I'm Back!

Home sweet home!

Paris was awesome. I could live off of Paris' pastries (macaroons, chocolate croissants, napoleons ... *drool*), Champagne's bubbly (did you know that France's champagne is special because the grapes are grown in CHALK SOIL??), and Versailles' gardens (Marie Antoinette was way ahead of her time). Magical bites, buildings, and ... beer! If you're a fantasy writer and need help on your world-building, I think a trip to Europe will do the trick. We just don't have the history - or the architecture for that matter - that cities like Paris or Brussels have. Actually, I found my leprechauns' City of Gold in Brussels! I can't say enough good things about Belgium - my 2-day trip there was way-too-short and way-too-delightful. Framboise beer + frites heaven! And with every other store being a chocolate shop, I kept thinking that this is where Willy Wonka would vacation.

I'll post pictures once I get over this jetlag - this going to bed by 9PM and waking at 5AM is very strange.

I haven't been in the right mind to write, but I'm doing my Brenda Novak Auction research! I've been struggling with this: How much am I willing to pay to possibly (but probably highly unlikely) help jumpstart my writing career? Winning any of the agent critiques does not guarantee representation, but it does guarantee this: a read of the first 3 chapters (i.e. skipping the query process). So ... how much is that read by a good agent worth? $200? $500? $1000? Cons: In this economy, I feel bad spending money I should be saving. Pros: The money is going toward a great cause (diabetes research) AND I may get an agent out of it. Oh! Shiny, elusive may!

Before I go attack my pile of non-writing-related work, my query is up for critique in a couple places! Check it out and leave your thoughts (pretty please!): Call My Agent and Editor Unleashed (you need to register for this one ... I highly recommend registering though because Maria Schneider has guest agents visit all the time)

* Even though I'm jet-lagged, I wish I was in NY attending BEA right now ...

10-hour flights = 10,000 words?

I'm off to Paris!!

I'm bringing with me:

* Aprilynne Pike's WINGS
* Melissa Marr's WICKED LOVELY
* Cindy Pon's SILVER PHOENIX
* and my laptop!

If I can crank out 1,000 to 2,000 words an hour, to and fro Paris, I just may complete 98% of FRIENDS WITH DEATH!

I still need to do some skydiving and hospital/diagnosis research - the last 2% - but that can wait until I return.

My internet access will probably be spotty so my blog updates will be far and few. My best-dad-ever recently surprised me with a really cool Flip video camera (ultra HD), so once I'm back, I'm going to try and review all the Young Adult books I've read via video!

I hope everyone has a fabulous two weeks!

Au revoir!

Sausages, Sangria, and Synopses - Oh My!

Last week, I worked on my manuscript every single day (at least 6 hours every night). All I did was sleep, work, and write. OK ... I fibbed. I did stop to shower and eat things - even though I forgot to eat more often than not ... who knew editing was such a great way to lose weight? What's funny is that I put my manuscript on a diet, too.

I am pleased to announce that my 109,000 word manuscript is now 13,000 words lighter! *cake for everybody*

I celebrated Saturday with portuguese sausages and red wine sangria and then spent half of Sunday agonizing over my synopsis. I didn't save any sausages or sangria for you, but here ... if you ever find yourself in a synopsis pickle, I present to you, ladies and gents, my research:

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/02/art-of-synop.html

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/02/synopsis.html

http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-short-writing-novel-synopsis-that.html

Snip! Snip! Snip!

I've been slaving away and editing like a madwoman, but I just wanted to drop by real quick to tell you THAT IT IS POSSIBLE!

-- What's possible?

-- Deleting words.

-- No way.

-- Yes way.

-- But ... every single word in my manuscript is important! They're my BABIES! My BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS!

-- They may be important to YOU, but if (A) the READER won't miss them, (B) your story still makes sense after they're gone, (C) three sentences is just as good as a whole chapter, or (D) all of the above ... snip! snip! snip!

-- So how did you get rid of 9,000 words so quickly?

-- I combined two chapters.

-- Any other tips for deleting?

-- Adjectives and adverbs. Oh, and, let's say your characters' names are John and Susan. If John and Susan know each other, they do not have to ADDRESS each other in every other sentence. Cutting out names will help decrease your word count.

-- But I like words that end in -ly!

-- Spend your precious writing time on your dialogue and ACTION sequences instead.

-- You do realize you're having a conversation with yourself, right?

-- ... Yes.

* Blog posts like this happen when you don't eat/sleep because you're too busy writing, btw.

Writing YA?

Then go here. Call it "teen reasearch." Call it "wonderful."

You're probably tired of hearing me say, "I'm editing THE UNICORN TAMER again," so I'm going to talk about something personal and *exciting*: I am going to Paris in May!! My mom and I were supposed to go the summer after my college graduation, but then real life (i.e. job) got in the way. 5 years later, we're FINALLY doing it and I am *dancing* with joy+other fuzzy feelings.

We'll be in Europe for 10 days, staying mostly in Paris and taking mini-trips to Versailles (I love the word "Versailles" ... it just sounds SO romantic to me), Champagne (official bubbly!), Brussels and Bruges (chocolate! mussels! beer! lace! chocolate! chocolate!).

Friday Five-r

1. Two of my favorite bloggers, Jackson Pearce (author of AS YOU WISH and SISTERS RED) and Authoress (Secret Agent mastermind and fellow aspiring published author) are both working on new manuscripts and for a brief couple of days, the three of us were all hovering around the 20k mark. The ladies have now BOTH surpassed me in word count, reaching the mighty 30-40k.

I have everything outlined, I know what's going to happen, but I am not producing the word count that I want! Must. Stop. Tweaking. As. I. Go.

2. Deleting words is harder than writing them. Even though I feel like every paragraph I cut is like pulling off a sticky band-aid, it must be done.

3000 / 19000 words. 16% done!

3. It's been 2+ months since I've sent in my full to Firebrand ... my heart beats uncomfortably fast whenever I think about it, so I don't let myself think about it too often. I'm just hoping, and waiting, and ... honestly, would rather not hear unless it's good news. I'd rather just continue hoping.

4. Coolest thing #1: I got another request!!!! *confetti* Coolest thing #2: I received the request in a comment on my previous blog post! How neat is that? I don't know how Ms. Stampfel-Volpe found me, but I am ecstatic!

5. I got sucked into reading pw.org interviews yesterday. I. Could. Not. Look. Away. The interviews were long and thorough, seriously good reads. I really enjoyed "A Q&A With Agent Molly Friedrich" and even though the following advice is obvious, it still packed a great deal of punch (IMO):

Q: "Tell me what you're looking for when you're reading a first novel."
A: "That's so easy. I'm looking for the first page to be good. Then I'm looking for the second page to also be good. Really! The first page has to be good so that I will go to the second page and the third and the fourth."

Self: Just focus on the first page. Make the first page the best first page in the whole wide literary world. Then, work on the second page.

The interview was 5 pages long. If you don't have time to read it, I'll copy and paste my favorite parts here for you in the next couple of days. Now I'm off to do work and count down the hours till dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant in the City!

Keep writing!

I'm Sorry, I'm Already Seeing Someone

What I mean is ...

I'M SORRY SHINY NEW STORY IDEA, I CAN'T WRITE YOU BECAUSE I'M CURRENTLY WRITING SOMETHING ELSE!

Don't you hate it when that happens?

This is why the dream of the full-time-stay-at-home-writer is so great. Because then there would be enough time in the day to meet your word count for your WIP, edit your completed manuscript, query agents, research the most random "need-to-know" things (latest research: the differences between the left and right side of the brain), and START NEW MANUSCRIPTS!

I really wish I could share my idea with you, at LEAST that would be somewhat satiating, BUT it's currently a sekrit.

Will try to distract myself by FULFILLING FRIENDS WITH DEATH word count and buying books. I am srsly struggling with my first-person voice. Before I change my mind and re-write to 3rd person, I'm going to read some first-person YA authors and try to learn from them.

Currently in my shopping cart:

WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr
LET IT SNOW by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson
DEVILISH by Maureen Johnson
I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE by Tina Ferraro
WINGS by Aprilynne Pike
SILVER PHOENIX by Cindy Pon

What are you reading?