Thursday, December 02, 2010

Speed Dating with Deidre Knight: She's Just That Into You (Results Post #1)

After reading almost 200 entries in record time, Deidre has narrowed the entries down to 30 lucky entrants. Yes, 3-0. You're probably wondering what happened to 25 or less.... There was just one problem with that cutoff, Deidre found herself completely bowled over by the high caliber of the submissions, and decided it was far more important to expand the contest than ignore such strong talent. In fact, getting it down to thirty was extremely difficult. Later today, she's going to be stopping by with a personal message (in the comment area) for all of the participants. So make sure you check back with us.

Without further ado, here are the folks advancing to the next round (in no particular order):

1. Lisa Iriarte

2. Gina Leigh Maxwell

3. Heather Nickodem

4. Tara Kollas

5. Shoshana Brown

6. Robin Cox

7. Sofie Couch

8. K.S. Olcott

9. Christine d'Abo

10. Patty Blount

11. Rita Oberlies

12. Joshua Thomas

13. Diane Garner

14. Tom Endyke

15. Leigh

16. Cera Daniels

17. Kinley Baker

18. Liz Czukas

19. Sydney Carroll

20. Deserae McGlothen

21. Sharon Wray

22. Steven Till

23. Pat O'Dea Rosen

24. Leona Bushma

25. Abagail Schmidt

26. Erin Kelly

27. Lauren Smith

28. Tonya Kappes

29. Lori Dyan

30. Phyllis Middleton (winner of the query drawing)

-The winner of the first chapter critique is Annabelle L.

All of the entrants advancing to the second round should have received an email from us with confirmations and further instructions this morning. If you did not, please email Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net immediately. The deadline to submit ten pages is tomorrow, Friday, December 3rd at 12:00pm Eastern Standard Time.

Those selected to advance to the third round after Deidre reads the ten page submissions, will be asked to send their first three chapters on Wednesday, December 8th, as outlined in the contest schedule.

Please join us in celebrating the top 30, as well as everyone who took the time to make this such a exciting and TOUGH competition. We wish the best of luck to all of you as you pursue your writing dreams!!

Labels:

49 Comments:

Blogger Yasmine Phoenix said...

Wow I'm the first to post this morning. Congratulations to the big 3-0. It's awesome Deidre found more talent than she thought. Good luck and may I read one or more than one of you in print soon.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 9:56:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Mary Kate Leahy said...

Congratulations!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 9:56:00 AM EST  
Anonymous KD Fleming said...

Oh well, I wasn't one of the 30 but congrats to all of you who were selected. Best of luck in the next round and thank you again Deidre and crew for adding to the excitement of the season. Happy Holidays to all.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 9:57:00 AM EST  
Blogger Brenda Drake said...

Congratulations to the winners and good luck in the next rounds! Yay! :D

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:00:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Julia Weston said...

Congrats to the top 30, and thanks to The Knight Agency for holding such a great contest. Happy Holidays everyone!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:03:00 AM EST  
Blogger AnnK said...

Big Congrats to the top 30!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:04:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Marquita Winslow said...

Congrats to the lucky 30!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:07:00 AM EST  
Blogger Qwillia Rain said...

congratulations everyone!!
good luck

Qwillia

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:08:00 AM EST  
Blogger Trish said...

Congratulations to the semi-finalists.

Fingers crossed for all of you!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:13:00 AM EST  
Blogger Donna Shields said...

Congratulations everyone. Good luck on the next round. I'll be checking in to see how it all goes!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:23:00 AM EST  
Blogger Just another Jane Doe said...

Congrats to the top 30.

Well done!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:29:00 AM EST  
Blogger Janell said...

Thanks to Knight Agency and congrats to the 30! This was a great kick off for me to get back on track with submissions. 2011-here I come!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:41:00 AM EST  
Blogger Sandra Cormier said...

Best of luck to the top 30!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:58:00 AM EST  
Blogger Elise Linich said...

Hooray for all those who made it past round one! It's still very gratifying to know it was a tough competition, and buoys my spirits a bunch.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:02:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Cindy Procter-King said...

Congratulations to everyone who made the cut!! What a fantastic opportunity. Y'all done good. And how nice of Deidre to expand the 25 to 30.

Best of luck to everyone in the next round.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:05:00 AM EST  
Blogger Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Best of luck to the top 30. For the those of you who didn't get in and who are still unpublished, this only means that your writing didn't fit into a certain criteria. It doesn't mean your writing isn't just as wonderful. So, keep submitting and keep growing as a writer.

Thanks Deidre for the opportunity.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:05:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Samantha Cade said...

Congrats to those who made the cut (and congrats to those brave enough to enter) - everyone deserves a pat on the back!

Thank you so much Deidre and Jia for putting this event together!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:07:00 AM EST  
Blogger Deidre Knight said...

Hi, Gang:
I just wanted to post a quick flyby message here (am on the way to the airport to pick up a visitor in about 20 minutes.) The quality of these entries was incredibly good--much stronger than I'd anticipated. Which made narrowing it down to just 30 a very hard choice, and in some cases was simply a matter of subjective taste, i.e. maybe I didn't personally connect with the work. I was so proud of everyone, both for taking the plunge and entering and also for submitting very high quality material.
Way to go!! And congrats to the finalists! Deidre

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:09:00 AM EST  
Blogger Kate MacEachern said...

Congratulations and best wishes to all the finalists!

And many thanks for the fast turnaround on entries, Deidre. You offered a great opportunity.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:27:00 AM EST  
Blogger Hope Welsh said...

Good luck to those that made it! Thanks for the chance anyway.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:32:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Susan Spann said...

Congratulations to the 30! Here's hoping to hear good news about representation for some of you later in the month!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:34:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Sarah P said...

Good luck to the top 30!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:36:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Adrienne Giordano said...

Thank you to Deidre for hosting the contest. It was tons of fun!

Good luck to the finalists!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:47:00 AM EST  
Anonymous Shannon S. said...

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to Deidre and Jia. Someone's getting a fab present this year, and you'll have earned it!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:05:00 PM EST  
Blogger Michelle said...

Congrats to those who made it

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:08:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Tonya Kappes said...

WOW!! What a great thing to be thankful for! Thank you so much.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:31:00 PM EST  
Blogger Vicki said...

Congrats to the top 3-0 and major props to both Deidre and Jia for doing such a great contest!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:36:00 PM EST  
Blogger G. Marie Merante said...

Congratulations to all the finalists!! I imagine there is alot of jumping up and down going on!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:50:00 PM EST  
Blogger Huntress said...

Thanks for the opportunity to submit. And that was about the kindest rejection note I've ever received. :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:53:00 PM EST  
Blogger Dave Clark said...

Thank you for rejecting me! No, really!

I've banged my head on cement walls for months, trying to figure out how come I haven't snagged an agent yet. I got the whole ms. past two beta readers but something there wasn't quite passing that old reliable sniff test. I've sent flurries of "first X pages" to agents from here to Alpha Centauri and got nothing but rejections. I could never tell why: maybe due to the subtle-yet-distinctive aroma of pollution, somebody had a hangnail at the moment, they printed a copy and accidentally spilled the scotch on it--soaking it to illegibility, or "I'm just not into whatever you're trying to get across".

I could never tell why, until now. No clue whatever. Here's the answer: MY WORK STINKS! And I was told by one of the greats in the game! Do you have any idea how valuable this feedback is? While I'm busy rewriting the first three pages, where do I send my right arm, in grateful payment?

--Dave Clark

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 1:29:00 PM EST  
Blogger Unknown said...

This opportunity means more to me than I can express with mere words.

If I go no further in this contest, I'll be blessed with knowing that my dream agent thinks I have potential. And that is the best gift anyone could've given me this season.

Thank you, Deidre. :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 2:23:00 PM EST  
Blogger Meg said...

Thanks for the opportunity, Deidre! Congrats to those who went on, and best wishes for a big Christmas contract to the winner!! :-D

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 2:51:00 PM EST  
Blogger MKate said...

Although this contest offering was met with some confusion, complication, and frustration, I just want to sincerely give my thanks for the opportunity to submit my work. You didn't have to have the contest, so thank you for treat! It was exciting, and for the first time in my life, I truly experienced what "heart pounding out of my chest" feels like! That was one heck of an 8 a.m. wake-up call! :)

When I made the first round, I checked out some of the other names on the list and found that we all had some very talented competition. And for the 30 that made the cut, CONGRATULATIONS and Best of Luck to you! It sounds like, Deidre, that you have an excellent chance of finding a perfect match!!! If so, a very successful contest after all!

Thanks again,
Mary Kate Kopec
(And also thanks to Jia for keeping us all informed and calm throughout the fray. Cheers!)

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 3:49:00 PM EST  
Blogger Phyllis said...

Wow....this is an honor! It is both exciting and scary. Congratulations to all and to all the best of luck!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:05:00 PM EST  
Blogger Diane Garner said...

Thanks Deidre and Jia for all your hard work to put on this contest. Congrats to all who made the next round. Now, off to celebrate with some bubbly and chocolate.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:13:00 PM EST  
Blogger tarak said...

I am so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you to Jia and Deidre for all their work!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:14:00 PM EST  
Blogger Carolyn Rosewood said...

Congrats to the 30! Best of luck!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:45:00 PM EST  
Blogger Liz Czukas said...

I made it! Thank you Deidre and Jia for having such a fun contest. I'm honored to make the first cut and can't wait to see what happens next!

Congrats to the other 29--I'm glad to be in good company!

- Liz

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 7:02:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Jeanette Murray said...

Congratulations to the lucky 30! And wow, Deidre must be a speed reader. She really dedicated herself to getting those pages read, and early too!

Maybe I'll try again next time. :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 8:46:00 PM EST  
Blogger Lisa Iriarte said...

Thanks for the opportunity to continue on in the contest. It's been a wild ride so far!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 9:41:00 PM EST  
Blogger Victoria Dixon said...

Wow, so many wonderful things happening here: great talent and speed reading. :) Congratulations and I wish I'd known about it before. LOL

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 10:04:00 PM EST  
Blogger Erin Knightley said...

Big thank you to both Deidre and Jia for all their hard work! I am thrilled to be advancing, but even if I wasn't, it is certainly a fun and unique opportunity. Thanks again, and congrats to all the round 2-ers!

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:08:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Deserae said...

This is an amazing honor. I don't know your policy on replying to the conformation e-mail, so I thought I'd drop by and send my most heartfelt "thank-you!" here on the blog. Thank-you Jia for being so helpful and communicative, and thank-you Deidre for this opportunity. If it means this much to me, I can only imagine how the other 29 are feeling, too.

Warm wishes,
Deserae McGlothen

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11:14:00 PM EST  
Blogger C. R. Bailey said...

Congratulations and best wishes to the 30! Thanks, Deidre and Jia for the opportunity.

Friday, December 3, 2010 at 8:12:00 AM EST  
Blogger Jia Gayles said...

Just wanted to drop by and say thanks to everyone for the kind comments. We are glad to hear that so many of you enjoyed the contest. That certainly encourages us to do more events like this in the future!

Friday, December 3, 2010 at 8:35:00 AM EST  
Blogger Evangeline Holland said...

Congrats to those who made the list!!

Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 12:01:00 AM EST  
Blogger Darin said...

Congratulations to all the winners! I wish you all Godspeed in connecting with an agent, contest or no contest! As for me, maybe better luck next time!

Darin Kennedy
darin@darinkennedy.com
www.darinkennedy.com

Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 5:18:00 PM EST  
Blogger Deidre Knight said...

Thanks for all for the incredibly kind comments. The contest has been, and is continuing to be, lots of fun. If you didn't make it to the next round, please know that *all the submissions* were very strong. You guys made it very tough on me!! :)
Best and thanks again, Deidre

Monday, December 6, 2010 at 10:45:00 AM EST  
Blogger Unknown said...

Congratulations to everyone who made it to the top ten recently. You are all doing very well for yourself, getting this far. Nothing but luck to everyone involved. This is really cool. Other agencies could stand to do things like this.

Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 12:26:00 AM EST  

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