Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire

Lazy Days

2012-03-05T00:00:00.006-05:00

Before you get to my post, I'm up over at Book Pregnant today, talking about ugly babies.

Awhile ago I talked about making shit happen. I’m still a big fan of that, but I’m also the occasional fan of not doing jack shit.

And I think we need those days, as writers and as people.

One of the most commonly quoted pieces of writing advice that I strongly disagree with is write every day.

I don’t write every day. I try to approach writing as a real job, and that means you get the weekends off. It also means that every now and then you’re really sick of it and kind of feel like you’d rather stab yourself in the face than go to work.

And you know what? That’s OK.

Yesterday was one of those days for me. Even if I’m not going to write I try to find something that will take me a little closer to the goals I’ve set for myself. This week is supposed to be the genesis of my first vlog.

So I decided I needed to do some vlogging attempts. Which meant doing my hair. And I really didn’t want to do my hair. So I didn’t.

Then I thought I should probably write up the review of the book I finished yesterday. But I didn’t feel like doing that either. So I didn’t.

Instead I figured I’d go ahead and jump into the new ARC that I want to read and review. But I was kind of sleepy. So I didn’t.

I took a nap. And I liked it.

I woke up kind of sweaty and smelly, totally disoriented and with my hair wrapped around my neck like a noose. It was a great nap. The kind where you have no idea where you are when you wake up. I needed that nap, and I don’t feel bad about taking it.

So what if it means I’ve got more goals for today?

Today I feel like making shit happen.

The Return of the Slash. Now With Artwork.

2012-03-03T00:00:00.141-05:00

It's here. It's beautiful. It's deranged BBC, armed and ready for queries.

I have the awesome and talented Lynn Phillips Nelson to thank for the new and fantastic artwork she designed specifically for the Saturday Slash. Check out her (hilarious) site. If you think I'm funny, you'll jilt me for her.

Meet the BBC Hatchet of Death (or, some other colorful description RC Lewis and I come up with at any given moment). This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot us an email.

I also need to give a HUGE congratulations to one of my previous victims... uh, volunteers. Yvonne Osborne advanced in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. Yvonne's query was picked from among 10,000 to advance to the next round. If you want to check it out she's in the top left hand corner of the link provided above, under the General Fiction category. Yvonne is a blogger, fellow AgentQuery Connect member, and also a featured author in the short story anthology "Spring Fevers", which I myself have a little shorty-short in. Spring Fevers is available as a free download from Smashwords, or a 0.99 download for your Kindle.

And on with the show!

We all know the first line of a query is your "hook." I call the last line the "sinker." You want it to punch them in the face, in a nice, friendly kind of way that makes them unable to forget you after having read the 300 other queries in their inbox. Also, at the end, I'm going to tell you what I think your story is about, based on your query. I know how hard it is to get your ideas across succinctly, and how easy it is for your author's brain to fill in the blanks and not see the gaping holes that the average reader may very well fall into.

Also, for my brave Saturday Slash volunteers I will gladly do follow-up slashes (each more kindly than the next) on your query if you post them on the Query Critique board over on AgentQuery Connect. You'll get advice from me, and also people who are smarter than me. If you do post on AQ, be sure to follow the guidelines and let me know you posted so that I can follow up!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

In an underwater village where those of dark skin don’t question their position in the Pures’ shadows, no one is more supportive for the Greys than seventeen-year-old Alphi McClure. Oh my, I had to untangle this one. And no one is more outspoken against them than her own Pure mother. OK - so if you're darker you're inferior. Alphi is a Grey who DOES question why this is the case, and her Pure mother is determined to grind her down with her heel. Got it. But I had to read it a couple times to do so. You need to simplify your hook a little bit in terms of language, because you've got a great main idea jump-in spot: under water (we know it's SF), ethnicity issues, character age (we know it's YA) and a family struggle. Awesome. You did a good job encapsulating your main conflict, but the language needs some re-phrasing. An agent might not have the patience to read back through and untangle the hook.

When Alphi’s latest call for equality throws her entire strike entire for flow village in an uproar, Alphi flees to her uncles’ city in the desperate hope rephrase - desperate hope is a bit cliche for refuge. A big city means big ideas, this is great and Alphi's heart soars as she sees buildings swerve unclear on how a building can swerve. I get that it's underwater and so it might sway, but in essence I don't think you need that kind of detail here in a query and rise in the city --no age-old racism here. But when her uncles brutally torture a Grey, her screams fall on deaf ears as she rushes to save the man from being torn apart. Her uncle pushes her aside I would choose one of your phrases here: either her screams fall on deaf ears, or she's pushed aside. All you need to get across here is that they kill someone even though she tries to stop it, and you've done that twice which is a waste of space in a query. Personally, I'd kill the falls on deaf ears as it also has that cliche taste, and she can do nothing but watch --until the Grey rebels attack her own Pure family. Something not quite right for me in the previous sentence - I feel like we're supposed to be in the torture scene here, present tense: "pushes her aside" she "can do nothing," but then the follow up is "until the Grey rebels..." which makes it feel like the just bounded into the room and onto the torture scene, which I don't think is what you're trying to convey here. Technically, I can't say that it doesn't work, but I can say that personally it's not working for me. And when they do, she joins them. Good.

Her family's enemy becomes her true family, her true home. Oh - great line. But I want some rephrasing for clarity. I'd strike the family echo. This should be Alphi’s dream. But when war is declared, her rash decision to join the rebels comes back to haunt her. Both sides hunger for blood, and deciding which family to kill will leave Alphi torn apart. The war with the rebels is nothing compared to the war with herself, and both "Both" echo. Not a big deal, but it did stand out. You can rephrase easily. will only end in despair. This is a fantastic sinker. I like it a lot with the exception of what I marked.

Overall thoughts - this is a decent query, and I'm drawn in by the concept. It's needs some cleaning for clarity, though. The hook just needs a little rephrasing, the "question" used so close to "position" feels echo-y, and the negation of the "don't" is fine, yet in such a long sentence I had to go back to re-read and see what exactly it was negating. Chop that sentence in half - toss out the underwater ethnicity issue, then address your MC's role. Then tack on your Alphi's mom line and I think you're in much cleaner shape.

Second paragraph caused me a little bit more confusion as I didn't understand that the uncles were Pure until it was stated later, or why Alphi would assume that there is no racism involved in the city until she saw someone tortured. Is there a mask of tolerance in the city? Is it supposed to "feel" nice but really it's no different than home?

And lastly, here's my big question - is it weird that her mom is a Pure and Alphi is a Grey? Does that happen often? Does this make her special? I only ask b/c the hook at first made it seem like a matter of course that a Pure could have a Grey child, but then when I find out that her uncles are Pure too it definitely raises the question.

I know it seems like a big question to address in a small amount of space, but given the strength of the rest of the query, I really think you can do it.

BBC Book Talk: THE CROWN by Nancy Bilyeau

2012-03-02T00:00:00.062-05:00

THE CROWN by Nancy Bilyeau lands the reader firmly in a world torn asunder by politics and Tudor machinations in the year 1537.

Joanna Stafford is from a young aristocratic family, but all she has ever wanted is to live a quiet life behind the walls of Dartford Priory. Her novice vows are challenged when she learns that her closest friend and cousin, Margaret, is to be burned at the stake at the order of Henry VIII, for supporting the Catholic revolt against Cromwell's hard-handed tactics and the dismantling of religious houses across the country.

Joanna knows that Margaret will die along and in agony, so she breaks the rules of her house and leaves at night, hoping to give her cousin one glimpse of a friendly face before the flames take her. But she barely makes it to the execution in time, and is saved from the violence of city streets by a young man, Geoffrey, who tries to stop her from getting closer to Margaret.

The two are arrested and taken to the Tower for interfering, where Joanna is faced with a new threat to her conscience. The Bishop of Winchester charges her with spying for him inside the Dartford Abbey, while secretly searching for the location of a religious relic - the crown of Athelstan. Joanna wants no part of delivering a precious relic into the hands of the king who is destroying her faith, but when Winchester racks her own father in front of her eyes, she has no choice.

Joanna returns to Dartford in the company of two Dominican friars whose own house has been dismantled, and whose agenda's she questions. If she is a pawn of Winchester, who do they belong to? Fighting her conscience, her heart, and the powerful hand of Cromwell, Joanna searches for clues to the Athelstan crown in artwork, tapestries, libraries and the very architecture of her priory. What she discovers is a a relic so strong that great rulers have been struck dead within days of touching it.

She knows it is powerful. She knows greedy men desire it. And she knows she has to find it first.

Submission Process Talk with THE CROWN Author Nancy Bilyeau

2012-02-29T00:00:00.012-05:00

How awesome is it to read a good book? Very awesome. How much more awesome when you have finished the book to jump on Facebook and tell your friend you loved the book? Very much more awesome. Yeah. That's my phrase, don't take it.

Today is a special day because I'm welcoming fellow Book Pregnant member Nancy Bilyeau to the blog! I may write YA and be covered in it up to my neck in the 40/wk, but I read everything. Historical fiction is one of my fallbacks when I need a good read, and I'm fortunate enough to have quite a few writers of that genre in the Preggers group.

Nancy Bilyeau is a writer and magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Her debut novel, The Crown, is set in Tudor England. It took her five years to research and write her historical thriller before selling it in an auction to Touchstone/Simon&Schuster. She was born in Chicago and grew up in Michigan. Now she lives in New York City with her husband and two children and heads to The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art whenever humanly possible. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and her web site.

BBC: How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

NB: I’ve worked as a magazine editor for years, and at two of them—InStyle and Ladies’ Home Journal—I was the books editor, buying excerpts and selecting books for coverage. So I knew something of the business, but I did not know essential facts about it. I didn’t know that a book could not be bought without the approval of an entire editorial board, for example. I was under the impression it was up to the editor. Nope.

BBC: Did anything about the process surprise you?

NB: A lot of things surprised me. I think what startled me the most was when I read some of the “passes” that my agent filtered to me. Even at that phase, it's still very much whether or not the reader is connecting with your material.

BBC: Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

NB: I did a little Googling but book editors don’t give many interviews so it’s hard to get a feel for them through research. I think it’s fine to give it a shot but the agents are the ones who know the editors and if you don’t trust your agent’s ideas of who to send the book to, then you are not in a good writer/editor partnership.

BBC: What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

NB: About three weeks. My agent had early interest so he called people back and gave them a deadline. There was an auction for The Crown.

BBC: What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

NB: Gosh, I wish I knew. I find any kind of waiting difficult. But I tried to remember a phrase a screenwriting teacher had for us—“Stay frosty.” That was my motto.

BBC: If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

NB: I felt hurt and defensive but tried not to dwell on it. One editor said, “I want to like this more than I am liking it.” Ugh. The people who did respond well to the book said very nice things so I focused on the positive. I found a rejection from an editor more painful than when trying to get an agent.

BBC: If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

NB: My agent said if we see the same criticism a lot then it is something that must be paid attention to. But we didn’t. Some loved the opening and disliked the middle. Others weren’t crazy about the opening but liked it when the thriller plot kicked in more.

BBC: When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

NB: I had three “yes’es” so there was an auction. When my agent emailed me that Trish Todd got the book, I was ecstatic. I jumped up and down; I called my husband and friends. I walked the street that day in a daze.

BBC: Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

NB: I had to wait maybe a week. That is when the news went out of Publishers Marketplace and everybody was in the know.

Magic Under Stone Releases Today!

2012-02-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

Hey readers! I just wanted to let all my followers know that Jackie Dolamore's MAGIC UNDER STONE sequel to the fantastic MAGIC UNDER GLASS was released today!

For star-crossed lovers Nimira and Erris, there can be no happily ever after until Erris is freed from the clockwork form in which his soul is trapped. And so they go in search of the sorcerer Ordorio Valdana, hoping he will know how to grant Erris real life again. When they learn that Valdana has mysteriously vanished, it's not long before Nimira decides to take matters into her own hands—and begins to study the sorcerer's spell books in secret. Yet even as she begins to understand the power and limitations of sorcery, it becomes clear that freeing Erris will bring danger—if not out-and-out war—as factions within the faerie world are prepared to stop at nothing to prevent him from regaining the throne.

Read my review of the first book, MAGIC UNDER GLASS, and check out this fantastic interview with Jackie where she talks her process and querying experience - great info for aspiring writers from someone who knows!

What You've Always Wanted - Me, For Free.

2012-02-27T00:00:00.004-05:00

I've had some fantastic compliments from friends and strangers alike telling me they can't wait to read NOT A DROP TO DRINK. And that's awesome.

But you still have to wait 'til Fall 2013.

In the meantime, I've got a short story in a newly published anthology. Spring Fevers is an exploration of relationships in their varied states: love -- requited and unrequited -- friendships discovered and lost, family in its many guises, and the myriad places in between. Created by Cat Woods and Matt Sinclair, Spring Fevers arose from their work with the Agent Query Connect online writing community, and while membership in the free site was not necessary for inclusion in the anthology, the ten writers whose stories appear are all members. Authors include MarcyKate Connolly, S.Q. Eries, Robb Grindstaff, J. Lea Lopez, Mindy McGinnis, R.S. Mellette, Yvonne Osborne, Matt Sinclair, A.M. Supinger, and Cat Woods. The debut publication of Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, Spring Fevers was edited by the team of Robb Grindstaff, Matt Sinclair, and Cat Woods, with cover design by Calista Taylor, and book design by R.C. Lewis. A new anthology is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2012.

Calista does some excellent work designing e-book covers, has won awards for her own titles, and can make yours too, if you'd like!

And the best part - our collection is free. So enjoy a short from myself and the other talented writers in this collection.

It's on us.

*Spring Fevers is also available for Kindle on Amazon. It'll cost you a whopping 0.99 there, all of which is going to charity.

BBC Book Talk - THE SISTER QUEENS by Sophie Perinot

2012-02-24T00:00:00.007-05:00

Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence both have the famed beauty of the Savoyard family, and the connections to win them crowns.

Marguerite's comes first, when she is married to Louis IX, the King of France. The two sisters, still very much children, tearfully part from each other in the shared bedroom of their father's castle on the night before Marguerite's departure, destined not to meet again for twenty years.

But their letters to each other bridge the distance between them, even when Eleanor becomes the bride of Henry III, King of England. Though the two Kings clash over land, the sisters continue to send missives as family members rather than Queens of rival countries.

The letters may be able to bridge the gap between their homes, but the dichotomies of their lives are not so easily conquered. Marguerite finds Louis to be a capable and admirable King, yet he is domineered by his mother, and his passion for God far outweighs any interest in his wife.

Henry III is a compassionate and loving husband, a true father to his children and companion to his wife. Yet his kingship leaves much to be desired, and Eleanor can't help but compare his shortcomings with those of Marguerite's husband, especially when Louis takes the cross to go on Crusade.

As the years pass the sisters learn to set aside their rivalry and learn from each other instead, as Marguerite borrows Eleanor's fiery fortitude in an attempt to win back her husband's affection... and ends up falling into the arms of another man instead. Meanwhile, after a political clash with Henry, Eleanor adopts Marguerite's calmer demeanor and sets aside her pride in order to restore her marriage to what it had been.

Spanning twenty years and an array of countries, THE SISTER QUEENS takes the reader to the courts of England and France, the warm and welcoming countryside of Provence, and the bloody crush of the Crusades. Politics and family, Kingly ambitions and sibling rivalry, love and lust all come into play between the pages, unfolding in a mesmerizing story about two Queens who were sisters above all else.

Fellow Agent Query Connect Member Sophie Perinot Dishes on the Submission Process

2012-02-21T00:00:00.065-05:00

How awesome is it to read a good book? Very awesome. How much more awesome when you have finished the book to jump on Facebook and tell the author (your friend) that you loved it? Very much more awesome. Yeah. That's my phrase, don't take it.

Today is an exciting day for me here as I get to pick the brain of our my fellow Agent Query Connect moderator Sophie Perinot about her submission process. Sophie has graciously agreed to pull double duty and tell us about her writing process, agent hunt, and publication journey, over on the group blog we contribute to together, From the Write Angle. Sophie's SAT (Successful Author Talk) will be posting over on FTWA tomorrow.

Sophie Perinot writes historical fiction. Ms. Perinot has both a BA in History and a law degree. She left the practice of law to pursue artistic interests, including writing. As someone who studied French abroad and a devotee of Alexandre Dumas, French history was a logical starting point. Her debut novel, The Sister Queens, will be released by NAL on March 6th 2012. Set in 13th century France and England, The Sister Queens weaves the captivating story of medieval sisters, Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence, who both became queens - their lifelong friendship, their rivalry, and their reigns

BBC: How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

SP: I felt very well informed up front and for that I am extremely grateful.

First, one of my critique partners was on submission before I was, so I had some idea of the stress involved in the process.

In addition to learning about the general process from my friend, my agent did a very thorough job of explaining his personal process – who he would be calling to talk about my book and why; what he would be sending to them if they responded favorably to his call – before shopping my first manuscript.

Once I was on submission, my agent also did an absolutely marvelous job of keeping me updated on the process. If you are getting the impression that I love my agent, you are right.

BBC: Did anything about the process surprise you?

SP: I was surprised that several editors were interested enough in my work and my professional development to have lunch with my agent and I and discuss their likes and reservations about my manuscripts.

BBC: Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

SP: In several cases I knew who the editors were because I’d attended conferences in my genre and made a substantial effort to find out about the business of publishing as it related to historical fiction. In cases where I was not familiar with the editor, my agent gave me a bit of background. But yes, I did do a little googling and searching of author acknowledgements for the editors on my manuscript’s submission list.

I recommend doing ANYTHING that puts you, as an author, more in touch with the industry. So yes, learn what you can about the editors considering your manuscript. Even if a particular editor doesn’t buy your book he/she is still a piece in the industry-puzzle and you may run into him/her later in your career.

BBC: What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

SP: I am not trying to cop out here but I honestly don’t remember and I didn’t keep records (as opposed to when I was querying agents and kept elaborate charts).

BBC: What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

SP: You mean other than binge chocolate eating? Try to do the impossible—not think about it. Writing actually helped me quite a bit. You can’t be in somebody else’s head (your main character’s) and still be thinking “wonder if my agent will hear anything today?”

Hopefully the process of querying agents has already taught you how futile “tea leaf reading” (in the form of trying to figure out what it means the longer you don’t hear) is, and what a waste of energy. Remind yourself of that (while eating chocolate, and/or writing), and if all else fails a glass of wine works wonders.

BBC: If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

SP: If I had any rejections? I’ve been on submission twice. The first time did not result in a sale, so I got a full dose of rejection. I am not going to lie, not selling that first manuscript (which my agent and I were both crazy about) was crushing. It didn’t help that it almost sold – in fact that may have made it worse because I kept thinking, “so close.”

One of the reasons that editor rejections are worse than query rejections is the heightened external pressure. When you sign with an agent the great mass of “uninitiated” (non-writing friends, and even some writer friends who think agent = sale) assume that in just a couple of months your book will be on shelves. They start asking (pretty much the day you acquire representation), “so when is your book out?” The truth is (and it’s a truth many writers don’t learn until they sign with an agent) getting an agent is like going far enough up a mountain to establish a base-camp. It is not the summit and for the first time you realize just how high that darn summit is and how much climbing you still have to do to get there.

The key to dealing with submission rejection, imo, is viewing yourself as in this business for the long haul. Hey, wait a minute, that’s also the key to dealing with the writing and query process. Each time anyone asked me (and there were many), “what are you going to do if this book doesn’t sell?” I always gave the same answer – “write another one, and another one, until I sell one or I get tired of writing.” Bottom line, if you require instant-self-gratification and you can’t stomach struggle do NOT hire the Sherpa and do not attempt the climb.

BBC: If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

SP: Editor’s feedback – at least pre book contract – tends to be more “big picture” and “market focused.” That’s why it is so valuable. Your beta’s (and even your critique partners) can’t place your novel into the context of the market the way an editor can. And often an editor isn’t merely giving you feedback on a particular manuscript, but also on your voice as an author and the potential audience for that voice.

BBC: When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

SP: When you get a “yes” from an editor – as when you get an offer from an agent – there are still important things to consider. Just because an agent, or later a publisher, offers doesn’t mean you are going to (or should) accept. Think marriage proposal – you don’t accept someone just because he asks.

The great thing about fielding an offer from an editor is that, unlike earlier in the process, you have a veteran at your side (your agent) whose job it is to analyze the situation and advise you.

I am a pretty controlled person. So I was excited to have a “yes,” but I tried not to let myself get silly or irrationally exuberant until I (with my trusty agent) had decided, “this is the right offer for me – the right imprint, the right market position, the right editorial vision.” I believe that choosing the wrong agent or publisher in the flush of “oh my god someone said yes” can be a long-term career disaster. Whereas choosing the right agent and publisher for your particular work provides a solid start towards a successfully and fulfilling publishing experience.

BBC: Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

SP: I only had to wait a very short time to be able to announce my deal. While I was waiting I was able to tell my immediate family (husband, kids, parents) so I didn’t suffer, lol.

Hooray! I Flashed You!

2012-02-20T11:12:00.001-05:00

A little dose of BBC flash for everyone today. I entered a short in a blog contest and won - I'm up today in Dawn Sparrow's blog, if you'd like another foray into my mind. If not we can talk about how Downton Abbey may actually be softening my cold, cold heart.

BBC Book Talk - AFTER THE SNOW by S.D. Crockett

2012-02-17T00:00:00.065-05:00

Willo's world is a frozen place where barest hints of life before the oceans broke are bound between the pages of a book. His father raised him to be the light, a beacon of hope and self-sufficiency in a place where people are easily controlled by the promises of food and warmth. The cities teem with the grog-addicted masses who are unable to care for themselves, while the efficient people who eek out a quiet life in the country are considered outlaws who will not conform.

Willo has heard his father's lessons of hope and peace his whole life, but a stronger voice overrides them. The wild dogs of the icy countryside look after themselves and Willo's survival instinct speaks in their terms, telling him to remain number one in his own mind at all costs. The dog-voice has saved Willo more than once in the wilderness, but when Willo's father and siblings are taken away in a raid, he has to decide whether self-preservation super-cedes their bonds.

AFTER THE SNOW is an incredible debut about survival and human relationships, the choices we make that define who we are, and the internal struggles that we all face, whether we acknowledge it as dog-voice or Ego. Willo's voice is deceptively simple, a refreshing POV in which to question the murky depths of human nature.

Thursday Thoughts

2012-02-16T00:00:00.009-05:00

I've had some random ones this week. Synapses are firing that perhaps I should question twice before admitting. But you know me...

1) If the powers that be want us to exit the building in a calm and orderly fashion during an emergency, why are fire alarms designed to induce panic?

2) Self-editing is kind of like flossing. You've got some extra stuff in there. You put it there, and it's your job to get it out. It's rotting the good stuff all around it.

3) I have the sudden urge to have a character named Madame Tunguska. I've got no plot line or anything.

An SAT with Sophie Crockett, Author of AFTER THE SNOW

2012-02-14T00:00:00.058-05:00

Before you get to today's super exciting SAT, check out my first post over on my new group blogging endeavor. Book Pregnant is a group of 30 debut authors who want to share our experience of delivering that first book baby into the publishing world. I'm up today blogging about my anti-climactic Book Deal Day.

I have a fantastic addiction to the SAT (Successful Author Talk) here with us today. Born in 1969, SD Crockett was brought up on a yacht as her parents circumnavigated the globe. After graduating from London University’s Royal Holloway and Bedford New College with a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies, she spent time living in Russia, Turkey, Eastern Europe - and in Armenia as a timber buyer. Yeah, that's right. And she's one hell of a writer too. Her debut novel AFTER THE SNOW is set in 2059, the new Ice Age. Born after the snows, fifteen-year-old straggler kid, Willo Blake, has never known a life outside hunting and trapping in the hills. When his family mysteriously disappears, leaving him alone on a freezing mountain, Willo sets off into the unknown to find them. AFTER THE SNOW will be available March 27th, 2012 from Feiwel & Friends

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?

SC: I wouldn’t say I’m a planner, no. I have tried it, plotting out 3-6 chapters at a time, but in every case it has meant the future culling of thousands and thousands of words. I like the story to unravel in a fictional version of ‘real-time.' Each to their own. But I do think a lot about where the grand story arc is going, getting inspiration from so many things outside of the work I’m doing. That’s the real planning for me.

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

SC: About a year. I’ve got a two-year-old child around, so that probably influences the time it takes.

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

SC: See above! One project at a time for me. The other projects I might think of are shelved fairly brutally for a future date.

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

SC: Yes. Fear of having no direction in life. Fear of running out of money. Fear of wasting my time with this writing lark. I carried a proverbial bucket of sand around and stuck my head in it regularly.

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

SC: Two. One was a learning curve of editing, and the other not ‘big’ enough for me to really try punting it around.

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

SC: Yes. The first book. I finished it, but quit on it after 14 rejections. But I had two requests for a full, and that gave me the confidence to carry on. I was pragmatic.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

SC: My agent is Julia Churchill of The Greenhouse Literary Agency, which has a base in the UK and the US. I sent my query to Julia, and she responded in three weeks asking for a full submission; she took me on after reading it. It was a traditional query: letter, synopsis and first chapter.

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

SC: I think you have to be pragmatic. Work on those first few chapters until your fingers bleed. If you think they’re good, do the same for every block of three chapters in the book. Treat each block like you’re sending only that out, because if someone does request a full, it will be very disappointing if they don’t take you on because you haven’t carried on the spark that interested them in the first place.
Most agents have a massive workload, they don’t have time to hold your hand. And I also think that having angry vitriol for agents and the publishing industry if/when you get rejected, is a very negative and unattractive thing. They have a business to run, and your part of that business is writing well and solidly and crossing your fingers that what you’ve done is what is needed. Don’t chase a dollar, chase a dream of perfection in your work and don’t be lazy. There are a lot of writers out there who aren’t.
But remember. Agents and publishers need great books. If no one likes your baby after a number of queries (your call on what that number is) then accept the inevitable and write something new. And then send that out, learning from your mistakes.

On Being Published:
BBC: How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?

SC: Pretty humbling and emotional but the beginning of a new mountain to climb.

BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?

SC: Zero. But if you have a good suggestion - make it but don’t push it.

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

SC: That I was more patient than I thought, and that I was capable of writing a book.

Social Networking and Marketing:
How much of your own marketing do you? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

SC: I’m a bit of a luddite (google it!) I didn’t have a website until very recently. And now I have a blog too. Which has been more fun than I thought. I’m very lucky that my publisher has arranged a lot of the marketing for my book and I try to do everything I can to help them and make myself available.

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

SC: I think you should write and think about that after someone likes your work. But as I said I’m a luddite, and you have writers like Amanda Hocking who give that sentiment a good kick up the …!

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?

SC: Probably. Undoubtedly.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Social Networking

2012-02-13T00:00:00.039-05:00

Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. Tumblr. Blogging.

You just stabbed yourself in the face, didn't you?

It's OK, I wanted to do that at one point in my life too. Luckily, I did not. I learned that I was looking at the entire experience of social networking in the wrong light. I thought I didn't have anything to say. I thought nobody would care. I thought my follower list would be small and that would be embarrassing.

Here's the thing. If you want to make a big bang, it takes time. Building relationships in the e-world is no different than in the real world. You can't be pushy. You can't always talk about yourself. You have to make it clear you're interested in the actual person, and what they have to say. There's a great way to learn about social networking, and have a built in follower base before you even jump into the larger world of social networking.

Join a writer's forum.

Oh yeah, sure, one more thing I have do to, right? I'll tell you flat out I wouldn't have a decent query, an agent, or a deal, without the spectacular community over at AgentQuery Connect. No, really. I wouldn't. I learned so much over there, I can't even begin to break it down. These are the people that helped make my query better as a group. This is where I met my crit partners who helped mold my novel into something attractive to an agent. This is where someone finally said, "Dude, start a blog already."

My first followers on my Twitter and my blog are from AQC. And I think that says a lot.

I admit that I love social networking. Love it so much that I am now contributing to three group blogs. The fantastic From the Write Angle - a blog that offers multiple perspectives on writing and publishing industry, The Lucky 13's - a group of MG and YA authors who are debuting in 2013, and launching TODAY is the newest group endeavor of which I am a part. Book Pregnant - a group of 30 debut authors who are dedicated to helping you understand what to expect as you bring that first book baby into the world.

And THEN you know what I went and did? I'm on Pinterest now.

I know, I'm insane. But I do love that bomb.

Non-Fiction Fridays: SPOOK by Mary Roach

2012-02-10T00:00:00.032-05:00

I joined an excellent reading challenge over on Goodreads - the Dusty Bookshelf. The idea is to make it your goal to read those books that have been setting on your shelf for... well, for however long they've been there. I've got one on my list that I bought in 1995.

This week I made the first dent in that list, with the non-fiction title SPOOK by Mary Roach.

SPOOK is a critical, science-based journey through the world of the supernatural. Mediums, ectoplasm, EVP, apparitions, Near Death Experiences, and things that go bump in the night all fall under the discerning eye of the author.

If you're hoping to emerge with proof of the supernatural, you'll be disappointed. But what you will find here are some dedicated, respected people involved in hard science who DO believe, and think they can prove it. Their efforts so far may have been futile, but they haven't given up.

Weighing dead mice, searching for extra stomachs inside of ectoplasm emitters, and asking the age old question of whether or not a woman's vagina has room in there for a picnic table size of cloth - you'll find all kinds of interesting experiments with assorted goals inside these pages.

And you'll be entertained. For sure.

Debut YA Author April Tucholke - The Pantster Who Doesn't Quit

2012-02-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured another author to the blog for an SAT (Successful Author Talk). April Tucholke is a fellow Lucky13'er - a group of MG and YA authors who will be debuting in 2013. Her debut novel BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA will be released from Dial in 2013.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?

AT: Pantster. Utterly. I like having the merest shadow of a structure before I start--because the best ideas tend to come to me as I go along. I'll get about a third of the way through a manuscript, and then decide that this or that character needs to be an a liar, or secretly evil, or violent, or arrogant, or annoyingly wholesome, or dead. It helps keep things interesting for me along the way.

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

AT: I'm pretty slow. Six months for a rough first draft, a year when all is said and done, maybe. I'm not a writer that enjoys the process--all that time spent in my own head. Ugh. I mean, I dig my characters and love the worlds they live in, but those worlds are usually pretty dark. This is fine short term, but hour after hour of it, every day for months, makes me moody.

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

AT: I prefer to do one thing at a time. But I'll start a new WIP, and get all caught up in it, and then switch focus to do edits on the old ms, and back and forth. I'm the kind of person who reads six books at once, though, so I've had practice at holding several plotlines in my head.

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

AT: Oh, heck yeah. I studied writing in college (in the Midwest), and in my program genre writing was scoffed at. Tender, coming-of-age farm stories were the thing--not really my cup of tea. That put me off writing for awhile. And then, when I thought about getting back into it, I was worried it would ruin reading for me--that I would learn too much about publishing, that I would start to notice things I didn't want to notice, like lazy rule-breaking, and too many adverbs, and unnecessary dialogue tags. I worried that I would never be swept up in a story again. And that did happen, for awhile. But I got over it.

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

AT: None. I just kept working on the same manuscript until it was good enough, completely rewriting sections until it morphed into something else entirely. Something better.

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms?

AT: No, I guess not. I hate to give up on things.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

AT: Joanna Volpe at Nancy Coffey. Traditional query process.

BBC: How long did you query before landing your agent?

AT: I sent out nine queries for BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, and queried for two days--Joanna offered less than 24 hours after I sent her my full. That was pretty cool.

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

AT: I've been working on this writing thing for four solid years (not counting my college days). I was repped before, and had two manuscripts not sell. This caused some of the darkest moments in my life--and I'm kind of an optimist by nature. Make sure you really want to do it before you begin. Bad. Because, unless you're very, very, very lucky, writing will make you bleed.

Hmmm…that wasn't very inspiring. OK, how about this: do whatever it takes to find the best critique partner you can. Because you will need them. You will need them to edit your manuscript, of course, but also just to have someone to talk to about the ups and downs of the querying/publishing world. Your non-writing family and friends probably aren't going to cut it--there's a good chance they'll view writing as an artistic luxury, not a job. That's fine, but really unhelpful when things get tough. I found a brilliant CP, and I couldn't live without her.

And if all else fails, get a dog. But this is my advice for most things.

On Being Published:
BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?

AT: I've yet to hear any word on my cover. But hopefully I'll have some input on it. I worked in a bookstore for four years and, despite the saying, people happily judge books by their cover, consistently and without hesitation.

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

AT: 1. How many people want to be writers. I wanted to be an artist, actually. I used to hang around the art studio in college, lurking in corners and watching the painter kids slap oil onto canvases. They seemed very exotic to me.

2. How much revising goes into a book, and how wicked hard it is. I went to the new Mission Impossible movie recently, and was sitting there, watching them try to plan an impossible mission, and I thought to myself, yo, try revising a manuscript some time. Absurd, I know. But yeah, that's what ran through my head.

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you do? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

AT :I have a basic website, and have joined the very supportive Lucky 13s. I was on twitter for a few months, and then quit because it sucked a dangerous amount of time--I'm not sure I have the discipline to both write and be on twitter. It's funny, even four years ago when I started writing, there were very, very few YA author blogs (were there any?)…and I don't think twitter even existed.

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

AT: Personal preference, I think. A lot of the authors I know started a blog before they were agented. I still don't have one. How much do you have to say? How much time do you want to spend saying it?

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?

AT: I think social media helps writers connect to other writers, which is great. Readership? Maybe. A bit. I think goodreads does what it can.

My Advice? Make Shit Happen

2012-02-06T00:00:00.035-05:00

Before you indulge yourself in learning how to make shit happen, I'm thrilled to be visiting over at Lenore Appelhans' excellent blog, Presenting Lenore. I'm talking about dystopians in general, and NOT A DROP TO DRINK in particular.

People sometimes ask me if I have a certain routine I go through before I write, something to put my mind in the right place. I've been to conferences where speakers advise a few moments of meditation, lighting the same scent of candle, or listening to some music that you find inspirational before you put your fingers to the keyboard. I have a slightly more straightforward approach.

I plop myself in front of the laptop and say, "Ok, Mindy. Make shit happen."

And honestly, isn't that what we're doing when we write? Making shit happen to people that don't exist? But forcing the fecal matter to flow isn't only restricted to the word count output for the day. When I give myself that one sentence pep-talk it covers all my bases.

Blog not ready to go for the next week?
Haven't tweeted for awhile?
Need to get on the crits for my partners?
Running out of interviewees?

Make all that shit happen.

More importantly, when I was still on the agent hunt I'd hit those stagnant pools of time. Queries are out wandering to people who may or may not be non-responders. Five out of my ten came back form rejections. I've got partials and fulls out but everyone knows that's not a guarantee and I shouldn't just twiddle my thumbs hoping they love me. So what did I do?

Made shit happen.

If I knew my query was ready and I didn't have a lot hanging in the wind, I sent out more. There's no hope in getting that YES email if that special person waiting to read my query doesn't know I exist yet.

So next time you feel like forward progress isn't on your side, ask yourself:

Did I make shit happen today?

An SAT with Debut YA Author Erin Cashman

2012-02-03T10:25:00.000-05:00

Before we get to today's interview, I'm up on From the Write Angle today, talking self-promotion. If you want to know how to aggressively promote yourself without being an ass, check it out!

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured another author onto the blog for an SAT. Today guest is Erin Cashman author of THE EXCEPTIONALS. A teenage girl must use her long-ignored ability to communicate with animals to unravel the mystery behind the disappearances of the most talented students at Cambial Academy, a school for teens with special abilities. Along the way she uncovers a chilling prophecy and meets a gorgeous but secretive boy – who may know more than he’s letting on.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?

EC: I’m a hybrid for sure. Once I come up with an idea, I jot down some ideas, and then I let it swirl around in my head for several days, especially when I’m out walking my dog. I usually know how it will end, and how it will begin. For everything in between, I prefer to just write, and see where the story – and more importantly, the characters – takes me. But then I have a tendency to lose my way. Now I write a very loose book outline – like a half a page to a page, and then start jotting down notes -- character descriptions, settings, ideas, etc. And then I roughly outline a few chapters, and take it from there. I don’t outline the whole book in detail, because then I think it’s hard to change it. It becomes like a roadmap to the book, instead of the book. (At least for me). A thing that really helped me, is if I’m dying to write a scene, even if it’s the last scene, I write it right away. So with The Exceptionals the very first thing I wrote was the last scene with Claire and Dylan. Otherwise, I rush to write the part I want to the most!

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

EC: Anywhere from six months to a year, depending on how extensive the re-writes need to be!

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

EC: I work on one project at a time, and I try to work on it every day if I can, so that I stay with the characters and the flow in my head.

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

EC: No. I guess I figure, just get something down, you can always go back and change it. And if it’s terrible, chalk it up to a learning experience and move on.

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

EC: Two.

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

EC: I quit on my first novel, a vampire middle grade story that I finished just as Twilight came out. I worked on it and sent it out for three years until an agent finally said: we are only interested in vampire romance, and even that is getting saturated, but I love your writing, so if you write anything else send it to me requested. I had an epiphany right then and there. My novel just wasn’t going to sell, so I needed to put it away and move on. I started something else within a week, and 6 months later finished. But as I sent it out, I began writing The Exceptionals, and 6 months later I finished that, and luckily, I got an agent and an offer right away. (Finally!)

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

EC: My agent is Erica Silverman from Trident Media Group. I actually read online that she represented YA, which, at the time she didn’t! I sent her an email query, and she agreed to have her assistant at the time, Alexandra Bicks, read it. Alexandra liked it, so Erica told me she would read it. A few days later she called to tell me she loved it. (I was absolutely ecstatic!) I became her first YA client.

BBC: How long did you query before landing your agent?

EC: For The Exceptionals I only sent out a few queries, but with the other two novels I sent out dozens!

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

EC: I absolutely hated writing query letters, and as an attorney I am terrible at them. I write them too professionally! My only advice is to be sincere, and to tell – in a couple of sentences – what makes your book special. What I did learn is that when you’re rejected, it’s usually not your writing that the agent is rejecting; it’s simply that the agent doesn’t think your story will sell. So keep writing, and keep trying!

On Being Published:
BBC: How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?

EC: Just today I saw The Exceptionals in a bookstore. It was surreal! To see a dream come true in such a tangible way is amazing.

BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?

EC: My incredible editor, Pam Glauber and I talked about it several times. We both did not want an illustration, or a photograph. Pam chose Richard Tuschman, who is a very talented artist. He combines drawing and photography in his work. I love the dreamy quality to the cover, and the light between Claire and Ferana, the hawk in the story. But I did not have final approval or say in the cover.

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

EC: I was surprised by how important a good editor is. Pam was very thorough and thoughtful. She never told me what to write, but she pointed things out like: I know you need Charlotte for the plot, but she’s kind of boring. Charlotte is a minor character, and I had never given her much thought. Once I thought about her, and her place in the family and at Cambial, she became the annoying, bragging, tattle-tale that she is now. Pam helped me write a far better novel.

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

EC: I have a website, and a facebook fan page. I go on them often, and love interacting with readers!

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

EC: I think you should focus first and foremost on the writing. Then, look to join some author groups. I am amazed at how kind and generous other authors are. They are so free with their time, advice, help and encouragement. It is a wonderful community, and I am so happy to be a part of it. They will help you figure it out!

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I am very new to social media – about a month into it – so I’m not sure. I think it will. I would have loved it if my favorite author in high school, J.R.R. Tolkein, (and still one of my favorites, now) had a fan page and website! I would have emailed him all the time!

BBC Book Talk - RED SPIKES by Margo Lanagan

2012-02-03T00:00:00.059-05:00

RED SPIKES is a collection of short stories from Margo Lanagan, author of TENDER MORSELS, that can teach any writer a lot about how to concoct a bizarre world, deliver a plot, build characters you care about, then take it all away in few short pages that make the reader want more.

These ten short stories mostly take place in worlds just different enough from ours to put the reader outside the comfort zone, yet forces them to relate to the cares, worries, and very real dangers that the characters face. Young Dylan, whose recurring childhood nightmare might have not been only in his mind, and the fierce warrior Queen from that shadowy world who seeks an exchange for the years she's been protecting him. A group of wandering souls stranded in the never-ending apathy of Limbo, collecting "brownie points" for escorting Miscreant Souls to the gates of Hell in the hopes of finally gaining admittance to heaven. A needy girl caught up in the streets late at night by a giant in search of eyelids, whose nightdress is sewn together from the gowns of missing children. Cerise, a child in our world who never fit the mold her mother had laid out for her, because she is a child of clay and her flesh soul-twin is stuck in the world of earth.

The stories are brief, haunting, and immensely powerful. Even better, in the acknowledgements Lanagan talks about the inspiration for each story, which as a writer I find illuminating. If you want to learn how to grab a reader, entrance and release them while being economical with words, definitely check this collection out!

Thursday Thoughts

2012-02-02T00:00:00.019-05:00

It's been another week of me thinking random things. I do enjoy rambling around in my own brain sometimes. Thursday Thoughts is a great dumping ground for all those little snippets that aren't intelligent enough to make their own blog post about, and certainly don't merit a short story or (God forbid) a novel. For example:

1) I can crack my back by flexing my thighs. I've discovered this about myself, and it's one of those ridiculous personal quirks that I'm oddly proud of.

2) Nathan Fillion has a READ poster. It's already been bought and hung up in my library. I can now say I put mounting tabs on Nathan Fillion.

3) I kind of have a READ poster addiction. I've got a few on my wish list. I'd love to see Edward Norton reading FIGHT CLUB or Norman Reedus with THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE.

It's kind of a librarian thing.

On Writing

2012-02-01T00:00:00.017-05:00

So often I come across quotes from writers and I think "Yeah! You totally get me!" Too bad most of them are already dead and we can't have a good long sit-down. Today's quote:

I have often thought that the best mode of life for me would be to sit in the innermost room of a spacious locked cellar with my writing things and a lamp. Food would be brought and always put down far away from my room, outside the cellar's outermost door. The walk to my food, in my dressing gown, through the vaulted cellars, would be my only exercise. I would then return to my table, eat slowly and with deliberation, then start writing again at once. And how I would write! From what depths I would drag it up! - Franz Kafka

In other words: Leave me alone, bring me food. I'm fine.

Debut YA Author Kathleen Peacock Takes the SAT!

2012-01-31T00:00:00.064-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. Today's guest is Kathleen Peacock. Her debut, HEMLOCK, takes place in a small town where Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control. When Mackenzie decides to investigate her best friend Amy’s murder herself, she discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock. Secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?

KP: I used to be what I called a “Three Point Pantser.” I would have an idea for the opening, the ending, and one big event in the middle. These days, I’ve become much more of a planner and typically outline before I start.
BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

KP: Usually I’m a one manuscript at a time kind of girl, though that will probably have to change as projects will eventually overlap (copy edits on one, outlining another, etc).

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

KP: Definitely! There was a long gap after high school when I didn’t write anything other than blog posts, press releases, and user manuals. Plus—and I know, now, that this is silly—I worried about the fact that I’d gone to art school instead of university.

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

KP: I had one trunked collection of short stories. Also, I started two YA books while/after I queried Hemlock that were trunked (one at fifty pages and one at one-hundred-forty pages).

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

KP: With the fifty page manuscript, I loved the initial concept (I still do) but I had trouble striking the right tone. It was meant to be a black comedy, but somewhere around page thirty, it ended up being just plain black. I decided to take a break from it to work on a dystopian idea. That one was trunked when Hemlock sold but I’d love to revisit it.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

KP: My agent is the awesome Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. I sent her a traditional query (with the first few pages) via email after reading her bio on Miss Snark’s First Victim.

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

KP: I’m a big fan of sending out queries in small batches. If you query ten agents and five come back with the same concerns, you have the ability to evaluate and (possibly) address their concerns before querying more agents. Keep track of your queries. You can do this through an online service or by setting up a simple spreadsheet. Have a separate email folder for rejections so that you don’t have to see them every time you open your inbox (I’m actually a fan of having a separate email address just for querying). Be patient. Some days you will feel like a ROCKSTAR, and some days you’ll feel like the first woman eliminated on the season premiere of The Bachelor. Be equally suspicious of either feeling.

On Being Published:
BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?

KP: The designers at HarperCollins are just AMAZING. I had one or two small request but the final cover is extremely close to the original concept work they showed me. Same goes for Simon & Schuster UK. I’m just in awe of their creative teams.

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

KP: How supportive the YA writing community is.

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

KP: I have a blog, website, Twitter, and am on Goodreads.

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

KP: Well with non-fiction, you probably should start building it before (based on my very limited understanding of that market). With fiction, honestly, I think it’s good to explore social networking early, but I see it less (at that stage) as being about platforms and branding and more about making connections and engaging in conversations. If your goal is publication, you should register the name you hope to publish under on social networking sites as soon as possible. Also, it doesn’t hurt to register your name as a domain (if you can get it).

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?

KP: I think so. I’ve met so many incredible book bloggers through Twitter.

Behind the Scenes: Writing Beyond Your Experience the Rumsfeld Way

2012-01-30T00:00:00.030-05:00

I've got a guest poster today, and my own words of wisdom on time management are located over at The Lucky 13's!

Shawn Proctor received an MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College, where his fiction was nominated for Best New American Voices and received the Creative Writing Award for most outstanding thesis. His work has appeared in WragsInk's Philly Fiction Anthology, Our Washington Pastime, Think Journal and Storyglossia, among others. He is currently seeking an agent to represent his novel The Sugarmaker's Son, which is kind of like A River Runs Through It... except with geek heroes and maple syrup farms and bohemians. Shawn can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Remember that time you first heard “Write what you know”?

It most likely came from a writing instructor, peer writer, or wizened voice in the corner of the fiction workshop. Best case scenario, the person was ignorant.

Paranoia and sabotage aside, the person is wrong. Not maybe wrong either.

If writers stuck to what they know H.G. Wells, Edgar Allen Poe, and Stephen King would have had to spin their bizarre tales in some other medium. Good bye, science fiction and horror. Later, magical realism. (Hear that? It’s a billion geeks shrieking in unison.) Let’s not even talk about British icons Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, or Frodo.

Writing what you know won’t get you too far, unless you had a career as a spy, ninja, pirate, or assassin. And don’t get me started about writers who write about writers. (John Grisham, just stop doing it already.)

So how do you prepare yourself for writing what you know—probably family relationships—before leaping into the wild blue yonder of imagination? For the answer we turn to an unlikely source: Former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld. Really.

Known knowns—Look, you know what you know. You can use any experience, place, hobby, job, relationship, or memory as material for fiction. I’d suggest concealing the identities of real people, but otherwise everything is fair game.

Known unknowns—You know you don’t know about police procedures or magical tricks or boxing. The trick here is to find a resource to that will make it a known known.

Try reading. Writer’s digest has a series of amazing books, including ones on forensics, name origins, and technology. Or consult newspapers, magazines, and online forums.

Talk it out. Ask your buddy about his job or hobby. Find a resource on Profnet or at a local college.
Worst case scenario, fake it until you can find the right resource. You’d be surprised how far you can go only fueled by imagination. If you never rode in a race car, perhaps you can extrapolate the experience from a teenaged joy ride or that time you fled from that state trooper. (Hey, maybe you’re more interesting than I thought!)

* Special note: science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and other genres rely on rules and logic specific to that world. As long as you remain consistent, the rules of our reality can be bent, broken, or constructed anew.

Unknown unknowns—We know what we know and know what we don’t, but how can we know what we don’t know we don’t know? (Got all that?) This is the need that becomes obvious as you write, something that you never saw coming. Not when writing the outline or possibly the first draft. Surprise—you need to learn about marine biology or Zen to make a story work.

Take a step back and assess whether you absolutely need it. Does it serve the story? If so, decide whether you can jump past the section or must stop and work on it immediately. In any case, once you have identified an unknown unknown it moves up into the second section, and eventually becomes a known known.

Rest assured you’ll never know everything you will need to create a gripping narrative, especially one that goes beyond your experience. Don’t let the fear that you will hit a speed bump keep you from writing the first draft though. The good news: your stories will be better and your life more interesting because of what you find.

BBC Book Talk - SMALL TOWN SINNERS by Melissa Walker

2012-01-27T00:00:00.050-05:00

We know not to judge a book by its cover but we all do it, right? Alas, even librarians are not immune to a well played dust-jacket. When SMALL TOWN SINNERS by Melissa Walker crossed my desk I immediately slid it on over to the TBR pile. Glad I did.

Lacey Anne Byer is a good girl. Only child of the youth minister of the Church of Enlightement, Lacey wears a promise ring and has never thought twice about some of the heavy handed practices of her congregation - like the annual Hell House held on Halloween Weekend.

Designed to save souls by portraying sins that will lead the sinner to damnation, Hell House is a big deal in her small hometown. Such a big deal that the much coveted role of Abortion Girl is usually reserved exclusively for seniors. Lacey is only a junior, but she gets the role when the girl originally cast has to drop out - because she's pregnant.

Scuttled away to have her child in a home where the babies are given up for adoption, the teen mother simply ceases to exist in their hometown, and is never spoken of. Yet the father is still in their midst, walking the halls, playing sports... even participating in Hell House. The double standard festers in Lacey's mind, and the independent seed of thought is fertilized by Ty - a childhood friend who returns to West River in an effort to escape a dark secret of his own.

SMALL TOWN SINNERS is deftly done, portraying a teen not questioning the existence of God, but rather some of the harsher elements of the faith she's been raised in. Equally impressive is Ty's character serving not as a bad influence but rather an opening in the box that Lacey has been existing inside of, and their talks at night in the park - which Lacey sneaks out of her house to have - question right and wrong, black and white, while the romantic tension runs strongly underneath their every word.

Thursday Thoughts

2012-01-26T00:00:00.009-05:00

What an odd week it's been.

1) Netflix recommended a documentary on human sacrifices for me based on my viewing habits. Not sure what prompted that.

2) Sorry male followers but I've got to share the fact that my yearly (and if you don't know what that means just ask a girl) is always scheduled to fall on Valentine's Day. Yep. Right. On. The. Day.

3) I really want to see the American version of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Boyfriend is not as interested as I'd hoped. I may have to play the girlfriend card on this one. How many girls play that card for a David Fincher film?

Wednesday WOLF

2012-01-25T00:00:00.049-05:00

Before you get your word origin of the day I want to point everyone to Dawn Sparrow's blog, where she is hosting a flash contest. I've got a story in there, but I won't tell you which one it is - vote for whichever you think deserves it. And may the best flasher win ;)

In the spirit of my editing hatchet, I found two fun wood-cutting idioms to play with today. Also, it's been damn cold here in Ohio and I own a woodburner, so I've been doing a little blade-slinging myself over the past few days.

Ever see someone fly off the handle? I have, because I work in the public school systems, but even if you don't see temper tantrums on a daily basis you know what the phrase means. Someone in this state has lost control... and that's a fairly accurate description of what happens when the head of your axe flies off the handle. For those of you who aren't active wood-choppers, you can still appreciate the sudden loss of a counterweight, I'm sure. The first published use of "to fly off the handle"goes to Thomas Haliburton, in one of his Sam Slick shorts, The Attache: Or, Sam Slick In London, published 1844.

Writers - ever accomplished something in the nick of time? Sure you have. Any clue what that means? Again, this is a good old wood-chopping term. In case you don't know, if you ever want to hack your way through a particularly large piece of lumber it's smart to make a niche with your hatchet first, a small v-shaped groove that weakens that spot. The idea is to hit that niche again and again with your heavier implement, an axe or a maul. And while that makes sense, if you've ever tried to haul an axe or a maul over your head and then bring it down on a precise spot... well, it's not that easy. In fact, it's kind of a special skill reserved for farmer's daughters.

Ok, not really.

But in any case, that niche, or "nick," is a small area - or frame of time - to hit.

So good job if you do :)

A BOA With Medical Maven & Wondrous Writer Lydia Kang

2012-01-24T00:00:00.029-05:00

My original intention for the series of interviews I do here was to focus on agents (BBCHAT) and successful authors (SAT). In the course of internet wanderings though, I’ve ran across a lot of really awesome people, and culled an enormous amount of information from blogs. As I raided my brain – yes, I picture myself on the prow of a Viking ship, approaching my own gray matter – for more people I’d like to interview, it repeatedly offered up names of bloggers. And so, the third series; Bloggers of Awesome. Yeah, it’s the BOA.

Today's guest is the multi-talented mom, wife, part-time doc, writer and blogger Lydia Kang. Her YA sci-fi novel, THE FOUNTAIN, will be published in 2013 by Dial/Penguin.

BBC: So you run an excellent blog over at The Word Is My Oyster. What made you decide to take the approach you do on your blog?

LK: I started out just writing about writing. Grammar, plot devices, my own issues with novel writing, etc. Meanwhile, I had some trouble reconciling the two halves of my work life—writing and being a doctor. I felt like they were such drastically different aspects of my existence, and I was shy about talking about my doctor-half. Then I realized, this is stupid. I should embrace it, and moreover, I should share what I know. So Medical Mondays was born, where I welcome fictional medical questions writers come up with for their stories. You wouldn’t believe how many amnesia/head trauma/gun shot wound questions I deal with. And every single one is fun and fascinating to answer. I also answer a lot of Medical Mondays email that comes my way and much of it doesn’t end up on the blog.

BBC: Clever title, how’d you come up with it?

LK: I wanted something catchy and odd, and I wanted to use the word “word” because of how much words had changed my life. So I played on “The world is my oyster” and voila! Unfortunately, for a while I got a lot of visitors who thought my blog was about the Bible. Sorry, no.

BBC: I know a lot of aspiring writers who are intimidated by the idea of blogging. They want to, but they are worried it will cut into their (already precious) writing time. You're a prolific blogger - how do you recommend one be both a successful blogger and writer?

LK: I struggle with the balance. There are some days of the week, like Wednesday nights, that I dedicate 100% of my evening to checking blogs and responding to comments. On dedicated writing days, I prioritize writing over checking blogs. And on Sundays, I write all three posts and get it out of the way. I also try to write brief posts (except for Medical Mondays, which often beg for detailed posts.)
There will be times when I will have writing deadlines, and so I do see a blogging hiatus or two in my future.

BBC: What other websites / resources can you recommend for writers?

LK: I got my start with the writing community and the agent hunt at Querytracker and their forums. Many of my crit partners and writing friends were found there. I still actively hang out there as MeddyK. Basically, any question you have about publication and agents and the craft can be asked and the members are kind and supportive. There are also countless blogs that discuss the craft of writing. I like to joke that the internet gave me my MFA in novel writing.

BBC: What is your genre, and what led you to it? Does your genre influence the style of your blog?

LK: I write YA. I’ve written historical, urban fantasy, and my book deal was for a near-future sci-fi. I’ve always loved YA and children’s literature but with the rising tide of new writers in the last ten years, I re-found that love and decided to try my hand writing it.
In person, I’m very jokey, playful and casual. My personality and voice is what you find on my blog. I have a pretty young-at-heart attitude (cripes, I sound old saying that, don’t I?) so it helps with writing YA too.

BBC: Do you think blogging is a helpful self-marketing tool?

LK: The answer is yes and no. It helps to be part of a great blogging community. I think other bloggers will help me get the word out about my book when the time comes, but I believe it will happen because we are friends, not because I’m being a salesperson.
If you use blogging solely for marketing, other bloggers can tell and they don’t like it. No one wants to be sold stuff 24/7. I know I don’t. They (I) want a two-way conversation. They (I) want to share a cup of virtual joe and chat. Marketing myself has become low priority for me at this point. You can probably tell from my Twitter feed. I think I have a 1:20 ratio of self-marketing to useless/fun/personal tweets. Call me financially stupid, but I’m so much happier this way.

BBC: Any words of inspiration for aspiring writers?

LK: When it comes to writing, find your support group that will weather the roller coaster of emotions that comes with being a writer. Find crit partners that will tell you the truth. Be humble, be ready to revise, and be ready to hear that sometimes, your writing sucks.
Write, write, write. Read, read, read. Whether you aim for a tradition path with agent and biggie publisher or decide to go indie with small presses or self-pubbing, set the bar very, very high for the quality of your work. And remember that every shelved novel you write and every rejection letter means you are one step closer to your goal.

Brain to Bound: Part 1

2012-01-23T00:00:00.049-05:00

A lot of people ask me about the publishing process. Two of the interviews that I do here (SAT: Successful Author Talk, SHIT: Submission Hell, It's True) are made to get other people's stories out there; their stories of rejection and acceptance, sending emails and then staring at their inbox.

So I decided to start something, Brain to Bound, with the intent of sharing with you the timeline of the seed of the idea for NOT A DROP TO DRINK, through the writing process and straight up to publication. Obviously this will be coming to you in spurts, as I try to space this out until 2013 :)

This next bit will sound ridiculously romantic, but you know it has to be true coming from someone as decidedly unromantic as myself. On Valentine's Day of 2010 the boyfriend and I were completely unable to come up with anything sweet or romantic to do for one another. So instead we did something we find interesting. We got pizza and watched a documentary.

That documentary was Blue Gold, a film about the projected worldwide shortage of freshwater. The ideas therein wormed their way into my brain, and I dreamt the entire plot of DRINK as I slept. I turned to my boyfriend in the morning and said, "Hey, I wrote a book in my head just now."

And due to the magic of Word keeping track of when you created a document, I can tell you that I started writing NOT A DROP TO DRINK on February 17, 2010 at 9:11 PM.

Non-Fiction Fridays: SURVIVING THE ANGEL OF DEATH by Eva Mozes Kor

2012-01-20T00:00:00.061-05:00

Eva Mozes Kor was only ten years old when she stood on the sorting platform of Auschwitz, holding hands with her twin Miriam. Their mother's habit of dressing them in matching clothes saved their lives, as a sharp-eyed SS Officer spotted them and asked her if they were identical twins. Their mother's answer tore my heart, "Is that a good thing?" Those were the last words she would ever hear her mother say.

Eva and Miriam were inducted into the experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, also called The Angel of Death. Mengele's "scientific" experiments on what he called "his children" varied from involuntary surgeries to change their sex to unknown injections intended to alter the color of their eyes. Some children were purposefully exposed to horrible illnesses while their twin was not. Eva was one of these.

Horrific tales weave through the narrative, but the main message is one of courage, survival, and the tentative bonds that formed between children who never knew if their friends would be alive the next day. Small strong hands bravely stole bread from the kitchens to feed those less well off, even under threat of death. Stories of unexpected kindnesses from some of the German nurses and villagers who would throw food and supplies over the fences of Auschwitz also provide a stark contrast to the cruelties that jolt the reader.

Even more striking, there are photographs included that many students of the Holocaust would recognize, such as the image of Jewish children being liberated from Auschwitz. Leading the line are Eva and Miriam, hand in hand. To put names to these faces and know their story lends a depth to the book that goes beyond shock factor, and puts a face and name on the victim.

SURVIVING THE ANGEL OF DEATH will be available March 13, 2012 from Tanglewood Press. It is appropriate for middle schoolers upward.

Thursday Thoughts

2012-01-19T00:00:00.016-05:00

My random thoughts this week run thus:

1) I just realized that the tune for the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" prayer and "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo" are the same. Now, that's funny.

2) I didn't enjoy fashion in the '80s the first time around. I've mentioned multiple times that I want grunge back, but after watching Dotown Abbey for the first time this week (yes, I realize I'm behind), I've decided that instead I'd like early 1900's clothes to come back. And I also want someone to dress me and do my hair everyday. Thanks, that'd be great.

3) And speaking of Dotown Abbey (SEASON ONE SPOILERS AHEAD), I think that Lady Mary's virginity-losing sex that killed the Turkish envoy was the best abstinence advertisement I've ever seen. That's right kids - you CAN get pregnant the first time you have sex, you CAN get an STD the first time, and it is likely that your lover will DIE on top of you!

Wednesday WOLF

2012-01-18T00:00:00.064-05:00

Before we get to this Wednesday's WOLF, I want to let everyone know that I'm currently out of people asking me to hit them with a sharp instrument. I know that's hard to believe, right? If you're looking for a free query critique from me, check out the Saturday Slash requirements - first come, first serve!

I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications. I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF (oh, how clever is she? She made an acronym out of her agency's name!) Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

In case you're not a smartass like me, I'm going to give you the best sarcastic idiom of the ages: That's the pot calling the kettle black. Oh, how I love that one! It's the socially acceptable way of calling someone a hypocrite.

First off, what does it mean? And secondly, where does it come from?

The idea behind the insult is that the pot (which is the color black) is taunting the kettle for being... black. And by the way, this has zero racist connotations - when the phrase was coined pots and kettles would've been black, not silver. Back then pretty much the entire world was covered with a layer of grimy soot. Yeah, that's right. Hopefully no one uses this blog for research purposes, right?

I recently came across another interpretation of it, which I thought was quite interesting. In this version, rather than the pot and kettle both being black, the pot is sooty because it is usually placed directly on a fire, whereas a kettle retains a shiny silver sheen because it's typically on top of a stove. When the pot looks at the kettle, it sees its own reflection and accuses the kettle of a fault that belongs solely to the pot. Got that? We also call it projection. But that's not as much fun to say.

The earliest written use of this saying comes from Don Quixote:

"It seems to me," said Sancho, "that your worship is like the common saying, 'Said the frying-pan to the kettle - Get away, blackbreech!' You chide me for uttering proverbs, yet you string them in couplets yourself."

Later on, Shakespeare would rephrase and use the same idea in "Troilus and Cressida," when Ajax condemns Achilles for faults he himself possesses. Ulysses (one of my favorite literary smartasses) says, "The raven chides blackness."

So now you know, and don't you feel better for the knowing?

An SAT with Alison Cherry, Author of RED

2012-01-17T00:00:00.044-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. Today's guest is a fellow Lucky 13, Alison Cherry. Her debut, RED, is set in a small town where the redness of your hair is directly tied to your social standing, until the coolest and reddest girl in school is blackmailed on the eve of the Miss Scarlet Pageant. Coming from Delacorte in the summer of 2013.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?
AC: I’m a excessive planner. I have note cards and lists and outlines galore. I find it hard to even start writing a book until I know how it ends. I’m trying to learn to be a bit more pantsy.

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?
AC: My first, never-to-be-published book took me three years to write, revise, and polish. My debut, RED, took one year. I like to revise as I write, so my process is pretty slow, but that also means that my finished first drafts are more like fourth drafts.

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi-tasker?
AC: Until this month, I was a monogamous, one-book-at-a-time girl. But now I’m cheating on my WIP with another manuscript in a different genre. Shh, don’t tell.

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?
AC: Is there anyone who can answer “no” to this question? If so, I want to bake that person a cake. I have to overcome fears every time I sit down to write. What if everything I come up with today sucks? What if my WIP doesn’t turn out to be as good as my first book? What if I’ve used up all my ideas and I’ll never ever be able to write again, ever ever ever?!

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?
AC: Just one. I’m mining it for parts right now, so you’ll likely see pieces of it in my second published book.

BC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?
AC: I trashed a manuscript after three pages once when I realized the world-building made no sense. I still like the idea, but I don’t intend to go back to it any time soon.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?
AC: My agent is the astonishingly awesome Holly Root at Waxman Agency. After doing an absurd amount of research, I came up with a list of dream agents and showed it to a good friend who used to be an agent herself. She pointed out a few people she thought would be especially good for me, and Holly was one of those. She was the first one I queried, and she asked for a full right away. But when she read the whole book a few months later, she wrote to me and basically said, “I love your writing and I think this book is awesome, but I also think it’s too quiet to sell. Do you have something else?” I was half finished with a first draft of RED at the time, so I sent her a few chapters. We met up in person a few weeks later, and she told me she was smitten with RED and that I should send her the rest as soon as possible. I could have continued to look for someone who wanted the first book, but after meeting Holly, I knew she was the agent I wanted. So I stopped querying and started writing like a madwoman. Five days after I finished RED—and fifteen months after my initial query—Holly offered me representation.

BBC: How long did you query before landing your agent?
AC: The book I queried first was rejected by 16 agents over the course of nine months. Holly is the only one who ever saw RED.

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?
AC: Remember that you are not your manuscript; rejections are just business, not personal slights. Also, if an agent turns you down but says she wants to see the next thing you write, she’s not just saying that to be nice. She saw something special in your writing, even if your first project wasn’t right for her. Send her your next book!!!

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?
AC: It’s way too early for me to start marketing, but I made a website and started blogging recently in order to establish an online presence. Holly also suggested I join Twitter when I first signed with her, and I was very skeptical, but now I’m addicted. I tweet about weird stuff a lot.

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?
AC: Having a website/blog/Twitter account before you query does help agents find out more about you, but I didn’t have any of those things, and everything still worked out fine for me!

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?
AC: Absolutely. My book is at least 17 months from publication, and I’ve already met a number of people at various book events who knew who I was because of social media. It’s always a bit startling when that happens.

Swearing is Good... Sometimes

2012-01-16T00:00:00.044-05:00

So, here's the thing - I'm not a fan of casual swearing. I know that might be a surprise coming from someone who has an interview series on her blog called the SHIT. And trust me, RC Lewis will tell you I'm not averse to dropping the f bomb when necessary, so please no one read this and think, "Oh no, I used a four letter word in an email to her one time, she thinks I'm an idiot."

Trust me, I don't. I know some idiots, and you're probably not one of them.

What I dislike is casual swearing, dialogue laced with four letter words contrived to display the character's laissez-faire attitude towards the status quo, the villian's familiarity with gutter tongue, or the inherent toughness of your MC. Here's what you're really doing: Showing that you as a writer have to rely on an over-used group of four letter words to convey intensity.

How to be intense without swearing? I advise watching Breaking Bad in it's entirety, but for a quick example, this clip from Season 3 will do:

The Saturday Slash

2012-01-14T00:00:00.067-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

OK - my hands aren't actually grimy, but I don't make any promises about the cleanliness of my editing tool. Meet the BBC Hatchet of Death (or, some other colorful description RC Lewis and I come up with at any given moment). This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot us an email. And a little bit of BBC literary info.

We all know the first line of a query is your "hook." I call the last line the "sinker." You want it to punch them in the face, in a nice, friendly kind of way that makes them unable to forget you after having read the 300 other queries in their inbox. Also, at the end, I'm going to tell you what I think your story is about, based on your query. I know how hard it is to get your ideas across succinctly, and how easy it is for your author's brain to fill in the blanks and not see the gaping holes that the average reader may very well fall into.

Also, for my brave Saturday Slash volunteers I will gladly do follow-up slashes (each more kindly than the next) on your query if you post them on the Query Critique board over on AgentQuery Connect. You'll get advice from me, and also people who are smarter than me. If you do post on AQ, be sure to follow the guidelines and let me know you posted so that I can follow up!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

At nineteen, Boyd Sopal has the family farm in his blood, but poachers are setting traps in the creek bed, and low-flying planes are dropping orange dust on their fields. His father’s relationship with the neighbor who cuts fences and takes potshots at the no toxic spraying signs on Sopal’s side of the road has turned ugly, and Boyd is rethinking his chosen line of work. This is grabbing, but I don't think it's the focal point of your book - in fact, I think the very last line of your query is actually your hook! I read these things through all the way once before starting to comment, and when I read this first para I thought we were looking at a rural-based story about a neighborly dispute that goes bad.

Then Maggie, the Spanish/Indian girl with blue eyes, comes across the road for help, and he is drawn into the conflicted world of the migrant worker. I like this, and it definitely sounds like the crux of your story is in their relationship, so bang on that pot hard. By the end of the summer, there is nothing he won’t do for her. He confronts her father who has a perverted view of parenthood and befriends the brother who will kill to protect her. Soon Boyd has a gun to dispose of as well as a body. In a race against time, he has to find the drugs that have been planted in his car by the vengeful neighbor, as he and his friends plot to squirrel away a vulnerable buddy caught between Boyd’s struggle with the police and aggressive Army recruiters. Meanwhile, Maggie deals with a personal problem in the only way available to her, using the ancient herbal wisdom passed down from the women on her mother’s side of the family and suppressed in the modern world. This entire para feels very much like a synopsis rather than a query, and it makes for a very blithe, bloodless, reiteration of what sounds like some major plot twists - family issues (hinted at sexual abuse, maybe?), Boyd killed somebody but I don't know who, a drug frame-job, and the moral issues of draft dodging and abortion. I'm not saying it's not possible to address all of these well within the context of the novel, but it definitely does not work in the confines of a query.

From Boyd’s getaway to the Upper Peninsula with friends in tow, to Maggie’s flight into Ontario with shorn hair and boy’s clothing to escape his mother’s wrath and join her uncle’s guided hunt, they both try to escape Black River. When he returns to find her gone, he follows her through the Algonquin National Park and across weak ice in a warming world as he tries to hold onto his own. Again, it's reading like a synopsis (and not a badly written synopsis, so congratulations on that, you've got the bone of your synop here, so that should make you feel good).

BLACK RIVER is a 105,000-word contemporary drama with cautionary environmental undertones and a romantic edge. It bridges the divide between commercial and literary fiction and navigates the barriers between the landed son of a fourth-generation farmer and the daughter of an itinerant migrant worker with a troubled past. I think this is a fantastic way to describe your book (as I understand it) - and boom! I see a hook. Usually I prefer not to have title, word count and genre info at the beginning of a query, but I like the way this para is written and I would've mess with it. Move it to the top! It's your hook! :)

I think BLACK RIVER itself sounds like a fantastic book with a Romeo&Juliet love story at the heart, but surrounded with the dark intrigue of murder and other less than attractive human elements. I think what you need to do is boil down here what the focal point is (looks like the relationship) and hint at the other plot strings involved. But only hint - I feel like the major issue here is that you're trying to cram too much into the query and bogging it down.

What do my followers think?

BBC Book Talk - CRYER'S CROSS by Lisa McMann

2012-01-13T00:00:00.059-05:00

Before you jump into this week's review, check out my interview over at Jacqueline Gardner's site, in which I dish about my own writing process. Very scientific ;)

As a librarian I should know better than most not to judge a book by it's cover, right? That doesn't mean I'm not susceptible to beauty though, and my very first reaction to Lisa McMann's CRYER'S CROSS was, "Ooooohhh pretty."

Cryer's Cross is a small town, small in the sense that the entire high school population fits inside one room, divided into classes by the grouping of their desks. But a new family is in town, and their arrival means new desks have to be hauled up from storage and added to the mix.

Big deal, right? If you're senior Kendall Fletcher, it's a very big deal. Kendall's OCD demands that she be the first in the classroom every morning, that the desks all be in tight formation, the waste-basket turned so that the dent can't be seen and the window locks triple checked. Her friend since birth and long-suffering admirer Nico understands this quirk, and makes sure they get to school early so that she can address these issues before their lessons start.

But the new desk isn't the only change in school. Sophomore Tiffany Quinn disappeared last spring, leaving behind an empty spot that screams for attention in Kendall's brain, and the desk next to her - Nico's desk - isn't the same one that used to be there. Only her attention to detail would clue her in to the fact that the ancient carvings on the desktop from students of the past is different from the one that used to be there... and that it seems to be changing.

When Nico disappears Kendall's reprieve is to slip into the hyper focus of soccer with the only partner who can keep up with her - the brooding and handsome new arrival Jacian, whose own involvement in the disappearances is a matter of public conjecture. As the clamor in her brain continues to roar at her that something is wrong, the changing graffiti starts to speak to her with a voice - Nico's voice.

I know I usually only give you a recap of the books I review, wanting mostly to give you an introduction to what I believe is a really good book worth reading. But for this particular one I want to add a note about the character of Kendall. I was intrigued not only by the cover art of this book, but by the idea that the female protagonist suffered from OCD - not something you usually see. Once I got involved I was drawn in by the fact that the OCD does not define Kendall, neither does her intense athleticism or the love-triangle. Instead, all these elements combine to paint a picture of a truly human character, as opposed to a caricature.

It's a great lesson for writers and readers - check it out!

Thursday Thoughts

2012-01-12T00:00:00.034-05:00

Thoughts this week are erratic. I assume you've come to expect that, though.

1) I try to say random things sometimes in response to perfectly reasonable statements. You should try it sometime. Anyway, I finally got up the courage to order a flashy coffee from McDonald's and had actually written down a guide for myself in preparation for the drive-thru. Once I got there, I was informed that "the machine that makes hot drinks is broken." Which of course, I thought was really funny and I said, "It's OK, I'm my own machine that makes hot drinks." And then I thought (to myself), "Oh, technically... that's correct." Ewwwwww.

2) Stress is awesome. I love it. I thrive on it. None of those things are true. However, I do find myself to be much more productive when I'm stressed as I have an inherent need to *do* something about it. One of my poor stress-related choices last week was to eat three pieces of dessert pizza as an antidote to stress. A couple things - a) it doesn't work and b) you then feel stressed and fat.

3) One of my New Year's goals is to shed a little of my Writer's Waist. It's not bad, it's just not what it used to be either. So I've been hitting the treadmill everyday for at least a half hour* and forcing myself to move around unnecessarily. I've discovered something - running is one hell of a stress reliever, and also Pavlov was totally onto something. My treadmill is in my library and Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is directly in my line of sight as I run. I now associate it with anger, pain, and being out of breath and will probably never, ever read it.

*Disclaimer - BBC does not actually run for the entire half-hour. BBC was not made for such things.

Wednesday WOLF

2012-01-11T00:00:00.035-05:00

I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications. I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF (oh, how clever is she? She made an acronym out of her agency's name!) Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

Ever heard someone say they had to run the gauntlet? Most people know what this means, but not perhaps the origin of the word. And for those of you who don't know what it means, I'll enlighten you.

During the Thirty Years War (1618- 1648) the English army adopted a punishment they observed their German counterparts employing. The offending soldier stripped to the waist and ran between two lines of their fellow solders, each of whom was holding a whip or a lash, and they beat their buddy on the back as he passed. Number of run throughs and number of knots in the lashes depended upon the severity of the soldier's crime.

Sound rough? Well, we're German. However, the German army claimed to have picked it up from the Swedish, where it was known as gatloppe, literally translated as "the running of the lane."

So think about that next time you're in a really nice development whose streets are all called "Insert Relaxing Word Here - Lane."

A Debut Submission Experience With YA Novelist Cat Winters

2012-01-10T00:00:00.044-05:00

I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

Today's guest is a fellow member of the Lucky13's, a group of YA novelists who debut in 2013. Cat Winters is the author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds, the story of a teen girl mourning the loss of her first love in 1918 California, where a flu has turned deadlier than a world war, and spirit communication has become a dark and dangerous obsession. The novel will be illustrated with early-twentieth-century photographs and is slated to be published by Amulet Books in Spring 2013. Cat is represented by Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. Cat can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

BBC: How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

CW: I had been out on submission with two adult fiction manuscripts that never sold before I even wrote In the Shadow of Blackbirds, so I already knew quite a bit about the process. My first experience with having a book out with publishers occurred thirteen years ago and involved an entirely different agent. I didn't find any differences between trying to sell YA fiction versus adult fiction, aside from the fact that I learned what it's like to actually receive an offer!

BBC: Did anything about the process surprise you?

CW: Speaking to that first experience, what surprised me most was how much a book's genre could affect its potential. At the time, I was trying to sell mainstream historical fiction for adults, but historical fiction was considered a dead market. I received glowing rejection letters from editors, saying, "I couldn't stop reading this book, even though I knew I'd have to turn it down." There's no way to predict when a market will be "hot" or "dead" or "oversaturated," so I found that particular reason for a pass extremely frustrating.

Also, I was surprised to learn that not all agented manuscripts find publishers. As many authors will tell you, it's not always your first books that sell, even if you're represented by extraordinary, superhuman agents.

BBC: Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

CW: I only researched the editors who took a serious interest in In the Shadow of Blackbirds. I felt like I was jinxing myself by doing so, but curiosity got the best of me. I'd discourage researching an editor before he or she shows actual signs of potentially buying your book. It becomes a waste of your time and energy.

BBC: What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

CW: With In the Shadow of Blackbirds, the turnaround time was fast. Amulet made an offer on the book less than two months after they received it, and I knew about their interest even sooner.

From my past experiences, though, I'd say the "we're just not interested in this book in the slightest" types of passes came within a month. If an editor showed signs of liking the manuscript, it could take up to six months before we heard a response, and those were still rejections. Keep in mind there are numerous factors that can delay a publisher's decision—vacations, illnesses, jury duty, book fairs, etc. And it takes an entire editorial board, not just one editor, to approve the purchase of a book.

BBC: What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

CW: Like everyone always says, keep busy. Write. Blog. Get caught up on your household to-do list you were putting off when you were polishing your manuscript. Read. Take a yoga class. Spend more time with your family and friends. Commiserate with other authors going through the same process. Just try not to watch the clock and wonder when that call will be coming. It always comes when you're not expecting it.

BBC: If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

CW: The difference with rejections at this stage is that sometimes you hear how ridiculously close you were to getting a yes, which can drive you crazy.

If an editor gave me constructive feedback about how I could improve my book, I greatly appreciated the advice and discussed it with my agent. However, there are often generic "It wasn't for us" sorts of passes, and those you just have to shrug off. Eat some comfort food, take a long walk, and then get right back into your writing chair and keep going.

BBC: If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

CW: I always got my agent's take on the feedback. If she said, "Okay, that editor just didn't get the book," I filed the rejection away and moved on. If an editor addressed a concern that continually came up, I would definitely try to figure out how to incorporate the suggestion. The experience is very similar to working with critique partners, but with editors, opinions become a matter of selling or not selling a book. The stakes definitely feel higher. You have to figure out how much you're willing to change your book and potentially compromise your original ideas in order to give the novel a chance in the world.

BBC: When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

CW: I found out by telephone. I had just dropped off my son at his elementary school and was about to get the newspaper, when my twelve-year-old daughter opened the door to the house and said my agent was calling. My journey to this point had been such a long, grueling one that I had to hold onto the kitchen counter for support and went into a semi-state of shock when my agent said we'd received an offer. I was thrilled and grateful that my daughter was with me for that experience. She's read In the Shadow of Blackbirds, and she's shared me with my fictional characters all her life.

BBC: Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

Yes, there was some waiting, which was difficult. I wanted to shout the news from the rooftops that very day, but I understood the need for secrecy when deals are being finalized. Instead, I bought myself some presents and took my family out to a celebratory dinner. I had been imagining that particular book-deal dinner for a very long time, and it was extraordinary.

The Insomniac's Imagination

2012-01-09T00:00:00.015-05:00

If you're anything like me, sometimes your brain won't turn off.

Some writers like this, and I freely admit that a 2AM brainstorm can be productive as hell. I'll take inspiration where I can find it, thanks. But there are those long nights when you have to hit the 40/wk bright and early and good old brain is like, "Check me out! Look at all the things I can do!" and it won't stop.

I've got a little soothing trick for what I call Imsomniac's Imagination. I write with other people's characters. I let that talkative brain chomp down on a character that's grabbed me from whatever I'm reading, or a favorite from a television series. It's great because the brain can run with it and I don't have to feel like I need to be responsible and jot something down before I forget it.

I'm not producing anything I can use as a writer, but I'm exercising my brain and giving it the freedom it wants in the dark hours. So try it next time you keep glancing at the clock and reminding yourself to go to sleep already.

The Saturday Slash

2012-01-07T00:00:00.025-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

We all know the first line of a query is your "hook." I call the last line the "sinker." You want it to punch them in the face, in a nice, friendly kind of way that makes them unable to forget you after having read the 300 other queries in their inbox. Also, at the end, I'm going to tell you what I think your story is about, based on your query. I know how hard it is to get your ideas across succinctly, and how easy it is for your author's brain to fill in the blanks and not see the gaping holes that the average reader may very well fall into.

Also, for my brave Saturday Slash volunteers I will gladly do follow-up slashes (each more kindly than the next) on your query if you post them on the Query Critique board over on AgentQuery Connect. You'll get advice from me, and also people who are smarter than me. If you do post on AQ, be sure to follow the guidelines and let me know you posted so that I can follow up!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

Eighteen-year-old Rosa becomes separated from her family as they flee their Spanish homeland – and the Inquisition. Decent hook, I'd shorten it up with "flee the Inquisition." I realize that there were other Inquisitions, but most people immediately think "Spain." Now her life is in the hands of a stranger, Baha, an artist from the Ottoman Empire. He is her one hope of reaching Constantinople and reuniting with her family. Nice, but I'd rephrase slightly for flow and word count - you can mash the two sentences previous to this comment together - "Now her one hope of reaching Constaninople to reunite with her family lies with the stranger Baha..." As they travel together, Rosa's drive to find her loved ones is matched by a deepening desire for the man at her side. Nice.

Her family refuses to accept her marriage to a man Wait - they got married? of a different faith, but when janissaries arrest her father and brother, Rosa and Baha risk everything to rescue them. Together they will prove that their love can withstand their differences... if the Grand Vizier doesn't throw them both into the dungeons first. This is solid, minus the abrupt reference to marriage.

OUT OF THE WATER is a 15th Century historical romance, complete at 115,000 words. I admire your client [XXX] and found your website and newsletter through [his/her] blog. Based on what you say there, and in your interview on [BLOG (March 2011)], you might find OUT OF THE WATER a good fit for your interests. The novel was a 2010 NaNoWriMo project, and initial drafts were revised through participation in author Barbara Rogan's invitation-only Next Level Workshop. Good info here, relative and pertinent while not being ass-kiss or braggy.

The query that you've got here is damn solid, but there are two things that bother me.
1) Is this YA or straight romance? You don't specify it as YA but the age of your protag has me curious.
2) Your word count is a mite high. I realize that historical can sometimes get away with this, but I bet you can find a way to shave this down. You don't want to handicap what is otherwise a really solid query with a sinker that has the weight of a stone.

Interested in what my readers think on this point? Can a historical romance with a teen protag get away with a high word count?

BBC Book Talk - DRAW THE DARK by Ilsa J. Bick

2012-01-06T00:00:00.050-05:00

Two quick announcements before I jump into the book review - I'm up on both my group blogs today. On The Lucky 13s I'm sharing how I landed my agent and over on From the Write Angle I'm talking about the dirty deed - self-promotion.

If the cover art of Ilsa J. Bick's DRAW THE DARK doesn't make you want to read it, then perhaps my assurance that the prose contained therein is just as dark and haunting will.

Christian's parents disappeared when he was a child, mother not long after father. She claimed that her husband had "gone sideways" into a picture, and couldn't find his way out. Christian can only assume that she left to find him. Now in his teens, Christian has begun to paint the sideways place on his bedroom walls, losing himself to the hypnotism of his own brush - and more. Lately, he's been painting in his sleep.

And what he paints is a door.

The "draw" of DRAW THE DARK is double edged. Christian not only paints the mystery of his youth, but he funnels the darkness of those around him. Christian's ability to unknowingly illustrate the deepest secrets and darkness experiences of others has led to tragedy in his past - including his own culpability in the suicide of his third grade teacher, and the grisly death of his aunt.

Now, Christian has touched on the darkness that permeates his small hometown of Winter, Wisconsin. Swastikas appear on a local barn in the middle of the night, the skeleton of a malformed infant is discovered in the renovation of a centuries old home, and the sideways place is starting to resemble a Winter of the past. One that used to be home to a synagogue, and a large population of Jews.

As Christian stumbles onto a century-old unsolved murder, the darkness of the past continues to infect his present and he faces the question of whether he can continue to exist in a town where everyone knows he's not quite right, or if it would be best if he opened the door he hasn't painted a knob onto yet... and slipped sideways into the light.

Thursday Thoughts

2012-01-05T00:00:00.032-05:00

A couple quick announcements before the Thursday Thoughts. My fellow AgentQuery Connect member Robb Grindstaff has had some success lately that I want to share. Horror Bound magazine has named his short story, 'Desert Rain,' in their 'Best of Horror Bound: 2008-2011' edition. In fact, it's #2 in their top 10 stories they've published in the four years of the magazine's existence, chosen by readers and the editors.

And in BBCLand: I've been invited to join the Lucky13's, a group of YA and MG authors who debut in 2013. Drop in to our group blog and check out my fellow Lucky13er's!

Thoughts lately:

1) I got an iPad for Christmas (thanks, boyfriend). I adore it, but I can't help but wonder why there are virtual finger nubby placements on the F and J?

2) I like watching suspense / mystery films, but someday I'd love to see one with a really complicated plot that doesn't do the end reveal using:
a) the Big Bad Baddy delivers the starndard My Evil Master Plan & How It Worked Speech right before he dispatches someone
b) a series of mini-flashbacks with a voiceover to remind the viewer of what happened in the past hour or so or
c) a character muttering key words aloud to themselves (usually in front of the Big Bad Baddy as they are in the process of figuring out s/he is in fact the BBB) to clue the viewer into their stream of consciousness while putting the pieces together.

3) I miss the '90s. They were pretty awesome. We had ER, The X-Files, grunge music, and one of the best Saturday Night Live casts since the show's inception. Also, style demanded you walk around looking unkempt and slightly bitter, which really suited me.

I Challenge Myself To A Duel

2012-01-04T09:39:00.002-05:00

I'm ambidextrous, so I can do that.

I usually don't get involved in reading challenges, as I find myself challenged to read everyday. But as I finished up the WIP on Jan 1, (why yes, yes I did), I think I'm going to involve myself in two particular challenges that spoke to me.

First, The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge. As a librarian I've got books with serious dust issues in my home, and they need read, dammit. I'm signing up at Cobweb Level (15 books) My titles for that challenge:

1) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Sin announcement - I borrowed that book nine years ago)
2) Lord of the Last Days by Homero Aridjis - I bought this when it was published, uh... 1995.
3) SPOOK by Mary Roach - This one has only been setting around for a year, but I keep putting it off because I'm chicken.
4) Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes - My sister has been pestering me to read this for a decade.
5) BLONDE by Joyce Carol Oates - This was a college graduation present from my roommate - in 2001.
6 & 7) Thunderstruck and In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson - I've had both since publication, 2006 and 2011, respectively.
8) Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - bought at publication in 2010
9) Antony & Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough - bought at publication in 2007
10) The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood - have had that one since... 2000
11) Case Closed by Gerald Posner - I'll say 2000 on that one too
12) A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink - on Goodreads shelf since May 2011
13) The Shallows: What The Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr - Goodreads shelf since June 2011
14) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - Goodreads shelf since March 2011
15) The Wall by John Hersey - thin I've had that one since about 2000

So yeah, that should make everyone feel a little better about themselves, as far as reading accomplishments.

My other challenge is going to be the 2012 Debut Author Challenge from The Story Siren. In that one your goal is to To read & review a minimum of twelve young adult or middle grade debut novels between the dates of January 1, 2012 – January 31, 2013. I'm pretty sure I can do that!

Wednesday WOLF

2012-01-04T00:00:00.031-05:00

Before we do this week's Wednesday Wolf, I need some volunteers from the audience. I'm all caught up on my willing victims for the Saturday Slash, so if you think your query is ready to go out there, let me and my hatchet tell you what we think first. Remember you must be follower of the blog (through Google connect or email sign up) to get slashed.

I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF (oh, how clever is she? She made an acronym out of her agency's name!) Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

I mentioned on Monday that I hit a goal by the skin of my teeth, and my nerd brain immediately said, "Hey, what's that mean?" So, librarian section of nerd brain went to work and Religion Major section of nerd brain was humbled when I discovered the answer.

Turns out we get this handy-dandy close call reference from poor long suffering Job. Quoting Job, 19:20 (NIV) "I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth." If you're not familiar with Job's story, basically the man lost everything he had - family, wealth, possessions, health - but it seems he still had good teeth so that says a lot of the Biblical era dental hygienists.

Other translations have the verse reading as, "by the skin of my teeth," but either one translates the same. Old Job was saying he'd escaped something "by a very small margin" as we don't actually have skin on our teeth. If you do, I suggest your visit a Biblical dental hygienist, apparently they knew how to handle that. There is some argument that perhaps Job was referring to his gums being the only part of his body not covered in boils, which may or may not be the case, but the translation remains the same as the gums would compose a small margin of his body.

Either way, I doubt it was much consolation to him at the time that he was coining a phrase.

An SAT with MG Author Terry Lynn Johnson

2012-01-03T00:00:00.086-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. Today's guest is Terry Lynn Johnson, published author of DOGSLED DREAMS (2011). In her newest title, ICE DOGS, a 15-year old dogsled racer loses her way on a routine daytime outing with her dogs; with food gone and temperatures dropping, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods, is up to her. ICE DOGS will be available Winter 2013 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?
TLJ: I'm somewhere in between. I plan, then everything goes for a crap when I start to write.

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?
TLJ: My first draft is normally complete after a hectic four or five weeks. Not sure if that's called a novel though, more like a big pile of goob.

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?
TLJ: One is enough!

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?
TLJ: I have one half finished that I may get back to. I've discovered that if I don't stay on the writing wave the first draft, if I take a break, I have a hard time getting back to it. Could be because I have the attention span of a pea.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?
TLJ: The most awesome Caryn Wiseman of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency picked my query for ICE DOGS out of the slush pile. I was signed with her within three weeks of sending my query. We've never even met. That means if I can do it, anyone can.

BBC: How long did you query before landing your agent?
TLJ: I queried a few agents with an early draft of my manuscript, and received some great advice on how to revise. I'm so glad that happened, because then I sent the newly revised manuscript to Caryn!

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?
TLJ: I'm not convinced you need to stress over the query. It's the first pages that the agent reads, if they like it, they'll go back to the query. You have to catch their interest in the first pages!

On Being Published:
BBC: How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?
TLJ: My book was face out in my local Chapters bookstore and I almost had a meltdown right there. I was pointing it out to complete strangers and taking pictures with my cell phone. So embarrassing!

BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?
TLJ: I did have some on a technical error with regards to the sled. But other than that, not much.

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?
TLJ: That the writer is usually the last to know what is going on. I still don't know what is going on. What is going on???

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you?
I have a blog, am on Twitter, and have my own website.

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?
TLJ: If you're a writer, I think you should have some kind of presence out there. A website is free. It's easy to join Twitter, and fun. And you can learn so much from other writers.

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?
TLJ: I don't think it hurts, unless you're a complete dork
(personal note, that last could be bad news for BBC!) :)

Taking Stock

2012-01-02T00:00:00.054-05:00

Yes, it's true. I raided a cattle herd over the holidays.

OK, not really. I just wanted to give you a funny visual because I couldn't come up with an original title for my Looking Back On 2011 post.

Obviously 2011 was really, really good to me. I got an agent, Adriann Ranta (who has a lovely speaking voice) in March, and a book deal with Sarah Shumway (nice voice, check) at Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins just recently. So, I can't complain. And I'm not going to.

What I am going to do is talk about what my goals were, and how I managed to hit one by the skin of my teeth. (And what the heck does that mean anyway? Huh... guess that's my Wednesday post accounted for). I'm sure everyone remembers my original goal was to finish the WIP up this summer, and the WoCoMoMo fiasco in which I got my rear beaten on my own blog as a result.

I backed my self-enforced WIP due date to Thanksgiving, but took some digestive time off when the book deal happened because I needed to roll around in sloth for awhile. And I highly recommend rolling around in some nice, hot sloth every now and then, because I broke into December like a rabid animal chasing uh... something non-rabid and much smaller.

As of yesterday evening I can claim that the WIP is in fact, finished. I don't have to do my usual guilty sashaying in front of RC Lewis and muttering that I only have one more section to get through. And I checked my numbers: I wrote 113 pages and 32,000 words over the last week of November through yesterday evening.

2012 is looking good for a few reasons. The initial word vomit of the WIP first draft is finished, NOT A DROP TO DRINK is on Goodreads, and just yesterday it cracked the top ten in the Goodreads YA Novels of 2013 list. So drop in, put me on your to-read shelf, and vote for as many 2013 YA titles as you like - I want the Mayans to feel our hope trickling back through the ages. :)

The Saturday Slash

2011-12-31T00:00:00.045-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

Missing at Sea is a 45,000-word YA mystery with a creepy genetic twist. Definitely get this first sentence out of the way, I always put title, word count, and genre at the end of the query. Make your hook the first thing they see - anyone can start a query with a title and word count - show them that you're special right out of the gate. Rumors of secret experiments have always plagued the King Pharmaceutical-sponsored Senior Leadership Cruise I like *parts* of this hook - rumors, secret experiments - great! But then I feel weighed down by the talky-talky words right here in the first sentence. It feels crammed, which is expected of queries, but it doesn't have flow - and you need that. Also, the way it reads right now it feels like the rumors are about the Cruise itself, not necessarily King and Co. What I would do is split this sentence up, get the rumors and experiments and King name in the hook, then follow up with the mention of the the queen bee and the cruise. but when the queen bee disappears, three high-achieving teens partner together to investigate. Think The Breakfast Club meets Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I love this right up until your comparison sentence. I'd chop it. Everything works pretty well until that, which feels forced.

Shy nerd ARIELLA SUN Capitalizing character names is mostly used just for a synopsis, not a query. embarks on the cruise to understand more about her brother’s death at the hands of King Pharmaceutical. Sex goddess KIANNA MATTHEWS tries the resist the charms of a rich bad boy. Bitchy blonde VIOLET ASH struggles to move past a secret from freshman year. When their mutual friend LAUREN TOWNSEND disappears without a trace, the girls individually search for the truth, only to realize they are stronger as a team. As told from multiple viewpoints, I envision this as a first in a series. Each book will solve a new crime while the series mystery will focus on King Pharmaceutical. I feel like you're giving very broad strokes here in this paragraph, and while it works very, very well at getting across the rough basics of your characters, you're not telling the story of what this first book is actually about. What does Kianna and Violet's backstory have to do with the main plot? Right now this feels like a gathering of character sketches rather than a query for a book.

I have an MBA from the University of Michigan, spent 8 years at Procter & Gamble marketing to young woman typo - women and am a member of SCBWI and Sisters in Crime. Thank you for your consideration. This is good, you definitely show why you are good person to write this book so I would keep this in there, for sure.

Basic thoughts: I think you've got a great idea here, and a fresh concept for a contemporary series. However, you need to focus on what the main plot arc of the first book is for your query, and get *that* across before trying to talk about series potential and backstory for a handful of characters that the agent doesn't give a fig about yet. I feel like the experiments and missing girl is the crux of the story here, but I know nothing about them other than the fact that they exist. Ariella's dead brother does merit mentioning, I think, as it shows she has an axe to grind with King. I would focus on Ariella, the experiments, the disappearance of Lauren, and keep your other two supporting characters in the background for the purposes of the query.

Hey Check It Out - I'm Actually A Writer!

2011-12-29T15:33:00.000-05:00

NOT A DROP TO DRINK is on Goodreads! I'm not sure how that happened, in fact, someone else told me so it was an awesome surprise.

DRINK on Goodreads!

I'm going to put it on my bookshelf... technically should I mark it as "Read"?

Smothered by the Muse & Well Wishes

2011-12-24T14:31:00.001-05:00

So, it's totally doable for me to get the WIP done before 2012. But that requires that I sit down and write. I went to do exactly that here a few moments ago and the muse plopped down on top of me. He's not been feeling well so I don't want to dislodge him, instead I'm peering over his back while hacking out today's word goal. For your viewing pleasure:

But the muse has been good to me this year, so I'm not complaining. The rest of 2011 is dedicated to writing and hacking out that WIP - I'll be back in 2012 to blog at you some more! Happy Holidays to everyone, and good luck cracking out those end of the year goals!

The Saturday Slash

2011-12-24T00:00:00.060-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

In the cold of winter, Eri runs out in the dark, after a warning bell, seeking a beast even though it wants to eat her. There are a lot of commas, and a lot of different thoughts running around here. I like the words "cold" and "dark" and of course, "winter," are all setting us up for where we're at and giving us a visual. I also like the idea of a "warning bell" because that gives us a medieval / fantasy feel - BUT - what's not working here is the flow. Read it out loud to yourself and give each comma a definite pause. You'll see what I mean. She doesn’t care—no—she can’t help herself. I'd kill the warring ideas of not caring vs. not being able to help herself, go with one or the other and end off with the idea that it's calling to her. The beast calls to her. Overall this is a decent hook in that you're telling us your genre, giving us something of a setting, and also signifying somewhat how your character is special. However, the flow isn't here. You need some reworking with these same ideas to really get a punch into this hook.

The calling belongs solely to the secret guardians watching over the village. No one knows the identities of the Protectors, but everyone knows they exist and hold this unparalleled qualification assuming this qualification is the simple fact that they are "called" in the first place? I'd make this more clear, if there's something else involved, like a birthright. The "unparalleled qualification" makes me question that assumption. enabling them to fight the beasts lurking along the borders. Again - is the simple fact of being called what enables them? Most importantly, everyone knows Protectors are men. OK - honestly when first read that I was like, Yes! Awesome! That's a neat idea! And then I was like wait... if no one knows who they are how does everyone know they are men?

Eri should not feel the pulsating hatred drawing her toward the beasts, but the link is growing within her, the connection beyond her control. Eri can’t hide the calling forever. This sinker leaves me flat - more to follow.

So what we've got here is a (high?) fantasy involving the beasts that endanger the village and the people who are enabled to protect, them all of whom are men. And now a girl is feeling that urge. OK - that's great! Seriously, I love the idea - but way too many questions here.

I think the biggest one is this: if the identity of the Protectors is a secret, how would Eri (or anyone) know that they're all men? How would Eri know that she should be hiding this new, secret part of herself? What's the punishment if she outs herself as a Protector? Is the biggest problem here the beasts, or the idea that she's a woman in a man's world? And what's involved in the calling? A simple answering of the call? Or do the called get special training of some sort once they step forward? Is Eri cheating herself of something by not claiming her calling? Because if they don't get anything neat-o by being called, what's the big deal? She can just run out whenever she feels the call, same as the other (male) secret Protectors, and then run back into the village after killing beasts, no big deal. What's she sacrificing by not claiming her call?

Also, I know from your word count line (not included here) that this is a YA title, but that was my first indication. I know it might feel clunky, but include Eri's age in the first line so that the agent knows right away they are looking at YA.

An SAT With Debut Author Miriam Forster

2011-12-20T00:00:00.070-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. Miriam Forster learned to read at the age of five, wrote her first story at the age of seven and has been playing with words ever since. Her debut novel, HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS is being published by HarperCollins. In her daily life, Miriam is a wife, a terrible housekeeper and a dealer of caffeine at a coffee shop. In her internal life, she imagines fight scenes, obsesses about anthropology, nature shows and British television, and reads far too many books. Miriam is represented by Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Agency.

Writing Process:
BBC: Are you a Planner or Pantster?

MF: Definitely a planner. I work mainly in lists, list of scenes I need, lists of characters, lists of settings. That way, if I run out of words on one scene or setting, I can go work on another. Then after the first draft is done, I go through it with a basic plot outline in hand to make sure the pacing is right.

BBC: How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

MF: Every book is different. DOLLS took me a year to write, the novel after it took about three or four months. But I have done a first draft in a month before.

BBC: Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi-tasker?

MF: When I first draft, I’m very focused and don’t work on more than one thing at a time. But I’ve been known to be a multi-tasker when I edit.

BBC: Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

MF: Every part of the process has a fear attached to it, and most of them revolve around the fear that this time I won’t be good enough. Oddly enough, the first time I sat down to write a novel, I was in high school and there was no fear. I just thought it would be fun to try.

BBC: How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

MF: THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS was the second book I ever wrote. The first one is firmly trunked, which is kind of a long story, but I did write three more books between the time I wrote DOLLS and the time it sold

BBC: Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

MF: I quit on ideas all the time, or write the first page and nothing else. But if I get into a first draft, I finish it. So far I’ve only trunked one novel, and that had more to do with content and the market changing than giving up on the actual book.

Querying and Agent Hunt Process:
BBC: Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

MF: My agent is the awesome Jennifer Laughran, and I got her through the traditional query process. Actually, it was a fabulous piece of serendipity. I was pretty sure she’d say no, I was just long-shotting a query to make myself feel better about yet another rejection letter. But she loved it.

BBC: How long did you query before landing your agent?

MF: I queried this book for about two years, but that was really off-and-on. I would query a batch or two of agents, collect rejections, sit on the book for a while, query again, etc. At one point I shelved it for about six months and then did a major rewrite. All together, I think I sent around 40 queries. (Not counting the ones I sent for other projects in between querying DOLLS.)

BBC: Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

MF: Sending out another query is a great way to celebrate a rejection. ☺
Actually, the BEST advice I ever got was “Write another book.” One of the reasons I think I made it through query hell with only a few scars was that I kept writing. Having another book lined up in the queue that could be the one, is a great comfort.

On Being Published:
BBC: How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?

MF: When I saw the Publisher’s Marketplace announcement, I squealed. I squealed even louder when the book went up on Goodreads. I can’t imagine how loud I’ll squee when I see it on the shelves. It feels unreal, amazing and a little scary.

BBC: How much input do you have on cover art?

MF: Contractually, not much. But my editor is awesome, and she sent me an email asking if there was anything I really wanted or didn’t want on the cover. That really made me feel included. But I’m not a marketer, so whatever they put on the cover is fine with me. (As long as it’s not fugly.)

BBC: What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

MF: I was surprised how much work the edits are. I was expecting to edit, and I even managed to avoid most of the “OMG, my book sucks” reaction that is very common. But the edits were intense. It was like taking a master class in storytelling.

Social Networking and Marketing:
BBC: How much of your own marketing do you? Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

MF: Fortunately, I started blogging and getting into social media several years ago, so I feel a lot more prepared to do promotion than I think I otherwise would. I have a blog, a Facebook page, a Tumblr, a Goodreads profile and a real author. J

BBC: When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

MF: I think social media is a great thing to get into before you get an agent. But it should be less like building a platform and more like joining a conversation. If you view us as a market and not as people, we will know. Most people on the Internet can smell insincerity from the first word you tweet, and they tend to avoid it.

BBC: Do you think social media helps build your readership?

MF: As I said, social media is a great way to join the conversation. If you view people as people and genuinely connect with them as friends, they’ll respond. And it’s very likely they will want to support you and buy your book.

Hey Wolverines! Want A Cat??

2011-12-19T13:41:00.001-05:00

So, because I am the way I am, after finding out that my man is a Turkish Angora I decided I had to have another one. And look what I found - a gorgeous alter-ego of my alter-ego... in the wrong state, and about to be euthanized. My Michigan followers, if you've been thinking about a kitty for Christmas and would like a muse of your own, think about this fella... I want him for me but I think the USPS probably has an issue with shipping cats. PETA too, for that matter.

Please, someone adopt him before I'm
forced to share my home.

When The Muse Has A Head Cold

2011-12-19T00:00:00.019-05:00

The beautiful man to whom I owe my alter ego has not been feeling so well. Nothing serious, just a head cold. But when you're accustomed to being perfect and walking around looking indignant, a sudden bout of sneezing can really drop a whammy on your ego. So the man, he suffers, and we've been curling up together with the first snowfall in Ohio and taking some time out.

And what did we do? A little research for the WIP, a little self-searching for BigCat. I've always known there was something special about my man, other than being my muse. He has a very distinctive look, and after a little research I learned that he's a Turkish Angora cat, and that the pure black ones, while awesome, are not the highly prized type. I didn't tell him that though.

He feels bad enough already.

The Saturday Slash

2011-12-17T00:00:00.039-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

There’s no way fourteen year old Jonathan Stevens is going to his first day of public school in May. Really? Why not? 'Cause school sucks? Was he home-schooled until now? Does he have a big boil on his nose? So cutting class to wander around a park seemed tense problem here like a better idea... until a storm forces him into a bathroom stall, and he falls face-first into a giant hole caused by an earthquake. So there's two natural disasters at work here? A big storm and an earthquake? That's fine (I love chaos) but it can be a little confusing as worded here. And did he fall down through the pooper? Cause that's how I'm visualizing this as it's written.

Waking in the underbelly of the earth, Jonathan discovers he’s been kidnapped by a pain-in-the-butt sorceress named Tamara, who insists he is an immortal and he's on the top of a very long hit list. I like the idea of them being underground, but why are they? Hiding? Natural habitat? But Jonathan isn't like any other immortal. I don't know that this is that important at the moment - we already know that J is an immortal, if he's THE immortal that's great and all, but it feels a little clunky here in this para. Just the idea that he's special enough to be an immortal in the first place and is in danger because of it is enough to get your idea across in a query. He was created Created how? And by who? to save the immortal realm from the Master, an overlord with the power to locate immortals strong enough to challenge him before they are old enough to know how. I like this idea.

Jonathan learns from Tamara’s allies that the Master has discovered the means to control mortals--and he intends to test that power on Jonathan's parents. Okay, that's cool. Brings up the question of whether or not J's parents knew all along her was an immortal though. To destroy the most dangerous man in two realms, Jonathan will have to risk his life by triggering an unknown power too early. Also cool, but is this like his own special immortal power? Does every immortal have one and he needs to learn what his is and how to control it? And if he fails, his family--as well as every other mortal and immortal in existence--will suffer for it.

The query is pretty well-written, and I like the idea. I don't know if it has the originality to stand out in a pile of Percy Jackson look-alike queries though. The idea that he has a latent power that could kill him and injure others is what I think makes your story different, and I'd like to see that fleshed out more here. It sounds like that is the crux of your story -> special boy, special powers. We've got the boy front and center, so now let's get those powers out in front instead of buried in the third para. I also feel like I need to know more about his circumstances - Why does he not want to go to school? Was he home schooled? Is he bullied? Is he odd? Does he fit in in the real world at all? Do his parents know what his deal is? And what's the story with Tamara? Is she in his age range or older? Is there a romance at work here?

Yeah, that seems like a lot of info to jam into a query, but it's the kind of information you need to bring clarity and originality out into the open. As it stands right now the plot sounds interesting, the underground setting is unique, and the power that could harm him when he wields it. So bring those elements out, make them your centerpiece so that the points that make your book different from every other "special kid with power to save the world" book.

BBC Book Talk - AKATA WITCH by Nnedi Okorafor

2011-12-16T00:00:00.070-05:00

AKATA WITCH is one of those books that makes you realize you've been viewing everything through Harry Potter tinted glasses for awhile. I'm going to say that up front because once I start explaining the plot you'll think, "Oh, Harry Potter set in Nigeria, I get it." To which I'd have to say, "Uh, that's like saying GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is James Patterson set in Sweden." What's the difference? Voice distinctions and cultural framework.

Sunny is an albino Nigerian who was born in New York City. When her parents return to their home country Sunny doesn't fit in for a lot of reasons. 1) She's an albino 2) She's perceived as an American and 3) She keeps seeing the end of the world inside candle flames.

Sunny is smart enough to keep this information to herself, but her odd qualities draw the attention of Orlu and Chichi, fellow students at her public school who are Leopard People (magical folk) and suspect Sunny may be as well. Although years behind in training and study, Sunny is distinct even in the magical realm of Leopard Knocks. She's a "free agent," a Leopard person born of two non-magical parents.

And no, Leopard Knocks isn't Hogwarts. Not even close. Instead of flying around on broomsticks and throwing balls through hoops the adult champions of this magical realm fight each other to the death in a yearly entertainment spectacle. The winner is the winner, the loser is... a saint. And going to your next class isn't as simple as looking at your schedule and manipulating moving staircases. The path to their teacher's hut is a test in itself, one that could kill them if not traveled properly. This is a place where group work is rewarded by everyone surviving to the next day and your juju knife chooses you not by obeying your commands but by slicing your hand open when you reach into a bag.

So why are children being subjected to these tests? To drive them into a sacred bond, as they have been selected by fate to bring down a serial killer. Black Hat Otokoto has been kidnapping Nigerian children and returning them minus eyes and ears. He's gathering black magic to him in order to call up a dark spirit whose power will unleash the vision that Sunny has seen in the candles. Sunny has a limited amount of time to harness the power she's inherited through her Grandmother's spirit line to stop him from succeeding and bringing about the end of the world.

Thursday Thoughts - Library Style

2011-12-15T00:00:00.034-05:00

I know I said that I wasn't going to be able to produce more thoughts until 2012, but it seems I'm not in control of my own brain. I love my job, and I know so few people that do. Just yesterday it provided more entertainment and internal commentary than the average circus. So my thoughts today are work-centric.

1) Now that news of my book deal has spread, the students have conferred super-hero powers upon me that I just don't have. They want me to contact authors much higher in the echelon than myself and encourage them to write books faster. They want me to "tell" major publishing houses to move pub dates forward. And lastly, they want me to put bugs in the ears of prominent authors on what exactly their next book should be about. I just tell them I'll get on that.

2) You know how your brain tends to meld things together into a bastardized form of what you're actually thinking about? Today I had a student asking me if SHIP BREAKER had come in yet, along with a kid who was looking for a biography of Sitting Bull. I won't repeat what I ended up saying at the circulation desk while talking to both of them at once, but I will give you the hint that it was craptacular.

3) Migraines have the ability to steal your soul. Migraines while processing books lead to very odd choices in cataloging. Like accidentally putting ATTACK OF THE MONSTER PLANTS in non-fiction. Which led to giggling. Which hurt my head.

In Which I Share A Secret

2011-12-14T00:00:00.022-05:00

I'm human, and not actually a cat. I know. Shocking, right?

In the theme of being human I'm not at all prepared for the rest of December, shopping, cleaning, decorating, bathing, being socially acceptable, etc. So the blog may suffer slightly because of my human qualities over the rest of the month while I focus on my year-end writing goal, which is to finish the WIP.

I've still got some great interviews lined up for you and also some book reviews coming down the pipe, but I might just be skimping out on the WOLF's, and the Thursday Thoughts probably won't be publishable until January.

Today I give you School Library Journal's top Non-Fiction picks for 2011. Check it out if you need to round out your Christmas list for any little readers in the fam.

A BBCHAT with Tina Wexler of ICM

2011-12-13T00:00:00.035-05:00

Today BBCHAT continues! Bigblackcat's Humane Agent Talk: In Which A Particularly Agreeable Agent Answers a Series of Questions that Have Nothing to do with Queries or Submission Guidelines. Yeah, don't try to make an acronym out of that last bit.

The BBCHAT is designed to get the personality of the agent in the spotlight, and an enterprising querier can use this information to figure out if the agent is a good fit for them, rather than just another agent who happens to cover their genre.

The last question involves something that oddly resembles a contest, and ties in with the blog name. Note the rules: to participate you need to follow the blog (so include your screenname in the email so that I can identify you), and your answer must come in an email to me, not a post in the comments section. First person to email me with the correct answer wins. You'll notice the "email me" link above my followers box to the right. Or maybe you won't notice it. In which case, you'll be totally flummoxed. The handy-dandy Contact link on the bar above is helpful too.

Tina Wexler is a literary agent at ICM, representing authors in both the children’s and adult marketplace. On the children's side, she’s interested in young adult and middle grade fiction, with a particular fondness for psychological thrillers, retold myths and legends, and gothic love stories. Current and forthcoming titles include FLIP by Martyn Bedford, CROAK by Gina Damico, OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN by Donna Gephart, and BREADCRUMBS by Anne Ursu. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and son.

Not only is Tina a powerhouse agent, she's also a super-awesome person who has volunteered to supply the lucky winner with A STACK of books. Yes, those are her words. A STACK of books. I think it's worth repeating: A STACK of books. Yeah, so my lovely lurkers - now is a good time to hit the Comment button (er, well, the email button).

BBC: What are you reading right now and why do you like it?

TW: VIRTUOSITY by Jessica Martinez. I really like stories that grant me entry into a world previously unknown and unknowable to me, so this story about a brilliant violinist immediately pulled me in. I also love stories about teens who are the best at what they do, who feel the pressure to remain the best--and the lengths they will go to keep it that way. And I love love stories, the more complicated/conflicted the better, and this one starts the way the best often do—with insults and embarrassment!

BBC: Paper (books) or plastic (e-reader)?

TW: Paper.

BBC: What's on your bucket list?

TW: [Blank stare. Fumbles for To Do list. Scribbles “Make bucket list.”]

BBC: Have you ever ridden a mechanical bull?

TW: No, and just the thought makes me queasy. Also preemptively saying no to rollercoaster rides and revolving restaurants. (Why do these things need to exist?!)

BBC: What type of agent are you?

a) Cheerleader

b) Therapist

c) Bushwhacking Guide

d) Red Ink Saturation Committee Member

TW: e) All of the above, at various times throughout the day.

BBC: If you had a guaranteed sell, what type of story would you like to represent?

TW: Oooh, this is a tricky question. And I’m already starting to over-think it so let me go with my first response before I get too in-my-head about it: I would sell that heartbreaker that’s impossible to summarize in one sentence, the one that normally would be passed on for being “too quiet.” The one where not a lot happens, even though so much happens, where, when you finish reading it, you have to sit quietly for a bit because you need to get your bearings. Because we--as readers and as people--sometimes need more “quiet.”

BBC: Tell me three things about yourself, one of them being a LIE! First person to email me with the correct guess as to the lie gets... something awesome.

TW: 1) I’ve always wanted curly hair.

2) I don’t like musicals.

3) I went to Italy on my honeymoon.

In Which You Experience Something Awesome

2011-12-12T00:00:00.010-05:00

So I'm experiencing a complete and utter failure to come up with anything decent for an author photo. I complained about this on Twitter and one of my followers and AQers came up with a rather odd amalgamation of a pic of me, weapons, a crown, and the universe. My weekend has been a trail of those un-writerly times when the real world demands you pay attention to it, and so I've got nada for the blog today. And so you get me, on top of the world, packing heat and wearing a crown.

The Saturday Slash

2011-12-10T00:00:00.050-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

In 1952, San Angelo is a boy’s paradise providing ten-year-old, Allan, kill the commas surrounding Allan with endless adventure. But when his mother becomes ill, Allan discovers it’s not adventure echo here with "adventure." Try using "excitement" or something similar he longs for, but the gift of friendship. This is a pretty darn good hook. Other than the unnecessary commas (my own biggest sin).

Allan spends most of his days looking for adventures Here's the a-word again like riding down a 128 foot dam on his best friend, Raymond’s, handlebars, this is clunky b/c of the use of R's name. I think you can easily say "best friend's handlebars" and be fine surviving a ride on a bucking bronco, and winning the best Concho River storytelling contest while on a campout with his three friends.

San Angelo, where stories of Comanche Indian raids still permeate boys’ recess tales, has its share of quirky characters that provide some interesting escapades too, like John the rodeo rider with the glass eye, the lady barber whose mustache is only slightly more noticeable than her big orange hair, Mr. Franklin who has the gift of taming wasps, and Aunt Hope who teaches Allan to catch, kill, and fry up chickens and wrangle snakes. This paragraph is great and tells us a lot about the supporting cast, but I'm not learning about what is going to bring the MC around to his coming-of-age. How is he learning that he wants acceptance and friendship? If the people mentioned above are the catalyst to make that happen that's great, but it needs to be clear how they factor in to the plot arc, as opposed to being presented as interesting side-shows, which is how it feels as is.

RIDING THE DAM is an almost all true I'd kill the "almost all true" and simply present it as fiction to avoid confusion coming-of-age MG novel complete at 40,000 words. It’s a story about a boy’s perfect world that is changed when his mother becomes ill—knots in her lady parts is how the doctor puts it. It’s a story about family, a perfect friendship, and growing up. This all feels like summary, and since we already covered specifics it doesn't work well - it's like watching preview after seeing the movie.

While this is the first novel I have written, I have twenty publications in peer-reviewed academic journals and professional magazines. Currently, I am a school counselor with the largest school system in the Southeast. The boy in RIDING THE DAM is my father. Again, in my opinion I'd keep the "almost true" bits either off the paper, or sell it as an MG biography / memoir. I'm not sure that the published academic journals are going to be that impressive when we're talking fiction - but I would *definitely* play up the fact that you're a school counselor. The entire "coming of age" and MG psychology angle is exactly your area, so you need to hit hard on the fact that you know what you're talking about.

Weed out the unnecessary, and get the focus of the novel out there. We get that he wants to go find fun, and that's great - all boys do at that age. But we need to see how he comes to the self-discovery about wanting friendship, and how the supporting cast plays into that. Right now these two plot arcs are stated and set side by side, but the query isn't showing how they interact with each other. As far as the fiction vs. non-fiction, I'm honestly not sure what to tell you on that. My personal opinion would be that it's best pitched as fiction, and you have to be sure to change names, places, etc. Even though you may be saying perfectly nice things about the real people mentioned in the pages, their descendants (or they themselves) might not appreciate it. I don't know a lot about how those things work, so perhaps some of my followers can help in that arena.

BBC Book Talk - THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson

2011-12-09T00:00:00.071-05:00

Indecisive female heroines tend to make me slap-happy. As in, I want to slap them. However, Lennie - the grieving main character of Jandy Nelson's moving THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE made me rethink this policy. Even though Lennie makes bad choices at times, the reader understands the thought process that leads her to them, and empathizes. That's a neat trick for a writer to pull, especially when the MC in question is indulging in spontaneous make-out sessions with her deceased sister's boyfriend.

What did I just say? Yeah, that's what I said. And guess what? Nelson sells Lennie's frame of mind so completely that while you want to scream at her, "No! No! Don't sabotage yourself like that!" another part of you is also gently saying, "Yeah. I totally understand."

Weeks after her older sister's death, Lennie's houseplant (so called because her eccentric family believes it is mystically tied to her own well-being) shows no signs of recuperating. In fact, it's getting worse. Lennie's room, previously shared with her sister Bailey, still has Bailey's dirty laundry in the basket, her clean clothes in the closet, and her cluttered desk remains untouched.

Lennie's mind won't let go of Bailey either. Although she will not open up to her family members (Gram - the local rose grower of magical love flowers and Uncle Big - pothead and mad scientist who attempts to resurrect dead houseflies) Lennie looks for release through writing poetry on trees, scraps of trash paper blowing in the wind, fast-food cups, and her own shoes. Her feelings are literally blowing around the town, and unbeknownst to her, being collected and cherished by the new kid in school; clarinet prodigy and super hot Joe Fontaine.

Even as charismatic and patient Joe wears away the protective covering around her scarred heart, Lennie finds herself entangled with Toby - Bailey's grief-stricken and attractive boyfriend. Their shared love of Bailey erupts into passion for each other that Lennie doesn't understand, and though her mind tells her that it's wrong, she can't always control her emotions when Toby is around.

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE is an amazing story of self-discovery, and the love triangle is only the first layer. Lennie is dealing not only with the death of her sister, but also some realizations that come crashing down upon delving into Bailey's desk regarding the truth about the enigmatic mother who abandoned the girls when they were only children.

Lennie has lived in Bailey's shadow for so long, it seems she doesn't know what to be when she is no longer Bailey's Little Sister, but simply Lennie.

Thursday Thoughts

2011-12-08T00:00:00.026-05:00

I have a roving mind. I'm sure that's a shock to everyone. Through the course of each week I tend to accumulate random wonderings in my mind, most of which never evolve into anything other than a niggling question that's going to bother me until I 1) ask someone who knows or 2) go find the answer myself.

Thoughts lately:

1) Most people have a TBR pile. I have a TBR room. Yes, ChezBBC has its own library, and it's stocked (or is that stacked?) I know the librarians are laughing right now... In any case, I have to wonder if I've got the lifespan to read all of them. Is there some kind of program I can use to figure out my reading rate, number of pages in each book, and my life expectancy?

2) When people tell me not to do something I've got to try it at least once to see if they're right. Canning on a smooth stovetop? I got away with it... until last night. Yep. Thought it was a gunshot. In retrospect, my action of running towards the noise was not incredibly intelligent.

3) Actually, once I thought about it, I have a long history of moving in the direction of perceived danger. I think it has something to do with my inability to handle anticipation. However, if the trend continues I imagine it will have an impact on my imaginative algorithm from Thought 1.

Wednesday WOLF

2011-12-07T00:00:00.028-05:00

A recent tweet caught my eye in which the tweeter was wondering where the phrase "cry uncle" comes from. In case you don't know, to cry uncle means to admit to the physical superiority of someone attacking you, usually in a bullying situation.

While I can't back it up with any serious proof, there are two really interesting theories I wanted to share with you. Crying uncle didn't appear in written English until 1918, and one theory posits that perhaps the use of the term arises from the Gaelic anacol, meaning "protection" or "safety." There would've been plenty of Irish immigrant children to bully during that time period, and their native cry for help could've been misinterpreted by their English speaking aggressors.

I like that one, but there's a Roman version too. In Ancient Rome, the paternal uncle held nearly as much power over a child as the father. Courtyard games included a physical wrangling in which the loser had to cry, "Patrue, mi Patruissimo!" (Uncle! My favorite Uncle!) in order to be freed. In doing so, they were naming their attacker as a person who had real power over them, and that sign of respect allowed their freedom.

Hmmm... both interesting. But I don't have a paternal uncle, so I guess I'll just have to keep taking those self-defense classes.

SAT with WANT TO GO PRIVATE? Author Sarah Darer Littman

2011-12-06T00:00:00.083-05:00

It's time for another SAT (Successful Author Talk)! Today's guest is Sarah Darer Littman, author of WANT TO GO PRIVATE? which I reviewed here. WTGP? has had such a profound effect on the students here in my library that I wanted to open up this SAT a little more, and get into the bones of what drove Sarah to write about such an emotional topic.

BBC: WANT TO GO PRIVATE? deals with a sensitive issue - sexual predators online. Why did you choose to write this story?

SDL: I was actually trying to write a completely different book when I heard Supervisory Special Agent Tom Lawler of the FBI’s New Haven Office speak about Internet Safety at my son’s school two years ago. But I was already extremely aware how many parents are flying blind when it comes to their kids’ online activities, and how easy it is for young people to make mistakes that have lasting and far-reaching consequences.

After SSA Lawler's presentation, he told me about a case in CT where a girl had left with a predator. Fortunately, her mom was a reasonably clued up parent and had the passwords to the girl’s accounts, so they were able to figure out what had happened pretty quickly, but even so, by the time she and the predator were apprehended they'd almost reached the Canadian border. What struck me most – and what inspired me to write WANT TO GO PRIVATE? – was her reaction when the police apprehended the predator. It wasn’t “Thank heavens you’ve rescued me”, but rather “Don’t hurt him!”

As soon as I heard that, I turned to SSA Lawler and said, “That is the book.” Kids today have been getting Internet Safety training since elementary school, and this girl’s mother was obviously clued up enough to have the passwords to her account, so I imagine there had been discussions in the home. How then, did she travel from having had all those warnings to the point of “Don’t hurt him!”?

That question wouldn’t leave me alone. It pursued me and nagged me until I called my agent and said, “I need to write this book.” Fortunately, Jen Rees, my wonderful editor at Scholastic, was extremely supportive, so I was able to start the research that would help me find the answer that question and thus tell Abby's story.

BBC: What kind of sources did you use for your research? At any point was it too emotionally difficult for you to push forward?

SDL: I was very fortunate to be able to get permission to work with the New Haven Office of the FBI for my research. I also consulted with detectives at my local police department in Greenwich, a friend of mine who is a well-known expert on pedophiles, and read extensive research on the topic. I found it extremely difficult at times, both doing the research and writing some of the scenes. The most difficult scene for me to write was one of which only a fraction appears in the book. When I sent the book to my editor, one of the notes in the editorial letter was that it seemed like Abby and Luke only went on a car ride together. I realized that subconsciously, I really didn't want to know what had happened to Abby. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse myself, it was extremely painful to think about, like picking a scab off a wound that I thought had healed. But to do justice to Abby's story, I had to open the door to that motel room and look inside. When I tried at first, I started having really bad nightmares and had to stop. But then I got to the point in revisions when I had to do it in order to continue. It was one of the most difficult writing days I've ever had.

BBC: Some of the scenes in WTGP are very disturbing, yet necessary for the message. How did you decide where the line was drawn in terms of your audience?

SDL: I wrote the first draft without too much thought to language, because allowing an internal censor can be crippling. But before I sent it to my editor, and then with every single subsequent edit, I thought about every single word. Literally. I had friends of mine, an 8th grade media specialist and an 8th grade language arts teacher (who are now immortalized as Officer Ball and Office Domuracki) read early drafts for language and content. Karen Ball highlighted every single swear for me:

I went through and cut out as many as I possibly could - only keeping the ones that I felt were necessary in terms of the story. I do feel that I achieved this, because while most of the reviews mention the graphic nature of some of the scenes, I don't think there are any reviews that have said that I've used graphic language gratuitously.

The bottom line is that real predators get very dirty very quickly. I tried to focus more on the seduction angle of the relationship between Luke and Abby in order to minimize the content, but let's face it, you can't write a realistic book about the grooming process without some language and content. My view is that it's crazy to say "we shouldn't let our kids read this book because of the language and sexual content" while we're letting them loose on the Internet. The letters I'm getting from readers who have already had experiences with predators and tell me how much they relate to the book, some as young as 12 - bear out the danger of the denial strategy.

BBC: The website that Abby meets her attacker on is www.chezteen.com which is a real website devoted to educating teens about internet safety. Where did this stroke of genius come from?

SDL: *blushes* Well, thank you for calling it a stroke of genius : ) I actually registered the url as I was writing the first draft of the book with the thought that I would make it into an Internet Safety site. I knew that the first thing I would do if I were reading the book as a teen would be to go check out the website to see if it was a real site. YA authors still have a very strong inner teen - that's how we write with a teen voice. So I wanted to make sure I owned the site and could use it for a positive purpose. I'd hoped to make it into a discussion site but unfortunately that would take more time and money than I have available.

BBC: One of the most compelling things about WTGP is that Abby is a booksmart girl from a fairly normal home. What motivated you to place such a character in this situation?

SDL: An FBI agent who did a presentation sponsored by the Greenwich Penwomen talked about a common misconception that the kids who are taken in by predators are only "bad" kids with "bad" parents. I think so many kids hear the Internet Safety talks at school and think, "That wouldn't happen to me, I'd never be that stupid". But there's a big difference between academic intelligence and emotional maturity, which takes longer to develop.

So I wanted Abby to be academically smart and "a good kid" and her parents to decent people, but like many parents, busy and distracted because they both work and don't always have the downtime to just sit and allow the conversations to happen.

A huge thanks to Sarah for coming onto the blog today and sharing the process involved in this powerful novel! If you haven't read it, put it on your TBR pile.

How Waxing Your Eyebrows Is Like Editing

2011-12-05T00:00:00.069-05:00

Waxing doesn't feel good. Neither does editing. But don't you feel improved when they're both done?

I'm blessed with a head of dark Irish hair, which is great until my eyebrows start trying to mate with my hairline. Eyebrows are kind of like those support words we use in our writing - a less kind phrase would be "crutch words." Those words don't seem so bad at a glance. They're like that one little hair that escaped you and is hovering off by itself to the left of where you actually wanted your eyebrow to end.

But then the little follicles spot that solitary solider, and they send out a rescue party. Pretty soon you've got scouts going out to check the terrain. They report that it's okay, so the recovery team goes out and you know what? It's actually pretty comfortable out there. So they stay. And then the commanding officers think they might as well fill out the ranks and pretty soon the entire army has reappeared, marching right out across your face like the wax never happened.

Letting your brain get comfortable with using the crutch words is a dangerous business that leads to a manuscript in desperate need of a slashing. Or a waxing, as I've taken to thinking of it.

I'm very aware of what my crutch words are - just, then, that. Those are four-letter words to me in more ways than one. So how do you identify your own crutches? There's a great free tool to help you out.

Wordle can be incredibly useful in your editing process. It creates a word cloud based on the text that you paste in. Here's what Wordle made for me, based on the first 20 pages of NOT A DROP TO DRINK:

I'm pretty happy with that. Not only are my main characters prominent, but if you look at the larger (more occurring) words you can get an idea of what the book is about, even if you haven't read my query. Even better, I don't see my crutch words in there. That means I did a good job of rooting them out.

Give Wordle a shake and see if it can help you identify your crutch words, then pour the self-editing wax on and rip 'em out by their roots.

The Saturday Slash

2011-12-03T00:00:00.057-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

Although she was raised human, Rena has a destiny to be the vampire queen bringing her face-to-face with a rogue vampire hell-bent on taking her royal blood as a means to gain unimaginable powers. First of all, the hook is one long sentence. It'd be easy to bust up. But as hooks go, it's already raising questions. So she was raised human but isn't actually? I have to admit to not knowing enough about what's out there in terms of already existing vampire lit to know how original this is, but I'm guessing right now you've got to be REALLY freaking original to get interest in a vampire query. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying it seems like a tough sell.

Never in a trillion years did Rena think vampires were real, or that becoming one flowed in her veins Not sure if this sentence actually works... it feels clunky. Then Rena spots Cryder at school: the drop-dead sexy new student that she's been dreaming about, literally. He's her vampire king, her blood-mate, and they are rightful heirs to the throne. The two must band together to end the rogue's vampire plan, but there is a twist. I feel like you need a better way to to say this other than "there's a twist." It sounds more like you saying directly to the agent, "Get this twist!" rather than it fitting organically into the query. Rena learns they must drink each others blood and in doing so awaken latent powers. Interesting, this seems original to me, but again, I'm not that familiar with the vamp lit. The crazed vampire, Bristol, demands Rena's royal blood; if she doesn't deliver, he will expose the true existence of vampires to humans and kill everyone she loves. Hmm... that seems like a pretty odd plan, considering he's a vampire too. Why isn't just killing everyone she loves good enough of a threat?

Rena has only months Months seems like a long time, for the plot. In real life, sure, I'd need a couple months to accept that, but in fiction it doesn't feel like it's adding a lot of urgency to the plot. to accept she is a vampire before all hope is lost. In order to save her loved ones and keep the vampire race's secrets safe, she must fight her own doubts This is the first indication that perhaps she doesn't want to be a vampire, or doesn't think she's capable of being the Queen. Earlier you mentioned that she didn't necessarily believe in them, but that's the only kind of doubting that's been mentioned. and truly let herself become queen.

I feel like I can't give you a really decent crit on this one because what's going to be imperative is distinguishing yourself from every other vampire novel already out there, not to mention the unpublished millions that have probably been crossing their desks in the past years. What I *can* say is that it feels like the crux of the novel is around Rena's choice - does she, or does she not want to / feel that she is capable of being the Vampire Queen? There's romance here, but no triangle (hey, that's just fine!) but again that's not the focus of the novel, it's the choice that's the key - or at least that's the impression I get after reading the sinker. And we don't get to that idea until the last line. Also, let's talk about these humans that she loves. Does she have a human family? Why was she raised human in the first place? Did her vampire "parents" hide her with humans? Was she in some kind of danger?

Reaching out to my readers, since they might know a lot more about vamp lit! Does the premise stand out to you?

BBC Book Talk - WANT TO GO PRIVATE? by Sarah Darer Littman

2011-12-02T00:00:00.058-05:00

Before you get your BBC Book Review of the week you need to know (you *really* need to know!) that I'm up over at From the Write Angle blogging about those very special people in our lives. Betas.

Most of my followers undoubtedly realize that I tend to read Sci-Fi and Fantasy of varying degrees, magical realism, urban fantasy, steampunk - whatever YA feels like throwing itself at me in the moment. A contemporary title has to have something special to get my attention, a degree of realism and depth of character that I can relate to. WANT TO GO PRIVATE? by Sarah Darer Littman delivers on all these levels with a punch that leaves the reader contemplating going offline - forever.

So many contemporary books take the average teen and put them in situations to prove that they are anything but. I felt that WTGP did the opposite. Instead Littman chose an exemplary student - Abby, the highly intelligent yet socially unsure incoming high school freshman - and showed that the phrase "It Can't Happen To Me" isn't applicable to anyone.

Abby feels the pressure of being "the smart girl" the second that an attractive upper classmen asks if he can copy her homework in class. She complies, only to be swiftly overshadowed by the better-looking popular girl to his right. That same afternoon, she fails to follow alongside her longtime best-friend when she faints from stage-fright during play tryouts.

Her little sister is popular and cool, while Abby operates on the nerd side of society. Dad constantly works late. Mom has a career of her own and is divided between two children, a household, and a marriage that needs more time than it's getting.

So when Abby meets Luke in a teen chat room, she's starved for attention. He says all the right things, knows what she's thinking and asks how she's feeling. She's a smart girl who knows about the danger of online predators, but he seems to genuinely care about her. As their relationship deepens and her schoolwork suffers as she stays up late to talk with him, Abby questions her own actions. But he's in the computer - it's not like he can actually hurt her, right?

Until she goes private with him.
Until she turns on the webcam.
Until he sends her a cell phone.
Until she agrees to meet him.
Until she gets into his car.

Thursday Thoughts

2011-12-01T00:00:00.024-05:00

I have a roving mind. I'm sure that's a shock to everyone. Through the course of each week I tend to accumulate random wonderings in my mind, most of which never evolve into anything other than a niggling question that's going to bother me until I 1) ask someone who knows or 2) go find the answer myself.

Thoughts lately:

1) There's a basic misunderstanding about libraries and bookstores. We're not arranged the same way. So, for example, when a kid walks in and asks me where they mystery section is, I kind of want to stab myself in the face.

2) Smart people do really stupid things sometimes. I was cooking and freezing pumpkins this weekend and realized after putting the pumpkin in the Pyrex and the Pyrex in the oven that I hadn't added the water in the pan. I like to do things the right way, so I added the water. Yeah. Even as I heard the shattering that preceded the POP of the pan exploding (inside the oven and right in front of my face, btw) I thought to myself; "Huh, what I just did was really stupid. I even understand the science of why this is about to-" KA-BLAM!

3) If you accidentally search for "pumpkings" instead of "pumpkins" it will really skew your Google results.

Wednesday WOLF

2011-11-30T00:00:00.040-05:00

I know you're dying for some word origin nerd glory, but first check out my interview with the illustrious Jen Daiker over on her fabulous blog, Unedited. And I don't toss out "fabulous" that often.

I'm such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

So even though my avatar is a feline, I have to admit that I'm not very good at eating crow. In that vein, I've got a fun one today. While the origin story I found is somewhat dubious, it's just interesting enough that I wanted to share it with you.

Supposedly, the phrase "to eat crow," meaning something disagreeable a person faces after they are caught in the wrong (like er... apologizing?) has its roots in the last days of the War of 1812. At that time there was an armistice in effect along the banks of the Niagra River, and during such periods the members of each garrison often went hunting in order to fill the larders.

During one such hunting trip that proved fruitless, an enterprising Yankee solider cross the river to the British side in search of larger game. Finding nothing, he took a shot at a passing crow. While the bird fell, it also brought the Yankee to the attention of a British officer, who came upon the enemy soldier while he was reloading. The Brit was unarmed, so instead of threatening the Yank he feigned friendliness and amazement at such a great shot and asked to see the gun that had brought down the crow.

The hapless Yank handed it over, and the Brit turned the gun on him, berated him for trespassing and then made him take a bite of raw crow to drive the lesson home. The Brit then returned the gun (whatever else you can say about them, the British have excellent manners) and the Yank in turn aimed it at him and made him finish off the meal.

The incident became public knowledge when the British soldier came to the Yankee garrison the next day to demand that the foot solider be punished for breaking the armistice. When the soldier was brought before his Captain and asked if he'd ever seen the Englishman before he replied, "Why yes, we dined together yesterday."

Is it true? I don't know, but it makes a good story.

And that's almost better, right?

An SAT with INCARNATE Author Jodi Meadows

2011-11-29T00:00:00.034-05:00

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. In this case I snagged my editor-sister (hooray!) and internet omnipresence Jodi Meadows. Jodi's debut YA novel, INCARNATE will be available from Harper Collins / Katherine Tegen on January 31, 2012.

BBC: INCARNATE is about Ana, a new soul in a world where everyone is reincarnated. Did you do a lot of research on reincarnation in order to write it?

JM: I did a little research on reincarnation in various cultures and to see what type of reincarnation books are already out there, but I came to the story with a very clear idea of the world I wanted to write about. And because it was the entire society being reincarnated, I had to consider a lot of the potential consequences and drawbacks, too.
As a result, I did a TON of daydreaming about the way the society might work around these problems. (Jobs, laws/punishment, inbreeding, etc...) Lots of the worldbuilding won't find its way into the story for lack of relevance and room, but I did try to leave little clues throughout. For example, they are *fierce* about keeping track of genealogies, and no one has siblings!

BBC: You've described Ana's personality as "prickly." What made you decide to create an MC that might not be the type you crush to your bosom in a soul-hug five minutes after meeting?

JM: Ana's personality came from the way she was raised. As the only new person, she was viewed not as special, but a bad omen. She replaced one of the old souls! Understandably, many (including Ana's mother) were afraid of what that might mean for their existence, and frightened people aren't always very nice.
Ana is an abuse victim. Her mother abused her emotionally and physically, and while Ana has managed to hang on to a little innocence and hopefulness, she's defensive and untrusting. She doesn't read people very well (like spoken language, body language is something you learn by immersion), and until she meets people who *don't* hate her like her mother does, she tends to assume everyone is out to get her.
I do hope people like Ana -- she's a good girl, overall -- but I also really hope they understand her.

BBC: You're very active online, including your own site, Twitter, and the amount of time you donate over on Authoress' blog - Miss Snark's First Victim - to help aspiring writer's attain their goals. Do you believe having an online presence helps boost your readership? Do you recommend aspiring writers begin an online platform before, during, or after the agent/editor hunt?

JM: In some ways, yes. It definitely didn't hurt to have a relatively popular blog and Twitter feed before my deal, but I don't think it's necessary for success, either. Hanging out on social media and helping with Authoress's blog occasionally is something I enjoy doing. If I didn't enjoy it, I definitely wouldn't bother because it can be pretty time consuming!
For authors looking at jumping into social media, I'd say start when you're ready (and only if you want to). You can't have an audience too soon, and if you have a popular blog or Twitter, your agent may use that as a selling point. "Look, she comes with an audience!"
The only other reminder I'd give is to remember your "audience" is made up of people. Treat them like friends, not potential buyers.

BBC: Who is your agent and how did you land her?

JM: My agent is the smart and lovely Lauren MacLeod (@bostonbookgirl on Twitter). I got her the old fashioned way: I developed a major agent crush with her on Twitter, queried, sent her manuscripts, and kept trying until she said yes.
Now we do normal agent/author things together, like holding baby tigers. Wait, that *is* normal, right?

BBC: You blog, tweet, knit, raise ferrets, and write. Any time management tips for writers?

JM: Give up sleep.
To be serious (sort of), I'm in the very lucky position of not having another job, so I can write full time. I also don't have kids, the ferrets sleep 15-18 hours a day, and my husband goes to work. This leaves me with lots of time to create and destroy worlds with my brain.
I've had to learn very little time management so far. I'm driven to write, and I will work hard to meet deadlines. Occasionally I have to prioritize things, and I try to get to emails and other obligations quickly so they don't pile up, but writing always comes first.

There's A Monster Under My Bed

2011-11-28T00:00:00.028-05:00

No really, there is.

It's a trunked ms, and it's like an ex-boyfriend that you know has serious issues, but he's got a great voice so you keep taking his calls. Yeah, it's like that.

So my goal for this Thanksgiving break was to give that monster ex-boyfriend an attitude adjustment, make him see his wrongdoings and wrangle him into good shape. In other words, he graduated from under the bed to in the bed. But don't misinterpret that last bit; it's where I do my writing. :)

This particular ms was suffering from some tense issues. Every now and then my 1st POV narrator wanted to slip into present tense while speaking about the past. I call it The Wonder Years Syndrome. In my head, it worked. But every one of my betas was like, "Dude, you've got a tense issue here." And I was like, "No, it's The Wonder Years Syndrome." But that never seemed to be a sufficient explanation.

And after leaving Monster Ex-Boyfriend under the bed for a year I have to admit, that yeah - it doesn't work. Betas are good people. Mine are very patient on top of that.

Hopefully my tough love knock-down drag-out did the trick. Awaiting feedback...

The Saturday Slash

2011-11-26T00:00:00.073-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!"

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

Sometimes you have to freeze everyone out. . . to avoid getting burned. Not a bad hook. It doesn't tell me a lot about what the story could be about, but I'm interested enough to keep going.

Sydney knows how horrible the foster system is. She’s been in it for seven years, thanks to her mom, a crack-smoking prostitute. I feel like this isn't important to the query. All we need to know is that the MC is in foster care, not why. The why would be useful in a synopsis, but I don't think it has a place here. Now it’s time to move on to her seventh family, the Claytons. Sydney knows immediately that she won’t fit in with their extravagant life and the spoiled stuck-up Brooke. I assume that Brooke is the daughter of the family but that isn't made completely clear here. I also think that we need some spice in this para to differentiate your book from other YA titles. How has the foster system been horrible to Sydney? Why is she on her seventh family? Is it her, or is it them? I need something here to connect me to that "frozen" idea from the hook, too. Right now I get that she knows she won't like the Clayton's, but it seems like it's a socio-economic thing rather than a personality quirk of the MC.

Sydney refuses to get close to anybody, here we're getting somewhere, that it's a choice on the MC's part. Get this in here sooner. including Brooke’s best friend Got an echo there with friend and befriend Dani, who tries to befriend her. She resents the snobby kids, especially Brooke’s boyfriend Corbin, who flirts with Sydney—much to Brooke’s dismay. Gah! Stock phrase! Kill it! Corbin is just like all the other overprivileged kids; but he’s hot and Sydney can’t help but be attracted to him, even as she hates him. Good, here we've got some internal struggles that are going to help differentiate your book. Get to this sooner, and capitalize on it.

After discovering that Brooke and Corbin’s relationship is a sham Meh? How's it a sham? Is Brooke gay?, Sydney begins to learn that the perfect kids are not so perfect and that even Corbin has his secrets Like what? Is he a serial killer? Corbin likes Sydney, but Brooke refuses to let him go Why? Just 'cause she's a bitch and doesn't want to see our MC happy?. Even if Brooke breaks up with Corbin, Sydney doubts it will ever work with him. He’s the popular, rich kid and she’s the daughter of a crack whore. There you go, see, you can slip the crack-whore in here (the things you find yourself saying...) And really… if her own mom had given up on life… had given up on Sydney, how could anyone else ever truly love her? Aha! Not a bad sinker there. We've definitely got internal conflict like crazy, with her own feelings for Corbin, and her feelings about herself. Very nice.

I feel like you've got a great hook and sinker going on, but the meat in between needs some trimming and rearranging. The main idea here is that we've got an MC with serious self-acceptance issues that lead to her protecting herself by freezing out the rest of the world. Get that out there sooner, and more vividly. Even your title is about the chip on her shoulder, so turn it into a boulder that you can throw to get some attention. I also think the mention of Dani needs to go, as she's only mentioned once and tends to clutter up the query. If you get across the idea that Sydney is cold early on, you don't need the example of Dani. Focus on the screwed-up love triangle of the sham relationship, and explain why it's a sham. I feel like not knowing the answer to that is a tease, and a query shouldn't be a vehicle for a tease. Also, the idea that Corbin has secrets (I read this as layers) needs to be capitalized on as the moment where our MC begins to thaw towards him as an individual, yet the problem of her own self-acceptance still stands in the way.

Overall, not bad. Shape it up and get the important details out there where they can get the attention!

Jump in, my followers! Let our brave volunteer know what you think!

The Foundling's Tale, or Monster Blood Tattoo Redux

2011-11-25T00:00:00.062-05:00

Every now and then I latch onto a writer that I don't think is getting the credit (read: audience) they deserve, and I go about hitting my friends over their heads with the books in question until they 1) read them or 2) stop being my friends.

I've reviewed FOUNDLING by D.M. Cornish before, and because of the fact that it's the first in a series I decided I was not going to review the rest of the Monster-Blood Tattoo books because it can be incredibly difficult to review sequels without ruining them for the intended audience.

So I won't.

What I will do is say that if you're a fan of JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin or - most of all - Mervyn Peake, you will love FOUNDLING, LAMPLIGHTER and FACTOTUM.

And not just because I told you to.

Thanksgiving Thursday Thoughts

2011-11-24T00:00:00.020-05:00

So, I know it's a holiday and most people probably aren't trolling the internet, wondering what I'm thinking about today. But just in case you are...

1) I've noticed lately that bad guys in the movies often make chilling directives into their cell phones and then break them in half, dumping them in a nearby trash can, assured that any and all evidence of their wrongdoing has now been obliterated. Somehow I don't think that's accurate...

2) Bad news from BBCLand my friends. Scott the Female Cat has fallen victim to the coyotes. At least, that's my assumption, after having missed his androgynous presence for nearly a week. Yes, it really can be a wild world out here. These guys, however, are doing just fine. Of course.

3) Biological processes are very hard to circumvent. It's getting colder outside and my bear tendencies are kicking in. I'm not hungry, but I keep eating. My brain keeps telling my body I want a nice protective layer of fat. My ego keeps saying,"DAMMIT!"

Wednesday WOLF

2011-11-23T00:00:00.038-05:00

I'm so happy and proud of my friend and writing partner RC Lewis that I'm still talking about her today. You probably know that she made the YA/MG cut over at Authoress' Baker's Dozen contest on Miss Snark's First Victim. What you might not know is what the hell a baker's dozen is anyway.

A baker's dozen actually equals thirteen. Now why would that be? Turns out bakers weren't the most trustworthy of shopkeepers back in the day. Air pockets can slip into loaves of bread, and it seems that some bakers took advantage of this, charging full weight for bread that was a little light in the loafers (knee-slapper!)

This was such a problem in England that Parliament passed a law in 1266 regulating the weight of bread, the penalty for shorting your customers being that you were nailed to your own doorstep by the ear. Uh, yeah. Shopkeepers decided that was a line they didn't want to cross, but there was no way to be sure that their loaves didn't contain an air pocket or two.

In order to stay within legal limits as well as assuring their costumers they weren't being shorted, it became common to bake thirteen loaves of bread, using the extra 13th as a "bonus" loaf. When a customer bought a regular loaf of bread, the baker also cut a chunk off the 13th loaf, to make up for any air pockets inside the first loaf.

Fascinating stuff, eh?

An SAT with Vicky Alvear Shecter, Author of CLEOPATRA'S MOON

2011-11-22T00:00:00.054-05:00

Before you start in with today's SAT, be sure to pop over to the blog of RC Lewis, my longtime crit partner and all around friend. Her entry MG/YA entry made the cut for the Baker's Dozen contest on Miss Snark's First Victim. Stop by and wish her luck!

I've got a different brand of SAT for you today, with Vicky Alvear Shecter, author of CLEOPATRA'S MOON, which I reviewed here. Typically my SAT's revolve around the author's writing journey to success, and their writing process. In talking with a historical fiction author, I found some salient points that I wanted to bring to the table for readers and writers alike.

BBC: CLEOPATRA'S MOON is historical fiction featuring Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the well-known Cleopatra VII and Roman general Marc Antony. How long did you research and what kind of sources did you delve into?

VAS: First of all, thanks for having me. I love this site! To answer your question, I spent about a year researching Cleopatra’s story for my mid-grade biography, CLEOPATRA RULES! I was so fascinated to learn that of the queen’s four children, only her daughter survived to adulthood.
Sadly, I discovered that there was very little written about Cleopatra Selene’s life. The only way to tell her story was to delve into fiction. Most of the ancient sources were Roman, by the way, and they had an axe to grind with Cleopatra, whom they blamed for the war between Octavian and Antony. Roman men weren’t that interested in the lives of girls and women so Selene barely got a mention. But I felt her story needed to be told. It took me another two years to finish researching and writing the book.

BBC: How much of CLEOPATRA'S MOON is fiction, and how much fact?

VAS: The nature of her relationships with people was fictionalized because all I had to go on were the barest outlines of her life—when she was born, who her parents were, when she was taken to Rome, when she was married off, when she died. So as long as I worked within the facts of period, I was free to create her inner world.

BBC: You did a fantastic job of portraying both cultures - Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome - while explaining the politics of the time in terms YA readers would be able to relate to. Was it difficult to translate all the plot complexities (cultural, political) for modern readers?

VAS: Thanks! Any success in making this story “relatable” to modern readers comes from my conviction that we humans never change. It seemed to me that there were plenty of parallels to modern politics. For example:
Octavianus “took down” a powerful woman (Cleo) by calling her sexually demeaning names and spreading wild rumors and negative propaganda about her. Still happening? Oh yeah. Just ask any high-school girl how often that happens to strong girls. Or watch TMZ.
In Rome, citizens exhausted by war and a teetering economy looked the other way as civil liberties were slowly stripped in the name of keeping the state “safe.” Happening today? Just look at TSA and Guantanamo.
A teen girl stunned to learn her freedoms are curtailed in another culture. Happening today? Of course. Just imagine any American girl having to live in, for example, an extreme culture where she can’t drive, go to school or dress the way she wants. It wouldn’t be pretty!
I could go on, but the larger point for me is that there’s nothing new under the sun. History gives us a fascinating and entertaining way to look at our own lives. And choices.

BBC: One of Cleopatra Selene's most endearing qualities is her fierce loyalty to her own religion and patron goddess, Isis, even under threat of death. How realistic are the rituals and scenes portraying Cleopatra's religion?

VAS: We actually don’t know exactly how the rites of the Mysteries of Isis went because no one ever wrote them down. As with so many “Mystery cults” of the ancient world, the rites were secret. And people kept them secret! (Kind of remarkable, when you think about it.)
However, most scholars believe that the rites include some form of dying to your old self and being “reborn.” I went with that idea and expanded it.

BBC: Some of the more disturbing aspects of ancient life are mentioned the book. For example, even noblewomen were married off very young for political gain, slaves could murdered at their master's will, and the Ptolemies (Cleopatra's Egyptian line) had a long history of marrying brothers and sisters. As a historical writer, what aspects were important to keep in the narrative for accuracy, and how did you weigh what to include for your young audience?

VAS: It was important to be true to the history. We do teens a disservice when we try to sugarcoat reality.
Plus, there’s the issue of being historically accurate! For example, one reviewer wondered why I didn’t have Cleopatra Selene question the practice of slavery.
My editor and I had actually discussed this because we knew slavery is a cultural hot point. But the truth is, NO ONE in the ancient world questioned the morality of slavery. The closest we get is the Roman writer Seneca cautioning slave owners not to abuse their slaves because that would be wrong ethically. That’s it.
The awareness of slavery as morally wrong didn’t actually take hold until the 16th century and beyond. So, if I’d made Cleopatra Selene suddenly question the practice, it would have been anachronistic.
I did, however, have her be disgusted when someone jokes about beating a slave. But doing anything else would’ve been historically false.

BBC: Cleopatra Selene was fortunate to be born into a culture that valued women. Do you think writing historical fiction portraying strong female characters is important to the modern YA reader? What do you think they can learn from it?

VAS: Portraying strong female characters is very important, especially in YA. Girls and boys need to see strong women taking action in their lives rather than being acted upon.
Here’s a perfect example of the importance of seeing/reading about strong women. When my son was very young, we had a female mayor in Atlanta (Shirley Franklin) and I’d bought a picture book biography of her to read with him. Years later, when another mayor was selected—this time a man—my son’s reaction was this: “A man mayor? That’s funny!”
When I explained that it was pretty common, he added, “Oh. I thought all mayors were women!”
I was stunned. But there it was—the power of seeing strong women in the world! Sadly, I have to add, there hasn’t been a female mayor in Atlanta since.
With Cleopatra Selene, I hope readers see that even as power was stripped from her externally, she ultimately maintained/discovered the power within herself.

Thanks for having me, Mindy!

What We Talk About When We Talk About Pain

2011-11-21T00:00:00.030-05:00

I've heard it said many times it's much easier to make your audience cry than laugh.

I'll add to that that it's easier to make your reader identify with falling in love than say, having your arm ripped off.

When we write we appeal to common experiences to allow our readers to fill in the blanks. The nervous tingling of your spine when you make eye contact with that guy/gal, the lingering burning sensation on your skin after you "accidentally" brush hands. These are all things we can allude to without going into detail. They know the drill.

If, though, we're talking about having your spine ripped out or a literal burning of the epidermis we tend to fall back on stock phrases. How many times have you read about "searing pain" or "explosions of pain?" It's like we can't even write about pain without using the word itself.

Even better is when the tortured character loses consciousness, the end-all writer's escape. C'mon? Really?

I don't have the answers about how to write pain effectively. I can say my approach is to read. A lot. And I pay attention when someone has written something distinctive enough to make me writhe a bit.

Writhe.

There's a good word.

The Saturday Slash

2011-11-19T00:00:00.059-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!"

OK - my hands aren't actually grimy, but I don't make any promises about the cleanliness of my editing tool. Meet the BBC Hatchet of Death (or, some other colorful description RC Lewis and I come up with at any given moment). This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot us an email. And a little bit of BBC literary info.

We all know the first line of a query is your "hook." I call the last line the "sinker." You want it to punch them in the face, in a nice, friendly kind of way that makes them unable to forget you after having read the 300 other queries in their inbox. Also, at the end, I'm going to tell you what I think your story is about, based on your query. I know how hard it is to get your ideas across succinctly, and how easy it is for your author's brain to fill in the blanks and not see the gaping holes that the average reader may very well fall into.

Also, for my brave Saturday Slash volunteers I will gladly do follow-up slashes (each more kindly than the next) on your query if you post them on the Query Critique board over on AgentQuery Connect. You'll get advice from me, and also people who are smarter than me. If you do post on AQ, be sure to follow the guidelines and let me know you posted so that I can follow up!

And now for our next brave soul. For clarity, my comments are in purple.

WAS THE WATER WARM? a contemporary coming of age YA novel that takes place over the course of 24 hours is complete at 62,000 words. This is a personal choice of mine, but I always put the genre and word count at the end of the query. You want something exciting and original in the beginning, and genre / word count isn't either of those things.

A nagging voice lives in the back of Rube's mind that questions if he’s making the right decision. I'd say you definitely need a stronger hook here. All teens have nagging voices, hell, I bet all adults do too. You need to get the originality of your plot front and center. He’s spent his summers working 55 hour weeks to pay his way through NYU In my opinion, this is going to throw up a red flag right away. It's slightly misleading the way it's presented here. Your MC is still in high school and earning the money for college, but on my first read I thought you were saying that he's in college and working to pay his way simultaneously to become a film producer. Yet how can he be sure this is what he wants, when he has no experience producing? Rube’s eighteen, he’s never been on a film set, or lived on his own let alone made a decision big even to affect the rest of his life.

But a life can change in 24 hours. A day after the first, and worst, sexual experience of his life, Rube meets Emma, a girl whose every move catches him off guard. Emma, takes Rube backstage at a music fest where he jumps in to help the concert crew fix an emergency wiring situation. Less than two hours later she’s taking Rube’s feelings for her and dropkicking them in the chest. Emma intended to lead him on in order to arrange a sexual hookup between Rube and her friend. Only Rube is sure his feelings for Emma are reciprocal. Suddenly we're talking a lot about sex and I don't see any kind of connection to the earlier para. I'd definitely use the idea of this sexual miscommunication and emotional wrangle into something for the hook - it sounds like the meat of your story is here in the relationship with Emma, and we don't hear about her until the third paragraph.

Instead of confronting Emma, Rube freezes unable to adequately address his feelings, he flees to a friend’s house party. Frustrated, and angry with himself for running as soon as sex was brought into the equation, Rube makes a rash play for a one night stand with a girl at the party. This feels more like a mini-synopsis at this point. You need your query to encapsulate the plot. Go for more broad strokes and less detail.

But when Emma appears at the party, Rube has a decision to make. Nut up, risk rejection, and tell Emma how he feels about her, or get the level of experience he thinks he needs to be with Emma, by having sex with the party girl. Again, this is a detailed synopsis of a single scene and episode in the book. And it doesn't seem to have a lot in connection with the idea of being a film producer and the larger life-decisions it sounded like he was going to be facing from the first paragraph.

Like THE DUFF I believe my manuscript walks an honest and realistic line in it's approach to teen relationships and sex. With my MC sharing his introspections on YA topics almost always handled by female protagonists it can be likened to CATCHING JORDAN for it's fresh perspective. Here, I think, is a great angle. I think there's a need for more boy POV books on the market and I would play this out.

My first impression when I started reading the query was that the book is about a boy questioning his life goals and major decisions in the summer before college. Then suddenly we're micro-focused on relationships and sex, and particularly one night at a party. That's all well and good, but it sounds like the major focus of the book is the relationship with Emma, and / or the sexual reality of teen life. If that's the case, you need to make this clear in the opening paragraph, because as it stands the query feels disjointed.

Any more tips for our volunteer?

What My Desk Looks Like Today

2011-11-18T10:45:00.002-05:00

Hooray!

I continue to love my job. Here's yet another big stack of fun hanging out in my office. And yes, the spray of dustjackets across the desk is part of my process. I'm an odd ~~duck~~ cat.

I spy with my little eye....
MY PHONE!!

What Color Was The Horse?

2011-11-18T00:00:00.014-05:00

Dean Rich (DCRich to AQC'ers) is returning the guesting favor here on Writer Writer! Enjoy!

I watched an episode of CSI, and the lead investigator shared a story with the detective and a lab tech. There was an auto accident, and a horse was injured. A police officer shot the horse, the bullet ricocheted off the horse’s skull and kills a fellow officer. The commanding officer asked “what color was the horse?” No one knew. Trained observers missed the obvious, what else did they miss?

As writers we watch, we observe, we ask what if? We develop characters, or the characters come to us with the stories they need us to tell. All well and good, except if one of the characters is the opposite gender of the writer. As a man I’m on safe ground writing about guy things. But stories are about people, relationships, conflict. So there are gals in guy stories, and guys in gal stories. How do we write about the opposite gender and make them believable?

I start with good old fashioned stereotypes. Girls/Women deal with feelings and emotions (Being stereotypical, work with me here!) Guys deal with practical and logic. Guys want to see what is on the other side of the mountain, the gal then wants to know what they need to wear and what will there be to eat. Guys vision, gals detail.

Then I begin to work out specifics and move away from the stereotype to what I’ve observed in women and girls I’ve known over the years. What is she like? What does she like? What gets her dander up? What will she be emotional about, and what will she stand up for?

It is a framework. It is a starting point. The characters will let you know if what you are doing is working or not. Just remember to note the color of the horse.

Thursday Thoughts

2011-11-17T00:00:00.044-05:00

Before you get your weekly dose of my brain, hit up AM Supinger's blog for a short story featuring... me as the main character. In cat form. Attacking zombies. With corn. No really.

Also, I'll be in the AgentQuery Connect chat room this evening. Our weekly chat is going to be an open Q&A with myself, so if you've got any lingering questions, drop in and ask!

I have a roving mind. I'm sure that's a shock to everyone. Through the course of each week I tend to accumulate random wonderings in my mind, most of which never evolve into anything other than a niggling question that's going to bother me until I 1) ask someone who knows or 2) go find the answer myself.

As you can imagine, it's been an insane ride for me the past week. I have no idea how to process the fact that I've finally accomplished my life goal. And I'm 32, so I decided I needed some new life goals. Obviously, I'm not going to say, "Hooray! I'm published! So now I'm done with that." Uh, no. The assumed continued life goal is to have a career in writing.

In other arenas, here are my thoughts:

1) I want to learn another language. Thoroughly. I used to speak passable French, but I believe it's all leaked out of me since college. I also learned Koine Greek as a Religion major, but again, I believe it may have left me. Koine Greek is very much a dead language, so I don't get to practice speaking it a lot, which is where mastery comes from. I still have my textbook though, so I see myself diving back into that. I also want to learn Gaelic (or "Irish" as Google Translate calls it). Yes, I'm totally devoted to learning more things that will probably never serve a useful purpose in my daily life.

2) Related to my urge to speak Gaelic; I want to trace my Irish ancestry back to the homeland. I've managed to track the slippery McGinnis line to about 1775, and we're still in America. Pennsylvania, to be precise. Apparently we got on that boat early (knee-slapper!). I've been dead-ended in PA for about three years and need to relaunch myself in the genealogy arena. My German line was pretty thoroughly researched before I even came along, and by that I mean thoroughly. Like 15th century thoroughly.

3) I mentioned this on AgentQuery, but I'm going to pick up playing piano again. I used to be decent. No prodigy, but better than your average stray animal.

Wednesday WOLF

2011-11-16T00:00:00.045-05:00

Quickly before your word origin lesson of the day - I'm taking a SHIT on someone else's blog. In the nice, interview type way. Awesome friend and soon-to-be-published author Anita Howard set me up with my own questions over on A Still And Quiet Madness. Hit it up to find out about my submission experience!

I'm such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF (oh, how clever is she? She made an acronym out of her agency's name!) Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

You have the indomitable RC Lewis to thank for today's WOLF. During the course of our daily and verbose e-conversations, she used the word tenterhooks. Me being the self-proclaimed nerd immediately said, "Hey, I know where that word comes from!" And, as I know her ACT score (ahem, higher than mine) I assumed she did too.

But she had fallen for the same trap I did, years ago when BBC-That-Was thought that tenterhooks referred to a hook that you would hang a meat or carcass from. Alas! This is incorrect.

A tenter is a wooden frame, used in the stretching and drying of woolen cloth to remove the weave and reduce shrinkage once it became a garment. A tenterhook is one of the many hooks on the frame used to stretch the fabric.

Pic Credit:
http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/exeter_wool.php

Although this practice is very much a thing of the past, when you think about it, it makes quite a bit of sense. When you say you're "on tenterhooks," what you're conveying is that you are stressed and tense while waiting to discover something.

It does not mean, "Wow! I'm so excited to hear what happens next that it's like I'm a hollowed out carcass hanging from a hook!"

Knock, Knock... Housekeeping!

2011-11-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

A few things to cover quickly before I go to write up the lovely Wednesday Wolf for tomorrow (this one entirely owed to RC Lewis).

I was recently interviewed by Brittany Roshelle over on The Write Stuff. It posted today, so hit up her lovely blog.

I've had a few questions come to me since my announcement and I'll answer them here:

1) Yes, I fully intend to keep doing the Saturday Slash. I like making queries bleed. If I have a lot of requests I will be backlogged, but aspiring writers are accustomed to waiting, right?

2) I know I need a better author photo. I swear to you that the left side of my face is not horribly disfigured.

3) No, I don't have a Facebook author page yet. Need to do that. Kind of waiting on getting a better author photo.

4) That's really it. I just enjoy even numbers. Also, cholera is a bad thing.

5) And... something else came up. You may or may not know that my internet homebase, AgentQuery Connect holds weekly chats on Thursdays @9 PM EST. This week's session will be a live, open Q&A with me. So drop in, ask me questions. I'll answer them. Could be interesting.

6) Even numbers rock.

In Which I Talk About The Meaning of Anti-Climactic

2011-11-14T12:52:00.001-05:00

Most of you have been with me for awhile, so you're aware of what a long, long road my writing journey has been.

But I'm up for a recap :)

I started writing with the intent to be published roughly ten years ago. When I finished my first novel I looked into the process of getting "there" and discovered that writing the book was half the battle. Actually it was more like 1/8th the battle, in my case. I wrote a 2 1/2 page query (hooray for ignorance!) and fired that bad boy off. Fired as fast as the USPS fires things, at any rate. This was in the SASE days.

Amazingly, a few requests came in. I rejoiced, and sent of my unedited, non-polished novel and received the inevitable rejections shortly thereafter. Refusing to be daunted, I kept throwing trash into the wind. A couple of years later and a near miss with a scam I wrote another (very bad) novel and attempted querying that, without success.

Fate, in the form of my sister, stepped in and let me know there was an opening for a YA librarian in a public school. So I said, "Why not?" and quickly became immersed in the literature. This was right before Twilightgate and suddenly, YA was the place to be. I said to myself, "Hey, I know the market and the audience - why am I writing for adults?"

Good question. So I started writing for teens - and I love it. But that didn't mean I was any better at it, or knew what I was doing. I wrote my first YA novel, and racked up 130+ rejections. Yep, that many. At that point I said to myself, "OK, clearly I am doing something wrong." I got smart, joined excellent communities like AgentQuery Connect and QueryTracker, and found out that uh, yeah, I was definitely doing things wrong.

Short version - I wrote a new YA novel, polished and perfected the query with the help of some excellent people over at AQ and had eight full requests and two offers of representation within the first two rounds of query sending. Is it because I'm really awesome and talented? Maybe. But that doesn't mean a thing without agent research and query writing skills.

Hooray! I had an agent, Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary. That in itself was totally awesome. So what's the buzzkill? Submission process. In reality, my process was not horrible, but it wasn't the overnight success we all wish for either. I was out on subs from early spring to late fall, and every single editor rejection felt like I was being stabbed. In the kidneys. And you need those, by the way.

Don't get me wrong, I had polite, complimentary, detailed rejections. Which is what you want, as a writer; the reasons why you didn't make the cut. What killed me was that so many of the reasons were contradictory to what I'd heard the day before. And there were close shaves too, so I kind of felt like stabbing myself in the eyes. And you need those too, by the way.

We were on our third round and I was starting to wonder if Adriann might have suffered a serious judgement lapse in signing me when suddenly... we were roses. Interest, offers, auction. I still don't what happened, although I guess this is proof that subjectivity plays a major role at all levels. As detailed here, I slapped my laptop and said bad words when I got the email from Adriann.

And then? I couldn't tell anyone except family until the Publisher's Marketplace announcement. Dad was working. Mom wasn't answering her phone. Sister was at play practice. Boyfriend was at work. So I sat by myself for awhile at my kitchen table, and eventually got up and scooped the litter pan. Yes, really.

Eventually my sister picked up and I said I wanted to talk to her about something. I was going to drop off some library books in the book drop (it was night-time by now) and she was still in town. I told her I'd meet her in the parking lot to have a quick word. But then she decided that we should eat dinner - something I was not planning on or dressed for.

So I ended up setting in the ice cream parlor where I had my first job when I shared my news. My sister dropped her cracker in her chili and said, "How are you feeling?"

And I said, "Well, I'm setting here in pajama pants and a sweatshirt without any bra or underwear on, so really this is pretty much how I expected it to play out."

Reality? Check.

2011-11-13T15:21:00.001-05:00

So, something happened.

My agent, Adriann Ranta, sold NOT A DROP TO DRINK and its sequel to Sarah Shumway at Harper Collins. And my reaction to that is:

.... Uh, Wow. Actually, my immediate reaction was to take the Lord's name in vain and slap my laptop shut. I then apologized to both Jesus and the Mac and double-checked the facts of the case. It was still true, I was conscious, and I was sold.

I've known since about seventh grade that I wanted to be an author; it's been my life goal for a long time. So, now I've managed that.

Check mark.

I'll give you the details tomorrow, as you can imagine the whole thing went down BBC-style, and is quite humorous.

The Saturday Slash

2011-11-12T00:00:00.050-05:00

So, I opened up myself to critiquing queries, and quite a few of you said - "Yes! Me! I love it when other people jam their grimy fingers into my carefully polished words!"

Query Contest Alert!

2011-11-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

Krista V. of Mother, Write, Repeat is helping out her fellows once again!

Check out her blog today for the details on an upcoming Agent's Inbox Contest.

BBC Book Talk - CLEOPATRA'S MOON by Vicky Alvear Shecter

2011-11-10T22:47:00.001-05:00

Most of us know at least something about Cleopatra VII - that would be she of the viper and Marc Antony. It's likely that some of what you know is false; the romanticized versions of her life are more fiction than fact. What a lot of people don't know is that Cleopatra had a daughter - also Cleopatra (it was a Ptolemy thing) - who had a heck of an interesting life herself, but has always existed in the long shadow of her mother.

Vicky Alvear Shecter sets out to right this wrong in her YA novel CLEOPATRA'S MOON. It's a well plotted, nicely delivered historical jaunt with plenty of life lessons for female teens and a love story on top for the win. Shecter pulls world-building double duty in masterfully re-creating both Ancient Egypt and Rome as our main character, Cleopatra Selene, is forcefully removed from her homeland after her mother's death. Cleopatra and her surviving brothers, sons of Marc Antony, are brought to Egypt to live with (of all people) Marc Antony's Roman wife, Octavia, whom he had abandoned in favor of Cleopatra VII.

Yes, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Used as political pawns in Ceasar Octavian's skillfully manipulated empire, Cleopatra's children must learn to survive in a culture foreign to them. Cleopatra Selene remains fiercely loyal to her patron goddess, Isis, performing her rituals even under threat of death. Meanwhile, the siren song of Rome - wine and women - is calling her brothers away from their culture of birth.

Intelligent and attractive, Cleopatra Selene has to decide whether she will allow her body to be used to further the Ptolemy line in an advantageous marriage of Ceasar's making, or if she will give in to the equally powerful pull of her own heart - which is headed in another direction.

Thursday Thoughts

2011-11-10T00:00:00.029-05:00

Thoughts lately:

1) The word "testify" more than likely does not have any relevancy to a man's testicles, which has me kind of sad, as I wanted to use it as Wednesday Wolf, but didn't have enough evidence that it's factual. I'm bummed by this, as I'd really like to be able to use the female counterpart "Boobify!" to indicate my strong agreement with someone else.

Why no, I *don't* get out much

2) I'm a red meat eater, we're talking like velociraptor levels. I've got it in my head that I want to know how many cows I've eaten in my lifetime. I think I'm hitting herd levels.

3) The brain is an amazing thing. It makes your mouth have knee-jerk reactions. When I was potty-training my youngest, I had a student come up to the circulation desk and ask me if she could use the bathroom. I said, "Yes, and don't forget to wipe." She was kind of mortified. Those random synapse firings can take you strange places.

Wednesday WOLF

2011-11-09T00:00:00.037-05:00

I'm such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF (oh, how clever is she? She made an acronym out of her agency's name!) Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

This week I came across something awesome and fitting. As I am such a big fan of the inane and trivial I looked up the origin or the word... trivial.

Trivial has its origins in the physical layout of Ancient Rome. Say what? No really. We've learned a lot from the Romans but one thing we didn't take from them is street grids. Ancient Rome was a twisty, turny city. There were many places where three roads converged, dumping all their foot traffic into a convenient location for temples and food carts. And who wants to eat alone? Lollygagging and gossiping became a trademark of these areas, and any news that one overheard there was usually of the non-important sort, thus it was tri (Latin prefix for "three") via (Latin for "way" or "road").

Submission Success with Leigh Bardugo

2011-11-08T00:00:00.050-05:00

Don't worry, there's a SHIT coming your way... but first I want to let everyone know that I'm up this week over at From the Write Angle, my blog home away from home.

If there's one thing that many aspiring writers have few clues about, it's the submission process. There are good reasons for that; authors aren't exactly encouraged to talk in detail about our own submission experiences, and - just like agent hunting - everyone's story is different.

I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

Today's guest is Leigh Bardugo author of SHADOW & BONE, coming from Macmillan / Holt, June 5 2012. Inspired by Tsarist Russia, SHADOW & BONE brings to life a fantasy world of superstition and science, saints and samovars, in which a lonely refugee must leave behind her best friend– and first love– to save her country from the growing darkness of the Unsea. But first she must contend with the dangerous and decadent world of the kingdom’s magical elite and their powerful leader, a creature of dark charm and deadly ambition.

Leigh's blogs over at Last Leigh (how clever is that?), and she's also on Twitter.

BBC: How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?
LB: Nothing. I wasn't yet active in writers' groups or online forums so I was woefully under-informed.

BBC: Did anything about the process surprise you?
LB: I hadn't expected that I would have opportunities to chat with editors interested in my book. It makes perfect sense, but I think I'd just assumed that the manuscript would get to do all of the talking. The calls varied widely. Some editors asked questions about the book-- the inspiration, plans for the series. Others discussed how they responded to the story or their approach to launching a new title. Basically, sometimes you feel like you're auditioning, and sometimes you feel like you're being courted. Either way, it's exciting.

BBC: Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?
LB: Yes, particularly if I had calls scheduled with them. It's important to know what projects an editor has worked on. And it can't hurt to find out what kind of success a house has had with titles like yours. (Many editors now tweet and blog so you can get a feeling for their tastes and sensibilities that way, too.) Personally, I find research comforting. When you're working on the ms, you're all-powerful. You're the author and that story belongs wholly to you. But as soon as you click send on the first query or mail out that first envelope, the power dynamic changes completely. It's easy to feel helpless or freaked out, so arming yourself with information can help take the edge off.

BBC: What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?
LB: If I remember correctly, we started getting calls and requests for synopses of the second and third books in the trilogy just a few days after we went out. We had our first offer by the next week. That was right before Thanksgiving. The next offers came pretty quickly after the holiday and soon we were on our way to auction. I'd prepared myself to hunker down for a long wait so the speed with which it all happened was really thrilling.
(This may go without saying, but I just want to point out that the process doesn't always go this smoothly. I had the help of a phenomenal agent, and I also got very lucky. I don't want people who are in the trenches to get discouraged if things don't happen right away.)

BBC: What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?
LB: Consider a medically induced coma. If that isn't a possibility, stay busy. I did a lot of baking and cooking. I'm not particularly good at either, so they tend to keep my brain occupied. If you have a new project to work on, dive in. Also, if you have friends or relatives keeping the watch with you, then you may want to institute a "When I have news, I'll tell you" policy and ask them not to inquire.

BBC: If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?
LB: Because we went to auction so quickly, I think I was spared the worst of it. When editors passed or chose to drop out of the auction, the news came through my agent who served as both a buffer and a comrade in arms. (Notice how military metaphors keep coming up?) Querying is a lot lonelier.
But I will say that the terror before the first offer was really profound. Keep in mind that, because of the way querying works, a few rejections from agents were still straggling in after I'd signed with Jo. Every single one of them stung. They became a kind of Greek chorus in my head, "We're right. She's wrong. You suck."

BBC: When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?
LB: I was in the produce section of Whole Foods when my agent called with the first offer. I made a sound that was somewhere between a shriek and a yelp. Let's be honest, I may have squawked. Then I left my cart by the apples and went outside to hyperventilate. The knowledge that I was actually going to be a published author absolutely rocked me.
From there, things just got crazier and better with every passing moment. But even after the final offers were in, even after the deal was made, some part of me still thought that everyone at Macmillan/Holt would wake up the next morning with an acquisitions hangover and say, "What the hell did we just do?" I had a similar fear when I turned in Book 2 of the trilogy to my editor. I suspect I'll feel the same way when my book ships to stores. I don't think that insecurity ever goes away.

BBC: Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?
LB: I had to wait until the announcement was made in Publisher's Marketplace to talk about it publicly, but I was able to tell the people closest to me before then and that was what really mattered.
The night we finalized the deal, my friends threw a little dinner party for me. We drank champagne and danced like crazy around the living room and made weepy toasts. It was all just beautiful because these were the people who knew how much this book meant. They'd been on the journey with me-- not just from draft to agent to deal, but long before.
I put a picture up on my blog a little while ago. It's a fairly hilarious drawing that my best friend made for me when we were 14 years old. It's me at a book signing. Excluding a brief period in the fourth grade when I was sure I would become an astronaut/fashion designer, it's not exaggerating to say that this is what I've always wanted. Waiting a few days to tell Facebook that all my dreams were coming true didn't make much difference.