Here are the top ten finalists in no specific order. For those who didn’t make it, take heart. All three judges whined about how hard it was to choose because the lines were so good.
Congrats to the finalists. Celebrate for a few hours, then start working on a blurb. You have until 5 PM Central time tomorrow, Friday, May 14th to get a blurb to me at liz@lizlipperman.com I will post them on Monday, May 17th.
There will be no reminder emails for this last leg of the contest. You snooze-you lose. You can have as many as three lines for the blurb, but anything over that will automatically be disqualified. The blurbs will go to Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary who will pick the top three. Those winners will be posted on Monday, May 24th. Prizes are as listed.
The first place winner will receive a first chapter critique by Christine PLUS a beautiful Mysteries and Margaritas tote bag with the new header on it
The 2nd and 3rd place winners will each receive a M & M tote.
Although only the last line was judged, the first line is in italics.
2. Kathy Bremmer (Katt)
My real life -- the one in which I live simply, work hard, and don't sleep with strange men -- is about to come apart, ugly. Friggen appropriate, the bathroom door opens and my live goes down the toilet.
3. Cindy Carroll
Before her eyes, Tracey went from solid to see through, into a puff of white smoke, then she was gone. If she’d been a bad girl when she had the chance, she probably wouldn’t be dying right now.
7. Donnell Bell
“Cassidy, it’s your harmless writer friend on one saying she’s been arrested for an innocent thing called murder.” My mother always wanted me to become a beautician, and as I unzipped the body bag of the three-hundred pound corpse, I snapped the lip of my neoprene glove for not heeding her advice.
9. Claudia Ybarra Lefeve
Wish I had the foresight to bring Grandma Lou's .20 gauge last night, thought Maggie. If you’re running from the law and you are the law, don’t forget your sunscreen.
13. Kimberly Troutt
“Crank it up bongo-boy, me and my sista got us some evil-a** kickin’ to do.”
The two old Voodoo priestesses faced each other in the single-room shack, their eyes wide with fear.
15. Terri Hall
This time he’d make damn good and sure Lara Nash, girl reporter, never left his sight. The stitch in Lara’s right side stabbed like a shiv.
17. Deborah Gilbert
"I've got a horrible singing voice, and all the time in the world." The dead girl stood below Gate B4 of New York's Greater Rochester International Airport.
19. Lyn (Mellyn Tremaine)
Doyle didn't come home till Friday, and he didn't come alone. "There must be sixty billion dollars on the hoof down there in my living room, and my idiot husband is schmoozing the dollar-ninety-eight seance sister."
23. Patrick Vasarhelyi
For now, I gulped three of the industrial strength pain pills I always packed, made my cautious way back to the lobby, and begged my body not to turn to jelly in front of dozens of strangers. Death turned its sights on me Tuesday morning when dying was the last thing on my mind.
24. Donna Labbe
Paige Logan was headed straight for him with a full head of steam. The elevator doors opened facing the sign for Children’s Psychiatry and Seth Bellingham froze.
Good luck, everyone.
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26 comments:
Excellent! All good lines. Go Cindy!
We at M & M would like to take the time to thank everyone who entered. It takes courage to put yourself out there like that. At every phase, the judges lamented over only being allowed to choose so many. It always amazes me that there is so much untapped talent out there. And keep in mind how subjective judging really is.
So, for everyone who entered, pat yourself on the back.
We'd also like to thank both rounds of judges for doing an excellent job and dropping everything for this contest.
Lastly, we like to thanks everyone who signed on as Followers to the blog. (I know -you had to!!) We hope you'll continue to visit us and join us as we talk craft, industry news, and just plain old fun stuff.
And one more plug for the original Hook, Line and Sinker contest coming soon from HVRWA. Be looking for the promo here.
My mental match-ups of the first and last lines were WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
(Bet some of those would be interesting stories, though.)
So glad I wasn't the one choosing.
Thank you to those who did!
(And thanks again, Liz, for the HVRWA H,L & S plug.)
Woo hoo! So excting. Thanks Mary. Thanks for having the contest, Liz. Thanks to the judges. I better work on my blurb as soon as I get home.
Congrats Donnell!
Thanks, Liz and Mysteries and Margaritas. Wow, what fierce competition...Congratulations and I'm honored to be among you. What's more, my buddy Cindy entered. I know what this woman can do so I'm truly skeered :)
Congratulations to everyone.
Great lines! Congratulations to all the finalists. I can't wait to see the blurbs to these.
Good luck all!
Mary
LOL, Donnell. Thanks. Your lines were great. I was so excited I forgot how to spell exciting. :)
Wow. I'm stunned and grateful to be a finalist and wishing I could read quite a few of the books these lines represent. Quite a few. It was fun, too! Thanks for hosting this cool game, Liz & 'em. And yes, we'll be visiting often. No way to resist a blog with such an intriguing banner and such helpful posts.
Well they are ALL great lines, but I'm rooting for Donnell! Girl, you've got some stiff competition there.
Thanks for all the contest fun ladies. Can't wait to see Friday's blurbs!
Great lines! Congrats to all of the finalists.
Isn't this great? Liz put this together and the rest of the M&M's babes are totally thankful. What good lines these are!! I'm cheering for the winner- but, gosh, I have no idea who that would be.
Thanks everyone, for joining in. Christine is awesome and the winner will have a great review from her.
I'll keep watching. Cassy
Thanks so much for having this contest! Congrats to everyone :)
I am happy and honored just to have gotten this far!
Did you hear that squeal! That was me, all the way over here. Wowza! I can't believe it. Thank you judges, you did a phenomenal job. I would be nearly bald from pulling my hair if I had to judge all those fabulous lines.
Oh wow, now to work on my blurb.
Congratulations to all the finalists! This has been such fun!
The lines are all fabulous and I am so thrilled to be one of the finalist. I can see I have some really tough empetition.
Thank you M&M for sponsoring the contest and thank you to all the judges you have taken time out of their busy schedules.
Excited and nervous over sending the blurb.
woooo hooooo!
Sorry, just had to let that one out without scaring the life out of my cats... I'm so excited to be a finalist! Thank you judges, thanks M&M and congrats to all the other finalists. Off now to stew over the next step.
Great list of finalists - I want to read all of these novels when they come out. Congratulations! I'm hooked.
Fab lines!
CONGRATS to the ten finalists - very impressive. Good luck with your pitches!!!
Also, a huge thank you to M&M for hosting. Contests usually aren't much fun if you don't enter, but I loved analyzing the disembodied first lines and hooks then trying to put them together. Fun, fascinating AND educational.
I'm honored to be in this great group of finalists. Thanks, Liz and M&M for the contest and judges for your time and effort. It's been a lot of fun. I'll definitely continue to visit M&M.
I love all these comments, especially from the ones who didn't even enter the contest and the ones who were culled. Your remarks are gracious and encouraging to he writers who finaled.
After a question from one of the finalists I decided to post a little reminder about blurbs. They are NOT queries. Think of them as an elevator pitch when you find yourself going up with the head honcho at Berkley and she turns and asks you what your book is about. She doesn't what specifics, not even character names. You have about two minutes to blurt it out.
I know for a fact Christine likes brief, to-the-point blurbs as we once had an exercise on the Book Cents Loop. Here is one of mine that she thought was very good. Hope it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.
A mix of deceit and lies rocks the world of a dying child, an ex-cop on a mission to clear her dead husband's name and an anesthesiologist who desperately wants out of a loveless marriage. To save her nephew's life, the young widow seduces the doctor accused of murdering his wife. But even as she collects evidence that proves he's the killer, she can't stop her heart from falling for him...until the game turns DEADLY.
Oh yum! I can see why she liked it!
Thanks, Katt. If I were judging, you'd get an extra point!!
Ladies,
Without a doubt this contest was one of the best, hardest, most frustrating but marvelous contest I've been in.
It certainly wasn't the easiest but it was the most fun and I think that's what counts. I didn't final but have, after seeing the winners have not one regret.
Everyone who did final, again congratulations on a job well done.
HUGE congrats to all the finalists. Your first and last lines are intriqueing and definitely make me want to read the books. Christine is going to have her work cut out for her. Can't wait to see the blurbs!
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