This year ROSA Johannesburg undertook to support the Santa Shoebox initiative, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who got involved.
Special thanks go to the following contributors:
• Daleen, for her generous donation towards clothing
• Anthony, who not only supplied sweets but also contributed to the clothing
• Annemarie for stationery and toys
• Elaine for toiletries
• Mandy for crayons
We put together ten boxes, so ten little girls will have a reason to smile this Christmas.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Submission opportunities with Carina and Entangled
Carina Press, digital arm of Harlequin, are running a submission opportunity guaranteeing feedback and a response within 6 weeks. The catch is that you need to submit a completed/full masnuscript by midnight on Thursday 11th October. You can find out more here.
Entangled Press is running a boot camp for Nanowrimo via Savvy Authors. Spaces are filling up quickly, so you'll need to be quick. Check it out here. If you're not interested in submitting to Entangled, then check out the Savvy Authors general Nano bootcamp.
And if you're asking "what is Nanowrimo?" ... check it out here.
Entangled Press is running a boot camp for Nanowrimo via Savvy Authors. Spaces are filling up quickly, so you'll need to be quick. Check it out here. If you're not interested in submitting to Entangled, then check out the Savvy Authors general Nano bootcamp.
And if you're asking "what is Nanowrimo?" ... check it out here.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
My take on writing competitions and SYTYCW.
My name is Joss Wood and my first book for Mills and Boon Riva, ‘She’s so Over Him’ set in Cape Town, South Africa is available on Amazon and in CNA's around the country and my second, ‘Wild About the Man’ will be released in January 2013 and is set on a luxurious game reserve in South Africa.
Some of the ROSA's have entered So you Think You Can write and I wish them so much luck. I think writing competitions are a wonderful idea and I did enter the New Voices 2011 competition and came....drum roll please....absolutely nowhere! At the time, I was working on a manuscript with an editor at Riva but I thought I’d just torture myself and get some feedback from my peers. I did get feedback…mostly good, some iffy, one downright rude! As I said, I didn’t come anywhere and I wondered if I was any good at all. (Ah, writers, you’re got to love them! So needy, so insecure!) I didn’t imagine that two months later I’d get a two book contract and then another three book contract six months later.
The thing about writing competitions is that it is a way to grab the attention of an editor. With only 1 in five million manuscripts (ok, an exaggeration but you get my point :-) ) being bought out of the slush pile, this is an easier option. I follow quite a few of the Mills and Boon editors on Twitter and I can tell you that they are reading the entries with interest and they are actively looking for authors so a couple of new authors will probably be signed out of this competition. I really hope Kathleen and Louise are one of them!
By the way, if you'd like to see their entries and vote for them click on these links:
Having said all that about writing competitions, I don't think it is the only way to get published. It might not be your way, your road, your experience. I don't know the magic elixir to getting books in print but I do know that if you stop learning the craft, stop writing the words, stop submitting your work...if you don't take a chance and if you don't put yourself out there, you definitely won't get published.
Whatever your road to publication is, I hope that you enjoy every second of the journey getting there.
Best wishes,
Joss
xxx
Facebook: josswood9
Twitter@josswoodbooks
She's So Over Him- Blurb
He’s back. He’s insanely hot. He’s absolutely the last person she should date. Maddie Shaw is a part-time bartender with a never-get-involved attitude to dating and a flair for the perfectly served drink. Yet when ex-boyfriend Cale Grant walks into her bar, a whole ten years after their massive bust-up, she’s blown away all over again by his dark chocolate voice and deep blue eyes. So, just how over him is she?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shes-Over-Mills-Boon-ebook
About Joss:
Joss wrote
her first book at the age of eight and has never really stopped. Her passion
for putting black letters on a white screen is only matched by her love of
books and travelling (especially to the wild places of Southern Africa) and, possibly, by her hatred of ironing
and making school lunches.
Fueled by coffee,
when she’s not writing or being a hands-on Mom, Joss, with her background
in business and marketing, works for a non-profit organization to promote the
local economic development and collective business interests of the area where
she resides. Happily, and chaotically, surrounded by family, friends and
books, she lives in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa with her husband, young
children and their many pets.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Entangled Press Valentine's Submission Call
Entangled Press may be the new kids on the block in romance publishing, but they're fast becoming the kid in school everyone want to be friends with.
They've put out a submission call for their Brazen line (the steamier line) for sexy Valentine's themed stories, between 45,000 and 65,000 words in length, deadline 25th November 2012. You can read the details of all their submission calls here.
They've put out a submission call for their Brazen line (the steamier line) for sexy Valentine's themed stories, between 45,000 and 65,000 words in length, deadline 25th November 2012. You can read the details of all their submission calls here.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Are YOU the Next Harper Voyager Author?
From the 1st - 14th of October this year the sci-fi/fantasy imprint Harper Voyager, part of the the HarperCollins publishing house, will be accepting unagented, unsollicited submissions to their line.
If you have complete manuscripts (yes you can send more than one) to send to them, the requirements are:
* Any adult or YA speculative fiction for digital publication, particularly: epic fantasy, sci-fi, urban fantasy, horror, dystopie and supernatural.
* 80,000 - 120,000 words
* Double-spaced, sans-serif font, MS Word or RTF format
To find out more about this call for submissions from Harper Voyager click here.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Toy Boy by April Vine
What's in a title? In my heroine's case, apparently a lot. The last thing Cait Daniels wants is a boy toy so instead she gets herself The Toy Boy.
Lusting over her neighbor’s too-young-to-touch hot nephew while he mowed
the lawn in the hot sun was one thing and bad for her sparkling
reputation. Finding him in the same sex shop where she is purchasing
artificial gratification to ease the sexual bother he evoked in the
first place is quite another and forces thirty-four-year-old stickler
for rules Cait Daniels to fly red-faced through the doors of Curious
Coition without her paid for merchandize in hand.
Since he is staying with his aunt for a few days, twenty-four-year-old Declan Meyer wants to do the neighborly thing and return the orphaned sex toy to its rightful owner. Only in this case the rightful owner is the same woman he wants in his bed, his heart, and his life. He is not above holding the pleasure tool over her head and threatening her good standing in an attempt to show her the real thing with him, never mind his age.
Since he is staying with his aunt for a few days, twenty-four-year-old Declan Meyer wants to do the neighborly thing and return the orphaned sex toy to its rightful owner. Only in this case the rightful owner is the same woman he wants in his bed, his heart, and his life. He is not above holding the pleasure tool over her head and threatening her good standing in an attempt to show her the real thing with him, never mind his age.
Excerpt:
"Declan loves them. That boy eats like a horse,
I tell you. God knows where he puts it all though. Ah, but it’s so good to have
him visiting his old aunt."
Cait forced her mind to blank out the mention of his
name. Already a deep flush set into her skin, and it wouldn’t be long before
she crumbled in complete embarrassment in front of Mrs. Meyer. She had to get
rid of her quickly. The instant her attention turned onto the street at an
oncoming car, Cait started to say good-bye and had the door almost halfway
closed already.
"Oh, look, it’s Declan."
She didn’t mean to look, really. But who couldn’t
when he drove one of those horrendously old-fashioned jeep things that looked
as if it would leave a trail of parts in its wake?
"Thanks for the cookies, Mrs. Meyer. I really
must go."
"Oh, hold on a minute. You haven’t said a
proper hello to him yet. I’m so proud of that boy. He’s grown into such a
lovely man and takes such good care of his mother." Mrs. Meyer’s eyes
misted over as she glanced at her nephew descending from his excuse for a car.
Yeah? Did she know he frequented sex shops on a
Saturday morning? Not only that, he was some kind of VIP, too; or else what
would he have been doing behind the counter if he weren’t an honest regular
customer, like her? "Declan," Mrs. Meyer called to him. No, she had
to get out of this.
"Maybe another time, but I really have to
go…"
He reached his arm through the open window and
retrieved a package that dried her mouth and constricted her heart. With a few
long strides, he was at her door. Her gaze glued to the bag he nonchalantly
held in his hand.
The Toy Boy is available at:
And you can find me:
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