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.

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Writing Contest Judged by Sourcebook Editors

Yes, you read that right! Have you been looking for an opportunity to Get Your Foot in the Door when it comes to your writing? What better way than a writing contest judged by FOUR Sourcebook editors!!! And we're talking WELL-KNOWN Sourcebook editors.

If you answer yes to any of these questions, I'd for sure think about signing up.

1. Have you finished your manuscript?
2. Do you write single-title romance or women's fiction?
3. Do you write Young Adult?
4. Do you write commercial literary fiction (contemporary and historical)?
5. Do you write middle grade or children's fiction?

Did you answer yes? Well, then quick sign up - tell your friends!!!!! This is one heck of a contest! One of my awesome critique partners Gabriela Lessa is hosting it so you have to check out her new blog to get all the details. All I can say is the entries should be your first paragraph and a one-sentence pitch. That’s what the judges will take into consideration. Each judge will choose a winner, and each winner will get a prize from their respective judge. You have until TUESDAY, AUGUST 9 to sign up!!!!! What are you waiting for?

Play now! And good luck!

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Love all year long contest

Writing Contest!

I'm participating in another writing contest for my completed manuscript. I'm super pumped about this contest because it's all about LOVE! Got to love me some LOVE!

I'd appreciate you taking a moment to read over my 750-word love scene and let me know if I can improve my writing, scene, hook, etc. Basically I want to know if you want to read more! Or if there are any glaring mistakes.

The rules: To enter this contest, you should post a love scene from a finished manuscript on your blog this Sunday, June 12th. The excerpt must have a maximum length of 750 words, but it could be less if it ends on a hook (remember, sometimes less really is more). There is no minimum word count. The scene we're looking for can show love in all kinds of ways, in all kinds of genres. The scene should be romantic, but not necessarily a kissing scene. We're looking for any kind of love here. Go here if you want to play!

The fabulous agent, Weronika Janczuk, of Lynn C. Franklin Associates, Ltd. will be judging!

Wish me luck!

Title: WANTED: GROOM FOR MY $100K WEDDING
Genre: Women's Fiction/Contemporary Romance
Manuscript word count: 90,000

“Reservations for Jack Reid and Ella Dirks,” Jack explains to check in.

The short redhead with the turned-up nose hands him two cards. “Room nineteen-twenty-four, our fabulous royal suite. We’ve been expecting you two.”

My eyes bug out. “Royal suite?”

“There must be some sort of mistake,” Jack interjects. “We should be under two separate reservations.”

“Yes, we’re on Good Morning America tomorrow,” I explain in a panic as I grip the counter.

“Honey, I know who you are,” declares the redhead with a stern tone. “Your wedding is in seven weeks and this is your fiancé.” She points to Jack with an authoritative finger.

I shake my head. “No. No. You have it all wrong. I’m looking for a fiancé. This is just the editor-in-chief of the magazine sponsoring the dream wedding…”

She frowns and lets out a sigh as she taps her acrylics along the keyboard, shaking her head. I admire her careful bob as it manages to stay in perfect form. “Nope. That’s not what we were told. Enjoy your stay.” She slides to her right and waves over the next customer.

I open my mouth.

Jack’s large hand hooks my wrist. “It’ll be fine.” He pushes me along by the small of my back. “There’ll be plenty of room in the suite and we need to go to bed anyway.” He glances at his watch. “We're getting up in less than four hours.”

As we enter the three-bedroom suite, I realize Jack is right. Plenty of room. My eyelids grow heavy with each blink. I walk into my room and plop my suitcase on the large bed, falling back onto it. “I can’t believe I’m going to be on Good Morning America,” I say as my head adheres to the row of luxury pillows. I pump my feet along the mattress and let them slide over the Egyptian cotton sheets.

I roll to my side and glance at the clock. Fear creeps in as each minute ticks by. What questions will they ask about my wedding? Will they bring up how Chance left me? Will I say too much? Will America laugh at me? Will I cry…and on television? I swallow hard. A knock at my door startles me.

Jack walks in with a pillowcase wrapped around his head, blow dryer in hand, standing on his tiptoes. “Hello there Ella Dirks,” he speaks into the blow dryer sweetly. “It’s me Melissa Rycroft from Good Morning America and The Bachelor. I have a couple questions about your search for the perfect groom,” the pitch in his voice raises. He tilts the blow dryer from his mouth to my lips.

I roll over and laugh hysterically in my pillow.

“What? My hair not dark enough?” He showcases his hands over the pillowcase and smoothes the material. “My abs not flat enough like hers?” His mocked dainty voice catches and he coughs.

I continue laughing and he joins in, taking a seat next to me on the bed. I catch my breath and sit up. “Ohh, if you’re Melissa, does that mean you were also on Dancing with the Stars and have to dance for me?” I jump up and race over to the large sixty-inch flatscreen in the other room. I flip through the channels until I find one of the bumping music stations. I turn up the volume. “Okay, Melissa. Let’s dance.”

I begin pumping out the Roger Rabbit. He grins and pushes me aside as he moves his arms like a sprinkler. I grab my abs and let my head fall back in laughter. A slow song comes on and my head snaps forward. We both freeze. I bite my lip and study the freshly vacuumed carpet. Jack spins me around and pulls me in, holding me tightly against him. We sway back and forth and for a moment the world stops. I feel safe as I breathe in his wonderful soap smell and rest my head against his chest, listening to his heart drill against it.

As if something entered his mind, he steps back. “I’m sorry about that.” He clears his throat. “I’m sure you’re going to find a real nice groom, Ella. You’ll do great tomorrow. We should probably go to bed.” His brown eyes soften as he searches mine.

I shift my eyes to the floor, wishing he didn’t pull away, but push the thought from my mind. Would my future groom be watching me tomorrow on television? “Yeah, you’re probably right." We both walk into our rooms and close the doors. I spend the next few hours dreaming of my one-hundred-thousand-dollar wedding and the most perfect groom waiting to find me.

THANK YOU! And good luck to all the participants!!!

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My Bro, Mike...The Guy Next Door

Most of you know I have two pretty cool brothers: Mike and Mark. Without them, I think I'd be a different person. Actually, I know I would. Thanks to them I learned to drive a stick (kind of). I developed a thick skin (bless my younger brother for making back-up beeper noises whenever I crossed paths with him in the hallway. Good thing round butts are in these days, right Mark?) Growing up with them, I discovered that men are simple creatures, and us women tend to complicate things by over thinking (at least I do). AND I recognized that I really wanted to marry someone who had both my brothers' characteristics mixed into one, awesome guy. And there was Karl...

ANYWAY.... since I live right next door to my oldest brother, Mike, I had to choose him for Shakopee's GUY'S NEXT DOOR contest. My younger brother Mark is thrilled he is living in South Africa at the moment (whatever). Several men from Shakopee (population 21,000+) were nominated by someone (friends, wives, sisters, etc) to partake in a community calendar. Mike has been selected as a possible candidate, but I now need your help voting him in!  Voting ends October 31.

Maybe I chose Mike because he is my next door neighbor (seems fitting, doesn't it?) and he's about the nicest guy I have ever met. Truthfully, I had to nominate him for this contest because he really IS the guy next door - as in the guy who will do ANYTHING to make people around him happy.

I think there are five facts we all know about Mike:

1. He smiles more than the average person; perhaps more than anyone you and I have ever met.
2. The guy is the most selfless person on the planet.
3. He loves maps and rarely gets lost. If he does, he calls it an adventure.
4. He loves the smell of bleach 
5. His life can be summed up in three words: The Amazing Race.

Somewhere down the road, you met Mike (or will) and he probably made you think twice about your own actions. Is it possible to be this nice, giving and happy all the time? How does one do it?

Rumor has it, my parents named Mike after the LIFE cereal commercials back in '77...He Likes It! Hey, Mikey! My mom said his first word was "Ernie" and he used to ask questions she never had answers for, such as, why do I wrinkle in the bathtub and whales don't? Or, why isn't our skin as beautiful as other nationalities? Not quite the questions I asked...

Besides being the most giving person, he has a spirit about him that is contagious, maybe this is why so many people want to be around him, especially me. Hope Karl doesn't mind Mike being our neighbor for many years to come. Mike's involved in anything and everything he can get his hands on: volleyball, marathons, beer brewing, traveling, church ministries, work, gardening, cooking, earning his MBA, etc... What hasn't he done?

You get the picture! I'd love for you to vote for him if you can!  Vote away (see below)!! Thank you!

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