Take the “4939 Challenge!”

I got a lot of responses to my ‘Take the Challenge’ posts where I randomly pick a spot in your book for you to post a small passage for others to review and comment. The premise of those challenges was suppose someone goes to the bathroom and while there finds and opens your book. But not at the beginning. They just start reading from any old random place in your book.

Will they get some idea of what your book is about by perusing just a few random lines?

Will they want to read more?

Or will they use the pages for something else having just realized there’s no toilet paper in the stall?

There were a lot of good comments and reviews last time and I hope you all made new friends, so let’s do it again!

I call this challenge the 4939 challenge and this is how it works.

Go to the 49th page of you book, then
Go to the 3rd complete paragraph on that page, then
Post the first 9 complete sentences. It’s ok to add a tenth or eleventh sentence if needed to complete the thought.
And finally (the most important step for this to work for all) is comment on your fellow authors’ work submitted to this post.

Let them know if you get the story and if it generates interest to read on. And remember, be kind!

You can post your passage and reviews via direct reply to my newsletter or this Facebook post if that is where you are reading this.

How did I come up with “4939?” I just opened the draft version of the book I’m currently writing, then randomly clicked a page then picked the first spot on the page that my eyes settled on.

To get the process started, here’s the first 9 sentences starting at the 3rd paragraph from the 49th page of my military SciFi ebook MILK RUN– about a young Captain Toby Nathanael Louis fresh out of space command school on his first mission as captain of the USS Princeton, an old destroyer class spacecraft. But what our hero thought would be an easy first mission turns out to be a test of his ability to lead a crew and ship much older than him against an enemy that is using his own fiancée to destroy him, his ship and his mission.

The door rattles from what could only be Commander Emerson’s muffled knock.

“Enter,” Toby shots out with a narrowed eye at the commander who just marched in without waiting for an invite.

The man’s black and white rubber suit makes him look like a stuffed orca that has returned to harass the local penguin population. But the commander’s voice has a soft concerned quality to it. “Captain, just want to make sure you have your suit on before we flood all decks.”

Toby’s head drops slightly as he adjusts his suit. Maybe he was a bit harsh about the commander. His heart seems to be in the right place. “Yes, I’m ready, let’s do this.”

OK, as a reward to posting your passages and commenting on passages posted by fellow authors, I’ve assembled a list of Science Fiction and Fantasy books that might tickle your interest. They will all make good holiday reading by a real, holographic or imagined fireplace.

Click the image below and sail into the holidays with some
fantastic SciFi and Fantasy stories!
Check them out and support/encourage the amazing authors!