Are you obsessively checking the New Voices competition site? Perhaps you've even thrown in your attempt to cover your tracks and set it as your home page. I tell you what, I'm tempted. I'm really tempted. And I haven't even entered!
The rose bombings disappoint me, not because I wasn't expecting them, but wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where people weren't compelled to do that sort of thing. *Sigh* I'll watch a Disney video later... Does anyone else expect the rose terrorists haven't read the fine print? Round one is all about the judges so they should really be thinking along the lines of three new sports cars in Tessa, Mandy and Jodie's favorite colors. Heck, bribing me would probably be more effective than their current strategy (and by all means give it a go ;-) ).
There's just nine days left in the competition and only twelve until the top twenty announcement! (There's also eleven until my birthday but I don't think that's going to influence Amazon's new Kindle November release dates...).
Currently, there are a whopping 466 entries, that's 31 new entries per working day (we're not including weekends because they're not uploading on weekends) and 240 of those are Contemporary Romance.
I think we know what the favorite category is.
What's fascinating to me is where the Passion section is ranking. I really thought it would be more popular. For now, the rankings stand at:
Contemporary Romance (51.6%)
Paranormal (10.7%)
Warm and Cosy (10.5%)
Historical (10.3%)
Romantic Suspense (9.4%)
Passion (7.5%)
It will be interesting to see what the final numbers are.
If you haven't entered yet and are still hovering over the submit button, worried about all the rose terrorists and nasty commenters, just think about all the fabulous comments that you're missing. They'll make you feel all warm and gooey inside. It's worth it for that alone. Besides, the psychos are few and far between ;-)
If you aren't already, remember to keep an eye on the Top Tips and News sections of the NV site for information straight from romance mothership.
Also, Mills and Boon have also put together a book for writers who are targeting their lines and entering the competition. I really enjoyed the section of the heroine's BFF. If you haven't already, you can download it for FREE (woot!) here.
Plus, find out what Desire's Senior Editor, Stacy Boyd, gets done in a day (wow!) and her advice for aspiring authors at Wynter Daniels' blog.
I hope everyone involved in the September 30K challenge is recovering well. If you didn't quite reach your goal or haven't finished your WIP, Maya Blake, is doing 20K in 20 days for October. Join in here.
Happy writing!
