COTT: Clash Conqueror

Attention! Ann Gaylia O'Barr has been crowned CHAMPION at

Clash of the Titles!

For her excerpt from Singing in Babylon, Ann Gaylia O'Barr garnered favor in a Clash against fellow contender Dee Smith for Best Antagonist. Both excerpts showcased sinister adversaries.

As one reader put it:
Both antagonists were well described, and both gave me a chill up my spine.
Another assures us:
Both are VERY creepy!
But only one can claim victory, and that honor falls to O'Barr this time around. How did she do it? Ann believes a good antagonist elicits a measure of sympathy from the reader so that we are both drawn to and repulsed by his character. It must be true because it secured her the win.
In her interview with COTT staff member Amanda Flower, Ann shares how she spent years country-hopping for her work as U.S. Foreign Service officer and collected plenty of raw material for her antagonists by her immersion in Muslim-dominated culture. Wow!
Want to know who her favorite fictional bad guy is? Read her interview to find out.
Ann says: I've thoroughly enjoyed the contest. Answering the interview questions sharpened my ability to explain the novel. Writing is a continuous learning expreience, and I love it!
About her book:
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Singing in Babylon:
Recent grad Kate McCormack, saddled with college debt, has limited options…until she accepts an offer to teach English in Saudi Arabia. Plunged into a foreign world, she’s homesick and lonely, stuck in a gilded prison where women aren’t even allowed to walk around the block by themselves. The future stretches before her like a leaden sky.
Journalist Philip Tangvald, on the trail of a story about illegal immigration routes through the Middle East and North Africa, is intrigued by the feisty Kate, but wonders if he deserves to find love again. Too much loss and betrayal has burdened his life. First, his father, when he was eleven. And, a year ago, his wife. Now he’s free of everything—except the guilt from his past—and wants to stay that way.
Two worlds, two hearts in exile, are about to collide. And when they do, might they find a new song to sing … in Babylon?
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Read more about Ann and her body of work at her website
COTT's current Clash is on Best Opening Hook. Visit today to read the two selections, vote for your favorite, and enter to win one of the competing titles! (Mentioning my name gives me an extra entry, so if you don't mind I'd appreciate it!)
bio: Michelle Massaro is a homeschooling mom and aspiring novelist, as well as Assistant Editor for the literary website Clash of the Titles . Connect with her on twitter @MLMassaro, facebook, and her blog Adventures in Writing