If Only I Could

I've always been an avid reader. Childhood memories include sitting at the breakfast table while scrutinizing cereal boxes, hitching a ride to the grocery store with my mother so I could have a quiet place to sit and read in the car, and hour upon hour spent with my nose in a book. Someone bought me a sweatshirt once with a crazy, old lady silk-screened on the front, declaring she was the Queen of Books. That was me at ten.

I suppose, deep down, I've always been an editor too, though I'm still new to this Garden. "Can I write on this?" is a phrase that frequently draws a sigh and an eye roll from my co-workers as I reach for my friendly blue pen. My twelve-year-old prefers to take her homework to her father, who spell checks and gives a cursory glance, rather than Mom, who rattles off rules and requires three re-writes. I can't help it. It's what I do.

I haven't read "for fun" lately. I've been so busy with work and kids and life, that I just haven't made the time to sit down with a book. Also, I'll admit that I'm one to pick up a book and not stop until I'm finished, two in the morning or not. (And honestly, I might as well go ahead and read until three, because if I don't, I'll lay awake all night, wondering what happens, anyway.) Ages ago, a friend of mine suggested a book that she, her sister, and their mother had all enjoyed. I looked it up at my local library and became patron number two-hundred-and-ninety-seven to request it. Of course, months have come and gone, and I'd forgotten all about it. I was surprised to receive a call from the library this weekend, informing me the book I had requested was now available. What book? I sent my husband to pick it up, and laughed when he returned with the book that two-hundred-and-ninety-six people had read before me.

Climbing into bed last night, I picked it up.

I leaned close to my computer...

I cringed. It's written in first person? Might take some getting used to. First person is hard because it limits the writer--and the reader--to one point of view, giving absolutely no insight to any other characters.

That dialogue is all wrong. Who's saying what?

I tried. My fingers itched for my pen. I am not editing this book. I am reading it. Read it.

But they were everywhere. Misplaced punctuation. Misdirected quotes. "Head hopping"--in a story told in the first person! Then/than mistakes. Their/there/they're issues. Inconsistencies abounded. They agreed to meet at Restaurant A, but discussed what a great first date place Restaurant B was. An "I'm sorry I didn't do this" speech, when it was clearly done on the previous page. A "When December came, it was as cold as I had ever seen it when December came," sentence.

I gasped. I bit my lip. I rolled my eyes. I mumbled, "Someone should have caught that," under my breath a hundred times.

And I loved the story. I loved it. It's fantastic and wonderfully written, but...

I wish I could turn that part of my brain off and lose myself in the story, like I used to be able to do. If there was a switch, I would turn it off for the chance to enjoy a book without groaning at punctuation. But there's no switch. No magic word. No blindfold for my brain.

So I'll keep reading. And keep editing. And pray that no one will ever say of a book I edited that it's wonderfully written, BUT...

Inspirational vs. Clean Romance

People sometimes ask me what's the difference between a Christian story [White Rose] and a sweet story. [Sweetheart Rose]. I know this is because at TWRP we will go beyond the boundaries of traditional CBA guidelines, and so some authors think that White Rose is really nothing more than a "clean" romance--hence the confusion between White Rose and Sweetheart. However, a White Rose is more than just a clean romance. Yes, the romance is there. Yes, we will allow our hero to drink a glass of wine with dinner. Yes, the hero and heroine may spend the night alone together--chastely, of course--if the plot warrants it (maybe they are on the run from villain and have no choice), but a White Rose has to convey a Christian message, no matter how subtle. Characters in a White Rose must be Christian--or discovering Christianity as the plot develops.

Tough issues such as death, addictions, pre-marital sex, can be addressed, but they have to be addressed from a Christian world view. That means that anything which opposes traditional Christian teaching cannot be construed as OK. Maybe your heroine did get pregnant before she got married, but it's got to be in the backstory, and she's got to have already figured out that her behaviour was wrong (the pre-marital sex, not having the baby.) We want to see those tough issues handled if they can be wrapped around an emotionally compelling romance.

Then, there are the people who basically ask if they can write a secular novel, but then just have the characters go to church a couple of times, or pray once in a while. Christians FROG (fully rely on God) to guide them in their lives. This entails a little more than a once-a-week trip to holy ground and a quick, "God help me," sprinkled in. Being Christian puts a person in a different mind-set; that character will react differently than a non-Christian, will think differently. This should shine through in an inspirational romance. The personality of the character should emanate his/her faith--without being didactic.

So, White Roses are not just clean romances where the character says a quick prayer before meals. White Roses are stories of faith-filled or struggling Christians finding their soulmate. For complete guidelines, visit our main website.

We're Looking for some Cowboys...

That's right. I've noticed a bit of a slowdown in the corral lately and I wanted to put out a challenge to any authors out there who wanted to try something a little different from their norm. Personally, I'd love to see some more short stories ( 5K to 20K) submitted to the Yellow Rose line (longer are fine too!).

Here's my challenge: Simply find a picture of a cowboy from anywhere...a magazine, the internet, billboard, wherever but find one that speaks to you--sexy, sweet, that's your call. You don't need to show me or anyone else for that matter--call him your private cowboy as he's simply for inspiration **wink**.

Whatever picture you find, sit back and study it for a moment and ask yourself questions--How did he get there? Did someone break his heart? Who healed it? Is he headed to his sweetheart, or still searching--how does he find her? Is he looking for a fun little romantic romp or a soul-changing love? Does a city girl catch his eye or the girl on the next ranch?

Play what if: What if your cowboy met a tatoo artist or a corporate lawyer? What if he was headed home from a rodeo and took a wrong turn?

The possibilities are endless and I would love to see what you come up with to corral the heart of the cowboy in your picture. We're looking for good, solid stories with a strong romance. Click HERE for our submission guidelines. Along with the required information, add Yellow Rose Challenge to your subject line. This is a fun and open challenge for all!

glitter-graphics.com

Finally

I am so excited. I am teachable!! I want to start by thanking the patient teachers who have been so great. I have worked with computers for...well, let's not go there. It is just too depressing. I have even taught my kids how to use computers but blogging was something I couldn't get in my brain.

So, now that I am in here, you would think I would have something really incredible to say, wouldn't you? :) Since I don't, I'll start with some basics. My name is Lori Graham and I am the senior editor for the Crimson Rose line of The Wild Rose Press. I also do some editing for the Climbing Rose line and the White Rose line because you can't live in murder and mayhem 100% of the time. I have been blessed by a wonderful family both at home and here at the garden and if you are still new to the house, you will love it here.

Crimson Rose is nearing our "month of the year" as we are the featured line in November. We are in the planning stages for the month so be looking for new items in association with it. However, if you have ever considered trying your hand at a crimson and want to give it a shot, I would love to get some free reads out on the website. Please give me a jingle at lori@thewildrosepress.com and let's talk.

Also, while we always love a full and rosebud manuscript and how they help us escape our non-reading lives, I would love to see some rosettes and miniatures added to our catelogue. I understand it is tougher to write a romantic, suspenseful short but it can be done so I'll put the challenge out there. Any takers??

Have a great weekend everyone and for those of you who love football, yeah...it is fall again!!

Lori

Vintage Rose

Vintage Month! Ahhhh, a good vintage wine, an old record on the Victrola....er, no, that would be a Golden Oldie on the MP3, maybe? Did you know LPs, records, are coming back? Only they call them vinyls now. Kinda like what we used to know in Iowa in the ‘50s & ‘60s as high heels and spikes are now back as stilettos. “There is nothing new under the sun” but there will always be a new name for it, huh?

The Vintage line at The Wild Rose Press concentrates on the stories of the 1900s, wherever they are, whatever they’re called...we run the gamut from sweet to hot for sensuality, and our settings have ranged throughout Australia and Europe as well as the U.S.A., and we’d love to explore farther. Sometimes we do some time traveling from here to there and back again, and what fun that is!

Wouldn’t you like to join us? People are people and romance is romance, wherever and whenever you find them. All that changes is the window dressing...the setting might look a bit different from today’s scene in the same place, the manners and social expectations might be a bit more formal, the dress code more according to strict guidelines, but the hearts that beat under those vintage outfits are just as loving, just as easily broken, just as ready to jump for joy at the sight of the beloved person!

We’re here to answer your questions, to tell you more about the books that have been published at TWRP in the Vintage Rose line already, to encourage you to explore your own family history and the history of your own setting. Sometimes a little-known natural disaster can spark a story, or an unusual comment from someone on the radio...you never know when your creativity is going to announce, “Now, there’s a story!” So start looking with Vintage and the 1900s in mind, and I’ll just bet you will come up with something we want to publish!

The Editors at Vintage Rose

September

What a busy month we have going here already. First its the anniversary of our bookstore. Our bookstore turned 2 years old this week! If you haven't checked out our books lately, you really need to browse our shelves. There are so many awesome stories waiting to be read.

We have a brand new newsletter up on the website. If you click through to the garden gate and scroll down on the main page you should see it at some point by late today (Thursday).

We gave away our first SONY eREader! The lucky lady was one of our authors Dianne Miley who purchased a story from one of our sponsoring authors and her name was drawn out of all the entries we had. The next round of this fun contest starts on September 22 so keep watch for it.

September is Last Rose of Summer and Vintage Rose Month. We will spend all month celebrating these lines and talking with the editors and authors from there. All our Vintage Rose titles are on sale at 10% off. In LROS you'll see we have a brand new series called "Chapter Two" check out the Rose of the month page for more details.

Over at Scarlet Rose they are cooling down from their 31 Sultry Nights contest. The lucky winner of a $75 gift certificate to Fredericks of HOllywood was Kealie Shay. I'm told there was over 3000 posts last month to the Wilder Roses loops. Way to go ladies!

Fall is on its way and hopefully as the leaves turn and your thoughts shift to indoor activities you'll visit our two year old bookstore and download some wonderful stories to curl up with on a crisp fall day.

Thanks for all your support the past two years. We promise even more to come in the next two.

Rhonda

The Plot is the Thing

I've been asked at conferences and workshops what I look for in a manuscript and I've been thinking (and yes, Virginia, blondes do think... sometimes). I was looking over the books I've edited since I've been with the company and wondering what it was that set them apart from other books. What was it that called to me and said, "yes, this is the book you want to contract."

First and foremost it's been the story. The plot has to capture my attention. I've read other manuscripts and the writing may be clean, the characters may be well-developed and likable, but they leave me yawning. If the plot is fascinating to me, in most cases the other problems can be fixed. It's a "diamond in the rough." It might take some work but that's what I'm here for in my role of editor. If the gem is polished, but there's no fire to the plot, it's a pretty piece of costume jewelry...nice to look at but not worth much.

So... work on the plots. Make sure you have some fire and interest. Make me hold my breath and turn the page frantically to find out what comes next. Then you have my attention and my thanks for bringing me a story I can love.

The Flower Basket

For those of you (and I hope there are several more) planning a submission to The Flower Basket series in the Sweetheart line:

Based on the submissions I’ve received to date, I thought a bit more explanation was needed. The guidelines state you need to download and read Business is Blooming, (free read) the kick-off Rosette for the series. This is essential because you need to get a feel for the shop and the three owners. The plot of the story you create must have a connection of some type with the flower shop. This means your characters need to place or receive an order of flowers. They may consult with the shop owners, in person or on the phone, on an upcoming event or just dash in for a spontaneous purchase.

Business is Blooming established the names, business roles and basic characterizations for the three shop owners. You need to keep those consistent when those characters appear (ex: don’t have your character talking with Steffi about making a run to the flower market—that’s Donica’s job). The touchy part is not creating story events or personal histories for another author’s character that changes the potential storyline. (ex: don’t give Steffi a past involving three years in New York as a runway model)

You may introduce other characters necessary for your storyline, and if your project is contracted, those characters become part of the population of Almendra. At the contract time, you will be given the option of reserving control of the characters in your story or releasing them for others to write about.

I invite questions about the series and am willing to look over proposals or story ideas. Please remember a contract is only issued on a completed story.

Leanne Morgena
Senior Editor, Sweetheart Rose

Is it the middle of August already?

Wow, where has the summer gone. Some of the kids are going back to school next week already. What happened to starting school after Labor Day like we did as kids? Okay, I'm showing my age. Even my kids started in August. I hated it. I was never ready for the routine of bedtime, homework, and teacher's meetings. Not that I can say I miss it. But I still hate this time of year. Hate that the kids have to go back to school. Besides, I know what comes next. Fall and cooler temps. I don't mind the cooler temps. In fact I love the colors of the leaves changing. It's what follows that I hate. Cold and Snow!!! At least that's what I have to look forward to where I live. Yet a part of me loves the changing seasons. And I even love the first snow fall. Everything looks crisp and clean and the crunch under your feet as you walk through it. And I even like a little snow for Christmas. But then it can go away for another year. Of course that's not going to happen. But this year, I've decided to look at the seasons differently. I'm going to enjoy each day as it comes, whether rain or shine, hot or cold.
We spend too much time looking ahead and not enough time enjoying the present. As youngsters, we await the day when we're adults, then we wait until we can get married, have kids, then we wait for the kids to take that first step, say that first word and finally we wait for them to grow and leave the nest.
Well, I can tell you, mine have all left the nest - quite some time ago actually, and it's not all its cracked up to be. Nope, I look back on those days and wish I had spent more time enjoying what was instead of looking for what was going to be.
So if you have little ones, enjoy today. Enjoy their first smile and don't worry about when they're going to walk and talk. That'll come soon enough and believe me, it goes by entirely too soon. I look back on those days that I thought were so difficult. Times were hard, there wasn't always enough money. But oh how simple life was then. Of course, I didn't know it at the time. But what I'd give to go back. Back to holding my babies on my lap and listening to those first sounds, looking at that first smile. But life moves on. It doesn't wait for anyone. What we thought were rough times - getting up in the middle of the night to feed a baby or tend to a sick child, those were the easy times. Watching the kids grow, having their own kids, what simple pleasures and looking back and remembering those days, that was the life. Now all I have are memories and life moves forward so much quicker than it did back then.
I'm not so very old that I can't still enjoy life. Infact, I'm still rather young by today's standards, so I'm going to take a step back and enjoy today, this hour, this minute to the fullest. Yes, Fall is just around the corner and after that winter. But that's okay. I'm going to enjoy having my windows open and I'll let tomorrow take care of itself.

eReaders Blooming in the Garden

I'm in love. I admit it and even my husband is supportive of it. The last time I felt this kind of thrill was when I got my first flashdrive! This love affair I have with technology is continuing now with a SONY eReader.

If you've never had the chance to touch one or see one in action, let me try to set the scene for you. Its about the size of a trade size paperback, or one of our Wild Rose Press print books. Its about 1/2 an inch thick. Mine is silver but it came in a leather case which resembles a book. It slips into my briefcase or my purse and takes up no space at all.

When you turn it on the view you have is very similar to looking at a page in a book. The font can be made larger or smaller with the push of a button.

It was very easy to use. Without any outside instruction I had it hooked to my computer and was downloading pdf's to it to read later in a matter of minutes.

Now it goes everywhere with me. Loaded with several of our TWRP titles, I can review manuscripts from authors or I can read already published stories wherever I am. Reading on it doesn't cause eye strain and I don't miss the printed pages at all. What I really love is not having to lug several books with me in case I don't feel like reading one. I like choices. This way I can take as many books with me as I want all in this one device.

I'm determined to try to get these out to all of you. Check out the last few weeks of our Summer Sony eReader contest and enter. I'd love to ship one to you as the winner! We'll announce the winner at our September 2 chat. I hope its you!

If you don't win one, consider buying one. We purchase from www.sonystyle.com. Check them out.

Rhonda

Rounding up Lawmen and Outlaws

The Cactus Rose line at The Wild Rose Press is releasing a historical western anthology June 2009 to promote the line.

We need four stories, 20,000 -25,000 words, to put in an anthology titled "Lawmen and Outlaws". We want two stories with lawmen as the heroes and two stories with reformed or on the fringe outlaws as
the heroes.

The stories will be contracted by Jan. 1, 2009 and ready to go to production by April 1, 2009. If you would like a chance to get in this anthology, send a synopsis by August 31, 2008 to paty@thewildrosepress.com with the word “Anthology” in the subject line.

The Cactus editorial staff will pick the four stories to be published.

Patricia Tanner
Senior Editor
Cactus Rose Line

Got Wolf? more specific details...

We've revised the information regarding the contest requirements because they seemed unclear. I hope this is helpful. Also, please find specific submissions information below including the subs email address.

I am looking forward to an influx of entrants in the next three weeks. Hope to see a submission from you:)

****

The Wild Rose Press Presents…
Got Wolf? Black Rose Writing Contest
If you've got a hot hero/heroine who also happens to turn furry at least once a month, then Black Rose is looking for your story.

Six lucky winners will be published in our 2009 Black Rose Anthology.

Details: 4 short stories (15,000-25,000 words) and 2 novellas (25,000-45,000 words) will be chosen.

We are looking for werewolf stories with tight, well-written storylines and plots. If the hero is female, make sure the male is equally impressive. All stories must have at least one HOT consummated love scene and, of course, the traditional romance requirements still stand.

How to Enter

• Create a single document including your short synopsis (1-5 pages) followed by the complete story, saved as an RFT file.
• Use standard manuscript format: 1” margins, 12 point Times New Roman or Courier, header with name, title and page number
• On the first page, include your name, email address, title, word count, and the words “Got Wolf? Black Rose Writing Contest.”
• Email your entry to queryus@thewildrosepress.com with the words “Got Wolf?” in the subject line.

Entry Deadline
August 30, 2008

Awards
6 winners (4 for the short story category and 2 for the novella category) will be published our 2009 Black Rose Anthology. Winners will also receive a special Black Rose Contest T-shirt, and one winner will be selected from the six to receive an author’s survival gift basket full of goodies.
Judges
Ami Russell, Callie Lynn Wolfe, Amanda Barnett, Joan Archer, and Rene Stephens.

Winners will be announced on October 31, 2008

Time is running out for Got Wolf? Submissions!

Got Wolf?

Black Rose Writing Contest If you've got a hot hero/heroine that also happens to turn furry at least once a month, then Black Rose is looking for your story. We are interested in werewolf stories with tight, well-written storylines and plots. If the hero is female make sure the male is equally impressive. All stories must have at least one HOT consummated love scene and, of course, the traditional story requirements still stand. Please take a moment to look at our submission requirements (http://thewildrosepress.com/publisher/ and click on the tab for "Submissions") before sending in your stories. The only difference is all contest entrants will submit full manuscripts with a short synopsis, as opposed to the traditional query and synopsis. Stories that do not follow traditional guidelines will be disqualified. Submissions are now open! Please place "Got Wolf? Contest Entry" in your subject line along with the traditional subject line matter, also found on the Submissions Guide. Contest deadline: August 30, 2008 Winners to be announced: October 31, 2008 Contest details: 4 shorts -- 15-25,000 word maximum and 2 full shorts -- 25-45,000 word maximum will be chosen from the entries. All six winners will be included in a Black Rose anthology and will also receive a special Black Rose contest T-shirt. In addition, one winner will be chosen from those six to receive an author's survival basket full of goodies. Anthology Publication (estimated release) date June 2009 Judges: Ami Russell, Callie Lynn Wolfe, Amanda Barnett, Joan Archer, and Rene Stephens

Wild Rose Press author wins NRCA award

Just got back from conference and it was crazy and busy and wonderful. It was nice to have met some of the TWRP folks, unfortunately, none of my own authors were there.

I am so very proud of Maggie Toussant, author of Crimson title, "House of Lies". She won (tied with Roxanne St. Claire) for the Romantic Suspense category of the National Reader's Choice awards. She was up against some heavy hitters but this award is chosen by readers...and the readers have spoken. Wild Rose Press rocks!

San Francisco was wonderful. The weather was perfect. Sunny with a nice breeze blowing. I went to Fisherman's Wharf (twice) and was able to make some good contacts during the conference. All in all...a great trip!

Ally Robertson