This contest is honor of the fantastic and gripping suspense novel Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann, now on sale and which you should definitely purchase for your suspense reading pleasure.
BUT DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it an “electrifying debut,” and the Miami Herald said it’s an “extraordinary portrait of an ever-shifting country,” and with a nod to the gripping travails of the main character, they add helpfully, “it makes you damned glad your life is boring.”
You may remember the plot of Rock Paper Tiger from Lisa’s most excellent query:
The Beijing ’08 Olympics are over, the war in Iraq is lost, and former National Guard medic Ellie McEnroe is stuck in China, trying to lose herself in the alien worlds of performance artists and online gamers. When a chance encounter with a Chinese Muslim dissident drops her down a rabbit hole of conspiracies, Ellie must decide who to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors and operatives claiming to be on her side – in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online game.Rock Paper Tiger is a fast-paced, 108,000 word mainstream novel set in a China where the ultra-modern and cutting-edge clash with ancient neighborhoods and traditions, and in an America where the consequences of war reverberate long after the troops have come home. It will appeal to fans of William Gibson’s books with contemporary settings, Laura Lippman’s strong female protagonists, and almost anybody’s whacked-out travelogues about the world’s more surreal places.
Now then! For the Rock Paper Tiger Chase/Action Writing Contest Extravaganza (TRPTC/AWCE, as it shall be known henceforth), your prompt (should you choose to accept it:
Write the most compelling chase and/or action and/or suspenseful sequence. It may be something you have written for the purpose of the contest or from a work in progress.
The prizes (oh yes the prizes).
The GRAND PRIZE TRPTC/AWCE WINNER will receive:
– Their choice of a query critique, partial critique, or 10 minute phone conversation/consultation/dish session
– The pride of knowing you suspensed the heck out of me and your fellow readers.
Runners up will receive a query critique or other agreed-up on prize.
Now for the rules. Please note that all rules may and probably will be amended at my sole (and fickle) discretion.
1. Please enter one suspense/action sequence not to exceed 500 words in the comments section of this blog post. E-mail subscribers: you must must must must must (must) enter in the official contest thread. Please do not e-mail me your entries! If you need help leaving a comment, please consult this post.
2. You may enter once, and once you may enter. If you log in to post anonymously, make sure you leave your name or other identifying marker.
3. Spreading the word about the contest is not only encouraged, it is strongly encouraged.
4. Snarky comments, anonymous or otherwise, about entries, hobbits, ors, ents, or any other species from Tolkien’s Middle Earth will be deleted faster than you can say Isengard.
5. Please please check and double-check your entry before posting. If you spot an error after posting: please do not re-post. I go through the entries sequentially and the repeated deja vu repeated deja vu from reading the same entry only slightly different makes my head spin. I’m not worried about typos, nor should you be.
6. I will be the sole judge of the contest.
7. You must be at least 14 years old and less than 138 years old to enter. No exceptions.
8. I’m on Twitter! You can find me at @nathanbransford and I may be posting updates about the contest.
9. The deadline for this contest is 4:00 PM Pacific Time on Thursday, June 3rd. Finalists will be announced Friday morning, and you will have the opportunity to vote on the winner, which will be announced on Monday.
There you have it! May the best chase/action sequence win!
UPDATE: TIME’S UP!! THANK YOU FOR ENTERING!
He was at the end of my gun, and I could have shot him. But narcolepsy is a funny bitch, and one second my Magnum was drawing a straight line into his heart and the next second it was dragging sky like a flagpole.
I shook off the drowsy, but he was on me, a malignant growth with a bad tattoo of a phoenix on his back. He was an executive with some tech company where the offices have bunk beds and people don’t care how you look as long as you work hard. I had been hired by his wife, soon to be ex. When I caught him with some short-skirted brunette in a fancy hotel, the job was easy money. But that was before he started choking her, and my better judgment got the better of me.
He was strong and on some drug (probably Meth) where you don’t feel the pain unless it’s hard and below the belt. So that’s where my knee went. The first time it sounded like a thump. The second time I heard something bust. He rolled off me like he’d had enough. His mistake was thinking the gun was the only way to win the fight.
I lifted the brunette up to her waist and started talking to her. She was the kind of girl you could dream about. After a few seconds, she muttered something but I didn’t understand. I was feeling drowsy again.
When I woke up, he had the gun on me, and she was on his back, legs at his hips and arms on his arms. The room looked like they had been busy. He was straining to make the shot, a straight line into my heart, but his aim quivered with her movements. He shot once, almost getting me in the ribs. I got up, just as he was flipping her onto the floor. I threw myself at his legs and heard two shots. I can’t say if he was aiming for me or the skirt but all he got was the window and the ceiling.
I put my heel on his hand like I was putting out a cigarette and then grabbed the gun. The girl rose from the floor to a crouch. I motioned her over to me. “I have a problem,” I said.
“I’ve noticed. Give me the gun,” she said. She had sharp eyes and was even more beautiful awake. I didn’t trust her though, so I just motioned for her to follow me out of the room.
It was a fancy hotel so when I saw a couple thugs in the hallway, I knew they were trouble. Everybody sane was still in their room. I pulled her so close I could smell her soft skin and feel her breathing. “Do they know you,” I whispered. “Yes,” she said, and no sooner had she said it than I shot one of the men in the knee and the other in the shoulder. I could hear the sirens coming, but couldn’t decide if the police were going to be a problem yet.
We raced around a corner, and the elevator was there like it was waiting for us. Which was a good thing because as soon as the door closed, I was out again, probably dreaming about the brunette.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd time!! Thank you everyone for entering!