Saying Goodbye After Five Years

In May of 2008, I started this blog. I didn't know what I was doing. In fact, Blogger didn't have the Follow feature back then! Blogging has come a long way. Some of you have been around here for five years. Some of you just joined. To all of you, I send a huge thank you! The Innocent Flower has played a crucial role in my writing career, developing valuable friendships and connections, and allowing me to put my thoughts out there when I needed it most.

But, alas, it is time to move on.

In short, moving on from this blog is part of the solution to keep going when I've felt like giving up so many times. Won't you join me on my continuing journey?

I will now be blogging at my new author website, michelledargyle.com. I have moved a portion of my posts from this blog over to that blog, but not everything. Some things are best meant to remain in memory. This is a fresh start for me, with a new name (my name minus most of the middle)!

If you would like to continue to keep up with me, you can subscribe to me via email over on my new blog. Just scroll down on the sidebar to where it says "Subscribe to Blog via Email". Or, you can always subscribe using an RSS feed program like Feedly or some of these other feed readers. Click here for my feed.

Or, you can still find me on Facebook or Twitter or Sign Up for My Newsletter.

Thank you, everyone, for your friendship and support,

Michelle

Announcing the Full Manuscript Critique Winner(s)!

It turns out I received way more than five entries for my Full Manuscript Critique Contest announced on April 8th. Way more. It also turns out that it took quite a bit of time to read through all the entries, process them in my head, and actually narrow it all down to a winner. Even more, it turns out that I couldn't narrow it down to just one. I just couldn't. All of you -- everyone who entered -- gave me so much to think about. So many ideas. So many good ideas. So many options. I blacked out the column which showed genre then let myself pick based on the writing, the story, the pull I personally felt toward the concept (yes, that does come into play, I realized), and how much I thought about each one after I'd read it. I took days to do this, and considering most agents get as many queries as I received for this contest in their inbox per day, I have a newfound respect for what they do. Truly not easy to make those kinds of decisions on a consistent basis.

Because I feel guilty for all the entries I didn't choose, even though it's just a silly full MS critique, not an offer of representation or publication or whatever. Still, when you have to choose out of so many -- and so many are good -- it's hard to say yes to only one or a few.

With no further ado, I give you the winner of the full manuscript critique:

Kadie Kinney for her young adult contemporary manuscript titled

IN REAL LIFE

But! Keep reading because I've also chosen the following for a second round in the manuscript contest! Yes, I'll be choosing a second winner! If you are on the list below, please send me the first 50 pages of your manuscript (read instruction below). 

Danielle Thuen for FRENCHIE

Shelly Brown for THE FALL OF CLIFF CASTLE

Cindy Hogan for BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Bonny Anderson for SEAN MCDONALD'S ELIXER OF INFINITE WISDOM

Jennie Bennett for WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE FALLING IN LOVE

Winners, you will be emailed later today, but if you don't receive an email within 24 hours, please email me at michelledavidsonargyle@gmail.com for further instructions. 

Congratulations to everyone chosen! And a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who entered! Please don't hate me if you weren't chosen. I love you all and I may make this an annual or semi-annual thing!