“This is how you do it: You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that eas and that hard.” Neil Gaiman
**********************************8
For the second year in a row, Write A House is offering writers the opportunity to win a home in the Detroit area. The winning writer agrees to maintain the home as his or her primary place of residence, to interact with the local writing community and to live in the house at least 75 percent of the time. In return, the winner will receive a fully renovated 1,100 square foot home with a basement, front and back yard, one or two bedrooms and bathroom. Writers from any part of the United States are eligible to apply. You must be a low to moderate income writer, and you must submit a writing sample (poetry, nonfiction or fiction.) The deadline for submissions is June 5, 2015. Get all the rules and details here.
*****************************************

Only a week until the release of The Guardian, which kicks off a new four-book series for Harlequin Intrigue. The Ranger Brigade series follows a multi-agency task force charge with keeping law and order on the public lands in and around Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The Guardian, in stores May 19 and available as an ebook beginning June 1, kicks off the action with a kidnapping, a murder, and a reunion between a former U.S. soldier and the medic who saved her life.
**********************************************
There’s still time to sign up for Harlequin’s Back to Basics Boot Camp, which kicks off May 22 as a prelude to their So You Think You Can Write competition. The free, online, interactive Boot Camp aims to help authors polish their manuscripts for the competition. Find out more here.
****************************************
One Teen Story focuses on fiction for young adult readers. The magazine publishes stories by both adult writers and teen writers and pays $500 per story. The editors are looking for stories about the teen experience, between 2,000 and 4,500 words. of all genres. Find the guidelines here.
**************************************
British publisher Mills & Boon, British bookseller WH Smith, and ebook retailer Kobo Books are teaming up to sponsor the Romance Writing Life competition. The competition is open to aspiring romance authors in the UK, the United States or Canada. Both self-published and never before published authors may enter the competition. Submit your synopsis of no more than 500 words and a first chapter of no more than 5,000 words by July 14, 2015. Finalists will be asked to submit a complete manuscript. Submissions may be in any romance subgenre — contemporary, historical, paranormal or new adult. The grand prize winner will receive a publishing contract with Mills and Boon. There is no fee to enter the competition. For all the details, go here.
***************************************
As always, feel free to share this blog post with others — repost, reprint, retweet, etc. Please give me credit as the source and include a link back to the blog. Thank you. Cindi Myers
“A well-developed and versed character will write the story for you.” A.R. Voss
****************************************************
Story Magazine is accepting submissions on the theme of climate change for an upcoming issue. Send your short story of any genre exploring climate change (in this world or another.) No length limit. Payment is $20 per page, up to $200. The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2015. Find more details here.
********************************************
During the month of May, Tor.com is open to unsolicited submissions of Science Fiction and Fantasy novellas. Sr. Editor Lee Harris and Asst. Editor Carl Engle-Laird will be reviewing submissions from both unpublished and previously published authors. Harris loves space opera, and classic science fiction themes and would love to see a time travel thriller. Engle-Laird is interested in technothrillers and near-future science fiction. Both editors are also open to urban fantasy and fantasy. Submissions should be 30K to 40K. Find out more here.
******************************************
The Saturday Evening Post is sponsoring the Great American Fiction Contest, Submit your previously unpublished short story of 1,500 to 5,000 words by the deadline of July 1, 2015 for a chance at the $500 top prize and publication in the January/February 2016 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. There is a $10 entry fee. Stories may be any genre but should be focused on the Saturday Evening Post’s trademark theme of Americana, with no profanity or graphic sex. Find out all the details here.
****************************************
Only two weeks until the print release of The Guardian, the first installment of my new Ranger Brigade miniseries for Harlequin Intrigue. The ebook version will be available June 1. ”
Memories of rescuing her fueled his dreams. Seeing her again fueled his desire.
Far from the mountains of Afghanistan, Abby Stewart found solace in the wild country of western Colorado. But after finishing one war, she was caught in another. In securing the crime scene, Lieutenant Michael Dance was more surprised to see Abby than the dead body. How could he forget her face after caring for her wounds and saving her life? And yet she didn’t remember him at all. That wouldn’t stop him from embarking on a high stakes investigation leading to much worse than murder. And if it helped jog Abby’s memory and soften her toward him, he wouldn’t leave her side until she was safe once more…” Get your copy here.
*****************************************
Harlequin’s 2015 So You Think You Can Write program kicks off May 21 with the Back to Basics Online Bootcamp. Sign up for this free only writers’ workshop to get your manuscript in shape for the So You Think You Can Write competition, which begins September 14. Get all the information you need here.
************************************
As always, feel free to share the information in this blog. Re-post, re-tweet and reprint. Please give me credit as the source and include a link to this blog. If you’d like to know more about me and my books, check out my websites here and here, or visit me on Facebook here.