#yalitchat/teenfire semi-finalists!

Many of you out there in the YA community have probably heard of the Sourcebooks Fire/Yalitchat contest being held at this time. If you haven't, talented YA writer Georgia McBride(founder of #yalitchat)teamed up with the editors of Sourcebooks Fire to bring a unique opportunity to our community.

Georgia sifts through all the entries picking only a handful of them to be sent to the editors at Sourcebooks. The editors will then pick the winners. There is no guarantee for contracts, but just to have your work read by an editor is a great opportunity.

The semi-finalists were announced today! And Kristi and I both entered and we were both on the list! A happy day for the Sisters in Scribe! Because you know we're all about celebrating baby steps. I imagine Kristi has already danced around her kitchen like a "monkey on crack". I haven't had my coffee yet, so that isn't happening. But I did a little wiggle in my chair.

We want to hear about your little accomplishments. What have you done recently to put yourself one step closer to accomplishing your goals? It doesn't have to be a writing goal. Anything we do to better ourselves, even if it's just self-satisfaction, is worth celebrating.

The List of Semi-finalists! from Georgia's Blog.

1. Kristen Yard
2. Ethan Marcantel
3. Gail Zerrade
4. Lisa M. Basso
5. Alyssa M. Kirk
6. Carolyn Grace Matteo
7. Durga Walker
8. Courtney Alameda Lowe
9. Bethany K. Dellinger
10. K.M. Walton
11. Christina Lee
12. Mary Danielson
13. Kimberly Mitchell
14. Candace Ganger
15. Cathy C. Hall
16. R.C. Lewis
17. Morgan Baden
18. Jessie Harrell
19. P.G.K. Hanson
20. Laura Perdew
21. Mark Freeman
22. Patricia Perez
23. Eli Ross
24. Erin Richards
25. Kristi V. Helvig
26. Sandi Greene
27. Nikki Katz
28. Chris Shanley-Dillman
29. Lisa Magedler
30. Joelle McClure
31. Amitha Jagannath Knight
32. Tiffany Truitt
33. Rebecca Lees
34. Mariah Abotossaway
35. Steve L. Edwards
36. Lori Sowell
37. Lacey Boldyrev
38. Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
39. Julie Moffett
40. Annie McElfresh
41. Kym Balthazar Fetsko
42. Pam van Hylckama Vlieg
43. Elle Strauss
44. Dean Hardy
45. Jodie Meadows

Congrats, all and good luck on the next round!

Grapemo!

February 1st marks the start of Grapemo! The purpose of Grapemo, started by Jeannine at http://onegrapeshy.livejournal.com/349490.html (go there if you want to participate) is to set a goal, and keep it.

My 2010 Grapemo goal-- Finish a final draft of WIP #3.

And hopefully give it a title. I'm starting Grapemo with close to 10k words in the bank, and I am hoping to get 40k more. But word count really isn't what matters. Telling the story does. Here's a teaser:

So what do you do when your best friend is in love with you, and you might be falling for the strangest, possibly most dangerous boy you’ve ever met? You eat a crap-load of chocolate, binge on coffee for a week, and avoid both parties. At. All. Costs.

What's your Grapemo goal?

Another great year comes to an end.

As we enter the final hours of 2009, I am sitting at my kitchen table watching Times Square on the television, and reflecting on the past twelve months. It seems like so long ago I decided, "I'm going to write a novel." But in reality, it was only ten months ago. In ten months, I've read countless books and articles on writing and networking. Flipped the pages of Writers Digest over and over again. Scourged the internet for interviews and blogs from agents and editors and book publishing houses, anything I could to learn about the industry and the market and get a vague idea of what I was getting in to.

I won't get in to all the hairy details about all that I've personally accomplished in 2009, but it does seem overwhelming. Overwhelming and inspirational.

In such a short time, I've pushed myself more than I ever thought I was able. I've made wonderful friendships and the sense of self-worth I've acquired by setting a goal, a goal that I have always dreamed of achieving, was worth every head-banging, eyeball-melting, brain-aching second.

*Fills shot glass with Hennessey* To another head-banging, eyeball-melting, brain-aching year! May all your wishes come true! And by that I mean, may you have the determination and perseverance to make it happen!