Literary Circles: Blogger Interview with Melodie Wright!

Today I have a fabulous interview to share with Melodie Wright of Forever Rewrighting. Melodie is a YA writer repped by Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Her blog features Manuscript Mondays and Friday Funnies. I’ve been following her for several months now and have had the pleasure of enjoying her interviews with authors, her writing advice, and the cartoons and videos she posts at the end of each week which always provide a good (and much needed) laugh. Melodie lives in Palmer, Alaska with her husband and three kids. She has been blogging since June 2011 with her first post found here. She also LOVES to critique and graciously offers assistance if you need it. Read more here. If you haven’t already done so, check out her blog and follow her!

I love the title of your blog. It’s so perfect for you! Can you tell us a bit about your blog’s concept and what inspired you to start blogging?

I started blogging when Deana Barnhart hosted her Gearing Up To Get An Agent blogfest last July.  Because my plan was to start querying that fall, I needed feedback and the fest was a great way to get it…provided I had a blog. So I started one, after resisting for a long time. As a former journalist, I know all about the never-endingness of keeping a media monster fed. Since I love to revise, I came up with the title based on my husband’s name. His initials are R.E. so put those together with his last name and voila! Forever Rewrighting, bc it feels like we’ve been married forever. *grins*  (BTW, I hear Deana is hosting another GUTGAA this summer. If you’re querying, I highly recommend checking it out!)

What networking strategies have you used to build the lit community surrounding your blog?

Well, starting in honor of a blogfest was one way. I met other newbie bloggers who kept in touch for the first crucial weeks of posting, and I returned the favor. In fact, blogging is very much a reciprocal activity – the more I hop and comment, the more activity I get on my own blog. I also interviewed debut authors like you’re doing. And now I’m moving to more established authors, like Matthew Quick and Sarah Rees Brennan, who is awesome. I can’t wait to share her interview before UNSPOKEN comes out this fall.

Being a teacher, a mom, a writer, and a blogger are all demanding (and rewarding) roles. How do you fit it all in?

I teach in the afternoons, so I write in the early mornings when the kids are at school. After school, I tend to blog or critique or hop around friends’ blogs. Life happens and when it does, my blogging is what suffers. It has to. For me, my family and writing and job take precedence, as they should. That’s the case for a lot of bloggers. When things get too much, take a break! Everyone understands.

What do you feel is the most rewarding part about blogging?

Oh, the people! Hands down. They are why I keep blogging – just to ‘hear’ their voices when they comment. We are all on this journey together and it feels like we have blinders on sometimes. Blogging reminds me that somewhere, someone else is facing exactly what I am at that moment.

What is one of your favorite blogs? What makes it one of your favorites?

Hmm. It’s very hard to narrow down and there’s no way I’m picking just one. For sheer fun, it’s The Intern. For query contests, it’s a cross between Krista VanDolzer (Mother.Write.Repeat) and The Authoress (MSFV).  For sweetness, it’s Amy Sonnichsen (The Green Bathtub). For help to those of us in submission hell, it’s Mindy McGinnis (Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire).  For industry stuff,  YA Highway. For author awesomeness, it’s Maggie Stiefvater.  There are too many to list – and I feel guilty stopping there.

What current project(s) are you working on?

I just finished a WIP called RUNNING WITH WOLVES. You can read the blurb here. I LOVED writing this, and it’s killing me to put it aside for a month before I start the revision process. In the meantime, I’m waiting on betas for THE TALISMAN, which will go to my agent next month.  And I’m outlining a shiny new idea about the Olympic dive team, an ocean treasure hunt and a girl caught in the middle. Fun!!

Thanks for having me, Kimberly! It was an honor.

Isn't she lovely? Thank you Melodie for sharing your insight with us! It was a pleasure getting to know you better! I look forward to reading more from you!

Contest Circuit: This Week's Contests

Happy Memorial Day! I hope all of you enjoyed a lovely weekend and were able to celebrate both the service people you know and those strangers who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.

This week I will posting my first Literary Circles entry, a blogger interview with the fabulous Melodie Wright of Forever Rewrighting. How perfect is her blog title for her? If you've never visited her blog, stop in, say hello, and follow her. She's witty, charming, and helpful. Look for that at the end of this week.

Below are a few new contests I discovered. Most of them take place this week!

Novels During Naptime: To celebrate her recent book deal, Karin Akens is giving away a Full MG/YA Manuscript Critique. In addition, her agent, Victoria Marini will also critique the first three chapters of your MS. For 20 extra entries, you can make a tax-deductible donation to her friends who are trying to adopt a child from Bulgaria. You can read more about their story on her website. This contest ends June 1.

Marisa Cleveland is an Agency Intern at The Seymour Agency. She's hosting a contest for a first page critique by Nicole Resciniti. Contest ends June 1.

Confessions of a Twenty Something Fiction Writer: Victoria Smith is giving away 3 NA ebooks to celebrate reading 500 followers. Contest ends June 1.

Kristi Helvig is hosting a Creative Curse Word Contest - this one just makes me laugh. Whoever gives her the most creative curse word will win a YA book of their choice. If nothing else, stop by just to read over the entries! Ends June 1.

Unicorn Bell: The writers at Unicorn Bell call for submissions each Monday. Submissions are usually 250-300 words. Entries are then posted anonymously for critique. This may not be a typical contest, but it's too wonderful an opportunity not to mention! This week's critique calls for submissions that include dialogue. Email submissions by Thursday, May 31.

We Do Write: Dorothy Dreyer is hosting an agent-judged contest called the Three Two One Pitch Contest. Post your three sentence pitch on June 7&8. A mystery agent will pick the winner for a full manuscript request.

Last week's post also mentioned several contests with a deadline sometime this week.

For a list of ongoing agent-judged contests, query contests, flash fiction contests, and giveaways, click here or go to my Contest Circuit tab.

Blog Hop hosted by Sharon Bayliss! My Entry:

To celebrate the release of YA fantasy, Wilde's Fire by Krystal Wade, Sharon Bayliss is hosting an editor-judged contest with Curiosity Quills Press! The judge is Curiosity Quills Acquisitions Editor for Young Adult, Krystal Wade, herself! 


How beautiful is this cover?

My entry for THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION
Plot Summary:

A fifteen-year-old dead girl wakes up in Afterlife with no memory of her friends, her family, or her name. All she knows is that she’s too young to die, and she absolutely hates Afterlife’s suffocating serenity. She’ll do anything to escape – even agree to serve as Guardian to the lip-glossed and venomous Valerie Wittier in a North Shore Chicago suburb. Unseen and unheard, she must prevent Valerie from making fatal errors that, if not amended, will lead to a school shooting that kills six freshmen. But though Valerie holds the power to prevent – not cause – others to die, she’s too selfish and headstrong to care.

Feeling helpless and incompetent, the Guardian watches the week spin out of control in a kaleidoscope of rumors, fights, rivalry, and romance. She tries to redirect Valerie and save those in jeopardy of dying, but seems continually distracted by Valerie’s best friend, Grace Hewitt, aka Miss Perpetual Bystander. It’s Grace’s ambivalence towards wrongdoing (and blatant denial about her feelings for the reckless Will Pendergrass, who clearly adores her) that infuriates her to the point of obsession. By the time this amnesiac protagonist realizes she’s presiding over the last week of her life, it may be too late to save everyone involved.

THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION is a YA thriller with paranormal elements in the vein of LOVELY BONES meets NINETEEN MINUTES. It is complete at 105,000 words.

First 500 words:

Valerie Wittier’s Awakening

Any minute now, Valerie Wittier will wake up, and I’ll remind her of what she’s done. I keep trying to picture her reaction: defiant, affronted, belligerent. Remorseful crosses my mind, but I don’t consider it seriously. Remorse doesn’t fit Valerie Wittier. While I’d like to think death has changed that, I’m not counting on it.

 Open your eyes. The Lights’ unspoken demand rattles through me like a booming crack of thunder. My heart races a little as Valerie begins to twitch beneath the spotlight.

Three Lights shine down from an impossibly high ceiling in a pitch-black room. They form a single cone-shaped beam and a perfect circle around Valerie’s body where she sleeps. Her face is wiped clean of her usual mascara, lip gloss, and manipulative smile. Her breathing is even and rhythmic. She looks so peaceful and innocent lying there. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were alike. I might even feel sorry for her. But I know too much about this girl to fall for that.

Valerie rubs her lids and stretches her arms like this is some lazy Saturday morning. I could see Valerie being the kind of girl that likes to keep people waiting just because she can. If that’s what she’s doing, I can’t imagine the Lights tolerating that for long.

Open your eyes, the Lights command again.

I smirk, just a little. Thought so.

Valerie finally opens her eyes. As she does, a blinding white light floods them. She jolts upright and blinks hysterically. Her hands fly towards her face to block the brightness. When she opens her eyes again, she sees the glaring light shining down in a circle around her body, and only her body. Beyond that, complete darkness surrounds her like a cloak of black velvet. She gasps. Her arms and legs flail as she scrambles to stand. She jerks and spins beneath the cone of light like a caged rat desperate to escape.

The Lights twinkle signaling me to begin. I take a deep breath. I bite my lip, and I step forward. Valerie jumps back as the darkness fades to a white milky haze like a leftover fog on an early winter morning. Tiny dots of mist reflect the Lights above. Everything around us is cast in shades of white like an old photograph bleached by sunlight.

Valerie’s eyes widen when she sees me. I walk towards her regretting that I didn’t plan what to say. I might not like that she’s about to get a second chance at life – something I was never offered. But the least I could have done was think of a good opening line. “You’re not alone,” I stammer. It’s the only thing I can think to say.

A calming aura drifts over her like a protective security blanket making her feel suddenly comforted. Valerie’s eyes no longer burn. Her body no longer aches. For an unknown reason, I bring comfort and release, which she willingly accepts.

            Valerie looks up to the Lights, and then back at me. “Where am I?” 

Thank you Sharon Bayliss for this fun opportunity! Good luck to all contestants! I look forward to reading your entries!

   

Contest Circuit - Blog Giveaways and Contests

I'm starting to set up Literary Circles - a feature where I interview interesting bloggers who have successfully build a lit community. I have a few interviews lined up for this that I'm absolutely thrilled to share. Look for this starting next week!

I also started my Twitter account, which I admit with embarrassment enthusiasm. Okay, so I caved, which is the same way I felt when I first set up a Facebook account. And now I love Facebook. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I too am an addict.

For this week's contests, I thought I'd focus on some fabulous giveaways I came across.

First...two contests I had to mention again and a new one:

The Writer's Voice Twitter Pitch Contest is this Thursday, May 24 - hence my motivation to start Twitter. This one's too fun to pass up!

Operation Awesome is also having a Mystery Agent contest on June 1.

Scribophile is hosting a fun contest called Two Ways Contest. Contest ends June 1.

And now, for the giveaways - some of which are ongoing:


NA Alley: To celebrate their blog launch, the ladies at NA Alley are hosting a fabulous giveaway with e-books, custom blog headers, and 20-page critiques as headers.


So You're a Writer: Carrie Butler celebrates her Blogiversary with a giveaway of a custom blog header, custom blog button and a 20 page critique.


Katie's Book Blog: Frequent reviews and giveaways. Currently she's offering several ARC's in the May Comment Contest. Go here to win a signed copy of Fated by Alyson Noel.

Literary Rambles: Every Monday, Natalie Aguirre interviews authors and hosts a giveaway of the author's book. Sometimes she even has ARC's to giveaway. If nothing else, Natalie Aguirre, an avid reader, always delivers a fabulous interview. These giveaways are ongoing.

Michelle Krys: In addition to doing Query Critiques, she has a giveaway going on now for three YA books. Ends Friday, May 25.

Book Dreaming: Shannon O'Donnell also hosts several giveaways on her blog. Another avid reader, she shares book reviews, author interviews and other inspiring posts. This is one of my favorite blogs I've  recently joined.

Life Between Pages is hosting a giveaway with multiple prizes including $10 to the Book Depository, 50 Shades of Gray and a few classics. Ends June 1.

The Book Smugglers: They review books and often give away the books they review. Their reviews are really in depth. I love the theme of this blog!

Each of these sites is fun to visit. The bloggers have done a fabulous job of setting up these features. Hmm...maybe I can rope them in encourage them to be a part of my Literary Circles feature!

Alright, I'm off to tweet about this post. Happy Monday!

Contest Circuit - Flash Fiction Contests

First, Brenda Novak's Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes 2012 is running through May 31. Some agents, editors and critiquers have donated prizes that are worth looking at and possibly bidding on while supporting a fabulous cause. There is a section labeled "For Writers" specifically.

The Writer's Voice judges are also hosting another agent judged contest called "The Writer's Voice Twitter Pitch." The contest runs on May 24 and will be judged by Literary Agents Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management and John M. Cusick of Scott Treimel NY.

Now, for some fun, ongoing Flash Fiction contests with varying prizes - mostly for pride and bragging rights. Let's face it - we all need a dose of both every now and again.

Wakefield Mahon: Books, Poems, Music and Videos hosts Motivation Mondays. Write 500 words to a prompt. Winners judge the following week's contest.

As mentioned last week, WOW! Women on Writing is holding a Flash Fiction contest hosted by Literary Agent Regina Brooks. $10 entry fee with fun cash prizes. These contests are hosted quarterly (every 3 months). Deadline is May 31.

Jezri's Nightmares hosts a 55 Word Challenge on Wednesdays. Winners get $5.00 to Amazon and...pride.

Jen DeSantis hosts Friday Picture Show Flash Fiction contests. Entries are 100 words exactly. Winners judge the following week's contest. She also encourages the judges to spread the word about each week's winners.

Nicole Wolverton hosts a 5 Minute Fiction contests every Tuesday at 8:30pm EST.

Jessa Russo hosts Flash Fiction Fridays. Entries are between 50-350 words. Winners get bragging rights.

If you know of any other Flash Fiction contests that are ongoing, please feel free to leave in the comments section!

Contests Worth Mentioning...

For my Writer's Voice entry #28, click here.


To read a little about this feature, "Contest Circuit," click here.


Upcoming Contests:
“Dear Lucky Agent” Contest with Chuck Sambuchino: Deadline May 14

WOW! Women on Writing is hosting a Flash Fiction contest judged by Literary Agent Regina Brooks: Deadline May 31st
Agentversary with Gennifer Albin: 150 words on picture prompts - one a day from May 7 - May 11. Winner receives a query critique from Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary.

Ongoing Contests:

(and some of my personal favorite sites to check out)

Miss Snark’s First Victim has frequent contests from in-house crits to agent judged contests. Miss Snark hosts agent judged contests once a month and in-house critique sessions in between. Miss Snark's constructive criticism is direct and dead-on.

Cupid’s Literary Connection has hosted several creative multi-agent contests including Love Triangle, Blind Speed Dating, Secret Agent Invasion, and The Writer’s Voice Contest. Even if you don’t participate, they are fun to follow! 


Love YA by Monica B.W. often hosts agent contests in the first week of each month. Past contests have been based on twitter pitches – selling your entire MS in 140 characters. She also participated in The Writer’s Voice Contest. She's lovely.

Brenda Drake Writes…under the influence of coffee: Brenda Drake also hosts creative contests such as Pitch Madness and The Writer’s Voice Contest. In addition, she has several in-house critique sessions. While I’ve never entered the in-house critiques, people who have say their manuscripts are better for it.

Operation Awesome: Seven playful writers join together to host Mystery Agent contests on the first of each month. Most contests involve a one-line pitch. They also have fun posts throughout the week.

Query Contests:

Kristi Helvig: Every Wednesday this YA writer gives away a private query critique. I've won this contest. She was an absolute pleasure to work with! 

Gabriela Lessa: Ms. Lessa also hosts query critiques on Wednesdays. Hers are public. I've also won this contest. See here where she ripped apart one version of my query....one of my more humbling points along this journey. However, it lead me to some significant improvements in my MS and, of course, my query.

The Infamous Query Shark: I submitted my query for review but was never selected...probably a good thing. She's brilliant and ruthless. If nothing else, check out her previous query critiques. Every writer can benefit from them.

Next time I'll try to focus on some fun Flash Fiction contests!

The Writer's Voice Contest Entry #28

Title: THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION
Genre: YA Paranormal Thriller
Word Count: 106,000

Query:

A fifteen-year-old dead girl wakes up in Afterlife with no memory of her friends, her family, or her name. All she knows is that she’s too young to die, and she absolutely hates Afterlife’s suffocating serenity. She’ll do anything to escape – even agree to serve as Guardian to the lip-glossed and venomous Valerie Wittier in a North Shore Chicago suburb. Unseen and unheard, she must prevent Valerie from making fatal errors that, if not amended, will lead to a school shooting that kills six freshmen. But though Valerie holds the power to prevent – not cause – others to die, she’s too selfish and headstrong to care.

Feeling helpless and incompetent, the Guardian watches the week spin out of control in a kaleidoscope of rumors, fights, rivalry, and romance. She tries to redirect Valerie and save those in jeopardy of dying, but seems continually distracted by Valerie’s best friend, Grace Hewitt, aka Miss Perpetual Bystander. It’s Grace’s ambivalence towards wrongdoing (and blatant denial about her feelings for the reckless Will Pendergrass, who clearly adores her) that infuriates her to the point of obsession. By the time this amnesiac protagonist realizes she’s presiding over the last week of her life, it may be too late to save everyone involved.

THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION is a YA paranormal thriller in the vein of LOVELY BONES meets NINETEEN MINUTES. 

My first 250: 

Any minute now, Valerie Wittier will wake up, and I’ll remind her of what she’s done. I keep trying to picture her reaction: defiant, affronted, belligerent. Remorseful crosses my mind, but I don’t consider it seriously. Remorse doesn’t fit Valerie Wittier. While I’d like to think death has changed that, I’m not counting on it.

Just ahead, three Lights shine down from an impossibly high ceiling in a pitch-black room. They form a single cone-shaped beam and a perfect circle around Valerie’s body where she sleeps peacefully. Her face is wiped clean of her usual mascara, lip gloss, and manipulative smile. Her breathing is even and rhythmic. She looks so childlike and innocent lying there. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were alike. I might even feel sorry for her. Waking up to find out you’re fifteen and dead isn’t exactly easy. But I know too much about this girl to fall for that.

           

Open your eyes. The Lights’ unspoken demand rattles through me like a booming crack of thunder. My heart races a little as Valerie begins to twitch beneath the spotlight.

           

I don’t really understand why the Lights chose her to go back and save the others. She’s got to be the least reliable of the eight kids trapped together in that science room. Even now she rubs her lids and stretches her arms like this is some lazy Saturday morning. I could see Valerie being the kind of girl that likes to keep people waiting just because she can.

Giving In

I started this process completely naive. On January 1 of this year, I sent my first batch of query letters. They were terrible. Naturally, my first round of agents were all heavy hitter super agents - agents of all my favorite YA authors. But somehow one of those agents sent back a personalized rejection that was ironically encouraging. It was the first one I received. Not only was I thrilled, but I started believing that this process would be easy. It would only be a matter of time before my debut novel would be on store shelves....insert sheepish laugh here.

As I said, I was completely naive. I also swore I would have my limitations. I am, after all, a teacher and a mom. Spare time isn't a current luxury in my life. I swore to myself I wouldn't (1) Enter writing contests (2) Start a second book if my first book flopped (3) Start a blog.....all of which are completely time consuming. If my current manuscript didn't make it through, I'd turn in my writing hat and let bygones be bygones.

Five months later, I learned a couple crucial facts about myself that I'd been trying to ignore. I'm not so good at quitting, and I love that whole time consuming writing thing I do in the spare minutes I have when my son is sleeping or watching his favorite morning cartoon. And so, I find myself quite frequently entering contests, starting my second book, and now...my blog.

During that time, I've been both humbled and every now and again refilled with that nagging tinge of hope that keeps me going. It's always timely, isn't it? Just when I'm about to quit, something happens - a full request, another personalized encouraging rejection (it's funny how much I cling to those things) - that rejuvenates me all over again.

I have big ideas for this blog... we'll see how they transpire. In the mean time, it's up and running. Now I can enter a wicked writing contest (which requires a blog) in two days with my fingers crossed and my silly naive optimism tucked in my back pocket.