Californian wins writing contest

Congratulations go to Miguella Twosias from Stockton, CA, who won the writing contest I offered. The question was to write a comment in the fewest number of words about Katharine Ashe’s answers to my questions on my blog, Women and Adversity.  Miguella wrote, “Greatest obstacle frequently ourselves.”

An autographed copy of Katharine’s book, “I Married the Duke,” the first in her The Prince Catcher series, is on its way to Miguella.

A graduate of University of the Pacific, Miguella is revising her first manuscript. When asked what her greatest obstacle to being a writer is, Miguella wrote:

I think the greatest challenge for me so far has been getting the manuscript to the stage where it’s publishable (making sure that the plot’s set up correctly, that the characters are likable and their actions believable, good amount of conflict, etc.).

I thought my manuscript was complete and I was happy with my story, but after some feedback, I realized it needed to be rewritten. Rewriting has been challenging. I’m keeping my energy and excitement level up, but considering it’s been more than two years working on this manuscript, that’s not always easy to do.

I constantly remind myself why I want to be a writer in the first place: I want to write fun/funny, sweet stories to make people smile the way other people’s sweet stories have made me smile. It’s been a really long process and journey, but I hope one day my manuscript will be published.

Books, writing, and imagining stories make me happy. I really like coming up with playful dialogue and thinking of sweet ways for the hero to woo the heroine. (And sweet things the heroine can do for the hero, too, of course.

I used to read in every genre, but nowadays I read more of crime/suspense/thriller (David Baldacci) and historical romance. I’m excited to get Katharine Ashe’s book because, apart from liking the genre, it’ll be the first book signed to me from the author.