Announcement: All great things must come to an end so please say goodbye to NBR...until next season! 

Yes, you read right. To celebrate our 100th round, we're happy to announce that NBR is going seasonal! 

Details about this change is posted on our Contest Updates and Bulletin Board: https://www.wattpad.com/153483864-next-big-recognition-contest-contest-updates

I encourage you to read up on it :)

Congrats to our 100th Round Spotlight Authors. The honors you have!

Commenting time frame (CST): 9/8 - 9/17

Comment Topic: How can the author accentuate/better the descriptors used to describe the world they've created? Be specific.

Moderator: dawnstarling "I can't parallel park."

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Author #1: Reffster

 Book Title: The Four Baristas of the Apocalypse

Spotlight Chapter: Chapter 3

 Summary Thus Far: Max, Cora, Mel and Cam are enjoying a camping/fishing weekend, blissfully unaware that while they're in the wilderness, the world is being invaded by aliens. Their first inkling that something is amiss is when the final night of their getaway is interrupted by a spectacular shower of what appear to be meteors. One of these crashes into the field in which they're camped, demolishing their cars and knocking down their tents. While investigating the meteor and discovering that it has some unusual properties, another one comes down in their field, but this one turns out to be an alien spacecraft, containing (surprise, surprise) an alien. Chapter three takes place just after the alien has emerged from its ship.

Author's Note: Thanks to the NBR crew for running such a great organisation and for the chance to be spotlighted. OK, questions: -

Q1: Firstly, is it difficult to follow the events of the chapter? There's a fair bit going on and I'd appreciate feedback on how much sense it all makes.

Q2: I'd love to hear about anything you particularly liked/disliked in the chapter (either or both is fine).

In-line comment preference: Go for it.

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: PG 

Winning Comment: Ah, the wonderful spotlight round. Congratulations! I hope you can wade through the comments without too much difficulty. I really liked the opening chapters of the story, and plan to make time to finish the book. You have me hooked! Here's some comments on your chapter. CT – I found the descriptions very entertaining. You manage to paint a picture of the events with a lot of humor thrown in, and the pace of the story is very good. I like the way you describe the average person, but find it is very Euro-centric. Funny, but not really representative of the peoples of earth. Perhaps you can dress him in pieces of clothing from several parts of the world? Or from each continent? That would add to the confusion and keep it funny. (as an aside, I like the way you have him dressed, I'm just playing devil's advocate for those fussier readers). I also think you should give his apparent age, which should be about 25 years old. Since I read the first chapters to get a feel for the highlighted ones, I found the area and the characters to be well developed. The alien ship lands in the previous chapter, the meteor is glowing at the bottom of the crater, so I think when you take the previous chapters into consideration, the questions about where the spaceship came from are answered.

Question 1: Is it difficult to follow the events of the chapter? Does it all make sense? I thought the chapter was well written and made perfect sense to me. I liked the way you further developed the characters, their flaws and attitudes came through clearly. The hologram was a surprise, especially how he dealt with the first contact, getting Mel to attack him to prove what he really was. His apparent fear of being captured/taken/destroyed by the other aliens isn't clear to me yet, but that is a good hook to keep the reader engaged. I feel some explaining will be forthcoming in the next chapters, along with a wild ride to somewhere out of this world.

Question 2: What did you particularly like/dislike about the chapter? I liked the interplay between Ethlukjamson and the four characters. He has the correct responses to their questions, and it sounds funny at the same time the world is being destroyed. You might have him go through several languages when he begins to talk to them about what happened. He could begin with Mandarin, then Spanish. Mel would definitely make a few comments here, increasing her rage and letting him know they speak English (the cuss words, anyway). I did kind of miss Cam's dialogue after the beginning of the chapter. You could throw in some lines from him to keep him in the scene.

Network with this winner: painebook

1st runner up: AmericanBruja

2nd runner up: N/A

Final Authors Note: Thanks to all the reviewers, I received some fantastic and useful feedback. 

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Author #2: spicy_sweets

Book Title: Words

Spotlight Chapter: 12

Summary Thus Far: Ziva Kritikos is suddenly cursed to eat her words. She hasn't got a clue of why it happened to her, but it's becoming an inconvenience for her school life. If she writes, the words don't show on paper, making her quizzes and assignments useless. This chapter's the morning after her parents found out about her failing grades from a teacher and confronted her about it. Ziva and her family come to terms with her strange ability and the effects it has on each of them. One of Ziva's being her inability to eat food, with words being her only source of nutrition.

Author's Note: I'm glad to finally be here! NBR has been a great experience and I'm excited (and terrified) to be on the other side of table. Words was my first novel, and I'd love to see an unbiased opinion of it. Now, for the questions:

1) While writing, I've had mixed comments about how I describe Ziva's dilemma. Is her inner conflict between hunger and being "normal" realistic?

2) How is the description of her words? I want them to kind of seem like living creatures, but without much sentimental values in Ziva's eyes. 

3) Are the parents' interactions with Ziva realistic?

In-line comment preference: Welcome!

Genre: Paranormal

Rating: PG

Winning comment: Will be announced soon.

Network with this winner:

1st runner up:

2nd runner up:

Final Authors Note:

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Author #3: FanyPi

Book Title: Rising Power 

Spotlight Chapter: Dreams Connected-Valentine 

Summary Thus Far: In 1776, an English ship starts its journey towards America, but gets lost in the Atlantic Ocean. Facing imminent death, the ship gets pulled into a parallel dimension in a paradise-like Island, which resembles Earth. The Deities of Canton Island give the lost travelers superpowers, in exchange for an occasional sacrifice of a human body. 250 years later, a war has turned people away from the Deities, no superpowers exist and our heroine lives like a normal 20-year old girl, with a few problems of her own. 

Author's Note: OMG (Excitement! Excitement! Excitement!) I want to thank everyone in advance for your lovely comments and I a pretty sure this is going to be an enriching experience!

1. Exposition/Amateur Writing. The existing chapter is the 2nd major edit this book had so far. Do you still find spots where you think "this could be better written?" Please explain why.

2. Valentine. Do you think she is over-the-top good or tormented or trying hard to look like an interesting character? 

3.Prologue. Most of the people love the prologue, but the different feel between it and the main chapters is anticlimactic to some. Do you think this chapter can stand as a prologue?

Please hit me hard with your criticism. But always elaborate, so I can get better. 

In-line comment preference: Absolutely necessary XD 

Genre: Fantasy 

Rating: PG-13 for mild swearing/implication of violence 

Winning comment: Hello and I am sorry for the delay, as I am not visiting Wattpad quite as regularly as before. 

My first winner is reaweiger with the following comment:
Congratulations on the spotlight, ! After reading the blurb you'd provided, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed this gentle introduction to your story. I'm not sure if I want to call it a prologue or a first chapter, but I'll get into that later. First, I want to discuss the comment topic!

I think you did a great job when it comes to describing the Canton Tower and its significance to your character/the story. You painted an elaborate picture with fleshed out descriptions such as "The base of the Tower was made of three thick and impressively sturdy metal lines, directing away from its main circular body. Its main core, consisting of dark-grey liquid-like metal and sturdy glass, became gradually thinner...", and I really liked how you used these descriptions as a segue into thoughts about Val's past ("Val had never been a God-loving person. Painful events like her parents' deaths and her stay in the Asylum for the Mentally Challenged, had made her depend more on her own powers and less on the holy, spiritual ones.").

However, the detail of these paragraphs contrasted the previous parts of the chapter a bit. You see, I would've loved to see some of the physical descriptions of Val connect to her thoughts/feelings like the descriptions of the Canton Tower did. You did that once, in Val's response to her friend Mandy's comment ("What indeed, thought Val as she closed her little apartment door behind her.") – and I loved that, because the comment almost read like a sigh, like Val's tired of people assuming her life must be swell just because her hair is. In other cases, though – one example being: "The little girl's hair was raven black and so were her eyes, and her skin was naturally tanned.

They had nothing to do with Val's chestnut brown wavy hair, dark blue eyes and fair, almost transparent skin. She was also tall and well-built for a woman, whereas the girl was fragile and small, much more than Val had ever been as a child." – I felt like the descriptions only created the shell of your character (if that makes sense?). I would've loved to see these descriptions revealed a bit differently – but that could of course be an extremely personal opinion! We all have our unique styles of writing :)

Moving on to the first question, though, the main thing I want to bring up is the dream (which might not be all that surprising, as it's an important part of the chapter haha!). I really liked the way you introduced the dream; without completely stating it, I could instantly understand that the dream had not been a pleasant one ("Valentine Stone sat at the edge of her bed, still shaking." + "You have to get up and go to work, Val. It was nothing but a stupid dream."). Because of that, it was interesting to see that the dream started off on a warm note ("She was in [by, on?] her familiar, well-loved bench in the park. In front of her laid a thick dark forest, with sturdy tall trees. Behind the bench stood a family house, painted white and brown, with a beautiful wooden porch and rows of barley in front of it."). Knowing the dream would eventually end with Val trembling, I was just waiting for something to go wrong – and I was not disappointed when the little girl showed. She really brought an eerie tone to the dream with comments like "You don't talk a lot these days, do you?"!

There's one thing I would suggest here, though, and it's one that you're free to dismiss if it doesn't work with the way you've written your character. When I sleep, I pretty much always believe my dreams are reality (until I wake up). Because of that, I was thrown when Val said:

"I don't know who you are and what the hell you are doing here, in my dream, insulting me, but it's time you get out. I want to be alone". Personally, I think it would've been awesome to have her realize it's a dream when the little girl says: "It's simple. A stupid thing really. Wake up." (But that could just be my fondness for drama speaking haha!)

When it comes to the second question, I definitely didn't think Valentine was "over-the-top good or tormented or trying hard to look like an interesting character". The first part of her dream ("...but Val never joined them. She came here to be alone, to gather her often confusing thoughts. She always managed to put them in order just by looking at the forest, the barley or the colorful sunset in the sky.") made me connect with her at once, and lines like "That child suffers in ways you can't even imagine, Val. Like you did once" and "Having a few rough moments in life herself, Val loved to help[ed] people" made me grow even fonder of her. Despite her dark past, she seems to be a warm person, and I think that's an admirable trait!

The only thing I'd like to suggest here, though, is to not put too much focus on her attractiveness, as it was brought up again here: "Good morning, Val. Hell, you look better every single day". I realize saying this might make me sound bitter haha, but I'm only suggesting it because I think it detracts a bit from the warmth of her personality. I definitely didn't interpret Val is a vain person, so I wouldn't recommend giving her looks that much attention. Just a suggestion, though!

Regarding your third question, I'd like to repeat that I think this chapter COULD work both as a prologue and as a first chapter. The last line gave off that lovely prologue-vibe ("A new day has come."), but I think there might be a bit too much information in this chapter for it to be a prologue. We see Valentine's dream, glimpses of her past, what her present life is like, and what her surroundings look like. In my opinion, that sounds more like a first chapter. (I don't know if that answers your question completely. I tend to start arguing with myself when I'm writing these comments haha!)Either way, I thought this was a nice introduction! I have a feeling the other chapters will get more intense than Val is prepared for, so it was nice to get to know Valentine and her life before her journey truly starts. Great job! :)

Network with this winner: reaweiger

1st runner up: MichaelHoliday

2nd runner up: AhoskaJackson

Final Authors Note: I would like to thank everyone who took time to read and comment on my book. Everyone's help was precious since they revealed problems I hadn't even realised were there. A special thanks to for reading and reviewing the whole book in the Wayfarer's Reviews. Until next time XD

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