“The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). They've based it on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of them will serve as coaches and select projects for their teams based on the entered queries and first pages.
ParaWars: Uprising – Cait Peterson
Word Count: 70,000
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Kendry thought she’d gotten used to the post-Uprising world. She was wrong. The town she thought safe from the war? Overrun. The mother she thought would always be there? Captured. The paras she was told would protect her? They’re actually after her.
And then there’s Axel. He’s been her best friend and secret crush since he showed up in all his gargoyle glory. Except that she was wrong about him, too. He’s working for her father, the one she thought was dead. But wrong or not, she can’t deny her growing feelings for him.
Now, her mother’s life and her own depend on finding a way to walk the line between para and human. Surrounded by traitors, and with only her guardian Axel to trust, Kendry must find the answers to who she is and why both sides think she’s the key to the war. And she’ll have to do it fast, because with everyone after her, not even a gargoyle can protect her forever.
First 250:
It’s always an odd thing, running through my neighborhood. The normalcy of before seems a strange backdrop to the difference of now. The buildings are a little more run down, the road unrepaired. But it’s still so much like it was before. Small towns stay small, I guess, even if the world has self-destructed. The grass still grows, and I still run to stay sane.
It’s been two years since the Paranormal Uprising.
My feet carry me past neighborhoods filled with humans and paras alike, going about the business of living. We carved out a new life here in Greenbriar. I like it, but it makes me wonder what it’s like elsewhere. If anyone else has tried to make it work, like we have. Judging by the guns we’ve heard in the distance, it doesn’t feel like it.
The main part of town passes behind me, and I settle into the calming rhythm of my run.The thump-thump of my heartbeat. The pounding of my feet on the broken pavement. The in and out of my breathing. Running’s not glamorous, and I’m not good at it, but there’s a freedom to it, an elation that it gives me, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not even chocolate, if we could still get it. Well, maybe chocolate.
The town around me fades out and away, taking my thoughts with it. The air around me is heavy and muggy, like the grey clouds above me are just waiting for the right moment to go.
So today is my day to host the AWESOMENESS that is Misty Provencher and her first book, CORNERSTONE. YAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!! (Ok, now I feel like I'm on the Muppet Show.)
Seriously though, Misty IS awesome, and so is her book. If you're unfamiliar with her story, you can read it here. There's a link to read the first five chapters there, too. ;) Cornerstone is the story of Nali and Garrett and all kinds of trouble they get up to. Misty and I stumbled on each other just after she'd made the decision to stop querying, and just put herself out there. We ended up helping each other out, and becoming friends in the process. I also made her book trailer.
