“It’s finally here! It’s finally here!” – Me, running around my house this morning.
It seems like forever ago that I first announced Novel Boot Camp. I asked for topic ideas, your most common editing problems, and I spent hours upon hours (upon hours) writing and perfecting the course. Whew! It almost felt like Boot Camp was never going to arrive!
But here we are at the kickoff party – you with your manuscripts in hand and me ready to do nothing but eat, breathe, and sleep (or not sleep) Novel Boot Camp for the next month. It’s going to be a wild ride!
Before things get too crazy and some of you are inevitably reduced to tears with a bloody manuscript in your hands, let me say that the excitement and enthusiasm for Novel Boot Camp has reminded me of why I do what I do. It is the passion and dedication of writers like you that keeps me blogging, editing, and mentoring. You guys are the greatest!
To celebrate the kickoff party, keep meeting up with writing friends and critique partners (though I know some of you are at more than capacity in that department!) and let your friends and family know that you’ll be putting your pen where your passion is and might be a bit busier (and crazier) than usual. In order to keep the blog comments focused on the workshop, post your kickoff party excitement on Twitter and the FB group.
And now on to our first workshop!
Workshop #1: Genre Guessing Game
June 30 – July 6
For our first workshop, I want to focus on the most important aspect of editing – seeing your novel from the outside.
This is no easy task! You’ve toiled and slaved over your novel. You know it inside and out. If you’ve been editing it long enough, you can probably recite passages from heart. All of that is lovely and wonderful and passionate, but terrible for editing.
So for this first workshop, I want you to send your book out into the world – just a tiny piece of it – to see how it’s perceived by those outside yourself, by the people who know nothing about it.
Participants will submit the first 200 words of their manuscript. Guessers will attempt to identify the genre, tone, and basic plot of the novel. The objective is to have a bit of fun while exploring how your manuscript looks from the outside. Do people think your romantic comedy is a horror/thriller? Do readers expect your story of redemption to be a story of revenge?
Remember that how the Boot Campers perceive your novel is likely how agents and editors will perceive it too. We’ll be talking about why the reader’s perception of the first page is important in our first lecture tomorrow.
Warning: This is a new and totally untested workshop process. Please bare with me if there are any technical kinks or if things seem awkward. I wanted to do something unique so I hope it works!
How to Play the Genre Guessing Game
***Read the FULL directions and follow them or you will not be eligible to participate!***
Firstly, I understand that not all readers are comfortable sharing their work online. If you do not want to submit, you may still participate in the guessing.
How to Submit Your Opening
To streamline the process, decrease cheating, and increase participation, I will be posting all of the first pages anonymously (meaning that no one other than me will know whose first page is whose). If you attempt to submit your own first page, it will be deleted!
The submitted novel openings will be posted as quickly as possible, but since it must be done manually, there will likely be some delay.
Submit your novel’s opening in the form below. It will go to my email and I will manually post the first 200 words only (not your name, genre, tone, etc.) into the comments section.
Note that your novel’s opening is the very first 200 words. If you open with a prologue, use that rather than your first chapter.
How to Guess the Genre
In the comments section below this post, leave a reply to the novel openings submitted and post some or all of the following:
- Guess the Genre – Is it a contemporary romance? A YA paranormal? A horror/science fiction hybrid? Post your best guess. If you think it’s middle grade or young adult, please also include a genre (adventure, comedy, romance, etc.).
- Guess the Tone – What do you think the overall tone of this novel is? Is it creepy? Heartwarming? Spiritual? Disturbing? In other words, what adjective would you use to describe the book?
- Guess the Basic Plot – What do you think this novel is going to be about? What do you expect to happen?
- Do NOT post a critique of the opening or any comments about the writing quality or style. We will have a novel opening critique later in the month.
Please do not post your guesses anonymously unless you do not want to be eligible to win the prize for best guesser!
Sample comment/guess: I think this is a middle grade adventure story with a dark tone. I expect it to be about how the main character learns to overcome his fear of the water to defeat a sea monster.
What Should Writers Take Away?
The reader’s perception of your novel is more important than your own. Keep an eye on your novel’s opening this week to see how Boot Campers perceive your work. Is it right in line with your vision or way off?
Is the novel going to deliver what readers seem to expect? We’ll be talking about the importance of the first page’s promise in our first lecture tomorrow.
Prize – Free Edit of Your First 1,000 Words!
This workshop will have two winners! Due to the labor involved in posting, moderating, and then judging the posts, it may take me until after Novel Boot Camp to choose and notify the winners. How long it takes depends on the level of participation.
Award for the Best Guesser: This prize will go to the Novel Boot Camper with guessing power from the gods. In other words: the camper with the most correct guesses.
Award for the Best Opening: This prize will go to the opening that had its novel, genre, and basic plot guessed correctly the most often.
Both winners will receive a free edit of their first 1,000 words.
Connect with Other Novel Boot Camp Participants
Need a writing friend? Got a question? Need a shoulder to cry on? We’re there for you!
I will be answering writing and editing questions on our Twitter hashtag as time allows. Due to the insane volume of emails I’m receiving, I cannot provide free advice or assistance via email. Thank you!
What is Novel Boot Camp?
Novel Boot Camp is a free online novel writing course focused on identifying and correcting problems in your novel. Learn more about Novel Boot Camp and find past (and future) posts here.
Ellen Brock 
She watched as the life dripped from his eyes. Once they were filled with all the colours of the rainbow, as hers were, and yet now they shone a dull red; symbolizing his ascent into adulthood. The tears upon his cheek seemed red, as well. His body had rid itself of the ability to feel any emotion, except for one, anger. All the people of Tarth eventually become a living conduit of one of three emotions; anger, peace, or joy. The red in his eyes indicated that he had become a creature of anger. She was the first to meet this new person, and he was one of many to meet the living death.
***
Emmeria Hartfellia had been shoveling in the pig’s pen at the Emperial Farm all day. Her eyes stung from the sweat in them.
Slash marks bit at her left arm, yelling at her to not let the supervisor whip her anymore. Dried blood covered her shirt but her face still wore exhaustion like it was made for it.
Wow! Okay, here goes.
Genre: Sci-fi
Tone: Serious. This is going to be an intense read.
Basic Plot: Emmeria and a group of other characters become entwined in a struggle against the Emperial farm. The ability to master their emotions is central to their ability to resist and challenge the Emperial overlords.
GUESS: This is a young adult novel, with a dark tone, and is a dystopian with sci-fi elements about genetic modification.
Genre: YA dystopian sci-fi.
Tone: Dark, serious
Basic Plot: “She” meets and falls in love with “anger.” Together they allow Tarth (and the world) to experience all emotions.
Agreed!
Genre: Fantasy.
Tone: Dark and ‘gritty’.
Plot possibility 1: Emmeria runs away from the Emperial (Imperial?) farm and joins the people of Tarth to defeat the ‘living death’ and help the people to feel emotions normally.
Plot possibility 2: Emmeria, a slave, can enter Tarth, an alternate reality or mode of perception in which she can see people’s ‘true natures’ and the emotions that have overcome them. She uses her powers in this alternate reality to defeat evil.
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ si-fi
Tone: Serious
Basic Plot: Emmeria and “he” are in a relationship (romantic or family). As he entered into adulthood he became “a creature of anger” as he could not stand anymore the mistreat that Emmeria is experiencing at the Farm. Together they stand against the supervisor. Ultimately the Farm is “burn down” and he turns back into a creature of peace.
Fantasy
Serious, Dark, Angry
Emmeria will break from the single emotion and lead a rebellion to break everyone free from the emperialist.
Genre: YA Dystopian
Tone: Serious.
Basic Plot: Emmeria tries to escape her fate as she awaits what emotion her body will take as her adulthood nears.
Genre:Young Adult, distopian and possibly sci-fi.
Tone: Dark
Plot: Emmeria Hartfella is forced to labor at the Emperial Farm. Afraid of undergoing the inhumane ritual of becoming an adult, she either runs away or sparks civil unrest in hopes that Tarth will experience a revolution. The ‘new person’ she was the first to meet either becomes her ally or triggers her need to bring about some change.
I think the genre is dystopian, a miserable existence to be born into, The adjective that comes to mind is sad. This boy, who has now reached adulthood, will reject the future thrust upon him, and will show the people a new way of life.
My guess:
Genre Sci-fi, young adult, dystopian fiction
tone: serious
plot: Emmeria will become a living conduit (to use the writer’s wording) of peace. Somehow, she’ll join with others to rebel against the government of Tarth so that people can feel.
Genre: YA Sci-fi/fantasy, possibly dystopian
Tone: dark, serious, disturbing
Basic plot: The young people try to find a way to avoid this “change” at adulthood. Or maybe they find a way to fight against the process after it’s done and be the person they want to be. I assume the young man and young woman introduced in this passage are the protagonists and will be instrumental in rebelling against this process.
YA, Urban fantasy/dystopian
Serious/sad tone-sounds like a place I wouldn’t want to be
Plot: Humans are going through some sort of modification. Emperial Farm is a concentration camp that Emmeria and Anger will escape by rebelling against those who hold them captive or reject the modifications and feel all emotions.
GUESS: This is a YA supernatural fantasy with a dark and mysterious tone. I think the plot is about the supernatural beings – the living conduits of emotion, anger, peace and joy, the living death -attempting to overthrow the group that the supervisors belong to.
Genera: Adult, Dystopian/Science Fiction/Drama
Tone: Dark/Serious
Basic Plot: This story is about Slavery, and the different factions based on emotion. It’s up to one guy born into the faction of anger to over come this emotion and bring all of the factions together. Destroying the evil and cruel empire.
GENRE: Fantasy
TONE: Dark
BASIC PLOT: In the Kingdom of Tarth, the people are arbitrarily changed by the Empire into one of three classes upon puberty. Emmeria doesn’t change and must find a way to reverse the process and free the people of the Empire.
Genre:Fantasy/ Sci-fi.
Tone: Serious
Plot: From a Utopian existence, their world became one of pain and enslavement, that has gone on for some time.
I’m expecting some kind of revolt, working towards returning to that once known peace, but the rainbows seen in their eyes will never truly return.
I think this is fantasy in genre with a tone that is intense/dark. The basic plot is that Emmeria falls in love with the angry living dead mentioned and tries to help him change to a creature of peace or joy. No one has ever done this before, and she will have to sacrifice her own life to make it happen.
Genre: young adult fantasy – I’m thinking maybe a fresh look at the vampire theme
Tone: dark, gritty and emotive
Plot: could be this new born Tarth originates from the Emperial Farm. His anger stems from the cruelty he has witnessed there and he will use his living death powers to save Emmeria and the others
YA sci-fi with dystopian elements. Darker tone. Emmeria meets a guy who also has her talent, they maybe join up with some more people and start a rebellion, or the government finds out about them, and they have to run away and start the rebellion from wherever.
Genre: Sci-fi
Tone: Dark
Basic Plot: After falling in love with (red), the two of them fight their own natures and try to bring a balance of the three emotions to the world, but there are some out there that aren’t too keen on the idea. The truth is, this is the empire’s way to oppress the people, and as a result of their defiance, (red) is killed.
Genre: Dystopian/Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Tone: serious
Basic Plot: Emmeria and her brother work at the Emperial Farm as slaves. The story is about them overcoming the living death and gaining freedom.
Sci fi/mystical genre. Maybe YA. Slightly dark tone. The heroine is still too young to have morphed into her adult being. Against all odds, she will be on a quest to ensure that she doesn’t not alter into the anger realm.
I think this is a YA supernatural dystopian story with an oppressive tone. I expect it to be about how the main character/s will learn to control there own emotions and use them to overcome there oppressors and free there people.
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Tone: Dark
Plot: The person who became a “creature of anger” is a relative of Emmeria. Her adventures will be tied to this person’s fate. Their bond either of love or hate will rule many of her choices throughout the story.
YA Dystopia. Dark tone. The boy who was transformed into anger was a friend from childhood. She rebels against the Empire and together with the boy and other allies, they overthrow Empire and the people of Tarth are able to have and experience all emotions and are no longer bound to only one.
I think this is a scifi story with a serious tone. Emmeria will probably be one of the ones they try to change into a conduit.
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Tone: Serious
Basic Plot: Protagonist who defies the tripartite structuring of society must survive/overthrow those in control of the system.
YA Fantasy with a serious tone. “She” seems like will be involved in a love story with this “other” that isn’t what he once was. Emerreria seems to be ramping up for an escape plot.
I think this is a young adult sci-fi story with a dark tone.
I expect it to be about Emmeria and friends maturing *beyond* their own expected emotional conduits and having to face the trinity of the Living death/Angel of peace/Jester and deal with what is *really* behind the brutality of the Emperial Farm
Genre: Dark fantasy
Tone: Ominous
Plot: Emmeria Fighting against Emperial Farm and getting emotions back.
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Tone: severe
Plot: Emmeria returns to Tarth where she meets with Anger. Together they overthrow the force that controls everyone’s emotions.
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Tone: Dark
Plot: Emmeria emerges as the only one capable of saving mankind when Tarth falls under attack from the creatures of anger.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Tone: mysterious, without hope (for the second part)
Plot: Emmeria Hartfellia witnessed her best friend’s ascenion into adulthood and soon after he tried to kill her. There are three emotions that the people of Tarth become in adulthood. Emmeria hopes for joy or peace. She has witnessed what anger can do and the life she has now is difficult. Joy or peace would be a blessing, but what if there was a fourth emotion?
Dark Fantasy/possibly in a dystopian setting. Dark, foreboding tones. Elements of good vs. evil and courage in the face of injustice are prevalent in this first page. There will be a enormous battle waged and much will be lost but even more will be gained in the end when good triumphs and justice prevails.
G: Sci-fi
T: Action packed
Plot: The people with the different emotions will have to fight each other. Good vs. Evil.
I will never be the same again.
Nate felt the premonition like a cold whisper against the back of his neck. The feeling was strong enough to form words. Nate felt them creep all the way down his spine to settle in his gut with the weight of certainty.
Nothing will ever be the same.
Nate’s first thought was that someone had put an ice-cube down his t-shirt. He glanced behind him. “Aki, if this is your idea of a joke—“
The mixologist glanced up from across the long granite slab that was the bar. As soon as she saw Nate was by himself, she returned her gaze to the couple deliberating over the menu.
Nate turned back to face the dance floor. He was alone.
Or as alone as it was possible to get in a club as popular as Plan 9.
The club always had a good crowd, but tonight a live band had increased the regular payday crowd numbers. The house D.J. had turned up lights and music to fill in the gap left as the band took a break. Strobe lights caught the lingering dry ice from the stage show, giving the packed dance floor an air of mystery that teased and thrilled.
genre: romance/horror
tone:creepy?
plot:I expect that either a love interest will be revealed or some in-explainable thing is going to happen. I’m thinking that the love interest is actually some serial killer. Maybe I am just naturally pessimistic…hmmm. Either way the narrator will eventually see something and then plunge into a horrific story with blood and violence.
GUESS: This is an adult novel, with a dark tone, and is a mystery/thriller and I expect to have romance and a plot that I can’t guess until the end. A something that happened in the past that won’t be told to the reader until the end.
An adult paranormal with a creepy tone. I think this is about Nate finding out he can see ghosts or some other kind of supernatural being.
genre: Adult Thriller
tone:Dark
plot:Gosh this one is hard! I wanna say that there is a murder mystery at the club that he has to figure out.
Genre: Metaphysical & Visionary
Tone: Serious
Basic Plot: The plot will evolve around Nate’s premonition. I have a feeling that some sort of crime will occur, murder? Maybe someone is after Aki and he will try to prevent it from happening wit a help of his abilities.
A romantic comedy. The adjective that comes to mind is depressed. Nate’s life could get no worse. He’s in a crowd of people but he is alone. I see Nate struggling with life’s lessons; possibly winning the heart of his true love.
NA, urban comtemporary. This is one of those where we need to see a little more! But I suspect there is something scary going on that the MC will need to solve and doing that will change him dramatically in the process.
Genre: Romance, with perhaps a dash of crime-thriller
Tone: Angsty
Plot: Young man breaks up with girlfriend at Nightclub; something bad begins to happen soon afterward; he ends up with the bartender-girl by the end of the story.
Genre: adult paranormal or thriller
Tone: dark, suspenseful
Basic plot: Nate realizes that his premontion was accurate when something horrible happens. Perhaps he’s always had premonitions, or this could be his first. I think the story will go on to explore the aftermath of this awful thing that occurs.
Paranormal romance
Creepy tone
Maybe Nate has an ability to know when something bad is going to happen. I feel that something sinister is going on in the bar and Nate will be thrust into a nightmarish situation.
GUESS: I think the theme is paranormal romance with a mysterious and sinister tone. I think the plot will be about putting together the premonitions he sees to discover the main conflict of the plot. I also think there will be a twist ending about what it is that won’t “ever be the same again”.
GENRE: YA romance
GENRE: YA Romance/Mystery
TONE: Mysterious/Atmospheric – author wants the reader to feel the surroundings
BASIC PLOT: Nate is about to have the adventure of his life and learn things about himself he never knew
Genre: Adult Fiction, Supernatural Thriller
Tone: Serious, cold
Plot: Nate experiences something possibly supernatural/ an unusual murder? His journey will be that of working out why this is happening, maybe it’s something he can’t avoid now.
I think this is psychological thriller with a gripping tone. It will be about a man haunted by voices in his mind who ends up trying to track down an imaginary killer. One of his split personalities will end up being the murderer in question.
Genre: Suspense/Mystery
Tone : Dark
Basic Plot: “Detective” Nate went undercover to a club to stake out his suspects, when he gets a premonition of things to come. Whether that premonition is supernatural or just strong intuitiveness from being on the force so long remains to be seen. He looked to find his partner Aki, but realized he was there alone probably because Aki had been killed at some point. I’m sure a beautiful woman will come up to him next, and distract him from his mission, which ends up getting into a hairy gun fight in the club. He gets the woman out of there, and now she slowly becomes a love interest throughout the story, as he tries to bring down the bad guys.
Genre: Adult supernatural
Tone: modern, creepy
Plot: I think Plan 9 is Nate’s usual haunt and that he would normally visit with friends. This night he is alone, it is busier than normal… perhaps mistaken identity or he gets chatting to a member of the band who effects his life for the worst
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Tone: Dark, creepy
Basic Plot: Nate’s world is about to change. After a night of strange occurrences, he is faced the mystery of all the strange things that are opening up around him, and must find out what they are.
I think this is a supernatural mystery with a whimsical tone. I expect it to be about Nate learning to control his premonitions to solve the cases and possibly stop murders or other crimes from happening before they happen.
Genre: Paranormal/Mystery
Tone: Supernatural
Plot: Nate will find himself in the middle of supernatural events that will help him to fully realize his abilities. As he goes through these changes he will have to either solve a mystery or prevent a tragedy.
Genre: supernatural/ urban fantasy
tone: creepy
Plot: Nate is going to encounter some supernatural entity, which will enhance his life but with fatal consequences.
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Romance
Tone: Otherwordly
Plot: Nate and the mixologist will meet up, she will introduce him to her world or vice versa
Romance with a light-hearted tone. Romantic tension between Nate and the Mixologist and whomever is about to come into Plan 9 and turn their world upside down.
These feels like a sci-fi horror set up, maybe young adult but definitely not too young.
I’d guess the plot here was Nate dealing with some form of loss, possibly a family member or friend, and in his depression leads to opening up these premonitions to him that he’ll learn to trust and use to somehow to survive the manifestations of his loneliness as “hauntings”
Genre: suspense/thriller
Tone: serious/but with comic relief
Plot: Nate will find a dead body (perhaps of a stranger, but someone he is connected to in a way he doesn’t yet know/remember) and must find the killer. (Twist ending, it was Nate!)
Genre:Fiction, Horror, Adult
Tone: Supernatural
Plot: Nate and his friends unintentionally evoke an entity, who is now haunting them to accomplish certain tasks in the physical realm. They must now free themselves from the entity and banish it to where it came.
Genre: Urban
Tone: Foreboding
Plot: Something happens at the club which will change Nate’s life forever.
Paranormal. Darker tone with some humour. Not sure about the plot, but at some point he meets a girl.
Genre: Suspense/crime drama
Tone: mysterious
Plot: Nate has the ability to see into the future. He predicts a murder and does his best to prevent it
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Tone: Dark
Plot: Nate is involved in or witnesses a crime that he isn’t supposed to see. Bad forces are after him and he flees. The only way to ensure his safety is to unravel what happened.
Genre: NA Supernatural
Tone: mysterious
Plot: Nate is an owner of the up and coming club Plan 9. Everything seems to be going his way until he starts having visions. He doesn’t know what they are, but as he learns more about them, he realizes his life will never be the same.
G: Paranormal suspense
T: Serious/Action
Plot: Nate has to help Aki find his murderer, who happens to be a demon.
June 2007
The rain pounded down in sheets, cutting sideways against the windows. Wipers pumped out a steady rhythm as she drove down Main to work. Weather here in Indiana was typically dreary and tonight was no exception. Sarah pushed hard on the brakes to avoid hitting the object that appeared glowing in the headlights. Oh God, Oh God!
The wheels were still spinning on the silver sedan, only they weren’t touching the ground, they were in the air. Thin smoky tendrils rose from the engine, resembling ghosts playing in the darkness.
Sarah walked over and peered cautiously into the broken front window. The rain had taken a short break, thankfully. The woman’s hair dangled eerily, moving now and then with the breeze that blew through the gaping hole in the glass. The woman’s chest was still. The reflection of raindrops on the glass was mesmerizing; traveling down her ashen face. The smell of blood was metallic in the air.
“Can you hear me? Hello?” she called loudly. No answer.
Turning away she gulped damp air, the scene tilted severely. She tried to punch the numbers into the phone, hands shaking. Thunder rolled across the sky, echoing off the buildings.
genre:horror I swear this has got to be horror
tone: dark
plot: the lady disappears. She reappears every now and again as the narrator goes through normal life, eventually putting her in a struggle between reality and illusion.
GUESS: This is an adult novel, with a serious tone, and is a mystery/thriller. I’m not sure what to expect from the plot.
genre: zombie/survival horror
tone: dark/gritty
plot: Sarah is about to discover that she is in an abandoned city, and the life she has always known is no more.
Adult mystery, serious tone, about a life being changed due to an accident. I see why other people are thinking horror and I can see that too…maybe the protagonist will be haunted by this woman, and unravel the mystery of her life, and how she came to suddenly appear on a road.
Seems adult themed. Romance
Serious, dark
He is a serial killer and hangs out in clubs to find his next victim.
Mystery
Dark
She is caught in the middle of a murder and now is on the run for her life.
Genre: Crime thriller or mystery.
Tone: Possibly dark, possibly less dark and more brisk after this.
Plot: Trying to figure out who the dead woman is, Sarah realises that they’re somehow connect and/or unearths some mystery or hidden crime that she has to solve at great risk to herself.
Genre: Crime/Thriller/Paranormal
Tone: Serious
Basic Plot: I’m torn between normal crime where Sarah has to face the consequences of hitting someone with a car, facing a risk of loosing not only her freedom but her family as well. On the other hand as she comes down she realizes that there’s no one there. Maybe it is a ghost of a person who was killed on that road years back and its sicking revenge. Sarah becomes a target. The ghost starts to follow her around turning her peaceful life into a nightmare.
There isn’t much information to go on so my best guess is Mystery. The mood is cold, uncertain, eery. Sara is alone at a crash site with a dead woman. Perhaps she has entered an alternate world where she is implicated in the accident and goes on trial to save her life.
Genre:adult horror, thriller
Tone: dark, mysterious
Basic Plot: There is a mystery surrounding the woman in the windshield. Why was she in the road? How is Sarah going to deal with this? I’m a little confused since Sarah is driving, then she’s approaching the car. Was she thrown out of the car. Maybe she was seeing her own dead body and she’s no longer in it. That would be a whole different story-a ghost story.
My best guess is horror/paranormal
Tone is dark
The ghost of the woman haunts Sarah, prompting her to delve into the woman’s life.
GENRE: Horror
TONE: Dark, mysterious
BASIC PLOT: This will be the first in a series of situations that will drive Sarah’s life until she figures out why she has been chosen to witness so much death and mayhem
I think this is a mystery with a chilling tone. It will be about a woman who’d died before the accident. The main character will attempt to solve the mystery of the driver that no one knows while being brought up on charges of manslaughter.
Genre: adult supernatural
Tone: dark in a normal practical life. I think this will be a supernatural tale carefully woven into a the life of a normal woman, making it seem all the more real and believable
Plot: I keep thinking that Sarah is looking at her own dead body
Genre: Horror
Tone: Dark/Eerie
Basic Plot: After crashing into and potentially killing a woman on the road, Sarah’s mind begins slowly breaking down and she is haunted by the woman she had killed.
Genre: Contemporary Adult
Tone: Serious, Drama
Plot: The plot will be about how this fatal accident affects Sarah. She will be severely shaken by the event and end up on a quest for meaning in her life post-accident. This quest will lead her to meet people she never would have encountered before.
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Tone: suspense/creepy
Plot: The main character keeps meeting people at the moment of there death, unknown why they all seem to die around her, she investigates and find out it is some kind of epidemic, possibly a top secret virus, later the main character finds out no one is safe from this virus and there for try’s to survive it with others that she meet along the way, the virus could possibly bring back the dead as a kind of zombie.
Adult, women’s fiction. Tone: serious. Plot: How lives change in ways we least expect them.
Genre: horror/ mystery
Tone: Dark, dreary
Plot: A ghost story with the person wrecked coming after Sarah and Sarah has to solve her murder
Thriller/Mystery. Dark and Horrific Tone. Sarah could either have to escape this trouble or perhaps pursue finding who this person is.
I thought possibly alien/sci-fi at first, but Sarah went from driving to being outside the car and a dead woman inside a car. So I’m gonna say Horror, just straight up horror.
Sarah’s now dead, and has to learn to deal with being a ghost and solve the mystery of whatever it was that caused her accident.
Genre: Horror/thriller
Tone: dark/serious
Plot: The woman who died haunts Sarah, leading Sarah to search out why this fate had befallen her.
Genre: Horror, supernatural fiction, adult
Tone: creepy
Plot: Sarah finally is able to get help. The victim is pronounced dead and Sarah is forced to live with the haunting memory of what she saw that night.,Life goes on as usual until the lady is suddenly seen again and things take a turn for the worse.
Genre: Crime Thriller
Tone: Dark
Plot: The car crash is something more sinister then a mere accident, and Sarah’s involvement will put her in danger.
Genre: Horror
Tone: Dark
Plot: Mysterious woman plagues Sarah because she is trying to communicate with her. Only when Sarah realizes her message will the hauntings cease.
Horror / murder mystery. Darker tone. People keep dying in car accidents, and Sarah ends up figuring out who killed them.
Genre: Horror
Tone: eerie
Plot: Supernaturnal turn of events.
Supernatural ;o)
Genre: Horror
Tone: Dark
Plot: Sarah is haunted by the accident, tries to put it behind her but can’t let it rest until she discovers what the woman she killed wants.
Genre: Women’s Lit
Tone: tragic, horrifying
Plot: Sarah witnesses a tragic accident. She didn’t think twice about stopping and seeing if she could help. What she didn’t know was that helping a stranger once, would change her life forever.
Dust swirls around in cursive when I kick tiny pebbles across the parking lot. Potholes litter the less used portion of the blacktop, and I hang back waiting for a lull in customer activity. Frank Allen is working the register, letting his son stock the shelves because his kid has been useless at small talk lately; missing his cue for ‘Did you find everything okay?’ and always forgetting the ‘Have a great day’. Through the wall of glass windows I watch a few people dart around the modest convenient store, grabbing staples and alcohol, before heading home for dinner. I haven’t seen Mabel all day.
Grass at the edge of the lot rustles, inches from my feet.
Something flashes in the corner of my eye and I jump back when I see a black snake swim into the bushes. I shake out my hands that I’ve tangled anxiously at my mouth while waiting. My nails, jagged from chewing them so much, catch on my shirt when I straighten it. I have to get a job. I have to get myself out of this town. Eventually.
The bell above the door rings when I walk in. As soon as he sees me, his face turns somber and apologetic.
genre: romantic
tone: light with hints of sadness and loss mixed in
plot: The narrator lost someone and now the towns people feel very sorry for him/her. Mabel is this person’s love interest throughout the entirety of the novel and I think that there will be a lot of drama concerning this novel.
genre: coming of age
tone: bittersweet
plot: the narrator has recently experienced a family tragedy that is the impetus for their examination of their life and unhappiness with their situation. They are about to start a journey to find his or her place in the world.
GUESS: This is a young adult novel, with a sad tone, and has family issues. A MC who feels alone.
YA
Serious
She gets a job at the store and falls in love, but her heart is broken and she leaves town to find her way in life.
Genre: Adventure
tone: Sad
Basic Plot: The main character is feeling claustrophobic in a small town that she/he spent her/his entire life. She/he always wanted to get out but now as something unexpected happened she feels like its time to move. The journey to “freedom” brings new worries and excitement.
Genre: Frankly, I’m not sure. Perhaps a kind of Bildungsroman or other story about personal-realization?
Tone: Introspective
Plot: Girl (or is it a boy? The comment about fingernails seems to fit the former) leaves unsatisfying small-town life for an exciting job elsewhere.
Mystery. The adjective that comes to mind is betrayed. The main character, who has lost everything, has nothing to lose as he enters the store to retrieve what is his.
Genre: YA romance or coming of age
Tone: sad, heartfelt, dramatic
Basic plot: This young person recently had something tragic or humiliating occcur in his life-perhaps to his family. This Mabel plays a big part. Maybe she is avoiding him/her. The story will relate the difficulties of living in a small town and wanting to run away from where everyone knows your problems and history.
GUESS: I think the genre is contemporary romance. The tone is light but sad. I think the plot will be about him a love interest who frees him from his boring life and they get out of town together.
YA/Coming of Age
Tone is sad
Main charactor seems lost, maybe doesn’t fit in. Feels like a small town where everyone knows each other. Someone new is bound to come into town and turn things upside down.
GENRE: Horror
TONE: dark, mysterious
BASIC PLOT: something bad is about to descend on the small town where our protagonist lives
I think this is contemporary coming-of-age fiction with an uplifting tone. I predict the main character takes a risk by selling his store and moving to another town to get in touch with a former high school flame, whom he discovers is happy in her new life. When he decides to follow his passion of writing and takes a job as a reporter, he discovers that life is what you make of it and happiness is achievable.
Genre: Adventure
Tone: Light-hearted, suspenseful
Basic Plot: He had been working to escape this town, but after he is fired from his job, his hope begins to dwindle, until something happens that sets him out on his own, forcing him to take on the outside world and find his new home.
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Tone: serious
Basic Plot: Girl has dull life in dull town, wants to get out. A mysterious stranger comes to town and she falls in love with him. Through him she finds out that the world is more complex than she ever imagined.
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Tone: moody
Plot: Wants to leave but something happens to keep her in town. Perhaps a new love interest?
Genre: adventure. Tone: serious but playful. Plot: Is living with abusive partner, needs to break free and find self.
YA Contemporary Romance in an emotional (but not melodramatic) tone about a girl who gets her heart broken, falls in love (again), and, through establishing relationships with her town and new bf, is empowered when she leaves after graduation.
New adult romance. It has a sad but lighthearted tone. She’s trying to get out of town because something bad has happened
YA Coming of Age Plot with a light-hearted tone. She has dreams, what’s she going to have to do to fulfill them?
Historical Fiction, Young Adult- I got a sort of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” feel from this. I think the narrator here will have to do just as he/she states – get a job, get out of town … eventually – but in the process grow to love the town and the people in it and maybe make some huge impact on it? Perhaps the snake is symbolic of political or police corruption in town?
Genre – YA supernatural
Tone – Serious w/deadpan humor/a bit of Romance on the side
Plot – Protagonist’s life in boringsville, USA is too mundane, he/she yearns for something “more”. Meets some guy/girl who reveals there is more to boringsville than MC knew about, and they go about unraveling mysterious plot of the bad guys to (same thing we do every night) TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
Genre: YA Fiction
Tone: Anxious
Plot: Main character gets the job and does much better than the son. This leads to conflict, but also more opportunities. Or, doesn’t get the job and a better opportunity comes along.
Genre: NA, Coming of Age Fiction
Tone: somber, angsty
Plot: MC desperately sets out, jobless, trying to change her life and make it better.
Genre: Coming of Age
Tone: Youthful, Bittersweet
Plot: Something bad happened to the main character at the hands of the Allen family. He/she has to learn to get past it and make his/her own way in the world, leaving the small town behind.
Genre: YA
Tone: despondent, yearning
Plot: MC comes from a small town. MC experienced tragedy that everyone knows about. MC grieves, but wants something more from life and feels guilty for feeling that way. MC feels something for Mabel, but they’re only friends. MC needs direction, guidance, but has no one to turn to.
G: YA coming of age
T: desperate/action
Plot: She is stuck in a small town and seeks adventure. During this adventure she runs into many pitfalls and longs for the quiet of her home town.
The day started like most Sundays. Except for the electric chair.
I’d finished my chores, and was dumping smelly trash bags in the garbage cans beside the garage. I heard laughing and looked around the corner.
My two brothers motioned for me to come in. “We were just gonna come find you,” said my oldest brother. “You’re not gonna believe what we’ve got.”
I should have known better, but I went in anyway. A rusty old bicycle with only one wheel was hooked up to a long rubber belt that was attached to a tall cylinder with a shiny metal sphere on top. All kinds of wires ran from the ball to a chrome- and red-vinyl dental chair Dad picked up at a garage sale.
“Help us test our lie detector,” my middle brother said, patting the torn seat. “It doesn’t work on us because we know how to fool it.”
My feet didn’t move, but I leaned in to get a better look. It was like watching the needle go in when I got a shot. I just couldn’t help myself. “I-I’m not sure.”
“Would we do anything to hurt you?” My middle brother snickered.
GUESS: This is a young adult novel, with a dark tone, and is a horror/thriller with a lot of family elements. Evil family members, and secret pasts.
YA contemporary romance about a girl who is an outsider in her home and school meeting a boy who gets to know her while she finds herself.
Genre: YA contemporary growing-up story.
Tone: Slightly lighthearted.
Plot: MC is bullied by his/her older brothers, but his/her parents ignore it. Through school experiences and new friends, he/she ‘discovers’ him/herself and eventually comes to terms with his/her difficult family life as a child.
YA
humor, romance
A boy struggles to find himself, as the little brother. He becomes a hero saving his brothers from death.
Genre: Young Adult
Tone: dark
Plot: Main Character eventually agrees to test the lie detector but something goes wrong. She gets hurt, maybe even dies. The brothers are so scared of their parents that they trying to cover it up.
Genre:young adult/ coming of age/ romance
Tone: dark
Plot: narrator comes out of the abusive relationship shared with family and meets the the world abroad.
Young adult. Mischievous. Boys will be boys. The boys will create the next new invention and become famous.
Genre: YA humor/coming of age
Tone:humorous, light tone
Basic plot: I think this is a story about growing up in a quirky family and having to overcome such things as the torture by older siblings. It will include a lot of funny events, some heartfelt ones, too.
GUESS: I think this is YA coming-of-age adventure, with rebellious tones. I think the plot will be about the effect the electric chair had on him, whatever it may be: physical injury, emotional damage, the need to run away etc. and what he does to be able to cope with it’s effects. I think adventure!
YA
Tone serious
I have a feeling that this boy’s brothers are going to do something to him that will change everything, unsure whether it’s good or bad. Could be a horrible accident or the cause of him obtaining a cool ability. Probably some family drama mixed with loss.
GENRE: YA adventure
TONE: Adventure
BASIC PLOT: 3 brothers [inventive little guys] are about to embark on an adventure where their skills for getting into things will ultimately save them
Genre:YA, thriller/horror
Tone: Serious
Plot: Family secrets revealed or supernatural elements via the chair once she sits in it.
I think this is a YA comedy/coming-of-age with a playful tone. I think the story covers the boy’s first one or two years of high school, following his ups and downs: failing his first test, going with his first date to a dance, trying out for the football team and realizing he’s better suited to golf. By the end, he realizes who his true friends are and that high school is a necessary evil on the roller coaster of life, so he might as well make it fun.
Genre: YA
Tone: Suspenseful
Basic Plot: After she is accidentally electrocuted by her brothers, she faces the world that has been affected by her death.
Genre: YA with horror tones to it.
Tone: dark
Basic Plot: A kid gets bullied by their elder siblings, unbeknownst to their parents. They have to find the strength to overcome their bullying and find a way to make peace with their family.
Genre: YA
Tone: Dark
Plot: The main character’s older brothers go too far this time and something goes horribly wrong with the prank. Because of this, nothing will ever be the same again between the MC and his/her brothers. A tragic coming of age story.
MG fantasy adventure in a light tone. Kid goes to a fantasy land, becomes a hero, and then puts older brothers in their place.
YA, light-hearted tone. “She” is going to have adventures with and against these brothers.
Young Adult comedy mystery/horror similar to the tone of “Bunnicula” (not TOO dark) where the brothers have to solve a mystery and the narrator is now a spirit/ghost assisting them from beyond.
Genre – MG adventure
Tone – Humorous/fun
Plot – Brothers electrocute MC, but it’s ok because it gives him special powers, which he must use to stop the bad guys from (same thing we do every night)…
Genre: MG horror/thriller
Tone: dark, creepy
Plot: MC is abused by brothers, he finally gets himself free, but, fearing the consequences for their actions, the brothers hunt him down.
Genre: YA
Tone: Humorous with evil, sadistic undertones (sibling stuff)
Plot: Kid is tortured by his brothers until one day when he outsmarts them all and gets his revenge.
G: YA thriller
T: adventurous
Plot: The boys find the chair was used to kill a serial murderer and his ghost now haunts them.
GUESS: This is a young adult novel, with a dark tone, and is a horror/thriller with a lot of family elements. Evil family members, and secret pasts.
I’m on my knees, hands buried to the wrists in dirt. My fingers lock around something long and smooth. I pull, and a thick, white bone comes easily through the soil, releasing puffs of earthy smelling dust. I stare at the bone in disbelief. On the ground in front of me more bones have breached the soil. This can’t be real. I inhale a shaky breath, and some of the dust. Threads of panic twist through my body, like live wires under my skin. I rock back on my heels, dropping the bone. To my left a clump of hunchbacked trees stretch their parched branches out, looking for water in the middle of the barren summer. Rows of gleaming gravestones stretch back into darkness, all of them planted heavily in the parched brown soil like grey teeth in rotting gums.
I must be dreaming. Someone tell me I’m dreaming. My heart is beating too fast in my chest, and my breath escapes in small pants.
“It’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a dream.”
“It’s not a dream,” a male voice says from behind me.
I whirl around and the shadow of branches from a Palo Verde tree have settled
GUESS: This is an adult novel, with a dark tone, and is a paranormal thriller/romance. The main character finds something and is brought into a new world of things.
Fantasy, horror
Dark, spooky
She is a vampire hunter but finds romance.
Genre: supernatural horror/thriller
Tone: dark and sadistic
Plot: narrator learns of the existence of supernatural creatures and is thrust into this archaic world without their consent.
Genre: adult paranormal
Tone: Dark, creepy
Basic Plot: She finds herself in this graveyard with no knowledge of how she got there or why she is digging in the dirt. The person who spoke to her will explain why she is there. I think there is some ancient mystery surrounding the bones that she will be involved in solving.
GUESS: I think the genre is horror/thriller with dark, creepy tones. I think the plot will be about discovery, trying to find things out about whatever it is she has stumbled across.
Paranormal/Thriller
dark
Main character discovers deadly secrets and will ultimately pay the price for digging them up.
Genre: Thriller
Tone: dark
Plot: MC turns around and sees the dark creature who is dressed in a long black rope with a hood on. He captures her. Throughout the novel the MC will try to escape.
Genre:Adult Fiction, Supernatural / Horror
Tone: Creepy
Plot: Encounters a murderer or supernaturals, kipnapped and has to escape/face up to a new reality.
Paranormal thriller. Eerie comes to mind. The main character has slipped into a nightmare; death all around. The male voice has been waiting for this person to appear and together they will find a way out.
I think this is a mystery with a creepy tone. It is about a hundred year old body that fits the description of a missing persons report. The main character gets wrapped up in attempting to solve the murder and realizes her family has something to do with the secret of the death.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Romance
Tone: serious
Basic Plot: A woman finds a dead body. She meets the detective working the case; he tells her she’s somehow connected to the murder. He has they have to solve the case before she gets killed as well. They do so, and fall in love in the process.
GENRE: YA Horror
TONE: Dark
BASIC PLOT: Our protagonist finds herself thrust into mystery
Genre: Murder/Mystery/Thriller
Tone: Dark, creepy
Plot: The protagonist has a deadly dance with a serial killer.
Genre: Adult thriller. Tone: Sinister. Plot: MC plays detective and stumbles into something bigger than she can handle.
Dark YA: Buffy Vampire Slayer / Zombie Hunter crossover.
Monsters are taking over the world. Chick assembles team of unlikely heroes to save humanity (or at least her reputation). Part one.
I think this has a sad or scary tone, probably a paranormal romance. Said guy shows The narrator his life and about his kind, whether it be vampire or some other creature
Horror/Thriller with a dark and creepy tone. “She” (although gender isn’t absolutely established) is going to have to struggle to escape this “dream” reality.
Horror/suspense, dark tone, adult readers. The narrator is faced with the dark visage of some Native American source and must help settle the spirit of his ancestors who have been wronged.
Genre – YA supernatural/thriller
Tone – Dark, serious
Plot – It is a dream…you can’t trust male voices from behind you. No, but really, I have no idea at this point.
Thought it seems everyone else says something different, I’m getting a dark paranormal. I’d guess it has something to do with an archeologist (spelled that wrong :/) who finds something she wasn’t supposed to find.
Genre: Horror/Romance
Tone: Dark
Plot: She finds romance in a vampire met at a gravesite.
Genre: Horror
Tone: Fearful
Plot: The voice is the dead person whose bones are in the ground.
Genre: Thriller with a speculative twist
Tone: foreboding, dark
Plot: MC wakes from her dream, realizing she has the ability to solve cold cases through “enlightened” dreams. she talks to dead people
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mystery
Tone: Suspenseful Thriller
Plot: All of her friends and family are dead. She has to make her way in a new place in a new order of beings.
G: Sci-fi/Dystopia
T: dark
Plot: People return to earth after a world war that destroys most of the population who didn’t flee to another planet.
Genre: adult paranormal
Tone: Dark
Basic Plot: The protagonist went to sleep and wakes up in a Graveyard not sure how or
why they are there. The man who speaks to them is going to explain why they are there
and it will change their lifes for ever.
Elise peeled off her dripping petticoats and wiped the pond-scum from her legs. Her mother rushed into her room with a bucket of water. ‘I’m sorrry it’s cold; I hadn’t time to heat it. Oh, darling! What have you done with yourself? Agnes, please take the dog outside.’
‘Who’s the visitor?’ asked Elise. She plunged her arms into the icy water, fresh from the well. While she scrubbed to her elbows, her mother jerked a comb through her hair. Straw drifted to the floor.
‘Thank heaven you washed your hair last night. This will have to do.’ She pulled Elise’s best dress over her head and sighed. ‘Oh, dear, you’ve grown again. Here, another petticoat.’
‘Mother, who is it?’ asked Elise.
Her mother mumbled around a mouthful of hairpins.
‘Lord Peter? This Lord Peter? Mother, he’s not going to take away our land, is he?’
‘Don’t be silly, child. Your father owns our land. Not even the king could take it. Now where’s your sash?’
‘What do you expect he wants? He’s never come to our house before.’
‘Not as Lord Peter, no. He’s visited your father as an old friend every Eastertide since you were a baby. We weren’t allowed to tell you until now, you see.’
Guess: I think this is a historical romance story with a light tone. I expect that Lord Peter has some secrets in his past and is possibly a love interest for Elise.
Historical romance, light tone, and I think Elsie is going to fall in love with Lord Peter, but I think she’s quite young in this exert, so I wonder if it’s a prologue of their first meeting?
This is a YA Historical Romance, with a light tone. There are family secrets and things to overcome before they can be together.
Historical Romance
Serious
Elise falls for a man who plans on taking their land from her father.
Genre:historical fiction/coming of age
Tone: there is evil in this world, and I cannot keep you from it
Plot: the Lord tells the narrator to pack up their things because there is a grand quest awaiting! Along the way there may be a love inrerest
Genre: historical fiction, YA, romance
Tone: mysterious, but not too dark.
Basic Plot: There is some mystery tied to why her mother couldn’t tell her of the relationship b/n her father and this man, and she will soon find out why. She is failry young, and this man is older, but this is historical fiction, so it’s possible that he wants her hand in marriage in exchange for not taking their land.
GUESS: I think this is going to be a historical romance with a light and mischievous tone. I think the plot will be about Elise not being an apt female suitor for a high person, but she becomes the love interest of Lord Peter or someone in his company.
Historical romance
light/funny
Elise will learn family secrets that will change her life. Lord Peter will have some unsettling news for the family. I love that she is full of mud, reminds me of my girls.
G: Historical
T: serious
P: Lord Peter is Elise’s father and had to keep her safe for all those years as there was a danger. Someone would have killed her if they knew of her existence. Now the Lord has to revile his secret because his sick and will die soon. He needs his daughter to take over his goods. Elise will have to fight in order to get what is rightly hers.
Genre:YA, Historical Romance
Tone: Light-hearted
Plot: Lord becomes her love interest, although at first both fight it, some conflict concerning the land.
Historical, possibly a period piece. Happy for now. I think Elsie’s life, as she knows it, might be coming to an end.
I think this is a YA historical fiction in which Elise’s parents have arranged a marriage between Elise and Lord Peter in order to secure their land and gain money. Elise falls in love with one of his stable boys or servants and has to figure out whether to aid her family or follow her heart.
Genre: Historical Romance
Tone: light
Basic plot: Elise is a nobleman’s daughter in Victorian England. She’s a free spirit who doesn’t want to marry. Lord Peter, an old friend of her father’s comes to help the family save their estate. His condition: that Elise marry his son/nephew, whom she hates. They do slowly fall in love though.
GENRE: YA Fantasy
TONE: light/adventurous/romance
BASIC PLOT: Elise discovers she is a princess, but is tested before she may claim her heritage
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Tone: Light
Plot: Lord Peter has come to bring his intended daughter in-law to his home to meet her betrothed. She will object, as will the Lord’s son, to the match their parents made for them without their knowledge. After a few adventures and some misunderstandings they will fall in love and marry.
Genre: YA fairy tale retelling. Tone: Lightly serious. Plot: Elise has to save her family and land by marrying villain. But she finds another way out.
Historical Romance, Bronte/Austen tone.
Young Elise is married off to Lord Peter against her will. But her will starts to come around. Until he learns of a Terrible. Secret. From. Her. Past! Could their relationship be doomed forever? Many years later, after tragedy and other failed relationships, they meet again and spend the rest of their days together.
Genre is romance or epic romance. Lord Peter has come to take Elise away for his wife to his lands. She will not want to be with him at first but then something crazy will happen and then they will fall in love.
Historical Romance, light-hearted tone. Elise’s is going to be in a triangle between Lord Peter and her parents wishes.
Drama/romance Elise is sold or taken by Lord Peter as a payment for some debt of her fathers and falls in love with someone above her station, perhaps a neighbor or student of Lord Peter. Their love is forbidden and secret as they grow older and forced apart by society/war but then brought together again by fate
Historical Romance – Elise is betrothed to Lord Peter. She feels betrayed by her parents. Elise finds comfort in a friend and her heart will go to him. She will have to choose between the love of her life or the life for her family. Dramatic
Genre – historical fiction, YA, and some romance
Tone – serious
Basic Plot: Man is arranged as the daughter’s husband, but she’s not interested. She becomes a gypsy, but must return to protect her family from the repercussions of her disappearance.
Genre: Historical romance
Tone: Light
Plot: Elise finds romance with Lord Peter.
Historical fiction/ romance. Elise has an arranged marriage, but there’s probably going to be a love triangle somewhere. Maybe their land is almost taken away, and that’s the main conflict.
Genre: Historical Romance
Tone: Apprehensive
Plot: Elise has romantic relationship with Lord Peter.
Genre: Historical Romance
Tone: light hearted
Plot: MC discovers she’s either betrothed to Lord Peter, or a relative of his somehow. She leaves her home to join him and her world is forever changed.
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Tone: Romantic
Plot: Lord Peter is her real father. He placed her with her current family for her own safety. Now he’s ready to claim her and have her take her place in the king’s court.
G: Historical Romance
T: Serious/Romantic
Plot: The Lord is looking for a wife and Elise’s mother hopes that he chooses her so that she doesn’t have to live in poverty any longer, but she finds that after marrying him, he has dark secrets and she falls in love with the groom at the stables.
Genre:Historical Romance
Tone:Light
Basic plot: Elise is going to have to marry Lord Peter so that her family will be able
to keep living the way they have done, as they are running out of money. But Elise never imagines she will come to love Lord Peter.
Once there was a fairy, born to a mother who had been praying for a child for most her life. The mother, Lilli, had asked Maurelle–a dark mystical fairy–to provide her with a child. Maurelle was feeling especially gracious that day, and decided to grant Lilli’s wish.
“However,” Maurelle said in a voice cracking with age, “she will be deformed. If you are the only one who loves her, so be it. I don’t give out things for free; I enjoy watching ones who are unloved wallow in self-pity. It brings me great pleasure.”
“I will love her with all my heart, but please, grant me a child,” Lilli begged. She would have gone to Tana, the fairy queen, for her child, but Lilli owed her much already.
“Fine. Plant this seed in your garden, and nurture it for nine weeks; you will have your daughter soon,” Maurelle instructed, handing Lilli a seed she had to hold with both arms. Lilli didn’t know how this had anything to do with her daughter, for she had never seen the secret of fairy childbirth.
Like birds, fairies mate like just about any species. But instead of laying eggs or giving
genre: YA fantasy
tone: Romance
plot:I think that this baby will be the main character, maybe her grown up or in the world trying to find someone to love her
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MG fantasy
Light tone
She gets a child and discovers she is a princess but the queen wants her dead.
GUESS: I think the genre will be a YA fantasy romance with pessimistic tones. I think the plot of the story will be about the daughter, grown up some and confused why nobody other than her mother has ever loved her. The daughter will find a boy who she falls for and she will have to find a way to break the “curse”, if she even knows it exists.
Genre: fantasy, probably YA
Tone: magical, adventure, romance
Basic plot: The fairy child has a deformity, but will be exceptional in other ways. She will become an important figure in this fairy world and will gain the attention of a male fairy who is able to see her beauty beneath her deformity.
YA fantasy
dark with romantic overtones
I believe the story will end up being about the child. A girl wishing to fit in and be accepted by her peers. She will have extraordinary abilities and become a threat to the fairies. Maybe find love.
G: YA fantasy
T: Light
P: The child will be the main character. We’ll see her growing up, her struggle as she wants to be accepted by others the same way her mother accepts her for who she is. She’s different and that’s the main reason for others to stay away and/or mock her. Her physical differences made her mentally strong. She finds joy in other aspects of life. She works on her power as fairy. When shes a teenager shes powerful. Disaster strikes and she’s the only one to save everyone.
Genre:MG, Fantasy
Tone: Light,
Plot: Child grows up and discovers a secret past. About learning to love the self, looking beyond the body’s beauty. Then, like magic, her disabilities will disappear.
Young adult fantasy; possibly dark fantasy. Hopeful frightening. I think the seed that is planted will spur evil events upon Lillie. Good vs evil will prevail.
I think this is a YA fantasy with a dark tone. Maurelle comes to Lilli to get additional recompense for giving her a daughter. The payment would ensure that Lilli would never get to see her daughter again.
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairytale
Tone: whimsical
Basic Plot: a woman who can’t have kids meets a fairy who grants her wish for a child. She’s told the child will be deformed. She says she’ll love her anyways. When the little girl is born, she has a hard time in life, and wishes that she was never born, if her life is so difficult. She has to slowly learn how amazing life is, and to accept that she is beautiful, even with her deformity.
GENRE: YA Fantasy
TONE: Adventure/Romance
BASIC PLOT: Lilli’s daughter will be a handicapped fairy who must go on a quest to gain her heart’s desire
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Tone: Whimsical
Plot: The child will be very special in some way, despite its deformity. The child will grow up and live through many tribulation without knowing why all these things are happening to him/her. Lili will die before telling him/her the whole truth about his/her birth and the contract made to have him/her. The fairy child will go on an adventure after Lili’s death to try and overcome the “curse” of bad things always happening to him/her.
Genre: MG fanstasy. Tone: Whimsical. Plot: The child will be excluded, bullied and loved by no one but her mother. In the end she proves that even if you don’t look like everyone else, you still have tremendous value.
MG Ugly duckling story featuring fairies. Ugly duckling girl grows into the Chosen One and brings balance to the Force. I mean, to Faery. Upbeat fantasy that encourages tweens to be true to themselves.
YA fantasy. This will probably turn into a story about the girl who is deformed and trying to be loved. She will fall in love with someone unexpected.
Fantasy, light, fairy tale tone. Lilli will deal with the challenges of raising the child and perhaps through the mother’s sacrifice, the child will be made “whole”
Youth Fantasy, a beauty and the beast type story with the deformed daughter falling in mutual love with another fairy who is perhaps blind, or their communication is somehow limited and she eventually overcomes her fear and learns she is *actually* beautiful but the power of her fear of being “deformed” is what was holding her back
Genre – fairy tale
Tone – dark
Plot – Woman has baby, who grows up and wants “something more”. This drives a wedge between Protagonist (deformed magic child) and the mother. He runs away only to find the witch, who makes a deal with him/her to make him/her beautiful. He/she finds that beauty isn’t all its cracked up to be and he/she must by the end kill that darned witch…because you know, she’s a WITCH!!!
Fantasy. Lighter tone. I’m thinking it’s a remake of ‘Thumbilina’. (I think I spelled that correctly?)
Genre: High Fantasy
Tone: Darkly Whimsical
Plot: Story is about the fairy and her struggles with her deformity. Likely she will end up overcoming it and be loved by more than just her mother, even if it is only one man.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Tone: Fairy tale with some dark twists
Plot: The child grows up disfigured until one day she becomes everyone’s savior and the beauty within her expands to make her the most beautiful girl in the land.
G: YA Fantasy
T: Adventurous
P: The child grows up and fights most of her life with the dark fairy, bringing peace to her people.
Prologue
To: Mailing List
Date: December 28th
From: Sharon, John and Rex – The Crazy Canucks
hauling a forty-foot fifthwheel through Mexico.
Subject: Highway 175 – Oaxaca City to Puerto Angel
Somewhere in the Madre del Sur mountain range in Mexico
Bob Dylan’s tune, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door popped into my thoughts as I’m gnawing at my fingernails; a sign I should distract myself, save what’s left of my cuticles, and write.
Now, as John and I sit parked on the edge of a twenty-five foot precipice, I’m wondering why I ever let him talk me into RVing into the depths of Mexico? Behind us, five vehicles, overflowing with rambunctious Mexicans, fill the airwaves with screams and cheers. To our right, the reason for our plight, a collapsed bridge, a mudslide, I suspect. To the front of us, a ninja-clad military-type (from this distance, I can’t tell if the figure is female or male) is balanced in the trunk of a red pick-up truck bed. Soon, we will be coaxed to cross a ten-car-length, give or take, two-plank metal contraption resembling a make-shift bridge. To my left, John looks more like a crazed Christopher Walken on heroine than a man secure in his ability to maintain his sanity while balancing us on a high-wire.
If you receive this message it’s because this story is included in my weekly trip-around-Mexico briefing and I’m basking in the sun with a piña Colada in hand, or you’ve been contacted by a Mexican official (just know I haven’t sold your contact information) because we’ve plunged. . .
Genre: Adventure.
Tone: Generally comical.
Plot: John and the other character take a crazy road trip through Mexico, encountering all kinds of strange and/or comical circumstances, learning more about themselves, and making unexpected friends.
Genre: adventure
Tone: light and cheerful
Plot: Comedic adventure across Mexico. Maybe there will be a debt that needs to be paid.
Genre: adult adventure
Tone: light and humorous
Basic Plot: A cross-country trip in a RV does not go as expected. Hilarity, some drama, and mahem ensues.
GUESS: I think the theme is adventure with darker tones. As this is the prologue, I think something will happen to the character driving through mexico and the MC when the main story begins will either be trying to find out what happened or will want revenge for what did happen.
Adventure
Funny
Comical road trip through Mexico. I see lots of trouble and crazy characters.
Genre:Adult Aventure
Tone: Romance
Plot: I feel that the story will take on a more serious side. Maybe, via a love interest, causing complications to the otherwise fun adventure.
I think this is an adventure/comedy with a humorous tone. This will be a series of misadventure road trips where anything and everything happens to the main character and her family. They just don’t seem to have any luck. Similar to Vegas Vacation with the Griswolds.
GENRE: Horror
TONE: Dark
BASIC PLOT: RV travel companions are thrust into the rebirth of an ancient horror in Old Mexico
G: Adventure or Crime, can’t make up my mind 😉
T: Light but it could get dark.
P: I can imagine John and the other character enjoining themselves as their trip progress’s but at the same time I’m seeing a potential for a good crime story. Let’s say that as they travel they being kidnapped for ransom. To me it could go either way 😉 Beginning is light at the moment as they just started their holidays but the tone could change soon 🙂
Genre: Travel Adventure
Tone: Humorous
Plot: We follow Sharon, John and Rex during their adventures through Mexico.
Romantic Comedy about Sharon and John and their dog (?) Rex who get mixed up in a case of mistaken identity possibly involving drugs or maybe the loot from a bank robbery. They’ve got to escape back home and it’s an ordeal.
Thriller/Horror. Mysterious tone. Some bad things are getting ready to happen to this couple.
Genre – Adventure/Travel with a hint of Romance
Tone – Funny, but with at least 2 scene that bring tears
Plot – MC finds love, but leaves it seeking some other motivation. When that fails, goes back to find the lover is gone! They meet in the middle.
Contemporary. Slightly humorous tone. Something happens, and they get stuck in Mexico for a long time. Probably their relationship goes downhill, and then gets worked out in the end.
Genre: Adventure Travel
Tone: Nervously Excited
Plot: They barely make it across the bridge and Christopher gets pumped on adrenaline, fueling more adventure.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Tone: Light-hearted, humorous
Plot: The group travels around, trying to discover the meaning of life.
Genre: Women’s Lit
Tone: Humorous
Plot: Sharon and John have crazy adventures while wandering through the Mexican countryside.