National Novel Writing Month

It's nearly that time again. November. National Novel Writing Month.

Let the games begin.

I first signed up for NaNoWriMo in 2009 and since then, I have finished four novels -- in 2009 and 2010, and 2013 and 2014. I wasn't able to do a novel last year because I had a serious car accident in late October which resulted in a bandaged left hand. It was difficult for me to type while it was on and it came off too late in November for me to feel confident of a successful NaNoWriMo attempt.

I haven't definitely decided to enter this year -- there's a lot going on here and I should remain focused on selling one of the novels I have already finished -- but I have two in mind. The most likely of the two is about Rachel Edelstein.

Rachel is the main character in my successful 2010 NaNo attempt -- The Last Tontine Survivor. And it was a quarterfinalist in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. That novel focused on Rachel, a black Jewish woman in NYC, who is searching for her missed and beloved grandfather, a German Jew who survived WWII. But he and others stole money from the Nazis and now, 70 years later, the descendants of a former Nazi official are looking to get the money back -- and are willing to kill to get it. With her pursuers on her tail, Rachel must find her grandfather and save him before they are both killed.

Rachel's ethnic duality (and her conflicted feelings about it) is part of the subplot but will be part of the main plot of his newest effort. I tentatively call it Searching for Rachel Edelstein.

More about that later. But for now, I just wanted to put it out there that I will probably attempt a novel this November.

Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading.

ABNA

Read the announcement today that Amazon this year is not hosting its annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. ABNA is probably now gone forever.

That makes me sad. It was a fun contest that not offered a slim chance of getting a publishing contract, but it also was a great gathering place for authors like me to meet and befriend each other. A large number of my Facebook friends are from ABNA. Only one have I ever met face-to-face -- and then only once and briefly.

I will miss that -- getting ready for the contest, chatting with the others, offering and receiving advice on my writing, offering and receiving encouragement when the inevitable comes.

There are forums with former participants but it won't be the same as during the late winter and into the spring when the contest unfolds. It was a gathering of like-minded people who cheered each other on and cried with each other when elimination came.

Last fall, Amazon announced a "reader-powered publishing platform" called Kindle Scout and encouraged past contestants to consider that as a publishing option. In today's announcement, Amazon mentioned Kindle Scout again.

I'm assuming the company feels that is a better and more cost-effective method of finding new authors and new voices. And now, without the contest, I guess I may pursue that.

But regardless of the outcome, I doubt it will be as much fun as the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Sorry to see it go.

But onward and upward

Thanks for reading and keep up the writing.  

ABNA Finalists to be announced tomorrow

Tomorrow, July 8, is a Big Day for those still in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. ABNA administrators will pare the list of 25 semifinalists down to only five finalists, one in each of five categories in the contest (General fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, Romance, Mystery & Thriller, and Young Adult Fiction).

While the public won't know the results until tomorrow, the 25 semifinalists actually already know their fate -- and have since last Wednesday. On July 2, ABNA started contacting the finalists, who had some procedural matters to address -- contracts to sign and whatnot -- before the public announcement. Therefore, if you were a semifinalist and didn't get a call last Wednesday, you knew you didn't advance to the finals.

The Grand Prize winner, who gets a $50,000 publishing contract from Amazon, will be selected from the list of five finalists, with each of whom getting a $15,000 contract.

While I only made it to the quarterfinal round, I think this would be the last truly emotional announcement to anticipate because, win or lose, you get a publishing contract with Amazon if you are a finalist.

 I haven't read many of the semifinalists' excerpts, except for the five in the M/T category (which was the category I entered). I have a favorite and have expressed that to the author and can only hope that they make it through. Theirs is a great work and deserving of being selected as a finalist.

So best of luck to the 25 semifinalists and the five finalists to be announced tomorrow.

I, as always, am laboring away on my WIP, which is currently titled The Deadly Game, and I will probably enter it in the 2015 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition next winter. And I will query my 2011 ABNA quarterfinal novel, An Untidy Affair, to agents and publishers throughout the rest of this year.

Thanks for reading.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The finalists were announced and The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley was selected as the finalist in the Mystery & Thriller category. And while it wasn't my choice in the category -- I was pulling for Hart Johnson's A Shot in the Light --  Pulley has a fine, well-written novel. We will see if a mystery is the grand prize winner. It has never happened in the seven years of the contest. mbd

Writing to Writer's Digest

In my e-mail in-box last week, I noticed a call from Writer's Digest for stories on the experience authors have had during National Novel Writing Month, which is held each November. As you know, the challenge of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

I wrote a piece last night of my first NaNoWriMo experience and the non-writing challenge I faced that year -- the year I learned I had cancer.

Take a look below at what I sent Writer's Digest.

Keep writing and thanks for reading.

---

I have accepted the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge five times, starting in November 2009, and have completed the challenge three of those times. The novel I wrote in 2009, An Untidy Affair, and the one I wrote in 2010, The Last Tontine Survivor, both made it to the quarterfinal round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) competition. I entered Affair in ABNA in 2011, while Tontine was a quarterfinalist this year. I also wrote a novel during NaNoWriMo last November and plan to enter that work, The Deadly Game, in ABNA in 2015.

 

I love NaNoWriMo because it truly gives you, the author, the right to write, to sweep away all the external and internal stumbling blocks and to focus on the task at hand -- 50,000 words in 30 days, or an average of 1,667 a day.

 

I am a freelance journalist by occupation and write all the time. But fiction is different and was, back in 2009, much harder for me. Unlike a news or feature article, a novel is like having a long, elaborate daydream which is written down. It's how I approach it.

 

That first year, I wasn't sure I could do it. But I decided to try and settled on a story idea in the spring of 2009. It was to be an auto racing novel, with the protagonist facing major challenges both on and off the track. I love auto racing -- open-wheel cars in particular -- and know a lot about the sport. But the story would still require a lot of research on the technical side, which I planned to do in the summer and fall.

 

In early July 2009, I learned that I might have cancer, which was confirmed just after Labor Day that year. And suddenly, I couldn't write fiction. Faced with the challenge of my life in the real world, I couldn't daydream the dreams necessary to write fiction. I was stuck in the real world. I was focused on learning everything I could about my cancer so I could make a reasoned decision of the course of action for treatment. For seven weeks, I sought advice from six different doctors, including leaders in the field. But it wasn't until late October that I made a decision I was comfortable with.

 

Problem was, it was much too late for me to do the research I needed for the novel. So I decided on a murder mystery because it is a genre I enjoy reading and am comfortable with. I decided on a setting and a theme I was familiar with so that there wouldn't be much research needed, and I could do it while I was writing in November.

 

I hate outlining for a variety of reasons but knew I couldn't write 1,667 a day, everyday, without knowing where I was going in advance. Therefore, I hand wrote a nine-page outline in narrative form and also completed a spreadsheet to track my daily progress. 

 

Shortly after midnight on Nov. 1, I started, and after 90 minutes had 1,100 words. I was surprised that the first sentence in my outline turned into nearly 900 words of text in the novel. I wrote later that day after church and completed 3,200 words that first day. On the second day I completed 2,940 words and 3,500 the third day. I was writing twice the rate I needed. With the encouragement of NaNo writers in the Indianapolis area and others I met online, I continued at that pace and reached 50,000 words on Nov. 15, and completed the first draft four days later, for a total of 54,000 words. (With revisions and re-writes, Affair is complete at 74,000 words.)

 

In 2010, I outlined again, and challenged myself to write twice as many words a day as needed. Tontine is a suspense/thriller and I finished the first draft on Nov. 18 (instead of Nov. 15) only because I attended an out-of-town meeting that November and lost three days of writing. (The final version is 76,000 words.)

 

Last year, I reached 50,000 words again on Nov. 18 because what I learned from failures in 2011 and 2012 was that I need a decent outline and need to jump well ahead of the daily word count. Get a lot done quickly in case of troubles later. It's hard for me to catch up on the word count, so I never get behind. But that's just me.

 

I'm already working on research for NaNoWriMo this November. Finally, I plan to write that auto-racing story.

 

My advice is prepare as much as possible ahead of time, set difficult but achievable goals, find writing partners and stay in touch with them, write something everyday and, most importantly, HAVE FUN writing. Whatever you write is going to be crappy but you can start fixing it on Dec. 1. You can't fix it if you don't first write it.

 

If you write and have fun, you will find your word count going up quicker than the approach of the Nov. 30 deadline. So HAVE FUN.

 

ABNA reviews

So, my dear readers, here are the three reviews I got during this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition for my novel, The Last Tontine Survivor. I made it to the quarterfinals but was eliminated before the semifinal round.

They are generally good reviews, although I assume the PW review just wasn't strong enough to get me into the semifinal round.

More later.

Thanks for reading and keep writing. I certainly am.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

I think both the plot and Rachel, the main character, are the strongest aspects of this excerpt. So far, this is a very interesting plot (I haven't seen or heard anything quite like it before) and it has definitely piqued my interest. And I like Rachel - she is a thoughtful friend and a loving niece and granddaughter. She is obviously smart too. Overall, she is very well rounded and fleshed out. Her grandfather seems to be one of those crafty old coots (and I mean that in a totally fun way!) who says one thing ("yes, dear, I'm going to have just a plain, unbuttered bran muffin for breakfast...") and then secretly swipes a donut or two and goes off to eat them in private. I don't know much about him yet, but I think I would end up loving that old man before this story ended.

What aspect needs the most work?

Honestly, I can't really see any area that I think needs work. So far, I like everything about this excerpt. The plot moves along nicely and the characters are well drawn. This excerpt held my interest and actually left me wanting more.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

I loved it. I like Rachel a lot and I have the feeling the grandfather would end up being just as likeable and well drawn as she is. The author put a good amount of detail in the story, not too much and not too little and the plot moves along with good momentum. I enjoyed reading this excerpt and was a little disappointed that it had to end.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

Fast paced with good action. Rachel is different and likeable. Nice writing.

What aspect needs the most work?

The use of two similar names, Fleishman/Weisman was confusing. Holocaust stories about purloined good and missing fortune and Nazi conspirators running rampant are not terribly original.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

This was an effective excerpt with an unusual heroine. Although the Holocaust/missing fortune/ psycho Nazi spawn lines are tired and tiresome, this one brings a fresh perspective. I would read more.

ABNA Publishers Weekly Reviewer

In a work that admirably adds more layers as it goes along, this novel tracks the troubling murder of Holocaust survivor Howard Fleischman in downtown Indianapolis by a couple of thugs related to (supposedly now deceased) Nazi Gestapo chief Henrich Muller. Uncle Howard and his father, Julius, now 95 and a longtime resident of New York City, were the last surviving members of a German-Jewish financial group whose purpose was “to siphon money out of Gestapo accounts and transfer them to Swiss banking accounts.” With Uncle Howard’s mysterious death, and Grandpa Julius disappeared upstate, his competent, comely 32-year-old granddaughter, antiques attorney Rachel, gets to sort out the perplexing ramifications of this war-time group with help from her problematic boyfriend, Paul, and a drop-dead gorgeous police officer, Ellington Hughes. (His description as “tall and broad-shouldered like LL Cool J, bald and square-jawed like Taye Diggs, had a deep baritone voice like the late actor Michael Duncan, and the smile and totally commanding presence of Denzel Washington” reveals occasional cringing characterizations.) Happily, nothing is quite what it seems in this valiant work, from the youth resistance movement named Edelweis that Julius and others had been members of, to Paul’s secret ties to the Israeli Mossad, to Rachel’s half-black, half-Jewish parentage. It's a little uneven, but promising and surprising enough to keep readers going.

ABNA

Tomorrow is March 12, and it's the day Amazon will announce the quarterfinalists in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The contest will be down to only 500 contestants out of 10,000 entries. I know those who made it through Round One are sitting on pins and needles right now waiting to learn if they advance or if they go home.

I entered ABNA this year with The Last Tontine Survivor, the same novel I entered last year. I was knocked out in the pitch round last year and so I re-wrote and improved my pitch this year. Or at least I thought it was much-improved. I was quite hopeful for this novel this year.

However, I was eliminated again in the first round this year.

But as usual, I met a lot of wonderful aspiring novelists on the ABNA discussion boards, which is a rich benefit of the contest. And it seemed like a lot of others are self-published, through Create Space or through one of the other many platforms.

My brother asked me last week whether I was really to be self-published. I told him of course I am ready because frankly it doesn't take much. With as little as a couple hundred dollars and manuscript, anyone can get published.

What I want is some editorial and marketing help to get my writing career beyond the starting gate. For me, I'm not sure self-publishing can do that for me right now.

Anyway, back to ABNA, I have a friend from my writing critique group who made it past the pitch stage this year and he is hoping to make the quarterfinals. It's a good novel with some great promise.

So, Good Luck, Michael. I hope you go all the way.

As for me, I will try in again next year with an all-new novel, which I am still working on. Perhaps next year at ABNA will be my year.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
My friend Michael Eldridge made the cut today and is a quarterfinalist in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. His novel is called Bad Karma, and if you go to Amazon.com, you can find an excerpt of the beginning of the novel that you can download and read.
Another interesting note. Our critique group, In Mysterious Company, has had an ABNA quarterfinalist in each of the last three competitions. Michael made it this year, Marianne Halbert made it last year and I was a quarterfinalist in 2011.
mbd

ABNA finalists for 2012

The three general fiction and three young adult fiction finalists in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest were announced yesterday. Congratulations to all six of you. Enjoy the next two weeks as Amazon customers read your excerpts and vote. And good luck to you all.

The finalists in the general fiction category are: Alan Averill (The Beautiful Land), Charles Kelly (Grace Humiston and the Vanishing), and Brian Reevers (A Chant of Love and Lamentation).

You will notice all the finalists in this category are men. But women, keep the faith because the finalists in the young adult category are: Cassandra Griffin (Dreamcatchers), Rebecca Phillips (Out of Nowhere), and Regina Sirois (On Little Wings).

And you noticed only females made the finalist in YA this year.

Not sure who I favor in general fiction. Haven't read any of them. (And they had all better be better than my entry this year.) But I have a favorite in YA, though I won't say who.

We will just have to see.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Having trouble with this format

I'm having a little trouble figuring out the new format on Blogger. As the person doing the blog -- not just writing it online -- I'm not sure where things are on my blog, and not how i go about finding them. It's somewhat easier today but it's still strange and new, not two words I am always comfortable with.

On other news, a friend from my critique group who made the quarterfinals in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest unfortunately failed to make the semifinals this week. I saw her yesterday at our critique group meeting and she seems to be taking it as well as can be expected. By the time you reach the quarterfinals, you begin to seriously think of making it to the end. But then, when you dreams are dashed (as mind were at this point last year in ABNA), it still stings a little. I feel sorry for her but I tried to be supporter. After all, I know what you is going through.

Also in other news, I started a blog draft last week about Amazon and the publishing industry. I should post it soon. It should be interesting, so be on the look out.

Lastly, not only did I break my single month record for pageviews, I doubled the previous record -- and the month isn't finished yet. We have another four days to go. And more and more pageviews are of recent posts. So I must be getting more readers. I hope so.

That's it for now. I gave my critique group a new short story yesterday. Will hear their comments in two weeks. Sending out query letters for The Last Tontine Survivor. Haven't heard anything yet. My short story for the next Sisters in Crime anthology isn't panning out, so I will try something else.

Thanks for reading and don't stop writing.

Query News, Part III

Since last fall, I have concentrated on writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month (then changing my mind), doing a final re-write and edit of The Last Tontine Survivor for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, starting a short story for an anthology, re-writing another short story for a Writer's Digest contest and, finally, doing a final read-through and edit of An Untidy Affair for a contest with a publisher. Sounds like I have been busy, and I have been.


But as I sit and think about it, all that work had another purpose -- distracting me from doing something I need to focus on but generally don't enjoy doing -- sending out query letters for my novel.


I now have two really good works I feel comfortable with querying in their current forms. And I have queried Affair before. Since it is under consideration with a publisher, I will hold off on querying it for now.


Which brings me to Tontine. It's Tontine's time.


A month ago, back on Feb. 22, my blog posting titled "Nervous Nellie" included the pitch I used for Tontine for ABNA. Though I was eliminated from the contest based on that pitch, I still will use it as the basis for my query letter for the novel. I think it conveys the story well. But in case I'm wrong, I will only send out a limited number of queries with that letter. If I don't get any bites after sending five to seven letters, I will strap it and start with an entirely different letter for Tontine.

I truly don't know what it's going to take to pique an agent's interest but I know it won't happen as long as I stall trying. I can keep busy with contests but unless I win, it won't get me closer to publication. So it's Query Letter Time.

This evening I will put in some serious effort in compiling an agent list. By the weekend, the letters should start heading out. Rejections, and the accompanying depression, will probably start next week.

Just wanted to prepare you.

Thanks for reading and keep writing (and querying).

ABNA: A quickie

Tomorrow is the day the guardians at the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award announce the winners in the second round of this year's contest. A select 500 -- 250 each in general fiction and young adult fiction -- will move on to the quarterfinal round.

I was on pins and needles last year at this moment hoping against hope that I would advance. I know the tiny nerves that support ones hopes and dreams. And last year I made the cut, advancing to the quarters, though I was cut after that.

I don't have such worries this year, having been cut in the first round about a month ago. (And with an even better entry this year than I had last year.) But I still truly support this contest and congratulate all the brave souls who enter it each year.

This year in particular, I have a couple of friends I am pulling for -- Jeff, an online friend from Kansas City, and Marianne, whose a member of my critique group. Both are in the YA category.

Jeff keeps coming back to the contest year after heartbreaking year, always funny and cheerfully honest. He has played it cool this year, not venturing onto the ABNA threads to comment very much. He is a good guy and it would be nice to see him advance. I'm not sure if her has ever made it to the quarters before.

And Marianne. What can I say about Marianne? She's a lawyer and a suburban mom. Not very scary, really. But as a writer, she is truly creepy. And she loves writing that sort of stuff. Her brand, which she has printed on her author business cards says, "Wake up and smell the creepy." That's excellent. And so is she.

Her writing is crisp and clean and compelling. Though her YA novel in ABNA this year isn't creepy, which is a surprise, the story is interesting and original. I can see her going far this year on talent alone. But as always, she will also need some luck.

So good luck Jeff and Marianne . . . and everyone else in the contest this year. I'll see you on the other side.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Editor: One friend made the cut and one did not. Well done, Marianne! And best of luck in the next round. mbd

Eliminated, Part II

What I hate about being eliminated in ABNA's first round is that I have no idea why. Could be a poor plot and a badly written pitch, or I could just put it down to bad luck. I don't know. But a couple of hours ago, a friend whose debut novel was published nine months ago to wonderful reviews reminded me that her novel was eliminated in the first round a few years back. You just pick up and move forward.

So I will pour over the pitch again, shorten it to query-length -- about 250 words as compared with about 300 -- and start querying agents.

Then, perhaps, I will get some answers.

As for now, I am playing sad music, as is fitting my mood, and preparing for what's next.

Thanks again for reading.

Eliminated

Didn't make the cut this year in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, though it's the best novel I have entered in the three years I have tried. But a friend from my critique group advanced to the second round. I'm happy for her.

So, it's on to querying agents.

Thanks for reading and don't give up!

Nervous Nellie

I'm going to try to make this one of my last posts for a while on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. But ABNA is gearing up at the moment and the first round results will be announced tomorrow.

There are three components to an entry in ABNA -- the pitch, an excerpt and the complete manuscript. In the first round, the only thing that is judged is the 300-word pitch. It's like a sales pitch that needs to include the main character, the plot and some really good writing. (It's kind of like the description you see on book jacket covers.) But since 80 percent of the entries are eliminated in the first round, more than a good story and good writing are required.

Luck will play a major factor.

Some of the past contestants estimate that luck plays up to 50 percent in whether you advance out of the first round/pitch stage and into the excerpt stage, which is the second round. If the reviewer is having a bad day or doesn't care for your genre, you likely could be bounced.

Just today on one of the ABNA community discussion boards I was reading the pitch of someone whom is active in the ABNA contestant community and who revised their pitch for a fantasy novel several times before it was entered. It is still a complete mess. I had no idea what the story was about and, worst of all, I didn't care. If I was a judge, I'd eliminate them immediately, although the book itself may be quite good (although I doubt it). But then, I don't care for fantasy novels. If I were judging, it would have a hard time with me anyway.

All that is to say I am a Nervous Nellie waiting for the first round results tomorrow, which should come in by early afternoon. I keep dreaming of advancing but know realistically the odds are against me.

All that said, below is my pitch. Read and send me a comment if you'd like. And above all, thanks for reading.

___

Rachel Edelstein is a rarity - it's not easy being black AND Jewish in America - but she has developed her own unique survival instincts. When Nazis come to kidnap her and she finds out her boyfriend is an Israeli intelligence agent, her life depends on trusting those instincts - and in trusting the right people.

The person she trusts most is her grandfather, Julius Edelstein, but he has suddenly disappeared. As Rachel searches for him, she learns Julius is the surviving member in a financial agreement called a tontine, which was created with millions of Deutsche Marks stolen from the Nazis during World War II. The men planned to use the dividends from the tontine to fund a resistance movement and ultimately support Jewish charities for the rest of their lives.

But the Nazis have long memories. Now, seven decades later, the descendants of a former Gestapo chief who escaped judgment are still looking for Julius. And they will stop at nothing to recover the money, including murder or kidnapping. That puts Rachel, who doesn't know why Julius is missing, in their cross hairs.

After the bad guys attempt to kidnap her hoping she will lead them to Julius, Rachel must use her instincts to determine whom to trust - her boyfriend, who lied to her about being an Israeli agent, or the black New York City police detective with a sketchy past who is investigating her grandfather's disappearance.

The wrong choice could lead to more chaos - and more dead bodies.

THE LAST TONTINE SURVIVOR is written in a style similar to that of authors Jeffrey Archer or Jack Higgins, and its target market is educated readers over the age of 30 who enjoy mystery and suspense, and a bit of history.

Discover Mystery contest

Poisoned Pen Press, a small but well-thought-of indie publisher, has a new contest this year for unpublished authors. It is called the Discover Mystery contest and I have decided to enter AN UNTIDY AFFAIR.

The mystery manuscript must be between 60,000 and 90,000 words, and the winner will be offered a publishing contract with a small ($1,000) advance. The submission deadline is April 30, with the winner being announced one month later on May 31.

Though I like Poisoned Pen Press, I have never submitted a manuscript there before, mostly, I think, out of fear of rejection. The publisher prides itself on the fact that it accepts and considers authors without representation. And I know a local author who has had several of her mysteries published through Poisoned Pen and has enjoyed some success them.

As you may remember, I originally wrote AFFAIR in November 2009 during National Novel Writing Month and it has gone through numerous rewrites. I think I am up to 12. Because it is polished is one of the reasons I decided to submit it. That and the fact that I have another work currently in the Amazon contest. The Poisoned Pen rules state I can't enter the same mss to another publisher at the same time it is being considered in the Poisoned Pen contest.

So this is two contests this year -- Poisoned Pen and Amazon -- with different novels. Way to go, me!!

One of my stated goals was to enter four contests this year for novels or short stories and so I am nearly half way there. Plus I am looking around for other contests to enter. Both AFFAIR and THE LAST TONTINE SURVIVOR are good works which are completed and edited (as best they can be by an non-professional editor). So I am prepared to shop them around and hope for the best.

Your prayers would also be helpful.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

The first step is to admit your addiction

I have met so many wonderful people through the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest over the years. The way you meet your fellow contestants -- and well, anyone, really -- is primarily through the community forums. And while Ammy monitors the conversation threads, they can, and do, cover virtually any topic.

And they are addictive. So much so, you can get lost reading and commenting on the various conversation threads that you don't get any of your work do.

The topics cover everything from the serious, such as questions about the contest, writing suggestions and information on other contests; to the silly, such as bad song lyrics, and posting stupid questions.

This year, I promised myself that I would stay away from the threads as much as possible or, if I went there, I would merely 'lurk' and not comment on any topics.

I failed on both counts.

I tend to visit the threads everyday, though to my credit, I have commented less this year than in previous years. I am lurking more. Viewing and not commenting is made easier because many of my friends from years past are not in the competition this year, so I don't see them commenting much. And I don't know most of the regulars who are commenting this year and they don't know me. I posted an excerpt from my novel this year seeking comments but didn't get any.

This is the fifth year for ABNA and unfortunately something that generally happens later in the contest has started to occur, although the first round eliminations aren't due for more than a week. The problem is negativity.

When you pour your heart and soul into your work and then have it eliminated from competition is often hard to take. Most people accept it quietly, although it hurts. Others do not. There can be whining and crying and lashing out, saying the contest is unfair (which it isn't) or that the contestant was unfairly targeted for elimination (which also doesn't happen). Plus, some people take shots at the non-professional Vine reviewers who act as judges in the second stage of the contest. And the Vine reviewers sometimes fire back.

The problem this year seems that the Vine reviewers are complaining amongst themselves and to some degree on the ABNA threads even BEFORE they have any of the materials to judge. And there is one self-righteous, myopic SOB who takes pride in -- and indeed seems to get a perverse pleasure out of -- writing harsh reviews. Many of the contestants are afraid of him. I am not but I also avoid reading any of the comments on the contest or its contestants that he writes. He is a cancer, vile and ugly. He ruins the contest for many people and I don't understand why Ammy continues to use him.

That is another reason I am trying to stay away from the threads this year. There are 10,000 entries in the contest and there will only be two grand prize winners. They rest of us will eventually face our disappointments. Before that happens, I'd like to keep my dreams of winning alive and not have them killed prematurely by people who take joy in the misery of others.

I hope this doesn't sound like I am whining because I'm not. I have nothing to whine about. I wrote a good novel and wrote a good entry into the contest. Now, it is out of my hands and I will just have to wait and see what happens.

So, I'm going back to lurking, and working on my next novel.

Thanks for reading and you also, get back to writing.

My Muse Can Beat Up Your Muse: The Road to Publication: Part Three

My Muse Can Beat Up Your Muse: The Road to Publication: Part Three: [ This is part 3 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries. ] ...

Hello. It's me again. Finally.

I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest again this year. I first entered in 2009 with A MURDEROUS DISPATCH. (I should have kept the original -- and once again -- title, "Death at the Jungle-Bunny Journal.") I didn't make it past the first round.

Last year, I entered A NASTY AFFAIR. and again I should have kept the original -- and once again -- title, "An Untidy Affair." The original title is a better fit for the story. It implies something both sexual and non-sexual.

I made it to the quarterfinal round last year, which was farther than 95 percent of all the entrants. And though I got a reasonably positive review from someone at Publishers Weekly, I failed to advance to the semifinals. Unfortunately, the review was vague and I couldn't get much out of it.

AFFAIR was written during National Novel Writing Month in 2009 and my entry this year, THE LAST TONTINE SURVIVOR, was originally written during NaNoWriMo in 2010. (It's original title was merely, "The Tontine," but this time, I like the change.) It is a good story and I think the writing is strong. I have gotten three critical reads of the manuscript, including an edit. But I have no idea how it will do in the contest.

So much of ABNA comes down to luck, particularly in the first round. I have no idea whether I have any of that. But I have done my part. I have written a good novel with an interesting plot. I have done what I could. Now, I just have to while until the first round results are announced on Feb. 23. The finals will be in late May. I hope I make it that far.

There are two categories in ABNA -- general fiction and young adult. I am entered in general fiction. There is a grand prize winner in each category.

And while I don't believe the best novel always wins, I certainly believe a deserving, well-written novel always wins. And the winner last year in the YA category was a delightful novel called, SPOOKYGIRL, PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR. And its author is a wonderful woman named Jill Baguchinsky.

Jill just started a blog on what it is like to win ABNA. And if I do things correctly, there should be a link to her blog in this blog posting. You should go check it out. I enjoy reading it and look forward to her next posting.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and, always, keep writing.

Trying to set a new personal best

Yesterday, I embarked on a quest to set a new personal best. Personal best, you say! Of what?

Rejections.

I sent out a batch of query letters yesterday for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR and will now see if I can top my personal best set on Sept. 13, of last year when I got four (4, IV) rejections on the same day. That topped the previous best of three set one week earlier.

While this is probably a worthy goal, I, sadly, will probably not top it anytime soon because my querying strategy has changed since last fall. I am sending out fewer queries at a time and if all the responses are negative, then I re-write the query in hopes of drawing more interest.

I send four queries yesterday throughout the day as time permitted, and will ship off three today. And that is it. Seven. Then, I will wait to see what happens. If nothing good happens, then I know that letter doesn't work and I will to try again with another letter. And then I will ship off another batch of seven.

For this letter, I used my novel's background as outlined in my Publishers Weekly review. It was good and generally well-written. I adapted parts, of course, but the overall structure was the same. Now I will see if that helps. Plus I made a brief mention of being a quarterfinalist in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Time to see if that horse has any legs.

Well, that's it for today. I have a couple of other topics I want to discuss next week. But for now, have a great day and keep writing.

Thanks for reading.

Solid, but not particularly noteworthy

I know I have started this and should finish but today has been particularly busy and I will have to come back to this tomorrow. But for just a moment, I did want to return today to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and, more specifically, my Publishers Week review.

It was a mixed bag but in the end concluded with, "Solid, but not particularly noteworthy."

What am I to make of that?

Yes, I know it is only one person's opinion and they implied that the writing was good, which was nice to know. But the 'note particularly noteworthy' line puzzles me.

In the next couple of days I am going to try to figure that out, and then polish my novel yet again. I don't know what else to do.

When I have time, I will post all my reviews for you, dear reader, to consider. Until then, thanks again for supporting me, thanks for reading and sally forth.

ABNA -- I'm out

I haven't blogged but once since I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest this year, and I made it a point not to post about the contest. I didn't want to become consumed with ABNA or have people asking me how it was going.

I first entered in 2009 with DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL, though I went with a name that was more PC. I was eliminated in the first round. I just missed entering AN UNTIDY AFFAIR in the contest in 2010, missing the cutoff deadline by mere minutes.

This year I entered Affair under the title A NASTY AFFAIR by M. Stewart Dunn.

To enter the contest, you submit a 300-word pitch, which is judged in the first round, a 5,000-word excerpt from the beginning of the novel, which is judged in the second round, and the entire manuscript, which is used to determine the semi-finalists, finalists and the two eventual winners.

Since I didn't do well in 2009 and I spent hardly any time writing the pitch this year, I was surprised (and pleased) to make it through the first round. Plus, I got two wonderful Amazon Vine reviews of the excerpt -- with one reviewer saying, "The author's talent is there in spades" -- as I advanced to the quarter-finalist round. (Wasn't sure how I felt about the 'spades' comment but decided to take it on face value.) And I got five customer reviews. Four of the five were very positive.

I felt quite hopeful of being named a semi-finalist but, alas, it is not to be. Ths list of semi-finalists was announced less than an hour ago and my name isn't on it.

I was well-aware of the possibility, of course. The competition was very strong this year. But I had confidence in my writing, and in the story. Where I lacked confidence, however, was in my self-editing.

I read through the novel line by line before I entered the contest but, since the submission period was already open, I didn't think I had time to have someone else proof it for me before I entered. Afterwards, I was surprised and embarrassed at the spelling and other errors in the ms. But there was nothing I could do about it but hope. In the end, I'm sure the errors hurt my chances of advancing, perhaps fatally hurting them.

I feel about as bad as I thought I'd feel but life goes on. I plan to go over the manuscript completely again and have someone else do a final read. Then I plan to let the query letters fly again and see where it all leads.

And I am on the third draft of the novel I wrote last November during National Novel Writing Month. It is stronger that Affair and I plan to enter it in next year's ABNA competition.

So that's it for me at the moment. Sad but resolute.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

ABNA -- brief update

I finally did it this evening. I entered ABNA.

I also did something I said I wouldn't do. I commented under my real name on one of the threads. I'm sorry but I couldn't help it. The threads are addictive and sometimes destructive. So, from now on, I plan to avoid the whole thing and let my writing stand on its own.

I entered under a pen name, and used the name of a male child that my wife and I never had. (We have daughters.) She smiled when I mentioned to her the name I used.

I haven't been very productive this month with my blog. Lots going on. But I should be back on the horse next month.

Have a good weekend and thanks for reading.