By Dana R. Lynn, @DanaRLynn

Since I was very young, I dreamed of one day writing a book and becoming a published author. In my head, it would be an easy task. As I grew older, however, I started to realize that attaining my dream would be harder than I’d anticipated. How long did a book need to be? Where would I send it when it was done? What genre should I try?

I heard someone say, “Write what you read.”

Well, that was tricky. I tended to be an eclectic reader. I enjoyed science fiction and fantasy, mystery, several varieties of romance, historical, thriller, young adult… basically whatever caught my attention.

When I was in high school, I had an aunt who read category romances. (Category romances tend to be smaller word counts and they are only on shelves for one month.) My aunt literally went down the book aisle every month and knocked a copy of every title into her cart. She let me read several when she was done, and I was hooked. 

Strangely, though, I didn’t really think about writing category romance myself for a long time.  Then in 2013 I came across a Harlequin contest, So You Think You Can Write. I had started to read the Love Inspired books, and I really enjoyed them. Thanks to social media, I was able to follow the editors. When the Love Inspired Suspense editors announced the Search for a Killer Voice Pitch Contest in 2014, I took a leap of faith and entered. I was amazed when Elizabeth Mazer picked me to be on her team.

The contest changed my life. I realized I had no idea how to write a romance. The editors gave us guidance and great advice. I learned so much valuable information. And I came out with a contract! I recently turned in my 16^th Love Inspired Suspense. It has been a great way to build my career. I love that my books are in stores and at a mass market price point. The team at Harlequin does a great job creating evocative covers and marketing our stories. Even if one doesn’t plan to write category forever, I truly believe it’s a great place to start.

In fact, Love Inspired recently announced a new contest, The Great Love Inspired Author Search. (The Great Love Inspired Author Search – Write for Harlequin) One of the best parts is you don’t have to have a whole book written. Just a synopsis and the first chapter! That’s all you need to enter by March 15^, 2022. If the editors like your voice and want more, you’ll have until August 1^st to turn in the rest of the book.

Friends, this is a fantastic opportunity to bypass the slush pile and submit directly to the editors. Even if you don’t get a contract, you’ll get personal feedback in a timely fashion. That’s priceless.

I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I’ve had since I entered the contest in 2014. I will be praying for all who enter. 

Have a blessed 2022!

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Dana R. Lynn believes the pow­er of God can tran­scend any cir­cum­stance. She is a best-sell­ing, award win­ning author who views her writ­ing as a min­istry to show His love can bring heal­ing and peace. She writes roman­tic sus­pense for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Sus­pense line. She has been on Publisher’s Week­ly Best­seller lists twice, and her 2017 title Plain Tar­get won both the first place for her cat­e­go­ry and the over­all Grand Prize win­ner in the New Eng­land Reader’s Choice Awards. Dana is a mem­ber of RWA (Romance Writ­ers of Amer­i­ca), ACFW (Amer­i­can Chris­t­ian Fic­tion Writ­ers and Sis­ters in Crime. She is rep­re­sent­ed by Tamela Han­cock Mur­ray of the Steve Laube Lit­er­ary Agency. In 1996, Dana met her hus­band at a wed­ding and told her par­ents she’d met the man she was going to mar­ry. Nine­teen months lat­er, they were mar­ried. Today, they live in rur­al north­west­ern Penn­syl­va­nia with enough ani­mals to start a pet­ting zoo. In addi­tion to writ­ing, she works as a teacher for the deaf and hard of hear­ing and works in sev­er­al min­istries in her church.