The prize: e-books from the participating authors. You can get more details here:

http://blastinthenew.blogspot.com/

You’ll find this image somewhere on my site.

The contest ends December 31, 2007.

There were initially almost 300 entries; last week, these were narrowed down to 10 winners.

I was one of them. Now I’m invited to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters.

I’m very excited; so is Tony. I entered with the first five lines of his story.

The prize for my contest is a copy of my e-book The Seventh Sense.

If you sign up for my mailing list, you double your chance of winning! Plus, I often hold contests on my mailing list.

Have fun!

They gave me a card and a basket full of notepads, pens, pencils, and Diet Coke. All the tools that a writer needs. After dinner, they brought out a cake for me. The party was a lot of fun! I have terrific coworkers.

Last week, I heard the results of the query contest. I placed third out of five, and I’m pleased with that. No request for a partial, but I wasn’t expecting one–primarily because Kensington isn’t known for publishing futuristics. Participating in the contest was a positive experience. I only wish I’d had time last week to write and submit a synopsis to the contest they are doing now, but I didn’t make the deadline. Maybe next time.

I’m working on a Halloween-themed story. It’s interesting to play with paranormal a little bit. We’ll see how it turns out.

Peter: {Holds up a hand} Stop.

Lia: What? Why?

Peter: Readers don’t need all that boring introduction stuff.

Lia: But–

Peter: They know I’m the hero of Office Relations. That’s enough for now.

Lia: All right. Let’s get started. First, are you nervous about the book’s release tomorrow?

Peter: No. As far as I’m concerned, the story’s the story. {Pauses} You’re the one who’s nervous.

Lia: You’re right. Okay, let’s move on to the story. Do you want to explain how it got started or should I?

Peter: Go ahead.

Lia: I work in an office with dozens of conference rooms, and I thought it made a good setting for a story. So I visualized a man and a woman who had to work together in a conference room on a project, and from there, Peter was born.

Peter: That’s right. I showed up first.

Lia: Yes. Your voice came through quite clearly, even before I knew what you looked like. You were pretty frustrated being in a room with Sabrina and not being able to–

Peter: Can you blame me? Sabrina’s beautiful, and her beauty is only one of the things I like about her.

Lia: Peter, that’s sweet.

Peter: {Rolls eyes} I have my moments.

Lia: Let’s talk about Sabrina.

Peter: No problem for me. What do you want to know?

Lia: As I mentioned, I heard your voice almost immediately, but the story actually starts in her point of view. Tell readers how she developed as a character.

Peter: Okay. Lia asked me to talk about the woman I was so interested in, so I told her about Sabrina. Pretty simple.

Lia: You’re not the one who had to write it.

Peter: Hey. Living it wasn’t any easier.

Lia: Point taken. I’m sorry. Please continue.

Peter: That’s it. I talked, and you listened. Something you don’t always do.

Lia: {Considers how to change the subject} Back to Sabrina–

Peter: Nice try.

Lia: {Gives up} All right. Readers, Peter is referring to a recent shopping trip–

Peter: I’ll tell this one. First of all, Lia’s doing a contest to celebrate the release of Office Relations, so she came up with this idea to give away office supplies–

Lia: I call it an office survival kit.

Peter: Whatever. Anyway, while she was out shopping, I mentioned a must-have item. She ignored me.

Lia: I didn’t ignore you.

Peter: You didn’t buy what I suggested.

Lia: You suggested condoms. I decided against including condoms in the kit.

Peter: You said it’s an office survival kit, right? I wouldn’t have survived that conference room without a condom. It came in handy.

Lia: Yes, it did. But I’m not including them in the office survival kits.

Peter: {Sighs} The kits don’t include condoms, but they are pretty cool. Sign up for Lia’s newsletter and you’ll be entered for the contest as well as any other contests she does. Just put your e-mail address in the box in the left column of this blog. She’ll draw two winners for this contest on July 1.

Lia: {Mutters} You’re better at promo than I am.

Peter: Yeah, because I’m used to it. It’s a big part of my job.

Lia: Well, thanks.

Peter: No problem. We done here? I want to take Sabrina out to dinner to celebrate the release of our story.

Lia: Aren’t you forgetting someone?

Peter: Three’s a crowd. Besides, two of your coworkers are taking you out to lunch tomorrow.

Lia: Right. But–

Peter: See you. {Leaves}

So, that was Peter Merrill. I hope you enjoy the interview. His and Sabrina’s story, Office Relations, comes out tomorrow.

The funny thing is I had put the contest out of my mind. I scored low in one particular area, so I figured I was out of the running. I’m glad I was wrong! I’m also glad I can revise that section before sending the final query.

In other news, I finished The Seventh Sense. Now I’m in the process of cutting out junk words (that, then, just, so). Once that’s done, it’s off to the test readers. I’m excited to see this story a step closer to submission.

The Pink Posse chat on Monday went quite well, I thought. I did go overboard when it came to prizes, but that’s not a huge surprise. I tend to be excessive. I was hoping to make it to the group to chat more today, but things were flowing with The Seventh Sense, so I stayed with it and finished.