Travel Often

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” — Rosalia de Castro

Love Deeply, but Laugh Along the Way

"Happiness is only real when shared." - Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

View Marriage as an Adventure

"Love is a flower which turns into fruit at marriage." ~Finnish Proverb

Fuel your body with GOOD (It's the only one you get)

He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything. - Arabian Proverb

Open your Soul to Motherhood

A Grand Adventure is About to Begin - Winnie the Pooh

A New Kind of Love is Born

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Get Your Foot in the Door Writing Contest

Fun Writing Contest Judged by Sourcebook Editors!
I'm participating in another writing blog contest! This is hosted by the ever-so-fabulous Gabi Lessa - one of my critique partners in crime (she always has the coolest contests). And do note that there is still time for you to sign up for the contest (ends Tuesday, August 9, 2011) if you have a completed manuscript, so go to her blog!

Below is my entry. I'd love any feedback I can get before I submit on Tuesday.

Thanks and best of luck to everyone.

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Name: Christie Koester
Title: Wanted: Groom for my $100K Wedding
Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Manuscript word count: 85,000
Judge: Deb Werksman - One of the amazing four Sourcebook's editors

One-sentence pitch: (No more than 30 words)
I have three to start and I need your help telling me which one you like the best out of them all, please!!! Do any of them grab you?

1. When a heartbroken and single 35-year-old wins a $75K dream wedding, she has eight weeks and no groom, and a strategy bigger than her heart can handle.

2. When a heartbroken and single 35-year-old wins a $75K dream wedding, she has eight weeks to find a groom and plan her wedding—and learn about love along the way.

3. When a heartbroken 35-year-old wins a $75K wedding, she has everything to make her fairytale a reality in eight weeks—except the groom—and begins the biggest journey of all.

First paragraph: (Enter your first paragraph. If your first paragraph is shorter than 25 words, you may enter your first two paragraphs, as long as the second paragraph is not over 100 words.)

The cellist plays the first strings of Canon in D, causing my heart to race against my chest like a boxer high on adrenaline. I close my eyes the minute the organist presses the keys and I inhale the heavy scents of sweat pea and cologne filling the sanctuary. Memories awaken of being a little girl twirling in a wedding gown ten sizes too big about to walk down the aisle at Gram’s church. She, practicing at the organ every Saturday morning, a makeshift bouquet of origami roses in my hands, and my best friend Tony drowning in Gramp’s blue suit, waiting for me. And the promise he made years later.

That's all! Let me know what you think and if I need to change things up.