2011 EPIC Award Finalist!

I'm so excited. I received an email tonight which congratulated me on finaling in the 2011 EPIC awards. Whirlwind Affair is a finalist in the contemporary erotic romance category.

This is seriously awesome and I'm really happy about this. Wow.

Congratulations to all the other EPIC finalists!

I'm a Passionate Plume DOUBLE Finalist!

Passionate Ink’s 5th Annual The Passionate Plume Contest for Published Authors
The only published, all erotic romance award in RWA!

Five Sizzling Finalists in Five Categories:

(Two categories ended with a tie, resulting in six finalists for the Contemporary and Paranormal / Time Travel categories.)


Contemporary
Jenna Bayley-Burke* – Compromising Positions
Jianne Carlo* – A Paratrooper in A Pear Tree
Kelly Jamieson* – Rigger
Opal Carew* – SECRET TIES
Opal Carew* – SIX
Qwillia Rain* – Diablo Blanco Club

Historical
Emma Wildes – Can’t Say No
Debra Glass* – Bad Kitty
Debra Glass* – Bought and Paid For
Francesca Hawley* – Seeking Truth
Kate Pearce* – Simply Wicked

Futuristic /Sci Fi/Fantasy
Allyson James – Calder
Anna Leigh Keaton* – Once Upon a Time… Midnight Hour
Anna Leigh Keaton* – Woodland Magic – Fated
Jory Strong* – Fallon Mates
Michelle Polaris* – Bound Odyssey

Paranormal / Time Travel
Allyson James – Mortal Seductions
Allyson James – Mortal Temptations
Anna Leigh Keaton* – Time and Again
Dana Marie Bell* – Dare to Believe
Francesca Hawley* – Protect and Defend
Sharon Page* – Blood Deep

Novella
Anna Leigh Keaton* – Inferno
Jayne Rylon – Phoenix Incantation
Liza James* – Hot For Teacher
Madelynne Ellis* – Pure Folly
Sherry James – Eight Seconds (Flavors of Ecstasy Anthology Vol. 3)

* indicates the author is a member of the Passionate Ink Chapter

**If you have any questions, email Karen at pp5@passionateink.org

OMG - I'm a finalist!

I had something else prepared for this week's Writing Wednesday - but hey - who can beat something THIS good? I finaled in the historical category of the Stroke of Midnight contest with my manuscript, Seeking Truth. SOM is a contest for erotic romance sponsored by the Passionate Ink chapter of RWA.

I was fortunate last year to final in the SOM and place third in the paranormal category with Crime of Passion. This year, different story...different category...same thrill! Wherever I finish I'll be happy, but I have my fingers crossed for a win. We'll see.

Congrats to everyone else who finaled in either the Passionate Plume or the Stroke of Midnight contests.

Here are the lists of finalists (SOM first, then PP):

Passionate Ink’s Third Annual Stroke of Midnight Contest Finalists announced!
3rd Annual Stroke of Midnight Finalists

Contemporary:

• Cathleen Ross - Love, Lust, and Lies
• Anne Calhoun - Liberating Lacey
• Crystal Kauffman - Laws of Attraction
• Jayne Rylon - Nice & Naughty
• Reece Butler - Trading Favors

Historical:

• Crystal Kauffman - Wild At Heart
• Francesca Hawley - Seeking Truth
• Nadia Aidan - Show Me–The Spartan Chronicles
• Noelle Henderson and Barbra Moser - Plantation Rule
• Ava March - A Gentleman For Her

Futuristic/Fantasy/Sci-fi:

• P.M. Black - Almost Darke
• Sindee Sexton - Wings of Desire
• Barbara Morgan - Soul Bound
• Leanne Karella - Fairy Prince
• Maggie Nash - Goddess in Trouble

Paranormal/Time Travel:

• Nara Malone - The Tiger’s Tale
• Hortense Powdermaker - Minotaur
• Ella Drake - Bluebeard’s Hunger
• Violet Summers - Saving Jenna
• Corinne Davies - Believing is Seeing

Novella:

• Ella Drake - Scenting Cinnamon
• Ava March - From Afar
• Constance Denson-Hamilton - Him, Memoir of My Second Marriage to the Egyptian God of Fertility
• Alannah Lynne - Reaction Time
• Tiffancy Kenzie - Full Moon

Passionate Ink’s Third Annual
The Passionate Plume Contest for Published Authors Finalists announced!
3rd Annual Passionate Plume Finalists

Contemporary:

• Mechele Armstrong - Nothing To Lose
• Shayla Black - WICKED TIES
• Opal Carew - Twin Fantasies
• Portia Da Costa - Suite Seventeen
• Ann Jacobs - Roped

Historical:

• Elizabeth Amber - Nicholas, The Lords of Satyr
• Monica Burns - Mirage
• Samantha Kane - At Loves Command
• Kate Poole - Anchor and Storm
• Brenda Williamson - One Bashful Lady

Futuristic/Fantasy/SciFi:

• Mechele Armstrong - Settler’s Mine 2 : The Lovers
• Karen Kelley - Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind
• Rena Marks - Born Again
• Aubrey Ross - Seducer
• Denise Rossetti - Tailspin

Paranormal / TT:

• Sunny Chen - Mona Lisa Blossoming
• Marie Harte - Ethereal Foes: The Dragons’ Demon
• Sharon Page - Blood Red
• Sharon Page - Blood Rose
• Jory Strong - Mystic’s Run

Novella:

• Denise A. Agnew - Male Call
• Anna Leigh Keaton - Rescue Me
• Susan Lyons - Hot Down Under
• Mackenzie McKade - Second Chance Christmas
• Leigh Wyndfield - Desert Heat

Congratulations to everyone!!!! Great Job!!!

I'm a FINALIST!!!!!!!

My Friday the 13th was a very lucky one this month. I received a message that my currently unpublished novel, Crime of Passion was a finalist in the Paranormal/Time Travel category of the Stroke of Midnight contest. Stroke of Midnight is organized by Passionate Ink, a chapter of Romance Writers of America.

I am so thrilled and surprised. It feels WONDERFUL! I know, it's not a publishing contract...yet. But it shows that someone other than me likes my story. I've had friends say, "Cesca, I like this." But friends are supposed to say that. After all, that's why they're friends. But the judges were objective and anonymous, so if they'd hated it they could have said so. I'm all floaty right now - without any alcohol or narcotic substances! I'll come back down soon, because I need to get editing...just in case. For tonight, just let me bask in the glow. happy sigh.....