PANIC

I did it.

I submitted Lies to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?

*deep breaths*

Okay, I'm (kinda) good. This is a big thing for me. I can boast all I want about writing for as long as I have or writing as many words as I have BUT...I've never entered a writing contest before. There, I admitted it. I've never entered a writing contest.

I'm one of those people who is seriously introverted. It's really hard for me to talk to new people and unless I really know someone well, I clam up. I'm much happier sitting in my house with my cat and writing. Ask my friends: I don't go out much, if at all.

But it's always been my dream to be published and with my 9AM-5PM being as dismal as it is I've decided that I'm tired of working. If I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing something: it's going to be writing. And in order to do that I have to put my work out there which is nerve wracking as Hell.

Entering the ABNA contest is the first step. Either today or tomorrow I plan to submit to some agents. God knows I've got enough books to do it with, most of which aren't even in the same genre.

Basically I'm warning you all to be prepared. I don't deal with rejection well, at least I don't think I do. It's been a while since I've been rejected.

Now I know some people out there think it's a waste of time and energy to take a rejection personally. They can believe that all they want and if it helps them to move on from a rejection then fine.

For me, it is personal. I've spent countless hours and loads of energy dumping passion into something that I love. My characters might be able to handle the rejection (a good deal of them are mentally strong enough) but their creator? Not so much.

But I owe it to my characters to get their stories out there. Someone is bound to love or hate them as much as I do. If I ever do get well-known enough they may not like the whole fan-fiction aspect but it comes with the life of being a character.

I'll just have to remember that even if one person (or dozens...EEK!) reject me that they're not the only people in the world. I have made it my goal to become published in some way or another and it's going to happen. Either that or I'll fail miserably and sink into my little cave of writing until I grow back the courage to try again...

Either way, I refuse to quit once I start. I won't drop out of the ABNA contest unless I get pushed out because people don't like what I've entered. And if I get pushed out I'll be querying agents with Cara and Face Snatcher. If that doesn't work I'll try one of the others in my Novel Series.

As for right now: I'm going to go eat so chocolate, snuggle with my cat, and take some deep breaths. It'll be okay, right?

Until next time: comments, questions, rage, rants and everything in between can be directed to the comments.

Contest Results

So after about a month, the contest comes to a close. Overall I would consider it a success, people won and that's really what matters.

Anyway, with the closure of the contest comes the results. The winners are:
1) C. Ray
2) G. Thomas
3) P. Urbasek
4) M. Witts

And the answers to the questions are:
1) How old are Lysandra and Leopold? Answer: 3,000 years
2) What is the first significant thing the twins do upon entering the city? Answer: Find the warehouse (or shelter). The fact that the killed everyone inside was bonus. ;)

Each winner will receive a signed copy of Book 1 in about 2-6 weeks depending where they live and how quickly I can get to the post office. There are no shipping or handling fees that they have to pay for. I will be emailing each tonight.

In other news, there may be another contest coming up sometime around the holidays so keep your eyes open. Oh, and if you're wondering why I only used first initial last name format; it's for simple privacy sake. ;)

For everyone who entered the contest (or at least checked it out), thank you. And to the winners, you will be seeing your very own copy in the mail in a few weeks.

And one final thought, I will be trying to get back into writing this blog in the coming days/weeks. I hope to include writing tips for those that do write or other such antidotes that happen in my life (which may or may not be interesting, no promises).

Until the next blog, enjoy the summer heat, wherever you are.

CONTEST!

As of right now, the contest is now OPEN and will run until midnight Eastern Standard time on August 8th. The prize of this contest is a FREE SIGNED copy of my first book (no shipping charges either). To enter, you must send along an e-mail with your name and age to dairennav@mail.com with subject line of: "CONTEST".

Along with your name and age, you MUST submit the CORRECT answers to the following:
1) How old are Lysandra and Leopold?
2) What is the first significant thing the twins do upon entering the city?

The answers to BOTH questions can be found on my website (www.vonravenstone.com). The winners will be announced via Face book, this blog and on the website on August 14th. Each winner will then be e-mailed personally and books will be shipped once all responses are received from the winners.

Other Rules/disclaimers:

Winners MUST be willing to provide an address, if you do not, you can not receive your prize. Winners must be 18 or older OR if underage, inform their parents about this contest and the need to release their address. Those under 18 MUST receive parental permission before releasing their address.

I will NOT release any personal information about ANY participant in this contest. All information will be deleted once the prizes have been shipped successfully.

The number of winners is dependant on the number of entries, copies of Book 1, and the number of completely correct answers. Any answer openly posted on Face book or as a comment in this blog will mean immediate CLOSURE of the contest.

A second contest may be launched in September dependant on the success of this contest. All those who get a partial answer will also get an e-mail and be asked if they would wish to received a signed Book 1 bookmark and postcard.

Remember, you can comment on things besides the answers to the contest on this blog and on the Face book fan page.

Thank you all for your support thus far and good luck!