{"id":2200,"date":"2020-03-24T01:21:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T08:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2020-03-24T01:21:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T08:21:25","slug":"awards-and-bvs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/24\/awards-and-bvs\/","title":{"rendered":"Awards and affirmation: BVS’s talented authors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Award\"What\u2019s in an Award? Maybe just what you need to keep going.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve spent much time reading Black Velvet Seductions<\/a> authors, you know you\u2019re delving into some pretty good stuff. I\u2019m not saying that because I\u2019m one of their authors, though it\u2019s always special when you feel you\u2019re among really good company. And that\u2019s how I\u2019ve felt ever since Richard Savage accepted my first BVS book, Naval Maneuvers<\/em><\/a>. The company is a class act all the way, and their writers prove that with each new release. I\u2019d like to highlight two friends at BVS who recently won awards for their books. If you haven\u2019t read either of these ladies, you really should.<\/p>\n

Jan Selbourne<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Jan writes historical fiction, some very romantic and some more plot driven then romance driven. Either way, this woman has a way with words that will draw you in and make you stay up late reading. Jan won 5 stars and recognition for two of her books last year at Coffee Pot Book Club. One of those books, Lies of Gold<\/em><\/strong>, won Silver for historical book of 2019! Although Lies of Gold<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t a BVS book, one of Jan\u2019s very best books, I think, is: Perilous Love<\/a><\/em>. It\u2019s one of my favorites! But really, with Jan, you can’t go wrong!<\/p>\n

Book:<\/strong> Lies of Gold<\/strong><\/em><\/a>
\nSilver medal for Historical Book of the Year, 2019
\nAwarded by:<\/strong> The Coffee Pot Book Club<\/a>
\nDate of award:<\/strong> December 3rd, 2019<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Jan has to say about winning her award.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was your first reaction when you saw that you\u2019d finaled in a \"Liescontest and then won?
\nJS:<\/strong> I did receive a senior school prize for best short story, but I think mum and dad were more excited than I was. Fast forward to now – or should I say 2019, when my book The Proposition was given a wonderful review and 5 Stars Award by Mary Anne Yarde, Coffee Pot Book Club. Encouraged, I submitted Lies of Gold to Mary Anne and was thrilled to receive a glowing review and 5 Stars Award. I thought that was it until her email in November informing me Lies of Gold was a finalist in the 2019 Book of the Year – Historical Romance category. We would be informed of the results in early December. My first reaction? Stunned. When that email appeared in my Inbox I was too nervous to look. Closed my eyes, deep breath, hit the mouse, opened my eyes to read the words Silver Medal. Lies of Gold had been awarded Silver Medal! I was speechless – and that doesn’t happen often.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> How did your family\/friends react?
\nJS:<\/strong> They were really pleased and like me, surprised – wow.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was the result of your winning the award (i.e., did you make any changes in the way you wrote or what you wrote; did you try to emulate the winning book\/story instead of trying new things, etc.)?
\nJS:<\/strong> The result was a real shot in the arm for me. Promoting and marketing can be tough. However this award convinced me I must be doing something right. Don’t stop writing!<\/p>\n

Alice Renaud<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you enjoy fantasy and magic mixed amongst your romance, you should definitely read Alice Renaud\u2019s Sea of Love<\/a> series. Her writing is so engaging, and she can paint a picture with words that few others can. Her third book in the series is coming out this year from BVS and I\u2019m saving a place on my Kindle for it! Either of the two current books in the series (A Merman\u2019s Choice<\/em> and Music for a Merman<\/em>) can stand alone, so dig in with the first or the second. Alice won the award for the series\u2014quite an accomplishment!<\/p>\n

\"SeaSeries:<\/strong> Sea of Love
\nBest Paranormal Series, 2019
\nAwarded by:<\/strong> The Paranormal Romance Guild<\/a>
\nDate of award:<\/strong> January 2020<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Alice\u2019s reaction to her winning.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was your first reaction when you saw that you\u2019d finaled in a contest and then won?
\nAR:<\/strong> Incredulity – I never thought my first book A Merman’s Choice and the series it’s part of, Sea of Love, would be nominated – let alone win!<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> How did your family\/friends react?
\nAR:<\/strong> My husband was very proud. My friends were impressed – I think they began to realize this writing lark could be a serious thing for me.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was the result of your winning the award (i.e., did you make any changes in the way you wrote or what you wrote; did you try to emulate the winning book\/story instead of trying new things, etc.)?
\nAR:<\/strong> Mainly it motivated me to keep on writing – I was beginning to get discouraged because I wasn’t selling many books and thought maybe the books weren’t any good and perhaps I should just give up. It proved my writing was good. I started a new series, Conjuring Love, which is different in content and style from the Sea of Love series.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019ll slide in here, too. Last year my book, Only a Good Man Will Do<\/strong><\/em>, won a prize from the Las Vegas Romance Writers. It thrilled me to death, and I\u2019m very grateful for their recognition. I\u2019ve won a few contests before, including the Maggie Award of Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers<\/a> and it\u2019s always an exciting surprise. But I had taken a few years off from writing, and this was just my second book since trying to come back. Maybe that\u2019s why it was so thrilling. Whatever, the reason, thanks to the LVRW for giving me this honor!<\/p>\n

\"OnlyBook: Only a Good Man Will Do<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (Book 1 of the Good Man series)
\nI Heart Indie, Best Erotic Romance of 2019
\nAwarded by:<\/strong> Las Vegas Romance Writers
\nDate of award:<\/strong> September 1, 2019<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I thought.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was your first reaction when you saw that you\u2019d finaled in a contest and then won?
\nDSK:<\/strong> I was shocked. And then I jumped up and down and texted my husband right away.<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> How did your family\/friends react?
\nDSK:<\/strong> Jack was as happy for me as I was for myself. He knew how hard it had been for me to get back into writing. In his own way he\u2019d nudged and cajoled, so I think he\u2019s taken credit for the award. 😉<\/p>\n

NA:<\/strong> What was the result of your winning the award (i.e., did you make any changes in the way you wrote or what you wrote; did you try to emulate the winning book\/story instead of trying new things, etc.)?
\nDSK:<\/strong> As Alice said, we\u2019re our own worst enemies. When there is not a lot of recognition\u2014especially sales and lots of followers and such\u2014it\u2019s easy to feel you don\u2019t deserve to be recognized because you aren\u2019t good enough. It\u2019s easier now to cut myself a little slack and admit that maybe I am good at what I try to do.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the main point I want to end with. There are others at BVS who have\"\" won awards with their work (but were to shy to say so here). Some writers there maybe haven\u2019t won an award award, but they\u2019ve received recognition for their writing in other ways, through great sales or love notes from their fans and such. An award doesn\u2019t matter that much in the long run. It\u2019s the love of the readers and the joy of being able to do what we love. Those are awards enough.<\/p>\n

Check out some wonderful writers at BVS<\/a> and see how great reading can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s in an Award? Maybe just what you need to keep going. If you\u2019ve spent much time reading Black Velvet Seductions authors, you know you\u2019re delving into some pretty good stuff. I\u2019m not saying that because I\u2019m one of their authors, though it\u2019s always special when you feel you\u2019re among really good company. And that\u2019s … Continue reading “Awards and affirmation: BVS’s talented authors”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,4,1,466],"tags":[470,314,1201,1202,935,8,804,28,1204,264,762,254,1203,763],"class_list":["post-2200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-information","category-book-topics","category-uncategorized","category-writing","tag-a-mermans-choice","tag-alice-renaud","tag-awards","tag-books-that-have-won-awards","tag-coffee-pot-book-club","tag-dee-s-knight","tag-georgia-romance-writers","tag-jan-selbourne","tag-las-vegas-romance-writers","tag-lies-of-gold","tag-music-for-a-merman","tag-only-a-good-man-will-do","tag-paranormal-romance-guild","tag-sea-of-love"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9wA33-zu","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2200"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2210,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200\/revisions\/2210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}