Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Writing Contest Score: The Results are In!

Hello all,

As you know, I didn't win the RWA Windy City Four Seasons Contest. However, I got some great feedback from the judges. They left me a ton of comments, but I won't bore you with the details. All three judges scored me in a number of categories. Here are the results:

Judges' Criteria:

Presentation: Formatted according to industry standards and contest requirement

Mechanics: Grammar, spelling, and punctuation meet industry standards

Hooks: Story opening grabs reader's attention with an interesting opening line or situation; starts at the correct place. Chapter ending makes the reader want to turn the page

Setting: Setting is clearly defined without extraneous detail; non-intrusive. Writer takes advantage of opportunities to ground reader by using the five senses and a sense of time and place

Characterization: Hero and/or Heroine display traits and flaws; character traits are shown rather than told. Goals and motivation create genuine conflict (not contrived), and secondary characters, if present, are necessary and non-intrusive

Plot: Plot is skillfully set up; believable (or reader is able to suspend disbelief). Plot, external conflict is realistic and not easily resolved because of misunderstanding. Sexual and/or dramatic tension is present or implicit.

Internal Conflict: What's at stake for the Hero and/or Heroine? Can the reader identify it?

Dialogue: Dialogue is balanced with narrative, is appropriate to the genre, moves the story forward, and sounds natural/realistic

Narrative: Narrative moves the story forward. Background information is presented at appropriate time and in character viewpoint rather than author--intrusive. Point-of-view is clear and transitions are smooth and unobtrusive.

Pacing: The entry flows well through the chapter, and every scene is essential to the story.

Overall Impression: Story has potential; reader wants to know what happens next. Writing is vivid, evocative, and appropriate to the genre. Writer uses humor and/or drama effectively. Writer is a "storyteller."




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There was another category (not mentioned above) that was a tie-breaker in case I placed. The category was "Rate how likely you would be to read this whole manuscript." I received a 9 from Judge 2 and a 10 from Judges 1 and 3. I'm extremely proud of myself considering most of the contestants and judges are published authors! I'd say I handled myself pretty well! And the best news is that I made a ton of edits to fix many of these problems before I sent it to my final editor.

Anyway, I'm so excited for NaNoWriMo in 8 days, in which I'll be working on re-writing my first book, The Sons of Luther. Wish me luck!

Onward and Upward,


Saturday, October 20, 2012

Writing Contest Results and Editing Update!

Hello all!

It's been awhile since my last post, but I have a few updates for you!

Unfortunately, I'm not a finalist in either writing contest. However, I lost to a group of very talented authors, so I don't feel too defeated. May the best author win! On a happier note, I'm almost done with the final editing on my second novel, The Middle of the Sidewalk! After I'm done, it's off to a very dear editor of mine and then straight to the publisher!

My goal is to get the book to the publisher by Nov. 1st so I can continue writing my newest novel, Mimbio for NaNoWriMo! I'll be posting weekly updates through November about my progress. My goal is to reach 100,000 words by Dec. 1st. Wish me luck!

Onward and Upward,

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Editor Sneak Peek

Hello all,

One of my beloved editors, Chris Mikkelson, wrote a beautiful review of my book, and I wanted to share it with all of you! Here it is:


A Trip Down "The Middle of the Sidewalk"
Editor's sneak peek by Christopher Mikkelson
At a glance:
Author: Brittney Cooney
Type of Work: Novel
Date of Publish: In progress!
Genre: Literary Fiction
Synopsis: A young boy, recovering from the loss of his brother, struggles to learn to love him
self.

                  It was not hard to draw me in to walk down "The Middle of the Sidewalk," and that's not just because I've known the author and seen her writing develop since we were both in the 8th grade.  No, what really kicked off the journey was my curiosity; her first 400 words (which can be found here) are spoken from one of the most exact perspectives I've read.  I felt as if I were traveling to an alien world, a world precisely like my own except that everything had a place.  As I read on, I learned that world was within the mind of 12-year-old boy Cory Becker.
                  As the story continued, that perspective became a personality, and that personality became a person, and an entire city fanned out around him.  Perhaps more impressively, the world went further inward than outward; Cory's mind, past, and personal flaws are all laid bare to the reader, inviting them not just into his life, but to live it.  Cory's tragedies and triumphs become the readers', and I found myself intensely involved in sharing one particular triumph: meeting Andy, the new girl in school whose brand of oddness threatens to break Cory's ordered world.
                  "The Middle of the Sidewalk" asks a lot of very, very important and interesting questions, and uses the incomplete perspective of a child to answer many of them.  Many, mind you, not all; Brittney respects the reader enough that she leaves many of them for the reader to answer for themselves.  Questions like, what is normal?  How do you define sanity?  And of course, what does it really take to be happy?  I seldom stopped to ponder these questions within the pacing of the story, and when they all hit me when I'd read the end, I found myself happy to be asking myself some questions I'd never pondered before (and as those who know me are aware, that is saying something).  In addition, I realized near the end of the book that while I thought I'd been reading about Cory's life the whole time, the themes in the book expand well as a metaphor for conflicts from a nation-vs.-nation scale, to the battles we all go through within our own minds.
                  The story is a work in progress still; I'm working with the author about letting the reader look past Cory's gaze a bit to see more of the periphery of his life.  As usual, Brittney had an answer for all of my questions, and in fact knows so much about her characters that she could write a separate book about each one.  If she did, I'd be happy to read them, after being allowed to see through Cory Becker's eyes as he walked down "The Middle of the Sidewalk."

Onward and Upward,

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Main Character: Nonnie (PICS)

Hello all,

Introducing Nonnie and her pet cabbit Philomena! (Because every young warrior needs a sidekick, right?)


Nonnie and Philomena are two main characters in my newest book, Mimbio. In this book, I'm going for a fast-paced, action-packed plot with multi-demensional characters and a love triangle setup that hasn't really been done before. It should be both a challenge and an adventure, and I'm super excited to keep writing it tomorrow!

Onward and Upward,