The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

So a good friend of mine pointed out that Amazon was having this beast of a competition going on.

http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011

To the grand prize winning goes 50,000 dollars and a full publishing deal. Now i'm no fool to think I've written something that good. This is my first novel. But even if I could become one of the many second place winners I would get a solid review for the book from Amazon and the book would already be on sale at that point. In other words I have absolutely no reason not to enter.

My awesome stepmother is finishing up the edit today and I have finished the revision of the first chapter taking into account the solid feed back I got back from my beta readers. Seriously I heart you guys! I'm giving myself two days to rework the first three chapters to give them a bit more pop.

The competition is split up into three parts, Round one is the Pitch in three hundred words or less i have to see my book. Round two is an Excerpt with the first 3000 to 5000 words I have to capture the judges attention. Round three is the overall manuscript.

I believe the book is good enough to sell and do well as it is. I have a good feeling that I could make it to the third round. If I don't I'm OK with it as I rarely win anything anyway which is why I'm not a gambling man. Those of you who follow me on twitter and/or facebook know that i have declared I intend to release a Moore For Less Investigations Short Story subtitled The Husband this month. My lovely wife just finish a pretty sweet portrait of Marcus that I will be using for the cover. If you want to see and example of her skills you can visit her deviant art page http://naiya1982.deviantart.com/

Here's a sample of  MFLI: The Husband

This case started like nearly all my cases start. I was sitting at my desk in my office on the third floor of 1651 Windsor Street in Middle city, Luimere. I had only been in business for two months at this point. Business had been slow and to be frank, I was bored. I knew moving into the private sector was risky, but I had had a problem with authority figures nearly all my life. As an officer of the Luimere police force there was far too much red tape to get any real work done.

As I sat there, going over my bills and what I had left in my savings, the sweet scent of raspberries and melons caressed my exceptional sense of smell. I was not gifted with a talent for magic, my parents, Fates, rest their souls, left me with a few natural abilities. A moment later, a shadow appeared in front of the frosted glass pane in my office door that read Moore For Less Investigations. The figure rapped timidly against the window. I quickly sorted the papers on my desk and rose from my seat.

“Come in.” I said, as I made my way to greet her.

The door opened to lovely female. She was about five feet nine with coppery colored skin in an amber gown with a cream bodice. She was human with curly black hair and emerald green eyes. She was lovely, in her middle years and judging by her clothing rather well off.

“Um.. Mister Moore?” She asked almost cautiously.

“Yes, Miss..”

“Mrs. Chambers, Veronica Chambers.”

“Well, Mrs. Chambers, nice to meet you. I am Marcus Moore. You can call me Marcus or Mister Moore. Please allow me to assist you with your cloak.” I said.

I aided her out of her heavy woolen cloak of a dark brown and hung it on the nearby coat rack. I closed the door behind her and waved my hand toward the chair in front of my desk.

“It is rather chilly out of late. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? I asked as I escorted her across the room.”

“The winter does draw nearer and yes a cup of tea would be delightful.”

I pulled out the simple chair and Mrs. Chambers sat. I went over to the small table that possessed a small stove top enchanted with a small fire stone. By turning the little knob, the stone is lifted up completing the magic circle. It did not take long for the water to boil.

“Any sugar ma'am?” I asked her.

“Yes, please, one spoonful should be plenty.”

I placed the cup of tea on the desk before her, then I walked around and took my seat.

“Very well Mrs. Chambers. How might I assist you?”

“Well it's my husband... He's been missing for the past two days.”

“I'm sorry to hear that, ma'am.” I said “Have you spoken with the Police?”

Disdain appeared on her face.

“Yes, they told me that since he has only been gone for two days there wasn't much they could do. They claimed it was likely he just got drunk somewhere and would turn up. I tried to explain that this was not the kind of behavior my husband perpetrated.”

“I see, so he has no history of taking time to himself?”

“No! Not once in the twenty-two years of our marriage, has he not sent me a summons whenever he was going to be late or had a sudden business trip.” she proclaimed “I even called his office and they said he hasn't been to work for the last two day either. I am at my wits end, Mister Moore”. Small tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. She whispered quiet sobs and withdrew a handkerchief from her handbag.

I could literally smell the fear and worry from her. I admittedly have a weakness for damsels in distress. The need to save and protect is ingrained into my being as much as my inner beast. I knew I was taking the case. I could not afford denying the request. Still I did not wish to appear too anxious.

“Mrs Chambers, might I ask what brought you to my door? I mean, there are a number of arcane investigators that could divine your husband's location without leaving their office.”

“I have tried those, three different ones in fact, not a single one could pinpoint his location. It was one of those fine gentlemen, that informed me that there was a new private investigator that did not rely on magical means.”

“Well, that was a small favor. I cannot make any promises, but I will do my very best. My fee is twenty-five sovereigns a day, is that all right with you?”

“Yes, that is fine.”