The Foodie Romance genre is growing, and I'm hoping to push it right along myself someday. I've been very impressed with what I've been reading of late. I haven't finished anything, but I've promised to do a review of the RITA-nominated The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal very soon, and I'm almost finished the book. I hope to have the review up on my foodie romance blog this weekend.

I have found the new foodie romances I'm reading to be a welcome respite from the same-old same-old stuff that I have also been reading to try to catch up with my TBR pile. Kimber An just wrote a post about this today on Enduring Romance. I hope that all you fellow book reviewers and fellow readers out there will do something similar to this on your own blogs. I feel like I want to create some kind of grass roots movement for more risky publishing ventures.

Do I love Regencies? Sure. I grew up on Jane Austen, so I have a soft spot for a good Regency romance. I love the Scottish historicals maybe more than most, and have even written one of my own that is out on query as we speak. (Fingers crossed.) However, as a reader, I want--like Kimber said--a buffet!

I will never forget the moment I read Kris Tualla's tagline the first time. "Norway is the new Scotland." I thought, oh my gosh! I have got to read one of her books right now. And then I found someone who was writing Steampunk, and fell in love with that genre. I read a couple of Viking novels, and loved them. I started writing a foodie romance, and I thought... variety is a good thing. I love all these specialized sub-genres that are popping up. I want more! I want to read more, I want to read more different things, I want to see more difference. More, more, more!

So if you're a blogger or a book reviewer, or you know someone who knows someone, let's keep putting the word out. We are an audience open to new things. Try us!

What about you? Do you have a favorite sub-genre? Do you like a historical time period that seems to get ignored by publishers? Where do you go do find your romance novels?

I wrote a post on the Montana Romance Writers blog this morning about scenery and research, but I'm not sure I've finished thinking about this topic. I found myself, in my current wip, feeling uncomfortable writing about real places that I hadn't seen with my own eyes. So this weekend, a couple of friends and I are heading down to the Wyoming/Montana border to do some scenery research.

As I wrote the post, I found myself wondering about the process of other writers as they write with a sense of place. Luckily, my current wip is set in Montana, where I live, and I can get around to do scenery research pretty easily on the weekends. I don't have to travel to Scotland for this one. :-) Maybe next time.

But I've noticed that as I do my scenery research, the feel of a place is very different in person than it is in pictures or on Google Earth. Definitely, in place of actually being there, those two tools have been great for me. Part of the book is set in Baltimore, too, where I spent quite a bit of time last summer, but I haven't physically been to every building I write about in Baltimore. But when I go to Big Sky, or West Yellowstone, or Kalispell... I just get a different vibe from the place, and that vibe helps me write the scenery more effectively.

I tend to take lots of pictures, too, when I have something like this coming up. I took a bunch of pictures in Big Sky, and will take a bunch more in West this weekend. I have lots of pictures of Bozeman, and of Kalispell and Baltimore. But sometimes the pictures just aren't enough. I need to *be* in a place to get a real feel for it. And then, I think, I can write the scene from my characters' perspectives more realistically.

For instance, Sean (my main male character) is originally from the East Coast, but moved to Montana to go to college and just never left. I know many people like this. I feel like I can see the scene from their perspective. Jake (his best friend) is a Montana native. Born and raised in Bozeman. Never really lived anywhere else. I also know a lot of people like this. They see the setting differently than transplants. It's just a fact. And the longer you live here, the less the scenery naturally impresses you. Jaclyn (the heroine) comes here from elsewhere. She's never been to Montana before. If you've never been here, the very first time you take in all the scenery, it's overwhelming. I've brought enough people here for their first Montana experience, I know how that feels.

Standing in the middle of Big Sky, I can see the place through each of their eyes. How they interpret the shadows, how they see the light on Lake Levinsky, whether or not they can see Lone Mountain from Sean's house, what path they take to walk to the lake. What it smells like by the house versus what it smells like by the lake. (Yes, they are different smells.) I'm sure that if the book gets published, most people won't know the difference from real experience.

What about you? When you're working on your ms, how do you do scenery research? Do you think it's important to be in a particular location in order to write about it? Can you tell the difference between people who have been where they're writing about, and people who haven't?

**All these pictures were taken by yours truly, in Montana, for writing research. :-)**

I've had several requests on my author's loops for trading guest blogs, and I just wanted to let you know that there are several people who are going to be either guest-blogging or having their interviews posted for their book releases on NKotWB in the upcoming months.

So I just thought I should say a few things about Guest Blogging and My Schedule.

* If I'm ever guest-blogging on another blog, I will post a link here so you can find it.
* If I ever host a guest-blogger, I will also be watching the comments and will respond to everyone, in addition to having the author respond.
* If any of my fellow bloggers are interested in guest-blogging and have a topic focused on new writers, the publishing process, the writing craft, or life as a writer that they'd like to post, please email me. My email address is rlcameron(AT)yahoo(DOT)com in regular email format.
* If I ever post a review where I have received an ARC, I will let you know. Otherwise, assume that I have purchased the book on my own and am reviewing it because I have something to say. I guest-blog on two other review blogs where we receive ARC's to review, and on both Enduring Romance and Pen & Muse, you can assume that I have received the book to review. But in general, on here, I like to review books that I buy to read for pleasure. However, on occasion, I do get asked to review books on here. But I will always tell you if I did not purchase the book on my own (or get it from the library).
* I also blog at Romancing the Palate, which is my outlet for all things foodie romance. If you're interested in reading foodie romances, in cooking, in food... check it out. Generally, I try to keep the foodie stuff over there. But I do love it so much... sometimes it leaks over here, too. :-)
* I also blog at the Montana Romance Writers blog, which is my local RWA chapter.
* Most of my theological and/or religious blogging happens at my personal blog.
* IN SHORT, I BLOG A LOT! :-) And I love it. But I'm feeling very pulled in many directions, so I'm always looking for people to guest-blog. I'm also willing to participate in blog tours if anyone is looking.

I also want to say that I am so happy to have met all of you out there in the blogosphere who stop by New Kid on the Writer's Block regularly. Especially those of you who follow regularly, and who participate in all my crazy contests.

There will be another contest coming up in May. In fact, just about every week in May, there will be a way to win something on my blog. I generally post contests on Thursdays and pick winners on Sundays. So keep watch. Should be some exciting stuff to win! Some great books, another iTunes gift card.

Much love to all you out there!! You are loved! :-)

I've noticed on Twitter that our #50K challenge is getting taken over by runners who are setting goals to run 50 Kilometers. That's not what I'm doing. :-) I am not running.

I am writing.

Not that you can't do both. You can. (Well, not at the same time, probably... but with all the technology today, who knows? If you do, I'd like to hear about it, for sure!) But I'm not a runner.

The RWA PRO group has decided to set a spring challenge before we all meet for our PRO retreat at Nationals. Cyndi, one of our coordinators, set what she's calling the PRO Challenge. It's a way for all of us to keep our motivation through to Nationals in Nashville. It's a writing challenge.

We're keeping track of it on Twitter and on a message board Cyndi set up. And it's been going since the 1st of April. We have until the 26th of July to write 50,000 words. And we each get to decide if we're going to participate or not.

I decided to participate because it's a good way for me to get some accountability in my writing. This way, everytime I log on to Mozilla, the first tab I see if the RWA PRO Challenge. Staring me in the face. Before my email, or Twitter, or Facebook, I remember that I'm a writer.

Writers Write.

Of course, Christy's challenge that she set for herself at the same time has been very helpful to me, as well. I'm following hers and commenting and doing my own. It's been great. I've gotten a lot of work done.

What I'm realizing is that it helps me to know I'm not alone. The picture above, which I just love, is the epitome of marathons to me. Tons of people filling a street, all striving for something together. Writing feels so solitary for me most of the time, these writing challenges feel a little like all of us ganging up together on some giant superhighway and striving together. It's the encouragement that I need. I need to feel like I'm not alone.

As a result, I'm halfway done with the first draft of NN, I'm about a third of the way through the Roman & Barbarian novel, and I'm plugging away on ideas for the NN sequel novel. Just so glad for the encouragement of all these challenges. Writing is hard work. And it's good to have friends on the journey.

What about you? Are you taking part in any challenges lately? How is the accountability process for you? What is helpful or unhelpful about challenges, in your opinion?

Here at New Kid on the Writer's Block, I like to try to keep the topics on the subject of writing, being new to the publishing industry, and other literary topics. Every once in awhile I branch out and do something weird. And today is one of those weird days.

Well, first, I wanted to say that I got my results back from yet another contest in which I not only did not final, but I also did not even place remotely near the top, and I'm getting to the point where I'm wondering if any of this crap is worth it at all. So that being said, I'm going to do something else today.

Television.

I used to watch way more television than I do now. Well, in college, I guess, I was up on everything. I loved television. I wanted to write for television. I thought it was just the most amazing medium in the world.

I'm starting to get a little bored with the boob tube. Apart from a new cooking channel I see is going to air in May, I am seeing very little on TV that is of interest to me lately. And most of that is on the BBC. I'm interested to know, from all of you, what television shows you watch regularly, and what you think of them.

My favorite TV show right now is still Top Chef. The Top Chef Masters season is so much fun. I just adore it. A close second would probably be Project Runway (although it's over now... and congratulations to Seth-Aaron, he totally deserved to win!). In general, I like shows with competition in them. Now that college basketball is over, I need to get my competitive edge sharpened somewhere.

Oh, and is anyone going to watch the Kentucky Derby this weekend?

So what TV do you watch? Why do you watch it? What is the best show on television right now? What is one show that you're not quite sure how it got on TV in the first place? What is the last show on TV you would ever watch?

Here are my Top Nine posts of the week from the blogs that I read. This is my way of shouting out to people who are doing great blogging work in the industry. So here are my Best Reads of the Blogosphere for this last week.

* Jason Pinter wrote an absolutely fantastic article on men who read, and how the publishing industry has a gender bias. Fascinating!

* Jody Hedlund wrote a great post about the pros and cons of writing contests. With the Genesis contest deadline having just passed, it seems that a lot of people are musing about this. I love to read their thoughts, but I found Jody's post to be particularly insightful for me.

* Agents on Twitter at #askagent never answer questions about queries. So when someone like Janet Reid writes a blog post about queries, I *listen*!! And I thought this was a very helpful one.

* At LadyScribes, a very helpful and timely article for me on what questions to ask before choosing representation. I know she took the questions from the PRO website, where I could easily look them up for myself, but I haven't done a great job of exploring all the benefits of being a PRO member yet. And I needed the reminder.

* Maeve's husband proves that chivalry is still alive and kicking, and living in my basement. :-)

* Fantastic question from Rachelle Gardner. Do you have any answers? I don't know that I do...

* On the Plot Monkeys blog, there was a really excellent post on contests and judging. I highly suggest that you head over there and read it if you are considering entering contests, or if you've been wondering about judges training for contests. 

* If you haven't read One London One's blogs lately, then I very much suggest that you head over there right now. It is my new favorite historical blog.

* How to write something worth publishing, courtesy of Novel Matters. Loved this post. In general, I love posts that reference the writing greats of years past. I'm nostalgic, what can I say?

I think, as writers, we all want someone to say "yes" to our product. Our query, our pitch, our book, our workshop, our self. It's not un-human. We dig on the affirmations, as a species. We're not crazy about rejection. And nowhere is that more obvious for me than in my writing.

I don't like it when people don't like what I write. In fact, sometimes it's harder for me to submit to my critique partners than I will admit. Of course, they are all very gracious people, and even when they have to say the hard things (like maybe this chapter should be axed), they find very constructive ways to help me. And, I should add, I would not be where I am without their feedback and their consistent support!

And six months ago, I probably would have told you that all I wanted was for someone to publish my book... to say yes to me. Today, however, I feel very differently.

Through my relationship with my critique partners, through my entering contests and getting feedback from judges, through my other beta readers, I have learned that sometimes the value of "yes" is very low. Yes, I need affirmation like everyone else. But no one (no matter what they think of themselves) writes perfectly. Even in my favorite books of all times, there are things I would change if I was the editor/agent/writer. That's because, as I blogged about yesterday, the writing industry is subjective. Everyone will edit different pieces out (or in). And everyone is always growing. I defy anyone to read an early Nora Roberts book and tell me she's not a different writer today than she was fifteen (ten, five) years ago. That's because writing is a craft, and the more you do it (especially with active feedback), the better you get.

When I started my first MFA class, my professor came to the chalk board and, before he said anything else, he wrote on the board, "WRITERS WRITE." Then he gave us a writing assignment. I thought it was so stupid at the time, but I did it. And through the duration of that program, I wrote every single day. And I got better. Lots better.

Then, when I started really pursuing writing as a career, I went back to that motto. Writers write. Yes, I entered the Golden Heart with my very first completed novel and hoped to win. I did not. Yes, I entered every contest I could get my hands on hoping to win. I did not. And yes, each of those "no" votes was hard to take. But let me tell you, the manuscript I sent into the Golden Heart seven months ago is not the manuscript that I'm writing today. Because of the "no"s from agents, and from contests, from critique partners, and from beta readers, it is a better manuscript than it has ever been. I've also stepped up my writing, and am working on a new ms that is leaps & bounds better than what I was doing previously.

Why? Because "no" is valuable, sometimes. Even when I don't want to hear it. Because I have not reached the place in my writing where I would want someone to say "yes" yet. Of course, I wasn't aware of that when I was entering contests. But now that I'm more aware of it, I feel like every "no" has infinite value. I don't want a publisher or an agent who isn't as in love with my work as I am. So I'm willing to go through the "no"s to get to the right "yes".

I do believe the "yes" will come at some point. And I'm willing to wait for it. In the mean time, I'm using all the "no"s to turn myself into a better writer tomorrow than I am today. Every little "no" (don't use this "ly" here, or this "ing" here, or this "was" here) is a beneficial critique, whether I use them or not. Because every little "no" gives me that much more perspective about my work. And every little "no" today will prepare me for the big "yes" in the future.

The results of the HHRW Romance Through the Ages Contest came out today. I was a judge for two of the categories, and had saved my summary sheets so I could look back when the finalists were announced and see if some of the entries I judged were in the finals.

I was glad to see that the two entries (one in each category) that I scored the highest did, indeed make the finals. But I was very disappointed to see that the two entries I scored second highest did not make the finals. Granted, there are a lot of entries, but these two second-highest entries were so excellent. And then after that, there was an obvious drop-off in the quality of writing, in my opinion. And one of the entries I scored very low made the finals in its category. In fact, it was one of the lowest scores that I gave an entry. I did not enjoy it at all. I spent a bit of time re-thinking what I had read and I came to one very important conclusion:

Literature is a subjective business.

I know I've picked up books before off the shelf and been so horrified with the writing style or the character development or the plotting or whatever that I literally threw the book away. Sometimes, I will give the author a second chance (especially if they write Scottish historicals, because those are my favorites), but if my second experience with them is equally as bad, I will often vow never to read them again.

In fact, recently, I read what I thought to be the worst book that I have ever seen in print. It happened to be self-published. So I lent my copy to a friend who reads a lot of romance and asked her to read it. She couldn't even get all the way through it, she said it was so horrible. So I went to Amazon to rate it, and found that it had mostly four and five stars!! I was absolutely shocked and awed. I did not rate it on Amazon, for other reasons, but I did blog about the Amazon rating system after that. Later on, I talked to the author, and she said she's had great response from readers about it. So I just chalked it up to another subjective experience.

As much as I hate to admit it, literature in general (outside of the business aspect) is subjective. It's all about whether I *like* a book or not. Or whether an editor *likes* a book, or an agent likes a book, or your reviewers like a book, or your judges or critique partners or beta readers like a book. It's not really about whether it's good or not, because to me, good is not subjective. If someone is good at something, that means they're proficient. They have definable skills. A good basketball player, for instance, will get paid more money than an okay basketball player. And a bad basketball player will not get paid money. I don't think it's the same with writing.

I've read many published books that I thought were not good writing. Technically, not bad, because they were not riddled with grammar or punctuation errors, most of the sentence structure was acceptable for the English language, and they used their words appropriately. As a former writing teacher, a writing coach, and a writer, I feel qualified to say this. But it doesn't really matter whether they were a good writer or not.

Let's face it. You don't have to be a good writer to get published. You just need to find someone who likes your book enough to print it and put it on the market. Generally (and probably the rule), most published writers are good (even great) writers. But that's not what gets them published. (Yes, it's more likely that your book will be liked if you are a good writer, but it's not a primary qualification.) What gets them published is all about subjectivity. Does the editor like your hook, your characters, your first ten pages. Your partial, your full. Your query. Yes, being well-written will always help. But it's not necessary. And just being well-written isn't enough.

I'm not saying it's a flawed system. I'm just saying it's subjective. So if your book doesn't get published, or your query doesn't get a response, or your critique partner doesn't like your chapter... what does that mean? Does it mean you're a bad writer? I'm here to say, "NO!" I'm not saying that you shouldn't listen to feedback. Someone recently said to me that if you think your story has no flaws, then you'll never get published. But I am saying that the publishing business is subjective. It's not (all) about your ability. So you don't final in a contest, so you don't get a request from an agent, so you don't get a good report from your beta reader... so what? Take what you can from the experience, and just keep writing.

Because, as someone just said to me today, "all it takes is one editor who likes it..." Find that one, and you'll be out there on the shelves someday.

For those of you who haven't been part of my physical life here in Bozeman, you may not know that this week is one of the biggest weeks of my year. I just wanted to let you in on a little snipit of what's going on in my life.

One of the groups I used to work with, the College & Young Adult Group at BUMC, is having their Spring Fundraiser. Last year, when I was the coordinator, we did this fabulously successful fundraiser called "Sabbath Night Live" where we had a silent auction and a live sketch comedy/music night. I wrote a five-sketch play where I took a TV show and a Biblical story and morphed them together. We ended up only doing two of the sketches last year, so the people who took over after I left contacted me and asked me if we'd like to do two more sketches this year at the Spring Fundraiser. Of course, I said yes.

So we started out casting the roles. We chose to do Babylonian Idol again this year (because it was phenomenally popular last year, thanks to our great singers and the band), and Gideon's Island (a mash-up of Gilligan's Island and the story of Gideon and the fleece). We have a great actress playing the role of Gideon, and a guy doing the Mr. Howell character that I swear sounds so much like the real Mr. Howell, it just gets me every time. The band, once again, is absolutely phenomenal. It's basically the same band as last year, with the addition of a new bass player. I switched from piano to keyboard, and Sarah took over at piano.

It has been fantastic.

But once we had the casting finished, we hit the rehearsing hardcore. I feel like, everytime I leave the house now, I'm saying, "I'm off to rehearsal. I'll be back at 9." :-) But I love it. I got home last night from our dress rehearsal and was just so overflowing with joy at our experience that I immediately emailed everyone and said, "I don't know how we managed this, but we are SO awesome." (Can you tell how humble I am? Hah!)

Anyway, these next couple of days are the hard days. They're the detail days. We need a fur for Deborah's fleece. I need a hat to play Skipper. We need nametags for the Idol judges. We need new fishing wire to hold the Idol sign up. We need more sand-colored sheets to hide the tree bases. We need a mult-directional microphone for the actors on Stage Left. We need to check the multi-directional microphone to make sure it won't feedback with the speakers where they are. We need someone to turn the mics on and off during the play, because I can't do it now that I have to be Skipper. We need tables and chairs set up. We need a box for voting. Those kinds of things. (Actually, writing that down just now helped me make a great list! Haha!)

But then, once Friday comes, I will be on Cloud Nine. I love events like this, where a whole bunch of creative people get together and sing and play and act and have a great time. I am just so excited. I feel good about where we are, and I'm psyched. It is definitely making it hard to get through these days, though. It's like I have too much energy for my own good. :-)

I hope to post pictures and/or video on here, when Monday rolls around. Because I think it's going to be fantastic, and I can't wait to see everyone's full costumes and makeup.

What about you? Do you participate in any volunteer shows or musicals or writing events? What does that feel like for you? What do you like about it? Any great stories to share?

Congratulations to Cori Toews, whose number came up in the Random Number Generator as the winner of Angela Breidenbach's Creative Cooking for Colitis cookbook.

Cori, please send me your email address (rlcameronATyahooDOTcom) and Angela will send you a copy of the cookbook!

Thanks to all who stopped by and participated in the contest, and read about Angela's cookbook. We had a record-breaking attendance at NKotWB yesterday, so thanks for all the support!!

Also called P3T, Poetry of Three Things (at least, the way I do it) is a writing exercise that my very fist writer's group came up with as a sort of creativity warm-up for our writing sessions. We would gather in a circle with our notepads open, and three of us would call out a word. Could be any word. With those three words together, we would each write a poem. And although there were up to eight of us, we wrote completely different poems every single time.

I miss doing P3T. A lot. So I was on my GoodReads account last night, finishing up some ratings for the books I'd just reviewed, and I saw that there was a place on my profile for "my writing". So I thought, let's break out the old P3T list. I made a list, several years ago, of about 2000 words, randomized into three columns, so that I could write my own truly randomized P3T without having other people around. Every single day for about two years, I wrote a P3T. Some of them were with others, so I didn't quite make it through the list. But now, I'm getting close to the end. And I thought I would open up the old P3T archives and pull out the word list and start writing some P3T again.

Then I thought, hey, wouldn't it be a great idea to get other writers writing P3T's too? Of course it would! Never written poetry before? That's totally fine! I hadn't either, before I started writing P3Ts. Everyone has to start somewhere. It's lots of fun, and it's a great creativity warm-up when you need something to write about and don't feel up to starting on the wip just yet. Pull out my three random words and write a P3T. Go on. It'll be good for ya.

Here's one to start us off. The words are:

repulse
ruin
rain

They don't normally all start with the same letter, but this was where I was in the word list. Anyway, if you'd like to post a poem in the comments, please do so. I only ask that if you post the poem on your own blog, you give credit to the inspiration. :-) But feel free to post them here. In a bit, I will have a P3T contest, even. The poems don't have to be good, they don't have to rhyme, and they don't have to be real, deep, or literary. They can be free verse, blank verse, or iambic pentameter. However you prefer to write poetry. Just go for it! Have fun.

For the last several weeks, I have been doing Sunday Shout-Outs, where I track what I feel were the best (or most interesting, or most helpful, or funniest) posts that I've read during the week. I start on Sunday night and track all week until the following Saturday night, then post on Sunday morning. So without further ado, I bring you the Best of my little Blogosphere (that I read every week).


* CA Marshall wrote a great post this week about how our love languages might come out in our characters. Since I'm big into things like love languages, I thought it was great food-for-thought in character development.


* Fantastic thoughts on what it might look like to do taxes as a writer, from Rachelle Gardner, including how to file estimated taxes for being self-employed, and other great tidbits. If you are a writer, or thinking of becoming a writer, you have to check out this post. I mean it. Right. Now. She also has a fantastic list of links to check out if you've never thought about doing your taxes as a self-employed person before. Definitely need to check this out.

* Christy is on Week Three of a writing accountability challenge on her blog. I'm loving keeping up with it because it's making me be more accountable for my writing, too. Follow along and be accountable, yourself!

* Nathan Bransford (and other agents) have been commenting lately about the deluge of queries. This also means that it's becoming more and more common for agents and editors not to respond to queries that don't interest them... not even to turn them down. Are you paying attention to the query deluge news?

* Simon Larter wrote a hilarious post this week about punctuation that every writer needs to go read right now. Hilarious, but also very wise. Everyone should know how to properly wield the semi-colon... and, of course, the... yeah. :-)

* Nathan Bransford wrote a great post about the greatest strength of a writer. Do you have this strength?

* It seems, now, that every major electronics distributor has an e-reader. You'd think that would be the Tipping Point? No. Here is one agent's take on the Tipping Point for e-books... and I think I agree with her.

* Jaime W.S. is judging entries for a contest, and contemplating her entry in the Genesis. Much similar to my own feelings. Very interesting read, I think.

* A particularly insightful list from CA Marshall this week in her Advice for Writers.

These were my top nine posts of the week. Did I miss any that you think should be on here? I'm always open to suggestion. :-) What did you think about them if you read them already?

I have decided to declare, on behalf of all women who are getting jerked around by men, that it is officially stupid and not fair that we can't help the way we're wired.

So I have this friend who has been actively trying to find love for quite awhile now. I give her credit for being out there and open, even though she's been hurt. She is able to put herself out there and hopefully make a connection with a man. She is looking for someone to treat her right and be a good guy to her. Not too much to ask, right?

Wrong. Apparently.

She has been with a string of guys who essentially do the same thing. Here's a run-down of how it works.

They say they're looking for love. They tell her she's beautiful. They go out on a few dates with her. They tell her it's destiny, they tell her she's just what they're looking for. They tell her she's gorgeous and ravishing and makes the stars stand still. They have sex. And then they disappear.

What the H is up with that???

I think it's not fair. Women need to hear that they're beautiful and amazing and that it's destiny and they love the poetry and the romance and the beauty... and we fall for it every time. It's like a compulsion. So the guys have learned... they've adapted to our chemistry. They're now saying all the things we want to hear, only they're not really true. They're just word candy to lure you into their windowless van.

Some days, I think we were better off in the days of arranged marriage. Where someone else made the decision for you and you just had to learn to live with it. I mean, come on. There are plenty of days that I would rather just be paired up with someone my parents think would be a good match for me than have to deal with this dating crap. Seriously. It is not a nice world out there, no matter what they say on television. And it makes women (like me, like my friends) think that there are no nice men out there anymore, or if there are, they've all been taken already.

But we keep putting ourselves out there because there are enough success stories that we believe it's really possible. We think it just might happen for us. But let's be real. Sure, a bunch of people are gonna comment and tell me they have snagged the guy of their dreams. But for every one of you, there are ten women like my friend (and, some days, like me) who can't find a truly decent male to save our lives. And it's just not fair. It frustrates the living breath out of me to think that I might never fall in love with someone who falls in love back. I mean it makes me so angry I just want to freakin' scream.

And yet... possibly the stupidest part is that I still want to believe it might. So against my better judgment, the next time someone makes eyes at me, I'll think "this could be the one". And two months later, when I'm picking the pieces of my heart off the walls from where it just exploded, I'll look back and wish that I could stop believing it might be true so that I could quit getting hurt. Because when it does hurt, it's the worst kind of hurt. The kind that isn't fixable.

But then someone tells me I'm beautiful...

While doing some research for a writing project, I got a wild hair today to research the most expensive places to live in the entire country. Just for fun. Because I figured, it's good to know these things.

I found an article that Forbes magazine put out about the 100 most expensive zip codes in the entire country. So I'm interested to know what you think.

Just off the top of your head, without doing any research, what would you say is the most expensive place in the country to live? Give 'er a good guess.

Then, if you want, you can read the article.

Seriously, though, it gives the Real Housewives of New Jersey a whole new legitimacy for me. Who knew?

I've been getting lots of questions lately about the definition of "foodie romance". I say that I like foodie romances, I say that I write foodie romances, I say that there aren't enough foodie romances out there. But what exactly do I mean when I say "foodie romance"? Well, I finally wrote a blog to explain it.

Over on my "Romancing the Palate" blog (my blog that I dedicate solely to foodie romance), I put up a definition of what I think constitutes a foodie romance. The review of Cinderella Chef is also on that blog, and is a Harlequin book I reviewed last week as a potential foodie romance that ended up not really being one, in my opinion. It was an enjoyable contemporary romance about a chef. But not a foodie romance, in my opinion. Nothing wrong with it, just not what I expected.

So you might wonder, after you read my blog post about the definition of a foodie romance, have I ever read any good foodie romances? Well, definitely. There are two that I would recommend very highly.

First, I would suggest Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise. This is the only foodie romance that I've ever read of hers, and I'm not sure that even she would categorize it as such. But the sense-experience of the food in that book was part of the trajectory of the romance. And it was part of their development as a couple, and the heroine's development as a person. There is one particular scene that I remember with vivid clarity, where she is attempting to make this dish (which truly is, if you ever read the book, as she experiences it), and the hero comes in and helps teach her how to make it properly. Wow. That was the moment that I thought... I have to read more of these. And sadly, back then, there were really none to be had. Today, there are a few more, but not many more.


Another I would suggest is a book that I am still finishing that I will review on Romancing the Palate next week. But so far, I adore it. And it's very much a foodie romance. It's called Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards. Not only is the main character in the food industry, but she has a discerning palate. I get the sense from this book that the author is probably a foodie herself, and has experience in the restaurant industry, which is always helpful because that means you get to be around food and foodies all day long. (Well, unless you work at Taco Bell or McDonald's... and then it's really just "food" you're around...) But I've enjoyed the book and so far do find it to be a real foodie romance.

So do you have to be a chef or a food critic to write a foodie romance? No. But you do have to know the experience of food. If you're writing a foodie romance, you should be doing some cooking at the same time you're writing. You want to write a foodie romance where the heroine makes the best chocolate mousse in the world? Great! Then make it yourself, and make that experience part of the book. I want to know what it smells like, what it looks like, what it tastes like, what the texture is... I want to know that you know what you're talking about. That's my $1.02 about that.

What about you? Have you ever read a good foodie romance? Are you a foodie? Do you enjoy the experience of food? Have you ever seen a show or read a book that brought you inside the experience of a particular food or dish?

Reading Jaime's post about anticipating her results of the Genesis contest after also judging a contest for FHL, I got to thinking about my own progress in the contest circuit (as it is apparently called). Since the Golden Heart scores were returned this week, I've been musing a lot on what these contest results mean. A couple of loops that I'm part of have been discussing the same thing. There's been a "Scores" email circulating in one loop since the finalists were announced.

Bottom line, we all want feedback. Some of us want it more than others, I think, but we all want it. That's why I started entering contests in the first place. People have been telling me all my life that I should be a writer. And after doing an MFA program, getting published, and winning a writing award, I finally agreed with them. But even after I finished my first novel, even after being part of a great writer's group for almost eight years, even after teaching writing workshops and coaching other writers... I *still* can't get enough feedback to believe that I really should be a writer.

So I decided to start entering contests. First one I entered, I made the finals. Well, that's not completely true. I guess I entered the Golden Heart first, but the first one I entered and heard back from, I made the finals. It was a fantastic feeling. I thought... I could really be a writer. I can really do this. I was convinced.

So I entered a couple more contests. Did not final in the Fire & Ice. Got really negative feedback from the judges. Meanwhile, I started my most recent novel, which I'm working on in a critique circle with ACFW. It's getting rave reviews. Doesn't matter. I didn't final in the Fire & Ice. I got bad scores. I was devastated.

In the midst of all this, I'm also judging in contests, since I became a PRO member and am published in non-romance fiction, and have academic credentials... I figured I'd be safe. It's a trippy experience, to judge for a writing contest. It's just so subjective. And it's not like critiquing, where I critique your work, and you critique mine. It's not a partnership. It's me pronouncing judgment on your work. I don't know if I like it. Even though I'm asking other people to do that to my work.

Then, on Monday, I got my Golden Heart scores back. Holy crap. I didn't get anything below an average score (5), but I was still in the *bottom* of the field. The very bottom 50% of entrants. Wow. I don't know that I've been more devastated in a very long time. I had finally sort of rebounded from the last bad judging comments, and then I got slammed with the bottom 50% of the Golden Heart. Not only did I not final, but I didn't even make the top 50% of entrants! Ouch.

I mentioned this to one of my CPs, who (bless her dear heart) is very honest... if I'm doing something she doesn't like in my new wip, she'll tell me. But she's also very encouraging. She reminded me of how much I have grown as a writer since I wrote my first novel (which is what I entered in the Golden Heart). I remembered how I had taken a couple of really important workshops in January (one from Eliza Knight, and one from Nicole North)... important to my development as a writer. If you were to compare, side-by-side, the work I had done before those workshops, and the work I have done since, you would almost think they were from different people.

In fact, the workshop with Eliza was all about editing your novel in a month. So I took this first-novel (the one that got a 26 in the Golden Heart... yes, I just said out loud what my score was... embarrassing, but true), and I edited it in January. So you can literally hold the two works up next to each other. And I did. (Perhaps I'll even post the difference on this blog at some point... we'll see if I'm ready for that kind of honesty.) And I have changed *a lot* as a writer.

So as I read Jaime's post, she made a comment that she had changed so much since she entered the Genesis last year, and I thought... wow! Last year. If I've changed this much since November... how much more will I have changed when I can enter the Golden Heart *next year*!?!?!? So I'm trying to think about that. And not think about the rest of it.

What about you? Have you entered any contests lately and gotten results back? Have you changed in your writing lately and noticed it? Do you judge for contests, and what has that been like for you? Did you enter the Golden Heart this year? Are you planning to enter next year?

I am going to RWA National Conference this year in Nashville, TN. I'm not giving any workshops, or presenting anything, or receiving any awards. I'm just going. I mean, I will be taking workshops and meeting people and pitching my novels, and attending a training for RWA Treasurers, but I'm not "working" in the sense that I have to be "on". I'm looking forward to being just a participant.

Here's what I've contracted to do before I go to Nationals.

* Re-edit Whispers as per agent suggestions.
* Finish a final draft of Nineveh based on crit partners & contest judges suggestions.
* Finish a final draft of Iris Garden based on contest judges & critters suggestions.

There are other things, but they're not writing related, so I'll post them elsewhere. But I've got my work cut out for me. So it's good that Christy is doing her writing accountability stuff, because I really need to get lots of work done!! :-)

Ever have one of those days? Well, I've had one of those weeks. Y'know, the kind where you look back on it and you think... what in the world did I get done? What was I doing? Yeah, that kind.

Granted, I was on vacation. But I went for years when I worked in the non-profit world where I worked my entire vacation. And it seemed, somehow, like I got to do both the fun and the work-y part of vacation all those years. Now, all of a sudden, I'm writing, and I just sort of leave behind my entire job. I did not get one word written on my wip while I was gone. I didn't even really get a chance to blog, or do any of my online presence that I normally try to keep up with. That definitely shows me that I'm going to have to be very careful in the future about structuring my non-vacation time so that I am the most productive that I can be.

And now I'm trying to get back into my normal schedule. Only I'm feeling sort of lax right now. Like I wish I was still on vacation. So I think maybe I'll just shower and get dressed and head to Sola, my typical writing hangout coffee place. I'm not wild about being in public today, but I really need a jump start. We'll see how it works out for me.

So what about you? Do you work on vacations? Ever have one of those days/weeks/months where you feel like you got nothing done? How do you combat that, or bounce back from it?

For the last several weeks, I have been doing Sunday Shout-Outs, where I track what I feel were the best (or most interesting, or most helpful, or funniest) posts that I've read during the week. I start on Sunday night and track all week until the following Saturday night, then post on Sunday morning. So without further ado, I bring you the Best of my little Blogosphere (that I read every week).

* One agent's thorough (and very informative/helpful) take on entering contests, and how that should play out in your querying process. Great post.

* Lexi had the greatest rejection letter this week. The kind of rejection letter we all want to get... the one that offers us some hope, and shows that someone is really reading our work.

*The Celtic Queens' blog post on Irish wedding customs. Excellent.

* Another great post about rejection letters and the path to sales from the Paperback Writer.

When I used to live in Portland, one of my favorite places to hang out was Powell's Books. If you've never been there, it's like an entire library (for sale, mind you) under one roof.

We walk in, and I look up at the map. "I'm headed to the Red Room."

Mary says, "I'll be in the Green Room."

"I'm going to the bathroom," says Phillip. Then he goes to the Orange Room, he texts me later.

And my aunt heads straight for the Information desk because she already knows what she wants. They send her to the Blue Room.

We have to carry our cell phones with us because while we might both be in the Red Room, it's bigger on its own than most bookstores, and quieter than most libraries, and you wouldn't know they were in the same room unless you shouted. (And then someone might be really angry with you.)

I get a text from my aunt. "I'm in the Purple Room."

"I'm headed to the Coffee Room," I text back. Which turns out to be the actual Coffee Shop that has a whole set of bookshelves in the back where they hide (or display) the romance novels. I found books written by at least eight (if not, I think, ten) people I know. One of them has been out of print for years, but I found it Used at Powell's and picked it up. Great bargain, too.

What I love the most about Powell's is the mammoth selection. They don't just have a romance section. They have a romance section bigger than most bookstores. They have every book Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts have ever written. They also have Sarah MacLean's new release. They have two entire rows of books just dedicated to Theology. Just theology. Not the sort of Pop Theology that most bookstores sell, but actual theology. They had an entire row of Bonhoeffer. And most of Greg Boyd's books. Grudem, VanHoozer, you name it, they have it.

I love a bookstore that is so giant, it has to have more than one set of cashiers. They label the cashiers based on their exit. So when it's time to go, I have to say, "I'm going to the 10th Ave Cashiers," like I'm in Penn Station or something.

It is amazing.

All in all, I get out without spending a lot of money. I am proud of myself for buying the cloth bag with the Powell's logo so I can do my bit to support the environment and my book habit doesn't have to make any bigger of a dent in the ozone than it already has. I'm proud of myself for buying a new book to support authors, but also buying old books to recycle paper. I found a new author I'd never heard of before, and look forward to reading her work. Plus, we went to Powell's just after a great Thai meal where we all had our taste buds semi-permanently burned off. It was great.

It was the perfect day.

As an aspiring writer, one of the most important things I do (besides, obviously, writing) is reading. A lot. Those of you who know me know that I have been tracking the number of books I read every year for almost six years now. And the number had been steadily increasing every year that I have been tracking.

Until this year.

When I decided, in July/August, that I was going to seriously pursue writing as a career, I started spending almost every spare moment writing and reading (blogging and Twittering, judging, critiquing, reviewing, as well, now). But I've continued to track what I read. The other day, I opened my book journal to write down another book and realized it was almost time to get a new book journal. Now, I run my year from September 1st to August 31st, because of the school year, so I just got a new book journal in August, right before the new year started. And I'm already starting a new book journal. Which means that in the last seven months, I have read over 100 books. Holy crap!

I guess it shouldn't surprise me. I have more time to read now, and I read intentionally because I'm trying to get to know the market. I also read a lot of books that are recommended to me, and I try to read the books of the men/women in my Celtic Hearts, Hearts Through History, and ACFW groups. That's a lot to keep up with. But it never really hit me until I hit a milestone, I guess.

I've noticed that we do that with a lot of things. Weight loss, athletics, marriages and birthdays, jobs. The idea of celebrating milestones is one inherent in (at least) our culture. Someone wins a national championship, we have a party. Someone loses 100 pounds, they buy themselves a new wardrobe. We are married for 25 years, everyone gives us presents. We stay at a job for five years, we get a diamond ring.

I guess I wish we would celebrate ourselves a little more in the every day and not wait for the big milestones to throw a big hullabaloo. Is that 25-year marriage still worth celebrating at 24 years, 3 months? Or at 25 years, 9 months? Yeah. Is our work worth celebrating at 3 1/2 years in a job? Or at 6 1/4? Yeah! And at 6 1/2 and 6 3/4. It's always worth celebrating. Yeah, perhaps all the celebrating would get old if we did it every day. But how much more happy would our lives be, in general, if we lived a life of constant presence and celebration? I think, a lot happier.

Is it worth celebrating as I finish my 101st book tonight? Definitely! It was worth celebrating at 100 and at 99. Every book I read is one more experience that will help me be a better writer today and tomorrow and in the future. No matter what the quality of the book. So I just wanted to take a moment and remind you (and me, and all of us) to celebrate something that seems normal... because chances are, it's only masquerading as mediocrity. It's really a reason to party!

What about you? What's masquerading as mediocrity in your life right now? What should we celebrate with you about? What have you done (or are you continuing to do) that you are proud of today?

Just had to put a little post tonight, after Duke just won the national championship. I know it's not really writing-centric, but it's such a huge part of my life.

Also, this year, I got a chance to see Duke play live in Madison Square Garden. This team, the championship team. I got to see them play live in maybe the most incredible basketball royalty venue in the country. And they won! Of course, they beat Gonzaga, so I was sad for the Zags (my sister's team). But today, I am just so happy for Duke's big win.

Granted, I loved Butler's team, and their coach, and their story. But I just can't be sad that Duke won. It was arguably the best championship game in almost fifteen years.

So I'm just happy today. Loving this moment. And for the next six months, I can rest on this laurel. Duke Blue Devils. National Champions. 2010. Rock On.

Since several people have commented on how much they like this post, I'm going to do it again. Maybe every Sunday, maybe not. But at least this week, yet again. This week, I'm going to start the tracking on Sunday (last Sunday) and go to Saturday, so I can make sure to catch the ones that are posted the day I put the blog up. So without further ado, I bring you the Best of my little Blogosphere (that I read every week).

* Word Wenches blog about the real history of dukes in 1764. Very interesting for those of you who read historical romances

*One agent's blog about the six-pack of success. A definitely must-read for any new author.

* Carol over at Storytellers Unplugged wrote a fantastic post on the do's, don'ts, ins, and outs of having a critique group. Loved it.

* For your weekly dose of funny, check out The Country Gal's post on taking out the trash. Complete with storyboard. :-)

* Christy is keeping track of her words for the week. And running a public accountability contest, as well. I just think this is brilliant.

* Musetracks ran a great blog this week on the dirty little secrets of writers. Loved it.

* Nicole over at One Significant Moment wrote a great post about her characters turning out differently than she imagined. What to do about it? Interesting... I've posted about this before, as well.

* Over at Market My Novel, they talked about Amazon Sales Ranking, which I think was a fantastic article. After my experience with what I am calling "one of the worst books I have ever read", I think this is very timely. I went on Amazon to look at the reviews of this book and found that there were twenty-some *five-star-reviews*! What I found out was that this book was self-published, and it seemed (from the reviews) that it was a little like a flash-mob of friends posting reviews. I am still convinced that none of them had read the book. It was truly horrifying. I'm not going to name the book, so don't ask, but suffice to say, it was absolutely horrifying to me that people would come on Amazon, see all the five-star ratings and think, "wow, this must be one fantastic book!" Really, what they're seeing is a really good marketer. So, my friends, always be wise when you read Amazon sales rankings. You never know who these reviewers are, or why they actually ranked the books the way they did.

*The Guide to Literary Agents did a great blog on tips for targeting a specific literary agent.

I decided to only pick nine, because it seems like a better number than eleven or just some random number. This way, I had to really whittle down which ones I liked the best and decide... who is the best of my blogosphere. So just because your post didn't show up here doesn't mean I didn't LOVE it. I just try to read at least a hundred posts a day, so this is about the top 1% of what I read during the week. It's just my opinion, anyway. :-)

I've been working on a WIP challenge for myself this week. Just wanted to update you about how it's going for me. Remember that Christy over at At Split Ends first issued herself a challenge.


Sunday:           2285/2000
Monday:         2340/2000
Tuesday:           907/2000
Wednesday:    1422/2000
Thursday:        2245/2000
Friday:            2303/2000
Saturday:        1125/2000

Total Progress This Week:   11387/14000

I definitely didn't get completely what I want, but I did get some writing done every single day. It was great. And now that the RWAPROS Challenge began last Thursday, so now I have a new challenge to get to. I'm sure I'll blog about that tomorrow. Thanks to all for the encouragement!!