Breaking Contest News

Hearts Through History RWA Chapter's Seventh Annual

ROMANCE THROUGH THE AGES Contest

The deadline for entries is now 3/22/08.

Please let as many people as you can know about the extended deadline!
This is for our chapter, so every little bit you do helps!

***PERMISSION TO FORWARD***

DEADLINE NOW EXTENDED!!! New deadline for entries 3/22/08.

We need entries. We have terrific final judges. Please pass this on to everyone you know.
There's still time to enter. We take electronic entries up to the last day. Email our chair or the coordinators for more information.

Due to Coordinator(s): March 22, 2008
Eligibility: Published and unpublished; mss not contracted by 2/01/08
Enter by regular mail or electronic entry!

For regular mail enter: Three (3) copies prologue/first chapter (30 pages max); Three
(3) copies 1-2 page unjudged synopsis

For Electronic entries: (1) copy of first 30 pages; (1) copy 1-2 pages unjudged synopsis

Synopsis may be single-spaced
HHRW MEMBERS: $20 (US) and Non-members: $25 (US)

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Featuring the Legend Award - A Man for All Reasons and the Best of the Best Award*

Categories and Final Judges are these wonderful editors:

Ancient/Medieval/Renaissance ~ Rose Hilliard, St. Martin's Press

Georgian/Regency/Victorian ~ Kate Seaver, Berkley/Jove

Colonial/Civil War/Western ~ Nicole D'Arienzo, The Wild Rose Press

Post Victorian - WWII ~ Leanne Burroughs, Highland Press

Time Travel/Paranormal ~ Lindsay Nouis, NAL

Legend Award ~ Tessa Woodward, Avon Books

Finalists will be notified about May 10, 2008.
Winners will be announced at Hearts Through History's Annual Meeting
during RWA's National Conference 2008--San Francisco.

*prize for Best of the Best is a conference fee

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For full guidelines or questions, please visit our website at http://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/contest.htm or contact Contest Co-Chair at rtta_chair@hotmail.com .

Vision Boards

Vision Boards. What are they? Why do them? Well, a friend of mine first explained this concept to me sometime last year. If you visualize what you want, you set the universe in motion to provide it. Simple concept really. See it. Believe it. Receive it. (I think they say that in The Secret.)

I've done this a couple of times - and I'm overdue for another. I created collages of my goals in life. Things like becoming published, attending conferences, creativity, love, etc. Now, not all my "wishes" have manifested yet but some have. And if I keep positive I believe that ultimately all of them will.

If you're artistic draw what you want. If that area isn't your forte then go through magazines and pull out words and pictures representing what you want or what makes you happy. In the ones I've created, I also "prepared" items I cut out and included. Like a picture of a particular person, place, or thing then I added words to the pictures so the idea was uniquely mine.

This was a lot of fun and really made me think about what I wanted to do with my life. And especially what I wanted to experience in my life. Give it a try. Suspend disbelief and just have fun. Maybe in a few years, your vision boards will be road maps to the world in which you live.

Want to learn more about how to create a vision board? Check out this link...

Where have I Been?

Where have I been for the last two months? Packing. Moving.

I got my house and we closed at the end of January. February 2008 in Iowa has been one snow or ice storm after another. We've had blizzards, freezing rain, and more. Let's just say I've been feeling a little persecuted by the "powers that be" lately.

I moved furniture on February 5 - the day of a predicted snowstorm. The good news is that most of the day it rained so I beat the storm and got moved. I spent the 6th sitting in my new home watching the snow blow outside.

I figured, well that's the worst of it. Wrong. I had to be out of my rental house by February 29th so I had to finish moving and cleaning this week. Monday, February 25th was an all day marathon. Guess what the weather forecast was? 60 degrees and sunny? Guess again. Another snowstorm. Again, rain first then snow. It took ALL day to move. If not for the help of my friends Robin, Brad, Cara and Deana (and those people they brought along to help) I would not have gotten done. This has been the week from hell.

Monday - I fell twice in the snow. Fortunately, the falls weren't too bad. Happily we got done. I can barely move in my basement but most of the stuff got moved. Then Robin and I were set to move some leftovers from the basement and clean.

Wednesday I fell...again. This was not an "easy" fall. I was carrying a box down the front steps of the old house (cement steps) and fell...hard. When I landed I wasn't sure I was getting up. In fact I was wondering if a call to 911 was merited. A trip to the emergency room revealed no broken bones, but I was told to go home and elevate my leg and ice my knee. Since I could barely walk, that's what I did. A twisted knee hurts. Believe me.

Thursday - nope - no more falling. A little snow - but not bad. I spent most of the day sitting, but I was able to go over to do a little cleaning. I moved slowly and carefully.

Friday - YES! We got done. Warm temps. Sunny. And we got done with the cleaning and the moving then I turned in my keys. I am now all moved. Now comes the fun task of going through decades of accumulated stuff so that I have more than a narrow path through my basement again. Keep your fingers crossed for me.