Hello guys. I have another amazing opportunity for you. Fantastic agent, Natalie Fischer of Bradford Lit agency, is going to be hosting this round of pitch contest! And some of you lucky people will get the chance to submit to Natalie after... (she's currently closed to submissions).To see what a recent interview with Natalie and to find out her likes, visit here. The only difference from the other pitch contests is that us YAtopians will choose our top 20 to give to Natalie who will then pick her winners from that.
Don't miss out on this great opportunity! Of course, there are guidelines and rules... Pretty much the same as before, but we'll go through them again.
1) Be a follower of the blog.
2) Blog about this contest and include a link with your entry. If you don't have a blog, you may tweet or make a facebook status. But we prefer blog.
3) Create a TWO SENTENCE pitch. And not a massively long run-on sentence either. Two concise sentences that will hook Natalie to your book and have her desperate to read more.
4) Include the opening line of your manuscript.
5) Manuscripts that you submit should be completed. I leave it up to you whether you decide to submit a half finished manuscript. You'll have to deal with it SHOULD Natalie request you send her the full.
6) This contest will be capped at either 150 entries OR will end midnight on the 21st April.
7) Winners to be announced (along with prizes) on 28th April.
8) Any age any genre accepted!
Good luck! Contest is open NOW. Use the form below and I wish you all luck. Oh, and feel free to ask me ANY questions :D Entries to be posted in the comments of this post.
Name:
Email:
Story Name:
Genre:
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
2 Sentence Pitch:
Opening sentence:
EDIT: People are asking whether they can submit more than one entry. At the moment, the answer is no. One entry per person. HOWEVER, if by Thursday during the day (contest will end at midnight on Thursday) there still aren't 150 entries, feel free to enter more pitches on that day only. I hope this explains everything.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Chelsey Blair
ReplyDeleteEmail: chelseyblair (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: Background Vocals
Genre: YA-Contemp
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link :http://www.chelseyblair.com/2011/04/pitch-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Meridian Ashton wants to escape exile at her uncle's house and make her own way with her guitar, but when her cousin loses her leg in a horrific accident Meridian promises to stay before she's sure she's willing to risk losing her chance at stardom.
Opening sentence:
Outside of Boston’s South Station I became the anonymous girl-with-the-guitar, the person I’d been when the Paris streets had been mine to fill with music.
Name: Jenni Merritt
ReplyDeleteEmail: jennimerritt.writing (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: Prison Nation
Genre: YA Dystopian
Blog link: http://jennimerritt.blogspot.com/2011/04/look-another-pitch-contest.html
2 sentence Pitch:
Millie 942B believed in the Nation: in its strict laws and punishments, and its city-sized Prisons, one of which she had been born and raised inside. Now she has turned eighteen and Released, only to discover that the life and freedom she had always trusted isn’t what she thought it would be.
Opening Sentence:
My name is Millie 942B.
Name: Elizabeth Schubert
ReplyDeleteEmail:phoenixwriting (at) writeme (dot) com
Story Name: Memento Mori
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
http://elizapho.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-ever-pitch-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch:
Elkan wants nothing more than to be free to wander the country and protect it's people from those who might do them harm. Now, as the threat to this mighty kingdom grows, Elkan realizes that the greatest treachery comes from those on the inside.
Opening sentence:
Courtesy is for the people who don't have the guts to be honest.
Name:Lisha Cauthen
ReplyDeleteEmail:lishacauthen@gmail.com
Story Name:The Dead Dads Club
Genre:Contemporary/Supernatural
Blog link:http://lishacauthen.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/lookit/
2 Sentence Pitch:
Even though 17-year-old Liam Murdock is relieved his abusive father was killed in a hunting accident, he and three other guys get thrown together in a grief support group they call “The Dead Dads Club”.
When ShadowMen rampage out of the dark, the guys in The Dead Dads Club need each other to figure out who the ShadowMen are, what they want, and how to stop them from destroying everything the guys care about.
Opening sentence:
I clench my fists in front of me, expect him to rise out of his satin-pillowed coffin and punch me in the gut.
I follow you in Google Reader. Thanks to you and Natalie!
Name: S. Kyle Davis
ReplyDeleteEmail:kyle(at)skyledavis(dot)com
Story Name: BLACKBIRD
Genre: YA Fantasy Thriller
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://skyledavis.blogspot.com/2011/04/yatopia-pitch-contest-with-natalie.html
2 Sentence Pitch: In this "Mission:Impossible with magic" tale, 16-year-old witch (and spy-school recruit) Taylor Keaton's decides to take on the final mission of the three elves that saved her life. With only the project name to go on and a few short months to find the truth, Taylor must discover what the dark sorcerers who tried to kill her are planning to steal and get it first, lest they gain even more power and further unbalance the rift between between themselves and the rest of the magical world.
Opening sentence: I was halfway through the guitar solo for "Die Love, Die" when I first saw him.
Name: Abby Stevens
ReplyDeleteEmail: abby@abbystevens.com
Story Name: PRODIGAL MAGGIE
Genre: YA contemporary fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://www.abbystevens.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-yatopia.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Maggie loves her Aunt Patti’s tales of the land of Eire, but when Maggie is attacked by a vicious carnivorous plant and rescued by brothers straight out of one of her aunt’s mythical stories, she realizes there’s truth – and danger – to them.
Opening sentence: Crazy Aunt Patti – Maggie loved her, but Patti was as superstitious as they came.
Name: Margay Leah Justice
ReplyDeleteEmail: Margay1122 @ gmail.com
Story Name: The Goode Girl
Genre: Contemporary YA
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://margayleahjustice.com/?p=404
2 Sentence Pitch: Irene Goode is a plain girl in a beautiful world with a boundless crush on the boy next door, Sam Cassidy. But when they uncover a secret that binds their families together, the truth threatens to destroy their tenuous friendship.
Opening sentence: I always knew my name would get me into trouble one day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Tetonia Blossom
ReplyDeleteEmail: tetoniadoss@gmail.com
Story Name: UNDISTURBED
Genre: YA Paranormal
Blog link:
http://myblossomingmind.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html
2 Sentence Pitch:
If the eyes are the window to the soul, Deyan’s must be evil. The discovery of her menacing red eyes tops her list of secrets which already includes her hidden disorder, a friend’s affair, and her boyfriends mysterious past; it’s also the one that could get them all killed.
Opening sentence:
I never believed I was safe; no one at Weller prep with the exception of Bobby Vincent was, until today.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Taryn
ReplyDeleteEmail: tarynalAThotmailDOTcom
Title: Splashback
Genre: YA thriller
Blog: http://afoolsgoldenparadise.blogspot.com/
Short pitch: Top-ranked swimmer Lottie Maverick is sick of the sport that sucked away her life, but now some Olympics-obsessed criminal says he'll return her missing sister if she makes the Olympic team.
Opening sentence: The Sour Patch Kids in the bottom of Heidi Maverick's sparkly clutch probably bothered him the most.
oops! Here's the real blog link. ;)
ReplyDeleteName: Michelle Painchaud
Email: mgpainchaud@gmail.com
Story Name: FEAR ITSELF
Genre: YA/UF
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: ttp://andtheworldsaidthatstoobad.blogspot.com/2011/04/yatopia-has-freaking-awesome-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Nearly-convicted sasspot Noa is infected with an alien parasite - she'd kill to be normal again. Government spooks and the alien boy sent to retrieve her instigate a covert war against each other to get her, with Noa's friends, family, and sanity smack dab in the middle.
Opening sentence: My mistake was that I figured this 'whole new school' thing would be easy.
Name: Kimberlee Turley
ReplyDeleteEmail: Kimberlee(dot)turley(at)yahoo(dot)com
Title: Note to Self
Genre: YA Fantasy
Link:http://edensguest.blogspot.com/2011/04/another-pitch-contest.html
Pitch: When Gracie Heart finds threatening notes hidden in her circus costume, she thinks she’s being haunted by the ghost of the magician’s last assistant. She doesn’t realize she’s the one writing the notes to warn herself: she’s next.
Opening Sentence: Gracie glared at the recommendation letter Mrs. Minchin had given her for a job at a chicken factory.
Thanks, YAtopians, for this opportunity!
ReplyDeleteName: Angelica R. Jackson
Email: strikingnotes(at)yahoo(dot)com
Story Name: Spirits from the Vasty Deep
Genre: YA ghostly historical (1850s)
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://angelicarjackson.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-over-at-yatopia.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Olivia Herald set a ship afire while escaping the same fate as her murdered friends; her attackers went down with their ship, but now the spectral crew wants retribution, forcing a final reckoning with Olivia's haunted past. It's Blossom Culp meets Pirates of the Caribbean.
Opening sentence: The boy's gaze burned into the back of my head as if he could push me out the door by his will alone.
Gah, if only I had been writing earlier, I'd be finished in time for this contest! Good luck to everyone. :)
ReplyDeleteName: Melanie McCullough
ReplyDeleteEmail: Melanie(dot)M(dot)McCullough(at)gmail(dot)com
Title: Bloodletting
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Link:Http://melaniemccullough.blogspot.com/2011/04/another-pitch-contest-yatopia-is.html
Pitch: Homicide detective Olivia Kirk has always been afraid of the dark. It's a fear she's tried to hide her entire life, but when she's asked to investigate a series of ritualistic killings, she's forced to face the shadowy world and an evil within it that she'd long ago convinced herself did not exist.
Opening Sentence: He was lying.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Ray Allen
ReplyDeleteEmail: m.ray.allen (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: The Orb of Chaos
Genre: Adult Fantasy Fiction
Blog link: https://twitter.com/#!/halistan
2 sentence Pitch:
Sol only wanted one thing; money. Unfortunately for him, the gods had other plans.
Opening Sentence:
“I’ll be damned, Oather was right. The god’s really do hate me.”
Name: Nicole Sobon
ReplyDeleteEmail: NLSobon@gmail.com
Story Name:"Program 13"
Genre:YA Science Fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://nicolesometimes.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch:
There are no mistakes at Vesta Life.
None, except for me.
Opening sentence:
The leather straps constrict my wrists forcing me to welcome the volts searing through my body.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Ryan Greenspan (I follow the blog as Levi B)
ReplyDeleteEmail: me@hapenn.com
Story Name: Arthur Crumb and the Washing Machine That Ate Him
Genre: Middle-Grade Adventure
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: www.twitter.com/hapenn
2 Sentence Pitch:
To escape his chaotic home-life, ten-year-old Arthur Crumb accepts an offer from his washing machine to whisk him away to the magical world where socks go. But when Arthur finds that he's been duped, he’s forced to navigate the treacherous bowels of the dastardly washing machine while it tries to digest him.
Opening sentence:
Of all the foul, grubby houses in the neighborhood crudely known as “The Bowels,” Arthur Crumb lived in the foulest and grubbiest of them all.
Name: Kate Larkindale
ReplyDeleteEmail: katelarkindale(at)gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Assignment 9
Genre: YA contemporary
Blog link: http://katelarkindale.blogspot.com
2 sentence pitch: Serially abandoned as a child, Casey struggles with relationships until she meets the equally damaged Mark in her creative writing class. An autobiography assignment leads her to acknowledge the roots of her fears and gives her the strength to let him into her life.
Opening sentence: He’s going to call on me. He’s going to call on me and I’ll puke.
Name: Morgan Shamy
ReplyDeleteEmail: MIC804ever@yahoo.com
Title: Shadow Watchers
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Link: http://twitter.com/#!/Morgan_Shamy
Pitch:
Everday, the storms descend upon the town, erasing the memories of everyone. Except Clara.
Opening Sentence:
I heard my name spoken softly through the hum of the car.
Name: Jolene Perry
ReplyDeleteEmail: jolenebperry@gmail.com
Title: Night Sky
Genre: YA contemporary
Link: http://jolenesbeenwriting.blogspot.com/2011/04/m-more-and-yatopia-is-doing-another.html
PITCH:
Jameson's senior year is going to crap - his crush, Sarah, is kissing another guy, his dad walks out, his mom's heartbroken, and only the brutal honesty of Sky, the Native American girl he just met, is helping him heal. But Sky isn't as honest as she let on, and Sarah's suddenly desperate to feel their lips together - which is worse, secrets or kissing - because either way, Jameson's screwed.
Opening Sentence:
Taking a breath about kills me right now.
Name: Matt Adams
ReplyDeleteEmail: mattadamsauthor(at)ymail(dot)com
Story Name: The Franchise
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
http://mattadamsauthor.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contestwhy-not.html
Pitch:
Emma Davis never expected bickering co-workers and a boss with Don Juan delusions to pose a greater threat than an escaped supervillain, a masked vigilante, and an ever-growing list of city-scale emergencies.
But don’t worry, she can handle it—as a crisper, playing with fire is her job.
Opening sentence:
Emma didn’t want to admit it, but she was lost...unabashedly, inescapably, and somewhat comically lost.
Name: Loralie Hall
ReplyDeleteEmail: loralie.hall at gmail dot com
Story Name: Uriel's Fall
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://blog.apathyshero.com/2011/04/take-a-z-break-check-out-this-awesome.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Between aching feet and a growling stomach, Ronnie is discovering mortality isn't the grand fantasy she's built it into. Between a Norse god, a Greek hero, and a long-dead angel, she must learn the price of power can't be covered by a good tip.
Opening sentence: Cherubim longed for a name; a label to give it shape and definition like the seraphim it admired from a distance.
Name: Nicola Dorrington
ReplyDeleteEmail: nicola_dorrington@hotmail.com
Story Name: Edge of Reality
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=544340452
2 Sentence Pitch: Kelly Page hears voices, well just one voice in particular, one who tells her he is King Arthur, the Once and Future King. Kelly is either crazy or a long-dead king really is talking to her, either way, she knows it can't be good.
Opening sentence: Snedham Mental Institute; God, how I hated that place.
I am a follower, but for some reason it will only ever let me comment anonymously.
Name: CD Coffelt
ReplyDeleteEmail: beccoff(at)nwmo(dot)net
Story Name: The Magic Withheld
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://spiritcalled.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch: Justus Aubre, bar owner and occasional conjuror, dodges the wizard guild’s iron grip until another mage blows his cover and leaves him with two choices. He must surrender or face an opponent in the arena he cannot fight, the woman he loves.
Opening sentence: The concert was over, the bulk of the crowd on their way home.
Name: Tina Moss & Yelena Casale (co-written)
ReplyDeleteEmail: tinamosswrites (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: BLOOD BOND
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://tinamoss.blogspot.com/2011/04/contestapalooza-pitchfests-for-writers.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Submitting to madness, demonic enslavement, or a bond with a vile angel are the grim choices for half-breed Cassie if she can't master her abilities. Gabe, a fallen angel turned unlikely guardian, could provide the help she needs, but trust is hard to come by despite their chemistry, when his main objective is redemption and a ticket off Earth.
Opening sentence: “There’s no flipping way I’m going in there!” Cassie said as she planted her feet and locked her arms against the doorframe.
Name: Becky Mahoney
ReplyDeleteE-mail: ringhappy @ comcast . net
Story name: THE HUNGRY GROUND
Genre: YA Fantasy/Horror
Blog/Twitter/Facebook: @cafecliche
Pitch: When the entire population of a nearby city disappears, aspiring detective Kalinda joins the search team. But the city isn't empty.
Opening sentence: The city of Surya was devoured by the ground itself - everyone knows that.
Name: Danielle Bunner
ReplyDeleteEmail: daniellebunner513(at)gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Silhouettes
Genre: YA Dystopian
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
https://twitter.com/#!/daniellebunner/status/58914359367311360
2 Sentence Pitch: Seventeen year old Neely Ambrose has 25 days to find freedom for the people trapped within the barriers of the Compound. But the race against time isn't easy when life, death and love are all fighting for her soul.
Opening sentence: I freeze, listening for the echo of a footstep
Name: Alexandra
ReplyDeleteEmail: alexandra.singerpubs@gmail.com
Story Name: CRY HAVOC
Genre: YA sci-fi/dystopian
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
2 Sentence Pitch: On twin sky planets in the far future, young pilots known as Dogs of War are bred in facilities called Kennels to fight each time their planets swing into close orbit. As the latest cycle approaches, Oz discovers he’s to be partnered with Akita: the fearsome top pilot of the fleet.
Opening sentence: The launch ship tore through the upper cloud level and downwards, a silver line against the swirling purples and reds of Rem’s greatest storm.
Name: Tessa Elwood
ReplyDeleteEmail: tessaelwood@gmail.com
Story Name: DECONSTRUCTING FATE
Genre: YA Dystopian
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://andanything.com/song-days-8-9-words-movement
Follow: RSS via Google Reader
2 Sentence Pitch:
Vivian, a seventeen-year-old corporate soothsayer, thought seeing other people's future tragedies for a living was hard as hell. Then her vision goes haywire and 'hard' is redefined: she's either insane or the future isn't as inevitable as everyone thought.
Opening sentence:
Timothy could navigate a limo through a minefield.
Name: Andrew Rosenberg
ReplyDeleteEmail: andrew.rosenberg@writerunner.com
Story Name: STEAM PALACE
Genre: Steampunk
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://blog.writerunner.com
2 Sentence Pitch: Noble-born Sophia Stratton meets her ‘Evil Twin’, but to save her twin’s life, she might have to descend into evil herself. Sophia and her family have lost everything—their titles, lands, and wealth—and now, after Sophia inadvertently kills a man, she must flee to Hartford and find a way to return her family to their former glory.
Opening sentence: A devastating ball of flame burst in the sky right above the horizon.
Name: Jason Wasulko
ReplyDeleteEmail: jpwasulko@gmail.com
Story Name: Ocean City Stories: Rumble of the Thunderkids
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jason-Wasulko/113846638639247
2 Sentence Pitch: When Jeremy slips up and accidentally exposes he’s a superhero in disguise to the school bully, the bully forces Jeremy to meet him after school for nightly beatings and submissive mind games in exchange for the his silence. But after a new super villain comes forward and holds Ocean City ransom and the bully uncovers super abilities of his own, the two boys are forced to put aside their differences to work together and save the city.
Opening sentence: Jeremy Young’s face collided into his cold metal locker door, propelled by the force of an unseen hand.
NAME: Valerie Ipson
ReplyDeleteEMAIL: vipson@cox.net
STORY NAME: IDEAL HIGH
GENRE: YA Contemporary
BLOG: valerieipson.blogspot.com
2-SENTENCE PITCH: Ideal High is anything but. After the deaths of the student body president and most of the A-listers at the school, Taryn, the girlfriend left behind, sets aside her own pain to lift an entire school out of theirs.
OPENING SENTENCE: Whose idea was it to broadcast the screen-sized faces of the dead to the farthest shadowy corners of the school's auditorium.
Scott Springer
ReplyDeletescott(at)scottspringer(dot)com
ZTD (ZOMBIE TRANSMITTED DISEASE): A TALE OF FATAL ATTRACTION
YA Urban Fantasy
@sb_springer www.scottspringer.com
I'm proud to present some classic teen scream Zombie action complete with a girl that kicks butt, some coming of age romance, and a twist. Those sexy college students suddenly showing an interest in you . . . not a good thing.
It's Friday night after dinner and a girl just wants to have fun; only instead, I'm sitting cross-legged on my bed, alone.
Holly Boland
ReplyDeletehbwaas@gmail.com
The Phantom Relic
YA Paranormal/Romance
https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1658972735
Everyone is intrigued by the possibility of eternal love. When college student, Dee Bradford, is forced to make the ultimate decision about the man she loves; it is anything but intriguing to her.
You know the couple; they look like Greek gods.
Name:Juliana Brandt
ReplyDeleteEmail: julianalbrandt@gmail.com
Story Name: RUPERT REGINALD ROBINSON, THE NINTH & THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE NEXT DOOR
Genre: middle-grade
Blog link: http://aspiretobejuliana.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html
2 Sentence Pitch:Rupert lives in his imagination to escape his stern Aunt Miriam and the bully who tortures him at school. A simple errand to his neighbor’s house reveals the very thing he hasn't dreamed up is exactly what is true: make-believe creatures come to life in his next door neighbor's house.
Opening sentence: Rupert Reginald Robinson clutched a thick book to his chest; his forehead rested against the glass of the backseat car window.
I love Ryan Greenspan's hook about the washing machine, would love to read more! - An Aussie writer - (Dr Anne from Agent Query Connect).
ReplyDeleteName: Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
ReplyDeleteEmail: SignedJori@gmail.com
Story Name: TABITHA'S DEATH
Genre: YA Dark Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://kissedbyliterature.blogspot.com/2011/04/contest-for-all-my-writing-buddies.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Tabitha feels her life has become too painful after her father’s arrest and decides to kill herself. Instead, she is sucked into another world where she must obey the Gray Man in order to be released into death.
Opening sentence: When I opened my eyes, the razorblade in my fist taunted me.
Are you open to multiple submissions?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Jori: I was wondering the same thing.
ReplyDeleteName: Sage Collins
ReplyDeleteEmail: author(dot)sagecollins(at)gmail(dot)come
Story Name: Hero/Villain
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/Sagecollins
2 Sentence Pitch: When shapeshifting superhero Evie is kicked out of the League for extreme tardiness, she'll have to capture a supervillain singlehandedly to get back in. Too bad the nearest one is her celebrity crush...and her alter ego.
Opening sentence: Rule number eleven in the Superhero's Handbook?
re:
ReplyDeleteOh wow, thanks Dr. Anne! That's really kind of you to say. :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Syrah Peony
ReplyDeleteEmail: Akally52@gmail.com
Story Name: The High Prince
Genre: Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://birdsofawriter.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-all-writers-out-there-there-is-pitch.html
2 Sentence Pitch: When a forgotten prophecy surfaces, princess Anastasia finds her self caught between a dire battle between good and evil. But how can she and Aaron, the high prince, save everything, when they don't know how to?
Opening sentence: “He’s there!” Melanie whispered excitedly.
Name: Amie Kaufman
ReplyDeleteEmail: amiekaufman ~at~ gmail ~dot~ com
Story Name: CURSED
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://amiekaufman.com/?p=436
2 Sentence Pitch: Twelve year old Samuel Lander's troubles started with a chicken stampede and ended with a curse he just can't shake. Now, if he can't find a way to break it, his family will be broken instead.
Opening sentence: Samuel was already running when the miller's shed exploded.
Name: M. Di Gesu
ReplyDeleteEmail: mculi@aol.com
Story Name: Amber and the Whispering Willows
Genre:M/G Realistic Fantasy
Twitter link: http://twitter.com/#!/DAK86
Two Sentence Pitch: A plague is unleashed in the human and fairy realms by an evil fae from the fairy underworld. Born with a gift of the winds, only eleven-year-old Amber can stop it.
First Sentence: Car lights flooded the Esplanade as limo after limo pulled into the circular driveway of the the Mayor of Helmsdale’s mansion.
Name: Mary Holm
ReplyDeleteEmail: worddance8@aol.com
Story Name: DARKLING
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/maryfranholm
2 Sentence Pitch: Taela is determined to kill the man responsible for her sister’s death, even if the rest of the kingdom believes he’s a hero. Her plan to thrust her dagger into his cold black heart hits a snag when she learns her own destiny is tied to the man she wants to destroy.
Opening sentence: The heavy stoneware crock slipped from Taela’s grasp, and smashed to the dirt floor.
Name: Michelle Scheponik
ReplyDeleteEmail: michellescheponik@gmail.com
Story Name: Sit Tight, Take Hold
Genre: YA Contemporary
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/meeeshelley/status/59130684182241280
http://inktopialand.blogspot.com/2011/04/alert.html
2 Sentence Pitch: When American small-town girl Regan meets English city-boy Tristan, sparks fly--adventurous sparks, competitive sparks, and hopefully-just-maybe romantic sparks. But for a girl who's not used to taking second place and a boy who's not used to giving up a challenge, a summer full of unlit matches might just lead to a fizzle.
Opening Sentence: I had assumed he was a dirty, rotten swing-stealer when we first met.
Name: Shannon Lawrence
ReplyDeleteEmail: thewarriormuse(at)gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Synthesis
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: www.thewarriormuse.blogspot.com
2 Sentence Pitch: When fifteen-year old Kieran sights a living adult while on a supply run for his isolated mountain village, he realizes there are other survivors of the deadly Saligia virus that swept the globe over a decade ago. His search for answers will take him the farthest he's ever been from home, and he'll develop powerful abilities he never dreamed of, all while defending his home from outsiders.
Opening sentence: Kieran adjusted the sack on his back, shifting its weight, and silently motioned for Zane to move ahead through the desolate, overgrown street.
I would love to pitch to Natalie- but her former site at the Dijkstra agency said No Bug Books.
ReplyDeleteI assume she is still not into insects, so I will spare her from having to read about creepy crawlies in The Insect Collector.
I think this is a great idea-- thanks for doing it! I posted about it anyway!
Name: Alison Miller
ReplyDeleteEmail: alisonmiller20@gmail.com
Story Name: Envious
Genre: YA
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://alisonmiller20.blogspot.com/2011/04/n-is-for-nerdfighters.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Seventeen-year old Becky’s best friend kills himself without leaving a note. No call. Not even a farewell text. Yet as memories of that fateful night emerge from her subconscious, she suspects she may have had something to do with his death.
Opening Sentence: Mookie’s suicide hit like a sledgehammer to my chest.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Name: Alison DeLuca
ReplyDeleteEmail: alisondeluca@hotmail.com
Story Name: The Night Watchman Express
Genre: YA steampunk
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://www.facebook.com/alison.deluca.author
2 Sentence Pitch: Miriam, an orphan in Edwardian England, discovers the mechanical version of a quantum computer. This sets off a series of adventures involving her guardians, their son, Simon, and the train called The Night Watchman Express.
Opening sentence: "Miriam, who was hiding under the settee in the large drawing room, looked up from the story she was reading."
Name: Deserae McGlothen
ReplyDeleteEmail: desimcg@hotmail.com
Story Name: HAGS
Genre: middle grade humorous fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://almostnotquitethere.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Friendless, heart-broken, and bored out of her mind, thirteen year old Anna Butcher, enters the summer before her ninth grade year anticipating nothing exciting except the annual Mango Festival and her dad's wedding. But when her cowboy boot wearing cousin from New Jersey comes to town, Anna's summer goes from uneventful to frustratingly interesting, and forces her to learn that when life comes at you, you've just got to go with it.
Opening sentence: I know this is going to sound crazy, but I am cursed.
Name: Lori Tays Eastep
ReplyDeleteEmail: leastep@hcu.edu
Story Name: Chronicity
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://loritayseastep.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/pitch-contest-with-agent-natalie-fischer/
2 Sentence Pitch: Grim Grinnert expected to follow his best friend to a basketball game, not the Peloponnesian War. But in Chronicity, the ever-changing Town of Time, they may both lose their lives… if they ever lived at all.
Opening sentence: Grim hated his name.
Name: Kimberly A Miller
ReplyDeleteEmail: kimberlymillerpa@aol.com
Story Name: TRIANGLES
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1353348262
2 Sentence Pitch: A cruise to Bermuda with her sister seems like the perfect escape from the secret guilt seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor carries for causing her dad's death and putting her mom in the hospital. But when her cruise ship sails into the Bermuda Triangle, her life starts to resemble something out of the Twilight Zone.
Opening sentence: I spotted her shivering figure cowering under a tall pine tree.
Name: Tracy Jorgensen
ReplyDeleteEmail:tjorg86 (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: Pillars of Mahan
Genre: Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/TansyRagwort
2 Sentence Pitch: When Jerome’s proposal is interrupted by his childhood sweetheart, he couldn’t be happier. But when their private conversation is interrupted by a giant, carnivorous bat, he could think of better ways to spend the evening.
Opening sentence: As fairy tales go, most are pure fantasy, but every now and again you run across one that is grounded in truth.
Name: Norma Johnson-MacGregor
ReplyDeleteEmail: Johnson_norma(at)hotmail(dot)com
Story Name: VEX
Genre: YA Sf/F
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/Brarygal/status/594212832129884182
Sentence Pitch: Created to rebuild damaged and missing pathways in people with brain injuries, the virtual environment VEX carries heavy consequences for perfectly healthy sixteen-year-old Tana when she becomes addicted to it. While trying to free herself, she learns that an entity living there is preparing to download itself into her weakening body and take over her life.
Opening sentence: I tried to ignore the steady hum of the computers that filled the sterile, white walled room.
Name: Karen Krueger
ReplyDeleteEmail: karenmkrueger at gmail dot com
Story Name: WITHOUT A SONG
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://karenmkrueger.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/pitch-contest-from-yatopia/
2 Sentence Pitch: After seventeen-year-old Tessa loses her ability to sing, she is transported to a world where music is magic. There she discovers a secret that puts her on the government’s most wanted list, forcing her to find her voice to save her life.
Opening sentence: Staring at the red velvet curtain in front of me, I click my heels together three times and think, There’s no place like the stage.
Name: Steven Rogers
ReplyDeleteEmail: SRogers526@gmail.com
Story Name: Godsend
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/SRogers526
2 Sentence Pitch: A suburban youth, Senel Regan, awakens from a dream that instills in him an anxiety he can't quite explain. When his friends start disappearing and a mysterious power awakens in him, what more can he do to fight a future that seems inevitable?
Opening sentence: Why? Why am I doing this? Risking my life for what?
Name: Christy Hintz
ReplyDeleteEmail: nc_hintz@yahoo.com
Story Name: Solstice
Genre: YA Paranormal
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
http://lynneawest.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-more-quick-thing.html www.twitter.com/ericaandchristy
2 Sentence Pitch:
An intuitive fifteen year old can see shadows outlining survivors of a bizarre epidemic. Once they begin to have relapses, she learns she must find the cure or stand accused of spreading the mutating influenza strain.
Opening sentence: Not again.
Name: Marie Rearden
ReplyDeleteEmail: marie (at) marierearden (dot) com
Story Name: DEADLY DARK DREAMS
Genre: Paranormal YA
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://marierearden.blogspot.com/2011/04/yatopia-pitch-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch:
Learn the secrets of the afterlife, bargain with its gatekeeper to escape death, steal memories, and ace Intro to Economics. Not a typical To Do List at seventeen, but then again, Kat never expected high school to be happy puppies and a glittering box of Star Crunch.
Opening sentence: Prep schools aren’t just for the preppy.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Marie Rearden
Yay! This is so cool!!
ReplyDeleteName: Stephanie Haefner
Email: haefner919@yahoo.com
Story Name: Spellbound
Genre: Contemporary Women's fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://thewriterscocoon.blogspot.com/2011/04/z-blogging-challenge-day-14-n-is-for.html
2 Sentence Pitch: When wedding florist Roda Morgan’s most annoying client turns out to be her new man’s mother, she must now smile and nod and deal with the hoity-toity socialite on a personal level. Roda and Eric have their differences—money, family, and religion—but because of their open-mindedness, true love is a reality.
Opening sentence: Wedding florist, Roda Morgan, walked through the grand entrance of St. Gabriel’s Cathedral at six o’clock on the dot as Mrs. Vandewater—her toughest and seemingly most insatiable client, ever—stepped toward her, heels clacking like gunshots at close range.
Name: Jen McConnel
ReplyDeleteEmail: jenmcconnel@hotmail.com
Story Name: The Next Red Witch
Genre: YA modern fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://displacedyankeeinnc.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch: Darlena defies the laws of Magic by choosing to follow the Red Path, but she gets more than she anticipated. Gods want to manipulate her powers, and she must fight for her life against forces she doesn't understand.
Opening sentence: She was a funny looking old woman, and if I didn’t know exactly who she is, I might have laughed at her.
Name: Joyce Shor Johnson
ReplyDeleteEmail: thewritejoyce(at)gmail(dot)come
Story Name: House of Girls
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Blog: http://thewritejoyce.blogspot.com
Twitter: @thewritejoyce
Facebook: http://www.facebook.co/#!/joycerjohnson
2 Sentence Pitch: House of Girls is about being fifteen, in love, and getting pregnant, all of which is a real problem. Especially, if it is 1961, you’re Jewish and he isn’t
Opening sentence: The loud buzzing of a mosquito around my ear is all jumbled up with another familiar buzz, a motorbike getting closer.
(note: Christy Hintz and I blog together, but we really are 2 different people!!)
ReplyDeleteName: Erica Olson
Email: erica.olson75@gmail.com
Story Name: A New Day
Genre: YA contemporary romance
Blog link: http://lynneawest.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-more-quick-thing.html
Twitter link: www.twitter.com/ericaandchristy
2 Sentence Pitch:
Kenz Grayson never thought she'd spend her summer in a new town, let alone dodging a group of nasty girls, nursing her mom back to health after an accident, or learning to love, and then lose, exactly the right guy for her. Well-known for choosing flight over fight, it's up to her to decide what it will take to make her truly happy, and if she's strong enough to do it.
Opening sentence: I slammed the car door and rushed past the men putting pieces of my life into a big white truck.
Name: Alicia Caldwell
ReplyDeleteEmail: aliciacald@gmail.com
Story Name: Quintessence
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/aliciacald/status/59669860828983296
2 Sentence Pitch: The Walker sisters are witches, and even though discovering that fact should be a bonding experience, it’s tearing them apart. Of course, being tricked into eating spelled cookies by Tabby, the youngest, didn’t help.
Opening sentence: Darlene looked down at her small, petite hands and then over at her boyfriend, lying unconscious on the cracked pavement.
Name: Julie Kingsley
ReplyDeleteEmail: truekingsley@me.com
Story name: The Curse of Elizabeth Brewster
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Blog Link: http://julietruekingsley.com/2011/04/17/for-the-writers/
Pitch:
Cemetery stalker, Elizabeth “Eli” Brewster has been banished to Pemberton Academy, where she finds mysterious ties to the early Puritans and her own family history. Soon, a four hundred year old love triangle will unravel her life as she knows it, and it is only the Sisters of the Morrigan (Pemberton’s Secret Society) who can save her from certain death and help her face the love that is her destiny.
First line:
Eli stepped onto the thick Oriental rug whose worn path meandered past stiff upholstered furniture toward her dorm room on the second floor.
Name: Nicole Zoltack
ReplyDeleteEmail: Nicole.Zoltack AT gmail.com
Story Name: Riona's Pen
Genre: Fantasy YA
Twitter link: http://twitter.com/#!/NicoleZoltack/status/59692465627729920
Pitch: Nerdy fifteen-year-old Riona loves her magical pen that allows everything she writes to come true until she realizes her pen is actually cursed. When the pen writes of its own accord about a fantasy land plagued by evil, Riona will do anything, even if give up her pen, to save the inhabitants, including one boy she might be falling in love with.
Opening sentence: Mr. McMichaels hated me ever since he confiscated a story I wrote during class last week.
What great company! Thanks for the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteName: Charity Bradford
Email: charity.bradford@gmail.com
Story Name: SENDEK
Genre: Adult Science Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: Blogged Here
2 Sentence Pitch:
Scientist Talia Shannon is hiding her magical gifts, but the dragon-like aliens invading her planet are aware of her and are determined to wipe out the last of Sendek's mages. Talia accepts the help of the handsome Commander, but the strong emotions he evokes in her are a complication she didn't foresee.
Opening sentence: While other girls dreamed of boys and ponies, I dreamed of fire and pain.
Name: Elaine Smith
ReplyDeleteEmail:elaineamsmith@live.co.uk
Story Name: ENCOUNTERS
Genre: SF
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:
blog: notexactlyblogging.blogspot.com
twitter: twitter.co@elaineamsmith
2 Sentence Pitch:
Thursday, has a lot to cope with: near-total amnesia; her fear of the COUNTER agents; being electronically tagged and dealing with loss and survivor guilt. She clings to the only memory she has retained, even though he is the one the authorities should have under their microscope.
Opening sentence:
She wedged her feet against the rail but that didn’t stop her sliding.
Name: Penny Wright
ReplyDeleteEmail: penny@penelopewright.com
Story Name: Destiny's Minions
Genre: Middle Grade
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://popwaffle.blogspot.com/2011/04/blogs-im-enjoying.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Thirteen year old Owen Blackler has never made any secret of the fact that he hates the whole idea of destiny. That’s too bad, because Destiny is the headmistress at Owen’s new school, and she doesn’t like him much either.
Opening sentence: “Watch for a jackknifed semi northbound on Route 3 at Finn Hill Road …if you can even get there folks, that twelve car pileup still blocks all traffic west of Silverdale…”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName:Patrick W. Fine
ReplyDeleteEmail:Finefest(at)aol(dot)com
Story Name:Moons of the Demon
Genre:Horror
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1065613887 Also posted on my new blog Fineliteraryplace http://www.blogger.com/profile/00299069076676980698
2 Sentence Pitch: Demons are the stuff that nightmares are made of, except for Toby Able whose nightmare set a demon loose on the streets of his town, and this demon is killing its way back to this young man that released it and the girlfriend he will give his life to protect. It's to bad he is only 13.
Opening sentence:Toby Able sat in the booth, sipping his Coke through a straw and staring out the window of the Denny's.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Sarah Steele
ReplyDeleteEmail: sarahkaysteele@gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Jade
Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: sarahkaysteele.wordpress.com
2 Sentence Pitch: Em Perkins never wanted much more from her annual summer vacation than two parental-free weeks and a decent tan. But an unexpected summer fling changes her life... and her world... forever.
Opening sentence: Had I known the guy I was about to hit with my car would try to kill me a few days later, I would have hesitated before slamming on the brakes.
Name: Stacey Vassallo
ReplyDeleteEmail: tamjoeandco7(at)bigpond(dot)com
Story Name: Remnant
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=598626492 and http://twitter.com/#!/StaceyVassallo
2 Sentence Pitch: In a world she’d given up on, Seraphina must learn to trust herself again – and to recognise the mark of a betrayer and that of a friend before it kills her. Seraphinas' death-tainted blood makes bullets and vengeance powerful weapons in her hands, so when destruction and disaster send her into the most dangerous battle of her life, there’s every chance that her death will be the harbinger of the end of humanity.
Opening sentence: A dangerous silence ate at my sanity as I pulled my battered motorcycle to a stop at the damaged curb, my destination finally within reach - it was a house like any other, in any other street, in any other neighbourhood, in any other town.
Name: PK Hrezo
ReplyDeleteEmail: pakazo77@gmail.com
Story Name: X Dare and the Quest for the Gatekeeper
Genre: MG fantasy
Bloglink: http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com/2011/04/o-is-for-opportunity.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Thirteen year old, Xavier Dare thought he'd played all the best video games out there, til one day a mysterious tattooed man offers him a game he's never heard of. Unable to resist a challenge, X finds himself transported to a world in turmoil and without leaders--one he can't get out of til he finds the missing keys to unlock its secrets, and the gatekeeper to get back home.
Opening sentence: I'll take video games over people any day.
Name: Lea McKee
ReplyDeleteEmail: leamckee(at)live(dot)ca
Story Name: STRUCK: A Book of The Veil.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Bloglink: http://leamckee.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-agent-natalie.html
Pitch: Hailey Wittlow is a loner, which is okay with her because everyone is safer that way, or so she thought. It’s when Lance, Hailey’s only friend, is taken by the very forces she tried to protect him from that she must risk her life to preserve his blissful ignorance and mortality.
Opening Sentence:
I was born with a curse, with the ability to see beyond the Veil between realms.
Name: Chen Yan Chang
ReplyDeleteEmail: miss(dot)chenchang(at)gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Summer of Firsts
Genre: YA Contemporary
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: (I will post tomorrow on my blog at chenyanchang.blogspot.com)
2 Sentence Pitch: Grace Washington is buddies with Mr. Darcy, Dracula, Hester Prynne, Mr. Hyde, and Ishmael, but too bad they’re made of words, paper, and a girl’s imagination. She needs to get a life, and that's what she gets when her friend Jenny drags her along for a beach trip where summer fun, summer boys, and summer of firsts are there for the taking.
Opening Sentence: “Option #1: Smart Asian guy with the nice body.”
Name: Joanna Thomas
ReplyDeleteEmail: jo(at)joannalthomas(dot)co(dot)uk
Story Name: Caleb
Genre: YA dystopian
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://writequest.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/online-pitch-competition/
2 Sentence Pitch: Caleb lives in a world where every town thinks their way of life is the one true way. He’s waiting for his 16th birthday, the day he’ll be matched with his bride and finally become a worthy citizen, but when he’s stolen by raiders and sold into slavery, he must deal with being given orders by a girl, wading around in pig muck and everyone pointing knives at his throat in order to find a way home.
Opening sentence: There was nothing I could’ve done, or least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Name: Leiann Bynum
ReplyDeleteEmail: slbynum3(at)gmail(dot)com
Story Name: Grimly
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: twitter.com/writerSLBynum
2 Sentence Pitch: When Xia, a seventeen-year-old grim reaper, realizes a mysterious human boy has the ability to see dead souls, she is instantly drawn to him. But to be with him, she has to be willing to break the rules of her father, the Angel of Death.
Opening sentence: I sounded cruel thinking this, but he was taking too long to die.
Name:Nicole L Rivera
ReplyDeleteEmail:NicoleLRivera@me.com
Story Name: Un-Escapable
Genre: YA
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/Mrs_NikkiRivera/status/60074771328667648
2 Sentence Pitch: A lie, a bribe, and an obsession intertwine four college students on a trip to escape choosing a path for their lives. When the secret past of one of the four puts them in the grips of the Sicilian Mafia, they have to abandon their expectations, regrets, and fears, focusing on what matters most to them: Freedom to be who they want to be.
Opening sentence: My answer arrived on a cool, crisp afternoon.
Name: Theresa M. Leitch
ReplyDeleteEmail: theresaleitch@yahoo.ca
Story Name: FORBIDDEN
Genre: Young Adult
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/Theresa.Mae.Leitch/posts/217920564887703
2 Sentence Pitch:
Seventeen-year-old Liliana Morgan is nearly broken by the deaths of her dad and her boyfriend, but she finds her inner badass when she learns that the Angel of Death lets the dead be judged by the people who knew them. Her dad has already been unjustly condemned to eternal torment, and she will do anything to rescue the guy she loves from the same fate ... even give up her own soul for the chance to save his.
Opening sentence:
I should have known that something very bad had happened when Mom wasn’t waiting at the door to tell me off for being late.
Name:Donea (Lee) Weaver
ReplyDeleteEmail: donealw@aol.com
Story Name: The Glass Prince
Genre: YA
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://itwillhappenoneday.blogspot.com/2011/04/o-is-for-open.html
2 Sentence Pitch: When the Glass Prince binds Clara to the Knight family curse, she must work with Snow White’s immortal son to break it, or die trying. Too bad he'd rather kiss her than help her.
Opening sentence: I woke Mom up with a sound she best described as a helium-sucking squirrel.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Name: Jami Gold
ReplyDeleteEmail: contact (at) jamigold (dot) com
Story Name: The Resurrected
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/JamiGold/statuses/60195267655376898
2 Sentence Pitch: An ex-con-artist tries her hardest to be a good mother to make up for her past. But when an immortal forces her participation in his scheme, Collette must choose between allowing this tyrant’s rise to power or sacrificing her husband and son for the sake of all humanity.
Opening sentence: Daniel’s switchblade clattered to the floor from slackened fingers, the knife the least of his worries.
Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Name: Haley Whitehall
ReplyDeleteEmail: unionadvance4ever (at) gmail (dot) com
Story Name: Shades of White
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://haleywhitehall.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/keep-the-contests-coming/
2 Sentence Pitch: In 1838, after Zachariah, his ma and sister are sold to different masters, he vows to reunite and free his family. He pretends to be white and battles his faith and a manipulative lover, all to protect his family from the horrors of slavery.
Opening sentence: Michael grabbed the pale boy’s arm and pulled him aside gruffly.
Thank you so much for hosting this awesome contest!
Name: Michelle Fayard
ReplyDeleteE-mail: mefayard@yahoo.com
Story name: The Underground Gift
Genre: YA
Blog link: http://michellefayard.blogspot.com/
Two-sentence pitch: Despite rumors about Benjamin Michaelson’s sadistic actions, fifteen-year-old Reeca Fitzgerald is forced to work for him as a seamstress when her abolitionist father is supposedly conscripted into the Union Army. When high-spirited Reeca encourages Josepha, Michaelson’s slave, to help conceal and convey messages for those riding the Underground Railroad, both of their lives will be caught up in a rollercoaster of fear—and revenge—when Josepha attempts to solve a mystery only hinted at by her mother.
Opening sentence: Reeca lifted her head from a hard, straw pillow.
Name: Billie Jo Woods
ReplyDeleteEmail: usaukwoods@yahoo.com
Story Name: The Lytes of Sandoo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://usaukwoods.wordpress.com/
2 Sentence Pitch: At fourteen cycles, Ileana is typical of most girls her age, she is nervous about starting at her new school and is developing deeper feelings for a boy. When her mother goes missing, the boy she likes becomes seriously injured and she herself is kidnapped ultimately her training to become a Sandman grinds to a halt.
Opening sentence: He still couldn’t believe his luck, he had followed the old logging road through the woods to a secluded area and then as if by magic it materialised before him.
Thank you for hosting this contest. It is a great oppurtunity!
Name: Patti Larsen
ReplyDeleteEmail: p.larsen@pei.sympatico.ca
Story Name: Best Friends Forever
Genre: YA Paranormal Thriller
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://pattilarsen.blogspot.com
2 Sentence Pitch: Emily should have died with them that night. Now her best friends haunt her while she desperately tries to find her missing brother.
Opening sentence: A train whistle mourned in the distance.
Name: Audrey Lockwood
ReplyDeleteEmail: lockwood.audrey@gmail.com
Story Name: Olympus Gate
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://writelock.blogspot.com/2011/04/contests.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Annie always believed she was just another orphan of the nuclear wars, not the gods' last tool for rewriting history. But when Annie discovers that she was born in ancient Rome, she travels back to 83BCE to stop her sister's murder, confront the gods, and prevent the coming apocalypse.
Opening sentence: Someone told me once that before the end of the world apples were available year-round.
Name: Annie Cechini
ReplyDeleteEmail: annielauriecechini@gmail.com
Story Name: Chasing Liberty
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://www.annielauriecechini.blogspot.com
2 Sentence Pitch: Tabitha Dixon has something that she shouldn't. She's about to risk everything to keep it.
Opening sentence: She has the vial.
Name: Courtney Stevens Potter
ReplyDeleteemail: courtneycstevens@yahoo.com
Manuscript Name: Some Secrets Bleed
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blog Link: http://quartland.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html
Two Sentence Pitch:
O’Hara’s great-grand father was a Nazi who pretended to be a Jew and her father was a white supremacist who pretended to be normal. They got away with their crimes, but O’Hara, who loved Zeke and pretended she didn’t, got caught.
Opening Sentence: I have a secret, and it’s not the bump me up a cup size, Victoria kind.
Name: Melanie Stanford
ReplyDeleteemail: mmstanford@hotmail.com
Story Name: Daze and Knights
Genre: YA historical
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://daydreamertowriter.blogspot.com/2011/04/contest-with-yatopia.html
Two sentence pitch: Sixteen-year-old Jessica Jacobs never imagined that her daydreams would one day become reality. Or that in this reality she'd be the peon insteand of the princess.
Opening Sentence: I woke up to a sword at my throat.
Name:Amy Machelle
ReplyDeleteEmail:AmyMN28(at)yahoo(dot)com
Story Name:Saving Elizabeth
Genre:YA Inspirational Paranormal Romance
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://authoramymachelle.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch (I sort of made it a 1 sentence pitch. I hope that's o.k.)
Elizabeth denounces her faith after the death of her father, but when she meets the angelic stranger she's been dreaming of and runs into demons in the halls of her high school, she realizes that, not only does the spiritual realm exist, but its most prominent members are battling for her soul.
Opening sentence:
“Don’t do it, Abby,” I pleaded as my knees slammed onto the hardwood floor.
Name: A.N Villasante
ReplyDeleteEmail: anvillasante@gmail.com
Story Name: BookEnd
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://magpiewrites.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch:
Finial Smith lives in BookEnd, where discarded book characters called QRs (Quasi-Reals) come to be recycled or pressed into servitude. When Fin meets Anne, a QR who is more alive and real than anyone he's ever met, he has to decide whether to stand with his family and allow Anne to be destroyed or to side with the impending QR revolution, endangering everyone he loves to save her.
Opening sentence:
It’s early, before dawn but at the bakery everyone’s been up for hours so I stand where I always stand, down the alley in back, opposite her window and out of sight.
Love these contests! And you're so cute, Natalie! Hope you like my pitch.
ReplyDeleteName: Lauren (AKA Empress Awesome)
Email: empressawesome1@gmail.com
Story Name:Chronicles of a Demonsbane
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://empressawesome.blogspot.com/2011/04/awesome-agent-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Fay is blind and an outcast in her community because of her ability to see spirits. But when she discovers she has this ability for a greater purpose, her peers' hatred becomes small potatoes to the threat of Hell's demons plotting to kill her.
Opening sentence: Fay leaned her upper body out of her burrow’s lid, sighing at the carefree nature and happy song of the local sea birds that flitted above her head.
Name: S. A. Chu
ReplyDeleteEmail: ksbaby4 @ yahoo.com
Story Name: Body Jumper
Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://sirragirl.blogspot.com/http://twitter.com/#!/sirra_girl
2 Sentence Pitch:http: Fabulous 15 year-old Korina lives a perfect life until she is sucked into the body of a dorky, 16 year-old dude.
Opening sentence: There.
Name: Ariel Emerald
ReplyDeleteEmail: arielemerald@rocketmail.com
Story Name: Lassertia
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link:http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/2011/04/if-you-guys-write-yaand-you-didnt-enter.html
2 Sentence Pitch:Vitiosus is the prince of Lassertia, a kingdom of humans who think themselves a higher race—a perfect creation. Vitiosus is anything but perfect, his blood is impure and in Lassertia, those with impure blood are banished to death.
Opening sentence: Someone was going to die today.
Name: Curtis Chen
ReplyDeleteEmail: curtis@snout.org
Story Name: WAYPOINT KANGAROO
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://hotsheet.snout.org/2011/04/yatopia-pitch-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch: Kangaroo is a spy with a superpower--an extra-dimensional "pocket" that makes him the perfect smuggler. But when he's unexpectedly trapped on a hijacked spaceship, he'll need more than just a good hiding place to save the day.
Opening sentence: "Whenever I come home, I'm afraid it's going to be for the last time."
Name: Lisa Kelleher
ReplyDeleteEmail: lakemichigan37@yahoo.com
Story Name: CYBER-BULLIED
Genre: YA Cont, Thriller, Coming of Age
Blog/Facebook link: http://lakemichigan37.blogspot.com
2 Sentence Pitch: Melinda feels the rush in cutting, Jen is your average geek, Kevin is the school's loser. All of them are victims of cyber-bullying; one will not last to see the summer.
Opening sentence: Worchester, N.Y. – The body of a 17 year old found late Friday night had a suicide note detailing the teens’ struggle to survive.
Rosi Hollinbeck
ReplyDeleterosihollinbeck@yahoo.com
The Incredible Journey of Freddy J.
Middle-grade historical fiction
http://rosihollinbeckthewritestuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/another-writers-contest-and-winning.html
Two-sentence pitch: It is 1926 and ten-year-old Freddy’s father says his family can no longer afford to keep him; he must leave and learn to support himself. He and his best friend, Rudy, whose father beats him, strike out for California to make their own ways in the world.
Opening sentence: “Rudy jumped up and cheered.”
Name: Meredith Mansfield
ReplyDeleteEmail: Meredith_Mansfield(at)msn(dot)com
Title: MAGE STORM
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy
Blog link: http://meredithmansfield.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/pitch-contest/
Pitch:Like everyone else, Rell believes that magic died along with its users at the end of the Great Mage War until he develops an unexpected and uncontrolled ability. With every strong emotion sparking unrestrained magic, Rell must find someone who can help him learn to control this gift for his own safety and that of everyone around him.
First Line: At the flicker of colored light, Rell raised his head from the row of corn he'd been weeding, glancing up over Da's back.
Name: Mark Fenger
ReplyDeleteEmail: mfenger at shaw dot ca
Title: Aetherstorm
Genre: YA Steampunk
Blog Link: http://brassbolts.blogspot.com/
Pitch: A steam-powered Earth, where civilized men live in the skies and the land is a battleground, is facing annihilation. The only one who can save it is a disaffected young man who would like nothing better than to watch it all turned to ashes.
First Line: Stefan Adler was born in the middle of a riot.
Name: Heidi Tabing
ReplyDeleteE-mail: hgtabing@gmail.com
Story Name: THE AVIATION WALTZ
Genre: YA sci-fi
Blog: aderumoro.blogspot.com
2-sentence pitch: On the planet Placea, people have sky-colored hair, perfect immune systems, and aviation is the ultimate treachery. Even so, a rich young ballerina and a poor engineer spend their summer building a plane in secret.
First line: If he hadn’t agreed to babysit his hyperactive cousins, Edillan might have reached Quartz Square early.
Name: Amanda Hoving
ReplyDeleteEmail: amanda[at]amandahoving[dot]com
Story Name: My Life in Nicknames
Genre: YA Contemporary
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/amandahoving/status/60049816293605376
2-sentence pitch: Addie Nelson is an aspiring misfit who's been running from painful memories ever since her mom died seven years ago. This time she escapes to Circus Arts -- a teen summer camp -- where she walks a tightrope, starts a riot, and tries very hard to forget.
Opening sentence: I was just hours away from starting my life-long dream, and my stepmom's fat opinions (and body parts) were blocking the door.
Name: Jo Hart
ReplyDeleteEmail: thegracefuldoe[at]hotmail[dot]com
Story Name: The Labyrinth of Middle Realm
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://thegracefuldoe.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/pitch-contest-on-yatopias-blog/
2 Sentence Pitch: Lost in a parallel realm, fourteen year old Katie battles soldiers, dangerous beasts and a labyrinth to find a way home. When she discovers she's been called to Middle Realm to help fight a sorceress, Katie is sure some mistake has been made, because she is NOT hero material.
Opening sentence: As Katie sat on the pool deck, dangling her feet in the cool clear water, she let out a gasp.
Name: CD Coffelt
ReplyDeleteEmail: beccoff(at)nwmo(dot)net
Story Name: Of Oak & Dragons
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://spiritcalled.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch: An unexpected inheritance, a snarky rapier with delusions of grandeur, and a tall stranger wreck Leah Sterling’s college schedule and throws her in the middle of an ancient war.
Opening sentence: When I was a kid, I found a human skull.
SECOND ENTRY
ReplyDeleteName: Deserae McGlothen
Email: desimcg@hotmail.com
Story Name: 30 Days of June
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://almostnotquitethere.blogspot.com/2011/04/pitch-contest-with-natalie-fischer.html
2 Sentence Pitch: As a self-proclaimed nutcase, sixteen year old Clarissa Evans has spent most of her adolescence as a recluse who has merely been an observer of the world, rather than a part of it. But when her shrink gives her a slip of paper that challenges her to find what she’s looking for by the last day of June, Clarissa unknowingly learns a lot about herself in her attempt to find answers about life and where she fits in it.
Opening sentence: Wednesday was psych day.
Name: Dustin Warren
ReplyDeleteEmail: duwarrs(at)gmail.com
Story Name: ONE LAST TIME
Genre: YA Contemporary
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://duwarr-writes.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch:
Fifteen-year-old Bailey wants a day free from doctors, free from her oppressive, worrying parents, and free from the misery her terminal disease inflicts on her. And if she has to die a little sooner to get that day, that’s okay by her.
Opening sentence:
Three pairs of hands fumble at the cords and tubes connecting me to the machines around my bed.
Name: Lauren
ReplyDeleteEmail: empressawesome1@gmail.com
Story Name: Untitled
Genre: YA Contemporary
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://twitter.com/#!/EmpressAwesome
2 Sentence Pitch:Twilight-obsessed Jeanette thinks she's just found her very own vampire boyfriend. Unfortunately, in The World of Jeanette, sexy Irish boys with albinism can sometimes be mistaken for the undead, and when he breaks up with her over the mix up it's going to take a lot more than an apology to get him back.
Opening sentence: Either I was dreaming all day, or Edward Cullen is going to my school.
Name: Angie Azur
ReplyDeleteEmail: angazur@mac.com
Story Name: REDWOOD BLOOD
Genre: Middle-grade contemporary fantasy
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/angazur
2 Sentence Pitch:Benjamin Corbin's dad is missing and his grandpa died, leaving him a carved wooden box. Inside the box is a piece of paper with Corbin scrolled across the top along with an odd title, The Blood of the Trees.
Opening sentence:Ben aimed at headlights on cars pulling up outside.
Name: Gennifer Albin
ReplyDeleteEmail: jenalbin321@gmail.com
Story Name: CREWEL
Genre: YA dystopian/sci-fi
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://blog.genniferalbin.com/2011/04/another-pitch-contest.html
2 Sentence Pitch: They say it's a blessing to touch a Spinster as she passes, but for 16 year-old Adelice her ability to capture and weave time is a curse. When she slips and reveals her gift, she's thrust into a dangerous game of power and control that she's determined to win.
Opening sentence:I can count the days until summer draws to a close and autumn seeps into the leaves, painting them ginger and scarlet.
Name: Dustin Warren
ReplyDeleteEmail: duwarrs(at)gmail.com
Story Name: UNLIVES OF THE UNDEAD
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://duwarr-writes.blogspot.com/
2 Sentence Pitch:
George, a teen zombie reality TV star, is the police’s only suspect when his vampire roommate gets a stake through her heart. Unfortunately for George, his cognitively-challenged zombie brain isn't equipped to pass an Algebra quiz, much less triumph over the evil genius who framed him.
Opening sentence:
“Can someone get rid of the flies? They’re ruining my shot,” a cameraman said.
Judy Gumina
ReplyDeleteJmhhg0223@msn.com
Behind the Waterfall
Fantasy
http://judysjotting.blogspot.com/2011/04/hi.html?showComment=1303439453748#c1806709415065105227
Lissa needs to find Connor. Once she does, they need to finish what the Green Fairy started to get back home.
“Hurry, they’re coming!” shouted the guard.
Wow guys! Amazing entries! I had so much trouble picking my favourites for Natalie. There were some I loved but passed on because they're not on her "wish list". But if you don't get picked this time keep entering our competitions as the right agent could just be a blog post away.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this opportunity. This was definitely a fun way to put ourselve out there. Good luck to everyone!
ReplyDeleteDitto the comment above: it was REALLY hard to narrow it down to 10! Even narrowing it to 20 was difficult.
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone who entered, and thank you Natalie! Let the choosing and tallying begin! :)
ReplyDeleteAre you guys going to publish a list of the ones you sent to Natalie? Inquiring minds want to know :P
ReplyDeleteHmm, good question... must consult. :)
ReplyDeleteYES! We will let you know who the top 20 finalists were, as well as Natalie's final picks. Check back on the 28th!
ReplyDeleteSo many great hooks - looking forward to the reveal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for holding this contest!!
Name: Deirdra Eden Coppel
ReplyDeleteEmail: Knightesshope (@) gmail
Story Name: WHITE FIRE
Genre: Historical YA Fantasy
Word Count: 85,000
Blog/Twitter/Facebook link: http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/ or my official site at www.Knightess.com
There are both good and evil people like her with spectacular powers, including an immortal Scottish warrior to whom she was once betrothed.
Scotlyn has to prove her worth in a traditionally male-dominated society, battle wounds and a broken heart, elude the Dark Rebellion that seek her power, find her purpose on earth, and discover if her ethereal abilities are a curse or a gift.
Opening sentence: Even from across the field Scotlyn could see Glen’s chipped teeth snap together when she set foot on his territory.
Hey everyone! Chanelle heard from Natalie, and she's going to post the 3 winners (along with the other 17 finalists) as soon as she gets home from work today! Thanks for your patience. :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to it.
ReplyDelete