Agent Colleen Lindsay is having a super fun query contest on her blog: Write a query in 140 characters or less!
I decided to try to entice her with a a sentence about Fluffy! I'm also taking this opportunity to introduce you to Fluffy:
FRIENDS WITH DEATH: Mary Kate has 2 problems: an almost dying boyfriend and a guy who calls himself Death who visits her in her dorm room.
!!!
I am SO EXCITED to finally tell you about my work-in-progress. I'm having so much fun writing it. I hope to finish in February or March, but we'll see. Here's my current word count:
12533 / 60000 words. 21% done!
Coming up: I'm going to post short blurbs (think of them as mini-synopsis without telling you the ending or ... the "meat" of what I'd put in a query letter) for both THE UNICORN TAMER and FRIENDS WITH DEATH. Huzzah!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Game is Rejection!
I wonder if I'm:
A) growing thicker skin
B) so crazy in love with The Unicorn Tamer that I'm sure somebody somewhere will love it too, thus, am driving forward, full-force, like a train with no brakes ...
C) trying to stay optimistic because it's only January
I think a little bit of B and C.
Query update:
14 queries sent
8 rejections
2 partial requests
2 partial rejections
0 full requests
4 pending/possible No Answers = Rejection
Kinda shameful numbers huh ...
In the new year, I've sent 4 version 2 queries (I'm going to send about 6 more before I decide if version 1 is better than version 2). I received 2 rejections today alone. Yay for the speedy response and well ... nay for the nature of the response.
I'm unnaturally not down ... I've got my eyes on the finish line! Is it bad that my first thought to the rejection was: "This means I can query so and so next ..."??
I hope I'm always this upbeat about rejection. Who knows. Maybe my next query update will be stained with tears and defeat.
On more brighter notes: I woke up at 7AM to enter Miss Snark's First Victim Secret Agent Contest. The response was enormous and all the spots filled up in 3 hours. I am super stoked that I made the cut! I'm lucky #23! Please stop by and critique if you've got a moment. The posts will be up on Wednesday.
Still waiting to hear from Firebrand ... crosses fingers!!! Also, trying to decide if I want to enter Amazon's Breakthrough Novel contest.
I'm making progress on Fluffy! I even have a title! I will post about my new, exciting project soon ... in the meantime, mosey on over to Kelly Gay's blog - she's got a nice post up about writing a series proposal!
A) growing thicker skin
B) so crazy in love with The Unicorn Tamer that I'm sure somebody somewhere will love it too, thus, am driving forward, full-force, like a train with no brakes ...
C) trying to stay optimistic because it's only January
I think a little bit of B and C.
Query update:
14 queries sent
8 rejections
2 partial requests
2 partial rejections
0 full requests
4 pending/possible No Answers = Rejection
Kinda shameful numbers huh ...
In the new year, I've sent 4 version 2 queries (I'm going to send about 6 more before I decide if version 1 is better than version 2). I received 2 rejections today alone. Yay for the speedy response and well ... nay for the nature of the response.
I'm unnaturally not down ... I've got my eyes on the finish line! Is it bad that my first thought to the rejection was: "This means I can query so and so next ..."??
I hope I'm always this upbeat about rejection. Who knows. Maybe my next query update will be stained with tears and defeat.
On more brighter notes: I woke up at 7AM to enter Miss Snark's First Victim Secret Agent Contest. The response was enormous and all the spots filled up in 3 hours. I am super stoked that I made the cut! I'm lucky #23! Please stop by and critique if you've got a moment. The posts will be up on Wednesday.
Still waiting to hear from Firebrand ... crosses fingers!!! Also, trying to decide if I want to enter Amazon's Breakthrough Novel contest.
I'm making progress on Fluffy! I even have a title! I will post about my new, exciting project soon ... in the meantime, mosey on over to Kelly Gay's blog - she's got a nice post up about writing a series proposal!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Writing as a Hobby
The truth is, very few people get to do what they love for a living. It's more common to hear, "I hate my job" than "I love my job." Even fewer people can make enough money as a full-time, stay-at-home author who gets to write all the live long day (sounds great, doesn't it? but unfortunately, health insurance is very, very expensive). That's where hobbies come in. I think that you should obsessively, utterly, and completely love your hobby(ies) - especially if you don't like your job. Your hobby should make you feel good about who you are and who you want to be. Your job shouldn't define you, but I think your hobby can. Plus, a lot of us can't be in charge of our destiny in a corporate environment. I hope that by working my butt off, I can be in charge of my writing destiny.
I read this interesting post today about quitting your job to be a writer. I think it's a very smart, realistic point-of-view. If you ever dreamed about being a full-time writer, I think you should read it!
I especially enjoyed the part about practice (writing is like any hobby - to be good at something, you'll need thousands of hours of practice) and about rejection (agents/editors won't know about your work if you just leave it on your hard drive ... do not be so fearful of rejection that you don't send that ms).
I do disagree with what the author of the blog says about talent though. She believes that there's no such thing as talent. I disagree with her because I wholeheartedly believe that some people are born with natural gifts. I don't believe that talented people are better than people who have to try and work harder ...
And that's where hobbies come in. I mean, if you're lucky enough to be uber talented (or perhaps just plain lucky), you'd write bestseller after bestseller and get to be that full-time, stay-at-author who gets to write all the live long day. But for us non-magical-genius writers, it should be our hobby to write and to write and to write.
On an end note: I am desperately trying to catch up on my blog reading. I've also added two more blogs this week: Agent Nadia Cornier and Words on Words by Maggie Stiefvater. Read and enrich yourselves fellow aspwriters (aspiring writers)!
I read this interesting post today about quitting your job to be a writer. I think it's a very smart, realistic point-of-view. If you ever dreamed about being a full-time writer, I think you should read it!
I especially enjoyed the part about practice (writing is like any hobby - to be good at something, you'll need thousands of hours of practice) and about rejection (agents/editors won't know about your work if you just leave it on your hard drive ... do not be so fearful of rejection that you don't send that ms).
I do disagree with what the author of the blog says about talent though. She believes that there's no such thing as talent. I disagree with her because I wholeheartedly believe that some people are born with natural gifts. I don't believe that talented people are better than people who have to try and work harder ...
And that's where hobbies come in. I mean, if you're lucky enough to be uber talented (or perhaps just plain lucky), you'd write bestseller after bestseller and get to be that full-time, stay-at-author who gets to write all the live long day. But for us non-magical-genius writers, it should be our hobby to write and to write and to write.
On an end note: I am desperately trying to catch up on my blog reading. I've also added two more blogs this week: Agent Nadia Cornier and Words on Words by Maggie Stiefvater. Read and enrich yourselves fellow aspwriters (aspiring writers)!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Setting My Sights High in 2009!
Happy 2009!
It's time to get my writing butt in gear! After 10 days of being gloriously lazy, it's time to get back to work. I'm in srs bsns mode. I have really high writing hopes for 2009:
-- an agent
-- a publisher
-- a complete YA Urban Fantasy novel
Pretty aggresive goals if I do say so myself. The point is ... to make aggressive goals! Dream those big, scary, possibly impossible dreams. The really sad part is not that you may not make your goals, but that you didn't even want to acknowledge them. So there, I wrote down goals that I may not succeed in. Time to celebrate!
Here are my current goals:
-- polish Chapter 1 and submit it to Firebrand's Query Holiday extravaganza by Jan 15th
-- submit to Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent contest on January 12th!
-- Query 5 to 10 agents by Jan 31st
-- strengthen the partial portion of The Unicorn Tamer
-- read and provide feedback to 10 chapters of Jill's DTY by Jan 11th
-- write another 3,000 words to Fluffy (while listening to the Phantom of the Opera's outstanding soundtrack ... I received 5th row, Orchestra seats to the Phantom for Xmas and you can color me smittened! I think the story and music are perfect inspirations for my new ms! ... hmm ... must find the complete musical on CD ...)
-- read up on Amazon's Breakthrough Novel contest ... anyone entering?
So those are my writing New Year resolutions ... I wish you good luck on yours!
It's time to get my writing butt in gear! After 10 days of being gloriously lazy, it's time to get back to work. I'm in srs bsns mode. I have really high writing hopes for 2009:
-- an agent
-- a publisher
-- a complete YA Urban Fantasy novel
Pretty aggresive goals if I do say so myself. The point is ... to make aggressive goals! Dream those big, scary, possibly impossible dreams. The really sad part is not that you may not make your goals, but that you didn't even want to acknowledge them. So there, I wrote down goals that I may not succeed in. Time to celebrate!
Here are my current goals:
-- polish Chapter 1 and submit it to Firebrand's Query Holiday extravaganza by Jan 15th
-- submit to Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent contest on January 12th!
-- Query 5 to 10 agents by Jan 31st
-- strengthen the partial portion of The Unicorn Tamer
-- read and provide feedback to 10 chapters of Jill's DTY by Jan 11th
-- write another 3,000 words to Fluffy (while listening to the Phantom of the Opera's outstanding soundtrack ... I received 5th row, Orchestra seats to the Phantom for Xmas and you can color me smittened! I think the story and music are perfect inspirations for my new ms! ... hmm ... must find the complete musical on CD ...)
-- read up on Amazon's Breakthrough Novel contest ... anyone entering?
So those are my writing New Year resolutions ... I wish you good luck on yours!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!
I've been doing Christmas-y things, thus, tonight was the first night I actually hunkered down to do some writing. I just wanted to stop by and wish everyone a very warm, safe, and happy Christmas! I hope Santa was kind to you and yours!
Love, milk and cookies - Christine
P.S. I leave you with some shiny, itty bitty Fluffy progress in word count form:
8843 / 60000 words. 15% done!
Love, milk and cookies - Christine
P.S. I leave you with some shiny, itty bitty Fluffy progress in word count form:
8843 / 60000 words. 15% done!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Do Eeeit! FAR FROM YOU release celebration and contest!
FAR FROM YOU release celebration and contest!
Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is celebrating the release of her upcoming YA novel, FAR FROM YOU, and hosting a contest with LOTS of great prizes!
For three days leading up to the book’s release date of December 23rd, you can watch VLOGs and hear some excerpts read from the book. The VLOG schedule is as follows:
Sunday, December 21st – Liv’s Book Reviews - http://livsbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 22nd – What Vanessa Reads - http://whatvanessareads.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, December 23rd – Lisa Schroeder, author - http://lisa-schroeder.livejournal.com/ AND http://myspace.com/writerlisa
Help spread the word, and you might win a fabulous prize!
Copy and paste THIS entire blog entry into your blog between now and December 21st, then come back to Lisa’s blog at either Livejournal OR Myspace and leave a comment with the link to your blog and you will get TWO enteries to win a number of prizes.
Wondering what you might win? Here is the list (there will be multiple winners):
~ An Advanced Review Copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan
~ An Advanced Review Copy of SOMETHING, MAYBE, by Elizabeth Scott
~ Young adult novel GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones
~ Young adult novel, THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD by Donna Freitas
~ Young adult novel, UGLIES by Scott Westerfield
~ Pair of YA fairy tale retellings by Cameron Dokey (BELLE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT)
~ TWILIGHT movie soundtrack
~ $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card along with some Harry & David’s chocolate moose munch
~ And of course, a signed copy of FAR FROM YOU
For more chances to win, watch one or all of the VLOGs and leave a comment on that vlogger’s page, and you get another entry. That means if you post the schedule on your blog AND comment on all three VLOGs, you can have FIVE entries for the contest!
A live drawing with winners announced will be done by Lisa Thursday morning, December 24th, in a special holiday VLOG.
Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is celebrating the release of her upcoming YA novel, FAR FROM YOU, and hosting a contest with LOTS of great prizes!
For three days leading up to the book’s release date of December 23rd, you can watch VLOGs and hear some excerpts read from the book. The VLOG schedule is as follows:
Sunday, December 21st – Liv’s Book Reviews - http://livsbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 22nd – What Vanessa Reads - http://whatvanessareads.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, December 23rd – Lisa Schroeder, author - http://lisa-schroeder.livejournal.com/ AND http://myspace.com/writerlisa
Help spread the word, and you might win a fabulous prize!
Copy and paste THIS entire blog entry into your blog between now and December 21st, then come back to Lisa’s blog at either Livejournal OR Myspace and leave a comment with the link to your blog and you will get TWO enteries to win a number of prizes.
Wondering what you might win? Here is the list (there will be multiple winners):
~ An Advanced Review Copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan
~ An Advanced Review Copy of SOMETHING, MAYBE, by Elizabeth Scott
~ Young adult novel GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones
~ Young adult novel, THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD by Donna Freitas
~ Young adult novel, UGLIES by Scott Westerfield
~ Pair of YA fairy tale retellings by Cameron Dokey (BELLE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT)
~ TWILIGHT movie soundtrack
~ $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card along with some Harry & David’s chocolate moose munch
~ And of course, a signed copy of FAR FROM YOU
For more chances to win, watch one or all of the VLOGs and leave a comment on that vlogger’s page, and you get another entry. That means if you post the schedule on your blog AND comment on all three VLOGs, you can have FIVE entries for the contest!
A live drawing with winners announced will be done by Lisa Thursday morning, December 24th, in a special holiday VLOG.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Longest Week Ever
(Christine guiltily peeks around and blows a breath on the thin layer of dust that's settled on her blog ... )
Hello! Sorry I've been MIA ... not a lot of writing news to report because I haven't been doing much writing. I've been really restless while trying to get over a cold and ... just counting down the hours till Christmas vacation (3 more days). For kids, the night before Christmas is the longest night of the year. For us adults (or pretend aduts), the week before no work is the longest of all.
Along with the normal dreams of sugar plums, I've also been dreaming about hours dedicated to The Unicorn Tamer. In my dream, I'm sitting all cozy by the sparkling Christmas tree, with a Starbucks gingerbread white chocolate mocha, and all my edits and re-writes are easy and brilliant. Ha! I wish! All daydreams aside, I am honestly looking forward to having the time to dedicate to my writing. I know it won't be smooth sailing ... but I really want to re-write the partial portion of my manuscript and fix the glaring holes!
I really don't have an excuse for NOT writing though, so I'm really going to try and at least work on Fluffy everyday (Fluffy is the code name for my untitled, YA Urban Fantasy, btw). If I want to finish Fluffy by February or March, I've got to get my butt in gear. So, for encouragement, here's my shiny new word count progress bar for Fluffy:
7177 / 60000 words. 12% done!
I think I'll try and write an outline today. I never liked writing outlines in high school or college ... they always felt like a waste of time to me. Why spend an hour writing an outline when you can spend an hour writing the meat? However, over the past couple years, I've finally found a worthy use for an outline: novel writing. In case you're wondering, I write it out in list form and mark each "event" or "scene" with numbers and do it on a chapter by chapter basis. For example:
Chapter 15 - Title of Chapter
1. Protagonist recovers/reacts to the end of Chapter 14
2. Protagonist meets side-kick and they don't get along
3. Side-kick promises Protagonist something shiny and our hero reluctantly follows him to Hades
I know it's not Christmas yet, but I wanted to wish the few of you who do follow this blog a Happy Holidays! I'm thankful for each and every one of you. I'm working on my online presence in the writing community and am even looking for some critique partners so hopefully ... I'll grow my blog friends base. But thank you, yes you, who come to read my ramblings on this scary hard adventure. Heart!
Hello! Sorry I've been MIA ... not a lot of writing news to report because I haven't been doing much writing. I've been really restless while trying to get over a cold and ... just counting down the hours till Christmas vacation (3 more days). For kids, the night before Christmas is the longest night of the year. For us adults (or pretend aduts), the week before no work is the longest of all.
Along with the normal dreams of sugar plums, I've also been dreaming about hours dedicated to The Unicorn Tamer. In my dream, I'm sitting all cozy by the sparkling Christmas tree, with a Starbucks gingerbread white chocolate mocha, and all my edits and re-writes are easy and brilliant. Ha! I wish! All daydreams aside, I am honestly looking forward to having the time to dedicate to my writing. I know it won't be smooth sailing ... but I really want to re-write the partial portion of my manuscript and fix the glaring holes!
I really don't have an excuse for NOT writing though, so I'm really going to try and at least work on Fluffy everyday (Fluffy is the code name for my untitled, YA Urban Fantasy, btw). If I want to finish Fluffy by February or March, I've got to get my butt in gear. So, for encouragement, here's my shiny new word count progress bar for Fluffy:
7177 / 60000 words. 12% done!
I think I'll try and write an outline today. I never liked writing outlines in high school or college ... they always felt like a waste of time to me. Why spend an hour writing an outline when you can spend an hour writing the meat? However, over the past couple years, I've finally found a worthy use for an outline: novel writing. In case you're wondering, I write it out in list form and mark each "event" or "scene" with numbers and do it on a chapter by chapter basis. For example:
Chapter 15 - Title of Chapter
1. Protagonist recovers/reacts to the end of Chapter 14
2. Protagonist meets side-kick and they don't get along
3. Side-kick promises Protagonist something shiny and our hero reluctantly follows him to Hades
I know it's not Christmas yet, but I wanted to wish the few of you who do follow this blog a Happy Holidays! I'm thankful for each and every one of you. I'm working on my online presence in the writing community and am even looking for some critique partners so hopefully ... I'll grow my blog friends base. But thank you, yes you, who come to read my ramblings on this scary hard adventure. Heart!
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