Tag Archives: books

Bookfish Books Crit & Pub Opportunity

Contests, Literary, , , , , , ,

Bookfish Books Logo

Bookfish Books is hosting a twitter pitch party for an opportunity to be published through the company on January 13th, 2016. What’s even greater is that all favorited pitches will get personal feedback! This is golden in the writing industry. The editors also promise to give a few individuals critiques on their manuscripts first three chapters.

ShamWow guy

But wait, that’s not all!

One lucky writer will win a critique of his/her full manuscript. Whoa! Now that’s a golden ticket filled with scrumptious chocolate. And to top things off with ooze worthy icing, writer’s have an opportunity to be published if an editor loves their manuscript. (Obviously, I’ve an obsession with sweets today.)

Be sure and visit Bookfish Books to learn the rules and follow on twitter at #pitchBFB.

As always, goodluck.

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

#PitMad Is Tomorrow!

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Just a quick post from my mobile (so excuse any typos or wonky layouts). I want to make sure all my readers know Brenda Drake’s #PitMad is tomorrow! So get your 140 character pitch ready. If you won’t be home, you can always use TweetDeck to schedule your tweets.

And most importantly, be aware of the new rules! You are only allowed THREE pitches per manuscript. This is because #PitMad has become so popular that agents are having issues keeping up with the feed and many pitches are getting lost in the flow of abundance.

Also make a note NOT to RT to show support for a friend. (Tag them without RT to let them know.) And always-always remember to NOT favorite another pitch you like. This is for agents and publishers to request material.

For complete rules, go to the #PitMad page on Brenda’s site.

 

My Mentee BIO for Pitch Wars

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Hello wonderful mentors of Pitch Wars and thank you for stalking visiting me!

stalking-gif

I hope this means you like my first pages and want to know more about me. I write both young adult and middle grade, generally with a creepy vibe. So far, I’ve 68 (and climbing) ideas for stories and struggle to choose the next one to start. THIS SCARY MANOR BLOWS is my third completed manuscript, so as you can see, I’ve many more to go!

But don’t let this spine-chilling tale-telling girl fool you. I must admit a few ideas in my notebook aren’t always eerie—such as my underwater, alien-ish world adventure or the car that time travels with fun loving brothers. Sometimes, I just like a good laugh around my weirdness.

Some of my favorite pastimes involve anything in an ocean: swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving (I once swam over a Manta ray), cave exploring, hiking (especially in the mountains), whitewater rafting, repelling, jet skiing, painting, cooking, movies, hanging with the family, and writing (of course). When I write, I can be found sipping tea—okay, a LOT of tea—and eating cheese. I also shove chocolate down my throat when I’m waiting for contest results and stalking hashtags. Eating jalapenos with most meals is a craving, not an obsession—I swear! And lobster (or any seafood) is my absolute favorite meal. But I love all ethnic foods; my tongue has no limit for the goodies!

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But, sometimes goodies have a limit. Like, who’s eating whom here?

Okay, enough about scrumptious stuff or I’m gonna have to take a break to feed my face (yes, I really didn’t say mouth or stomach. I hear you mentor). You might be wondering what I like to read. Dude, I’m all over the place. But here are a few books I’ve enjoyed:

• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (but anything by Neil really!)
• Doll Bones, Holly Black
• Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rolling
• The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
• The Luck Uglies, Paul Durham
• Ink and Bone, Rachel Caine
• We All Looked Up, Tommy Wallach
• Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
• Watchers, Dean Koontz
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

What am I going to buy at Barnes & Noble later today? Not what you might think, a young adult book. Hey, don’t snarl at all that’s not middle grade, yo. The cover grabbed my attention on Holly’s site!

The_Coldest_Girl_in_Coldtown_cover

And of course, I must mention some of my favorite movies. In no particular order:

• Hocus Pocus
• The Goonies
• Harry Potter
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Twilight
• The Notebook
• Frozen (Okay, so it’s an animation. Watcha gonna do about it?)
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992 directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Mummy (1999 with Brendan Fraser—and OMGosh people, a reboot is coming in 2017!)
• 2012
• The Hunger Games
• Phantom of the Opera (1925 with Lon Chaney. Yes, I watched many old—old movies with my momma; basically she’d turn on anything with Lon, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and pirate movies with Errol Flynn. And no, I’m not an old hag peeps, I’m only 46.)

Phantom of the Opera-Lon Chaney

Of course, I also like Pride & Prejudice but hey, I threw the Notebook in the list and didn’t want you to think I was all about the mooshy-mooshy. (But, I might be, especially with a good mysterious creature or ghost!) Oh, that makes me think of Ghost with Patrick Swayze (sad moment). Dang, that was a good movie!

In my non-writing life, I’m a retail manager. So, I’m accustomed to setting goals with deadlines, and creating a marketing plan to promote product. I’m also a good listener to customer needs to turn the knowledge into a sale. These skills are handy to have as a writer. And lastly, I’m a quick learner and pretty easy going. So, even though I’m a panster, I’m trying my hand at outlining on my next novel (cuz I’m not scared). And if you’re blunt with critiques, I swoon at the words.

So there you have a brief summary of who I am. Good luck with finding an awesome mentee, but…PICK ME!

Pick me

(BTW, this picture is super cool and creepy with the ice hands, but I have to clarify—I hate Pepsi! I’m a Dr. Pepper kind of girl.)

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

Sun Versus Snow Pitch Contest: #sunvssnow

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This is a reminder that Sun versus Snow submission window is Tomorrow, January 26th, 2015 starting at 4pm EST. This contest is hosted by Michelle Hauck and Amy Trueblood. They will only accept the first 200 entries, so don’t delay when the time arrives!

sunvssnow_copy2

You can learn about all the fabulous participating agents here. And if you have any questions, you can email the hosts from their blogs or ask them on twitter @michelle4laughs @atrueblood5 and can use the hashtag #sunvssnow.

Update: Winners will be announced February 2nd and the agent round will start February 9th. Mark your calendars.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

 

Review: CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge

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When a book keeps me up all night, I have to blog about the story. I started reading CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge Friday evening and didn’t go to bed until 6am!

cruel-beauty-sml

Of course, I’ve always been a sucker for anything remotely BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with a twist. (Those that have beta read my BEAST know this to be true.) And this story delivers! Now, I’m usually one to stay away from tales that mention a demon. Yunno, cracking the door paranoia sort of thing. But this isn’t that kind of story to fear. No Heaven versus Hell with fallen angels stuff, but more internal good versus evil. The fact that Rosamund created Nyx Triskelion (this story’s Belle) with bitterness in her heart made the character more realistic. Darkness lives inside the Lord of Bargain’s ever changing castle (which reminds me of Hogwarts) and the magical turns will keep you flipping to the next page. And if you’re a fan of Greek mythology, Rosamund perfectly weaves the ancient gods into her eerily twisted tale.

But wait…there’s more! (Mhmm, I said that.)

I couldn’t get enough of Rosamund’s style. So on Saturday, I read her novella GILDED ASHES (CRUEL BEAUTY UNIVERSE BOOK 2). This is sort of a prequel to CRUEL BEAUTY, but only in the sense that it takes place in the same area before the time of Nyx Triskelion and the Lord of Bargain makes a cameo. This is it’s own twisted story based on CINDERELLA. Rosamund keeps true to her flawed characters and betrayal’s that leave you fuming.

GildedAshes_web

Now, I’m anticipating the release of her next novel CRIMSON BOUND. And you guessed it, another twisted fairytale retelling: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. Give me!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

NEW LEAF PITCH PERFECT 2! (TWITTER PITCH)

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New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc

If you haven’t seen the tweets on twitter, New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. is hosting a twitter pitch session today starting at 4pm EST! It will end at 5pm EST. So you’ve only got an hour window to get that pitch submitted!

This isn’t like other twitter pitch contests (ex: #Pitmad or #SunvsSnow) where you pitch once every half hour, this is a one time pitch deal. So, polish up that 140 character pitch to fit the hashtag #NLpitchperfect and figure out your local starting time to correspond to the EST zone. You can check out their official post regarding the pitch event here.

As always, good luck! And my apologies for the short blog notice.

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

THE IDEA – TOILET PAPER

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“I can get an idea from toilet paper!” I shouted after a writing friend asked me where my inspiration came from.

He laughed.

I was serious. Writers have a huge imagination and can be anywhere when an idea strikes, even the bathroom. It can come from a person, a place, or the oddest of objects. If you feel you’ve got writers block and can’t think of anything, maybe you are trying too hard. Relax and let your mind sink to levels from grade school. Think of stupid things and laugh about them. Do goofy things. Heck, cover yourself with chocolate syrup and roll around in your grass after freshly cut. You can call yourself the Grass Cutter Monster. I don’t care! Eventually, something has to emerge from your nonsense. You’re a writer, dang it!

Okay, maybe you don’t have to go to extremes. But you do need to stop being inhibited by your educated adult brain that insists on telling you when something isn’t practical. Let’s go back to toilet paper. My linear thinking brain says no one wants to hear about white fluffy stuff that wipes fecal matter off their butts. I’m a writer of paranormal stories and fluffiness doesn’t fit into them very well. Or…can it?

“Prove it,” my friend challenged.

I blurted this out: It is family day down at the local toilet paper factory. Little Johnny brought his good luck rock he claims fell from the sky when he was camping last week. His dad pulls him aside to demand the rock be put into his pocket because Johnny is embarrassing him by claiming the rock came from outer space. In an argumentative struggle, the rock accidentally falls into the pulper and breaks. Microscopic parasites, resistant to high heat levels, are released and get woven into the toilet paper. Upon contact with human skin, the parasites enter through their pores and rapidly drink their blood. People shrivel to bone and stiff corpses turn up around the country. Only little Johnny and his dad suspect the reasoning.

I can go on with a full blown novel from there. I just need to determine how the parasites are going to continue spreading and how they will ultimately be stopped. But the bottom line, I took the challenge because I didn’t laugh myself out of the “fluff” idea.

Now it’s your turn! Write away folks! And yes…the novel FLUFF may be coming your way soon!

P.D. Pabst

Writer of YA Fiction and Blogger

Toilet Paper Parasite
Toilet Paper Parasite