#‘i’m sorry women’ - the erins writing thunder

[ravenxbones]

— and she explains how long she’s waited for —

[bazzybelle]

Carry On Countdown - Day Four

Notes: So, I love Fleetwood Mac. They’re one of my favourite bands. So when I saw this prompt, I HAD to write a fic inspired by the song “Dreams”, written by the brilliant Stevie Nicks and performed by Fleetwood Mac (You all need to listen to the “Rumours” album. It’s musical ingenuity at its finest). The title and lyrics in the fic are taken from the song “Dreams”.

Thank you again to @carryonsimoncarryonbaz for the Beta-Read. 

Finally, to the Americans that follow me, Happy Thanksgiving (fellow Canadians / non-Americans, Happy Thursday)! Hope you all have a good day, and if you’re having a tough time (because of family drama / bullshit), I send you love and support.

Love to you all. 

Day 4 Prompt: Dreams

Title: Have you Any Dreams You’d Like to Sell?

________________________________________________________________

PENELOPE

These airplane seats are impossibly uncomfortable. No matter how much I fidget and readjust, I cannot get into a position where something isn’t digging into my stomach, or my hip, or my thighs. It’s almost enough to assume that airplane companies have some sick vendetta against individuals who do not fit the perfect Western standards of beauty. 

Wankers. The lot of them.

I look around to see if my friends have settled down as well. I am the only one who is sitting amongst strangers. Lucky me, I think, sarcastically.

Agatha and Shepard are sitting a few rows ahead of me. I do not envy her at all. In fact, she may give me an earful once we arrive back in London for saddling her with Shepard. The man is absolutely relentless. I can only imagine the thousands of questions he will no doubt be asking Agatha. I am silently wondering how long it’ll take Agatha to beg me to exchange seats. I had not intended things to work out this way, but the seats assigned to us were the only ones left on the flight back home. Since we were on this flight illegally (as well as technically kidnapping a Normal -- although he more than gave consent to come along to London), it was best to stick to our original seats.

The group was not happy with me when I told them I was smuggling Shepard into the UK. Simon, while actually getting along well with Shepard, was worried that I would get into more trouble with the Coven: “It’s just that. We’ve already broken a lot of rules. And isn’t this kidnapping?”

Baz felt it absolutely necessary to be a smartarse. Trying to repair his cool mask after the trauma we had just experienced. Typical of a Pitch.

“Adopting Normals, are we Bunce? Your mother will be so thrilled.”

“Well his personality is a lot more palatable than the vampire I adopted last year!”

“You slay me, Bunce. You truly do”, Baz had responded with a sneer.

Speaking of which, I turn my head to a few rows behind me, to where Simon and Baz are sitting. Although they were seated next to each other, both of them looked like they wished they could be sitting anywhere else. Baz is sitting next to the window, staring at the landing strip, a melancholy look in his eyes. Simon is sitting in the aisle seat, completely preoccupied with whatever is going on in his head. I sigh angrily to myself. Those impossible boys will be the death of me. I do notice Simon turning to look at Baz, maybe reaching over to him. I shake my head and turn back to my seat.

Nicks and Slick, there may be hope for those idiots, yet. 

I may give them a difficult time, but it’s truly because I care about them. For both of them! Simon is my very best friend. I love him as if he were one of my brothers. All I want is for him to be happy in his life. His whole life has been about sacrifice and suffering. He’s never been allowed to have anything for himself. For once in his life, he has a reason to be happy and hopeful for the future. I just want him to allow himself to be happy. To allow himself to accept being in love and to be loved back. 

And Baz does love him. Any fool could see that he is utterly devoted to Simon. Stupidly devoted, but devoted nonetheless. And he is a good man, and an absolutely brilliant magician. I wish we had become friends earlier on at Watford. That hard outer shell that seems to envelop every member of that pompous family is just that -- a shell. Inside, Baz is softer than any one of us, always looking at Simon as if he’s the center of his world. Simon is my best friend, but I also care about Baz and it has been very difficult to watch him suffer because neither one knows how to talk to the other. 

They need to figure their feelings out. I had hoped that this trip would not only help Simon, but that maybe it would help them as well. My initial hope was that Micah and I would settle our own issues and we could all travel together, demonstrating that nothing is ever lost. Even the most hopeless situations could be fixed. 

I was wrong. I was so incredibly wrong. I tug at my jumper, trying to not think about the last time I saw Micah. How foolish I was to think we could fix our relationship. Micah had signed off on our relationship a lot sooner than I did. I want to stare out the window longingly (take a page out of Baz’s book), but I am stuck in an aisle seat. Instead, I pull out my mobile, pop in some earbuds and start to listen to some music. 

The deep bass and thumping drums of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac starts playing and I groan to myself. Of course this song starts to play as I begin to contemplate my failed relationship. 

“Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom. Well who am I to keep you down?”

The thing is, Micah NEVER told me he wanted his freedom from me. He never once expressed that he was finished with us. He never gave me the option to fight for us. He decided on his own that this relationship was dead. I suppose that’s why breakups are so horrible. Most of the time, it really takes one person to decide to end things, while the other is left blindsided and unprepared to deal with the emotional aftermath. This whole trip was a series of Penelope Bunce being unprepared for everything. 

If you had given me a chance to fight, Micah, I would have fought. I can feel the tears beginning to fall down my face once more. The poor passenger next to me will think I’m absolutely batty. Maybe I am absolutely batty. I am crying tears for a boy. A boy that broke my heart. I wrap my arms around my waist and close my eyes. Morgana, I am pathetic. Where is your fighting spirit, Penelope Bunce!?

“Thunder only happens when it’s raining. Players only love you when they’re playing. Women they will come and they will go. When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know. You’ll know.” 

The plane starts to move, leaving the gate. It won’t be too long now before we take off, leaving all of this ugliness behind. I don’t think I ever want to come back here. I think we will all be better off if we leave America well enough alone for the remainder of our lives. I say goodbye to Micah in my mind. 

Goodbye Micah. I am sorry that I checked you off a list. I am sorry that I was too thick to realize that we were over a long time ago. I am sorry that you did not feel it necessary to inform me that you were done. 

I am sorry FOR you, Micah. 

I am sorry for you, that you were too cowardly to be upfront and honest with me. 

I am sorry for you, that you felt it better to give up on us instead of fighting for us. 

I am sorry for you, that you have resigned to live your life in mundanity. 

“Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions. I keep my visions to myself. It’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams and have you any dreams you’d like to sell?”

Maybe I did check him off. Maybe I did decide that we had an established relationship and that there was nothing else to worry about. Maybe I was wrong in assuming that any relationship could be so certain. But that’s how it’s supposed to be, right? You meet someone, you get married, you start a family, end of story! You don’t have to worry about being in a relationship once your relationship is settled and secure! Once your relationship is settled, you can focus your time and energy on other pressing matters. 

And there it is, I suppose. 

“Dreams of loneliness, like a heartbeat drives you mad. In the stillness of remembering what you had, and what you lost. And what you had, and what you lost.”

I did take Micah for granted. I did assume that he would just always be around to wait for me. Wait for me to finish Watford. Wait for me to help Simon finish a quest; Wait for me to finish making sure that Simon is whole again. I mistakenly believed that he’d wait forever, and that was not fair to him. 

At the same time… Erin. Baz was right when he told me that Micah was a coward. I assumed Micah would wait for me; Micah assumed he was free to date other girls, while still messaging me. Maybe this was for the best. After all, after the first night in America, I had stopped thinking about Micah. Even when I thought I was about to die in that vampire vehicle, Micah never once crossed my mind. Now, if I truly loved him the way that Baz loves Simon, wouldn’t I have thought more about him? Would I have made more of an effort to be with him? Who’s to say, really? That did not give him an excuse to hurt me like he did. His actions were unfair to me and caused me pain. He chose to accept the grey-area of our relationship as a reason to be unfaithful, and that was wrong.   

“When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know. You’ll know. You will know. Oh, you’ll know.” 

“Penelope. We are in the air. The seatbelt sign is off. Can we PLEASE switch seats. Your Normal is driving me mad!”

I snap out of my depressing thoughts as Agatha has begun to nudge my arms. I look at my watch. 40 minutes was enough to break her. I sigh and unbuckle my safety belt. I suppose spending eight hours next to a chatty Normal is better than being alone with my thoughts. 

“I was hoping you’d last longer, honestly. And he isn’t my Normal!”

I take one last glance outside as the plane leaves the American skies behind. 

Goodbye Micah. I wish you well in your life. I shall be alright in mine.

[dearest-darling-destroyer]

First of all, thank you so much! This is so sweet and I’m sorry to hear that you’re in a bit of a slump, but wholesome reads? Can do!

For wholesomeness the first thing I would recommend is anything by Sandy Hall. Her books are all published by SwoonReads (where in readers vote on which books are published) so the writing isn’t exactly stellar, but her stories are short and sweet and easy.

Second of all I would recommend a few of Patrick Ness’ books. A Monster Calls is quite sad but very good and quite short and I remember I read it all in one night. The Rest Of Us Just Live Here is an interesting story and perhaps a little more gritty than what you might be looking for, but a short and brilliant read all the same. Release is extremely good, a little bit of a read-between-the-lines kind of deal, but a steady, intriguing story.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz is such a soft, sweet story that I wholly recommend to you.

Another author that may interest you is Steven Camden. All of his books have some sweet tones to them, but especially his book on imaginary friends Nobody Real.

Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven is a well-written, enjoyable story about teenagers putting aside their diffferences in order to see their similarities.

Starry Eyes and Night Owls by Jenn Bennet are both sweet engaging love stories.

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera is a nice happy read.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is very sweet and extremely wholesome, though it is quite long (though you can get shortened versions).

Fanart by Sara Tregay is not the best book I’ve ever read, but I certainly enjoyed it and had a lovely relaxing evening finishing it all in one go.

Fangirl and Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell are both warm, happy-feeling reads.

Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt is a great coming-of-age story with a mix of romance too.

A Quiet Kind Of Thunder by Sara Barnard is a sweet romance about two people who communicate in their own way.

Dead Ends by Erin Lange is perhaps a little grittier than some of the other books on this list but is overall pretty wholesome and a decent read.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is such a sweet, wandering book but perhaps not to everyone’s taste.

Heartsopper by Alice Oseman is a graphic novel and 100% pure wholesomeness and a lovely little read.

Hope this helps! x

Hey @mindful-of-books

 @dearest-darling-destroyer 

@books-read-in-nooks 

@gentlereads 

@fairytales-reads 

@readthebloodybook my followers and everyone else in the booklr community! 

I’m in a bit of a slump at the moment and would be really thankful, if some of you all could recommend me some short easy to read wholesome books to get back on track. Thank you all!

(PS! to everyone tagged, I follow you all on my main blog and love your content)

[elusionramblebamble]

It’s that time of year again, aren’t you excited? Team oMG is!

You can find team oMG on Twitter at @C_B_Catalano and @shaunaholyoak

Before we dive into our wishlist *rubs hands together* we’d like to tell you a little about ourselves, and why we can’t wait to pay it forward, and help a fellow writer out.

So, I’m Cass *wave* and this is, oh, possibly my 4th time revising this bio post. Revisions are crucial in all aspects of life, and most definitely in this contest, keeping this in mind, if you’re willing to get down and dirty with us, like kill your darlings –even the one you swore you never would– read on!

This is my first year as a Pitch Wars mentor. I am thrilled to be entering this new world with the most amazing, absolutely awesome, co-mentor Shauna Holyoak! We met a few years ago during another Twitter pitch event, and joined a group of similar contest hopefuls. And thank the stars I did because they are some of the most supportive, caring writers and CPs I’ve ever met in this journey!

PCC for life!

Let me say, (and I cannot stress how important this is), the friends you find in the writing community, especially from events like Pitch Wars, are worth their weight in gold.

If you manage to make even one friend during Pitch Wars, trust me when I say you are the ultimate winner already. Now, back to business 😉

Meet Shauna:

My name is Shauna Holyoak, and I expend roughly 25% of my energy writing and 50% of my energy resisting the urge to hunt down and consume all the frosted sugar cookies. I made a chart.

Writing MG is my favorite. My debut novel MY PAPER ROUTE AND OTHER DEADLY THINGS will be published in spring 2019 by Disney-Hyperion. Half of my writing time is currently spent pinching myself about that last part (please don’t turn that into a story problem for me to solve—it will break my brain).

I live in Idaho Falls, Idaho with my game-board designing husband, six of our children and two naughty dogs. Amy Poehler makes me happy, and Leslie Knope makes me happier.

I grew up on Ramona and Fudge books, which instilled a love for spunky, strong characters (also, see above).

And then Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry taught me just how powerful middle-grade fiction could be. So I tend toward contemporary, but MG fiction with strong characters and all the feels is ultimately what gets me.

I am so excited to be co-mentoring with Cass (she is AWESOME!) for this year’s Pitch Wars. It was my entry last year to Brooks Benjamin and Caroline Thompson’s team (spoiler alert: I didn’t make it) that got me the feedback I needed to shine up my manuscript and win a slot in #PitchSlam. That led me to the best agent (shout out to CARRIE PESTRITTO!) and then a pinch-worthy two-book deal!

Pitch Wars is a tremendous opportunity, and I’m so grateful and excited to be a part of it. Also, I can’t wait to fight over entries!

Hi y’all! I’m Cassandra Newbould aka C.B. Catalano, and I cannot wait to read all your words. And fight over entries with Shauna. We will duel to the death for a book we love!

Back in the day I was that girl who enjoyed being sent to their room, because hey! extra reading time! Anything from Little Women, to the Black Stallion. If I could hold it, I was reading it. My lust for all the words continued on through teenage-hood. That’s when I fell in love with all things fantasy, and would dive head-first into the lands of The Tortall Universe, Shannara, and Darkover to name a few. *Sometimes* when my sis and bff would sneak out to go party I’d stay home to read instead. They’d laugh, but there was nothing better than curling up with a good book, a good blanket, and a good dog in my opinion.

*curling up with Jake Gyllenhaal wouldn’t be too shabby either 😉 *

When I had my kiddos, I would spend the evenings telling them the most outrageous stories I could make up in the hopes it would send them to sleep. Eventually, as they grew, they encouraged me to write them down and so my journey as a writer began.

Last year I entered another amazing Twitter pitch event called #DVpit and that is where I met my magnificent and stellar agent, Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media inc.

She fell in love with my MG retelling of Treasure Island: THE MISADVENTURES OF JEM HAWKINS: staring Kick-butt hacker girls, and lady pirates, and all the adventure a girl could want.

Before that, I interned for a NY literary agency for 8 months. Also, I know the ways of middle graders well. My middle son is in the 8th grade this year and my daughter made it through without too many battle wounds a few years ago 🙂

Did I mention I love to write and critique queries? Yeah, I know. But I do, I swear, and I’m happy to say my #NoQS mentee went on to get an agent 🙂 GOOO VALARIE!! so, if you have any questions about how I work as a mentor ask @ValBodden on Twitter.

My husband, a computer engineer who has run the gamut: from MySpace and creating its Open Social platform to autonomous cars for Ford, and I met as teenagers, and had our daughter when I was 22. We have been married 17 years, moved over 21 times together in over 7 states, and have 3 lovely children, 2 awesome cats, and 2 Muppet puppies, otherwise known as Newfypoos.

Seriously, Muppets.

When I’m not writing, I’m probably playing with my children, playing poker (I want to be a professional poker player when I grow up) cooking with the hubs, painting, drawing, and/or drinking wine. I love everything Baz Luhrmann (he can seriously do no wrong) and am a die-hard *end of world genre* movie buff. For TV, I adore Outlander, Black Sails, Shameless and any and every cooking/baking show known to man. Also, I cannot stop watching the tiny houses shows. I’d love to, but I can’t bring myself to.

Now to the exciting part. DUN  DUN DUNNNN

What we’re looking for in a nutshell.

Middle Grade.

Give us all the feels, all of them! While Shauna leans more towards contemporary and I, fantasy we both agree we’re down for either, and welcome them with open arms –with a few minor exceptions–

If your manuscript contains any of the following we’re probably not the best mentors for you:

Younger MG, sorry but upper MG is our jam

Sports

Horror

Hard Sci-fi

Novels in verse

Now, while we aren’t the best for these stories, as we wouldn’t be able to do them the justice they deserve, we are certain you and your amazing manuscript will be able to find another mentor who will help you achieve that next level of fantastic, and we wish you the best of luck!

So what else are we looking for? Well, if any of your books have the feel of these below send them our way. Please. Pretty please with a query on top?

A Snicker of Magic

The Girl Who Drank The Moon

A Wrinkle In Time

Monstrous

Counting By Sevens

The Thing About Jellyfish

When You Reach Me

Mockingbird

Holes

Percy Jackson

Wonder

Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events

The Gauntlet

Rules For Thieves

We joyously welcome diverse and own voices stories with open arms. *grabby hands*

Give us your girl mcs that aren’t afraid of what the world thinks of them. Both likable and unlikable. Give us Hermione Grangers stuck at sea, or Katniss with an obsession for oil painting. Give us your MG Inej Gahfas, Nina Zeniks, (and we can’t forget your Kaz Brekkers), all tied up in the ultimate group heist, if you please. Give us your STEM stories (please, pretty please?) Sibling stories or complex girl friendship stories are a quick way to our hearts! 🙂

We’re down for quiet stories that tug at your heart, or action packed fantasies where the world-building blows your mind. Re-tellings set in a modern world or contemporary dramas thrown back in time. Make us laugh. Or cry. Just make us feel like we never want to put your story down!

However, having said all that, if you have a story that doesn’t fit anything we’ve said above and you feel like you want us anyway, send your ms our way. We both love surprises and can’t wait to find out what we end up falling in love with!

What we can bring to the table for you:

Helping you find a killer voice, pointing out areas that could use work without taking over your story, tackling pacing issues, building complex and believable characters, DIALOGUE! and attention to detail, or lack thereof.

*warning* If you aren’t able to attack your ms with an open mind and willingness to rip it apart and build it back even stronger, perhaps we aren’t the right mentors for you. We will never demand that something be changed, it’s your story after all and you know it best, but you entered Pitch Wars for a reason and hopefully we can help you polish your shiny jewel even farther than it is now.

Good luck fellow writers, may the odds be ever in your favor!

Have you been sitting here wondering where you can find out more about Shauna? Well, here is the link to Shauna’s blog

Shauna’s amazingly awesome blog

Shout out to Brenda Drake for this opportunity for all of us, may your reign be long and fruitful!

Main Blog Link

Links to the other spectacular mentors below:

1.

Shari Schwarz

2.

Shari Green

3.

Gail Villanueva and Isabelle Adrid

4.

Niki Lenz

5.

Melyssa Mercado

6.

Erin Latimer

7.

Hannah Karena Jones

8.

Mae Respicio

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Pitch Wars Mentor Wishlist 2017 It's that time of year again, aren't you excited? Team oMG is! You can find team oMG on Twitter at @C_B_Catalano and @shaunaholyoak…