It's been a while since we had a contest around here, so to get things going again, I'm hosting a giveaway this week. If you'd like me to critique your query and first fifty pages, read on!
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a brief description of your manuscript. (I won't be picking based on the description, so you don't have to stress about it. I just want to have a way to tell who's in and who's out.) In other words, IF YOUR COMMENT DOESN'T INCLUDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT, I WON'T ENTER YOU IN THE CONTEST. Your manuscript doesn't have to be finished, and I'll read any category, any genre (provided the first fifty pages are no worse than PG-13-rated), so everyone is welcome to enter. But I do want everyone to have an equal shot at this, so PLEASE ONLY ENTER ONCE.
The contest will close next Tuesday, February 19, at 1:00 p.m. EST (or 10:00 a.m. PST). I'll randomly choose a winner shortly thereafter and announce it on the blog!
So tell me, what are you working on?
83 comments:
oh, awesome! thanks so much.
YA Horror- Cora Grayson discovers she is a Soultracker, a reincarnated soul who in a past life haunted the living, and has to spend this life hunting ghosts to save her own soul from Hell.
What a generous offer, Krista!
My manuscript is a MG mystery about a twelve-year-old boy who has to race a couple of grownup crooks to find a buried treasure :)
YA sci fi - Arrogant 17 year-old prep school student Marc is abducted and replaced by aliens to avert a future where he’s the president who starts WWIII.
(Thanks again for your help already on Kate's blog. Now trying to figure out how incorporate everyone's feedback.)
Thanks for doing a contest like this!
My manuscript is a YA science fiction about a 26th century thief who uses 20th century methods to break into a high security space station, where an important delegate is murdered and she's framed to take the fall for it.
Krista your timing is excellent! I've been a bit stuck on my project and some feedback would be great.
YA fantasy--well, it's sort of a science fiction/fantasy twist on Pride and Prejudice. Alien prince must convince a human girl to marry him, but he's prejudiced and she may be broken beyond repair.
Whoa, thanks for this contest!
NA contemp - Hannah lives under the control of her violent boyfriend, famous polo player Eric. When they least expect, rookie Leo comes along and steals Eric’s spotlight and polo title. And now Leo wants to steal Hannah too.
Awesome contest Krista.
My adult Sci Fi manuscript is what might happen if Stephanie Plum joined the Men In Black.
Washed up scientist Chrissy King must discover who is destroying stars before they come to Earth to destroy Sol.
This is so cool! Thanks, Krista!
(By the way, my ms has quite a bit of cursing, so if the f-bomb puts it out of the PG-13 range, feel free to disregard this entry. Sorry - wasn't sure if you solely meant sexual content or ... yeah.)
My ms is a dark YA contemporary told from the perspectives of seven high schoolers, one for each of the seven deadly sins. In the wake of her twin sister's latest suicide attempt, Olivia Scott searches for help, ends up inadvertently spilling the details of their home life to two other students at their high school, and finds herself getting wrapped up in their scandals, too.
This is so generous and certainly helps with my reluctance to beg my writing friends (yet again) to read my work ;)
When Rabbit Island's glittering amusement park, Dreamland, burns to the ground, sixteen year old Adelaine Cross searches for new life in her broken world.
Thanks so much for this contest! Such a great offer!
YA contemporary: Desperate for hope, eighteen-year-old Mallory decides playing the lottery is the ticket to erasing the misery surrounding her as her senior year unravels. But it’s not a jackpot win that changes her life.
-Leslie
You're always so generous, and it's always so appreciated!
Middle Grade: It's 1896 and 11-year-old Stanley Slater is stuck in a lumber camp with his ornery Granny and checked-out Mama. Stan wants to put a smile on his sweet mama's face by becoming the man of the family. But it'll take some serious sneaking to get past Granny and take part in the universal proof of manhood - riding the dangerous river log run.
This is awesome!
Chick lit urban scifi fantasy thrill... a mouthfull I know...
Annie is a badass chick who fights against evil. While on an assignment she finds herself pinned down under enemy number one: her ex-husband.
Thanks for hosting this!
My story is a YA mystery:
A senior at a boarding school for orphaned and disadvantaged youth joins a mysterious secret society expecting parties, pranks and privilieges, only to find he must solve a decades-old murder involving the society in order to save his school from closing.
So awesome of you!
MG Contemporary: After her mother dies and her father is deployed to South Korea, MJ moves to Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the US, to live with her hermit grandmother in a story inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.
Thanks so much, Krista!
My WiP is about a teen whose father has an affair wtih a student at her high school. If she transfers schools, she gives up her eligibility to play softball. She must stay and face the consequences of her father's actions or give up her one chance at a sport's scholarship that will get her out of her rural town.
How generous of you! Thanks a lot!
YA Contemporary: 17-year-old Sacha goes to spend the summer with her rocker boyfriend expecting romance, music and passion. When she finds herself playing second fiddle to his newly acquired drug habit, she realizes despite what the songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.
Thanks, Krista!
YA SciFi/Dystopian
Sixteen-year-old Rebecca Collins is 100% prepared for her entrance into society until the Machine labels her a future criminal and she’s shipped off to the PIT.
What a great contest to offer us! I'm working on women's fiction.
Nicole Palmer marries into a fairy tale and soon discovers there is no such thing. Now she has to decide if her belief in the permanence of marriage can stand up in the face of the possibility that she married the wrong man.
Hooray! Thanks for the generous offer, Krista.
In my MG contemporary WIP, Natalia befriends the new girl at school, who also happens to be newly blind. Things get tricky when Natalia is faced with a choice between what she wants and what’s best for her new friend.
Hi Krista. What a great offer! Thanks so much.
I'm working on an MG fantasy. Amelia goes to an all-girls school where the students have different powers. She's also trying to save her family hotel from a mayor with control issue.
Thanks for offering up your time.
I'm working on a YA contemporary fantasy about a sixteen-year-old girl who is descended from a long line of Jinn -- genies.
So generous of you! Best of luck to everyone entering. :)
What a great opportunity!
MG Sci-Fi: Lena faces the usual middle school problems. Tests. Crushes. And, oh yeah, an alien race eyeing her planet.
Good luck to everybody! :)
What a great giveaway!
I'm working on a YA sci-fi with romantic elements about a girl who is sent to the mountains of Colorado only to find out when she gets there that her genetics make her an anomaly among other genetically-engineered super humans. But her newfound abilities come with a price when she finds out an underground society of rogues wants her dead.
Young Adult, Alternate History
Seventeen-year-old Josiah Turn lost every friend and relative in the unnatural Appalachian earthquake of 1888. Black, orphaned, and the remaining member of second generation Confederate War mutants, Josiah will discover his gifts alone. When a new battle for superhuman power arises, Josiah is called to become the least likely of heroes.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Thanks for the great giveaway!
My manuscript is a YA Fantasy. In a world where everyone has magic, Daela has none. But when her brother is kidnapped by an enemy long forgotten, it's up to her to save him.
What an awesome prize!
My story's a YA Contemporary. Rachel is in her first play, and finds herself tangled up in her role and also with her (female) director.
This is so nice! Enter my YA, Glory. It's about a girl who’s forced to move into the projects with a half-sister she’s never met when her mom dies, plunging her into the middle of gang life.
Oooh! Count me in!
My YA Contemporary: Sixteen-year-old Andi knows she’ll never be as perfect as her older sister, Alaina, and so she doesn’t even try. But when Jarod, the boy Andi has been crushing on for years, asks her to fix him up with Alaina, she decides it’s time for things to change. With the help of her twelve-step process (adopted from the twelve steps of AlaTeen), Andi may learn not only to survive, but to thrive in her role as a “second-class sibling.”
Please enter my YA SciFi THE ONES, complete at 73,000 words. Mina & Nico are numerological soulmates, rare double 11s w/ an attraction so charged it punches holes btwn 11 dimensions. Thank you!
YA mystery RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
56,000
15yo Evan takes a photo of a possible kidnapping but no one believes him. His best friend is murdered and he's accused of the murder. He has to figure out who the killer is before he becomes the next victim.
What a great contest!
My novel, House of Jacobs is a 97,000-word women’s fiction piece, following a girl's journey as she searches for love, forgiveness and a second chance.
You're awesome! Thank you so much for doing this. Whoever wins is gonna be so lucky.
A Question of Faith is a YA paranormal that combines faith and magic. Crystal's previously unwavering faith is shaken to the core when she learns her birth mother sought out the help of witches to conceive her. Then she learns she's the incarnation of magic. Coming to terms with who she is and what she's capable of leads Crystal on a perilous path that threatens the lives of those she loves most.
Thanks for the opportunity, Krista!
YA SciFi: PIPER GIRL
In this modern retelling of The Pied Piper, 17-year-old Marisa must use her musical powers to rid the slums of infected lab rats before disease spreads.
Thanks for the opportunity~
I'm working on a YA fantasy -- 17-year-old April Harding seeks to turn pro in a magical sport called diball while trying to discover why certain players have been disappearing lately.
Forgive the clunky summary -- newborn baby in the house. ^_^
This is great! And super generous, too.
THE STONETALKER is a MG fantasy.
Thirteen-year-old Asher has to rescue his father from an evil overlord and his army of monsters living in the world hidden behind the middle school's boiler room.
Ten days before sixth-grade final projects were due, Mrs. Provo announced a change of plans. Instead of submitting their work in writing, the students would have to make presentations in front of their classmates, their families, and all the teachers. Even worse, a television crew would filming them for a documentary. Amina was mortified. She couldn’t think of one word to say about “My Passion.”
Home alone, Amina avoided thinking about her presentation by snacking on some green olives pickled by her recently deceased Aunt Randa. As soon as she swallowed, Amina found herself transported to the life she would have had if her parents had never left Palestine to live in the United States.
Amina’s experiences and relationships in the small Jerusalem village teach her much about how she is shaped by place and culture, but nothing transforms Amina more than being caught in a frightening military siege with a three-year old neighbor in her care.
Given the ability to go back and forth between her two lives and her two selves, Amina struggles with who she wants to be in the world. She comes to realize that seeing Palestine through American eyes and seeing America though Palestinian eyes gives her not only unique understanding, but also weighty obligations.
Wow, this couldn't have come at a better time for me - I am really doubting this project right now.
IN THE NAME OF MERCY is a YA dystopian set in a world without music. Naomi Jones is a threat to this fragile world as she is a Siren - a woman who can manipulate others through song.
Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Tomboy Rules: Baseball is not For Girls is a chapter book about eight-year-old Mabel's quest for adventure. This time she has her eye on baseball and she’ll do anything, even break a kid’s arm, lie to her dad, or even go under cover, to play.
...and I've just introduced a new story line involving releasing the insects from her class' science project that I'd love some input on.
Thanks for doing this!
Thanks for doing this, Krista!
YA Fantasy: Seventeen year-old Asa Huntington will do anything to wake her dad from his coma and save his life. She thought "anything" would start with getting into Harvard and landing a botany internship. But when she loses her way, she finds herself in a world with barking dogwoods, tyrants who control the food supply and bridges back to earth, and a captivating young man desperate to save his broken world. "Anything" is going to be even harder than she thought.
Cool! Thanks for doing this Krista.
Eleven-year-old Mike daydreams of becoming a superhero and and saving himself and the other fifth graders from a bully who maintains the List of Those to be Pounded After School. His wishes may have come true when he meets a little blue alien and agrees to help him out by testing some alien pills, each which give him a different temporary super (or not-so-super) power.
Thank you so much for doing this! This is a work-in-progress...so any feedback before it's finished would be great!
RED LIKE SILK is an adult romantic thriller. Silky runs a 'Safe House' for battered women with a splintered past of her own. When her good friend is beaten nearly to death by her husband, Silky seeks revenge and her world spirals out of control. Now she must keep her secrets from the well-intentioned minister and the sexy Sheriff who want to 'help' her...when all she wants is to be left alone.
What an awesome idea. Thanks, Krista!
SUSPENDED STATE is a YA paranormal thriller. When a hospital employee preys on unconscious patients, a seventeen year-old girl’s soul becomes trapped inside his body. Now Lauren must find a way out before she disappears like his other victims. Or worse…becomes a permanent part of him.
YA Fantasy. To bring peace to her war-torn country, disfigured princess Feyana Belmaron must journey deep into hostile territory to find--and court--a ruthless enemy prince.
What a great contest. Thank you.
YA Paranormal Romance - REMEMBERED
A teenage girl with a penchant for snark and failing classes battles a growing attraction to a dethroned prince who almost killed her, as otherworldly forces hunt, intent on not only death, but destroying their souls.
Krista, as always you are so generous! Great contest!
I'm working on a NA Romance:
26-year-old Graylyn Stephens, a quality assurance customer service rep, knows all 112 ways a toaster can malfunction, and that 11 of them involve electrocution. She's also the unluckiest girl on the planet. Tired of landing in pot holes and hospital beds, she takes up extreme sports in an effort to chase the bad luck away.
I'm 28% through the story, so if I win, I'd pretty much be sending you all I have so far. :)
The Text Message is a YA mystery with a sci-fi bend.
When 17-year-old Lynnea's younger brother vanishes into thin air, she's the only one to notice this is way more than another runaway. Black cars have started following her around town and her parents bury themselves in work and grief rather than show any hope. That's when she gets the first tex from claiming to be her brother, who has no idea where he is. Told from the alternating pov of Lynnea and the brother she has to help, even if it's on her own.
THANKS!
erica and christy
Hi Krista! I'm a new follower. Thanks for the contest :)
Here's mine-
PB Fiction
Tilly and Etta followed every superstition in the witch's handbook. After Tilly spills the salt they run into every bad luck imaginable and struggle to keep it from ruining their night. Tilly says calm while Etta runs the show until they both decide the best thing to do is perhaps nothing at all.
TALENTED
YA or MG Light science-fiction
A teenage girl realizes her ability to heat water is more than just a nuisance, and that her life is about to change--whether for good or for bad, she'll have to decide.
Thanks!
Hey Krista! Great contest...
YA Paranormal
A teen girl finds the newest victim in a string of unsolved murders and sees an invisible guardian angel standing beside the body. After her only friend disappears, she must enlist the help of the Guardians to stop the murderer once and for all.
Thanks!
How exciting!
My WIP is about 16 year-old Bea Pearl who searches for her missing brother even though everyone knows he's dead.
Thanks! I could really use some guidance, especially on my intro.
Totes awesome!
YA Espionage Thriller
Sasha Thorn lives and breathes her work as a teenage spy for the CIA. On her first life or death mission, Sasha discovers three things: 1. someone murdered her best friend 2. her boyfriend is the son of the head of the CIA and 3. she doesn’t work for the CIA.
YA/Science Fiction - 'Anna' (complete)
It recently won a Watty Award on Wattpad.com
"Anna Stuart is a 17 year-old girl struggling to find a balance between pursuing her dreams and supporting her single mother and brother. Just when she thinks that her life can’t get any more difficult, it gets downright weird: the strange childhood spots on her arm that she thought were just freckles start to change. As she searches for the answer to what’s happening to her, she tries to maintain some kind of teenage girl normalcy, but that’s difficult to do when it seems like no one is telling the truth and a dark figure is out to get her."
This is such a cool contest!
YA fantasy "Luck"
Ila and Lilly O'More are teenage, American leprechauns whose entire family is being hunted down for their Luck. The hunters are dragons who disguise themselves as humans. Ila falls for the dragon Chris, but he needs her Luck to live- and so does she. Ila will have to decide whose survival matters to her most- Chris's or hers- before the other dragons hunting the O'More family choose for her.
Thanks for the generous offer Krista!
Realistic YA fiction-A terrorist attack forces seventeen-year-old New Yorker, Casey Willow, to journey into war zone Jerusalem to ask two men with miraculous powers to save her grandfather who is dying from pneumonic plague.
Fantastic opportunity, Thanks!
'The Reign of Terror, The Pearsons Meet Lady Guillotine' is a Middle Grade historical novel with a twist. It's about Freddie and Parsimonious who are thrust into the coal mines of the French Revolution and must survive hunger, humiliation, slimy dungeons and beheading by gruesome Lady Guillotine, not to mention moaning Mona and her leather whip.
Thanks so much for doing this!
The FIREPAINTERS is a MG magical realism story.
Two sisters make a wish by an enchanted fire on a rainy day. The wish comes true, but not in the way they expected as all color is wiped from the world. It takes the Firepainters and a hurricane to restore color to the world.
How fun! Thanks, Krista!
THE HOUSE ON THE HILL is a contemporary YA novel with a fantasy bend.
Thanks to her free-spirited parents, sixteen-year-old Holly is forced to relocate again. Fitting in is never easy, and she feels like a bigger outsider than ever after discovering local residents believe her family has unleashed a force that’s threatened their town for years—simply by moving into the house on the hill. Now all that separates Holly from the permanent home she’s always wanted is a violent sea captain and his mysterious wife, who built her house in the nineteenth century—and never left.
:) Katie Z.
This is so kind of you!
My manuscript The Key to Life,(literary fiction) is about the journey one woman sets out on to save her friend from his downward spiral of depression.
Oh Wow! This sounds amazing!
I'm currently working on a YA Fantasy about a thief and a hunter who are bound together and forced to work with one another to survive.
Thank you for this!
Thanks for this, Krista!
SUPERTEENS IN TRAINING is a YA urban fantasy with Sci-fi elements about five sixteen-year-old girls of various races who develop a bonding friendship while dealing with the stress of becoming secret teenage superheroes.
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I truly appreciate it.
My novel, THE KEEPERS is YA fantasy.
Isra Kalb might be young and left to her own devices in a filthy slum community of Pakistan, but she holds a precious family heirloom in her possessionˆˆ a striking red amulet, that just so happens to be a portal, with the ability to transport its keeper to and from the Inbetween-- the land between Heaven and Earth.
Thank you for the opportunity!
My WIP is a YA Historical. Seventeen year old Cass is assaulted by her mom's boyfriend and when her grandmother invites her to spend the summer with her at the lake, she jumps at the opportunity to get away from her crappy life. At the lake she meets Brent, who's so not her type. She also finds a photo of her father, who left when she was a baby. Brent helps her find her father, and maybe even love.
Thanks for doing this!
My novel is also a YA historical - but set in prehistoric Spain. A 16-year-old leader-in-training has the opportunity to choose her own destiny - but only if she can betray her family and her people.
Oh, fantastic! What an amazing opportunity. *crosses fingers, toes, and eyes*
My novel is YA Fantasy, and it's about what happens after a somewhat-naive young woman accidentally saves the life of her people's greatest enemy. When he decides to turn against his family to return the favour, it's the beginning of a journey that could cost them both their lives- or change them forever.
Oh, fun contest! Thanks for holding it!
My project is a YA time-travel book about a queen who learns of her future assassination—to change her fate, she’ll have to kill her assassin before he kills her. Set on a current-day ranch in Central Texas *and* in a 900-years-in-the-future city state.
Yay!! Thanks for all you do for the writing community!
Battling cancer, Lang Ellis spent her final (?) year of life making sure her soon-to-be widowed husband could manage without her. Ha. After he drops dead Lang, miraculously alive and well, learns one of his many secrets could cost her the most important thing she has - her family.
Thanks so much for such a generous giveaway:) My entry is a YA/Contemporary Fantasy:
Sixteen-year-old Helen believes she is responsible for her older brother's death and the subsequent collapse of her parents' marriage. To survive her grief and guilt, she keeps her emotions and actions firmly in check, never letting anyone close enough to be hurt by her.
She wishes she could just start all over again but she knows that's an impossible fantasy.
Then one day, she falls off a cliff into a dazzling world with a powerful Queen who can make her dream come true. She will erase Helen's memories, if Helen agrees to stay in Courtland forever as part of the Queen's happy entourage. With her deepest desire within reach, Helen realizes that it may come at a terrible price...
Aww, this is so fun/generous of you!
Here's a quick blurb about my book:
YA sci-fi/fantasy -- When two boys she's babysitting vanish, 16 year-old Minna Gray must uncover the magical secrets of her past before everyone she loves is erased.
Hey Krista,
Here's the blurb for my first novel. (The one that's been sitting on my shelf for two years now.)
When Phoenix Wack discovers her ability to manipulate death, she gives up trying to please her OCD mother and starts uncovering the town's darkest secrets.
What an awesome idea!
My WIP is a YA dark fantasy.
When Edda Rickett's younger sister is 'called' through an enchanted mirror, she must venture to a fairytale land to save her from the Queen of Souls. But these fairytales are not the happily ever after Edda remembers.
Liza, daughter of a cruise ship captain, is sure that Henry, the resident "guitarist" is a pirate after the ship's jewel exhibition and her BFF aunt's heart.
Thanks!
MG Fantasy:
6th-grade loner Jacob Tsosie and a group of other kids from around the world learn to unlock the ancient magic of string figures, then end up chased around the world by people who don't want them getting in the way of their dark plans.
Chapter Book, not 50 pgs long but why not enter?
Daisy and Rose have been bestfriends since they were seeds. Rose starts hanging out with the rulebreaking Weeds despite warnings from the Mums. Daisy decides not to follow Rose into the exciting unkown of the Weed patch and their friendship suffers. But when Rose gets into trouble Daisy is there to save her.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Completed MG Fantasy: Thirteen-year-old Parker Ward never believed his little sister's stories about monsters, until he was mistaken as a vampire. The very human Parker has a serious problem with blood and ends up in a world where humans are forbidden. Now he keeps the charade to find his sister's killer.
I have a completed YA SF&F novel that takes place in an alternate universe and is based on the Hindu Mahabharata.
Thanks, Krista!
Stealing Happy is a completed YA contemporary novel: Whenever things go wrong for fifteen-year-old Maura, she assigns the wrong a dollar amount and steals to compensate. However, when she steals a blouse to cheer up her depressed mother, the consequences spiral far outside her control.
What a great offer - thanks, Krista.
YA sci-fi: After sixteen years of greuling training at his family's sun-scorched West Kentucky compound, Pace Croft has half a mind to leave his paranoid family behind, hitchhike to the New North, and finish high school. Everything changes when he comes face to face with the true reason for all their preparations.
Awesome! Thanks for a great offer.
MG Adventure: Twelve-year-old Finn Rackham figures he can handle anything, even pirates. But these aren't the sword-swinging, pistol-wielding, treasure-hunting rapscallions he expects. They're time travelers, and they just commandeered a ferry in New York Harbor.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Adult historical saga: Lyuba Zhukova, Ivan Konev, and Boris Malenkov have been best friends since childhood. Lyuba has always pretended she prefers Boris, though her heart belongs to Ivan. None of them can imagine their friendship will be put to the test after the Bolshevik takeover of their homeland, when they’re thrust into a precarious existence and a whole new side of Boris’s personality comes out. Lyuba realizes Ivan is the one who really loved her for the right reasons all along, but it’s going to be a long, uphill battle before they can live happily ever after as husband and wife.
When 16-year-old Olivia is stunned by not one, but two boys claiming to be her boyfriend, she discovers she's somehow shifting between alternate versions of her life, each shaped by decisions she made—or didn’t—in the past. If she can’t figure out where she belongs, she might get stuck where she doesn’t forever. But deciding where to stay also means choosing who to leave behind.
Gracias, merci, and all of those thank you things :-)
YA Sci-Fi (with a multi-cultural cast):
When 15-year-old Kaia Davis discovers she can control one of the atomic elements, she joins The Shifters, a covert unit who fight to stop terrorists and save the world.
Or, at least, that's what they were told.
Thanks so much for doing this!
THE CITY AND THE CHAOS
YA F- Her best friend Apple disappears and in order to find her, 18 yr old Pearl Eaves must confront the chemically repressed emotions and memories that have protected her from the enemy in the forbidden realm.
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