Keli Gwyn
Stories of strong men,
headstrong women . . .
and the power of love.
headstrong women . . .
and the power of love.
My Journey
Manuscripts Completed: 5
Manuscripts in Progress: 2
Golden Heart Finals: 2
Contest Placements: 6
Requests for Fulls: 1
Rejections of Submissions: 5
Magazine Articles Published: 7
Newspaper Article Published: 1
July 29-August 2, 2008
•I attended my first Romance Writers of America national conference, this one held in San Francisco. RWA treated my fellow Golden Heart finalists and me like royalty. Meeting the other finalists was by far the highpoint of the conference. I had such fun cheering for the ten of them who went on stage to accept the top honor and receive their Golden Heart necklaces, including Kit Wilkinson, the deserving woman who won in the inspirational category. I clapped so hard during the awards ceremony my hands grew sore.
Spring/Summer 2008
•I'd spent the past two+ years writing in isolation. When I received the call from RWA, I became part of a community of writers. I was invited to be a blog guest and to join a Yahoo™ loop with the other Golden Heart finalists. Following that unexpected phone call in March, I lauched this website, set up two blogs, joined several more Yahoo™ loops and was invited to be a blog guest by multi-published writer Mary deMuth. The best part of all was meeting so many wonderful writers who are now my friends.
March 25, 2008
•I received a call from Romance Writers of America board member Terri Reed informing me that two of my four Golden Heart entries were finalists in the inspirational category. I was stunned. I never expected to final, let alone be a double finalist. God kept me humble, though; the other two entries came in the bottom half.
March 2008
•I started two new manuscritps. Mending Her Ways is another historical inspirational. If the Shoe Fits is a contemporary series inspirational.
•I attended the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference with keynote speakers Debbie Macomber and Jerry Jenkins. The instruction was top notch. I learned a great deal in all my workshops, but by far the best were the nine hours of instruction in Angela Hunt's course, The Sophisticated Novelist & the Work in Progress. I submitted the first two chapters of my new works in progress for critique and was privileged to have my two critiquers, Robin Jones Gunn and Cindy Martinusen Coloma, take the time to go over their comments in person. I returned home excited about my writing and yet unsure what to work on next.
February 2008
•I attended my second Redwood Chapel Christian Writers Seminar and was happy to see how much my writing had improved since the year before.
•I received the rejections on Much Ado About Jessie as well as on Playing on Heartstrings, my first requested submission of a full.
November/December 2007
•I submitted Addie's Choice, Love in Bloom, Much Ado About Jessie and Playing on Heartstrings to the Golden Heart.
•I received a request for a full from the agent to whom I'd sent Playing on Heartstrings. Based upon her comments, I launched into a major revision, sending the manuscript just after Christmas.
•I had another magazine article published.
Summer/Fall 2007
•I entered ten RWA® chapter level writing contests, going on to place in four. Out of the twenty-nine entries I submitted, I got a first, two seconds, two thirds and an honorable mention.
•I wrote my fifth story, Much Ado About Jessie, a historical inspirational. I submitted Love in Bloom, Much Ado About Jessie and Playing on Heartstrings to agents and Addie's Choice to an editor. I received prompt rejections on Addie's Choice and Love in Bloom.
Spring 2007
•I wrote Playing on Heartstrings and Addie's Choice, both historical inspirationals.
•I had three more articles published, two in nationals magazines.
February 2007
•I attended my first writer's conference, the Redwood Chapel Christian Writers Seminar. I learned so much and received excellent instruction in John Olson's intermediate fiction writing workshops.
January 2007
•I had two more articles published, one in the regional publication in response to an editor's assignment, and the other in a national magazine.
November 2006
•I submitted Love in Bloom to the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® contest for unpublished romance writers, my first ever contest entry. Sadly it came in the bottom half, but I'd been brave enough to send my work out to be judged. Little did I know at the time just how steep the competition was--or how poor my writing was.
October 2006
•I joined Romance Writers of America®, a national organization of published authors and unpublished writers.
August 2006
•My first magazine article, "Rested Up," was published in a regional magazine. It took second place in foothillstyle's writing contest. I received a check for $75, my first payment for my writing. I was a professional!
Spring 2006
•I completed More Than a Lady, all 600+ pages of it. Little did I know at the time how much I had to learn. Head popping, back story dumps, full pages describing one of the heroine's dresses? Yes. That and more. And to think that I actually asked six friends to read it. Bless 'em. They slogged through horrid writing and still made kind comments.
•I wrote my second story, Love in Bloom.
January 2006
•I began plotting my first inspirational romance, a historical set in the early 1870s in my hometown, Placerville, California, one of the three largest towns during the early days of the Gold Rush.
October 2005
•I had my first article published in our local paper, a story about my daughter's marching band. My long-held dream of being a writer resurfaced.