Wednesday, May 2, 2018

May #IWSG: Time for a Happy Dance



First Wed of Every Month



Come join Alex J. Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writer's Support Group. We discuss our fears, insecurities, ups and downs of the writing process and post the first Wednesday of every month! http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html



OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: It's spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?


Spring brings out the editor in me. But as writers know, editing is re-writing. So, I guess I am writing! 

TIME FOR A HAPPY DANCE:

I spent the entirety of April editing my NaNo project. After ignoring my family for thirty days, I typed THE END. I finished just in time to enter my new middle-grade mystery into #RevPit. Revise and Resub is an online contest hosted by eleven professional editors who choose winners from about one hundred entrants each. The top winner gets to work with an editor for five weeks. The runner-up gets several critiques on a smaller scale. In a writer's world full of disappointment and rejection, it's nice to get good news!

Drum roll...

My new story staring a kick-butt, twelve-year-old girl solving a crime in Door County, Wisconsin, won RUNNER-UP!!! 

And that's all I can say about my book. The rest is top secret. I'd tell you, but, you know...








I don't usually talk about my submission journey. But I felt like shouting my latest victory to the world. Even small victories and accomplishments can push us to keep writing and moving forward. My shiny, new MG mystery is almost ready to sub to agents. My other middle-grade mystery Link Lakowski and the Dead House remains on sub with agents and a few editors from a different contest. But I am confident it will find its home very soon in the book world.

The submission phase is tedious, depressing, and not for everyone. Get yourself a CP or two. Read Story Genius, The First Five Pages, The Emotions Thesaurus, and EVERYTHING on K.M. Weiland's blog. Do it now. 

Fun Facts: 

I am a native of the great cheese state of Wisconsin--the setting for my new book.
My mystery is filled with more secrets than a teenage girl's diary.
My family didn't disown me this past month.

Anyone else enter #RevPit? Entering any contests this spring or summer? 



41 comments:

  1. Wahoo!!! Congrats. That's the way to do it. Get your foot in the door with contests. Here's hoping it leads to more, and that your family will forgive any future absences. You rock, woman!

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    1. Thanks, girl! Celebrating with your favorite food, cheese.

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  2. Runner up - that's great! You deserved to shout a bit.

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  3. Congrats! "My mystery is filled with more secrets than a teenage girl's diary." Love that :-)

    Ronel visiting on Insecure Writer's Support Group day: Autumn Decisions

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  4. Congratulations! That's awesome! :) I do like that secrets bit.

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    1. Thanks! They do make for great stories and plot twists.

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  5. Congrats on getting Runner Up. FAntastic news. Revising is definitely writing!

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  6. YAHOO!!!! Congrats - that's awesome news!
    I haven't heard of #revPit before - what a great opportunity!

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  7. Wonderful news! That's huge! Yay for revising! I am stuck in research right now and I want to be writing :) Happy IWSG day :)

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    1. Thanks! It sure paid off. I love researching too.

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  8. Congrats on winning runner-up and reaching THE END on your project!

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    1. I almost forgot to write THE END! Whew. Thanks!!

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  9. Congratulations Jennifer, this is super news. You deserve this success. I've seen RevPit hashtags on Twitter.

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  10. Congratulations! Double that your family still claims you as well.

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    1. Thanks! If they want dinner, they better claim me.

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  11. Congratulations. I'm sure we'll be seeing all your submitted books out before you know it.

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  12. Congrats, that is awesome indeed. Also good that your family didn't disown you lol

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  13. Oh Wow! Congratulations. A professional edit is always so helpful. Well done :)

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  14. Congrats, Jennifer. That's awesome news. Fingers crossed that you will get an agent if you query this.

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  15. Big congrats on runner up! I admire your moxy.

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  16. That is fantastic!! Such exciting news :-)

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  17. Bravo, Jennifer! This couldn't have happened to a better writer. All the best with this publication journey. Absolutely wonderful!

    ...So...how did you get your family to leave you alone for a whole month?? Please share some of those secrets.

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    1. Aw! Thanks!! Very difficult. It involved a WWII bunker and cheese. ;-)

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  18. Congrats!!! I'm not doing Revpit, because I think it's for MG and up - but I wish all the best of luck to you and your manuscript. :)

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  19. Congratulations! That is a victory nearly as sweet as Wisconsin cheese...

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  20. Congrats! That will have given you a real boost. You know you're on the right track with this.

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  21. Woot! Congrats on being runner-up! That's incredible and good job!

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  22. Congratulations, Jennifer! Runner up is a huge honor, and it means your book must be really promising. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but it's really hard to find your blog. I'm probably not explaining very well. So, you visited my IWSG post, and because I have a wordpress blog, in order to find you, I start by clicking on your gravatar, but yours isn't linked. Then I go to the IWSG sign-up page and try to search your name, but your name isn't there. Only your blog name "The Writing Game" is. So then I tried googling you, and yea! I found you. Have you thought about logging into your gravatar and adding your website so that wordpress blogs can find you easier, so they can return your comments?

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February #IWSG: Just Do It

                  Come join Alex J. Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writer's Support Group. We discuss our fears, insecurities, ups and downs...