Here is is, folks. Jodi Meadows, assistant to Agent Jenny Rappaport, finally got to the end of the contest submissions. (Mine being #56, wayyyyy at the end.) And, while I'm glad for the input (as always) I must confess I am stumped. Apparently, query letters are not my thing. I can't seem to balance giving enough pertinent info without going overboard.
Also (and perhaps I've already said this previously,) I think I'm going to have to find another site on which to post for crits. It's become apparent to me that the crowd on Miss Snark's simply isn't open to fantasy. YA and Romance, yes, but not fantasy/sci-fi and especially not Epic Fantasy. *sigh*
So, here begins another long search for those willing to read. Funny how my co-workers BEG me for more, but those in the industry seem to be quite adverse to the story. Days like these make me wonder, "Why do I bother?"
************************************************************************************
Another long query. This is getting intimidating...
Be careful of the one-sentence paragraphs. Use them sparingly, otherwise they lose their punch. You have nine.
This whole query needs to be tightened and focused. I didn't get a clear picture of what the story is about. I've said this in other comments, but I'll say it again: focus on these things: Who is the main character, what is her problem, what is she going to do about it, what complicates her solution, and what are the stakes? What happens if she fails? Give the reader a reason to care. Everything else is extraneous.
Don't forget to mention the wordcount.
August 3, 2009 4:00 AM
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Depression
Depression.
Work didn't kill it. Sweating in the garden (normally guaranteed to bludgeon any self-righteous snit out of existence) only made me more miserable. Cigarettes between actions (including the occasional clove) didn't made a dent. Even the mind-altering, euphoria-enducing effects of absinthe were not enough to shake it. Chocolate? Pffhht. A raindrop against a conflagration.
Of course, it doesn't help that the Secret Agent is only up to submission 14 and I'm #56. God. I'll wither of mental self-flagellation before then.
All I can see are the damning comments left by a raft of critiquers. (Not that I'm cursing them; quite the opposite.) Not a positive one in the bunch, I don't think.
I blame myself. Sure, I rewrote the opening AND the query, but I still haven't broken (obviously) whatever block it is that has so many readers deadset against going past the first paragraph, much less the first page. AND I made some ridiculously hideous rookie mistakes on the query itself. Gah. How can it look fine on the laptop and then so galling on the website?? Like flaunting daring lingere at a party only to wake the following morning to find one's soiled underpants swinging from the lampshade.
So, obviously, I am at that oppressive low of which so many inanely cheerful, PUBLISHED authors try to warn the yet uninitiated. What did I just read on one blog?
To quote: "Once you're in the publishing game, the insecurities don't stop. There's always someone with better reviews, more money, bigger tours, more fans, more sales, a cooler persona. There's always someone whose writing is so good, it makes you want to crawl in a hole and die."
Oh thanks. Thank you EVER SO FUCKING MUCH. And that makes me want to do this...WHY?
There are people out there like Patrick Rothfuss: brilliant, crafty wordsmiths ramming their heads against the steely walls of publishing for YEARS, only to be discovered through a fluke of fate, and yet...shlock like Harlequin doth go on. The Stephanie Meyers and Laurell K Hamiltons of the literary world bathe in accolades and movie contracts. And Joss Wheadon abandons Firefly to make...the Dollhouse.
But I still believe in the book. Even if I do not, currently, believe in my own ability to string more than two words together in a likeable manner, I DO still believe in JENNA'S SONG and what is, even now, battering at my head for release.
Muse, I curse thee.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Summer blues
Nah, not really. I mean, I've been sick, but I've been worse and know friends who ARE worse, so I'm not complaining...not really. (^_-)
Just feeling a little depressed/oppressed/compressed by the fact that I have to write with the windows closed now. It's reaching the 90's here and so the dreaded, much-maligned A/C must go on. So...no more burning incense while I write, or hearing the sweet notes of songbirds right outside the windowsill...etc. etc. *sigh*
But I'll get over it. One step outside for a smoke break and I remember WHY we have such wonderful inventions as A/C units.
BTW: in case either of you are following...love the pics. And thanks for joining me in my insanity. And Chief...where exactly is my probie?? I think she, of all people, should be following this. Not to mention reading. *nuff said, I think*
Now...off to watch the crows get drunk on mulberries. (Wish I could record what the goofy things sound like so everyone could have a laugh! Ha! It's entertainment at it's best, I assure you.)
Just feeling a little depressed/oppressed/compressed by the fact that I have to write with the windows closed now. It's reaching the 90's here and so the dreaded, much-maligned A/C must go on. So...no more burning incense while I write, or hearing the sweet notes of songbirds right outside the windowsill...etc. etc. *sigh*
But I'll get over it. One step outside for a smoke break and I remember WHY we have such wonderful inventions as A/C units.
BTW: in case either of you are following...love the pics. And thanks for joining me in my insanity. And Chief...where exactly is my probie?? I think she, of all people, should be following this. Not to mention reading. *nuff said, I think*
Now...off to watch the crows get drunk on mulberries. (Wish I could record what the goofy things sound like so everyone could have a laugh! Ha! It's entertainment at it's best, I assure you.)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Rejection
Well.
It's out of the way. I'm no longer a Query virgin. I have finally received my first agent rejection.
Yay!
Here's the whole response in its entirety. To read the other two dozen from fellow writers, one must go to misssnarksfirstvictim.com.
Secret Agent:
"I'm not hooked on this one, although the writing is good.
My major problem is that in the first 250 words of the novel, all you've given me is exposition. I don't have a character to identify, nor very much of a setting---at least, an intriguing setting.
And to top it all off, you start with what has to be one of the most anticlimactic first line ever. Just as note, A MURDER OF CROWS is a very similar title to George R. R. MArtin's novel, A FEAST FOR CROWS, and that threw me too."
(Okay, as an aside, the woman must not know, 1) the proper terminology for a grouping of crows or, 2) what irony looks like. And who is George R. R. Martin, anyway? Never mind, I'll look him up. But I really don't see the necessity of mentioning the working title in a critique. What writer gets to actually USE the title they come to the agent/publisher with anyway? It's always changed!
After all this, it sounds like I should be running around tearing my hair out and gulping Ben & Jerry's between crying jags, right? Wrong. Once I got over the fact that I wasn't really THAT much in love with the opening scene (which IS all exposition, I freely admit), the idea of redoing it was actually kind of appealing
That, and I'm addicted to writing. Nuff said 'bout THAT! *snarf*
So, here I am, in the middle of Chapter 20 of Book II, and I'm about to rewrite the opening scene of Book I. Just goes to show that creating is not all it's cracked up to be. Is that why I can believe in Creationism AND a wee bit of evolution at the same time? Who said God may not have wanted a rewrite on some things?? LOL!
Best of all, I've gotten my first rejection over and done with. I can get on with gettin' on. God knows there's going to be plenty more where that came from! Eek!
It's out of the way. I'm no longer a Query virgin. I have finally received my first agent rejection.
Yay!
Here's the whole response in its entirety. To read the other two dozen from fellow writers, one must go to misssnarksfirstvictim.com.
Secret Agent:
"I'm not hooked on this one, although the writing is good.
My major problem is that in the first 250 words of the novel, all you've given me is exposition. I don't have a character to identify, nor very much of a setting---at least, an intriguing setting.
And to top it all off, you start with what has to be one of the most anticlimactic first line ever. Just as note, A MURDER OF CROWS is a very similar title to George R. R. MArtin's novel, A FEAST FOR CROWS, and that threw me too."
(Okay, as an aside, the woman must not know, 1) the proper terminology for a grouping of crows or, 2) what irony looks like. And who is George R. R. Martin, anyway? Never mind, I'll look him up. But I really don't see the necessity of mentioning the working title in a critique. What writer gets to actually USE the title they come to the agent/publisher with anyway? It's always changed!
So ... it wasn't all that bad. Considering the agent said she was looking for "Epic Fantasy," yet chose the YA ice skater bit instead, I get the feeling she wasn't the agent for me anyway. YA and ice skating?!? Blech!
Strange thing is, even after tweaking the opening 250 words to include more "action" than previously written, I am STILL getting the rave reviews over writing style, but no bites on the story itself. Even the agent said the writing was "good." No suggestions or critiques on that part; just like on flogging the quill. Hmmm....pretty blatant clue, if you ask me, Quincey. I need to rewrite.
After all this, it sounds like I should be running around tearing my hair out and gulping Ben & Jerry's between crying jags, right? Wrong. Once I got over the fact that I wasn't really THAT much in love with the opening scene (which IS all exposition, I freely admit), the idea of redoing it was actually kind of appealing
That, and I'm addicted to writing. Nuff said 'bout THAT! *snarf*
So, here I am, in the middle of Chapter 20 of Book II, and I'm about to rewrite the opening scene of Book I. Just goes to show that creating is not all it's cracked up to be. Is that why I can believe in Creationism AND a wee bit of evolution at the same time? Who said God may not have wanted a rewrite on some things?? LOL!
Best of all, I've gotten my first rejection over and done with. I can get on with gettin' on. God knows there's going to be plenty more where that came from! Eek!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Deviant, Moi?
Ah, sex or not to sex, THAT is the question.
I'm gonna say it out straight: I LIKE SEX.
While I mean that in many senses of the word, it is the Written Word to which I refer at this particular moment.
I enjoy reading a well-written sex scene in a novel (small wonder I adore Jacqueline Carey, eh?) when it has relevance to the setting and the character interaction. And I do mean WELL-written, not Harlequin Romance schlock. *Gak*
Am I wrong in this? I think not. If it follows the storyline and it makes sense for the characters to be doing such, what's wrong with some detail? (And that includes sex for the wrong reasons, not just two characters falling madly in lust and wanting to make the beast with two backs. Sadly enough, there are as many literary occasions for rape as for one-night stands. Doesn't make it morally right, merely contextual.)
But let me define my reasons for mentioning this in the first place. I've noticed a distinct difference between men and women (within my admittedly narrow sphere of influence) in how they react to written sexual content. Most men see nothing wrong with PlayBoy's infamous letters (even the fact that they are oh, so fake!) and yet, put a well-crafted paragraph of pornography in the middle of mainstream fiction and they squirm like little boys getting their first kiss. Yeesh.
Every time one of my male beta-readers has hit a sex scene in my manuscripts, he's done just that. (Unfortunately, my single female reader has yet to make it that far into Book I, but we're holding out hope that she will eventually do so. And having already had discussions of this nature with her, I doubt she'll have the same reaction as the guys.)
I consider myself (and have been told by others) that I am a talented writer, especially when it comes to sex scenes. My characters always have a bonefide reason for it. But it's not the quality of the writing the men are calling into question; it's the matter that it's there at all!
What? Again, I refer back to PlayBoy. No problems there. So why am I being told "Why'd you have to go so far with this? Do we really need to know what happened stroke for stroke??"
Well ... yes!
Okay, I relent a little. I don't always give it "stroke for stroke." Sometimes it's a quick glide of hands on skin and you get the idea of who's putting what where...and we move on. But sometimes it's important to me to give the details of how the charcters are reacting to one another in that situation in particular. Maybe it concretes the implied relationship (for good or bad). Maybe it sets the tone for a terrible falling out later. The point is, I see no reason it shouldn't be there! Honestly, I find myself irritated when an author goes all out on the kiss and then fades off with some inane quip about "clothes falling to the floor" and "sighs coloring the air" and...CUT. Scene end.
You know what that says to me? "Big whoop, thanks for playing, but I was too chicken to detail it out."
Not this chica. Give me stroke for stroke. I LIKE SEX.
Just in time for Valentine's Day, too. Yippee! Break out the edible panties, the fur-lined handcuffs, and all the other fun toys, baby! It's time to par-tee!! *wink*
I'm gonna say it out straight: I LIKE SEX.
While I mean that in many senses of the word, it is the Written Word to which I refer at this particular moment.
I enjoy reading a well-written sex scene in a novel (small wonder I adore Jacqueline Carey, eh?) when it has relevance to the setting and the character interaction. And I do mean WELL-written, not Harlequin Romance schlock. *Gak*
Am I wrong in this? I think not. If it follows the storyline and it makes sense for the characters to be doing such, what's wrong with some detail? (And that includes sex for the wrong reasons, not just two characters falling madly in lust and wanting to make the beast with two backs. Sadly enough, there are as many literary occasions for rape as for one-night stands. Doesn't make it morally right, merely contextual.)
But let me define my reasons for mentioning this in the first place. I've noticed a distinct difference between men and women (within my admittedly narrow sphere of influence) in how they react to written sexual content. Most men see nothing wrong with PlayBoy's infamous letters (even the fact that they are oh, so fake!) and yet, put a well-crafted paragraph of pornography in the middle of mainstream fiction and they squirm like little boys getting their first kiss. Yeesh.
Every time one of my male beta-readers has hit a sex scene in my manuscripts, he's done just that. (Unfortunately, my single female reader has yet to make it that far into Book I, but we're holding out hope that she will eventually do so. And having already had discussions of this nature with her, I doubt she'll have the same reaction as the guys.)
I consider myself (and have been told by others) that I am a talented writer, especially when it comes to sex scenes. My characters always have a bonefide reason for it. But it's not the quality of the writing the men are calling into question; it's the matter that it's there at all!
What? Again, I refer back to PlayBoy. No problems there. So why am I being told "Why'd you have to go so far with this? Do we really need to know what happened stroke for stroke??"
Well ... yes!
Okay, I relent a little. I don't always give it "stroke for stroke." Sometimes it's a quick glide of hands on skin and you get the idea of who's putting what where...and we move on. But sometimes it's important to me to give the details of how the charcters are reacting to one another in that situation in particular. Maybe it concretes the implied relationship (for good or bad). Maybe it sets the tone for a terrible falling out later. The point is, I see no reason it shouldn't be there! Honestly, I find myself irritated when an author goes all out on the kiss and then fades off with some inane quip about "clothes falling to the floor" and "sighs coloring the air" and...CUT. Scene end.
You know what that says to me? "Big whoop, thanks for playing, but I was too chicken to detail it out."
Not this chica. Give me stroke for stroke. I LIKE SEX.
Just in time for Valentine's Day, too. Yippee! Break out the edible panties, the fur-lined handcuffs, and all the other fun toys, baby! It's time to par-tee!! *wink*
Friday, January 30, 2009
TFGIF
Another day, another dollar. God, how I hate my job.
Okay, okay. This is supposed to be about writing and getting published, not languishing in despair over still being a wage slave. One little hop at a time for this birdie.
So...nothing yet from Query Shark or Flogging the Quill. I'm beginning to think that it might not be worth holding off. Much as I want to know just how badly I've screwed up on the [revised] query, perhaps it would be better to bite the bullet and submit it. My darkest fear? That the agent whom I most desire [Maya Rock] will suddenly decide she has too much on her plate and cut off open submissions. Augh!
I haven't yet dared to check the website to see if that particular horror has occurred. Damn my cowardice! I'll face armed men with nothing but a stick then laugh when I walk away with bruises, but I'm too chicken (ha ha) to send in a query. *sigh*
Okay, okay. This is supposed to be about writing and getting published, not languishing in despair over still being a wage slave. One little hop at a time for this birdie.
So...nothing yet from Query Shark or Flogging the Quill. I'm beginning to think that it might not be worth holding off. Much as I want to know just how badly I've screwed up on the [revised] query, perhaps it would be better to bite the bullet and submit it. My darkest fear? That the agent whom I most desire [Maya Rock] will suddenly decide she has too much on her plate and cut off open submissions. Augh!
I haven't yet dared to check the website to see if that particular horror has occurred. Damn my cowardice! I'll face armed men with nothing but a stick then laugh when I walk away with bruises, but I'm too chicken (ha ha) to send in a query. *sigh*
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Patience?
Well, it's 30 frikkin' degrees here and dropping fast. With precip. Lovely.
I'm freezing my tail feathers off waiting for Janet to post my query. So far ... nada. Lots of other poor souls have been tossed into the shark tank ... and for the most part been turned into chum.
Wish I knew if she was even going to give mine a courtesy swim-by. You know, that oh-so-chilling moment in all deep-sea "we're-idiots-and-went-scuba-diving-for-our-honeymoon/got-drunk-and-wrecked-the-boat" B movies where someone gets cold-nosed by the predator lurking beneath? I could go for that right now if I knew it meant I'd get posted soon.
*sigh* I'm not the most patient of birds.
I'm freezing my tail feathers off waiting for Janet to post my query. So far ... nada. Lots of other poor souls have been tossed into the shark tank ... and for the most part been turned into chum.
Wish I knew if she was even going to give mine a courtesy swim-by. You know, that oh-so-chilling moment in all deep-sea "we're-idiots-and-went-scuba-diving-for-our-honeymoon/got-drunk-and-wrecked-the-boat" B movies where someone gets cold-nosed by the predator lurking beneath? I could go for that right now if I knew it meant I'd get posted soon.
*sigh* I'm not the most patient of birds.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
WTF??
Dear god...I'm a blogger. How the hell did this happen? All I wanted was to post a query to Query Shark to get my tail feathers snapped off by the Queen of snarkiness and I wind up...
here?
Help, I've fallen from the nest and I can't get up!
here?
Help, I've fallen from the nest and I can't get up!
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