Somewhere Over the Sun

Only one day left!

• If you had the ability to turn fiction into reality, written words into truth, what story would you write? As per the limitations that my protagonist Alan lives through, assume that you cannot summon gold, or cure diseases or reveal any kind of deity.
• Entries should be between 200-1,000 word (I will not strictly adhere to this, it’s just a guideline).
• I will pick the winner based on style, content, originality and that ever-subjective quality of likability.
• Can be just written-out ideas (i.e, I would write that I had the ability to fly) or the story itself (i.e, And then, I flapped my arms and flew). 
• The deadline is May 31, 2011 at 11:59 pm, Eastern Standard Time.
• Open to absolutely everyone on the planet.
• All entries should be emailed in.
• Tell your friends
• Good luck!

Winner will receive a free copy of my debut novel, Somewhere Over the Sun.

BEA’s been, at the very least, a time-occupier.

So I won’t be sharing too much with you for now, but I wanted to remind all my readers of the ongoing writing contest. I’ve only received a couple entries, but I can imagine several of you are waiting until next week’s (May 31st) deadline. Again, the main gist is to write story you wish could come to life, much like my main character Alan does throughout the book. More info here.

Also, I have several postcards that have yet to be claimed. I’ve sent a few waves of them already (and if you haven’t received one yet, don’t fret, I’m on it. They’re stamped and everything, just waiting on my words), and will be continuing to do so until I leave the country at the end of June. If you’d like one sent to you, send me a message along with a writing prompt.

Lauren Zack!

Congratulations, Lauren. Her story was extremely well-written and had a strong concept driving it, ” I would write about change,” she explained in the email in which she attached her entry,  “A simple answer, perhaps, but fundamental and true.  The most common and most destructive flaw of mankind is placidity.  We like to be comfortable; we like to feel secure.  We tend to stay in one place and grow roots deep into the ground, rather than growing up and out and exploring towards the sun.”

I want to thank everyone who participated because I found something I enjoyed in each and every entry. Elizabeth charmingly captured my protagonist Alan’s wish to bring others happiness, and Yann had my favorite line out of all the stories.

Lauren will receive a copy of Somewhere Over the Sun and I hope she enjoys it. I’ll check with her for permission to post part of the story on this site. Once again, thank you all for your participation, the entries were very strong and my decision was hard to make. I will likely run more contests or giveaways so don’t forget about this site!

Now, to steal an expression from a hypnotist/entertainer who used to work in Las Vegas, when I’m done counting to four, you will feel fantastic in every way. 1. 2. 3. 4.

I came up with a new game today. It’s one of my favorite types of games; the sit at a bar and imaginatively judge people kind of game.

You know how (the proverbial) they say that absolutely everyone’s got at least one book in them? Well, next time you’re out in public people-watch and try to figure out what kind of book people around you would write. That bartender with the impossibly meticulous facial hair, the popped collar and the very impressive skill of making an avocado martini taste like an orange muffin; there’s something about him that just screams detective novel to me.

Most people in bars look like they’d write memoirs. Excusably self-indulgent works, since most lives are self-indulgent and you should write what you know. Or romantic comedies. A lot of people would write romantic comedies. They do already, I guess.

Incredibly smooth segue into…

My writing contest is over tonight! Let out a little bit of the novel inside of you and you could win a free copy of my book, Somewhere Over the Sun. The contest closes at 2/19 11:59 p.m, Central Standard Time (check what that means for you). The guidelines are simple:

The Guidelines

If you had the ability to turn fiction into reality, written words into truth, what story would you write? As per the limitations that my protagonist Alan lives through, assume that you cannot summon gold, or cure diseases or reveal any kind of deity. Entries should be between 200-1,000 words (I won’t strictly adhere to either limit) and can be the story itself or just the idea behind a story. I will pick the winner based on style, content, originality and that ever-subjective quality of likability. With his/her permission, I will post it on this site. All stories should be emailed to adi.alsaid@gmail.com. This contest is open to absolutely everyone on the planet.

I’m re-posting this because I’ve only received two entries (albeit very good ones) so far and want more people to be aware of the contest. Don’t you dare be too intimidated to submit an entry. I’m very kind in comments/criticisms and everything will be seen by my unharsh eyes only.

The Guidelines

If you had the ability to turn fiction into reality, written words into truth, what story would you write? As per the limitations that my protagonist Alan lives through, assume that you cannot summon gold, or cure diseases or reveal any kind of deity. Entries should be between 200-1,000 words (I won’t strictly adhere to either limit) and can be the story itself or just the idea behind a story. I will pick the winner based on style, content, originality and that ever-subjective quality of likability. With his/her permission, I will post it on this site. The deadline is 2/19 at 11:59 p.m. (CST- Central Standard Time). All stories should be emailed to adi.alsaid@gmail.com. This contest is open to absolutely everyone on the planet.

The Prize

A free copy of my debut novel, Somewhere Over the Sun.

The Shamelessly Self-Promotional

P lease reblog/share this with your writerly friends on Facebook and Twitter. I’m more than happy to be swamped with entries to read.

The Irrelevant Literary Quotation of the Day

“I’d rather read novels than autopsy them.” - Letters to a Young Novelist, Mario Vargas Llosa

A few days ago, I visited my old high school and talked to a creative writing class about myself and my book. All you narcissists out there, be advised that taking up a profession in writing provides plenty of opportunities to ramble on and on about yourself. Eventually, you may even manage to hold the attention of a dozen or so teenagers for an hour and a half. Even as a literature-loving seventeen year old, holding my attention inside of a classroom when I was a second semester high school senior for more than four minutes would have been impressive, so I feel quite proud of my talkative achievement this past week.

Anyway, enough of the class was interested in my assignment suggestion for me to want to post it on this site as a Somewhere Over the Sun contest. I ran this contest before the book was out, and I’ve decided to do it again in order to encourage the young writers and novelists around me by offering a free copy of my book as an incentive.

The guidelines

If you had the ability to turn fiction into reality, written words into truth, what story would you write? As per the limitations that my protagonist Alan lives through, assume that you cannot summon gold, or cure diseases or reveal any kind of deity. Entries should be between 200-1,000 words (I won’t strictly adhere to either limit). I will pick the winner based on style, content, originality and that ever-subjective quality of likability. With his/her permission, I will post it on this site. The deadline is 2/19 at 11:59 p.m. (CST- Central Standard Time). All stories should be emailed to adi.alsaid@gmail.com. This contest is open to absolutely everyone on the planet.

Good luck!

I’m not sure what it says that my contest received more entries than votes, but there it is.

The winner is Finalist #1- Dawn Ryan!!!

Congratulations, Dawn, for your awesome story about Iris and the flowery bills. It would only be fair to let you, dear readers, know that Dawn was my editor while writing the novel. So, obviously she has read my novel. Now, before you go screaming foul play, remember that you guys were the ones voting. So I’m glad you agree with me that Dawn is a good enough writer to be trusted with editing the book. But since this contest was all about getting someone new to read the novel, we have a conundrum on our hands, right? Wrong! Here’s the solution: Dawn needs to be rewarded for her story, so she will be receiving the super-secret outline for my next book.

Second place was Finalist #4- Edgar Gutierrez.

Congratulations, Edgar, you get to read my manuscript!

Thank you to all the participants, including the other two finalists Diego Valderrama for his story “Good Words to Know” and Cody Cox for the imaginative “Harvey Huffer: Wild Arctic Kung Fu Monkey, King of Frozen Bananas.”

I hope everyone enjoyed this contest, please tune in as I continue to shamelessly self-promote this blog and my upcoming novel, Somewhere Over the Sun.