Today's article is written by romance author Carmen Shirkey.

Okay, I decided to risk embarrassing Jim and participate in your new Kiss & Tell feature.

My book, The List, is about a woman who has a ridiculously long list of characteristics she wants in her future boyfriend/husband. That was me, two years ago.

I had a list. While my character's list featured over 50 items, mine only had 12. Being a writer-type person, I wrote them down on a Winnie the Pooh note sheet and placed them in between the pages of my Bible, in kind of a silent prayer to God that he bring this man into my life.

The dates that my character, Candace, goes on in her search for Mr. Right are drawn almost nightmare-for-nightmare from my own experiences. That saying, "you have to kiss a lot of frogs" is very true. I kissed so many frogs, I'm surprised that I have lip muscles left.

There's another saying that says "there's a time for everything." My problem is that I always wanted things on MY timetable, being the Type-A personality that I am. Ask me how long I waited for Mr. Right. Go ahead, ask! Well, I'll tell you. I waited 35 years. Okay, maybe not 35, as that implies that I was waiting from birth, and at birth, I didn't care about such things. So let's forget the dateless nights during high school, when all the guys thought I was a "great friend," and all the dateless nights in college, because I wouldn't put out on demand. That leaves me with 15 years of waiting and hoping.

On a very chilly April evening in 2007, I made plans to meet up with a local social group to attend a local baseball game. The funny thing is, I hate baseball. I think any game that requires a "7^th inning stretch" is about 7 innings too long. However, I went because my dad kept telling me that Mr. Right wasn't going to jump out of my closet. Good thing, since I'd have bigger problems if that happened.

There was a new face in the group that gathered in front of the ticket booth. I was instantly intrigued, and kept trying to slip glances at him without him noticing. Because, however much I wanted my Mr. Right, I was terribly shy. Flirting is a skill that has eluded me most of my post-pubescent life.

My friend literally pushed me into talking with him. He had offered to bring back some hot drinks for those of us in the cold bleachers. I was going to put in an order, but my friend demanded (by pushing) that I go help him carry the items. Going against every desire in my body, I ended up sending him an email the next day, because I had been too nervous that night to give him my digits. We had our first date at a local pizza place. Our second date was at the nearest theme park (and him being scared of heights) followed by dinner afterwards, and after that, our first kiss. (Yowza!)

Two years later, we're still happily together. I moved in with him about 8 months ago, and we've learned to deal with each other's idiosyncrasies, in a manner that I think has been relatively smooth. This is the man I want to spend my life with.

He's my hero because he accepts me. Mildly neurotic, sometimes crazy, often silly, often hormonal, frequently emotional, weight-obsessed me. He takes me as a whole package, and loves me anyway. And here's the kicker. He ticks off every single item on my Winnie the Pooh note. EVERY ITEM! Oh, he's not perfect, and don't let him convince you otherwise. But he's perfect for me.

Should you like to read my sort-of-biographical novel, The List, and hopefully enjoy a good romantic comedy (this site reviewed it and gave it 4 stars!) you can buy it at Amazon: The List.

I also invite anyone who would like to interact with me to visit my book's blog: http://thelistbook.blogspot.com or you can follow me on Twitter, @carmenshirkey

Originally posted 2009-02-19 05:44:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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by Carmen Shirkey, guest blogger and author of The List: Can Pefect Be Put On Paper?

Greetings!

As an author of a newly released romantic comedy book, The List, I'm often asked, "Wow! You had time to write a book? How'd you do it?"

Let me just say that getting to the point where I actually saw my idea in print was not an easy process. As a matter of fact, the time from concept to writing was about two years. The time from writing to sending to agents was about one year. The time from giving up on the traditional publishing process ("It's a great book, but we can't sell it") to self-publishing was another two years.

It all started with the idea. I'm an idea person - I always have wacky things floating around in my brain at 2 a.m. I have a friend who is a screenplay writer, and I originally pitched the idea of The List to her. I thought the story of a woman who had a list of qualifications for her next boyfriend would be a universal theme. I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to about the book tell me that their wife had a list, or their sister has a list, or that THEY have a list. One such woman wrote into the advice columnist for the Washington Post asking if she should stick with her list, or let herself be in a relationship with a wonderful man who didn't match her list. See? Universal.

My screenwriter friend guffawed at me. "It's your idea, you write it," she told me. Plus, her genre really wasn't the happy-ending, mainstream commercial hit.

Then I learned of a Web site called NaNoWriMo.com. This is the site for the National Novel Writing Month competition, and it's what finally kicked my butt into gear. As an uber-competitive, type-A nut, this was just the thing that it would take to get the story on paper, or at least into the computer anyway. I started on November 1 and wrote about 3,000 words a day for the next 30 days to reach the 55,000-word goal set by the Website. I had to be disciplined. I gave up TV (or just DVR'd everything to watch it in December), I didn't talk on the phone, no Internet time - I just wrote.

I spent the next few months editing and editing and editing.

Then, I started writing pitch letters. One of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich, once said that she had a box full of rejection letters from agents. Heck, she now had a gazillion books, and she's a great writer. So I didn't get discouraged, at first, with the piles and piles of envelopes containing canned "sorry, but" letters. However, after I had three agents read - and like - my book, but still rejected because they said the market was saturated and they couldn't sell it, I gave up. It's bad, I know, but I was disheartened.

Then, my boyfriend suggested that I publish it myself. "You think it's so good," he said, "publish it on your own and prove it." So, now I have a book in print. I hired an illustrator to design the cover image, I went through a print-on-demand house (though I don't know that I am happy with how things went) and I launched a marketing campaign.

I have outstanding initial reviews on Amazon, and I'm thrilled that I was right about it being a good read. However, I don't have the marketing arm of a publishing house to really get it out there. It's okay, because word-of-mouth is a strong force, and I just think that the right person is going to see it this time. I have faith!

Join in the conversation on The List blog at http://thelistbook.blogspot.com and follow the author on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/thelistbook or Twitter at http://twitter.com/carmenshirkey.

Originally posted 2009-02-02 05:58:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Congratulations to the winners! You are:

which in English stands for...

• 5- Debbie Tsikuris for Knight’s Fork by Rowena Cherry
• 6- Afshan N for Working Man, Society Bride by Mary Nichols
• 8- Alexandra  for Market for Love by Jamaica Layne
• 1- Lisa W. for The Sheikh’s Defiant Bride by Sandra Marton
• 10-Jeanne St. James for Can Perfect be Put on Paper by Carmen Shirkey

Ladies I should be in contact with you by the end of the day with an email. If you don't see one please email me at reviewromancenovel@yahoo.com.

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