So, this is a project of multiple excellent minds all looking to get the most fun out of this year's Pitch Madness Event. It started when Eric Rasmussen, a Pitch Madness contestant, suggested a blog hop of sorts to help the Pitch Madness participants connect. Then, Bridgid Gallagher volunteered to get it started. (NOTE: This is totally an unofficial blog hop NOT AT ALL run by the contest organizers.)

The point is to create a fun way for contest-related conversations to blossom. You can find the OFFICIAL event and comment arena on Twitter under #PitchMadness. 

How to participate
Follow this LINK to Bridgid Gallagher's blog where you can read the following instructions:
"Jump in the comments and share the following:

• Your name
• The genre of your Pitch Madness entry
• A link to your blog
• Optional: Are you looking for critique partners, beta readers, or ... ? This is a great chance to connect!

If you want to take it a step further, write a blog post and share more about yourself and your manuscript. Link to the post in the comments.
Snag the imageFeel free to use the image I've created in this blog post, just link back to this post to help others find it and participate."

​Now, let's have some Pitch Madness fun!

Thanks to everyone who voted in the TWP Readers' Choice Red Carpet Awards! Though the press will be closing soon, my two titles, including "Forced Perspective," which was scheduled for release in the spring, cleaned up. Congrats to all the winners, and a special congrats and thanks to Magail Frechette, the designer of the cover for "Breathless." ​

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It reminds me of the classic arcade and early home console games like Atari and Colecovision (yes, I’m an 80s child). Back in the day, even if you beat levels 1-99, if you died in level 100, you had to start at the beginning again. Kids these days, with their video game ‘save’ buttons have it easy. Once you beat a particular challenge, you never have to worry about that milestone again. Not so in writing. Sure, you’re always learning, but none of your progress toward getting an agent or publishing contract is saved. As with the old-school video games, once your guys die, you’re out of luck and have to dig in your pocket for another quarter or go home.

Getting so close you can almost taste it is exhilarating, but the crash can be extremely challenging to overcome. Persevering takes determination and a lot of social support. But, just like on “Project Runway,” “Top Chef,” and my other favorite, “So You Think You Can Dance,” there’s always another chance. For example, this year on “Project Runway,” (Season 14) the runner up was someone who literally tried out every single year since the show premiered. That means, he was told ‘no’ thirteen times. By the same people. Then he placed second. Similarly, on “SYCYCD,” a contestant auditioned in one city and was cut, but then showed up in another city, in the very same season. Not only was she given the golden ticket, she won it all. How many author stories have you heard about a book that was rejected countless times before becoming a huge hit?

Getting so close only to be told ‘no’ just plain sucks, and not having that save button only makes it harder, but if those world class Pac Man champs (and the Donkey Kong champs and the Centipede champs) can gain enough mastery to play the game from level one to win, then we can accomplish the same with our writing. And the best part is, we don’t need an endless supply of quarters to get there.

“You can do it, you can write!”
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