Tag: Contests

OUT OF THE FIRE Available for Pre-order

On By Rick OchockiIn Novels, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m delighted to announce that my debut novel – Out of the Fire – is now available for pre-order in either paperback or Kindle eBook version.

Cover of Rick Ochocki’s debut novel OUT OF THE FIRE

After Fire Captain Danny Russell saves Natalie Sands from a rampaging wildfire in Kern County, California, the passion that flares between them threatens to burn out of control.

Natalie is an aspiring designer at a New York City fashion house who only returned to Bakersfield to look in on her hospitalized mother. Danny is the leader of a San Diego-based engine company dispatched to the disaster in the suburbs who begins to discern the emptiness of a life confined to the job.

The spark between Danny and Natalie develops into a powerful romantic and sensual connection. But how can a man who yearns for a place to call home alongside someone worth loving achieve a happily ever after with a woman fixed on escaping her hometown for the chance at success in the world of fashion?

A contemporary romance with suspense elements, Out of the Fire was a finalist in the 25th Annual WisRWA Fabulous Five Contest.

Out of the Fire – Accepted for A Year in Ink 11 (2018)

On By Rick OchockiIn Romantic Suspense, San Diego Writers, InkLeave a comment

New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother says success as a writer requires “supreme determination, persistence, and rebounding from rejection.” One of the hard realities about submitting work to agents, editors, and contests is that rejection is not only possible, but likely.

That’s why an email I received this week was so wonderful. Please allow me to quote the first line – “Thank you for sending us ‘Out of the Fire’. We love it and would like to publish it in the next issue of A Year in Ink.” I was literally speechless with delight.

 I wish all of you could have been with me when I read those words. The moment was even richer because a favorite Christmas song was playing on SiriusXM radio at the same time.
I’m grateful to San Diego Writers, Ink for accepting the first chapter of my romantic suspense novel for inclusion in the annual anthology – to be printed in June, 2018. Please keep an eye out for more information about the Anthology release party.
I’m still querying to get the full novel published. And while odds are that I’ll get a few more rejections before another acceptance, at least it won’t be too long until readers get to sample my story of the love sparking between Fire Captain Danny Russell and fashion designer Natalie Sands.