Self-Publishing

I've been toying around with the idea of self-publishing one of my novels while still querying for an agent. My main goal is to get my book out into the world and into reader's hands. I chatted with my friend Janice about the process, since she's well-versed in the subject, and she gave me her two cents.

In fact, she wrote a couple of good posts about the topic. A general overview, here, and the cons, here. There's going to be a third installment soon about the pros and her personal journey with the process.

So check it out. If you're on the fence about self-publishing, this might help you pick a yard to stand in.

--Me

There's nothing like a good song

One of the many memories I have growing up, is that our life was never without music. In the house, in the car, our mom always had it playing (she was also an aerobics instructor). I’ve had a background of music from Air to Enya to CCR to Simon & Garfunkel to the Beach Boys and all other kinds of oldies. Then, as I developed my own tastes, I spread my wings even further to cover such great bands as New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys (Spare me the judgment, I was in elementary school for the former, but concede that I was old enough to know better for the latter.). From The Offspring in 6th grade (THANK YOU Jeremy) to BeastieBoys, POD, Dr. Dre, Juvenile & Chingy, and Jars of Clay in high school. Then there was all the amazing rock that came out of the 90's--my favorite of which was Nirvana. 

I went through my serious rock/kill the puppies music to rap & hip hop stage in high school as well. From George Winston and Yo Yo Ma to Mumford & Sons and The Civil Wars in my college & post college years. But I’ve never ventured into country (except for a select few of Carrie Underwood and one or two from Taylor Swift’s new album, Red). Wait…there was that one Alan Jackson CD in Jr. High….

Blessed by such an eclectic background of songs, I can find pleasure in almost any type of music. Sure I have strong preferences as well as aversions to certain kinds of music over others, but mostly, I like ‘em all. We all have certain songs or artists we listen to when we’re in certain moods (I really like Korn when I’m pissed or in a particularly vengeful mood, not gonna lie). Sometimes, when we’re particularly palatable, the music shapes our emotions and days. I really believe music (like many things) can be that powerful.

When I’m working on a books, I tend to find that a certain band or soundtrack really speaks to me while I’m writing. As a result, whenever I listen to said music now, I’m instantly consumed by the book I was writing at the time. Case and point: Ludovico Einaudi for White City, AFI for Edge of Heaven, and A Perfect Circle/Imagine Dragons/KDrew for my Outcast Series (Caste).

The point is this: a good song is a lot like a good book. The lyrics, the music, the atmosphere of the song can all come together to tell an amazing story. A lot of times, (whether it’s just a score or a particularly impactful(ing?) lyrical arrangement) I can get inspired by a single song. Whether it’s a story that’s born in my head, a spark for a story that sprung from a line in one of the stanzas, the background music I need to set the tone for a scene I’m writing, or whatever, I couldn’t live very productively without music in my life.

I feel that strongly about it.

Also, you can find pretty good titles in song lyrics.

Here's a list of a few more recently inspirational songs/artists on YouTube. Take a listen, you may find something new you like. 

• Steven Sharp Nelson (Cellist) 
• Need to Breathe
• Kerry Muzzey
• Florence & the Machine

--Me

Story Dice

--Me

Story Cubes!

So, the A2Z Blogging Challenge made me realize something: Random writing prompts are fun, simple, and good exercise. I've had these story cubes for a while (Wal-Mart for only five bucks) and have played with them and thought I should let you guys use them, too.

So, every Thursday, i'll give the dice a roll, throw a theme out there and urge you to spend no more than 500 words telling a story using all nine cubes (feel free to use artistic interpretation for the cubes' contents). Maybe I'll have you email them to me and I'll pick a winner and you'll win something yet-to-be-decided but still ultimately cool.

What'day think? Should we try that?

Theme: A crazy vacation

So! Write your story, email it to me, and I'll pick a winner and announce the prize on my blog the next week. :) This will be fun!

The ? is a freebee

--Me

Theme Song

Found the theme song for my newest YA book - Annihilation by A Perfect Circle. Enjoy!

--Me

Liebster Blog Award!

I had a great surprise yesterday! Heather over at Into the Cuckoo's Nest (a great blog with YA book reviews sprinkled with Heather's funny personality) nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award! Yay! Thanks, Heather! You all should go check her out.

Who me? You're sure? Positive? Why THANK YOU!

Now, I know a number of you are asking, "What the heck is the Liebster Blog Award?" Well, let me tell you. It's an award handed out by fellow bloggers to blogs with fewer than 200 followers. The goal of doing this is to recognize stellar, lesser-known blogs and hopefully get their blogs out there to become more known.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award
2. Nominate up to 5 other bloggers for the award
3. Let them know you've nominated them by putting a comment on their blog or sending them a tweet
4. Post the award on your own blog
5. (this one was added by Geeky Tendencies via inspirenordic) Follow my blog and consider signing up for the A to Z Challenge. It's a great way to find new and interesting blogs, it helps people find your blog, and you meet new bloggers. Who knows? You might just meet (and cross) that 200 followers mark!

I'm gonna try for the 5th one, but no promise. I'm busy folks. I'm sure you all can relate. Okay, here are my five nominations:

Beth Albright over at The Sassy Belle. This is a genuine belle from 'Bama who roots for the Crimson Tide all the way. I first met her at SFWC 2011 and since then, she's been like a sister to me. Her blog is full of fun southern stories from her childhood. Look out for her, 'cuz when she hits the publishing world, she's goin' to be a storm to reckin' with!

Dave over at Dave DiGrazie. This is another amazing writer I met at SFWC back in 2011. His blog is amazing and really shows off his skills as a talented writer and always something interesting to say. While you're there, check out his recently published book, Von Lagerhaus, and keep an eye peeled for his soon to be released, See John Play.

Pam Brewer over at Reading Fun. In to romance books? Check out Pam's blog. Chances are, if it's out in the market, she's read it. Her reviews are concise and spot on.

CM Talbert over at Water on Rock.I met Clint at (you guessed it) SFWC 2011 and instantly became fast friends with him. He'll probably be one the the smartest, well-rounded, funny, easy-going, individuals you'll ever meet. Actually, he earned two nicknames that year, Jack of all Trades and Chief Imagination Officer. And while his blog is mostly technical, it's 100% him, talking about all things under the sun with his own charm and humor. Check it out.

Madison Paige over at The Writer's Chronicles. While it's a newer blog and she doesn't post very often, what she does post is always worth reading.

So go forth and check them all out. They're are, in one word, FANTABULOUS. :)





--Me

Another Conference! Yay!

Just registered for the @scbwi writer's conference in April sponsored by the Utah/Idaho chapter! Woot-woot!

Speed Dating

Disclaimer: This is going to be a long post. But I'll try and make it interesting in a way only I can :)

When I registered for SFWC, I paid the extra $50 for Speed Dating. But when I showed up to the conference on Thursday, I wasn't feeling entirely sure of myself. I was seriously considering not even doing Speed Dating. My newest project is a dystopian….but not like the other dystopians out there. I was afraid that when I told the agents the genre, they'd roll their eyes and think, great, another dystopian and I'd be embarrassed. Kind of like if I were pitching a vampire book when the whole Twilight/TVD craze first started. Then I started thinking about all the people who would be asking me about Speed Dating when I got home. Hubby, my mom, Renee, Janice…the list goes on. They'd be frustrated that I didn't take the opportunity, and I'd be disappointed I took the coward's way out and didn't go through with it. So, I bit the bullet (roughly the size of a 9mm) and committed to Speed Dating.

Now the decision was, which book to pitch? WHITE CITY or my new project? Only one agent was in attendance this year who I pitched WHITE CITY to last year, so I could just pitch my new project on her. After all, I was still having my doubts about my new project, even though I loved it. And, I reasoned, I already had an agent ask for a full on WHITE CITY with an R & R, so it has to be good, right? Plus, I really love Lexi and Seth, and that story is so unique. Why not? But then doubt on that started to creep in. Is WHITE CITY strong enough to have agents ask to see more this time around? Maybe…Mabye? Maybe. Grrr! I was so frustrated.

Then I remembered I wrote my new project in 30 days. I busted my butt to have it edited and polished in 3.5 months so it would be ready to go with me to San Francisco. Why would I want to have all that effort wasted for nothing? And besides, this was its first trip into the real world, what better place to get feedback before I really start to query for it, than here? It'll be like a test market, I told myself. So, I bit the bullet again (this time a 30-06). And so, the decision was made. But a pitch had yet to be written.

For those of you who know me, you know I'm not a pushy person. I tend to be laid back and take action when necessary, but don't want to make people feel uncomfortable or be the one to inconvenience others. Sometimes this personality trait I have a bad thing and good opportunities pass me by; this last weekend, though, at the SFWC, it was to my advantage, and my carefully calculated plan of attack proved sucessful.

There were seven YA agents at the conference (names withheld to protect the innocent). I feel sorry, somewhat, for agents at conferences. Even though they know what the environment holds, something about seeing them always looking over their shoulders, preparing themselves for the pouncing of 500+ budding agents tugs on my heart strings. This is why I don't pitch to them around the hotel unless they specifically break the ice. I figure they probably appreciate one author who's not trying to sell them their book (some of you might disagree with me, and that's fine, but this is my way of doing things).

My plan of attack was this: Small talk that had nothing to do with my book.

The execution of my plan looked like this: It was Friday night, the first full day of the conference. Classes were over. My head was killing me with a nasty migraine. It was about 5 o'clock and I was waiting at the elevators to go up to my room and rest and work on the dreaded pitch (sidebar: the elevators at the Mark Hopkins suck. No two bones about it. They're slow. Down on the lower level where the gym and business centers are, I've waited up to 15 minutes with no elevator, and then end up having to take the stairs to the lobby and catch the elevator there. You'd think that for $300 a night, they'd have some faster elevators. *Whew* that was a long sidebar. Continuing…). I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Then, two of the seven agents I wanted to pitch came up behind me, chatting quietly (a man and a woman). We stood there, waiting. I figured this was my chance to break the ice.

Me: So, is your day over yet?

Man/Woman: Smiling Yeah.

Woman: Oh, wait, we have a dinner.

Man: We have a dinner? Nobody told me about a dinner.

Woman: Yeah, it's for the presenters and agents, or something like that. Maybe it's just drinks up at the Top of the Mark.

Man: Huh, no one said anything about a dinner.

Woman: Highly amused now. So yeah, we're done for the day except for dinner.

Me: Food doesn't count as working, though. Neither do drinks. (or something slightly more witty than that, I can't remember)

Man/Woman:
laughing. You're right, it doesn't.

At this point, I see my friend at another elevator, say goodbye to the agents and leave.

This was a good interaction. They may have been on their guard (or not) when I first turned around, but when they realized I wasn't going to pitch to them, they relaxed. A Lot. Interaction number two went like this:

Group of authors and Man agent from prior elevator interaction are waiting in the lobby for an elevator. It's been pretty close to eternity since I pressed the button. Finally, the elevator comes and we all get inside. Five-ish in all. Now, I know from an earlier experience that this agent is staying of floor 3, so I don't have much time to make small talk and be memorable.

Man: This elevator takes forever. You'd think they'd be a little faster.

Me: Tell me about it. I went running this morning and waited at the California level for about fifteen minutes and no elevator came. I finally had to go up to the lobby and catch it there. It's ridiculous.

Man: Yeah, I know. Every time I try to catch one, it always takes forever.

Me: I think it'd be faster to take the stairs, but they hide those pretty well from us.

Man: laughs.

Elevator dings, agent gets off floor. Engagement two rating: successful.

Sunday morning. We eat a plated breakfast. The agents sit on stage and tell us what they're looking for. Man says to just bring him your pitch and the first five pages. He'll read it and tell you right away if it's for him or not. Woman says same thing, query and first ten pages. How easy is that, right? I head to the business center, print out two queries, Dear Man and Dear Woman. I then print out the first 10 pages of my novel (PS – that cost me about $35, partly because the Mark is ridiculously expensive and charges you $11 just to log on to their computer and $1.64 per b & w page you print. That and the fact that Mac's are retarded, but that's an entirely different blog post).

Now, follow along, the next part may be confusing for some folks:

When I first wrote CASTE (the book I pitched this year), I started it with a scene of Karis in her house making a fire. I read it to Hubby and a few other friends and they said I needed to start it with some action. So, I did. I wrote a new opening that was roughly five pages about a memory Karis has of her neighbors being shot. Then it blended into my old opening, So, the first five pages of my ten pages I printed were comprised of the memory, the second five was the old beginning. (That came out a lot clearer just now than when I told Hubby about it last night, just so you know). I planned to pitch to Man first, so I put his query together with the first five pages. I planned on pitching to Woman second, so I put her query with the second five pages, because when I was done with Man, I'd put the his first five pages with the Woman's second five pages and we'd be good to go. Clear as mud.

Enter speed dating. I was part of the last group to go in for speed dating. Here's the con for that time slot: all the agents are tired and worn out and ready to go home. They've been there for four days, sitting for four hours, listening to countless pitches—not to mention the times they've been approached/accosted by authors outside the sessions. The pro: It's their last session. We're going to be the group that sticks in their heads the best.

You wait in line an hour or so before your appointed slot (even though the volunteers specifically tell you not to), you make friends, you get pumped, you practice your speech, you start to feel confident. Attendees that have already been through the gauntlet of Speed Dating walk by the line scattering words of wisdom. "They're really nice", "So-and-so's line is really long/short", etc. One attendee had an especially good piece of advice. "Man's (agent from earlier) line gets filled up pretty fast, go to him first if you can. Even if he doesn't like your work, he offers you advice on your query or first five pages so you can improve on it for the next agent." This, I thought, was golden. Even if Man says no, I'll still get valuable advice. Score. I planned to elbow everyone in my way so I could get to his line first.

I ended up being second in line. I heard him tell the guy in front of me, "This is good, but it's not for me. Let me suggest this…." They went over their 3 minute limit, but I wasn't worried.

Me: Hi! Hold out hand to shake.

Man: It's good to see you again (Score. Plan of Attack was 100% successful. He remembered me from two days earlier).

Me:
smiles bigger. Hands over query and first finve pages. Here you are.

Man: Reading query.

Me: I notice I accidently gave him the one that says Dear Woman but I'm not too worried because they say the same thing. Then he goes to the five pages. Crap! He's reading the last five of the first ten, not the first five! I snatch them back from him and quickly replace them with the correct five.
Wait! Those are the wrong ones.

Man: Doesn't say anything, just kind of looks weird, then starts reading the first five. Why'd you do that? The other ones were better.

Me: Really? Quickly handing back previous pages. That was my original starting and I changed it to add more action.

Man:
Reading rapidly. Flying through the pages. Yeah, these are better. Oh yeah, much better. Yeah, this is good.

Me:
Grinning like an idiot. Good to know. I'll toss the other beginning.

Man: Yeah, this is good. You know, I rep YA, all kinds; but I don't normally do dystopian, but this has a very fresh twist on it. I want to see it. Email me the full, and make sure you put in the email that you're the girl from the elevator. (Score number two, I'm elated)

Me: And with the blue hair.

Man: smiles. That's right. I didn't notice it as much today because it's up. It was down the other day.

Me: Thanks, Man. It was nice to meet you. Shakes hand. I'll email you the full.

OHMYGOSHICAN'TBELIEVEITANDITHINKI'VEFORGOTTENTOBREATHEANDISMYHEARTSTILLBEATING?ITHINKSO,YEAH,THEREITIS,IT'SSTILLBEATINGANDHEASKEDMEFORAFULLANDTHISISTHEFIRSTTIMEI'VESENTTHISNOVELOUTINTOTHEWORLDANDTHENUMBERONEAGENTTHATIWANTFROMANAMAZINGLITERARYAGENCYJUSTASKEDMEFORAFREAKINGFULL!!!!!! Then I took a breath. :) (for those of you that don't want to try and figure out what I was saying, here it is with spaces: Oh my gosh I can't believe it and I think I've forgotten to breathe and is my heart still beating? I think so, yeah, there it is, it's still beating and he asked me for a full and this is the first time I've sent this novel out into the world and the number one agent I want from an amazing literary agency JUST ASKED ME FOR A FREAKING FULL!!!!!!)

Then I went to the next agent I wanted. She was at a table with three other agents from that agency. AND THEY LOVED IT! I gave them my pitch and the two girls on the end looked at each other.

Girl 1 to Girl 2: Do you like it?

Girl 2: I really like it. You?

Girl 1: Yeah, I really like it. I want it.

Girl 2: I want it too.

Girl 3: Uh-oh, they're going to fight over it. Laughs.

Me: It'd take a Twix bar to win me over. Everyone laughs.

Girl 2: You can have it, Girl 1.

Girl 1: Great. I'd like to see more.

Me: How much more should I send you?

Girl 1: Send me the full.

Me: Great, I can do that. Then we spend the rest of the 3 minutes just chatting, which was awesome. BTW, this is the agency that Beth is signed with, so that'd be pretty cool.

Then I go to the table right next to these three ladies to pitch to Woman (from elevator with Man at very beginning of conference). I sit down and Girl 1 from table next door elbows Woman and says, "This is a really good one." (Wow, this Speed Dating is turning out to be such a good experience for me, I'm so glad I pushed myself to do it). So, I gave my pitch, and Woman loved it. She said, though, that whenever she's at conferences, she never asks for fulls, she always asks for partials to make sure she likes the writing and voice. But she did tell me that she didn't have a dystopian on her list…yet.

I went to two other agents who really liked it and asked for partials. Then I went to the last top agent on my list. She was eating a cupcake. These poor agents, they don't get to pee or eat. Their left to resort to scavenging and scarfing between rounds. I sit down, and told her to keep eating, that I wouldn't consider it rude. I gave her my pitch and she said, "That's really good. I really like that. You made me stop eating my cupcake." Then she asked me for a full.

LIFE IS GOOD, PEOPLE!

Who's to say anything will come from any of these, (who's to say that nothing will?) but man, it still feels good. My novel is well received and is grabbing some interest. This is a great start! (I'm grinning from ear to ear right now, still on cloud nine). I hope that something happens. So, let's summarize:

Two agents: Partial requested.

One agent: Wanted full, but always asks for partials at conferences.

Three agents: Wanted fulls. I made one stop eating her cupcake, made two agents fight over it, and made one--who doesn't normally rep this genre--like it so much, he asked for it anyway.

Again, life is good my friends, life is good.

Happy Tuesday!

PS – I noticed there were times when I changed from past to present tense. Sorry. I'm not going to go back through this insanely long post and correct it. :) I blame this error on the fact that my current book is written in first person.


 

More, Please!

Monday's are usually cruel jokes that start the week. But, this one was different. I walked in and had an email waiting from an agent I submitted to about a month ago. And what a surprise, she asked to see the FULL THING!

I'm so oober excited right now, guys, you can't even imagine.

So, NaNo gets put on hold (I really was going to catch up, promise) and I'm going to finish reading through the last ten or so chapters and send her THE FULL MS this evening.The best thing is, she read through the synopsis and still asked for more (synopses are of the devil, in case you had questions).

I'm dancing and hopping around the office like a person on crack and generally annoying everyone in the building, but you know what? I don't really care. :) That's right, I DON'T CARE! I'm living in the moment and basking in the excitement of someone wanting more. And if it happens that, like the last agent, she decides this isn't for her, well at least I'm doing something right because two people, so far, have wanted more.

Wish me luck!

--Me

Inspiration in all shapes and sizes

It's weird the things that inspire me to write. In this case the song in the first video plus the action in the second video.

Song + action = fun new book idea.

--Me

Some things I’ve discovered along the way in the world of writing

1. 
2. Answers don't need to be given for everything, some mystery is good (and may give rise to inspiration to other ms ideas) Nothing is ever answered fully in the real world
3. There doesn't have to be a reason behind a character's every action, merely a clear motivation (which are, in fact, two different things)
4. Nothing has to be tied into a pretty, neat, sparkly bow, it only has to be plausible and make sense, having enough of a conclusion to be realistic and satisfying for the reader
5. Not every character has to be beautiful and perfect and well-rounded. Rarely does someone in the real world fit into a nice, patterned geometric shape with bright pretty colors
6. Actions/trials/crisis can be simple to the reader, it only has to feel big and earth-shattering to the character that it's happening TO
7. Everyone needs an ally--someone to balance them out, give them encouragement, and act as a slight comic relief at times (in my opinion and in my stories, anyway—the comic relief part)
8. People don't always take the simplest, most straight-forward route out of a difficult situation
9. But then again, they usually do. Just not always
10. Some questions can't be answered and some answers aren't known. By anybody (see point 1)
11. Characters need flaws/shortcomings/insecurities and they need to feel real and relatable to your readers. They need issues to overcome, making them stronger and changing them for the better in the end (P.S. – the outcomes that make them stronger, don't always have to be happy. Again, real life.)
12. You, as a writer, need to be able to laugh and roll your eyes and criticize your own work. If you can't look at a really bad piece of writing and say to yourself, "This is horrible!" and then laugh, you won't be able to see how you can make it amazing.
13. That being said, you, as a writer, also need to look at your work and be able to cheer, puff out your chest, and admit to yourself that, "Damn, that really is GOOD."
14. It's okay to get depressed every once in a while after getting dozens and dozens of rejections from agents and/or publishers. Just park your butt on the couch, grab a gallon of your favorite Coldstone or Blue Bunny ice cream and watch a marathon of Supernatural, seasons 1-6. Just make sure you get over it when you reach the bottom of your ice cream bucket(s) and the credits roll on episode 126, ready to start fresh in the morning.

Enjoy and happy Tuesday, my friends!

oh, yeah (in the Ferris Bueller voice)

So, I've just written a scene that will possibly never make it into the book (which gave me the courage to actually write the scene to begin with). A few good thing came from doing this:

1) My word count went up

2) It was a heck of a lot of fun

3) I learned SO MUCH about Karis and Ethan

The more you write about your characters, the more they come to life. I had a perfect little box that I pulled Karis out of, but when she finally came into existence, she looked at that frilly pink box, gagged, and kicked it into oblivion. I'm glad. I have never really liked them to begin with (Oh, and apparently, Karis HATES the color pink).

And Ethan. Oh my dear, sweet Ethan. You are amazing on so many levels. Your sense of humor gives away when you're nervous or not quite sure of yourself, but I'm laughing so hard, I don't really care that you might be leading Karis and me to a certain and untimely demise. It's part of the fun and experience of knowing you.

I can't wait to find out where we go today.

--Me

My Very Own Kryptonite Part 1 (Showing vs. Telling)

Remember those ridiculous SAT questions that went something like this:

Cat is to mouse as dog is to
A. Bone
B. Doghouse
C. Owner
D. Cat

Well, I’ve got a new and improved—and actually useful—one for you. Here it goes:

Superman is to Kryptonite as I am to
A. Backstory
B. Telling vs. showing
C. Adjectives
D. Random POV shifts

Uh….what about E. All of the above?

What I’m getting at is we all have things that bring us to our knees and make us ask how we're ever going to survive? Superman’s in the same boat. Which is why I’m going to share some of my many writing weakness with all of you over the next few weeks (A – D above).

Joy, bliss, and rapture all mixed into one. It’s your lucky day

Today I’m talking about B, telling vs. showing. This (right after backstory) is a new writer’s biggest pitfall. Why? Because it’s easy. Because we don’t know any better. But mostly because someone hasn’t pointed out to us that we’re telling them something instead of showing it to them. Once that someone has hit us upside the head, we promptly smack our foreheads and scream into the night, “Why didn’t I see that?!?!”

Relax.

All is forgiven. Just try to keep from doing it again.

If, as a new writer, you try to start showing everything straight out of the gate, you’re going to get a headache, declare this whole writing thing is ridiculous and too hard and then give up. The most important thing you can do is WRITE. Get your story down on paper. Then you go back and make it better. Sometimes you’ll naturally show us; you won’t even realizing your doing it. Sometimes you’ll flat out tell us, and sometimes you’ll go halvsies.

Worry not, my friend! We can fix the them all. I’ve found some tips though my writing adventure on how to find out where I can show something and how to show it. I will divulge this knowledge with you free of charge. Come and partake.

Signs you’re telling me something

Adjectives.
These buggers are deadly, and a STRONG sign that you’re telling me something. It’s a lazy way of getting a point across. Not only is it lazy, it’s weak. WEAK I tell you! That is why I cringe as I say this next part: sometimes they might be necessary. But only if the world is ending and hell has frozen over. There, I feel better. Chances are, if you’re using one of those pesky little –ly words, you could be saying it better. You could be showing me something.

“I love you,” she said shakily.

Yuck! Blek! Get that sour taste out of my mouth! Try this on instead.

She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. She could feel her heart rattling inside her chest, begging her not to say it. To never say it. “I love you.” The words rushed out with the exhale of her breath, riding their way between her lips and out of her heart.

We still get that she was nervous and hesitant about saying expressing her feelings. But we get so much more. The reluctance, the fear of saying those three vulnerable words. The courage it took for her to say them. And from there we want to know what happened in her past that made her steal herself against something as grand as love? Who is this person that coaxed her away from her fear, making her feel strong enough to admit her feelings to them and herself, even though it exposed her vulnerability? This character, is a rockin’ character. And all because you showed me she was.

There is no tantalization of the senses going on. Anywhere.
What good is love without romance? It’s boring and dull. Both sides are going to wander, and infidelity isn’t welcome anywhere. So why not do everything in your power to keep your reader interested and loyal? Not that Joe-Schmo a little further down the book shelf. That one on the end cap with the glittery cover. Hold me with substance, but catch me with flare. You must court me, show me why I’m with you and not with Glitters.

No holds barred! Read through a scene. Now. Hurry, do you flirt with any of your reader’s senses? Do you? Maybe, maybe not. If you haven’t, fix it. If you have, you can probably make it better, stronger. And there’s no shame in that. Pop quiz from preschool. What are the senses? Sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and feel (emotional). Now use them unabashedly.

Make me feel how soft the fur is on my skin. The beating down of the dry heat on my skin or the heavy humidity of a room that’s tightly packed with bodies. What is the texture of that strange and exotic fruit in my mouth? Is it so cold outside that the air freezes in my lungs and makes them burn, so much so that I can’t stand to take a full breath? How about the voice of someone that was thought to be lost? Is it like cool water on the throat of a parched man stranded in the middle of an arid desert? Remember the time you saw your supposed best friend kissing the boy you’ve been in love with since the third grade? Remember how it tore and clawed at your heart until there was nothing left inside your chest but shreds of the thing that still beat? Remember how your knees weakened as adrenaline pumped through your body, and how you wanted to run and hide and beat the living hell out of both of them at the same time?

I think you get the idea of where I’m going with this. But be careful. Once you get started appealing to the senses, it’s easy to do. Which is good. What’s not good is the ease in which you slip into just appealing to one of the six senses. Make sure to keep it even and natural. And remember, we don’t need to feel the minute things that a normal human wouldn’t even notice in a typical situation.

Statements of Fact (SOFs)
They’re a good strong clue that you could probably expand on what you’re saying and make it more flavorful. But don’t do away with all your SOFs. If you do, your writing will be overkill. Sometimes you need the ever so simple, “Tony ran.” But, if too much of your writing reads like a newspaper article, you’re might be in trouble. Stop narrating and let your characters take charge. After all, that’s what they’re there for, isn’t it?

Suzy isn’t pissed. She’s beyond pissed.

Her spindly arms are folded tightly across her chest—not even a dust mote could get through there. Her molars are grinding down on each other as she holds back all the things she wants to say. It’s looking like she’s forgetting to breathe, her face is so red. And don’t forget the eyes. They tell a person everything. Her pupils are dilated so far, it looks like black pools of obsidian. Obsidian that’s so hard, it could slice through your heart. And they just might. Especially now that you’ve told her how you’ve kissed Jesse. Her boyfriend.

How to show me

Look at the scene/setting.
I do this a lot and it’s an easy way to make your reader feel like they’re standing where ever it is you put them. Grab a picture (in a book, one of your own, or pulled from the Internet) that’s similar to what you’re trying to describe. Then, describe it. In as much detail as you can.

For example. In one of my books, there’s an intense yacht race (and no, that’s not an oxymoron). Problem was, I knew nothing about yachts or racing. Not what the boats looked like and not what a yacht race looked like. But let me tell you, after I finished my research, I wanted to start. The first thing I did was hop onto the Internet and Google yachts, and yacht racing. I found the most typically raced yacht (pictures, descriptions, pricing, layout, how it worked, how many sales it had, which sales did what when, etc, what kinds of flags they flew, etc). Great! Now I could physically describe the yacht and when Owen fishes out some gear from Sedra, it’s completely feasible that he had it stored in the ________.

Next, I had to research the races. What happened in them? What did the courses look like? How many men were on the crew? YouTube was a godsend for this (and when I was looking for a good fight scene for another book). I even ended up downloading the song that played in a particular video so that every time I listened to it, I would relive the yacht race, able to recreate the scene in a believable and intense manner.

Bottom line is, no matter what someone tells you, recreating a real life, already existing picture, location, scene, etc is not cheating. Make it your own. Take what you like, toss what you don’t. Add a few different pictures of girls you like to make a montage of your perfect MC. It’s a great exercise.

Put yourself in the middle of the party.
Reflect back on a high school party, or the other night when you were out at the bar with friends or the last time you were in a busy place. Now, describe to me what’s going on. This will put me in the scene with you and make it more real. And don’t forget to…

Appeal to all of my senses
See above. Practice going somewhere (a busy coffee shop is always good) and just sitting and soaking it all in. Then write. What did you first notice? What stands out now that you’ve been there a while? What’s become white noise? What kind of people are there? What does it sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Is it natural, sterile, comfortable, out of place? How does it make you feel?

Characters
Not only show me what they look like physically but what they look like as a person. On the inside. Don’t tell me that Seth is loyal to his sister to the end. Show me with his actions throughout the book or in a really strong scene that he would die for her. Don’t tell me that Lexi’s past is filled with a father’s abandonment that has left her bitter and with little trust or warmth. Show me the same thing. Put her in a situation that makes her face what she fears most. Showing with characters is more important than showing a scene or a setting. Showing me your characters lets me relate and connect to them. It makes me realize that they’re real people.

How about some fun? I’m a little nervous, not sure who will play along, but…..I have an extra copy of Veronica Roth’s debut (awesome) novel, Divergant (Don’t judge. When you have 190 unread books, it’s easy to buy multiple copies of the same on and not remember doing it). Put me in this below picture using all 6 senses and do it in 100 words of less in the comments section. The winner will get Divergant!! So show me something good! (OOH I’m so excited I could just SQUEEL!)

--Me

Theme Songs

I find music a required part of my writing experience. It gets me in the mood, drowns out the surrounding world, and sometimes really carries me places, bringing along with it significant chunks of my story. I usually start out with my iPod on shuffle, letting it randomly select the songs I hear. Then, as my novel starts to develop and my characters start to grow, I gravitate towards certain songs, or artists, or genres. After a few days, I find my groove and I make a play list for my WIP.

Music has always set moods for me--angry, sad, whatever--just as it does for everybody. But with writing, it's different. It doesn't so much set a mood for me as open up corridors in my mind. I peak into its darkness and pull out--sometimes amazing--concepts and other times, completely ridiculous ideas.

As crazy as it sounds, for The Setting Sun, I abused the heck out of George Winston's Forest album and AFI's December Underground album (The latter seems a little more appropriate for the book). To this day, if I hear Love Like Winter or Tamarack Pines, Owen and Kate pop in my head, and I begin to miss them and want to read their story again.

For White City, it was mostly Ludovico Einaudi. It's not that the music or song itself fits the theme of the book, per se; it's more like it fits the character at the time, what their going through or some thread of a theme being carried through the story.

I have this one character for The Broken. His name is Tiberius. And he's a bad ass. So, he needed a song that reflected that. And I found it. It's Filter's Hey Man Nice Shot. It's an AWESOME song, and every time I hear it, I see a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, walking slow mow down a street, with explosions and fire erupting behind him. Kind of cliche, I know, but it fits so perfectly. I nod my head and give a quiet, evil chuckle. Can't wait to write about him.

But regardless, without music, I don't think I'd be able to write like I do. It's as important as breathing. Or eating. Or Coffee.

So what music are you listening to right now with what you're working on?

--Me

What's that ya say? You've written a novel? (Part 2)

You might think the difficult part is behind you. I mean, come on, writing a query is easy. It’s the 90,000 word novel that’s hard (pardon me while I find merriment in your naivety—but I still love you, honest).

WRONG!

Writing your query letter
Next to the legendary evilness of the dreaded synopsis (*shudder*), the query is the next “best” thing. But don’t be discouraged! If you take it one step at a time—and don't look it in the face—you too can survive the encounter. There are many resources to help a budding author with the query writing process.

• Query Shark is awesome and offers amazing advice and hundreds of examples.
• Noah Lukeman’s book (only $0.99 for the e-version at b&n online) is simple and straight forward. I used it for a good base for my query.
• Nathan Bradford as an ad-lib type version

These are all good resources to get a straightforward query going.

I’m going to share with you my secret for writing a query. Gather around. Closer. Closer. Too Close. (I love Aladdin) Write a brief, engaging summary for your book, similar to what you see on the back of books. Make it sharp, give it voice and personality (the same personality and voice that’s in your novel), have a barbed hook in there that will catch the agents attention and not let go no matter how much they thrash about and a cliff at the end that they want to jump off of to find out what happens next. After all, the purpose of the query is to get their attention so they want to read more. So they ask for more. The query letter isn’t where you describe your book BME (beginning, middle, end). That’s what the (*gag*) synopsis is for. Polish it, get input and have it critiqued by those you trust who may or may not have edited your novel. Then, get ready to customize and personalize.

Once you've done that, personalize it. Some agents just want a basic query letter (see resources above). Others are more specific. When you’re getting information on agents pay attention to the specifics on what they want to see in your query and how they want it formatted. They’ll tell you if they want to know why you chose them (referral, conference, etc) first and then the pitch second. Or it might be the other way around. Either way, if there’s a preference, find it. It goes a long way to show that you’re dedicated enough to hunt it down and then implement it. They also might want a brief personal bio if you don’t have/ in addition to a professional writing bio (a personal bio would be the quick blurb you see next to an author’s photo on a book).

At the end of the query, make sure to insert the name of you novel, genre, word count, and a closing similar to: Per your guidelines, I have included the first _______________ pages/chapters of my novel/Upon request, completed manuscript is available in part or in whole. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Get a list together
Yay! You have a solid query that can be easily manipulated to suit all agents. Now you need to find said agents. It can be tricky to gather a list, or at least, time consuming. Which is why I’ve taken the liberty to gather my resources and share them with you! (Send all Sbux gift cards and SOFT oatmeal raisin cookies to….just kidding, but if you do end up feeling so inclined, let me know.)

I like to start broad and whittle my way down from there, so when I’m looking, I look for agents who rep and/or are looking for Children’s, YA, or MG. Then, I start to narrow it down by genre--historical romance, fantasy, paranormal--you get the idea. Once you have a list of agents that look like they’re waiting for your ms, dig in for research to personalize your query. Below are just some of the resources I’ve used to get a listing of agent names.

• Jeff Herman's book
• Publishers Market Place
• 1,000 Literary Agents
• Query Tracker
• Agent Query
•Literary Rambles
• Absolute Write Water Cooler
• Publishers Weekly
• Predators & Editors
• Guide to Literary Agents
• Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR)
• Author Advance
• Persist and Publish
Writer Beware
• Join organizations that represent your genre (SCBWI, RWA, etc)
• Google/yahoo/msn search for literary agents
• Look at the books you’re reading, the books in your genre and find out who their agents are
• Start following blogs, you’ll get a lot of info that way
Writer's conferences!

Researching
Show Dream Agent that you’ve specifically selected them from among the masses, not randomly from a hat, and for Pete’s sake, DO NOT do a mass email. If you don’t take the time for them, they might not take the time for you. I send out my queries in batches of about 10, but that’s my personal preference. I find agents I want to submit to and then Google the heck out of them.

• What’s their agency website say about them/what they’re looking for?
• Do they have a personal web page with more info?
• A blog?
• Fb?
• Twitter?

All of these sources produce priceless nuggets of information. Their blog could have different info than the agency website. For example, one agent I queried said on her blog not to send a synopsis because they’re the root of all things evil, yet the agency website (under her name) said to send one. Some agents will have you put in a personal tidbit about yourself, or want you to offer something specific. If you don’t take the time to research, you could miss that and in turn, they could pass you by.

Investigation also lets you find out how many books the agency has sold, what their record is for getting authors published, and so on. Get a feel for who they are and if they’re going to be a right fit for you and your book. Check them out on AAR and Predators and Editors—both valuable research tools.

Organize

I have a notebook where I centralize all the relevant info I need for each agent (I usually do all my research at once).
• Agent’s name

• Agency

• Website of agency and any other social media sites

• What they’re looking for

• Books they’ve repped that are relevant to my novel

• What they want to be sent with the query (synopsis, sample chapters, etc)
• Their response time for a query/partial/full
• Their actions if they’re interested/not interested
• Okay to follow up if there’s no response
• Where do I send the query to? Is there something specific that needs to go in the Subject line?
• Do they send out an auto response when a query is received? (no sense in having a heart attack at a false alarm. Also a good way to know if you need to follow up with them or not. No auto response probably means they didn’t get it)
• Specifics they look for/personalization’s I find important
• Anything else I think might be relevant

Once you have all that down, it’s time to start sending out your queries. Proof read, proof read, proof read! Make sure your email address is something professional (your name or pseudonym at Gmail/msn/like/yahoo/whatever). Not: CuteAsAButton@yahoo.com.

Check List
• Are you sending out the right query to the right agent? (I save each version I send out, so I can go back and reference what worked/what didn’t) Make sure Jim isn't getting the query addressed to Susan.
• Is your contact info in the signature of your query and the again in your email? (this helps when you're pasting partials into the email--the agent doesn't have to scroll up through 10,000 words to get your phone number again, it's right there at the bottom)
• Is your contact/book information in the header (with page numbers) on any work THEY ASK you to attach?
• Did you thank them for their time?
• Did you address them by name in your query?
• Did you spell that name right?
• Have you sent them everything they’ve asked for?
• Do you have the right email address?

These may seem simple, obvious things, but when you’re sending out your first round of query letters, you’re a nervous wreck, and you might forget some of these. I know I did (like my contact info. And the fact that my book was the first in a series. Yikes!).

So, just to recap… (I like lists, can you tell?)
In your query:
• Make sure you have a hook in your query
• Main characters essential to the problem/solution only
• Time frame (1800’s, modern day, etc) and location
• Address the agent by name (this is soooo important!!)
• Do your research
• Make sure you have contact info in your signature (email, phone, address, name)
• TMI is not a good thing
• Only put down writing credentials if they’re applicable (blue ribbons in the state fair don’t count)

PS – I’m notorious for putting off things I don’t like to do. Mowing the lawn, cutting Hubby’s hair, doing the laundry….So it’s no surprise that I put doing the synopsis off until an agent asks for one. Probably not the best route to go. If you’re ambitious, do the synopsis before you query. Then you’re ahead of the game! Get a couple done—a typical synopsis (about a bazillion pages and dry as a tumbleweed) and a 1-3 page sucker. You might also want to throw in a 500 word (about 1 page) just in case.

But, since I am also a procrastinator, I won’t be talking about synopses until later. Much, much later.

Happy Wednesday!

--Me

What's that ya say? You've written a novel?

You’ve poured your heart and soul into The Next Big Novel and scribbled it down on paper. Its infancy was spent clamoring around inside your head pushing to get out, and now it’s out for the world to see. And they are going to see it, dang it!

You’ve cried, bled, and lived on nothing but 5 Hour Energy, coffee and White Chocolate Lindt Truffle Balls for at least a year. And you’ve kept your sanity together through it all, even when everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

Your main character has three different names, you’re starting to misspell your made-up words and can’t remember if the red squiggly lines underlining them in Word are telling you the truth or not, and you’ve misplaced—on more than one occasion—well-written chapters you swore would help you win the Pulitzer. You heroine is falling in love with the wrong guy, and you can’t do anything about it, you’re plot’s missing and your ending isn’t going to satisfy anyone.

You’ve cried because the story is perfect. You’ve cried because it’s crap. You’ve cried because you don’t know what to do now that the meaning of life has slipped through your cramped fingers.

Then, something happens. You don’t know what caused it, and you don’t care. Something clicks, and everything falls into place. You realize that Jake was never good enough for Jenny, it only could've ever been Greg. And that plot? What were you thinking?!?! It should’ve been this all along. The ending is perfect, everyone’s happy, and now it’s ready for the world.

Or is it?

Ask yourself that question again, but this time, be honest.

Chances are, it needs to be edited heavily. Getting the story down on paper is only one of many steps in writing a book.

Alright, you crack your knuckles, and buckle down to edit. And in order to do that properly (in my mind, anyway), you self-publish a copy of your book on LuLu or the like so you can have your manuscript in the form a book.

A real book.

It doesn’t matter that it cost you $15 to print, $35 to ship (because you wanted it overnight, naturally), or hours trying to format your entire ms into “bookstore ready” formatting. What matters, is that you can smell it, touch it, and turn the pages of your book. Somehow, this means it’s all official, and your hard work has paid off.

You’ve written A BOOK!

Now comes the fun part. And I'm 100% serious. Grab your red pen and tear your baby apart. Limb from limb. I want to see blood, people! BLOOD!

The first level of editing is at a high-level. Think triage.
You discover a number of things through the magic of editing at this level. Sub-plots need to be added/taken away to enrich the main vein of your story. Characters may not work, entire scenes may need to be deleted, you discover inconsistencies. The sky's the limit! Here is where you discover what’s broken and what needs to be fixed.

The second level is on a more detailed level.
Work on the subplots, your characters’ arcs, their back stories, etc. Recognizing that your MC would never say what they just said, and fix it. Make your story richer, making sure the smaller, loose strings are woven back into the tapestry of your novel. Do your reader a favor and CUT out the passive voice and adverbs!

The third draft is the line edit nuances.

Don't limit yourself to just one pass at each level. There's no rule as to how many times you do this. That’s what being a writer is all about. Taking what you’ve created and making it better. But don’t get too carried away. You can edit until the cows come home, because nothing is ever going to be perfect. Not even your book. But don’t let that stop you from trying.

After you’ve gone through your first set of edits, put your novel aside for a bit, and this is important. Read a book, work on another project. Take some time to let it marinate in your changes. Then, pull it up again, and edit some more (If you’re like I was on my first book, I printed out about 8 different copies from LuLu. One after each round of edits. Oh, the headache).

Having other people you trust and value look at your work helps you to edit it on a higher level. I personally go through 3 – 5 rounds of editing before I consider it “ready” enough to let someone else look at it. One of the downfalls of editing your own ms is that you know the in’s and out’s of the story. All the subplots. All your characters' back stories. How the story's going to end.

Having this knowledge makes it hard for to edit honestly and recognize when something isn’t working as well as it's supposed to. Which is why I am a part of a writer’s group. And an A-MA-ZING online writing community called Scribophile. I've learned more from these two resources than I ever could've from a bazillion rounds of self-editing or reading books on the topic (but there are good ones out there. Take a look at the resources link on the right of my blog). Getting candid, honest, gut reaction advice is the best.

And it hurts.

Sometimes you think you're going to bleed to death with what they had to say. It's hard not to take it personally. But you need tough skin as a writer, and if you can’t learn it at this stage, you’re never going to survive the querying process.

I’ll give you an example from my personal experience.

I posted the first 20 pages of The Setting Sun tp an online community (not Scribophile). The first critique I got, I tried my hardest not to cry. The man was honest. Brutally so. He could have been a little “fluffier” about what he had to say, but the bottom line was, he was right. And I appreciated that so much when I went back to look at my work through his eyes.

He'd said it was like sitting though a traffic jam. And he was right. Who wants to sit through a history and info dump from a first time writer? Not to mention it was poorly done. He told me there was too much description, and while I didn’t whole-heartedly agree with him, I did pare it down a bit.

And that’s what’s great about getting critiques: being open to new things and different opinions. Don’t be so prideful that you miss the lesson to be learned. Keep what you like and toss the rest (in the end remain true to yourself and your story), and apply what you learn to future work.

Once you’ve finished editing, and have gotten your ms in the best shape possible (I’m talking passing-a-military-mud-boot-camp-in-style fit), it’s time to edit it one more time. By yourself. Reading it out loud. Take your time. When your ecstatic with that, then, my dear friend, you may start querying.

Happy Monday!

--Me