This is where it all ends...with two
writers...one ring...and a solitary crown. Who do you think will make an
impression on the judges and be
the one left standing? This years contest has been extremely close all the way through, with no-less than three tie-breakers being necessary. If you want to check out the early round submissions from our finalist, you can do that
HERE.
Let me start off by congratulating
BonsaiBabe
and
The Night Songstress for surviving weeks of grueling competition and
landing here in the final round. But additionally, every single writer who was brave enough
to submit an entry to this contest also deserves a tip of the hat as well.
I've already emailed the new 500 word writing
sample from our finalist to our panel of celebrity judges (forgot who they were...check out the list below) and their decision will be made known during the DFW Conference in Dallas on Saturday. I'll also post
the final results, along with any critiques the judges provides, next Monday (April 25th). But that doesn't mean you don't get a
say. I've also posted their pieces here so you can have one final chance to vote.
If by some remarkable chance our judges come up with a split decision,
your votes in the comments below will decide the tie-breaker.
I will be back after announcing the winner to post some takeaways from this
season's WRiTE CLUB, and I'll also
be asking for recommendations for what you'd like to see be different for next
year. Make sure you stop by for that.
And now...for one last time this year....
First into the ring, representing the
Dark Fantasy genre with 500 words,
The Night Songstress.
A typical encounter with a mother
involves hugs and homemade food. An encounter with my mother involves kidnapping.
“Right here.” A man with a strained
voice commands. I lie still, not letting him on to the fact that I’m awake. I
don’t have to peel back the blindfold to recognize the musty scent of the home
I grew up in.
“Be careful. She’s dangerous,” Mary
warns, yet she’s the one who has hurt me more than the demon that’s swirling
around inside my head.
Two hands reeking of incense pick me
up by the shoulders, another two by my legs. They lay me down on a table that,
judging by how close they are standing next to me, must not be too wide.
“If we can’t heal her…” The man
pauses. “We end them both.”
End them? They think they can end Taṇhā, the greatest demon daughter of
Mara? They think they can kill me?
The blindfold slips off as I sit up
to see a dozen men dressed in robes, surrounding me. Mary’s standing with her
back against the living room wall, behind the only man with a maroon scarf
draped around his neck. As he commands them to tie me down, I catch a flash of a
swastika near the hem.
“Let me go!” I fight off one of the men
trying to pin me by my arms.
I search Mary’s face for mercy.
There is none. She’s smiling with eyes so empty her soul might be more dead
than mine.
“Please, Mary... M-Mom! Don’t do
this.”
The man with the scarf takes a step
closer, now an inch away from my bound feet. Two other men strap me down with duct
tape.
Without a cue, they all lay a hand on
the table and, suddenly, a fever takes over me.
I fight through the feelings of my
bones crumbling and muscles throbbing. I try with all my strength to loosen the
tape.
They barely react to my desperate
attempt at escape. Instead, they lift their other hand in the air and begin to
chant.
The man with the scarf pulls out a knife
from his robe and walks around the room, slashing their wrists.
I try to watch, to find a way to
escape before he comes closer, but the feeling of being gutted like a wild
animal robs my focus.
He makes his way over, not rushing
the process, not worried that I’ll escape.
Hovering over my head, he sticks out
his wrist and drags the scarlet-stained blade across it. Blood pours down my
face, smothering my eyes and mouth, dripping into my sinuses.
The table begins to tremble as I
struggle to breathe. I can barely move a finger without crying in agony.
The chanting, the blood, the musty
air—they slowly fade away.
And then I finally hear Taṇhā’s
voice.
Silly
girl, don’t worry. Exorcisms are like magic shows, she says. Perfectly
harmless.
Off into the distance, Mary asks,
“Why is my daughter smiling?”
____________________________________________________________________________________
And her formidable opponent, representing the
Short Story genre with 494 words, welcome to the ring
BonsaiBabe.
The butler waved Frank into the dimly lit room and
disappeared. Frank shifted uncomfortably on a rug worth more than his monthly
mortgage payment, waiting.
Finally, Mr. Pickford broke the silence. "Please, tell
me about this favor you have come to ask."
"It's about Helen," Frank started.
"Obviously," interrupted Mr. Pickford. "You
wouldn't dare come in here asking a favor for yourself."
Frank rushed through the next sentence. "Helen is
dying."
"You don't say."
"The doctors give her barely a month to live."
Frank cleared the emotion from his throat. "There's a doctor in the city
willing to try an experimental therapy, but the bank won't extend me any more
credit, and the hospital refuses to admit her unless I can show how I'm going
to pay."
"And you came to me because … ?" Mr. Pickford
tilted his head precariously on his thin neck, twisted hands folded primly in
his lap. Satisfaction danced across his lips like canary feathers on a cat's
tongue.
"You have resources I don't," Frank admitted.
"You know how special she is, how painful losing her will be."
"You're right about one thing, my dear Frankie,"
Mr. Pickford replied. "I know exactly what it feels like to lose Helen.
You … you are the cancer that stole Helen away from me. I have
already mourned for Helen."
"Please—”
"What do I get out of this deal?"
Relief flooded Frank's face. "Name your price. If it's
within my power, it's yours."
"Oh, that is just precious!" Mr. Pickford cackled.
"You actually believe you could have something I would want." He
coughed harshly. "It's too late, Frankie, my boy. The only thing of yours
I ever wanted is no longer worth having."
The anger welling up inside Frank's chest was icy cold; it
froze him in place.
"Now, will you be a good little boy and leave quietly,
Frankie, or shall I have Emerson throw you out?" Mr. Pickford reached for
the silver bell.
Frank's anger shattered into a thousand icy splinters. He
placed his hand over Mr. Pickford's, muffling the sound of the bell in the
folds of the thick down comforter.
Alarm flared in the pale blue depths of Mr. Pickford's eyes.
"What are you doing?" His frail hand struggled under Frank's
work-worn one, as fragile and flailing as a baby bird, the boom in his voice
becoming a thin whine. "You let go of me right now."
As if in a trance, Frank grabbed a pillow from behind Mr.
Pickford's head with his other hand. Mr. Pickford's upper body fell backward,
mewling unhappily. Taking no notice of the thrashing, Frank pressed the pillow
over Mr. Pickford's mouth and nose. He held it there as the movements weakened
to nothing.
Carefully, Frank returned the pillow to its original
position. He smoothed the comforter, and tucked the handkerchief into one
clawed hand. He picked up the bell slowly, dampening the clapper with one
finger, and laid it on the floor.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Here again is the line up of celebrity judges who will be deciding the fate of these two dynamo writers.
Barry Lyga has been called a
“YA rebel-author” by Kirkus Reviews. He’s published fourteen novels in various
genres in his nine-year career, including the New York Times bestselling I Hunt Killers. His books have been or
are slated to be published in a dozen different languages in North America,
Australia, Europe, and Asia.
After
graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Lyga worked in the comic book
industry before quitting to pursue his lifelong love of writing. In 2006, his
first young adult novel, The Astonishing
Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews,
including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Publishers
Weekly named Lyga a “Flying Start” in December 2006 on the strength of the
debut.
His
second young adult novel, Boy Toy,
received starred reviews in SLJ, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. VOYA gave it
its highest critical rating, and the Chicago Tribune called it “…an astounding
portrayal of what it is like to be the young male victim.” His third novel, Hero-Type, according to VOYA “proves
that there are still fresh ideas and new, interesting story lines to be
explored in young adult literature.” Since then, he has also written Goth Girl Rising (the sequel to his
first novel), as well as the Archvillain
series for middle-grade readers and the graphic novel Mangaman (with art by Colleen Doran). His latest series is I Hunt Killers, called by the LA Times
“one of the more daring concepts in recent years by a young-adult author” and
an “extreme and utterly alluring narrative about nature versus nurture.” The
first book landed on both the New York Times and USAToday bestsellers lists.
Barry
lives and podcasts in New York City with his wife, Morgan Baden, and their
nigh-omnipotent daughter. His comic book collection is a lot smaller than it
used to be, but is still way too big.
Russell C. Connor – Russell C.
Connor has been writing horror since the age of 5, and has been in the
self-publishing industry for a decade. He has published 8 novels and 4 novellas
in both paperback and eBook, including the Box Office of Terror Trilogy and
"Whitney," an epic horror novel about hurricane survivors fighting a
washed-ashore sea monster. He also designs books for clients and assists them
with self-publishing endeavors through his company, Dark Filament Publishing Startup. Contact him
through darkfilament.com, or on twitter @russellcconnor.
Monica Odom joined Bradford Literary Agency in
2015. Prior to joining Team Bradford, she worked for five years managing
finance, subrights and social media at Liza Dawson Associates, and became an
associate agent there in 2013. Monica earned her Masters in Publishing: Digital
& Print Media from New York University in 2014, and has a B.A. in English
from Montclair State University.
Laura Maisano - Laura has an MA in Technical writing and is
a Senior Editor at Anaiah Press for their YA/NA Christian Fiction. She’s
excited to release her debut YA Urban Fantasy SCHISM, and she’s finishing up
the sequel UNITY.
Her
gamer husband and amazing daughter give support and inspiration every day.
Their cats, Talyn and Moya, provide entertainment through living room battles
and phantom-dust-mote hunting. Somehow, they all manage to survive living in
Texas where it is hotter than any human being should have to endure. Check out
her blog at LauraMaisano.blogspot.com.
Gordon Warnock
is a founding partner at Fuse Literary, serving as a literary agent and
Editorial Director of Short Fuse Publishing. He brings years of experience as a
senior agent, marketing director, editor for independent publishers, publishing
consultant, and author coach. He frequently teaches workshops and gives keynote
speeches at conferences and MFA programs nationwide. He is an honors graduate
of CSUS with a B.A. in Creative and Professional Writing.
Joanna MacKenzie
joined Browne & Miller Literary Associates in 2003. She began her career in
publishing as an assistant under Jane Jordan Browne and Danielle Egan-Miller.
Now an agent, Joanna has prepared, submitted, and successfully placed all types
of projects, but her true passion lies in commercial fiction. She’s looking for
exciting new voices in women’s fiction, thriller, new adult, and young adult
genres. She enjoys working with writers
who embrace the full creative process (read: don’t mind revisions) and has
helped to shape many client manuscripts into books that receive stellar
reviews, award nominations, and which have gone on to become national and
international bestsellers. Joanna holds a Master of Arts in Film Theory and
Criticism from the University of Chicago as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in
Drama from the University of Calgary, Canada. Follow her @joannamackenzie.
Jodell Sadler
earned her MFA in Children’s Writing from Hamline University. She is the author
of Picture Book Lunch: 20 Tools for Pacing and Writing Picture Books to Wow,
and has produced five Writer’s Digest University Tutorials on Children’s
Writing. Her published articles include “Picture Book Pacing: Verbal and Visual
Tools for Writers, and Picture Book Pacing: The ultimate 20 editing tools for
your work,” in the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, 2011 and
2013, respectively. Visit her Picture Book Lunch website and find her on
Facebook.
Eric Smith
is an associate literary agent at P.S. Literary, with a love for young adult
books, sci-fi, fantasy, and literary fiction. He began his publishing career at
Quirk Books in Philadelphia, working social media and marketing on numerous
books he absolutely adored. Eric completed his BA in English at Kean
University, and his MA in English at Arcadia University. A frequent blogger,
his ramblings about books appear on BookRiot, The Huffington Post, and more. A
published author with Quirk Books and Bloomsbury, he seeks to give his authors
the same amount of love his writing has received. Which is a lot.
Mark Falkin.
Licensed in Texas, Mark has practiced entertainment and intellectual property
law for 17 years, representing hundreds of artists (a platinum seller and
Grammy® winner among them), entrepreneurs
and businesses, shopping artistic projects, drafting and negotiating
entertainment contracts, securing trademarks and copyrights, licensing and
selling intellectual properties, establishing businesses, litigating disputes. He’s
completed 3 novels (and a chapbook of poems), with two more in rough draft
stages. One, literary, is long, self-published and well-reviewed (Days of
Grace). Another, an upmarket supernatural thriller, garnered an agent at a
venerable NYC agency (Howard Morhaim). The most recent is a near-future
suspense tale called Contract City published in hardcover by longstanding
Baltimore indie publisher Bancroft Press which is currently in screen
development with a studio in Los Angeles (Booklist: "it's hard to put this
down."). And then there’s the ongoing and continual What I’m Working On
Now.
Jason Yarn
is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives and an attorney
registered in the state of New York. He graduated from Georgetown University
with a BA in English and from Brooklyn Law School with a JD. He started his
career in publishing with Writers
& Artists Agency and then continued with Paradigm Talent Agency for ten
years, acting as both a literary agent and a business affairs executive.
Tiana
Smith – Tiana was the
first WRiTE CLUB champion back in
2011. She is represented by Rachel Marks of Rebecca Friedman Literary and
writes YA contemporary -- the more kissing the better. When she's not knee-deep
in edits, she dabbles in design (theblogdecorator.com) and watches Disney
movies while eating as much mint chocolate chip ice cream as possible. She's a
mom, accomplished violist and insomniac, though not necessarily in that order.
She graduated with double bachelor degrees in Honors and English from
Westminster College.
Mark Hough – Mark was the
2012 WRiTE CLUB champion. Mark and
his wife Faith live and work in Southern Connecticut, a short drive away from
the music centers of New York City and Yale School of Music in New Haven. Mark
is not only a talented writer, but he has been making violins, violas and
cellos for 13 years, since he completing his 3-year apprenticeship with
Lawrence Wilke in 1998. He is a member of the Violin Society of America, which
has awarded Mark's violins two Certificates of Merit for workmanship
Tex Thompson – Arianne
"Tex" Thompson is home-grown Texas success story. After earning a
bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in literature, she channeled her passion
for exciting, innovative, and inclusive fiction into the Children of the
Drought – an internationally-published epic fantasy Western series from
Solaris. Now a professional writing instructor and editor for the DFW Writers
Conference, Tex is blazing a trail through writers conferences, workshops, and
fan conventions around the country – as an endlessly energetic, relentlessly
enthusiastic one-woman stampede. Find her online at www.TheTexFiles.com
and
on Twitter as @tex_maam!
Dan
Koboldt – Dan was our 2014 Champion and a genetics
researcher slash fantasy/science fiction author. He has co-authored more than
60 publications in Nature, Human Mutation, The New England Journal of Medicine,
and other scientific journals. His debut novel The Rogue Retrieval,
about a Vegas magician who infiltrates a medieval world, was published by
Harper Voyager in January 2016. Dan is also an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He
lives with his wife and children in St. Louis, where the deer take their
revenge by eating the flowers in his backyard.
Lisa
Dunn – Lisa won WRiTE
CLUB 2015 with samples of her current work-in-progress, a contemporary YA
titled Commando Grace. She believes in heartfelt characters, intriguing plots,
and wondrous worlds. Her first two books, Grit of Berth and Stone and Heir of Koradin were published by
Anaiah Press in 2015. The final book in the Chasmaria series, Child of Thresh, will release August 2016.
Lisa is on Facebook and Twitter, and occasionally blogs at
https://waitingforaname.wordpress.com.
And always remember -- this
is WRiTE CLUB, the contest where the audience gets clobbered!
