WORD PLAY PODCAST - WEEKLY TOP TEN - 08/23 - 08/29

These are the most listened-to episodes of the week. Did your favorite make the list?

1)   Ember Dante
2)   Emily Goodwin
3)   Kat Mizera
4)   Di Ainsworth
5)   CJ Baty 
6)   Bianca Sommerland 
7)   Kristina Rienzi
8)   Mickey Mikkelson
9)   Judith Katz 
10) Dawn Hosmer  

*stats compiled from Podcast.co - these do not include numbers from ArtistFirst Radio Network

Unapologetic Romance ~ by Christina Alexandra

I write Romance.

There. I said it. I am not ashamed, or scared, or sorry about what I write. My name is my own and I am proud of the genre I write.

 

I didn’t start out that way. In fact, I didn’t start to read Romance until about eight years ago, and only started to write it seriously six years ago. At the time I started reading Romance, I was one of those people; the ones who scoffed at Romance as “florid” or “simple” or “pornography” and all the other clichéd stereotypes that float around about the genre.

Then I read my first Romance, Sarah MacLean’s Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake. That quickly led to another, and another, and...well, you get the idea. Not only did I rediscover my love of reading, but I discovered a few things about Romance along the way.

I discovered was that Romance is not florid, it is more often than not a well written emotional rollercoaster; it is not simple, it is well thought out with complex characters and story lines; it is not pornography, but the intimacy, whether graphically on the page or not, is used to strengthen the relationship between characters. Not only that, but by definition, it has to have a positive ending. I finally found what I had been waiting for, seemingly my entire life.

I devoured as many Romance novels as I could, and it didn’t matter what subgenre they were--contemporary, paranormal, or erotic, I read them all. But my first love (no pun intended), and the one I always go back to, is Historical Romance. Specifically those set in the late Georgian and Regency eras. I loved it so much, in fact, that when I started writing Romance, the Regency period is what I gravitated to.

Most Regency fans love it because of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. But I have a confession to make: I have never read a Jane Austen book I enjoyed. My appreciation for the time period came from the modern Romance novels, and when I started to research it for my own writing, I fell in love with it. As I dug deeper, I realized it wasn’t so different than the world we live in today.

Oh, sure we have modern conveniences and attitudes, but underneath it all, the struggles are very similar to what we face today. There were concerns about the environment, veterans returning from war, questions about the leadership of the country and gratuitous spending while the majority of the population struggling to make ends meet, racial and religious tensions, and men trying to control women. Romance made me aware of the society around me, giving me a way to relate to current events in a way that wasn’t so contentious.

Now, when the world becomes too much of an overload, I can always turn to romance. When I’m burned out on politics and the pandemic, I can escape for a bit while still feeling connected to the world. When the fear and stress of the Day Job gets to be overwhelming, I can feed my endorphins by reading a guaranteed uplifting ending.

That is why I am, and always will be, an Unapologetic Regency Romance Writer.

So if you’re feeling down, or overwhelmed by the state of affairs, and you haven’t yet read a Romance, give it a try. There is quite literally something out there for anyone. Don’t know where to start? Drop me an email or DM on Facebook, I’d be happy to recommend one that will fit you. :)

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Once Upon A Twelfth Night Anthology

Listen to Christina Alexandra's podcast episode here.

Episode 194 - Guest Ember Dante

Ember Dante – author of the Epiphany series.

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Episode 193 - Guest Emily Goodwin

Emily Goodwin – Vice President of Public Affairs for Author Services, Inc., home of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest.

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WORD PLAY PODCAST - WEEKLY TOP TEN - 08/16 - 08/22

These are the most listened-to episodes of the week. Did your favorite make the list?

1)   Kat Mizera
2)   Mickey Mikkelson
3)   Jolie Banner
4)   Ava Lynn Wood
5)   Jennifer Laslie 
6)   MJ Preston 
7)   Jeffrey A. Carver
8)   Bianca Sommerland
9)   CJ Baty 
10) Tosca Lee  

*stats compiled from Podcast.co - these do not include numbers from ArtistFirst Radio Network

The Writers of the Future: Discovering New Talent for Nearly 40 Years ~ by Emily Goodwin

First of all, a big Thank You to Kristine for having me on her podcast. I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you a little more about the Writers of the Future Contest that has launched the careers of so many bestselling authors. And the new and not exclusive online workshop we spoke about.

 

 
Let’s go back to 1983 when it all started. Long before America’s Got Talent or American Idol, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future discovered hot new talent through an international amateur writing contest judged by the masters in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Founding judges included Algis Budrys, who served as the original Coordinating Judge, Dr. Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, Jack Williamson, and Roger Zelazny. Shortly after them followed Frederik Pohl and Gene Wolfe who joined Algis teaching at the first workshop in Taos, New Mexico.

 

For the second year’s workshop, Budrys enlisted Tim Powers and Orson Scott Card to help teach the new writers. That year, one of their students was David Farland, who won the grand prize Golden Pen award. He has since become a bestselling author with more than fifty novels published and is now the Writers of the Future Coordinating Judge.

Other judges for the Writers of the Future Contest are among the best-known names in science fiction: Kevin J. Anderson, Dr. Doug Beason, Hal Clement, Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert, Dr. Yoji Kondo, Nancy Kress, Anne McCaffrey, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, C.L. Moore, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Jody Lynn Nye, Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brandon Sanderson, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, Dr. Charles Sheffield, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, and Roger Zelazny. In addition to David Farland, former Contest winners have achieved success in the field and have since become judges including Eric Flint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nnedi Okorafor, K.D. Wentworth, Dr. Sean Williams, and Dean Wesley Smith.

The Writers of the Future Contest has been developing new professional writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy for nearly four decades. It is free and open for anyone to enter with no restrictions on age, race, color, or creed. In fact, the Contest is judged blind, which means the writer’s name is removed before the story is seen by the judges. The prize money ranges from $500 to $1,000 with an additional $5,000 for the grand prize winner. 

 
Winning the Contest includes receiving a world-class workshop to accompany the awards ceremony. Twelve writer winners are flown out to Hollywood for a week-long workshop and gala awards event where each receives a trophy and the final Golden Pen award is announced. All 12 winners are also published in the annual anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. Volume 36 is out in stores now.

Winning the Writers of the Future Contest can put wings on an aspiring writer’s career. Editors, agents, and publishers all take note of the Contest winners.

The Contest has grown into the most prestigious of its kind: the only competition based on merit alone. Each year holds its own magic, its own wonder, its own discoveries.

The New Free Writing Workshop:

A new addition was made in 2020. Shortly after the safer-at-home restrictions started going into place worldwide, we took the basics of the Writers of the Future Workshop and put it into video/essay format and posted it online for all.

The free intermediate level writing course includes essays, assignments, and 13 video presentations featuring Writers of the Future judges: David Farland, Tim Powers, and Orson Scott Card. Contest Judge Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) stated, “I hope viewers will be encouraged to write, and to write better. There are great stories as yet unwritten; I hope the viewers of this course will write them so I can read them.”

The workshop instructors walk an aspiring writer through the steps to write a short story making full use of L. Ron Hubbard’s timeless articles on writing. That the course is free and encourages writers to complete and submit their story, makes it perfect not only for an aspiring author but anyone wanting to be able to write stories. 


 


If you are interested in signing up for the writing workshop, you can do so at Free Online Workshop.

To enter the Writers of the Future or find out more about the Contest, go to www.writersofthefuture.com.

About Emily Goodwin:

Emily is the Vice President of Public Affairs Author Services, Inc. based in Los Angeles, California. She has been involved with book publishing since 2007, including the international Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests. She is the producer for the Writers of the Future Annual Achievement Awards as well as the online writing workshop. She has been active with the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) as a contest judge for the Benjamin Franklin Awards. She is involved in community activities in the greater Los Angeles area and has been Vice President Community Outreach for the Hollywood Christmas Parade since 2014. Emily has also been an Honorary Commander for the US Air Force since 2018 and as of 2020, the US Space Force. 


Listen to Emily Goodwin's podcast episode here.

Episode 192 - Guest Kat Mizera

Kat Mizera – author of the Las Vegas Sidewinders series, the Sidewinders: Generations series, and the Royal Protectors series.

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