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Showing posts from December, 2010

The Writer's Road

The writer's road can be a lonely one but it doesn't have to be. Have you ever wanted to chat with other writers, meet agents, editors of publishing housing, and authors? Or at least ease drop on their chat? You can achieve this by attending conferences but let's face it, they are getting hard to afford in this economy. There is another way. Every Thursday night on Twitter there was a fabulous chat called #Scribechat. I met a lot of authors, agents, editors, and fellow writers by attending that chat. Unfortunately the hostess, Lia Keyes, had to step down due to other commitments so the chat is going away. I'm very grateful to her because I've made amazing friends, connections, and learned a lot from #Scribechat. You can find Lia hosting #SteamPunkChat on Fridays on Twitter at 6:00pm PT. For those of you who loved Scribechat and are sad to see it go, have no fear, we have a plan. My friend and fellow chatter TS Tate ,or @TeeTate as she is known on Twitter, plan

Writer's Resolutions 2011

Last year turned out nothing like I had hoped but probably exactly as I needed it too. Everything changed after an amicable parting of ways with my agent. It happens, a lot more than you hear about. He was restructuring his business model due to the economy and as a result our contract was dissolved. I learned a lot from him and feel that I am a better writer for having worked with him. As you can imagine though, with that happening much of what I had hoped to accomplish shifted. And my goals for 2011 have changed. I'm optimistic that it's going to be a fabulous year. Here are my resolutions: 1. I hope to sign with an excellent agent with whom I can build a career partnership with. What makes an agent excellent isn't necessarily their sales record or the size of their client list but their vision, work style, enthusiasm, and dedication. That's the kind of agent I'll be looking for! 2. I will continue to improve my craft and networking by attending workshops, ret

Twitter Tuesday~New Agent, Advice, & Open Submission Call

Since it was the week of Christmas I didn't make it onto Twitter much at all. But I did manage to catch a few great tweets for you. This one is from a literary intern on how many queries she read versus how many she passed on to the agent she reads for (AA stands for awesome agent. How cool is that?!): @AC_Johnson89 Before I go, for those of you wondering: out of the 140 queries I read yesterday I sent 7 on to AA. 1 of which wasn't even a query. Writers Digest and Chuck Sambuchino bring to our attention a new agent looking for YA. You don't want to miss this one. I've been Twitter & blogging friends with Vickie for a while and she rocks: @WritersDigest New agent seeking YA as well as adult fiction: Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Associates http://tinyurl.com/3xvhb54 New agent extraordinaire let's us know what she wants to see in a query: @Vickie_Motter My blog today: I answer the credentials question. What should you include in your query? http://tinyu

Monday's Muse~Dark Forest

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This dark forest road made me think of a scene out of the novel I'm working on, last week's chapter in fact. The mist and darkness evokes an ominous feeling making one wonder if something terrible is waiting just behind the trees. This is the turning point where something happens that takes my main character down a path she cannot turn back on. I'm closing in on 39,000 words which is exactly where I want to be. At this rate I should easily reach my goal of 40K total by the end of December! I finished reading The Hunger Games and I'm really glad I gave in to my friends recommendations and finally read it. I quickly overcame my initial reservations about it being written in present tense because it was done so well that I hardly noticed it after a while. It is easily one of the best books I've read this year. It passed the 'would I read the sequel test?' I absolutely will! I received Voices Of Dragons by Carrie Vaugn for the holiday and I'm eagerly star

A Storyteller's Holiday

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Of all the holidays this one is perhaps the one that truly belongs to storytellers. Since this holiday has begun we have been inspiring joy, sharing miracles, and making children smile with the simplest pleasure, storytelling. Think back to your favorite things about Christmas, the memories and experiences that come to mind before the day itself arrives. Many nights were spent huddled up around a book, perhaps on a grandparents knee or tucked in bed next to a parent or sibling. Here are a few that come to mind: Twas The Night Before Christmas A Christmas Carol Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Santa Clause Is Coming To Town Frosty The Snowman The Christmas Story The Polar Express The Elf On The Shelf How The Grench Stole Christmas And that's just to name a few! We must not forget when we celebrate this holiday season to also celebrate the authors who've brought us the magic, miracles, and joy that make this season so special. What are your favorite holiday stories? I won'

Twitter Tuesday~Giveaways & Agent Advice

I'm sorry I don't  have a lot of Tweets for you this week but the holidays have kept me pretty busy. I did manage to catch a few really good ones though! Writers I know how curious you always are on what kind of trends agents are seeing in submission. Agent Mandy Hubbard reveals it here brought to us by my Twitter friend at LTWFblog: @LTWFblog Literary Agent and Multi-Pubbed Author @MandyHubbard Posts On Trends in the Slush Pile: http://t.co/ZF1Oqi6 #amwriting #pubtip #writechat (For my non-Twitter friends, a reminder that # followed by a word is a hashtag that allows you to search for any tweet that has it attached) If you're submitting or plan to be soon, or even if you just want a good funny read, then you'll want to get in on this great giveaway by Chuck Sambuchino of Writer's Digest. Look what you could win: @ChuckSambuchino Free book giveaway! Enter to win the 2011 Guide to Lit Agents, & my Gnome Attack book -- http://tinyurl.com/26e7rjg My Twi

Monday's Muse~Festive Spirit

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This beautiful picture by Thomas Kinkaid was exactly what I needed to get me into the festive spirit both for the holiday and for the chapter I'm working on. Though the holiday they're celebrating in my chapter is quite different from Christmas it's the spirit of celebration that I was going for. Friends, family, the feeling that even if just for a moment, all is right with the world. As for the reading that's feeding my muse, I'm over halfway through The Hunger Games and am completely caught up in it. It takes a powerful, outstanding book to make me look past my dislike of first person, not to mention present tense so that should tell you a little about how good it is. The music feeding my muse is more of Mairead's instrumental music. That lady is amazing with a violin. It isn't my normal kind of music but it fits the novel I'm writing so I'm rolling with it. What inspired you this week? Are you reading anything really good?

Book Giveaways Galore

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Tis the season for book giveaways! I won't be doing one until after the holidays because you never know what you're going to get between now and the new year. But next month I'll be doing a great giveaway so stay logged in! Last week I won the fantastic looking novel Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick from my good friend and soon to be debuting author Myra McEntire . If you don't know who she is quick go find out! She is beyond awesome and her book is one of next year's most highly anticipated for me. If you're looking for some great giveaways all you have to do is check out the blogs I follow. Nearly every one of them is doing a giveaway or has done one this month. Check out Kari over on the Under The Fairy Dust (don't you just love that title?) blog for a great one. And don't forget all my favorite book bloggers. Many of them are doing giveaways as well. There are links to them on the sidebar just over there. --> If you know of a great giveaway o

My 2010 Writer's Resolutions

It's that time of year again. I have to admit, the thought of looking over this last year's resolutions to see how I did kind of makes me cringe. I know I didn't meet them all but that's okay. As long as I met a few of them then I have accomplished something. Let's rip the band aid off shall we? Here are my resolutions for last year: 1. Continue to build my author platform. I'll do so by continuing to meet great writers and people who love books, like those I've met on Twitter! I'll also attend whatever conferences & retreats I can. Accomplished! My blog followers have grown more than I could have anticipated (I love you all!) and I've made many wonderful friends through blogging, Twitter, and Scribblerati. 2. Write three books this year. This could be thrown for a loop if/when my novel gets picked up and I have to work on edits, but until then I'll focus on these three new books. Accomplished! I wrote (and edited, yes really!) Sanctity

Twitter Tuesday~Editor & Agent Advice

This week is filled with even more agent advice than I usually dig up on Twitter. This first tweet is from Chuck Sambuchino of Writers Digest who brings us another great new agent who is looking for middle grade and young adult writers: @ChuckSambuchino RT @CynLeitichSmith New #agent Joan Slattery seeks MG/YA at Pippin Properties: http://bit.ly/gZYniS Agent Natalie Fischer was tweeting some great advice about query letters. Here are a few of the tweets that I caught: @Natalie_Fischer How to shoot yourself in the foot in a query: typos. Wrong agent name. HUGE word count. "To Whom It May Concern." #queries @Natalie_Fischer Cont: apologizing for the submission. Incoherent letter/plot. Bitterness. "My test readers loved it!" Books 2 and 3 complete. #queries Agent Marisa Corvisiero announces her search for a literary intern. If you're interested in agenting and qualify then this is an opportunity you don't want to miss! @mcorvisiero Literary Intern

Monday's Muse~Enchanting Encounter

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I already had the scene in my mind when I came across this picture and I was blown away by how close it was to what I had imagined. It seems like magic when that happens, as if in some way you and some random artist out there are on the same wave length. In this chapter my character has to deal with the consequences of staying out too late and scaring her parents half to death. Haven't we all at some point?! I finished reading Grave Witch by Kalayna Price and I really enjoyed it. In fact, it passed the 'would I read a sequel' test. Not only would I read a sequel, I'm eagerly awaiting it! Be advised though, Grave Witch is adult fantasy. You might have noticed by my sidebar that I'm now reading The Hunger Games. Finally, yeah, I know. It was jarring to discover that it is written in present tense first person. First person isn't my favorite and present tense is next to nails on a chalkboard for me. However, I had faith in my hoard of friends who recommended it a

2011 Debut Authors

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2011 is closing in on us and that means it's time for a post listing the debut authors for next year. This is the class of 2K11 . You can click on the author's name to find out more about them and on their book to find out more about it. Many of these will be at the top of my 'to buy' list for next year! If nothing is highlighted I couldn't find a link. Julia Karr : XVI a YA speculative novel published by Puffin/Speak, January 6. Bettina Restrepo : Illegal  a YA novel published by Harper Collins-Katherine Tegen Books, March 11. Amy Holder : The Lipstick Laws  a YA novel published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Graphia, April 4. Carole Estby Dagg : The Year We Were Famous  a YA historical fiction novel published by Clarion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), April 4. Angie Smibert : Memento Nora  a YA dystopian novel published by Marshall Cavendish, April 15. K. Ryer Breese : Future Imperfect  a YA fantasy novel published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Griffin, April 26

Twitter Tuesday~Agent & Publishing Advice

Interested in being a marketing intern for a fantastic literary agency? Then you don't want to miss this link by agent Weronika Janczuk: @WeronikaJanczuk Mary Kole of Andrea Brown (@kid_lit) is looking for a marketing intern: http://bit.ly/fOm89l .  *Awesome* opportunity for anyone qualified! If you write young adult you don't want to miss this tweet by The Knight Agency about the YA imprints: @KnightAgency Overview of new YA imprints: "Today's YA Scene: New Players, Innovative Directions, Fresh Voices" @publisherswkly http://bit.ly/hZd3Ip Here is great news from literary agent Ginger Clark about a new sci-fi/fantasy/horror imprint at Quercus! But sorry peeps, they won't be accepting unsolicited manuscripts. @Ginger_Clark Fantastic news about Jo Fletcher opening her own SF/F/H imprint at Quercus. Imagine that--a new SF/F/H imprint! Hurray! Fellow writer and friend Roni Loren did a great post on things not to do on Twitter. If you're on Twitter

December's Debut Author~Saundra Mitchell

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I'm cheating a bit for December's feature debut author. Why, because she is that awesome and I couldn't go this year without featuring her. It is Saundra Mitchell and her riveting ghost story Shadowed Summer debuted just last year. Saundra is so awesome that along with the interview she gave us a deleted sequence! Keep reading to learn more and check it out. First a bit about Shadowed Summer. Summer in Ondine, Louisiana is always predictable: hot and boring. Not this one. This summer, Iris is fourteen. This summer, she doesn't have to make up spooky stories for excitement, because a real one falls right in her lap. Years ago, before she was born, a teenager named Elijah disappeared. All that remains of him are whispers. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she's convinced it's the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris? Does that not give you the chills? I know it does me! So Saundra,