Conflict: It's What's for Dinner

...if you're a writer, that is. Conflict is our bread and butter. Conflict between characters keeps the plot going, it keeps the tension simmering, and it pushes your characters to do things they might not normally do.

If you've ever listened to a kid who's around 4-6 years old tell a story, you've probably heard a story without conflict. I've heard plenty over my years of parenting and working with other people's children, and let me tell you, stories without conflict tend to be boring. Without stakes, tension, or momentum, there's just not much to engage a reader's (or listener's) attention.

Pretending To Listen GIFfrom Pretending To Listen GIFs

When Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, the authors of one of my absolute favorite resources, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, announced that they were releasing a new entry in their thesaurus series all about conflict, I was genuinely excited to sign up for their promo team. Every time they release a book they do something epic and fun to celebrate, and I get to tell you all about it! I recommend several of their thesaurii to writers I do edits for all the time, because the books are great for all levels of writers. They explain the basic concept of each book, why it's important, and how to implement it in your novel, all in one inexpensive, easy-to-navigate, guide. What's not to love?

So if you want to learn more about how to improve your use of conflict in your writing, I definitely recommend that you check out The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 1)

You're probably curious about this book, so let me break it down. The Conflict Thesaurus is set up like the other books in their series: part how-to, part thesaurus. This guide shows writers how to maximize conflict and use it to build tension, drive the plot, reveal your character's inner layers, and most importantly, keep readers glued to the page.

It's packed with conflict scenarios like Moral Dilemmas, Ticking Clocks, Obstacles, No-Win Scenarios, Temptations and more. It can help you nail down your plot and character arc, so check it out!

Now, speaking of conflict, I have a BIG question for you. Remember that epic fun I mentioned earlier? It's time for a game!

Can You Survive Danger as Well as Your Favorite Protagonist?

You're probably pretty good at throwing problems at your characters and making life difficult for them. After all, that's part of being a writer. But do you ever think about how you'd do if you had to face the same situations? If you were the protagonist, would you hold up to the pressure? Would you make good decisions and succeed, or screw up and fail?

Let's find out.

Introducing...The Conflict Challenge

Become the protagonist in a story Angela & Becca created using scenarios found in the Conflict Thesaurus to see if you've got what it takes to win.

The Conflict Challenge is fun, campy, and will put your wits and instincts to the test.

And if you survive, you will win some cool stuff!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

While you’re checking out the Conflict Challenge at Writers Helping Writers, make sure to also enter their Conflict Thesaurus release day giveaway, too. But hurry – it ends October 15th.

So, take the Conflict Challenge…if you dare. And don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did against Camp Deadwood!

Synopsis-es? Synopses? Synopsipodes???

Does the plural of synopsis being synopses ever look wrong to anyone else? No? Just me?
Oh well.

ahem. I've fielded quite a few questions from various writer friends across my social media lately on how to write the dreaded synopsis.

Here's the secret: it doesn't have to be that bad.

I've got some advice for you, together with my favorite posts on how to write and format your synopsis, to ease the pain.
1. Remember that the synopsis does not have to be dry and boring. It can be used to showcase your novel's voice and style. Now, if you are dealing with A Very Serious Agent, you may want to see if they have a preference for tone in their synopsis. Given how much material agents and editors have to read every day, I'd think most would be happy to read a synopsis with some voice. BUT. That doesn't mean gimmicky and over the top zany. It's still a business interaction, after all.
2. Remember that not every event or character will make it into your synopsis. Your synopsis is the string of events that lead your character from point A to point Z. Figure out which incidents are pivot points in the novel, changing the character's emotional or literal journey. Those ones are important. Knowing that he stopped for cookies at Aunt Sally's before fighting the dreaded dragon? Not so important, unless the hero receives the magical amulet of awesomeness there.
Once I have a workable synopsis with what I think are the main events, I send it to a friend who hasn't read the story before or heard me raving about it in detail. That way they can read the synopsis and tell me if they can follow the events, the causes and effects, as I've laid them out.
3. Remember that the query's job is to hook someone's interest, and the synopsis' job is to lay out the bare bones of the story so an outsider can see if it makes sense. Most agents ask for them to make sure you don't have a nasty surprise ending that will infuriate your readers. You know, like all those TV shows with miserable finales that everyone rants about for years after? That's the biggest reason an agent will ask for a synopsis. So it doesn't have to be perfect. Grammar matters, and it needs to make sense. But they aren't expecting the most beautiful, engaging prose. Try reading synopses of TV shows or books online. They're a bit boring, and that's okay.

Now, my personal trick for writing a synopsis is simple. There are two steps.
1. I keep in my my character's emotional journey as I write, because I want to show that growth along with the events. Personally, I think that helps to make a synopsis more interesting and more compelling.
2. I take my plot chart, and turn the bullet points into sentences. Then I add in the transitions between them as needed. Ta da! It's a synopsis!

(I suppose there really are three steps, because then I revise. Always revise and edit and proofread everything. But hopefully that's a given.)
I like to use the four-act plotting system I learned from Rebecca Petruck. She teaches plotting webinars, and you can find out more about Rebecca and her classes at https://www.rebeccapetruck.com/. Since she charges for her workshops, I'm not going to go into detail on her method, but I will tell you that I love it. And I'm a pantser. I use her method to plot my manuscripts after I've written a first draft, to reorganize and restructure the story properly. Her method is simple and easy to use.
It has a lot in common with all the other plotting methods out there, so whichever plotting method you personally like, you can give this a try. Take your major plot points, and use them to form the bones of your synopsis. You've already done all the work, you just need to move it from your plot chart to your synopsis.

And as promised, here are some other synopsis-writing resources that I'm fond of. These all boil down to the same thing, but different ways of explaining it and different methods for approaching the synopsis all make sense to different people. Hopefully one of these will work for YOU.

http://pitchwars.org/writing-perfect-synopsis-pintip-dunn-release-day-plus-giveaway-girl-verge
https://aprildavila.com/in-praise-of-the-synopsis
https://www.janefriedman.com/how-to-write-a-novel-synopsis
http://mikewellsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/secret-formula-for-creating-short.html
http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2012/04/17/how-to-write-a-1-page-synopsis
http://writersrelief.com/blog/2008/01/how-to-write-a-synopsis-for-a-novel
http://theeditorsblog.net/2012/07/15/clear-the-dread-from-the-dreaded-synopsis

Good luck!

Maelstrom

I've been feeling a little off lately, and it's been bad for my writing and revising. I have depression, which I'm pretty open about. It's an ongoing fact of life for me. So I decided to try to put some of that feeling into words, in poetry. Maybe it will resonate with someone else out there too.

maelstrom

She stands on the edge,
her feet submerged in grainy darkness.
Waves crash;
her shoulders sag under the weight of
the fears
the sorrows
the guilts
the failures
the mistakes
that drown her silent voice.
She cries so loud no one can hear her.
Her tears echo in the waves that break against her back.

But she stands.
She throws back her shoulders.
She shakes off the darkness --
the fears sorrows guilts failures mistakes --
and she pours them out into the whirling darkness that laps at her feet.

Drip
Drop
Slips them in gently, without a sound.
Lets them slide off her back
and into the gaping black hole that dogs her footsteps.
And she is Light.
Free.

With her pains and her sorrows
behind her,
in the black hole.
So greedy, it slurps the poison in.

And she turns her face to the sun,
One step away from the darkness.

Yet.

The black hole grows.
Swelling quietly behind her back,
beneath her feet.
Until it grows so large that it crests its horizon.

And it laps around her ankles,
dark waves caressing her tired feet.

And she slumps, and turns her face from the sun.
And the wave slowly pulls her
Back.
Into the darkness.

Leaving her with a lingering memory of light.

Until

Hey, everyone! It's time to Pimp. My. Bio. I have a feeling I may be too white and nerdy to use that phrase.

If you want to be white and nerdy cool like me, you can pimp your bio too! The host post is here: http://www.lanapattinson.com/pitch-wars-2017-pimpmybio-contestant-blog-hop/

Step 1: Write up a blog post about yourself. And link back to the main blog hop page. ^

Step 2: Upload the link address from your blog post to the cool little Linky Widget thingamabob that does the job, and bibbidi bobbidi boo, you'll turn into Cinderella!
Wait, wrong fairytale.

Your blog will get added to the blog hop, which may not be as exciting as riding in a giant pumpkin, but on the plus side, it probably smells better. Your name and genre goes in the "your title" field.

Step 3: Read other hopefuls' blogs, be nice, make friends, have fun! One of the best things that can come out of participating in this kind of contest is the new friends and writing buddies you'll find. Publishing is a tough business. We've got to stick together.

The blog hop is currently open! So hop on over and join in the fun.

So, you might be asking, what is this Pitch Wars thing all about? Good question! It's a competition meant for polished manuscripts. You submit your manuscript to 4 mentors who are open to the age category and genre that your story fits. If your MS is chosen, your mentor will help you revise and polish up your story until it's all shiny and ready for the agent showcase in November. All the details of how to enter are available here, on our lovely fairy godmother Brenda Drake's blog: http://www.brenda-drake.com/2017/06/pitch-wars-2017-details/

The thing about Pitch Wars is, you'll get out of it what you want. If you put yourself out there, it's really easy to find new writing friends to help support you in your journey. Mentors post great resources on how to revise your own writing. You'll learn how to improve yourself as a writer, and you'll find a community like nothing else you've seen before. It's pretty amazing. Plus, there are raptor GIFs, if you're into that sort of thing.

Now if you're a fellow hopeful mentee, or a potential mentor, you're probably asking, who is this strange person telling me things I already know? Another great question! (Sorry, that's the Sunday School teacher side of me coming out. I love questions.)

Ahem. So, you may have noticed that I am, indeed, white and nerdy. I love all things Star Wars. Rey had better be awesome in the next movie, or I may never forgive Disney.

I love a fierce heroine. Dragons are pretty much always a bonus; I'm proud I've convinced all 3 of my girls of this already. Oldest made me a dragon-filled birthday card this year. So, I'm a mom of 3 girls who are also trending perilously to the nerdy side. Thankfully they've also inherited some coordination and athleticism from their dad, so they might just survive their teenage years with a few less emotional traumas than I did. I have Aspergers, but I didn't know that until last year, so that made growing up extra interesting.

I love fantasy and sci-fi in particular. Historical fiction and historical fantasy are next on my list. Serious, funny, sweet, heartbreaking, long and winding, or short, I don't really care - if it's got an interesting world-building setup and good characters, give it to me now.

Pretty please?

This is my second year entering Pitch Wars. Last year, my manuscript TOTALLY wasn't ready. I cringe, looking back at it now. But I'm still glad I entered, because I learned so much from listening to the mentors and poring over their blog posts. I made connections with mentors who were kind and kept in touch, and helped me keep moving when I got stuck. I devoted myself to revising that manuscript, and it's 1000% better now.

Not entering it this year, though, because I'm still not happy with where it is. Someday, it will get there.

So instead, I'm entering an Adult fantasy this year; a fairytale retelling. It's very loosely based on the Grimm version of Sleeping Beauty, but it's centered on Maleficent's POV instead. And no, it's nothing like the Disney version. Think more this:

and less this:

along with a healthy dash of revenge gone wrong, plot twists that will hopefully make you scream in a good way, and a mother-daughter relationship so messed up that only a miracle could save it.

That's me and my story, in a nutshell. I tweet @bethanyrambles on Twitter, mostly about writing, a little about my kids and everyday life, and a little about politics. Hopefully you enjoyed this year's edition of Piiiiimp...Myyyyyy...Bioooooo...(slow fade into darkness.)

Love

I'm posting about something different today, so feel free to skip this one. It's not about writing craft or community.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed the last few days I posted that my grandfather is in the hospital. Probably dying. I'm getting updates from my dad, because I live too far away to be there right now, and grandpa is getting worse by the hour now. And the thing that really sucks is that it's not pleasant. He can't breathe, he can't eat, water makes him sick, and he's throwing up. Fluid in his lungs, fluid compressing his heart. Infection, high white cell count. Failing kidneys.

It breaks my heart. Even if I could be there, I don't know that I could stand it.

My grandpa is a good man. He's in his 90s, so yes, it's his time, and I know it, but it doesn't make the pain less. I know he wants to be with grandma again. That doesn't lessen my sorrow much either. Not because I don't believe it, but because of who he is.

So let me tell you a little bit about my grandpa.

When I think of him, I think of pears, and chocolate chip cookies. Family dinners, with so many people that half of us ate in the dining room and half of us ate in the living room.

I think of him and grandma, traveling all over the US in their RV, so they could visit their grandkids as often as possible. When I was a young teenager, I went with them in that RV one summer, from Oregon down to San Francisco, to my oldest cousin's wedding. We got stuck in Boring, Oregon, for a little while and barely made it there in time.

I think of family reunions, and t-shirts with all the bad puns from our last name. We knew them all, used them on our answering machines or shot them back at people who thought they'd come up with a clever new one. I remember one family reunion when I was a freshman, I think. We rented a few (large!) cabins and cooked and camped and went river rafting together. All of us cousins swapped around which cabin we were sleeping, so we could hang out with family members we didn't get to see that often. I felt so close to my cousins, even though we lived far apart and only visited once every 2-3 years. My grandparents did that.

When I think of grandpa, I think of family, first and foremost. He was devoted to his family. There are 24 of us grandkids, and we all got birthday cards. He was there for most of the big occasions - graduations, weddings, baby blessings for some of the great-grandkids. My grandpa is a temple sealer, which means he has the priesthood authority to perform eternal marriage ceremonies in LDS temples. He performed the ceremony when I got married, and married many of my cousins as well.

I'll never forget the way his eyes sparkled with tears as he sealed my husband and I together, for time and all eternity. Love filled the room that day.

When I think of grandpa, I picture him with a big smile on his face, arms outstretched for a hug. White buttoned-down shirt, glasses. Always neat. Always ready with a joke.

I don't remember when, but he started a family tradition of speaking love more often. Whenever we got together, after family prayer (and keep in mind, he had 6 kids, all married, and 24 grandkids, so that's one giant prayer circle), we'd all put our hands in. Like a football team preparing for the big game. Then we'd say "Sure love ya!" and throw our hands up. To this day, whenever someone in my family says those words, it makes me smile and think of grandpa.

I think of nature, and how he loved his garden and the animals that visited. He had an otter in his yard just last week.

I think of how much he loved grandma.

I think of honor and truth, dedication and service. He was a navy man. So dapper in his old uniform pictures.

He's kind and loving. When my grandma joined the church, he drove her to worship meetings twice every Sunday for years, until eventually he joined too. I don't think I've ever heard him speak a harsh word about anyone. Not even in politics. He loves all of his grandchildren so much, even though we haven't all made the same choices he would have wanted for us.

When I think of grandpa, I think of joy.

The reality is that without him, my entire family would be so different. Counting his children, grandchildren, the spouses because he would count them as family-by-love, and great-grandchildren, he has about 100 descendants. All of us would be so different without him and his influence on our lives. And that's why the thought of losing him is so hard for me. Without grandpa, my family as I know it wouldn't exist.

He's the kind of good man whose impact is felt for generations. And I'm so fortunate to be able to call him my grandfather.

Sure love you, Grandpa. And give Grandma a big hug from me.

One pitch, two pitch, me pitch, you pitch

So the writing community's version of March Madness is all set for the hosting round. For most of us who entered, we've been benched and get to watch the rest of the action from the sidelines. But just like any other talent, you can choose how you want to use that time. Do you sit on the bench and sulk, wallowing in your misery?

You can. It's your choice. Personally, I think suppressing all your disappointment and sadness isn't healthy. But don't waste all your time on it. Give yourself a day, or a week, to indulge your feelings a little. Acknowledge them, take a little time for self-care, and then pull yourself up and get ready to work.

Because your other choice is to watch the winning team and learn from them. Read their pitches, once the agent round begins. Look for others in your age category and genre; see what they're doing that works, and apply those techniques to your own manuscript. Admitting that your writing is flawed is HARD, people! Our stories are so often personal, a snippet of our souls, that sharing them and then facing rejection can feel devastating.

Finding out that your truth wasn't quite good enough? That can be even harder.

But it's all fixable, if you stick with it. Don't take yourself out of the game. Google everything. Read about how to pitch online, in person, and via Twitter. They're all different. Read about comma usage, if that's where you struggle. Read about how to use beat sheets if you struggle with pacing. Try the if/then method. Fill out character worksheets until you know each character, no matter how minor, better than you know your own family. Read up on settings, historical eras, poisonous plants, futuristic technology, whatever your story needs to make sure it's believable.

Then go out and look on Amazon for all the top-selling books in your age category and genre. Read as many as you can get your hands on, and start with the most recent ones. You want to know what sells right now. Read the reviews people have written of those books, dissecting them. What did people like, and why? What bothered readers?

And find yourself a small crew of critique partners and beta readers to work with. You don't need that many, although some people like having several at a time. For me, I have one tried and true CP who reads all my work after a couple drafts. She is amazing and thorough and puts me under a microscope. I have a few other new ones, and we're still testing out our relationships to see if we'll work well together. Finding your people can take time, but it is so incredibly worth it. These are the people you'll thank in your acknowledgements. They're the ones you'll want to call when you finally get that offer of rep, when that contract comes your way. And they'll keep you sane in the meantime.

I keep forgetting to add this: Critique for other people. If you can start reading other people's writing more consciously, looking for errors deeper than basic grammar, figuring out what you liked/disliked and why, you start to develop those skills to apply to your own stories. I have a much easier time analyzing other people's work than my own. And sometimes I can come off too harsh, unfortunately, so I'm working on honing my own critiquing skills. But the more you do it, the better you get at breaking things down and seeing the nuts and bolts of how a story ought to work.

So...ahem. On to something slightly more concrete. My pitch for Pitch Madness was not great. I didn't put as much time into it as I needed to. But during the reading round, I had time to sit down and (again) read over advice from the pros on pitching, and I hope what I crafted is going to land me some requests. I had to entirely scrap the way I had been structuring my 35 word pitch and start over again. As much as that sucked, sometimes it's necessary.

Here's the pitch I entered:

Seventeen-year-old Emily has two weeks to write a novella or she’ll flunk English and lose her full-ride scholarship. Then her characters start arguing with her—unless she’s losing her mind. And that’s her worst nightmare.

It's not awful. It identifies the MC right away, without spending too many words on her. I found, after feedback, that readers needed Emily's age to know whether she's a college or high school student. So that's the WHO. WHO your pitch is about needs to be clear, but sometimes we get too wrapped up in wanting to tell about how cool our MC is that we waste space on extra details. Keep the WHO slim.

WHAT is next. That's the challenge, your MC's main obstacle. In my case, it's having to write the novella or flunk and lose her scholarship. So I've laid out both the obstacle and the stakes (why she has to overcome that particular challenge).

HOW is last. HOW is tricky. And it's part of where I think I failed in this pitch. HOW is more subtle - which path is she going to take, and why, and how does it affect her ability to overcome this obstacle? (You don't have to answer all of those questions at once, but those are the kind of things at play here.) Without some reason here, you end up with "My character is going to rob a bank today because I said so." Instead of "My character is going to rob a bank today because he's been out of work for eight months and he's already sold everything he can, including a kidney, and he's out of options because the bank dropped off a foreclosure notice that morning." It's why any of this matters, and why it should matter to the rest of us.

Here's my newly drafted version, after I spent half an hour trimming it from about 50 words down to 35:

Emily dreams of curing the disease that took her mom, but school’s too expensive. When an eccentric teacher’s magical typewriter triggers her fear of inheriting dementia, she must face her fears or lose her scholarship.

I'll admit, I still don't think it's perfect, but it's getting better. We still have the WHO up front, but I decided to eliminate the age. I think it gives a rough impression of her age, especially since it's YA. It's enough to go on.

You'll notice I backtracked on the WHAT here. (This is the part I'm not sure about yet.) The premise of having to write a novella or lose her scholarship is downplayed, but I'm hoping with the addition of WHY, it will work out.

HOW/WHY is given much more space in here. WHY should you care about this story? Because it's about invisible illness. WHY does Emily want to go to med school? Because of her dead mom. WHY does the magical typewriter freak her out so badly? As a person with a family history of dementia, I can tell you first hand that it gets to you. Forgetting things, mis-remembering things, feeling confused...it's not a pleasant worry to have hanging over your head. Anyhow. All this makes Emily a much more sympathetic, and interesting character. Her plight becomes more interesting, more nuanced, as well. The connection from A to B to C isn't as clear as I'd like it, but it feels stronger to me.

As always, if you have thoughts, comment away! If you want to hit me up on Twitter and talk about pitching, you know where to find me. @ me, or DM me if we follow each other.

Part 3 of Contest Wisdom

As the team reveal for Pitch Madness approaches, I thought I'd post about etiquette and self-care for that part. A lot of this, I didn't know a year ago. I probably would have made some serious missteps if it hadn't been for other competitors and mentors passing along gentle reminders. Don't tell my kids, but I'm not *really* all-knowing. I've just been around the block a little by now.

(I wish I had half of Carla's sass)

THE BIG REVEAL

1. BE CONSIDERATE

I’ve been on both sides of the competition. I’ve been selected, and not. Not getting picked can be devastating. And it’s OKAY to feel that! It’s normal! But…don’t take it out on anyone else. Don’t dump on the mentors and trash them for not picking you. (Word gets around. Anybody else who entered PitchWars 2016 remember the crazy jerky older guy? He's not going to be getting a publishing deal anytime soon after demonstrating that he's unwilling to work with anyone or take advice. Don't be that guy!) Try to keep your disappointment off the hashtag. Vent privately if you need to, offline, to a trusted friend or family member.

More like this:

And less like this:

On the flip side, if you ARE chosen, congrats! But remember that only a tiny percentage of entries are selected. You’re going to feel giddy, exploding with excitement.

Celebrate! But again, save most of it for in private. DM your best CP friend who got in with you. Talk to your spouse, your parents, your BFF, your pet hamster. If you go on and on about yourself online, on the hashtag, think of how hurtful that is to all the people who didn’t make it in. So if you get picked, limit yourself to one or two tweets on the hashtag. We like to see that you know you’ve won, after all. Last year, those of us who were in NoQS created our own separate hashtags, so that we could talk and find our teammates without rubbing everyone else’s noses in it. A little politeness and consideration go a long way.

2. MAKE 2 PLANS BEFOREHAND

Decide what you’re going to do if you win. Pick a way to reward yourself. The road to publishing is filled with tiny victories, and they’re important to celebrate, because the constant stream of rejection will drag you down if you don’t actively take time to notice the positive.

Also decide what you’re going to do if you lose. Set a time limit for how long you are allowed to sulk, if you think that’s something you’re going to need. Step away from your story for a week, if you have to. Don’t obsess over the feed, or why you “lost” and someone else won. Indulge your hurt feelings for that short period of time, then get up and keep on going. Sometimes the mentors will do blog posts or Twitter threads on trends they saw that people need to fix. Read them! Apply their strategies to your novel. You can get out of a contest as much or as little as you want to. I’ll tell you right now that I’m a much better writer now than I was a year ago, and it’s due to the resources I found online through these contests. I started reading everything more critically and writing more consciously, and it shows.

If you win, be gracious. If you lose, be gracious. And either way, you’re in for a lot of hard work and revisions.

More words of wisdom from yer old Auntie B

The fun thing about having been around the Twitter writing circle for a little bit now is I'm starting to feel old. Plus, I know lots of authors with published novels, who are significantly younger than I am. Mid 30s are the new 60, apparently!

But with age comes wisdom. So here is post #2 about writing contests.

DURING THE CONTEST

1. MAKE NEW FRIENDS!

This is the best part of contests. Everyone involved can make new connections in the writing community. And since a lot of us are introverts, meeting new writer friends online is less intimidating, and it fills a void. Knowing there are other people out there just as crazy as you is empowering. Find new critique partners and beta readers, and cool people you just want to keep in touch with. This business is hard, and having friends along the way makes it so much easier to take the rejections.

And don’t just make friends with the other contestants. Get to know the mentors, readers, and judges. Most of them are just a few steps further along in their writing career, and they remember exactly how hard it is to be querying. Many of them host blogs with great writing tips—free learning resources with solid techniques on how to improve your own writing. Because whatever you’re doing wrong, chances are someone else out there has done it too.

Author confession: Every time a mentor follows me back, I squee a little.

The flipside of that is, do also respect that these are busy authors. Ask them questions when you need help, but try to find the answer yourself first. Don’t ask silly questions you could find out the answer to in 5 seconds on Google. They’re glad to help, but if you’re constantly asking things that are already answered on the contest FAQs and directions, they’re going to start questioning your reading comprehension skills.

2. PARTICIPATE ON THE HASHTAGS!

It’s fun! And playing all these games, where you describe your character in 3 words or come up with comps or whatever are actually useful. The games help you define your novel. The more concise you can be, the easier it is to pitch. And if someone asks what your MC likes to eat, and you can’t answer…maybe you need to get inside his/her head a little more. If you can’t picture your setting, have you given it enough thought and description in your story? So use the hashtags to have fun, make friends, and figure out your own strengths and weaknesses.

3. TRY NOT TO OBSESS

We all do it. But you have to figure out what your personal mental health limits are. The first time I entered, I think I was on the hashtag almost all day long. Bad me. This time, I’m checking in a few times a day. I’m relaxing over it. Part of that comes with experience, but it’s also a choice. Remember, if you don’t get in, it’s not the end of the world. Most writers don’t find their agent through competitions.

Stay tuned for part 3!

A little contest wisdom (Or, I get by with a little help from my friends)

Hey you! Yes, you. A year ago, I was in your shoes. Sitting in front of my laptop, scanning the Twitter feed during a contest, crossing my fingers and hoping that my entry would get picked. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

For this past year, I’ve made a concerted effort to learn, improve my writing, and get published. I’m obviously not there yet, because I’m still querying and entering competitions along with you, but I HAVE learned a lot along the way, and I figured it’s time to share the love. So here are some words of wisdom, based off my contest and pitching experiences of the past year. I'll be doing a series of posts since I ended up with a lot more info than I thought I would. But I am known for rambling on and on and on...whoops.

(In case you were wondering: My 1st #pitchmadness entry made it onto one team’s shortlist, but not onto the final. I entered a different MS into #PitchWars, had absolutely no requests, but did get amazing advice on how to rework the story into something 100 times better. I labored over that MS for months, revising it until I couldn’t stand the story any longer, and then entered it into Nightmare on Query Street. I got in! I got a few requests! But…no agent. So here I am, back at #pitchmadness again.)

BEFORE A CONTEST:
1. ALWAYS READ THE RULES.
Make sure you’re eligible. Make sure you’re in the right age group, pitching the right category of book. Make sure that if you’ve won a different contest, you aren’t DQ’d from this one. And please, for everyone’s sake, NEVER EVER EVER enter a contest with a manuscript that hasn’t been revised and beta read at the very least; for the love of all that is holy, don’t enter an unfinished manuscript.

It will show. The judges will notice. And word might get around that you are wasting people’s time, trying to skip the process. None of us are geniuses who put out perfect stories on the first try. Not even the magical Brenda Drake. Remember, publishing is a looooong game; there will be other contests, other pitch days, and plenty of time for you to find an agent.

2. ALWAYS DOUBLE/TRIPLE CHECK YOUR FORMATTING
This is a pet peeve of about every slush reader and mentor I’ve ever seen, and agents too. If it’s a minor detail, they’ll probably let it slide. But if your entire MS is in Comic Sans, single spaced, and purple lettering…you’re more likely to end up in the trash.

Following the boring, technical formatting details shows that you’re serious. You can read and follow directions, which means you’re more likely to take instruction. So if an editor comes back to you and points out something that needs to get changed, you’re more likely to listen. That’s the impression you want to give. Writing is creative, but it’s still a profession. If a contest decision comes down to two amazing manuscripts, one who followed all the rules and one who didn’t, who do you think would get chosen?

3. INVESTIGATE
Check out the contest. Look for past successes—not to say that new contests are horrible, there was a great new one last year—but make sure you’re not being sucked into a scam.

Also, take a look at the readers, hosts, and agents. Follow them on Twitter. For some competitions, you’ll have to select which mentors to submit to. Read their books and blogs and follow them on social media to get a sense of what they write, what their style is, and if it would be a match for you. Don’t sub to someone just because you think they’re cool. It’s tempting, I know, but you’re better off finding someone who actually likes your genre. If a mentor has a specific list of triggers they don’t read, respect it.

Always check out any agent or publisher as well. Most agents and publishers out there are legit. But there are always presses who try to take advantage of the fact that we are dreamers getting constant rejections in a disheartening business. If someone is asking you to put up your own money to publish a book, run. If they’re offering you a shortcut, check it out. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So vet them online as well. Check out Publishers Weekly, Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write. Google them. Does their website look like my preschooler put it together? Bad sign. Ask around. The writing community is pretty tight knit. If a publisher is shady, chances are someone else has run into them before and can steer you clear.

Lastly, take a look at the contest itself. What’s the prize? Is it something you want? Will it advance your career? And are you willing to put in the time and effort it takes, if it’s a mentoring opportunity? If you’re convinced your story is word-for-word perfect and aren’t open to suggestions, then do everyone a favor and don’t take a mentored spot someone else is dying to have.

Next, I'll tackle what to do during the contest to make the most of your experience. And if you have any words of wisdom to add, please comment! This is just based off my own experience and I'm sure there are other people with more ideas to share.

Spotlight post: Michelle Hauck's FAITHFUL!

Hello everyone!

Today I'd like to spotlight a new book that's just been released by an author friend of mine, Michelle Hauck. I'm currently enjoying her first book, GRUDGING, and the way she totally immerses the reader in her historical-fiction world. But I'll let her tell you more about herself and her books below!


The next volume in the Birth of Saints series is available now!

Following Grudging--and with a mix of Terry Goodkind and Bernard Cornwall--religion, witchcraft, and chivalry war in Faithful, the exciting next chapter in Michelle Hauck's Birth of Saints series!

A world of Fear and death…and those trying to save it.

Colina Hermosa has burned to the ground. The Northern invaders continue their assault on the ciudades-estados. Terror has taken hold, and those that should be allies betray each other in hopes of their own survival. As the realities of this devastating and unprovoked war settles in, what can they do to fight back?

On a mission of hope, an unlikely group sets out to find a teacher for Claire, and a new weapon to use against the Northerners and their swelling army.

What they find instead is an old woman.

But she’s not a random crone—she’s Claire’s grandmother. She’s also a Woman of the Song, and her music is both strong and horrible. And while Claire has already seen the power of her own Song, she is scared of her inability to control it, having seen how her magic has brought evil to the world, killing without reason or remorse. To preserve a life of honor and light, Ramiro and Claire will need to convince the old woman to teach them a way so that the power of the Song can be used for good. Otherwise, they’ll just be destroyers themselves, no better than the Northerners and their false god, Dal. With the annihilation their enemy has planned, though, they may not have a choice.

A tale of fear and tragedy, hope and redemption, Faithful is the harrowing second entry in the Birth of Saints trilogy.

Faithful- November 15, 2016

Harper Voyager

Find It: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | HarperCollins | Goodreads

Also enter to win a signed paperback of Grudging, the first book in the series: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A world of chivalry and witchcraft…and the invaders who would destroy everything.


The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.


On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.


The Women of the Song.


But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a single untried knight and a witch who has never given voice to her power. And time is running out.


A lyrical tale of honor and magic, Grudging is the opening salvo in the Book of Saints trilogy.

GRUDGING

November 17, 2015
Harper Voyager

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two kids in college. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack.

She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow.

Her Birth of Saints trilogy, starting with Grudging and Faithful (November 15, 2016), is available from Harper Voyager. Another epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. She's repped by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary.

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A Querying Nightmare

I participated in Nightmare on Query Street this last week. It was an interesting learning experience, like most contests I've participated in so far. Nightmare is run by Michelle Hauck; you can read more about her and the contests she helps host on her blog here. Basically, Michelle and her co-hosts, Michael Anthony and Laura Heffernan each select 15 entries out of 250 submissions. Entries consist of a query letter and first 250 words of a manuscript. Those 45 chosen entries are mentored by other authors and editors who volunteer their time for a few days, and then the 3 hosts post the shiny new entries on their blogs. Participating literary agents drop by and request pages from entries they like and might consider representing.

Laura selected my entry (which you can read here) and I was over the moon! I've entered a few similar contests over the past year, and being chosen was amazing. In a way, that felt like winning all on its own, because that same MS was passed over for Pitch Wars a few months back. I've worked hard on that story, revising it, restructuring part of the plot with the wonderful Rebecca Petruck, and polishing it up word by word. (Seriously, if you're having plot troubles, take Rebecca's workshop. Her method is simple to apply, but had a profound impact on my story. I never would have pinned down my problem so quickly without her help.) The story I have now is significantly better than what I submitted to PW in July.

So I knew what I had was better, but was it any good?

Apparently it was. And that's a good feeling, y'all.

When my entry went live for agents to see, I discovered something unfortunate. I don't do well with public querying. I can handle Twitter pitching. I can handle querying agents and publishers. But this sort of format was extra stressful for me. I couldn't help but compare how my entry was doing against the other entries in the competition, even though we weren't competing against each other. Watching other entries get requests while mine sat, lonely and ignored, really ate away at my self-confidence. When it reached the point that almost 3/4s of the entries had requests and mine didn't, I'm going to be honest. I cried. I'd worked so hard on my entry with my mentor; we'd made sure every last comma and word were perfect, and entries with grammar errors were getting picked over my poor baby. It hit my confidence hard.

I ended up with one request, which was all I'd hoped for. But that one agent likes what she's read so far. As one of my critique partners put it, it doesn't matter how many "no's" you get; all it takes is that one "yes." I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

But here's what I'm choosing to take out of all this: First, I don't think I'll do any more competitions where you query kind of against others. It's too draining for me. I've made amazing friends, and have met wonderful mentors and authors who are willing to share their knowledge by entering, but I'm going to put my mental health first and avoid that sort of situation.

Second, the fact that I was chosen for Laura's team and had an agent want to read my story and then ask for more is an amazing validation. I'm making progress toward this goal of mine. Someday I'll get there. It's a long road, and it requires a lot of patience, but knowing that I'm getting better will help me hang in there.

Third, the best thing about these competitions really is the people you meet. It's what we all say, but it's true. I've made so many friends who get how dang hard it is to want to be a writer. That's invaluable. My family loves me, and my husband supports me, and he watches how hard I work. They see the external wear and tear, the hours I put in. They can't see the internal strength and growth and labor that becoming a better writer requires. Having friends who get that is important. And I now have a group of friends who'll listen to me when I need to let out a little whine to let off steam or when I get some good news and want to jump for joy. They're my sounding board when I have a crazy idea or a story problem I can't wrap my head around. My online community is full of generous authors who are only a few steps ahead of me on my journey. They remember how hard this part is, and they encourage me; they share their wisdom, their skills, and even their own struggles.

The big point is this. As you query and pitch and enter competitions, you're going to get out of it whatever you choose to. You can sulk, or you can embrace it and grow.

Help me find a genre!

I'm neck deep in revisions on my YA story, ONCE UPON A TYPEWRITER, but I've been thinking ahead to marketing. And I realized that I still have the same problem I found during Pitch Wars. Thankfully I've straightened out the age category issue, but I'm still not sure what genre to market it as.

For anyone who hasn't read snippets of the story yet, the premise of the story is that 17-year-old Emily has to write a novella in 2 weeks to make up for missing her English final, or she'll flunk out of the class and won't graduate on time. As she's writing, the characters in her story begin talking back to her, making her question her sanity. She and the characters argue over what direction the story should go in, along with all sorts of silly little points as well. The outer, real-world arc, centers on Emily's worries about her mental health and her relationships with her family. The inner fairytale arc focuses on a woefully unprepared party and their quest to save the kingdom from a plague of giant insects.

To me, Emily's outer arc feels like contemporary magical realism. There's just a touch of magic in the typewriter--assuming she isn't actually losing her mind like her mom did.

The inner arc is an old-fashioned medieval fantasy story; Emily uses the story to poke fun at some tropes along the way. There are dragons, a wicked witch, a bumbling wizard, and a curse. So their story is high fantasy.

Overall, the entire novel is split fairly evenly between the two stories if you look just at word count. It all comes down to Emily, her sanity, and her relationship with her sister; the inner story starts to mirror the outer story and push it along as well. So of the two storylines, Emily's is the dominant one.

SO...do I market it as magical realism for online competitions that allow you to only check one? I worry that someone might like MR but not fantasy, and be disappointed when they get to that part. And in a query letter, do I explain that it's both, or do I leave that for the agent/publisher to discover?

Help a fellow writer out, and comment with your thoughts below! TIA.

Third time's the charm

...I hope.

I've rewritten the opening scene of this particular story so many times I've lost track. I started with a basic setup and rewrote that first version over and over. Changed the main character's age. Changed the POV of the entire story. Then decided to drastically chop the opening scene after lots of feedback pointing to the story starting too soon.

Of course I swung too far the other direction. At least I only went through one really horrible version of that intro. Unfortunately, that was the intro I used to enter a contest. In some ways it worked out anyway, though, because that contest let me know that I had really screwed up the beginning quickly so I didn't waste as much time on it.

On to the third try, and I think I've struck the balance I need. I've resigned myself to the fact that this particular story doesn't lend itself to starting off with a bang; it's advice I've heard before, but I hadn't consciously realized that I was trying so hard to start with a bang. For Emily's story to work, the reader has to get inside her head a little more before her world starts to fall apart around her. It's more subtle. Starting with a huge action scene is great for some stories, but sometimes it's okay to take a step back. If the reader is investing in a character more than a series of dramatic events, then the reader has to get to know that character and start to care about her/him first. So that's where my story starts now, and I'm loving it.

Hopefully other people will too. Here's the first page of Emily's story:

I knocked on the door to Room 113, but no one answered. Just to make sure, I rapped harder. Still nothing.

I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans before grabbing the bronze doorknob, half-hoping it would be locked.

No such luck. It gave easily, and the door swung inward without a sound.

“Ms. Briggs? You asked me to meet you after school…” My voice trailed off as I saw that the classroom was empty.

Well, except for the antiquated beast sitting on top of my desk. Curious, I stepped inside.

A note stuck out of the machine, addressed to me in sweeping blue cursive.

“Emily, I’ve decided what to do about your uncharacteristically irresponsible behavior on Monday. You have one chance to make up your final exam. You have until the 15^th to write a complete novella of at least 30,000 words, or you will fail the final and the class. As part of your punishment, you must use this typewriter instead of your computer to write the story. I hope you will find the creative experience illuminating, perhaps even enjoyable.”

I eyed the metal monstrosity. A typewriter? Writing a novella in two weeks was going to be hard enough, but using a typewriter? Ms. Briggs must have been more upset with me than she’d let on.

My muscles groaned as I scooped up the bulky machine. Once I found my balance I made my way to the bus stop, lurching through the halls like something out of an old horror flick.

The story of Bob, Billy Bob Joe, and the infamous Mrs. Chubby Kitten-Whiskers

In my efforts to help Oldest enjoy writing more, I sometimes sit down with her and my other girls and have them help me brainstorm short stories. We'll use story dice when we get stuck, or sometimes we'll even roll them at the beginning and pick random ones to incorporate into the story. Their school teaches them the basics of story structure and character, so they're pretty good at coming up with a coherent narrative consisting of at least one main character, a problem of some sort, and a resolution. I'll transcribe for them to remove the mechanical issues of spelling and physically writing, so those don't set up roadblocks for Oldest's brain.
This is our favorite collaborative story. I think they were probably 5&7, or 6&8 when we wrote this one. (You should know that for some reason, my girls think the name Bob is freaking hilarious. They use it whenever possible.)

Once upon a time, there was a jumping clown. He liked to ride his unicycle and make funny faces at crying children and actors.
One day an actor named Bob came to town. He was sad because lightning had burned down his house and now he didn't have any place to live. Lightning was the name of his pet bird. He burned the house down on accident--he was a phoenix.
The jumping clown was also having a rough day. He jumped all the time because he was scared of his shadow and didn't want to touch it. And THEN he found out he had to be a shadow monster for Halloween, because his Mommy said so.
Bob and the jumping clown (whose name was Billy Bob Joe) met in the grocery store. They were both there to buy fish, but there was only one left. The authors proceeded to argue about who should get the fish. Then they decided neither of them should get the fish. Instead, Mrs. Chubby Kitten-Whiskers bought the fish and Bob took Billy Bob Joe fishing.
First, they caught a boat.
Second, they caught an apple.
Third, they caught a book about famous libraries.
And lastly, they caught Mrs. Chubby Kitten-Whiskers.
Bob and Billy Bob Joe decided to go home and eat grilled salad sandwiches instead.
Bob told Billy Bob Joe about how Lightning had burned his house down. "I have nowhere to live!" he moaned. And he cried a little--okay, a lot.
Billy Bob Joe told Bob about his fear of shadows and how his Mother insisted he had to dress up like a shadow monster for Halloween. "And I don't want to!" he sobbed. "I'm terrified! And I'm terrified of jumping all the time."
"I've got it!" said Bob. "We could switch places! I'm not scared of shadows, and I need a place to live. And I happen to know of a play that needs an actor to play the part of a kangaroo!"
Billy Bob Joe agreed to Bob's plan. He became the most famous jumping actor in the land.
Bob loved his new home.
And he got rid of Lightning--just in case.

Writing as a Mom

I have 3 girls, ranging from tweenager-hood down to preschool ages. And my middlest (no, that's not a typo. She is truly oh-so-much a middle child) voiced an interesting complaint about books.
I should probably preface this by saying that my two older girls are both avid readers. They both read 3-4 grade levels above their age groups. And they read pretty widely; they're experimenting and finding authors and genres that they like.
So. Back to Middlest's complaint. She said, "You know, Mom, it seems like all the girls in books like pink and fancy things and that sort of stuff. And I hardly know any girls that are actually like that! Why do so many grownups think that all girls are into pink and princesses and...I don't know, fancy, foofy things?"
I had a few thoughts flash through my head as she said this. First, I am so PROUD of her that she's reading thoughtfully and identified WHY certain books weren't resonating with her.
Second, I admit to being a little confused, because we don't have a lot of those kinds of books in our house, except for early readers, because at that age, 2 of my 3 DID love pink and princesses and fairies and anything that sparkled. Although they also loved adventures and humor and strong girls. No fainting maidens in my house.
And third, I felt a little sad that she is already running into that wall of conformity that starts to shut girls out, to tell them they aren't capable; that they are too dainty to do adventurous things, incapable of understanding math or science as well as boys their age, or that it's just not acceptable to like something a little different.
So of course we talked about it. We discussed how important it is for kids who read MG or YA in particular to find books that they can identify with, that can help them feel valid in their world. To know that they aren't alone. That was huge for me when I was their age; because of my undiagnosed depression and Asperger's I spent too many years of my life feeling like I was the only person in the world who didn't fit into the puzzle. I don't want that for my girls. So I read them things with amazing, smart, funny girls in it. Stories with boys who are kind. Stories where girls can use science to save the day. Stories where a princess doesn't want to marry the boring prince and instead runs away to live with the dragons (I love love LOVE the Enchanted Forest Chronicles!). Stories where kids can be friends, even if they like different things, eat different foods, come from different ethnicities. Anything that tells them that whoever they choose to be, whatever they choose to love, it's okay. (And if you have suggestions, please comment!)
And all this got the wheels in my head turning, of course. Because Oldest has ADD and Asperger's like me-well, all 3 of my girls have the Asperger's at least-and along with that, she has extreme difficulty writing. Her brain cannot make the connections to organize her thoughts in order to put them on paper. If you don't mention writing to her, but ask her to tell you about a story she's read, she can verbalize her thoughts, although they'll be a little disorganized. But whose wouldn't? Anyhow, I digress a bit.
After years of fighting with her school and finally getting her an official diagnosis, Oldest, by now, loathes writing. She's addicted to books, however. I'm constantly prying them out of her fingers after she's been tucked into bed, sweeping my hand sneakily under her pillow when I tuck her in, and occasionally doing random room checks late at night to make sure she hasn't snuck out of bed to read, huddled by her nightlight. And yet she HATES to WRITE. (Thanks, idiots at school who refused to believe she has a problem...)
So I'm thinking about involving her and Middlest in my next project. I have no idea what the book would be about; I'd bet they could come up with a pretty good plot on their own. I'd really like to write something where the protagonist has the neuro issues that my girls do, without the book screaming "I am about autism!" Something that girls like mine could identify with, when they see how the character's thoughts work in this strange and amazing what that an autistic brain does, especially since autistic girls are still drastically underdiagnosed because they are so good at copying others and masking their symptoms in order to gain social acceptance. I don't want them growing up the way that I did, feeling like I was stuck on the other side of a one-way mirror.

Grimmerye

Grimmerye is a project I've been working on for the past two years, so it's near and dear to my heart. In Grimmerye, I played with the backstory for two Grimm villainesses. I wanted to discover what else could be under the surface, to find the human side of the women who did these terrible things with seemingly no provocation. The challenge I posed to myself was, under what circumstances could their murderous, thieving, kidnapping ways not only be justified, but in the traditional hero(ine)'s best interest?

Note that I'm not telling you which stories I based mine on, because it's not meant to be evident at first. Discovering which story you're in as a reader is part of the fun.
I had the opportunity to run the first few pages and query by an agent recently, and got some interesting advice. He said that it was good, but because it's a series of stories, it would be a hard sell for a first time author. I had to agree--short story collections are a hard sell unless big-name authors are involved, and that's what Grimmerye currently is at its lowest level.
Enter the advice of my best critique partners: find a way to take the two stories and unite them into a coherent single narrative. So while one of my other manuscripts is being looked over by Pitch Wars mentors (check out for info on Pitch Wars if you don't know what it is), I'm working on finding a way to loosely tie the first two stories together with a third. I have a crazy idea up my sleeve that just might do the trick, and it will be challenging to write. Exciting!

Anywhooo...Here's the first 213 words of the first story. I throw you right into the story with a bang on this one, appropriate to this particular antiheroine's narrative.

I lay awake in my bed, unable to sleep, dreading the morrow.
My birthday. My stomach churned at the thought of it.
For as long as I could remember, the Woman had celebrated all of our birthdays—and there were many of us—in the same fashion. She would wake the unfortunate child in the morning with a clawed hand grasping the poor girl’s throat, screaming in her face, spittle dripping like venom from Her lips as she recounted Her story. The Woman had no use for boy-children; they were sent away to their fathers as soon as they could be weaned. She kept those of us who were unfortunate enough to be girls and paid just enough attention to us to make sure we didn’t die—at least, not until after She’d discovered if we would prove useful to Her schemes or not. After that, She didn’t care about our fates; most of the older girls had been dragged off in the night by nameless village men whose faces blended into one dark, leering grimace that haunted my sleep. On occasion, girls simply vanished, and if one of us dared to ask the Woman where they had gone, She merely shrugged indifferently.
None of us would have dreamed of calling Her “Mother”.

A Little Something New

Along with book reviews, I'm going to start posting snippets of my personal works-in-progress (WIPs) on this page. It should go without saying, but please don't post any of my writing anyplace else online without my permission. If you like something and want to share it via Twitter or Facebook (or any other online platform), I'll probably love that idea. Just message me and check in first. Thanks!

Pitch Wars 2016! #Pimpmybio Contestant Blog Hop

Hey, everyone! It's time to Pimp. My. Bio. I have a feeling I may be too white and nerdy to use that phrase.

If you want to be white and nerdy  cool like me, you can pimp your bio too! The host post is here: http://www.lanapattinson.com/pitchwars-2016-pimpmybio/

Step 1: Write up a blog post about yourself. And link back to the main blog hop page. ^
Step 2: Upload the link address from your blog post to the cool little Linky Widget thingamabob that does the job, and bibbidi bobbidi boo, you'll turn into Cinderella!
Wait, wrong story.
Your blog will get added to the blog hop, which may not be as exciting as riding in a giant pumpkin, but on the plus side, it probably smells better. Your name goes in the "your title" field.
Step 3: Read other hopefuls' blogs, be nice, make friends, have fun! One of the best things that can come out of participating in this kind of contest is the new friends and writing buddies you'll find. Publishing is a tough business. We've got to stick together.

The blog hop is currently open, and closes on August 3rd.

I've been way too busy with life - kids, writing, kids, hobbies, kids (did I mention kids?) - to blog in a looooong time. I wasn't sure if my blog was even still active, it's been so long! Thankfully, it was.

I'm entering an awesome competition called PitchWars, run by the talented Brenda Drake. Full details on the contest here: http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitch-wars/

Basically, published authors volunteer their time and expertise to help aspiring authors polish up a manuscript over the course of two months before pitching it to agents. Authors pick 4 mentors to submit to, and if you're lucky, one of them will pick you to be their mentee.

The manuscript I'm submitting is titled "Once Upon A Typewriter." And unfortunately, I'm having a hard time figuring out whether it's better suited to Young Adult lit or Middle Grade. I think it actually sits smack dab in the middle, at young YA/high MG. If you have an opinion on which category I should mark it as, please comment! Or catch me on Twitter as @bethanyrambles. Because I do ramble. A lot. I've always been way too wordy. OUAT sits at roughly 65k words, for example, and I've been cutting as ruthlessly as I can.

Without further adieu, here's my brief pitch for OUAT:

When Emily sleeps through her senior English final, her teacher sets her a daunting task: write a 30,000 word story in just two weeks or fail the course, and risk losing her college scholarship.

There's just one catch. She has to write her story on an old typewriter Ms. Brigs loans her. And once she starts writing, the characters let her know that they have their own ideas about how their story will end. Will the characters' happy ending cost Emily hers?

Stylistically, it's a story within a story.

 The outer story is magical realism, revolving around Emily, her sister Aubrey, and the magic typewriter, and her stress over finishing her assignment in time to save her grade. 

The inner story is a lighthearted fantasy quest, with an eclectic cast of characters. 

There's the pompous Head Wizard, who's far more confident in his skills than he ought to be. 

There's Cassandra, a female blacksmith who gets dragged into the quest against her will. 

There's Sir Geoffrey, the best dragon slayer in the kingdom--and quite possibly the stupidest one as well. 

Quiet Jeremy follows Sir Geoffrey wherever he goes, to make sure his idiocy doesn't cause trouble. 

And then there's Matt, a middle-aged mercenary with a strange phobia or two.

And of course, there's the Wicked Witch Geraldine, the most feared creature in all the kingdom, whose curse began it all.

And this is the blog hop, with my fellow lovely contestants! Check 'em out too!