Crimson Romance, an imprint of F&W Media, launched on June 4, 2012, with 24 authors. For more information, go here... http://www.crimsonromance.com/ Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter while you're there!
Today, the Wordwranglers welcome Crimson Romance editor, Jennifer Lawler. She is actively acquiring, and has graciously agreed to take 1-5 line pitches on finished manuscripts.
The blog opens at 9:00 a.m. EST and closes at 5:00 EST.
In the body of the blog, please format like this:
Title:
Genre:
Word Count:
And your 1-5 line pitch.
Thanks for visiting, and good luck!
Today, the Wordwranglers welcome Crimson Romance editor, Jennifer Lawler. She is actively acquiring, and has graciously agreed to take 1-5 line pitches on finished manuscripts.
The blog opens at 9:00 a.m. EST and closes at 5:00 EST.
In the body of the blog, please format like this:
Title:
Genre:
Word Count:
And your 1-5 line pitch.
Thanks for visiting, and good luck!
Title: The Rebel's Promise
ReplyDeleteGenre: Historical
Word count: 65000
Pitch: It is December 1745. Rosie rescues a Jacobite rebel from certain death and a passionate attachment blossoms. But there is a price on Jack's head and he must flee the country. Believing he has been in killed in battle at Culloden, Rosie is forced into a distasteful betrothal. When Jack returns he is unable to hide the anguish he feels at her betrayal ... and Rosie dare not risk telling him the truth. It is only when danger throws them together again that they are reminded of the tenderness they once shared.
I always love a good historical, but in any romance it's very important to have a believable conflict between the Hero and Heroine. So, when the conflict can be cleared up if only Heroine would say eight words to the Hero ("I didn't really have a choice about this") that's not a very satisfying conflict or particularly believable, and it runs the risk of making the Hero or Heroine look like a jackasss/an idiot/something else non-heroic.
DeleteNow, in a short pitch, you don't have a chance to communicate nuances, so it may be that the conflict is more layered than is readily apparent, in which case, that's terrific. Otherwise, I would encourage you to find another way to create a conflict between the Hero and Heroine.
-- Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, thanks for the reply and feedback. There IS a lot more to it (that I couldn't really convey, as you've said, in such a short pitch) involving a villainous suitor with a nasty taste for blackmail. I am away from my own laptop and for some strange reason can't login or get my name to appear on here!
DeleteAmanda
Title: Sex and Insensibility
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary
Word count: 54,000
Pitch: Only a few things stand in the way of Lara Haley and Will Kenner finding their happily ever after: her dead husband, his ex wife, three kids, two dogs and a flaming bulldozer.
This is fun and immediately caught my attention as something I would want to read more of. And in fact I would be happy to! Pls feel free to send a synopsis and full ms to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
DeleteIf this were a full-blown query, I'd want to know more about Lara and Will (e.g., why I should care about them) and a bit more about why the dead husband et al are a problem/create conflcit between Hero and Heroine.
-- Jennifer
Title: Facing the Music
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 30,000
Cancer survivor Cassidy Schultz thought she had buried her painful past, until she came face-to-face with the man she practically left at the altar – super sexy, successful musician Gavin. Only Gavin doesn't know why she left him and their record deal behind. Trying to keep her health, her job, and her horniness in check, Cassidy must find a way to stop whoever is trying to sabotage her life, including herself.
This is a case where I'm not sure the conflict between the Hero and Heroine is sufficient to sustain the entire novel. It's not clear why exactly Cassidy left Gavin at the altar, but it feels like it's going to be one of those "if she had said eight words to him there would be no conflict" situations. So I would encourage you to consider whether you have a sufficiently believable conflict between H/H.
Delete30K is verging on too short for a full-length novel; add in the allusion to someone sabotaging Heroine (which means some secondary plot is going on) and it's possible that not all of the elements of plot, character development, and relationship development are getting enough attention. Are you doing a lot of telling rather than showing? That can create a shorter book even when a lot is going on.
-- Jennifer
Thanks for your feedback Jennifer. This is on the shorter side of what I usually write, and now that you mention the telling/showing, I definitely want to smooth it out. (Everything looks great by that 6th cup of coffee...)
DeleteI will revisit and revise. Thank you for your time today and good luck!
~Heather
Title: Shatter & Burn
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 45,000
Pitch: Maggie Lora has never recovered from the fire in her foster home that left her emotionally shattered at age fifteen. Ten years later she is graduating from culinary school and baking in a job she loves but is fiercely self-protective and intensely alone. Tim Alvarez was her neighbor and best friend at the time of the fire and is now a Providence firefighter determined to bring love back into her life, convinced the positive events in his life have somehow been at her expense. As they set out together find what happened to cause the fire and begin to fall in love, Maggie has to forgive herself, to trust again and to believe she deserves a good life before they can have their happy ending.
This definitely shows promise, but my first thought is, "Why now?" What is the catalyst that makes Tim want to connect with Maggie now? I like the idea that he feels his luck has been at her expense -- what a great motivator for him to do something for her -- but I just wonder why it's happening *now* as opposed to five years ago or eight years ago.
DeleteI'm also not sure why they're solving the cause of the fire. Was Maggie blamed for it?
In romance, we're not just watching two people fall in love. We're watching two people fall in love despite the conflict between them. So, it isn't clear what's keeping these two apart, other than Maggie's self-protection, which could easily become tiresome if it's the only thing keeping them apart.
All of that said, I would be happy to take a look at the synopsis and full if you'd like to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com.
-- Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer.
DeleteHe's been searching for her obsessively for ten years and just found her. I'm sorry I didn't highlight that in the pitch. It's in the synopsis :) Lisa
Oooh, I like that! It's very hard to pack all the details into the pitch, but that's definitely something to include.
Delete--J
Title: Marriage of Sweet Convenience
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 46,000
Pitch: Three years ago, Suzanne Austin dumped wealthy wine heir Daryle Catterton. Now her only relationship is with her business, the hottest cupcake shop in San Francisco. Daryle was blindsided by the breakup. No woman has ever dumped him. But now he needs a favor from Suzanne. If she refuses, he'll lose the one thing he cares about most—inheriting Iris Vineyards.
It's not clear what their conflict is here, so unfortunately the setup sounds pretty generic. I also don't get any sense that these are characters I'll care about. She dumped him -- why? Because cupcakes are more important?
Delete"No woman has ever dumped him" = that's what matters to him about the breakup? (See how this makes him sound like a jerk?)
This reads like you came up with a plot and then stuck some characters in. That's not necessarily a bad/wrong approach, but it means you need to have more of a twist to your plot or you won't grab readers. On the other hand, if your characters are driving the plot, you can get away with a been-there-done-that plot.
-- Jennifer
Title: Dangerous Curves
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 55,015
When Krista decides to take a ride on the wild side, she ends up being the main suspect in a corporate espionage bombing. A mysterious stranger appears who both shadows and woos her. The real culprit moves the players like chess pieces moving them toward an explosive end.
Thanks.
It's very hard to pitch a novel in just a few sentences -- hard to get any nuances in -- and I recognize that, but unfortunately this reads very generically. I don't have any sense of who Krista is, and while I love enigmatic strangers as much as the next romance editor, we have to be careful not to turn the hero into a stalker.
Delete-- Jennifer
Krista is a school principal who meets a handsome stranger, Wolfe, at an education conference. She's unaware he's following her because planted evidence leads to her as the bomber. She thinks he's into her, which isn't totally wrong. Wolfe hasn't been out in the field for awhile because of a case that went awry. They are both being manipulated by a very unexpected person.
DeleteThere we go! Details that I love! Feel free to send synopsis and full ms to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Delete-- Jennifer
Title: Love on the Run
ReplyDeleteGenre: Romantic Suspense
Word Count: 45K
Paige Anderson is a good girl whose Daddy is a sheriff. She follows the rules and doesn’t involve herself with the riffraff. Will the good girl help the escaped convict without turning him in? Is he really innocent?
Oh, this could be a lot of fun. I'd love to see a synopsis and full ms on this if you'd like to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Delete-- Jennifer
Thanks you.
DeleteJeanne
Title: A Rogue in Sheep's Clothing
ReplyDeleteGenre:Regency Romance
Word Count: 85,000
Lord Hugh Davenport doesn’t trust women of the ton. Ellie Albright, the daughter of an earl, wants her stallion back from him to save her family from bankruptcy. She disguises herself as a lowly stable urchin – a girl Hugh falls in love with. Invited to a house party at the Davenport estate, Ellie must now wear a double disguise to keep Hugh from discovering her true identity. The ruse falls apart, but they agree to work together to race the stallion. Love, absent of all deception, wins.
Who doesn't love a secret identity/mistaken identity story? My caution here is that sweeping generalizations ("doesn't trust women") make your hero come across as unsympathetic.
DeleteIt can also create a problem with sustaining a believable conflict over the course of a novel. "Doesn't trust women/men/blue heelers" gets very tiresome as a source of conflict, and you don't want your readers shouting, "Oh, grow the hell up!" at your characters.
It's also the easy way out. You have to dig deeper to find a more believable/sustainable point of conflict, which makes the whole process a lot harder -- but ultimately creates a more satisfying emotional payoff for the reader.
That said, I'd be happy to look at the synopsis and full for this ms if you'd like to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Hey Jennifer,
DeleteI'm grateful you're giving the full ms a looksee. You may be right, that the hero's conflict doesn't go deep enough, but I motivated his mistrust via a traumatic event during his childhood. Hopefully his unhappy past will keep readers from shouting at their Kindles.
Thank you for the opportunity,
--Elf
Title: Submerged In Desire
ReplyDeleteGenre: Erotic Contemporary
Word count: 47,852
Pitch: After a training exercise goes horribly wrong, Trevor Purlington comes home to try and get past the loss of his best friend. Emily Dennis hadn't expected her boyfriend Trevor to visit so unexpectedly. After being apart for so long, she was more than happy to show him just how much she missed him. Only Trevor came home a different man, one who was starting to overshadow the man she once knew. Submerged in Desire for the man that she loves, Emily vows to do whatever it takes to knock down his walls and bring back the Trevor she once knew.
This is interesting. It's a play on the tortured hero motif (which romance readers love), with the twist that H/H have an existing relationship. So Heroine has to come to terms with new Hero, and Hero has to rebuild his sense of self. Plenty of opportunity for conflict there!
DeleteWould be happy to see synopsis and full if you'd like to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Title: Lord Monroe's Dark Tower
ReplyDeleteGenre: Regency Romance
Word Count: 55,000
Claire Albright, a healer, is in love with Lord Flavian Monroe, but he harbors a dark secret that prevents him from marrying. The secret is that his ward, a psychotic, murderous hoarder, is his daughter. He believes his blood is tainted with madness. Together Claire and Flavian overcome their fears – she of his ward’s violence, and he of the outcome for future generations.
This has promise but the "fear of tainted blood" as a source of conflict has been done many many times. That doesn't mean it can't be done successfully again, but that would depend on how Claire and Flavian overcome their fears.
DeleteI'm also not a huge fan of demonizing mental illness (regardless of how it would have been treated at the time). So that aspect would have to be handled in a way that that reflects reality, not just a scary monster under the bed approach.
That said, I'd be happy to see the synopsis and full if you'd care to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
DeleteThank you so much for your interest. I understand your concern about the demonization of mental illness, and I appreciate your feelings. My sister was a hoarder, (though not a psychotic, murderous one) so I've tried to inject a lot of humanity into my villaness's personality.
Hope you like the results.
--Elf
Title: ANGEL BAIT
ReplyDeleteGenre: Paranormal Romance (“Band of Brothers” type)
Word Count: 65k
Jarrid, a half-angel assassin, learns a renegade angel is in Detroit. Such a high-level takedown is the answer to his prayers: an end to his forced employment with Heaven. Yet to draw his enemy out he’ll need bait: Ionie Gifford, a biracial news reporter the renegade wants silenced. But Jarrid is blindsided by her beauty and tenacity, and finds the eternity-old glacier around his heart thawing. With duty and desire at war within him, he’s forced to either save Ionie from the trap he designed and stays chained to Heaven – or make her collateral damage.
This could be interesting, although Ionie is coming across as a cypher. What does she want? Who is she?
DeleteI'd be happy to look at the synopsis and full if you'd like to send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
DeleteMy pitch skills are a work in progress. I will send the synopsis and full. Thank you for the request!
Trish
Title: Winter Storms
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary novel set in world of international sailing.
Word Count: 40,644
Carly Edwards is angry when her first love, Daniel Roberts returns to Haven Bay, England, after winning double Olympic gold. Two years ago, he caused a sailing accident that destroyed both her right leg and her professional sailing career. Daniel is still in love with her and will do anything to get her back, even give up his own sailing career, but Carly doesn’t believe what he says. She thinks he feels guilty for ruining her career and she doesn’t need people feeling sorry for her, she’s managed so far alone. Daniel insists on helping her beat the phobia she has developed of the sea and she falls in love with him again; it could never work though, not until unless she can forgive him for what happened two years ago.
I like this, for two reasons: an interesting setting (the world of sailing) and a believable conflict. The difficult will be in creating the kind of nuanced characterization that will allow the reader to be sympathetic to both characters.
DeleteI'd be happy to see the synopsis and full at editorcrimson at gmail dot com.
-- Jennifer
Thank you!I'll give it a last polish and send it over.
DeleteTitle: There She Goes
ReplyDeleteGenre: Category Romance
Word Count: 50,000
All Rachel Delaney-Tolbert has to do is plan the biggest event in Redemption’s history, a tribute to her late grandmother. She left Redemption while the candles on her 18th birthday cake were still smoldering, planning the event is turning out to be harder than medical school and a certain frustratingly sexy man from her past is blocking her at every turn...
Logan Hastings, the legendary NFL-Super Star, has returned home and he’s not going to allow anything to interrupt his football program…even if that means going up against the one girl he could never have…
I'm not really sure what the conflict is here although I like the details; that makes me feel like you have created a fully realized world.
DeleteI would take a look if you want to send the synopsis and full to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Thank you Jennifer! Yes, I'd love for you to read it. Thank you and thank you to Word Wranglers for setting this up!!
DeleteBest,
Jen
Title: The Treasure
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance/Suspense
Word count: 60,000
Amelia Sawyer is looking for adventure outside her ordinary life. She hires bush pilot, Brody Kern to fly her into the South American jungle, expecting a dashing, debonair version of Indiana Jones, but Amelia butts heads with the brooding, gruff man.
Brody Kern, former Air Force fighter pilot, doesn’t need another Sawyer determined to find the elusive Paraíso. People had been hurt or killed trying to find the mysterious place, including Amelia’s aunt, but Brody’s business partner had cleaned out their account and took off with the money and now Jeremy’s bookie was breathing down Brody’s neck, threatening to break his kneecaps, or worse, if he didn’t pay his friends gambling debts.
As they embark on their adventure with news of the map spreading and every criminal in the area wanting a piece of the treasure after them, will Brody be the adventure of a lifetime or will he betray Amelia?
I love the idea of shattering her expectations like that. Who wouldn't be disappointed not to meet up with Indiana Jones?
DeleteSounds like it could be a fun adventure. Pls feel free to send the synopsis and full to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTitle: Edie and the CEO
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 40K
Edie wants to make her 60s protester grandparents proud. But championing the little guy gets her in trouble with sexy CEO Everett Kirk. Someone's trying to force Everett out of his job, and Edie's latest escapade hasn't helped. A snowstorm and an empty cabin make them confront their attraction.
Oh, I like this ... it sounds like just the right amount of plot for the word count, and I have a nice sense of your characters.
DeletePlease feel free to send synopsis and full along to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Thank you so much for reading my pitch! I really appreciate your taking the time to be here today and thank you very much for the opportunity to present Edie and the CEO.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being here today, Jennifer!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity! Thank you, Amanda.
DeleteDelighted to be there -- thank you for having me!
DeleteTitle: Me Tarzan—You Jane
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: ~82,000
He is what she can’t be. She is what he can’t have.
Bentley Westbrooks surpassed Fabio’s appearances on novel covers by a few thousands. To such fame a matching ego. Not being liked is not an option.
But it does happen.
Prisoner of her past, for Jane O’Malley life is either black or white. She doesn’t believe in second chances.
Can Bentley convince her differently?
It's really hard for me to know what you have here, so I would just suggest telling about the two main characters and what keeps them apart as if you were just talking to a friend of yours about your book.
Delete-- Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer. Really appreciate the input.
DeleteHave fun with the other entries and good luck to everyone!
Title: Sail Away
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary ST
Word Count:91,000
Kate Livingston is a single-mom who needs to be in a twelve-step program for worriers. Now she has to work with Jack Graham, a risk-taker who never second-guesses his decisions. They’re the last two people who should ever be together. But he can’t stop thinking about her fine legs or the free spirit she tries so desperately to bury. And despite all the warning flags, whenever she’s around him she can only hear, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”
Love a good opposites attract! I'd be happy to take a look at your synopsis and full if you'll send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Delete-- Jennifer
Thanks for the opportunity, Jennifer.
DeleteTitle: STEALING HOME
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 55K
Major League MVP, Colin McQueen, has broken more than world records. When their college relationship ended, Brenna O’Brien swore she’d never be that vulnerable again. But now Colin’s back, with a troubled son in tow, and needs her help.
Stealing home is the riskiest of plays, but in the end, it wins the game.
Former lovers reuniting is a beloved theme in romance, but it can be a trick to do it right ... to make the break up painful enough that the h/h never wants to through that again, yet at the same time allowing for the possibility of reunion.
DeleteI'd take a look if you'd like to send synopsis and full to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Title: Sea of Passion, Book one of the Trent Brothers Trilogy: Trenched in Passion
ReplyDeleteGenre: Historical Romance
Word Count: 70,000
Author: Rebecca Johnson
Free spirited Georgia Lacey is desperate to escape an arranged marriage to a complete stranger, so dressed as a boy she seeks refuge on a ship bound for England. She is discovered as soon as the ship leaves the port of Savannah by the Captain who unknown to Georgia is the very man that her father has struck a bargain with for her to marry. Captain Gabriel Trent is aware of Georgia’s identity which he plans to hide from her in order to charm and entice her into falling in love with him.
I love a secret identity story, and a twist (where the identity isn't actually that secret) could work ... but this does not seem to have a very strong conflict that would keep h/h apart. Still, I'd be happy to receive the synopsis and full at editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Delete-- Jennifer
Author: Toni Edge
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Lost Finder
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Word Count 56,000
Ian Midas Touch Chambers is the CEO of Dark Gold, one of the most prosperous intergalactic companies in the Quay sector. His visit to a hermit is a last ditch effort to save his life from a debilitating disease. His search for a cure dumps him on an obscure planet with confusing rules called Earth and into Simone Palmer’s “career crisis” life. Simone can hardly believe her new life coach's unorthodox methods. But he's certainly taking her ho hum life and flipping it upside down. Ian’s showing her the woman she ignored is just as important as the career she’s dedicated her life to.
Fish out of water stories are fabulous, and this one sounds like a lot of fun. I'd be happy to look at synopsis and full if you'll send it along to editorcrimson at gmail dot com
Delete-- Jennifer
Title: Try Me On For Size
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance with series potential
Word Count: 81,000
In an attempt to save her floundering lingerie business, Mia suggests a radical idea: a custom-designed sex toy. She just didn’t expect to be the one to test out the prototypes, or find love in the process. The Spokespenis’ presence in the store will be just as important as their toys on the shelf, but once the first bedroom interview is complete, Mia realizes it’s not as easy as she thought to keep these trysts all business and no pleasure. With her overbearing family scrutizing her every move, and none of them wishing for her success, her sanity is in as much risk as the shop is.
A risque premise is a lot of fun, but there's no hero here ... and no conflict between h/h to power the arc of their relationship. If you can nail that down, this could be a fun read.
Delete-- Jennifer
There is...perhaps I have chosen the wrong 3-5 lines of my query to include :)
DeleteLOL -- the drawback of trying to pitch in 3-5 lines. Feel free to send the query to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com and remind me where we met.
Delete-- Jennifer
Title: My Life as a Star
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary
Word Count: 77,000
Aspiring Chicago actress Marla Goldberg meets a hot movie director with well-publicized reputation of being a player. She learns "be careful what you wish for" when her acting career and feelings for him unexpectedly skyrocket. Can Marla convince him to swear off stunning starlets and be with her?
It can be difficult to sustain a conflict if one half of the h/h couple falls in love too soon. That's not to say you can't have that happen, just that it makes it harder to sustain the conflict for thousands and thousands of words. So, if you can add a layer to this -- perhaps she is wary of being the star who got her start on the casting couch -- then you have a two-sided conflict that could be very engaging.
Delete-- Jennifer
Title: Heartland Security
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Word Count: 60,000
Five years ago, Becca Hart rescued her addicted sister’s baby to save her from being a pawn in a drug deal. Her secret led to a break-up with Army counterintelligence beau, Erik Tyler. Now, a chance encounter leads to a string of violent pranks targeting Becca, and flinging her together with Erik again. Erik is undercover with the local police, pursuing the cartel. As he and Becca face their unknown enemy, they must fight their own battle to rebuild trust and arm themselves with love.
This has promise, but I'm always wary of a conflict that wouldn't exist if someone said eight words. "I'm saving my sister's baby from a drug lord." Okay, nine words.
DeleteIt's also not clear what their current conflict is. I'd tweak that a bit and see where it gets you.
-- Jennifer
Title: Triple Threat
ReplyDeleteGenre: Contemporary
Word Count: 55,000
As a nerdy high school sophomore, Holly Nelson didn't stand a chance with school star Nick Damone. Fifteen years later and the struggling playwright still has no hope of landing the Hollywood bad boy, but her play needs an A-list actor and the producers are set on Nick, the one man capable of healing her heart after her messy divorce from an abusive husband - or of breaking it beyond repair.
Nick’s happy to ditch the liars, backstabbers and suck-ups in Tinseltown and dying to break away from his on-screen personna as action hero Trent Savage and sink his teeth into a serious, dramatic role on the New York stage. Working with Holly's a welcome bonus; now he can prove to the smartest girl in Ashland Falls that he’s more than just a pretty face - if she’d only stop running from him.
When suspicious accidents start plaguing the production and Nick is almost killed, Nick and Holly have to work together to find the culprit, save the show and maybe even learn to let go of their pasts and surrender to love.
I like this and think it has promise. I'd be happy to take a look at the synopsis and full if you'll send it to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com.
Delete-- Jennifer
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you! Sorry, my last comment was mysteriously removed. I'm off to a writers' conference in a few days, but when I return I'll put the final spit and polish on the manuscript and synopsis and get it off to you!
DeletePitches are open until 5pm EST, people! All these pitches are making me want to read all your books - congrats to everyone who has pitched!!! And a big thanks to Jennifer Lawler for being here today!!
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Right Design
DeleteGenre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 55,000
When Carrie Newman catches her boyfriend of six years cheating on her, she moves to another city to start a new life. She thought it would be easy to move on from her past, but it's not -- especially because she doesn't believe in mixing business with pleasure, and her client tries to convince her otherwise. Once she's able to let her guard down and start fresh with a new man, will her cheating ex-boyfrind ruin things for her forever?
Thanks for having me -- and thanks to all the people pitching! It takes a lot of courage to put your work out into the world and I admire you for doing it.
DeleteOops...I put this as Kristina's comment. I'm sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Right Design
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 55,000
When Carrie Newman catches her boyfriend of six years cheating on her, she moves to another city to start a new life. She thought it would be easy to move on from her past, but it's not -- especially because she doesn't believe in mixing business with pleasure, and her client tries to convince her otherwise. Once she's able to let her guard down and start fresh with a new man, will her cheating ex-boyfrind ruin things for her forever?
Here we don't really have hero and no idea of the conflict between them. "Hurt by past relationship" isn't really enough for a believable conflict -- it runs the risk of becoming very tiresome. Dig a little deeper to find something more compelling and that really does make a new lover seem like a really bad idea.
Delete-- Jennifer
Title: Swamp Magic
ReplyDeleteGenre: Paranormal Romance
Word Count: 46,030
Deep in the muggy swamps where there is but one rule, kill or be killed, a new species emerged.
Octavia wasn’t stupid and those unfortunate souls to have crossed her path didn’t just become swamp creatures, they became the least deadly of them.
Lizards—Armadillos—and Opossums oh my!
Moss, whose sensual iridescent tattoos are in fact thanks to his reptilian side, still struggles to come to terms with his fate and wants nothing more than to be left alone.
Beth’s life becomes upturned when she reluctantly agrees to accompany her idiotic brother on a hunt for the Bog Man, and finds not a beast, but a hero like no other.
(Google and I are locking horns--having to go with Annon to post)
Bobbi Romans
This is just odd enough to pique my interest. A reptile-man hero? I'm in.
DeleteBe happy to see synopsis and full if you'll send it along to editorcrimson at gmail dot com
-- Jennifer
Title The Rebel With a Cause
ReplyDelete50,000
Contemporary romance
In the adult romance, REBEL WITH A CAUSE, twenty-six year-old Cara Martin, a former reporter, is supporting her aunt with breast cancer to help the struggling ice cream shop she owns, but is also struggling with her crushed self-image from getting the new hearing aids she never wanted. When her former high school boyfriend lands back in town, she accidentally publishes an unflattering letter to the editor about him, and her aunt insists she make amends and work with him before she can inherit the ice cream shop.
I think you have a promising start here, but you're also kind of garbaging up the promise with unnecessary flourishes -- for example, there's no need to make Heroine's apology to Hero the result of aunt's threatening to disinherit her. If she (heroine) made a mistake, why wouldn't she apologize without having to be threatened?
DeleteSo the conflict between h/h needs to be something not quite so flimsy as a letter to the editor -- which, frankly, he's a weenie if he can't handle someone criticizing him -- so think about what could bring these two characters into conflict -- a believable, sustainable conflict -- and go from there.
You've got a good start -- h/h, a promising secondary character in the aunt, a good setting, etc. Just dig a little deeper.
-- Jennifer
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf any of the people pitching feel I didn't quite understand what you were doing and would like to send a full query to me at editorcrimson at gmail dot com, that would be fine with me, and I'll try to respond ASAP.
ReplyDeleteThank you for having me!
-- Jennifer
Thanks for coming, Jennifer, and thanks to all the writers who pitched. I wanted to read a whole bunch of them! Good luck to all.
DeleteBig thanks to Word Wranglers for hosting Jennifer and giving us this wonderful opportunity!
ReplyDelete