NEORWA Cleveland Rocks Contest 2013

I entered both RAE AND THE RUBY SCEPTER and CANDACE'S CHOICE in the Cleveland Rocks Contest for the YA category.  Submissions closed at midnight February 21st.  At last count, that I know of, there were sixteen submissions for YA.  Group member, Sheila Larkin, is the coordinator this year for the YA category.

Although I have only been a member of the group since May 2012, I am the coordinator for the Mainstream category.  I have received 34 entries.  Distributed those to 68 judges, along with the judges letter, judging guidelines and scoresheets.  It may sound simple, but it's not.  Sometimes, judges decide they don't want to judge a particular category so you end up reshuffling the enteries amoung the judges, verifying receipt and then fielding questions as they arise.  Another issue I ran into was juggling one contestants submissions as they had three related entries.  I didn't want any of my judges to review more than one of because I wanted the contestant to receive the best critique she or he could.

I have received a few judged entries back already as we began sending them out a week ago.  I have to say, so far I would be pleased with the feedback given if I were the contestant.  Mind you, some entries are not as good as others, but the judges have taken the time to explain why the score might not be as high as the contestant was hoping for.  The judges have pointed out POV shifts and different ways to avoid those along with reference guides to help, run-on sentences, and the story starting in the wrong place and specifically why they felt that way.

I am blessed to belong to such an amazing group.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

TOTALLY BUMMED...I just discovered that I didn't pass the first cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition with a pitch for RAE. The competition was steep...10000 contestants weeded down to 400 in my category. I suppose making it to the next round would have been like winning the lottery.

Writers and Research

When writers make mistakes,you know research was neglected. Did you know Ohio teens learning to drive can't practice with just anyone?

Imagine my disappointment when I read just that thing in a recently published book. On top of that, once you have your DL, you can only have one passenger with you that is not a family member.

Now, I suppose these teens had more important things to worry about o...ther than breaking state laws because they are zombie slayers, but still....

AS A WRITER the error got under my skin. Needless to say, there were other mistakes throughout the book. Many, teens may not even notice. In my opinion it was a reckless disrespect to the art.

I forced myself to finish the book. the author can be sure, I won't be reading book 2.

Contest - ABNA

I stumbled upon a new contest to enter the other day. This one is for all genres with only 5 categories; YA being one of them. The contest...Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Yes, that is the Amazon that we all know and love. I must be crazy to compete against 10k other contestants, but I did it. I entered the contest. First round is all about pitches (which I can't really share because an ed...itor pitch gives away the ending). However, I can share the summary I prepared for customers and Publisher's Weekly to read before they read my first two chapters and review...if I make it past the Pitch Round.

Let me know what you think...

RAE AND THE RUBY SCEPTER

Life unravels for fifteen-year-old Rae when she finds herself in the magical dimension of Ferane in the Eden Realm. The realms survival depends on her aid to the dying Princess Claire in her quest to find the Ruby Scepter before the dark wizard does and the Blue Moon Eclipse. Without her own magic, Rae cannot return to Earth or to Dirk, the boy she loves.

 Before the unwilling Rae can remember her past, she meets Prince Mogens who causes her to doubt her feelings for Dirk. However, he seems to despise her and may very well be the dark wizard.

 Mentally and physically challenged, Rae will have to trust a princess, defeat the dark wizard, and find the Ruby Scepter before time runs out.

POV Character Emotions

While the weather is bitter cold in North East Ohio today, I step onto my new treedmill, turn on my music and drift off to Ferane. If only every place was magical and took away the everyday burdens that tense our muscles and make us wish we could go back to bed. When a novel can change our mood to match that of the POV character, the author has done something right. For that, I am grateful today.