Hi everyone–
As most of you know, this is my first year as a published fiction author. My first book, Genetic Attraction, came out on Jan 4, 2011 from Loose Id. (And to celebrate, i’m having a HUGE Blog Hop on my Author Blog on January 4th where the grand prize winner gets a Kindle Fire and the second prize is a $60. Amazon GC!)
Since that first book, i have five more published and three more contracted which is an amazing vote of confidence in itself. But sometimes, as a new author, you look around and see all the incredibly talented people and think “I’ll never be that good. Maybe i’m not cut out for this.” I imagine all writers have these thoughts. It’s a challenging art that makes you work hard to get the books completed and even harder to keep getting better. It’s very competitive — but thankfully the number of people with e-readers is growing exponentially! So there’s room for a lot of authors.
The last 10 days have been the kind of reinforcement that keeps a writer writing. I have just come from the LRC Best of 2011 Nominations. I think you know LRC is one of the largest and most respected Yahoo Groups for Romance plus a reviewer and supporter of the Romance community. To my astonishment, i received two nominations — one for Best Author of 2011 and one for Best All-Around Series of 2011 for my Genetic Attraction Series which includes — The Scientist and the Supermodel, Genetic Attraction, and my recently released, Deceptive Attraction. Some of my good friends and idols are on both of these lists and i know i have very little chance to win, but being on the lists is the amazing honor. (At some point soon, however, i will come ask for your vote if you don’t have another horse in the race! LOL)
A few days before Christmas, i was also nominated for the CAPA awards from TRS. That time it was for Genetic Attraction as Best Contemporary Romance and me as Favorite Author. Wow. That is so incredible it boggles my mind.
So it’s quite an anniversary week around here. I want to thank you all so much for your enthusiasm, encouragement and support. More than any award nominations, you are what keeps me loving to write. I hope your New Year is amazingly blessed –and that you’ll let me play a small part in it. Happy New Year!!!! Love and Joy. Tara : )