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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A FIRST KISS Critique Round

What better way to kick off February!

I'm opening submissions at 5:00 pm EST TODAY (February 1) and will accept the first 30 submissions (plus one alternate). 

GUIDELINES:
  • Please submit your 150-word "first kiss" scene.
  • The scene may be from a finished manuscript or a WIP.
  • Agented and unagented authors may enter.
  • Please: NO UBER-GRAPHIC KISSES. This is a PG-13 site. (Discretion mine.)
  • Format as follows:
SCREEN NAME: (type your screen name here)
TITLE: (type your title here)
GENRE: (type your genre here)

(Type a 1-sentence lead-in to your kiss scene here.)

(Type your 150-word kiss scene here.)

Yes, I've padded the word count to accommodate the lead-in.  But you've only got 50 extra words, so don't be verbose. (Heh.)

Post your questions below!
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35 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary E CampbellFebruary 1, 2011 at 9:33 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. UnknownFebruary 1, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    "The submission address for all in-house critique sessions is authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com."

    It's on the "crits and contests" page.

    :-)

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  4. Jennie EnglundFebruary 1, 2011 at 10:57 AM

    This is SO GOOD!

    I'm terrible at love scenes, can't wait to see how the pros do it!

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  5. Amanda SunFebruary 1, 2011 at 10:58 AM

    Yay! Can't wait to read them ^_^

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  6. Krista Van DolzerFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    Love this! Probably won't enter, but I look forward to reading everyone else's submissions!

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  7. Addley C. FanninFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    Hm, this sounds like fun. Hope I can get the e-mail to accept my entry this time.

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  8. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:13 AM

    Oo, this was a lot of fun the last time. Can't wait!

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  9. Michael Di GesuFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    This sounds like fun...

    Michael

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  10. AilsaFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    Sounds like fun! Probably won't enter, but might have a look through the MS anyway, just in case it's not as bad as I remember.
    Looking forward to reading everyone's entries!

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  11. Sarah AhiersFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    Count me in! I set a reminder so i can be prepared to send it right at 5 EST. *crosses fingers*

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  12. Sean Thomas FisherFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    Awesome! Thanks for the lesson, Authoress.

    Maybe I'll do a FIRST KILL scene on Halloween...

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  13. angela robbinsFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    this may be the dumb/obvious answer of the day, but does the 150wc include the lead in sentence?

    [word verification: lowin
    the chances of my entry making it through.]

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  14. Danielle La PagliaFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:30 PM

    If we don't want to have a lead-in can we use the full 150 for the kiss?

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  15. MismikadoFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:48 PM

    Did I interpret the guidelines wrong or do we count the lead in sentence separate from our 150 word first kiss scene?

    Very excited about this critique opp :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. AuthoressFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    Y'all! I really did specify the word count thing:

    Yes, I've padded the word count to accommodate the lead-in. But you've only got 50 extra words, so don't be verbose.

    That's 150 plus 50.

    Capiche?

    XOXO

    (word ver: grunti)

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:30 PM

    Question: Is the lead-in the sentence prior to the kissing scene, or is the lead-in just a summary to set up what's going on?

    ReplyDelete
  18. AuthoressFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    The lead-in sentence should set up the scene for us, since we're going to be dropping into the middle of a story.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Holly BodgerFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    150 words? Pft! You know I can't write a first kiss in under 800. :-P

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  20. AuthoressFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    LOL! I TOTALLY heard your voice in my head when I typed the "150." I kid you not!! :)

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  21. MismikadoFebruary 1, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    I am so happy I read back through the guidelines because the 5:00 pm EST finally sunk in. I completely forgot that I live in the central time zone and therefore it will be 4:00 for me O_O That was a close one!

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  22. kaureliusFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    wish I could set my clock by yours...
    any chance for countdown html someday?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Tori SchindlerFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:22 PM

    150 is hard, I'm looking through manuscripts to see if any make sense in that word count. Maybe it's a hint to me to tighten up first contact? A challenge anyway.

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  24. tarakFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. tarakFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    I might try this one - will require editing, though. The kiss isn't graphic, but some of the language is.:)

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  26. Charity BradfordFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    Ah! I've edited the kiss scene to make it fit 150 words. I think I'll keep some of the changes in the wip.

    Thanks for the opportunity!

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  27. MismikadoFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:01 PM

    Sent mine at 5 (4 my time) on the dot so hopefully I'll make the first 30 *fingers crossed*

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  28. UnknownFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    SMOOCH to all of you!

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  29. Josin L. McQueinFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    :(

    Sent it at 5 on the dot and it kicked back. Sent it again and it was full.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Niki SchoenfeldtFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    Sent mine! Hope in makes it in!

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  31. Lisa KesslerFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    Well shoot! I apparently sent mine 1 minute too early, then resent it only to find out it's full!! *boggle*

    Good luck everyone! :)

    Lisa

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  32. Niki SchoenfeldtFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    Drat! My submission was disqualified because my email has an automatic signature which sent the word count over!

    Guess I'll try again next time.

    ReplyDelete
  33. JPerryKellyFebruary 1, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    Posting this to generate a screen name...

    ReplyDelete
  34. Joshua JacobsFebruary 1, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    I'm bummed that I missed this. My MC and his crush share a pretty hilarious first kiss.

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  35. Toni KenyonFebruary 1, 2011 at 10:51 PM

    It's nice to have understanding employers (here in New Zealand) who are happy for me to hit 'send' in the middle of a work day.

    Shame I didn't squeak in. Maybe next time.

    ReplyDelete