tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post3371699430536242591..comments2024-02-21T05:25:03.233-05:00Comments on Adventures in YA Publishing: Line-by-line Novel Opening Contest: Round Three WinnersMartina Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03358736828122139189noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-15242891818890789162010-07-14T17:30:22.271-04:002010-07-14T17:30:22.271-04:00I also forgot to say which number I am. I'm nu...I also forgot to say which number I am. I'm number 86!<br /><br />Alison WellsUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08558222662905520768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-43861996746277239072010-07-12T19:37:49.337-04:002010-07-12T19:37:49.337-04:00#20
Amidst the never-ending fires and screams of d...#20<br />Amidst the never-ending fires and screams of defiant terror, Abby collapsed to the ground – feet twisting inward, eyes unwilling to stay open, and desperately wishing to pass out. Exhausted from the chase, tired of the hiding. For fifteen years, she had never felt her stomach cave in from hunger like it did now; even the stench of death and decay rooted beneath her skin as if it were her own that was blackened with Consumption. Everything had changed so quickly, yet this life of fear and confusion was all she could remember now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04494684023790941352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-49668326858484488802010-07-12T13:34:00.734-04:002010-07-12T13:34:00.734-04:00Umm, I just realized that I forgot to put that min...Umm, I just realized that I forgot to put that mine was #58. Sorry about that! :)Tracy Loewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597464294035968706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-1979819129836452212010-07-12T13:19:34.662-04:002010-07-12T13:19:34.662-04:00#27
The challenge began like all the rest, althou...#27<br /><br />The challenge began like all the rest, although the dead corpse-look was different. Ana wished she could ignore it, pretend it didn’t exist, but that never worked. She could feel them. <br /><br />The patter of loafers rounded the corner of the math wing.S.A. Larsenッhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241633272588383935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-66906573333049602892010-07-11T21:49:44.007-04:002010-07-11T21:49:44.007-04:00Dearest Mother;
I know you’ve been wanting to hea...Dearest Mother;<br /><br />I know you’ve been wanting to hear the latest gossip from this end of the underworld, but the truth is, that there hasn’t been much going on since his Evil Lordship succumbed to death by piano. Hopefully you’ll be pleased that I’ve been trying not to complain about the piano not landing on Grok instead (and that I’ve only been taunting him in the gruel line at breakfast). Also, no matter what you’ve heard, I was not the one who gave him that atomic wedgie.<br /><br />As for the new guy - it’s not right to speak ill of the heir to the Evil Lordship, but the kid is hopeless.Tracy Loewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597464294035968706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-16210783942007290112010-07-11T20:05:10.223-04:002010-07-11T20:05:10.223-04:00First off, I just want to say that I did not invit...First off, I just want to say that I did not invite the aliens to drop into my backyard. At least not on purpose. So it's not like Ty and I were prepared to deal with the situation. Under the circumstances, I think we handled the whole thing pretty well.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08558222662905520768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-59842583502844493882010-07-11T18:46:34.174-04:002010-07-11T18:46:34.174-04:00#100
In seventh grade math they taught us that a ...#100<br /><br />In seventh grade math they taught us that a triangle is the sturdiest shape, stronger than rectangles or pentagons or anything else. And that made sense to me. I understood, almost instinctively, what we spent multiple class periods on; I knew that three points were stronger than two, that the third corner gave the shape an added strength it wouldn’t otherwise have. That third corner, I knew, was needed.Jordynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07544006301357995240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-87835402962784157832010-07-11T17:45:25.278-04:002010-07-11T17:45:25.278-04:00#79
I am suffocating inside my plastic lined steel...#79<br />I am suffocating inside my plastic lined steel barred cage; dying with the thickening silence and quiet sobbing coming from the other room. Locked inside for more than half of the day, my body twitches for the feel of the brisk air that causes my drool to freeze to my face. Big footsteps lumber down the stairs and instinctively I cower as far back inside my cage as possible, lowering my body to the pee-stained blanket in an attempt to make my big frame small while keeping my eyes downcast. A whine slips from me when he kneels in front of the cage, as I fear he is going to haul me out and give me a good beating.Renee Pacehttp://www.reneepace.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-72265175909851463042010-07-11T13:23:00.262-04:002010-07-11T13:23:00.262-04:00#2
‘How do you punish someone who’s already dead?’...#2<br />‘How do you punish someone who’s already dead?’ Gretchen Grey tightened her grip around an umbrella handle while she waited for her parents to arrive. Her haunted blue eyes examined the London townhouse where she had grown up. Thick green ivy cast shadow around the entrance and spread towards the outer corners, almost reaching the top floor panes.Creepy Query Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18115161057496086972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-87167900250797645862010-07-10T13:45:25.495-04:002010-07-10T13:45:25.495-04:00#47
The bonfire in the middle of the grand plaza ...#47<br /><br />The bonfire in the middle of the grand plaza of New Tikal sent sparks up to greet the low-hanging stars; the stars Mau B'ah-Pakal hoped were still speaking to him, because no one else was. He had failed his friends, offended the Emperor, and worst of all - he could barely think it - had he really shoved his grandmother?<br /><br />The plaza was full of people celebrating the equinox, but Mau couldn't hide in the crowd. Although he had the chocolate skin and thick black hair of his people, his forearms and the back of his hands were covered with tattoos.Margaret Nicholsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-52964632317500095632010-07-09T20:51:56.332-04:002010-07-09T20:51:56.332-04:00#66
Dragons are actually more curious than cats....#66 <br /><br />Dragons are actually more curious than cats.<br /><br />They proved it now, in the darkest corners of the Dreugan caves where the clan pretended to sleep. It was fairly difficult – the pretending – because of the human baby that was trying to wiggle her chubby hand into the black dragon’s mouth. Concerned about the burning acid that seeped from his tongue, he tightened his lips and gently nudged the toddler toward the blue dragon by his side, the one whose saliva was just cold and wet.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15498766421459190134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-72849815400844716482010-07-09T11:15:19.489-04:002010-07-09T11:15:19.489-04:00#57
Jacob shook the bamboo bars of his cage again...#57<br /><br />Jacob shook the bamboo bars of his cage again, but they held fast. I couldn't look at him; not even when he whispered, "Blake, please."<br /><br />I focused on Will, leaning casually against the cottonwood tree, a smile twitching the edge of his mouth as he watched Jacob. I wanted to feel as relaxed and confident as he looked.Sheila JGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15371582292020275894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-53868180724129874952010-07-08T21:18:51.416-04:002010-07-08T21:18:51.416-04:00#18
Madame Bhut’s Finishing School in the town of ...#18<br />Madame Bhut’s Finishing School in the town of Whut was known across Amalthea as a respectable place to send your daughter if you were hoping to marry her to a gentleman; not for producing evil queens with ideas of world domination. That is, until Priscilla Martin escaped.<br /><br /> Even before she escaped, Priscilla was less than a model student. Miss Birch, the embroidery teacher, had been horrified to find that during her second week at the school Priscilla had started embroidering skulls and crossbones instead of flowers on all her projects.Jenn Fitzgeraldhttp://therustytrowel.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-74008176226006301292010-07-08T16:25:22.784-04:002010-07-08T16:25:22.784-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Annie McElfreshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14312634754232333138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-76742681187062416792010-07-08T16:05:40.516-04:002010-07-08T16:05:40.516-04:00Congrats everyone!!!
#97
Life lines. Most people...Congrats everyone!!!<br /><br />#97<br /><br />Life lines. Most people think of them as options game show contestants use to help themselves win a million dollars or something else just as equally lame. Me? I know different.Annie McElfreshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14312634754232333138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-62891698564864606712010-07-08T16:03:38.085-04:002010-07-08T16:03:38.085-04:00Wow, I didn't expect to get this far. Congrats...Wow, I didn't expect to get this far. Congrats to all the finalists!<br /><br />#54<br /><br />There was no mistaking the darkness on the eastern horizon; they were coming.<br />Malaysa clutched the balcony railing as she stared out over the land in the predawn glow from the sky. The tinkling of metal tubes continued to ring out in the air; they were what had woken her up.<br />Her mother, standing by her side, bore a terrified expression.Shanika L. Bynumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18212374073199005198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-52184462338881554932010-07-08T14:04:44.992-04:002010-07-08T14:04:44.992-04:00Congratulations to everyone who passed :D I'm ...Congratulations to everyone who passed :D I'm honored to be included here.Kat Zhanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01047061040988353833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-48002850010234517842010-07-08T14:03:43.673-04:002010-07-08T14:03:43.673-04:00Adie and I were born into the same body, our souls...Adie and I were born into the same body, our souls’ ghostly fingers entwined before we gasped our very first breath. Our first few years were our happiest—then came the worries: the tightness around our parents’ mouths, the frowns lining our kindergarden teacher’s forehead, the question everyone whispered when they thought we couldn’t hear. <br /><br />Why aren’t they settling? <br /><br />We tried to form the word in our five-year-old mouth, tasting it on our tongue: Set—Tull—Ling.Kat Zhanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01047061040988353833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-31295221576586656932010-07-08T13:45:00.948-04:002010-07-08T13:45:00.948-04:00#14 -
My hope of living a normal life in Lindenv...#14 - <br /><br />My hope of living a normal life in Lindenville faded faster than my fifteen dollar jeans the moment I got to the school bus stop. How could anything be normal after you hear you’re living with a dead girl?<br /><br />“That’s Laura’s house--you don’t belong there.”<br /><br />I stared at the tall blonde who’d launched herself at me.cchantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-53781154108097333652010-07-08T11:44:11.363-04:002010-07-08T11:44:11.363-04:00Thanks so much for hosting this event.
Grats to...Thanks so much for hosting this event. <br /><br />Grats to all the finalists. <br /><br />YAY!!! #30<br /><br />Ellyssa, a.k.a. Subject 62, sprinted through the dark alley after escaping from her long-term captors who she’d thought of as family for eighteen years. Not a family in the traditional sense, but family nevertheless. <br /><br />The sirens piercing the night an hour earlier had finally faded, but she still didn’t stop. Pumping her legs harder, she carried onward with the messenger bag thumping against her right thigh.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07804306924674002487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-41162510953984553992010-07-08T11:42:31.651-04:002010-07-08T11:42:31.651-04:00Yay! This is so tough -- so many awesome openings ...Yay! This is so tough -- so many awesome openings here. Congrats to everyone!<br /><br />#28:<br />Whoever said cell phones made life easier was full of BS. If it were true, then I wouldn’t have spent the past fourteen minutes sitting on my bed, half-naked, wondering why my thumb couldn’t do something as simple as press a button. <br /><br />Girls did this sort of thing every day. Probably every minute at Pembroke, which meant I had just wasted fourteen—no wait, fifteen—opportunities to prove to Tommy that—damn it Kendall, just do it already.Cambria Dillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09228852731639087754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-65589382265950810662010-07-08T11:35:20.283-04:002010-07-08T11:35:20.283-04:00#72
We stood side by side in the dark, me holding...#72<br /><br />We stood side by side in the dark, me holding a pack of matches, my best friend holding the gas can. <br />“Burn it.” Finn’s voice was soft in the eerie nighttime silence, but full of edgy anticipation. With his face hidden in shadow under the hood of his team sweatshirt, he stared straight ahead at the school van spotlighted under the tall parking lot light.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-29096307759272100412010-07-08T11:09:45.963-04:002010-07-08T11:09:45.963-04:00#61
Homo sapiens sluttiwhen drunkus--the subspeci...#61<br /><br />Homo sapiens sluttiwhen drunkus--the subspecies to which I apparently belong. <br /> <br />My best friend Ani handed me a tall, clear-glass cup of Armenian coffee, the kind her mom used for readings down at the Psychic Connection. "So did you at least use a condom?" <br /> <br />I shrugged.Ara Burklundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03449683179737319913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-36872009336607119532010-07-08T10:17:50.649-04:002010-07-08T10:17:50.649-04:00Congrats to all the entrants! There's a lot of...Congrats to all the entrants! There's a lot of great stuff here!<br /><br />#41<br /><br />I died before I was even born.<br /><br />It was April 13th, not a Friday, but it might as well have been. My mom was in labor with me as my parents’ car raced down the two-lane wooded road that passes for a highway in our part of Michigan. A thunderstorm raged, blotting out the last of the sunset.Valerie Kemphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01664186778812993543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005062827798430682.post-7448993207770702932010-07-08T10:06:02.988-04:002010-07-08T10:06:02.988-04:00These are all terrific! :)These are all terrific! :)Jemi Fraserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02214408467456320167noreply@blogger.com