The Results are in

But I unfortunately did not win this round. I wish all of the pitchers, including my CP Ju, the best and hope you get request for fulls from Anne Leslie Tuttle. As for me, I'm going to finish this story and send in through slush - with a whole new blurb.

I realized my fatal error when I read through it again today. If you read only the blurb, my story sounds more urban fantasy than paranormal romance. I knew it was kind of leaning this way, and I thought I fixed the problem, but I didn't. Instead of focusing on the love story, my blurb highlighted the plot which drives the romance.

Why didn't I catch this sooner!  Aargh!

Oh well. Like I said, I'll finish, but I'm waiting until after the editor chat with ALT (Feb 9th at 1 pm) to make sure I've covered all of the points she's looking for. Onward!

~Hetal

Return to Reality

This weekend was spent cheering on baby sis at a dance competition, eating A LOT of crappy-for-me food, some laughs, some bad moods, with cold drinks (gotta have those), and family. It was nice to take a break from my writing after agonizing over a two paragraph pitch blurb or an entire week. I even bounced it off of my non-romance reading brother and sisters - thank goodness too, they pointed out ambiguities I hadn't even noticed - and finally sent off what I thought was a pretty concise, action & romance packed blurb.

I managed to keep it at 178 words, no small feat for me as I tend to overthink and therefore overwrite, and I was fairly happy with it. In a moment of "I just can't look at this anymore" I sent it off, now it's time to play the waiting game.

I really need to get back to the MS now, but having just got home means catching up after the weekend. Oh well, as always, writing comes after life. Usually, late at night after baby's down for the day...

Speaking of Monkey, she's trying to play peek-a-boo with me, which means she covers my eyes instead of her own, so I've got to go. Mommyhood calls.

~Hetal

Pitch Sent

I'm actually out of town but wanted to say:

My NB blurb has been sent...let the wait begin!

~Hetal

Blurbing

It's harder than it looks. Though I tossed out a couple of pretty good resources in a previous post, they sadly aren't helping me. Want to know why? Because while composing this blurb, I haven't nailed down my hero's emotional motivations/hindrances. My lady has no problem hollering all her issues - and there are many - straight into my head, so is too much to ask the same from my leading man?

On the Harlequin's community site there was an awesome pitch workshop held by author Winnie Grigg. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend you do. She breaks down a pitch piece by piece, and gives some great examples to ponder on when creating your own parts.

So, going back to my original problem. Part three of the outline is to nail down his and her motivations. Umm, I know what these things are, but I can't succinctly articulate them. Overall, I'm trying to write a blurb with less than 200 words, but I'm hoping for it to be less and still have impact.

Think about it, some of the most intriguing back covers you read are short and sweet yet convey just enough of the story to make you want to take it right home, sit down with a cup, and ignore the real world for the provided fantasy. This is what I'm aiming for; this is what I've been working on for two days with no end in sight.

*sigh* Men!

~Hetal

Write or Die weekend

Well, I am without Monkey this weekend which should give me ample time to finish my novella and the dreaded blurb. I've had all afternoon but have spent most of it critiquing other people's pieces. Hey, while I'm in a writing rut, others should benefit I say.


I'm more than halfway through both the piece and the blurb, so this should be a piece of cake, no? Well, yes, if only thoughts of Monkey weren't running through my head...