My mentor for the Writing with the Stars contest is the extraordinary Mary Wine.

During Round One (Best First Paragraph and Last Line) – in her gentle but tenacious way – Mary urged me tighten up my writing and axed the passive verbs which took some of the oomph out of the entry. Her insight about certain descriptions and word choices editors don’t want to see in a romance novel proved invaluable.  

Mary has also been wonderfully forthcoming in sharing her hands-on knowledge of how the publishing industry works. She generously answers all of the many questions I pepper her with. Not only is her unique insight  fascinating to hear, but it will no doubt help me on my road to publication.

As soon as I found out Mary was my mentor, I ran out and brought her book, To Conquer a Highlander, which takes place in 1437 Scotland. I loved it!

The story involves Laird Torin McLeren, who hopes to prevent war by kidnapping his enemy’s daughter, Shannon. Of course, they fall in love and the historical tidbits sprinkled throughout make this a compelling read.

I’m anxious to read the next book in the series, Highland Hellcat, which focuses on Laird Connor Lindsey. Seeking a strong political alliance, Connor arranges to marry Diedre but when he discovers that she isn’t pure, he steals her sister, Brina, even though she is promised to the church.

Here’s another teachable moment from Mary. I did not know third daughters in late 1430s Scotland were always promised to the church. These daughters knew their fate since childhood and were treated with extra care because of it. That makes the set up to Highland Hellcat all the more intriguing!

You can check out Mary’s mentoring skills by reading the first paragraph and last line of  my historical Regency romance, Seducing Charlotte, by clicking HERE.

If you’d like to read more, I hope you’ll consider VOTING for my entry in the Writing with the Stars contest. I promise it’s very quick and easy. You can click in, vote and be done in under a minute.

If you enjoy the first paragraph, here’s the FIRST CHAPTER.

My manuscript, “Seducing Charlotte,” just took second place in the 2010 Heart to Heart contest sponsored by the San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America. For a better look at the certificate, just click on the image.

By the way, I would highly recommend this contest because it was very well organized and coordinator Bettina Clairmont kept contestants informed as to the progress of the judging and of any delays. And the final judges were an impressive group of industry professionals.

In the historical category, they included Avon Editor Amanda Bergeron,  Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency and e-publisher Jessica Schulte, Carina Press. I placed second overall but Avon’s Amanda Bergeron ranked my entry first. So that’s pretty reaffirming!

“Seducing Charlotte” is also a finalist in Kensington Brava’s Writing With the Stars contest. The grand prize is a publishing contract. Check it out and please consider VOTING for me! Click here now to read more.

If the first paragraph intrigues you, here’s the FIRST CHAPTER. To learn more about the plots of both of my manuscripts, CLICK HERE.

I ran out to my local Borders on Monday to get the latest copy of RT Book Reviews.

They didn’t have it out on the floor but the gentleman behind the counter said he would check the unopened box of new magazines and there it was!

I quickly leafed through it until I found my picture and profile for the “Writing with the Stars” contest. I excitedly showed it to the salespeople and said, “That’s me. I’m in the magazine!”

I know. How uncool. But there it is.

I can’t help being incredibly excited to be a finalist in Kensington Brava and RT Book Reviews’ “Writing with the Stars” contest. The winner lands a book contract.

Now that’s cool.

After buying the magazine and checking out my picture and those of my talented fellow finalists, I dragged my 11-year-old over to the Romance section to show him some of the Kensington Brava books on the shelf.  From the look of wonderment on his face, I’d say that’s the moment he really got it – what this competition is  all about. We took a minute to admire the beautiful trade paperbacks together before getting back on task and forging ahead to finish the day’s errands.

Getting back to the contest,  here’s the recap…

There are five rounds of competition. Readers of the RT Book Reviews website and magazine will vote for the winner online.

First round voting continues through October 24. The category is “Best First Paragraph and Last Sentence“.