ANOTHER DAY

So another day means another opportunity. I wasn't picked to be on any teams but I still received some coaching in that. It has spurred more revisions to both the manuscript and the query, both of which were needed and I think much improved. Thank you, coaches.

I also had a very helpful critique that has pushed me to pump up the voices for each. I wish I had done so for the first 250 words of the contest but trust timing.

The query is a crazy creature though - every time I get feedback it sends me in a different direction. Then there's the word count. How to make the reader really feel 4 MC's with so few words. Obviously I don't have it yet but, again, every experience gives me a new piece to keep shining the rock until, one day, hopefully soon, I'll have a gem.

My youngest son has a giant "diamond" that Santa brought him - he loves rocks and crystals, and everything he can collect from nature - including seeds, berries, nuts, etc that he puts in plastic containers (hard to make lunches sometimes) and then stores in his room in drawers and the closet. He is great at growing mold!

The diamond is sitting on the table across from me :)  I'll take it as a sign.

THE WRITER'S VOICE

I won the lottery! The Writer’s Voice Lottery!





Check out Brenda Drake, Cupid, Krista Van Dolzer and Monica B.W. - the four amazing coaches hosting The Writer's Voice.

I am so grateful for this opportunity. And so very excited. Thank you.

ENTELEKY - MG Contemporary Adventure Fantasy

Query:
            

Children are being stolen and four tenacious tweens from around the world have the power to save them, they just don’t know it, yet.

Sage can’t understand why she is so affected by her friend’s emotions and why she has no control of her own. Mei can’t explain how she can play the violin so brilliantly without the ability to read notes. Themba can’t stop his mind from racing with possibilities every moment of every day. And Gabe has never known why he can run forever without tiring.

But the Enlerians, an advanced race of ocean-dwelling beings, know why. They can read their coded powers and, if given the key to unlock them, they believe those powers will save the stolen children.

The Korastians, another underwater civilization, have decided that humanity is hopeless and are stealing children in their bid to control the earth. Now these four kids are tasked with getting themselves kidnapped in order to infiltrate the domed world of Korast, save the stolen children being reprogrammed there, and stop the eradication of adults above.

To succeed they will have to believe the Enlerians and dive in, accepting what they are truly capable of. Fighting advanced mental and technological weapons, it will take all their new found powers to save themselves, let alone humanity.

 

Told in the distinct voices of the four multicultural characters, Enteleky is a middle grade contemporary adventure fantasy complete at 63,000 words.

 

First 250 words:

Chapter One: Sage

 

It must have been her imagination. No one was out there. She was just tired. Tired of the changes and tired of the unknown. Light was fading, being pulled across the water, drowning with the red ball sun too heavy to remain above the horizon. It was time to head back.

Finding her temporary home with palm trees placed in front like chess pawns before a king, she took the path around the side and brushed sand from her feet onto the manicured lawn. With a last glance to the twilight sky she stepped into the lanai her aunt had kept so perfectly considering she was never there. It was hard not to think of people living out of their cars.

She let the door slam but no one noticed. Returning to the green room, she flopped down on the bed and stared at her suitcase. She knew her mother wanted her to unpack and get organized. Why should she unpack to just pack it up again? They didn’t know where they were going to be living next week. Insane. How do you get organized for that?

Outside her thoughts she heard her name being called. She froze and listened. It called again, like a quiet wave onto the shore. The conch shell? She grabbed it off the dresser and held it to her ear. “Sage.” Her fingers flew open dropping it on the bed as her mind whirled into a tail spin. It was true; she could hear the ocean in a conch, but her name - too weird.

GRATITUDE

I'm diving in, not stopping to feel the waters as there are so many swimmers out there already. It must be warm. (It better be warm because I am not a cold water girl.)


My first blog...

I always start my journal with gratitude, so shall I start this.






Life is conspiring in my favor. For this I am truly grateful. Have we made some choices others might call crazy - yes! But we are following our dreams, no matter the obstacles. And so far - three beautiful boys, two loving dogs, and life by the sea for the school year and by a northern lake, where are roots are nourished, for the summer. Not bad.










"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." - Anonymous (although there is argument it was a writer for a Canadian card company)

I am grateful for the nudge to start blogging, given by the bloggers of the Writer's Voice competition. Check out Brenda Drake, Cupid, Monica B.W., Krista Van Dolzer and Kimberly P. Chase. I have more than a few times thought of starting (lots of kindling lay around) but they have given me the fire - you can't enter their competition without a blog of your very own.

I am also thankful for the inspiration, quiet whisperings, loud thoughts, and time (precious time) to finish my middle grade contemporary fantasy, Enteleky, so that I can write something else without feeling off task. There is a freedom in having it complete - I can actually fall asleep without hearing character's telling me where they should go or what they should be doing. And yet, back in the corners of my mind, soft knockings tell of more to come. So, before they grow loud and break through, let this begin.

Gratitude overflows as I think of the freedom I have to follow my dream. Three boys off to school and the former teacher does not go. I loved teaching and one of the best things about it was watching the light spark in kids when they got something. I can do that with writing. A great book can inspire them while entertaining them. It can give them freedom to visit other worlds and other's lives. It can help them discover who they truly are and what they can become. It can be a light in their lives, something they love.

H. D. Thoreau said, "The world is but a canvas to the imagination."

                          I want children to know this truth.

I sit in our home and glance up from the computer screen to the palm trees outside my window.

 

Gratitude!