Let me live vicariously through you!

Thanks to a bug that made me lose almost an entire week of necessary writing, I cannot take part in #PitchWars. I always seem to miss the awesome opportunities. *sobs quietly* If it's not having a baby, it's sick baby, or worst of all - sick me. Seriously, you don't want to be in my house right now. I think my roof is where all germs percolate and become bigger, badass versions of themselves. Outbreak? Child's play. Contagion? *scoff* I don't need no pig-bat infested banana to bring you down - my virus is home made.

:P

If your manuscript is finished and polished, go check out bios from mentor links on Brenda Drake's blog. All of the mentors seem awesome. They're witty and fun and the competition has been fierce amongst the mentors. I can't count the number of times I saw Ninja stars, poisoned apples, and bows & arrows tossed around cyberspace. All in good fun, though. As far as I know no mentors or unicorns were actually hurt during the verbal throwdowns.

I've been stalking following the mentors since the #PitchWars hastag pinged my radar. I would know ;) If you take part, let me know so I can stalk your every move as well. Don't worry, I won't hurt you, I just gots ta know!

Hopefully I'll be ready when the next pitch event rolls around. Please let there be one soon!

*wish granted*

Oh - here's another pitch opportunity I just picked up on: #PitchMas. Again, I won't be able to take part because submissions can be submitted on 12/6 via Twitter.

*sobs loudly* *disturbs cat who offers a dirty look as he stalks to a quieter corner*

But seriously, let me know if you pitch. I'll hold hands with you, make you coffee (note to self: must recall how to make coffee), and offer chocolate as we wait for your result.

Good luck to all!

The next big thing blog hop

You heard the news about Pitch Wars the other day, but have you considered it for yourself? I know it's a scary prospect to put your baby out there for the world to judge - I know I'm terrified - but this is an opportunity to get advice from someone in the know before you enter the slush pile.

The very generous Kathleen Doyle has passed along a blanket invite for "the next big thing" to anyone interested. This is a chance to shoutout your MS and hopefully catch the eye of the mentors prior to pitch time.



1. What is the title of your book?

Damaged

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Well, the idea nudged me back in 2010 based on the whole "Dec 2012" prediction. I wanted to borrow the theme, not actually say "boom! and there were zombies". The question became: what would we do the monsters of our imagination became real? Worse, if they wore the faces of our loved ones? In this alternate now, the change came much earlier than 2012 and the result was an infection of the spirit rather than the body. We are given strength, stamina, and enhanced senses, but the cost is our humanity. Is there a cure? Can the intruding spirit be eradicated once it's embedded in our soul?

Oh, but I should clarify: there are no zombies in my story. My only interest in a zombie is using it for target practice.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Urban Fantasy - with romantic elements

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The best part of this exercise? Putting faces with the names :)



Daniella Alonso as Carmen. But with blue eyes. She's burdened by her mom's death and has waited 22 years for her revenge. She lives by certain rules and lumps her life into black and white boxes. She avoids the grey, she's not good with grey.

Blake Lively as Madison, Carmen's closest friend. She's sexy and she knows it. She would love for Carmen to live by her example for a day in the hope of permanent removal of stick from ass - in her expert opinion

 

Shahid Kapoor as Dev - the man who insists Carmen put aside her goals for his. As men sometimes do. At least he's got a good reason for being all "I am man, cook me dinner". His little girl needs saving.

Kidding. He does not ask for dinner. He's sure Carmen would knock him on his ass if he tried

Aimee Kelly as Ella. She might seem like the victim now, but she's got baggage as heavy as Carmen's and will have her own day to act on it

 

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Carmen, born with a spirit dragon that resulted in her mom’s murder, secretly seeks the killers while formulating a cure for her unique case of Animism, but must set it all aside to release Ella from her lab before the director dissects the youngest known person marked by an Animal and bottling her "gifts".

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm open to either option - as long as someone helps me with marketing.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I wrote a complete first draft about two years ago. Since then I've digested articles and guidelines and methods on writing. Prior to this NaNo, I ripped apart that first draft and restructured the story. You could say I'm in heavy edits now. That's what I tell myself anyway.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld, Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom, Nalini Singh's Guild Hunters, and Jaye Wells's Sabina Kane series. I aspire to mimic these wonderful author's grit, heart, character, and world building, but I'm sure I fall way short.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I wrote a great many stories that will never see the light of day because I couldn't connect with my own characters. Carmen's story is the first one I had a visceral reaction to. We both had difficult childhoods that shaped us into the women we are. I can't do any of the cool things she does, but I want to be with her as she overcomes her demons.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Strong women who think for themselves, magick, and inner demons that literally mark you. You'd better read this now as a how-to guide for dealing with your demon. There's an end date, after all. Supposedly 12/21/12. Shoot! We've got to move quickly!


I can't think of anyone specific to tag, so I leave this open to anyone who's interested. Unless you're pitching to the adult genre mentors as well. In that case, I will hurt you.

;)

You don't want to miss this!

I don't know about you, but I tend to look ahead; I mean waaay ahead. For example: before NaNo even began, I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this MS after these crazy 30 days of pumping out words were behind me. I researched Pubs, ePubs, and agents, stalked on twitter, blogs, and FB to see who was looking for what. The conclusion after all of this information digestion? Jury's still out :)

However, my Twitter stalking turned up something really exciting today. Have you heard of Pitchwars? I hadn't, but following a link from a tweet over to Brenda Drake's blog, I found some pretty juicy details on a pitch contest. If, unlike me, you have a near to completion MS, rush to the finish line, polish polish polish, and take a chance!

The things you most want to know:


·        November 26: The coaches (listed on the linky below) will post on their blogs what genre/category they want to coach. They'll be very specific genres. Aspiring writers will hop around and decide which coaches best fit their manuscripts.

·        December 5: Aspiring writers will submit 3 "applications" to their top choices for coaches to the contest email (brendadrakecontests@gmail.com) during the allotted times (8AM to 8PM EST). That means, participants will send three separate emails to the contest email addressing each with one of their three top choices for coach.

·        December 5 through December 10: Coaches will read the applications and pick teammates.The coaches don't have to pick from their applications. If a coach passes on an application, it is then up for grabs and another coach, if they haven't connected to their applicants, can snatch it after notifying the applicant and if the applicant chooses the coach.

·        December 12: Teams will be announced. On the announcement post there will be instructions on how the winners must send their work.

·        December 12 through January 16: Each coach will read their teammate's manuscript and give general notes on any issues they find. The coach will help their teammate get his or her pitches ready for the agent round.

There's so much more, but you should head over to Brenda's blog for the rest.

As for me, I'm going to try to whip my MS in shape by then. Wish me luck!

Another Agent Pitch

Just ran across a fabulous pitch opportunity at the Guide to Literary Agent's Blog. Read the rules carefully and if you have a completed Para Romance or Urban Fantasy, take a second to enter.

~Hetal

Blurbing

It's harder than it looks. Though I tossed out a couple of pretty good resources in a previous post, they sadly aren't helping me. Want to know why? Because while composing this blurb, I haven't nailed down my hero's emotional motivations/hindrances. My lady has no problem hollering all her issues - and there are many - straight into my head, so is too much to ask the same from my leading man?

On the Harlequin's community site there was an awesome pitch workshop held by author Winnie Grigg. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend you do. She breaks down a pitch piece by piece, and gives some great examples to ponder on when creating your own parts.

So, going back to my original problem. Part three of the outline is to nail down his and her motivations. Umm, I know what these things are, but I can't succinctly articulate them. Overall, I'm trying to write a blurb with less than 200 words, but I'm hoping for it to be less and still have impact.

Think about it, some of the most intriguing back covers you read are short and sweet yet convey just enough of the story to make you want to take it right home, sit down with a cup, and ignore the real world for the provided fantasy. This is what I'm aiming for; this is what I've been working on for two days with no end in sight.

*sigh* Men!

~Hetal

Upcoming Pitches

If you're an aspiring writer but are feeling intimidated to put yourself out there, see if your work qualifies for any of the "Open Call" I've listed to the left. This is a chance to avoid a slush pile and go straight to the editor. Who wants to pass that up?

The pitches are geared towards well established lines within the house of Harlequin and ask for some very specific elements. Beware, if you don't achieve all of these elements - and then some - you won't stand a chance. I've heard it happen, I swear. If any of these openings make your antenna stand at attention, be sure to read the writing guidelines and adhere to them. It's not easy molding your stories towards predefined requirements - trust me, I've been trying to do it for over a year - but with practice, anything's possible.

You'll be up against some stiff competition, so to help us both out, here's an article I ran across just now that will give some insight to writing the perfect pitch (and be sure to scroll down and check out the accompanying articles on the bottom left specific to romance).

As for the open calls, well, those are a little more flexible to interpretation. Either way, be sure to check them all out. I'll update the list as deadlines pass by and other opportunities open up.

~Hetal

A little rant about sore losers

I only have one rejection under my belt, and the disappointment was crushing, but I believe that I handled it pretty well.  The dejection settled in me for a day, maybe two, numbing my normally hot temper and silencing my ever active tongue.  I couldn't write, didn't want to go back to that particular piece, and reading - my favorite outlet - was off the agenda.

You're thinking, where's this bit about "taking it well"?   LOL  I'm getting there, be patient!

The thing is, I looked at my rejection objectively.  My first (and so far, only) submission was for an anthology through an e-pub I particularly love.  I saw it on their site twenty days before the open call deadline.  I frantically worked for sixteen of those twenty days (my baby became ill and my mom hat was securely on my head).  You wouldn't believe the hours, the rewrite, the editing, and the polishing, all without the eyes of any reader or CP, though any of them would have gladly helped me out.

Mine was probably one of a hundred (maybe more) entries, and I missed the deadline by one minute - read above where baby was sick and I lost days.  There were quite a few grammatical errors both in the MS and the synopsis, and my "world building" was incomplete. 

Maybe my writing was just that bad.

Any of these factors could have contributed to my rejection.

I didn't take it personally.

Neither should you at the iHeart site.  The competition was fierce, as always, the editors looked for those pieces that fit their line, as always; your rejection wasn't personal, and the winners deserve their justified applause for all of their hard work.  Please don't minimize their achievement because you feel cheated.

As many other hopefuls and published authors have stated:   your catty behavior will only jeopardize your possible future relationship with that house.  Be gracious.  Thank the editor's for their time, this wonderful chance to have your work read, and hope that you get some constructive feedback.

Okay, done venting