The First Chapters Writing Contest

“There is a moment anyone who’s ridden in a spacecraft will be familiar with: the magical instant when the vehicle starts generating enough upward thrust and reaches a sufficient speed such that the surface of the planet falls away from beneath it like a curtain dropping. The wheels lift off, the vibrations cease, and everything is smooth as suddenly you’re in the sky, nothing between you and the abyss but a metal fuselage and plasma shielding. It was the kind of feeling that could make someone believe in God.” — Elijah Mears, Nor Gloom of Night

“I had done it now. Sister Beattie would sell me to the tradesmen and I would be on the next slave ship overseas. Stumbling across the grass, I leaned against the trunk of a cherry tree and did my best to stop the rising tide of panic. I must remain positive. Looking out over the water a hundred white-sailed ships peppered the ocean. And he could return on any one of them, I reminded myself firmly. It could be any day now. After all, I just had to hold on until he came back.” — Morgan Tucker, The Vision Casting Chronicles

“Eivan, the oldest of the brothers, lived in a room at the end of the hallway, a maze of packing boxes and wardrobes drenched in color by the church’s stained glass crucifix. Only the room’s center was clear, making space for Eivan’s idol, a red leather punching bag hung from the rafters by a heavy iron chain. The few times Cas slept willingly it was to the sound of Eivan’s fists pounding leather like hellish rain. But Eivan was working downstairs, working, working, working and Cas was far too tired to sleep.” — Jennifer Meade, Lunatic Saint

“I was seven years old the first time it happened. I was skipping through the damp forest trail on the outskirts of town with some other kids from my village. We were picking whatever mushrooms and berries we could find to bring home to our parents, and messing around along the way.” — Alyssa Hanke, Elowen’s Earth

“A superstitious woman with a PhD in physics takes a leap into the unknowable when she gives up her life to save her beloved grandmother’s soul from an eternity in nothingness.” — Holly Ostara, Gloaming

“Harper Chase knows three things: Sam bought her magic from her father, Harper has feelings for Sam, and Sam’s father wants Harper’s magic by any means necessary. Unfortunately for her, he’s not the only one.” — J Laurel Quinn, Firstborn Daughter

“Choosing to spare a child was Roy’s first mistake as an assassin. Raising the boy was his second. But, when Roy is given an assignment from PHENIX, the boy, Asher, decides to tag along. Roy wants to retire from PHENIX. Asher wants answers. PHENIX is at war with another organization. When these circumstances collide, it becomes a race against time that could destroy everything.” – Brooke Goodwin, PHENIX

“I stood outside the shop door and waited. For what? I’m not sure. Gram didn’t have the courage to come along and see what her husband had been up to before he disappeared on his last expedition and went back to bed, sick with grief. I had no intentions of going inside the shop tonight, but while I tossed hay to the cattle and finished up my chores like any other day, it beckoned to me, as if an invisible thread had secured itself to my mind and slowly reeled my thoughts and finally my body over to its locked door.” – Kristi Stalder, Wrath