Book Challenge!

Summer is approaching. I’m revving up my engines, getting ready for the Grand Novel Finishing Project. Book in a month, baby! I’m on page 130 of my new wip and I love it so much I’m going to finish it even without an editorial wouldbeinterested letter. Yes, I know that’s a marketing risk, but whatever. :blahblah:

The husband is out of town for the next week, so the evenings are mine, ALL MINE! I love the man dearly, but it’s hard to work with the interruptions.

So, if anyone is interested in having daily page challenges, I’m going to post my output at the bottom of my blog entry. I’m a natural competitor (gee, I’m sure you didn’t know that!!) and I love to participate in writing challenges. We can encourage each other to outdo the other person’s page count. Though I think Chrys has me beaten so far.

Last night’s output: 7 pages. My goal was 5, so I met and exceeded it.
Today’s goal: 7 pages. Maybe I’ll exceed that? Depends on the kidlets.

Are editor/agent appointments really that valuable?

Warning: soapbox alert:

I’ve been listening to a lot of people stressing out about editor/agent appointments. There were even some drama queens who insisted that their CAREER was FINISHED because they didn’t get an appointment with editor X or agent Y. It was now a waste of money to attend the conference. Life, as they knew it, was now clearly over.

There are other people who are gloating that they DID get their appointment but the stress of pitching their book is practically giving them a nervous breakdown.

I have attended three national conferences now, and I have a different opinion. When you get an appointment, the editor/agent is looking for new authors. They WANT to find somebody hot, hot, hot! They are automatically going to ask you for three chapters, minimum (unless you’re writing a two-headed vampire mystery with bestiality). If they like the concept, they’ll request the full manuscript. But guess what? That’s all you get. The rest depends entirely on your writing skills. If you ain’t got it, honey, no request will help your career. Editor/agent appointments are just an open door. This is the first year I actually received an appointment that was appropriate to my manuscript (don’t know why anyone didn’t want a two-headed vampire story, but there you go). Not my first choice, but I have something lined up.

But here’s the thing–at my last conference I didn’t get any appointments. I made my own opportunities by talking to editors after workshops, at book signings, and in general by trying to be a decent person. I came away with four requests.

So my advice to the whiners who moan about not getting any appointments is this: write a query letter. Write three chapters. Send them to all the people you wanted appointments with but didn’t get and tell them how you regretted not getting that opportunity in person. If you get a request, when you see that editor at the conference, tell them how much you appreciate their time. Maybe they’ll remember your submission when they see you.

Who knows, if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll sell your book BEFORE the conference.

4 Leaf Clovers, Rabbit Feet, and Horseshoes

Good luck is starting to spread around. Check out Larissa Ione’s good news!

I printed out His Chosen Bride last night and boxed it up. It’s ready to go. There’s something immensely satisfying about seeing a completed book, printed and boxed. It’s one of the greatest writing affirmations to look at that package and think–I wrote that. Wow.

The last time I mailed off this manuscript to Mills & Boon, I petted the box and told it to be good. I rubbed the top of it and told it to make an editor smile. Crazy, huh? But that’s when I received my first revision letter.

I had to resist the urge to cover this box with four leaf clovers and horseshoes. I thought about rabbit feet, but that would be rather disgusting, having bloody little bunny appendages stuck to a package. Not to mention the er…aroma. But this box has been petted, told to be good, and magic fairy dust has been liberally sprinkled all over.

I believe that this is the one. It’s going to happen for me with this book.

The Dinner Blahs

I finished reading my book, revisions are done, and today is printing and typo-hunting day. All right!

In other topics, do you ever find that you’re facing dinnertime, you have thirty minutes or less to get dinner ready, and you stare into the freezer thinking–No way do I want to eat that? I go through phases like this. I stare at the neatly wrapped frozen hamburger packages and the idea of making spaghetti, meatloaf, or tacos makes me want to run for the nearest Chick-Fil-A. Nothing looks good or sounds appetizing.

Sometimes I hit upon a brilliant solution–rip off a major restaurant’s meal. Like the time I found the recipe for Houlihan’s Baked Potato Soup. Or the time I found the recipe for Fajitas like Chilis. Let me tell you, I have never made Fajitas out of the box since. You just can’t beat the taste of marinated, grilled meat. OMG. Seriously, try out these recipes. They’re to die for.

But I find myself getting bored again. I need a new recipe to rip off. So that leads me to the next question for you all–when you eat out at a restaurant, what is a meal you buy all the time and love?

Edits and Revisions

I should be ready to mail my book back to M&B in another day or so. I’ve completed all the revisions the editor requested and now I’m just doing a final read-through to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. I did catch one error. I left a secondary character chained in the dungeon. Oops. Must fix that.

My husband also accused me of having a lavender fetish. The heroine’s scent is lavender and at one other moment I described the sunrise as having lavender streaks. It’s a color, okay! It’s not like everything in the book is lavender. I think I used it three times, total.

The other edit that cracked me up was when I described my Irish warrior as having bronzed muscles. My husband pointed out that, with the latitude of Ireland, the man would be pasty white. Especially since the book takes place during December. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing romantic about saying, “He flexed his pasty white muscles.” We have to have some room for fantasy.

Overall, I’m liking this book. Hope it sells! It still has to make the rounds past senior editor approval, I’m sure. Fingers crossed!

Back to your regularly scheduled blog

My three-year-old is obsessed with moods. He will ask, “Are you happy? Is that a happy face?” I’ll tell him, no, but I’m fine.

Him: “Are you a sad face?”
Me: “No, I’m fine. Just neutral.”
Him: “But are you happy? Show me a happy face!”

Rinse, repeat.

Toddlers are so obsessive-compulsive, it’s a wonder they don’t open a clinic for them. They will eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for WEEKS and then suddenly they won’t eat the crusts. You never know what sort of random crusade they’ll go on next. They love spaghetti. No, now they hate it. They adore green beans. Now they loathe them.

But there is one truth that will never die. Toddlers will happily throw themselves off a cliff for a single piece of chocolate. I have never met a toddler who would not brave the fires of hell (or a bath :bath:) for the promise of dessert.

My daughter caught me opening the wrapper to a Hershey’s nugget and suddenly began running across the room toward me. Keep in mind, the child only learned to walk about four weeks ago. But when she saw the promise of the Holy Grail of Hershey’s, the theme song to Chariots of Fire burst forth, and she chugged her way across the room.

Only to trip and fall sprawling on her face.

At that point, she unleashed her fury, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Maaaaa!” which, loosely translated means, “Give me the d*mn chocolate or I’ll wake you up at 4:00 a.m. for the next two weeks!”

Ah, motherhood.

Hyah Mule! ::CRACK::

Okay, I have no idea how that’s supposed to be spelled, but you know what I mean.

I opened up His Chosen Bride and started going through the revisions. The first one was an easy fix–just needed a bit of dialogue. There was one scene she wanted me to change because she didn’t see the point of making the villain sympathetic. LOL. Guess that’s true since the hero kills him later anyway.

Most of it seems to be clarifications and deletions. I’m still stunned by this. Very very minor stuff.

In any case, I should be able to get these done today, easy. I’m going to take my time, though, and make sure there’s nothing glaring. Although she said “We” when she mentioned the folks who had read it, I don’t know if the senior editor has read it. That could still take a while. So, while I’ll be mailing this puppy out very soon, I do realize the reality of the situation. Buying a book takes time.

I don’t think I slept at all last night. At Mass this morning, the priest was talking and I kept visualizing The Call. Bad, bad Michelle. Can’t put the cart before the horse. But oh, I want this SO BADLY. I can taste it. (It’s like Cadbury’s chocolate, in case you’re wondering.)

But one thing really struck me. This past year I have been more focused and I’ve been thinking more optimistically than I ever have before. I truly believe that I’ll sell a book and become a published author. No, I know it in my heart. When I pass by the grocery store book shelves, I really do think to myself–Someday I’ll be there. :crazyjumping:

Can’t wait to see what happens next!! Now I’m off to go tackle those revisions.

‘Scuse me while I go pass out…

Today is, quite possibly, the best day of my life. I got a letter in the mail today from Mills & Boon Historicals. They wrote: “We really enjoyed sharing the unfolding romance between Bevan and Genevieve, and had an instant empathy for Genevieve whilst we found Bevan to be an immensely charismatic and appealing hero. The attention to historical detail is spot on, whilst you have created a really interesting, exciting and emotional story, with strong hooks, compelling conflict and excellent characterisation.”

SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!!!!

THEY WANT ME TO SEND IT BACK WITH MINOR REVISIONS!!!!!

SCREAM!!!!!! :confused2:

Workshops and Speakers and Lunches, Oh My!

Today my local chapter is having a guest speaker, Michelle Monkou. I love workshops and motivational speakers. Especially when they involve chocolate (my chapter is so smart about this. If you feed them, they will come). There’s something about spending a day learning new things that is exciting and energizing.

Okay, okay, you’re right. The real energy comes from my husband watching the children ALL DAY and I get to have some time ALONE. I have a wild urge to yell, “They’re yours! All yours! Diapers and all! Bwahahahaaa….” :starwars:

I love my children. Dearly. They are the apples of my eye, but when you are on Mom-duty 24-7, having a few hours by yourself is sweet, pure Elysium. Two of my teacher friends are pregnant. They are in that lovely glowing phase where they read their books which state things like, “Your child is the size of a jelly bean today.” And the best thing about being pregnant for the first time is when your husband asks, “So how was your day?” and you can say important, meaningful things like, “It was great. I grew a set of lungs today and a liver.” Man, try competing with that one. It’s almost worth the all-day sickness (morning? Ha!).

So, anyhoo, I’ll share the knowledge I learn from today’s workshops later on. In the meantime, have a great Saturday!

A Child of the 80s

As many of you know, by day, I’m a teacher to hormonally-charged little people (12 year olds). A few years back, I was trying to think of a fun way to incorporate music into my American history class. My husband came up with a great idea: The Song of the Day. As the kids enter my room when they change classes, I play a song from whatever decade they’re studying. In the 1920’s, we played “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby” and “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue.” During WWII, we listened to Glenn Miller, and the Andrews Sisters.

But now, we’ve reached my decade: the 1980s. I am gleefully rubbing my hands together, figuring out which songs accurately depict the greatest decade of music EVER. I spent tonight burning a CD of possible songs. I have to choose only 6. But which ones? Which 6 songs can possibly be the perfect 1980s songs? It was like trying to choose between my children.

At last, I narrowed it down to nineteen. There were more, but I ran out of space on the CD. In any case, here are some of my top 1980s favorite songs. Which ones would you choose? Or, which songs were your favorite songs growing up?

Here are some of my top favorites, in no particular order:
Mickey by Toni Basil
Whip It by Devo
Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield
867-5309 by Tommy Tutone
Maneater by Hall & Oates
Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran
Africa by Toto
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
Major Tom by Peter Schilling
In a Big Country by Big Country
Karma Chameleon by Culture Club
Maniac by Michael Sembello
Mr. Roboto by Styx
Man in Motion by John Parr
Life in a Northern Town by the Dream Academy
We Built this City by Starship
Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer
Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles
Venus by Bananarama
Wild Wild West by the Escape Club