all we know, this plane could fall out of the sky.  What’s a few germs compared to that? Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.”

When my daughter was that age (about four), if she would’ve rolled on the floor in public, I probably would’ve freaked and hissed warnings about straightening up and acting right.  But the little girl on the plane was otherwise well-behaved during the flight and as we disembarked, I found myself thinking about the woman’s serene “roll with it” approach to life.

Little did I know her advice would come in handy on the trip home because it ended up being a nightmare: our flight was cancelled; we were stranded in the airport late at night; the airline wasn’t giving food or hotel vouchers; instead  they were dishing up heaping helpings of very bad customer service. It was awful.

At one point, I felt myself edging toward a meltdown. But as I looked at the three girls who were depending on me to set the tone and get them through this, I remembered the sage woman at the start of our trip saying, “Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.”

So, that’s what we did. After we found a hotel room and ordered in pizza and ice cream, we started to find the humor in the mishaps. Later, I decided to further sooth myself with a little retail therapy via a virtual shopping trip to the Sky Mall (well, they do encourage you to take the magazine…) .

It had been a while since I’d done more than casually flip through the Sky Mall, but I always remembered it offering elegant things I’d love to have but wouldn’t necessarily buy for myself – like upscale office accessories and luxury spa items…

I don’t know if it was my “find the humor and roll with it” mood or if I hadn’t really been paying attention to Sky Mall in the past, but there were some odd things in the catalogue.  Some of them were so funny/surreal I laughed out loud.

So you too can roll with the fun, I will now present – a la David Letterman – my top ten weirdest Sky Mall finds (with a descriptive quote pulled from the catalogue) :

10. Video Recording Sunglasses – $199.95 –  “These are the glasses with a built-in video camera that allow you to discreetly record all that you see.”  Really? Because with the hole in the bridge and bulging ear pieces, no one would ever guess you were up to something…

9. Couture Face Mask – $9.95 –  “Allows users to be stylish while staying healthy…offers the same protection as traditional masks, but without the hospital look.”    What more can I say?  

8. Wrist cell phone carrier – $29.95 – “Make a fashion statement! Best of all, it can be quickly and easily flipped open to answer with a flick of the wrist.” I think I saw this in Napoleon Dynamite.

7. Passing the Bar game- $119.99 – “With ‘Passing the Bar’ flashcards, your favorite law student will spend more time studying in an enjoyable, fun setting.”  A few lawyer jokes come to mind, but I’m not going there.

6. Underwater Pogo Stick – $59.95 – “This is the only pogo stick designed for use in swimming pools that allows you to perform a variety of waterborne stunts as you bounce off walls or bottoms.” There’s probably a reason this is a one-of-a-kind design.

5. Head Spa Massager  – $49.95 – “It’s like thousands of tiny fingers simultaneously massaging your scalp.” And there’s the added benefit of the oh-so-cool Trojan look.  

4. Cat Toilet Training System – $59.99 – “You can teach your cat to use any human toilet in eight weeks or less.” It was the picture that got me with this one. I mean, look at the cat’s face as he’s sitting on the toilet. He looks like he’s saying, “Do you mind??”

3. Telekinetic Obstacle Course  – $99.95  – “This is the game that uses your focused brain waves to maneuver a ball through an obstacle course.”    I wonder if wearing the Head Spa Massager would help here?

2.  There was a tie for second place:

Zombie of Montclaire Moors – $89.95 – “This zombie garden statue brings the flesh-hungry undead to your daffodil bed!”  Seriously?
Mombasa the Garden Giraffe – $995.00 – “Since there’s no hiding this realistically hand-painted, exclusive sculpture, even amidst your tall trees and hedges, your neighbors are sure to be surprised when Mombasa moves in next door.”  Who needs yard flamingos when you can have an 8-foot giraffe?
((((((((Drum roll)))))))))) The number one weirdest find in the Sky Mall magazine is….
The Garden Yeti Sculpture  $98.95 – “Our Garden Yeti sculpture commands a unique presence in home or garden.” Because every family deserves their own personal Sasquatch.

Special thanks to the calm Chicago-bound mom for being a good influence. The next time my attitude starts to blaze. I’ll remember to stop, drop and roll with it… and look for the humor.

Remember, we’re giving away a Sony e-reader, and all you have to do to win is comment on the blogs. A winner will be randomly picked from all those who comment until Wednesday, June 30. So the more you comment, the more chances you have to …win! So here’s a question for you: How do you cope with life’s upsets?

Be sure to check out Nancy Robards Thompson’s Silhouette Special Edition, Accidental Father. RT Book Reviews gives it 4 ½ stars and says: “…This heartwarming story with strong, genuine characters and a strong plot to match is definitely hard to put down.” Available July 2010.

I’m writing the (first draft of) this post longhand at a café table next to a fountain. I’m sipping a cappuccino (triple shot, nonfat, with a healthy cap of cinnamon powder) digging the white noise of the spouting water and musing about how cool it is that today this is my office.

One of the best perquisites of writing for a living is the portable office.

I’ve gotten to the point where I can write almost anywhere… as long as I have my laptop or pen and paper and a temperate climate (subtext: 75 degrees or lower, thank you very much.  I’m an agreeable employee, but my muse goes on strike at the first bead of perspiration).

I’ve written in airports; in the car on road trips as my husband drove ( one of my favorite “office days.”  Funny though, he wasn’t keen on the idea of driving me around on a daily basis while I wrote… can you believe it? Not even after I tossed out the words team player… ). I’ve written at the mall as my daughter and her friends shopped; during youth orchestra rehearsals; on school field trip busses; during horseback riding lessons and ballet classes. I’ve actually finished more than one book at the beach (yes, in a bathing suit, ten yards from the surf – casual office days).

I must confess: this bonus didn’t come built into the job; it evolved out of necessity as I tried to maximize my productivity without sacrificing too much family time (though all bets are off when I’m on deadline). After I realized I could be productive working outside of my writing cave a funny thing happened…it dawned on me I needn’t be tied to my conventional office chair at my cumbersome desktop computer… that sometimes, even when necessity didn’t dictate, a change of venue was refreshing and quite pleasing to the old temperamental muse.  

On another note, a quick reminder: don’t forget that beginning Monday (June 14), we’re kicking off our contest to win a free Sony E-Reader. All you have to do to win is comment on the blogs you read here every day. Each time you comment you’re entered. A winner will be randomly picked from all those who comment between Monday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 30. So the more you comment, the more chances you have to win! Keep visiting and keep commenting.

You can start warming up by telling us where’s the most interesting place your job has taken you, or if you’re a writer, where’s your favorite place to set up your portable office?

Be sure to check out Nancy Robards Thompson’s Silhouette Special Edition, Accidental Father. RT Book Reviews gives it 4 ½ stars and says: “…This heartwarming story with strong, genuine characters and a strong plot to match is definitely hard to put down.” Available July 2010.

 I’m on deadline, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the book’s pacing. It dawned on me that the pacing of a book is a lot like that Broadway show Stomp. Have you seen it?  It’s the one where dancers and musicians bang on garbage cans, pots and pans and PVC pipes in a way that makes you say, “WOW! That’s cool!” While they’re making music with these seemingly ordinary household items, your foot’s tapping and your head’s bobbing and you’re dancing in your seat.

On the other hand, if you’ve ever had someone sit next to you with a retractable pen click, click, click, clicking away you probably wanted to smack the pen out of her hand to stop the monotonous noise.

I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck this has to do with a book’s pacing?

A lot, actually.

Just like the artists in Stomp incorporate cadences and sounds into an arrangement that makes you tap your foot and snap your fingers, good novels have a cadence or rhythm — pacing. Pacing is the arrangement of words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs and how they’re woven into scene and sequel to form the chapters in a book.  It’s also the speed at which events within the novel unfold.

As author and teacher Vicki Hinze says, good pacing “…is using specific word choices and sentence structure to tap the emotions of the reader so that she feels what the writer wants the reader to feel at any given time during the story.”

Good pacing can mean the difference between an editor writing that ambiguous, maddening, “I just didn’t love it” rejection letter or calling you and uttering those anticipated golden words, “I couldn’t put it down. I want to buy that book.”

Pretty powerful stuff, huh?  With pacing, it sort of sounds like we are the mistresses of our universes, doesn’t it?  Well, we are.  If you’re interested in writing, here’s some tips on how you can use pacing to create a novel that keeps editors and readers turning the pages:

 1. Get a solid grasp on scene and sequel. A scene is a unit of drama that contains action and dialogue and moves the story along at a good clip; a sequel is the aftermath that follows. It’s generally more medative or thoughtful and slows the pace.

2. Back story, introspection, long blocks of narrative, long sentences, softer verbs, and descriptions with layered sensory detail slow the pacing and encourage reader’s minds to linger in the scene. 

3. Dialogue and action quicken the pace; as do short, snappy sentences and punchy, active verbs.

4. Pacing that’s too slow runs the risk of putting the writer to sleep. But slower pacing used right can emphasize a point or expand the emotional impact. It shows the reader that this is something important and she should pay attention.

5. Use flashbacks sparingly.  Flashbacks bring the story’s momentum to a screeching halt and, if they go on too long, you run the risk of making it difficult for a reader to reconnect with the story.

6. After an intense scene, slow the pace so that the reader can reflect on the action that’s just happened. Pacing that’s too fast leaves the reader exhausted and in turn encourages her put down the book. Give reader moments of intensity, but also allow her to catch her breath.

7. Every scene should have a purpose. In a romance, each scene should further the romance. Be very picky about what you put in your book. Remember, you are the mistress of your universe and can condense, compress, or expand time.

8. Use transitions to move past the mundane. 

9. The French author Gustave Flaubert said to convince a reader that something is important, it must be mentioned three times.  For important points, think in threes: Foreshadow the point; reinforce the point; have the character act on the point.     

10.  Familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of three-act structure (beginning, middle and end); pay special attention to turning points and hooks.

The other day, I received the coolest and most unexpected e-mail. It was from a woman named Lesley who happens to be the mother of the baby who graces the cover of my July 2010 Special Edition, “Accidental Father.”  Even though this my thirteenth book, I’d never thought about the cover process (beyond completing the “Art Fact Sheet,” which gives the art department character descriptions, a synopsis of key scenes and a general idea of the book’s “feel”).  By the time I see my covers, in my mind, the beautiful people smiling back at me are my characters. I’ve never thought about the cover process or the fact that real live models pose for the covers.  After exchanging e-mails with Lesley, I will never look at a book cover the same way.

That little cutie on my cover is Owen. He’s 18 months old today, but he’s been modeling since he was just a few months old. In fact, he’s done over 100 modeling jobs. His mom says he models weekly (sometimes even more than once a week), and is in the city for auditions and castings sometimes five days a week. She adds that Harlequin is one of his favorite clients, especially since his two brothers, who are three and four years old, have also been cover Harlequin cover models.

Lesley shared this about the cover shoot process: “When we receive a call from the agency to say that we are booked, we go to the studio for the shoot (usually the next day) 99% of all shoots take place in NYC in a studio. Everything is done on a plain background and they superimpose the set in. Since the cover for “Accidental Father” is set on a beach, they had the mom, dad, and Owen in bathing suits.”

<– This is a photo she shot on the set of the “Accidental Father” cover shoot.

Lesley says the cover shoot usually takes about an hour. “They take many different poses to ensure they get the right shot. It can be tedious but most of the time it is fun.

“He has an agency that represents him, and they get us the castings and jobs. Some of our favorite jobs that Owen has done have been for The Children’s Place, Newsweek (cover), Time Out New York (cover), Macy’s, Levi, Target…. Interestingly, Owen’s very first job at three months was for a romance novel cover.”

I’m working on a new book called “Accidental Heiress” (Silhouette Special Edition, November 2010).  Since it’s book number four in the “Accidental” series, I have a pretty good mental picture of the setting – the fictional principality of St. Michel. Even so, I decided to try something different with this book: I made a story collage (that’s it above). One of my favorite authors, Barbara Samuel, does this – maybe that’s why her books are so fabulous – and I finally decided to try my hand at it. 

Before I started the book, I took my time, clipping and saving photos that fit the dreamy mood of the book. It’s a Sleeping Beauty theme, and there’s an old manor house, overgrown with flowers and vines. The hero looks strikingly like Hugh Jackman, and the heroine is modeled after a British socialite who used to date Prince Harry.

There was something very freeing about the cutting and positioning and pasting of all the photos. I must admit that once it was done, I was quite pleased with how the collage captured the overall feel of the story.

Now, it hangs on the bookshelf across from my desk and I gaze at it as I write. Even though I had to endure endless ribbing from my family and friends about how I should put away the arts and crafts and just write the darn book, I’m glad I invested the time. It’s brought the story and characters to life. I’ll probably do it again for the next book.

Have you ever done something that on the surface seemed as if it was a time-waster, but turned out to be time well spent? Tell me about it and I’ll enter you in a drawing where one person will win the collage after I finish writing “Accidental Heiress.” Every time I blog, I’ll enter the names of everyone who posts into the drawing.   So, let’s get started with you telling me about time-wasters that turned out to be good investments of time – or even if you want to simply post and say, “Hi” that’ll count, too. So, who’s first?