MMGM: AUDITION AND SUBTRACTION by Amy Fellner Dominy

Ah, Middle Grade. That precarious time in life when friendships either fall away or blossom into something... different. AUDITION AND SUBTRACTION by Amy Fellner Dominy is all about the blossom, wonderful and terrible as it may be, during some of the most difficult years of growing up. And she does it with heaping dose of humor, too :D

From amydominy.com: Best friends Tatum and Lori are used to doing everything together—including a clarinet/flute duet for District Honor Band auditions. But all that changes when Michael transfers to their middle school, and into their band. Suddenly, not only is he competition for Tatum’s spot on stage, but he’s stealing Lori, too. Tatum is determined to stop him, and hold on to what she’s got.  She enlists the help of her good friend, Aaron, but now he seems to believe her fib that they’re boyfriend and girlfriend.  And her mom, to cope with a separation from her dad, is performing in community theater, of all things! Amy Fellner Dominy composes an equally heartwarming and hilarious story of how holding tight to what you have can keep you from reaching for your dreams—and how oftentimes the best way to move forward is by going solo.

AUDITION AND SUBTRACTION is like a favorite boyfriend on a cool afternoon; something you want to cozy up with and never let go. Her middle grade voice carried me back to the days of marching bands, first loves, and discovering the world isn't always the wonderful place you thought it should be. The sweet and honest story kept me up way past my bedtime because, like that first boyfriend I talked all hours on the phone with, I wasn't ready to say goodnight. It was a quick read that had me nodding my head in empathy, and laughing more times than I could count. A&S is one of the best reads I've had this year! 

My fav line: (From Tatum's mother) "'Can't' is what we tell ourselves when something is hard."

Amen, sister.

Pick this one up as soon as you can; just click on the pic and it'll take you where you need to go. Or better yet, visit your local indy bookstore. Either way, you'll be happy you did :)

Happy reading and ¡Buen Provecho! 

GUTGAA Pitch Polish. And Polish.

And polish! So goes the life of a pitch. Over at the most awesome Deana Barnhart's Gearing Up To Get An Agent, 111 of us have posted our pitches for just such an adventure. If you have a hankering to lend a hand to my word weary query and first 150 words, you can find them here. And if you have one posted, let me know, and I'll be happy to return the favor. 


Lastly, but most importantly on this day, let me take a moment to say that I shall never forget. 

 

Happy polishing and ¡Buen Provecho!  

HOLA! GUTGAA Meet and Greet

Hola, dear bloggers, and bienvenidos to the Gearing Up To Get An Agent Meet & Greet! I'm excited to meet & greet old and new friends, and want to wish the best of luck to everyone during this exciting and nerve-wracking event. Without further yada yada yada....

Questions for the Meet and Greet

-Where do you write?

Depends on the time of year. Summers are best suited for late night writings while mid-mornings~early afternoons work best during the quite school-year days.

HAHA! I just noticed this said WHERE not WHEN. Chalk it up to cold medicine. WHERE I like to write is either at our communal computer desk or my comfy, leather recliner. No one is allowed in mom's chair but mom :)

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

Kleenix. Lots of kleenix, new and used. I've been sick.

-Favorite time to write?

Any time that's quite, but if I could choose, a cloudy, thundering afternoon would be nice.

-Drink of choice while writing?

1 bag Trader Joe's jasmine green tea + 1 bag Trader Joe's decaf green tea with 1 packet sweet n low. Ahhhhh. 

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

I prefer the silence, but sometime a song with a strong beat keeps my energy up, just like if I were running. If I ran. Which I don't :)

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

I was inspired to write DAY OF THE NOT SO DEAD after reading about the Hero Twins in Mayan mythology (they rescued their father from the Underworld) and watching Machete with Danny Trejo. Weird combo, yes, but the best ideas are born through weirdness :) 

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

On a first draft, write without concentrating on the words so much as the idea. Bad words are better than no words.

Well, that's me :) Looking forward to hopping and meeting as many people as I can. Until the next event, may the agents be ever in you favor!

Happy meeting & greeting and ¡Buen Provecho!  

Cover reveal of THE STARS FELL SIDEWAYS by Cassandra Marshall and a GIVEAWAY!

¡Bienvenidos, dear bloggers! While the temperature is still in the 100s, summer has come to end here in the Casa de Shiela. Kids are back in school, using a blanket at night again, and we've even had the first school virus snake its way home. I had some great summer writing adventures, including new friends I met at WriteOnCon, an online (FREE!) writers conference. If you missed it, mark it for next year - it was amazing! But more on that later. For now, I'd like to introduce you to one of these new friends, Cassandra Marshall, and her new book, THE STARS FELL SIDEWAYS.


Alison Arroway takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. She has to, or she won’t get paid. Alison is a stunt double for pampered teen actress Pomegranate and when the director takes the shoot to Portugal, Alison is anything but thrilled to be rooming with Pom. But getting to hang around teen hearthrob Erik? Now that’s a plus.

Erik invites both girls on a sunset boat trip and Alison manages to have a decent time. Until the storm hits and the boat is shipwrecked on a small island, leaving Erik missing and the boat captain dead.

In the morning light, Alison and Pom find themselves on the lost island of Atlantis. Only one problem: now that the girls know the secret of the island, the Atlanteans don’t want them to leave. They're stuck with corsets, full-skirted dresses, and the strange steam-driven contraptions that are just a way of life for the islanders.

When a plot by the ruthless army Captain to take over the island and declare himself General over all emerges, an underground group promises to return the girls to the mainland if they can help stop him. They'll go through a mountain, literally, to find the Book of Blue, a book that will explain how to make ‘the stars fall sideways' in order to save the day and earn their freedom.

THE STARS FELL SIDEWAYS, a YA Steampunkish fantasy, coming October 1st from MolliePup Press!

I read Cassandra's query and first five pages at writeoncon, and was impressed with not just her story, but her writing as well. She drew me right in. I love stories about Hollywood types, especially the unknowns like stunt women. Combine this with a steampunky Atlantis, and I'm all in!

And it only gets better: Cassandra Marshall is giving away a signed pre-order of THE STARS FELL SIDEWAYS! To enter, visit each of the blogs below to find special inside info about THE STARS FELL SIDEWAYS and Cassandra Marshall. The special inside info for this blog is: "After Alison and Pom arrive on the island, they have to spend a week in seclusion so that they don't bring sickness to the island. This actually happened to a lot of tribes in the Amazon Rainforest who were wiped out by the common cold." Be sure to visit all of the blogs to find all of the insider info and then visit thestarsfellsideways.com to enter to win a signed pre-order!  You can gain additional entries by sharing links to the cover reveals! 

Here's a list of all participants and links to their blogs:

Julianna Helms -http://thereviewsnews.blogspot.com
Liana Brooks - http://www.lianabrooks.com
Jamie Corrigan - http://thiswritersworldplotbunnies.blogspot.com
James Matlack Raney - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6430715.James_Matlack_Raney/blog
Colleen Hampton - http://adventures-in-word.blogspot.com
Rhen Wilson - http://blog.thenaturaltale.com
Kate SitHere- http://www.sithereandread.com
Erica Haglund - http://thebookcellarx.com

Alice M. - http://notveryalice.wordpress.com

Becca - http://beccaweston.wordpress.com

Amanda -  http://www.otherawesomewords.blogspot.com

Eleni - http://elenialexandraki.blogspot.com

Lauren - http://lscribeharris.blogspot.com

Cassandra - http://www.camarshall.com

Happy reading and ¡Buen Provecho! 

¡Lunes Libro Fantástico!: Replay by Robin Brande

  

I know I said I wasn't going to blog this summer, but when you read a book so great, you just have to share it, well, stuff happens :) The book in question is REPLAY by Robin Brande. For those of you who have recently joined, Robin is by far one of my favorite YA authors (see reviews for OPERATION ERASE, CAUGHT IN THE PARALLEL, INTO THE PARALLEL). She doesn't disappoint with her newest YA, REPLAY. 


From robinbrande.com:
Cara Campbell thought she had it made: star athlete, popular student, winner. But when she dies during surgery, she sees something she knows no one would ever believe. The doctors manage to revive her, but what happened during those 42 seconds of death has changed everything.

Now Cara is having a hard time adjusting to her former life. None of her friends or accomplishments matter anymore. What does matter is the face she saw as she came rushing back into her body. That face belongs to David Mayer, a brainy outcast who dislikes Cara even more than she does him.

As Cara sorts through the ramifications of her near-death experience, and struggles to overcome her fear of telling everyone what really happened, she discovers a path she never realized lay ahead of her.

And as Cara is about to learn, there are no coincidences.

From me:

I LOVED Replay! I gasped, cried, and cheered in all the right places. It was completely honest and raw. I felt what Cara felt. More importantly, I felt for her. One of the facets of Robin Brande's multi-talented writing is how she's never afraid to go "there". Pulls no punches. Doesn't matter whether it's morality (rape, loss of innocence, abuse) or spirituality (God, church, philosophy, science) - she shows it how her characters see it. So courageous! She takes something that's not mainstreamed, like time-travel or reincarnation, and makes it not just plausible, but real. Replay is a tense, romantic, fast-paced read that should be at the top of your summer book list!

What parents should know: there is some adult language including a few big bombs, and also mature, but not explicit, talk about sex and rape. 

REPLAY is available as an e-book through Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, and as a paperback.

Happy reading and ¡Buen Provecho! 

Phoenix Comicon 2012

I'm so sorry, dear bloggers, for disappearing the last few weeks. But I have a great excuse. Last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, was the 2012 Phoenix Comicon. And this year, I was on staff. I even have the badge to prove it:

Safe to say, there was a ton of preparation before hand. Setting up signs:

Placing the Tardis:

And the best of all, being assigned to my actor:

You know, that guy from Reading Rainbow? There was that other show, too. What was it again? Oh, yeah, that science fiction show with all these other guys:

Yes, that's me with most of the cast of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. And that's Levar's thank you for being his handler all weekend. 

Best. Weekend. Ever. 

Again :)

Now that Comicon is over, summer has officially begun here in Phoenix. The kids are out school and we've already hit 107 degrees a few times. Which means it's time for my blogging sabbatical. I  don't have what it takes to be a good blogger and a good mommy when the kids are home full-time, so mommy-ing wins. 

I'll pop in from time to time and see what everyone is up to. Keep on writing, revising, and working out. Rest assured, I'll be right there with you. See you in August!

Until next time...

Happy Summer and ¡Buen Provecho! 

First Love's Blogfest - My Fabulous Four

Today is the First Loves Blogfest! Your first movie, first music (song/band,) first book, and first person. Four loves, one blogfest! Thanks to Alex J Cavanaugh for hosting :) 









First Movie: Godzilla's Revenge. Ah, I might aswell put Godzilla as my first love, too. But I won't. This one had so many Toho monsters in it - I was in heaven! Anyone else remember World Beyond on Saturday mornings?

First Music: So many! I think I have to go with Sugar, Sugar by the Archies. Bubble Gum music and preschool. A match made in sugar heaven.






First book: The Monster at the End of this Book. No question. 












Finally, First Person: Did I mention Godzilla already? Well, if I must go with in my own species, I'll have to go with Peter Tork of the Monkees. I took turns falling in love with each one of them, but Peter was the first.






Yeah. I'm old :) 
Click here for the complete blogfest list.


Happy hopping and ¡Buen Provecho! 

Oh, Those High School Dances!

Allow me to take you back to a simpler time. A time of big hair and bigger shoulder pads. Come with me to the Oh, Those High School Dances bloghop hosted by the radical Kelley Lynn and totally tubular Emily R. King. The rules are simple: post pictures of your high school dances; share your funniest high school dance story; and that's it! Prizes will be given so join in now. It's not too late. To whip it. Whip it good.


In case you missed the references, my prom took place in that pit-of-fashion era, the 80s. 1987 to be exact. Witness the horror:

My funny story? The picture is worth a thousand better words than I could write.


Happy dancing queens and ¡Buen Provecho!

A Winner and a (Dust It Off) Lesson

Good Monday morning! Ohhh, that is too much of an oxymoron. Kids are off to school, but I still don't feel awake. Maybe in another hour. Maybe not :)


Today is day 3 of the Dust It Off bloghop. First let us give thanks to Theresa and Courtney. This has been a wonderful experience and lots of fun. Thanks, ladies!


Quick recap - 
Day 1: Our Pitch (1-2 sentences)
Day 2: Our Excerpt (300 words) 


So today we post what we learned my our shelved MS. I've learned so much from writing HOW SNOW CAME TO THE DESERT, most of it what NOT to do. 


Do NOT query a 167,000 word manuscript.
Do NOT try to write a perfect first draft. Does NOT happen.
Do NOT fill the first 50 pages with back info. 
Do NOT over use any words ending in -ly.
Do NOT think modifiers help explain a scene or a sentence.
Do NOT tell your readers what is happening - show it.
Do NOT make your antagonist evil just for the sake of evil. He/she needs an agenda like everyone else.
Do NOT think your best friends or family members make good critique partners.
Do NOT let your MC be swept away by the story. Give them the broom and let them do the sweeping. Otherwise, you end up with MaryJane - the perfect person who never does anything wrong but must overcome  putting your readers to sleep.
Finally, The End is NOT the end. It's only the beginning.


And now... drum roll please... the winner of my first blog birthday giveaway... the number drawn by my 12-year-old... Commenter #7 on my day one blog birthday post... 

 COURTNEY PEARSON!!! 

Congrats, Courtney! The blogshpere must be thanking you for a job well done on Dust If Off :) I will contact you about the details.


Thank you, dear bloggers, for all your support and kind words during this blog hop. Love was spread far and wide. Writers are the best at supporting each other, aren't we?


Keep spreading the love and ¡Buen Provecho!

Dust It Off Bloghop Day 2

 Bienvenidos to Day 2 of the DUST IT OFF blog hop! Thanks to Theresa and Courtney for hosting such a wonderful hop! Today we post some of our fav words from our older MS. Here's 275 that I'm particularly fond of  :)

       (Set up: Brisana, 16, has been captured by were-jaguars. She has shared her meal with one of them while the others sleep in the hopes of gaining an ally and discovering exactly what they want with her.)

“Not bad at all,” she said smiling. “Would you like some more?”

Garfa smiled, too, and nodded. Between the two of them, they finished off all of the soup, more ending up in Garfa’s belly than in Brisana’s, but both equally satisfied. As he laid back against the rock behind them, she decided now was the best time to strike up a friendly conversation. “My name’s Brisana. What’s yours?”

“Garfa,” he replied, the words rolling from his contented mouth.

“And the others?”

“There’s Dura and Zope, big imbeciles, and the other is Garra. He’s the biggest and best of all of us besides General Matanza, And he’s my brother,” he said proudly.

His pride fell on deaf ears as Brisana wondered about the one he named that wasn’t there. “Who’s General Matanza?”

“He’s the one in charge since Don Frío was taken from us. He didn’t come because he doesn’t like work is my opinion, but he says he has much to prepare for your coming.”

This friendly conversation had taken a darker turn than Brisana would have liked. “What does he want me for?” she asked, knowing she most likely wasn’t going to like the answer.

She didn’t. “The only thing I can think of is to eat,” Garfa answered honestly. Then seeing the horrified expression on Brisana’s face, he added in his most sincere voice, “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be dead before then.”

Thanks for taking a peek! 

More happy hopping and ¡Buen Provecho!

Happy Blog Birthday and the Dust It Off bloghop!

One year ago today I published my first post, Bienvenidos. Here we are, 2500 views, 64 posts, 57 followers and 12 months later. I've learned so much:


1. Bloghops/fests are fun and great way to meet others
2. Don't wait to get comments; give comments early and often
3. Blogging not only helps your discipline, writing, and networking, but is also the best tool to find the one thing that every writer needs to identify: your voice.


Thank you, dear bloggers, for hanging in there with me. Your views and comments mean the world!

And what birthday would be complete without a present? As my birthday gift to you, I will randomly select one lucky commenter to win a $10 e-certificate to your choice of either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. To enter, simply follow me and leave a comment below by midnight Sun 5/6. I will announce the winner Monday 5/7 on the last day of a very cool bloghop.

The DUST IT OFF Bloghop starts today. From Theresa Paolo:

We've all had those manuscripts that we poured our heart into, fell in love with the characters and still think of them at random, but unfortunately had to shelf. Now it's time for a little spring cleaning. Take out those manuscripts and Dust It Off!

The first day, May 3rd: We want you to post a 1-2 sentence pitch (Great way to practice pitches) about the shelved WIP.


The second day, May 5th: Post your favorite excerpt (300-350 words)


The third day, May 7th: Post what you learned from this WIP. You become a stronger, more rounded writer which each manuscript and we want to know what this particular work taught you.

She and co-host Cortney Pearson will be giving away great prizes, too! For all the info, check out DUST IT OFF. Go ahead and start today.

Now, for my logline.

Dusting off trunked manuscript. Cyber coughs ensue :)

From my first novel, HOW SNOW CAME TO THE DESERT:


Deep in the misty mountains of Oldest Mexico, sixteen-year-old Brisana's rare half-human blood awakens a thought-to-be extinct race of monstrous jaguar warriors. In order to protect the home she loves, she must figure out how her mythical Latino ancestors once defeated these monsters and whether or not a half-blood chica can, too.

Happy hopping and ¡Buen Provecho!

¡Lunes Libro Fantástico!: ZERO by Tom Leveen

Whoa.

That was all I could say when I finished reading Tom Leveen's newest YA book ZERO.

Whoa.

From tomleveen.com:

Here’s the thing:

For aspiring artist Amanda Walsh, who only half-jokingly goes by the nickname Zero, the summer before college was supposed to be fun—plain and simple. Hanging out with her best friend Jenn, going to clubs, painting, and counting down the days until her escape. But when must-have scholarship money doesn’t materialize, and she has a falling out with Jenn that can only be described as majorly awkward, and Zero’s parents relationship goes from tense to relentless fighting, her prospects start looking as bleak and surreal as a painting by her idol Salvador Dali. Will life truly imitate art? Will her new, unexpected relationship with a punk skater boy who seems too good to be real and support from the unlikeliest of sources show Zero that she’s so much more than a name.


ZERO is an unflinching story of a seventeen-year-old teen artist and the overwhelming insecurities that go along with it. Tom Leveen uses words to paint images so vivid  (just like the main character does) that you'd swear the pages were type-set in technicolor. Each word is a brushstroke, used to create an unforgettable picture. Like the music of the early 90s punk scene that ZERO is set in, the book grabs you by the throat, screaming at you to take notice. Tom Leveen's writing gives us a raw look at one girl's life in a voice that defies not to be heard. This book is not for the faint of heart; it deals honestly, painfully sometimes, with such heavy topics as alcoholism, family dysfunction, and the loss of innocence. The author has laid this character out bare, her soul exposed for us to see. Both we and Zero are better for of it.

ZERO is available now. I rate it M for Mature, not only for the aforementioned subjects, for rough language as well. In the older-teen world of punk bands such as Bad Religion and Social Distortion, the language, like the rest of the book, is an honest depiction.

One of my fav lines:
"Our breath mingles between us, still dusted lightly with ice cream sugar."

Happy kissing, I mean reading, and ¡Buen Provecho!

Thursday Thirteen Update: Mmm, Published!

Erin and her advanced copy!

Ok, it's not so much an update as it is an announcement. And not so much on the Thursday Thirteen itself, but on someone who reviewed on it. On April 12, Erin from Mmm, Waffles guest-reviewed The Goose Girl for the Thursday Thirteen. Well, guess what? As of last week, she is now a published author! Erin wrote an article, "The Dystopian Future in Joss Whedon's Work," that is not only to be published online but in book form, too. Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion will be available May 4 and is touted as the unofficial essential guide to the Whedonverse. Over 40 contributor were brought together to give their thoughts on every aspect of Joss Whedon's works, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. And our lovely Miss Erin is one of them! You can read her thoughts about reaching this personal milestone here at her blog. Be sure to follow her, too. I believe she's going places and can take us along for the ride. 


Congrats, my dear friend!


And to the rest of us, ¡Buen Provecho!

Revision Vision

I've been blogger MIA recently. Oh, there's been a contest announcement here or a Thursday Thirteen there, but that's been about it. As much as I enjoy blogging and love sharing my mindless ramblings to what I'm sure is an enraptured audience, I finally figured something out. If I wasn't working on getting published, I'd have nothing really interesting to blog about. So for the last three weeks, I've been more disciplined about revising the heap of puzzled garbage that is my NaNoWriMo novel. Here's what it looks like now: 

There's notes defining the different rules for different settings and situations, character agendas, plot outlines, and more red ink that I can bear. 

I think next time, I'll start this way instead. Maybe I'm more of a plotter than I think. 


Are you a pantser? How do you clean up the mess that is left after you dive into a story without knowing exactly where its going to end up?


Happy writing and ¡Buen Provecho!

C is for Contest!

I know we are way past C, but I wanted to fit in A-Z somewhere this month, since I'm not actually participating. I am knee deep in some earnest revisions - finally! - and am loving/loathing it simultaneously. In the meantime, here's a contest/blogfest from Cupid's Literary Connection you may be interested in. It sounds like a doozy! !

May's "The Writer's Voice" Contest Info

“The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). We’re basing it on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of us will serve as coaches and select projects for our teams based on their queries and first pages.

Here’s the timeline:

May 3	Everyone submits their entries
May 3-10	We select our team members from “The Writer’s Voice” Blogfest
May 10-17	We coach our team members, helping them polish their entries
May 17	We post our team members’ entries on our blogs
May 21	Agents vote for their favorites

Submissions

To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions: First, it must be COMPLETE, POLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the following genres:

Adult Fantasy

Adult Science Fiction

Adult Romance

YA fiction (all subgenres)

MG fiction (all subgenres)


(YES, EVEN IF YOU'VE ENTERED A PREVIOUS CONTEST, YOU CAN ENTER THIS ONE)

We’ll accept entries in two time slots. The first submission window will open at 9:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, May 3, and will close once we receive 75 entries. The second submission window will open at 9:00 p.m. EDT on the same day and will close once we receive another 75 entries.

We’ll accept submissions via one of Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets, which we’ll post on all four of our blogs on May 3. Once you sign up for the blogfest, you’ll post YOUR QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript on your blog. Then you’ll send your query, first 250 words, and A LINK TO YOUR BLOG POST in the body of an e-mail to TheWritersVoiceContest(at)gmail(dot)com, with your blogfest number, title, and genre in the subject line.

In summary, you must follow these three steps to enter:

1. Sign up for the blogfest during one of the submission windows listed above.

2. Post your query and the first 250 words of your manuscript on your blog.

3. Send your query, first 250 words, and a link to your blog post to TheWritersVoiceContest(at)gmail(dot)com, with your blogfest number, title, and genre in the subject line.

Selections

We’re building our teams via “The Writer’s Voice” Blogfest, so YOU MUST HAVE A BLOG TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST. We don’t care if you’ve had it for five years or five minutes; we just want to be able to fight over you in public. :)

We coaches will review the entries by e-mail, but when we find one we want, we’ll leave a comment on your post that says something like, “I want you!” If more than one of us wants you on her team, you’ll have to pick which coach you want to work with.

Coaching

We’ll select our 10 team members by May 10, then spend the next week helping them put a final polish on their entries. You won’t have to take all of our suggestions, of course; we just want to help you make your entry the best that it can be before the agents get a look at it.

Voting

On May 17, we’ll post our team members’ queries and first pages on our blogs so that the agents can review them. Here are the 8 awesome agents who’ll be voting on your entries:

Louise Fury of L. Perkins Agency

Susan Hawk of The Bent Agency

Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency

Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Lauren MacLeod of The Strothman Agency

Taylor Martindale of Full Circle Literary

Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger, Inc.

Roseanne Wells of Marianne Strong Literary Agency

The agents will vote for their favorites on May 21. Each vote will count as a partial or full request depending on how many votes the entry receives. If an entry receives 1 or 2 votes, those votes will count as partial requests. If an entry receives 3 or more votes, those votes will count as full requests.

Voting will stay open for twenty-four hours, at which point we’ll determine which coach’s team received the most votes. That coach will win bragging rights for time immemorial, and everyone who received requests will be able to submit their materials to all the agents who voted for them.

So get those queries and first pages polished up, then meet us back here on Thursday, May 3, at either 9:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m. EDT. We can’t wait to read your entries! 

Best of luck to all who enter and ¡Buen Provecho!

The Thursday Thirteen: THE GOOSE GIRL by Shannon Hale

Hooray! We have our first guest reviewer for today's Thursday Thirteen! But first, a quick recap: books reviewed in 13 words or less. Emoticons count, punctuation doesn't. Made-up words fabuliciously accepted. Ok? Ok!


Today's brave reviewer is new blogger Erin from Mmm, Waffles. She's reviewing one of her all time favs, 2005's award winning THE GOOSE GIRL by the stupendous Shannon Hale. 


Ahem.


A girl fights an impostor for her own identity. A lyrical, strong journey.


Let's all give Erin a big round of cyber applause! And a big thank you from me :) If you'd like to have your own Thursday Thirteen featured here, email it to me at shielacblank(at)aol(dot) and I'll get it posted.


Until next time... 


Happy Reading and ¡Buen Provecho!

The Thursday Thirteen - PETER NIMBLE AND HIS FANTASTIC EYES by Jonathan Auxier

To all my blogging buddies (BBs) who are A to Z-ing this month, this Thursday Thirteen's for you! 


For my new BBs, bienvenidos to the Thursday Thirteen, where we review books in 13 words or less. Anyone can play, punctuation does not count towards word limit, but emoticons do :) That's 1. If you'd like to be featured here, email me at shielacblank(at)aol(dot)com and I'll get it posted.


Today I review 2011 debut PETER NIMBLE AND HIS FANTASTIC EYES by Jonathan Auxier.
Hang on to your butts...


Blind thief boy finds vanished kingdom. No eyes required to see greatness.


Until next time...


Happy Reading and ¡Buen Provecho!

NOT A Wednesday Writer Workout Tip

In fact, you could call this the exact opposite of a workout tip. But I just can't help myself. Something this wonderful needs to passed along. I present to you...

THE SODA CAKE



Part of what makes this so great is how easy it is. You take 1 box of cake mix, any kind, 1 can of soda, any flavor, mix, and put in the microwave (yes, MICROWAVE!) for 9 minutes. That's it! My kids, the 12- and 8-year-olds, made this without any help from Mom. I think that's the best part. Aside from the eating, of course. And believe me, it's dee-licious! We used Devil's Food and Cherry Dr. Pepper. If you try it, let me what you used and how it tasted. Otherwise I'll have to experiment on my own much to the chagrin of my waistline. And hips. They don't lie.

TIP: Be sure to cover when microwaving. A paper towel or paper plate will do. Makes for a less dense cake. Of course, if dense is your thing, like it is mine, then never mind :)

Enjoy!

¡Buen Provecho!

The Thursday Thirteen: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

In honor of the midnight tickets I hold for tonight's movie premier, this Thursday Thirteen I review Suzanne Collins 2008 wildly popular THE HUNGER GAMES in just thirteen words. Anyone can play, punctuation does not count towards word limit, but emoticons do :) That's 1. If you'd like to be featured here, email me at shielacblank(at)aol(dot)com and I'll get it posted. It's the most fun you can have in thirteen words or less!

Here we go:

Brave teen fights to the death for family/home. You. Can't. Look. Away.

 
And there's your Thursday Thirteen! I'm off to take a nap. At my age, midnight movies take a lot more prep than they used to :)

Happy reading and ¡Buen Provecho!