Want Your Words for Cash – For Real. No Nigerian Scam

Given there’s no such thing as an original idea, I’m replicating.

Researching for Hooked on a Feeling, I found a wonderful treasure trove of original Woman’s Weeklies and this jumped out at me.  (Warning: fabulous time suck).  It became part of a scene in the book, where Hazel is helping Gayle move into her new home.  She’s lining the linen press with pages from the Woman’s Weekly and sees the competition notice.

She laments that 400 words wouldn’t be enough to describe Steve, the man she’s been pining for, and who for the longest time couldn’t even remember her name.

With the help of AusRomToday, I’m re-running this competition from 1974.  Because.  Just because.

The date has changed, the addressing is different, you won’t need a stamp, but the salient details are the same.

You write 400 word or less about your first love, send it to AusRomToday and I give the three best entries money:  $100 for best entry, $50 for the second and $25 for the third.  (Aussie Dollar)

This is not only highly appropriate, it’s also surprisingly enough entirely legal, because this is a question of skill, only the best entries can win.  Think of the books you could add to your TBR with actual, cold hard cash.

Of course to make it fair we have a judging panel.  To make it fun, we’ve chosen four of the hardest hearted romance writers outside of Nigeria.

All entries in the Hooked on on your First Love competition will be read and reviewed by the Hard Hearted Hannas*:

Sandra Antonelli:             Pun cracker, coffee addict, writer of romances for grown-ups and smart-asses.  Driving in Neutral out September 1^st

Rhian Cahill:                       House slave, drinker of disgustingly good for you heath juices, multi-published author of erotic romances.  Down & Dirty out now

Cate Ellink:                          Erotic romance writer whose formative years were heavily influenced by reading all the naughty bits in books she was banned from. Deep Diving out September 1st

Rebekah Turner:               Epic romantic fantasy author and wielder of snark.  The Chronicles of Applecross:  Chaos Born, Chaos Bound and Chaos Broken on the way.

Using a special algorithm known only to Amazon, the Hannas will select three winners on the basis of the sentiment, salaciousness and aww factor of their entry.

Initially the Hannas were open to bribery, threat and corruption, but since those things are illegal, we’ve convinced them to work within the law and the rules of romance – in other words, the winning entries will make you have all the feels.

Here’s one of the early entries to give you an idea.

He’s got swagger

I don’t necessarily play well with others.  I’m stubborn, some would say pig-headed, but I have a kind heart and a soft spot for gentle men who are easy to get along with.  I so wasn’t ready for Rhett.  He’s this larger than life character who swaggers around and commands attention.  Smart as paint, sharp as a knife.  I knew I’d met my match.  Trouble is, that man is more pig-headed than me, so we’ve been on again, off again and really it’s time to stop the drama.  We’re not together at the moment, he kinda broke my heart, but he’s the only man for me and I’m going to get him back, because tomorrow is another day.

Scarlett O’Hara

While we can only hope for Scarlett, there’s a happy ending for Hazel.  Hopefully there’ll be one for you too.

Competition opens – July 14th and closes – August 1st.  Winner announced August 4th.

Good luck.  May the best First Love win.

Only genuine entries eligible to win.

*  No offense to anyone called Hanna, or any members of Nigerian Royal Family.  It’s a joke, right.