Winners - Second Campaigner Challenge

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Thanks so much to all who took part in my Second Campaigner Challenge! We had 192 awesome entries and hundreds of people voting on those they liked the best. The time has come to announce the winners, woot! But before I do, did you read my earlier post about publishing your Challenge stories? If you didn't, make sure you pop over to take a look. Cat Gerlach is compiling your stories (if you want one or more of them published) in an ebook, and all proceeds from the sale will be donated to Harry Moseley's cancer research fund. We'd love you to take part, whether you're a winner of a Challenge or otherwise!

For my Second Challenge, winners were decided on the basis on your votes. I've also awarded 5 random prizes (chosen by Mr. Random.org). Before I reveal the winners, I'd love you all to offer up a huge thanks to the awesome people who've helped me out with the prizes for this round: K.T. Hanna, Rachel McClellan, Jeigh Meredith, Claire Hennessy, and Candy Fite. They did an amazing job administering the prizes and communicating with the prize donors. To say thank you, would you please pop over to their blogs and follow them if you haven't already :)

I also want to give all my thanks to those Campaigners who've generously donated over 130 prizes for my Campaigner Challenges (wow!) All I can say is, you guys rock, seriously!!! Wait until you see the awesome prizes below, and we've still got the Third Challenge prizes to go :D

And now to the winners...*drumroll*:

1. KT Hanna “Our Imago” (172 likes) 
2. Lady Jai “Psycho Imago” (153 likes) 
3. J “Deadly Imago” (118 likes) 
4. K S Collier “Imago of the Swamp” (99 likes) 
5. Jen “Mirror Imago” (66 likes) 
6. Rachel McClellan “Imago Reborn” (64 likes) 
7. Jeigh “Imago Ed.” (55 likes) 
8. Michael Haynes “My Name is Imago Montoya” (46 likes) 
9. Ruth Hartman Berge “Birth of an Imago” (45 likes) 
10. David Powers King “Your Imago” (42 likes) 
11. Claire Hennessy “Imago Nightmare” (39 likes) and Alynza Smith “The Imago Serum” (39 likes) 
12. FE Sewell “The Battle of Imago” (35 likes) 

Congratulations to you all!!! Here are the winners' prizes:

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In First Place, K.T. Hanna has won:

1. Full Manuscript Beta or 50 Line Page Edit AND $10 Book/eBook/Gift Card donated by Anonymeet from By Anonymous Writer
2. Signed copy of “Delirium” by Lauren Oliver donated by Melisso Sarno from This Too…
3. $50 Amazon Gift Voucher donated by Saba from Of Thoughts and Words

In Second Place, LadyJai has won:

1. 30 page critique donated by Katharina Gerlach from Katharina Gerlach
2. Ebook “Claiming the Prize” written and donated by Nadja Notariani from Nadja Notariani: An Author’s Adventures
3. $30 Amazon Gift Card donated by Margo Berendsen from Writing at High Altitude
4. Book Cover Art (or blog banner) donated by Shelly Koon from Dark Writes (examples at http://shelleykoon.com/artist) 

In Third Place, J has won:

1. Three Chapter Critique plus eBooks: "The Familial Witch," "Scent of a Witch," "Glazier," and "Caffe' Seduzione" donated by Bri Clark from Bri Clark The Belle of Boise
2. ARC of “Ditched” by Robin Mellom and “Dirty Little Secrets” by C J Omololu donated by Christa Desir from Christa Writes (US only) 
3. book to the value of $10 from The Book Depository donated by Sher A Hart from Sher A Hart: Fantasy Writer’s Fancies

In Fourth Place, K.S. Collier has won:

1. 30 page critique plus two eBooks: “Fencing Reputation” by William L. Hahn and "Urchin King" donated by Katharina Gerlach from Katharina Gerlach
2. $5 Gift Card to either of her Etsy Stores (http://www.etsy.com/shop/KACSales or http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageFusionJewels) and a custom made wallpaper donated by Kristy C from KAC Sales

In Fifth Place, Jen has won:

1. Critique (3 Chapters, up to 10K words) donated by Kay Springsteen from The Romance of Your Life
2. “Stealing Mercy” written and donated by Kristy Tate from Kristy’s Stories
3. Jewelry: Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Earrings and Bracelets donated by Julie Fedderson from Gypsy in my Soul
4. e-ARC of Debut Novel “HUSHED” written and donated by Kelley York from Flowers for Ghosts 

In Sixth Place, Rachel McClellan has won:

1. Manuscript Review (20-30 pages) donated by Ru from And then she was like blah blah blah
2. ARC of "Possession" by Elana Johnson donated by Lola Sharp from Sharp Pen/Dull Sword
3. Ebook containing two stories: “Sam, the Strawb Part” and “Dark Clouds” donated by Scott Bury from Written Words

In Seventh Place, Jeigh has won:

1. Critique (up to 7K words) donated by Rebekah Loper from Rebekah Loper, Writer
2. “Hating Game” by Talli Roland donated by Ann Ormond Fennell from Inkpots N’ Quills (US/Canada only) 
3. eBook “The Last Page” donated by Lacy Camey from Live Learn Dance

In Eighth Place, Michael Haynes has won:

1. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creative Writing” donated by Saba from Of Thoughts and Words
2. Detailed 15 page manuscript critique donated by Margo Kelly from Margo Kelly
3. Mini hand decorated Surfboard donated by Janice Seagraves from Janice’s Home (US/Canada shipping only) 

In Ninth Place, Ruth Hartman Berge has won:

1. Critique (limited for a new work or line edit of a final draft, up to 5K words) donated by Sedona Leigh from Sedona’s Attic
2. “With Seduction in Mind” by Laura Lee Guhrke (signed) and “A Kiss at Midnight” by Eloisa James donated by Carole St-Laurent from Romance & Beyond Blog (continental US only) 

In Tenth Place, David Powers King has won:

1. Critique (5 pages) donated by Chris Eboch from Write Like a Pro!
2. $5 Starbucks Card donated by Madam P from P Nuttier Pearls

In Eleventh Place (tied), Claire Hennessy has won:

1. Hardcover copy of “Exclusively Chloe” donated by J.A. Yang from jonyangorg

In Eleventh Place (tied), Alynza Smith has won:

1. “Thanks for the Memories” by Cecelia Ahern donated by Len Lambert from Conversations with Self

In Twelfth Place, FE Sewell has won:

1. Ebook “A to Z Stories of Life and Death” by D Biswas donated by Damyanti from Writing on Writing: Amlokiglogs

Random Prizes

I'm also awarding 5 random prizes, chosen by Mr. Random.org! The winners (and prizes) are:

1. Tia Bach - “Walking on Water” by Madeleine L’Engle donated by Angelina C Hansen from Musing on the joy of writing
2. Catherine M. Johnson - “The Proper Order of Things” written and donated by Tara Benwell from Beyond ELT (Canada only) 
3. Elizabeth Varadan – Signed copy of “The House on the Corner” written and donated by Andrew Leon from StrangePegs (No International shipping) 
4. Jana Denardo - “Yours Until Dawn” by Teresa Medeiros donated by Mary from Waibel’s World (US/Canada shipping) 
5. Sheri L. Swift - “Journey’s End” written and donated by Dora Hiers from Heart Racing, God-Gracing Romance

Congratulations to all the winners, you've done such a great job in this Challenge!!! Remember, you've been chosen from 192 entries - how awesome is that! Unless you receive an email from me directly after this post, I'll be contacting the donors and asking them to email you regarding your prize.

I'll be announcing the winners of the Third Campaigner Challenge as soon as the judging is finished. In the meantime, don't forget to check out my earlier post about publishing your entries.

Campaigner Notice-Board (Friday, October 28th, 2011)

My Third Campaign is drawing to a close (*sad face*) and this will be my last Campaigner Notice-Board. I hope you've all found them useful and lots of fun too. So, for the last time in 2011, check out these great blogfests, contests, and other announcements:

1. From C. Lee McKenzie at Write Game: It's the first annual Creepy Cake 'N Bake contest time, and the entries are amazingly CREEPY. A comment is your vote & you have a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from B&N or an official Creepy Cake 'N Bake doll! Please include your email in order to be entered to win.
2. From Meradeth at Write Stuff: I'm giving away a few wonderful books, along with a 20 page critique. Come stop by and enter--it's simple! 
3. From Alex J. Cavanaugh: The Insecure Writer's Support Group is open to all writers and posts the first Wednesday of every month. Share your struggles, encourage others, and connect with fellow writers. 
4. From Jeigh Meredith at Writer Brained: I'm celebrating eleventy-one followers with my Eleventy-First Follower Giveaway. Eleven prizes up for grabs and it goes through 11/11/11. Just leave a comment to enter. 
5. From Saba at Of Thoughts and Words: Saba and Michelle at Oh! For the Love of Books are hosting a New Author Blog Hop. This hop aims to introduce and support first time authors and their debut publications. 
6. From Chris at The Kelworth Files: We're looking for new members at the Stringing Words writers' forum. If you're looking for a new writers’ community to support you through tough times, encourage you to set goals and stick to them, or just to procrastinate and have fun, come and visit!
7. From J.A. Yang: I wrote a post about a board game for publishing.Who wants to help make it? 
8. From Elizabeth at Liz Writes: I'm hosting a spooktacular writing contest with Natalie Lakosil, an agent at the Bradford Literary Agency! To enter, submit your spookiest, creepiest 500 words and Natalie will choose a winner to receive a critique of a query and first 10 pages. Contest ends on Monday, October 31.
9. From S.B. Stuart-Laing at Writing the Other:To promote our new historical fantasy novel, Forgotten Gods, my coauthor and I are hosting a scavenger hunt. Enter by Dec. 4 2011 to win books and other Celtic goodies. 
10. From A. J. Mullarky at Magpie and Pen: I want to get as much experience as I can in marketing and advertising so I want to help all you debut/indie authors out there :) So come take a look if you want me to interview you/host a guest post/be a stop on your blog tour!
11. From Rachel McClellan from Blackbird in my Window: Oktoberfest Writing Contest is going on now! Submit your first chapter for the chance to win a full submission to Acquisition Editor Angie Workman. Contest ends at midnight on November1. 
12. From Abby Fowers at Something To Write About: Abby needs our creative juices to help decide on a pen name for her. To enter is easy so be sure to click over and read the details and help Abby pick a cool pen name. 
13. From Claire Hennessy at Crazy California Claire: Who knows about Scribd? I am doing a blog all about what it is and how it can help writers (whether published or not) gain a bigger platform and get people reading their work. For example, I just uploaded my entry to the Third Challenge and in less than 2 days it has had over 3,000 reads. It is an excellent resource with a fabulous and supportive community of writers. Also, once I hit 100 followers I will randomly pick someone to walk them through this process step by step, and help them meet the right people. The details are here. 

Would you like your Campaigner Challenge stories to be published?

So many wonderful stories were written during my Campaigner Challenges, it would be a pity if they were forgotten. Katharina Gerlach (Cat as you may know her) has come up with the awesome idea to collect the stories in an eBook. It will be released at the end of the Campaign with my official Campaign badge on the cover.

The ebook will be sold for a small amount of money and all proceeds will be donated to Harry Moseley's cancer research fund. Help Harry Help Others is a fund-raising organization of eleven year old Harry who recently died of his inoperable brain tumor. When his friend Robert, who had a brain tumor too, became very ill, he set up his charity. So far, he’s raised nearly half a million British Pounds that he has donated to Cancer Research UK, to help them find a cure for brain tumors. This charity and its goals resonates strongly with me, as my father suffered (and still suffers) from a brain tumor and its effects. And it’s doing such a fantastic job helping so many in a similar position.

The ebook will be listed on Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes&Noble and we'd love you to purchase a copy. However, just so you know, there is no obligation to purchase it if your story/stories are included.

If you would like one or more of your stories to be entered (under your name of course!), please do the following as soon as possible: 

1. Decide which of your stories you would like published (one, two or three). Rank them in order of preference (eg, if Cat is only able to publish one or two of your stories, which would you prefer published most?)
2. Email Cat at writecampaign[at]katharinagerlach[dot]com. Provide her with your author name, your blog name, the link to your blog/website, and one sentence (30 words max) about what you write or who you are (ie, a very short author bio). At the bottom of your email, copy and paste your three stories and clearly identify their titles and your preferred ranking for each (Rank 1, Rank 2, Rank 3)

Once the ebook has been published, Cat will send you a link in case you or your family/friends would like to purchase it. I'll also post the links on my blog.

I think this is a really exciting opportunity for all of you to have your work captured for others to read, and I'd love to see you take Cat up on this! :)

Cat will be reading the comments in this post, so any questions ask away.

Campaigner Notice-Board (Friday, October 22nd, 2011)

Check out these great blogfests, contests, and other announcements:

1. From Lori M. Lee at you are the unicorn of my dreams comes this great giveway: a pre-order of either Shatter Me or Legend. Ends October 26!
2. From Juliana at I Aspire To Be: The Warm Fuzzies Blogfest is starting Oct. 24th. Come join us for four weeks celebrating writers and all we go through for the love of our craft!
3. Jason A Bieneke, Author, is sharing his short vampire story entitled "A Child Speaks to its Father", which was written for Rebekah Loper's First Annual All Hallow's Eve Writing Contest. From Jason: I did some information reports on classic horror monsters for Sommer Leigh's Monsterfest 2011. The reports were The Ghoul and The Djinn. During the month of October, I am giving away my novelette, "Night of the Tower", a horror story set in Ancient Arabia. Find it here at Smashwords. 
4. From Jessica Aspen at Jessica Aspen Writes: Only two weeks left to win in Jessica's Halloween Treats Giveaway. Every blog post has a book giveaway and all commenters will be entered in the grand prize drawing!
5. From Sher at Sher A Hart: Fantasy Writer's Fancies: 100 follower book giveaway thru 10/31. Winner chooses their own book (s). Contest has a gift card option for international addresses. Also, the Chocolate follower contest always open, a new winner chosen every month. Also has a gift card option. 
6. From Kerri at Kerri Cuevas: The Choose Your Own Adventure Bloghop goes live on October 24th at 12:01 EST. Join me and 17 other Campaigners as we bring you an adventure of epicness. Ahoy! Sea Serpent?!?! Dramamine and lifejackets optional. The adventure starts here.
7. From Sommer Leigh at Tell Great Stories: Become a NaNoWriMo Champion! If you are participating in NaNoWriMo, fill out the linky so we know where to find you. Everyone else not participating but would like to cheer the writers on, visit the links to participants and leave them comments of encouragement. It's a crazy month and NaNo writers can use all the support they can get! 
8. From Susanna Leonard Hill: We're having a Halloweensie Contest over here! Write a 100 word story appropriate for children, using the words boo!, candied apple, and jack o'lantern, to be posted on Monday October 31st. The winner will receive a signed copy of Iza Trapani's wonderful picture book, Haunted Party.
9. From Michael Young at The Canticle: Sign up for NaNoWriMo 2011 and enter the contest on my blog for a chance to win a full or partial manuscript eval of your NaNoWriMo manuscript. Enter now to be ready for November 1st.
10. From Tyffani at Manifestations of My Mind: I am currently looking for three to five beta readers and a cover artist. Email me at WantedSchmedOrAlive (at) gmail (dot) com for details on both.
11. From Rachele at Freckle Head: I am having a HUGE contest to celebrate the signing of my book contract. I'm giving away books, a writing bracelet, writing gloves, a Nook cover and other goodies.
12. From J.L. Campbell at The Character Depot: The Romantic Suspense group (#43) will be hosting a Getting-to-Know-You Blogfest from November 13-19. It’s in the middle of NaNo, so we’re giving ourselves a week to drop by each others blogs and cement the connections we’ve made during this Campaign. It’s open to other Campaigners, so feel free to stop by here for the details of what will be a fun and easy hop.
13. From Lorelei Bell at Lorelei's Muse: I’ve joined a blog hop called Coffin Hop that begins on Oct 24th thru 31st, and am hosting author John Everson on the 26th October. He’s having a great giveaway with his newest release “The Pumpkin Man”.
14. From Jen at Jen’s Bookshelf: Want a copy of Lauren Myracle’s “Shine”? I bought two by accident! Come and tell me something random about yourself to win. Posts internationally.

If you have a blogfest, a contest, or a something-or-other you want me to let people know about, fill out this form and I'll run your announcement in the following Friday's post. Make sure you include all the details please. If your announcement is for a continuing event that you want included in other Notice-Boards, you'll need to fill out the form again each week.

Please note: Next Friday will be the last Campaigner Notice-Board for this Campaign :(

Third Campaigner Challenge - Show Not Tell

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Well, October is flying away, and the time has come for my Third Campaigner Challenge. It will be a bit different from the Second Challenge, as the lovely J. has volunteered to administer the judging (assuming we can get enough judges from the people who volunteered at the start of the Campaign--if not, we'll have to revert back to "like" judging). My thanks in advance to the judges for their help. Make sure you pop over to Concrete Pieces of Soul and thank J. for her efforts by following along.

Now for the Challenge (and please note the word count change!):

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:

• that it’s morning, 

• that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach

• that the MC (main character) is bored

• that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting

• that something surprising happens.

Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise."   (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them).

Here are some tips on "Show Not Tell" to help you out:

• stay in the moment (describe what is happening to your character as it is happening to avoid telling)
• avoid summarizing as much as possible (eg, "He stabbed her with a knife"). It can work well as a means of "skating over" unimportant details, or moving from one scene to another, but summarizing in the middle of a scene usually reads as "telling"
• keep an eye out for words that (often) indicate the presence of "telling". Examples include "was" (or other forms of "to be") and "felt" (eg, "He felt scared" or "He was scared"). Though note that not every use of "was" is telling
• try to avoid labelling feelings. Rather than saying, "I felt angry," describe what those emotions are doing to the characters, mentally and physically
• but don't just describe the physical effects of an emotion (eg "I clenched my fists"). Dig deeper. Utilize the five senses, things the character notices or doesn't notice, and memories of past events, as well as physical reactions, to show how the character is feeling.

Once you’ve posted your Challenge post on your blog, pop back here and link directly to it in the Linky List below (please make sure you include the direct link to your post, not just the link to your blog!).

Entries in the Third Campaigner Challenge will close on Monday, October 24th (at 11.59pm EDT) (one weeks' time exactly). So make sure you get your post in the Linky List before then if you want to be eligible for a prize! As usual, while everyone is very welcome to take part in this Challenge, only Campaigners will be eligible for prizes.

There will be heaps of awesome prizes awarded this Challenge, for the entries that are judged the best, for Peoples' Choice Awards, and through Random.org. We're talking ARCs, books, critiques, and other items galore! My thanks go to everyone who has volunteered to donate prizes. You're all awesome!!!

I've again set up the Linky List to let you "Like" entries, so make sure you come back here and vote for your faves. This is an honor system, so please don't take advantage of this process either on your own or another's behalf. "Like" voting will close on Friday, October 28th.

I'll (hopefully) be announcing the winners before the end of October.

So, all that remains is to enjoy. Leave a comment to let me know you're doing the Challenge. Have fun writing your post, then pop round to the other entrants, check out their posts, follow and comment, and decide which entry or entries YOU like the best!

And don't forget to add your name and post link to the Linky Link below before 11.59 pm on Monday, October 24th!

IMPORTANT: DON'T PUT YOUR NAME IN THE LINKY LIST UNTIL YOU'VE WRITTEN YOUR POST - THEN LINK DIRECT TO THAT POST PLEASE (ie, insert the complete URL to your Challenge post, not your blog address/URL)

Don't forget to come back here and vote for your favorite entry/entries before Friday, October 28th!!!

Hope you enjoy the Challenge. How about you: any other "Show Not Tell" tips to add to the above list?

Second Campaigner Challenge Prizes

As I've been unable to contact the people who were helping me with the prizes for this Challenge, I'm having to do everything again myself :( Because of this, it's going to take me some time to get all the administration done. I'll try to make the announcement as soon as possible but it may have to wait until I announce the Third Challenge's Prizes (where I can do a joint announcement). I hope you'll bear with me.

Campaigner Notice-Board (Friday, October 14th, 2011)

I hope you all had an awesome time entering my Second Campaigner Challenge. I can't believe how good your entries were, and I've loved reading them! I'm in the process of allocating prizes with the help of some great volunteers, and I hope to announce winners and their prizes over the weekend. Make sure you check out my post, because I'll be awarding heaps of random prizes as well as prizes for those with the most votes.

Then come back here on Monday, October 17th, when my Third Campaigner Challenge is announced. The lovely Jess P will be administering judging for the entries, and we'll be contacting those who volunteered to judge Challenges at the start of my Campaign (excluding those who've already done a round of judging). The prizes for my Third and Last Campaigner Challenge are super-awesome, so make sure you take part!

Check out these great blogfests, contests, and other announcements:

1. From Alex J. Cavanaugh at Alex J. Cavanaugh: The Insecure Writer's Support Group is for those who want to share, connect, and encourage. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Details here. 
2. From Dawn, Pam, & Brianna at 1st Writes: Like writing prompts? 1st Writes has a photo prompt every Monday called "See * Photo * Write" where you can linky your entry! Check it out here.
3. From Theresa Milstein at Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts:  Theresa Milstein's short story "Allured" is included in the new YA vampire anthology, Fangtales. It's available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.  
4. From AJ at Ask What Next: AJ Borowsky's new book "What Next A Proactive Approach to Success" is now available but you could win a copy. For details go to my blog. 
5. From Hildred Billings at Musings of a Procrastinating Author: Why I Write - an "introspective celebration" for writers to talk about the "why" behind their writing while reading others' and linking back and forth! A great way to make more meaningful connections with other authors online. Details here.
6. From Kelley York at YAtopia: October starts the month-long sign-up window for November's I LOVE DARK YA blogfest! Make some new friends and participate in the weekly challenges, all centered around the dark young adult books you love.  Check it out here.
7. From K. M. Walton at Some Things I Think: The third round of Campaigner Spotlights are up! Meet five fellow Campaigners each week. Details here.
8. From Aaron at The Blogger Girlz: As writers we all know words can be beautiful things, but when they are used in a hateful way they can do a lot of damage. In honor of National Bullying Prevention Month please join us in a blog hop to help build awareness of “hate speech” and the role it plays in bullying. Sign up today, and post between Oct 15 and Oct 22. Check it out here.
9. From David Powers King at The Cosmic Laire of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Celebrating 400 followers, David Powers King is hosting a FOUR BOOK GIVEAWAY! Check out his blog for more details before October 23rd.