Pitch On Workshop - FRACTURED MYTHS

Title: FRACTURED MYTHS

Genre: YA Contemporary Arthurian

Word Count: 84,000

PITCH:

When sixteen-year-old fantasy enthusiast Alanna O’Connor sees Vikings, medieval knights, and mythological creatures appear in her hometown of Edinburgh, she thinks it’s a miracle . . . until they try to kill her. Alanna teams up with the one person she knows she can trust: the newly arrived (and completely baffled) King Arthur. Together, they must stop the myth invasion before Scotland—if not all reality—is fractured beyond repair.

This is nice and clear! The premise is easy to follow, and the stakes are high. My one suggestion is to try to strengthen the voice a bit. You already have a start with the "completely baffled" bit, but adding more of that would make the pitch even better. For example, maybe you could change "she thinks it's a miracle" to "she thinks it's the coolest thing since sliced bread." Okay, not that, but something that's a more specific response for Alanna's character, to show some of her personality.

I'm intrigued by the idea of King Arthur in modern times. Nice job with this!

Readers, feel free to pipe in below!

***Don't forget...make sure to check out all of the workshop host blogs to critique more pitches. For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz (that's me!), Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn Lynn and Kaitlin Adams. Also, Sarah Nicolas will be giving away three query critiques! Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. The opportunity ends 10/14/2012.***

Follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #PitchOn

Call for Workshop Pitches

Workshops for Get Your Pitch On will start on October 1, but you can send your pitches now to secure your spot with a host blog!

How to submit:

1. Email your draft pitch to pitchonws@gmail.com

2. Be sure to include PitchOnWS and the title of the manuscript in the subject line. (example: PitchOnWS: Extraction)

3. Pitches must follow the formatting as specified for the Get Your Pitch On contest. If you missed if before check out this post here.

Draft pitches will be evenly distributed between the workshop host blogs. You can see the list of the other blogs participating here. There is no date deadline for the workshops. Each blog has allocated a set number of pitches that they can host and once those spots are filled, no more submissions will be taken.

**Important Rule:** If you want to participate in a workshop, you must be prepared to comment on at least one other pitch!

BUT, there's an incentive!! For each critique you leave in the comments of the pitches on any host blog, you get an entry into a drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz (that's me!), Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn Lynn and Kaitlin Adams. Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. This opportunity ends 10/14/2012, so get critiquing!

As a reminder, these #PitchOn Workshops are meant to prepare you to submit your pitches to editor Marisa Pintado during the main event on October 15th, over at Down Under Wonderings and YAtopia. An interview with Marisa will be up on YAtopia soon. The exact pitch contest opening times will be included in that post.

Have fun spicing up those pitches!

~Stephanie

GET YOUR PITCH ON Workshop Info

How many of you are writers? How many of you can't stand writing queries?

Here's your chance to skip the slush pile!

"Get Your Pitch On" starts October 15th. It's hosted by Down Under Wonderings and YAtopia. So, what's the fuss about?

Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be taking your pitches. Marisa is looking for YA in any genre and is accepting submissions from anywhere in the world. There's no limit on how many requests Marisa will make from the contest.

Here are the rules:

• Your manuscript must be complete, polished and ready to query - this means no first drafts or almost finished manuscripts.
• It must be YA.
• When the contest goes live on October 15th, post your entry details in the comments section of either YAtopia or Down Under Wonderings - each blog is accepting 100 entries only.
• Your entry detail needs to include a 50 - 70 word pitch.
• You can enter more than once if you have more than one complete, polished, ready to query manuscript.

Head on over to YAtopia for more details, like how to format your entry and all that good stuff.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

On October 1st, I will be hosting a pitch workshop to help you guys shape up your pitches for the contest. Mostly because reading pitches for the recent Pitch Madness contest made me crave slush. 

And I'm not the only workshop host! Twenty blogs will be participating. You can find the full list here.

Pitches for the workshop will be accepted starting Monday, September 24th. Details of how-to-submit will be posted that morning. I'm so excited to see what you've got!

(Follow the #PitchOn hashtag to stay up-to-date.)

The Wave - a short story

I skipped school today. Instead of going to Mr. William's first period English class, I hid in the bushes while the bus drove the kids away, and then I ran to the end of the dock. It's my parents' fault; they shouldn't have bought a home so near the harbor.

I sit with my toes dangling in the water, a sketchpad in my lap. Apricot colors of sunlight peal across the waves. The boats creak in the harbor, rocking only a little, as the wind isn't harsh.

Sea lions are swimming far out. I wish they'd come closer. I couldn't risk grabbing my swimsuit in case Dad or Mom noticed it in my backpack, so all I'd be able to swim in would be my underwear.

Of course, there's no one else on the dock. The boats that are out were taken out much earlier, and most everyone else is at work.

I could always claim my underwear's a swimsuit, too. It's not like anyone could really disprove that.

Biting my lip, I pull my shirt over my head. The sea air nips at my skin in the best kind of way. I ball up my shirt and shove it into my backpack, and do the same to my shorts, smiling to myself.

A dive, and I'm under the water, letting the ocean swallow me up.

I float on my back for a couple minutes, and then decide my backpack and things will probably be safe for a bit. So, I swim farther out, past the boats toward where the sea lions were playing. I don't see them anymore. I hope they're just hiding.

The waves are a bit rockier now. I keep opening my mouth on accident and getting salt in my mouth. It's disgusting. But the sun and the wind and the water make it so totally worth it.

I'm focusing on my breaths and trying to ignore the heaviness of my arms when the current wrenches me underwater.

My eyes widen. I kick to get back to the surface, but the current is damn strong. I've read about kids who get pulled all the way down or all the way out to sea. People sometimes find their bodies.

I gasp for air, still trying to get back up. Instead, the ocean fills my mouth. Fire in my lungs.

I kick. I struggle. I try to rise instead of sink, but the water weighs me down.

Laughter and bubbles seep into my ears. Seaweed fingers latch around my wrists.

My world darkens, but I still see them. The mermaids, with golden locks of hair and eyes shooting daggers. They drag me farther down, away from the sky.

Down into black.

And I give them a new name: kidnappers.

Child stealers.

“Soon you will be one of us,” they whisper.

100 Followers Giveaway Winner

The contest is over and *dun dun dun* it's time to announce the winner!




First, there are some things you guys need to listen to. Songs, I mean. Epic songs.

They belong on your WIP playlist.

Seriously.

       Numero Uno:           Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

                           Numero Dos:                      Fade into Darkness by Avicii

And now for the winner!

drumroll, please



....

The winner is...

JILIAN SCHMIDT!

Congratulations!! Shoot me an email at stephanieheart7@gmail.com with your mailing address and the title of the book you'd like me to send. :)

Book to Watch Out For: TEN

Here's a book you all need to add to your to-read list:

TEN by Gretchen McNeil

TEN is spine-tingling. Page-turning. Thrilling.

It's a YA contemporary horror story about ten teenagers who head to a house party on Henry Island. It's supposed to be an epic weekend filled with hook-ups and booze, but then the teens discover a mysterious video with a creepy message.

And then they start to die.

A storm knocks out all the power, leaving the kids stranded without nothing but each other. And any one of them could be the killer.

I stayed up until 3am last night/this morning finishing this book. I had to know who the killer was -- and I was also kind of afraid something was hiding under my bed.

TEN hits bookstores September 18th.  Trust me, you want to read this book.

Preorder it now at:

Amazon
Barnes and Nobles
Indie Bound

And check out the creeptastic book trailer:

100 Followers Giveaway

I surpassed 100 followers for this blog a little while back. (thank you all so much!) I figured it was about time to celebrate!

You don't have to be a follower to enter!!

I'm giving away ONE (1) of these three books.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

The contest will run until Friday, September 14th. It's US-Only, as international shipping can get pricey and I'm a poor college student. The winner will be announced the 15th, and he/she will have 48 hours to email me to claim the prize.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!