Holding Out for a Fairy Tale...?

My current work in progress is always affectionately referred to as "the damn book." When I've got to write the climax and want to skip to the ending, I complain that I have to finish the damn book. If I really want to start a new project rather than make dinner, I announce that I'm ordering pizza because I need to finish outlining the damn book. It stays the damn book through the entire writing process, from outline to rough draft edits. It's not until I begin to put together query letters that I ask the dreaded question: "What do I call the damn book?"

I suck at coming up with titles. I really, really do. I agonize over them. I come up with lists, think about the connotation of every single word, and then cross-out everything on the list. It sometimes takes me longer to pin down a title than it does to outline a novel, and I almost always give up.

So, what do I do? At a loss for an appropriate name, I end up going through the text while editing and looking for any phrase that I can rip out of context that might sound interesting. It's a creative cop-out, but I did it again this time.

Ray & Elliot's story, tentatively entitled Holding Out for a Fairy Tale, is done and will hopefully need one more proofread before being submitted later this week.

You can read a short excerpt at: Holding Out for a Fairy Tale.

I don't think any special warnings need to accompany the excerpt, but I'll post something worthy of a warning label as the story works its way through the submission process:)

I'm an AMB Ovation Awards Finalist!

I've just learned I'm a finalist for the The AMB Ovation Awards for Outstanding Author in GLBT Literature for A Casual Weekend Thing! Not even in the Debut Author category, which my fragile ego is taking to mean I'm now counted among writers who do this kind of thing professionally! The award strives to recognize "published romance authors who addressed a challenge, problem, or issue facing AA/IR/Multicultural couples today in their romance novels."


This is the first I've heard of the award and I am thrilled by the nomination!

The notice also shed a bit of light in an otherwise stressful transition in my life. I've spent the last few weeks living in a hotel, awaiting a housing assignment at my dear husband's new duty station. Entertaining three little kids in a hotel kitchenette isn't as easy as one might think, even when there's cable TV, because the novelty of living in a hotel loses its appeal really fast. One of the many joys of this transition is that this particular military base hotel has spotty wi-fi, and even spottier cellular coverage. The standing-on-the-dresser acrobatics needed for 3G access were fun, but the last thing my kids needed was to come to the conclusion that climbing the furniture is a good way to pass the time.

So, needless to say, I've been out of touch. Getting my computer unpacked and having regular internet access again was a relief, and finding such awesome news in all of the unread email I still have to sort through made my day.

I wanted to share the news and extend my thanks to everybody who's taken a chance on A Casual Weekend Thing!

And for those cynical friends who know me offline.... I swear, the name of the award is just a neat coincidence. Angie is an awesome, beautiful, and under-appreciated, name.