Wow, what a fabulous bunch of entries that was! The judges had a heck of a time choosing just a few, but choose they finally did, and here are the semifinalists:

#35 Assistant’s Secret by April Morelock
#39 Lessons from a Scoundrel by Christa McHugh
#50 Return to Me by Michelle (MG) Braden
#51 Shadow Dancer by Laurie Douglas Wickes
#57 CODENAME: DANCER by Amanda Brice

The semifinalists will be contacted individually on Monday, March 8 with instructions on how to send their first chapters and/or synopses to Jennifer for final round judging.

Thanks to all who entered! If you did not final, you are welcome to enter again this week with a different manuscript. Otherwise, please continue to spread the word. Round Two begins right now! The rules are exactly the same as round one, so you can check them out on the Week 1 Blog. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me through the contact form on this site. Otherwise, good luck for round 2! More semifinalists will be chosen next Sunday, March 14.

Jennifer

Are you looking for a literary agent or at least a little feedback from an established agent? Then this is the contest for you!

What you can win: A read of your fiction manuscript by Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency

How it works:
(1) Click “Leave a Comment” below and post the title, genre, and first five sentences of your fiction manuscript on the comments of this blog. Email entries will not be accepted; all entries must be made in the comments section of this blog.
(2) A group of semifinalists will be selected from the lines posted. The list of semifinalists for round one will be posted here on the blog on March 7. Round Two will begin on March 7 and semifinalists will be posted on March 14, and Round Three will begin on March 14 and semifinalists will be posted on March 21.
(3) The semifinalists will be invited to send their first chapter and/or synopsis to Jennifer.
(4) One overall winner will be selected on or before March 28. That winner will be invited to send his/her manuscript to Barbara Poelle, who will read it for possible representation.
(5) Questions? Feel free to go to the contact page and send them in. Jennifer will respond as quickly as possible.

Example Entry:

Title: A Touch of Scandal
Genre: Historical Romance (1823 England)
First 5 sentences:
A bothersome heat crept into Kate’s cheeks as she hurried through the narrow, dimly lit passageway. If only she could learn how to hide her thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, she forcefully slowed her step, squared her shoulders, and lowered her eyes. She was simply a servant, finished with her duties for the day, ready to take the three-mile walk home. Not a flustered woman rushing out to a secret secluded spot to watch a strange man—no, a god, more like—bathe in the nude.

The fine print:
You must be 18 years of age or older to enter this contest; no purchase necessary; void where prohibited. Judging is subjective, and judges’ names will not be revealed. If you enter this contest, you agree to be added to Jennifer Haymore’s newsletter list, which is sent out to subscribers quarterly. Personal information and email addresses are kept private and never shared. The semifinalists and winner’s names will be posted on the jenniferhaymore.com blog.

A word to the wise: Never get your website put in redemption. I don’t know if it’s me, or the domain company (who shall remain nameless), or just all-around bad luck, but my dawnhalliday.com website has been offline for almost a month now. This is not for lack of me trying to get it back up. But every time I call my domain company in an attempt to get it back online, this is their response, “Oh, you need to do xxx, and then wait for another three days and then we’ll get it back up for you.” I follow directions. I do xxx, and then I call back in the prescribed time. And what am I told? “Oh, you need to do yyy, and then wait another 24 hours…”

(((SCREAM!!!)))

I’m tired of calling them, and I’m tired of this roundabout response, and I’m tired of being misled! It’s making me crazy. Today I was transferred back and forth between four different departments with this company, and I was shaking with frustration from head to foot by the time it was over. I’ve been on the phone with them for two hours total today. Verdict: I have to wait another five days.

What can I do? Nothing, unless I want to come up with a new domain name.

Sigh. Sooo frustrating.

Since Dawn is “gone” for the time being, I’m going to be giving away some of her books here on my blog. Just respond to this blog with a “bad customer service” tale of your own for a chance to win one of the following books (your choice while supplies last):

Highland Obsession by Dawn Halliday (verrry spicy historical)
10 Days in Paradise by Dawn Halliday (spicy contemporary)
Sins of Summer by Dawn Halliday, Marie Harte, Mackenzie McKade, and Annmarie McKenna (verrry spicy contemporary)

I’ll give away 5 books in total in the next few days! So please let me know your horrible, foot-stomping customer service stories–I really want to hear I’m not alone here. LOL.

Congratulations to Christy M., who won a copy of Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart. Continuing with my flurry of offerings by my fellow Forever Authors, next up, I have a fantastic duo of books by Margaret Mallory! Please head over to my bonus features page and check it out!

Congrats to Susan L., who won Elizabeth Hoyt’s Prince Trilogy over on my contest page. I’ll have another contest going up in the next week or so.

Happy New Year, everyone! We spent our New Year’s Eve packing and moving. I’m sitting here in our new house surrounded by unpacked boxes and not quite feeling like I’m at home yet. Hopefully that changes very soon…

My year ended on a fantastic note, though–I sold another three historical romances to Grand Central Publishing! I am so excited about these books, and I can’t wait to share more of my late-Regency world with you all!

I hope you all have a magnificent 2010!

The winner of my holiday contest was Denise Y! She’s getting a copy of A HINT OF WICKED, a copy of A HIGHLANDER CHRISTMAS, and lots of yummy-smelling holiday bath and body goodies. Congrats to Denise!

I lied about that being my last contest of the year, lol. I have another one up–you can enter to win a copy of Elizabeth Hoyt’s amazing Prince Trilogy. Go on over to my Bonus Features pages and check it out!

I’m heading off to City Hall right now. We’re in escrow both to sell our house and buy a new one, and it just came to our attention that the new house lot might be entirely in a flood zone (which means we can’t build or make improvements–very frustrating). So I’m off to the city to clarify the situation. I tell you, it’s one thing after another when you’re in a real estate transaction. My husband and I were completely crazy to start this process during the holidays.

Come check out my blog over at Popculture Divas, where I’m talking about tattoos, piercings, and elf ears today.

I’m also working on edits for A SEASON OF SEDUCTION–this is the story of the young sister, Becky, from A HINT OF WICKED. I’m loving this story…Becky has learned a lot since her naivety during A HINT OF WICKED, and she has lots of surprises in store for her hero, Jack. I can’t wait until it comes out next October!

Come check out my new contest. It’s my last contest of the year, and I have lots of cool stuff to give away for the holidays, including a copy of A HINT OF WICKED!

Well, we’re selling our house and buying a new one. I forgot how tremendously stressful and time-consuming this process is! But we’ve set our sights on an amazing home–my kids adore the backyard. I hope we get it.

In writing related news, I’m working on edits for the third book, A Season of Seduction (due out next October). I love this book–it’s the story of Becky (Garrett’s younger sister from A Hint of Wicked) and her incredibly sexy hero, Jack.

I just posted a new contest to celebrate the holidays! Win a canvas tote filled with books & Victoria’s Secret goodies! Check it out over at my contest page.

If I don’t post before then, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be spending it in Oregon with my grandfather, who will be spending his first Thanksgiving in 70 years without my grandma. I think it’s going to be a bittersweet day for all of us.

First of all, thanks to all who entered the contest, especially those who entered several times. You guys rock! Please keep checking the contest page, I have a couple of fantastic holiday contests coming up!

The final Fun Fridays winner was…

Deidre D.

And of course, the answer to what Maggie was wearing when she woke up in the cottage (in Dawn Halliday’s WINTER HEAT in A HIGHLANDER CHRISTMAS), the answer is…nothing! She was naked.

Today’s winner, per random.org is….

First Name: Brenda

Last Name: R.

Email: dancealert@a…

This week’s question is “What is your favorite historical movie?” Easy, right? So head on over to my contest page and enter.