Read this interview and enter the contest!

If you haven't yet come across this interview Cynthia Leitich-Smith posted, you must go read it. Egmont editor, Elizabeth Law, and author Allen Zadoff provided a candid and in depth look at one editor/author team. Elizabeth Law is also offering a partial critique to one writer chosen randomly from those who comment on the post. Deadline May 31s.

Winner from the GALM retirement party

Thanks for attending my party! Sorry I didn't post this earlier; you know how it is after a party, there's all that cleaning up to do.

Anyway, I've decided to pool all the comments together and award a prize. Those of you who entered in multiple categories got multiple chances. Here's the winner:

Tricia!

Tricia, please send me your address at yatyeechong at g mail dot com and tell me which one of the three books you'd like.

And to all who participated, THANK YOU. I know I will continue to mull over some of the quotes and remember the books you've recommended. And I am so glad to hear some of you have allowed GALM to help you choose your books.

More Contests, You Say?

Happy to oblige. Here is one for those who love photos as writing prompts (as well as for those who squirm when presented with something like this, such as I.) This is a wonderful opportunity to exercise those creativity links between pictures and imagination and stories and feelings. This is the Three Minute Fiction organized by NPR. Here is the photo:


The deal: write a story no longer than 600 words, the approximate number of words that fill up three minutes of airtime. Why airtime? Because the winning story will be read on NPR, The judge for the final round: Alan Cheuse.

Has the photo stirred up some emotions yet? Is there a story bubbling up inside waiting to be captured? Or are you still squinting at the photo like I am doing, pointedly ignoring the emotions that are indeed being stirred up? I do this because it's a lot easier to squint than to capture that first swirl of an idea, when everything is still unformed and elusive.

Onto two other contests, similar to the ones I've announced on this blog, in which the prizes include critiques by published authors and agents.

Elana Johnson has a Pay It Forward Contest. Read the deets here.

Shelli has a week long contest at her blog, Market My Words. Read the deets here.

Good luck, everyone!

Two more contests

Through The Swivet, the blog of agent Colleen Lindsay, you can enter to win one of two scholarships to the Backspace Writers Conference & Agent-Author Seminar, which will be held in New York City from May 27th through the 29th.

Some important details:

1. You MUST have a finished novel that is ready to query. No exceptions.
2. The scholarship covers admission to the conference only, not travel or hotel expenses. If you're coming from outside the New York-area, bear this in mind.
3. The contest is open only to fiction (any genre, adult, YA or middle grade) and narrative non-fiction manuscripts.
4. Entries must be postmarked by Monday, March 1st.

Next contest: The Writer 2010 Short-Story Contest.

Details:
Entry fee
$10 per entry, payable to Gotham Writers' Workshop. Payments must be in U.S. funds. Entry fees are nonrefundable.

Deadline
Entry must be submitted online by midnight, May 31, 2010.

Rules
1. Entries must be submitted online only, using the official entry form above. Mailed entries will not be accepted.

2. All entries must be original and previously unpublished in a book, nationally distributed periodical or Web-based magazine. Entries must be in English and submitted by the author, who must be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

3. Entries may not exceed 2,000 words (including title). No graphic language, sex or violence.

Contest, contest, contest

I came across these three contests and thought some of you would be interested:

First, FEEL THE LOVE giveaway by the class of 2k10. Head on over and give a shout-out to someone: a teacher, a librarian, your parents, and you may win this:

And if you can't read the titles of the books, here they are:
Signed copy of THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer R. Hubbard Signed copy of LEAVING GEE’S BEND by Irene Latham Signed copy of ISLAND STING by Bonnie J. Doerr and other assorted swag from Shari Maurer (CHANGE OF HEART), Jacqueline Houtman (THE REINVENTION OF EDISON THOMAS), Denise Jaden (LOSING FAITH), Leah Cypess (MISTWOOD), Rhonda Hayter (THE WITCHY WORRIES OF ABBIE ADAMS), Jame Richards (THREE RIVERS RISING), Kristina McBride (THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES), Mara Purnagen (TAGGED) and Janet Fox (FAITHFUL)


Next up, the Dear Lucky Agent Contest for Middle Grace and Young Adult novels, run by the Guide to Literary Agent blog. The judge is the fabulous Jennifer Laughran from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

I tried to read as much of the fine print as my 65-year old eyes (yes, that's what my ophthalmologist says) can handle and I can't find anything about not eligible if you had been rejected by any ABLA agents. Correct me, if any of you young eyes spot it.



One more: The Surrey International Writers Conference Writing Contest. I believe this is the first year they offer a category for kid lit. The deadline is September 10th and here are the categories:

SIWC Storyteller's Award: short stories 3,500 — 5,000 words
SIWC Non-fiction Award: maximum length 1,500 words
SIWC Poetry Award: one poem per submission: 40 lines max.
SIWC Writing For Young People Award: short stories, maximum length 1,500 words.

Happy writing!

Winners! Winners everywhere!

Winners of the Genre Wars run by the Literary Lab are announced. (Isn't the cover of the anthology gorgeous?) Don't forget to vote for the organization that will receive proceeds from the anthology.




Finalists of the The Secret Year Teen Diary Contest Extravaganza run by the somehow-not- blurry-eyed-from-reading-almost-700-entries Nathan Bransford. And yes, more voting: for the winner from among the chosen finalists.

Congrats, all!

Yet another contest by an agent

This one by Nathan Bransford, wearer of Doc Martens and flannel shirts and agent of Jennifer Hubbard whose YA THE SECRET YEAR is debuting.

Title of contest:

THE SECRET YEAR Teen Diary Contest Extravaganza!!

(Note exclamation points!!)

Rules:

• angst
• teenage angst
• expressed teenage angst
• write a 500 word diary or journal entry as a teen
• Leave in comment section of blog post, do not email
• angst
  

Prizes
The GRAND PRIZE ULTIMATE WINNER of the THE SECRET YEAR Teen Diary Writing Contest Extravaganza will win:

- A signed copy of THE SECRET YEAR (pending winner's proximity to the US of A)
- Their choice of a query critique, partial critique, or 10 minute phone conversation/consultation/dish session
- The pride of knowing OMG you are like the greatest writer for teens ever.

Runners up will receive a signed THE SECRET YEAR bookmark (pending finalists' proximity to USA), plus a query critique and/or other agreed-upon prize.

Go!

Contest at Kidlit. com

Mary Kole, an associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency is running a contest from now till the end of the month. The deets:

• 1st 500 words
  
• Middle grade and young adult novel openings, no early chapter books or picture books
  
• Novel must be completed
• prizes: critiques
• kidlit.com
  

Go!

Interview with a contest director, part II

Today, I have the second part of the interview with Dawn Smit Miller, contest director of the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest. Check out the judges for the finalists.

You have scored some high profile VIP judges: how do you do that year after year?

Just like the writers we serve, we too have to network. Fortunately, the contest and the conference have been around since 1993, so we've met a lot of people in the industry. The conference has a reputation for being friendly to both attendees and faculty--and what a view of Pikes Peak! This positive impression allows us to humbly approach and ask for this favor that will mean so much our entrants.

This year we have not one but two agents from the Donald Maass Literary Agency, including The Man himself! How cool is that? Not to mention editors from Tor and Scholastic and Harlequin. I'm so excited, I have to mention the whole list.

Children's
Jennifer Rees
Scholastic

Historical Fiction
Rachelle Gardner
WordServe Literary Group

Mainstream
Donald Maass
Donald Maass Literary Agency

Mystery/Suspense/Intrigue
Kathleen Gilligan
Thomas Dunne (St. Martins) Books

Romance
Brenda Chin
Harlequin

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
Jennifer Jackson
Donald Maass Literary Agency

Short Story
Denise Little
Tor

Young Adult
Stefanie Von Borstel
Full Circle Literary Agency

Similarly, how do you persuade your preliminary judges, most of whom are authors who carve time away from their own writing to read the entries?

Many of our judges see this as a way to give back to the writing community, especially if they've won in the past. It also helps that our judges can earn a credit toward the conference each year. It's not a lot, but the judges appreciate it. Several judges don't even use the credit for themselves and instead give it to a needy writer friend or to the scholarship fund. As I said, we have a great bunch of judges. On the admin side of the contest, we try to make the process as smooth for the judges as possible so they don't have a bad experience.


Welcome to Chris: did Dawn tell you that you're merely assisting and doing a bit of paperwork and that there is nothing to it?

Actually, she was really up front with me 1) with how much work I'd be doing and 2) that I'd be taking over the contest next year. (Dawn's addition: And he still accepted!)



I read a comment in a blog sometime ago by an editor who said she looked up the Paul Gilette Contest and found that it was a contest you could win only if you attended the conference. How do you plan to squash these prejudices?

Through word of mouth, our PPW website, and blogs like yours.

Favorite anecdotes?

Hmm, how much room do you have on that blog of yours? No, I'll be good.
Having eight volunteers crammed around a long table my first year as coordinator, and only then realizing that we needed a bigger space to organize everything....
Inviting volunteers to my home, and watching five bankers boxes of entries turn into 40 ready-to-mail judges packets....
Corresponding with one entrant nine times over the course of two weeks as the entrant made absolutely sure that his entry was perfect, and then having to email him again when he forgot to include the check....
Watching my winners walk around the conference with their specially colored name badges, and seeing the moment they realize that their badge is different....
Calling up one writer who won or placed in four different categories in one year.

Plea, I mean advice, to entrants?

Submit soon, before November 15. We are more helpful to entrants who submit, say, more than a week before the deadline. If we see an issue with your entry, we're more likely to email you for a fix rather than making a note to the judge about how many points to deduct for not following the rules.

Other than that? Check that your entry is saved as a .rtf (Rich Text Format) file. Make sure the length of your entry fits within the word count for your category. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't get a response within a day or two, feel free to nag politely. And if you have any unpleasant experience, let us know so that Chris can fix it for next year if possible.

The writing contest director and coordinator toil behind the scenes organizing, reading, diffusing tension, persuading, being calm, and generally playing the role of an unsung hero. That needs to be remedied; you will be sung to. At the next Pikes Peaks Conference, everyone you meet, or at least everyone who's entered the Pikes Peaks Writers Fiction Contest will sing of your virtues and hard work.

How sweet. Thank you.

So, you heard Dawn: enter! And don't think that she put that bit about her testing for her TKD black belt just for kicks. (I'll join you in groaning.) She is serious, she wants you to enter, and you'd better!

An interview with a contest director

Fall of 2007, I had been working on my middle grade novel for a number of years, and had gone through numerous versions (my poor critique group.) I had lost all objectivity and decided it was time to get some professional feedback. I entered the Paul Gillette Memorial Contest and paid for extra critiques. When the envelope arrived a few months later, I reminded myself that the critiques were the reason I entered and braced myself for the inevitable disappointment. It took multiple readings and many minutes before "Congratulations, you're a finalist!" made sense to me.

That 2nd place gave me the necessary confidence to take some important actions with regards to my writing.

A year later, I started wondering about my works that live quietly in my "short stories" folder. I love short stories but I also find myself confused often. Sometimes I would love the writing but have no clue what I've just read. Other times, certain phrases or scenes that don't really make sense, would haunt me long after I've finished reading. And then there are those subliminal moments when I would finish a story and thank God for the gift of words. I am not an English major nor an MFA student and don't often get the more literary devises. But I believe I have stories to tell that don't require an entire novel. Once again, to get some objectivity, I entered the same contest, now known as the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest, in the short story category.

Surprised and comforted by my first place win, I have resurrected quite a few of my stories and written a few new ones.

Many writers don't need the pat in the back that contests provide, but I am one of those who benefited from the exposure and encouragement.

Here is an interview with Dawn Smit Miller, the contest director of the Pikes Peak Writers
Fiction Contest.

Dawn, I can only imagine how much work it takes to coordinate a writing contest yet you've done it for many years. Is it like giving birth, you think, that you forget all the pain as soon as the baby is born?

Well, not quite as soon as the baby is born. I'd lie around at least until May, swearing that the next year would be my last. Then June would come along, and I'd be back into the contest groove again. This year, my last, has been really challenging, since my husband and I were also training for our black belt test in Taekwondo, which conveniently began at the same time as the contest and continued for the next month. Thank goodness for my new contest coordinator Chris Scena.

Tell us more about the contest. And by the way, why the two names?

The PPW Fiction Contest was created to give writers a safe environment in which to submit their work. Sometimes, our judges are the first strangers to read a writer's story, and we try to do no irreparable damage to skins that have not yet been toughened by rejection. Some of our entrants (and winners!) have been teenagers. Knowing that we will occasionally fail, we aim for the high goal of tactful and constructive criticism. We also want to be the first to find those gems out there and give them our praise before they get published. That kind of recognition can be the difference between a writer submitting one more time and dropping the manuscript in the file-n-forget drawer. It was for me when I submitted in 2001.

Beginning this year, the PPWFC is an all-electronic contest, so no more hardcopies! We may have a few bumps in the virtual road, so please bear with us while we learn to streamline the process. Contestants complete an online entry form, pay either online or through snail mail, and email us their entries as an attachment. For more information, including a nifty checklist, go to our online brochure at:

http://www.pikespeakwriters.com/media/2010contest.pdf

Once the entry comes to us, we assign it to two judges, who judges according to a four-page scoresheet. One or both of them will also type up a one-page critique if the entrant orders one (or two). If the judges just don't agree, we send the entry to a third judge. The most skewed score is dropped, and we add the other two scores together. The three entries in each category with the highest total score move on to our VIP judges, editors and agents who choose who gets first, second, and third place. We honor the winners each year during the awards banquet at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

As for the two names, well, "Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest - The Paul Gillette Awards" is quite a mouthful, isn't it? We just couldn't drop our homage to author and screenwriter Paul Gillette, who was an early supporter of the conference. However, we did want to add "PPW" to link the contest and the organization more directly in peoples' minds. Being writers, we sat around, talked about it, voted . . . and chose the longest, most complete name on the list.

But don't worry. We still answer to "Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest," "PPW Contest," "That contest in Colorado," and "Hey, You."

As the coordinator, you publicize the contest, handle money, collect and send manuscripts , train new judges, field the same three questions asked by 107 different people, call the finalist who's in third place, etc. Which ones cause the most sleepless nights / induce the loudest screams / bring you to your knees, pounding the ground?

My primal screams tend to come after interactions with those who have not read the instructions. Now don't get me wrong, many entrants go through the instructions with a fine-toothed comb and may still miss a detail here or there. No, I'm talking about, for example, the entrant who one year submitted one copy of a nonfiction story, stapled three times on the left to simulate a bound book, with no entry form, no check, and no contact information. This year, I've made some subvocal mutterings about people who email their entries as .doc files or who have 6000 words in their 4000-word sample manuscript, but those people sent in early enough that I could contact them, and they've been great about making the necessary changes. So no primal screams yet this year.

My sleepless nights tends to come from situations beyond my (or anyone else's control). Like dealing with the Post Office. If there ever was a reason to take the contest all-electronic, the Post Office is it. Every single year, at least one entry has been lost in the mail, and one year it was a judge's handwritten packet.

And which is the reason for your pouring your time and effort into it?

The people I get to meet. My favorite job is calling all of the finalists in late March/early April. Some say, "That's nice," thank me, and hang up, while others are on the line for twenty minutes basking in the glow of their win. It's wonderful. And the judges are great people, many of whom I have gotten to know as friends over the course of my six years running the contest. Writers are a fascinating and diverse bunch, and a hoot to work with. This is one way I can give them support. (If Chris is really, really lucky, I'll let him call some of the winners this year.)

Tomorrow I will post Part II of this interview, in which Dawn talks about how she finds judges and getting the word out to the general writing public about the contest. We'll even hear from her left-hand man, Chris.

Grab-A-Line Monday on Tuesday, and some catching up

I scheduled yesterday's entry a few days earlier, fully intending to add my quote before it got posted. But I forgot. So here is the quote, again from Olive Kitteridge (I highly recommend this book, BTW):

...had figured something out too late, and that must be the way of life, to get something figured out when it was too late.

The Piano Player, from Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout

Now to some other business. First, Cybils 2009 is up and running. The panelists are in place and nominations are open. Last year's Cybils introduced me to some books I would otherwise have not read and I look forward to this year's nominees.

You can post this handy dandy button on your blog to help publicize it.


Here's another event worth publicizing: the Genre Wars! It's a writing contest run by the fab three at The Literary Lab. If you have some short stories in your drawers, or if you've never written a short story before, you may consider using this as a starting point. Who knows, you may find out hat you were born to write short stories.

And of course, handy dandy button.



Another event, this one to take place in November. Yes, of course you knew about NaNoWritMo. I haven't ever taken the plunge but the people I know who've done it once keep doing it again. So maybe the act of churning out a novel in a month is worthwhile, or at least addictive.

The ALA reminds us to celebrate the freedom of reading during Banned Books Week. I reckon I should celebrate it every day, but I appreciate the focused efforts to raise awareness. Words that float around in head as I look at the lists of banned books: fear, disbelief, prejudice, responsibility, and of course, freedom.

Reading with a pencil

It was great to get the feedback from yesterday's post. Dialoguing with other writers and bloggers is so much more interesting than just me saying my thing to the great silence of cyberspace.

So the topic: reading critically. I am starting an experiment in which I jot down thoughts that occur to me when I read a book, positive and negative.

Several people commented on how they cannot read like this, and I actually don't know how long I can do this either. And those of you who do read with a pencil tend to focus on the positive. I find that I learn as much from what doesn't work, as what does, so I do both. I hope I'm not being unnecessarily judgmental.

Last night, I was pondering how long I can sustain this exercise; It does seem an unnatural thing to do. But then, maybe it is somewhat natural. After all, I started this experiment because my critical mind kept intruding when I tried to read. Sometimes I can shush it up, but other times it is just such a distraction I can't enjoy the reading.

That was the original reason for me to read this way: to find out what happens if I give in to my critical thinking and not try to push it away. Kinda like if you let your kids have a little bit of ice-cream sometimes so they won't feel deprived and pester you all the time.

Lady Glamis brought up another good point, and that is when a book is published, it has gone through the eyes of the author, the author's early readers, agent, and editor. We should read and enjoy, not read and nitpick. (I am not talking about celebrity books here; just the real books written by real blood, sweat and tears authors.)

A book has to have achieved a high standard to be published, very high standard. But "good" doesn't mean the same to everyone. I used to wonder why there were things in published books that were not very good, and thought that I needed to adjust my own thinking. I still think that my thinking needs adjustment and tweaking--all the time, as long as I am writing and learning--but I also believe that I have put in a lot of work and now have at least some ideas of what works. So when I do see something that doesn't, I take note. Not to be disrespectful to the author, or to feel smug in that I-know-better-than-you-even-though-you-are-published-and-I-am-not manner, or to gripe about how some authors can get away with drivel, but to learn. I know I make enough mistakes for a whole village of writers, but I see no reason why I can't learn from other people's mistakes, even when they don't consider them mistakes.

So, thanks for your comments. Keep them coming. And I will keep you posted on how this book is going.

And oh Cheryl, I am going to let people guess the title. It's not an obscure book. Recent. Well-received.

First person to guess gets a free book.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

If you blog about books, you may want to check out this site.

If you read blogs about books, you may want to check out this site to nominate your favorite book blogs

Don't forget to scroll down for all the different categories.

Free! Book! Contest! Last day!

This week has been fun. Thanks so much to everyone who's dropped by. The blog has been many things to me but the mostly, it's introduced me to a wonderful community. So thanks.

The contest yesterday was won by Corey! Just kidding. She's so sweet to feel bad for winning more than one book so I won't embarrass her any further. The REAL winner is Purple Clover! She wins two Newberry Honor/Winner books: The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes.

The quote today is by Mark Twain:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

The contest today:
You can either tell me which of the quotes I posted this week is your favorite, or share one of yours. Thanks.

Thanks for coming to my party!

Two more contests and free books

My time at the conference did what it was supposed to do: get me back into my chair to write, write, and write some more. So a very short post today.

Quote for the day:

"sometimes you don't need a goal in life, you don't need to know the big picture. you just need to know what you're going to do next!"
— Sophie Kinsella (The Undomestic Goddess)

I don't know exactly how I will get my book to where it needs to go, but I do know what I am going to do next: write one more scene, than another, and another.

Contest for today:
What is your next step for your writing? Finish so many words? Get your queries out? Finish your first draft? Revise so many pages? Let me know!

Home from conference

Corey: you won yesterday's contest, which includes the book from Friday and yesterday. The books are: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, a novel in free verse, in honor of Poetry Friday, and The No-No Boys by Teresa Funke, the second book in the series of Home-Front Heroes. Enjoy!


Ah, Sunday, ideally a day of rest. I am home from the conference, enjoying a bit of quietness and rest. Today's quote:

"Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it."
— Ray Bradbury

Today's contest: tell me your favorite way to unwind/de-stress/re-charge/rest, preferably something that doesn't require going to a spa.

Hi from the PIkes Peak Writers Conference

Greetings from Colorado Springs, where the Pikes Peak Writers Conference is in full swing. The sessions so far have been really helpful. Last year, I arrived at the conference and dove into a Read and Critique Xtreme session (stand up to read one page, out loud, to be critiqued on the spot. In other words, the stuff of nightmares.) I am smarter this year and chose a much gentler critique session called 1-2-3: one page, two minutes, three panelists. The important thing was that someone else read my piece so I could retain my anonymity.

So, the quote for the day. Since I am here at the conference, the quote today will relate to community.

"Sometimes our flame goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being."
— Albert Schweitzer

And the contest is this: please visit one of the blogs on my blogroll and those of the kind people who follow this blog. This is an awesome community, filled with talented and generous people. Please go leave a comment if something strikes you, and then let me know whose blogs you visited and you will be entered into the drawing.

Speaking of the contest, I forgot to mention that the book Sherrie won yesterday was What the Moon Saw by Laura Resau, whose books are filled with tenderness and lyricism and beautiful relationships. She has quite a few books coming out soon. Find out more at her website.

Still speaking of contest: since nobody entered the contest yesterday, the winner of today's contest will get TWO books.

Good luck!

Let the party begin

Welcome to my party! Remember, it lasts all week, so please come back again and often.

photo by jek in the box at Flikr

Everyday this week, I will post a quote that resonates with me in my writing journey. I'll start off today with:

If you only reach one person with your art, you will have succeeded.

---my mother.

I am sure this idea is not original to my mother, but when she said it to me in my first year in music school as I lamented the fact that only very few people came to the lunch-hour recital series that I performed in, it made a huge impact. My focus has shifted from music to writing, but the thought is still very much relevant.

And now the contest. Some rules:

1. You may enter every day, but only once a day.
2. Because I am a poor unpublished writer, I am limiting the contestants to those who live in the continental US so I don't go broke with postage.
3. I want my parents and children to read this blog so it is rated G.
   
4. Some days I may run two contests and if you fulfill the requirements for both contests, your name will be entered in both.
5. Limit yourselves to two drinks at the party (note the poor unpublished author info above.)
6. Any other rules I realize later that I need. (How's that for covering all my bases?)

Let the games begin!

photo by M3Li55@

Quick, give me a famous movie line.

Show me the money!

If you build it, they will come.

I'm not being ignored, am I?

The station is now the ultimate power in the universe.

I'd never hurt you, Margaret.

You talkin' to me?

Most people can spout off line after line of movie quotes. (Incidentally, the person who identifies all the movie quotes will be entered into a different book giveaway, and you may enter both contests if you wish.)

So, the contest is:

Quick, give me a memorable line from a book, any book, and remember to keep it G-rated. Tell me the book title, and if you choose, why that line is the first one that popped into your head.

Leave your answers in the comments section and make sure you leave me a way to contact you electronically.

Party on, Garth.

Getting ready for the party

Beginning tomorrow I will be celebrating my 1 year + 1 week + 1 day blog anniversary with a weeklong party. Please drop by for some virtual drinks, smoked salmon, sushi, and dolmades.


[All right, I've gone slightly nuts over the beautiful food pictures by Geoff604 but don't they just look so enticing? ]

While you're here, check out the quote of the day and feel free to comment. And since I am certain anyone who reads this blog loves books, I will host book-giveaways every day. You can enter the contests every day. So, please come throughout the week, and bring friends.

Surprise!

My focus on writing these days is on kidlit, which is why I was so surprised to find that a regular short story won first prize in a contest! It's the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest: Paul Gillette Awards. Last year, my Middle Grade novel took second place in the children's category, which gave me the confidence to get more work out there. I am sure glad I did!

As a winner this year, I get to attend the Pikes Peak Conference coming up in late April for free, and I get to pitch to an agent/editor of my choice. Nathan Bransford will be there, so will Ginger Clark and Kirby Kim. Choices, choices, choices.

Last year's PPW conference was my first one. Had an interesting session reading my first page, out loud, in public, to an editor, who didn't say anything much after my reading except that she wouldn't request it if it had been submitted to her.

Nothing like being thrown in the fire right at the beginning!

But the rest of the conference went well. I met some fabulous people and had a great time in general. It's not too late to sign up!

Hope to see you there!