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I have a Novel in a contest..Would you vote for me?

Posted by Michel Archer on November 29, 2009 at 5:30pm
I was invited to enter my novel, The Mysterious Calling of Mike Malone, in an acquisitions contest held by Marcher Lord Press. The contest has 4 rounds, the winning prize is to have your novel published. This weekend the voting for round 2 of the contest is taking place. People were invited to come in and read the first 500 words of each entry. I'll post mine below.To be truthful, I think any of the novels in the contest would be a fine choice for publication. You could practically run this competition by dart board, but that's' why I don't have any qualms about asking for votes out of the blue. I know I'm not trying to squeeze out someone that I really think writes that much better than me.But if you want to peruse, round 2 voting ends tomorrow at midnight. Some rules of the contest: you have to vote for at least 3 entries or your vote won't count, so you could vote for mine and either study the other entries or close your eyes and pick 2 more. (I read them all and I still had to do it that way.)And you have to register to vote, but it goes quickly. On the site...after logging in, go to Marcher Lord Selects, then go to Main Contest Phase 2, there you can find the file with all of the excerpts in it, then you go to Phase 2 polling and vote.http://wherethemapends.proboards.com/index.cgi (New link)And thank you very, very MUCH. Oh, the things you do when you don't have an agent!Here is my 500 hundred word excerpt....The Mysterious Calling of Mike MaloneMike Malone needed help.Locking the door of his classic, midnight blue Cutlass, Mike turned and dropped the key into the pocket of his trench coat. Classic cars and older homes brought to mind better days. He wished he was having one of those better days right now.Staring up at the towering buildings he couldn’t lose the sensation that something stared back.A huge truck rumbled past and Mike spun to join the crowd of men and women hustling down the sidewalk. The lunch rush in downtown Chicago meant every second or third person had a schedule as tight as his own.He didn’t care. He kept running through the morning’s events in his office over what happened in his office, making sure he remembered it with no exaggerations…no lies…nothing.Someone is staring at the back of my head…someone is back there… He tried to shake it off, but the sensation never fully left him anymore. I’m going insane...I have to be crazy…Am I having a nervous breakdown? I’m too young for that…right?Half sick from hunger and anxiety, he spied the shorter man waiting for him outside of Angelo’s Pizza, and relief washed over him. Decked out in his over-sized, blue knit sweater and dark brown pony-tail, Mike found the sight of his best friend, Rudy, oddly comforting, an island of normalcy in his bizarre ocean.“I dunno,” Rudy said, looking up as Mike approached. “I like Angelo’s but so does everybody else. It’s packed. No way you’ll get back to work on time.”The weird presence that had gripped Mike in his office came on even stronger; the invisible stalker stayed with him. An uncontrolled shiver rattled his spine.Stop watching me!“Hey, we’re here,” Mike said, running a hand through his longish, blonde hair and trying hard to sound like he hadn’ta care in the world. “Let’s check it out.”As they walked through the door, he glanced over the crowd and found her: a young, black-haired waitress with her eyes trained on him so intently, Mike felt like an item on her personal menu. He didn’t understand how he knew, but she was part of this feeling, this freakish connection he sometimes experienced with random souls.She hurried over, focusing completely on him.“How many in your party, sir?” she asked, her voice a sultry contralto.Suddenly, uncertain over such attention from a perfect stranger, Mike’s cheeks heated up. “Uh, t-two.”“This way.” She whisked them through the crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea and seated them at a table in the very back of the restaurant.“I’m Angie, I’ll be your waitress today,” she said, her dark eyes studying Mike’s face. “The pepperoni, extra cheeseis our special…”She took their order and after one more longing gaze at Mike, vanished into the crowd.Rudy snickered. “You gotta admit, sometimes this whole love at first sight thing chicks get for you is handy.”Well...that's the opening...if you like it, please vote!And thank you!
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