ABNA Winners...CONGRATS TO BOTH OF THEM!

Today, the winners of the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest were announced.  Here's the details:

Gregory Hill has won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in General Fiction for East of Denver. Expert panelist Lev Grossman says East of Denver is "on a par with that of top-flight black-comic novelists like Sam Lipsyte and Jess Walter, and it deserves to be read."  Pre-order East of Denver

Jill Baguchinsky has won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in Young Adult Fiction for Spookygirl. Expert panelist Jennifer Besser says, "In the increasingly crowded paranormal marketplace, this funny and suspenseful novel sets itself apart and heralds the arrival of a fresh new voice."  Pre-order Spookygirl

So...what does this mean?  It's time to get ready for the 2012 ABNA!

Uh oh...ABNA Publishers Weekly Review is in...TRIPLE OUCH!

Here's what Publishers Weekly had to say about THE COMING:

ABNA Publisher Weekly Reviewer

"In this religious-themed thriller more fit for the screen than the page, 19-year-old Sean McMurray is still plagued by the nightmares that led him to attempt suicide, and 17-year-old Kayla Landon is just trying to keep her head above water despite her abusive family. When they meet, he knows immediately that he’s seen her in his dreams. After Kayla’s parents’ mysterious and violent deaths, she goes to live with her aunt in the bucolic town of Oakley, Tex., but this little town has seen its share of tragedy. When Kayla sees a boy’s ghost in her aunt’s kitchen, she realizes that she and Sean are intimately linked and that they will have to battle Satan himself to save themselves and the whole world. There are moments of genuine suspense here, but stilted writing, flat characters, and a laconic pace keep the manuscript from having the impact it seeks."

Okay, so...

"...more fit for the screen than the page..."  (Hmmm.  I've got Spielberg's number here somewhere...)

"...moments of genuine suspense here, BUT..."  (Suspense is good, but BUT is never good!)

"...stilted writing..."  (Ouch!  That.  Must mean.  I write.  Just.  Like.  William Shatner.  Talks?)

"...flat characters..."  (Double Ouch!  Maybe I should try pop-up books?)

"...laconic pace..."  (Triple Ouch!  Laconic.  I can honestly say I've never used that word in a sentence.  Or casual conversation.  Or anything.  Ever.  Oops...stilted writing again!)

I can agree with what they said (kinda-sorta...okay, maybe not)...but I was really hoping for some better words so I could use the review for my queries!!!  Saying to an agent, "THE COMING reached the Quarter Finals round in the 2011 ABNA competition, and Publishers Weekly said I have flat characters adrift in a laconic swamp of stilted writing!  Want to represent me?"  Oh well...it IS my FIRST novel, and I'm glad it made it as far as it did!  Looks like I have some work to do! 

ABNA Semi-Finals? Nope...not this year!

Just looked at the list--THE COMING didn't make it through to the Semi-Finals (top 50) in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.  I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't bummed...BUT, like I've said, I'm happy it made it into the top 250 last month!  They haven't posted the Publishers Weekly reviews yet...looking forward to what they had to say about the entire manuscript.  So, next January, I think I'll throw THE MENGELE EFFECT at them--or maybe SKINNER if it's complete--and see what happens!  The journey continues...

Thank You, Amazon Reviewer!

I posted the ABNA reviews I received a couple of days ago, but I can't help but post this one again:  "Very excellent right-out of the gate.  Whether the author can maintain the pace, do the 'King Thing' plus deliver a theme that rocks your socks, remains to be seen.  But all indicators are blinking green for go.  Looks like this one could be the winner in a field that has a lot of competition."

Quite the motivator, that one.  I have no idea who that reviewer was, but if by some weird chance of fate he/she runs across this entry, I'd like to say THANK YOU.  If THE COMING doesn't make it through this round's Publishers Weekly review/scoring, that's okay...being one of the 250 people fortunate enough to have made it to the quarter-finals has provided me with the motivation to keep trying to find that agent, find that publisher, and TELL A STORY that people will enjoy! (or at least creep them out a little!)  Then, when someone asks me if I'm a writer, I can finally say, "Yes."

ABNA Quarter-Finalist Excerpts Available for Review

The 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) quarter-finalist excerpts are available for review.  To navigate, first cut & paste this Amazon link into your web browser:  http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b/ref=amb_link_355508162_1?ie=UTF8&node=332264011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=top-1&pf_rd_r=0T19V4V63CHE161VRFH4&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1290344662&pf_rd_i=ABNA

Then, on the left side of the page, you'll see a block called, "Quarter-Finalists by Category."  There, you can download the excerpts you're interested in & provide a review.  For my novel, THE COMING, click on "Thriller and Suspense" and it's #13 (lucky, huh?)

In order to download and review, you'll need two things:  1) an Amazon.com account, and 2) a Kindle reader.  For the Kindle, Amazon provides free PC readers available for download (I downloaded mine last night).  You'll have to click on "Buy Now" to get the excerpt file (don't worry...it's free!)

Now, if you start to read it and find what look like spelling/format mistakes (like words stuck together)...IT's NOT MY FAULT!  Well...not ALL my fault.  Entrants (that's me, heh) had to paste their 5K-word excerpts into a text block...and it completely messed-up all the formatting & spacing.  It took me about 45 minutes to go through & correct what I saw, but apparently I missed some!  Didn't seem to hurt my reviews, though, so I think they must've taken it into account!

Okay...Quarter-Finals. What's next?

Ah, the next step!  Here's what's going to happen from now until 26 April when the 50 semi-finalists are announced (below taken from the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award page):

Quarter Finals (March 22, 2011 – April 25, 2011).

(1) On or about March 22, 2011, we will post each of the Quarter-Finalists’ Excerpts and their associated written reviews online at www.amazon.com/abna. [That should happen soon...]

(2) Amazon customers may download and read any Excerpt, and then write a review and rate the Excerpt using Amazon.com’s process for submitting online reviews (as described at http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/guidelines/review-guidelines.html).

(3) For each Quarter Finalist’s Manuscript, Publishers Weekly will read, prepare a review, and rate each Manuscript on a scale of 1 to 5 on the following criteria:
a) Character development
b) Originality of idea
c) Plot
d) Prose/style
e) Overall strength of submission

(4) The top 50 Entries from each category will advance to the Semi-Finals (each, a "Semi-Finalist")

So, the waiting (and finger-crossing) begins...

THE COMING Quarter-Finals Review Comments

Part of making it to the quarter finals is the opportunity to review what some of the judges are saying after reading the 5,000-word excerpt I sent them when I entered the contest (the first 20-or-so manuscript pages)--I have two reviews posted right now, both of which almost made me fall out of my chair!  Once I clicked on the contest link to read my reviews, it took me a minute to figure out that they were actually talking about MY novel!  Even if this turns out to be as far as I go in the contest, it sure makes me happy!  Here's the reviews:

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

Why?
To find out your going to have to read the novel. Since the author did such a bang up job in the set-up, you WANT to read it.
Very economical with the words, getting alot of bang out of just the few pages I've read. The author covers all bases: characterization, setting, and plot/driving in the all runs by his innuendo hint of a supernatural-evil presence.
The hook is solid: story, writing, characters. Although not a fan of supernatural, because of the author's skill at setting-this-up I would be turning pages as fast as the rest of them who breathe life into this genre.

What aspect needs the most work?

The only weakness I can conjecture up, is one without merit/being able to make the unbelievable, believable. This is because the author was in the process of setting the overall presence of Legion; so to believe at this stage is not all in the cards. My biggest concern, is that I generally fall-out of this genre because I just don't join in any leap of faith games.
Still, having played this far, I would continue drawing pages until I folded, or the the author's obvious intelligence & skill of his craft, won me over.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Very excellent right-out of the gate. Whether the author can maintain the pace, do the 'King Thing' plus deliver a theme that rocks your socks, remains to be seen. But all indicators are blinking green for go.
Looks like this one could be the winner in a field that has alot of competition.

 

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The foreshadowing or things yet to come. From the very beginning of the excerpt, you could tell that there were some apocalyptic overtones of things yet to come.

What aspect needs the most work?

I do not think that there was anything that could be changed.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

I thought that this excerpt was extremely engaging and very suspenseful. There were religious overtones, while it was clearly a thriller. I liked the symbolism of the flies and thought that the way they were woven throughout the story (as foreshadowing) was brilliant on the part of the author. I liked the characters as well as the storyline...there was the growing family whose life ended too soon, the young boy who committed suicide, to the "evil" bank robbers. I would have liked to read more of the story to figure out what is exactly going on. I think that a lot of people will enjoy this as a suspense thriller. I would.

 

THE COMING made it to the Quarter-Finals!

Just saw the list--my novel THE COMING was one of 250 entries selected for the quarter-finals in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award!  The next cut (down to 50 entries for the Semi-Finals) will be announced on 26 April)...

THE COMING made it to the Second Round!

Found out today that my novel THE COMING had made it to the second round in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award!  The judges took the initial 5,000 entries and cut them down to 1,000 for the second round.  Now, I'll have to wait until March 22nd to see if it'll make the Quarter-Finals (cut down to 250)...I'm just happy it made it through the first cut!

Dark Moon Digest Submission

Entered my first horror writing contest Saturday morning!  Took the first chapter of my in-work novel SKINNER, formatted it as a 1,700-word short story, titled it A REAL PAGE TURNER, and submitted it to Dark Moon Digest's quarterly short story contest.  If they decide to publish it, I'll win a whole $10.00!  Woo hoo!  (The REAL prize will be seeing something I wrote in print!)

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award - Submitted!

When the submission window opened at 11 p.m. last night (Jan 23rd), I submitted my 300 word pitch, a 5,000 word excerpt, and the full manuscript (~143,000 words) for my first novel, THE COMING!  Now, I have to wait until February 24th to see if my pitch makes the cut for the second round...

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2011

After starting this book (THE COMING) back in 2001, finishing it in 2003, receiving approximately 90 rejections, and editing it approximately 2,397,402 times, I'm finally going to enter it into a writing competition!  The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award opens their submission window on 24 Jan 11...looks like I'll be up at midnight on 23 Jan 11 to make sure it gets in before they reach their 5,000 submissions limit!  Here's my pitch (this is what the judges will use to cut the 5,000 entries down to 1,000 for the second round):

THE COMING

General Fiction Category

Mike Brannick stared past the gun barrel into the vacant eyes of his killer, knowing his journey couldn’t end like this.  His pregnant wife and young son lie just inches away, but forever out of reach, their joyful laughter and fierce love of life reduced to bloody smears on a cold marble floor by the man squeezing a trigger one final time.  A gunshot ended Mike Brannick’s agony…and heightened that of mankind, for at that cruelest of moments, the world began to unravel.  The Chosen lie slaughtered.  The Evil One stood unchecked.

     Years later, Sean McMurry, a young man shaken by the abrupt return of the nocturnal terror that once stalked his childhood, and Kayla Landon, a teenage girl resolved to survive the daily carnage of a broken home, are drawn together by a force neither can comprehend, and neither can resist.  Each glimpse fleeting moments of lives clearly not their own, vivid snapshots of another time and place…and of a family murdered.  Caught in a sudden storm of violence and deceit, Sean and Kayla are torn from one another, separated by distance yet joined by a mysterious, overpowering need to fulfill a purpose yet unknown.  Guided towards the truth by dreamlike voices and tantalizingly familiar visions, they struggle to find each other…a union evil cannot allow.  Placed in their path lurks a killer who’d murdered an entire family years before.  He’d killed the Chosen once…now, he must kill them again.

THE COMING is a story of a world teetering on the brink, its future resting solely on the shoulders of two young people struggling to decipher mysterious events swirling around them, racing against time to fulfill a promise once lost, and prevent the onset of an encroaching, interminable darkness—the End of Days.

Wish me luck!