Three down...one to go.

It's been three weeks since I found out I'm a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Since then I have received so many kind emails and calls from people telling me I'm brave for entering the contest (though I don't feel brave) and that I'm very talented (though I don't feel talented). Thanks so much for your support.

I've also received thirteen amazing reviews on amazon.com! Thank you so much! I know that you had to have made a purchase in the past on amazon.com before you can leave a review. So if you weren't able to, that's ok. I understand and I appreciate the thought. As Edward says, "It's the thought that counts. I should know." Yes, I just quoted a fictional character. No, I'm not ashamed of it.

Now I have one more week before I find out if I made it to the semifinals or not. Editors from Publisher's Weekly are reading the manuscripts (the entire book, not just excerpts) for ALL the quarterfinalists. They will score the MS on a couple of different things, including the reviews (so thanks again!!) and then the top 100 scoring MS will make it to the semifinals.

After that an expert panel of 3 people will read the remaining 100 manuscripts and choose the top three. Then amazon.com members will vote on the winner based on the excerpt (which will be extended an additional 5,000 words).

Ok, so back to where I am in the contest. I will find out next Wednesday if I've made it to the semifinals. Even though my "chances" (percentage wise) are better to making it to the semifinals than they were to make it to the quarterfinals (20% as opposed to 5%), I am not very confident right now. I kind of think this is as far as I'll make it. Which is still amazing! I feel very honored to have made it this far. Even though a guy posted on a website that all the excerpts he's read (including mine) are rubbish, we don't deserve to be there and we should be ashamed of our work. Can you guess who didn't make it this far? Anyway. My work isn't rubbish. I deserve to be here. And I am not ashamed of myself. But whether or not I'll make it any further in the contest is up in the air.

So three weeks down and one to go. Hopefully this time next week I'll have good news for you. Maybe not, but that's alright.

Thanks again for your support and kindness. You guys are awesome!

If you still haven't checked the excerpt for The Gifted by Deborah Andreasen (that's me!), here it is: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3A1E

I still can't believe I've got my own Amazon page!

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Thank you, thank you, thank you.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your overwhelming support! I've received numerous emails, phone calls, blog posts, book reviews and comments about my book excerpt. It is humbling and very fulfilling to have something I created be so enjoyed!

This whole experience seems so surreal and I have to keep wondering if it's actually happening. To me, no less. My dear friend emailed me and asked how I'm handling all the fame. I had to laugh at that. Fame? I don't know. Maybe someday though.

I have been very encouraged to take my book to a publisher as soon as it becomes "mine" again. At the moment it's property of Penguin Books until they tell me they don't want it. But I hope someday soon you'll be able to read the rest of the book. (And hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as you enjoyed the first 1 1/2 chapters)

I also want to say thank you so much to everyone who has left a review. Those are so very helpful, and they make The Gifted look good in front of the judges!:) That point aside, they really do mean a lot to me. I treasure every single one, along with all the wonderful comments and emails and phone calls.

Anyway, I may sound a little loopy because I'm heavily medicated right now, but I'm coherent enough to say thank you to all of you so much for caring about me and answering my call for help. You're so great! What good is an experience like this if you can't share it with everyone you know?

Thank you. Pin It

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (updated)

I did it. Yay!! (Insert happy dance here) I made it to the quarterfinalists! I screamed and jumped and choked on my own spit. And then I did it again. I'm so excited that in the shower this morning I was so distracted that I almost washed my face with shampoo and shampooed my hair with conditioner. And then my hands were shaking so bad I almost couldn't get my contacts in.

I did it!! I have editorial reviews and everything! Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I entered a manuscript to a contest on amazon.com. There were 10,000 submissions. From those ten thousand they have narrowed it down to 500 quarterfinalists. That's me. An excerpt of my book has been read and reviewed. And now it is posted on www.amazon.com/abna under "Fantasy." But before you go charging off to find it, let me give you a direct link. :) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3A1E My book is entitled The Gifted. In case you're wondering.

Can you believe that? I have my own Amazon page!!!

From my limited understanding of how the rest of this game is played, amazon readers are now able to download and review the excerpts. I thought you'd be able to vote on them, but I guess that's not until later. However, Publisher's Weekly is reviewing the excerpts and will pick a top 100. I guess reader reviews help the "judges" decide which books to move forward, so I could still use your help. Even if you don't know me and still read my blog, I could use your help.

(Update: Apparently you CAN vote on it. You can give me five stars. Sorry, that's the only option. :D)

Download the excerpt and read it, if only because I know you'll enjoy it. I did. I mean, I do. (You will have to go through the process like you are going to buy it, but it's free.) Anyway, then write me a review with the understanding that the judges will be reading that review. My book is not perfect, I know that. But I still think it's pretty darn good. Spread the word too. The more the merrier. Right?

If I don't make it to the semi-finalists, I'll be fine. I'll be disappointed, but I'll be ok because I have a polished manuscript and editorial reviews to send to publishers.

This has been a huge honor so far. I'm wondering if most of this post makes sense, but seeing has how I can't remember if I brushed my teeth or not and at the moment I'd run out the door barefoot (in 30 degree weather), I guess I can't rely on my coherency at the moment. Pin It

Today is the day...supposedly (updated)

I find out today if my book made it to the ABNA quarterfinalists. But as of 8:12am my time, I have yet to receive any notification of my book's status.

Later today (supposedly) the quarterfinalists will be announced on Amazon.com. You can download excerpts and vote to see who will make it to the semifinalists and the finalists. So I'd recommend you do that, regardless of whether or not I make it. But hopefully I will:)

Cheers! (And keep your fingers crossed for me!!)

**Update**

It's 9:27pm. I have still heard nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Zip.

I'm going to bed. Pin It

Wish me luck.

Some of you may know that I am a writer. I love to write (as you have all witnessed with my very, very long blog posts). I remember winning awards in eighth grade because of my writing. Ever since then I've just been enamoured by the power of the written word.

When I went to college I HAD to read. I read so much my eyes bled. Ok, not really. But sometimes I felt like they were going to bleed. I had to read so much boring stuff that I swore once I got out of college I'd never read again! Unless of course it was the scriptures. Or if I found a really good book. But that was it. No more reading.

And writing? Don't even talk about writing. With all my business writing classes (apparently when you major in business they want you to actually sound intelligent when you send out media to employees, co-workers and bosses. Who knew?) and English assignments (that the teacher never liked because I usually wrote about stuff that no one writes about...like eating disorders or how to avoid car wrecks when travelling home) and business plans (yes, actual business plans. I think I wrote five altogether) and estate plans and lessons for church (I was a RS teacher 3 out of my 4 years of college), I vowed to throw my laptop out the window and laugh at it.

But Tyler wouldn't let my throw the laptop out the window because we spent too much money on it. So I relented and kept it.

Graduation came and went. I was working at a bank when I graduated. My branch was half an hour away, so I had to stay there for lunches. And what is there to do when you're eating lunch trying not to dwell on this job that you hate?

Wouldn't you know it? I started taking books to work. ONLY because there was nothing else to do besides complain about my hostile work environment. (It wasn't really hostile. I just really disliked it from the depths of my soul.)

And then a funny thing happened. I started reading at home on the weekends. And Tyler and I started reading books before bed. And I got hooked.

I bought books from DI just so I had something to read. I got a library card!

And then I got a new job that I loved, but I still read. I read so much that Tyler started to feel neglected. So I cut back on the reading.

And then (there are a lot of and then's. Sorry.) something really funny happened. I suddenly had an overwhelming surge of creativity flow through me that I absolutely had to release it or else I would positively explode!

So I took a painting class. Though that helped, it wasn't quite enough. It was like a pin prick in a swimming pool. The pressure was building and I was going to burst.

Soon after I had a dream. It was such a crazy dream that when I woke up I had to write it down. (For those of you who didn't know this already, that's how Stephenie Meyer started Twilight. She dreamt the scene where Bella and Edward are in the meadow and he's "in the sun." And now look at her. She's the next J.K. Rowling. Don't ever discredit your dreams. They are very liberating to your creativity.)

Before I left for work that morning, I had fifteen pages of this fantastic gibberish written down. It was essentially two completely different chapters in someone's life. I knew I had to write the story to bind them together. So I did. Several months later Desert Snow was born.

Aaahhh. That hit the spot. I felt much better. But I wasn't done! I had to keep doing it; I had to keep writing.

Two months later, The Journey Home was born. A few months after that, The Dream Weaver was kind of born. It's about 2/3rds of the way done with the promise that I will go back someday and finish it.

And in November I took on the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I did it. I did it and have never been more proud of any other writing. In the month of November, The Gifted was born.

And do you want to know something funny? Every single one of my books started with a dream. I can tell you the exact scene or exact line from every book that came from my dream. In The Dream Weaver it was a single line that scared me to death. So when I woke up I had to write it into a book.

So. Here it is, February 1st and you are probably wondering why I'm babbling. That happens a lot, doesn't it? But you still love me anyway, and that's the point.

Tonight, at 12:01am EST (10:01 my time), submissions for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest will officially be accepted. That means that tonight, I will enter The Gifted into a contest against 9,999 other manuscripts.

The prize? A publishing contract with Penguin Group. Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Not really. I don't have anything to lose. Do I hope I'll win? Yes, but I'm not completely naive. I know I'm up against some stiff competition (my dad and aunt are also entering). So even though I probably won't win the contest, I'm still grateful because now I have a polished manuscript to submit to publishers.

Here is the contest outline:

February 2 Contest submission period opens (That's tonight). 10,000 entries are slimmed down to 2,000 based on a "pitch." A 300 word summary of the book, it's strengths and character development, the intended audience and how readers identify with my book.

March 16 Quarter finalists announced on Amazon.com. The 2,000 submissions are cut to 500 based on an excerpt from the beginning of the book.

April 15 Semifinalists announced and Publishers Weekly reviews posted. The 500 semifinalists books are read by a panel of judges and given reviews.

May 15 - May 21 Three Finalists chosen by Penguin; Amazon.com customers vote for the Grand Prize Winner. Anyone with an Amazon.com account can get online, download excerpts from the top three and vote on the winner.

May 22 Grand Prize is announced on Amazon.com.

So, as you can see, it'll be at least a few weeks before I hear anything. I've been rushing for 20 days to get things ready, and then I'll have to sit and wait. I'll keep you posted and let you know anything as soon as I do. Because I know you're all dying to hear about my contest results. But you'll all have to have patience; it'll be a while.

It's ok though. While I wait, I'll probably read a book...or five. Pin It

Survey Says

Ok, so Kadie and I finally went and saw Twilight. We had a heck of a time getting our schedules to fit.

My verdict? I loved it!

Yes, it's a little corny. No, it isn't as good as the book. Yes, they left a ton out. But I definitely would see it again.

Dena, I highly recommend reading the book before you see the movie. There were a few times during the movie that you could tell who had read the book by the way they reacted to the scene. If you don't read the book, you will still enjoy the movie. But I think you'll like it better if you read the book first.

I was expecting it to be the stupidest movie ever, so I was pleasantly surprised. Like I said, I'd go see it again. In fact I probably will when it goes to the cheap theatre. Anyone want to come with me?

For those of you who have seen the movie, did anyone else notice the author, Stephenie Meyer's cameo appearance in the movie? She was in the diner the second time Bella and Charlie ate there. The scene opens with some random woman sitting at the bar or whatever. If you wondered why they did that, it's because she is the author:) Hey, if I ever have a book made into a movie, I want to be in the movie too! But first I guess I'll have to have a book published.

So. I loved Twilight the movie and I'm excited that they're making New Moon into a movie. (Haven't heard about that? Click here.) I'm not excited about New Moon per se, I'm just excited that the Twilight Movie franchise is going well because that means they'll probably make an Eclipse. New Moon is not my most favorite book ever, it's just sort of a speed bump. Something you have to go over to get to the other side: Eclipse.

PS. This is really weird, but I loved Bella's style in the movie. If I could go back to being a teenager, I'd dress just like her. :) Pin It

Fair warning

I mentioned a few posts ago that I'm excited to participate in NaNoWriMo (nan-oo-wree-moo or nan-oh-wree-mow). I got a few raised eyebrows and a few 'What the heck is that?'s.

I am a writer. Not published, but some day hopefully. NaNoWriMo is all about sitting down and writing. For the month of November, NaNoWriMo participants around the world will converge with the goal of writing a 175 page, 50,000-word, novel before midnight on November 30th.

Doesn't that sound fun? A little intense, sure. But fun.

Here is my author page. There is a little graph on there. You can "monitor" my progress with me, see if I'm reaching my goal or not.

Check out the NaNoWriMo page and find out a little more about it. If you feel like you have a story just bursting to get out, join up and see if you can meet the challenge. Don't give me the "Oh, I don't think I have time," excuse. My dad figured it out and said if you type 60 wpm, you would need to write for half an hour a day to reach your goal.

I can so totally do that. So could you if you really want to. :) We could even be writing buddies.

Anyway, I'm just giving you all fair warning that for the month of November I'm probably going to be pretty MIA. Not that I won't post anything at all. I've got a few stories and parables that I've been saving for when I won't have time to post anything else.

Cheers! Pin It

What's in a name?

I think I'm obsessed with names. When Tyler and I got married, I would always ask him, "What do you think of this name?" And he'd usually just shrug. But when I discovered I wouldn't be able to name kids any time soon, I turned to writing.

I love to write. One of my favorite parts about writing is that I get to use all those awesome names I fell in love with that Tyler just shrugs at. The difference in our opinion in names comes from our roots I think. You see it when we compare his family names to my family names. His: Bart, Sheila, Shawn, Toby, Heather, Tyler, Ryan. Mine: Orey, Marina, Maura, Deborah, Rebekah, Alexander, Marina (another one, not a typo) and Eric.

So you see how my family is not new to different names that people don't hear often. In all my years (and there's a lot) I've only met a handful of Debras. And probably only one other Deborah. Maybe two.

And now the search is on for my sister-in-law Kadie. Her baby is due in a month and she and her husband are having, shall we say, difficulties deciding on a name they both like. And of course trying to be the "helpful" sister-in-law (enter the mischievous laugh here), I give her names like Gemini and Jarvin. (If you know someone with those names or you named your own child one of those names, I'm sorry. I mean no offense.)Those usually get me a good laugh. But I have been scouring for names and every time I come up with one I like I share it with them. Usually Kadie tells me, "Ryan doesn't like that one." It's funny because there really hasn't been a time where I gave her a name and she said she didn't like it. So she and I kind of agree on names, and Ryan and Tyler don't agree with us. Hmmmmm....could it be roots?

But I digress. I love to write and I love to name. I also love to read. I'll go through two books a week, sometimes three or four. I love to read.

One thing that drives me nuts when I read is when I can't pronounce a name. That is the worst! Actually, the worst is when it's a main character, or one of the main characters.

Like Twilight, for example. I love the books, I'll just get that out of the way right now. Carlisle. I had more than one person ask me, "How do you say his name? Carl-lissle?" I don't know how I knew it was Carl-lyle, but I did. In fact, I had a certain sister who didn't believe me, but I won't name her name because she's younger than me, but not my youngest sister, and I don't want to embarrass her;) She really didn't believe me until a few weeks later when someone else said his name and I was validated. But what about Carlisle's wife? Esme. How on earth do you say that name? I always said Ehz-mee. I've seen trailers for the movie and they said Ehz-may. Hmm. How am I to know? They don't come with a pronunciation guide.

Actually, if you've ever read Eragon or Eldest, you could just kiss Christopher Paolini for adding a pronunciation guide at the end of his book and including names. But of course you shouldn't kiss him because he's probably still a minor.

I wrote a sci-fi kind of romance. I'm not sure what to call it, but that's the closest I could think of because there's a porthole type thing that allows instantaneous travel between two planets. Anyway. My main character named herself (as you find sometimes when you write. Your characters do things you didn't mean for them to do and you have to get frustrated but just let them do it). Her name is Dasah. And I tried to somehow help the reader understand that her name is Dah-suh. The other main character is Kjel. I LOVE that name. But how would you pronounce it? It's Kell. But would you have read it Kay-gel? Gosh I hope not. What a tragic way to pronounce such a wonderful name. You can probably see why Tyler just shrugs when I give him names to consider:)

But enough about me and my quirks. I've written this post for a reason, and if you hang with me long enough, I'll get to it.

I just read a book last week (that I won't even name because it's not worth recommending. There are others in the series and I won't read them) and I was irritated from the start to see that the name was one I couldn't pronounce. I read the entire book unsure of how to say it. The main character!

In fact, I had to make do, so I read her name exactly how I saw it. So it came out Shooler. What a tragic name. Shooler. You hear a name like that and you wonder if A) it is a family name or B) the parents hated them. Ok, I'm not that cruel, but come on. Shooler? I even showed the name to Tyler and said, "How do you say that?"

He sort of scrunched up is face and turned his head a few times as if the change in angle would give him better insight in how to say the name. Finally he curled his lip in disgust and said, "Shooler?" I laughed and told him that's what I read too.

Then 3/4ths of the way through, they author made a reference to a nickname that condensed the name to only the first syllable. It took me a minute to figure out who they were talking about because the nickname was not Shoe. I thought, who the heck is that? Then it hit me and I had to go back to the full length name and sound it out. Sure enough.

The name is Schuyler. How would you read that?

Go ahead. I'll give you a minute.

If you already know, no fair. If you don't know, sound it out. And now can you see why I read most of the book as Shooler? I thought the 'c' gave it kind of a Sean Connery accent. (Try it. Shooler with a Sean Connery accent. That'll give you a good laugh.) And even after I learned how to pronounce her name (yes, it was a her), I still read it Shooler because I just couldn't believe it.

Ok, I'll give you a hint. The nickname was Sky.

Schuyler = Skyler.

Makes sense, doesn't it? Sch (as in school) = sk. Uy (as in guy) = y. Ler (as in ler) = ler. Schuyler.

I still read it as Shooler. Pin It