The Mary Street Shield is a bi-annual award that alternates with the Gwladys Bungay Rose Bowl for a Novel (any genre/subject); both require a synopsis and the first three chapters.
(The latter of the two ladies was published by Mills and Boon as Gwladys Duke in the 1960's.)
My winning story is actually a contemporary romance for a change- and my current work in progress.
The synopsis and first three chapters were written in just over six weeks, after my intended entry just wasn't working and it got temporarily shelved.
The contemporary idea had been lurking in my brain for some time, inspired by a book purchase, the cover instantly created a visual image in my mind, my heroine Felicity is stood looking up at a painting, and she's wearing an identical outfit to the woman in the portrait- and that moment eventually turns up in chapter four.
This competition was judged by Suzanne Ross Jones, who also writes as Suzanna Ross, and has had five My Weekly Pocket Novels published, (four now on Kindle), and lots of other published stories.
I'll admit now, there were a few minor points that would need a little work, but I agree with Suzanne's remarks regarding them.
Here's a bit of the feedback:
"I adore stories about writers and about libraries - and this has the best of both of those subjects. This is a traditional romantic set up and you've met my expectations of the genre with characters and situation. The writing is polished and assured and I was thoroughly entertained as I read the three chapters."
Now I have to admit that my hero is a little bit older than you usually get in romances, he's forty, but an attractive forty; Felicity is a thirty-two year old librarian, and has recently been made redundant from her job. Life is about to change for both of them...
"I was actually quite sad when I got to the end of chapter 3 - this is the sort of book that I'd like to read through at one sitting."
Now normally I'd have a picture of me with the trophy, but the shield got left behind when the other trophies were transported to the venue earlier in the day. It was only realised when we collected the silverware from the locked cupboard. So I'll be getting the actual shield in the New Year.
As it was also the Christmas party I dressed up in a seasonal colour.
NWC Awards Night 2014 |
And if you wondered what the book was that inspired the story, and the item that appears in it, well it's this...
Inspiration for my winning story |
I'm not going to tell you more, you'll just have to wait until I finish writing it, and it gets published. But this is the priority project for early 2015...
23 comments:
Congratulations, Carol!
Wonderful news, Carol - and very positive feedback. I'm sure you'll get lots of interest when it becomes an actual book. Good luck with it!
Helen Laycock
Thanks, Helen.
Thanks, Helen. :)
I'll decide where to look at sending it, once I know it's final length.
Congratulations!
Fantastic news Carol. The pressure is on now :) Get it finished so we can have a read. You look lovely in the photo. A well chosen festive WINNERS outfit - so happy for you!
Well done, Carol - you should feel very proud!
Lovely news, Carol - well done :-) x
Congratulations, Carol. It was a good night. Thanks for all your hard work.
Congratulations, Carol! Good luck with writing the rest of it.
Congratulations, Carol. I love hearing about the inspiration behind a story, too. Often some quite small detail is the trigger.
Ann
Many congratulations, Carol - I definitely want to read that book (yours, I mean!)
Thank you Kathleen.
And congratulations on how well your book, The Emerald Comb, is doing. It's on my Kindle waiting for reading time over the Christmas holidays. :-)
Thank you, Nicola. Now I know where I'm going with the story, it will help me get on with it.
I don't get out to many parties, so when I do I make an effort, and the dress was perfect for a Christmas party. :-)
Thanks, Wendy, I am very proud to have won this trophy a second time, as Mary Street, who the trophy commemorates, was a lovely supportive writer, who gave me advice and support early on.
Thanks, Teresa. :-)
I think I've finally found the writing system that works for me, and enables me to get on with the story.
Thanks, Keith.
You do a lot too which I thank you for, and I hope you'll blog about your trophy presentation too. :-)
Thanks, Patsy. :-)
Thanks, Ann.
I often get inspiration from visuals sources, whether it's a picture, like the book cover, or at an actual place. So hopefully I won't run out of ideas. :-)
Thanks, Rosemary.
I hope you will get the opportunity to read it. :-)
Thank you all for your lovely comments.
I've finally found a writing system that works for me, and will be putting in as much time as I can to get this story complete and submitted. Then it will be back to my Serena Lake story that is awaiting its second draft.
2015 is going to be busy. :-)
I have no problem with your hero being forty - He'd still be a bit too young for me!
Good point, Lizy. :D
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