Would You Read It Wednesday - The 18th Pitch and The Winner!

I know.

You stayed up all night watching the minutes tick past, waiting for this post to be up so you could find out who won the Thanksgiving Contest and share your thoughts on this week's Would You Read It pitch since skipping last week sent you into withdrawal :)

And we'll get to both of those things in one second...

First, I have to say that I am such a complete space cadet that I forgot to mention Monday that I was being interviewed on Julie Hedlund's blog for her How I Got My Agent series.  I know many of you are Julie's devoted followers and have already read it, but if you haven't please pop over and visit.  Julie writes an awesome blog at Write Up My Life and I think you'll find her How I Got My Agent series (although not necessarily my part in it :)) very illuminating and helpful!  Thanks, Julie, for inviting me to take part and sorry I forgot to mention it Monday!

Second, I have just realized that tomorrow marks my first blogiversary.  I can't believe it's been a year!  I should probably be doing something wildly and crazily amazing to celebrate, but I'm fresh out of ideas at the moment.  If any of you have suggestions, feel free to share! :)  But I want to thank everyone for being so wonderfully supportive. I have so enjoyed getting to know so many people who are both talented and nice! :)  I think, at the very least, this calls for some celebratory cake!  Please help yourself to a slice, because cake definitely counts as a healthy breakfast - milk (calcium), eggs (protein), wheat (grains)... need I say more?

google images

Now on to all that excitement you stayed up all night waiting for!

I want to thank each and every person who submitted an entry to the Thanksgiving Contest as well as everyone who took time to read and vote.  I think I speak for all of us when I say we so enjoyed reading everyone's stories and they were all so wonderful.  As you know, my assistant judge and I had a terrible time narrowing down the finalists, but we did at last and now your votes have spoken.

Drum roll, please!

DDDDDRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The winner of the Thanksgiving Contest, with a delightful, creative, and original story, is

Penny!

(That's entry #2!)  Congratulations, Penny!  You have officially knocked our socks off :)  Please email me (susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com) or use the handy Email Me button on the right hand side of the blog and let me know if you'd prefer the $15 Amazon Gift Card or the hardcover copy of Balloons Over Broadway!

And now, on to Would You Read It!

This week's pitch comes to us from the lovely Ashley who, until October of last year, considered herself a person who didn't like to write but has now discovered she loves it!

Working Title:  Prelude To An Apocalypse
Age/Genre:  YA Literature
The Pitch:  Jack wakes up in the hospital to find a mysterious man offering to take her in, to teach her everything she needs to know about being a Wizard, but something deep inside tells her she can't trust him.

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 Ashley 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.

Ashley is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

Please join us Friday for Perfect Picture Books, and I hope everyone is hard at work on their Holiday Contest entries!  Who knew practicing our craft could be so companionable and fun with such great prizes? :)