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Asa Maria Bradley | From Slush Pile to Double RITA® Finalist
GIVEAWAY: Win VIKING WARRIOR RISING
August 10, 2016
On March 25th this year, I was running around looking for my wallet
and keys so I could leave the house for a routine doctor’s appointment. When the
phone rang, I snatched up the receiver and muttered a distracted “hello” as I
tried to close the zipper on my purse. On the other end was Romance Writers of
America board member Priscilla Oliveras. She quickly had all of my attention
when she asked me if I was sitting down and then told me my debut novel, VIKING WARRIOR RISING, was
a RITA® finalist in both the Best Paranormal Romance and Best First
Book categories. I don’t remember what else Priscilla told me as I blabbered and
cried in response. I was so loud, my husband and the dog rushed into the kitchen
to see what had happened. On the drive to the doctor’s office, I called my agent and my editor to give
them the good news, which led to more happy tears. And when I rushed into the
medical clinic, I told the receptionist and all the people in the waiting room.
They had no clue what I was talking about, but nodded and smiled. Maybe they
just wanted to placate the crazy woman who couldn’t shut up and had mascara
trailing down her cheeks. I have no recollection of the actual appointment past
my doctor past asking “How are you today?” and getting an earful back of what a
fantastic morning it was. (Later on she sent me an email that started, “You
seemed a little pre-occupied, so I thought I’d send you a summary of what we
talked about.”) Once I was back home, I got online and found out several friends were RITA and
Golden Heart finalists. Whatever writing I had planned that day was put aside as
I joined the romance community on social media to celebrate all the finalists.
It was an incredibly joyous, but also a very emotional day. The honor was so
unexpected. VIKING WARRIOR
RISING was the third novel I had finished. I pitched and queried the novel
for almost two years and received 47 rejections before it was published. At the
time, the industry wasn’t sure the paranormal trend would continue. It seemed
nobody wanted to take a chance on a debut author in the genre. I had almost
given up on writing when I got an email from Cat Clyne at Sourcebooks. She had
found the manuscript in the slush pile and sent me a very encouraging outline of
the problem areas of my novel and invited me to rewrite the manuscript and
resubmit, which I of course did. I was overjoyed when the contract offer came,
but could never have imagined that the novel would end up rubbing covers—so to
speak—with works written by such amazing paranormal authors as Thea Harrison,
Angela Quarles, Sharon Ashwood, M.J. Scott, Kristen Callihan, and Nora Roberts.
The Nora Roberts! Even later in the weekend, as hubby and I celebrated with an extravagant brunch
where the unlimited mimosas were almost as impressive as the chocolate fountain
dessert, the whole thing still didn’t feel real. It wasn’t until the calendar
crept closer to the month of July and I still hadn’t purchased a dress for the
ceremony that it dawned on me that this was really happening. At the Romance
Writers of America (RWA) conference, my badge sported two silver
mini-RITA-statue pins and a green ribbon that declared my status as a finalist.
The whole conference experience was like one long ball where I got to be
Cinderella. Friends, acquaintances, and people I’d never met before made a point
of congratulating me. Sourcebooks had sent a ton of copies of my novel to be
included in the swag room. During the RITA and Golden Heart finalists reception,
famous authors I fangirl over big-time hugged and congratulated all of the
nominees. And I got to hang out with fellow Sourcebooks nominees Shana Galen,
M.L. Buckman, and Theresa Romain. 
The experience confirmed what I already had learned about how RWA supports and
encourage on a level I have never experienced before. An example of that was how
quickly the “newbie nominees” bonded. I already knew my fellow Best First Book
finalists Marnee Blake, Pintip Dun, Kristi Ann Hunter—we were all 2014 Golden
Heart finalists together—and Leslie Jones and I have the same agent. Marnee
created an online discussion group for our category as soon as the nominations
were announced and I quickly got to know Sara Richardson, Elizabeth Harmon, and
Scarlett Cole. By the time the conference rolled around, we’d already done cross
promotion events together and when we gathered for a breakfast in San Diego it
was as if meeting old friends. 
At the ceremony, my stomach was fluttering with nerves as I sat between my agent
and my editor at a large table filled with other Sourcebooks nominees and
editors. The short twinges of disappointment I felt over not winning in either
category were quickly overshadowed by the joy filling my heart when hearing
friends’ names called. And afterward I joined in the celebrations taking place
all over the hotel and online. Even though the award show was over, the romance
community—writers, bloggers, readers, publishing professionals—were not done
celebrating our love of this amazing genre where happily ever after—such as an
unknown writer discovered in the slush pile ending up with a double RITA
nomination—really do happen. GIVEAWAY
What would be your reaction to getting great news? Or just congratulate Asa
Maria for her fabulous final nominations and you could be one of the FIVE to get
a copy of VIKING WARRIOR RISING
Viking Warriors
#1
Immortal Vikings are among us
Leif Skarsganger and his elite band of immortal warriors have been charged to
protect humanity from the evil Norse god Loki.
Under attack from Loki's minions, Leif is shocked to encounter a dark-haired
beauty who fights like a warrior herself. Wounded and feverish, the Viking
kisses her, inadvertently triggering an ancient Norse bond. But when Naya
Brisbane breaks away and disappears before the bond is completed, Leif's warrior
spirit goes berserk. If Leif doesn't find her fast, he's going to lose himself
to permanent battle fury.
But Naya doesn't want to be found...and he'll do anything to find her.
Because they're both running out of time.
Romance Paranormal
[Sourcebooks Casablanca, On Sale: November 3, 2015,
Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781492618843 / eISBN: 9781492618850]
Asa Maria Bradley grew up in Sweden surrounded by archaeology and
history steeped in Norse mythology, which inspired the immortal Vikings and
Valkyries in her paranormal romances. She also writes romantic suspense and
currently resides on a lake deep in the pine forests of the Pacific Northwest
with a British husband and a rescue dog of indeterminate breed. Asa
graduated from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers MFA program at Eastern
Washington University with an MFA in creative writing and also holds a Master of
Science in Medical Physics from University of Colorado.
Comments
28 comments posted.
Re: Asa Maria Bradley | From Slush Pile to Double RITA® Finalist
Congratulations, Asa! What a fantastic honor!
(Janie McGaugh 11:15pm August 10, 2016)
Congratulations Asa! If this happened to me I can't really imagine what I'd
do. I'd be over the moon and probably tell anyone who would listen. Add
the fact that Ilona Andrews thinks you're fantastic. I think that's truly one of
the greatest compliments ever! Again... CONGRATULATIONS!
(Karen Gallegos 2:48am August 11, 2016)
Thanks everyone! And Matt, I would LOVE to meet up again next year.
:-)
Also, this will probably be corrected later today, but I just wanted to
make sure people aren't mislead by the sentence under the
GIVEAWAY heading. I didn't win in either category I was nominated. In
both cases I lost to fabulous friends, so there was still much
celebration. :-)
(Asa Maria Bradley 2:27pm August 11, 2016)
Congratulations! I'd be dumb struck and probably be telling
anyone who would listen! LOL
(JoAnn White 6:20pm August 12, 2016)
Congratulations Asa Maria!!!! That's a lot of great writing!!! I would have been so dumb stuck that I would have had to record the whole message again so I could listen to it later. HA
(Bonnie Capuano 8:21am August 13, 2016)
Congratulations on those amazing nominations (PLURAL, no less) Asa Marie! And, by the way, I love paranormal. I'm so glad you're a writer.
I would be flabbergasted if I got great news. And, shock would probably set in if it were anything like your accomplishment. Furthermore, it's a joy to know you've gotten to familiarize yourself with a supportive writing community!
(Sarah Edwards 11:54pm August 13, 2016)
Great news is meant to be celebrated, so we'd go out to dinner and have a drink!
Thanks for the giveaway!
(Joanne Schultz 2:41pm August 14, 2016)
Congratulations Asa. If I won something big like this, it would be
hard to concentrate on anything. I'd probably walk around and
start things and then break out in song now and then. How
wonderful for you and in turn for all of us, to get to read your
work.
(Nancy Luebke 3:25pm August 14, 2016)
Congratulations Asa Maria! You should have at least one adult beverage to celebrate.
(Nancy Marcho 5:56pm August 14, 2016)
First, congratulations on your nominations. What an honor. Like the
Olympics, just to be good enough to compete is a win. A medal or award is
frosting on the cake.
I am glad to see you venture in a slightly differently direction for your books.
It is always interesting to experience the worlds and characters authors create
for their stories. There aren't that many paranormal books that deal with the
Norse myths, Gods, Vikings and Valkyries. I will be looking for VIKING
WARRIOR RISING and those that follow.
(Patricia Barraclough 9:49pm August 14, 2016)
Thanks everyone! I'm pretty much still celebrating the
nominations. Even though the awards have been handed out, I
figured it's my RITA year so I'll keep going at least until
December. ;-)
(Asa Maria Bradley 3:02am August 15, 2016)
Congratulations , I'm sure I would react the same why you did , I get so excited when I go to my mailbox and I get another book to read .
(Joan Thrasher 10:21am August 15, 2016)
Congratulations! You are so talented. What a great honor.
(Sharon Berger 1:35pm August 15, 2016)
Congratulations!!! If I put something out into the world that
I worked so hard on and got that kind of good news I would be
a wreck. A happy hard to understand wreck!
(Tanya Guthrie 2:21pm August 15, 2016)
Congrats! Very exciting.
(Kerry Shaw 2:39pm August 15, 2016)
Congrats! I'm usually speechless at great news and don't know how to deal with it, but when it's great news for other people, I'm super excited.
(Lisa L. 11:02pm August 15, 2016)
That is quite an honor!!! Congratulations!!!!
(Bonnie Capuano 10:16am August 16, 2016)
Thank you for all the congratulations! Today I found out
that there is even more reason to keep celebrating. VIKING
WARRIOR REBEL, book 2 in the series is an RT Book Reviews
Top Pick and received 4.5 stars. :-)
(Asa Maria Bradley 7:08pm August 16, 2016)
Congratulations on your Rita Nominations! And, congratulations for getting selected as a RT Book Reviews Top Pick! Such an exciting time for you! Viking Warrior Rising sounds fascinating. I'm glad to have learned of you and your books today!
(Liz Sawyer 10:39pm August 16, 2016)
WOW you have got to be sooo excited!!! Congratulations on jobs well done. I can't wait to read this book!!
(Bonnie Capuano 7:19am August 17, 2016)
Congrats on your Rita nominations, may they be the first of many!
(Angela Daffern 2:41pm August 17, 2016)
Congrats on your Rita Nom... I bet that was so exciting
for you. I when I to get nervous and my face gets all
splotchy and my stomach hurts... I normally walk around
or find something that helps me burn off nervous energy.
Here is hoping you have many more Nominations.
(Jeannie Platt 12:29pm August 18, 2016)
Congratulations!!lets go out for a night on the town.
(Jean Benedict 3:10pm August 19, 2016)
Yes I agree here's to hoping to many more nominations! Great work for a great writer!!!
(Bonnie Capuano 4:51pm August 19, 2016)
Congrats!! That is awesome
(Gwenn Ostman 8:38pm August 19, 2016)
Hi Asa, Reading about your experience of learning you were a
nominee and everything that unfolded afterwards, had me
totally smiling. Definitely looking forward to reading, Viking
Warrior Rising.. :o)
(Belinda Knight 3:33am August 20, 2016)
Congratulations Asa! Viking Warrior Rising sounds like a fascinating book.
(Bonnie H 11:19am August 23, 2016)
Thank you again, everyone! I feel like I get to celebrate even more here
on the blog because of your super nice comments!
(Asa Maria Bradley 2:06pm August 23, 2016)
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