Several Good Things

I got back some incredibly helpful edits from a new critique partner, Theresa Milstein. I also made another connection with a writer from across the pond, Laura Wardle, who I'm going to swap some writing with as well. I appreciate your efforts ladies! Thanks for suffering through reading over my not-quite-yet perfect prose!

I am also plugging away, trying to perfect my query in C.J. Redwine's Query Workshop. If you need help with your query, I would definitely recommend it. I'm only halfway in and I already feel like my query has improved 100%.

Aspiring Mama posted my winning Baby F(Ph)at Essay on Bookieboo (you can see a cute picture of my daughter along with the article).

And, my most unexpected news of all... I won the pitch contest on Market My Words (see, I told you C.J. was helping me already!). My five sentence pitch was chosen by Sarah LaPolla of Curtis Brown Ltd. and I get a first chapter critique from Sarah herself. Awesome! Here was my winning pitch in case anyone is interested:

HIGH HOPES is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey,” but instead of going to Bath, eighteen-year-old Katie Moreland takes a trip to Florida for Spring Break week. There, she meets Hal Tilney, who quickly wins her over with his charm and wit, and who also happens to live in one of the most haunted houses in America – the home where the events of “The Amityville Horror” took place. When Katie is invited to visit for the weekend, her horror-obsessed brain goes into overdrive and she imagines ghosts and ghouls around every corner. Hal tries to explain to her that all the sinister stories about the house are just rumors, but Katie is convinced that the Amityville home is hiding a dark secret. Katie tries to find the source of her supernatural suspicions, but doesn’t know she also runs the risk of something truly scary – losing the guy she loves.

So, yeah, it was a pretty great day!

-- Lisa