I won the pitch contest! Yea!!!!

Remember the pitch contest from Donna's blog?

I won! *\o/* yea!

A big thanks to Donna for hosting this contest and to authors Stephanie Reed and Susan Marlow for judging. I really needed to work on my pitch and this contest helped me get my butt in gear.

I never put much effort into a pitch. Quite honestly, it didn't appeal to me. I'm writing a novel for crying out loud! I like words. Lots and lots of words! To think of taking a story that is 50,000 + words and condensing it down to 25 words or less didn't just sound impossible; the thought horrified me!

Then, I went to the writers retreat in Chapel Hill, NC this past April. For those who read my blog on a regular basis, there's no doubt, you're getting sick of hearing about this retreat. I can't help but write about it. I learned so much and feel that I grew leaps and bounds as a writer in just one weekend.

Sarah Shumway, editor at Dutton/Penguin, spoke about pitches. Her lecture opened my eyes to the necessity of a good pitch. Bottom line: it's crucial. Here's a link to some of my notes from her session.

We had a stimulating discussion on our SCBWI Carolina's list serve about pitches and I have a great critique buddy (you know who you are) who helped me work on the pitch. It's great to have insight from those who are honest and constructive.

You need to go over and read all the pitches. There are so many great plots and story lines!!!! When all these works in progress are published, I'm going to have a lot of reading to do!

oh, and here's my pitch for my YA fantasy novel: (cue fast music with a heavy drum beat)
"A runaway slave girl encounters forbidden love and a stealthy enemy while searching for three mystical charms missing from a family heirloom."

I can already hear the book trailer . . . . . (you have to think positive you know!) :0)

Happy writing everyone!