Seekerville Weekend Edition

Welcome to Seekerville. Grab an umbrella. Stay dry while you catch up on the news, events and Seeker sightings.












SUNDAY UPDATE!

Congratulations to Janet Dean whose Steeple Hill Historical, Courting Miss Adelaide is an RT Reviewers' Choice Nominee.

Info on this award:
Reviewers' Choice Awards honor the best books of the year. The winners and nominees are selected by Romantic Times' staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers' voice in the women's fiction industry. Winners will be announced in the June issue, and were honored at a ceremony April 24 at the 26th annual Booklovers Convention in Orlando, Florida.

We'll post the list of winners as soon as they are available.

MORE NEWS!

The results of the 2009 Linda Howard Award of Excellence are in.

Congrats to all our inspy friends!

INSPIRATIONAL

1. Promises to Keep by Tina Radcliffe
2. Finding Grace by Stacy Monson
3. The Path by Lee Duncan
4. Love on Assignment by Cara Slaughter
5. When You Least Expect It by Anita Draper



Clear your calendar, this week is going to be awesome!
Monday: Join us April 28th, when the fabulous SuperChick, Gina Welborn will discuss Synopsis: The Good, the Bad, the Unjudged Optional.
Tuesday, April 29th: Writing Outside the Box with Barbara Larriva.

Wednesday, April 30th: 2009 RITA Inspirational finalist, Judy Duarte visits today! And she'll be doing a giveaway too!
Thursday, April 31st: We are delighted to have agent Natasha Kern in Seekerville!

Friday, May 1st: Contest Update. Are you just going to sit there? Come visit us for the month's contests and a couple of SURPRISES!





Seeker Sightings:


Check out this exciting online class offered by the Orange County Chapter of RWA!

Writing the Synopsis"With Camy Tang

May 11, 2009 – June 6, 2009
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: May 10, 2009

ABOUT THE CLASS:Whether you've got a complete manuscript or you've just started one, this class will help you write a complete synopsis for your story. Camy will take you step by step so that by the end of the class you will have written a one-page synopsis, a 4-6 page synopsis, and also a more organic "character" synopsis. She'll give you tips and tricks to ensure you have all the structural and character elements an editor is looking for: Inciting Incident, external goal, internal conflict, romantic conflict, major obstacles, epiphany, climax, and resolution. Never fear synopsis writing again--this class will make you synopsis savvy!
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:



Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her chick lit Sushi series is out now, and next year she'll release Deadly Intent with Love Inspired Suspense. Originally from Hawaii, she worked as a biologist for 9 years, but now she is a staff worker for her San Jose church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service, which specializes in book doctoring. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels twice a week and ponders frivolous things. Visit her website and sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for monthly giveaways!



Julie Lessman will chatting with Lena Nelson Dooley, at A Christian Writer's World, on Tuesday, April 28th. Stop by and say hi for a chance to win a copy of A Passion Denied.
You can also catch Julie from April 30 through May 1, for an interview and book giveaway on Relz Reviewz.

Look for These Seeker New Releases :

Save The Date:


We're excited about the upcoming lineup for Seekerville!
May 5: Character Therapist, Jeannie Campbell
May 6: RITA winner, Linda Goodnight

May 12: Jeane Wynn, of Wynn-Wynn Media.

May 15, Kregel Publications author, Patti Lacy, will be with us.
May 20, Steeple Hill author, Margaret Daley will visit Seekerville wearing her ACFW Conference, Volunteer Coordinator hat.




Market and Industry News:

If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers,” Dorothy Parker once wrote, “the second-greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of ‘The Elements of Style.’ The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

'The Elements of Style' Turns 50. Check out this report from the NYT online.



From Powell Book News:

Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels by Candy Tan and Sarah Wendell

From Candy Tan and Sarah Wendell, the creators of the wildly popular blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, comes a hilariously sarcastic but always affectionate guide to the most popular — and maligned — fiction genre. Beyond Heaving Bosoms is study of romance novels perfect for hardcore fans and dabblers alike... and even more perfect as an eBook!

From TechCrunch:

Core MySpace Executive Team Out

MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe is stepping down as CEO of the company, with the core executive team (including the company's president, Tom Anderson) to follow. A new CEO has reportedly already been recruited and is in the final stages of contract negotiations.




The Deal.Com

Neilsen: Facebook Use Outstrips E-Mail

"In the last year, people somehow found a way to spend 73% more time on Facebook Inc. and other social networking sites, if that were possible.

The stat comes from Nielsen Co.'s The Global Online Media Landscape, released Wednesday. In February, Nielsen found, people used social network sites more than they used Web-based e-mail for the first time ever. "



From PW:

Random to Release Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' in September

After a long wait, Random House announced that Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol, will be released September 15. The company is setting a 5-million copy first printing to the follow-up to the Da Vinci Code, the highest in RH history.