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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Welcome SYTYCW Contestant Author Christy Newton

I met Christy through the online community at the Harlequin Boards (a great place for aspiring authors) and we both participated in So You Think You Can Write 2012.

Welcome, Christy it's good to have you here today. We've heard lots of stories about SYTYCW over the past year. Overall, how would you rate your experience with So You think You Can Write Global 2012?

The first word that comes to mind is stressful! Lol I remember being so nervous putting my work out there for the world to see for the first time.

But even worse... trying to get votes for my story non-stop. I felt like a politician instead of a writer. Overall though, it turned out to be invaluable for me, because not only did I find my critique partner and beta reader through the contest, I found lots of writers I could connect with that are still my friends today.

We were required to upload the first chapter as our entry in SYTYCW. Is that chapter still in its original form or has it gone through more revisions?

That chapter was edited about five times since that contest. And I am happy to say that story in now published! You can find Stolen Hearts here.

How long have you been writing?

Almost two years. Since So You Think You Can Write, I have published three books. Stolen Hearts, Something To Treasure and Begin Again.

And now an excerpt from Stolen Hearts:

She walked around slowly to examine the sparkle. They were beautiful. It looked as if a fairy had sprinkled large, multi-colored fairy dust. Gray, blue, purple, pink, brown, orange, yellow and green diamonds. In the center, her eyes were drawn to a gorgeous, white gold necklace with round cut diamonds and a gold medallion hanging from the center. For a split second, she could see why her parents loved jewels and why Simon had collected these.

Amazing. “Are all these diamonds?”

He winked. “Every last one.”

“I never knew diamonds came in all these colors.”

“They’re rare, but yes, the colors are natural. There’s only one color I never acquired, the rarest of all the diamonds…red.”

“How much are all these worth?” she blurted out. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. It’s better if I don’t know.”

Cammie walked up and down looking at all the vibrant colors, a rainbow of diamonds. All the diamonds were loose, except for the necklace.

He eyed her. “Would you like to try it on?”

She shook her head. “Do you ever feel bad about taking these?”

“No, I’ve only taken them from people who didn’t deserve them. Drug lords, criminals, that sort. I get great satisfaction from taking these precious babies off their hands.”

“That sounds really dangerous. Is that who my parents took the ruby from, someone bad?”

His lip twitched. “That’s not my story to tell.”

“This all seems so unreal.”

“In a jewel thief’s world, it’s very real.” Simon scooped up a handful of the colorful jewels. “Hold out your hand.”

Cammie did as he asked and he sprinkled them into her cupped hand.

She looked down at the diamonds in her palm. “I’ve never seen such natural beauty.”

Simon took a lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. “I hadn’t either until I met you, Sweetheart.”

She blushed. “I don’t even come close to these.” She gently rolled the diamonds around in her hand to watch the light bounce off of them.

“Oh, but you do and don’t even realize it.”

She handed the jewels back to him. The little room was getting hot. Time to bail.

Where can we find you on the Web?

Christy Newton

Twitter @CNewtonAuthor

Facebook

Thank you for visiting today, Christy!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Maria and Christy! It's great to hear a about writer's SYTYCW experience as it's a very unique contest. Sounds like the writing is the easy part. It's trying to get the votes that's the hard part!

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