Today is an international day of blogging to celebrate women in technology and science. Lord Byron’s daughter, Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, wrote the first computer programs for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. (Are visions of steampunk dancing in your head yet?) Today we celebrate her accomplishments and those of countless other women scientists who get far less name recognition than they deserve.

My hubby informed me of this day, with the email subject line “for our daughter.” How cute is that? Hopefully she will grow up in a more equal world.

I’ve pledged to blog about women in science and tech that I admire. I’ll start with my mother, a doctor, who saves people’s lives during the day and comes home each night to be a domestic goddess. She started medical school when I was two and had my little brother during it. Her patients love her. Move over, Martha Stewart.

Famous woman I admire: Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman doctor, (1821-1910). Tenacity, thy name is Elizabeth. She began studying medicine privately before searching for a medical school that would admit her. Rejection after rejection followed. Geneva Medical College in New York eventually accepted her. She fought ostracism and prejudice to graduate first in her class in 1849, becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school. Faced more ostracism and prejudice to set up a practice, but she kept on trucking. She later went on to found a Women’s Medical College.

So here’s a toast to women everywhere who strive to make the world a better place, who innovate despite opposition, and who don’t give a darn what society thinks about them. Cheers!

I am delighted to announce that Hearts of Darkenss has won First Place in the 2010 Great Expectations Contest! The final judge of the Specialized Category, editor Talia Platz of NAL, has requested the partial. Congratulations to my fellow finalists. This was a very well organized contest with good feedback. Thank you North Texas RWA for sponsoring it. Keep your eyes peeled for the contest winner announcement in the RWR–I intend to frame my copy.

In other news, my DABWAHA bracket is failing miserably. My friend Seattle Heather won round one and a lovely collection of historical romance novels. My mother (a doctor) has predicted that I will go into labor on the full moon, plus or minus two days, which is next monday. I think this is appropriate, as the hero of my novel is a werewolf. I expect a hairy, howling child. She will be cute.

DABWAHA (Romance Novel March Madness) has kicked off and my bracket…isn’t doing so hot. I am consoling myself by reading some of the great  contestants, such as Carolyn Jewel’s SCANDAL. Highly recommended. Other additions to the To-Be-Read list:

1. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James (Contemporary. Her latest book, Something About You, was the subject of the Smart Bitches and Dear Author’s “Save the Contemporary” campaign.)
2. Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle (Historical. I really enjoy Carlyle’s Regencies.)
3. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley (Historical. This book was highly hyped when released. Can it live up to the high expectations?)
4. Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione (Paranormal. Her Demonica series is a favorite of mine, though the last one had too much BDSM IMHO.)
5. Ash by Malinda Lo (Young Adult. Lots of award nominations. Paranormal and LGBT. How could I not be curious?)

I realize the Friday 5 is supposed to be questions, so here you go:

1. Have you read any of the above books?
2. What were your impressions?
3. Which DABWAHA contestants have you added to your TBR pile?
4. How is your bracket holding up?
5. Which books from 2009 do you wish had made the contestant list?

It’s that time again, eager readers. Dear Author and Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books have announced the third annual Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hellagood Authors…commonly referred to as DABWAHA. The grand prize this year is an iPad and there are multiple book prizes for intermediate bracket winners.

Contestants are 64 books published in 2009 in 8 different categories. Sadly, I have only read 10 of the nominees. Strangely enough, I’ve read 3 in the contemporary category. Normally I don’t read much contemporary, but what I do read I get from recommendations by DA and SB-TB and they are the ones who nominated the books. Books I’ve read:

Contemporary:

• Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy
• Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl
• Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Historical:

• Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran

Sci-Fi Romance & Paranormal:

• Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh
• Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh

Young Adult: 0

Novel with Romantic Elements: 0

Series: 0

GLBT: 0

Urban Fantasy & Fantasy:

• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
• Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
• On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

I wish Ilona Andrews’ MAGIC STRIKES had made the list. Check out the DABWAHA.com website for the complete list of contenders.

Voting begins March 18th, so fill out your bracket now! (Or check out my bracket and vote for my books…because you love me and want me to win.) Have you filled your bracket already? How did you make your picks? Which books do you wish had made the list?

Visit the Desert Island Keeper Blog today for my rambling love letter to anti-heroes. Karen Marie Moning writes the best ones, though I love Ilona Andrews’ Curran too. Maybe I should have just written a love letter to Adam Black, Jerricho Barrons, and Curran the Beast Lord. Ah, well…there is always tomorrow.

I received the good news today that HEARTS OF DARKNESS is a finalist in the Paranormal Category of the 2010 Marlene Awards. The top three scoring entries were selected for the final round and will be forwarded to editor Katherine Pelz at Berkley for the final ranking. The First Place winner receives a critique of her entry by author Gwyn Cready. Ms. Cready won the 2009 RITA for Best Paranormal Romance for her Jane Austin-time travel romance, Seducing Mr. Darcy. The Marlene Award is  sponsored by the Washington Romance Writers (the other Washington).

It would be easy to become a contest whore–addicted to the rush of positive feedback. This is the third contest for Hearts of Darkness, and the third success. I wish there were contests that judged the whole book, not just the first 20-50 pages. If you know of one, please pass along the info!

You might assume the pin-up girl above is holding a love letter, but in our little world she’s showing off her winning manuscript.

In other news, Mr. Wonderful and I bought our first house and are madly packing for the movers to arrive tomorrow. I’d promise to blog more after the move, but that is a pie crust promise. There are 34 days left to prepare for our little bundle of joy. I’m working on making time to write book 2, which so far I like even better than HoD.

Off to pack…or take a “break” to read Nalini Singh’s ARCHANGEL’S KISS. I need lots of breaks.

More good news on this rainy Sunday morning: my manuscript Hearts of Darkness is a finalist in the North Texas RWA’s 2010 Great Expectations writing contest, Specialized Category (fantasy, futuristic, paranormal & time travel). I have two days to revise and resubmit my query letter and entry for the final round of judging. The Specialized Category judge is Talia Platz, an editorial assistant at New American Library (Penguin). Winners will be announced at the North Texas Two Step conference, March 19-21.

This business has cyclical ups and downs, validations and rejections, so we learn to celebrate every success. Skål!

Seattle is a hotbed of writers and readers, which means book signings and craft workshops galore. I’ve got my eye on the Valentine’s Day Victorian Tea–tea and romance novels? How can you go wrong? Also, Patricia Briggs will be signing the latest Mercy Thompson book in March. If I haven’t gone into labor, I’ll be there with bells on.

PNWA Craft Workshop: Story, Structure, Subplot, Scene, Style: Keys to Rewriting Your Novel by Robert J. Ray
Thursday, February 11, 7 pm
The key to rewriting your novel is a workable plan: Story first, then Structure, Subplots,  (Key) Scenes, and Style. The toughest rewriting task is fixing your subplots. Before you can fix a subplot, you must peel it away from the novel, using tools like Character Arc, Character Grid, Scene List, Scene List, Scene Profile, Scene Template, and Core Story. Learn how to use these tools and make your rewrite hum in a hands-on workshop (with writing in the room) led by Robert J. Ray, using techniques from his latest book, The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel.
Participants should bring a prose sample, two pages, double-spaced.
Chinook Middle School. Non-PNWA members are allowed to attend two meetings. Please see the PNWA website for more information.

Saint Valentine’s Day Victorian Tea book signing
Saturday, February 13, 2-4pm
Join local authors who delight in creating romantic stories set in the Victorian era at the Bellevue Library. Music, refreshments and a book signing will follow the program. Sponsored by Bellevue Friends of the Library. Books will be available for sale at this event. Organized by the King County Library System.

author of Prima Donna	author of All He Desires	author of Promise Me

With the arrival of a new year–and especially a new decade–the webs abound with advice on making this year count. “This will be the year I lose X pounds.” (Not me, I’ve never weighed so much in my life!) “This will be the year I organize my life.” (Haha. Ha. Ha.) “This will be the year I get my dream job.”

Now that last one is a common resolution that I can call my own. This year I hope to get two dream jobs: published author and mommy. Let’s focus on the former, as I assume you understand the steps to achieve the latter. One Scottish Playboy’s Secret Love-Child coming right up! The best advice I’ve heard from published authors is the key to making a career out of writing is to treat it as a job. No writing only when the Muse inspires you. No letting writing time take a back seat to the demands of real life. No excuses, period.

“I assumed the burden of the profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.” – Agatha Christie

New York Times best-selling author Bob Mayer (coauthor of Agnes and the Hitman with Jenny Crusie) lives outside of Seattle and is a member of both my writing organizations, so I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him speak numerous times. A former Green Beret, Mayer tackles the career of writing with a single-minded determination that is a little scary to behold. Identify target…hunt target…neutralize  target…BAM! But really, it’s the same straight-talking, good advice that Cherry Adair, Susan Mallery and Donald Maass have shared: if you want to be a career novelist, you must set strategic goals and break each goal down into achievable steps that you have control over. You don’t have control over the whims of the market. (Or as Mayer says, “The Publishing gods are fickle.”) But you do have control over honing your craft and writing the best damn book you are capable of writing.

“The world is moving faster, change occurs constantly, competition is fiercer, and the one constant that stands in your way to achieving what you want out of life, both personal and professional, is fear.” – Bob Mayer

In the last Greater Seattle RWA chapter newsletter, Mayer outlined the hierarchy of strategic goal setting.

• Overall writing goal: I will be a NY Times best-selling romance author in 5 years
• Book goal: I will write and polish till it shines the second novel in my Hearts of Darkness series by October 1 (Cherry Adair’s Finish the Damn Book Challenge deadline).
  
• Business goal: I will research agents seeking paranormal romance and submit queries for Hearts of Darkness. This year I will attend two writing conferences and network will other writers (RWA National or PNWA, and Emerald City). I will also network by volunteering for Nationals/PNWA and Emerald City (I’m the hospitality chair this year for EC).
• Shorter range/daily tactical goals: I will write 8,000 words a week, every week, for the next three months. (I’ll reevaluate this goal in April for writing the second draft.)

What are your resolutions for the new year? What strategic goals do you set for yourself to accomplish your dreams?

The following books are highly recommended for the career novelist:

• THE NOVEL WRITER’S TOOLKIT by Bob Mayer
• WHO DARES WINS by Bob Mayer
• THE CAREER NOVELIST by Donald Maass
• WRITING THE BREAK OUT NOVEL by Donald Maass

Six years ago today I married my Prince Charming!

May you have a very happy New Year filled with love!