Pitch Slam: Has Judge #(REDACTED) Got What it Takes?

That's for you to know and me to find out. ;)


We've all been there. Waiting as the minutes, hours, and days tick by till the big reveal. Wondering if we made it. Wondering if we've embarrassed ourselves. Wondering if not getting picked means we suck or some other factor came into play. Wondering if we start too many sentences with "wondering."

So the brilliant Caitlyn McFarland came up with an almost equally brilliant plan. What if some of the judges post THEIR first 250's for the PitchSlam entrants to critique? Wouldn't that be hilarious? Wouldn't our PitchSlam-ers have fun calling us out for OUR prologues, wake-up scenes, and back-story issues?

Again, that's for you to know and us to find out.

So here are some of my first pages for your perusal (apologies for the formatting issues - it's midnight and blogger hates me and, oh, you know how it is). Please know, I'm not agented or published. I've done a LOT of slushpile reading and contest judging, and picked up a bit of experience along the way, but when it comes to writing, I'm still finding my way. Feel free to give me a friendly kick if I'm heading in the wrong direction. ;)

We love you guys, and we know the last several days have been rough. This is us in the carnival dunk tank, laughing as we wait for you to hit the bullseye. Tease us. Make our pages bleed the online equivalent of red ink. And most of all, have fun with it!

In order of Best to Worst (in my less than objective opinion):

YA Sci-Fi: In a Blink
YA Fantasy: What Lies Between
NA Contemporary: Three Ways Home
MG Fantasy: S.U.P.E.R.
MG Fantasy: Taigaea - my first book. Not shown here (lost!) but it had a doozy of a prologue that would make you laugh-snort. Promise.

The Other Judges' FABulous Pages:

Caitlyn
Diana
Jamie
Laura
Mary Ann
Michelle