Wednesday, September 5, 2012

CAGI Entry #3


Title: WEAVING A NET IS BETTER THAN PRAYING FOR FISH AT THE EDGE OF THE WATER
Genre: Multicultural Middle Grade Mystery
Word Count: 32,000

Query:

Allen Mak is used to hiding. At home, she hides behind her broken
Chinese to avoid her grandmother’s questions. Outside home, she hides
behind a fake address to attend a better school. And when she runs
into a thief outside her uncle’s store, she hides behind a dumpster.

But Allen is enrolled at school legally this year. So even though
she’s on probation for standing up to a school bully and even though
her first crush lands on the school’s dweebiest teacher, Allen’s
determined to quit hiding. And if she can find the thief, expose the
bully, get over her crush, and learn some Chinese, she might even be
able to quit for good.

First, she’ll have to figure out who else is hiding.

WEAVING A NET IS BETTER THAN PRAYING FOR FISH AT THE EDGE OF THE WATER is a multicultural middle grade mystery that will appeal to fans of Wendelin Van Draanen’s SAMMY KEYES series and Lisa Yee’s MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS.

First 250:

Reena likes Tony Arias, so I’m keeping an eye on him.

“Sure, I can tail him!” I said when she asked me after school. Then I
jumped up, zipped my jacket and flipped its hood over my head.
“Ninja-style!” I shouted. Behind us, the metal double doors of our
school banged open and another wave of kids poured into the yard.
Crouching low on one leg and splaying the other, I grinned at Reena
and raised a finger to my lips.

But she shrieked, “No!” and waved her hands in front of her face. “Get
up,” she whispered urgently. “Come on, Allie. You know that’s not what
I mean.”

“Allen,” I corrected and stood slowly. I was about to fall anyway.

She rolled her eyes. “We’re too old to be acting like tomboys.” That
was generous of her actually. Reena doesn’t usually count herself with
me as a tomboy.

“It’s my name,” I said, but I smiled. I sat down on the brick wall
beside her. Surrounded by the after school bustle and soothed by the
September breeze, we leaned into each other, a kind of sideways hug.
This was going to be the best year. I was in a new school finally, and
my best friend was here with me.

“Anyway, just watch Tony, okay?” she said. “I heard he takes the 17
bus. That’s your bus, right? Be sub- I mean, act normal.”
Posted by at 11 comments:

CAGI Entry #2


Title: THE CARNELIAN LEGACY
Genre: YA
Word Count: 87,000

Query:

After her father dies, eighteen-year-old Marisa MacCallum sets out to get as far away as possible from their hick Oregon town. She just never imagined she’d wind up in a parallel universe.

Ignoring her father’s warnings to stay out the woods of Gold Hill, she goes out riding and becomes injured when a freak storm slams the forest. She meets Darian Fiore, an arrogant young man on a diplomatic mission. Learning she has entered a parallel dimension and her only hope of returning home is to locate a scientist from Earth, Marisa must learn from Darian how she can survive attacks from Saquatch monsters, maniacs, and medieval knights. Falling in love was the last thing she needed.

When she discovers Darian is locked into an arranged marriage, Marisa’s heart shatters. After Darian’s cousin Savino offers her a future as his queen instead, Marisa is faced with an impossible choice: marry the archenemy of the man she loves or return to an empty life alone. As one man vies for her affections and the other fights for her life, Marisa is caught in the crossfire between two noblemen battling for control of an alternate dimension. Her only chance of escape rests in discovering the secret of an ancient legacy in time – one that will use all means possible to claim her life in the end.

First 250:

From the Journal of Alice MacCallum
Sunday, August 6th, 2000 9:34pm
I know I’ll be dead within the hour and nothing can save me.  While my life is ending, the man I trusted walks free. My body is paralyzed with a stinging pain but it can’t eclipse my feelings of guilt knowing what will happen tomorrow. I refuse to think about the unfairness of it all in the precious minutes I have left.

My dearest Alan, I’ve loved you since the day we met in that meadow all those years ago. I could have spent eternity with you but instead take those beautiful memories with me now. Please promise me you’ll protect little Marisa and baby Mark and give them extra love. Never let anything happen to them.  I wish I could hold you all just one more time before…

CHAPTER ONE - JACKSONVILLE
Marisa MacCallum wiped the tears blurring her vision, refusing to accept the fact that her father was gone. Closing her eyes, she could still see his bright blue eyes and infectious grin, teasing her about something. Slipping her arm under her uncle’s, she realized that while he could never take the place of her father, he was all she had left. She gazed up at autumn foliage surrounding the gravesite, reminding her that her eighteenth birthday was only two weeks away. After everything that had happened, a big celebration was the last thing she wanted.
Posted by at 32 comments:

CAGI Entry #1


Title: PERFECTLY BROKEN
Genre: YA memoir
Word Count: 66,000

Query:

At fifteen-years-old I’m a spitfire of a girl who’s as quick to throw a punch as I am to steal a kiss. When I’m kidnapped and raped, I put up one hell of a fight.
Set free, numb and in shock, I go straight to the police. Three days later the serial rapist is caught. Still it’s not enough. Fear and rage are my closest companions and I teeter-totter between the two. While preparing for trial I put on a brave face for the world, but the invisible scars leave me incapable of being touched. The first boy who tries almost gets a cheek full of knuckles.
A summer foreign exchange program to Spain comes at the perfect time. With the court date months away, a break from the pressures of the trial is exactly what I need. A gorgeous Spanish boy pursuing me was not in my brochure though. I try to resist his dreamy eyes and lickable teeth, but all my girl parts go beep, beep, beep every time he looks my way. The walls I spent all year building come crashing down as I learn to laugh again, touch again, love again. Now, torn by my desire to stay with the boy I love, I dread returning home to face my past. I know my case is the only solid one they have against that madman, but it means saying goodbye to Pedro. I have to decide what is more important—protecting my heart or protecting other women from a monster.

First 250:

I know at any moment he’ll kill me. His scorching breath is on my neck. His odor is imbedded in my nose. It’s only been minutes since he crawled off me, but the rape keeps replaying in my mind, torturing me over and over again.
He’s had me in his clutches for at least an hour. Or maybe it’s been ten minutes.
Time seems to stop right before you die.
Why am I still alive? What more- I stop myself. I won’t think about how he plans to kill me. And besides, I refuse to die in whatever way he’s chosen. I’m certain I won’t live much longer, but there is one thing I can do, if escaping is out of the question. I will not be going home to my family tonight, but I will send them my killer, my rapist, or rather his DNA buried beneath my fingernails when they find my dead body. At the first sign he’s done with me, I’ll strike. I know the second I claw his face off he’ll end my life. So I wait, patiently, for him to try to kill me.
The car stops. This is the moment.
He lets go of my head and snarls, “If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you,” then reaches across me and thrusts open the car door.
I see my escape and move so quickly I topple out backwards onto the curb. 
Daylight is almost gone, granting me just enough luminescent to see my surroundings
Posted by at 23 comments:

Monday, September 3, 2012

"Come And Get It!" Contest Info!!!!!

You've all been waiting so patiently for more contest fun, and the time has finally arrived.

I'm running behind on my schedule, so I'm gonna get right to the important points and try not to be too silly...

CONTEST: (Twitter: #CAGI)

Each entry includes the meat of the query and first 250 words. And must be accompanied by $4 donation. (Please read more on formatting and donation below.)

I am accepting 100 entries total. All of the entries will be open for public comment/critique. There will be 10 judges. Each will be assigned 10 entries, which they will critique in the comments section. When they are finished, they will choose their top 4 choices from their 10 entries to move into the agent round. So there will be a total of 40 entries from the 100 that make it into the "Come And Get It" agent round. (I wish it could be more, but it's just too hard on the agents to read more entries than that.)

Genres:

MG, YA, NA, Women's, Romance, Historical, Thrillers, Commercial, Literary, Memoir

Giveaway:

All of the 100 entries will be automatically entered into our giveaway party! Your entry number on the blog will be the number you'll use in the giveaway. The giveaway will include some great stuff from our judges so stay posted for more info on that! 

The 40 entries that make it into the agent round will be reposted and any of the participating agents can come and request off any they'd like to see more of! 

Judges: 


Contest Agent List: 


Email entries to CupidsLitConnection@yahoo.com

AUCTION:

So while the agents are going to "Come And Get It" in the contest, the writers get to "Come And Get It" during the auction. The auction part will have several agents (some from contest, some not) auctioning off different things to the un-agented writer with the highest bid. Each agent auction will have its own separate post and the bidding will take place in the comments section of that specific post. Each auction will start at a minimum of $10 and bids will be placed in increments of $2. So if the first bid is $10 then the next will be $12, and the next $14 and so on. The auction will open on the 10th and close on the 14th. 

Everything sounds pretty crazy and fun, right? It's gonna be awesome!!!!

EVENT TIMELINE:

9/4 - First Entry Window opens @10 AM EDT. Closes when 50 entries filled, plus 10 alternates.
9/5-9/7 - First 50 entries post on blog for judge/public critique.
9/7 - Second Entry Window opens @ 8 PM EDT. Closes when 50 entries filled, plus 10 alternates.
9/8 - First 20 entries to make it into agent round announced! 
9/10 - Auction posts open for bids.
9/12-9/14 - Second 50 entries post on the blog for judge/public critique.
9/14 (midnight EDT) - Auction posts close to bids.
9/15 - ALL entries to make it into agent round announced!
9/15 - Winners of auction and giveaway posted. 
9/17-9/20 - 40 entries posted to blog for agent round.
9/21 - Winners of "Come And Get It!" contest posted. 
9/22 - Cupid begins sleeping again :)


DONATION INFO: VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!! 

YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE IN THE CONTEST UNTIL YOU DONATE THE $4!!

All the funds donated to "Come And Get It" will be used for book donations made to the children's units here at my local hospital. Due to being anonymous, I cannot reveal the name, so you'll just have to trust me. :)

The $4 donation must be made using the donation button in the right hand column on the blog. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THIS PART! I will take the entries as first come first served through each email window up to 50, plus 10 alternates. So AFTER you have received your confirmation email IMMEDIATELY go to the donate button and donate $4! Make sure you use the SAME NAME on both email and donation!!! I will not add your entry to the contest unless your name is on the donate list. If I do not have your donation in a promptly manner, I will move onto an alternate! 

FORMATTING: VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!! 

You guys know how much I enforce my formatting guidelines. These aren't to pick on you, torture you, or even to make it easier to read through. This is so that I don't pull quite as much hair out when I am moving the entries onto the blog. Cuz you know, when you do 100 entries....THAT'S ALOT!!!

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL OF THESE GUIDELINES!!!!

When you submit your entry please make it very simple:

No tabs or double spacing. I want it email style. Single spaced. One space between paragraphs. No tabs!

Just the meat of your material. No "Dear so and so". Or "I chose you because..." Just the meat of the query and first 250. You may add your SIMPLE credentials at the END of your query.

Your entry will be like this: (Yes, bold where bolded)

Title: NAME OF YOUR BOOK (Yes, CAPS there!!!)
Genre: Genre of your book
Word Count: Word count of your book

Query:

Your query formatted correctly. (per above guidelines)

First 250:

Your first 250 formatted correctly. (per above guidelines)

*Look at past entries for further example.*

SUBJECT of your email should be: TITLE - Your Name

THANK YOU!!!!! for following these specific guidelines. Makes me a happy little Cupid. 

Whew! Let me know if I missed anything!

(Email entries to CupidsLitConnection@yahoo.com and PLEASE FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS GIVEN HERE!)

Posted by at 25 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)