September 25, 2011

Just Join! You Know You Want To!

JUST JOIN ALREADY!
THERE ARE LOTS OF BRIBES PRIZES!

There have been a couple of changes. The entry  date has been extended to 9/30. Obviously the trial dates have changed, too, so please check them out below. Also, since I'm not really on trial here, I revised my entry for those who care to re-read it. I'm practising revising and I think the revision is loads better!

EXTENDED TO ALLOW MORE ENTRIES!
NOW UNTIL 9/30!

SIGN UP NOW
FOR THE JUDGE AND JURY BLOGFEST!
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY 9/5 - 9/10 30
USING THE MR. LINKY AT THE END OF THIS PAGE.

Finally the Judge and Jury Blogfest is here. It started out as a celebration of my first blogoversary, but now I have a few more milestones to celebrate as well!

  1. My First Blogoversary
  2. Completion of the First Draft of my First Novel
  3. My First 100 Followers!
As you'll see below, there is a New Follower booby prize. And someone has already won it. Who better than my 100th Follower, the awesome Hywela Lyn! Congratulations - you have won a $10 gift card from Amazon.com. A special thanks to Rach Harrie, whose platform-building campaign really gave me a big boost to meeting other bloggers. I had 35 followers at the start of her campaign, and now, as of this writing, I have 111 147!
NOW LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!

All Rise! The Judge (me) enters the courtroom. My Jury consists of the first twelve (12) bloggers to sign up for this Blogfest. Now – Round Up the Usual Suspects and we’ll have a trial!

Everyone who enters the Blogfest is a Suspect (including the Jury – they’re not getting off with a slap on the wrist. But not me – cuz I’m Da Judge). The Jury will vote on the Suspect guilty of writing the best defense scene. Any tie votes will be decided by the Judge.

HOW DO I PLAY?

Every Suspect (remember, this includes the Jury) must write a short defense scene in 300 words or less (a short intro to the scene is acceptable). It can be about anything legal or illegal, minor or major. A stolen kiss, cheating, robbery – even murder! It does not have to involve the law or court. Feel like sharing a scene from your manuscript? Cool! Or maybe a scene from a short story you’ve written? Awesome! It only has to be a scene where someone defends themselves against something.

WHAT ARE THE RULES?
  • The blogfest will run from Monday, September 5 – Saturday Friday, September 10 30.
  • At 12:01am Monday, September 5, a linky tool will go live on Run Gwen, Run!
  • Post your entry on your blog and then add a direct link to your post to the linky tool on my blog before 11:59 p.m. September 10th 30th.
  • Come back on Wednesday, September 14 October 5 to see the six finalists (chosen by the Jury), and then again on Saturday, September 17 Monday, October 10 to see the winners!
  • All genres and forms are welcome.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD I DO?
  • Copy the Judge and Jury badge and post it as a link in the sidebar of your blog
  • Tell all your blogger friends about the blogfest
  • Go to the other contestant’s blogs and give them some comment love during the challenge week 9/5 – 9/10 30.
WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?
  • Each of the 12 Jurors will receive a $5 Amazon Gift Card since serving on the Jury is compulsory (According to the Judge, this should in no way be construed as a bribe!)
  • A $10 Amazon Gift Card booby prize will be awarded randomly to a new follower – I’ve already picked out the Follower’s number. You may already be a winner!
  • Third place prize is a $5 Amazon Gift Card
  • Second place prize is a $10 Amazon Gift Card
  • FIRST PRIZE is a $15 Amazon Gift Card
  • All prizes to be awarded at the completion of the blogfest.

MY ENTRY

Technically, I'm not entering the blogfest as a contestant because that would be a conflict of interest, right? But I still want to play! I modified a scene from my YA novel - removed a couple of characters from the scene and changed it from third to first person. It's really tough to figure out what to cut so that it's less than 300 words! I ended up with 311 - close enough, methinks! And since it's a defense scene, I ended up with a lot of dialog. I'm not sure if the scene works, but here it is! Constructive criticism is welcome, please!

A Scene from Secrets and Lies

Drop-dead silence filled the room. My stomach sank right down to my toes, anchoring me to my chair. I stared at Badger and Simon in turn, my mouth working, like a fish gasping for water.

Use your words, Indigo, use your words, I told myself. Calmness is what we need here. I can do that. I’m calm. See? This is me being calm. I took a deep breath. Rested my hands on the table.

Unfortunately my mind is not attached to my butt. I sprung from my chair, which slammed into the kitchen wall behind me, providing the catalyst for the eruption that followed. Suddenly all on our feet, voices exploded into the room.

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED OUT THERE?” Sometimes being the loudest helps.

I found myself on the other side of the table, glaring up into Badger’s furious face.

“What the hell do you think?” he yelled back, almost as loud as me. “You think we caught up to him, beat him bloody, then threw his limp and bloody body into the bloody river? Is that what you think?” he demanded.

He banged his mug on the table. It bounced, coffee splashing across the tablecloth. A spoon clattered to the floor, but nobody moved to pick it up.

“The dude is dead, Badger. Don’t you get it?” I ran my fingers through my tangled hair and began to pace. “You must know how this looks,” I insisted. “Did anyone see you?” I stopped and looked from Badger to Simon. “More importantly, can you be identified?”

The boys exchanged a look. Two formerly red faces drained of color simultaneously, instantly deflated, like tires hitting a spike strip across a road.

They were bloody well seen. They were suspects. We all were.

Simon was the first to speak. “We wouldn’t have had time to kill Billy and get back here ten minutes after you did. You can’t possibly believe we had anything to do with his death. We wouldn’t. You know we wouldn’t.”

SIGN UP HERE AND PREPARE TO DEFEND YOURSELF!



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64 comments:

Linsey Miller said...

Yes! And for some reason it linked automatically to my tumblr which is not where I post anything. Sorry about that. The second one is my actual blog.

Lady Gwen said...

WooHoo! We have another entry! Yay, Linsey!

Linsey Miller said...

Yes! And for some reason it linked automatically to my tumblr which is not where I post anything. Sorry about that. The second one is my actual blog.

Lady Gwen said...

Hi Linsey, I deleted your first linky - no problem! Thanks for joining:)

Caitlin said...

Nice scene! Loved it. Just linked up!

Lady Gwen said...

Yay Caitlin! I'm so glad you joined!

Stina Lindenblatt said...

Congrats on your milestones. You're well on your way to 200 followers. Way to go!!!!!

I'm not a blogfest person, but good luck with yours.

Lady Gwen said...

Stina, thank you - I do think I'll have 200 followers in no time! Thanks for stopping by - I'll return the visit soon:)

Medeia Sharif said...

Great excerpt.

I've never tried a defense scene. I don't know if I'd be any good. I tend to shy away from legal stuff in my writing. But you did a good job. :)

Lady Gwen said...

Medeia, I use the term "defense" loosely, lol. It doesn't have to be a courtroom scene - it can be as simple as defending yourself against a stolen kiss! Read some of the other entries - none of us actually used the law or a courtroom in our scenes! That's the great thing about being writer's, lol. We march to the beat of a different drum, we're horses of different colors, etc. Isn't it lovely?

Gwen Gardner said...

Hello Jury!! We're nearing the end of this trial - it's been a long haul, but thanks for hanging in there. If you could all please email me your top 6 defense scenes by 10/4 (ladygwen@centurylink.net) I will post the 6 semi-finalists on 10/5. Then from the 6 semi-finalists you will vote on your top 3 by 10/9 for a 10/10 post of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! Thank you so much everyone for participating!

Francine Howarth said...

Hi,

Oh WOW! So, who did it? Ha ha... Moi is looking at narrator!! ;)

best
F

Deborah Walker said...

I'm glad you gave us an example, Gwen. 'cos I'm going to be pushing my genre boundaries. That's a good thing.

Debs/Kelda

Crystal said...

Just linked up! Also? LOVE your entry - I'm dying to know whodunnit! :-)

PS: So, since I was #4, does this mean I get to be a juror??? Yay!!

Clarissa Draper said...

Hi, Gwen, I'm looking forward to it but I posted the link of my blog instead of the link of my post with my entry on it. Could you change my link to: http://clarissadraper.blogspot.com/2011/09/im-taking-part-in-judge-and-jury.html

If not, can you delete the entry and I'll post the right site.

Clarissa Draper said...

Actually, I was able to post it myself. So just delete Clarissa Draper #3 and keep Clarissa Draper #5.

Lady Gwen said...

Francine - can't say who did it, but it was none of the characters in the scene!

Debs/Kelda - Push away, LOL!

Crystal - thanks, Dahhling, and so glad you're a juror!

Lady Gwen said...

Clarissa - Yay, I figured it out! You're now number 4. Don't know why the names have x's next to them now.....

Anonymous said...

Gwen I absolutely need to know who did it. So who did?

Lady Gwen said...

Anon, sorry - you'll have to wait for the book to come out!

Linda Gray said...

Hi Gwen, I'm a fellow Campaigner (mystery/suspense) dropping by to say hello. Nice to meet you! p.s. the blogfest looks fun!

Lady Gwen said...

Linda, thanks for stopping by. I'm still working my way through the First Challenge list, but I'll make it to everyone eventually!

Trisha said...

Nice work, would definitely read on (or back) to find out more about what's going on!

Jolene Perry said...

Nice :D
I Like :D

Madeleine said...

This has tension and intrigue and I like how you describe him shaking the spilled coffee off his hands.

Deborah Walker said...

You might notice two entries from me. Boy, do I want to win. Hee, hee, not really. But I linked to the wrong thing first of all. Now I've got my entry up. Could you delete the first Kelda, Gwen?

Deborah Walker said...

I like the way you've structured this, Gwen. We don't know what's happened until the end.

Michelle said...

I just stumbled across your site. It looks interesting/fun.

www.michelle-pickett.com/blog

Lady Gwen said...

Thanks Trisha, that's what we all want to hear!

Jolene, thanks for commenting and sighing up!

Madeleine, thanks - I struggled to put in the little details when it was a dialog driven scene!

Lady Gwen said...

Deborah, I deleted the first entry so you're good to go! And thanks for the feedback - I'll be heading over to your blog now.

P.S. Have you had any problems accessing the links to the other participants? I have one entry who says she couldn't open the links....

Lady Gwen said...

Michelle, thanks for joining us!

Crystal Cheverie said...

Hey Gwen - just got your comment about the linky list - I can open the links just fine!

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks for checking, Crystal - you know how Google/Blogger can act up! Hopefully that's it!

Deborah Walker said...

Gwen, I've managed to open all the links, too. No problems.

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks for checking Debra, I'm pretty sure it was just Google/Blogger acting up as it sometimes does!

Deborah Walker said...

Good idea, Gwen. It's very busy out there.

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks Debra

Gwen Gardner said...

Hey Jolene- I'm thinking of extending the Judge & Jury blogfest. I only have 6 entries and I think I'm competing with the hundreds of people involved in Rach Harrie's platorm-building campaign - the First Challenge - there are over 300 so far (including me - having a blast, but...). What do you think?

Jolene Perry said...

I'd just do another one later on??

I don't know what to tell you.

But yeah, Harrie's got a lot of people busy!

Jolene

Gwen Gardner said...

Hey Clarissa- I'm thinking of extending the blogfest. I only have 6 entries and I think I'm competing with the hundreds of people involved in Rach Harrie's platorm-building campaign - the First Challenge - there are over 300 so far (including me - having a blast, but...). What do you think?

Clarissa Draper said...

I have no problem with an extension. I think you should do it.

Sher A. Hart said...

Clue me in. How did you get so many followers so fast? Send me some, please. I'm campaigning as fast as I can but life keeps interfering. I'm at the query stage and afraid the best agents will reject me without reading because of too few followers. Joined ANWA, twitter, have a FB page. What else? Oh yeah, chocolate contest on my blog, link right after my flash fiction. http://sherahart.blogspot.com

Sher A. Hart said...

Oh, now I see the extension comment. It would need to be after the campaign for me.

Gwen Gardner said...

@Clarissa, I took the plunge and extended the blogfest until 9/30. Thanks for your support:)

Gwen Gardner said...

@Sher, I went from 35 to 124 followers in about 3 weeks! Crazy, huh? I joined 7 different groups in Rach Harrie's campaign and just made the rounds to everyone's blog and followed, and then they followed me back! Now if only I could get people to join my blogfest! But I think they're all busy with Rach's, including me, LOL!

Michelle Pickett said...

I posted my defense on my blog and inserted my url in the linky link. I hope I did it right. This is my first BlogFest!! Fun!

Michelle
Concilium, July 2012

Michelle Pickett said...

oops, just realized I signed up twice. The second is the 'correct' entry. Sorry! Like I mentioned...this is my first time. That's my defense. :o) Ha!

Gwen Gardner said...

Michelle, no problem! You're good to go - I deleted your first linky. Thanks for joining!

carrieannebrownian said...

I just entered, after thinking about entering for awhile. I hope the scene I finally decided on using passes muster!

Gwen Gardner said...

Yay! Carrie Anne just joined us! And don't worry, I'm sure we'll love your scene - if I can post one, so can you! Just sayin'

S.B. Stewart-Laing said...

Just left an excerpt from the current novel (just out! squee!).

Gwen Gardner said...

S.B., I'm so glad you joined! I'm on my way to your place now to read your entry!

Margie said...

Pretty sure I got it done right. I'll be visiting the other posts over the next couple of days. Thanks for the contest.

Gwen Gardner said...

Yay, Margie! We have a jury!

Gwen Gardner said...

WooHoo! We have another entry! Yay, Linsey!

Linsey Miller said...

Yes! And for some reason it linked automatically to my tumblr which is not where I post anything. Sorry about that. The second one is my actual blog.

Gwen Gardner said...

Hi Linsey, I deleted your first linky - no problem! Thanks for joining:)

Caitlin said...

Nice scene! Loved it. Just linked up!

Gwen Gardner said...

Yay Caitlin! I'm so glad you joined!

Stina Lindenblatt said...

Congrats on your milestones. You're well on your way to 200 followers. Way to go!!!!!

I'm not a blogfest person, but good luck with yours.

Gwen Gardner said...

Stina, thank you - I do think I'll have 200 followers in no time! Thanks for stopping by - I'll return the visit soon:)

Medeia Sharif said...

Great excerpt.

I've never tried a defense scene. I don't know if I'd be any good. I tend to shy away from legal stuff in my writing. But you did a good job. :)

Gwen Gardner said...

Medeia, I use the term "defense" loosely, lol. It doesn't have to be a courtroom scene - it can be as simple as defending yourself against a stolen kiss! Read some of the other entries - none of us actually used the law or a courtroom in our scenes! That's the great thing about being writer's, lol. We march to the beat of a different drum, we're horses of different colors, etc. Isn't it lovely?

Hywela Lyn said...

Lady Gwen -
Thank you SO much for the Gift Certificate, what a lovely surprise! I really just followed you because I thought what a great blog you have, and never thought I'd win anything. Anyway, very much appreciated. Sorry not to have thanked you before, I've been manically busy and only just dug the email out of spam, LOL!

Love your 'Jury' contest by the way, very original!

Best of luck with everything, and thanks again,