Wednesday, 1 October 2014
A big thank you to Brook Cottage Books for inviting me here
today, helping me to celebrate my second novel making the final of the Maggie
Award for Excellence.
Probably the best
phone call or e-mail a writer can receive – after the one from a publisher who
wants to publish your book – is one to say that it has made the grade in a competition. In this case it was a little while coming as
the finalists were published and my book was not among them – but then I got
that all important e-mail. There had been a glitch in the scoring and I was on
the list after all! It’s a wonderful feeling to know that readers - librarians and booksellers - liked your book enough to put it in the final
of a contest like the Maggie Award.
What is the Maggie? It’s the annual contest of the Georgia
Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. It’s been going for over 30 years
and is highly respected in the world of romance writing in the US. It’s
exciting and a great honour, as a Welsh author, to be chosen as a finalist.
And the book? It’s called Out of Sight Out of Mind. It’s what is known in the US as a
romantic suspense – a romantic thriller in the UK - with a paranormal twist.
Not vampires and werewolves, but a heroine who can read minds and a hero who
has an unexpected connection to her, through her work. It’s set in London,
where I used to live, and in Wales, where I live now. Some of the scenes in
Wales are real places, some are imagined ones – that’s is one of the beauties
of being a writer – you get to invent your perfect beach, your perfect seaside
cottage and your perfect hero – and the reader is free too, to put their
favourite beach, cottage, hero, into the picture. Actually, Jay, the hero of
the book is not exactly perfect – he has some very dark things in his past and
meeting him draws Madison, my heroine, into danger. And that’s why it’s called
romantic suspense …
The contest winner will be announced at the Moonlight and
Magnolias convention on 11th October. I’d love to be there, but
Georgia is long way to travel from Wales! Maybe one day I’ll make it, as the
convention sounds like great fun.
Will I win? Of course I hope so, but if I don’t, the
experience of being a finalist has been a huge thrill. I’m grateful to the
judges who chose me and the organisers who made the contest happen.
And of course thanks to JB/Debbie for inviting me here to
Brook Cottage Books to share the excitement and tell you about Out of Sight Out of Mind.
Out of Sight Out of Mind – published by Choclit
Twitter @evonnewareham
Congrats on making the finals - that's great! This is on my Kindle waiting to be read - it might just slide further up the TBR list now. Good Luck!
Well done! I'm reading Out of Sight Out of Mind on my Kindle right now.
Thanks Janet and Sally for taking the time to say hi. Hope you both enjoy the book. (Chews nails)
That's absolutely fantastic, Evonne! I did so enjoy Never Coming Home and this is on my TRB list. Looking forward to it!
You're a super writer, Evonne, building tension and always keep me turning the pages. It's brilliant that you've made the final of the Maggie Award for Excellence. Good luck!
It's a wonderful book and deserves to win!
Congratulations, Evonne, and good luck with the award. Hope to see you at Crimefest next year.
Thank you ladies for the support - just to be in the final is fabulous. And Chris - hope to see you at Crimefest - our annual meeting :)
Congratulations, Evonne. Well deserved.
Hi Isabella
Thanks. And I think you have something good coming this month too? An Irish Promise?
Well done Evonne and fingers tightly crossed for the final decisio. Fantastic to have got this far, whatever happens,
Congratulations, Evonne.