Friday Five

1. Aspiring writers meet Authoress. Authoress meet aspiring writers.
If you have not yet heard about the blog Miss Snark's First Victim, you're seriously missing out. Authoress, the lovely, hard-working blog owner, puts on Secret Agent contests once a month! There's one going on right now and I'm entry #22. Go forth and critique (please)! And come back for the next Secret Agent contest come March - seriously, they're ADDICTING! Free, honest feedback, with the possibility of a query or manuscript critique by an agent - what's not to love? It's like Christmas every month!

2. I edit as I write.
That's how THE UNICORN TAMER came about. I'm still making minor (but still important) tweaks such as grammar fixes and simplifying sentences, BUT I have not done any huge, heavy re-writing. After one whole week of intense line-edits, I'm taking a breather from TUT and working on FRIENDS WITH DEATH.

3. Wordcount deadlines.
As I've mentioned, I tend to edit as I write, but I know a lot of (successful) writers who write, focusing all their energy on meeting their word count goal, and edit when the manuscript is completed. I'm going to try and force myself to just write FWD. I really want to complete the manuscript ASAP and I'm not getting very far because I keep re-reading and tweaking already written parts. I work 50 miles away from home and take the shuttle to and fro so I'm going to try and use that time to fill all that white space with black! Words shall be spilled!

4. There's a GREAT Q&A going on over at the Debs. If you ever wondered what kind of financial terms/compensation is common for a typical young adult novel or how long it takes to find an agent - mosey on over!

5. My Early Valentine
I dislike the commercial aspect of Valentine's Day (it seriously bums me out to see Valentine's day cards and candies being sold the day after Christmas), but it's a nice day as any to have date day! The beau and I are celebrating Valentine's day early tonight with a chocolate-themed dinner complete with beer pairing! Om nom nom!