Burst my Bubble

So, I was sitting here working on my current novel. The one that's almost "done." The one that's at 80,000 words, but needs to get to 90,000. The basic story is done, with the exception of a few scenes, some transitions. So, I was feeling pretty good about the forward progress, then I made the mistake of taking a little break and checking twitter.
One of the entries said something like "You've written The End. What's next?" Well, I clicked on the link, and it was a blog about revision. First revision . . . Second Revision . . . After Editor revisions . . .  Not to mention putting the manuscript away for a couple of weeks . . . a month . . . or more.

Of course I know that revisions and rewriting and editing come next. But it's such a long process. Sigh. For a minute there, I thought I was getting close!

So Little Summer

The kids go back to school today. August 14th. Barely half-way into the month of August. Still summer.
It's so sad. I hate that our local school district robs the kids -- and their parents -- of half a month of summer. Actually, they rob us of almost the entire month, because registration and enrollment happens even earlier. Sports and camps start even earlier. In fact, they've gobbled up pretty much the entire month of August, leaving only June and July for summer.

On an airplane coming back from vacation yesterday, the woman next to me struck up a conversation, and during that I lamented about the school situation. She sort of agreed, but then made a comment about maybe it being for the best because the longer break made it more likely that the kids would lose their study skills and focus. What the hell is wrong with that?!
Kids, and parents, need a break! There's more to learning than going to school. What about summer jobs? Is it really worthwhile for a potential employer to hire a high-school student for an eight-week summer? By the time they get trained and up to speed, they might be efficient, capable and available for six weeks.

What about all the other cool opportunities kids have during summer break? Vacations to interesting places, for one. What I told the woman was that my children have always done interesting activities during the summer, and I hate to see those opportunities cut short. Nature camps, language immersion camps, church camps, band camps, debate camps, art classes just for fun, etc., etc.
And there's plain old down time. Everyone needs it. Sleeping in, lazy days at the pool, a weekend at the lake, hanging out with friends . . .
Summer is a precious time. Let's embrace and enjoy it!

On gatekeepers

I read an article a couple of days ago that has stuck with me. Actually, I’ve decided it offended me. It was about gatekeepers – agents, editors and publishers as gatekeepers. About the need for gatekeepers to regulate who gets in and who doesn’t.

All of this is with respect to self-publishing, of course. Because without gatekeepers, mediocrity will reign, and books and publishing will go to hell.

I have to agree with one point: without the gatekeepers keeping people out of the book business, there’s going to be some trash out there. I believe that’s true. But so what? Isn’t one man’s trash another man’s treasure? I’ve paid good money for books I ended up disliking. I’ve read published books I thought were trash. I’ve purchased many a product over the years that didn’t live up to its billing or my expectations. Don’t we live in a buyer-beware society?

Here’s my problem with the gatekeepers. They’re the brick wall (the last lecture by Randy Pausch). They may be keeping people from achieving a dream. How long does an author have to wait to get through the gate or over the wall? Is it a certain number of years? Must they have a certain number of dusty manuscripts under the bed? Or a specific quota of rejection letters? A certain amount of money spent on workshops, classes and conferences? What’s the measurement?
 We hear all the time how busy and overworked agents and editors are. It seems to me, there simply aren't enough to go around.

This is America, where we’re supposed to be able to follow our dreams. We tell our children they can be anything they want. Yes, that might require a lot of years of hard work. It might mean making some sacrifices, but we tell them it will pay off in the end, that hard work and perseverance will make their dreams come true.

But what if it doesn’t? What if Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, had decided sixty rejections were as many as she could stand? She’s said it was number sixty-one that finally gave her a chance. What if an author never finds that one agent/gatekeeper that clicks, and agrees to crack open the door? Why shouldn’t an author have other options?

Now, I happen to love libraries and bookstores, and I want to see them survive, even thrive. And I really want to see one of my manuscripts published and sitting on the shelves in one of those places some day. I would like to feel the validation of being plucked from obscurity by a gatekeeper. But that’s not to say I’m willing to beat my head against the brick wall indefinitely. Finding a way to go around the wall, or punch out a brick or two, to take another path is the way of survivors and entrepreneurs. Having an alternative is a good thing.

Ready for RWA

Just completed my registration to see an editor and an agent at the RWA national conference in July.  Can't wait to get some actual face-time with these people! Hoping to get to ten or twelve workshops, learn a lot about the craft and industry, meet a ton of people, and have a little fun with my critique partners.

Thumbs Up

The results are in! Four out of five judges in the RWA Golden Heart contest liked Surprise Son! One of them gave the manuscript a perfect 9! Woo-hoo! Unfortunately, there was that one judge out in left field, the lone dissenter who kept the manuscript from finaling. That's sad, and annoying. But the good news is that if the judges mirror real life, and real readers, four out of five thumbs up is fabulous. That tells me that if I end up self-pubbing, I've got a good shot at connecting with readers. And that, of course, is the goal. I'm encouraged!

Back to reality

Ahhh. Laundry going, bills paid, surfaces cleared, bags unpacked . . . and another spring break is history. Had a great time, celebrated a milestone birthday with our daughter, saw a good friend. Now it's back to reality. Hoping to spend a couple of hours curled up with one of my stories and get some productive writing done. Even though I can look outside and see that spring has sprung, it's cool and cloudy and rainy. Since I can't be out working in the yard, it's a good day to stay inside and work on my latest manuscript. Got tea, got computer. Catch you later.

Good news

Great news today! Just got a request for a partial on one of my novels from a renowned agency! Very exciting!

Two down, dozens to go!

Just put the finishing touches on my second novel in the Mainstream with Strong Romantic Elements genre. Well, actually, my second novel was completed last year. This is the re-write of my first novel. Numbers three, four and five, plus a women's fiction, a non-fiction about my daughter's college search, a short story, and other miscellaneous pieces are all in the works. It's enough to keep me busy for a very long time!

Now my dilemma is figuring out to whom I should send the completed manuscript. The same agents I sent my other novel to? Or should I find a whole new list of agents? I've read and heard numerous times how many authors get a hundred rejections before they finally find the right agent. Honestly, I don't see how an author could come up with a hundred viable agents to query. I'm surprised by how many agents out there either aren't open to submissions or still aren't taking email queries. I can't figure out why agents would rather get stacks of paper in snail mail rather than electronic submissions. Do they think authors are less serious about their work if they don't go to the trouble and expense of copying/printing, going to the post office and paying for postage? I'd just rather be working on my next manuscript than running errands!

There's a Light

Oh, yeah! March! The light at the end of the cold, dark tunnel of winter. The sun is shining, and it's supposed to hit 70 today. Woo-hoo! Spring break only a couple of weeks away. Tennis season starting up. Daylight Savings Time around the corner. Flowers poking through the ground. These are good things.
Now, where I live, snow in March -- even in April -- isn't out of the question. I know this. I'm not pulling out my flip-flops yet, but it sure is nice to get a little taste of spring!

Sooooo close!

Just sent the edited version of the last four chapters of my latest novel to my critique partners. Yay!!!!
I know that doesn't mean it's done. For good. But, hopefully, it means it's just about ready for a beta read, and for querying. Unfortunately, that means I have to write an amazing query that will give a taste of the story while exciting an agent to want to read more. Sigh. Ugh. Not my favorite part of the whole writing/publishing process.
But, here's to the next step, and having another almost-finished product!

Chocolates and romance

I haven't dug into them yet. Although I did open the box and take a whiff – dark chocolate mixed with pink fruity nougat. I don't even know for sure what flavor that pink stuff is, but I know it's yummy, and goes very well with a cup of hot tea and a book.

Today is Valentine's Day, and it's cold outside. And I can't think of anything nicer than nibbling on chocolate while curled up with a favorite romance novel. Today perhaps you can find time to pull out an old favorite and find the good part. Just skip to the part that you know makes you smile, cry or sigh – whether it's the sweet love scene where they finally get together, the steamy bedroom scene where they really get together, the poignant return of the hero, or the entertaining clash of wills that makes you wonder if they'll ever get it sorted out (even though you know they will).

If I were going to spend a few minutes today with some long-time favorite couples from romance novels, I'd be hanging out with Ben and Willa or Matt and Meredith. But I'll probably spend most of the day with my newest favorites – my own characters, Tom and Megan, Matt and Kate, or Michael and Jennifer. And I'll be hoping that I've created characters who readers will fall in love with, and written scenes that readers will want to revisit again and again.

Today is Valentine's Day. Curl up with a love story!

Life gets in the way

ERG! I wanted to spend the day on my current work in progress, to hang out with my characters in their world and fine tune their scenes and experiences. Instead, I've spent all day fighting City Hall!
It's so annoying how often life pushes in and prevents me from doing the things I want to do! Collecting the mail every day is almost frightening. As it was this weekend. The Saturday mail arrived with the notice of a plan to take the property easement in our front yard and turn it into a bike trail. Seriously. A huge slab of asphalt through our yard. Can you imagine how lovely that would be?
So, I've spent the entire day tracking down neighbors and phone numbers and emails and contacting consultants and commissioners and city officials.
And not one single word has been written, added or plucked from my manuscript. Sigh. It's enough to make me want to hide away in a hole and ignore the rest of the world on a long-term basis!

Been there. Done that.

Some days when it seems like forever since I’ve heard from an agent, and my queries are hanging out in cyber space, I catch myself wishing I’d started this writing endeavor a little earlier. It’s such a long process.

But then I wonder what I would’ve written about? Newspaper reporting and suburban politics, twenty years in Corporate America, having kids, juggling career and family, losing loved ones, friends that come and go at different stages of life . . . These are life experiences that form the building blocks of believable situations and characters – the meat of story-telling.

I’ve been more places, seen more things, done more things than younger writers. Maybe younger writers put in more research hours. Maybe they don’t “write what they know.” Not sure. But today, at least, I’m feeling like more might be better. More been there/done that.

Heading west

Just made my reservations for the RWA annual convention in Anaheim, CA this summer. This will be my first conference, and I'm hoping to meet a lot of people, have fun with my critique partners and pitch two completed novels to editors and agents!
I already know it's a great location, and I'll be in good company. So conditions are right for a successful event. Just need that agent thing to come together! Fun times ahead!

Under construction

It's coming soon! My critique partners and I spent an entire day over the weekend setting up a website. We've got our domain. Now we're playing with layouts and content – posting pictures and articles and blurbs about our books. So excited to see it all come together. Hope you'll check us out when we go live, hopefully some time this week!

website workday

Just scheduled an all-day work session with my critique partners! Yay! Can't wait. We may do a little reading and critiquing that day, but mostly, we're going to design a website. Since we all write some form of romance, we're teaming up to create one site that will give each of us an online presence in addition to our individual blogs.
Published or not, agents and publishers say all writers need to build a platform and start reaching an audience on line. Yes, it takes away from writing time, but it's part of the bigger picture, the whole package.
Already we're building a backlog of ideas and articles to include on the site. Key lime pie, anyone? Watch for a great recipe from J that ties right into her novel set in fabulous Key West. We'll introduce ourselves, our stories and our characters, and share blogs and thoughts on writing, romance and publishing. And, hopefully, we'll have a little fun in the process.
Stay tuned!