Thursday, May 3, 2012

Singing for my Subs: My Entry for "The Writer's Voice"

For those of you who stopped by this morning when I was lucky enough to make it into the first submission window for the Writer's Voice, I'm so glad that you weren't scared off by my "plop it and go" post. Thursdays are bad for me. Very, very bad! But I managed to squeak into the first submission window right before a video conference at work (shh... don't tell my manager!)

For those of you who have NO IDEA what I'm talking about:

"'The Writer’s Voice' is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). We’re basing it on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of us will serve as coaches and select projects for our teams based on their queries and first pages." (BTW, if you're not reading these blogs... shame on you!)
My Disney-esque singing to a pumpkin moment.
The closest thing you'll get to me singing on this blog.

Hopefully, my plot summary (aka, intro- and closing-less query) and my first 250 words are enough to woo me a writing (not skating) coach for The Desired! And please help to cheer me on in this blogfest!



Plot Summary:

*Note: Pulled my plot summary and first 250 because, thanks to the SCBWIPA Poconos conference feedback, I've made both my summary and MS tighter, stronger, and better. I definitely didn't want out-of date work hanging out on this blog!

If you are curious about my plot, please contact me or click the projects tab at the top of this blog for more information.
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66 comments:

  1. Cortney PearsonMay 3, 2012 at 11:57 AM

    Good luck to you!!

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    1. IssyMay 4, 2012 at 12:31 AM

      Thank you! :)And thanks for putting up with the badly formatted version of the post!

      Delete
  2. Becca C.May 3, 2012 at 1:26 PM

    Fellow Writers Voice entrant checking in - howdy!

    Your entry looks great! Good luck in the contest!

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  3. Jennie BaileyMay 3, 2012 at 4:19 PM

    Just wanted to stop by and wish you luck! And I love chocolate more than I hate running as well. Though not quite 6 miles worth. I stick to 2 miles. :-)

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    1. IssyMay 4, 2012 at 12:33 AM

      Thank you! I hate running so much that I skate off the chocolate, instead! But I have a coworker who actually does run about 6 miles a day and admits that it's all for the chocolate :)

      Delete
  4. Alaskan NinjaMay 3, 2012 at 4:33 PM

    Looks like a great chance to juxtapose an historical with contemporary and a dash of paranormal! Those are some great plot elements at work! Best of luck from TWV #30!

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    1. IssyMay 4, 2012 at 12:35 AM

      Thank you from TWV #8! I love the chance to play with history without having to deal with the headaches of time travel :P Yay! Contemporary!

      Delete
  5. Kimberly GabrielMay 3, 2012 at 9:45 PM

    Stopping by to wish you luck in the contest! I like your opening lines - the first line especially. Drew me right in.

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    1. IssyMay 4, 2012 at 12:36 AM

      Thank you! Brenda is to thank for that, actually-- that paragraph was somewhere mid-first page but she and a few of my CPs all suggested bumping it to the top. I'm glad I did!

      Delete
  6. UnknownMay 3, 2012 at 10:23 PM

    Fantastic setting. I hope she chooses the boy in the woods. :)

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    1. IssyMay 4, 2012 at 12:41 AM

      :) Sebastian would agree with you. Jer... not so much:

      Jer: Sare, don't listen to that person. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Strange men in the woods are dangerous, okay?
      Sara: Jer, seriously? You've jumped into Issy's response to someone commenting on our story?
      Jer: Strange guy in the woods. Would you really be that stupid? C'mon...
      Sara: Ahem. Not your problem, Jer. Sebastian really is a nice guy. You'll like him if you ever stop being so paranoid.

      Delete
  7. Precy LarkinsMay 3, 2012 at 11:23 PM

    Interesting! Good luck! :)

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  8. tlbodineMay 4, 2012 at 3:05 AM

    Your premise is very intriguing :D Good luck in the contest!

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  9. Loralie HallMay 4, 2012 at 9:56 AM

    Congratulations on making the list, best of luck with your fantastic entry ^_^

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  10. GSBMay 4, 2012 at 10:26 AM

    I love your entry! Very cool and has me hooked! GOOD LUCK IN THE CONTEST :)

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  11. AnonymousMay 4, 2012 at 10:49 AM

    I love the concept here - and I'd love to read more! Best of luck!

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  12. Adam OsterMay 4, 2012 at 1:16 PM

    I absolutely love this line: "And I like chocolate more than I hate running." Fun idea, and well described opening.
    Good luck!

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:08 PM

      After eating a handful of gummy bears just now (and a "mini low fat--HA!" peanut butter frozen yogurt... and mebbe some cheese), I may have to expand the list beyond chocolate, though Sara is the runner, not me. But "And I like chocolate and gummy bears and frozen yogurt and cheese better than running" might make her sound like a bit of a glutton (*facepalms*) Thank you for the good wishes!!!

      Delete
  13. April WallMay 4, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    Stopping by to say good luck from one contestant to another!

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:10 PM

      Thank you! And good luck to your intriguing MG!

      Delete
  14. Rebecca CarvalhoMay 4, 2012 at 4:01 PM

    I love this premise. I'm Brazilian, but I have family in Portugal. I'd love to get to know more about them, but still couldn't afford a trip. Maybe one day I'll get to meet them. For now. . . get your book published, because I want to read it! Best of luck. I'm entry #169.

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:20 PM

      Obrigada, Rebecca! E boa sorte com a vossa entrada, tambem! Tenho familia em Brasil e espero visitar o vosso pais algum dia... maybe when I can write Portuguese without messing up verb tenses!!! A dream of mine is to see this someday get published and then translated for Portugal and Brazil (and then getting beaten up by townspeople for stuff that they might not like... oops.) But a little piece of this story is a love letter to the country and (our shared!) legends and I hope that it can wiggle itself into the world.

      Good luck with Daphne's Voice as well! <3

      Delete
    2. Rebecca CarvalhoMay 6, 2012 at 11:06 AM

      Obrigada, e boa sorte para voce tambem. Eu lembro quando li sua 'query letter' quando o Cupid abriu aquela sessao de criticas, e gostei da historia de imediato. Eu estava la, tambem. Mas a minha query letter mudou muito desde entao (espero que para melhor).

      Eu acho que o Brasil iria ADORAR, AMAR o seu livro. Nao temos agentes literarios no Brasil como aqui nos EUA, mas definitivamente existem editoras que com certeza comprariam THE DESIRED, por exemplo: Editora Rocco (a mesma que tem os direitos para Harry Potter no Brasil).

      Boa sorte, e espero que voce tenha compreendido o que escrevi.

      All the best! :)

      Delete
    3. IssyMay 15, 2012 at 7:33 AM

      (I know, I'm sooooo late in replying! O meu Portugues escrito e terrivel- a minha mae tentou ensinar-me, mas nao tive muita sorte-- peco desculpa para escrever tao mal!) Tambem gostei do seu "query letter" durante as criticas (that's a great synopsis, definitely something I'd pick up! And now the shorter version is very query-friendly-- definitivamente melhor)

      Espero que algum dia tenho a sorte de ver "O Desjado" em Portugues (continental e Brasileiro! No livro, escrevi "ela disse em Portugues" :) o "O Portugues que ele falou era muito antiquado"...

      Beijinhos! And good luck on the twitter pitch *crosses fingers!*

      Delete
  15. Alex HaymanMay 4, 2012 at 7:38 PM

    "... the strange boy in the woods who is so much more than he seems… four centuries more." Love this! Good luck!

    -Alex #85

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:23 PM

      Thank you, Alex! I felt sooooo melodramatic writing that, but I'm glad you liked it!

      Good luck to you, too!

      Delete
  16. erica m. chapmanMay 4, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    HA! I love the chocolate line. Cool premise too. Good luck ;o)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:24 PM

      Thank you, Erica, and good luck to you, too! (sneaks out to eat more chocolate because Sara is doing the running for me... BEST part about having an OC character, right?)

      Delete
    2. erica m. chapmanMay 5, 2012 at 6:16 PM

      Thank you ;o) NICE! Yes. LOL

      Delete
  17. Jamie CorriganMay 4, 2012 at 8:30 PM

    I think we all could agree that we love chocolate more than we hate running! Great line. Good luck!!

    Entry #31

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:27 PM

      Thank you, Jamie! Good luck to you, too! (We need to form a club. We can eat chocolate all day and pretend to run? Sorta run???)

      Delete
    2. Jamie CorriganMay 5, 2012 at 6:36 PM

      Sounds good to me!! LOL!! Good luck!!!

      Delete
  18. AnonymousMay 4, 2012 at 9:20 PM

    Sounds interesting! Best of luck from a fellow contestant!

    Nikki (Entry #160)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:28 PM

      Thank you, Nikki! Good luck to you, too!

      Delete
  19. AnonymousMay 4, 2012 at 10:30 PM

    Hmmm, intriguing. I like how the first 250 starts out so normally...

    Lisa (#59)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:30 PM

      :) Totally not a back alley in Philly moment :O

      Thanks, Lisa :)

      Delete
  20. MonicaSanzMay 4, 2012 at 11:00 PM

    Best of luck in the contest! :)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:31 PM

      Thank you, Monica! Good luck to you, too!

      Delete
  21. Carrie ButlerMay 5, 2012 at 2:50 AM

    Very nice! Good luck! :)

    Carrie (#162)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:34 PM

      Thank you! Good luck to you, too! (All us paranormals/ contemp fantasy peeps need to cheer each other on, right?)

      Delete
  22. TYHatchMay 5, 2012 at 2:53 AM

    I love chocolate - and yet I refuse to run. ;)

    Good luck!

    Tina (#194)

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:36 PM

      Good luck to you, too, Tina!

      I once had an editor at a critique session say, "Oh, thank GOD this isn't one of those characters who loooooves running and goes on and on and on about how much she loves it. I hate running, by the way." Me: "Good, because I don't run either." :)

      Delete
  23. Deena GravesMay 5, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    As they say in the dancing world... MERDE! Now go knock 'em dead, tiger!

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    1. IssyMay 5, 2012 at 5:38 PM

      Merci, Deena!!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get picked, but there are so many amazing entries (as soon as I find it, I'm totally pointing you in the direction of one of the blogs with THE MOST amazing YA premise set in Japan. I'm totally stalking that writer in hopes that her book gets published!!!!)

      Delete
  24. C.G.AylingMay 6, 2012 at 1:04 PM

    I love compact, punchy prose - you nailed it right at the start and kept it going throughout "the middle of nowhere Portugal". Very nicely said. Good luck.

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  25. Dahlia AdlerMay 6, 2012 at 4:10 PM

    Great query--fun story+cool setting is an excellent combination! Good luck from #70!

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  26. lexcadeMay 6, 2012 at 5:05 PM

    Good luck! Sounds like a great story.

    Cate ~#52

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  27. Scott WilbanksMay 6, 2012 at 6:25 PM

    This sounds really lush and up my alley--makes me think of Charles de Lint.

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    1. IssyMay 7, 2012 at 11:21 PM

      I like being compared to a Canadian author ;) Thanks, Scott, good luck to you, too!

      Delete
  28. Nicole ZoltackMay 6, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    Good luck! Love the setting.

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    1. IssyMay 7, 2012 at 11:24 PM

      Thank you, Nicole! Good luck to you, too! (yay, magical stories!!)

      Delete
  29. Brandi M. LynchMay 7, 2012 at 11:49 AM

    Good luck! I wanna know if Sebastion's who he says he is!

    Brandi #199

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    1. IssyMay 7, 2012 at 11:25 PM

      Thank you, Brandi :) Hmm... is he? Or is he an (incredibly hot) decoy? The world may never know :)

      Good luck!

      Delete
  30. Carolyn AbiadMay 7, 2012 at 12:18 PM

    I <3 medieval castles too.
    Best of luck!
    Carolyn, #157

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    1. IssyMay 7, 2012 at 11:27 PM

      We're castle-y blog twins!!!! EEE!!!! Medieval castles are the best, aren't they?

      Good luck right back at you!

      Delete
  31. George Anthony KulzMay 7, 2012 at 12:57 PM

    Great setting and premise. Good luck!

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    1. IssyMay 7, 2012 at 11:27 PM

      Thank you, George. Good luck to you as well!

      Delete

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