ABNA discussion

I'll start off. I entered Blood on the Sand in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category.

***
Cale was sent to Iraq with the usual thoughts any soldier going to war might have; being lonely away from his family, not wanting to take another human's life, and above all, the fear of never returning home. Although well trained, nothing could have prepared him for the horror he was about to face.

Cale never thought the thing that could keep him from ever seeing his wife and daughter again would be a zombie apocalypse. As he and a handful of fellow soldiers escape their base after a massive zombie attack, becoming deserters in order to survive, he begins the long and unexpected journey home through the harsh terrain of the desert; a barren landscape now swarming with not only undead cannibals, but also the enemy he was originally sent to fight.

The newly formed group plans to travel west, find a boat and maybe, with a bit of luck, make it back to America. Cale is tested beyond his imagination and brought to the brink of insanity as he loses friends while fighting the flesh eating masses. He risks his life for weeks, focused on holding his wife and daughter in his arms again. It seems all hope is lost when he finds himself alone and adrift at sea … but is hope really lost?

Inspired by the experiences of a U.S. Army Soldier in Iraq, Z PLAN: BLOOD ON THE SAND delves into the struggles of not just surviving a zombie apocalypse but making the seemingly impossible trek home.
***

Here's my Pitch for Ella Awakened. I entered it in Romance.

Strong, independent, willful Ella is changing, evolving – Awakening. Her life hasn’t always been easy and predictable, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined the twist it was about to take. Exhaustion, nausea, and headaches give way to heightened senses and unimaginable bursts of strength and speed. A gorgeous stranger named Burke appears, claiming to have answers but wanting something in return. She finds herself torn between the normal life she’s always known, a love unlike anything she’s ever imagined, and an evil that she alone can defeat.

More than twenty years previously Burke and his best friend James came to Earth chasing a demon that had torn through their own world leaving death and despair in its wake. Now James is gone and Burke just doesn’t know if he has what it takes to complete the mission. From the shadows he watches James’ half-human daughter Ella, hoping she has enough of her father in her to help Burke finish this thing once and for all. When her body begins changing, he takes her to his home and nurses her through the Awakening. As he comes to know Ella, he starts to realize he’s getting more than he bargained for; he’s falling in love. How can he ask his Hutsool – his soul mate – to risk her life to save humanity?

Bombarded by unfathomable realities, Ella accepts the existence of warriors, healers, demons and 600-year lifespans. She picks up her father’s weapons and prepares for battle. Now if only she can convince Burke that she’s capable.

ELLA AWAKENED is a paranormal romance. It’s a story about relationships, eclectic families, and loyalty. It begs you to ask yourself - just how far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Here's my pitch for Eden I entered under science fiction.

After enduring a horrific plane crash, a small group of survivors must work together in order to withstand the harshest conditions imaginable in the remote wilderness of New Zealand’s South Island.

The year is 2022, and their epic journey, fraught with danger and mystery, will alter the course of human history forever.

Led by charismatic Special Forces captain Noah Lockheart and his wife Evelyn, an accomplished scientist, the band of weary travelers must battle the elements along with their fears, as they race toward civilization, and their hope for rescue.

Among the survivors is Mia Sinclair, an extraordinary girl who can glimpse the future. Through their trials, the Lockhearts begin to uncover the girl’s ability in spite of her best efforts to keep it hidden. But even as Mia proves to be an invaluable ally, her gift comes at an unbearable cost.

Each step brings them closer to salvation– and to unraveling the mystery of their abandonment. But just when they think they are saved, they realize that they have never been farther from home.

Eden is a bold, heart-pounding page-turner, told through the seamlessly shifting perspectives of the eccentric band of survivors. As the thriller unfolds, so do the survivors’ inextricable links to one another in a plot rife with twists and turns, till the very end.

Here's my pitch for Hamfist Over Hanoi:

Air Force pilot Hamilton “Hamfist” Hancock thinks he has left the Vietnam War behind him, after completing a hazardous tour of duty as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) flying over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He is based at Yokota Air Base, in Japan, and becomes comfortable flying generals and other VIPs around Asia in his Sabreliner executive jet. He is adjusting to his new marriage, and aside from the stress of TDY assignments, life is placid.

But the war returns with a vengeance when Hamfist suffers a personal loss at the hands of the North Vietnamese. Hamfist knows that the only way he can find inner peace is to go back for another combat tour, to try to bring the horrific war to a speedy end. And this time, he will fly a fighter, the top-of-the-line F-4 Phantom II.

Hamfist checks out in the F-4 and arrives at his base in Thailand just in time for the start of Operation Linebacker, the bombing offensive over Hanoi. He soon finds himself flying over the most heavily defended area in the world, dodging Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) and dueling with enemy aircraft, the vaunted MiG-series fighters. And along the way he has picked up two new goals: completing 100 missions over North Vietnam and defeating a MiG in aerial combat.

Only time will tell if Hamfist will achieve his 100 missions, score a victory over a MiG and, most important, help end the war.

Here is my pitch for the Adventures of phippen Abercrombie, Book I: the Dragon Egg Curse. My first entry...

Phippen Abercrombie is a collector of adventures and he keeps his collection in sealed jars in his pantry. The timeless and mysterious Professor Abercrombie stores countless jars in his enchanted pantry each containing the unique past, present or future adventure of thousands of children.

Fourteen year old Cameron Tate is preparing to make the most of the last couple days of summer holidays before returning to school. A bookish, imaginative loner, Cameron is dreading returning to school where he struggles to fit in. When he reluctantly goes on an errand for his mother he is surprised to find himself following a talking weasel through the woods near his home to a mysterious mansion.

The mansion's sole human inhabitant, Professor Phippen Abercrombie, presents Cameron with the opportunity to enter the pantry and seek out the jar with a label bearing his name and age, containing his adventure. Cameron retrieves his jar and twists the top off releasing a magical journey beyond anything he could ever have dreamed.

In an instant he is transported to the cursed kingdom of Krotan. Accompanied by the King Aodhan, his brave knight Brogan, the knight's warrior daughter Phaelan, and three young farmers, Cameron must confront the evil witch Dagma and the vengeful dragon Tiarnach. If Cameron is to defeat the Witch, save the Princess, and bring to an end the curse that has plagued Krotan, he must trust in his new friends and find the courage in himself to stand up for what he believes is right.

Filled with monsters, magic, acts of great heroism and sacrifice; The Dragon Egg Curse is a fantasy adventure for the young and the young at heart.

I entered in the YA category.

All but forgotten in a tower high above Illyia, Lavinia bides her time. Around her a rebellion struggles, its spark barely lit, as a king forces the people to their knees. The only glimmer of hope comes from the Citizen, an anonymous voice broadcasting forbidden messages of encouragement to the people, in an attempt to spur on the rebellion. 
 
Born an Aristocrat to what should have been a life of wealth and pleasure, Lavinia instead is viewed as a blight on the kingdom, an outcast among the chosen few. Forsaking an arranged marriage, she takes her destiny into her own hands and flees.

When she gets captured by a group of rebels who plan to ransom her life for those of their friends languishing in the King’s prison, her future somehow becomes tied to theirs, their cause her own. Working to free their friends before they're executed, the rebels learn that one among them has turned traitor. Not knowing if their plan has been exposed, they must decide to abandon their friends or risk walking into a deadly trap. 
 
With all that she's come to love in danger, Lavinia will do anything to save her new friends, while still hiding a dangerous secret from them...one that could change everything.

 THE ILLYIA CHRONICLES: CITIZEN is a young adult dystopian novel about a girl willing to risk all to seize her own destiny and find her place in a world determined to see her as an outsider.

The mystery category:

THE CITY OF REFUGE:
Once the glory of Akhenaten's reign, the imperial city lies tangled in the raveled ends of old plots, wrecked, abandoned and rumored to be accursed. When Commander Khonsu is ordered to escort a royal delegation to the deserted capital to investigate reopening its quarries, he finds the assignment anything but routine, beginning with Lord Nebamun, the priest who commands the delegation. Nebamun is a man without a past who does not fear ghosts, curses or the spirits said to prowl the surrounding hills and scream in the night.

As Khonsu watches the man move through the undercurrents of old strife and treachery, he begins to suspect that Lord Nebamun has come to put the spirits of the city to rest once and for all, whatever the cost.

THE CITY OF REFUGE is a mystery set in Egypt after the reign of Akhenaten. It is a story of revenge and renewal, and one man's discovery that the Paths of Righteousness may lie through peril, but they will always bring you home.

I'm entered in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category.


1920s – Buster Keaton – Vampires! 96K ‘Nuff said. READ IT!!!

Too cute? Okay, here’s the real pitch:

On February 28th 1927, Buster Keaton, the Little Iron Man of silent comedy, got the word: His masterpiece, The General, is a flop and his producer is threatening to leash him with a production supervisor on his next film. Buster wants to escape to his new home, the Italian Villa, except that his wife will be there and she hasn’t said a friendly word to him since 1923 – the last time she condescended to sleep with him. What Buster needs is a drink with his pal, Roscoe Arbuckle. What he gets is a visit from Vida and Lee Anne, two lady vampires who have deadly plans for Mr. Keaton.

In THE VAMPIRE DIARY OF BUSTER KEATON, Buster tells of his struggle to survive the attentions of his two new girlfriends while compelled to protect them from the vampire killers of the Lelantos Society, and from the Elder of the California vampire territory who wants Vida for himself. On top of this, Buster is in a fight to maintain his artistic freedom with the most frightening vampires of all: the moneymen and gossip mongers of Old Hollywood.

In freewheeling Buster style, the story rolls through the dark streets and jazz-filled speakeasies of 1920s Los Angeles. Buster is prepared to die save his family and friends, but what he’d like to know first is why Vida and Lee Anne risked exposing their shadow world to the daylight by pursuing him, one of the most famous faces in moving pictures. There is an answer, and Vida holds it, in her heart.

Entered in Mystery/Thriller:

Kayla McKenna is the CIA's most lethal covert operative — and she loves it. After her father was murdered by terrorists she was consumed by the need for retribution, and landing her dream job as an Agency assassin seemed like the perfect gateway drug to avenge the heartaches of the past. Until one botched mission earns her a burn notice, a bullet hole and a one-way ticket back to suburbia via the amnesia train.

Banished to her childhood stomping grounds, Kayla is determined to unravel the events leading up to her exile, while continuing to keep her spy status a secret from her suddenly ever-present and meddling family. But her mother’s matchmaking attempts turn out to be the least of her worries. Someone does not want her to remember, and every new clue leads to more unanswered questions.

In an effort to break the cycle she decides to embrace the horrors of surviving her new girl-next-door status. And aside from a few missteps along the way, Kayla begins to realize there may be more to life than contract killing. Okay, so puppy theft, psychic healers and sexy Greek arms dealers are not exactly standard fare in the 'burbs. Still, normal could totally be the new black…ops.

Combining mystery, edgy chick-lit and a dash of paranormal, FLIRTING WITH DEATH is a foray into the life of a snarky ex-hitwoman who discovers that living a "normal" life may just be her most difficult mission ever. After all, there isn't a twelve-step program for recovering assassins...yet.

Okay, all these pitches could definitely be contenders(no joke). But Heidi, yours was especially clever! And it isn't usually my genre of choice.

Mikhail wrote: "definitely be contenders(no joke). But Heidi, yours was especially clever! And it isn't usually my genre of choice."

Thank you so much!!! Now I have butterflies to go along with the ulcers in my belly... will you marry me? :-)

Heidi wrote: "Mikhail wrote: "definitely be contenders(no joke). But Heidi, yours was especially clever! And it isn't usually my genre of choice."

Thank you so much!!! Now I have butterflies to go along with th..."

haha...well, you're welcome. I'm already married, but I'll take the awesome author friend role :)

Mikhail wrote: "Heidi wrote: "Mikhail wrote: "definitely be contenders(no joke). But Heidi, yours was especially clever! And it isn't usually my genre of choice."

Thank you so much!!! Now I have butterflies to go..."

LOL! I'm married, too... just easily enchanted I guess ;-). Awesome author friend it is!

Here is my pitch.

Title: Presence of Mind

Genre: General Fiction

After a life-threatening seizure, Thomas Gideon receives the shocking diagnosis of epilepsy. His young wife Alyssa sets aside her own needs to attend to her husband and small children. Far from family and friends, she struggles to cope not only with the emotional impact of the disorder, but also with its unpredictable timing.

When Thomas loses his salaried career, Alyssa must find a minimum-wage job to support the family. Tormented by his inability to provide, he goes against doctor's orders and drives to an interview. After going into a seizure, he and his daughter end up in the hospital. Alyssa is consumed with every mother's deepest fears as she watches her own baby girl fight to live. She then faces one of the toughest decisions of her life - choosing between the one she loves or leaving the marriage for the physical and emotional well-being of her children. She tries to walk away from the marriage; however, love keeps her holding on.

Will she sacrifice love or learn to cope in the midst of her fears?

Ok, here's mine.

If you could make one wish--and only one, what would it be? Jack thinks he has it figured out. He is granted one wish when he turns fifteen. It is the only one he'll ever get, and it is guaranteed to come true. Unless he makes a wish They don't like.

He makes the wrong wish.

The penalty for this crime is exile. Jack is sentenced to a hostile island on a faraway world, joining a handful of unlucky kids who wished for the wrong thing at the wrong time. Now he must fight for his survival. From the pink slugs with razor-sharp teeth to the lethal jungle full of spiky grass to the poisonous orange water surrounding it, the island floats in a sea of horror and misery. The despondent kids sentenced to wither away in this prison have given up all hope of rescue. Their lives revolve around hunting for the scarce food, fighting off the slithering monsters that patrol the shore at night, and battling a malicious tribe of kids intent on taking over the island for their own.

Jack faces his future in despair. But when the Island's only friendly natives--a handful of purple bats--lead Jack to a hidden treasure, a glimmer of hope brightens his bleak world. Now Jack must utilize this gift to rally his friends, surmount the island's treacherous hurdles, and escape over the perilous sea. His new all-consuming wish: to confront and conquer the people that sent him to this place and to find a way home.

Nikki wrote: "Ok, here's mine.

If you could make one wish--and only one, what would it be? Jack thinks he has it figured out. He is granted one wish when he turns fifteen. It is the only one he'll ever get, an..."

I like the description you give of the island -- being "From the pink slugs with razor-sharp teeth to the lethal jungle full of spiky grass to the poisonous orange water surrounding it, the island floats in a sea of horror and misery." Interesting! :)

Diana wrote: "The mystery category:

THE CITY OF REFUGE:
Once the glory of Akhenaten's reign, the imperial city lies tangled in the raveled ends of old plots, wrecked, abandoned and rumored to be accursed. When..."

Enjoyed reading this. It kind of reminds me of Star Wars. :)

Heidi wrote: "Entered in Mystery/Thriller:

Kayla McKenna is the CIA's most lethal covert operative — and she loves it. After her father was murdered by terrorists she was consumed by the need for retribution, a..."

As I read this I instantly thought of "A Long Kiss Goodnight" -- where the assassin became a housewife/mother until she started remembering her past life. That was a great movie. I would probably read this. :)

T. wrote: "I'm entered in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category.


1920s – Buster Keaton – Vampires! 96K ‘Nuff said. READ IT!!!

Too cute? Okay, here’s the real pitch:

On February 28th 1927, Buster Keaton, t..."

Very well written! :)

Jules wrote: "I entered in the YA category.

All but forgotten in a tower high above Illyia, Lavinia bides her time. Around her a rebellion struggles, its spark barely lit, as a king forces the people to their k..."

Reminds me of a few movies rolled into one. Clever! :)

Craig wrote: "Here is my pitch for the Adventures of phippen Abercrombie, Book I: the Dragon Egg Curse. My first entry...

Phippen Abercrombie is a collector of adventures and he keeps his collection in sealed j..."

This makes me curious about those jars...hmmm. :)

Gnolly wrote: "Here's my pitch for Hamfist Over Hanoi:

Air Force pilot Hamilton “Hamfist” Hancock thinks he has left the Vietnam War behind him, after completing a hazardous tour of duty as a Forward Air Control..."

I shared this one with my husband. He loves stuff like this. Sounds interesting.

Craig wrote: "Here is my pitch for the Adventures of phippen Abercrombie, Book I: the Dragon Egg Curse. My first entry...

Phippen Abercrombie is a collector of adventures and he keeps his collection in sealed j..."

Reminds me a bit of Eragon, except with a talking weasel. I am really, visually picturing a talking weasel right now...lol.

Dave wrote: "Here's my pitch for Eden I entered under science fiction.

After enduring a horrific plane crash, a small group of survivors must work together in order to withstand the harshest conditions imagina..."

I would probably read this. Nice. Interested in finding out more about Mia.

S.E. wrote: "Here's my Pitch for Ella Awakened. I entered it in Romance.

Strong, independent, willful Ella is changing, evolving – Awakening. Her life hasn’t always been easy and predictable, but never in he..."

I am think of Supernatural, here. Like it!

Mikhail wrote: "I'll start off. I entered Blood on the Sand in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category.

***
Cale was sent to Iraq with the usual thoughts any soldier going to war might have; being lonely away from his..."

I started reading your preview in the discussion boards on ABNA. I haven't quite finished it, but it did kind of remind me of a more detailed mix of games my son plays and the movie "I Am Legend"...lol. :) Except, in another country and in water.

Oh my. When I read your pitches I wonder if mine was just a tad too short:

Here's my pitch for The Master and the Maid, general fiction:

She’s lost her work, her home and her freedom. Now, harboring a mysterious newborn, she could lose her life.

In 17th Century Germany on the brink of the Thirty Years War, 24-year-old Katarina is traded to the patrician Sebald Tucher by her fiancé Willi Prutt in order to pay his debts. Forced to move into the Tucher country estate, Katarina is met by a crazed archer, Hans-Wolfgang, carrying a baby under his cloak. He tells her a confused story of how his beloved was executed by a Jesuit priest for witchcraft right after the birth and makes Katarina swear on her life to protect the child. She could fall in disfavor with her master. She could be hunted by the zealots who killed his beloved. Can Katarina’s love for the baby and Sebald Tucher’s growing desire for her keep the wrath of the zealots at bay?

Set in Franconina, The Master and the Maid is an accurate, authentic account of a young woman’s life in Germany in the 1600’s, illustrating her struggle for freedom and her fight for those she loves.

-standing up- Hi, I'm Massimo.
-crowd- HI, MASSIMO
So, here's Daimones pitch:


PA novels are often about cataclysmic events, survivors fending off dangers at every page, zombie attacks, aliens destroying everything for inscrutable reasons, or as a fulfillment of a religious prophecy. Daimones is nothing of the sort.

The novel places a few survivors in a world having experienced a planetary culling of humankind, one with no immediate or apparent cause. The Apocalypse has arrived yet the 'why' and 'how' remain unknown in a frustrating - and fearful - reality for Dan Amenta and his family.

The exploration of human relationships and their importance, of personalities and memories, moral and emotional issues, as well as the mechanics of everyday survival for this family, are at the heart of the tale.

Daimones is a sci-fi story for the thinking person. Confusion, sadness, and fear mix into Dan’s mind. Death is all around the globe, yet Dan and his family remain untouched. All evidence points to them being the only people left alive on Earth...they are not.

We are led to feel the disbelief, the anguish, the grief, the frantic search for other survivors through Dan's first-person narration.

Efforts to survive and make contact with others reveal disturbing truths about the human extermination. Dan finds Laura, who discloses even more. Her presence - a young, sexy, disruptive girl - adds questions about what is moral and ethical in this new reality.

Supernatural experiences reported by other survivors force Dan to seek explanations from his own past. Memories of childhood hallucinations strike him with sledgehammer force, bringing him face-to-face with a secret millions of years old.

Planet Earth is now in the hands of an older power, one Dan Amenta never envisioned and dares not disobey...

Suspense with compassionate characters, Daimones is a post-modern and highly enjoyable new take on post apocalyptic survival.

Laura wrote: "Oh my. When I read your pitches I wonder if mine was just a tad too short:

Here's my pitch for The Master and the Maid, general fiction:

She’s lost her work, her home and her freedom. Now, harbor..."

Your pitch wasn't much shorter than mine. And I like it. Sometimes pitches can get to wordy. Better they're succinct and to the point, I say! And I like your first paragraph.

Crap. I just realized I never put the name of my book in my pitch. D'oh! Hope that doesn't end up being what kicks it out of the contest. :P

Nikki wrote: "Crap. I just realized I never put the name of my book in my pitch. D'oh! Hope that doesn't end up being what kicks it out of the contest. :P"

That's why I'm trying to forget it. But, sometimes when I'm alone...and I think about it anyway...and wonder 'what if?'...

I'll join in :)
* * *
For the past year, seventeen-year-old Chase Peterson has been at war with the word “should.” He should go to college. He should give up on the Marines. He should stop trying to be like his brother, Danny.

Should. It’s six letters of pure command offered as advice by people who don’t have a clue. People should stop telling him how to live his life. Starting now.

It’s the summer after graduation. His brother is home from the Corps, fresh out of Afghanistan, and only three short months remain until Chase can sign his own Marine enlistment contract. It was supposed to be great. It’s turning into a slow hell.

His girlfriend dumps him. He’s shoveling horse manure to make a buck after giving up his job for Danny, and his parents won’t drop their college campaign. The worst is Danny’s descent into self-destruction--fighting, drinking, and run-ins with the law--and the more Chase tries to help his brother, the farther Danny seems to slip away. But when a final betrayal threatens to destroy the brothers’ relationship forever and exposes the truth of a long kept secret, Chase will come to question everything he once thought he knew about Danny, and himself.

The hardest lesson Chase will learn this summer is how to forgive his hero for being human.

The hardest question he will have to answer is what he should do.

CHASING DANNY is an 84,000 word, contemporary young adult novel about the complicated relationship between two brothers living under the burden of expectation in the shadow of a tragic past.

Goodreads AND ABNA in one spot? This much awesomeness could make the universe implode... but I'll join in anyway... I entered in the sci-fi/fantasy category:


When Dark Warriors invade her country, it is up to Princess Kamarie to seek out the legendary king’s warrior and request his aid. The feisty princess has spent her life dreaming of adventure and is thrilled to be tasked with such a quest. There’s only one thing that can dampen the princess’s excitement: Oraeyn. The squire views his task of protecting the princess on her journey as an inglorious assignment and makes no attempt to hide his disappointment. Despite a rocky start to their journey - in which Oraeyn throws the obnoxious princess in a river just to get her to call him by name - the travelers soon learn that they must depend upon one another if they are to locate the man they have been sent to find.

The adventure merely begins when they meet Brant: a warrior with a mysterious past. He joins their cause readily, his heart smoldering with a vendetta Kamarie cannot completely understand. But whether she trusts him or not, the hope of their world rests on the steel he wears at his side.... 

As the companions set out on their quest, enemy scouts creep through the shadows around them. Sent ahead of the main invasion force, these fearsome warriors venture stealthily across the land, positioning themselves for the battle to come, and all the while searching... searching for someone or something their half-mad king has ordered them to retrieve. When the Dark Warriors chance upon Kamarie and her companions the results of the encounter astound everyone.

KING’S WARRIOR is a fantasy adventure for all ages.

Melissa wrote: "T. wrote: "I'm entered in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category.


1920s – Buster Keaton – Vampires! 96K ‘Nuff said. READ IT!!!

Too cute? Okay, here’s the real pitch:

On February 28th 1927, Buste..."

Hi Melissa! Thanks for the nice comment. All the pitches sound strong. I'm glad I'm not one of the judges at the ABNA.

I have entered my novel Lunar Dance in the science fiction category.

Theresa Maria Meneurez hadn’t intended to kill six astronauts, end NASA’s manned space program, and destroy the most expensive object ever built. It was just an unfortunate consequence of her affair with one of her husband’s co-workers. Thankfully, rather than an ending, her act of indiscretion leads to a new beginning, as it enables a man she has never met to undertake the greatest adventure in history.

From the boardroom to the courtroom, the halls of Congress to the launch pad, Lunar Dance tells an epic tale of ambitious dreams, bold actions and eternal love set amid the high stakes world of today's commercial launch industry, where the opportunities are boundless, but failure leads to certain death.

The disastrous end of the space program leaves former NASA engineer Carl Heinel a broken man. But when he’s hired to help a small aerospace startup win a multi-million dollar launch competition, life gives him a second chance. He realizes that their revolutionary technology could allow him to keep a promise from his distant past—a promise he is committed to fulfilling, regardless of the cost. With his guidance, they embark on the most audacious journey ever conceived—the first commercial moon voyage. The one piece they need to make it all possible is a retired space shuttle.

What follows is an intricate and elaborate plan to secretly obtain the shuttle they need to conduct their bold mission. A plan in which everything is hidden in plain sight, nothing is as it seems, and only a handful of people know the real truth.

Everything is proceeding very well—until it all goes catastrophically wrong.

Grounded in actual science and as real as today’s headlines, Lunar Dance is science-based fiction at its best, written in the classic style of Michael Crichton and Robert Heinlein.

Here's my pitch for Midnight Departure an action/thriller, or more likely political/thriller though did not see that sub category. Ooopppss, in reading it again, was it a non-no to put a small spoiler in the pitch?

Pitch:
Tom Bates' mission is simple. Begin building a high speed railroad at midnight. Spend the money quickly so that when dawn casts its first light the people of California discover too much has been invested to turn back the clock on the project.
Bob Jones, Tom's deputy director at the California SwiftRail Authority, does not see it that way. Though at the beginning he embraces the project with great enthusiasm, he soon uncovers the greed, deceit, graft, and backroom dealing that accompanies a $100 billion cookie jar of loosely supervised taxpayer money.
It's a race to the finish line in this suspenseful story as Bob works to expose the corruption and Tom plots to silence him while on a fact-finding trip to explore Tokyo's Shinkansen bullet train. Tom has enlisted a two-bit hustler, Sam Cutler, to engage the Yakuza, Japan's mafia, to carry out the hit. After barely eluding the Yakuza in a chase across Japan, Bob returns to California where he gets aid from a wealthy friend, Greg Killen, and his mechanic Nicholas, as they battle wits with Tom's team in a tense cat-and-mouse game. Neither side suspects the third party that beats them both to the finish.
It is a riveting combination of a thriller and mystery that incorporates a very contemporary political issue . . . strong characterization imbedded in a fast moving, global mystery that will appeal to readers over a multiple of genres.

Hi Melissa. Read somewhere that your book was based on your actual memoir. I did that with my first book (not eh ABNA entry), Death Panel. Written in 3rd person, it is the story of my wife's cancer diagnosis and passing four months later. The subplot was the conspiracy, whether real or imagined on my part, by the HMO to delay her therapy so she would pass quickly adn saving them millions, hence the title. She was only 50.

Hi everyone,

I've entered my YA novel In Your Dreams :

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titusville, Illinois, where the junior high and high school are in the same building and everyone's known everyone else since birth. But when Kieran Lanier moves to town and passes out on her desk on his first day at school, Zip's life gets complicated in a way she never dreamed.

Kieran has narcolepsy, and although he sometimes struggles to stay awake, he has no trouble capturing Zip's heart and trusting her with his most guarded secret--he sees bits and pieces of the future in his dreams.

But just when Zip thinks that maybe she can handle having a boyfriend who sees things before they happen, her budding relationship with Kieran gets a jolt when Kieran's parents reveal that his sleeping disorder is not what it seems and may be putting them in harm's way. And when Zip begins to have unsettling dreams, she must decide if she can live with knowing the future in advance when she's afraid of what might happen.

My pitch for my fantasy novel To Carry The Horn, the first in the series The Hounds of Annwn.

George Talbot Traherne is just doing his job on a fine autumn morning, keeping the hounds together for the huntsman of the Rowanton Hunt in Virginia along the Blue Ridge Mountain. Doesn’t pay to get distracted by a white stag in unfamiliar territory, though. Next thing you know, you might find yourself… somewhere else.

The land is the same but not the people. Their huntsman has just been murdered, and George is tapped for the job. It’s an emergency -- the Wild Hunt is only two weeks away, and if it doesn’t happen on schedule, the antlered god Cernunnos will take the realm from its ruler Gwyn ap Nudd and find someone who can mete out justice with the Hounds of Hell in his place.

George throws himself into the task, finding strength in the mission and resources he never knew he had. The more he comes to feel at home, settling into his new responsibilities, the more he wants to stay and make a life for himself. He’s finally met someone worth spending his life with, even if she’s just a bit older, a mere fifteen hundred years or so.

Can he keep the Wild Hunt on track despite the attempts to thwart it? Will he be accepted by those he wants to defend who view his timely presence and his human blood with suspicion? Above all, what does Cernunnos want of him and how far will he go? Can he survive the attention of a god?

Had a blast reading these all! Here is mine, Project Torture, a GF novel:

Never let your friends get involved in your personal life.

Lila and Nate learn this the hard way. They are the star-crossed lovers of Glendale High. For three years the students waited for the two to get together. They begged Nate to put his past relationship behind him, and cringed when Lila started dating Bryce. Just your typical teenage romance, except that they’re the teachers.

Lila, a guidance counselor with a sweet demeanor, has an answer for every problem. Every problem but her own. A visit from childhood friend Bryce thrusts her calm world into turmoil, as emotions buried deep inside are dragged to the surface. He soon realizes what only a friend can notice and a lover regret, that Lila, unbeknownst to herself, is in love with Nate.

Nate has seen better days. He is a history teacher stuck living in the past. Depression has kept his love for Lila unspoken, his ego frail after being cheated on.

Now Lila and Nate’s coworkers must unleash a scheme and uncover Lila’s true feelings. In a school this nosey what better way to get fast results than to involve the student population? The students are all too eager to get involved.

If everything goes as planned Lila will have to choose between two men. If her friends fail they might destroy these three and ruin their friendship. No wonder the scheme is called PROJECT TORTURE.

PROJECT TORTURE, a 126,000 word General Fiction novel mixes romance with strong supporting characters, including gossiping deaf students. The story is told through Lila, Nate, and their meddling friends’ points of views.

My entry is Kianda in the General Fiction category:

She was abandoned in bushes on the outskirts of Montego Bay minutes after her birth. Raised in an orphanage to adulthood, Kianda Greenaway tries to move beyond the circumstances of her birth. When the handsome tourist, Mark Melber falls in love with Kianda, she impulsively marries him and makes a fresh start in Toronto. Kianda’s fairy tale life seemed perfect. Her knight had shown up. But when Mark’s best friend is killed in Afghanistan, he spirals into depression, becoming more obsessive and abusive each day. Kianda is left to struggle with the love she feels for Mark and fear for her life, after several violent confrontations with Mark.
From the sunny Caribbean to exciting Toronto, New York, and Washington DC, the novel traces Kianda’s determination to survive against all odds, and her encounter with Sharon, the woman who holds the key to her past. Through beautiful prose, witty, and sometimes hilarious dialogue, Kianda delves into the deepest emotions of its characters, and highlights the capacity and resilience of the human spirit to endure.
Exploring the shame and disempowerment that abused women experience, Kianda highlights one woman’s determination to unfetter herself from a cycle of violence. It is a story of courage in the face of loss, heartbreak, fear and abuse, and offers hope for anyone who has ever felt beaten down.

Melissa wrote: "Heidi wrote: "Entered in Mystery/Thriller:

Kayla McKenna is the CIA's most lethal covert operative — and she loves it. After her father was murdered by terrorists she was consumed by the need for ..."

I loved The Long Kiss Goodnight! Definitely an inspiration, but I don't keep her (Kayla) in the dark long enough to have a family and begin a whole new life... I'm too impatient for that!

Amy wrote: "Hi everyone,

I've entered my YA novel In Your Dreams:

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titus..."

LOVE The cover!!!

Heidi wrote: "Amy wrote: "Hi everyone,

I've entered my YA novel In Your Dreams:

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out o..."

Thanks, Heidi. I'm actually having it redesigned right now (the current cover is a generic Createspace layout that I'm starting to see everywhere), but I'm keeping the eye in the new cover layout. :)

SelfSame - entered in YA.

A stillborn child revived.

The past and the future intertwined.

One girl lives two very different lives.

By all appearances, Sorcha Sloane is a typical small town teen taking twenty-first century life for granted – while two hundred years in the past, Enid Thompson is a poor farmer’s daughter in colonial New England.

But Enid and Sorcha are the selfsame girl – one soul split between two bodies in a link that stretches across time. Every night while Enid’s body is sleeping, she wakes in the future as Sorcha, just as the old medicine man prophesied at her birth. And every night when Sorcha sleeps, she wakes in the past as Enid, in a frontier world on the brink of war.

She trusts only a chosen few with the truth. For Enid, life is hard and the future bleak. She much prefers the freedom of choice she enjoys as Sorcha, but choice is a luxury dictated by time and luck – both of which are running out as Enid’s circumstances drastically change for the worse. Only Joseph, a young Mohican warrior sent by the medicine man to protect her, offers hope.

Then charming, reckless Ben Webster comes into Sorcha’s life and tells her his family has been desperately searching for her for over two hundred years…

Amy wrote: "Hi everyone,

I've entered my YA novel In Your Dreams:

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titus..."

Hi Amy ~ your pitch gave me chills, which is how I know I'll probably like a book! ;-)

Here's mine!

Klytemestra has good reason to hate her husband. The great Agamemnon, who killed her first husband and newborn son, and dragged her off to Mycenae to be his queen.

When Klytie's sister, Helene, runs away with Paris to far off Troy, Agamemnon begins a decade-long campaign against the country that harbours the lovers. But when his hubris brings down the anger of the goddess Artemis, he appeases her with a horrifying human sacrifice - his eldest daughter, Iphigenia - for fair winds to blow the Greek fleet to war.

Klytie is left abandoned and alone, her hatred settling as a black cloud over her heart. Finally, she accepts the advances of Aegisthus, her husband's cousin and true heir to the usurped crown Agamemnon wears, who seeks his own revenge upon the king.

When they learn that the king is on his way home, their perilous position becomes clear. Klytie's adultery gives her husband the right to kill her, and fear drives her to extreme lengths. Agamemnon appears with his mistress, the war prize Cassandra. It is the final straw in a long list of evils. But is it enough to justify murder?

Based closely on the ancient sources, THE CURSE OF ATREUS presents an untold story of the players off-stage, who stayed behind when Greeks met Trojans in battle. A forbidden romance in a world ravaged by war, the life story of Klytemestra gives a new perspective on the great Agamemnon, and his much-maligned deserted wife.

Here's my pitch for 'Wizards of Science', entered in SF.

Wizards of Science

With swords drawn and shields at the ready, the Norman invaders leap from their longships and splash toward dry land. But they halt in frightened disarray as they encounter a sight beyond their comprehension.

Wulf though, his robe pulled up above his knees, wades forward. Of all the invaders, only he understands what he sees and only he has an answering technology.



Paul, an American physics major studying in England and his friend Vicki have become caught up in an experiment gone spectacularly wrong. The island of Britain has swapped into an alternate time line where the rest of the world is in the 11th century. And Paul's mentor, the experiment's creator, has disappeared.

While watching live TV coverage of the Battle of Hastings, Paul and Vicki see armored cars bearing down on the Normans. But the vehicles grind to a stop, even though their wheels continue churning up sand. Facing them, a purple-robed man calmly flourishes an ornate staff.

Paul, believing the man is not of the 11th century, nor of the 21st either, convinces Vicki that they travel to Hastings and enlist his help in reversing the 'swap'.

Help is offered and Paul takes up residence in the boy's dormitory of Wulf's monastery school. There, alongside Vicki's kid brother, the boy from home who bullies him, and a young boy of the 11th century who has just discovered video games, Paul studies physics with Wulf.

To reverse the swap, Paul and Wulf must first explore the physics of the phenomenon, and time grows short.

Under Wulf's demanding regimen and the school's discipline, Paul learns fast.

Powerful individuals, however, do not want the swap reversed. Some, who envision a new British hegemony, will fight for the status quo--even in an England that will soon run out of tea.

Nikki wrote: "Crap. I just realized I never put the name of my book in my pitch. D'oh! Hope that doesn't end up being what kicks it out of the contest. :P"

Don't feel bad...I just looked back and realized I did the exact same thing. Oops!

Melissa wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Crap. I just realized I never put the name of my book in my pitch. D'oh! Hope that doesn't end up being what kicks it out of the contest. :P"

Don't feel bad...I just looked back a..."

I think I remember reading that the book title, contact info, and author name was not supposed to appear anywhere in pitch, excerpt or manuscript. they are all linked together on the entry form we filled out.