BECALMED: First Place in The Catherine!

A few days ago I received an email from the Coordinator of the 2011 Catherine Contest.

“I’m thrilled to tell you that your entry, Becalmed, placed first in the Strong Romantic Elements category of the Toronto Romance Writers’ 2011 The Catherine Contest! The competition this year was tough, congratulations!”
Becalmed’s characters introduced themselves to me as I wandered the streets of Beaufort, NC, and then let me write about them from on board Sea Venture, while we sailed the Sea of Cortez. They grounded me in home, reminded me of small-town South as I laughed with them and helped them ease past their angst to find joy.

BECALMED

When a southern woman with a broken heart finds herself falling for a widower with a broken boat, it’s anything but smooth sailing ahead.

With her days chock full – designing jewelry for the shop she co-owns with her best friend, sailing her sharpie, and hanging out with girlfriends – Tadie Longworth barely notices she’s morphing into the town’s maiden aunt. When Will, a widower with a perky daughter named Jilly, limps into town in a sailboat badly in need of engine repairs, Tadie welcomes the chance to help. Her shop becomes Jilly’s haven while Will hunts boat parts, and Tadie even takes the two of them sailing. It’s the kind of thing she lives for, and it’s a welcome distraction from the fact that her ex-boyfriend Alex, aka The Jerk of Jerks, is back in town. With his northern bride. Oh, and he’s hitting on Tadie, too.

Those entanglements are more than enough, thank you very much, so it’s almost a relief when a hurricane blows into town: at least the weather can match Tadie’s mood. When Will and Jilly take shelter in her home, though, Tadie finds herself battling her attraction to Will. Even worse, the feeling is mutual, tempting them all with what-ifs that petrify Will, who has sworn never to fall in love again. Mired in misunderstanding, he takes advantage of the clear skies and hauls Jilly out of there and back to his broken boat so fast, Tadie’s head spins.

With the man she might have loved gone, and the man she wishes gone showing up on her doorstep, Tadie finds herself like a sailboat with no wind; becalmed, she has to fight her way back against the currents to the shores of the life, and the man, she wants to have.