Having sent a partial to an agent before I left, I knew I needed to really examine the RINGS OF TIME MS and objectively see what she saw. I love the story. REALLY… but when I looked at it, I screamed (nay aloud). Had I really just sent this snoozer to an agent?!?!?!

*headdesk*

Now… it’s not a snoozer of a story. Really, it’s quite fun and fast paced… but the beginning was freaking BORING. Well okay, not BORING BORING, just not a reach out and grab you thing. Which I knew. My beta readers (and Authonomy peeps way back when) mentioned this… some loved the bookshop description… some said SNOOZE. I sided with the first set. But now that I have written another novel that totally grabs your from the start… I re-neg and side with the latter.

Which means (but is not limited to) a whole lot of work for me… and a cease in query. Luckily, I have only queried it three times… and only one has requested a partial. So I know the premise is good… but I have decided my delivery might be off…

So, I am shifting POVs for the novel. It’s going first person, baby! And I am going to let her freak flag fly! Oh, wait… well, she is quite normal… at the beginning of the novel anyway. Just wait till novel 2, SECRETS OF MANDOR… the freak flag is florescent pink!

Anyhow, so I have some serious rewriting to do… so if you need me. I will be over there… changing all the she, her, Emma’s to Me, my, and I… not to mention rewriting quirks into it.

Fun times…

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Adopt it. Live it. Breath it. It’s on!

The band is SuperChick and the song is from the album Beauty from Pain…

IT’S ON

And now for the Lyrics…

It all comes down to this
You take your best shot, might miss
You take it anyway
You’re gonna make your move today
Got the will, you’ll find the way
To change the world someday
Grab this moment before it’s gone
Today’s today
Got the will, you’ll find the way
To change the world someday
Grab this moment before it’s gone
Today’s your day..

It’s on and on
It’s on and on
Today’s your day
So c’mon bring it on

And the view will never change
Unless you decide to change it
Don’t feel like it today
Just show up anyway
And though life will take you down
It only matters if you let it
Get up, go through, press on
Today’s your day

It’s on and on
It’s on and on
Today’s your day
So c’mon bring it on

And though life will take you down
It only matters if you let it
Get up, go through, press on,
Today’s your day

It’s on and on
It’s on and on
Today’s your day
So c’mon bring it on

—
Ahhhh their lyrics say it so… so… SO very well. It’s work. It’s hard. You are going to get knocked down. Press on. Today’s your day.

I am sending out 5 queries today. It’s sooo on.

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In any event, if I don’t make goals for the week, things aren’t going to go as well as they could. Turning older takes thought and consideration. If I don’t have it written down, I just might think too much about the fact I am almost old…er.

So, goals… Yes.

• Finish my UNSEEN CHRONICLE on Good Friday events. Its a long one… I thought it would be a quick 2K story… now pushing 4 and I am not done yet. I am not sure why I didn’t expect that. We are talking major events here. I am just hoping to do it justice.
• Not think about the fact I am older… Must be on my list.
• Raise more support for Ethiopia (See that post here) because I need to turn in my first deposit on May 1st and this is totally something I feel like I need to do!
• Not think about the fact I turned in a partial and it’s on her desk now… :-0 Try to focus on something else… anything else.
• Switch up my kids book. I realized it’s missing… SOMETHING. Yah, Uber Secret here LOL YA is so hot right now you have to be else someone will snatch it up LOL
• Try to get DS7 into the doctor for allergies/asthma/RAD/RSV he struggles and he sounds like a seal today.
• Plant my garden… after the snow. Goodness, gotta love Colorado! Yes, it’s going to snow.
• Drink a lot of coffee.
• Read the third Percy Jackson book
• School with kiddos, I can’t believe it’s April already! Where did my year go?
• Make my own doctor appointment to find out what is up with the hip pain after running recently. (Old… old, old, old is going to be the answer… I am sure.)
• Not thinking about the emails I am NOT receiving regarding my partial
• And just generally have a great week…

Sounds like a good set of goals to me… and not terribly unobtainable.

*DS7 coughs barks in the background*

Time to go make that appointment…

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I am not sure if I’m more happy or shocked really. I can’t believe it’s already been a month but I am glad I don’t have to wait much longer.

In other news, I think I have decided to record myself reading the first chapters of my novels, though this might be a super challenge since I have 6 kids in the house usually. I did my first pass tonight, on Runaway Choices, and it went okay. Only fumbled a few words… and snorted at myself in the recording. So maybe this is a terrible idea? Plus I am rotten as a man voice… Really.

Tomorrow, Monday, how I loathe thee.

I digress…

I will probably be mapping out Mandorian Prophecies Book 3 (Restoration) this week, seeing as how I need to do that SOMETIME… I have never actually mapped out a book before, but since its the final in a trilogy… I must.

Should be interesting

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Like all first, second and maybe even fifth drafts, it’s surely not ready for submission, publication or the general public. But it is ready for Beta Readers… a couple of whom were emailed last night with squeals of delight with the attached PDF file.

I know there are things that probably don’t make sense to the reader, which is what Beta’s are for. Since I wrote it, everything makes sense in my mind, but it wont necessarily make sense to my readers. So I hope everyone will come back with honest opinions and let me know what works, what doesn’t and what is all screwy! Cuzz it’s what I need.

So while I wait for the first Beta readers to come back, I thought I would be fun to identify two things I search and destroy in my first drafts, which make my MS tighter and much easier to read.

This is just one opinion, but I know this stuff to be true in my OWN writing.

THAT: Poor that… it’s so abused in today’s society. I mean really. So abused in fact writers really need to give it a break. And unless you are speaking of “that object right there….” you should never, EVER use it in a MS. Using that is like saying, Blah Blah Blah… It’s a filler word and it slows the pace down and it just a rotten word. Just say no! Example:

It reminded her that no matter how large the problem, or how small, that He was always there to guide and protect.

*twitch*

It reminded her no matter how large the problem, or how small, He was always there to guide and protect.

Ya digg? Do you see the first sentence is “fine”. In fact, it’s the way some people talk. Fine. But in your MS, it does NOT belong.

Suggestion: Do a SEARCH/FIND for that and highlight them. Then read through your MS and I guarantee you will be able to take out at least 95% of them.

Serious. Try it.

ADVERBS: I don’t feel very sorry for the adverbs of the world… mainly because you use them every day but man are they abused. Adverbs are those pesky -ly words that seem to creep up in a MS and part of the reason your critiques say, “Please show, don’t tell.”

-ly adverbs SCREAM TELL…

She walked quickly down the dimly lit hall, hopefully to find the creature she sought dutifully.

*screams running*

(yes I know, that was a gross overuse, but I had to get my point across and  I have come across sentences like this!)

Please, please don’t do this to me, or your reader. This sentence tells me a lot but shows me nothing. We, as readers, want to experience the hall and the creepy of it all. We experience NOTHING when you write it this way… because the adverb gets in the way. It handcuffs the reader and the writer!

Now, not all adverbs are evil. Some have to be there. Some just move you forward past something that doesn’t matter in your MS and this is completely fine. Just watch for the abuse.

Suggestion: SEARCH/FIND/HIGHLIGHT “ly”. Count how many you have used in your MS. The number may shock you. Then take most of them out by SHOWING us the action, instead of telling us.

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The writing, the editing, the querying, more editing, the procuring of an agent, still more editing… really, there is humor in it all. Though, maybe I am confusing humor with insanity. That can be debated later.

When I see my fellow-friend-writer-folks going through one of the many processes… it always amazes me how each one reacts to the situations of waiting.

Waiting will make you insane… if you aren’t careful. Been there done that, the t-shirt was designed by me.

But there are valuable lessons in waiting. As waiting is a test of patience… not that anyone should ever, EVER pray for patience… you’ve heard that joke right? Yah, don’t do it. Just be happy with the patience you have… or else. OR ELSE.

I digress…

Part of the process is the waiting. You can judge character by the wait… and how one responds to the wait.

For instance, if you are driven crazy, then it’s a perfect wait. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger… right? Well at least that is what they say… Who is “they” again?

Another part of the process is moving on. If you are stuck in the “Hurry Up and Wait” mode, it’s best you move your mind on to another project. There are usually enough roaming around my head that I can occupy my wait with writing another novel. What is one more…? This also means, if you don’t hear back in the set amount of time, you move on to another query, agent, house, etc… which can be hard but it can also help you grow.

Don’t get stuck just waiting for the response that may never come. If you believe in your work, get it out there! Someone will love it and take a chance on you, but they have to see it first!

Also, don’t get disappointed by one rejection. Many of the best novels out on the market today received countless numbers of rejection letters. Don’t let the first of MANY rejection letters get you down to the point of no return. It’s part of life, just like stubbing your toe. It may hurt, but it’s part of walking and you will forget about it soon when you find the right pair of shoes.

Have you ever thought about what you tweet or blog regarding this writing, editing, querying, waiting process? Did you know that the agent, pub house, etc is reading your tweets and blogs to see what type of person you really are? To see if they can work with you and establish a great working relationship?

It’s all connected. Specially in this day and age. You can pull up a tweet IMMEDIATELY after its sent on Google. How is that for technology.

My encouragement to you… lift your head up high, be proud of your work and wait with sophistication! Show them who you are and that you aren’t going to be “one of those” authors that can’t be worked with.

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*arseno hall hoo hoo hoo hoo*

One of my three entries… or all three I submitted… will be in the next 6 Sentences compilation out in April 2010. I won’t know which one(s) are in Volume III until it comes out. But regardless, I am tickled pink, purple, orange, red… let’s just call it a rainbow of beautiful colors! I am just thrilled.

The subjects of my three entries were: Life, Christmas and Motherhood. All three (I thought) were awesome and was very impressed I could tell a whole story in 6 Sentences. I almost wasn’t going to enter! But realized how silly it would be for me to not enter and at least try my hand at 6S and now I am certainly glad I did.

So, if you want to see the official announcement… You can click here the forward to 1:31 for my name Otherwise, you can just believe me.

Whoop!

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Ahem, why yes I am listening to them right now, why do you ask?

Totally not what I intended to post though. Actually I have a bit of fabulous news… well fabulous in a “I am one in a thousand” way.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest Round 1 announcement was yesterday and as luck would have it… I made the cut.

*silence*

Ok, where is the applause? Really now, this is something (Really its nothing)! I have been picked, along with 999 of my closest (who are they—Oh I know two!) friends, over 4000 other entries! So, the 1000 of us now go into the next round where they will judge our long pitches.

My long pitch absolutely rocks because of this Faerie Princess I know (who doesn’t like chocolate–what princess doesn’t like chocolate? Isn’t that illegal?!) who helped me with it repeatedly…. And I have to mention the couple other writer buddies who read over my query twelve hundred times and emailed me back telling me what they thought. Really, I couldn’t have done it without the support staff I employ with payment of love and sprinkles.

So… noting that it’s not JUST me out there and knowing my long pitch rocks… we are totally making the March 23rd cut too. No doubts… now if it could make the first 3,000 word cut (round three), I would be most thrilled. Cuzz, I know the story rocks, they just need to agree. *wink*

*Sigh* Yes, somewhat celebrating today… by listening to Owl City. And maybe writing a few words in my RUNAWAY CHOICES novel… which is sitting around 64K now. I can’t wait to finish so I can edit… what a nerd I am.

That is okay, at least I embrace my nerdiness… and smile today.

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Usually I write in order… A leads to B… B heads into C and D brings up the rear… followed by the rest of the alphabet. However, there are times when Z needs to be written… Like with Runaway Choices.

One day a few months ago, my characters weren’t speaking to me very well. I would start, then delete… start again, then delete more. Finally frustrated, I was about to close my WIP when I realized I could still write… the ending!

It’s not very often I write out of order… in fact I can count on one hand the times I have done it, but this instance was going to work out just peachy. Because regardless of how the characters acted during the A-Y sections, we would still end up at Z.

Now we come to this week. I had written through sections M-N-O-P and was headed for Q when I realized I forgot a small detail in M… I went back, edited it in, and then read through the sections to make sure I didn’t miss anything… All of the sudden, from right field I was broadsided by MC2! Not only does he throw me a wrench but he also throws me a bone. He decides to doing something completely different then anything I had written thus far in section M! Furthermore, it now wouldn’t match up in N-O-P. I paused, thinking about how I could work this out, if it could really be where the character wanted to go. Matched it up with Z and BINGO, it would work perfectly.

However, that meant I had to write new words, while deleting others. Which meant instead of my word count going up… it went down, down, down…

Not all for loss though… it’s a better story this way when I follow the characters lead. More emotional because of this scene, and yes it’s suppose to be emotional, it’s Women’s Religious Fiction… so umm, yah, totally got the heartstrings with this one.

Thanks MC2…

So yes, I am a character driven writer. Plot seldom drives my words. Though, in Mandorian Prophecies 3… it might have to. Because I have to tie up all the loose ends. We will see.

Off to adventure with MC1 in Runaway Choices some more today… she is in her final 15,000 words of her journey, which is panning out nicely

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