The Last Two Weeks

The Last Two Weeks:

Just got done taking two weeks to write a YA short story for a Writer’s Digest competition. This meant not being able to seek out any new literary agents, but seeing how I have 5 still out, I don’t think it’s a loss. Plus, I feel that this may help get me some notice. I hope.

I've never actually entered a writing competition before except to win a scholarship though my local junior college. I did win, but I think 15 other students did as well. I also realized that I hadn’t written a short story for a very long time. It might have been when I was at that junior college, but before that I can only think of one other in Junior High School, where I killed off everyone in the end when an alien ship came blowing everything up. I still don’t understand why I only got a ‘B’ on that one.

I had read a column by a literary agent, and they had said another way to get noticed, or gain experience is to write short stories. However, I’m thankful I’ve got one novel under my belt, because I drew a lot from my experience from that and used it to write, edit, and talk with friends to get their opinions to make it better.

The story I wrote is called ‘The Escape,’ which is about a girl who’s falsely accused of a crime, sent to prison, transferred to cover up the fact she was innocent, and then escapes -hence the name, ‘The Escape.’ Did I mention, there’s fighting, huge explosions, and it takes place in space? Quit a ride for 4,000 words. And no, an alien ship doesn’t come and kill everyone.

(Note worthy to me at least) I just finished reading the second part of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games Trilogy. She doesn’t need my endorsement, but wow! She can write a great book. Fun, exciting, faced pace, she keeps you wanting more. Suzanne definitely knows her craft well. If you haven’t read them, pick it up. Also I saw they casted Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy for the Hunger Games movie, plus Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Hutcherson, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. It’s going to be great!