Fun Friday Foto Fextravaganza Etc.

You read it right!  It's time for Fun Friday Foto Fextravaganza (and a few other things, because apparently I have so much to say that there's always an Etc. or a Mish Mash or a smorgasbord component to my posts of late :))  So read on, my friends, and prepare for fun!  (And if you're here for Kimberly's Hooked On Hooks Event and in a hurry, feel free to scroll down :))

As you'll recall, this week's theme is OOPS!

In the grand tradition of young kids who love construction vehicles, here is my entry:

courtesy google images

FFFF (that's Fun Friday Foto Fextravaganza, of course, but that takes too long to type) is for photos friendly to the 0-12 age group and those of us who write for them and for everyone else who thinks it's fun :)  I hope you all have some great photos to share!  As soon as they're up, please post your link in the comments below so we can all come check it out and be inspired, and pop over to Catherine's blog and see hers and if you want, post your links over there, too.  This is our second week with FFFF and we're really hoping for more than 1 entry this week :)

Next up on our list of Friday Fun is Kimberly's Hooked On Hooks Bloghop.  For this, you post the opening hook of any WIP in her linkylist and comment on at least 3 other people's hooks.  Fun, no?  Here's my hook for that YA novel I keep thinking I'm actually going to figure out how to write.... :

          “What does one look for in an urn, Mr. Auchmoody?” Grandmother inquired as if she were shopping for a new appliance.

            “Please,” said the funeral director, “call me Gerald.  I want you to think of me as a friend in your time of need.”  His benevolent smile beamed on both of us.  “But,” he continued delicately, “if I might point out this one….”  He picked up a box made of cherry wood, the rich grain smooth and shiny.  It looked more like a jewelry box than a receptacle for cremains.  “This is one of our best sellers.  You can have it laser engraved with a poem or Bible verse or words that have personal meaning, or even with your loved one’s photograph.”

            I pictured the box on our mantel, boasting a smiling photo of the person inside, and thought you cannot be serious!  

Please share any helpful comments you might have - hooks are hard!

Finally, I'd like to let everyone know that the Pitch Pick for September will be posted Monday, so I hope you'll all come over and vote for what you think was the best pitch this month.  Results will be posted next Friday.  For any of you who haven't had a chance to read and comment on this week's pitch yet, please go here.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Would You Read It Wednesday - The Tenth Pitch!

The results are in!  Although the showing was a little disappointing (a mere 13 votes when I had hoped for more like 100 to make it really official) the clear winner in the Would You Read It Official Snack Poll was Something Chocolate.  Since, technically, chocolate donuts qualify for this category, I am happy :)  I'm pretty sure you Something Cereal folks can eat Count Chocula, and the Something Salty folks can eat their Pringles with chocolate milk (OK, yuck, but you get my meaning :))  With a little ingenuity, anything can qualify as Something Chocolate!

Now, just quickly before we get to this week's pitch, I have to show you something fun that our friend, Jenny, posted on my FB wall yesterday:

Raise your hand if you want this in your writing space :)  I totally do!  (Although they forgot "tear your hair out in frustration!" :)

Okay!  Are you ready for the pitch?  Here it comes!

Basking in today's Would You Read It spotlight is Aimee, a Portland, Oregon girl currently living in New Zealand.  She has a great blog at Seeking The Write Life.  Here is her pitch:

TITLE: Listen to Me

GENRE: YA Contemporary with a dash of Magical Realism (target age
13-17, but I hope for crossover appeal)

PITCH: Stacy can talk to herself-in-twelve-years - but will the
impossible relationship with Older Me help her navigate the high
school rites of bullying and unrequited love, or just fuel her
destructive self-loathing?

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Aimee improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.

Aimee is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

And I am looking forward to a chocolate-covered chocolate donut with a glass of chocolate milk :)

Mish Mash Monday

Geez, Louise!  I've got so much to share with you today!  And none of it has anything to do with anything else, hence the Mish Mash Monday theme :)

First things first:  the Would You Read It Official Snack Poll is here!  You have until 11:59 PM EST (unless we're on EDT because honestly I never know which is which) tomorrow night (Sept. 27) to cast your vote.  I know!  Not much time!  So get right on it!  Because of course we need to have the answer ready for Wednesday morning and Would You Read It with Aimee and her YA pitch!  Ready?  GO!



I totally love polls, don't you?  It's so fun to see how people vote :)

Second:  We have a winner in the Present Game from last Monday!  Since I am too cheap broke smart to pay for Random.org, I assigned each entry a number and the used the free sequence generator to pick the winner.  And the winner is *drum roll*  *dramatic music*  *confetti*  *wild cheering*  ROSALIND!!!  Rosalind, please use the handy Email Me button in the right hand sidebar to let me know your choice of prize - any one of my books signed however and for whoever you'd like, or a $10 Amazon gift card.

Third:  This is so much fun I can hardly stand it.  Kerri over at Craft Junkie is running a Choose Your Own Adventure Bloghop on Monday October 24 and I AM IN IT!!!  I hope you'll all save a little time to choose your adventures that week.  I think there are 24 of us participating in this thrilling tale and it promises to be a most enjoyable experience.  Check out the awesome badge created by Mel:

I'm guessing that sea serpent has you pretty much tingling with excitement and anticipation! :)

Fourth: the theme for this week's Friday Fun Foto Frenzy Festival Fextravaganza (yes, it's true, we haven't decided on a name yet - I know you couldn't tell) is:  OOPS!

So get those wheels turning and start looking for an entry.  We would love to have more than 1 participant this week :)  (Although I think the one, Debbie, should get bonus points for being the first to join in :))

So please, hang around, join the fun, have an as-yet-to-be-decided snack!  It's all fun and games around here :)

Fun Friday Photo

So today's the day Catherine and I are starting our new Fun Friday Photo (maybe that should be Foto :)) Fextravaganza (because there's no word I can think of that means extravaganza and starts with F - at least not on this rainy morning!  Feel free to make suggestions.  My brain is sluggish before coffee, breakfast and sunshine.)

This week's theme is CONFUSION.  Here's my entry :)

courtesy google images

If you'd like to play along, post a photo with your interpretation of confusion and then put your link in the comments below and/or over at Catherine's so we can all visit your blog and enjoy and be inspired by your choices!  Who knows what great stories may be written today based on these pictures :)

After that, if you haven't had a chance to comment on this week's Would You Read It, please go here and share your expertise :)

Catherine and I hope you have fun with the photos fotos!  Have a great weekend!

P.S.  Ooh!  How about this one:  Fun Friday Foto Feature!  Hmmm.... where's my coffee :)

Would You Read It Wednesday - The Ninth Pitch!

Well, I am just full of fun and games this week!

First, we had our present game on Monday, which got a way bigger response than I expected!  I think I will leave it open until the wee hours of Friday morning and then post the winner on Friday, just in case anyone else wants to join in and hasn't had a chance yet.  (If that's you, go here.)  I got so many amazing, original responses - it was like opening presents for me to see what you all said!

Second, my friend Catherine Johnson and I want to try something fun on Fridays.  We will post a theme for the week and then on Friday, you put a photo on your blog that represents that theme and put the url to that post in our comment section (hers or mine or both until we figure out how to do a linky list - turns out they don't seem to work with Safari, which is what I have so...) and then everyone can visit each other's photos to see how they interpreted the theme!  I think we might get more than a few writing prompts from this :)  Since we both write kidlit, we want to keep the photos in a range appropriate for ages 0-12.  This will also separate us from other similar photo game/lists because, as far as we know, no one does a kid one.  We hope you'll all think this is fun and join in!  This week's theme is "CONFUSION"  So search around and find a photo that represents that.  It can be a family photo or one you find elsewhere.  As we continue, the game may evolve to writing captions or using the photos as prompts, but for now, we're starting simple, and the first week is a bit of a trial run, so please bear with us - but do join in so we can see if it works :)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... *dramatic music* ... It's time for Would You Read It!!!    (And no, we have not yet decided on an official snack - although muffins warm from the oven are sounding pretty good right about now....  Maybe I'll put up a poll.  Or maybe I'll just decide all by myself.  But I digress...)

Today's pitch comes to us from the lovely and talented Catherine from Canada - yes! the very same Catherine I'm doing the photo game with (how serendipitous is that? :))

Here is the pitch:

Working Title:  The Fairy Wood
Age/Genre:  MG
The Pitch:  Annabel gets distracted by flowers and fairies and cannot find her family in the woods, but the mystery of the disappearing flowers distracts her even more.  Annabel has no idea how close her family really are or who to trust.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Catherine improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.

Catherine is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

And we are both looking forward to your contributions to the photo game on Friday so please come join us :)  (With the added incentive of finding out who won the present game!!!)

There will always be plenty of fun around here :)

A Present For YOU!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I like Mondays.

I know I'm in the minority here, but the way I see it, Mondays are full of possibility - like morning, and the first day of every month, and the first day of school and the first day of the year.  Monday begins a new week and the door is wide open for something good to happen.  It could be anything!

And this Monday I'm feeling particularly happy because of you.  At the end of last week I got not one, not two, but THREE Versatile Blogger Awards AND I got tagged.  In addition, someone commented that she looked forward to reading my blog.  My Blog.  MINE!  I can't believe it :)  I am honored and touched.

So first, let me acknowledge the awesome bloggers who awarded me.  Thank you all so much!
Kelly at As Seen Through A Different Glass
Diane at The Patient Dreamer, and
Debbie at Debbie Johansson.
Please take a moment to check out their wonderful blogs!

And, let me also acknowledge Grillyfish who tagged me - check her out too!

Now, let me just say that I'm really terrible at these awards.  I'm so grateful to the people who felt I was worthy of receiving them, but I can never choose who to forward them to.  I treasure everyone who reads and comments on my blog and I don't feel right singling out only a few to pass the award on to when you are all so wonderful.

So I'm going to combine the awards and the tag I received by telling you 10 random things about me (because the conditions are 7 for one and 10 for the other) which you may or may not care to read :) and then I am going to give you ALL a present!!!

You can skip to the present if you want.  I won't be offended :)  I'm not even sure I can come up with 10 random things and they might not be very interesting.  And presents are very hard to wait for :)

Let me see...

1.  My favorite color is blue - not pale blue, but pretty much any other shade from periwinkle to royal to midnight.  Second favorite is a tie between pink and yellow.

2.  In third grade I played Sneezy in our class production of Blanche Neige.  French was never my best subject, but apparently I can sneeze in any language :)

3.  I think roses are pretty, but I don't like the way they smell (except for the delicate little wild roses.)  I love carnations, which have a kind of light spicy scent, and lantana, which smells citrusy.

4.  I have burn holes in every polar fleece I own from sitting too close to the fire on winter evenings.  Which brings me to #5...

5.  I think it's entirely possible I may have been a cat in a previous life (or that I will be one in my next life.)  I base this on the fact that I love to sit in warm sunny places or very close to the fire (as mentioned in #4) and I do not like to swim!

6.  I have jumped horses up banks, through brush, over ditches, and into water.  (I spent my young adulthood being a competitive Three-Day Event rider.)  I am one of those horse-crazy girls who never outgrew the phase.

7.  We don't have cable or a dish, so I really don't watch TV.  The only shows I ever watch (online, the day after they air) are Glee and Modern Family (with my kids) and Grey's Anatomy (which I totally love and consider an indulgence :))

8.  My all-time favorite candy bar is Snickers.  I challenge you to come up with anything better!

9.  When I was 8, I stole a pack of lifesavers from the stationary store on the corner, but I felt so guilty I turned around before I'd gone half a block and went and put them back.

10.  My dogs come with me pretty much everywhere, conditions permitting (which is why I call my car the Dogmobile.)  (Which is also why I'm always asking for helpful tips on removing dog hair from car upholstery...!)

So there you are.  10 random things.  Feel free to share your own!

Now.  The moment you've all been waiting for!  Are you ready?  Here is your present!!!!!

Ooh!  Ahh!  Ain't it purty?

Now, here's the deal.  This present contains whatever you'd most like to have today!

It could be 15 minutes to sit on the back porch in the sunshine sipping your coffee and watching the dragonflies...
Or a romantic dinner with your better half where you have the time and space to remember why you fell in love...
Or an afternoon in the playground with your children, watching them run and play, reveling in the strength and individuality that grows a little more in them each day...
Or an outing to pick apples, the sunshine dissipating the mist over the orchard, the grass kissed with frost beneath your feet, then home to a happy kitchen to bake pie for dessert with a game of Candy Land or Clue or Scrabble...
Or one uninterrupted hour to read that book you've been itching to get to, your cat curled warmly in your lap...
You get the idea!

So go ahead!  Open your present!  And then tell me what's inside!  Whoever has the best answer (to be determined, very scientifically, by writing each one on a piece of paper, mixing them up and drawing one, or else, possibly, very subjectively by me) will win their choice of a signed copy of any one of my books they choose, or a $10 Amazon gift card.

So how do you feel about Monday now? I can't wait to see what you got!!! :)

Would You Read It Wednesday - The Eighth Pitch!

Just when you thought the week couldn't get any better, it's time for Would You Read It Wednesday!

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking maybe Would You Read It needs an official snack.  Of course, that's probably because I'm always writing it at 6 AM when I haven't had breakfast yet.  I might do a poll to see what we should have... suggestions welcome in the comments below so we can make up a good poll :) As you know, I am fond of donuts, but given our health kick this week with the potato exercise, I think we should pick something that can at least pretend to be nutritious.  (For example, Froot Loops - which contain the word "fruit" (sort of) and are therefore health food.)

Okay.  Seriously.  I wish you guys would stop talking about breakfast.  We have work to do!

This week's pitch comes to us from Saul in New York, creator of the LinkedIn group New Author's Need Marketing Ideas and owner of SAWEB Books, Inc.  You can read his blog here.  This book is currently self-published, so help with the pitch might help Saul with sales.

Here is the pitch:

Title:  A Lesson My Cat Taught Me
Age/Genre:  Early Reader
The Pitch:  Can your child learn to accept others for who they are and not what they are from a one-eyed cat?  Read the book to find out.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Saul improve his pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.

Saul is looking forward to your thoughts on his pitch!

And I am looking forward to your thoughts on what the official Would You Read It snack should be :)

Straight From The Editor!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I hope you're all feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning :)

To start off, we have a new piece of the Would You Read It feature (which makes me realize I'm going to have to put some sort of organized posting calendar in my sidebar so everyone will know when to look forward to what, but I digress...)  This exciting part includes editor Erin Molta's thoughts on the winner's pitch - an educational opportunity for us all!

To remind you, the winner was Alisha, and her pitch was as follows:

Working Title:  Finding The Reindeer Beat

Age/Genre:  PB

The Pitch:  When Santa's sleigh team decided to retire, a new group of reindeer trained with Coach Dasher, almost crashed in front of Santa, and discovered the secret to staying together.

Here are Erin's comments:

Your pitch is intriguing, but in order for an editor to hit reply and write out a note to say she/he wants to read more, it needs to have a little more punch!

For instance, here’s your sentence: "When Santa’s sleigh team decided to retire, a new group of reindeer trained with Coach Dasher, almost crashed in front of Santa, and discovered the secret to staying together."

I think it needs more action and decisiveness, like this: Santa’s sleigh team retired. A new set of reindeer trained with Coach Dasher but crashed in front of Santa. Finally, after (they are threatened with replacement or after many trials or something . . .) they discovered the secret to working together.

That basically tells the story in a nutshell and though it’s three sentences, it gets the point across in a decisive manner without the wishy-washy verbs—“decided” and “almost” are passive and seem like you’re not sure. Always go with the action.

Of course, our contest was for one sentence - perhaps something to consider modifying slightly in the future if this type of comment comes up again.  But hopefully Erin's thoughts about action will be helpful to us all!

Now for item number 2.  And I hope you're all paying attention because even though it's Monday morning, that is no excuse to ignore our health.  So please follow along with this important exercise program:

Exercise for the weak:

Begin with a 5-lb potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand . (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag :)
(Courtesy of my friend Teri through her friend Bev.)

 

I hope that gets your week off to a good start :)

Feel free to share your thoughts on the editor's comments as well as any successful exercise programs of your own in the comments below, and don't forget to tune in Wednesday for Would You Read It, this week starring Saul with an Early Reader!

OH!  And I almost forgot!  Marissa Oachs over at The Review Stew did a nice review and giveaway for my books (go here: http://www.thereviewstew.com/2011/09/childrens-books-by-susanna-l-hill.html) so please hop over and check out her site and enter the giveaway if you're so inclined :)

Smorgasbord Friday!

(Today's post contains 3 very important items: 1) the first Pitch Pick Winner, 2) 5 great writing opportunities, and 3) my First Campaign Challenge entry.  If you're in a hurry, please feel free to scroll down to the part you're most interested in :)  Also, for those who haven't had a chance to comment on this week's Would You Read It, please go here.  Okay, here we go!)

My fingers are actually tingling!

And, NO, it's not because I've had too much coffee.

Really.

It's 5:30 AM.  How much do you think I could have drunk already?

No, my friends!  I am tingling because the BIG DAY is finally here!  The BIG DAY on which I will announce the winner of the first Pitch Pick, the one whose pitch will be sent to editor Erin Molta for comments and insight.  Ah, the thrill!  The excitement!  The suspense...

But first, I want to tell you a story about paint drying.

You see, we need to paint our downstairs hallway...

Tee hee.  I'm just foolin' with you :)  (We do need to paint our downstairs hallway, but I'm not going to tell you a story about it.  Not now anyway.  Not while you're dying to know who the winner is.  That would just be cruel.)

Okay.  Are you ready?

Really?  Are you sure?

Alrighty, then.  Drum roll please!

The winner of the first Pitch Pick for July/August 2011 is none other than the fabulous

ALISHA!!!

Congratulations, Alisha!!!  Your pitch will wing its way across cyberspace momentarily and land in Erin's inbox, ready for her priceless expertise!

Before we move on to item 2 of today's smorgasbord, I just want to say, congratulations and good work to everyone who participated.  You all wrote strong pitches, and your books all sound wonderful!  I'm sorry there could be only one winner.   But please remember - you are of course allowed to send more pitches!  So feel free to try again for a spot in Erin's Inbox!

Item 2 on today's agenda is about fun, fun, fun for the writers in our audience.  There are a number of opportunities either currently running or coming soon that I think you might find interesting:

The Lucky Clover Picture Book Writing Contest:
Held by Christie at WRITE WILD, this picture book contest is run four times a year (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter), with categories for Early PBs, Regular PBs, Non-Fiction PBs, and Rhyming PBs.  The prize is a free critique, and entries for the Summer Contest are open until the end of September.

The Rule of Three Blogfest:
Held by J.C. Martin at J.C. MARTIN, FIGHTER WRITER and Damyanti at WRITING ON WRITING: AMLOKIBLOGS as well as a couple others, this is a month long blogfest that takes place in a shared fictional world within which you will create a story.  Sign up by October 3.

The Synopsis/Query Stand Out:
Held by Cynthia at RANDOM THOUGHTS, Stand Out Synopsis/Query is a weekly feature posted on Mondays where authors can get help on their synopses and/or queries.  It is a slightly different take on Would You Read It Wednesday :)

The Hooked On Hooks Event:
Held by Kimberly at ZOOKBOOKNOOK, the Hooked On Hooks event is a chance for writers to hone their hooks.  Stop by on September 30 and add your hook to the linky list!

And, last but not least, the new Choose Your Own Adventure:
Fun for writers and readers alike, Kerri Cuevas at CRAFT JUNKIE is hosting her 2nd Choose Your Own Adventure Story.  19 writers (including Yours Truly!) will be participating in this fun, fabulous bloghop.  (I believe the list is now closed, but if you want to join, ask Kerri.  She originally said she would take as many as 30, so there may still be a possibility of spaces.)  It will take place at the end of October.  More details to come :)

Item 3 on today's agenda is my entry for Rachael Harrie's First Campaign Challenge which, as of the time of this late writing already has 352 entries!  The Challenge is:  200 words beginning with the words, The door swung open and ending with the words, The door swung shut.  Here is my entry:

The door swung open with a hiss and a clunk.

Red and yellow lights flashed a warning.

"Up you go, Liam," Mom said with a smile.

Liam looked at the steps.  Steep steps.  BIG steps.  Steps he might trip on.  Steps that led into the rumbling yellow belly of a monster.

"No!" he said.

He was not going forward.

Liam wanted to turn around and hold on tight to Mom, but eyes watched him.  Lots of eyes.  Maybe a hundred!

He could not turn back.

Mom squeezed his hand.  "It's going to be all right, Liam," she said.  "I promise."

Liam looked up at her.  He wanted to say something, but his throat was too tight for talking.  He had to blink six times in a row to make sure no tears spilled out.

Mom ruffled his hair and gave him a gentle nudge.  "Go on," she said.  "You can do it."

Liam took a deep breath and stepped into the monster.

He looked down the monster's throat.

Hey!  There was Connor.  And Justin!

"Hi, Liam!" they shouted.

Liam sat next to Connor, waved to Mom and smiled.

This might not be so bad after all.

The door swung shut.


Phew!  Sorry for the long post!  I told you it was a smorgasbord!  Please post your comments for our Pitch Pick winner below, as well as your comments on the Challenge piece.  And please enjoy a few minutes checking out the writing opportunities!

Have a great weekend everyone :)

P.S.  For any fellow campaigners, should you happen to like my Challenge piece enough to "like" it on Rach's site, I'm number 355.  (I've discovered I'm having trouble finding people on there so thought this might be helpful!)

Would You Read It Wednesday - The Seventh Pitch!

Fasten your seat belts and put your tray tables in the upright position!  It's time for the highlight of everyone's week... Would You Read It!  (I really wish I could make that flash and sparkle, but since I don't know how, you'll just have to imagine that it's very fancy!)

Before we get to today's pitch, I'd just like to thank everyone who has voted so far for the July/August Pitch Pick (and for those of you just joining us, that's the vote on whose pitch was best and will get sent to editor Erin Molta for valuable comments and feedback!)  I'm so interested in how the votes are falling, and it's REALLY hard to keep a secret and not give you hints....

... OK.  You twisted my arm.  How about one hint.  The current leader pitched a picture book.  That's not too much of a hint since 4 of the 6 pitches were for PBs :)

But it's still definitely a competition, so if you haven't voted yet, please do!  Go here and scroll to the poll.

Alrighty then.  It's time for today's pitch, our first YA to date, and the first of the September competitors for Erin's reading time!

Today's pitch comes to us from the awesome Kimberly, who has lived a very interesting life, part of which was spent in a hut in the rainforest with a lot of wildlife I wouldn't want to meet too up close and personal! She writes a terrific blog (ZookBookNook), so feel free to hop over and get to know her.  For our fellow campaigners, she is also participating in the Writer's Platform Building Campaign.  So here it is:

Working Title:  Surfacing In Clouds
Age/Genre:  YA
The Pitch:  Rigo and Esteban struggle to survive in a land without electricity, but when they set out to reach a world consumed by technology their friendship is ripped at the seams. This story chronicles the remarkable resilience of human nature in the face of losing what was once taken for granted: silence, privacy, and a connection with nature.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Kim improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  (I figured y'all would get tired of me rewriting the same paragraph every week about the rules of the game so I put them up there :))

Kim is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

P.S.  Tune in Friday for the results of the vote and find out who the winner is!!!  And don't forget, if you haven't voted, please do!  Vote here.

Who Will It Be? - Pitch Pick #1

I realize it's 6 AM and the coffee is still brewing, but really, I can't think of a more exciting way to start a Monday.  Are you ready for leap-out-of-your-chair level excitement?  I hope so!

The moment you've all been waiting for is here at last!  It's time to vote for who should win the Would You Read It pitch contest for July/August 2011!  The lucky winner will have his/her pitch read by and commented upon by none other than the lovely and talented editor, Erin Molta!!!  (For Erin's impressive credentials, click the Would You Read It tab on the top bar.)

In order to keep things moving along, I'm hoping everyone can place his/her vote by Friday September 9.  (I am also hoping that I really and truly worked all the kinks out of the voting system with the practice runs, but only time will tell...!)

As a quick refresher, our contestants are:

1. Andrea:

Working Title:  Wild (Girl) Genius
Age/Genre:  MG
The Pitch:  After girly Jade persuades her adventure-enthusiast parents to get her into a special camp led by wilderness expert Carson Riley, Jade's plans to show Carson she's skilled enough to host a youth segment of his new TV show get messed up by a secret celebrity and someone sabotaging the camp.

2.  Megan:

Working Title:  The Rhyme Machine
Age/Genre: PB
The Pitch:  Chaos breaks out in a classroom when an imaginary "rhyme machine" springs to life and starts creating things that rhyme with everything that's said.

3. Alisha:

Working Title:  Finding The Reindeer Beat
Age/Genre:  PB
The Pitch:  When Santa's sleigh team decided to retire, a new group of reindeer trained with Coach Dasher, almost crashed in front of Santa, and discovered the secret to staying together.

4. Paul:

Working Title:  The Big Red Boat
Age/Genre:  PB series entitled Adventures With Benjamin Blueberry and Wally The Goat
The Pitch:  Wally the Goat is steering the boat... Look at him go around that duck and through the waves.  He sure is saving the day.

5. Pam:

Title:  When This Is Over I Will Go To School And I Will Learn To Read: A Story Of Hope And Friendship For One Young Kenyan Orphan
Age/Genre:  PB
The Pitch:  No one knows the story of Kenya better than the children who live it, and it is their truth that is certain to nudge the hearts and minds of parents, teachers and children everywhere.

6 Laynie:

Working Title:  Hidden Oaks Camp Or Else!
Age/Genre:  MG
The Pitch:  Moochie Mockingbird and other animal friends lead endangered animals away from a huge, deadly Texas Hill Country wildfire to the safety of "firewise community" Hidden Oaks, a summer youth camp.

And now, ladies and gentleman, the vote!  Duhn-duhn, duhn-duhn!


Remember, the polls close on September 9, so get your votes in ASAP!
This is so exciting!  I can hardly wait to announce the winner!
And don't forget to come back Wednesday for our first September contender, Kimberly!