Contest Circuit: February 25

I came across Carissa Taylor's Pitch Factory post sometime in the last couple weeks. She shares several great resources for generating pitches, including the pitch generator. Similar to Mad Libs, you fill in a handful of info about your MS and it generates a pitch for you. I tried it, and while it didn't generate a stellar polished pitch, it did create a great starting place. If you're planning to enter Pitch Madness or Operation Awesome's Secret Agent contest, it's worth checking out!

Happy Monday!

Contests:

Brenda Drake is once again hosting Pitch Madness on March 26-28. Submission window opens on March 15. Get your 35 (max) word pitch and your 1st 250 ready to pitch.

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Feb 28. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jennifer DeChiara.

Operation Awesome is hosting their next Secret Agent contest on March 1 for PB, MG, and YA mysteries, historical and contemporary. Shine up your one sentence pitches for it.

Blog Hops, Flash Fiction and Giveaways:

The A-Z Challenge will be in April. The sign-up list is already up along with plenty of suggestions on how to survive it. 

Live to Read is giving away 100+ books this month of some incredible titles.

In addition to giving away weekly books, Natalie Aguirre and Casey McCormick of Literary Rambles are celebrating 3000 followers with a huge giveaway. Ends midnight March 9.

Daisy Carter is critiquing query letters and/or the first 250 of your WIP on her blog. To submit your work, send her an email which can be found on her site.

Kyra Lennon and Clare Dugmore are hosting The Bloghop of Joy on March 1. List small sometimes slightly unusual things that cheer you up.

Suze from Subliminal Coffee, Nicki Elson, and Mary Pax are hosting Back From the Future Blog Party on March 1. If you received a package one day from yourself ten years in the future, what would be in it?

Mark Koopmans will be hosting the Who's Your Paddy? "Got Green" BlogO'hop Version 2.0. Save the date. March 15. Details to come - already sounds like fun.

Alex J Cavanaugh will also be hosting Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest on March 18. List your top ten favorite movies.

Alex J Cavanaugh's Cover Reveal

Today Alex J. Cavanaugh is sharing the cover for this third book in the Cassa series. It's absolutely perfect! Looks like another best seller to me.... 

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

Release date: September 17, 2013

Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure

Print ISBN 9781939844002

E-book ISBN 9781939844019

Secondhand Shoes Giveaway

Today is the last day to snag a free download of Shelly Arkon's Secondhand Shoes on Amazon. You could also win an Amazon gift card or an autographed copy by stopping by Shelly's blog. Winners will be announced next Tuesday.

The Blurb

The shoes didn’t fit. It was an omen.

Eighteen year old psychic-medium-germ-a-phobe Lila should have listened to her ghostly Gram’s advice the morning of her wedding, “Take off that dress and those shoes. And run.”

En route to the honeymoon, she decides to listen after too many disagreements with her groom. It doesn’t pay to go along to make everyone happy.

Still in her wedding dress and shoes, she escapes out a diner’s bathroom window into the Florida woods despite her fear of snakes and germs with her dead Gram’s direction.

So she begins a journey of finding her inner strength, putting her on a deadly run from her psychotic groom and his deranged friends.

Will she ever get past her fear of germs and snakes? Will she survive her honeymoon?

Congrats on the release of Secondhand Shoes Shelly!

Contest Circuit: February 11

Thank you all for the lovely notes last week. I didn't get a chance to hop around to any blogs, but your notes were kind and appreciated. Hope everyone is having a Happy Monday. Please feel free to let me know if I missed something!

Contests:

Brenda Drake is once again hosting Pitch Madness on March 26-28. Submission window opens on March 15. Get your 35 (max) word pitch and your 1st 250 ready to pitch.

Miss Snark is hosting February's Secret Agent contest on February 18. Enter your first 250 during the submission window from noon to 5:00.

Krista Van Dolzer is giving away a query and 50 page critique to one commenter on her blog. Ends Feb 19. 

NA Alley has a contest going on right now! Head over there to pitch your NA to Sapphire Star Publishing! Only the first 25 pitches will be accepted.

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Feb 28. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jennifer DeChiara.

Blog Hops, Flash Fiction and Giveaways:

The A-Z Challenge will be in April. The sign-up list is already up along with plenty of suggestions on how to survive it. 

I Am a Reader Not a Writer has posted her schedule of Giveaway Bloghops. Sign up to participate or just check out the bloghops she has scheduled for the year. For followers, you can win great books and prizes. For bloggers, you can attract viewers and followers to your site. I love this idea - brilliant. 

Jamie Gibbs of Mithril Wisdom and Allison at Geek Banter are hosting The Level Up! Blogfest. On February 20 talk about a game you play or used to play. Tell how it works and share your love of the game.

Dianne Salerni of In High Spirits and Marcy Hutch of Mainewords host First Impressions in the beginning of each month. Both of them critique your first pages on their sites. I've mentioned this one before, but it's such a great feature I needed to mention it again.

VikLit of Scribblings of an Aspiring Author is hosting a weekly blog hop Celebrate the Small Things. Each Friday, post something you wish to celebrate achieving or doing that week. It can be life related, writing related, reading related - whatever you want to celebrate. I love the idea behind this. We could all use a little bit more celebration over the small stuff. 

Kazka Press puts out a monthly electronic issue full of Scifi, Fantasy and Horror short stories. They offer a theme for each month and accept submissions of stories between 713-1,000 words. They pay $10 per story. The next theme is for 713 Flash Fiction is "Spring Training." Submissions due by Feb 20 for the March 2013 issue.

Suze from Subliminal Coffee, Nicki Elson, and Mary Pax are hosting Back From the Future Blog Party on March 1. If you received a package one day from yourself ten years in the future, what would be in it?

Jolie Du Pre from Precious Monsters is hosting Vampire Bite Blog Hop. Blog about vampires on Feb 14 and hop around to read other entries.

Indelibles is hosting an INDIE-kissing Blogfest on Feb 14. Share a kissing scene from your WIP or talk about kissing scenes in general.

Michelle from Writer-in-Transit and Elise Fallson are celebrating their blogoversaries with the She Said What? Giveaway Bash. On Feb 18, they will post two comic strips on their sites. You will need to select one and fill in the dialogue for your post on Feb 20. Winners will be announced on the 22nd.

Mark Koopmans will be hosting the Who's Your Paddy? "Got Green" BlogO'hop Version 2.0. Save the date. March 15. Details to come - already sounds like fun.

Alex J Cavanaugh will also be hosting Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest on March 18. List your top ten favorite movies.

The Day Off...

No post today. Contest Circuit will return next Monday.

This little boy turns 3 tomorrow and my focus is elsewhere this week. I've blogged about Baby Boy #1 here and even mentioned him here. His birthday is for us, among other things, a true celebration of life.

No matter what I accomplish in this lifetime, I will never be more proud and more grateful than I am of all he's accomplished in 3 years.

Happy birthday my little toddler.