Sometimes, spur of the moment decisions pay off.

I had been away from the Harlequin forums for a while, decided to scroll through and see what was going on, and found they had started an Editor's Pitch for the Blaze imprint. I love Blaze! I thought about it, worried over it, then decided to enter. I sent my one page synopsis, the first five pages of the ms, and waited. On the last day, I contemplated pulling out the original entry and sending another, but in the end, let it stand.

The post came out on the forum with a list of the winners who would pitch. Without even reading the actual message...who cares what it says if your name isn't on the list, right?--I scanned the list. My name wasn't there. Might as well read the message now, huh? So, 35 people entered, 5 entries were chosen to pitch online to the editors, and...what's this? Six entries were chosen to bypass the pitch and send partials directly to the editors? Wooo, whooo! Email to follow on Monday to let the rest of us know if we were one of those lucky six. Today is Friday. The weekend passed, Monday drags on. Refresh, refresh, refresh.

There's finally a message in my inbox. Hotmail (1). To open or not to open.

I sent that partial off today!  

Six Sentence Sunday.

This is an excerpt from my current work in progress, Playing Doctor. Gabriel and Beth have agreed to a one night stand...

Dragging his mouth from hers, Gabriel hesitated, measuring her reaction, giving her the opportunity to change her mind, and praying she wouldn’t.

“Are you sure?”  He asked, his voice rough with need.

She reached out, pressed her hand to his chest, just over his heart, felt the gallop and pitch of it beneath muscle and bone.  For her. 

 “I’m sure.”

“Thank God.  I was ready to beg.”  He grazed his fingers along her jaw, humor crinkling the corners of his eyes.  “Would you like me to?”

The corners of her mouth, moist from his kiss, curled in a purely feline smile.  “Maybe later.”

Ruby Lioness Press has closed their doors!

Sadly, a few days after Owner/Editor Marrisa Dobson contacted me stating she was still interested in my ms, the doors to this publishing house closed.  I wish all the best to the authors formerly represented by this house, and to Ms. Dobson who is the Owner/Founder of Sizzling PR.

That being said, I have another publisher interested in my ms, and am diligently working to finish the book and get the requested full out to the editor.  I'm not mentioning any names, but this house is rocking the publishing industry, and I hope to sell my ms to them and soon be a part of their group of authors.

Request for full manuscript!

I took a breath on the 15th of May and submitted the manuscript that had been rejected (with a wonderful "R" and lots of great suggestions) to Ruby Lioness Press. Well, imagine my surprise when I opened my email account and found a request for a full ms this morning!  Now, back to pounding on the keyboard and hoping for a sale!

Interview with a writer...

Hello, one and all.  My name is Jan Meredith.  I am a registered nurse, and I have an addiction...to chocolate, and romance!  Whether I'm reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's demons, demigods or futuristic League Assassins, Lyndsay Sands' laugh-out-loud nano-vampires, the brilliance of Nora Roberts or hammering out my own story, I love reading about hurt souls coming together with a happy ending.  And I like to do it while eating chocolate.

I recently entered an Editor's pitch challenge with Harlequin Mills & Boon in February, was one of six chosen out of thirty-nine to pitch online to the editors of the Medical Romance Series and submitted three chapters.  Six days later I received the most complimentary letter--"What we really enjoyed about your submission was the fun, sassy and individual writing style.  The warmth and humor in the tone of your writing felt fresh, contemporary and unique.  There is potential here for a heart-warming story of two hurt souls who will come together to form the wonderful family they have always wanted. We do think you have a lovely writing style, your sass and unique voice is eye-catching."  However--my hero needed more conflict--a very common editorial complaint with new authors submitting to series Category Romance.  I was asked to set it aside for now, start something new and fresh and they would be happy to see another submission.

I made myself dizzy alternating between the happy dance at the compliments in that wonderful letter, and stomping around in frustration at having my work rejected...even though it was the "first" time I'd submitted to Harlequin M&B!

I'm Irish.  I'm stubborn.  I rebound nicely.

I am currently submitting this story to another publishing house, looking to the writing Gods with hopes of a request for a full manuscript, and all the R&Rs that go with it.  In the mean time, I'm working to polish a completed manuscript to submit to Harlequin American Romance later in the summer, as they rumored there would be another Editor's Pitch or Fast Track for that series down the road--a little longer in word count, an opportunity to introduce my all time favorite secondary characters and family members, and expand on the story.

I began writing in the late 80s when my sons were small...and very demanding, as sons will be.  (it seemed there was a cosmic message sent out to them whenever I sat down to the "manual" typewriter with my whiteout.) I worked under the guidance of the late Adele Leone for a while, but as life will jump in and screw with the most well laid plans, my writing was shelved--pun intended.  But the voices in my head never left.  So, with college behind me, and a nursing career under my belt (for of which were in the ER) those voices are screaming once again, "What if...?"