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[Feb. 1st, 2009|05:56 pm] |
Ah, a new year! It’s been eons since I last posted to my blog, and I’ve been up to some new tricks. When we got back from taking Jamie to UCF I discovered that the Community Relations Manager had taken a job outside B & N. So with the support of the management team I stepped into the position. Not officially. Still not officially, but the wheels are turning.
Pride and Fire came out in December and, aside from a recent horrendous review, it’s been a fun ride. My friends have been so supportive in response to the review, and I learned that even my award-winning and best-selling friends have received such ill tidings in their careers.
On the family front, Jay and I survived the empty nest and haven’t killed each other. And it seems that the nest won’t be empty for much longer. Julianne’s husband Andrew—oh, I didn’t post that she married in August, LOL?—is headed back to Iraq. So Jul and their cat Luna are on their way to live with us, sometime in March.
Jamie’s first year at UCF is going well, but she’s now trying to transfer up here to James Madison. I admit I’m looking forward to the girls coming home. I’m of my mother’s mind that the more family the merrier. Even with another cat. Tuffy will not be happy.
I’m the Assistant Workshop Chair for the RWA National conference in DC in July, and it promises to be a great conference. Let’s just hope I don’t get another bad review in the interim. My agent is looking at a few things of mine right now so I’m sure I’ll soon have some rejections/revisions to put aside any lingering pain from the bad review!
I promise to post more often. Maybe I’ll have good news soon, at least regarding the CRM position. My birthday is this month—not mentioning the number, thanks—so it looks like 2009 is off and running. I’m looking forward to the ride. |
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[Aug. 2nd, 2008|07:39 pm] |
Whew, it’s been ages since I’ve posted. My daughter and I moved back to Virginia in the first half of June and things have been nonstop since. She did earn her scholarship, yeay, and she’ll attend University of Central Florida in the fall. Before I put a pin in the family news, in the months since my last post one daughter graduated from that university and the other graduated from high school. The older one is now in Virginia with us, so I’m trading one daughter for the other. Sort of like Sophie’s Choice without the Nazis! Yes, the wedding is still on for next week and, since my dress fit on Monday I have to be very careful. But there’s so much chocolate here! See below….
This week I’m posting from the RWA National Conference in San Francisco. What a fabulous time. I met with the PR person for my new publisher and got to hang out with her and the fabulous Hannah Howell. Who’s better than me?? Anyhoo, the publisher is Sinful Moments Press, an imprint of Lachesis, and PRIDE AND FIRE will be released in December 2008! On the heels of that, I’ll divulge that I am now ably represented by my dream agent, Michelle of Three Seas. I’m thrilled. She and I connected a few times at conference and we’re powwowing this evening before the RITAs and GHs.
Another cool thing, I went to the Romance Divas dinner on Thursday night. What a wild event, as I’d fully expected. It was held at Buca Di Beppo, and if you’ve never been there you won’t understand why my Diva name was “Meatballs the size of your head” Diva. Truly!
Funny, but I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Dorchester Publishing dinner last night. Where was it, pray tell? Buca! Great food, good company, lots of laughs again. But unlimited wine! The tip of my nose went numb, a sure sign that I’d imbibed enough, thanks. That didn’t really stop me, though. ;-)
So, wearing that pretty little pink “First Sale” ribbon has a nice dose of cache to my nametag, and I hope to get that hot pink “PAN” ribbon next year. And who knows? I’ve been making such good contacts and have been blessed with fabulous feedback from some great editors, perhaps my agent and I will celebrate another success in the coming year.
Oh, next year the conference is in Washington, DC. Soooo looking forward to bringing all the shoes I want to and schlepping back all the books I want to. No limits, baby! |
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| Woohoo!! |
[Mar. 29th, 2008|08:20 pm] |
What a crazy, beautiful couple of weeks I’ve had! At long last I have good news regarding my writing career. To bracket this, my youngest daughter and I relocated to Florida so she can graduate from her previous high school. She’s very excited and she and I are living with folding chairs and air mattresses. That notwithstanding, I had to take a leave of sorts from my Barnes & Noble through May. I was able to temporarily transfer to my own previous haunt, the Barnes & Noble in Melbourne. But back to my good news.
After spending four long days without cable TV and Internet service that was worse than spotty, we had the cable guy over to “get us the hook-up.” And waiting in my email inbox was a message from a publisher. Yeay! They offered representation for a Regency-set Historical that I spent a few months refashioning last year. Very good company, very exciting. When the contracts are signed by both parties I’ll divulge the publisher and hopefully the release date. Yeay, again!
Even more amazing is that I finally have agent representation again. And with an agent whom I’ve liked and respected for years. I’m so excited I decided to attend the RWA National Conference in July. I was going to pass this year, since my oldest daughter is getting married a week later. But my career needs the contacts and now I’ll have another reason to go: to meet with my agent! I’m very excited.
Another plus to coming back to Florida, even temporarily, is that I get to see my friends in the Space Coast Authors of Romance chapter. And more encouraging people I couldn’t wish to see! What a great time to get such good career news, when I can share it with people who not only understand this strange world of publishing but care about me and my success. I’m blessed to count such people among my friends.
So in closing, I’ll try to blog more often. It was such a long time since I had any good news I just didn’t want to deal! Now I’ll try not to clutter the Livejournal with my enthusiastic posts! |
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[Feb. 3rd, 2008|07:39 pm] |
I have been lax where my blog is concerned, I know. But the fall brought new challenges, like a promotion to Lead Bookseller at my Barnes & Noble! Full time work, which cuts into my writing and brooding time. Thankfully I have a very short commute.
I decided to query some well-respected small press houses regarding a few select completed Historicals. Being a bookseller gives me the advantage of seeing books’ sales history and the publisher’s status regarding distribution, related to B & N anyway. I also ordered copies of some of their titles for viewing. Thus far I’m pleased with the samples from two publishers looking at two different manuscripts. I’m cautiously optimistic of my chances, and trust that if one (or both!) publish the books they’ll be handled well.
Still no word from the NY house looking at two other manuscripts. I prefer to take that as no news/good news. I did receive a request from a very large publishing house to take another look at a different revised manuscript. Imagine if everything gets published at once? Yeah, right. Were the planets to align in such a manner I’d put my nose to the grindstone and give each piece the attention required. Who needs to sleep?
On a different note, my first publisher went out of business. To put a positive spin on things, the rights to my published Historical, RAVEN’S FLIGHT, have reverted back to me. I’m in the process of trimming it for length and tightening it to my current self-imposed requirements. Just in case one particular small publisher decides to put out the book it’s considering, I want to be in the position to pitch them the book that precedes it. Why not?
Still no agent, but I’m on that hunt as well. I’ve decided to try to attend the RWA National Conference in July. Yes, it’s pricey. Yes, it concludes a scant week before my daughter’s wedding. But the networking is invaluable and my career needs all the attention I can give it.
I promise to post more often, hopefully with some news. Until then, take care and keep pushing. I know I am. |
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[Oct. 1st, 2007|08:02 pm] |
Fall is here! Yeay! Actually, it arrived almost two weeks ago, and living in Virginia is reminding me how much I missed the changing leaves. Each day is prettier than the last. I know that one day soon I’ll wake up and there will be no leaves on the trees, pretty or otherwise. Bleak. Gray. Cold. But Winter is still far off.
I’m joining my Space Coast Authors of Romance chapter mates for a retreat this month and can’t wait to see everyone. Our visit was too short and too hectic in Dallas for the RWA conference, so this weekend should be a great fix. I need encouragement and know my chapter sisters will be right there for me as always.
After getting rejected by an agent I wanted badly, I stewed for a while. Then I started cheering myself on. Maybe I’ll submit my books myself! Maybe I’ll send out queries to houses that may or may not want my particular Contemporary or Historical right now! God knows I have enough completed. Why not send them one of my Historicals? The Medieval Paranormal is awesome, in my opinion. In the end I didn’t do any of that. I know that you can shoot yourself in the foot by submitting all over the place and getting rejections right and left. No agent wants to take on a project that’s been rejected by a house they might target IF ONLY IT WAS SENT TO THE RIGHT EDITOR. So no submissions to any publishers. Nope. Not even some well-respected small publishers that might want to put out my books.
I did send out a few email queries to agents on Friday. One rejected me a couple of hours later. Ouch. Another rejected me on Saturday. When I saw an email from another agent in my inbox on Sunday, I flinched. This agent, however, asked to see a bit of my work which I quickly and gladly sent. No rejection yet, but I still open my email with one eye closed. I am truly a wimp.
More next time! |
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[Aug. 24th, 2007|09:32 pm] |
Big news: I have cable high-speed Internet. Yeay! It’s funny how we get so used to things. I was doing stinkin’ Lamaze breathing waiting for websites to load on dial-up. In…….out. In…….out. But that’s in the past now.
My parents’ anniversary was a blast and my oldest daughter, the one who stayed in Florida to finish her last year of college, flew up for the festivities. It was great to reconnect with family, too. My sister kept me up, talking until 4 AM! She puts even me to shame, and those who know me well (and even only slightly) can tell you that’s saying something. Sadly, we got home on Sunday night and on that following Monday morning my grandfather passed away. So it was back up north for the funeral, a different gathering all together. But he’s with my grandmother, fixing things in Heaven and playing the jazz trumpet he loved to play down here.
On the writing front, the agent who requested both the Contemporary and Historical rejected both out of hand via email soon after I submitted. But on a most positive note, CLOUD CANYON finaled in From the Heart’s Golden Gateway contest in the Long Contemporary category. Woohoo! I couldn’t believe it and printed, saved and reread the email a few times. When there was a delay posting the results, I thought for sure it was because I wasn’t really a finalist and they were trying to figure out how to tell me. Oh, we writers with our fertile imaginations.
I’ve started my romance book group at my new Barnes & Noble, and the first meeting is this Tuesday. I’ll post here just how many brave souls attended. I know no one here, really. I also started a writing group, a workshop of sorts, with the hopes of turning it into a local chapter of RWA. It will also meet at B & N. A few ladies who belong to other Virginia chapters have expressed strong interest and I hope they’ll be able to make the first meeting.
Things are moving along. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll get to attend my Florida RWA chapter’s retreat in October. I want to get back to blogging more often, too. A teaser: the hot book I’m writing now has a hero that looks like Bon Jovi. One of the characters stated that fact, actually. And I believe she’s right! |
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| woohoo! |
[Jul. 18th, 2007|09:46 pm] |
Wow, what a conference! The RWA National Conference was an absolute blast, and one of my good friends Roxanne St. Claire won her first RITA award! A couple other good friends, Caro O’Neill and Lara Santiago, placed or won in some pretty prestigious contests, so there was a lot to celebrate. I did, however, get my earliest case of “conference voice” on record. I wonder if the success at my pitch appointments can be placed there?
Great appointments. Due to the voice, I leaned in toward both the agent and editor to whom I pitched. As a result, they leaned in as well and I had two very nice, very personal conversations with each of them. And they each requested two full submissions of both my spicy contemporary and my historical! Yes, I got those in the mail today. Another editor requested the contemporary as well, which is also winging its way to NYC as I type. Woohoo!
Speaking of “woohoo,” Steph from my Florida STAR chapter has a new talent now. Due to the aforementioned conference voice, she was forced to cheer for people I wanted to cheer at the Golden Heart/RITA ceremony. She said she never “woohooed,” but with each subsequent attempt she got louder and more enthusiastic. It got to the point where I just had to poke her and she did her thing. Awesome!
Back in Virginia after a couple of weeks in the new townhouse, I am forced to submit to dial-up Internet service. The local cable company, who shall remain nameless for now, says I’m not serviceable. They do, however, serve the townhouse two doors away. What do I know?
So things are looking up. We’re going up north soon to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary and will get to see family we haven’t seen in a while. Expect a frank account of stories told and pranks played. |
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| Moving ahead (sniff) |
[Jun. 13th, 2007|06:27 pm] |
Oh, today was bittersweet! It was my last day as a bookseller at my local Barnes & Noble, and for a surprise the Community Relations Manager arranged for a booksigning. Lots of my writer friends showed up for support and friends I work with bought my book. It was heartwarming. I’ll miss this store and my friends, and of course I’ll miss my RWA chapter sisters.
So now we’re relocating to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Beautiful place, lovely people. And I’m transferring to the Barnes & Noble up there. But the next week or so will be tough. Nothing truly difficult but just irksome, thank God. Logistics of packing, what to set aside and what to let the movers handle. Traveling with the pets will be a challenge.
On the writing front an agent is looking at the sexy contemporary I pitched to her in May. I’m hoping I won’t need the agent appointment I made for the RWA National Conference next month. But I’m ready to continue my agent search and am happily percolating along with the book that follows it.
I’m thankful for my family, so supportive of this move. I’m thankful for my writing. I’m thankful for my friends whom I’ll miss but will strive to keep in touch with. I’m thankful for my husband who’s been living by himself in Virginia since March! |
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[Mar. 1st, 2007|01:19 pm] |
Ah, changes! Well, the big changes to which I alluded in my last blog have come to fruition. My husband has taken a job in Virginia—a great job, a wonderful opportunity, yada yada yada—and now he’s moving up there while I try to get our house sold. Not a unique situation, I know. But my girls and I are eager to join him up there ASAP, so hopefully we’ll be relocated before my next blog.
Got a quick rejection from an email query to an agent last week. Stung a little but, since she didn’t actually read the piece I’m going to console myself that I have to craft a new query for this book! Still waiting to hear from a number of agents and thinking about the upcoming RWA National Conference in Dallas. I’m registered, etc. and duly looking forward to it. I don’t know where I’ll be in July, physically, emotionally and professionally speaking, but I’m up for anything.
So I sit in my office, the shelves bare of books since my husband wanted to get a jump on the heaviest boxes before we call in a mover for everything else. I’m hoping he didn’t pack up anything I need….
Ah, again. Change is good! |
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[Jan. 26th, 2007|01:27 pm] |
I can’t believe how long it’s been since I last blogged. My bad! The holidays were wonderful, with a visit from my parents right before the New Year. I’m loving my job at the Barnes & Noble—no big surprise there. Attendance at my Romance book group hasn’t been much to speak of, but I have assurances from the members who attended this week that future meetings will not be what had come to be the norm: myself and one or two people who aren’t me.
On the writing front, I’m still working on the plot transfusion of an Historical of mine. I’ve entered RWA’s Golden Heart contest, after some insightful critique on my entry from my RWA chapter mates.
Speaking of that entry, it was rejected by one of the agents I met in Atlanta. However, when I emailed another one considering it she asked to see the revised chapters. Who knows? It felt good to be asked and maybe it will lead to something.
It’s really hard not to submit to a publisher when people talk about who’s looking for what. Not gonna do it! I’d much rather get a new agent this year and if facing small-scale rejection is the price I have to pay, so be it. I’ve even created a spreadsheet to track my submissions and rejections. Eek! Putting those rejections in perfect little boxes on the screen diffuses the hurt a tiny bit, though.
So the new year is off and running, and I only write “06” now and then. Big changes may be around the corner, completely un-writing related but important nonetheless. It involves relocating and getting settled. Again. Happy New Year, everyone! |
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[Sep. 27th, 2006|07:53 pm] |
What a busy month and a half I’ve had! No, I haven’t heard from the four agents who requested my work, and I’m happy about that. The two I queried were oh so quick to reject, in like a week. I’m taking the lack of SASEs in my mailbox as a good sign.
On another note, I am once more a bookseller! I started at Barnes & Noble at the end of August, and it was like I never left. True, I worked three years at a B & N in Indiana. True, I was absent from the other side of the counter for over two years. But the management and staff is terrific and the work is a blast. Wow, I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.
I finished the polish edit of the second Regency-set Historical, and have that ready should an agent want to see more in the “series.” I’m revisiting a Regency-set I wrote some time ago, and finding new life to breathe into a book I was happy to find didn’t stink! I’ll work on that for now.
My local RWA chapter, Space Coast Authors of Romance, is setting a course for an exciting future. I’m happy to say I’m an active participant in its new direction. Together with a terrific author friend we’re going to start having regular critique meetings. Brutal, honest, caring, insightful critique meetings! That’s the goal, that and getting more STARs, as the chapter members are called, published.
So now I’m working three days a week. Around books. Around people who love books. I’m writing and rewriting. Going into the Fall, my hopes are as high as the temperatures here in Florida still are! |
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[Aug. 13th, 2006|07:26 pm] |
Wow, what a great conference! The Romance Writers of America national conference was an absolute blast and a total success, IMO. I had a great time, made some new friends, made some excellent contacts and made what I hope is a great impression.
After early planning and thinking I knew for certain that I was going to attend all the publisher spotlights—those workshop sessions where editors tell you just what they’re looking for, usually “just a great book” or “a fresh voice” or “something different” or “familiar stories with a twist” —I decided that instead I wanted to focus all my energy on securing a new agent. This came about partly due to my early-conference attendance at the wonderful PRO retreat. A bestselling author’s agent spoke and it struck me that having an agent before any offer is truly to the author’s benefit.
Readers of my blog remember my “divorce” from my previous agent, and I was thinking I can run my own career. Kudos to those who can, but I prefer to find an agent I click with who knows the market and what a particular editor at a particular house might want. I write several subgenres of Romance, and each might just have a place somewhere out there. Better to have someone to navigate those waters for me.
My agent appointment went well and I later spoke with that same agent for some time and we seemed to click. Another chance meeting at the coffee shop in the hotel resulted in an invitation to send along another book to an agent already considering one of mine. And still another encounter—the aforementioned agent of the bestselling author at the fabulous St. Martins party—led to an invitation to submit to a particular agent in her agency!
On the first day back from conference I readied my submissions and off they flew to NYC on Tuesday afternoon! To date, only one rejection. But that came from a query submission recommended to me by a friend and author, not from one I spoke with personally.
So I hope. So I pray. So I edit the heck out of my finished contemporary in case someone wants to see the rest of it and soon.
But the energy from attending the conference will hopefully carry me through the coming rejections and coming submissions. Thanks, RWA and all those who helped organize a great conference. I’m looking forward to Dallas next year. And maybe I’ll have an agent to meet for drinks! |
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| Wahoo! |
[Jul. 24th, 2006|07:52 am] |
Okay, I haven’t posted in over a month. My bad. But I’ve been a busy girl. I’m trying to snag representation by the agent of my choice, but am still playing the waiting game there. I’m hoping to connect with her at this week’s RWA conference. I have a couple of other appointments too, so we’ll see. That’s me, ever hopeful.
The big news is that I finished my sexy contemporary! Yeay! Put a pin in it yesterday, and now just have to do a final polish. I’d hoped to finish the sucker before conference, and I squeaked in right under the wire. Whew.
Summer drags on here in Florida, but we’re looking at moving closer to the beach. If it has to be hot, why not live a short drive from relief? That’s my argument, anyway. Laptops work on the beach, right?
So I’m off to Atlanta this week, hopefully to connect and network and get some positive energy flowing. Best of luck to all who have appointments at RWA National, and I hope to see a few familiar friendly faces there! |
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[Jun. 21st, 2006|10:48 am] |
No big news to report, but I’m keeping the faith. I’m fully committed to the RWA national conference, after dragging my feet, my butt, and everything else for months. Volunteering and serving as moderator for a friend’s workshop will all be good for me, too. I’m trying not to think too hard about my appointments. The editor one should be all right, as I’ve talked to this particular editor many times before. And I should have the book finished that I’d like to pitch, God and spirit willing. Now, the agent appointment is a different story. I fervently hope I won’t be able to use it! Then again, I know agents and editors alike clear their desks before a big conference so I might be getting another one of those dreaded SASEs in the mailbox.
Not to touch too long on the personal, my husband got a job offer out of state. Of course, with one daughter half way through high school and the other firmly entrenched with college and working at Walt Disney World, this can be a mixed blessing. It’s hard to concentrate on writing when life intrudes, but it’s also a relief to escape to it as well. More to come on this, I’m sure.
Getting back to my WIP, I’m nearing the home stretch! My Historicals are calling to me, so I think I’ll finish this contemporary in the nick of time. I watched The Count of Monte Cristo over the weekend and, taken with a snippet of an A & E commercial featuring the availability of their DVDs, has me longing to lose myself in the Regency period again.
Mixed blessings and split personalities. That’s me, this month anyway! |
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[Jun. 1st, 2006|11:43 am] |
Well, I heard back from one of the agents. Sigh. A rejection of the Historical I’d love to see published and soon! Of course. But from the “Lemonade from Lemons” file, I came home and emailed one of the other agents and pitched the Historical. I used a “high concept line,” something I picked up on an RWA PRO loop, and it worked! Well, at least she emailed me back in about a half hour and asked to see it. Did I print out and mail that sucker right away? Darn right, I did! So we’ll see.
I love the idea of distilling a book’s premise down to a tiny blurb. The high concept line is much smaller than the 25-words-or-less TV Guide-style blurb, and hopefully gives an agent something to say quickly on the phone with an editor. Again, we’ll see. But if she takes this book on, I hope that will mean the Historical market is alive and well.
Of course, before I screwed my courage to the sticking place and emailed that agent, I went online to lick my rejection wounds. I printed out submission guidelines from about five publishers! Yes, I still have the guidelines tucked in my desk, just in case.
Since I last posted, I decided to go ahead and register for the RWA National Conference in Atlanta . I need the networking this year more than any, IMO. I was able to snag an appointment with an agent that I pray I won’t need, and an appointment with an editor as well.
This business takes persistence and perseverance in the face of countless rejections, of which all in the trenches along with me are well aware. But someday, maybe, I’ll be published by a big house and my work will just begin! Deadlines, promotion, line edits and galleys. Lemonade, anyone? |
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[May. 10th, 2006|08:51 am] |
I just passed the half-way point in my book. Yeay!! I’m so happy with the way this book is going. I have to keep reminding myself to let the characters lead me though, and the best scenes come when I do. So I think there’s something there, LOL
I haven’t yet heard back from the three agents considering my work. Two have the same book under consideration, but the third has the book I’d love to see published above all. It’s a Regency-set Historical, and I’m hoping the market is swinging back toward Historicals. Maybe if she takes it on, that will be a sign of a turning of the tide.
It’s been too long since I’ve read a really Historical. It seems that my favorite Historical authors, Teresa Medeiros and Amanda Quick, are two of a very few allowed to write the books I love! Books with smart characters, sexual chemistry, interesting plot and sparkling dialogue. And emotion. God, I love emotion without melodrama. Make me laugh and then twist my heart a bit. And these two ladies do all of this so adeptly. Pity that the other Historicals I’ve picked up this past year fell so far off the mark. Heroines TSTL (too stupid to live) and heroes I couldn’t possibly fall in love with.
Here’s hoping that I hear something positive soon. I’m still closing one eye when I open my mailbox! |
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[Apr. 22nd, 2006|01:54 pm] |
My muse is very pleased with herself these days. I’m happy to say that I’m still in love with my current WIP. I have to remember to let the characters lead me through the minor scenes, which usually help me discover something about them or a story element that I can refer back to later. The bones of the story remain the same, and I’ve been following my detailed synopsis. Although I find I’m jotting notes in the margins as new scenes come to me….
The weather has been summer like down here, and I’ve been taking care of the outside of the house instead of the inside. My husband is in the process of replacing the flooring in three rooms on the main floor, and the OCD in me is having to live with things piled where they shouldn’t be and a fine layer of concrete dust resting on every horizontal surface. So I bought a hedge trimmer and have been working on the little pin cushion hedges in the front yard. Yes, most builders skimp on landscape. But why did mine give me 42 of these suckers? I get into a Zen thing when I work outside, though. The thoughts come to my clearer mind and I work out dialogue and sequels. The best for this? Watering the new plants I just put in. The whoosh of the water coming out of the hose, the steady patter of the shower on the leaves and mulch, let the ideas flow. Who’d a thunk it?
So I’ll keep up my work on this book. I’m still waiting to hear back from three agents, worrying each time that I check the mail that an SASE will be waiting for me. But I’m thinking about submitting this book when it’s complete if I’m still agentless at that time. I’ve been sticking to writing at least 1000 words per day, so I figure I should be finished in a couple of months.
Here’s to Spring and keeping my muse happy! |
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| Growing... |
[Apr. 10th, 2006|03:40 pm] |
I'm still getting the pages done on the new book and I'm very excited. This is a hot one, and I find myself wanting to rush forward to get the story told. I guess that's the downside of writing the synopsis first. But when I let the story take me, I find out new things and my characters emerge more clearly. When I "fall into the hole in the paper," to paraphrase Stephen King, I almost enter a fugue state. When I emerge some of my best stuff is on the page. Wild. Does anyone else out here experience that? It's a rush, to be sure.
I'm waiting to hear back from three agents now. Where's that fugue state? Seriously, one is looking at a paranormal, one at that same book along with a short contemporary series and still another is anticipating one of my Regency-set historicals. I'm nothing if not versatile, and according to a few sources (friends and multi-pubbed authors I respect) my contemporary voice is as sassy as my historical, though they differ in tone. Who knows? I write the book in me at the time, and focus on one project at a time.
So April blows through Central Florida with alternating temperatures in the 70's to 90's, the sky is that brilliant blue that almost hurts your eyes, and I replanted the front of my house over the weekend. The plants are doing well, growing every day, and I get into a Zen thing when I tend and water them. Great story ideas, snippets of scenes... I'll focus on that and keep pushing until something sprouts in my career. |
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| On your mark... |
[Mar. 28th, 2006|03:55 pm] |
I started my book! I’m so excited. I’ve got the first three chapters done already. They’re not polished until they shine yet, but they’re not too shabby, either. Gosh, it’s great to have that spark again. I thought it was long gone. Back in the day, I used to impose a 5000 words/week minimum. That would help to explain how I have sixteen books finished! I’ve imposed that minimum on myself again, and with this book I’m writing over 1000 words per day! Sometimes I write more, but if I get that done I know I’ll be ahead of the game by the end of the week. It’s so gratifying to see the page count climb. After plodding along in revision h*ll, or the Fire Swamp if you will, it’s nice to step out into the sun. Whoa, mixed metaphor there.
This book is as steamy as I’d envisioned, and I have to make sure the reader knows the heroine’s motivation. That’s always a weak spot for me, but if I draw from her character it should evident. My brainstorming group has been wonderful, encouraging and inspiring, and I’m so grateful to them. We meet twice a month, and I find myself a little bummed on Fridays when we don’t have a meeting planned. We’re a mixed-genre group, and that works really well. I’ll have to make sure they take a look at my heroine, for it’s really her book. Don’t get me wrong. The hero is hot and he has his own issues, too. It pays to write that synopsis first, by the way. Although yesterday I discovered the hero has a dog!
So I’m off to the races. With my muse on my shoulder and my writing group cheering me on, I’ll run. It’s a relief to see the track stretch out ahead of me and know that, although I’ll have to jump a lot of hurdles, I’ll reach the finish line. |
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| Spring! |
[Mar. 11th, 2006|10:33 pm] |
After my less-than-stellar stretch a couple of weeks ago, I’m taking charge. I managed to dropped a few pounds, so that takes care of the little nurse’s comment for a start anyway. And after hearing that a fabulous writer friend of mine also received two rejections that same week, I was once more reminded that I’m not alone out here. Trying to get published. Taking that chance.
So I’m on a roll with this new story, which is no longer targeting Blaze but striving to be a Single Title. Kudos to my brainstorming group for forcing me to look deeper and actually develop my characters. As a result, the synopsis is taking shape and I’m chomping at the bit to get starting on writing the sucker.
I’ve queried another agent, as well. This particular agent handles a woman whose work is phenomenal. She was kind enough to urge me to contact her agent, and at long last I’ve taken that plunge. Funny, but I wrote the query letter months ago and had it saved in My Documents. I really had no excuse tonight then. I just had to copy-and-paste it into an email. So we’ll see.
The weather is fabulous down here in Florida, the writing is calling once more and I’m a few pounds smaller. Not a bad way to head into Spring! |
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