It's #TalkLikeAPirate Day Today!

Yep, a day for all us sea lovin' swashbucklers, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day!

And to celebrate a day made just for the YA Buccaneers, we're giving away some RRRRRRRRRR-mazing prizes and critiques to anyone deemed worthy of the best pirate speak tweet!

Think you can throw down a pirate book mashup? 

Think you can give us your best pirate speak query advice?

Well we'd love to see it!

Don't forget to include #YABPirateTalk so we can read all your fabulous creations -- and stop by to see all the great tweets we've amassed so far!

Check out our post today over on The YA Buccaneers for all the deets!

I hope you'll join us, after all, it's not every day you get to Talk Like A Pirate!

Miss Snark's Contest Follow-Up, THE LUCKY FEW, & Other News

Oy, I'm so late in posting this, I know!

So a follow-up to Miss Snark's March secret agent contest. Overall, it was a great contest last month - and I'm happy to say my results were much better than my sad attempt with the pitch fest over at WriteOnCon, prior to that!

I was oh so excited to see I was one of five winners (out of 50 entries) selected by Ms. Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates!

Hannah left a great comment, right off the bat - and it had been just what I needed. And while I'll take all the comments from the other participants / readers with a grain of salt (sometimes I wonder what people are thinking when they comment???), I'm just glad to be back out there, at least trying. You can read about all of the winners, here. And of course, if anything comes of my submit to Hannah, you all will be the first to know. 

In other news? Well, I did another pass-through on my manuscript, THE LUCKY FEW. When I left it with Mr. Agent Man, my word count had skyrocketed - something he had reassured me, would not be a problem - because getting the story right was important. But then, well, we parted ways, and here I was with a MS that had bloomed in size. Yikes.

So before I started querying, I dug my heels in and started slowly hacking away. And before I knew it, I had cut several thousand words. 

Which still didn't feel good enough and so I went back at it again last week. And this time, I was able to cut almost 5k more. And I think it's definitely a lot tighter. And I'm happy with where it is. But will I leave it alone? Who knows. There will always be room for improvement.

Aside from all the contests and revisions I've been doing, I also got myself back into running. It's been awhile - for various reasons - but I've missed it so.

Don't let me mislead you - for the most part, I've always said I was allergic to working out...I'm a Taurus for cryin' out loud and definitely not like some of my uber runner friends that chug out more miles than I put on my car each week. But something about running has always made it one of my favorite forms of *cough* exercise. 

So, I set a personal goal that I would start running one "marathon" a week - and to do that, that means 5.5 miles every day, Monday - Friday (yes, that's technically a tad more than 26.2 miles, but it's a nice round number to target). And today wraps up my third week - which makes 3 marathons I've run - and I couldn't be happier!  

And just like with writing and the importance of having fabulous CP's, I have an amazing workout partner that encourages me to show up every day and get at it. And without her motivation, I'm not sure if this would happen. But now I have someone I can't let down, cheering me on - so it does make it that much easier. And I'll take it.

And even though 2013 didn't start off great - believe me, when they say bad things happen in 3's, well, I've had enough in just the last 4 months to cover the next 3 years - it's definitely turning around. My writing is going well, the contests I've entered have been fun, and I'm back out pounding the pavement - both figuratively and literally. And that's all good news, in my book. 

Anyone else have news to share - be it in contests, writing, or personal goals?

I've Gone And Thrown Myself To The Wolves...Again

Yes, because one contest this year just wouldn't be enough - I've gone and entered myself into Miss Snark's March Secret Agent contest. Some may call me a glutton for punishment - but as I've said before, bring it on. All of it.

There's so much to be learned from entering these contests - and of course, they can help ready a writer for everything that comes with wanting to be a published author. 

First, there's actual feedback from an agent - which as you all have seen before through my blog, can be either good or bad. But there's also a chance said agent may request your work, so that's a plus!

Then there are all the great commentors - writers who leave truly helpful critiques to help the authors learn and grow...which is the entire premise behind these contests. Yes, it's only the first 250 words of your manuscript, but feedback can be invaluable. 

But of course there's also the cynical commentors, which these contests attract like none other. You can always tell the ones that are just being negative, because, well, they can - and anyone who frequents Miss Snark's contests, know who these people are...because they always tend to have the same theme. 

Regardless, I'm submit #47 THE LUCKY FEW - stop on by, read my first 250 submit, and of course, check out all the other great entries in the contest. Along with all the great comments, too.

And wish me luck - if it's anything like the last one, I'm gonna need it! 

How about any of you? Entered your writing in anything lately? 

WriteOnCon: Pitch-Fest - RESULTS

Ouch. Well that pretty much sums it all up.

Suffice to say, the agent assigned to my pitch / query - Peter Knapp - critiqued my submit earlier this evening...and in a nutshell, did not like the voice of my pitch. At. All.

And I mean, at all.

To see Pete's feedback for yourself, you can read it here. 

In the end, all I can say is I'm glad I have some thick skin - which I know is a prerequisite in the business of writing. As well, there are still a few more days to go in the contest and perhaps another agent or author will feel differently - and maybe even be inclined to leave a comment. Perhaps not.

Regardless, I'm always grateful for feedback from those in the biz - even if it's not in my favor. Because that means someone in the biz actually took the time to give me feedback. And how else will I learn and grow? And if I think a harsh comment on my pitch is tough - that's nothing compared to what readers can do to a book, once it's out in the marketplace! 

So I'll take his feedback, use it to toughen my skin, er, skills, and let it all marinate for a bit. Then I'll decide if I want to heed his advice and change a pitch that's actually been working really well for me in my querying as of late, or leave it be for a little while longer. 

Until then, er-e-er-e-er...yep, that's me polishing up my dinged-up armor. But man, I'd rather go into battle with dinged-up armor, than no armor at all.

How about any of you? Ever been given a tough critique? And how did you pick yourself back up? 

WriteOnCon: Pitch-Fest

Just a quick note to let you all know I'll be taking part in the fabulous WriteOnCon's Pitch-Fest, taking place 3.18 - 3.22.

Yep, that's right, it starts tomorrow!

With a little over 300 individuals selected to participate, each one of us has been pre-assigned to an agent...and I've been assigned to the amazing Peter Knapp (Park Literary) - you'll find my pitch for THE LUCKY FEW (pitch #8) under his board, in the WriteOnCon forums.

But Peter isn't the only fantabulous agent participating - check out the insane list the fine folks at WriteOnCon wrangled together:

• Alyssa Eisner-Henkin, Trident Literary

• Amy Tipton, Signature Literary

• Brianne Johnson, Writer’s House

• Dawn Frederick, Red Sofa Literary

• Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary

• Jason Yarn, Paradigm Literary

• Jennifer Flannery, Flannery Literary

• Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary

• Logan Garrison, The Gennert Company

• Mollie Glick, Foundry Media

• Peter Knapp, Park Literary

• Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger

Like I said, insane, huh?

So I hope you'll all stop by, read some of the awesomness, and perhaps peruse some of the comments (I believe only those that have been "invited" can actually leave one). Just click on the badge above and it will take you directly to the forums.

Hope to see you there!

Friday Fives: Five Best Writing or Book Contests

Another Friday is upon us! 

And on top of that, it's finally sunny here in Seattle! I think we've had a total of 72 hours of sun, since the year started...and I know, I know, many of you are suffering with 100+ degree heat and enough humidity that would make my hair bring better reception to my cell phone - but it's been so. gross. here. As in yesterday, it was raining, gray, and a whopping 62 degrees. That was the high temperature for the day folks, not the low. And it's July freakin' 22nd for cryin' out loud (well past July 5th, the official start of summer for Seattle!).

But today is beautiful - waaaaaay too pretty to be sitting in an office, that's for sure! And today's Paper Hanger Friday Fives question is a fun one, although, most of the contests I know of, ended this week - but, here goes!

The Five Best Book / Writing Contests

1. WriteOnCon and TheReadingRoom.com: A first 500 MG/YA words contest. Grand Prize is $1000 AND an author profile page on TheReadingRoom.com. In addition, your work will be considered for possible representation by literary agent, Catherine Drayton. 

2. Writer's Digest: Young Adult Fiction Contest. There is an entry fee of $20, but the prizes?

Prizes:

• First Prize: The First Place-Winner receives $1,000 cash, promotion in Writer’s Digest, $100 worth of Writer’s Digest Books and the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.
• Second Prize: The Second Place-Winner receives $500 cash, promotion in Writer’s Digest, $100 worth of Writer’s Digest Books and the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.
• Honorable Mention: Honorable Mentions will receive promotion in Writer’s Digest and the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.

Check out their website for all the details! 

3. Goodreads book giveaway for POSSESSION, by Elana Johnson

4. GoodReads book giveaway for SHUT OUT, by Kody Keplinger

5. LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, by Stephanie Perkins - plus 2 other books, on Carolina Valdez Miller's blog!