“Ignite the Flame” win!
July13
I’m thrilled — my contemporary romance has placed first in the first contest I ever entered, the Central Ohio Fiction Writers’ “Ignite the Flame” contest. My twelve pages and short optional description (which has now changed, but you can read it in my post from May) are on their way to the desk of Chris Keeslar, a senior editor at Dorchester Publishing.
Even better, I learned that I won the contest on Wednesday while I was here in Dallas at the Romance Writers of America national conference, and I’ve had the opportunity to both meet and hear Chris Keeslar speak, and he seems like a very smart and personable guy.
*Curtsying to Chris across the cybermiles*
In early 2008 Michelle left a fulfilling career as interactive director in an integrated marketing agency to pursue her passion for writing great stories filled with fascinating, intense, real characters who will do anything necessary to achieve their dreams. She’s co-written the audio-play of a Louis L’Amour short story produced by Bantam and Beau L’Amour, worked as an executive assistant for a Hollywood publicist, taught English in Spain, and enjoyed the lofty title of Romance Director running the personals sections of a newsweekly in Los Angeles. She lives in Austin, Texas and spends her spare time adding poems to
I’ve been obsessively blogstalking because I couldn’t attend Nationals this year, which is how I have come to your blog through Heather Foeh’s blog. You both seem fun and funny and I am supernaturally awkward, hence this absurd introduction merely to say “congratulations!” Chris is my editor. He is a really nice guy and a smart insightful editor. Good luck. I hope he buys your book.
I love your poetry blog.
My current favorite poem, other than anything by Keats, is Stanley Kunitz’s “The Layers”. He died at 100, or nearly, recently and I heard him read the end of this poem on NPR.
If you check out my website, I have to warn you I almost never update it. But nothing has really changed anyway.
Thank you Mary Beth, what a nice note! I’m glad you like The Gladdest Thing - I’ll definitely be adding The Layers to it sometime soon. I’d never read that before but just looked it up and it’s lovely.
I’m also thrilled to hear Chris is a good guy! Not that I asked around or stalked him at conference or anything (muahaha!) but I’ve heard nothing but nice things about him, and that’s wonderful. If nothing else, it reinforces my innocent belief in the kindness of editors.
I’m so sorry you couldn’t get to Nationals this year, hopefully we’ll meet up in SF!
Oh, and I like your site. Your ‘about’ page made me think about why I am a writer… but that’s a whole post in itself, so I’ll save the thought. Thanks again for writing!
I’m s