Writer Odyssey Wednesday Interview

Hey guys!

The wonderful Amy Trueblood has interviewed me for her Writer Odyssey Wednesday series. If you'd like to see what I have to say about the Misfits, my book, and how my CPs save my life on a regular basis, check it out here!

Very Exciting News

I really don't know what to say in a post like this, so I'm just going to say it:

MY BOOK SOLD! 

My book is going to be a book. And not just that--it's going to be a trilogy!

That's right! My YA romantic thriller trilogy, working title THE ELITE, is coming from the amazing Putnam/Penguin in late 2014!! 

I know. I still can't quite believe it. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

About two weeks ago, on a Thursday, my fabulous agent Claudia sent THE ELITE out on sub. The following Wednesday, when I saw Claudia calling, I assumed I'd maybe attached a synopsis wrong or something. So when she said, "We have our first offer!" I didn't scream or cry or dance with joy or anything like that. I just said, very eloquently, "... ...What?"

And then she gave me all the details and I was kind of writing them down, but really I was just going:

I was still doing that a few days later when we got another offer, and a couple days after that, I accepted a 3-book deal from Putnam/Penguin, with the absolutely amazing Arianne Lewin as my editor! (My editor! Whoa. And she is so great, you guys. I am so excited to work with her!!)

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been excited about the book and sent encouragement and talked me down from the crazy through this whole process. There were definitely times I was sure this wouldn't happen. There were times I thought my book was just too different. (Fun fact: one scene I love but worried was just too weird is Editor Ari's favorite scene!) And through it all, it was the love from you guys for my story and my characters that kept me going. 

And now, the world gets to know my characters! Avery, Jack, and Stellan are going out into the world! And that, more than anything, is what makes me freak out all over again whenever I think about it. So even though it hasn't quite sunken in yet, I have pretty much looked like this the past few days:

Thank you guys again for all your support and for believing in my book and for everything! I love you all!

EDIT: Ahhhh! I'm on Goodreads!! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17134589-the-elite

(PS--After Christmas I will be doing a giveaway to celebrate! Check back soon for more info!) <3

Thankful

I know it's a few days after Thanksgiving, but today is my birthday, and it always makes me a little reflective. This year, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for. There's way too much to list, and I don't want to make this post a million pages long, so just in terms of writing, I'm thankful for:

-My writing friends (all of them, but especially the lovely Dahlia, Gina, Marieke, and Erica!) They read anything I write, they obsess over my characters with me, and they talk me down from the ledge when I'm feeling off. I truly could not do this with out them. I love you guys!

-My agent, Claudia Ballard. She has been amazingly patient and encouraging and awesome, and her brilliant suggestions have made my MS so much better than it ever could have been without her. I'm so lucky she wanted to work with me!

-The YA Misfits. They are writing friends (see above) but they've also given me the chance to be part of something great. If you haven't seen the site yet, check it out!

-My husband. Not only is he supportive of my writing, he takes the time to talk through plot points with me, to read new scenes, and to give me a glass of wine when he knows that's what I really need. (And no, you can't have him. He's all mine!)

What (or who) are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?

Get Your Pitch On: UNCOVERED

Hi everyone! Today we have a pitch for Get Your Pitch On. Please feel free to critique in the comments.

Name: Lindsey Frydman

Email: LindseyMFrydman@gmail.com

Country of residence: US

Title: UNCOVERED

Genre: YA Sci-Fi Romance

Word-count: 62,000

Pitch: When Hallie meets Colton, a guy with more frightening secrets than being an alien, she finds herself hunted by the Megaera. This deranged alien mafia group says she’s a Hamartia, a half human race who isn’t allowed to exist because they’re a threat. The Megaera thinks she could be an asset. Hallie must decide whom to trust if she wants to avoid being a prisoner or worse—dead.

Hi Lindsey! Happy to have you here on my blog and in the contest! UNCOVERED sounds like a very cool concept. Deranged alien mafia? Whoa. I'd love to see how that played out!

What I'd love to see in this pitch is even MORE of what makes this story unique. "Half human race who isn't allowed to exist..." is a good specific sentence, and as I mentioned, "deranged alien mafia" sounds awesome. 

But then we have some sentences that, to me, sound a little too general. "More frightening secrets," "an asset," "must decide who to trust"--I feel like I could fit those sentences into pitches for quite a lot of books. To make this pitch even stronger, I would hone in more on the details we'll only find in THIS book. What exactly do the Megaera want with Hallie? Who is she deciding to trust or not? Colton? I'd love to see him come up again, since the genre is listed as Sci-Fi Romance. 

And my other question would be: does Hallie have a 'positive goal?' Avoiding something certainly sounds important in this case, but is she working toward anything at the same time? Positive goals (working toward something) are generally more active, and therefore more interesting in a pitch than negative goals (avoiding something).  

I know how hard it is to get details in such a short pitch, but it's also the place you need them the most! The more you can pack the limited space you do have with specifics rather than generalities, the faster a reader will snatch it up!

Best of luck!! 

Agree with me? Don't agree with me? Let us know in constructive critique in the comments! And once you're done here, you can hop around to all the other participating blogs (see the other blogs here) and leave feedback there, too! 

For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz, Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn and Kaitlin Adams, and Sarah Nicolas with three query critiques. Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques.

Get Your Pitch On!

Hello querying writers! Exciting news--there's a great new contest starting TODAY!

For Get Your Pitch On, Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be taking pitches both on Down Under Wonderings and on the group blog YAtopia on October 15th. 

Marisa is looking for YA in any genre and is accepting submissions from anywhere in the world. This is your chance to skip the slush pile and put your pitch right under the nose of a fantastic editor. There's even better news - there is no limit on how many requests Marisa will make from the contest. 

THE CONTEST
Here are the rules:

• Your manuscript must be complete, polished and ready to query - this means no first drafts or almost-finished manuscripts.
• It must be YA.
• Your entry detail needs to include a 50 - 70 word pitch.
• You can enter more than once if you have more than one complete, polished, ready to query manuscript.
• Entries MUST follow the formatting guidelines in the example below: 

Name: Sharon Johnston
Email: smjohnston [ @ ] live.com.au
Country of residence: Australia
Title: SLEEPER
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Word-count: 58,000

Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Mishca Richardson is a sleeper soldier with a weak heart. She has no idea that a life saving heart transplant has accidentally triggered her programming. In the search for answers, she discovers the truth and that her creator, Wirth, has classified her remaining “sisters” from her experiment group as defective, scheduling them for termination. Mishca sets out to save them before they’re eliminated.



THE WORKSHOPS

You might be wondering how this blog fits in. I (and a whole bunch of other blogs you can find here) am helping workshop your pitches to get them in the best shape they can be before October 15! Each entry submitted will get a pitch critique from a participating blog, plus have their pitch posted for other participants to comment on. These workshops start on October 1, but you can send your pitches now to secure your spot with a host blog.

There is no date deadline for the workshops. Each blog has allocated a set number of pitches that they can host and once those spots are full then no more submissions will be taken. 

Important Rule: If you want to participate in a workshop, you must be prepared to comment on at least one other pitch. For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz, Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn and Kaitlin Adams. Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. The opportunity ends 10/14/2012.

How to submit: Email your draft pitch to pitchonws@gmail.com, and don't forget to put PitchOn WS and the name of your manuscript in the subject line of your email. Pitches must follow the formatting above.

Draft pitches will be evenly distributed between host blogs. 

What are you waiting for? Start sending your pitches! And also – make sure to use the #PitchOn hashtag on Twitter to follow all the news now and be part of the excitement during the contest.

YA Misfits Giveaway WINNER!

Thank you all SO much for entering my YAMF Launch Giveaway! I was happy to see that so many of you had heard of Save the Cat, and hopefully the winner will get some good use out of it.

I know you just want to know who won, so let's get to it! I numbered your comments, put them into random.org, and the winner is................

EMILY MEAD!!!

Emily, I am going to tweet you, but if you see this first, go ahead and email me at maggie.bunting (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks again for entering, everyone, and I'm so glad to see you on board for YA Misfits!

YA Misfits Giveaway!

So, if you haven't heard, there's a new blog on the block. We're called YA Misfits, and we're a group of YA writers from all across the genre spectrum and all across the world!

To celebrate our launch, we're giving away all kinds of great stuff. On the Misfits blog, you can enter to win a KINDLE (!!!) and the other Misfits are giving away fabulous prizes from books to crits to music and more!

So what am I giving away? Only one of my favorite writing books of all time, plus a critique to help get you going. 

Though Save The Cat is technically a screenwriting book, I think every writer should read it. Something wrong with your pitch? Blake Snyder will give you some hints. Can't figure out why your story is dragging 1/3 of the way through? Check out the famous Beat Sheet. Having problems with an infodump? See the chapter about the Pope in the Pool (seriously!).

One of you lovely readers will win a copy of this book, PLUS (if you need it!) a query critique. 

Why a query critique? Because see, I actually like queries, and you should too. We all know you need a fantastic query to snag an agent, but did you know it's a great plotting tool, too? No matter what stage of the writing process you're in, a query's a good thing to have. And since my query had somewhere around an 80% request rate, I guess I might have some tips to give!

To enter, all you have to do is comment below by 11:59 pm EST on Monday, September 10. (It'd be NICE if you were a follower here and over at YA Misfits--and our Twitter accounts!--but it's not required.) I'll pick a winner and announce it the next day! International entries are welcome!

Oh yeah, and if you haven't done so yet, GO CHECK OUT YA MISFITS! You know you want to.