by Julie Kenner
ME: Actually, I tried to write the book entirely in Mel’s point of view, but I just couldn’t do it. Stryker wanted his fifteen minutes of fame, too. And so did Lynx. I originally wrote Stryker’s first scene more or less as it is, then tried to translate it into first person from Mel’s point of view. Didn’t work. And so I finally realized that this particular story needed to be told from a mix of first and third person.
ME: Why not write Stryker’s point of view in first person, too?
ME: I have absolutely no idea. All I can say is that it didn’t “feel” right.
ME: How did the codes come about? Did you make them all up?
ME: Yup. And some of them were just serendipitous. OK, spoiler here, so don’t read the rest of the answer if you haven’t read the book. I included the equation for the catenary curve without any clear idea of where it was going. So I had a reference to St. Michael and to St. Louis. I knew I wanted the characters to go to St. Patrick Cathedral’s because Ihad to include the reference to the 666 address. But I had no idea how to get them there. So I checked the Internet and Oh. My. Gosh, it turns out that there is a St. Michael and St. Louis altar in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I’d had no idea. It was like kismet.
ME: What about the 666 address? Why did you “have” to use it?
ME: OK, this is a really weird story. St. Pat’s is on Fifth Avenue, and the first time I was in New York City, I was a sophomore in high school on a drama club trip. At the time, I was writing pretty bad poetry in my spare time. So we’re walking around, and I see that from the cathedral’s front steps, you can see a building that has prominently displayed the address 666, which, if you’ve seenThe Omen, you know has scary implications. After the trip, I went home and wrote a poem about that juxtaposition. (And no, I won’t include the poem here. Maybe, sometime, if I’m feeling like baring my teenage angst soul, I’ll post it on my website.)
Fast-forward a few (very few, ahem) years to the writing of this book. I’m including NYC stuff, so, of course, I put in a reference to the 666 across from the cathedral. Then, after the book is turned in, but before I’d done revisions, I visited New York. I went to Fifth Avenue to check that location and…gasp!…no 666. I freaked. My editor assured me she didn’t think I was nuts, even though she didn’t remember the 666. I, of course, thought that I must be insane. Fortunately, the Internet came through again. I did a search and found other references to the odd congruence of church and address marker. The address is gone now (don’t know why) but itwas there, and if I can remember it, so can Melanie!
ME: Are we going to see more of Mel and Stryker?
ME: Absolutely. They show up again in The Manolo Matrix, though they aren’t the main characters. Right now, Manolo is scheduled for March 2006 (but be sure to check my website in case that changes: www.juliekenner.com) and I’m working on the book right now!
ME: Okay, that about wraps this up. I’m thinking Pulitzer for my hard-hitting analysis.
ME: I’m thinking not…
NATIONWIDE AUTHOR SEARCH!
Be the
Next
Downtown
Girl!
Are you a downtown girl at
heart and an aspiring
writer with a story?
Ever dreamed of having
that story published?
Downtown Press is looking for an author with a fresh, new voice whose story will be published in one of our future Downtown Press anthologies. The first prize winner will also receive $500 (for that new pair of stilettos!).
Before you start writing, visit www.simonsaysthespot.com to register your name for the contest. If you choose, we’ll provide you with writing tips from our authors, hints from our senior editors, info on online chats, and a newsletter with the latest from Downtown Press.
The rest is up to you! Good Luck!
Stories must be received by July 31, 2005.
www.downtownpress.com • www.simonsaysthespot.com 11614
Be the Next Downtown Girl
Contest Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER.
1) ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Register to enter the contest on www.simonsaysthespot.com. Enter by submitting your story as specified below.
2) CONTEST ELIGIBILITY:
This contest is open to nonprofessional writers who are legal residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) over the age of 18 as of December 7, 2004. Entrant must not have published any more than two short stories on a professional basis or in paid professional venues. Employees (or relatives of employees living in the same household) of Simon & Schuster, VIACOM, or any of their affiliates are not eligible. This contest is void in Puerto Rico, Quebec, and wherever prohibited or restricted by law.
3) FORMAT:
Entries must not be more than 7,500 words long and must not have been previously published. Entries must be typed or printed by word processor, double spaced, on one side of noncorrasable paper. Do not justify right-side margins. Along with a cover letter, the author’s name, address, email address, and phone number must appear on the first page of the entry. The author’s name, the story title, and the page number should appear on every page. Electronic submissions will be accepted and must be sent to [email protected]. All electronic submissions must be sent as an attachment in a Microsoft Word document. All entries must be original and the sole work of the Entrant and the sole property of the Entrant.
All submissions must be in English. Entries are void if they are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, or damaged or if they do not conform to any of the requirements specified herein. Sponsor reserves the right, in its absolute and sole discretion, to reject any entries for any reason, including but not limited to based on sexual content, vulgarity, and/or promotion of violence.
4) ADDRESS:
Entries submitted by mail must be postmarked by July 31, 2005 and sent to:
Be The Next Downtown Girl
Author Search
Downtown Press Editorial Department
Pocket Books
1230 Sixth Avenue, 13th floor
New York, NY 10020
Or Emailed By July 31, 2005
at 11:59 PM EST as a
Microsoft Word document to:
[email protected]
Each entry may be submitted only once. Please retain a copy of your submission. You may submit more than one story, but each submission must be mailed or emailed, as applicable, separately. Entries must be received by July 31, 2005. Not responsible for lost, late, stolen, illegible, mutilated, postage due, garbled, or misdirected mail/entries.
5) PRIZES:
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
Simon & Schuster’s Downtown Press Publishing Contract for Publication of Winning Entry in a future Downtown Press Anthology, Five Hundred U.S. Dollars ($500.00), and
Downtown Press Library (20 books valued at $260.00)
Grand Prize winner must sign the Publishing contract which contains additional terms and conditions in order to be published in the anthology.
Ten Second Prize winners will receive:
A Downtown Press Collection (10 books valued at $130.00)
No contestant can win more than one prize.
6) STORY THEME
We are not restricting stories to any specific topic, however they should embody what all of our Downtown Press authors encompass—they should be smart, savvy, sexy stories that any Downtown Girl can relate to. We all know what uptown girls are like, but girls of the new millennium prefer the Downtown Scene. That’s where it happens. The music, the shopping, the sex, the dating, the heartbreak, the family squabbles, the marriage, and the divorce. You name it. Downtown Girls have done it. Twice. We encourage you to register for the contest at www.simonsaysthespot.com in order to receive our monthly emails and updates from our authors and read about our titles on www.downtownpress.com to give you a better idea of what types of books we publish.
7) JUDGING:
8) NOTIFICATION:
The winners will be notified by mail or phone on or about October 1, 2005. The Grand Prize Winner must sign the publishing contract in order to be awarded the prize. All federal, local, and state taxes are the responsibility of the winner. A list of the winners will be available after October 20, 2005 on:
http://www.downtownpress.com
http://www.simonsaysthespot.com
The winners’ list can also be obtained by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to:
Be The Next Downtown Girl
Author Search
Downtown Press Editorial Department
Pocket Books
1230 Sixth Avenue, 13th floor
New York, NY 10020
9) PUBLICITY:
Each Winner grants to Sponsor the right to use his or her name, likeness, and entry for any advertising, promotion, and publicity purposes without further compensation to or permission from such winner, except where prohibited by law.
10) INTERNET:
If for any reason this Contest is not capable of running as planned due to an infection by a computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, the Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest. The Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry to be received by the Sponsor due to technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute as to the identity or eligibility of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared made by the “Authorized Account Holder” of the email address submitted at time of entry. “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person 18 years of age or older who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, education institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Use of automated devices are not valid for entry.
11) LEGAL Information:
All submissions become sole property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. By submitting an entry, all entrants grant Sponsor the absolute and unconditional right and authority to copy, edit, publish, promote, broadcast, or otherwise use, in whole or in part, their entries, in perpetuity, in any manner without further permission, notice or compensation. Entries that contain copyrighted material must include a release from the copyright holder. Prizes are nontransferable. No substitutions or cash redemptions, except by Sponsor in the event of prize unavailability. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to not publish the winning entry for any reason whatsoever.
In the event that there is an insufficient number of entries received that meet the minimum standards determined by the judges, all prizes will not be awarded. Void in Quebec, Puerto Rico, and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Winners will be required to complete and return an affidavit of eligibility and a liability/publicity release, within 15 days of winning notification, or an alternate winner will be selected. In the event any winner is considered a minor in his/her state of residence, such winner’s parent/legal guardian will be required to sign and return all necessary paperwork.
By entering, entrants release the judges and Sponsor, and its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, advertising, production, and promotion agencies from any and all liability for any loss, harm, damages, costs, or expenses, including without limitation property damages, personal injury, and/or death arising out of participation in this contest, the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy, merchandise delivery, or the violation of any intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyright infringement and/or trademark infringement.
Sponsor:
Pocket Books,
an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10020
TM, ®, and © 2004 Pocket Books.
All Rights Reserved
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