Spring Break's Here!

Currently reading - Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow

Happy Dance! Spring Break starts today as soon as GK finishes his test on the Texas Revolution and his language exercises. He busted his little butt to finish his lessons before this morning but didn't quite make it.

In the meantime, I've got a week and a half where I can focus on editing AVT instead of homeschooling lessons. Woo-ho!

Here's a little Spring Break fun courtesy of Tullycraft!

Trust In Yourself

Currently reading - Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow

Back in my college days, I taught archery at a summer camp. During a church camp, the minister asked to accompany me and the children. It's always nice to have an extra adult with a group of rowdy 9-11 year-olds, so I said, "No problem."

On the walk to the archery range, the minister made some remarks to the boys of group. Something to the effect of they need to listen to the instructor but then he'd teach them how to really shoot.

Yeah, I was miffed, but I showed the kids how to set up the targets, how to string the bows, and how safety was paramount to everything else. I selected and nocked an arrow, raised the bow, and drew the string back to my ear.

The arrow buried itself dead center of the target. A collective gasp, then excited shouting rose behind me. I looked skyward and whispered, "Thanks," before helping the kids get started. And the minister never moved from the bench in the lean-to behind the safety line.

Quite frankly, I've never hit a bull's eye without warming up, so part of that day was luck and part of it was confidence in the face of adversity.

It's no different with writing. Part of your success is the willingness to learn, to practice, to go on no matter what anyone says about your skill or ability. Part of that same success is having the right product at the right time--in other words, luck.

If you want to be a writer, put in your time at the keyboard. And a little good fortune never hurts either.

Why You Never Know. . .

Twenty-five years ago, I met a girl in my sorority who refused to tell anyone her birthday. Her peers consistantly voted her most popular; she was always invited to parties, always had dates for the weekends. But during her junior year in high school, her parents threw a gigantic birthday bash. They rented a hall and had the affair catered. She invited all two hundred kids from her class.

No one showed up.

Fast forward two years and a half years later. The perennial nerd, I learned the local independent station would air the premiere of the new and long-awaited Star Trek series, The Next Generation, as their Friday night movie, a day earlier than they originally announced. Knowing all my sisters would be out of the suite for parties, dates, etc., I planned my geek evening.

Until two friends nagged the truth from me of why I will not go out with them that night. Well, Anne-Marie was dating Martin, who was not only a sports god on campus, but only other physics major in our class besides me and a fellow Trekkie to boot. He stalked up to me in the cafeteria during supper. "Why the hell didn't you tell me WAUB was airing the new Star Trek early?"

I had no illusions about my popularity. Anne-Marie and Martin were the ones everyone followed. But Martin wanted to watch Star Trek, so the next thing I knew my lovely evening alone had turned into a sorority/fraternity mixer. Before air time, I stood before the crowd in our suite and threatened the lives of anyone who spoke at any time other than commericals.

And surprisingly, the crowd of normally rowdy Greeks was absolutely quiet during the entire two hours.

The point of these two stories is simple. You can make all the plans in the world, but the universe has her own rules. And she has a wicked sense of humor.

So don't fret because your writing career isn't proceeding according to your outline. Keep your head and keep working. You don't know what's coming around the corner.

Oh, and about the universe's sense of humor-

I was teased incessantly over my preference for tea instead of coffee by my friends. So when Capt. Picard ordered, "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot," on that first October evening in 1987, every head in the room turned to stare at me. In my hands? You guessed it--a cup of Earl Grey.

Rejections Don'ts

A long time ago, I called a writing buddy for a rejection analysis session. You know, the "what-do-you-think-the-agent-really-means" talk. At the end, she laughs and says, "Whatever you do, don't send a nasty e-mail."

"Um, wasn't planning on it."

Yet, some folks do. Or they rant on their blog.

Which is almost as bad as the published author that trash talks (or trash tweets) the person who gave her a bad review.

First of all, can you say, "Unprofessional?" I knew you could.

Exactly what does the rant, no matter the form, actually accomplish? Besides giving the appearance that you haven't been taking your psych meds?

Nothing, that's what. Absolutely, positively nothing. A rejection is just one person's opinion of your work. ONE person. Your WORK. NOT YOU.

And performing the electronic equivalent of screaming at the agent or editor isn't among Carnegie's methods of winning friends and influencing people.

Did the agent or editor give you some feedback? If you harass him or her, they won't do it again. I'm not making any comments on the respective merits, or lack thereof, on the feedback. That's for you to absorb and evaluate.

But I find it very disturbing that the same people complaining about lack of response from agents and editors are, in many cases, abusing those same agents and editors.

So, to the agents and editors who took the time to offer me their opinon, thank you.

For the rest of you bitching, please kindly shut the fuck up if you can't say something intelligent.

Holy S***! Kathryn Bigelow Won!

History has been made!

Heck, even DH was cheering her on, mainly because he despised AVATAR but that's another story.

Thanks, Kathryn, for proving what we've always known--you don't need a penis to be a great director or a great storyteller.

To Self-Publish Or Not To Self-Publish

Self-publishing is either the way for decent authors to avoid the soul-crushing machine of New York or the surest sign of unprofessionality and arrogance known to mankind.

Depending on who you ask.

DH surprised me the other day when he asked if I'd considered it. For every argument against it I mustered, he had a counter-argument. I'll give DH credit. He'd been doing his research, citing the fragmentation of audiences cutting into book sales, the problems with NY publishers taking e-books seriously, and the ease of setting up a cyber-business.

I pointed out I still had fulls sitting with agents, which I'd like to follow, and we really couldn't afford to do it right now between house repairs, car repairs and braces.

So the discussion has been shelved for now, but a little part of my brain is wondering just how long NY will survive if the houses don't start adapting to the shifting publishing scene.

Guilty Pleasures

I was in the target age-range, if not the target gender, when Laird and Eastman introduced the TMNT to an unsuspecting world. And I still kick myself for not picking up a copy of one of the original issues. Ahh, the turmoil of a young adult with insufficient funds.

The guys had a wonderfully warped sense of humor, which extends twenty-five years later. The swan song of Laird and Eastman's Mirage Studios was this video from last fall. Can Nickelodeon keep the same perverse irony now that they've taken over the property?

You Gotta Have Friends

Currently reading - Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

I'm blessed to have published friends looking out for me. Before I continue, please remember two things:

a) Don't EVER expect people to do things for you.
b) I knew most of these gals before they got famous.

Back in 2004 at the first RWA chapter meeting I attended, I met two interesting ladies. The first one was short, wore a funky hat, and had an accent more southern-fried deep than my Aunt Des's. The other was such a cute pixie I swear I expected to see wings pop out of her back at any minute. Through these two, I met a quiet, demure, pearl-wearing lady who has a wicked talent for practical jokes (yeah, looks ARE deceiving) and another gal who is a unusual combination of Southern friendliness and NY f*** you attitude.

At first glance, you'd wonder how this motley crew functions as a crit group (especially after we've had one too many celebratory chocolate martinis), but we do.

Christie and Faye had some publishing success in the '90's before hitting a little dry spell. This is not an easy industry to find success, and both ladies are perfect examples of the moxy needed to forge ahead when you smack head-first into a roadblock. Teri leads the pack in e-book frontier, willing to take chances in what was a very new medium just a few short years ago. Jody and I have magazine credits but are forging up that full-length published novel mountain.

When I hit what appears to the casual observer to be a set-back recently, these gals jumped in with support: analytical phone calls, suggesting alternative markets, and "screw the man" e-mails. (Mind you, Jody's typing these e-mails with a broken arm while her husband's still in the CCU with encephalitis.) You can't beat this type of support system.

So here's my advice: if you're looking for a critique group, don't look for someone published to pull you up. It doesn't quite work that way.

Instead, find folks with similar goals who'll give you chocolate to soothe those rejection, martinis for the successes, and a kick in the pants when you need it. And you do the same for them because that's what friends are for.

Shows How Much I Pay Attention

Cyber wave goes out to Lisa Amowitz, who join my blog followers while I was adding all the 'the's I left out of AVT the last couple of days.

(Told ya I have to add words to my ms.)

It makes me feel good that people find my twiddlings interesting and worthwhile.

Or am I an example of what not to do? (Don't say it, Faye!)

That's the Way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I Edit

Currently reading - Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

I haven't posted for the last couple of days due to deep immersion in my first editing pass of AVT. Overall, I was rather pleased with this first draft. It flowed, had consistancy for the most part, and just needs a little tweaking. I amazed myself by only having two pages of notes, most of which consist of clarifying some plot points.

Using National Novel Writing Month as a jump start, I cranked out the 56.5K draft in forty-five days, a record for me. The most surpising thing was the amount of emotion I conveyed. I freely admit emotional nuance is one of my weak points as a novelist, second only to POV f***-ups.

Before anyone starts hollering that my manuscript is too short, please note--I am one of those rare people who has to ADD words to her manuscript. The first draft of ZL came in at 65K. The latest version I've been sending to agents is 95.5K.

Hmmm, I wonder how many novels I could crank out if I get that six-month writing fellowship?