Exciting Times and Award Nominee!

This year has been one of my busiest writing years ever, but I feel so blessed! I published my first book (SOMETHING NEW) three and a half years ago, not knowing where this writing journey would take me. Needless to say, the experience has exceeded anything I could have ever imagined! I’ve always been a big dreamer (and goal setter), but in this case, my dreams have been no match for my reality! I receive wonderful emails (and FB messages) from readers on a daily basis regarding my work; I have met some amazing authors; I have the worlds greatest critique partners; and I’ve won several awards during this time! And just think, I remember praying “God please let at least one person buy this book” when I published SOMETHING NEW!

Well, I have some more exciting news! The other day I found out that I’ve been nominated for three BRAB (Building Relationships Around Books) awards!

I’m humbled, honored, shocked, and excited all rolled into one! This FB book club, is super active with over 1600 members and they are amazing at supporting (and encouraging) authors! Each year, the members nominate authors /books in various categories (Best New Author, Best Male Author, Best Series, etc). So I was nominated for Best Romance (TEMPTING THE ARTIST), Author of the Year and Breakout Author!

The first few years, the book club (BRAB) kept the voting in house (only members). The last couple of years, they’ve allowed anyone to vote. So if you’ve enjoyed my work, please vote for me! NOTE: you can only vote once or your vote won’t be counted. Though voting is open until October 22nd, vote here TODAY!

Also, for those of you who have been on this journey with me – THANK YOU! I so appreciate your support and encouragement over the years!

And lastly, congratulations to the other awesome authors who were nominated!

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Best in Romance!

Hi all, I have some exciting news! I recently found out that one of my books – TEMPTING THE ARTIST – has been nominated for Best in Romance by African American Literature Awards Show (AALAS)! I’m one of five authors whose book was nominated in this category.

I’m super excited! From what I understand, nominations are made by book clubs and avid readers. Considering there are millions of books that could have been chosen, I am truly honored to be a nominee! What’s even more amazing is to be amongst some of the most beloved romance authors in the business – who were also nominated in this category.

Now, this is where you come in – I NEED YOUR VOTE!

Please vote for TEMPTING THE ARTIST (under “Romance”) by clicking here.  Though voting is open until Monday, September 21, 2015 – VOTE TODAY!

Also, congratulations to the other authors who were nominated for Best in Romance (this is the complete list):

Sharon C Cooper – Tempting the Artist

Brenda Jackson – The Secret Affair

Beverly Jenkins – Destiny’s Captive

Rochelle Alers – Cherry Lane

Donna Hill – For You I Will

Don’t forget – VOTE TODAY – here! Thanks in advance for your vote!

African American Literary Awards Show – http://literaryawardshow.com/aalas-vote-2015/

Honored and Happy

Hi all!

I spent this past weekend in Dallas, TX celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Romance Slam Jam (RSJ). For those of you who are not familiar with RSJ it’s an organization that brings African-American authors and readers together. RSJ has created an opportunity for readers to meet and get to know some of their favorite authors.

It was super exciting to meet readers who have sent me wonderful emails and who I communicate with on social media platforms. I’m telling you, some of these readers know my characters better than I do! I really enjoyed discussing the stories with them!

Though I attended as an author, I have to admit I did have my fangirl moments when I saw some of my favorite authors (Beverly Jenkins, Farrah Rochon, Sienna Mynx, Zuri Day, and the list goes on). And what TOTALLY blew me away is that they knew my name (and it’s not because I stalk them either)!! WAY COOL!

The conference consisted of workshops, interactive games, a book signing and an awards ceremony. RSJ is known for its Emma awards. Each year books/titles and individuals are nominated in twelve categories.

A few months ago, I was notified that two of my books had finaled. ALL YOU’LL EVER NEED – Interracial Romance of the Year (this was a new category) and TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – Suspense of the Year. I was super excited by the news!

Well, I’m thrilled to inform you that I won both categories/awards! YAY! To say I was shocked when the announcer called my name, would be an understatement. I was happy to be nominated, but I have read books by some of the authors who had also finaled and knew the competition was steep. So to hear my name called not once, but twice was beyond exciting! I’m so glad I was surrounded by some of my author friends. Otherwise I probably would have really been a nervous wreck! I was a little nervous even with them there…okay, maybe a lot nervous prior to the awards ceremony! But having them there to share the moment was absolutely priceless! 

My writing career has exceeded my expectations. When I published my first book almost three years ago, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I was just hoping to at least sell a book to someone who wasn’t family! Lol. I owe so much to my author friends who were wonderful in answering my fifty-million questions and sharing information regarding self-publishing & publishing. And I will be forever indebted to them! Even years later they are still supportive and encouraging.

Actually, I think this is the perfect time to say THANK YOU to all of them (published & unpublished)! You guys are truly the wind beneath my wings. And to the readers – OMG! You all ROCK! The wonderful feedback that you give me about my work makes me want to keep writing! THANK YOU!

Stay tuned, I’m going to have some giveaways in the very near future to celebrate!

Breakout Author of the Year!

Hi all, I have some exciting news! But first – what a fun weekend! I attended the second annual B.R.A.B (Building Relationships Around Books) Readers Retreat and had a blast! B.R.A.B is an online (Facebook) book club with over a thousand readers (and authors) and it’s the place where I have found some great books by new (new to me) authors.

Though I attended the retreat (held in Georgia) as a reader – so that I could support some of my author friends and meet some of my favorite authors – I had the pleasure of meeting some of MY fans! How cool is that!? I thought the event was very well thought out and though it was for the readers, I think authors really enjoyed themselves as well. I know I did!

Okay, so now for my exciting news – I, Sharon C. Cooper, was one of six authors nominated for B.R.A.B’s Reading Warrior Breakout Author of the Year Award! Woo hoo! I’m so excited, surprised and truly honored to be a nominee!! Each year, the members in the book club vote for their favorite authors/books in various categories. This year they have opened voting up to people outside of the group (nonmembers).

Now this is where you come in – I NEED YOUR VOTE!

If you have enjoyed my books, please click here and vote for me for best Breakout Author! Though voting is open until October 24, 2014 – VOTE TODAY!

Also, congratulations to the other authors who were nominated for Breakout Author (this is the complete list):

Sharon C Cooper

Tia Kelly

Toye Lawson

Love Belvin

Adrienne Thompson

Clever Black

Don’t forget – VOTE TODAY – here! Thanks in advance for your vote!

The Best Moment Award

Awarding the people who live in the moment,

The noble who write and capture the best in life,

the bold who reminded us what really mattered –

Savoring the experience of quality time.

I am pleased to announce that I have been nominated for the Best Moment Award. As part of the nomination, I am asked to give a brief acceptance speech.

My acceptance speech:

I would like to thank fellow blogger, Yawatta Hosby, for nominating me for the Best Moment Award. She nominated me after reading my blog post Talent, Passion and Discipline.  I’m flattered that she and others enjoyed the post. Though I don’t blog as often as I’d like, when I do it usually stems from some random thought, something I’ve experienced, or something I’ve read. The initial post for Talent, Passion and Discipline stemmed from a book (pls. refer to original post) that one of my critique partners recommended.

There are times as a writer you want to slack off or even give up, but that passion that drives you to write and rewrite that first sentence, paragraph, scene and chapter won’t let you. There is nothing like having an initial idea for a book pop into your head and then months later (years for some), you have a finished product and can finally write, The End.

I’ll admit, it’s an amazing feeling and is achieved by not only having talent and passion, but also discipline. My wish to aspiring authors is that you one day experience the elation that comes from stringing thousands of words together to create sentences, paragraphs, scenes, chapters to ultimately produce – a finished book.

Thank you again, Yawatta, for the nomination. I’d also like to give a special thanks to all of my blog followers. Without your support (and comments), blogging wouldn’t be as much fun. Thanks to this award and your continued support, I’m inspired to blog more often.

What’s next:

From what I understand, I’m supposed to pick 15 blog posts that I’ve enjoyed and nominate them (and their authors) for the Best Moment Award. Though I follow some great bloggers, there were a couple of posts that popped into my head during my brief acceptance speech. Note: those who I nominate for this award shouldn’t feel pressured to continue the chain if they choose not to.

The nominees are:

Cassandra Baker Durham – Finding a Balance

Jamie David – Tequila Day

Jordanna East – Jerks & Irks XXX: Free is, as Free Does

The Write Time Write Place – Eliminate the Laundry List by Yolanda Barber

M.J. Kane – M.J. on Writing: Helpful Advice for Aspiring Authors 

Nia Forrester – Inspiration

Writers in the Storm Blog –Why We (and our characters) Fall in Love: Part 1 by Fae Rowen

And The Winners Are…

Congratulations to yesterday’s winners – Time To Celebrate…Again!

If you missed it – readers/followers were challenged yesterday (7/24/12) to leave a comment on my blog, “Like” my new Fanpage on Facebook, and join my mailing list for several chances to win a few prizes. Note: It was brought to my attention that the mailing list link was not cooperating (my sincere apologies for that). But no worries, for each step you took – leaving a comment and/or liking my Fanpage – your name was entered into the drawing.

The Winners Are:

Cindy C. – A copy of one of my e-books (or short story)

Shawnna W. – A copy of one of my e-books (or short story) AND a $5 gift card to Amazon.com

Antiniqua B.– A copy of one of my e-books (or short story) AND a $10 gift card to Amazon.com

Congratulations again! Just email me at sharon@sharoncooper.net for further instructions on claiming your prize(s), and congratulations again!

The Versatile Blogger

Okay, so before I tell you about another cool award that I’ve won, let me first say that today I’ve been invited to hang out at Delaney Diamonds blog today http://delaneydiamond.com/2012/05/14/special-guest-sharon-cooper/. This is REALLY cool, because I’m such a fan of hers – and she’s interviewing me! Stop by and check me out. Oh, AND make sure you leave a comment when you stop by for a chance to win a prize. First prize – $10 Amazon.com gift card and an e-copy of Something New, and second prize – an e-copy of Something New.  Double your chances by leaving a comment on my blog, as well as Delaney’s blog TODAY.

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Okay, now for my award! A few days ago, Ms. Jordanna East over at http://journeyofjordannaeast.wordpress.com/ nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award (Yay!). I never thought of myself as a versatile blogger – but I’m thrilled that I’m seen as one! As part of the nomination, I have to share seven facts about myself and nominate fifteen other bloggers. Now mind you, I’m still fairly new at this blogging stuff, so I don’t know if I can come up with fifteen blogs that I’m familiar with and enjoy – but of course I’ll try. But first, a few facts about me:

Fact 1: I was third runner-up in the Ms. Patricia Stevens pageant – like a hundred years ago!

Fact 2: I was a sheet metal worker for ten years, which is definitely going to play into my new book series coming out in 2013 – Jenkins Family Series (Note: my short story, Best Woman for the Job is a prequel to this series).

Fact 3: My all time favorite store is the Container Store (I hear angels whenever I walk through the doors).

Fact 4: I’ve been married for almost ten years to the most amazing man.

Fact 5: My second novel, Blue Roses, is scheduled for release at the end of June (yay!). Stay tuned for more details in the near future.

Fact 6: I’m still looking forward to being in an anthology (romance) with two of my favorite authors – Beverly Jenkins and Brenda Jackson. I picture my story being dead-smack in the middle of theirs.

Fact 7: I dream of being a secondary character in one of Delaney Diamond’s romance novels. I picture myself as a starving romance writer who moonlights at a five-star hotel as a maid. And to take it a little farther, I see myself being called to the main character’s room (one of Delaney’s gorgeous alpha male characters), and being asked to have dinner with him since he hates eating alone. …it could happen. And since I’m happily married, I’d introduce him to my cool (single) sister.

Okay, so my nominees for the Versatile Blogger award are (in no particular order):

Claire Fadden http://claireflaire.wordpress.com/

Candace Shaw http://candaceshaw.net/

Delaney Diamond http://delaneydiamond.com/

Jamila Gomez http://www.jamilagomez.com/

Yawatta Hosby http://yawattahosby.wordpress.com/

M.J. Kane http://thiswriterslife-mjkane.blogspot.com/

Alicia McCalla http://www.aliciamccalla.com/

Chicki Brown http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com/

I know that’s only eight…but that’s all I could come up with off the top of my head.

DON’T FORGET I wanna to see you over at Delaney Diamond’s blog TODAY! http://delaneydiamond.com/2012/05/14/special-guest-sharon-cooper/ – When you leave a comment on Delaney Diamonds blog AND my blog, you double your chances of winning! First prize – $10 gift card and an e-copy of Something New and second prize – an e-copy of Something New. Be sure to leave your comment before 7pm tonight (EST) and include your first name and last initial within the comment. The winners will be announced on my website tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, with instructions on how to claim prize(s). Sharon’s website: http://www.sharoncooper.net

My First Writing Award (Lucky 7)!

I’m proud to announce that a fellow blogger Yawatta Hosby http://yawattahosby.wordpress.com/ – gave me the Lucky 7 award! This award allows writers to showcase a little piece of their work and pass the award along to other novelists and writers. It can be from your published novel, short story, poem, or a work in progress – your choice.

As a winner, you’re asked to do the following (on your blog):

• Go to page 77 of your manuscript (or any part of your written work)
• Go to line 7
• Copy next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs into your post
• Give the award to 7 more writers

Can’t wait to see what everyone shares. Note: sorry if you’ve already won, but if you haven’t I hope you accept the award! Here are the writers I wish to give the Lucky 7 Award to:

Candace Shaw at http://candaceshaw.net/

Delaney Diamond at http://delaneydiamond.com/

Alicia McCalla at http://www.aliciamccalla.com/

Jordanna East at http://journeyofjordannaeast.wordpress.com/

Claire Fadden at http://claireflaire.wordpress.com/

Chicki Brown at http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com/

Jamila Gomez at http://www.jamilagomez.com/

NOTE: I really want to give the award to another blogger as well …but it puts me at eight awards. So I’m sitting here thinking…”do I dare?” And my answer is YES! I feel like breaking a few rules today! Congratulations M.J. you are one of the recipients of the Lucky 7 award!

M.J. Kane at http://thiswriterslife-mjkane.blogspot.com/

Since the release date of Something New is quickly approaching, I figured I’d follow the instructions above (as close as I can) and share a brief excerpt of the story. NOTE: Unfortunately, this means my excerpt starts at the end of a scene, but here goes:

Tim shook his head in amusement. No way would he take sex advice from his brother, the self-proclaimed bachelor for life, who walked around as if he were God’s gift to women. Not only was his brother a successful businessman, but he was known for dating some of the most beautiful women in the city.

“Thanks for the advice, but I got this.”

****

“Tim, that was the best movie I’ve seen in a long time,” Simone said as they settled into the car.

“I agree, lots of action, just the way I like. I could watch all of Denzel’s movies over and over and enjoy them like it were my first time watching.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Traffic finally moved, and Tim steered the car onto Mayfair Road and toward Simone’s house. This friendship thing was too hard. Never had he ever wanted a woman as much as he wanted the one seated next to him. The kiss the other night still shook him like an unexpected earthquake. The attraction between them was strong. Throughout the movie, he’d sensed things changing between them, and though he liked it, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. When she’d snuggled close to him during one of the action scenes, he automatically put his arm around her, and it felt right. They definitely needed to talk.

He stopped at a red light and drummed his hands against the steering wheel in rhythm with the song on the radio.

“I’m not ready to go home yet,” Simone blurted out. Despite the grip of her seat belt, she turned in her seat to face him. “It’s been such a nice evening, and I don’t want it to end. I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward, but I had to get that off of my chest.”

With a raised eyebrow, Tim glanced at her. “Is there anything else you’d like to get off of your chest?”

She threw back her head and burst out laughing. She shook her head, still laughing, and said, “Nah, I think that’s it.”

Congratulations to all of the winners! I’ll be visiting your blogs to see what you post! 🙂