Today is the last day to enter the Free Full Manuscript Giveaway over at Dear Editor.com. You don't want to miss this. Check it out here.
Good Luck!
Go On Now!
March 10, 2012
Lucky 7 Meme, Campaign Winners, Komal's Giveaway
First, CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the Fourth Platform-Building Campaigns first challenge. I made it to the quarter-finals and was completely thrilled and honored! Alas, the competition was tough and I didn't move on. There were so many different levels of winners and prizes - you can check it all out HERE.
Second, Thank You to Komal Lewis for her 100 Followers Giveaway. I won fifth place, a Kindle copy of Crossroads by J.J. Bond and a $5 Amazon Gift Card! Check out her awesome blog HERE.
The awesome Caitlin at All About Growing Up And Becoming A Famous Author has tagged me for the Lucky 7 Meme! And this is one of the easier meme's. No questions to answer, just post part of your MS and tag 7 people.
Here's what to do:
1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know.
“This,” I pointed to the board. “This is just a beginning. We’ll be adding to it.”
“Yes,” said Riley, “that’s true. But I think we should prepare ourselves anyway.” She began gathering the empties on a tray. “I mean, who would’ve thought anyone would have had a reason to kill dad? I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
“She’s right. We need to keep an open mind,” said Simon. We can’t just cross someone off the list because we’ve known them a long time.”
We all agreed.
Second, Thank You to Komal Lewis for her 100 Followers Giveaway. I won fifth place, a Kindle copy of Crossroads by J.J. Bond and a $5 Amazon Gift Card! Check out her awesome blog HERE.
AND NOW.......
Here's what to do:
1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 authors.
5. Let them know.
Page 77, Line 7, 7 Lines
“This,” I pointed to the board. “This is just a beginning. We’ll be adding to it.”
“Yes,” said Riley, “that’s true. But I think we should prepare ourselves anyway.” She began gathering the empties on a tray. “I mean, who would’ve thought anyone would have had a reason to kill dad? I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
“She’s right. We need to keep an open mind,” said Simon. We can’t just cross someone off the list because we’ve known them a long time.”
We all agreed.
That's it! I followed the rules and didn't cheat. Definitely not my best.
See how easy that was? And now I get to pass this on to 7 people:
March 7, 2012
Insecure Writers Support Group: Confession Time
As a relatively new writer who's still finding her voice, I get confused about the rules. And that's mostly because I see people breaking them all the time, even bestselling authors.
What's good and what's bad in the writing world?
First, there's the verb thing: was, were, are and is are bad. They're weak.
In the bestselling I Am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore, the whole first chapter is a monologue littered with weak verbs, "was"ing and "were"ing planted right on the surface for everyone to see. And it didn't bother me. It engaged me. I wanted to know more.
And then the weak adverbs, words ending in "ly" - they're bad, too. Yet JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame used adverbs relentlessly (yes, pun intended). And it didn't bother me. I find her writing cozy and comforting. I actually wonder if adverbs are what makes her writing "cozy," perhaps because they take the edge off of using the harsher, stronger verbs. I don't really know.
Here's my confession: I secretly love adverbs. A terrible weakness, I know.
But in JKR's case, adverbs worked! I wonder if the first 12 publishers she sent her MS to only looked at the abundance of adverbs and rejected it, without taking in the content! I wonder how many times publishers rejected Pittacus Lore's MS because of the "was"s and "were"s, too. They broke the rules. They're bestsellers.
So when is it okay to employ "weak" writing?
And that begs the question: how can bad writers be bestsellers? And the answer has to be that reading preferences are completely subjective. If you have a good story and tell it well, breaking the rules sort of fall to the wayside.
So I get confused.
In the meantime, I am scared to use the weak "was" and "were" and I tremble ridiculously at the thought of using adverbs!
What are you afraid of?
March 5, 2012
Creepy Hollow Launch Day!
Today the Creepy Hollow series kicks off with the release of the first story, GUARDIAN!!
GUARDIAN introduces readers to the magical world of Creepy Hollow, a realm where fae creatures — both safe and definitely-not-so-safe — dwell. Things are cool as long as the fae stick to their own realm. It's when they find their way into the human world that things start going wrong...
1. Receive assignment.
2. Save a life.
3. Sleep.
4. Repeat.
Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.
The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.
Author Info
To find out more about the series, the author, and the characters, check out the blog tour that’s happening over the next two weeks.
GUARDIAN introduces readers to the magical world of Creepy Hollow, a realm where fae creatures — both safe and definitely-not-so-safe — dwell. Things are cool as long as the fae stick to their own realm. It's when they find their way into the human world that things start going wrong...
1. Receive assignment.2. Save a life.
3. Sleep.
4. Repeat.
Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.
The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.
Buy from Amazon US
Buy from Amazon UK
Buy from Smashwords
The Creepy Hollow Series
Author Info
To find out more about the series, the author, and the characters, check out the blog tour that’s happening over the next two weeks.
Second Challenge (4th Platform-Building Campaign)
I went with three of the challenges (three being an added challenge), each written in the dystopian genre (another added challenge as I've never written in the dystopian genre before): the pitch, 200 word story using prompt #1, and the five-line story using each of the five prompts.
My theme is life and survival in a newly dystopian world, and so I have used water as a strong life symbol.
You can go HERE to check out the other entries. I am #25 if you want to "like" mine.
***********************************************************************
PITCH:
A blip, no bigger than a tear drop, a tiny hiccup in the earth’s perpetual spin, results in the struggle to survive in a new world and a new society for those lucky enough to find their way to the safety of the bridge.
***********************************************************************
Under the Bridge
I shifted my position, wincing at the pain in my leg.
“Try not to move,” said my companion. “That cut on your leg is pretty deep.”
Rain water dripped from points off his drenched hair. He had given me the trash bag, first slitting the side and slipping it over my head like a hood, the odor of rotting garbage hugging my face.
The concrete bridge had collapsed, sending pedestrians cascading like a waterfall to drown in the lake of debris below.
I didn’t remember. I awoke sitting here, partially protected under the remains of the bridge, the rusted support beams etching a painful tattoo into my back.
Time escaped me.
“What’s taking so long?” I croaked. “The rescue people – what’s taking so long?”
No sirens blared. No barking, no chirping, no buzzing, no engines.
It disturbed me.
“Where are the others? The other people from the bridge?”
He didn’t answer, only sat with eyes closed, adam’s apple gliding up and down.
It all felt wrong. Terribly wrong.
I leveraged myself up, hands scraping against the rough surface. Dragging my stiff leg, I shuffled to the opening.
Nothing but barren land, leveled, ravaged.
No one was coming.
***********************************************************************
Afterlife
Each bridge, dark, dank, wet, safe.
Each child, a miracle.
Each splash of water, life.
Each search through rubble, a treasure hunt.
Each energy field, a field of hope.
***********************************************************************
HERE ARE THE PROMPTS, RULES AND CHALLENGES:
There are five prompts, four of them are photographs:
Prompt #1:
Two people are sitting together under the remains of a concrete bridge. Their backs are against a rusted bridge support. One person’s leg is cut. The other person has wet hair.
Prompt #2:
Prompt #3:
Prompt #4:
Prompt #5:
Here are the challenges. Do one or more of the following:
- Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words)
- Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts
Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words)- Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts
Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.
For added difficulty/challenge:
- Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a common theme (feel free to either state the theme in your post or leave us to guess what it might be)
- Write in a genre that is not your own
Ask Challenge entrants to critique your writing. After the Challenge closes, you may wish to re-post your revised piece(s), and I’ll include a Linky List at the bottom of this post for those wishing more feedback on their revisions (note: revised entries will not be judged, so please label clearly your original post and your revisions. Please do not offer critique unless someone asks for it, as per the usual blogging conventions. If you do ask for critique, make sure you ask for it clearly so people know you want it, and please be prepared to receive feedback that may not be 100% glowing. If you are a critiquer, please be tactful and courteous, and remember to provide positives as well as negatives.)
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