Given that in this spring’s Red Light/Green Light, we have a smaller pool of contestants, we’ll be sharing each entry’s first paragraph right away. This means each entrant has a greater chance of wowing our judging agent and walking away with a full request! There are some very intriguing entries here, and I can’t wait to share them with our readers.
Without further ado, here are our Red Light/Green Light contestants.
My Span of Forever
YA Contemporary
Laura McFadden
Underwater, we hear with our bones. It’s true. Sounds waves pass directly through the water into our skull. Our head becomes one big ear.
I’m Disappointed
YA Contemporary
Rachel Lachmansingh
Honestly, the last thing any teenager wants to hear from their parent is I’m disappointed in you.
I’m disappointed you forgot to water the lawn. Disappointed you failed your math exam.
Fear No Evil
YA Sci Fi
Rachel Hanville
A drop of zombie blood in a wound was enough to infect someone with the virus, but my sister Kyla didn’t notice that the bottom left of her shirt was stained with blood. Or maybe she didn’t care. Her shirt wasn’t soaked in blood, but it was still hard to miss. It stood out against her blue shirt. I chewed on my lip, wondering if I should tell her. The blood was dry, so it was probably safe, but I still cringed. Some survivors might be used to this kind of thing, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t help but shiver, and not because of the cold autumn air, even though the wind was blowing hard enough to shake the few remaining leaves from nearby trees.
The Sundown Society
YA Paranormal
Chris Wuchte
The sun was rising, and it was time to go to bed. A little girl sat on the front porch steps of her house in her tee shirt and pajama pants, her bare feet playing with the dew-misted grass that grew from the cracks in the sidewalk. Her name is Rhiannon Smith, and she isn’t waiting for the sunrise. She always made sure to be in bed before this occurred every morning. She was waiting for the daily newspaper delivery. Not the paper itself, since her mother didn’t subscribe to the Chillimark Sentinel or any other newspaper.
The Devils’ Keys
MG Steampunk Fantasy
Sussu Leclerc
The dust devils pushed past Anise, slipping into his babouches with the energy of puppies, whisking away the slippers into the air and drumming them on the door of the library.
Bloodlines: The Descendant
YA Romantic Fantasy
Wiscidra Jackson
How do you stop a haunting when it’s not a ghost that’s lingering, but your own broken heart? I asked myself that question every day, and it appeared today would be no exception. Memories flooded my mind as I navigated my car off the highway and onto the private road leading to our family home. My twin sister, Brianna, sat beside me with her seat reclined, her belt fastened, and her iPod on full blast. Although her eyes were closed, I felt the tension they held. Like me, she dreaded coming back to Crestor Falls. Our older brothers Chase and Marcus were not thrilled either but we all made Mother a promise to come back and none of us dared to break a promise to Mother, even in death.
TOSOM: Freshman
YA Paranormal Romance
Kelley M Likes
I’m not a bald freak, Amarea thought.
The boy searched the crowd. He found her eyes and stared at her.
The Lost Coast
YA Paranormal
Erika Daggett
Twisted fruit grew from the kernel of doubt in my heart. When willpower failed, I ate it. Like Eve’s fateful bite, each mouthful came with the curse of knowledge. My impulse eating didn’t cause humanity’s downfall; it only triggered my own. I had a chance, but I was screwing it up. Again. What good was sensing emotions in others, when my feelings were a constant mystery?
Rafter’s Rats
YA Sci Fi
Samuel Chapman
In the ninetieth summer of Pale, the year of the Green Fever, two women in veils came to put the mark on my door.
Gates on the Way to the Great Upstairs
YA Contemporary
Laura Levin
My story really isn’t all that complicated. Dad died almost a year ago, and I killed him. I didn’t use a gun. I wasn’t even there when it happened. It’s just that I’m responsible, so this is a secret I’ll carry with me until my last day.
The Witch and the Demon
YA Fantasy
Katherine Toran
Ebba ran into the moonless night. Her soaked dress clung to her skin, wind and wetness competing to freeze her into a corpse. Tree roots banged her feet and fatigue crept up from her shaking limbs to numb her brain. If she fell, she might not be able to get up again. Keep moving. Get as far away from the witchfinder as possible, may he be reincarnated as a constipated drunk’s chamber pot.
Land of Sand and Stars
YA Historical Fantasy
Sara-Marissa Patel
Pain shot across Amiti’s bruised thigh and she bit back a yelp. She scowled at the curved, wooden blade in her instructor’s hand. The desert sun beat down behind him. His long shadow stretched out and swallowed her whole. It was like a scorpion fighting a camel; although it had a poisonous sting, it would do little to a large animal.
When I Wake
YA Fantasy
Beth Wertz
The only thing I’d wanted on my first day at a new school was to not pass out on the floor and start dreaming. The thought alone scared me enough to skip class for the first time. I wasn’t exactly a model student, but I wasn’t a bad kid either. Still, my mother was not going to be happy when she found out what happened at school that day. Which was how I found myself at the cute little coffee shop down the street from my new house after school. I needed an extra jolt of caffeine before listening to a lecture when my mom got home from work. I dropped my backpack off at the table before going to the counter and ordering a simple vanilla latte.
Ghost
YA Fantasy
Nicole Surrusco
All of his stories end like this.
The Lassarian banner, blue and silver in a restless wind.
The young king, with his Imagi behind him.
The Taro Wish
YA Contemporary Fantasy
Amanda Miah
Coconut, coconut in my tree. How many knocks until you fall free? My fingers tap the familiar rhythm, as the world’s most annoying rhyme replays in my head. At least it passes the time, childish as it is. With the stench of sun-softened ahi around me, melding into every breath I take, I need the minutes to pass quicker. Glamorous, right? It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to plant myself next to the fishmonger’s stall, but this is the densest area of the street market and ergo the best outpost. To my great misfortune.
Universe
YA Sci Fi
EL Cruz
Today was Gray’s seventeenth birthday and this year it fell on the same day as the Electary. Some said it meant the stars had aligned for her, yet Gray couldn’t help but be nervous about this day and how it would shape her future.
