Sold out!

Congratulations to the 3 finalists in the So You think You Can Write contest.  If you haven’t read their entries – check them out on the SYTYCW page.    And look out for more news on other entries that have attracted attention and who may well be contacted by  the editors very soon.

Good luck to everyone  involved – and keep writing! Even if you’re not in this  list – or the longer list of finalists, the only way to reach your dream of being published is to keep writing, keep learning,  keep trying.

Oh – and talking of learning. I have just organised some updates on my web site, one of which was to put the updated details of  my Advanced Contemporary Romance WritingCourse in Fishguard on the Events page but   last night I heard that the final place on in February 2013 has been booked – so this course is now officially sold out.  Sorry to anyone who had hoped to get a place for 2013. But don’t forget – you can still send an email to show your interest and Gerry Hobbs will put your name on the waiting list in case anyone who has booked  drops out between now and February – this will be on a first come, first served basis so get you name in now if you  want to secure any place that comes free.

Finally, if you've missed it until now  -  my free online read, Wife For Real is running on the Mills & Boon web site. This is the story of Alexander Alcolar – the first of the Alcolar Family whose story appeared in the  called surprisingly enough – The Alcolar Family (and yes- Fiona  - they were originally 3 separate titles).   Wife For Real is now at Chapter 6 where the story is about to come to its emotional climax.  

I’ve been reading through this again for the first time in ages and I remember how much I had to pare it down to fit it into the short, serial format of the on-line reads. There was no room for extras, much description or anything but the immediate story. It was a fascinating exercise – getting the emotional impact of the story into just 10,000 words.  Reading it, I’ve been thinking how it could also be used  as a long, detailed plan of a novel, sketching out the emotional journey of the hero and heroine and  then it would be possible to go back and shade in all the details later.

I’m not very much of a planner,  but that way might work for some who need more structure. (Hmm – note to self – look at this from the point of view of  teaching on that Contemporary Romance Writing course. . . .