Welcome to the RPLA Showcase
Each year at the Royal Palm Literary Award Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. Our goal is to showcase the best of the best at the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Awards and provide First Place winners with a well-deserved spotlight. Not only are we recognizing extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
2015 Unpublished Romance
Allure of the Incubus by E. Sabbag
E. Sabbag won First Place in the Unpublished Romance category. In Allure of the Incubus, Jennifer has found love. Unfortunately, an incubus has found her. Does Jennifer possess the strength to resist his evil advances? Or will she join him in dark desires and death?
Click the link to read a sample:
Excerpt from Allure of the Incubus
Q & A with E. Sabbag
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: My ideas come from my life experiences and then asking “What if…” Allure of the Incubus was the result of a time when I was rehabbing an antique home in Ohio. I came across a picture of a young man on a bicycle, circa early 1800’s. I made up stories of his life in the house, which morphed into a ghost story. Another book evolved from when I first became an engineering consultant. I read an article about setting up a home office. The crux of the article was to designate a space that was geographically removed from the rest of your home, sound proof it and create strict “Do not disturb” rules during working hours. This included locking the door and not allowing phone calls or texts. After I read the article, I thought What happens to a person who’s completely removed from human contact? What if that person had a heart attack? Or if there was an invasion? And The Basement Office was born.
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: The first draft of Allure of the Incubus was meant to be a traditional romance, because I wanted to write for Harlequin Romance. At the time, this was the most straightforward path to publication and, even though I didn’t read romance novels, I’d been in love and decided I could put it down on paper and share it with the world. It was awful. Really awful. I decided that what it needed was a tortured spirit to liven up the story—I’m an avid horror/mystery/suspense reader—and it went from being an embarrassment to winning awards. Now, I write by the adage, “Write what you read and love.”
Q: Who do you credit with inspiring your writing?
A: Agatha Christie and Stephen King. I love their back stories as well as their novels.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: Once you’ve written your very best, put it aside for at least a month. No peeking! The time is essential to create some distance. After the time has elapsed, read from start to finish. Compare it to your favorite authors. Ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly. Do I like the story? Is the flow smooth? Are there typos? Spelling errors? Would I pay to read this? Even though you can turn the book over to others, you have to be your harshest critic.
