New Voices Competition Update 3

The first submission round of Mills and Boon’s New Voices competition closed with a bang yesterday and a whopping 1092 entries! That’s 271 more than in 2010 and it's now up to the judges to whittle that down to twenty.

Good luck to them!

As Madeline Ash pointed out, the Top Twenty will make up less than 2% which should indicate just how important it is to submit your story no matter what the results are.

The category percentages have also changed and stand at:

Contemporary Romance (50.3%)

Warm and Cosy (11.7%)

Historical (11.1%)

Paranormal (10.3%)

Romantic Suspense (9.4%)

Passion (7.2%)

I'm very impressed by the number of aspiring historical writers. Perhaps we'll see a historical entry or two in the top twenty this year. What do you think?

So, there's a whole 2 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds until the Top Twenty announcement. Of course you can spend that time obsessively checking your entry and reading others, but if you'd also like to have something to do to keep your mind off the life changing news that could be coming your way I have some ideas...

1. Bestselling romance author, Nicola Marsh, is running a one week pitch competition in which you can win critiques by her and senior editor of Entangled Publishing, Liz Pelletier. You can find the details here.

2. The 26th Annual Hook, Line and Sinker competition has also launched to help you hone your skills for grabbing editor and agent’s attention. Find out more here.

Do you know of any other competitions in the works? Please let me know so I can add them to the list.

Good luck to all the NV entrants and happy writing/OCD inbox checking!

RIVALICIOUS

The first of the RIVA books are going to be launched in January 2011. This is an exciting new line for Mills and Boon in the UK and you can find their writing guidelines here.

I’ve managed to get my hands on two of the stories that are going to be released and they really are standouts.  Not just because of the premise but because the characters stick with you long after you close the covers.

Deserted Island, Dreamy Ex! by Nicola Marsh was the first to arrive in my mail box.

Fabulous cover right?

But it’s more than just a pretty cover, here’s the blurb:

Kristi's Stranded Diary: Day 1

Being shipwrecked on an idyllic deserted island for reality TV show Stranded sounded blissful. Until I discovered my Man Friday for the week was Jared Malone (aka he-who-broke-my-heart!).

I mean, of course I'll be fine. I don't feel anything for him anymore. Female viewers might swoon over Jared's tanned gorgeousness, but I know he's just an arrogant, overmuscled heartbreaker!

The cameras are rolling, so I'm off to the beach to face Jared. I just hope I look okay in this bikini!

Deserted Island, Dreamy Ex! is another great read by Nicola. Inside that fabulous cover the characters come to life in their own blog and twitter posts which are very characteristically male and female, and hilariously funny. It’s a wonderfully modern read and you’ll love the behind the scenes moments when Jared and Kristi manage to escape those TV show cameras.

And I’ll just say this: Jared is delicious. You’re going to want to get your hands on him.

Need more details? Click here for the excerpt!

For obvious reasons I’d suggest getting in early for the RIVA titles in January, or wearing body armor.

Stay tuned to find out who else turned up in my mail box!

I wouldn’t mind Jared being FedExed my way...


*Edit*

Release dates for Deserted Island, Dreamy Ex!:

USA - Harlequin Romance - September 2010
UK - Mills & Boon Riva - January 2011
Australia - Mills & Boon Sweet - February 2011

If you're in the USA and think you've already missed out, never fear! It's still available at eharlequin and the Book Depository.