Literary Internships: They’re Not Just For College Kids

So, for a while now, I have been contemplating how I could learn more about the publishing industry from an insider’s point of view. Imagine how excited I was a few weeks ago when I saw a tweet from Michelle Johnson, literary agent and founder of Inklings Literary Agency. In it, she said she was accepting applications for literary interns.

“Pick me! I’ll send you chocolate,” I immediately tweeted back. No, I didn’t (though perhaps I owe her some).

What I actually did was write a cover letter that was cleverly worded to make me irresistible*, and a resume that revealed my extensive experience in the publishing industry**.

I sent it in, and crossed my fingers, not really thinking I had a chance.

To my happy surprise, Michelle contacted me shortly thereafter and asked if I was still interested. I was.

She sent me a “test” manuscript to read and review for her, which I did.

I was thrilled to get her response yesterday saying that my comments were right on the money, and would I be able to intern with Inklings for the next six months?

Let me think about it. Um, yeah!

Now it’s official. I’ve signed the paperwork and everything. I’m allowed to reveal I’m an intern, but discussing manuscripts is a no-no. Ooh, this will be fun.

So, I will be reading about four manuscripts per month as part of the Inklings team. I’m looking forward to diving in–wish me luck, everyone!

*Not that irresistible. I didn’t even offer chocolate.

**Features editor in my high school newspaper. Actually, I doubt I even mentioned that, as it sounds pretty lame.

Review of The Blood Code by Misty Evans

I hope you enjoy reading about The Blood Code by Misty Evans. Make sure you scroll down to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for some princess bling.

Publisher’s Blurb:

Fifteen years ago, Anya Radzoya fled Russia with her grandmother after the suspicious deaths of her parents, but she can’t escape the royal genes that make her one of Russia’s last living princesses. When President Ivanov blackmails her into returning to Moscow to be his future wife in exchange for her grandmother’s life, Anya discovers he’s planning to unleash a nuclear war. With no one else to turn to, she join forces with CIA operative Ryan Smith.

Undercover at the nuclear summit, Ryan is happy to recruit Anya to find proof Ivanov is resurrecting the Cold War, but he suspects his new asset is a double agent. Anya is determined to rescue her grandmother with or without his help, however, and Ryan finds himself falling for the beautiful princess before he even trusts her. He refuses to let her go it alone, even if it means risking his own critical mission.

Trapped inside the Kremlin with a cunning and ruthless opponent, the two must risk their lives and their hearts to save Anya’s grandmother, as well as millions of innocent people.

Here’s my take:

I confess, I went through a stage of reading quite a lot of romance, but it’s been a while since I last sank my teeth into a good one. When I saw the opportunity to read and review The Blood Code, part of Misty Evans’ Super Agent Novel Series, and participate in the blog tour, I jumped in, even though I am new to this process.

I was not disappointed by my return to the genre. The Blood Code kept me engaged through all 340 pages. There is believable tension and attraction between Ryan and Anya, and I appreciated that Anya was as brilliant and courageous as Ryan (go girl power!). There was an element of Anya cast as the “damsel in distress,” but Misty Evans does a nice job of showing how Anya can more than hold her own in difficult situations.

When Ryan and Anya finally hook up (come on, this isn’t a real spoiler–it’s a Romance, for crying out loud!), the love scene is spicy and titillating, without overwhelming or distracting from the rest of the plot. Misty Evans is clearly comfortable in this genre.

I liked the details peppered throughout about Soviet history and Russian architecture. They gave the reader just enough background while letting the story flow smoothly.

I felt the book dragged a bit around the middle, where I started to feel a little claustrophobic being stuck in the Kremlin along with the key characters. I realize that’s part of the point–they’re feeling stuck, too–but I began to feel eager for more action other than the tension between Ryan and Anya and President Ivanov, a nutjob Hitleresque leader with visions of world domination. But even this criticism I had to think about after I had finished reading the book.

Though I haven’t read the other books in this series, I got a kick out of learning more about the intelligence community, so I’ll likely try some of the others.

Overall, this is a very satisfying, well-paced romance, and I recommend it to anyone who dreams of meeting a man—at least in books–who likes his martinis “shaken, not stirred.”

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Kobo/iBooks

About Misty:

Misty Evans is the author of the award-winning Super Agent romantic suspense series. Books in the series have won a CataNetwork Reviewers’ Choice Award, CAPA nominations, the New England Reader’s Choice Bean Pot Award for Best Romantic Suspense and the ACRA Heart of Excellence Reader’s Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense.

Misty likes her coffee black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. When not reading or writing, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and their twin sons. Learn more and sign up for her newsletter at www.readmistyevans.com.

Website/Twitter/Facebook/ Goodreads

Rafflecopter Link:

Want to feel like a Russian princess? Click on the Rafflecopter link below the photo, and you’ll have an opportunity to win this tennis bracelet. Good luck!

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MWNiNTU0OTUyMGNlZDFiOGJmOTc5ZmExZmRmZDJmOjc4/

Tour schedule:

Visit these other blogs for more interviews and information.

6/17/2013 So Many Reads

6/18/2013 Notes From A Romantic’s Heart

6/19/2013 Reading Between the Wines

6/20/2013 Going in Circles (that’s me!)

6/21/2013 Storey Book Reviews

6/24/2013 In My Humble Opinion

6/25/2013 The Flirty Reader

6/26/2013 Meredith’s Musings

6/26/2013 Paranormal Book Club

6/28/2013 Reading on the Rocks

COMING SOON . . . A Blog Tour!

Hello, dear followers.

A few weeks ago I saw an opportunity to review a new romance from Entangled Publishing called The Blood Code, by Misty Evans. AND I was asked if I wanted to be part of the blog tour.

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds like fun!” And I thought it would be a good experience for me, too.

So I hope you’ll check back this Thursday, June 20 for my review of The Blood Code and an opportunity to win some princess bling. Ooh!

A Pitch Contest! How Can I Resist?

These are always fun, so I’ll throw my hat in the ring for the Aussie Owned and Read Pitcharama. I feel like I’m cheating, since it’s still June 13th here in the States, but I’m all good Down Under, where’s it’s already tomorrow.

Manuscript Title: THREE WISHES

Author: Me! (Deborah Kreiser)

Age Group: YA

Genre: Paranormal with Romantic Elements*

Word Count: 74k

250-word Blurb:

Tall and lanky, Eugénie (Genie) Lowry is usually noticed only during academic awards assemblies–until the moment she turns 17 ½, when her body morphs from Kate-Hudson-flat to Katy-Perry-curvy. She discovers she’s a real, honest-to-God genie, with exactly six months to find a master, or she’ll return to her original self.

Suddenly, Genie’s new body has made her the toast of high school. She hooks up with popular and funny Pete Dillon, but he’s set on controlling what Genie eats and who she sees, creating a major rift with her friends. She isn’t sure if Pete is Master (or Mr.) Right, but she is sure she wants more than anything to fall in love and live happily ever after.

With help from her dead mother’s interactive diary and the imposing Dr. Morocco, a mentor with questionable motives, Genie uncovers the family history and genie rules she never knew. She grapples with her new powers and searches for the perfect master as she tries to make her own wishes come true.

THREE WISHES is a completed 74,000-word Young Adult Paranormal with Romantic Elements manuscript with series potential. It will appeal to fans of the setting in Kim Harrington’s CLARITY and the subject in Jackson Pearce’s AS YOU WISH.

*It’s not quite a capital “r” romance, but there is love and a happily ever after

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And hey, while I’m doing a post, Joan, my brilliant critique partner, asked me to cast my two leads. So, without further ado . . .

Genie looks like a teenage Jenna Dewan-Tatum, while Pete looks like a longer-haired Mr. Miley Cyrus. Pretty people, huh?

Illness and Camping and Visitors . . . Oh, MY.

I’m doing a micro-post here just to say I haven’t stopped blogging! No, sireebob.

But here’s the story. I had a cough for a while, (weeks!) and it wasn’t getting any better. Then I started getting fevers. That was the week I was helping to run a major fundraising event. So, pretty poor timing.

The day after the event I finally went to the doctor. “Deborah!” he exclaimed. “I think you have pnemonia!” This is my doctor who’s usually pretty chill, so I was surprised by the diagnosis, not to mention his reaction. And then he sent me to the hospital for chest x-rays, which confirmed the diagnosis. I was a little freaked out. He put me on antibiotics and told me I’d feel better very quickly, which was true.

He also approved me going on a family camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. If you live in New England, you know that MDW this year was rainy, with nighttime lows in the 40s. Cozy!!

Arriving back from camping, we had some awesome visitors: my brother, his wife, and their two little girls. Fantastic visit, the kids (and parents) all played well together, but it left me zero time to do any writing stuff.

So, here I am, three weeks after my last blog post, and finally ready to jump back in. This will have to suffice for now, with promises to do my regular weekly posts going forward. (I know, if I were organized, I’d write posts ahead of time, but I don’t fly like that.)

Other writing-related stuff has been going on behind the scenes, but I’ll leave that for the next post. TTFN!