No Limits Ladies.com

It is time for the Romantic Times American Title Contest. Similar to American Idol, every round, readers can vote for their favorite contestants and the writers with the least votes get kicked off the island (wait, am I mixing up my reality shows?).

What attracts aspiring authors to American Title?

Contestant Trish Milburn, author of the entry "Out Of Sight", gives us her reasons.

"I really love the book I entered and would love to see it on bookstore shelves. I'm a big proponent of taking every opportunity that presents itself, and when I saw the announcement for this contest I decided to give it a try."

Out Of Sight is a paranormal which is a hot, hot market right now. Was the market a factor in her choice of plot?

"Only partially. Because the paranormal market is popular right now, I was exposed to lots of great stories. The more I read, the more I wanted to write one myself. This story started with a "what if?" question -- "What could you find out and help bring about if you could make yourself invisible?""

Well, I could probably figure out why my drilling service stocks were free falling. That would be helpful.

I'm always curious how other writers are managing their time ('cause I never seem to have enough). What is Trish's top tip?

"Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to have a big chunk of time to successfully accomplish your goals. I've written in 10- and 15-minute chunks, and all that completed work builds up faster than you think it might. Also, no making excuses. I've heard so many people enumerate "reasons" why they weren't writing (or working toward their goal), but these "reasons" were just excuses. If you or a family member is really ill or there's a death in the family, that's one thing. Being tired or having to saying you don't have time because you have X, Y, and Z to do are often just excuses to not devote time to the accomplishment of the goal. Ask yourself how much you want to accomplish your goal and what you're willing to sacrifice to do so."

You can vote for Trish Milburn's novel "Out Of Sight" at http://www.romantictimes.com/news_amtitle3.php