Lisa Marie Wilkinson's Blog, page 3

Summer Contest!!

I'm thrilled to be participating in the Romance Junkies summer contest.

If you've never checked out the RJ contests, you're missing out on a great deal of fun and a wonderful opportunity to win some terrific prize packages.

I am offering a signed copy of "Stolen Promise," plus a $25 book store gift card and a number of limited edition promotional goodies. To go directly to my contest offering, CLICK HERE.

But please don't stop there! If you go to the main contest page and hover your cursor...

Fire at Midnight Brings Home IPPY Gold!

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that my debut novel, "Fire at Midnight," has won the Gold Medal for Romance in the Independent Publisher Book Awards ("IPPY") which recognize the best Indie published books of the year.

Launched in 1996, the Independent Publisher Book Awards is among the world's largest and most recognized book awards contest events in the world. Open exclusively to independents, the "IPPYs" recognize the year's best books and bring them to the attention of booksellers...

Writerly Stuff: Confessions of a Contest Diva

How does the world's biggest coward become a published author? What options are available to a writer who lacks the courage to query agents? Is there any hope for a wordsmith who cannot bring herself to trust her beloved literary creation to that embodiment of anonymity known as the publishing house slush pile?

For this writer, the answer was a baby step called the chapter contest. No form rejections. No unanswered e-mails. Only the expectation of objective feedback provided by a publishe...

Writerly Stuff: Exploring Other Cultures

One of the perks in writing fiction is being provided with the opportunity to explore other cultures and answer a "what if" question in a way that inspires an interesting or outside the box plot idea.

My March release, STOLEN PROMISE, explores what might happen when two people from completely different cultures coerced into marriage might eventually find enough common ground to fall in love. STOLEN PROMISE features a young Romany (Gypsy) woman who yearns for a better life than the one planned ...

The Modern Phenomenon Called the To-Be-Read Pile

I received a Kindle as a birthday present last year, and I wasted no time in downloading new releases as well as classic novels irresistibly priced at a dollar or less for the Kindle versions. I was lying in bed reading the other night when I suddenly had a mental picture of an archeological dig centuries from now, during which my slim white reading device would be unearthed by a team of professorial types. Of course, in my vision, all technological devices were backward compatible, so it too...

Writerly Stuff: When a Book is Like a Song

Have you noticed that one thing many avid readers have in common is a love of music? Authors will often cite favorite musical influences during interviews, even to the point of referencing the type of music they listen to when writing a certain type of scene.

My writing background includes a stint as a lyricist. Having had the experience of tailoring a song lyric to fit a melody, it occurred to me that there are some similarities between a well crafted song and a well written novel.


Take , for e...

Writerly Stuff-My First Radio Interview

I was invited by my publisher, Medallion Press, to participate in a radio interview as part of the launch for my new historical romance, STOLEN PROMISE.

I learned several things during the process:
Being very nervous turns the insides of your cheeks into cotton balls

I say "ummmm" more often than I ever would have believed

A skilled interviewer can make the interviewee actually enjoy the interview

Pets will aim concerned looks your way when you're talking and there's no one else in the room

To...

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

I can't think of a poem that invokes the spirit of Valentine's Day more perfectly than this:

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I...

Happy Holidays to All

Whatever you happen to celebrate:

Enjoy, appreciate, and make memories.
Happy Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice.

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

USA Book News Best Books of 2009 Awards

I recently received the following e-mail from USA Book News:

Dear Lisa:

Congratulations!

The epic results are in for the National "Best Books 2009" Awards!

Your book has been honored as a "Winner" in the "Fiction & Literature: Romance" category!

==============================

Fire at Midnight by Lisa Marie Wilkinson

Winner

Fiction & Literature: Romance

==============================


Needless to say, I'm thrilled and very grateful.

Click here for a complete list of winners and finalists in each...