I’m going to DisneyWorld!!! (and I didn’t even have to win the Superbowl)

*
Well, I’m off at the end of the week to the RWA ® National Conference in Orlando (which will be held next Thursday through Saturday to culminate in the Rita/Golden Heart awards on Saturday night). I’ll be traveling with my friend and fellow writer, Katy Madison, for a little pre-vacation, conference and then some Harry Potter world Sunday at Universal…woohoo!

My goals for the week:

1. DON’T get sunburned at the parks or at the pool. I’m a red-headed, pale skinned woman who is wearing a strapless dress to the Golden Heart Awards. I do NOT want freaky awful tan/burn lines on my shoulders!

2. Try to find time to relax. It’s not often I get away by myself. While I love the husband and the boy, it will be nice to have a little time for me. I’m going to do my best not to fill every moment and just have a breather or two along the way.

3. Catch up with some friends. That might be hard with 3,000 attendees and a schedule that is packed to the brim this year between the Golden Heart, Daphne, & Hearts through History contests, along with other events I’m committed to (and TOTALLY looking forward to). But I hope to get to spend time with some lovely people I don’t see that often (you know who you are, so find me if I can’t find you!)

4. Enjoy some time with my MARA and MRW friends who are also attending. It’s so lovely to have chapter-mates who will be in Orlando, too.

5. Be a good networker and make new friends. Not my strongest suit, but I will do better this year. I will! Hey, I still have at least one friend I met at my first RWA conference in 2007. (Michelle Marcos, I love you!) And I met some fabulous new friends at this year's Chicago North Spring Fling who are actually still talking to me, so there's hope for me yet :)

6. Enjoy the moment. I am thrilled and honored to be a first-time Golden Heart finalist this year, and I hope to soak in every bit that I can and bond in person with the other incredible finalists I’ve been getting to know on-line.

Heather’s Historical Hodgepodge won’t be updated for a couple of weeks. I’ll be gone next Tuesday, then I’ll be travelling to retrieve the boy from Nanny and Poppy’s house (who are so graciously spoiling…er, caring for their grandson while I am away).

See you on August 10th (unless, by some crazy fluke I actually win the Golden Heart…then I will have to post something!).

Either way, I promise pictures!
*

Golden Heart

I'm breaking my Lenten Internet Fast and making an unprecedented Thursday post to say....

I FINALED IN THE GOLDEN HEART!!!!

Sweet Enemy is a 2010 finalist in the Regency Historical category.

For those of you who may not know, the Romance Writer's of America's Golden Heart ® is the most prestigious contest out there for unpublished romance authors, with about 1200 entrants per year. Find out more at:

RWA Golden Heart Finalists 2010

I'm still in the clouds here, so I don't have much to say yet. I just wanted shout it to the blogosphere!

My congratulations to all of the other finalists, particularly my Critique Partner, Leigh Stites, writing as Elisabeth Burke, for her final, The Healer, in the Historical Category.

And I wanted to express my sincerest gratitude to my awesome critique groups, without whom, this wouldn't have been possible: Katy Madison, Keri Smith, Leigh Stites, Fran Abram, Gretchen Jones and Stacey Long.

And thanks to the supportive writers in my local chapters who read my entry and helped me polish it up...MARA and MRW...you rock!!!

I'll be back after Easter with more, but I couldn't resist stopping in! I'm sure God will forgive me :)

Heather

Pride and Prejudice ~ Emoticon Style

Sorry for the late post, but I'm traveling today...escaped the mid-western blizzard and am somewhere between hubby's family's (where we spent a lovely Christmas) and my family's (where we will be celebrating later in the week).

So today, just a short little something that my friend, Katy Madison, sent me. The classic Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice, as I've not seen it before...no, not zombies or vampires or even sea monsters (all which have been done this year, btw. Well, maybe the sea monsters were Sense and Sensibility). Get ready for the entire novel in three acts, told only by emoticons!

http://bookshop.livejournal.com/1010612.html

Enjoy, and I shall see you again in 2010! Happy New Year, friends.

Wearing The Tiara...

I have many flaws, but the thing my husband says he wishes he could change most is that I tend to brush off successes in the overall push for perfection. And since perfection isn’t possible, I always feel like I’m failing. I have trouble appreciating my accomplishments, and usually say something silly like “Yes, but I still have to do X and Y before I can get to Z.” I never just enjoy the moment.

So, one of the things I’m working on is to celebrate little victories.

To that end, I will tell you about “The Tiara”. Early on in my critique group, we decided that we should do something to reward our milestones on the path to publication. We were all pretty new to the craft, so we decided we would celebrate all manner of things: first novel completion, contest finals, requests, first submissions, etc.,--all the way up first and subsequent sales.

So, off to Walgreen’s I went, and purchased the $3.98 plastic princess tiara with matching jewelry set and a bunch of big fat stuffed plush roses (it was around Valentines Day, so there were plenty of romance type things to choose from—a great time to buy things for promotions, btw).



Whenever a member hits a writing related achievement, she gets to wear The Tiara all through critique group. We make cards, take pictures…it’s great fun. We’ve celebrated some fabulous triumphs, most recently Fran Abram’s 2009 Emily final (with request for a full) and Katy Madison’s 2-book contract with Avon.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that my manuscript, “Sweet Enemy”, is a finalist in the SpacecoasT Authors of Romance’s “Launching a Star” contest. I was very excited when I got the call, as I’d been beating myself up about my writing for a few weeks. Soon, however, my exhilaration wore off, and I started the “Yes, buts”. I won’t bore you with all of my negative self-talk, but I did subject my poor critique group to it and let me tell you, I got a lovely but firm e-mail butt-kicking from my friend (and fabulous author) Katy Madison. I’ll spare you that, too , but in a nutshell she told me to BE HAPPY. And she signed off with:

“And you are absolutely wearing The Tiara”.

So, here I am, wearing The Tiara.



Sunday night, I found out that “Sweet Enemy” is also a finalist in the Romance Writers Ink’s “Where the Magic Begins” contest. I am over the moon (cliché, I know!). It looks like I’ll be wearing The Tiara again on Wednesday. (Don’t worry...no more pics).

It is an honor to be among the incredibly talented finalists in the historical categories of “Launching a Star” and “Where the Magic Begins”. Therefore I am going to celebrate it and leave my “Yes, buts” behind.

So, let’s use this comment section as The Virtual Tiara…go ahead, toot your horns! I want to hear any and all tiara worthy things you’ve accomplished of late…