Hello Monday!

The "Skeleton Key" Round Robin Blogvel continues with Chapter 3 by Stephanie of Word by Word. This blogvel keeps getting more and more interesting as it passes from author to author. If you haven't been following and want to start at the beginning, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are already up. So go check 'em out!

I've been scouring the web for news, contests, and workshops that you might be interested in. Here are some of my finds:

>Win Sara Gran's CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD by joining Agent Janet Reid's first summer writing contest. Deets here. (This one is closing TODAY at 7:18 pm EST so hurry!)

>Michelle Simkins of Greenwoman is running a contest. The prize? A short story crit from her (she's the master of writing short fiction IMHO) so head on over and find out what you have to do to win.

> First 5 Pages Workshop (every first Saturday of the month) @ Adventures in Children's Publishing.

> First Page Shooter @ Confessions from Suite 500 (run by Agents Joanna Stampfel-Volpe and Suzie Townsend)

> First Page Critique Contest by fellow blogger Robin Weeks (she's celebrating for hitting 100 blog followers! Come join the fun and follow her cool savvy blog--you won't regret it.)

> Synopsis Critique by Chuck Sambuchino @ Guide to Literary Agents. This is cutting it close but I just barely saw this. He is teaching a webinar on June 16th, but you don't have to attend the live webinar to get crits. Just click on the link to get the full details. =)

>The Speculative Fiction group at Agent Query Connect has already started their Summer Critiquing Marathon. It runs for 12 weeks (this is the second week now), and anyone can join it at anytime, as long as you follow the rules. Chapter posting goes up every Monday, and critiquing goes from Tuesday to Saturday. You have to be a member of the Spec Fic group to participate (send a PM to Clippership, the Spec Fic moderator). The rules are easy: read other people's chapters and provide adequate feedback (no "Hey, this is great. End of critique.") then vote whether you think the chapter is good enough or if it needs revision before the author posts the next chapter. Remember, it's a give-and-take relationship, and if you want in, you have to be committed to read all the other participants' chapters. It's a lot of work, but the feedback you get is worth it.

If you have news you'd like to share, please do so. We'd all appreciate it. Thanks.

Aaaaand, here's a funny for you to enjoy!



By Debbie Ridpath Ohi