WriteOnCon: Pitch-Fest!

I was recently made aware of a very cool event coming up in February and March wherein aspiring middle grade and young adult writers will have the amazing opportunity to pitch their books to literary agents. There's a whole lot more to this event than that though, so I'm just going to let you have it straight from the fabulous people at WriteOnCon:

We here at WriteOnCon have decided that we sleep too much. To rectify that, we're organizing a mid-winter "Luck 'O the Irish" pitch-fest, where agents, book bloggers, and authors will team up to read and vote for the best pitches of 2013.

You read that right! A pitch-fest! At WriteOnCon!

But you won't need a pot 'o gold–or a lucky leprechaun–to participate, because our goal is to make sure you're well prepared. After all, we have bonafide literary agents coming to this thing! Yes, they will be reading the pitches, and yes, they are looking to sign clients. It could be you!

Not a writer? WE STILL NEED YOU! We're recruiting book bloggers and readers to spread the word and to vote for their favorites. Advocate for the books you want to see published–contact us at writeoncon@gmail.com to become an official WOC 2013 Pitch-Fest Blogger. You'll even get a special button (see above). Ooooo. Shiny buttons.

THE DETAILS:

•     Pitch-fest runs from March 18-22. Authors, book bloggers, readers, and our fabulous literary agents will be voting on the pitches. The favorites in each category will win prizes, including some great agent feedback or membership in the official WriteOnCon mentorship program!

•     There will only be a limited number of pitches accepted. That number is unknown at this time, because it depends on how many agents attend. We're still recruiting agents and will let you know the final numbers as soon as we do! Pitches will be selected randomly, so it doesn’t matter what time zone you live in.

•     The agents have selected their top three genres, and pitches will ONLY be accepted in those genres. Again, all genres are unknown at this time as we're still finalizing agents, but don't worry. We will make announcements about genres and numbers as things solidify (sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss a thing!). At this time, we are only focusing on the children's market, so you can know now that this pitch-fest will focus only on middle grade and young adult genres.

•     We're announcing this now, before all details are finalized, because we're running a "perfect your pitch" workshop in February. This will take place in the WriteOnCon forums, and will work much the same as the query critique boards do during the annual WOC. You will post your pitch, and your peers will critique it. We will have posts from industry professionals on writing pitches and genre classification.

We're doing this for a good reason. We want your pitch to be as perfect as possible once the submission window hits in March. We will only be accepting your entry for the pitch-fest one time. We will not change your genre or edit your pitch after it has been submitted. This workshop during February is the time for you to fine-tune your pitch and get feedback about which genre your novel really belongs in.

•     Only one pitch per person. Put forth your best work.

•     Pitches should be for polished and query-ready novels only. That means if you haven't finished your novel yet, you shouldn't pitch. Still revising? Don't pitch. The agents attending are looking for material, and when they request, you want to be ready to send out your novel. We're announcing early to give you time to finish!

DATES TO KNOW:

February 18-March 10 - Forum peer pitch critiques (Carolin has the forum boards built! Check them out HERE)

March 11-13 - Submission of final pitches (this will be done through a Google form, NOT in the forum--details to come!)

March 14-17 - We build the boards in the forum (they will be hidden until March 18)

March 18-22 - Voting and commenting by literary agents, mentor authors, and book bloggers

We can't wait to see you at the Luck o' the Irish Pitch-Fest! Watch the WOC newsletter and site for more updates as we get closer to liftoff. Yeah, that was totally a mixed metaphor.

Review: Throne of Glass

THRONE OF GLASS

(Throne of Glass #1)

Sarah J. Maas
Young Adult/Fantasy-ish
416 pages
Bloomsbury Children's
Available August 7th
Received at BEA for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

MY THOUGHTS

Throne of Glass is a story that seems to quietly smolder, intense moments of action igniting a spark that grabs our attention before things settle down again for our heroine, keeping us constantly on edge as we wait for a full flame to roar to life and warm our hearts with its mesmerizing dance. Unfortunately, in this first installment, that stunning flame is never quite given the air to breathe, our connection to the three main protagonists flickering in and out of existence as we struggle to get a handle on who each of them is beyond their classification or title. Ms. Maas is unquestionably a gifted storyteller, and by the end, the pages cannot be flipped fast enough in order to learn Celaena’s fate, but both world and characters feel a touch incomplete, existing as bright but flat stripes of color without the shadows, depth, and background to bring their canvas to life.

Celaena has the potential to be a spectacular heroine, her dark past barely hinted at in this first book and her skills as an assassin something we can’t wait to see put into action as she defends herself against the twenty-three other competitors vying for the position of the king’s champion, however, she spends almost the entire book merely boasting of her strength and her skill with weaponry without ever backing it up. From our initial meeting she’s referred to as “the world’s greatest assassin”, but those four words make up the entirety of what we know about her for majority of the story. She’s constantly aware of her surroundings, weighing and measuring those around her and plotting how easily she could take them down if she wanted, and while we clearly understand that she can’t go around slaughtering people given her precarious situation, we aren’t even really treated to a display of her skills when it comes to the Tests against the other competitors.

A couple of the Tests are described for us, and we can’t help but revel in those moments when we begin to see some of the much-exalted assassin come to the surface, but after those few brief moments, the Tests are glossed over for the remainder of the story until we get to the final duel. We barely scratch the surface of Celaena’s character, and because we know so little about her, her relationships with both Captain of the Guard Chaol and Crown Prince Dorian don’t elicit from us the reaction we long for when reading. There are several sweet moments between Celaena and both young men, but their connections to one another don’t leave impressions in our skin from where their fingers have grabbed us and held us tight, nor do our bodies feel wound tight in their presence, just waiting for the tension to snap and give us something emotionally charged. Instead, we spend our time longing for the moment when they’ll transform from black and white ink to flesh and blood people, dazzling us with facets of themselves we’re not seeing currently.

Throne of Glass does conclude in impressive fashion, the final battle between Celaena and the most dangerous of her competitors both gritty and violent, drawing us into Celaena’s world in the way we’d hoped to be from the beginning. Hopefully, as the series continues, we’ll learn more of Celaena other than she’s an assassin, and the richness of possibility surrounding all the characters as well as their world will be given room to stretch and come to fruition.

Rating: 3/5

*I think I'm in the extreme minority with my feelings on this book, so below are some reviews of those who absolutely loved it:

Bewitched Bookworms
The Readers Den
Realm of Fiction

Blog Tour: Mothership

Welcome to the 6th stop on the Mothership blog tour! Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you some movies authors Martin Leicht and Isla Neal think would be fun to put in a time capsule to share with people in the future. Love it. Also, be sure and check out the next stop on the tour Thursday, July 26th at Novel Novice!

Life will undoubtedly be very different for Elvie Nara in the year 2074. It’s fun to imagine all of the crazy technology and food and entertainment people will be exposed to sixty years from now. But sometimes it’s just as hilarious to look to the past and mock their conventions. So, in that vein, we were asked to think of some contemporary objects that we would put in a time capsule for Elvie to discover. She’d probably make fun of a lot of it—after all, these are things that would have been “cool” for her grandparents! Still, we think she’ll get a kick out of seeing what we were watching, wearing, eating, and more.

Movies. By the year 2074, with the domination of 3D virtual cinemas, the majority of the films we love today will be known as “flat pics.” But, quaint as they may seem to her contemporaries, Elvie loves her some 2D drama, so we wanted to give her some interesting choices. This was hard, because for every movie we desperately wanted to include (Serenity) there were three others that had just as valid a reason for appearing on an objective list of noteworthy contemporary films. So our undying love for personal favorites (like, um, Serenity) aside, we settled on a slate of major motion pictures that have come out recently and have something interesting to say about our culture at the beginning of the 21st century.

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jqq4j52Fb4 

The Dark Knight is not a perfect movie. Personally we wouldn’t even say it’s the best Christopher Nolan Batman movie (that would be Batman Begins, in Martin’s humble opinion, though he knows many will disagree. Isla says forget the movies altogether and go for some Adam West—SMASH! BANG!—TV silliness.). Still, The Dark Knight is the most ambitious “comic book” movie ever made, both in its tone and execution, and as such it managed to eclipse many more “grown-up” movies at the time of its release and even after. Heath Ledger’s performance and Chris Nolan’s steady direction are equally hypnotic. Also that chase through the streets of Gotham (hello, Batpug!) is just awesome. All in all, The Dark Knight captured the zeitgeist of its time, both in and out of the cinema, in a manner that few other films even dared attempt.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1qaLmfzW3I

Based on a series of very funny graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, this irreverent film follows slacker Scott as he attempts to defeat the seven evil ex-es of the (possible) love of his life in order to win her heart. It’s silly, off-beat, and a video-game nerd’s dream—but it also tells the story of how a self-centered, media-crazed kid slowly realizes that the choices he makes for himself affect those around him. It also does a whiz-bang job of poking fun at the attention-deficit-addled 20-somethings at the turn of the millennium, and their (often conflicting) views about identity, self-respect, and love. The film was criminally under seen in theaters, but hopefully everyone will take the opportunity to watch it in some form at home, so that they’ll experience what we’ve known for a few years now: Scott Pilgrim kicks serious . . . behind.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCSRxzPfXI

Facebook is still remarkably new, and while it has made a major impact on both youth culture and society at large, it could just as easily disappear or be replaced within the next few years by something entirely different. If this happens, The Social Network could end up being as relevant as a movie about the creation of the 8-track (ask your parents).

We think this movie will still stand on its own for other reasons, though. The movie is about something more timeless than the dawn of online social networking—it’s about ruthlessness, ingenuity, and the loneliness that comes from being so intrinsically linked to millions of other people across the globe—and few movies have yet to capture the early 21st century so well.

Upon pulling these BluRay/DVD discs out of the time capsule, Elvie would most likely declare, “I thought you said there were movies in here.” And then, assuming that the discs were drink coasters or perhaps primitive Magno-Frisbees, she would chuck them at the wall.

Other movies Elvie would get a kick out of:

Serenity (2005); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004); Serenity (2005); all of the Lord of the Rings movies (2001 – 2003); and Serenity (2005).

I'm going to go out on a limb and say they both may be fans of Serenity ;-) More information on Martin, Isla, and Mothership can be found here:

Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon Buy Link

MOTHERSHIP (from Simon & Schuster)

Pregnant. In space. Yeah, things are really looking up.

It’s 2074 and Elvie’s unplanned pregnancy (with Cole Archer, who bolted out of town half a millisecond after hearing the news, not that Elvie’s bitter about it or anything) forces her to leave her best bud back on Earth and spend her junior year aboard a corny old space cruiser with forty-five other hormonal teen girls (one of whom just happens to be her arch-nemesis).  Getting shipped off to the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers was not how Elvie imagined spending her junior year, but she can go with the flow. That is, until a team of hot commandos hijacks the ship—and one of them turns out to be Cole.

Mothership is the first installment in a new trilogy from Martin Leicht and Isla Neal that has been described as Juno meets Pretty In Pink…but in space.



Don't forget to check out stop #7 Thursday, the 26th at NOVEL NOVICE!

Review: The Last Princess

THE LAST PRINCESS

Galaxy Craze
Young Adult/Dystopian
295 pages
Poppy
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Happily ever after is a thing of the past.

A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.

When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year old Princess Eliza manages to escape. Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope-and love-once more.

Now she must risk everything to ensure that she does not become . . .

The Last Princess.

MY THOUGHTS

The Last Princess is a darker tale, presenting us with a futuristic London ravaged by seventeen days of unexplainable natural disasters to render it a barren wasteland plagued by poverty, unrest, and even cannibalism. However, in the middle of the ash and the rot stands the still beautiful Buckingham Palace, home to the Windsor royal family and symbol to those ruled by greed of what they crave most. Eliza’s story begins with tragedy, causing us to hit the ground running from the prologue and granting us not a moment’s breath until we reach the last page of the epilogue, swept up in a tidal wave of death, rebellion, and change as the royal family’s bountiful tables disappear and their beautiful fabrics turn to threadbare rags.

Eliza is a young woman who has our sympathy from the first page, watching through her eyes as her mother breathes her last breath after a successful assassination attempt, and she remains a young woman we root for throughout. Though we certainly care for her–the abrupt separation from her family bringing out our protective instincts–a connection to her remains purely superficial, our desire to see her reap her vengeance one we could attribute to any heroine experiencing the loss Eliza suffers rather than being a unique and poignant thread connecting us to Eliza herself.

Our reaction to the plot is similar to our more shallow relationship with Eliza, events extremely engaging but we seem to bounce from one situation to the next before we’ve really had time to emotionally invest and sink our fingers into the dark nuances of this story. Reading this first installment is a bit like jogging through an art museum; we’re able to cast quick, appreciative glances at the beauty or the pain depicted, but we miss out on all the exquisite intricacies we’d otherwise notice if we could take the time to stop and look. There’s so much potential in this story, the horror of Eliza’s situation right in front of us waiting to stampede across our hearts in shoes with spiked soles, but things move so quickly the grit doesn’t have time to settle, the wind caused by our rapid movement sweeping it off before that critical layer can build.

Overall, The Last Princess is an extremely quick read that’s easily consumed in a single sitting, we just can’t help but wish we were allowed to linger in a few places before we’re forced to move on with Eliza. So little information is provided with regard to the sudden rise to power of the man responsible for the queen’s death years prior, his army suddenly appearing thousands strong with little warning that trouble was even brewing to such a degree. Additionally, there are random “sun balls” that fall from the sky in this post-apocalyptic world, leftover remnants of the Seventeen Days, but they play such a minor role that we have to question the necessity of their presence at all. All the pieces that makeup The Last Princess are fascinating, and because they are so, we naturally want to know more about them only to find ourselves denied at every turn. Despite those flaws however, hope is ever present that book two will bring us the grittiness we seek, and give us those few extra moments to linger in Eliza's shoes.

Rating: 3/5

Are You Ready? The All Male Review Challenge Schedule

I'm beyond excited today to share with you the schedule for the upcoming All Male Review Challenge, it promises to be ridiculous amounts of fun. What's the All Male Review Challenge you ask? Well, I have all the details courtesy of Missie at The Unread Reader below, but I think the most important thing you all need to know is it has to do with boys. Delicious fictional ones and the men and women who write them. WIN!

Some of you who read the blog frequently may have noticed I tend to harbor rather epically intense crushes on my fictional boyfriends, and what better way to fan the flames of my impressive passion than to participate in an event that actually challenges me to read about as many boys as possible? I've made this sound a little slutty haven't I? Well done me. Be prepared my friends. I'm a highly competitive person, so factor that in with my fictional sluttiness and I'm going to be a force to be reckoned with. YOU WILL NOT BEAT ME! 

In all seriousness though, this should be a lot of fun, so I hope you'll sign up and go toe to toe with me (or boy to boy, whichever) and the other fabulous ladies hosting the event. Missie has kindly compiled all the information you'll need to participate, so I'm just going to steal it all directly from her:

Ever feel like you don’t read enough young adult novels by male authors or featuring male protagonists? Then we have the reading challenge for you!

Get ready for The All Male Review Challenge!

Yes, that's right, The All Male Review Challenge is back by popular demand. And this year's challenge is bigger and better than ever because we are kicking off this month long event with a giveaway hop! But there's more... Beginning on JULY 1st and running until JULY 31st, any YA book you read and review by a male author or containing a male protagonist is eligible to be entered into our Linky collection. At the end of the month, winners will be chosen for our Mega Hot Prize Packs of books! Plus, throughout the there will be special spotlights on authors who give us the best of boys in books, and each guest post will include a mini-giveaway!!!

The All Male Review Challenge Schedule:

July 1st: GIVEAWAY HOP  

July 2nd: Welcome/Review Link up post

July 3rd: Interview with author Katie McGarry and giveaway of Pushing the Limits hosted by The Unread Reader 

July 9th: Male authors roundtable and signed books giveaway hosted by Danny of Bewitched Bookworms

July 16th: Lish McBride guest post and giveaway of Hold Me Closer, Necromancer hosted by Melissa of Books and Things

July 23rd: Interview with author Veronica Rossi and giveaway of Under the Never Sky hosted by Jenny of Supernatural Snark  

July 30th: Interview with author Mike Mullin and giveaway of Ashfall hosted by Jen of In the Closet with a Bibliophile

August 3rd: Announcement of Grand Prize Winners

 We are still pulling together the grand prize packs, but so far...

PRIZE PACK 1
Partials by Dan Wells
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Zombie Blondes by Brian James
Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance by Brendan Halpin and Emily Franklin

PRIZE PACK 2
Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch
The Last Domino by Adam Meyer
Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese

PRIZE PACK 3
Ashen Winter (Ashfall, #2) by Mike Mullin
Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch
Doing It by Melvin Burgess

International Prize Pack
Streamline by Jennifer Lane (e-book. Thanks to Omnific Publishing)
Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe ( (e-book. Thanks to Omnific Publishing)
 Ember by Carol Oates (e-book. Thanks to Omnific Publishing)
Breaking Point by Jess Bowen (e-book. Thanks to Omnific Publishing)

Are you excited? I know I am! More details are coming soon, but we wanted to give you time to get your reading list together for July. Remember, only YOUNG ADULT books featuring MALE protagonists or written by male authors will count for this challenge. Books with alternating narrators (POVs) also count as long as one of the main characters is male. And there is still time to participate in The All Male Review Giveaway Hop! Come on! Giveaway your favorite boy boyfriend, you know you want to. Help us get the word out. Grab our button!

<a href="http://theunreadreader.com/category/the-all-male-review-challenge" target="_blank"><img src="http://theunreadreader.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/all-male-review-challenge-July-12.jpg" width="250" /></a>

Midsummer Dream Fair: J.L. Bryan Giveaway

Hey Everyone!

I'm just doing a quick post today to let you know about a fantastic giveaway as part of the Midsummer Dream Fair. Author J.L Bryan has organized a month-long event featuring a variety of indie authors, with interviews and fun giveaways galore. And possibly unicorns if you believe the poster.

The fair is drawing to a close, but J.L. is hosting one last amazing giveaway on his blog, and you really don't want to miss it. For all the details, visit J.L. HERE.

Summer Fun HarperTeen Style: SPF9 Epic Giveaway

Who's excited for summer? *raises hand* Though it's not quite as exciting as it was when I was in school and summer meant 3 months off, I still love this time of year, and the people over at HarperTeen are trying to make it even better with some amazing giveaways and opportunities to experience their books. Love it.

Before I get to all the giveaway goodness though, HarperTeen has a few other things made of win I wanted to share with you. First up:

See the art.

Spread the love.

Join the Resistance

Love is not a disease.

Follow the above link to join the Resistance from Lauren Oliver's Pandemonium by sharing some beautiful posters with your friends to help encourage recruitment.

EPIC READS

Have you heard of Epic Reads? No? Well HarperTeen has recently launched EpicReads.com, a central location of awesomeness for all of HarperTeen's books, and now we can all officially join. Yay! The people at Harper can explain it a bit better than I can, so I'll let them give it to you straight from the source:

EpicReads.com is the new hub for all of HarperTeen’s books. We’ve also launched two channels, for readers who prefer particular genres. If you’re a huge fan of paranormal or dystopian fiction, PitchDark.com is the channel for you! Rather read about romance than werewolves? Then you should definitely explore the StoryCrush.com channel! Each channel has its own blog, contests, polls, quizzes and forums – so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved, win free books, & chat with authors!

I just registered this week, I hope to see you guys on there!

YA CRUSH TOURNAMENT

This tournament isn't related specifically to HarperTeen but I wanted to include it because it should be a blast. The YA Sisterhood is hosting their Crush Tournament in which all our favorite book boyfriends go head to head to see who's the hottest crush of the year. It's nomination time again, and now through June 19th you can nominate your top 10 YA crushes and see who's already topping the list.

Topping my personal list this year is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer's Noah Shaw, followed closely by Kaidan Rowe of Sweet Evil. The fabulous Michelle Hodkin is offering fans extra incentive to add Noah to their lists (as if we need it) by offering up a special scene of our choice should he receive enough nominations. Maybe it will be another scene from his POV! You can find all the details on Michelle's Blog.

SPF9 GIVEAWAY

Last but not least, I have the SPF9 Giveaway (from HarperTeen):

Did you know… books provide excellent shade? HarperTeen is giving you the chance to sample your very own Sun-Proof Fiction with nine of our most fantastic summer reads in paperback. During the month of June, we’ll be tweeting our favorite beach reading photos with #spf9 hashtag, giving away books and more on HarperTeen’s Facebook, and spreading the word that books can be better than sunglasses.

To enter the giveaway, just visit HarperTeen's Facebook Page.

WAIT! Before you run off and enter (because this giveaway is unbelievably awesome), HarperTeen has given me the privilege of hosting a separate giveaway here on the blog. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and you'll be entered for a chance to win. Giveaway is open to US residents only, good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway