Hoists and Petards

So, ignore the last post. Tomorrow Mills and Boon (damn them ) will be showcasing the almost-rans. "Watch this space" they trill far too cheerfully, "exciting news about the ten that didn't make it!" Those lovely, ego sustaining day dreams of tearful editors battling for my heartbreaking work of staggering genius to be included only to be cruelly over ruled by obviously corrupt/jealous superiors dashed.
To make matters even worse the week after they will publish the list of all those whose entries are so good editors want to ask them to submit despite not getting through. This is obviously brilliant as a marketing ploy, a way to keep us hooked and a chance to groom a whole new stable of eager, grateful writers. But not to be there, oh, the shame... I have coped (just) with not being Top Ten. I am working really hard on coping tomorrow when it is confirmed I wasn't even close but to fail Round 3 as well? Could be soul destroying.
Thank goodness I have the lovely Sophia Harrop and a new writers' group to fill me with zest and productivity and that elusive feeling, hope.

Practice may make perfect

News that the M&B editors sat up late arguing over the last 20 entries has cheered me up immensely - I may not have been (actually I almost definitely wasn't)one of the final 20 but with no evidence to the contrary I can still have hope.
One of the nicest and most unexpected aspects of the New Voices comp were the other entrants - they may have been my competition but their insight and support has been really valuable and our Facebook Group (71 members and counting) was a great place to hang out on Monday. We all knew exactly how the other members felt and words of comfort, wisdom and humour were typed furiously onto walls and message boards plus heartfelt congratulations to the one of us that did make it!
Whatever I hoped to get out of this experience it certainly wasn't new friends. There is talk of a joint novel each of us taking a chapter and online crit groups. I am even meeting one member tonight to set up a real, live writing group. We'll be recognising each other by the M&B historicals discreetly tucked under our arms! Others are near enough to join us when we get set up and going and we'd like an online arm too. New Voices may be over for us at least, bu our writing dreams are still very much alive.

Rejection and starting again...

Time to go public. My name is ____ and I want to be a writer. A romance writer. A historical romance writer... There I've said it. Loud, proud and only a little anonymous. I am the proud author of three chapters submitted and rejected by Mills & Boon (they weren't very good) and a second three chapters submitted (and still there, I still have hope for a few more weeks at least). I am also the proud author of "Revengeful Seduction", a light little tale of erm, revenge and seduction submitted to the New Voices competition http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/124-Revengeful-Seduction
I didn't win. I didn't even get shortlisted. Honestly? I was gutted. I liked my little chapter. There were a few others I liked more, they weren't short-listed either.
So back to work. Time to see if I can turn RS into something that will stand out from the slush pile it's destined for? I have some really great, helpful comments - 2/3 want to be drastically rewritten, the remaining third like it the way it is.
Decisions...