The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The lovely and talented Liz tagged me in this fun meme, so here we go!


What is the working title of your book?

Meditation



Where did the idea come from for the book?

I got the idea in yoga class. LOL. I had gotten a rejection and was trying to use the practice to let go of my negative thoughts and stay positive, and I thought "What if a character was using yoga to get through something truly traumatic?"


What genre does your book fall under?

YA Contemporary Thriller

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I posted about this in another bloghop, but I think Miranda Cosgrove would make a great Bree, and Jake T. Austin would make a great Brian.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Seventeen-year-old Bree Miller never expected her passion for yoga would save her life, but when she's kidnapped by a man in a mask who talks about obedience and punishment, her training is the only thing keeping her sane.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I would love for it to be represented by an agency. *crosses fingers*

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It took me about three months-ish.

I know it's sort of cheating, but I skipped a few questions, and I'm not tagging anyone specifically. If this meme sounds fun to you, please post on your blog and leave me a link.  (Check Liz's blog via the link at the top of this post for the questions I skipped.) I'd love to read about your WIP! 

And be sure to come back on Sunday for a super fun post in J.A. Souders's blog tour for RENEGADE!!!

Pitch On Workshop Critique: SN

Welcome to the Pitch On Workshop! When you have time before October 14, please take the time to go to the participating blogs (list here) and critique the pitches.  All critiques will be entered to win either a 10 page critique or a query critique. (Details here).  If you are interested in having your pitch workshopped, it's not too late to sign up!

Here's Stacey's Pitch:

Title: FORGET-ME-NOT
Genre: Light Science Fiction
Word-count: 76,000
Pitch:
Seventeen year old Anamae accidently activates secret technology, which causes her to blink into and out visibility. Its use attracts an attacker, who she learns is an agent of a secret society. They suppress the knowledge of technology so advanced it could be straight from a science fiction movie. Now that she knows the secret, she’s at the top of their hit list. She must fight to keep herself and her family alive.

My Critique:

This sounds so intriguing! But it reads a little stilted to me.  I have some fixes below, but I'd love more about who Anamae is and more of her voice throughout. More details about Anamae will help me connect to her and to your story.

Seventeen-year-old Anamae accidently accidentally activates secret technology, which causes her to blink into and out of visibility. Its use attracts an attacker, who she learns is --an agent of a secret society. They created to suppress the knowledge of technology so advanced it could be straight from a science fiction movie. Now that she knows the secret, she’s at the top of their hit list. She must fight to keep herself and her family alive. This last sentence is too vague for me.
 


What do you think? Leave your critiques in the comments!  I'm sure Stacey appreciates your help!

Pitch On Workshop Critique: CS

Welcome to the Pitch On Workshop! When you have time within the next two weeks, please take the time to go to the participating blogs (list here) and critique the pitches.  All critiques will be entered to win either a 10 page critique or a query critique. (Details here).  If you are interested in having your pitch workshopped, it's not too late to sign up!

Here's Catherine's Pitch:

Jennifer Strange never wanted her parents to go missing, a ghost to haunt her, or a Ghost Hunter named Marcus to tell her she is a Medium. Fifteen-year-old Jennifer believes in measurable facts, not in the occult. When a ghost tears apart her Chemistry class, Jennifer must not only face that ghosts exist but that she is the most powerful Medium to ever live. Not only can Jennifer see spirits, she can touch them. Now, Jennifer and Marcus must save the ghost before a dark wraith eating his soul threatens to devour them all.   

My Critique: 

Jennifer Strange never wanted her parents to go missing, a ghost to haunt her, or a Ghost Hunter named Marcus to tell her she is a Medium. Fifteen-year-old Jennifer believes in measurable facts, not in the occult. When a ghost tears apart her Chemistry class, Jennifer must not only face that ghosts exist but that she is the most powerful Medium to ever live. Not only can (Introduce Marcus here) Jennifer can see spirits, but she can also touch them. Now, Jennifer and Marcus must save the ghost before a dark wraith eating his soul threatens to devour them all.   I think you can make this last sentence more powerful by making it more relevant to Jennifer (maybe a little more specific?).  And I think I’d like just a smidge more about who Jennifer is at the beginning, as well.

 

Post your critique in the comments!  I'm sure Catherine appreciates your help!

Get Your Pitch On Workshop submissions are OPEN!

Workshops for Get Your Pitch On will start on October 1, but you can send your pitches through now to secure your spot with a host blog.

There is no date deadline for the workshops. Each blog has allocated a set number of pitches that they can host and once those spots are full then no more submissions will be taken.

Important Rule: If you want to participate in a workshop, you must be prepared to comment on at least one other pitch.

How to submit: Email your draft pitch to pitchonws@gmail.com and include PitchOnWS and the title of the manuscript in the subject line. Pitches must follow the formatting as specified for the Get Your Pitch On contest. If you missed if before check out this post here and you can see the list of blogs participating here.

ADDITIONALLY, there is an opportunity for you to win a ten page critique from some of the blog hosts: "Make sure to check out all of the workshop host blogs to critique more pitches. For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz, Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn Lynn and Kaitlin Adams. Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. The opportunity ends 10/14/2012."

Draft pitches will be evenly distributed between host blogs.

And interview with Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be coming up soon on Down Under Wonderings blog so that you have an idea what she's looking for before she takes your pitches both on Down Under Wonderings and on the group blog YAtopia on October 15th. The exact contest opening times will be included in that post.

Have fun honing your pitches!

GET YOUR PITCH ON Announcement!!!

I am SO EXCITED to be part of this fabulous opportunity!  Read on to find out more about GET YOUR PITCH ON and how you can workshop your pitch right here starting October 1.  More details to come, so stay tuned!

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 the fabulous group blog YAtopia on October 15th.

Marisa is looking for YA in any genre and is accepting submissions from any where 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.
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.

Your contest details should be formatted like this:

Name: Sharon Johnston
Email: smjohnston [ @ ] live.com.au
Country of residence: Australia
Title: SLEEPER
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Word-count: 58,000
Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Mishca Richardson is a sleeper soldier with a weak heart. She has no idea that a life saving heart transplant has accidentally triggered her programming. In the search for answers, she discovers the truth and that her creator, Wirth, has classified her remaining "sisters" from her experiment group as defective, scheduling them for termination. Mishca sets out to save them before they're eliminated.

Just as it's important to get someone else to look over your manuscript before you query, it's a good idea to get feedback on your pitch before you post. There are about twenty blogs who are ready to help you hone your pitch, including this blog. These workshops start on October 1 and you can find the list of blogs participating here.

So get ready to Get Your Pitch On!

Networked Blogs: Tell me about it

Image by SaraFFujimara via WANA Commons

I have a lot of friends who use Networked Blogs, so I figured it's probably time for me to look into it.  But, honestly, the frame that pops up when you open a Networked Blogs link has always bugged me (and when my BlackBerry was my main way of checking the internet, it made visiting blogs with NB difficult.)

So, I'm looking for opinions on NB.  Do you use Networked Blogs?  Why? If you don't, why not?

When you visit a blog via Networked Blogs, does the frame bother you?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks everyone! 

GUTGAA Meet and Greet

Hi, everyone! I'm super excited about GUTGAA, but I'm out of town for the holiday weekend.  I'll have my answers posted and start visiting the other participants Tuesday afternoon.  See you then!

Find out more about GUTGAA here.

ETA: I never did my mini-bio! :)  I am a 34-year-old mother of three (9 yo boy, 7 yo girl, and 5 yo girl).  I teach pre-k and Sunday School, and direct the Handbell Choirs at my church.  So ... yeah.  I generally have a To-Do List a mile long.  I write YA.

-Where do you write?

Usually sitting in my bed.  I have a laptop, and my bedroom is usually the quietest place in the house (three kids!).

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

My coffee cup.  I have a flowered Tervis tumbler that is my constant companion. LOL.

-Favorite time to write?

I'm not sure I have a favorite time.  Anytime I can find time is my favorite.  (I have three part time jobs and three children, so time is hard to come by!)

-Drink of choice while writing?

COFFEE!  Or, after 6pm, water.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

I listen to music.  I have a playlist for each manuscript.  For some reason, I have to listen to it with earbuds, though.  If I just have it playing through the computer, it bothers me. (Weird, I know.)

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

The idea for my latest manuscript came to me while I was doing yoga, and trying to let go of a painful rejection, which brought up the question, "What if I had to use yoga to get past something more traumatic than a rejection?"  And my story MEDITATION was born. LOL

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

It's not "what happens next?", it's "what would my character do next?" 

 Thanks for stopping by!  I will be around to visit the other participating blogs throughout the week.