Classics Challenge: "A Tale of Two Cities"

Oh, boy.
I'm really embarrassed. Last update I mentioned how A Tale of Two Cities was picking up and I was on page 150 or so.
Well, it's almost the end of April and I'm currently...
On page 163.

I just can't stand Dickens' writing. Trust me when I say that I tried. I even had my youngest sister read aloud. She giggled at the wording every few sentences. It was that bad.
Not to mention A Tale of Two Cities jumps around with different POVs. Which always made understanding what was actually happening that much harder.
In the end, I'm closing the book on this one (ha ha, punny!). Maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this whopper of a book. Maybe it would've been different if Dickens wasn't so satirical and complicated with his writing.
Maybe, maybe, maybe...
This isn't much of a review, but if you have lots of time and enjoy thinking while you read, then this book is for you. Otherwise, you may want to choose another classic.

Rhode Island Run-In's

If these tweets during the six hour car ride are any indication...

...my recent trip to Newport, Rhode Island was an interesting one. (Too bad I couldn't leave my cold behind) I've never travelled farther north than New York City, so visiting "the ocean state" was quite the experience. Not only is it colder up there, but the water is so blue. And I'm not talking "tropical" blue. I'm talking a deep, mysterious, sapphire blue.

Not only that, but everything is rocky. The beaches, the front yards, the soil. Fences and property lines were a plethora of rocks. Some mansions even had enormous boulders in their front yard!

Seeing the ocean again really helped me with TWW. Imagination will only take you so far! While on the Cliff Walk one night (a path that takes you along, well, cliffs as wells as the ocean and past mansions), my fear of the sea rekindled. Ever since my "incident" two summers ago, the ocean has terrified me. Coincidentally, my main character, Annie, is scared of water too. Now that this fear is fresh in my mind, editing TWW will be that much easier. Though, in the picture below, I look more cold than scared. Next to me is my mom. Which of us looks colder? We like to call ourselves Red Riding Hood and The Astronaut.

Another interesting place we visited in Newport was the Vanderbilt's "summer cottage." I'll let the pictures speak for me here.

Amazing, huh? There's not much left to the imagination here!

Rhode Island was a beautiful state, but I have to say, there's nothing quite like home.

And I don't think there ever will be.

Contests for Writers: Ink & Insights 2016

Boy, do I have a treat for you guys today! I have with me Catherine, owner of Critique My Novel. Critique My Novel runs an annual contest for writers called Ink & Insights. I've participated in Ink & Insights for (almost) three consecutive years. Click here to see my placing in 2015 and 2014!
With April under way, Ink & Insights 2016 is winding up. Knowing this contest is huge for writers, new and seasoned alike, I asked Catherine for an interview. Being the amazing person she is, she agreed. Buckle your figurative seatbelts, writers. 
Here we go!

Catherine, thank you so much for chatting with me about a fantastic contest for writers! Before we start, could you give me a little background about Critique My Novel, the business behind Ink & Insights, and some of your services?

Critique My Novel is a low-cost editing service that got its start in 2011. I discovered a love for editing and critiquing the work of others in a critique group while I was writing my own novel in 2009. I dabbled quite a bit back then, took a few classes, marked up a few books of my friends, then decided I wanted to try my hand at it on a more professional level. Critique My Novel was born.

In the beginning, the only service I offered was a Full Edit/Critique. But as time wore on and I worked on all levels of manuscripts, I saw a need to split that service up because it wasn’t right for many manuscripts. So we offer several different services now to fit any level or draft of manuscript.

Onto the contest information! What is Ink & Insights? Give us the details! (For example: Is there an entrance fee? How long does this contest run? Are there different entrance categories? etc.)

Ink & Insights is a writing contest geared toward helping independent writers by focusing on feedback.

We require the first 10,000 words of your manuscript. Each entry is assigned four judges who specialize in the genre of the manuscript. They read, score, and comment on specific aspects of the novel. (Characters, dialogue, style, pace, tension, scene structure...) This year’s fiction scoresheet is eight pages, with spots for plenty of feedback. With four judges reading, that’s a minimum of 32 pages of helpful feedback for EVERY entry!

The categories are Apprentice for the beginning writers or early drafts, Master for those novels ready for the market, and Nonfiction. The Master and Nonfiction categories include an Agent Round for those that place in the top three spots as determined by judges’ scores.

There is an entry fee, but this isn’t for the contest itself, it is to pay the judges who pour over the submissions and write detailed analyses. Most spend over an hour on each. (I personally average four hours on the ones I work on.)

So anyone who doesn’t want to enter because they’ve heard that contests shouldn’t have an entry fee can rest easy. They are paying for the critiques with an added bonus of a competition.  

Regular entry goes from April to May and is $40. Late entry goes through June and is $45.

What types are the prizes awarded to the winners of Ink & Insights?

The biggest prize we offer that EVERY submission wins is the invaluable feedback.  

There are cash prizes as well as a few other things—free entries, books, free CMN services. But the most exciting prize is the Agent Round.

The top three Master and Nonfiction submissions are passed to the panel of agents who read and comment on each. The agents also determine the final placement of these top three submissions.

Their invaluable feedback is priceless as it is, because it is rare to get that far during a novel’s query stage, but if they like your book, they have the option of asking to see more!

What advice would you give prospective entrants when prepping to enter?

You may think that formatting guidelines are not important, but contestants earn bonus points just for following instructions. And when it comes to the final fight for those top spots, every point matters. Last year, only a half point separated the third and fourth place winners in one category! Only the top three go to the agent round.

I’d also suggest not waiting until the last minute. We have a deadline and once the frenzy hits, judges get frazzled trying to finish. Early in the contest, while everything is calm and judges have plenty of time to spend a few hours on your MS, is the optimal time to submit.

Are there particular genres judges are looking for?

Each judge has his or her personal genre tastes and those genres they have more experience with, but all genres are accepted and there are readers for everything.

While we’re on that topic, are there any genres that are not accepted for Ink & Insights?

Nothing is off limits. Most of the judges are writers themselves and write in a wide variety of genres and topics. As long as we get a bit of warning about questionable material such as excessive violence, language, gore, sex, rape, or stories that involve child/animal abuse, I can find readers who are not turned off by the subjects. I have an extensive list from each judge about reading preferences (even though not all are listed on the bios page) as well as the types of stories or ‘situations’ they are not comfortable with. This way, I can make sure that each novel has the best team to represent its target audience.

Is there anything else you would like to add before we wrap up?

I’d really like to make sure it is widely known who came up with the fantastic title of our contest.

One of my favorite writers, who has landed in the top three more times than anyone else, came up with this incredibly fitting title that embodies our entire aim. (Before it was Ink & Insights, the contest had the drab title of ‘201_ Novel Writing Contest.’) The fabulous Emily Layne! (applause applause.)

(Oh, don't make me blush!)

Thank you for your time and for doing all the background work to ensure Ink & Insights 2016 shines!

You are most welcome. And thank you for supporting us year after year. We really have a blast doing this and love reading so many great new novels. 

Interested? I thought so! Here are some links you should check out:

Ink & Insights Facebook Page

Ink & Insights Website

Ink & Insights Twitter

Critique My Novel Website

If this interview has sparked your interest, make sure you take me up on my free critique on your first 500 words before you enter.

Good luck!!