Example of a Great Hook

Just two and a half weeks until our first clash at Clash of the Titles! On October 4th, submissions will be closed for Best Opening Pages, Contemporary.

As an example of a great opening, I've included the first 500 words of author Deborah Vogts' novel Snow Melts in Spring. I don't usually read contemporary, but I fell in love with this one on page one. Half-way through, I've enjoyed every one of them since. Well done, Deborah!

Readers, here's a taste of what's coming up on the 18th.
Authors, be inspired to submit the first 500 words of your contemporary novel. There's still time!

                 Snow Melts in Spring

                  by Deborah Vogts

Chapter One

                Red lights flashed like fire in the murky shadows of the night. Mattie Evans slid from the seat of her truck and made her way to the accident scene, tuned to the shrill, intermittent static of the emergency radios.

                What a way to start this early Sunday morning, not even a week into the new year. Lord, give me strength.

                As she neared, the crushed sedan came into view. A ghostly chill crept up her spine. She noted the shattered glass, a trail of blood. Paramedics worked to pull the driver from the car and transferred the motionless boy to the stretcher.

                At the sight of the victim’s marred face, Mattie pressed her hand to her mouth. Another body lay covered on the ground.

                “Thanks for getting here so quickly, Doc.” The county sheriff met her on the dirt road, and Mattie forced herself to regain control. “Got ourselves a bad one. Two drunk teens hit a horse with their car. One’s dead, the other…well, it don’t look good. As for the horse, I doubt you can save him.”

                With his flashlight, he cleared a path through the dense fog, and Mattie followed to the edge of the road where her patient lay. Blood stained the gravel.

                “They probably didn’t even see the animal until it was too late,” he said. “Don’t know why the horse was on the road—must have a fence down.” He shined a beam into the dark pasture. “Likely spooked and jumped toward the vehicle, then smashed into the windshield. Still breathing, though.”

                Mattie knelt for a closer inspection. Someone had tried to stop the massive bleeding with towels, to no avail. She stroked the horse’s neck, and the gelding raised his head. The white of his eye showed pure terror, dilated from shock.

                “He’s lost a lot of blood.”  The sheriff drew the light over the animal’s body.

                Mattie took a deep breath and reached into her bag for a syringe. Once she had the horse sedated, she removed the towels to examine him. Her heart sank at the extent of the damage.

                The impact of the windshield had lacerated his right shoulder, withers, and limb. Corneal rupture of the right eye and massive skull fractures. A quick check of his mouth revealed his old age. She noted the pales of his gums.

                At times like this, she hated her job. Such hopelessness. Angered by the senseless destruction, she fought back tears, her teeth clenched as the horse lay wheezing his every breath. Despite her oath to save animals, Mattie knew the horse would require extensive treatments, and even then, his chances for a full recovery were slim.

                “He’s in a lot of pain.” The nagging worry from her recent loss caused her to doubt her abilities. “There’s no reason to make him suffer. I recommend putting him down.”

                “Can’t do that, Mattie,” a gruff voice answered close by.

                Her gaze jolted to see her friend John McCray slumped over his cane.

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Is there a book you've read lately that had you hooked from the first page?

Where I've Been and Where I'm Headed

The kids and I just got home from our first day of fall homeschool co-op. It's always exciting starting up, but I can promise you that by the end, we'll ALL be ready to be done. It's so rewarding and fulfilling, yet so draining! I should have known better than to teach two classes this year, but I couldn't help it. How could I not teach about literature? My lips found themselves incapable of forming the word "no".

Tomorrow morning, we hit the interstate and head north for Nashville. The kids will stay with their grandparents while I keep trekking north for Indianapolis and the ACFW Conference. I can't decide whether to be excited or terrified. For now, my prevalent emotion is dread. I don't enjoy driving and tomorrow will be the longest road trip I've done on my own. Hubby makes the drive in six hours, but I'm thinking it'll take me closer to eight. My foot just doesn't weigh as much as his.

Today, you can find me over at writer Michelle Massaro's blog answering her question about how I find time to homeschool and write. You might be surprised with my answer. Michelle has become a sweet friend who I've come to know better since we've been working together with her at Clash of the Titles. If you'll swing by her blog every now and then, I promise you'll enjoy the time you spend there.

I'll be traveling until the beginning of October, but will try post as often as I can. I'll be pitching my Lizzie novel to editors and agents at the conference, so say a prayer!!

"See" you in Nashville!

The World of the Unagented Part V--A.K. Arenz

Click image to learn more.

Here to share her story with us today is author, Alice K Arenz. Her book, The Case of the Mystified M.D., is up for the Carol Award at the ACFW Conference in Indy. We wish you all the best, Alice!


 
Here's Alice's story:
After years of submitting queries and sample chapters, I finally signed on with a big New York literary agency in the early 1990s. My agent was always supportive, and her promise of a quick sale and a multiple-book contract built my confidence and had me dreaming of a book on the New York Times Best Seller list.

When she went out on her own, I was flattered she wanted me to come with her. But after five years together, we decided to call it quits.

I packed up my manuscripts and tucked them away in the closet, determined never to write again. But God wasn’t through with me yet.

After reading Brandilyn Collins’ Eyes of Elisha, I emailed her. That started a dialogue which led to ACFW.

A lot had changed in the years since I’d last been on the road to submissions. Writing with the CBA in mind, I now had a direction, realized the past comments that my writing was “too nice” “too clean”  meant I’d been submitting to the wrong people. With the encouragement of family and my ACFW friends, I wrote my first manuscript in nearly seven years—The Case of the Bouncing Grandma.

When Grandma was rejected for the line I’d hoped would be a fit, I was determined not to give up. I knew God helped me write this book, that it would find a home. I queried several agents, went to conferences, and kept the faith even while my spirits flagged. I’d made several online friends along the way, rejoiced in their successes, and watched and prayed as one began a journey God laid on her heart.

I looked forward to author J.M. Hochstetler’s posts on her Publishing Dream blog and prayed for her and her budding new publishing company, Sheaf House. In my wildest dreams, I never thought she’d ask me to submit my manuscripts (that’s right—plural!).

One year after Grandma was rejected by the larger publisher, Sheaf House bought it. A year later, The Case of the Bouncing Grandma was released and went on to be a finalist in the 2009 ACFW Book of the Year Contest. The second book in the series, The Case of the Mystified M.D., is a finalist in the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards. My third book with Sheaf House, Mirrored Image—a mystery/romantic suspense and not part of the Bouncing Grandma Mysteries—will be released in October of this year.

And I still don’t have an agent.

Is it harder without representation? Since most publishers only want agented submissions, I’d have to say yes. Would it make my writing life easier? I don’t know. What I do know is that I was blessed to get in on the ground floor of a blossoming publishing house with an incredible editor/publisher who believes in my work . . . in me. Having an agent might allow me to branch out to different publishers, which might be interesting, but for now, I’m satisfied with where I am.

~ Alice Arenz

Contact Alice

The Big Annoucement!

I've been terribly quiet on here lately, but it's been for a reason. A good reason! (at least I think so)

Shortly after Hubby deployed, I was walking on the treadmill watching Bobby Flay's "Throwdown", and I thought What would it be like to take this concept and use it for books? What if the Best was pitted against the Best and the experts (readers) decided who was the Best of the Best? By the end of the day, my website had a name--Clash of the Titles.

I've intentionally dragged out the birthing process over the last seven weeks. I wanted to make sure COTT was top-notch before announcing it to the world. I gave God plenty of time to let me know this was a mistake and to back off. But He hasn't. So it's been full-steam ahead with a team of wonderful women who have walked with me every step of the way, building the site from the ground up.

Here is Clash of the Title's week in a nutshell:
Each Monday, we’ll post two anonymous excerpts from those submitted by published authors. Readers will vote on their favorite. Voting closes Wednesdays when the authors are revealed and paired with their excerpts. Thursdays will be dedicated to author publicity, which will take various, entertaining forms that encourage readers to connect with the authors. On Fridays the winning author will be revealed and two random voters will be selected to win books donated by the participating authors.

Although contests won't begin until October 18th, COTT now officially open for submissions!!

So authors, writers, send in those excerpts. Readers get ready for a fun ride starting 18 Oct!

Have a look around the site. We've worked hard to make it a friendly, professional place to be and hope you'll agree.

www.clashofthetitles.com

~April

The World of the Unagented Part IV--Author JoAnn Durgin

JoAnn Durgin joins us today. Welcome, JoAnn!
Her novel Awakening releases this November with Torn Veil Books, so we owe her a huge CONGRATULATIONS! Experience makes the best teacher, and JoAnn has plenty of it allowing her to share some great advice with unpublished writers.

Here's her story...

Do I need an agent?  Ah, the burning question pondered by unpublished writers. Early on in my quest for publication, I managed to get a query in the hands of the number one agent in Christian fiction. His response? “That’s a great query, JoAnn.” He ultimately rejected me (twice), but we traded a number of e-mails. I took it as great encouragement. Another well-known agent lost her reply to me in cyberspace and invited me to resubmit. Several others either didn’t respond or weren’t accepting new clients. The primary lesson I learned: don’t try to find an agent until you’re ready.

Knowing when you’re ready can be tricky. The first three chapters (or 50 pages) are what agents generally request if they’re interested, but those early chapters can be the most daunting and challenging. I knew if only an agent or editor would read past the beginning, they’d see what a wonderful, heartfelt story I’d written! The Lord has blessed me with dogged determination and a strong commitment to my writing passion. So, I went into book “therapy” (which at first offended me, but then I wised up). I joined the ACFW and its Indiana chapter. I participated in online chat groups and connected with other writers. I read lots of published fiction and kept writing, editing, refining. I entered contests, finaled in one and won a Flash Fiction competition. In the Genesis, I earned a 100% score from the assistant to that same well-known agent, and gained a great friend. She’s now my roommate at the upcoming ACFW conference. Ah, the Lord does indeed work in mysterious and very intriguing ways!

When I was ready, I queried several small Christian romance publishers directly. Three responded and asked for the synopsis and three chapters. Two publishers suggested changes and encouraged me to resubmit. The third, Torn Veil Books, requested the full manuscript. In an e-mail from 3:12 a.m. on May 1, 2010, I read the words I’d waited for my entire life: “We have decided to publish your book, Awakening. Your contract is attached.” Words can’t describe the elation. Or the joy. Or the terror. I’m currently awaiting edits, but the book is expected to release before Christmas (check my website for updates).

The Lord recently laid that well-known agent on my heart. I e-mailed him to say I was praying for him in advance of the conference. I thanked him for rejecting me, and told him he was right in doing so, and that I learned from it and moved forward. He wrote back within minutes with a most gracious reply, congratulating me on my recent successes and said we’d be sure to meet at the ACFW. But I honestly don’t believe he’s the agent for me. I’m hoping to make acquaintance with several agents at the upcoming conference without the pressure of “do or die.” I’m taking nothing to pitch or propose.

An agent could gain access to the bigger CBA publishing houses, but I’m content to see what happens with Torn Veil, and anticipate growing with them. An agent also  negotiates contracts, but I work for attorneys who can do that. However, with all that said, it doesn’t mean I won’t keep the door of opportunity open to see what our glorious Lord can do. He’s done an awful lot so far! Blessings in your own writing journey!

~JoAnn Durgin

Whoosh by Author Delores Topliff

I'm at Reflections in Hindsight today. Hosting Promotion Monday with Delores Topliff, author of Whoosh. Whoosh is the true story of a boy who prayed a "silly" prayer, then sat back with total confidence that God would answer. And He did.

I'll see you at Reflections for the full story.

-April