And The Madness is Upon Us...

So theoretically I started my March Madness project yesterday. I have PICKED what I am doing. And the thing that really helped me pick was this:

HBO Seeks Diverse Writers

(Hint: it's a contest)

You may or may not know this, but I'm a girl. And if you read last week you saw one of my project options was converting A Shot in the Light to a screenplay... and then VOILA! A contest to find script writers!!!

So that is what I'm going with. They want 30-60 minutes worth...


I have always envisioned Shot as a bit “mini-series” like, but it's funny—rather than about 10 pages per character scene, I am giving it about half a page then cycling... flashes of what is going on. That insight came from re-watching the first episode of Survivors—a BBC mini-series about... what do you know, a flu epidemic. But I think I can get all the important stuff across for the first “book” in my hour—that would make the whole thing 12 episodes, on the off chance they wanted it... I THINK they are actually identifying people to work on OTHER stuff, but that would be cool, too. They make better money than I do at my day job, and it would be made writing...

The FORMATTING for screenplays is totally wonky... I hope the reference I pulled is actually accurate and I'm doing this right, though I suspect it's a bit outdated. Still, it is getting me going. It can't have changed a TON... there are things too convenient about it (a page a minute estimation, for instance)


And because I only need this to end up about 60 pages, and because most of THIS is work at my computer, scanning the old, converting or rephrasing so the story comes out as a visual (removing thoughts, but getting across the critical stuff through action or a bit of added dialog), but I will keep going with my Kahlotus revision via hard copy... I think I can do both things this month if I really focus.

So that is my madness...

What is yours?

(don't forget—if you want to join us formally with a March Madness writing project (on Facebook), you can do so here: BuNoWriMo)

It’s Not You; It’s Me…

Such hard words to hear…  because you KNOW it isn’t quite what’s meant.  I mean it IS, but it’s a statement of mismatch… you didn’t do anything wrong except BE YOU… which isn’t working for me… Only this time I'm you... ifyouknowwhatImean...

So I’ve been on the receiving end of a little heartbreak…

A big heartbreak, actually.

My agent for my YA stuff, the fabulous Amy Tipton, has broken up with me… She was really nice about it—felt terrible. She has just been looking over my revised Kahlotus Disposal Site and got to feeling like she just isn’t the right person.  She thought I wouldn’t have any trouble at all finding new representation—nothing she specifically thought I should do before sending it out again. She even passed on a few names and a few different agencies she thought would fit me better.  Our visions just aren’t quite compatible. She said she loves my writing and knows I’m talented and promised to remain a fan… it is just the collaboration piece…

I’m not sure what to do with this… I’ve felt like things were settled for a while… I haven’t shopped for an agent actively for two years and strangely, in that time, accumulated two of them. Now I’m back down to one, but Ellen is project specific—just the cozies… I think she’s a great fit for my mystery stuff but I need to head back into shopping for an agent for my darker stuff.

Not yet though.  I mean soon.  But I need to let this settle.  Sort of like a relationship—if I dive in too fast, I might settle for any old person, and the sex might be fantastic… wait, what?  No, seriously—I think I need to really look at some personalities… stalk people a while if I think they’re a good fit, rather than just desperately groping for the first person who will have me. After looking, I will Query people who I think I might manage a mind meld with. Because they are out there—I know MANY people like that—people I meet and know right away that we get each other. Surely one of them is a literary agent. I just need to FIND HER.

So I think the PLAN… (oh how sad… I can’t make myself cackle when I say plan… it’s a dark day indeed)

1)       Finish writing A Shot In The Light.  I can’t lose the momentum on this—I’m nearing done. And I KNOW the query thing is a MAJOR creative block, so until this rough draft is complete, I’m not even going to think about it. My deadline is the end of July.

2)      August:  HARD COPY, I will edit What Ales Me. With my online time I will make a list of the agents I think may be a match, including Twitter and blog info, if there is any so I can keep track of them for a while. Start with website. ALSO look into their authors I think might be sort of similar to me.

3)      Pull together my KIT info:  Query letter, synopses (a couple lengths)—get it all set so as I query, I just pull out what I need as I need it.

4)      September I will query and send What Ales Me to first readers. THEN I will begin my first revision of Medium Wrong.

I will give myself August through October to edit and query, then I know I need to step back. If I am doing a WriMo in November (meaning WHEN I do a WriMo in November) I need to have this stuff off of my emotional radar. I may not have an agent by that point... in fact knowing the speed of these things, I probably won't. But I will have done a few query rounds, hopefully have had some full requests... I will set aside thinking about it until AFTER ABNA entry in February...

One thing this DOES mean, is I am now free with my YA stuff instead of just my adult, so Medium Wrong may be my best ABNA BET... Or maybe not... I was intent on A Shot in the Light, but at 120K when it's done and two other editing projects before I get to this... I just don't imagine it will be quite polished in time... That particular piece, I suppose I can play by ear.

Anyway... I hope you will pardon me while I nurse my wounds for a bit...

Pity Party

I know it's supposed to be Fiesta Friday, but I'm just not in the mood. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. I suppose to be consistent, I would need to call this a Fiesta Triste---though that is 'sad party' not 'pity party' and I'm not sad so much as whiny.

You see, the last of my submitted manuscripts was rejected yesterday. (that makes 8)


Amy was really nice about it. She asked if I wanted to keep going or revise. I was hesitant on revising since I have two books to revise before I can get to it... which means even if everything goes smoothly, I won't get to START that revision until April. But she pointed out that if we go straight in, if it NEEDS revising, we have knocked that many more off our list.  So we are revising. Which is to say I am revising.

I hate waiting.

I hate revising.

I hate the fact I can't get it closer to right the first seven times. Or thirteen. Whatever the draft.



So what was wrong with it?

All a little vague. 'Didn't fall in love with it.' Will nobody love me?

I think, though, my problem is Helen. Helen is TIMID. And she is timid for good reason. She hasn't spoken to anyone in 60 years, what, with being dead and living in an abandoned building and all. And she was kept in medically unethical circumstances BEFORE she died. Abandoned by her father to 'the experts' such as they were. Sympathetic, yes. Helen is sympathetic in spades. But... I think she may be missing her spark.

In most of my books my MCs are feisty or snarky or sarcastic. There is humor to them which never felt appropriate for Helen. Her circumstances would not go with wit. She is scared.

But I think I normally rely on that humor—my voice has humor and if I can't fall on humor, I think I am a little short in my repertoire. I need to find Helen's spark. Which may or may not have any humor, but it certainly needs more than it has.

So there is a puzzle to solve. What IS Helen's spark. I think it rests in her back story... a little more history, trickled slowly so the reader gets a more horrible image of what her life was like. But also a... PRE story... something she HAD that she LOST (and so committed suicide) and through the story finds again. A sense of self she was robbed of through being institutionalized. In fact... maybe if I work it right, I can reveal the back story backward and the front story forward so Helen's sense of self is equal throughout, and building.

Now THAT sounds like a compelling read, yes? But I have my work cut out for me. So I am having a pity party.

I am ALSO setting page goals so I really can GET to this by April Fools. I have 500 pages to edit in 45 days. Though maybe that isn't right. I have 200 pages to rearrange then another pass reading to perfect THIS month. GADS! And then in March I will revise Chrysanthemum Campaign for betas.

Oh. And I got pass pages for Azalea Assault. *dies *

I have been assured though, that professionals are on that, too—independent editors. So I intend to do it more as a content read—make sure nothing changes meaning or something. This SHOULD afterall, be a typesetting read—we did the final edit in the fall.

Is publishing really this many steps? What have I got myself into? Remember me? Meh, close enough. THAT is me. But I don't want lower quality—one of my primary reasons for publishing traditionally—I just don't quite HAVE that attention to detail...

Okay, so I've rambled. You may feel sorry for me now.

Or not. Anybody else wanna throw in a whine?  Or some wine. I'm not picky.

Five RE-JEC-TIONS!

On the fifth day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!


You heard me... this is about my subbing process. I think last I reported, I'd gotten four back, so this isn't a tsunami of news... but the number still out there is dwindling...

This fifth rejection was fairly nice... liked the premise and the voice, but just thought it wasn't the pageturner she was looking for. I need to speed things up...

Speed it up, huh? This is something I struggle to control. When I write, some is too fast, some too slow. Slowing it down, though, is a lot easier than speeding it up. My THINKING, (and PLEASE, give me a reality check if this is delusion) is that it ISN'T necessarily that I need to cut fluff, but that I need to make people CARE MORE so they are pageturning to find out... I think I could add more specifics of Helen's story... give some insight into why she is frantic in the here and now to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.)

I would LOVE to hear how you speed things up...

I Survived! Here I Go Again! And AGAIN (this time capitalized)

Only that second AGAIN isn't AGAIN, but the first time... but youknowwhatImean...

So NaBloWriMo is over... and I succeeded in blogging daily, but probably only get about a C- on getting to my fellow bloggers' blogs. I tried to get around... I really did. But my list of regulars is big enough now that just getting to THAT group is about all the time I have.

Before I dive into NaNoWriMo (because I am writing this last night), I thought I would give a few shout outs...


Elizabeth Mueller's Darkspell came out yesterday! Congratulations Elizabeth!

Jessica Bell's String Bridge comes out today! Congratulations, Jessica! (and Jessica is going to be a guest on the 15th, so you will get to see an interview and review)

Roland Yeomans is having a GREAT giveaway in relation to his book release The Legend of Victor Standish, which I just finished—a very fun read. Roland combines such a creative set of forces, it's like nothing I've read. I really enjoyed it! So go check out MORE and figure out how to win some great stuff!


So What is this Again?

NaNoWriMo, of Course!

I made my layered outline. I have my notes. I have a fair few details for the first few chapters. And I am READY! (so ready, I will probably start at 6:30 in the morning and try to get a few hundred words in before work!)

My Story? Gads, I almost don't want to jinx it. It is high concept... probably my first of those since Kahlotus... I figure a writer only gets a handful of these. Like I feel confident it will be easy to sell once it is written and cleaned up.

But here goes:

Amanda Harden is biding her time, trying to stay under her volatile father’s radar.  She is going to school, getting good grades, working a little. But all she really wants is for her brother to get home from college and balance out the tension in the house.

Unfortunately, his return coincides with the arrival of the letter expelling him from college and he is unceremoniously kicked out of the house.

Amanda decides to leave with him. They’ve learned from a master and figure they can get by running cons. Asher’s idea seems cruel at first—research the recently deceased and bring messages to their loved ones, but Amanda justifies it by thinking they can bring peace in addition to a little income.

The plan works pretty well for the most part, until the dead realize Amanda is open for business and the messages they bid her to carry are not the kind that will bring anyone peace.

Reactions? I'm really excited.

And the AGAIN!!!! (that isn't actually an again, but a first?)

It's official. Kahlotus Disposal Site is in the hands of six REAL Publishers... (big names—like panicky, heart-racing names). Harper Collins. Delecourt. FREAKING DISNEY. *falls over* Sorry. That just awakens dreams of 'movie deal'. I KNOW they are pipe dreams... long shots... but SO BAD, I would love to just be able to WRITE!

You don't think Disney gives you demerits for calling them FREAKING DISNEY do you?  Because ohmygawd, they are FREAKING DISNEY! Seriously... I know some of these are bigger names in publishing. I will be THRILLED if any of them love it (though not as thrilled as if they go to battle and have an auction about me *sigh*  (a girl can dream, yes?)) That was just the name that I hear 'cha ching' with...

Oh, man... I am possibly punch drunk and giddy thinking about this, but I will be panicking again soon. Stick around. It should be amusing.... for you.

Can We Panic NOW?

Strangely... not a Halloween blog... exactly... But sort of it is because you know what has to be done by Halloween? ALL THE NANOWRIMO PREP!!!!

Holy COW, am I behind!?

I'm behind because I'm trying to get ahead of course... lemme e'splain...


Chrysanthemum Campaign (CC)

I'm writing... But I am NOT writing at the pace I hoped... I'm writing maybe 5000 words a week, which is about half what I intended... You see... I think I need to draw some pictures. *shifty *

Oh, don't look at me that way. Mystery plotting has a bunch of pieces that are needed, and it's NICE if all the clues connect to EACH OTHER in a few coherent strands, too... two dozen disconnected clues found one at a time is sort of dull... But if there are three clues... only you don't know they all go together until you find the LAST of them... you see what I mean? Well for ME, drawing the picture helps me envision how it will all come out.

So I got that to do this weekend.


Personal Business

Because HWMNBMOTI is insanely private, I won't tell you what this is, but I have a bunch of paperwork to pull together... Not needed until Friday, but I definitely don't want to be stuck with it in my to-do pile when I'm allowed to be WRITING.

NaNoWriMo PREP

I have a little of this done, but because I've been writing CC, I have lost my train of thought... it all needs to be reread so I can remember where I was going with all of it. I ALSO want to do a layered timeline... Stay with me here... it will work something like this:

Layer one: Broadest plotlines in order
Layer two: break each of those into crucial events (this is the timeline I normally work from)
Layer three: Plug in the couple details I already have noted.

I also need to finish my 'stops' notes. My heroine and her brother have a road trip with several stops, each a part of the main plot... so I wanted a sentence or two about each stop...

MY GRAPHS AND CHARTS!!!

Do you remember what a geek I am about graphs and charts? I LUUUUURVE THEM!!!!


Three days. *sigh *



In other news:

Couch to keg going well. On Wednesday we hit 18 minutes of running for our interval stuff. Weight Watchers is progressing... I've lost 15 pound in 6 weeks. I'm pretty happy with that rate. Would love love love to hit 20 pounds by the 2 month mark.

I'm feeling some anxiety about this WriMo for the first time ever... Cooking dinner 4 nights a week sucks rocks. I hate cooking, but I ALSO hate not having that time to write—it was formerly my blogging time, so I had typing time later... now stuff isn't getting typed.

And the BIGGEST 'in other news' which I am terrified to put up high or bolder, because I don't want to jinx it... Amy said she will start subbing Kahlotus by Wednesday. Officially. To publishers. I am actually very glad I will spend November immersed in a WriMo, because I think my nerves couldn't otherwise handle this... but busy, I will be okay.

I wish you all a fabulous weekend!!!

Scattered

So I blogged TWICE yesterday because my brain was on the fritz... and TODAY I am MEANT to be in two places... It is my day at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash and it's Topical Tuesday, so I am talking a little about the changed dialog since this Occupy Wall Street thing began... So if you want SERIOUS me, maybe head over THERE...

If you want lighter me, maybe check out the kissing blog that was only top post for a couple hours yesterday (Until I remembered what I was meant to be doing—hosting Ciara)...


In Other News:

Hard copy edits are done on Kahlotus... just need to get them entered...

A bird pooed on my MS as I was walking along editing yesterday.

Next I am plotting/beginning to write cozy #3, currently known as Chrysanthemum Campaign.

Our Couch to Keg program is moving along well... rearranging a bit, but it's all good and still going.

I gained half a pound last week. (HATE that) I feel a little smaller though, so whatever.

Now you're caught up.

Editing Epiphany

DOH!  Totally forgot the Insecure Writer's bit, but I think this fits, so we'll go with it... just realize how inadequate I feel BETWEEN the feedback and the solution... teehee


And thank you Marian for pointing out I could BLOG about this, as I worked two extra hours last night (grant season—that happens) and was brain dead for a topic, so I needed it badly!



Novel Feedback

So I've talked a little about this love/hate process... for me it is a 'hate it' initially, and then I feel pushed and poked and prodded to finally up my game and I am much happier with the product than I initially was, difficult as a first glance at the feedback would have found that to believe. I've learned to bite my tongue at first sight... I respond, “I will have to see what I can come up with”... and then trust the process.

So my first feedback round with Amy wasn't too painful.

Okay, that's a lie. It was definitely painful. But my acceptance of it wasn't that slow in coming. It just took a while to execute because it was pretty all-encompassing.

This round though, I felt more resistance... is she SURE? But... but... but...

One of them was a racial change of a character... avoiding a stereotype... and I GET it, but... you know... I LIKED it... but I see it, and came up with what I feel is a satisfactory alternative (and it allowed me to write a ginger into a primary roll... you know how I love my gingers...) and so I eliminated stereotypes on a couple levels where that character was concerned...

merely cryptically representative of my folly

But the OTHER biggie is an ending that is TOO MUCH... I've thrown too many things in the pot and it is just a little overwhelming... I've been ignoring that part... (or in denial?) I've conceded to dropping most details about a trial... but that was as far as I got until yesterday morning...

I was walking and editing (those of you new around here may not know I do that, but I do... I walk to and from work. Normally I read while I walk, but if I am editing, I read with a pen in hand and mark my changes... yes, still walking). The locals all know I'm eccentric. I couldn't tell you who, as I am looking at my pages, but occasionally they tell ME they know who I am.

Anyway... so I was walking and editing and something HIT ME... there is a time a teacher doesn't respond as much as it seems he should.... and there is a bunch of business he is UP TO that is distracting... but because I HAVE that 1) there is too much going on and 2) we can SEE he really should have noticed the other anyway....

But see, if I give a degree of separation between my MC (Helen, the ghost) and Allan, then HE can be busy and distracted and we only get what we need from it, and (catch this) he is busy elsewhere so the reader isn't tempted into calculating whether he realistically should have paid more attention... I mean LOOK at all he was dealing with! (though only in peeks)

It's funny how sometimes the solution is to take away information and leave more to the reader imagination.

But you know what I REALLY love? How ONE change can solve TWO problems. It may not merit an editgasm, but it is certainly worth a happy dance.

So how do you respond to major feedback?  Do you love it? Hate it?  Both?

My Summer Vacation

by Hart Johnson

[Today's little travelogue is brought to you by Michael DiGesu at In Time... it's a blogfest! Check out here for more participants!]

Portland, aka Beertopia or Beervana

Portland Oregon

I spent June in my favorite city opening a Microbrewery. I participated in a love triangle... sort of... well one of them is sort of just my best friend, but MAN can he kiss! There was a murder involved... erm... two actually... and the Russian mafia, but I drank a lot of fabulous beer!

This is my city. Isn't it amazing? (Mt. Hood in the background)

Also known as Bridgetown

Roanoke's Mill Mountain Star

Roanoke Virginia

Then I flew to Roanoke for a Little Miss Beauty Pageant. That might have been a little annoying... the Little Miss part, I mean. But there are great people there—family and friends...

I spent a lot of time at the newly renovated Patrick Henry Hotel

And HERE, at the lovely Elmwood Park

Here's the lovely Kahlotus city center

Kahlotus Washington

And FINALLY, they put me in an institution. It didn't matter HOW long I tried to explain the difference between bad and naughty.

And here it is from a distance. Impressive, eh?

The OUTSKIRTS of Kahlotus...

*cough *

In case you missed it, what I MEANT to say is the only way I really 'went' anywhere was through writing, but I had a darned productive summer. In June I wrote What Ales Me (a 'sassy' mystery), based in Portland. In July I did first revision of Begonia Bribe (my second Cozy Mystery, based in Roanoke). Then I did agent requested revisions on Kahlotus Disposal Site... (edgy YA).

I revisited Roanoke in September, and I am leaving for Kahlotus tonight...

On a side note, I was pleased to note when I searched Kahlotus images, my book cover, designed by my friend Joris, was on there several times...

Back Atter!

Getting going can be tough, eh? But how much harder is it to get going AGAIN? You know... after a break... Well I am trying to get at it in a couple domains at the moment, so I thought maybe I'd talk about THAT...


Couch to 5K

So I've got 4 days under my belt now... 3 with my peeps and on Saturday, by myself on the elliptical, but I DID alternate more speed/tension with slower... I really did the spirit of the workout, but it was HOT and there were some hundred thousand extra people in town for a football game.

It's possible I might die.

Okay, hopefully not. But I am sore... achy... my legs. My hip joints. Even my back is stiff (I think from the extra compounding stuff?)

But on the positive side, Tuesday's run was easier.... And also on the positive side, another neighbor is joining us so we get to do the first week again (did you hear my sigh of relief?)

But I think it will work... I think it will take... I think it's taking already. The youngun (Oliver's person) is a fabulous cheerleader. I think she's doing the rest of us a great service, as I know I would have only run some small portion... I also notice the days I do it, I don't feel as much like snacking late. So that is a side bonus... So YAY for getting back to it...

Childings on 1st day 2011

Back to School

My childings started the 2011-2012 school year on Tuesday... They seem to be enjoying it so far... I guess for me the tough transition is sharing space in the morning (no hitting snooze, as I need to be done for daughter to shower) and making blasted school lunches... (okay... only do it for son... daughter always complains—she inherited that trait from her non-maternal parent, but never mind—the rule around her is if you aren't content with what is done FOR YOU, you can do it yourself). Whatever the case... I'm a little tired and I haven't even hit parent night (tonight for son, next week maybe for daughter). It will take a little time to get settled, but I guess we're there...



Begonia Bribe

I am trying to do a last mad rush clean-up... this hasn't gone exactly as I thought... I hoped to send a very clean draft to my agent, but it really needs a clean a read and a clean... I hate being behind, but there it is. I am mad rushing... first clean THIS WEEK, hopefully a read in a week, and then back to Ellen in just about 2 days...

Kahlotus

When I am done with the first of those cleans and sent to a couple readers, I have FEEDBACK from my agent for some changes on Kahlotus... a couple bigger and a lot of smaller, but all manageable in maybe 10 days... or that's the plan... Hopefully Amy will have a submittable draft by October 1....


Are the rest of yibus getting back to it, too? It is September, after all...

The Bipolar Lion

I don't know why this is the case, but it seems to always be... the BEST things happen to me under Leo... And the worst... and once again, here I am, being pulled in the most disparate directions possible... lemme e'splain...

And so here I will impose my own personal bias on you... you know the 'do you want the good news, or the bad news?' question? Well I always want the bad news first because I like to end on a good note...

Sad Lion Credit

The Bad

Finances... things haven't eased up, in spite of the extra worker... partly because crap just keeps falling apart... the latest? The freaking DOOR on our dumb car. We have a mini-van... a Sienna that mostly we've loved, but it is a 1998... and this is the 4th freaking door we will have to repair (no, that's not true... we just left one broken, as it was just the outer handle breaking). Does that seem right? I think the lock mechanism fell this time, but whatever the case, the latch now sits too low to catch... it just bangs the loop... and as much as I love a good bang, this is not working. If the door won't close, then we have lights on all night, which means in reality, we have to disconnect the freaking BATTERY each time the car is going to sit, or it will drain of it's juice. We ALSO have had to tie the dumb door shut... not helpful...

So I reiterate... If you are a Sugar Daddy who desires to be the benefactor for a writer... I NEED YOU... small timers need not apply, as I have a family to support. I would like $10,000 a month... sexual favors negotiable, but I really need a one year contract. I will promise you AT LEAST one book dedication and possibly my eternal devotion. Just throwing it out there...

Happy Lion Credit

Now for the good news...

You KNOW I sent Kahlotus back to Amy Tipton yesterday, yes? And I explained to her... because that is sort of how I roll—TMI and all... how my contract at the mo with Ellen (her partner) was just for the Cozies... so if she decided I 'got her' with the suggestions and wanted to rep the book, did she want a project contract, or what?... Okay, I used a lot more words and I tried to be coherent and professional... but that was the gist...

But her response was a resounding, “Yes, I want to represent you, and I would represent ALL of your YA!”

The mystery stuff with Ellen is up to Ellen, and I will leave that open until 'What Ales Me' is cleaned a little so she can see what else I have to offer on that front... And there are adult suspense ideas floating... some of them feasibly large, but I think getting my mystery and YA careers well established first is probably wise.

My PLAN *Buwahahahahahahaha* (you remember it is required to cackle when we say the word PLAN, *Buwahahahahahahaha* yes?) is to write two mysteries and one YA a year... the reason? The YAs are each stand alone-single book things at the moment, which require a little more stewing than the mystery, which will run as series. Mystery also has a little more formula to it... I ALSO am going to try to POLISH an already written book each year (I will do short descriptions of each and ask Amy which she'd like, as several of those are YA, or can be rewritten as YA) One is a YA mystery... hmmm... that complicates things... though it was a NaNo, and though there is a murder precipitating, it may actually play out best as YA suspense (this is Player Down)

I'm so thrilled to have someone willing to look at my career plans (or at least that strand of it) and provide advice. Amy said she really loved my idea for my next one (Medium Wrong) which I will do as first draft for NaNoWriMo this year, though I have fairly detailed planning I want to do first on this. The PLOT isn't so complicated, but the details of it are... detailed... there needs to be a MAP, and then the steady stream of side characters...

Have I ever told you how much I dig maps? Real maps. Fictional maps. Building designs... doesn't matter. I ADORE THEM ALL.

Any of you have news? Any of you dig maps? Any of you have news about maps... because if you do, I may just have to Squee a bit...


Note:  Denise offered to give away a t-shirt that says 'I am an adept of the ancient arts' which if you read her book you will know is QUITE the bragging rights! Very likely to get you all SORTS of propositions, offers of cash and possibly cookies... So... if you WANT to win, just comment, all week long with the phrase 'Kinky Vampire sex' (or if you are a prude you can just say 'I want to win!'). To double your chances, tweet or facebook share Tuesday's or Friday's posts that feature Denise and her book! (and let me know... mind reading is not among my skills)  [Sadly, she can only ship US and Canada]

Editing Brain

Nope. Nothin' in my noggin...

I've spent pretty much all weekend deep in editing... Neck deep...

The first pass built... that character development... from 65K to 70K... then I hit several scenes that were really about my OTHER PoVs... and I started snipping... I have it saved in another doc, and several sections say 'summarize this to MC' or some such thing... but 10K OFF... I am down to 60K...


And I've started next pass... the one addressing all the notes that say 'add a scene that does this'... It is much easier, actually, than the last pass. Because now I am writing, where the last pass was analysis... writing comes easier... I managed to get through 70 pages worth... a quarter of what needs to happen this pass... about 1000 new words...


On the plus side... I've had two really solid book ideas in the last week... One came in the shower and was inspired by the Veronica Mars last episode EVER... It is a series, maybe... and is barely entering the pile, so it is behind a couple other ideas to get written, but there it is....

The second I emailed to Elizabeth on Sunday morning as I woke up from a really strange dream where I was quilting... yeahno... that is NOT my material... but she might be able to use it, so there's that...



But what does that leave for a Blog?

The Evils of PANTS.

When I put them on I am finding
They are so evil and Binding
I must bid them adieu
Now what about you?
Do you really need this reminding?


Sorry. It's all I got...

The Good Push

You know, I think this is what working with a publishing pro is about...

What do I mean by that? Well lemme e'splain...

Step One: You Write the Book

And it is good. You love your book. You plan (or not) and you write and then you revise and you make it PERFECT for how you think the story reaches its conclusion in the best possible way. And you give it to peer readers and many of them have REALLY great feedback... but it is... you know... basic... 'your villain needs to be fleshed out better', 'your hero is shallow, maybe give him a REASON', 'the killer is too obvious'. But none of these are GRAND changes...

Sometimes you decide on your OWN to do something wacky... like say... Point of View change...

The Pros

And then you send it out to somebody who has more control of THE GATE. And they have a BIG idea... and you feel... erm... defensive... because they aren't giving you small tweaky suggestions... they are saying 'I will only pass you on if you change this BIG thing.' But they COULD pass you on, you see? So you argue and complain... INTERNALLY... but ya know... Ya GOTTA do it... it's your CHANCE!



Lo and Behold... they KNOW Something...

After you are DONE arguing with nobody (because you KNOW you're gunna do it, ne?) you get to work... and it pushes you to rethink rationale... it tests your creativity... it pushes that story OUT of its nice linear logical line into the INTERESTING...


So how do I know all this?


BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENING!!!

I sent Kahlotus to my agent when it became a semi-finalist at ABNA. I knew it wasn't done, but I wondered if some RANDOM agent might spot it and like it and before that happened, I wanted to give Signature Literary first read... Ellen doesn't do YA, so she passed it to her partner Amy... who LIKED IT...

But the changes she wanted were NOT insubstantial.

I had three points of view, she wanted ONE.
I needed more fleshed bad guys.
The plot needs some tightening...

But the BIGGIE... is...

My ghost can only be seen by a handful of people. And I'd thought fairly carefully about WHO could see GHOSTS... but I'd written it so all the main likeable characters could see her... (only 4, but yeah, okay...). My agent said it was too much... the teacher, fine... the schizophrenic, fine... but I needed to PICK between Serena (the #2 important character) and Daniel (an open-minded boy)...PLUS... I needed to make one of the BAD GUYS see her.... DOH!

But, but, but... my conception of open-mindedness... doesn't GO with bad guys... erm... (that might reflect my politics, but hey...).


And I was all set to cut Daniel out of view when it occurred to me...

How BIG would it be to develop a close friendship with somebody you COULDN'T actually see and hear? The watcher... the protector... may or may not BE there... they have to communicate THROUGH people... who are slowly disappearing from their shared space... but they still NEED each other...

I sort of fell in love with this challenge... with how much more interesting and unexpected the final product would be...

But I never would have gotten there, had I not been PUSHED...

So there.

Anybody else have a transformative experience with a pro?

Can I Get Fit NOW?

I have had repeated false starts in the last few years... in 2010 I actually did okay—lost almost 40 pounds, but I am back up there... it's all back... and maybe a little extra...

So this month I have a couple things happening. Through work, there is a Weight Watcher formal group firing up in my building at SOME point this month... it is a 12 week session that the University subsidizes, so it is only $60 to ME for 12 weeks—heck, I oughta save THAT in food! (though fruits and veggies are a little expensive)... and then... now this was in 2009... a friend of mine, Kara, is an acupuncture/acupressurist and I did a session by phone with her that was pretty groovy... recently I did a survey with her and to thank those of us who did it, I get a free group session: Acupressure to deal with food cravings...

So with THOSE two things lined up in August, I decided to assess what ELSE I could be doing differently. I love starting at the first of the month because... you know... I'm wacky that way... So TODAY, I've decided to amp my exercise.

It's been a couple months since my power sessions fell off. I walk to and from work, but I USED to additionally do more serious stuff a couple days a week... with my writing stuff, I've been bad about getting to sleep on time, and so getting up early got harder... and so those power things went bye-bye...

4:50, IS, after all, FREAKING EARLY.

And look at the fun toys on the wall *shifty*

I've decided INSTEAD of Tuesday and Thursday super early, that what I want is every day a LITTLE early. I will get up at 5:30 every day. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will do some strengthening stuff... weights, core, all that... and then Tuesday and Thursday I will power up the aerobic stuff—30 minutes at a pretty intense pace—probably on the elliptical at first, but I am thinking I might want to jog, come fall...

I know I need to strengthen my core, and I know I need to jump start this stuff, and I really know I am unhappy this size, so here I go...

In Other News

I think I had the PERFECT day yesterday... My FABULOUS neighbor was gone, so I went to her pool with a few pages from a chapter that needed serious rewriting, and I WROTE in the sun... 3 hours, 2000 words, 4 'swims'... It's possible there was a cocktail or two... I would love to have a lot of those days, though my legs are sunburned... But it is a small price...

It's a good thing I was productive, as the rest of the weekend seemed much less so.

Anybody else thinking it's time to lighten up? Get fit? Rewrite a book?

Possum Protest

This isn't HIM, but ours is LIKE him.

Primary progeny peered into purple. A Possum posed, then paraded from the periphery into our garage proper. He placed paws and pranced, priming himself for people. Primary progeny went in the other door. Papa not present; she told me.

Perchance... possum poo provided proof of persistence. Pesky possum parks his posterior on our property! People peeked in peripheral places, but possum is perhaps paranormal... alas... paranormal possums wouldn't poo...

Perhaps a party with pounding will displace possum! No pasta, pears and pale ale for him! Possum parties provide pokes and prods. People will prevail! If pernicious possum would just appear.




A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

This drabble happens to be a TRUE story... we've had a regular garage visitor in the form of a possum, and the bloody thing POOed in there! He doesn't seem to live there, though, as I hear they are stinky, and we've not experienced that...erm... and we can't FIND him... But consider this... if you are going to frequent someplace you've not been invited, please be considerate about where you poo.

Erm...

See, now I wouldn't mind THIS guy...

And this whole thing brought up THIS...

Why do Australians and New Zealanders have CUTE possums, and we are stuck with ROUSs? Aren't the Australians RESPONSIBLE for the things? *scratches head* though I don't know why anybody BROUGHT them here from Australia... the black squirrels from Japan, I get. They make me happy. Possums? Not so much. Could be worse, though. Out in Oregon they ran the size of Volkswagens. The daughter called this one huge, but I think she meant... you know... compared to the chimpunks (our other garage guests)--he is more house cat sized.


And in other news: third Draft of BEGONIA BRIBE is with readers... I sent a version Sunday but only the first half had gotten a polish (I just wanted to meet the original deadline I'd given, in case they'd penciled me in—so they could get started...

Or these!  So cute!

Now I turn serious attention back to KAHLOTUS while they are reading. Amy (Double-Agent 2) asked about it this week... which excited me. I love to hear that she is eager to see how my changes come out. I told her mid-August, so I have my work cut out for me—I am on chapter 7 of, I think 40. About half of it is smaller changes, at least initially, because Helen's PoV is already there and the only changes will have to do with ripples from the other changes. But the other half I need to think on and rewrite—which details HAVE to be there, even though they are currently known only by the OTHER PoVs in the first draft? How do I rewrite it realistically so she WOULD know?

I also thought hard, based on feedback from Leanne... what is the solid, underlying theme, or goal for my MC? I've come up with it. Purpose. She lived a sad life, afraid, in pain... and she escaped it without really living it. She has a second chance now, and maybe her death can be more meaningful. Oh... and based on a blog by my new Potterhead buddy SP, at Harry Potter for Writers, I decided to write intentional character arcs for more characters than just my MC. Two of the characters really had them anyway (Helen and Serena) but there are a few more important characters and it seemed giving their personalities intentional direction gave me some nice conflict and would make the story more satisfying.

I honestly sort of like doing this in the REWRITE rather than the first draft, as I think I can be a little heavy-handed if I try to do that from the start.

So there we have it. The PLAN. BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Good, The Bad, The Delinquent

(not necessarily in that order)

Delinquent GOOD (news)

I totally should have posted this a week ago! My bad! Blogger Buddy Raquel Byrnes book Purple Knot released on June 3rd! She is doing a blog book tour that you can find out more about here including a stop to talk to all of YOU next Thursday! (the 16th) Raquel is brilliant, one of those careful researchers and detailed planners I admire so much and she writes romantic suspense so this is sure to make you sweat in BOTH the good way AND the bad way. She also has that special skill of being able to put 'old adages' with solid enough examples that even a thick head like mine can absorb them (she is second only to Elizabeth in my permanent link file, and you KNOW how I worship Elizabeth!). So be sure to check her out, and come back next week and talk to her in person!

GOOD DELINQUENT!!! (me)

(or rather good NEWS for the delinquent...) Yibus know my Cozy Mystery agent Ellen Pepus had passed on Kahlotus Disposal Site to her colleague who handles the majority of their agancy's YA, ne? Well I HEARD from Amy Tipton yesterday... and she wants to work with me on Kahlotus!!! I gotz agent! (well, I already gotted agent, but now I gotz TWO!)

She had a fair few changes, some of which I planned anyway, a couple of which I should have expected (she wants just one PoV, for instance, which I think for YA is an easier sell... but it can TOTALLY be done)...

And besides THAT, when I was talking to Ellen, she is interested in the Micro Mystery I am WRITING and there is a plan (you heard me cackle, didn't you?) for THAT, too!!!

I have an extra day off scheduled every week this summer, starting (hopefully) the 20th, so I plan to EDIT EDIT EDIT. Maybe by fall I will have two new books being shopped.



And NOW...

DEFINE BAD

If you write, then you would have had to be asleep this week to miss all the stuff on that bloody Wall Street Journal article by Meghan Cox Gurdon about how DEPRAVED YA lit has become (yes, I swear she used that word). Her poor [missed what the relationship was] went to buy her teen a book and found cutting, suicide and *gasp* sex. My favorite response (and thank you to buddy Kimberly Loomis for pointing me there) was from Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak (required reading when my daughter was a freshman) about a girl raped at a party when she is going into high school. Laurie has gotten emails from people who say they would have committed suicide without this, or her book Wintergirls about Anorexia.

Meghan's article is about this dark offering we are putting up for young people and gives the baffling argument that we are giving these kids ideas they will follow through on.

Folks, I have a master's degree in psychology. ANYONE who reads this stuff and says, 'hey, I should do that' was surely already thinking of some DIFFERENT (and possibly more lethal) dark option. A book does not push somebody to try something out of the realm of possibility already. And in fact there is a HUGE NUMBER of people for whom they see these books and think, “you mean I'm not the only one?” or and even MORE books who reach PEERS who can then act with empathy and compassion instead of horror...  Want proof with more street cred?  This blog by Matthew Rush moved me.

For ME? I have a teen. I have a tween. These books offer me the opportunity to talk about HORRIBLE topics before it is personal. They offer me an OPPORTUNITY to offer guidance before it's needed. My daughter and I have talked about war and killing (is it ever okay? Under what circumstance?). We've talked about accidental pregnancy. We've talked about rape. We've talked about what might make a person cruel. NONE of these are topics that have been personal. They have begun in literature. But you know what? I am GLAD my kid has had a chance to talk through them with me. She's learned I will NEVER judge. I will treat her, WHATEVER the situation, with compassion. She's learned the victim is not at fault. And that good people are sometimes driven to do really lousy things.

I have been on discussion boards where people say “well I'd never read anything with swearing in it,” and I confess to you, I judge them prudish and prim... but that's not the point. The point is, NOBODY is making them READ IT. THIS  (made known to me by Janet Reid) is REALLY the point... if you aren't seeing what you like, ASK someone. There are books for YOU, whatever your preference--you don't HAVE to read those dark, scary books if it's not your thing. And stop trying to CENSOR for the rest of us.

But as for the offerings of YA books... I can tell you with absolute certainty, there is a (large) subset of teens who may even have pretty nice lives who still WANT to read dark stuff. And if they don't find it in the YA section, they will find it in the horror section. I know this because I was one.

Copyright Christopher Chamberlain

Speaking of Censoring...

Friend of mine, one degree removed (hubby of one of my Authors Supporting Authors peeps) had an exhibit set up for an art show. It was CALLED Not for Victorian Eyes.

What, pray tell, if you were enlisting exhibits, would YOU think that meant?

Well the exhibit determined THIS lovely work was PORNOGRAPHY and would not display it. Explicit? Yeah, a bit. (I mean I want to fan myself) but this is NOT Debbie Does Dallas. I know it isn't for everyone... I've seen comments of people who think since it is at a DESK it is porn... but I guess I really MISS my days when sex was a little more... you know... spontaneous... the HEAT of 'can't keep our hands off each other' sex.

Now this TOO, I know isn't for everyone, though I happen to think the vagueness of this being a pencil drawing keeps this on the ART side of 'art and entertainment' ifyouknowwhatImean...

Here again though, I think... you know.... the title SAID what it IS... if you have Victorian Values, just don't GO THERE. Because some of us quite like it.


Something I thought I'd never say... Sheesh. Let's let the market decide. Now there are areas I don't really ascribe to this. I think reality TV is chosen NOT because more people prefer it, but because the RATIO of cost to produce to ad revenue is good. I'd really like to see viewers be able to vote it's low brow ass off the boob tube. I'd like there to be a venue for real TV remaining after this society brain blip is over. I think my REAL complaint though, about reality TV is it is making OTHER stuff NOT available (something not the case with books or art). My beloved soap operas are being canceled for low rent stupid people programming. (I know—not all of yibus love Soaps... I happen to, though, and really don't want it to go extinct.)

See, if we lived in a Tart regulated world, they would just segregate a different direction instead of all the networks trying the same darned thing. If they agreed to specialize during the day, everyone would have something they liked. But NOOOOOO... we are a country currently dedicated to the lowest common denominator. And as a prime number (23) I can't abide.

If there was some agreement to let everyone exist, even if it has to be in different places, I could let TV join me 'let the market decide' campaign.

Okay... you can stop the horse now. I can get off this high horse...

Following the Money

Whereby I debate the definition of selling out.

Not my Cat but like the pic...

Yibus know I'm broke, right? That almost three years ago HWMNBMOTI got laid off, and we moped for 4 months and then he admitted he might be ready to train for a real job... so he has been a STUDENT since then, and we've been pretending I make enough for our family of four to live on, but I don't... That is where this story begins... The money is gone... Oh, some comes in every month... about a thousand dollars LESS than I need to break even if there is no water bill (which comes quarterly) or insurance (in February)...


I have a Cozy Mystery contract which provided a SIGNING advance, and then pays a little when I turn it in (got first one in Feb) and when it is published (first of those will be a year from now)... it's a trickle... on the month I GET one, I am okay for the month (except that whole February is insurance month detail), but writing isn't currently making up the difference between my (very good, mind you) day job and what it costs to live in Ann Arbor.

I have my young adult Kahlotus begging for a rewrite (which I will do this summer). And I have my Conspiracy Trilogy from which LEGACY needs just ONE MORE round before trying it out out there... I have Confluence which needs a rewrite... But the problem with ALL these books is they go on the slow road... long meandering sales track...


One of my BuNoWriMo ideas is ALSO that... Medium Wrong is the name (the talk to the dead one I mentioned yesterday)... and it is a lesson in be careful what you pretend to be... one of those cosmic justice teaches us a lesson things... and it is a GREAT story, as I see it... but it ALSO goes on that slow road... and it is ALSO one I really want to get RIGHT and I think it could use a few more months to stew...

If you can see through, why bother?

Because I have an idea that I KNOW I can sell, and sell sooner than later... There is a HEAVY market for trade mystery... my sassy Microbrew based, not-quite-cozy... my agent has expressed interest in the idea... she wants to see it when I have it... and SHE KNOWS editors who do this, who will contract not on the WHOLE POLISHED BOOK, but on a synopsis or outline and three BANG UP chapters (or so—50 pages). Now being ME, I really don't want to shop it until I have the first draft done, but if I could sell something right away that in the immediate term only had to be polished through the first quarter... that would REALLY help my cash flow...

And I have wanted to WRITE this series ANYWAY... I'm excited about it.

The premise: McKenzie MacIntyre (Kenny) tried the real world. She wore a suit, marketed for a software company, married a finance banker and had a son. But when the bottom fell out of the NASDAQ and her marriage fell apart, she decided she wanted a life with more tangibles... she opened a Microbrewery.

I am setting the brewery in Old Town Portland (the old industrial district, where warehouses are now lofts and art galleries mingle with Portland's remaining underbelly). She has an easy friendship (and not a little sexual tension) with her (currently attached) brewer; employees are made up of the Portland standard pierced and painted young artist types, and she has a teenage son whose (uptight but quickly going broke) father thinks a brewery is no place for a boy.


I hate to have money drive decisions I make... I WILL write the other... but I am just thinking it would be nice to have the bread and butter on the table while I wait for the main meal to come... (because the YA WILL pay more in the end... These mysteries sell so easily because people devour them, but they can devour them because each one doesn't cost a fortune (or pay the author a fortune)... and honestly... they are easier for a writer to get right—the audience reads fast and is forgiving... they are still a LOT of work, but the easy spot they fill makes it easier to get it 'right'.

This and Kahlotus by Joris Ammerlaan

Another Though Milling Around

(much more fuzzy) I am flirting vaguely with self-publishing my trilogy that won't fall neatly into YA or adult because of the MC age problem... I am WAITING a bit... If my current agent wants my YA stuff, then I think she will want to take on my full career and she may have strong opinions there—I don't want to burn any bridges and she deserves a conversation. If I end up with a DIFFERENT agent for Kahlotus, I think I will keep the three strands of career separate... Mystery with my current agent, YA published traditionally and this funny, hard to genrify batch I will do independently. I intend to formally edit (I have it on good authority one of my Burrow peeps has her eye on an editing career and I'm willing to bet she'd let me pay her a percentage of what I earn until she's paid). I would also want to pay my buddy Joris, who did my FABULOUS book covers gratis, but if I actually make MONEY using the covers, he deserves to be paid.

I want to do my rewrites though, before publishing the first, so the second and 3rd could be up with just a couple months between...I even have my pricing strategy figured out... I think I could do pretty decent with them.  They are good stories. They just don't FIT easily anywhere.

None of THIS is a sure thing... I'd prefer to sell traditionally... Heck, maybe I will submit Legacy to ABNA next year instead... if only the hook for it was easier... but then there is a lot of help on that front.


The PLAN (evil cackle)

By May 31: Finish first draft of Cozy 2
June: Write Microbrewery Sassy
July 1-21: rewrite Cozy 2
July 22-August 7: Cozy 2 to peer reviewers. Edit Kahlotus.
Aug 8-21: edit Cozy 2, send to agent
Aug 22- Sept 15: edit Microbrew beginning. Send to agent when she returns Cozy 2
Sept 16-30: final polish Cozy 2 (turn in Sept 30)
Oct. One of rewrites
Nov. Medium Wrong
December Start Cozy #3

Now all this could change. So far this year on plans, I have missed an editing month (well, 2 really) because this Cozy has taken a lot longer to write than I thought, but I've done okay... Other goals all met.

And if ANYWHERE along this line someone who might lead me to money makes a request, I will jump... because while I dislike hoops or being told what to do, writing for a living is MUCH less of that than anything else I've ever done, so I will take it until I make it...