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Contest: HELP! I need an opening scene!

Osiyo~

I’m in a rambling mood this morning, trying to transfer the mood to my WIP. Not happening so far, but the muse is tugging at me. You may know, or remember me blogging, about my cowboy story I began last September. It was prompted by an ALL CALL from Wild Rose Press for novellas to go into a new series, Honky Tonk Hearts–the first two of these releases this month! I read the word cowboy and my ears perked up, my muse’s ears perked. Why? Because at that time it had been more than a year since I’d been able to enjoy the smooth sex appeal and charm of a cowboy!

My last was Healing Whispers, Tanner Royal. How many remember him and Tobi Star? I got a request for the partial by an editor at Harlequin SE… What happened with that, you ask? Absolutely nothing. After nearly two years I’m still waiting to hear back on that submission. 😦 Email? Oh, I have…twice. No response is forthcoming so far, not even nearly a year after my second email. Try again? Maybe, or maybe I’ll just submit HW elsewhere. I like the sound of that. True, it wouldn’t be Harlequin, but does that really matter as long as a quality publisher prints my book? I don’t think so.

What does this peek into the dismal past have to do with my ramblings today? I’ll tell ya.

I was trying to sleep last night and as it happens, too often, my characters came to stretch out beside me. Pillow hogs, I tell ya’ll! So there we lay, Nick on my left, Haley on the right…she insisted to lie next to my hubby, not that I blame her. I’m trying to sleep, they want to gab. Typical.

Hero doesn’t think he’s cut out to be a sheriff and heroine doesn’t like how they meet up again after eight years. WTH???

He has to be in law enforcement and there’s already a built in Marshal in the series. That leaves the position of sheriff in Jasper, Tx open for Nick James. He finally concedes. Now he’s agreeing with Haley that how they meet for the first time needs to be more…monumental…memorable. And I agree. Damnit.

So rather than writing their new meeting, I’m writing this blog post. I have a very good reason for this though. It’s helping me. Yep. Blogging is helping me be creative and productive. See, I don’t have a clue how these two should meet now and I’m hoping I’ll have an epiphany as I blog about it. 🙂

Nope. Nothing coming to me so far. I am hoping to get this story finished by April’s end. Maybe ya’ll would like to chime in?

How would you like to see a hero and heroine, high school sweethearts, meet again after years apart, and a split that was less than mutual? Keep in mind that, though not a comedy writer, I do try to add a certain amount of light, tasteful humor in my books, so pretty much any scenario, even the outrageous, will be considered! And Haley is something of a sasspot.

I won’t be sitting here waiting for inspiration, or the winning entry, to strike. I’ll be moving forward from where I left off. 

I’ll announce the winner at the end of April and post the new beginning, along with the winner’s name, in the “Excerpts” section of my website (hover your cursor over The Corral tab) sometime in the future, once I incorporate it into the book. I’m thinking *when* BTTWWW is published I’ll give a free copy to the winner of this blog! 

So leave your suggestions in the comments, tell your friends&family/facebook/tweet/email the contest to help spread the word from now to April 30th and let’s have some fun!

Dodadagohvi~