Contest at Market my Words

Agent, Mary Kole from ABLit is reading through 140 character pitch submissions on Market my Words. Here is what I submitted for the contest on my YA novel WIP.

Renna’s mauled by a lion in Africa. His venom gives her body cat-abilities. Renna must lie, kill and die in order to find value in her life.

Warpagram - Ten Minute Exercise

I bought a book last week called "Take Ten for Writers," by Bonnie Neubauer. It is well designed, meaning it's pretty to look at, and super duper fun! So I thought I'd do at least one 10 min. writing exercise per week.

This week's challenge, that I randomly chose, was to write a 10 word message describing my mission on a planet called Warpagram incorporating the two words "slightly radioactive." I had 10 min. and here's what I came up with...

My slightly radioactive lips brought the Warpagram boy to life.

Note about my experience: Last time I did this, I took what first came to my mind. With this one, I put a lot more thought into it and challenged my brain. I wanted to capture an interesting event that would make a person ask, "and then what?"

WriteOnCon.com

I have to take a break and share with anyone out there that is listening, how much I'm enjoying WriteOnCon.com. It is a FREE conference, yes I did say the F word, and the speakers are wonderful. It is running from August 10-12. I can't wait to tune in tomorrow.

I have read so many great speakers today, I had to stop and link to at least one of my favorites. I am linking this more so that I can refer back to it one day than anything. The blog article is by Jodi Meadows about writing query letters.

Why do we need sleep again? Ugh it gets in the way.

Ten minute writing exercise

I am sure most writers who have been writing for a while and have been to countless classes and workshops have done a thousand writing exercises. I have not.

So I went online to find some and stumbled upon several at About.com. So, I thought I'd give one a try.

I am putting my timer on for 10 minutes. And the only requirements are: it needs to be ten lines, using and modifying a phrase, I chose 'a needle in a haystack,' and using these five words...cliff, blackberry, needle, cloud, voice, mother, whir, lick. Here I go...


A Needle in a Haystack
I was going to check my blackberry to locate the needle,
but my phone had fallen off a cliff
I called in the loudest voice I could to my mother,
but her head was in a cloud.
I'm sure my voice was nothing but a whir to her,
and she couldn't care a lick about
finding my cell among thousands of rocks.

Get it? The phone has become the needle in the haystack-- I mean rocks. I know sophomoric, but a fun exercise.

Now, I'm off to paint my daughter some artwork for her bedroom walls.