A Query Format That Works

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

If you're not getting requests on your queries and you haven't been reading Janet Reid's Query Shark, then get your butt over there.  Now.

I can honestly say I've used used Janet's query format.  It gets the basics down for your story, and from there, you can pretty up your your query and personalize it.

It's like the difference between showing a pig fresh out of the mud and showing a pig that has been bathed and had its hair trimmed.

And yes, I used to show pigs.

In Which I Join the 21st Century

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

Wednesday, I bought my first digital "album," Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version) as a reward for completing a novel synopsis.  I'd been eyeing it for a while at a certain department store when DH asked bluntly, "Don't you still have that $50 iTunes gift card from the Brenda Novak auction?"

He had a point.  So why was I reluctant to buy digital music?  I've bought e-books and digital TV episodes to take with me on business trips and vacations years before such downloads exploded in popularity.  Hell, I've written all of my novels on laptops because my typing can keep up with my thought better than my longhand.

Maybe the computer programmer still lives deep inside of me.  Over the years, I've converted everything myself.  (For my own personal use.  Get your hackles down, FBI!)  From records to magnetic tapes to CDs to MP3 files.  So even with an electronic version, I'm used to having a hard copy of everything somewhere in the house.

Maybe I'm reluctant to give up the artwork.  All those iconic images, from Paul McCartney without shoes to Madonna's BDSM Candyland, evoke moods and memories.

Or maybe I don't want to give up the liner notes.  Sometimes the songs make more sense when I actually know what the lyrics are.

And maybe all my worries are for naught.  The Fame Monster even included a .PDF or the CD's liners notes.  So yeah, I understand the folks digging in heels over the e-publishing tsunami a little better.  But I also know I can't stop the change.

Because now I've tasted the future.  "And I'm a free bitch, baby!"**

**Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

Picking Your Battles

As a parent, you learn to pick your battles.  Unfortunately, yesterday was consumed by a battle I could not avoid.  There are times when GK digs his heels in where school is concerned.  He deliberately acts stupid in order to get out of doing something he doesn't want to do.  In this case, it was writing down each step of an algebra problem.  The scary thing is ninety-nine times out of a hundred he can do this crap in his head.  But that one time he's got the answer wrong, I have no idea where he messed up because no work has been written down.

And I. . . well, I had to be the mega-bitch.

No Xbox, no going over to his buddy's house because he did not get all his work done because he spent three hours fighting me over one stupid algebra problem.

So when you get that publishing contract, remember this one little question:  what's really important to you?  Is it the cover, the edits, the money?  Or is it something else?  Because I can guarantee you one thing--you won't get everything you want.  And if you fight too much over something relatively small, you may end up losing everything.

Welcome to real life.

Another One Bites the Dust

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

As fast as new agents hang their shingles, others leave the profession for greener pastures.  Nathan Bransford notified his blog fans on Friday that he's leaving Curtis Brown for CNET, a tech news website.  He's keeping his blog going though to discuss books, monkeys and other interesting topics.

Nathan's done quite a bit for writers, helping the uninitiated traverse the sea of slush.  See?  Not all agents are evil incarnate.  Thanks, Nathan, and good luck!

Legal Waltzing

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

I posted a link to the Publisher's Weekly article on Wednesday on the trial court's decision concerning the lawsuit by Peter Lampack Agency Inc. against author Martha Grimes.  Yesterday, Scriveners Error has a rough translation from legalese to English on the matters pertaining to the lawsuit.

If you're a writer that's published or hoping to become published, I strongly suggest you follow Scrivenor's Error.  C.E. Petit does a great job of making author's legal rights and responsibilities understandable.

What George Said

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

I was trying to come up with something profound for today's blog, but George Takei's video is so. . .  Well, let's just say I'm so glad I had the chance to shake his hand once upon a time.

We All Read the Same Language, Don't We?

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow 

I'm in the process of making the last pass through a manuscript before releasing it into the wild.  Yes, experience draws the line around how each of us perceives a particular word or phrase.  Yes, I have a tendency to put at  least one little homage to one of my artistic influences in each of my manuscripts.

But there are times though when it's a toss-up of questioning my sanity or a particular crit partner's.

EXAMPLE

Heroine:  I could have ripped your limbs off.

Hero:  You wouldn't hurt me.  Besides, you're not hairy enough for a Wookie.

Crit Partner:  Huh?

Where's my crickets when I need 'em?

Judge Says Greed Is NOT Good

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

Publisher's Weekly had an interesting piece yesterday on the judge's decision in Peter Lampack Agency Inc v. Martha Grimes, et.al.

I don't have a problem with agents getting their fair share for all the hard work they do, but trying to keep claws in a sale you didn't make two years after your client fired your ass?  To quote the fabulous Amy Poehler:  "REALLY?"

Election Day

Did you vote early?  If not, have you gone to the polls yet?

If you haven't voted yet, then why the hell are you sitting on your butt and reading this?  Go vote.

Go vote NOW!

No NaNoWriMo for Me

Currently reading - Heaven's Spite by Lilith Saintcrow

I'd planned my little butt off for the 2010 National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo or NaNo if you want to go even shorter).  Last year fell through the cracks between day job and homeschooling.  DH and GK were on board with the plan.  Hell, DH even offered to cook/ordered out every night for November.

But. . .

I swear every time I make a plan the gods laugh and plot.  We now have a time-sensitive family task that must be done before December 4th.  There goes my NaNo time.

I think I'll take some time off from work in January and do my own mini-NaNo