What’s Up Wednesday

Much thanks to Jaime Morrow for this wonderful meme! Go check out her own What’s Up Wednesday post!

What I’m Reading
I’ve been working my way through North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, mostly because I’m somewhat obsessed with the BBC miniseries with the delicious Richard Armitage as John Thornton. I finished it last night, in time to give the book back to my mother-in-law when she visits this weekend.

I’m also trying to catch up on the manuscripts that have been long-neglected on my Kindle. I think they’ll be the reading focus for the coming week.

What I’m Writing
I outlined some revision ideas for PECULIAR DARK and got some feedback from CPs on it, but PD is still backburnered while I let it stew and make sure I don’t rush it stupidly forward. I broke 15K on my adult science fiction WIP, Big Ben, and I’ve managed to get character sketches together for a new project – a serial. Trying to plot a serial has been a really interesting mental exercise because I keep trying to attack it like a regular novel and draw big arcs. But the episodic nature of serials require a different angle, a different focus. You have to format dozens of little arcs and stories that BUILD to a big arc.

I’m also jumping in and out of revisions for my co-project with Brenda Drake. It’s kind of a relief to jump into Ryan’s head for AFTER PARTY because I know him so well now. Revisions are just my thing. *huggles revisions*

What Inspires Me Right Now
This is a tough one because I haven’t been feeling very inspired this week. I think part of that has been regular life busy-ness, but I can’t use that as an excuse. Writing what I want, when I want has been inspiring the past few weeks and has refreshed me, but I think – like all indulgences – it’s starting to hit that point where it’s not so good for me. So we’ll see what happens with this in the coming weeks.

I think I can safely say that this song is hella inspiring me for Big Ben. And I definitely need a little boost on that story at the moment.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

• The Man and I have are usually rotating cadre of shows. We’re trying to finish up Burn Notice, but I think we’re both a little over it at this point. The central character doesn’t seem to be evolving, nor are his relationships with the other characters. The only draw at this point is Bruce Campbell being awesome… We started watching Continuum instead, a Canadian scifi show  that has some interesting world-building and likable characters. I’m hoping it continues to develop and deepen both of these aspects.
• The weather is warm enough (every now and then – we’re supposed to have freaking snow tomorrow) that I’m going outside more to run. I’m really not great at running and I hate it, but it’s a new goal to try to work up to 3 miles. I can run…1 mile right now. That’s it. And it takes me awhile, and I suck air despite the fact that I work out all the time. I need to fix this running stuff.
• Speaking of the outdoors, The Man and I have vowed to be better gardeners this year – with both decorative plants and vegetables. We tried last year, but the extra-hot, drought-y summer didn’t do us any favors and we kinda let things slide. No longer! *raises fist*
• Oh, and I only have one more week of dog-sitting this sweet but rather destructive lab. I’ll be quite happy to turn him back over to his family…

So what have you been up to lately?

Wherein I Return To Blogging By Posting My Next Big Thing

I have been suspiciously absent on this blog lately. I’m very aware of this. March just kind of slipped away from me when I wasn’t looking. Somewhere in the tangled web of dog adoptions, dog training, plumbing and foundation appointments (because our house has decided that THIS is the year it would like to become a money pit), day job, and copy editing jobs, all of a sudden the month was over. And I think April should be a little bit calmer, so I’m going to try to keep my posts up again. I’m not sure how well I’ll do with this since I’ve also decided to juggle four different writing projects (because insanity is sexy), but the intent is there.

So I’m starting with posting my Next Big Thing. Fabulous mystery writer extraordinaire Sarah Henning tagged me in this FOREVER ago, and I never got around to posting it. I’m posting it now about one of my works-in-progress, although it’ll be a little scant on the information since the project is still in its early stages. Also, go see Sarah and say hi because she’s brilliant.

What is the working title of your book?
It doesn’t really have one at the moment. It has a code name – BIG BEN – until I can come up with anything more interesting.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
A dream. I know, I know…how very Stephenie Meyers of me. I had a very interesting dream one night, and I wrote it all down. Then I started playing with the concept like Play-Doh – mixing colors, smashing it up, pulling out pieces, adding back in other pieces – until I got it into an shape that I feel might work.

What genre does your book fall under?
Adult science fiction, set on a fictional planet way in the future. I suppose it could be classified as New Adult given the main character’s age, but I’ll probably just send it out as adult.

What’s your book about?
There are a lot of details and things I’m playing with that I won’t get into here – partly because it’s still a baby book and partly because I’ve gotten a little more paranoid about sharing too much about my projects. The basic premise goes thusly:

Twenty-two-year-old Valkyrie Bruinn is, essentially, a wet work agent for a local crime syndicate. It’s messy work, but it keeps her sisters fed, sheltered and off the streets. Their safety is the only thing that matters, so she keeps her head down, follows the rules, doesn’t stir up trouble. When an accident destroys her home and her sisters, she’s lost. When she finds out it might not have been an accident, she’ll tear apart the whole planet for the sake of vengeance.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Good question! I’ll likely query it when it’s ready to go, but we’re a ways away from that yet.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I did a lot of image searching for this question because the main character is of Pakistani descent, and I have a very clear picture of her in my head. After looking around, I found Iman Ali, who I think is gorgeous and can rock a fierce anger and a fierce sadness, both of which would be important to play Valkyrie.

Iman Ali via ForumPakistan.com

The middle sister, Rose, was a little easier since she looks like their mother: pale, freckled, redheaded. I went straight to English actress Lily Cole, who has a wide-eyed, ethereal quality that is perfect.

Lily Cole via CoolSpotters.com

The youngest sister is Bethany, and like Val, she looks like her father instead of their shared mother. I think Amandla Stenberg is so beautiful and so talented, and she’s exactly who I picture to play the hyper-intelligent Beth.

Amandla Stenberg via En.HungerTimes.com

The last character I’m casting is Otieno, infamous thief and Val’s former friend whom she breaks out of prison to help her. I spent quite a bit of time scrolling through pictures of beautiful black men (my life is so hard) before I decided on Edi Gathegi. Otieno needs a hint of deadly and a hint of ornery, and I think he has both.

Edi Gathegi via BlackFilm.com

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the book?
I’ll let you know when it’s finished.

What else about your book might pique readers’ interests?
Look, if you like bad ass chicks and explosions, you’re probably going to like a lot of what I write. This one also has some fun steampunk elements, alien races that come in pairs, assassinations, giant law enforcement robots, and a crew of charming criminals.

I don’t have any specific to tag, so I’ll just tag all of you beautiful followers. I want to know what you’re working on! Tell me in the comments or put on your blogs and link me.

Sometimes I Think About Quitting

I try to stay pretty honest about my feelings on this blog – the good stuff and the bad – so I think it’s only fair to all of you to admit that sometimes I think about quitting writing.

And I can’t even say it’s because of rejection or the whole publishing process – although as Cait Peterson so aptly puts it on YA Misfits that part is rough.

I think about quitting sometimes because of the writing itself.

It would look a lot like this.

Here’s a good parallel: I love to work out. I mean, I don’t love going to the gym, I don’t go, “Oh my god, I can’t WAIT!” But I love pushing myself, feeling the strength of my body, and I love the sensation afterward: exhausted, hollow, but building…becoming stronger. I didn’t always feel this way about exercise. I had a very yo-yo relationship with weight and working out and fitness, and it took a solid six months of making it a priority before I could claim I worked out regularly and enjoyed it.

Still, despite this, it’s still easy for me to fall off the fitness wagon. After my extremely relaxing honeymoon, I had a hell of a time in the next two weeks trying to get up off the couch and move. I would come up with a thousand excuses and revel in all the other fun things I could be doing with that hour. (Reading! Video games! TV!) But when I did finally get back in the habit, I remember my I love it.

This is what my relationship with writing is like, too.

When I’m in the writing zone, it’s awesome. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, but I don’t care because I’m getting words on the page, twisting them around, buffing them up. I’m toying with characters like a fucking demi-god, and I know them all and love them and want other people to hear their stories because I think they’re stories are awesome and important. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good day where the words fall from my fingers like rain or a bad day where I’m wringing them, desperately, from my blood, I have the satisfaction of doing something I love and making progress.

And then, like recently, I finish a draft and send it away for feedback. I give myself “just a little time off” to recover before I start my new project.

And I fall off the wagon.

I don’t mean to, but sometimes it’s so easy for me to let things slide. To start playing video games again. To start marathoning a TV show that I’ve always wanted to watch. To suggest a full Lord of the Rings rewatch with The Man. To do anything but write.

Because it’s hard.

Because it’s time-consuming.

Because it’s basically a mental workout.

I think to myself, “Other people just go to work, come home and do whatever. They don’t have to worry about plotlines and character arcs and how many words they’ve written. They don’t have to tell their significant other, ‘Sorry, sweetie, I can’t cuddle with you and watch TV – I have to work tonight.’ I could be one of those people…”

It doesn’t last. I get antsy. I get restless. Other people’s stories aren’t enough; I want to tell my own, my way. I want to explore new characters and worlds and find out the best ways to tell them.

So I don’t think I’ll ever actually quit, but sometimes, just sometimes, I think about it.

 

January #PitMad Post and Panic: Hone Your Twitter Pitch #PitchWars

Someone asked if people were still willing to jump in and help other writers hone their Twitter pitches for tomorrow’s #PitMad party in exchange for a little help on their own. I figured I’d set up a new post for anyone who wanted to hop in.

If you’re lost on how to construct a Twitter pitch, here’s a good starting point.

Then, come back here and try your stuff – see what fellow writers think of your catchy loglines!

A couple of reminders:

• Be a giver, not just a taker. Don’t just post your pitch
• Get a few different ones under your belt. Twitter doesn’t like identical tweets, so make sure you have some variations to work with.
• Don’t forget to account for the hashtag. #PitMad takes up seven characters, so you’ve got to make you point in 133.

Hit the comments and show us what you got!

Top 12 Posts of 2012

It’s a few days from New Year’s and, therefore, a perfect opportunity to look back on what’s past before we turn our eyes forward to 2013. I’ve spent over a year now back in the writing world, building this blog, meeting awesome people both here and on Twitter, struggling, falling, helping (hopefully), and climbing back up again.

2012 was a big year. A great year. A memorable year. A lot of changes, a lot of ridiculously awesome moments (including one whole day in particular), some heartbreak, a few regrets. I’m ready for 2013, although I’m not sure what I think of it yet. It seems like it ought to be quieter – smaller changes, more blah-blah-the-usual – but I suspect it’s just planning on being sneakier. That I just can’t see the changes coming. I see you over there, 2013 – I’m onto your shenanigans. *EPIC SIDE EYE*

One thing with 2012 is that I finally found my voice with this blog and garnered some decently solid traffic, so I thought I might do a recap of the most successful entries to-date. Here are Peculiar Light’s top 12 posts of 2012:

#TheWritersVoice: Building Your Twitter Pitch #WVTP
From way back in May, I offered up a consolidated list of advice on how to trim your book’s plot into a 140-character pitch for the Twitter party and then let everyone use the comment thread to trade pitches and give advice. This one got a HUGE traffic boost after Vickie Motter linked to it in her blog (at which point I freaked out and felt like kind of a big deal for a few short moments).

Here’s the Thing: The Trouble with Published Fanfiction – An Open Letter to the Publishing Industry
Several of the top posts are the ones I make when I’m feeling foot-stompingly mad and opinionated, and this is a fine example. With the success of 50 Shades of Gray starting a new trend in publishing houses snatching up successful fanfiction and re-tuning them for publication, I took my stand on, what in my opinion is, copyright infringement.

Here’s the Thing: All Vaginas Are Not the Same
Once upon a time, a really stupid article made some really stupid assumption about Chicks and The Chick Stuff That Chicks Like. And I got mad. So mad that a Twitter rant wasn’t enough, and I had to tell Hollywood and all media outlets just what I thought of their unendingly stupid analyses of women.

Everything I Know About Writing I Learned from Buffy
The title is fairly self-explanatory on this one: Buffy has been a major influence on me, the stories I like and my writing. So I penned this tribute, complete with reasons why it was – and still is – so fucking awesome.

Up-and-Coming Spotlight: Interview with Leigh Ann Kopans
When the lovely and supportive Leigh Ann got her agent, her her fantastic faith and fortitude were inspiring, so I had to interview her!

What The Vampire Diaries Has Taught Me About Plotting
The Man and I started to watch the fast-paced, addictive-like-crack drama of The Vampire Diaries, and before we’d finished the first season, I’d learned a thing or two from the ballsy writers penning the show – things about plotting, pacing and not holding back.

Here’s the Thing: I Just Want to Read Some Great F—ing Stories
Since the self-publishing surge started, it’s really felt like you had to pick a side: either you were with traditional publishing and traditionally published authors – or you were one of the “those people” who supported self-publishing. I refuse to pick a side. Not now, not ever. I just want to read good fucking books.

Here’s the Thing: Contests Aren’t Really About the Agents
In the middle of contest mania this past fall, it felt like some of the real, tangible important benefits of contests were getting lost. You might not get an agent out of contest – in fact, odds are you probably won’t – but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth entering.

The Nerd Round-Up: Band Geekery, #TheVampireDiaries and Natalie Portman
I’m going to be honest: I’m pretty sure this one ranks simply because there’s a picture of Ian Somerhalder in it.

#PitchWars: Find a Coach. Hone Your Pitch. Rock Some Agents’ Brains.
The opening salvo for the fantastic new contest conceptualized by the amazing Brenda Drake (who is beyond supportive and has brought me in on an amazing co-authoring project). It made for a crazy couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, but the result is that I’m getting to work with the adorable and talented Sarah Henning on her twisty, gory foodie thriller.

Spotlight with Author Trisha Leigh + The Last Year Giveaway
Did you know that author Trisha Leigh is awesome? Because she is. And talented to boot. I fell in love with The Last Year series – Whispers in Autumn, Winter Omens and Betrayals in Spring, so far – and Trisha was nice enough to submit to an interview and provide some awesome answers to my nosy questions.

Here’s the Thing Part Deux: On Self-Publishing and Why It Often Crosses My Mind
A follow-up to the one about just wanting to read some great fucking stories, I take a look at the self-publishing movement because – to be honest – I’ve been looking at it A LOT, and there are some strong arguments for an independent publishing path.

#PitchWars: The Agenting

Are you ready for this? We have 16 incredible agents vying for our Pitch Wars team manuscripts. We’re so excited to see what pitches they fall in love with, and what teams will win the coveted Pitch Wars Most Requested Manuscript title.

And, in no particular order, here are the agents…

Louise Fury
L. Perkins Agency
Twitter: @louisefury

Louise is seeking teen Sci-Fi and Young Adult horror.  She’s also on the hunt for deep, dark contemporary YA and select Middle Grade fiction with a literary feel – it must be realistic and thought provoking and the characters must be authentic and original. Louise loves horror and romance, especially Regency and Victorian.

Jessica Sinsheimer
Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
Twitter: @jsinsheim

Jessica is seeking Literary, Women’s, Middle Grade, and Young Adult Fiction.

Natalie Fischer Lakosil
Bradford Literary Agency
Twitter: @Natalie_Lakosil

Natalie is looking for commercial fiction, with an emphasis in children’s literature (from picture book-teen), romance (contemporary, paranormal and historical), and upmarket women’s fiction. Specific likes include historical, multicultural, paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy, gritty, thrilling and darker contemporary novels, and middle grade with heart.

Pam van Hyckama Vlieg
Larsen Pomada Literary Agents
Twitter: @BookaliciousPam

Pam represents young adult and middle grade children’s book authors, and adult romance authors.

Jordy Albert
The Booker Albert Agency
Twitter: @bluedragonfly81

Jordy is on the look out for Romance (contemporary, historical/Regency, and paranormal). YA contemporary/historical or dystopian, sci-fi/fantasy with romance elements. She‘s also open to YA GLBT within those genres. She’d love to see unique, well-developed plots featuring time travel, competitions, or travel.

Andrea Somberg
Harvey Klinger Inc.
Twitter: @andreasomberg

Andrea’s looking for the following categories: Fiction; literary, commercial, women’s fiction, romance, thrillers, mystery, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, young adult, middle grade.

Jennifer Mishler
Literary Counsel
Twitter: @literarycounsel

Jennifer is seeking Young Adult Fantasy, Young Adult Contemporary, Young Adult Literary, and Young Adult Historical.

Suzie Townsend
New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
Twitter: @sztownsend81

Suzie represents adult and children’s fiction. In adult, she’s specifically looking for romance (historical and paranormal), and fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy). In Children’s she loves YA (all subgenres) and is dying to find great Middle Grade projects (especially something akin to the recent movie SUPER 8).

Victoria Marini
Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc.
Twitter: @LitAgentMarini

Victoria is looking for literary fiction, commercial fiction, pop-culture non-fiction, and young adult. She is very interested in acquiring engaging Literary fiction and mysteries/suspense, commercial women’s fiction (romantic suspense, sci-fi, fantasy), and Young Adult (contemporary, sci-fi/fantasy, thriller and horror ).

Kerry Sparks
Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, Inc.
Twitter: @Kerry_Sparks

Kerry is looking for Young Adult and Middle-Grade fiction, both commercial and literary. She tends to shy away from werewolves, zombies, faeries, and the like, but she’ll read anything with a fresh voice and compelling characters. She is particularly keen on contemporary YA, quirky MG, books with a strong cinematic element.

Drea Cohane
The Rights Factory Literary Agents

Drea is currently seeking: fiction, memoir, crime, non-fiction and YA. Her roster consists of British, American, and Canadian clients. International talent is welcome.

Katie Shea
Donald Maass Literary Agency
Twitter: @AgentShea

Katie specializes in fiction and memoir, especially women’s fiction and commercial-scale literary fiction, and realistic YA.  She is most interested in coming-of-age stories and stories of unique relationships.

Elise Capron
Dijkstra Literary Agency
Twitter: @EliseCapron

Elise is interested in serious character-driven literary fiction, well-written narrative nonfiction, and short story collections. (Note: She is not interested in Fantasy, young-adult/middle-grade, picture books, romance, and sci-fi.) She aims to work with writers who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience.

Jodell Sadler
Sadler-Caravette Children’s Literary
Twitter: @picturebklunch

Jodell is interested in YA, MG (especially funny), fiction and nonfiction, book proposals, and picture books. She will also coach writers wanting to self publish. She simply loves a well-paced story that moves her between joy and tears.

Corvisiero Literary Agency 
Brittany and Michelle are teaming up to look for Adult, YA, and MG manuscripts.

Michelle Johnson
Twitter: @MJsRetweet

Michelle’s published one novel, The Footloose Killer, and edited several others for publishing houses and private clients. She also is a Script/Story consultant on an independent film in Halifax, NS, Canada, and enjoys working closely with writers to help them develop their voice and craft.

Brittany Howard
Twitter: @brittanydhoward

When reading, Brittany  loves to be introduced to new and interesting people and places. She looks for strong voice, good storytelling, and fascinating relationships between characters—romantic or otherwise. More than anything, she loves when a book surprises her.

There’s just one more day to get your applications in for Pitch Wars. Make sure to check out this post here to get all the details.

#PitchWars Starts Today: What I’m Looking For + Why I’m Awesome and You Want to Pick Me

Submissions start today (11/26)! The cut off time to get your applications (query & first five pages of manuscript) in is 8AM EST on December 5.

Who the hell are you?

Hi! This is me:

The fiercely awesome lady on the right. Not the dude. That’s my good buddy.

I am all of the following things:

• A professional copy editor, both in freelance fiction work and full-time at a marketing company
• An author of genre fiction, currently mostly YA and fantasy
• An unabashed fangirl of many, many things (including you! yes, YOU!)
• A constructive straight-shooter when it comes to critiquing (as in: I’m gonna give you my honest opinion as nicely as possible)
• A query letter-writing fiend who loves to help perfect others’ queries and has even run workshops with Brenda to this effect
• A nerd
• A Pisces
• A Browncoat

Okay – what exactly are you looking for?

So glad you asked! I’m looking for adult and New Adult fiction. (I love YA and MG but must defer you to some of our other lovely judges for this one.) You want more specifics than that? Here we go:

• Science fiction and fantasy: I love these genres – love them like Jayne Cobb up there loves fights and money – and that includes subgenres. Urban fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, anything-punk, spec fic, magical realism, superhero… Need I go on? I WANT IT. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY. Caveat: I’ve seen a lot of the farm-boy-discovers-only-he-can-take-down-evil-emperor in my day. Nothing wrong with it, but you’ll want to let me know how yours is unique. (Hint: It probably won’t be because of a wizened wizard mentor or a magic sword/amulet.)
• Historical: People, I took upper-level history courses in college for fun. I think history is fascinating, so show me what you got! Rome, the Tudor era, the Czars, ancient China, feudal Japan, the Roaring 20s… *grabby hands* I want the details, the grit. Show me periods and sides of history that I haven’t seen before.
• Mysteries and thrillers: I’ve probably read most widely in the amateur detective arena, but I’m open to ALL kinds of mysteries, from cozies to hard-boiled detective novels. Twisty-turny whodunnits that make me go, “Wait…what? OMG WAIT WHAT?!” (Preferably in a good way and not because of confusing writing.) As for thrillers, I like a good dose of political intrigue, spies, CIA-like organizations, corruption and explosions.
• Contemporary fiction: I’m getting more and more interested in contemporary of late, but it’s got to be high-concept for me. And, to be honest, probably needs a good dose of humor. A book that follows a couple as their marriage deteriorates and they learn to hate each other while their teenager shots heroin into his eyeballs? That’s not really going to be for me. Humorous contemporary? Satire? Now you’re talking. I dearly love to laugh.
• Genre mash-ups: Science fantasy? Horror/scifi? Historical mystery? Urban street gang thriller with steampunk elements? YES. YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES.

What’s NOT for me:

• Straight-up literary fiction. It’s beautiful stuff, and I respect the hell out of those who write it, but it’s not for me.
• Heavy romance. I like romance just fine, but with this contest, I’m looking for books where romance is more of a subplot. I want something else driving the story.
• Violence against children. Mostly I’m talking molestation and murder here. I know it happens in real life – I don’t want to read about it. If you have this in your manuscript, apply to me anyway, and then I end up choosing you and having to read scenes with violence against children? I’m gonna be upset. And I’m going to call you every 10 minutes on the nights I can’t sleep.
• Portal fantasy. This is the ONE SF/F subgenre that I don’t get excited about. I’ve tried it time and time again, but aside from the Narnia books, I just can’t get into it. I hope to change my mind on this someday soon, but until then, I’m probably not the best option.

Elements near and dear to my heart that aren’t limited to any particular genre*:

• Active, layered characters
• Families – all kinds of families, including close-knit, dysfunctional or bound-together-by-life-and-not-by-blood families
• Humor, especially sarcasm
• Strong dialogue
• Anti-heroes
• Things blowing up, literally and metaphorically

(*Note: A book can have none of these elements and still end up catching my attention. These items just often help.)

I think that’s it, people. Read, ponder and then – PICK ME!

---

Send your applications to brendadrakecontests@gmail.com. Writers can apply for up to 3 coaches. The coaches’ categories are set. Coaches can only consider the categories they’ve signed up for. Writers cannot apply for a coach that is not in their category.

For additional information about this contest go HERE (link to your post announcing the contest)

• This is open to finished manuscripts only.
• You may only enter one manuscript.
• Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

Formatting

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)

Name: Your Name

Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript

Query letter here  (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.

Check back soon for a complete list of the amazing agents participating in the contest. There’s over a dozen!

Today all the coaches are posting bios/wish lists on their blogs. So before choosing your top 3 picks, check all the coaches’ posts in your category before deciding which coach to submit. To jump from blog to blog, just click on our pictures below.

1.	Brenda Drake (MG)	12.	Gina Ciocca (YA & NA)	23.	Summer Heacock (Adult & NA)
2.	Erica M. Chapman (YA & NA)	13.	Fiona McLaren (YA & NA)	24.	Lindsay Smith (YA)
3.	Cupid for Writers (YA)	14.	Michelle Painchaud (YA)	25.	Deana Barnhart (YA)
4.	Krista Van Dolzer (MG)	15.	Elizabeth Prats (YA & NA)	26.	Lori M. Lee (YA)
5.	Monica B.W. (YA)	16.	Tina Moss (Adult)	27.	Rebecca A. Weston (Adult & NA)
6.	Shelley Watters (Adult & NA)	17.	Andrea Hannah (YA)	28.	John Hansen (YA)
7.	Dee Romito (MG)	18.	Nazarea Andrews (YA & NA)	29.	Elizabeth Briggs (YA)
8.	Marieke Nijkamp (YA)	19.	Heidi Hill Schulz (MG)	30.	Stacey Lee (YA)
9.	Sharon M. Johnston (YA & NA)	20.	Kimberly P. Chase (YA)	31.	Heather Marie (YA)
10.	Dahlia Adler (YA & NA)	21.	Heather Webb (YA & NA)
11.	Jennifer Malone (MG)	22.	Molly Elizabeth Lee (YA)

#PitchWars: Find a Coach. Hone Your Pitch. Rock Some Agents’ Brains.

We’re extremely excited to announce an upcoming event where agented authors, industry interns, and editors team up with aspiring writers to shine up their manuscripts and pitches to present to some awesome agents.

Here’s the deets…

• The teams will consist of 1 agented author or industry intern or editor (coaches) and 1 aspiring author.
• November 26: The coaches (listed on the linky below) will post on their blogs what genre/category they want to coach. They’ll be very specific genres. Aspiring writers will hop around and decide which coaches best fit their manuscripts.
• **UPDATED** November 26 through December 5 at 8 PM EST: Aspiring writers will submit 3 “applications” to their top choices for coaches to the contest email (brendadrakecontests@gmail.com). That means, participants will send three separate emails to the contest email addressing each with one of their three top choices for coach.
• December 5 through December 10: Coaches will read the applications and pick teammates.The coaches don’t have to pick from their applications. If a coach passes on an application, it is then up for grabs and another coach, if they haven’t connected to their applicants, can snatch it after notifying the applicant and if the applicant chooses the coach.
• December 12: Teams will be announced. On the announcement post there will be instructions on how the winners must send their work.
• December 12 through January 16: Each coach will read their teammate’s manuscript and give general notes on any issues they find. The coach will help their teammate get his or her pitches ready for the agent round.
• Note: The material for the agent round will be a 3 sentence pitch and the first 250 words of your manuscript. Coaches will read manuscripts and query letters only once and give notes. It is up to the writer to use the notes from their coaches to get the manuscript and query letter in as best shape as they can to send to requesting agents. The coaches will critique the three sentence pitch and first 250 words. The coaches will read them as many times as they deem necessary. In no way will writers expect the coaches to read the manuscript and query letter more than once or the pitches more than twice.
• January 20: Coaches will submit shined pitches to the contest email.
• January 23 and 24: Agents will read and make requests on the pitches they like (it is likely that not all participants will get requests).
• January 25: We’ll announce the team with the most requests and who will take home the winning prizes (an amazon gift card for each).
• This is open to finished manuscripts only.
• You may only enter one manuscript.
• Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

Formatting…

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Rebecca A. Weston: MY BOOK WILL BLOW YOUR MINDBRAIN)

Name: Your Name

Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript

Query letter here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““

REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches. (*ahem* Like this girl right here! Just sayin’…)

Our mentors …

1.	Brenda Drake	12.	Gina Ciocca	23.	Summer Heacock
2.	Erica M. Chapman	13.	Fiona McLaren	24.	Lindsay Smith
3.	Cupid for Writers	14.	Michelle Painchaud	25.	Deana Barnhart
4.	Krista Van Dolzer	15.	Elizabeth Prats	26.	Lori M. Lee
5.	Monica B.W.	16.	Tina Moss	27.	Rebecca A. Weston
6.	Shelley Watters	17.	Andrea Hannah	28.	John Hansen
7.	Dee Romito	18.	Nazarea Andrews	29.	Elizabeth Briggs
8.	Marieke Nijkamp	19.	Heidi Hill Schulz	30.	Stacey Lee
9.	Sharon M. Johnston	20.	Kimberly P. Chase	31.	Heather Marie
10.	Dahlia Adler	21.	Heather Webb
11.	Jennifer Malone	22.	Molly Elizabeth Lee

What The Vampire Diaries Has Taught Me About Plotting

So this past month saw The Man and I finally start watching The Vampire Diaries on Netflix and promptly become embroiled in all of the soapy supernatural drama. And given the rampant popularity of the show, we’re not the only ones. There are, of course, very obvious reasons why everyone loves it – most of them rhyme with Leon Bummerhullder – but I think a LOT of credit goes to the the show’s writers and what they’re doing with what was a pretty scant premise in the original books.

They set a blistering – I mean, blistering – pace for their plot, and they don’t let up.

It is (arguably) the primary reason why people get hooked on this show like crack and tune in week after week, season after season. It helps that the cast is very nice to look at and they range on the scale from “solid delivery” to “wicked talented,” with none of them really sucking it up. But competent, pretty actors only get you so far. The writers are doing some major heavy lifting behind the cameras to keep the hits and entanglements coming, and I’m learning a few things as I watch.

• Trust that you will come up with something new.
  I’m terrible at this. Just the worst, honestly. I mean, I’m one of those people who eats my favorite part of a meal last, so holding things back and anticipation and the like are just part of my character. So when I come up with a great idea to happen to my characters, my instinct is to want to “save” it – for later, for the next book, etc. I want to stockpile the cool shit, not trusting my creative bucket to refill itself and spew forth more cool shit. I’m an idea squirrel.

  Don’t be an idea squirrel.

  Let the hits come and keep on coming and trust that, if you’ve got a good base with the characters and the world, then you’ll figure out something else to come next. The amount of crap that happens over the course of one freaking season on TVD would’ve been spread out over two or three seasons on a lot of other shows. They don’t hold things back or let questions linger too long. Two, three, four episodes pass, and they answer half the ongoing mysteries only to create two dozen more.

• Trust your characters to figure stuff out.
  Part of the reason so much stuff happens? The writers let the characters be smart and active. Main girl Elena doesn’t brush off the weird shit that happens around her new bouffant-headed love-squeeze Stefan – she investigates and puts the pieces together. Stefan wants to know something – he goes and asks about it. Damon wants something from someone – he seduces or kills until he gets it.

  These assholes aren’t pondering their next step or glossing over niggling questions for three episodes; they’re jumping out there and taking care of business. I’m amazed over and over again at how characters come right out and tell other characters important information. Or confront them about dickish behavior. Or confess their feelings. Or talk about their freaking relationships like normal couples would. (I’m sending starry eyes at you, Matt and Caroline.) And if they withhold something, they’ve got a damn good reason (or, at least, they believe they do), and that reason isn’t: “because it’ll keep this plotline from wrapping up too quickly.”

  The flow of information on this show between all the players is awesome.

• Trust your audience to keep up.
  Sure, there’s the little “Previously on The Vampire Diaries…” before an episode, but within the episode itself? There aren’t a lot of “As you know, Bob” conversations happening. Recapping is at a minimum. If the characters exchange previously established facts, it’s most of the time quick and a natural part of the conversation. There’s no bogging down of the storyline while Elena sits around and VOs about what we’ve learned so far and all her feeeeeelings about it. She doesn’t have time for that bullshit when she’s getting in people’s faces about what the hell is going on.

  The show bowls forward, piling on the subplots with a wicked grin at viewers, going, “Did you miss that little fun fact back there? Too bad – go read about it on the internet, honey, because we’re busy over here.”

Is their method of fast-paced plotting perfect? No. Sometimes character development is sacrificed a bit on the Altar of “Damn, Audience, Deal With This New Pile of Crazy.” For example, the terrible things Damon does that Elena swears she hates him for are often shuffled aside a few episodes later for the sake of plot, and that’s where the talent of the cast has to come through to make it workable. It’s certainly a fine line to walk, and I’m not recommending going full-on breakneck pacing over everything else.

Still, I think the basic lessons above are something every writer needs to carry into their stories. When we hold things back, when we dumb our characters down to extend plot elements, when we don’t trust that our readers can keep up without spoonfeeding them recaps, then we do a disservice to the story and a disservice to our audience. They will be able to tell. They’ll notice that things don’t feel authentic. They’ll call us on our shit until our only recourse is to distract them with a picture of Ian Somerhalder:

*ahem*

Enough of that action. Go forth and plot. And pick up the pace.

Get Your #PitchOn Workshop: IN THE AGE OF THE SHADOWY SUN

Name: Michaela Sanderson
Country of residence: Australia
Title: IN THE AGE OF THE SHADOWY SUN
Genre: YA Speculative Fiction (I’m assuming this is YA since this contest isn’t open to adult fiction. Always best to make sure that age group specification is in there.)
Word Count: 150,000 (Maybe it’s different for Australian publishers, but this word count would be a tough sell for a YA novel in the U.S. Even an epic fantasy YA. I know this isn’t really within the scope of “pitch critique” but just something to be aware of long-term.)

Pitch: Kiah is torn. All she wants to do is find her mother. Unfortunately, enough people think she is the Warrior (removed a comma) to force her on a quest to destroy the Sorceress. (I’m not really sure what’s going on with this part. Why do they think she’s the Warrior? And who is the Warrior supposed to be? And who is the Sorceress, and why does she need to be destroyed?) If that’s not enough, (careful careful with this phrase – it has become a cliche in the querying and pitching arena) the guy she really cares for (removed a comma) betrays her, her grandfather despises her, the Sorceress’s henchmen are trying to kill her, and the only way to fix it all … is to be murdered.

Overall commentary: This pitch ends with a strong hook, but there is enough vagueness in the beginning that it’s tough to get a grasp on things. I think you need to tamp things down a bit more about this whole Warrior business. Keep the very last bit, but maybe lose the “If that’s not enough” list in order to make some room for focusing on Kiah’s primary conflict – search for her mother vs. becoming whoever the Warrior is supposed to be.

Okay, #PitchOn peoples, what are YOUR thoughts? Remember, for each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry in the draw for one of eight 10-page critique from S.M. Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz, Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn Lynn and Kaitlin Adams. Please use the same names for all of your critiques. Also Sarah Nicolas will be giving away three query critiques. The opportunity ends October 14.  

Don’t forget – this is all just gearing up for a great, great contest on October 15th!

Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be poised and ready to take your pitches both on Down Under Wonderings and on YAtopia on October 15th.

Marisa is looking for YA in any genre and is accepting submissions from anywhere in the world. It’s your chance to skip the slush pile and put your pitch right under the nose of a fantastic editor. There’s even better news – there is no limit on how many requests Marisa will make from the contest.

Here are the rules:

• Your manuscript must be complete, polished and ready to query – this means no first drafts or almost finished manuscripts.
• It must be YA.
• When the contest goes live on October 15th, post your entry details in the comments section of either YAtopia or Down Under Wonderings – each blog is accepting 100 entries only.
• Your entry detail needs to include a 50–70-word pitch.
• You can enter more than once if you have more than one complete, polished, ready-to-query manuscript.

Just as it’s important to get someone else to look over your manuscript before you query, it’s also a good idea to get feedback on your pitch before you post. With that in mind, S.M. Johnston has lined up about twenty blogs who are ready to help you hone your pitch. These workshops start on October 1 and you can find the list of blogs participating here.