Vicky Dreiling's Blog, page 19

A Royal Wedding and a Giveaway from Forever Romance!

Be sure to follow @ForeverRomance on Twitter all next week for Royal Wedding inspired giveaways. (Look for #RoyalWedding #4EvrGiveaway) Multiple chances to win every day! HOW TO MARRY A DUKE featured on Monday!

William and Kate: The Movie

The Royal Wedding Rocks

At least it does in this video. Check out the "preview" of Kate & William's wedding. Wink-Wink.

Abridged Classics: Becoming Jane

This is totally hysterical. Enjoy!

Easter Blog Hop Winners Announced!

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in the blog hop. It was so much fun. Second, I decided to give away six signed copies of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE to six randomly drawn readers who commented on the blog. Drumroll….the winners are…..

Kati R, Megan, Val Pearson, Traci, and Library Pat. Congratulations!

Megan, Val, and Traci – please email me your snail mail address to vicky@vickydreiling.com. Kati R & Library Pat, I sent you emails.

Also, mark your calendars for April 26th as my friend Donna Grant is holding a huge Facebook contest in honor of her latest release. Lots of authors are participating, including me. I'll be giving away six more copies of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE.

Finally, be sure to check my website next month for information about my next historical romance HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL. I'll post my blog tour links and dates. So be on the lookout as giveaways will be involved.

Cheers!

Blog Hop April 15th – 17th!

Hi everyone! Join us on the super fun blog hop – prizes are involved!  Woot!  I'm giving away 4 signed copies of my historical romance novel HOW TO MARRY A DUKE in a random drawing. Winners will be announced on Monday, the 18th.  US and Canada only please. Come hop with us!   Many thanks to Lush Book Reviews for this fun idea!

April Blog Hop

Hi everyone! I hope spring is bringing warmer weather to your home town.

Check out that funny bunny photo and don't miss the April Blog Hop, a fun idea started by Lush Book Reviews

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So what's new at Chez Dreiling? I just returned from a fun-filled weekend at the Dreamin' in Dallas Conference hosted by the Dallas Area Romance Writers (DARA). I signed lots of copies of  HOW TO MARRY A DUKE and met up with author friends and met new ones as well.  I also had a wonderful dinner with my agent Lucienne Diver and several of her other authors.

I thorough enjoyed Allison Brennan's workshop and luncheon speech.  She's funny and informative at the same time. Julia London's

workshop was also very helpful as she talked about scheduling writing time like meetings. Richelle Mead of Vampire Academy fame gave an inspirational speech about her publication journey.

In other news, I'm writing my next historical romance HOW TO RAVISH A RAKE.  If you've already read HOW TO MARRY A DUKE, you'll remember shy Amy Hardwick who is the heroine in my third novel, which will publish in 2012.  Amy happens to be my editor's favorite character from my books. I confessed I was a bit intimidated about writing an introverted heroine, but the minute I started the book,  the story just seemed to flow onto the page.  Anyway, you'll see more of Amy and Georgette in my second historical romance HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL, which will be on the shelves on June 28th.

Finally, if you want to have a bit of silly fun on Twitter, join me and some other friends on Man Candy Monday Nights where we post photos of gorgeous hunks to sigh over. Time: 8 PM CDT, 9 PM EDT, 6 PM PDT.  Hope to see you there!

May the Magic Romance Fairies be with you!

A WRITER'S GREATEST ENEMY

The following post is based on an article I wrote for the West Houston RWA Happily Ever After Newsletter. I hope you find it helpful.

***

How many times have you heard or read an author express fear about some aspect of the publishing business? Plenty, I'll bet. Here are some of the common fears:

Contests: Fear of getting slammed by a judge
Finishing a manuscript: Fear the writing isn't good enough
Pitching: Fear the agent or editor will not make a request
Querying agents: Fear the agents will send form rejections
Submitting to agents/editors: Fear the agents/editors will reject the partial or complete

Ultimately, many authors are afraid of failure. And a surprising number are equally afraid of success. Here's a true story about the latter. The day I sold my first book I celebrated with friends. I was overjoyed. That night I went to bed, thinking this was one of the happiest days of my life. My subconscious had other ideas. An indeterminate amount of time later, I awoke, jackknifed up in bed, and gasped. My God, what have I done?

I was terrified of the very thing I'd worked so hard to achieve. Why? Because publication was no longer a dream; it was reality. I'd accepted an offer for a three-book contract. I was committed, and there was no turning back. But I was prepared because I'd faced my fears the entire time I'd entered contests, pitched my book, and queried agents.

Stop reading right now and quickly write down the aspects of writing or the publishing business that scare you. Don't think too much about it. Just do it. When you're done, return to read the rest of this article.

You're back? Good. Now I'm going to share a little secret with you. Listen up, my friends, because this is important. Fear is your worst enemy in this business. Got that? Now I want you to remember that every time your stomach clenches at the prospect of going outside your comfort zone. I want you to memorize those words and repeat them like a mantra each time you resist taking that next step in your writing career. Regardless of whether you're a brand new writer or a seasoned published author, remember that fear is the worst enemy you'll ever face in the publishing business.

Fear is an insidious antagonist and can paralyze you if you don't confront the monster in the basement. But here is an undeniable truth. If you let fear deter you, you most certainly will fail.

There are no guarantees in the publishing business. It's highly competitive, and to be frank, you've got to want to publish badly enough to take the punches. Remember, however, that every writer gets rejected in the course of her career. Every published author gets a negative review, even the mega stars. You're going to get bruises, but they will heal if you keep writing.

Listen to your instincts. Write your heart out. And kick fear to the curb.

May the Magic Romance Fairies be with you!

Vicky

TGIF: Roman Dude

This morning, I was in the mood for some Man Candy – you know, guys to drool over. And since I love all things historical, I reached way back in time to … 2006 when I visited Bath. I've featured Roman Dude on my (old) blog, but I think His Hawtness deserves another view. Ta – Da! Here he is -the World's First Underwear model!

P.S. My Recommend a Book for a chance to win 1 of 4 copies of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE contest ends 2/25/2011 at 5 PM CT, so click on the link in the post below & share one or more of your fav reads. (US & Canada only please.)

TGIF!

Recommend a Good Book – Winners!

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to announce the 5 winners of a signed copy of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE. Congratulations to Jeanette, Johanna, Tina, Robin K, and Martha. I'll email you so I can get your snail mail addresses. Yes, I increased the number of give-aways LOL. Cheers!

I love to recommend great romance books I've read, but I also love getting recommendations from others. So I thought it would be fun to exchange recommendations for books we're either currently reading or just finished. And … by leaving a comment, you're automatically entered in a drawing to win one of four copies of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE (US & Canada only, please). Contest ends at 5 PM CT on Friday, 02/25/2011.

So I'll start off the romance recommendation discussion. I'm currently reading Elizabeth Hoyt's NOTORIOUS PLEASURES. Wow, this is a fantastic historical. The first page grabbed me, and the tension between the hero and heroine is great. There are some really interesting subplots as well. I really love the conflict, too. This book is very different from other historical romances I've read. If you're looking for a compelling read, I'd definitely recommend NOTORIOUS PLEASURES. My TBR list includes Courtney Milan's UNVEILED and Laurie London's BONDED BY BLOOD. So now it's your turn to recommend a great book! But first, check out the covers of these lovely books!

Recommend a Good Book for a Chance to Win a copy of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE

I love to recommend great romance books I've read, but I also love getting recommendations from others. So I thought it would be fun to exchange recommendations for books we're either currently reading or just finished. And … by leaving a comment, you're automatically entered in a drawing to win one of four copies of HOW TO MARRY A DUKE (US & Canada only, please). Contest ends at 5 PM CT on Friday, 02/25/2011.

So I'll start off the romance recommendation discussion. I'm currently reading Elizabeth Hoyt's NOTORIOUS PLEASURES. Wow, this is a fantastic historical. The first page grabbed me, and the tension between the hero and heroine is great. There are some really interesting subplots as well. I really love the conflict, too. This book is very different from other historical romances I've read. If you're looking for a compelling read, I'd definitely recommend NOTORIOUS PLEASURES. My TBR list includes Courtney Milan's UNVEILED and Laurie London's BONDED BY BLOOD. So now it's your turn to recommend a great book! But first, check out the covers of these lovely books!