Into the Woods

Back in November I participated in National Novel Writing Month(AKA NaNoWriMo) and and through that I wrote a book. Early last month I got an e~mail about a contest on Amazon.com that if won would result in a publishing contract with Penguin books. Needless to say I was super excited and rushed to finish editing my book by the entry deadline. I managed to finish and sent it on it's merry way, now I just have to wait for February 25 to find out if I've made it to round two! The books that make it into the second round are being judged on a pitch that you wrote about your book.

Not only did it have to be something like you would find on the back of a book, but you also had to include why it would appeal to the age group you had written it for. Now, I entered it into the young adult category(ages 12-17) because honestly, not to many people my age read fairy tales any more! Let me tell you, that last paragraph was hard to write!

How would my book appeal and speak to girls today, I really had no idea. I think that I hit on an important issue that is very relevant and is also something that has come up in my own life. I didn't want to pull just any old moral out of my hat so to speak, I wanted it to be something that I had had personal experience with. All that to say, here's the pitch and in the spirit of optimism be looking for my book at your favorite book sellers soon!

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We have all had fantasies about entering into the book we are reading, and yet, aren't we all a little glad that we can't? Imagine if when things got intense or scary, you were unable to shut the book and walk away. It is in exactly this situation we join our heroine. Her favorite story has always been Beauty and the Beast; and, from the outside, the story seems simple. Beauty shows up, always perfect and lovely, and the hideous Beast falls in love with her. Hannah is an average girl living a normal life, but what happens when she wakes up as Beauty and finds herself in a strange place filled with magic and danger?

The danger can't be banished by the turning of a page. The Beast is real and sitting right in front of her. The enchanted servants expect things of her that she knows she is incapable of accomplishing. How can she - plain, awkward and clumsy Hannah Smith - be expected to take Beauty's place in the story? Join Hannah as she struggles to discover the truth behind fear and love. Will she allow herself to live happily ever after?

In today's world of super models and stick thin actresses girls are bombarded with images of perfection. You are only worthy of love if you are perfect. The story of Beauty and the Beast has always been a favorite of mine but Beauty was well beautiful! Would the spell still get broken if an average girl took Beauty's place? Hannah, through no extraordinary measures, breaks the curse by just being herself. A message sorely needed by girls today. Being perfect and beautiful isn't the only way to find love and your own happily ever after.

(Into the Woods is the tittle of my book!)