Day 13 - Item 2

From Jen K Bloom a critique of the first three chapters plus a query AND a copy of POSSUM SUMMER

Jen grew up in the middle of the wind-swept plains of Oklahoma & developed her deep love of traveling & animals from exploring the Sooner state river bottoms. She had a possum (and a raccoon) for pets, could mount a horse Native-American style (saddle-less and flat-footed) and once climbed a mountain only to come face to nose with an American Buffalo.

It was a very big buffalo.

She’s lived as far away as Darwin, Australia as a beach bum (camped in Kakadu!) & as close as Virginia as an owner/breeder Azawakh handler but currently calls Berlin, Germany her home. She is and will always remain an Okie, however.

Jen is owned by the Sphynx cats Yoda and Blue, who do not believe in alarm clocks but do believe in incessant meowing, & is the handmaiden of her darling beautiful daughter Loki.

She’s also lucky to have her husband – who is always her first & best beta reader – regularly tear apart her writing!

POSSUM SUMMER

Princess is a die-hard tomboy growing up in the middle of the Oklahoma plains with only one friend in a thirty-mile radius: her best buddy Mart. Her dad’s off to war and her mama is gone all day working, so she’s in charge of the farm and all the inhabitants living on it for the summer. When she finds an orphan kit in the ragged remains of a possum her dog just killed, she has a real tough decision to make.

Save him against her father’s wishes? Or let him die?

From the moment she looks into his eyes her heart is lost, and she decides to try it – no matter the cost to her. But when Ike the possum’s cover is blown, she struggles to find the power in herself to get past the price he has to pay.

International
Bidding is open until February 1^st 9.30PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 13 - Item 1

From AC Gaughen a SCARLET t-shirt!

SCARLET is a retelling of the Robin Hood legend. Most of Nottinghamshire knows Will Scarlet: a quick and clever thief that sticks to the shadows and protects the band without question, but even those that know Scarlet’s really a girl don’t know the secrets of her past, like how she got the scar on her cheek. Guy of Gisbourne may be the one person who does: and he was just hired to bring Robin Hood and his gang to the gallows.

International
Bidding is open until February 1^st 9PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 12 - Item 5

From Jessica Bell a signed copy of String Bridge & its soundtrack!

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage--and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits, and she realizes she's been seeking fulfillment in the wrong place.

International
Bidding is open until January 31^st 11PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 12 - Item 4

From Catherine Knutsson a first chapter critique & signed ARC of Shadows Cast By Stars

Catherine Knutsson lives on Vancouver Island, where she can be found writing, riding horses, and wandering the wilds.  Her first novel, THE SHADOWS CAST BY STARS, will be published June 2012 by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

From Catherine: My strengths as a critiquer, in the past I served as an assistant editor for a small spec fic magazine with a literary bent (it's called SHIMMER), and I taught singing for years, so I've got a good eye (ear!) for voice and building authentic-yet-tension-filled relationships between characters.

SHADOWS CAST BY STARS

Old ways are pitted against new horrors in this compellingly crafted dystopian tale about a girl who is both healer and seer.Two hundred years from now, blood has become the most valuable commodity on the planet—especially the blood of aboriginal peoples, for it contains antibodies that protect them from the Plague ravaging the rest of the world.

Sixteen-year-old Cassandra Mercredi might be immune to Plague, but that doesn’t mean she’s safe—government forces are searching for those of aboriginal heritage to harvest their blood. When a search threatens Cassandra and her family, they flee to the Island: a mysterious and idyllic territory protected by the Band, a group of guerilla warriors—and by an enigmatic energy barrier that keeps outsiders out and the spirit world in. And though the village healer has taken her under her wing, and the tribal leader’s son into his heart, the creatures of the spirit world are angry, and they have chosen Cassandra to be their voice and instrument….

Incorporating the traditions of the First Peoples as well as the more familiar stories of Greek mythology and Arthurian legend, SHADOWS CAST BY STARS is a haunting, beautifully written story that breathes new life into ancient customs.

International
Bidding is open until January 31^st 10:30PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 12 - Item 3

From Melanie Welsh a signed copy of Mistress of the Storm

Verity Gallant knows she’ll never be as pretty and popular as Poppy, her perfect little sister – she doesn’t quite fit in. But when a mysterious stranger hands her an ancient red book, everything changes. Verity becomes embroiled in a tale of dark magic and intrigue; she uncovers old rivalries and discovers new friends. Together, she, Henry and Martha explore the secrets stirring in the ancient harbour town of Wellow. But what will it take to stop a powerful witch hell-bent on revenge?

International
Bidding is open until February 2nd 9.30PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 12 - Item 2

From MG author Marissa Burt a 10 page critique of a MG manuscript.

Marissa Burt writes middle grade fantasy and is represented by Laura Langlie of the Laura Langlie Literary Agency. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, and drifted eastward, living in Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, and South Carolina, before coming back home to the Pacific Northwest.  Along the way, she studied Sociology, Ancient Languages, and Theology and clocked hours as a social worker, barista, 5th grade teacher, bookseller, faculty assistant, and reference librarian. But not all at the same time.  Marissa now lives in the Seattle area with her husband and three sons where she enjoys time spent around family, friends, and good books.

Her first novel, STORYBOUND, releases on 4/3/12.

From Marissa: 

“As far as strengths as a critiquer, I think I can offer my personal experience of the writing and revision process as well as being a Faculty Assistant for graduate level coursework. Hopefully this combination will interest some people!”

International

Bidding is open until January 31^st 9.30PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)

Day 12 - Item 1

From Katie Dale & Simon and Schuster

Someone Else’s Life by Katie Dale

How can you face your future when your past it a lie?
When Rosie Kenning's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntingdon's disease, her whole world falls apart. Not only does Rosie desperately miss her mum, but now she has to face the fact that she could have inherited the fatal illness herself. Until she discovers that Trudie wasn't her biological mother at all ...Rosie is stunned. Can this be true? Is she grieving for a mother who wasn't even hers to lose? And if Trudie wasn't her mother, who is? But as Rosie delves into her past to discover who she really is, she is faced with a heart-breaking dilemma - to continue living a lie, or to reveal a truth that will shatter the lives of everyone around her...

AND

Fated by Sarah Alderson

What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

UK only (outside the UK but still want it? Have a look here for the “Nozomi loophole”)

Bidding is open until January 31^st 9PM GMT
Bidding is in POUNDS (£)
These books are not signed.