Good News Day!

Welcome to this week's good news...

The Darkside DownUnder regular columns will go into hiatus from 9th August as many of our members, and the blog team, are headed to the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Fremantle, WA. Our regularly scheduled programming will resume 27th August. :-)

CONTESTS

C.T. Green placed 3rd in the Chicago-North RWA® Fire & Ice contest with her entry Onxy. Full list of results here. Congratulations, C.T.!





Raewyn Bright has placed 3rd in the RWA® Heart of the West Utah Great Beginnings contest. Full results here.

She has also placed 3rd in the RWA® Wisconsin Fabulous Five contest AND received a request for partial from Latoya Smith, Grand Central Publishing. Full results here.
Congratulations and good luck, Raewyn!

SALES

Nicole Hurley-Moore signed a contract with Escape Publishing for her Victorian period romance, Dancing on Air. It will be released November 1st, 2013.

J.L.Addicoat has sold her debut novel, Spirit of Love, to Rogue Phoenix. No release date yet.

GIVEAWAYS

Enjoy paranormal romance? Fantasy romance? Urban fantasy? Post-apocalyptic romance? Sci-fi romnce? Steampunk romance?

Would you jump at a chance or three to win a box full of these sorts of books?

Who, what, where, when and how can I win? - I hear you cry!

Well, 9 Aussie paranormal romance authors have banded together and each have donated books and swag from their latest series to go into the Aussie Author Giveaway - three huge giveaway packages which will be on display at some of the specialty romance bookstores here in Australia.

All readers have to do is order a book (or books) from these stores in the designated giveaway month - either in person or online. You'll earn one entry per purchase in the Giveaway. The prize winner will be drawn at the end of the month and the Aussie Author Giveaway box of goodies will be posted to you.

NB. Due to postage costs, entry is restricted to Australian readers.

This month the last box of giveaway-fun will be with Galaxy Books (Sydney) and it will run all of August 2013.

Participating authors: Bec McMaster, Christina Ashcroft, Erica Hayes, Keri Arthur, Kylie Griffin, Kylie Scott, M.J.Scott, Rowena Cory Daniells, Shona Husk.

BOOK COVERS & RELEASE DATES

Cathleen Ross released Her Demon Prince on July 27th 2013, and it's available now on Amazon.

Her Demon Prince is an erotic reincarnation romance, where a passionate love between Prince Agrat, a half human, half demon, and Phoebe, the virgin concubine he steals from his father, scans three centuries before the curse that keeps them apart can be broken.

Imogene Nix's Tomorrow's Promise will release from Evernight on 7th August 2013.

When life has thrown everything at you, how can you bounce back?  That is where David is after the death of his beloved daughter, the loss of all his material goods and attending the wedding of his ex lover.  That is, until he sees Genie.
Genie feels jealousy toward Karin, the woman marrying the love of her life.  Until a man with cat green eyes saves her from falling.  Now, the falling includes love.  But his past could be the biggest barrier of all. Can they overcome it all?  Only time will tell.

Hesparia's Tears, also by Imogene Nix, is out with Total EBound on August 8th, 2013.

What will happen when the past catches up? Galan is from Hesparia, a prince on a planet where the females are dying out his people need an alliance with the humans.

Jessa has a past, one she hasn't earned but cannot escape. What will happen when opportunity knocks?

Galan travels to earth, hoping to plead the case for Hesparia. He doesn't expect Jessa or The Quickening.

Can he make the case for women to migrate to Hesparia? Can he get the humans to trust him enough to form an alliance? And is there hope for this couple to overcome the obstacles in their way?

REVIEWS

T.F.Walsh has received two reviews for Cloaked in Fur.

"This well-written paranormal romance is T.F. Walsh's debut novel. It doesn't play shy either. Right away, we're thrown into the story with intense action and a powerful love that sets the mood for the tale. It's dark and fast-paced with hold-your-breath suspense. A wonderful urban fantasy world has been created in the city of Brasov, Romania. Walsh paints vivid images with her descriptions and made me feel as if I were really in the Carpathian woods."

Full review here.

And this one;

"Daciana is a flawed and lovable character. I liked her spunk, wit, and smart ass comments. Each chapter added to the suspense. And the ending left me wanting more."

Full review here.

OTHER

Dakota Harrison is on a whirlwind blog tour with her debut release, Exhale. She's visiting the following blogs:

30th July    Helene Young's Blog
31st July    Romance Magicians
2nd Aug     Christine Glover's Blog
5th Aug      Romance Bandits       
8th Aug      Rachael John's Blog
13th Aug    Kylie Griffin's Blog
19th Aug    LoveCats Downunder

Maree Anderson’s latest YA release, Liminal, has been selected by iBookstore Australia/New Zealand editors as one of their Best Books of August. Here’s what the editors had to say:

“Self-published Kiwi author Maree Anderson has already established a loyal following with her Crystal Warriors series. In this novel, she embarks on a new storyline featuring Wren, a sassy 16-year-old who finds she’s starting to disappear from her life–literally! She teams up with mysterious bad boy Kade and learns a thing or two about living between worlds. This is great young-adult fun for fans of paranormal fiction.”

A swag of Darksiders will be attending the Australian Romance Readers Association Book Signing event at the RWA conference held in Fremantle, WA.

The signing will be held at the Esplanade Hotel, Marine Terrace in Fremantle, from 5.00 to 6.30 pm on Saturday 17 August. Full details, including the list of signing authors, are available here.

Entry to the event will cost $7 (or $5 for ARRA members) plus a 30c booking fee. All those who register will receive a free ticket in the prize raffle to win one of several prize baskets.

We hope to see you there!

Magic Monday - Is your manuscript ready?

(Magic Monday =  a little something extra this week from Kylie Griffin)

It's that time of year again, contest divas! The RWAustralia Emerald contest for unpublished authors is just around the corner.

Have you polished and edited your manuscripts? I hope so because The Emmy wants you!!!

For anyone who's not a member of RWAustralia, this is THE major contest for anyone who writes category or single title romance.

The whole contest is designed to mirror the submission process an author goes through when sending off their work to agents or publishing houses. The first two rounds are scored and judged by readers, while the final round is read by an acquiring editor from a major publishing house (usually from the USA).

Round 1 - the first 18pgs of your manuscript in ARC format
Round 2 - submit the full manuscript
Round 3 - three finalists from each section (category & single title) will send their full manuscript to an editor for final placement

# Opening date October 28th 2011
#Closing date November 25th 2011

Places are awarded for the separate category and single title sections but results aren't announced until the August RWA conference.

* Entry forms and details on how to enter can be found on the Contest page of the RWAustralia website.

So, what's so good about entering the Emerald?

Check out what previous entrants and place-getters have said about their experiences... 

"The Emerald was great for my writing journey in several ways. Firstly, it gave me deadlines to work to, which provided structure to my writing year.
It also gave me really interesting feedback, because it came from readers - the people we're writing for. And not just on the first 3 chapters - they could tell me what they thought of the whole manuscript, all the way to the Happily Ever After. Both wins also started dialogues for me with editors, not for the line I eventually sold to, but fabulous feedback and experience.
Such a great contest and resource for writers!" (Rachel Bailey) 

"Finalling - and then having to finish the ms that I'd supposedly finished before entering within 10 days really made me focus! 
Although that book wasn't the one that got me published (and I do hope to have it pubbed someday soon) :-) it gave me the kudos to be headhunted to do a Masters in Writing at Qld. University of Technology. That was a huge ego boost and validation that what I was writing wasn't complete crap (which I suspect just about every writer wonders about from time to time).
I really appreciated the feedback I got from the Emerald. It's a great contest." (C.C.Coburn) 

"Where do I start? :-) This was great for me as an entrant, because it gave me a taste of the publishing world : mainly, writing to a deadline, which is probably one of the most important abilities for a published author (other than producing a saleable manuscript!) And of course, a chance to hit an acquiring editor's desk.
I was thrilled when I finalled and could tell the editor that the first chapter of that same ms was on one of her assistant's TBR pile due to another RWA comp. So the Emerald helped by giving me a deadline to work to, plus impetus to actually finish a complete manuscript (before then, I'd been writing 3 chapters max.)." (Paula Roe) 

"The very first contest I entered was the Emma Darcy which, like the Emerald, was for completed manuscripts. It was life changing. Someone other than my beautifully biased husband and family had connected with my story, my characters, my voice. Wow! I finalled in that contest - very powerful motivation that sustained me when rejection letters from publishers started turning up...
Subsequent Emerald feedback helped me learn my craft. Yes, criticism can sting, but if you look back at it in a couple of weeks there will be kernels of truth. If two or more judges have identified the same thing, chances are they're right...
The Emerald gives you a goal to aim for during the year. It gives you a taste of the submission process you'll spend your writing life following. Most importantly it gives you an anonymous audience who will give you genuine unbiased feedback! So get writing and good luck." :-) (Helene Young) 

"I love entering the Emerald because the judges are readers, rather than contest judges who are writers. Readers, even in the first round, give you a different insight into whether the book is a good read or not, and if they enjoy your characters and your plot, rather than getting bogged down on writing type details. Readers give an overall perspective on how well a story might do on a published market.
 If theses judges say they want to read more, you know you've hooked their interest and are on the right track. If they say they were bored to tears, you know to cut out backstory and increase the conflict and drama. Then, if you' re lucky enough to make it into the second round, Emerald judges comment on the completed book, which is truly rare in contest circles.
The author then knows if the conflict is strong enough and the story arc complete enough, to hold a readers interest and make the book ready for submission to agents or editors. But either way, it makes you push yourself to write, edit, and polish an entire book, not simply the opening chapters." (Suzi Love)

"The Emerald Contest is the successor to the wonderful Emma Darcy Award, which I won in 2005, the last year of the contest. I withdrew from the 2006 Emerald because I'd sold my book - a nice reason!
I know as an unpublished writer, it was often difficult for me to soldier through and finish a manuscript. I still have numerous 'stumps' under the bed, stories I started with great enthusiasm and then decided weren't viable. So I'd start something else and then decide it wasn't viable either. Repeat ad-infinitum!
Having a contest that gets people to struggle through the doldrums of a manuscript and reach those magical words 'the end' is really great. There's so much you learn from finishing a complete manuscript that you can't learn from starting 100 that you don't complete.
Winning or finalling in a contest like the Emerald or the Emma Darcy is a great calling card too when you approach editors or publishers!" (Anna Campbell)

So, what are you waiting for?

Get those manuscripts out and send them off!