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Query Critique 66
If being shy around girls were a serious disease, sixteen-year-old Jason Martyr would be on the terminal list. It turns out girls are the least of his worries when a secret government agency abducts...
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What I’m Reading (and loving)
I didn’t start this blog with the intention of it becoming a book blog. The world has plenty of other book bloggers who do what they do better than I would. That said, I am constantly saying that you...
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Query Critique 67
Memories. They are one of the most important aspects of our very existence. Memories shape our individuality, provide a roadmap as to how we should act, and serve as an aid as we travel through life,...
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Q&A: Mentioning fanfiction in your query
I recently had the following question asked in response to a query critique. I noticed here that she pointed out publishing some fanfiction. Is this a good idea? I know fanfiction is becoming more...
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Frost Blog Tour: An interview with E. Latimer
You feel a great sense of pride whenever one of your critique partners does something awesome. Which is why I’m stoked to be kicking off the blog tour for E. Latimer’s new book, Frost, which is being...
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Query Critique 68
Pride of Divinians, the royal family stands above all. This sentence doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Led by someone who can manipulate people and beasts alike, a coterie agrees that the royalty must...
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Query Critique 69
Thirty-one-year-old Francy is sure she’s already solved the mystery of her family’s murder. Until she discovers she was wrong. Intriguing hook! When Francy was just twelve years old, her entire family...
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Agent Intern Chat
This is sort of an in case you missed it sort of thing, since this happened awhile ago. I got together with some of the other wonderful interns at A+B Works and we did a live hangout where we chatted...
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Query Critique 70
Dear (Agent whose name I’ve absolutely spelled correctly) (Something personal about how I found you and why we’d be a good fit, to show this isn’t a mass submission) 11-year old misfit GWENDOLYN GRAY...
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Micro Tension
This is something my CP Erin Latimer talks about a lot, and she has a great post on the subject on her blog. You should certainly read her remarks on the subject, but I’m just going to elaborate a...
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Query Critique 71
Dear [Agent Name], I’m currently seeking representation for my NA romantic suspense novel, BEWARE OF BOLTON MANOR. Given your interest in the romance genre, I thought it might be a good fit for your...
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Books I Almost Didn’t Read: A look at cover design
We’re told not to judge a book by its cover, but we do. I’ve noticed that I actually have some pretty strong feelings about covers, so I’m going to blog about them today and next week. For today’s...
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#MockPit Rules of Participation
What is #MockPit? I’m so glad you asked! MockPit is a practice round for Twitter pitch contests like PitMad. I will be going through pitches and offering suggestions for improvements. If I favorite...
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Query Critique 72
Ginnifer’s past vanished at five when her parents died in a fire. I think some of the stuff later in the query would make a better hook. A lot of books feature dead parents. Now sixteen, all that...
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Covers I Love: Pretty dress edition
Last week I talked about book covers I don’t love. This week I planned to talk about some covers I do like. But then I decided I could dedicate a whole posts to covers of girls in pretty dresses. So I...
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MockPit Raffle
Thanks for participating in MockPit. To show my appreciation, I’m giving away some great e-books about writing craft. Enter the Rafflecopter below! a Rafflecopter giveaway Books available include Erica...
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Query Critique 73
Dear Agent Name, In an ancient Rome-like world, people who once had magical abilities – the Verasians – are enslaved, forced to fight each other. This sentence reads a bit clunky. Maybe there’s...
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Covers I love part 2
So last week was devoted exclusively to covers with pretty dresses. This week we’ll look at some non-dress covers I like.
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Query Critique 74
Dear (Agent) FALL TO PIECES is an 89,000-word dual perspective contemporary YA novel. If Jennifer Niven’s ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES met FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, this is the result. The wording here is a tiny...
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Two types of bad guys
I have this theory that there are two types of villains that work really well in fiction. They type you love to hate and the type you hate to love. The first kind, the one you love to hate might look...
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