Monday, May 12, 2014

Query Kombat Free Pass!

The winner of my Free Pass, chosen by random generator, is: 

Yvonne Jones!

Here's her Simple Wish: In honor of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, I simply wish that my MS featuring POC be accepted as the commercial fiction it was written to be...and not lumped into the "African-American Fiction" category.

Yvonne, please put 'Free Pass Winner' in the subject line of your submission email on May 22nd along with your nickname and genre! Format the rest of your submission as normal.

Congrats you're my first pick for Round 1 of Query Kombat!


Before the free pass, how about a party?! The best thing about contests is they create a sense of fun community among writers. SC, Mike, and I are all about having fun! So we thought we give you a little something to do before and after the Query Kombat submissions are sent.




Twitter party! There will be topics and things to talk about on May 21 and during the wait time until the chosen entries are released on May 30th. We’ll start with naming your category/genre to help those who may not be so sure to finalize their answers.

Just tweet your answers under the hashtag #QueryKombat and have some fun meeting and talking with other Kombatants, judges, and your hosts. 


May 21st               Tweet your category and genre. Ask questions about genre if you’re unsure where your manuscript fits.

May 22-23rd         Tweet what time you submitted your entry to our QK email. Nerves and jitters can be calmed by sharing with others. Also tweet out what you find the hardest about writing. Is it keeping out telling? Writing action scenes? What’s hard for you?

May 24th                  Tweet your main character’s name and a special tidbit about them. See what sorts of names are popular and if anyone else shares MC’s names with you.

May 25th                  Tweet your entry Nickname and why you choose it.

May 26th               Tweet out those first lines.

May 27th               Tweet the very last lines of your manuscript.

May 28th               Tweet us your villain’s name and something evil about them.

May 29th               Tweet the title of a soothing song that is helping you get through the day before the picks are revealed. Hold hands and sing Kumbaya lyrics like the band of friends you’ve become. (We’ll be running around like crazy gerbils getting everything ready.)


The hosts will post reminders for you in the #QueryKombat feed. It’s all about “Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you” and having fun!

Now on to the Free Pass Opportunities!

With 64 Kombatants, we get to make 21 picks each! (Mike as creator of the contest gets 22.) Our generous spirits want to make it easy for our contestants. What better way than to spare someone from the slush pile?

One lucky winner times three! Mike, SC, and I are each setting up our own contests to find one Free Pass winner to go straight into the Query Kombat first round. (Find Mike's contest here and SC's here. You can enter all three, but you only have to win one!) **Free Pass does not guarantee a spot in the agent round, but will get you feedback from our fabulous judges.

What to do? What to do?

A Simple Wish

I was going to do the usual rafflecopter contest. Follow me here, like me there. Then I watched Saving Mr. Banks last night and had a new idea.

You see in that movie Walt Disney loved Mary Poppins so much he was ready to undergo whatever a rather difficult author, who didn't want to release control, required. And it touched me to think someone could love a story so much that they'd do anything to share it. We all have that simple wish for our stories.

So in honor of that sentiment, I want to hear your simple wishes for your stories or your writing career. Reach down to that secret corner of your heart where wishes hide and share just a little. I'll even go first.

My simple wish would be for the dystopian market to pick up again so one of the stories of my heart will have a chance.

Now your turn. Leave your simple wish as a comment. One comment per person. Be sure to include a twitter handle or email address so I can reach you.

On May 20th I'll use a random number generator to pull one winner.


May there be many agent/writer connections in Query Kombat!

And if you'd like to follow or like me, well, that would be nice. Here's my handy-dandy links:


 Twitter: @Michelle4Laughs
Goodreads: Kindar’s Cure


94 comments:

  1. My simple wish is for nerdy, diverse girls and guys of all backgrounds and abilities to see themselves in more stories, especially ones that aren't about overcoming their disadvantages.
    @BetsyAldredge

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  2. My simple wish is to be able to make a living by being a full-time writer and to get hired to ghostwrite Nathan Fillion's memoir.

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  3. My wish is pretty simple. I'd just like to be able to walk into a bookstore and see my book sitting there on the shelf. Some day... Email: hagergirl (at) yahoo (dot) com. Twitter: @book_laurie

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  4. My wish is to become a fulltime writer so I don't have to work and I can stay home and write while taking care of the kids I want in the future.
    Twitter @cielorayn

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  5. My simple wish is to become a full-time writer while simultaneously hiding all evidence that I'm a full-time writer from all of my friends and family. (So they won't read my books, because ... yeah.)

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  6. My wish is a chance for my villain to jump off the pages and scare the world as he so desperately wants to. Twitter @ddiholiday

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  7. World peace. Also I'd like to hit the lotto. :) Oh, and getting an agent and book deal would be nice too! @em_daze

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  8. My simple wish for my career is to get a book contract before September 2015 (when my sons start school) so I can be a work-from-home writer/after-school mom rather than having to go get a "real" job and put my kids into care (and have almost no time left for writing). @K_Callard

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  9. My exams start the 21st, so if I do enter, I'm not gonna have the chance to join the Twitter parties much :(

    One of my writing wishes would be to see my first MS, a YA murder mystery, turned into a visual medium of some sort where I could act the MC. That would be a cool life experience. :D
    @Caelestia_Flora

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  10. My wish is for people to read my story and weep, and I know that I've done a good job.
    @sa_jeffrey

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  11. My simple wish is that even one (or many!) reluctant reader (of the pre-teen boy sort) would be compelled to read my book and that it would be the one that opened the world of reading for him/them.

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  12. @csschwarz or sharilschwarz @ aol dot com

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  13. My simple wish is to write honest books that I love and not just the ones I think will sell.

    @westerlybooks

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  14. My simple wish is to have my writing career become my career career, so that I won't have to limit my writing time to what I can stuff into the cracks around job and kids anymore.

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  15. My wish is to have my MS published someday, and for it to encourage nursing students to stay in school, even though it can be pretty brutal!
    @lilk8tob

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  16. My simple wish is to not only have my books published and on the shelves of bookstores, but for them to stay in print and stand the test of time.

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  17. My simple wish is for a market for my stories that don't fit into genre stereotypes.

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  18. My simple wish is for my geeky MC to take young readers on her fantastical adventure and make them feel like they would be friends if they could ever actually meet in real life. @Arborwriter

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  19. My simple wish is for someone who doesn't know me to read one of my stories and love my characters (nearly) as much as I do. @LauraRueckert

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  20. My simple wish is to find an agent (and readers!) who *get* my sometimes unconventional writing voice. @aubreycann

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  21. My simple wish is to build a writing career that would inspire my daughter to go after what she wants even if it seems impossible. @gillianlibby

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  22. My simple wish is to get my story out there and find the audience for it.
    @jenztweets

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  23. In honor of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, I simply wish that my MS featuring POC be accepted as the commercial fiction it was written to be...and not lumped into the "African-American Fiction" category.

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    Replies
    1. Congrats, Yvonne! And I feel the same way!

      Delete
  24. My secret wish is to reach that one person I wrote the story for, and for them so feel through through the words that they are not alone.

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  25. My simple wish is to be that author at book fairs who the kids want to meet! @judyclemens1

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  26. One of my stories has a character who has two different bodies (it's complicated). If my book were ever made into a movie, my simple wish is for that character to be played by both Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston (getting my nerd on!).

    @RenaTheWriter

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  27. My wish would be to create a novel that would hold the reader's attention from the first page to the last. A novel that the reader could lose himself/herself completely in, and where he/she would turn the last page and experience a sense of loss when they realize there's no more :)

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  28. My simple wish is that some day I will see my book in a library, but only for a brief moment, before a child asks if they can check it out, because they have been waiting to read it.
    Email: scottsdalewriters (at) gmail (dot) com

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  29. My simple wish is to write faster so my stories on standby can come to life! @JessHoefer

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  30. My simple wish is to become a full time writer so I can devote myself to something that I really love. @JRHoward9

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  31. My simple wish is to have my book on the shelf, a sign that people want to read about diversity and food. @roselle_kaes

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  32. My simple wish is for people to pause before they judge someone they don't know, because my writing has taught them to. @LynetteEklund

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  33. My simple wish is to inspire writers to write more and readers to read more--a bonus if its in the historical romance genre I'm writing. (@elle4588)

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  34. My simple wish is that my MG readers will feel like they are part of history and history is part of them. @misstoryhistory

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  35. My simple wish is that my YA space opera will someday inspire someone else to create as well. @JMWeibel1

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  36. My simple wish is for my book to find a home. @Jen_Laird

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  37. My simple wish is to be able to one day walk into a bookstore and see my novel on their bookshelf. @Calcifer123

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  38. My simple wish is for someone, someday to stay up too late reading one of my stories. @agenip

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  39. My simple wish is that others would fall in love with my characters the way I did. @jesskemp17 or jessicakemp17@gmail

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  40. Just once, I'd like to win a free ticket to something! ;) Kidding, but kind of serious. However, my slightly-more-serious simple wish is for the MG market to become more favorable to stories with boy MCs.

    arielj.van at gmail.

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  41. My simple wish is to have my story make it both to bookshelves and to the silver screen. @debramckellan@ymail.com

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  42. My wish is to find success even though my idea of success is always changing. @candice_marleyc

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  43. My simple wish is for someone, possibly a mentor, editor or agent, to read more than the first 250 words, enjoy it, and help me hone my skills to the point my story becomes an international best seller. :D
    Twitter @Dorris208

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  44. My simple wish is to find an agent who loves my book as much as I do. @griswellj

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  45. My wish is to publish a book that will be a friend to the friendless and a ray of hope to those who sometimes feel invisible. @AliciaTubbs

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  46. My simple wish is to make punk rock big again -- through words.

    @BrennaEhrlich

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  47. My simple wish is to be doing school visits with my middle grade novels.

    @debamarshall

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  48. My simple wish is to inspire a child's imagination and love of reading through my fiction and nonfiction stories.


    Donna L Martin
    Www.donasdays@gmail.com

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  49. My simple wish is to craft one phrase that becomes an eternal quote. I want it to be be occasionally incorrectly attributed to Shakespeare. @c03acE

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  50. My simple wish is to see blogs, websites and people quote lines from my manuscript. I believe an author has truly made an impact on society when their words become part of colloquial speech.
    @Nik_Vukoja

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  51. My simple wish is to never have to work again......by writing.

    @matchbox_girl

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  52. My simple wish is that I could make some facet of writing my sole career - be it writing, editing, agenting, anything related, because I LOVE this industry so much and if I HAVE to work (which, sadly, I do), I wish it could be in a field that I truly love and would enjoy. :) @DoneaLee

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  53. My simple wish is to instill the same love of storytelling in young readers as Enid Blyton did for me. If I could take one kid on an amazing adventure in their minds then I'd consider it a job well done. @karenharter

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  54. This one is for Mel S. who is having trouble with blogger.

    I overheard two kids talking passionately about a book. I want that to be my book. My simple wish is to write stories that have kids talking and remembering it long after the final page has been read. @paintandwords

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  55. I want people to read my book in one sitting because they just can't put it down. crissydsharp@gmail.com

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  56. My simple wish is for readers to stay up all night reading my novel, laughing, crying along with my MCs. That, and for historical romance to pick up again!

    lanaklaydon (at) gmail (dot) com

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  57. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  58. My simple wish is to be able to make people entertain people and make them think and feel.
    csmyers3637@yahoo.com

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  59. @Aightball

    My simple wish is for someone to be able to read my boys. That's it. And if I inspire someone to start writing, that's great, too. But I want people to be able to read my boys.

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  60. My simple wish is to have more hours in the day to write or the ability to need less sleep. @writemew

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  61. I want to keep people up at night. I want to make them late for work. I want to make them miss the bus, get yelled at by their moms, glared at by their significant others. But I want them to do it all with a smile on their face because they just took part in a great adventure with some characters they'll never forget.

    @whikerms

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  62. My wish is for LGBT books where the charcaters have to save the world. On a more personal level, I'd love if people drew fan art of my characters. @ashlynkravitz

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  63. My simple wish is to be able to make a living with my writing.

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  64. My simple wish is the same one Kermit the frog stated in the first muppet's movie - to make people happy through my art. @emilyirispaxman

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  65. My simple wish is that my book reaches out to someone who gets three hours of happiness from it :-)

    @ShayaRoy

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  66. My simple wish is for one of the first stories I wrote (and now rewrote) could get published. But it's strangely out of any genre and very long. So, I have never even tried to query--at least not now that I know the chances are so slim... Even so, it's my favorite of probably all my works...

    @WarwarWarrior

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  67. My simple wish is for Stephen King to hate my books as much as he hates Stephenie Meyer's.
    @LaraRectenwald

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  68. My simple wish is to see someone on the subway reading my book so I can go up to them and say "cool book huh?" And then they'll probably scoot away from me assuming I'm a crazy lady (which I am) @katjc

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  69. My simple wish is to be published so I can find readers who connect with, and love, my stories as much as I do. @heather_b88

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  70. My simple wish is to write characters that kids want to follow on their adventures. And maybe scare them a little along the way! @MichelleHulse

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  71. My simple wish is to write books that readers will laugh, cry, cringe, and even get angry at, but still keep reading because they can't put them down. @r_e_morrison

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  72. My wish is to make children aware of a "simpler" time...When it was "okay" to play outside with your friends until dark...When a neighborhood was a "community"...and when the only obstacle in your life, was your "imagination". @danof89

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  73. My simple wish is for time...time to write as the moment strikes me, so I don't have to put it off "until later"! @smnystoriak

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  74. My simple wish is to be a full-time writer with a sustainable income from my published books, but it's more than that. The giddiness would come from seeing random people reading a book I wrote...that would be true contentment! :)
    @JaniceBroyles1

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  75. My simple wish is for a video game to be developed based on one of my books.

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  76. My simple wish is for a pub deal that would allow me to travel, meet new people, and write lots more books while drinking copious amounts of tea.
    @AMorrison712

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  77. I want my story to sing. anneuro@yahoo.com

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  78. My simple wish is to see my book published and my characters on the big screen! Lets not forget I would love to make writing my full time job. @mmhoffman14

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  79. My simple wish is for my books to inspire children and adults to read, love stories, and maybe even write their own one day.

    @JosephDMMiller

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  80. My wish? For me to continue learning and growing as a writer.

    If I can do that, everything else will fall into place.

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  81. My simple wish is to be published so I can touch at least one person's life with the story of my heart. @Je55ieMullin5

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  82. I also hope the Dystopian market isn't closed off. Each one is a unique world, and I want mine to reach the readers who love that genre or have yet to discover it! My deepest wish is to see a of student mine reading reading one of my books on paper in the not-so-distant future.

    @MrsRALittle

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  83. My simple wish is to be a published author with a multi-book deal. I love the idea of a new writer asking ME how I got started. @SuzanneLeder

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  84. All I want as a writer is for my work to keep someone else going for even just one more day, to give life another go, like so many books have kept me afloat for some really tough times.

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