Here are the final first round winners — the actual entries will be going up at 10:00 am today on the AdventuresInYAContests site! Congrats to everyone, and if your favorite isn’t here, or your entry isn’t here, remember that writing is an art–it’s all subjective. Participants, read our note to you here, and give yourselves a huge round of applause. Whether you made it to this next round or not, you won just by taking the huge step of putting your work out for feedback, and hopefully you will have found the feedback helpful.
Entry #2 — Punishment Summer
Entry #7 — Defying the Starts
Entry #11 — Elspeth
Entry #13 — The Cardinal Sign
Entry #15 — A Serpent in the Garden
Entry #16 — Becoming Hook
Entry #17 — The Unbelievable Misadventures of Avery Mann
Entry #18 — Love and the Bard
Entry #22 — Dwarfed
Entry #24 — Where There Is Dark
Entry #25 — Traveler
Entry #27 — Leaving Peaceylvania
Entry #30 — Heritage Blade
Entry #33 — Class Clown
Entry #35 — Conduit
Entry #36 — The Adventures of the Boy-Crazy-Boy-Lovers
Entry #41 — Music of the Night
Entry #42 — Twist of Fate
Entry #43 — Nanny Murto
Entry #46 — The Elder Race
Entry #48 — The Book of Adam
Entry #49 — Dirty Rainbow
Entry #55 — Thirty Dias
Entry #57 — What Lies Between
Entry #59 — Bad Dreams
Entry #60 — The Beast of Gantu
Entry #61 — Paloma and the Bow Wow Bar Mitzvah
Entry #62 — Helica
Entry #63 — Sidewalk Chalk
Entry #64 — Darkenwear, Inc.: Feathers vs. Scales
Entry #65 — If I Promise You the Sun
Entry #66 — Don Q. Oatney: Vampire Hunter
Entry #69 — The Last Flock
Entry #70 — Sign of the Star
Entry #71 — Sworn
Entry #72 — Roger Firebug
Entry #73 — Enthralled
Entry #74 — Gerald and the Amulet of Zonrach
Entry #75 — Summer of Hope
Entry #76 — The Witch’s Brew
Entry #77 — Ivan and the Grey Wolf
Entry #79 — Snap
Entry #82 —The Comic Adventures of Ruby Bella Brown
Entry #83 — Something Wicked
Entry #84 — The Oyster’s Autobiography
Entry #85 — See You Then, Joshua Jacobs
Entry #86 — Camp Cammoodle
Entry #87 — Neophyte
Entry #88 — Words in the Windowsill
Entry #89 — Luma
And here, to refresh your memory, are our wonderful author judges, who will be judging the entries and deciding who is going to make it through to the next round of 25 entries. But each of the top 50 will be getting detailed feedback from our judges in this round, as well as getting feedback from fans, each other, and general participants.
BLOGGER ROUND:
Angela often writes about mythology in the real world, but twists everything so that it’s much darker and interesting. Bad things happen, but her teen and pre-teen characters always rise to the challenge in impossible situations.
Another passion of Angela’s is helping writers succeed. She enjoys working with writers on strengthening their craft and helping them find the tools and resources they need to take their writing to the next level. She teaches workshops on writing and social media, belong to SCBWI and is a strong believer in paying it forward. Along with Becca Puglisi, she is the author of popular brainstorming tool, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writers Guide To Character Expression.
Natalie Aguirre is an aspiring middle grade and YA fantasy writer. She’s an attorney by day, a wife, and a mother of one child. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She joined Casey as a blog partner on March 7, 2011. She interviews authors, many who are debut and/or middle grade authors, and spotlights their books with ARC or book giveaways on Mondays.
Rabid reader of young adult and middle grade books, all genres. Love to analyze books from a writing perspective. Somewhat deluded that writing at high altitude (Laramie, Wyoming, 7200 ft) gives me an edge.
Also suffer from the delusion that mythical creatures are real. Because a pendragon isn’t just a medieval surname but a tiny dragon that sparks flames when you write with it.
Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market.
Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.
Her passion for New Adult fiction led her to co-found NA Alley—one of the first websites dedicated to the category. A year later, she started a design business specializing in graphics for the publishing industry, called Forward Authority. Her Mark of Nexus series has appeared on Amazon bestselling, top-rated, and hot new release lists in various genres.
An avid reader since she was young, Stacee started blogging in 2011 after going to 4 author signings in 5 days. Since then, she has traveled all over [even flying from SoCal to Chicago] to see her favorite authors in person. Her blog, Adventures of a Book Junkie chronicles the different events she attends.
When she’s not battling the TBR stacks in her apartment, she is a: NOH8 Campaign supporter. Book boyfriend hoarder. Whovian. Road trip taker. London lover. MINI driver. Tattoo getter. Concert goer.
Young adult writer represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.
Treehouse builder. Mom to two boys. History and Spanish major. Former teacher. Former grant writer. Amateur designer. Intermediate quilter. Fan of list-making.
Angelica R. Jackson, in keeping with her scattered Gemini nature, has published articles on such subjects as gardening, natural history, web design, travel, hiking, and local history. Other interests include pets, reading, green living, and cooking for food allergies (the latter not necessarily by choice, but she’s come to terms with it). Ongoing projects include short fiction, poetry, YA novels, art photography, and children’s picture books.
In 2012, she started Pens for Paws Auction, which features critiques and swag from agents and authors to raise money for a no-kill, cage-free cat sanctuary where she volunteers, Fat Kitty City. This year’s auction will run July 14-19. She blogs at Angelic Muse and as an operative at the group blog Operation Awesome, and also volunteers at the regional conference for her local SCBWI chapter (which she recommends as a great way to get involved in the writing community). She can be found on Twitter at @angelicarjaxon and onFacebook .
It should be noted (and perhaps celebrated) that Angelica successfully restrained herself from writing a satirical bio this time around.
S.A. Larsen began creating quirky worlds at an early age, more attracted to telling stories through illustrations (elementary scribblings >_<). Her deep love for writing children’s literature pushes her to explore the joys and angst of the young adult years, the awkward middle grade years, and the curious and sweet younger years of picture books. She lives in the land of lobsters, snowy winters, and the occasional Eh’ya, with her husband of over twenty years, their four children, and a playful bich-poo Gracie.
I have a master’s degree in Education and teach high school English in Montana, where I live with my husband and three children.
On the writing side of things, I am the author of two picture books and a middle grade novel and am represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary. While seeking the right ‘home’ for my stories, I continue writing and working with young writers in my community.
Candace is a wife and mother to two. She’s blogged at Candace’s Book Blog since November 2008.
She’s an eclectic reader who enjoys a variety of genres. She’s also the owner and operator of CBB Book Promotions.
You can see the full list of blogger, author, and agent judges here.
Good luck to everyone!
Martina, Lisa, Jan, and Alyssa
