Ava hates her evil step father Mark, so when he dies in a car accident she finally feels able to breathe again, but when he rises from the dead and wants revenge her life changes forever.

No agent, self publishing.

Last Book I read: A Million Suns, by Beth Revis Sci/fi at it's greatest!

Rebel Against Heaven, YA Dark Fantasy: A teen suicide is transformed into an Angel of Death, and has to fight for control over his dangerous new powers if he wants to help his family recover from his death.

No agent yet, but I'm querying.

Last Book I Read: Veronica Roth's fantastic "Divergent"

If you are willing, I'd love to read Rebel Against Heaven! Judging by your blurb, our stories have similarities (suicide/death/reaping) and critique partner possibilities. Email me at arlenalockard@yahoo.com if you are interested in exchanging manuscripts, or in my case, parts of manuscripts. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck!

Hi All! I'm looking for people to critique my YA ghost story, which will be ready to go to readers in a few weeks.

Restless is about three friends who are reunited seven years after their friend Mikaela drowned in a terrible accident, only to find that Mikaela never fully departed after her death.

I'll be looking to query agents in April/May.

I like books that are a little out of the ordinary, like Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma. I also really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

Hi Bethany!
Restless sounds intriguing! (I'm a sucker for a good ghost story.) If you are willing, I'd like to trade my meager 'beginning of a manuscript' with you. Check out my livejournal blog, or twitter @Arlena1212 and see if you think we'd make a good fit as critique partners. You can contact me at arlenalockard@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Well, by the time the novel I'm writting is in spanish (I'm from Mexico) and it's very little (around 11,000 words) it's a YA, it's about controlling the elements of water and fire, and it's a contemporary story.

I write microstories in my LJ if someone it's interested to read them (they are written in english)

The last book that I read and made me say "this is beautiful" was actually The Scorpio Races, it really made me be awe with the narrative and the characters and all their thoughts, I loved the book. And I'm really liking it Morganville Vampires, because I think those books are really fun, but they still have the drama included, so I really like them.

Alissa's life turns upside down when three things happen.
1.) A new boy enters her life
2.) She turns 17
3.) Her father comes back from the dead (well, sort of) ((oh and SPOILER ALERT!))

I'm not even querying until I finish my book, but I want to finish by the end of summer. 271 pages in and I feel like I'm halfway through the plot. I'm writing it and sort of rewriting at the same time, so guidance would be appreciated. (:

Recent books that I've read and loved: Jellicoe Road, Night Circus, Ship Breaker, Magic Under Glass and Knight

Edited at 2012-03-02 01:15 am (UTC)

Hey Smiley:

Sounds awesome, new race and all! What?!? Craziness. Feel free to hit me up via Twitter. One of my YA pieces is listed on page 2 in comments.

After a solar storm causes a black out across Northern California. Fifteen-year-old Lottie is left with her eight-year-old stepbrother to try and find her missing parents, escape from looters, avoid the clutches of government, and survive the oncoming blizzard.

I write YA and PB, my YA is normally paranormal, urban fantasy or sci-fi. Last amazing book read - The Scorpio Races - seriously!

I should say it's a ghost story too!

Thanks for doing another one of these, Maggie!

I'm unagented, but I've been writing YA seriously for several years. (Contemp, urban fantasy, high fantasy, dystopian, whatever, doesn't matter to me.)

Right now I'm working on a modern retelling of The Seven Ravens.

The last book I read that I loved was How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford. (I just want to make an extra note that it's very important to me that you love what I love, and to "highlight" Maggie's rule that if the critique connection just isn't working, we can smile and walk away.)

Edited at 2012-03-02 08:53 pm (UTC)

*waves*

I am also unagented, though I have been querying since October. I write YA, and so far I have three "finished" manuscripts: two epic fantasy and one contemporary fantasy (it would be magical realism, except there's no magic...just dragons).

My email is gravity dot not dot included at gmail.

I enjoy writing both MG and YA fiction.

My current WIP is a speculative YA, involving a Syphon (an ethereal being that extracts the souls of the dying) and Cassie, the seventeen year old he's shadowing on the last day of her life.
I do not have an agent.

The last book I read was the MG novel, Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth series and Marie Lu's Legend were my last YA obsessions.
Currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth and Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick.

I'm still finishing my first draft. Anyone interested in reading 8 or so chapters and offering constructive criticism, please email/contact me: arlenalockard@yahoo.com

Edited at 2012-03-02 03:02 pm (UTC)

That sounds really interesting, I'd like to read it. My WIP is a book about a girl who's a gatekeeper of faerie. If you'd be interested in swapping my email is Rachnicrice@gmail.com

Thanks for doing this again, Maggie!

Age Range: YA/early adulthood
Genre: Portal fantasy
Summary: Everyone wants to be the girl who gets swept away to a magical world. But what happens when that girl is your boarding school roommate?
Progress: fairly scattered, but I have about 60,000 words (no agent)

Last book I read: The Secret History, by Donna Tartt (loved it)
Favorite books: His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman), Otherland (Tad Williams), Feed (M.T. Anderson)

This sounds like a great twist. I'd be very interested to see it. (I loved that theme in the 12 Kingdoms anime, and really exploring it would be so cool.) If you're at all interested in swapping, that would be great.

Arimay has always been special, but her strange abilities alienate her from the crowd. I mean, being able to animate shadows and hypnotize people with ease sort of does that to you. Ever since she can remember, she's been trying to hide them, and when she couldn't, moving from place to place with her singe mother
Until a mysterious letter comes inviting her to attend Owl High, School for Specials. Little does she know what she's getting herself into when she accepts.
Kyle Crain, the most popular guy in Owl High with the most successful and powerful mission team and the most girls after him...
Is in love.
He hasn't loved since his mother's... accident. Not like this anyway.
But can he protect his newfound attraction from Owl High's deadly enemy, especially with it's growing power and new undead weapon?


Something like the inside-the-cover summary of Rightfully Stolen. It is YA fiction-action-romance-fantasy. Involves weird abilities, some necromancy, romance, and twist.
I recently finished it and am at 124,000 words halfway through additing (adding+editing). I AM querying, but do not yet have a SOLID agent.
Most recent favorite book... Either Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare or The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins.

ps. Sorry for taking so much room. :)

That sounds cool. (: if you want to swap parts of manuscripts, shoot me a message and I'll give you my email!.

I love YA & MG Paranormal and Fantasy books. I am also interested in writing a MG horse series :3

My current story is a paranormal romance that is aprox 73k. Boiled down, here's the blurb: "After Zoe is given a young man’s mummified heart, she finds herself face to face with his ghost who wants to live again, and the god of the underworld who wants him returned."

I do not have an agent, but I plan to start querying for one very, very soon.

The last books I read that I simply ADORED are GRACELING, SCORPIO RACE, and I am currently reading THE NAME of the WIND.

Hi Kusanar, your story sounds very different, I'd love to trade work if my story appeals to you. Mine's an uber-dark YA fantasy, summarized above or in a bit more detail here: http://emmamaree.com/writing/rebel-against-heaven/

I'm also in a similar stage of preparing-to-query.

If you're interested, you can reach me on emma[at]emmamaree[dot]com

Currently 60,000 word YA about a girl who lives on an island inspired by a mix of Venetian and Japanese culture where face masks are worn everyday. She's a mask maker, and there's someone stealing the masks - and therefore identities - and killing the owners.

She then seeks refuge at the castle after an attack that kills her father, where Cinderella-esque things happen with a bit of a reverse at the end.

I've queried some agents, and while they liked my story and ideas, they've said the writing isn't strong enough yet and it should probably be a little longer. So I'm back into revisions adding more to the story.

And the last book I read that I loved...hmm well I loved Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel, but Cinder by Marissa Meyer is probably more of a sign of my reading tendencies. Anything fairy tale related and I am there.

66K YA paranormal romance about a girl doomed to marry an ancient battle god, and the boy who falls in love with her. Set in small-town Michigan, the two teens use their wits–and a little magic–to try to break the curse.

I like the sound of your WIP, as I also have a soft spot for anything fairy-tale related. A couple books that accurately describe my reading taste would be Chime by Franny Billingsly, and Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda.

Am querying, with four agents considering fulls. If you're interested in exchanging a few chapters or the first 50 pgs, let me know.

I tend to write YA speculative fiction. My WIP now is science fiction, and the one before was dark fantasy. I haven't written a good one sentence pitch about my WIP yet, but it's told from the perspective of a young thief who gets caught in the middle of one organization's plan to fix the world's overcrowding problem. I don't have an agent, and I'm still on the first draft for this WIP. I've read a lot of books lately but none that I feel epitomize me as a reader, so I'll go with my favs of 2011: THE SCORPIO RACES, DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE, DIVERGENT, & LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR. Anyone interested, please contact me at christinabejjani@gmail.com :).

this sounds really interesting! I have a finished manuscript I'm querying (several partials/fulls, no offers yet) that is a dystopian fairytale retelling, and a WIP that is a sci-fi about alien twins who are sold into slavery. I'm on the first draft of my WIP as well, so if you think we'd make a good match, email me at nazareanandrews@gmail.com
(P.S. Scorpio Races, Divergent, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone were some of my faves from last year as well!!)

Thank you for playing matchmaker for us!

Age Range: Adults, primarily.

WIP/Genre: Currently focusing on a short about vikings (including a werewolf berserker) shipwrecked in North America. I tend to bounce around the spectrum of speculative fiction (scifi/fantasy/horror). Novels in progress (with completed drafts) include an urban fantasy about a former CIA wizard and his rat familiars, and a fantasy set in an alternate Europe with expies of the Knights Templar and giant, anthropomorphic rats.

Influencing books: Dresden Files series, The Dark Tower, and The Hollows series.

Also, I'm a graduate of the Odyssey Writers' Workshop, so I have a little bit of critting experience.

Angelfish is a 37,000 word (finished), YA paranormal romance. You can read the description here: For seventeen year old, Brenna Murphy, summer vacation is dead in the water. She's been sent packing on The Guilt Trip - a summer-long road trip to visit her seldom-seen, Irish grandfather in Michigan's northern climes. All seems well until he suggests they visit the lake that, for Brenna, is the site of a traumatic near-death experience. Terrified, Brenna faces her fears, and discovers that something incredible lies just beneath the surface.

I do not have an agent, but have been considering querying for awhile. I am published, but this is my first fictional work of length.

The last book that I read and loved was Ruby Red by Kersten Gier.

Edited at 2012-03-06 11:23 am (UTC)

Hi,
I think your blurb is very intriguing. My wip is a YA urban fabtasy about my own brand of faeries. My post is at the bottom of the second page.

If you are interested in swapping my eamil is jenvintagedoll@gmail(dot)com

I write Paranormal, YA paranormal and most recently YA speculative fiction.
I am published, and have 2 other works under contract with an indie publisher. Unagented.
Have written 4 novels and am currently mulling number 5. I am an editor with a midsize publishing company.
Darkwood, my most recent work, is the retelling of the Robin Hood myth, set in a fictional country with a teen/female protag.
Complete at 60k.
I will read most YA, but generally not contemporary romance, anything with vampires, angels or anything that begins with a girl on her 16th birthday unless it is very unique.
I love lyrical writing - think Victoria Schwab, Lani Taylor and most recently Jodi Meadows. I LOVED Under the Never Sky by Rossi and The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Let's swap! Your work sounds intriguing.

YA/(Upper MG) Fairy-Tale style Fantasy.

"Some princesses aren’t any good with swords. Some of them actually like frilly dresses. Some just want their prince to finally show up and rescue them. But sometimes, even these princesses can be heroes."

The last book I read that I really adored was Cetaganda, by Lois McMaster Bujold, a mix of Sci-fi and Mystery with really cool cultural elements based on Feudal Japan. I would love to be able to write like that, with that much control over the plot, that many awesome ideas, and such great characters.

No Agent. According to rejections, my last project had some problems with pacing and trying to shoehorn in everything but the kitchen sink. I'm trying to keep my new projects tight.

Hi!

I love your blurb! Are you interested in a swap? I write YA Fantasy. Here's my own pitch:

When an old enemy tries to sacrifice her brother in a ritual to save his dying race, Daela Blackwell must make a choice: let her brother die, or condemn thousands of innocents to an ugly end.

Here's my email if you're interested: riouch.sara@gmail.com

I'm a former elementary school librarian now writing MG fiction. My current WIP is a humorous Steampunkish fantasy in which an eccentric professor and his young lab assistant have to try to recover an escaped mechanical Pteranodon before the Queen's guards throw them in jail.

The manuscript is currently on Revise & Resubmit with an agent.

I would prefer a MG partner, but I've also done CP work on YA manuscripts. I'm very open to the idea of working with two CPs.
(I've blogged what I look for in a CP here: http://bit.ly/c5h6jJ)

The last book I read that I "feel epitomizes (me) as a reader" would be my recent, um-teenth re-read of A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA. (If only I could write that well)

(Secondary insight: I'm getting to give away my first choice of books in World Book Night: BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE.)

First of all I'd like to say that I sort of half-heartedly put myself out there last year when Maggie did this and I'm glad almost that it didn't work out. (I'm sure it did in many cases, put I didn't really try hard enough.)

Since then, through a chance request to write a collaborative piece especially for Protagonize (an online library of writer's work, unpublished but brilliant). I'm now writing with two girls and I'm the eldest, not that that is relevant, and we're all at different stages. It is FAB to write with somebody else, and even better to have someone look over my work and say, "You have a way with description" and "this tense works well".

You can find me and mine here:
http://www.protagonize.com/author/scampii091

but I do not put any of my current WIPs on here, as they are too personal and reserved only for myself and perhaps a handful of other crit. buddies or friends. I DO POST NEWS ABOUT MY WIPS HERE, AS WELL AS A WRITING JOURNAL. I'm not used to sharing my work as I've only ever written as a tool for me, but I guess that'll have to change.

Contact me there or at scampii091@live.co.uk for more information. If nothing else I'd be happy to chat about writing and spur you on through the hard days when the Muse is vacant and your tea has gone cold.

I think you and I could get along great. I am also another who has only every written for my eyes and my eyes only and am VERY nervous about sending my MS to someone I contact online, not to say you're not trustworthy. You may be, but last time Maggie did this I was torn. None of my friends really are near the level I am or if they are, don't read/write the same stuff that I do, so the crit partnering sounded wonderful, but at the same time there was that nervousness there about my MS. I'm about to post my own blurb below, but if you're interested - and like you, even if I am just there to chat about writing or spur you on - contact me at owatkins28@gmail.com :)

I would love a crit partner. I write YA fantasy and I am currently about half way through revising my current WIP. Blurb: In the city of Terravale, where the tenuous Peace between Mages and Humans is beginning to fall apart, Roe, a mage girl, ends up training for war alongside her enemy who think she is one of them when she is in fact spying on them for her own side.

Hard to chose a book, so many great ones I've loved recently! But I'll go with Veronica Roth's "Divergent" and Laini Taylor's "Daughter of Smoke and Bone."

I love that! Hahaha if you don't mind books about fae and romance we should swap. Mine is still a WIP though. My email is rachnicrice@gmail.com

Hi all!

While I do have a crit partner, I would love to have a couple of others for some additional feedback. I write, read, review, and basically breathe YA, so I'm looking for a crit partner who likes the same.

I am revising my current WIP, an urban/dystopian fantasy tentatively titled Safe Ones. Here's the blurb: On an island where people going missing in the fog is not only possible, but also acceptable, Kayla and Nate must fight the resistance from their friends and families in order to save Nate's brother when he is taken by the fog.

I am unagented, unpublished, and until I'm happy with my writing, I'm more than happy to wait to query.

I adored Scorpio Races, Space Between, and Kristin Cashore's Bitterblue (due out in May).

I am huge on revising, especially big, gutting revisions where you rip everything to pieces to make sure it is absolutely necessary to the core of the book, and I'm looking for a crit partner with the same philosophy.

Okay, so that's a lot! Good luck everyone!

Hi Rebecca,
"Safe Ones" sounds really interesting. I'm also into a crit partner who isn't afraid to be honest and get right to the core. I'm working on a couple of projects. "Shiloh's Secret," Is my completed manuscript. Its about a teen girl who wants a normal human life but isn't so lucky. Compelled to save a classmate in school, she touches a boy and unlocks the secret of her immortal soul. Her life spirals out of control from that point on and she runs. Ultimately she has to make a hard choice between her two stages of existence. Anyway...sorry for all the words...I have a blog I'm working on in my character's voice. www.shilohssecret.com

My email is ehbeebe@yahoo.com
Would love to swap!

Erika

Your book sounds absolutely incredible. I love the moral implications.

If you loved Ship Breaker, you'll love Drowned Cities (which I'm currently reading). It's even better. I think it comes out officially this summer.

Let me know if you're up for swapping. My post is above your.

The Shape that Breaks, YA Contemporary: Celeste's first love dumps her and it shatter apart every idea of a happy ending she'd been dreaming about. But when Aiden, the math-loving, super-tall, kind-of-maybe-cute, moves down the street from her, she tries to use him to forget all about her ex. (A love triangle with a twist, let's just say.)

No agent, not sure if I'm ready to query yet.

Last book I read that I loved: The Fault in Our Stars. But I do also absolutely love fantasy or well-thought-out scifi, so if you book is that, I'd totally swap!

I love your blurb! Sounds exactly like the kind of book I'd pick off the shelf. I have two manuscripts that could use a critique, and if you're interested, you could take your pick.

1. Tomboy Sam is a soccer star and always thought that would be her path in life, but she harbors a secret love of art. It takes meeting quiet bad-boy Andre to realize that she can't deny her passion. Trying to live both lives becomes more difficult until she has to make a decision or lose everything.

2. It's been two years since tragedy struck Dylan Detrick's life, but she still hasn't even begun to get over it. When someone from her past comes back into her life she discovers that she needs to deal with her loss, her future, and her overprotective brother.

The last book(s) I loved: Saving June, Playing Hurt, and Shade.

No agent, tried (kind of) querying once with no success so far.

Let me know!

Let me begin by saying that the last time Maggie did this, I had about 20 pages on my MS and that was my longest novel that was not in "discontinued" mode. Now same novel is at 127 pages and nearly finished. It is UNSPOKEN, and I suck at blurbs, but hang in there:
A destructive war is raging as Nicole struggles with the line between friendship and love as she remembers a promise she spoke six years ago.

Now that that sucks, let's try something longer:
The last time Nicole saw or spoke to her boyfriend, Mark, was six years ago beneath an autumn moon in the breath of evening air. During that time, Mark vowed to find Nicole, as she would leave the next morning to seek refuge with her siblings in a nearby country. But that was before the war started. Before the war changed their lives and ripped some from others.
Now, time has passed and with it, the heart grows colder. The war has entered Essa Straight and binds their lives until Larador liberates them, bringing with it a Staff Sergeant and his squad - people who change the lives of the inhabitants of Essa Straight, including Nicole, for the rest of their lives. As the weeks pass, Nicole struggles with the line between friendship and love as she tries to remember the promise she made to Mark so long ago, while the war continues and a terrifying prophecy begins to unravel.
Set in a magical world, it is told in varying points of view.

This novel encompasses everything that I am fascinated with: war, magical Gods, prophecy, deep-rooted culture, inner conflict as well as moral conflict, weapons of mass destruction, the line between what you should and should not do, love (of course), and the beginning of a life-changing adventure. It's one of four I have mapped out.

Unspoken is written for what I consider young adults (17-25ish), but in the publishing industry it would be considered adult. However, it doesn't have adult content. It's written very YA-ish, but with older characters in their early 20's. Which is funny, because I only ever read YA books. I also have another in the idea stage called "Kingdom" which will be YA.

No agent, no publisher.
Last book(s): Divergent by Veronica Roth; The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, The Scoripo Races

I am also another who has only every written for my eyes and my eyes only and am VERY nervous about sending my MS to someone I contact online, not to say that people on Maggie's site are not trustworthy. The last time that Maggie did this I was torn. None of my friends really are near the level I am or if they are, don't read/write the same stuff that I do, so the crit partnering sounded wonderful, but at the same time there was that nervousness there about my MS. I might start off by sending anyone who's interested one of my short stories, but I'll need to built trust before I can send more than a chapter or so from my MS. If you're interested, I also have a website: o-watkins.blogspot.com

And if you're STILL interested -and cudos if you are- contact me! :)

I feel the same way about sending my manuscripts to people! And I've tried writing stories with my friends but even though it's fun, it just doesn't help me get any better because they're not there with me. Or really into it, like I am.
My blurb is around the fifth comment and it's truly awful--the story is so much more than that. Send me a message if you want to swap manuscripts, or talk about it. (:

I thought I had posted here, but I came back to check for responses and I don't see it! So trying again ...

I write middle grade contemporary and adventure. My current WIP is about a girl who uses her ability to travel into paintings to solve the heist for which her aunt has been accused. I'm comfortable reading pretty much anything in middle grade, except maybe zombies.

I'm unagented at the moment, but I've been a playwright for fifteen years and make my living ghostwriting and book doctoring (mostly middle grade, YA and a little women's contemporary).

Recent books that have moved me to evangelical fervor: Sara Pennypacker's Clementine series, as well as Daughter of Smoke & Bone and The Fault in Our Stars.

Hey Joy,

I have a character in my manuscript, which may be middle grade or YA, (I'm not sure which right now) that walks through window reflections into the past. She is, among other things, trying to understand the supposed accidental death of her mother.

I also have a minor character named Joy, who I am quite attached to.

I would be very interested to see your first chapter, and offer my comments.

You can see if our critique styles might work, and if my WIP (ah the acronyms) manuscript might interest you.

nikkim@rtci.net

Cheers,
Nikki