First Page Contest with Victoria Marini

Shelley Watters is hosting yet another first page contest of awesome on her blog Is It Hot In Here, Or Is It This Book?, this time with Agent Victoria Marini of the Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency! 

This contest is only open to YA, Middle Grade, memoir, pop-culture non-fiction, and women’s commercial fiction.

And here's how it'll work:

  • Be sure your work fits into one of the following genres: YA, Middle Grade, memoir, pop-culture non-fiction, and women’s commercial fiction.
  • Sign up on the link on Shelley's website.
  • On June 25th, post your title, genre, word count and the first 250 words on your blog for critique.
  • From June 25th through June 26th, hop around to the other contestant's blogs and critique their first 250 words.
  • On June 27th, go back to Shelley's blog and post your final entry on the dedicated contest entry blog post. Be sure to include:
    1. Your email address
    2. Title, genre, wordcount
    3. Your polished first page (250 words) Don't stop in the middle of a sentence.
    4. Where you follow me
    5. Where you spread the word

    That's it! 
    ________________________

    I entered Ms. Watters First Page contest last month with my YA Paranormal (A GAMBLE IN-BETWEEN), but I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring with my newest manuscript, which is a quasi-contemporary thriller.

    So without further ado, here's my submit for the contest, up for critique! 

    Title: THE LUCKY FEW
    Genre: Young Adult 
    Word Count: 89,000 

    The honour of your presence is highly requested this evening. 6:00PM.

    Those were the only words in perfect jet-black calligraphy that crossed the formal white parchment of the invitation.

    I rubbed a thumb across the ink and felt the fine linen texture of paper between my fingers, then flipped the envelope back over and re-read the front. Miss Blakely G. Sullivan was printed in the same elaborate lettering, leaving no doubt this was for me and not my roommate, Amie.

    Setting them both down, I turned towards the black garment bag now hanging from the door of my closet. It was one thing to see the white letter shoot across the floor from under the front door, but when I opened it and found only the bag and not a soul in the hallway, well...

    Head cocked sideways and hands on my hips, I drummed my fingers as I stared at the poufy, black bag. It could’ve easily contained a body, but since it weighed almost nothing, I already knew that couldn’t be true.

    A few quick prods to check for any unnatural groans, I tugged at the zipper, not at all expecting the mass of white feathers that spilled out around me.

    Crap. It could've been the dead remains of a million geese, for all I knew.

    _________________________

    There you go! If you'd like to read a short synopsis of this story, please check out my Projects page, for more deets. Otherwise, critique away - and don't forget to check out Shelley's site to read all of the other a-mazing submissions! If it's anything like the last contest Shelley held, you know the competition is bound to be fierce!

    Good luck to everyone - and thanks for your comments!