Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 27

We’re at RWA Nationals!!

We’re quiet on the blog this week because most of the Rubies are attending the Romance Writers of America National Convention this week! We’ll be back next week with reports on what went on and what we learned! Stay tuned!

Packing for Nationals? A Few Tips on What to Take

Many eager authors are already gathering in Denver for the annual Romance Writers of America National Conference, but for those of us who are still frantically throwing things into suitcases and doing the early online check-in for our flights, I thought I’d toss out a few conference veteran tips on what to chuck into that suitcase.  I’ve been to six or seven of these babies (which makes me a conference newbie by some standards) and I’ve definitely refined my packing since year one, coming up...

Meet 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Anna Murray!

Today we’re welcoming our final Persister guest (before we get to meet most of them in person at Nationals next week!!), 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Anna Murray, whose manuscript BIRDS OF A FEATHER is nominated for Best Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance.

Anna Murray’s creative essays have appeared in Vox, The Reject Pile, Role Reboot, The Satirist, Daily Mail, Soundings Review, Adanna Literary Journal, Piker Press, and the Guardian Witness. Her recently completed novel is represented b...

Save the Golden Heart!!!

During our rather rollicking interview yesterday, 2018 Golden Heart Finalists D. Murphy Ryan and Eileen Emerson and I got into a conversation about the Golden Heart. That discussion got so long, I decided to split it into a separate post for today, which would help us get a larger discussion going about the future of the contest.

We’re very concerned by a June announcement by the RWA Board that they’re considering discontinuing the Golden Heart. The Board cited the following reasons for possi...

Meet 2018 Golden Heart Finalists Eileen Emerson and D. Murphy Ryan!

What a treat here for our second-to-last interview with the Golden Heart class of 2018: today we’re welcoming TWO Persisters, D. Murphy Ryan and Eileen Emerson! D. Murphy Ryan, also known as Dawn, is a finalist in Contemporary Romance Short with OUT OF THE SHADOWS, and Eileen is a finalist in Historical Romance with AN UNLOVED EARL. D. Murphy Ryan has lived a life in chapters: as a waitress, a nanny, a photographer’s assistant, a singer and performer, and as a healthcare professional.  But au...

Meet 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Janet Raye Stevens!

Please welcome the lovely, and talented, Persister, Janet Raye Stevens.  

 Janet writes YA, mystery, and paranormal and contemporary romance, all with a dash of humor. Her first novel was rejected an impressive 99 times, nevertheless she persists. Janet is a two-time Golden Heart finalist, in 2017 (BERYL BLUE, TIME COP) and 2018 (COLE FOR CHRISTMAS). She lives with her family in Massachusetts, where she indulges in her hobbies of drinking copious amounts of tea (Earl Gray, hot) plotting reven...

Surviving RWA National: Sound Sensitivities Edition

This blog post is a follow-up to one I wrote a number of years ago, in the early days of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood. While the content of Behold My P-ness! Writers, Myers-Briggs, and an Introvert’s Guide to RWA National is self-explanatory and the advice still holds, soon after its publication the post came to make an entirely different kind of sense to me.

In 2012, TV host Kelly Ripa stated on her talk show that she had a sensory processing disorder called misophonia…and hearing her say t...

Golden Heart Finalist Gwynne Jackson: “Yet She Persisted!”

Today I’m delighted to introduce 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Gwynne Jackson, another of the fabulous Persisters. She’s been nominated in the Best Contemporary Romance Category for her manuscript DUET.

I was first ‘introduced’ to Gwynne when I was named as her GH mentor through THE GOLDEN NETWORK, an RWA chapter of past Golden Heart finalists. After a few emails, her talent, confidence, and generous spirit were quickly apparent, and my role morphed from mentor to cheerleader and fan.

Gwynne was...

Meet 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Leslie Marshman!

Join me in welcoming to the blog the 2018 Golden Heart Finalist, Leslie Marshman. One of 2018’s Persisters, Leslie is nominated for her Romantic Suspense manuscript, Goode Over Evil.

Here’s the blurb for Goode Over Evil:

Samantha Goode escaped Crystal Creek and a past she’d left behind years ago, vowing never to return. Now a Texas Ranger tough enough to succeed in a man’s world, Sam is driven back to the small Texas town by a family tragedy. There she must face the man she once loved but was...

Meet Golden Heart Finalist Alexia Chantel!

Today we’re welcoming Alexia Chantel, another Persister, to the blog. Her manuscript, AWAKENING THE BLADES, is a finalist in the Paranormal category of the 2018 Golden Heart Award. 

 

Alexia Chantel has a degree in Medical Laboratory Science and a penchant for vivid dreams. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, three children, and Siberian Husky. Her Husky shares her love of the snow and everything cold. Her kids show her the world through new eyes. And her husband balances it all out and...