Dreams, Changes, and #FUN stuff!

Dragonfly was the first book I ever wrote and tried to sell to agents back in 2009.

Back then, it wasn't perfect, my novel-writing skills were poor. I'd only been a journalist, an editor, and a former English major and teacher. 

But I got a lot of full requests, and polite rejections. I think 15 was the final number before I put it away in 2010. Some pretty big names, too (Paige Wheeler, Kevan Lyons, Kelly Sonnack, etc.) 

I loved the story, the characters, the journey. I loved writing it, and I couldn't wait for everyone to read it. In the year I'd spent waiting to hear back from those guys, I'd written Undertow (#2), Watercolor (#3), and started Mosaic (#4)...

...and then I read Nathan Bransford's advice: If you can't sell the first book in a series, why are you still writing it? (Basically, stop and write something new.)

He was right. And it hurt so bad. 

But I put my dream books in the virtual drawer, dusted myself off, and wrote The Truth About Faking. Then, while I was shopping it, I wrote Rouge. And I got a literary agent. And in 2011, I got an offer for a book deal with a Big 6 publisher.

In the meantime, several of the lovely critique partners, advice sharers, and friends I'd made through this blog had started self-publishing. It was still early in the indie game, and it was still considered a huge risk. 

We were told that if you self-published, you could kiss any traditional dreams goodbye. We were told, the traditional guys wouldn't touch an idie book with a 10-foot pole. We were told you instantly became a pariah. 

But my friends were risk-takers. One--Susan Kaye Quinn--had gone the small press route with her first book, a YA romance, and after that experience, she took the reins and went independent with her very successful science fiction book Open Minds.

And after my agent couldn't sell The Truth About Faking, I decided to self-publish it. In Sept. 2011 it came out, and it's still selling very well today.

Why am I tell you all this?

Because it broke my heart when I put Dragonfly in the drawer. I believed that book was dead, and I'd never have the joy of sharing it with readers... and I was wrong.

Granted, in February when I decided to pull it out again, it still had all those first novel problems. I had to take a sledgehammer to it, break it apart, put it back together, remove all the boring parts, beef up the tension, polish out the dialogue...

But my dream came true last week. And every time someone emails me that they love the story or they can't wait for July 18, I get a little misty. So much is changing in publishing, and it's a wonderful time to be a writer. 

Follow the path that's right for you, traditional or indie, but no matter what, hold onto your dream. Be persistent. Don't listen to what "they" say. And for goodness sake, just keep swimming!

Full Tour List

The Dragonfly tour continues!

• Burning questions for main character Anna? WHY did she go back? WILL she choose Julian? WHAT will she do with the secret? Roxy Cade (link) has your answers.
• Still on the fence? Fern Curry with Whirlwindbooks calls Dragonfly, "The ideal book" for "the beach or pool, to enjoy with an iced drink." Yay! See her full review here (link).

Finally, looking for #FUN? Romance Reviews is doing a Sizzling Summer Reads ginormous book giveaway and Dragonfly is a part!

Check it out!

Visit The Romance Reviews site (link) for all the fun, but watch out! That game's addicting... (The Dragonfly Q&A is #19.)

Have a super week, reader- and writer-friends! I'm in final edits for Undertow, but I'll be back with more tour stops tomorrow~

Not Resolutions

Happy New Year's Eve, guys!

Resolutions? I don't do 'em. Not because I think I'm so great or I don't need to change. And not because I don't think resolutions are good. I think whatever motivates people to change is valuable.

It's just if I identify something in my life that needs to change, or something I need to do, I don't wait. I change it right then.

Okay, sometimes I'll wait for a Monday if it's like an exercise program... or an "eat less chocolate" program. (I need a last hurrah. I'm from the land of Mardi Gras, after all.)

Last January, Sheri Larsen (link) challenged some writer-friends (me included) to make a 2012 "Rebel Writer's Pledge." (It wasn't called a resolution, but, yeah, it was the same thing.)

I pledged to take my writing career more seriously. To treat it like a business.

One year ago, I'd written four books and had three works in progress (WIPs). I had an agent who was sending my book Rouge (link) to publishers, I had The Truth About Faking (link) waiting in the wings to be subbed next.

By outward appearances, I was taking my writing career seriously. Right?

Actually, I was being passive. I was letting other people make the big decisions for me. I wasn't doing my own homework. I wasn't researching how the marketplace was changing or reading the "weather report" of what was coming.

In 2012, Fifty Shades of Grey changed everything. Some argue Hugh Howie really changed everything... From where I'm sitting, I think the two can be rolled into one big change: Traditional publishers lost their domination of the marketplace.

I haven't read FSoG. I know I'm the last person on the planet, and I could give you a whole bunch of reasons why... I'm a slow reader. There are so many books I really want to read. Honestly, I just don't care enough about it.

When my former, Big 6 publisher bought Rouge, however, I kept hearing how "in this post-Fifty Shades of Grey reading environment..." I seriously needed to consider making big changes to my book. As in big, sexy changes. And lots of them.

I disagreed.

Get me

We had a friendly rapport, but we disagreed about several things, and ultimately when I asked to be released from my contract pre-publication, they agreed to let me go.

Several months before, I had parted ways with my agent.

September changed everything for me. I self-published The Truth About Faking not expecting much to happen. Every traditional publisher passed on it. One said it was "too Christian" for their imprint.

I don't write Christian books, but TTAF is a story about characters living in a small town, some of whom have religious beliefs about which they feel strongly... I just think that's reality.

Anyway, in two months, it sold five thousand copies. At this point, it's sold more than 10K.

Rouge is not Christian. It's dark, and terrible stuff happens. It's about survival and being brave and making hard choices. Choices I probably couldn't make. I'd like to think I could make them, but I don't know.

It's sold less than 500 copies. Maybe my old publisher was right, and I should've made it erotica. Sex sells, right? Maybe it's just a slow starter, and the buzz is still building for it.

I don't know.

What I do know is it's mine, and I can take my time with it. Decide what to focus on next, and keep my stories true to the way they come to me.

So here we are, going into 2013, I've got four big things on tap:

#1-I've agreed to work with literary agent Eric Myers on my YA science fiction novel 21 Days. He'll be subbing it starting this month.

#2-I'm finishing up revisions to The Truth About Letting Go and plan to release it in February.

Get me

Letting Go is a companion novel to Faking. I started writing it in 2010 and never finished it. But after several requests for a sequel to Faking, I pulled it out of the drawer. Early feedback is very positive, and I'm excited to share it with you guys!

#3-Amazon has taken over their Breakthrough Novel Award competition. I'm going to enter. Let me know if you're doing the same, and we can cheer each other along!

#4-I'll be finishing the sequel to Rouge. My goal is to have it out in May.

So there you go. Not resolutions, necessarily. More of me taking this writing career seriously.

What are you guys doing? Making resolutions? Pledges? Maybe just planning like me?

Whatever you do, here's wishing you all the best of luck in 2013, reader- and writer-friends! Have a super week and an even better year~ <3
.

News & A Celebration!

You've probably heard what happened mid-last week. But if you didn't...

I released my debut YA romantic comedy THE TRUTH ABOUT FAKING!

Y'all this has all come together so fast, my hair's still upside my head. Today, I'm being hilariously interviewed on hacky-sack buddy Janet's blog (link). Stop by and win a free copy of my book!

Also I have shout-outs from my lovely CP and Thursday twin Hart (link) my lovely non-twin Kari (link), the scientifically lovely Mary (link), talented (also lovely) Jolene (link), AND my sneaky (and lovely) CP Carolyn (link)! Please visit.

And Thank you! To Laura, Katie, Elle, and all who've posted reviews and shout-outs already.

I tell you, this has been the most exciting, nerve-wracking publishing stunt I've pulled yet, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you're looking for my book, it's everywhere. Print will soon be available as well. I'm on Goodreads (link), and links for purchase are here:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Smashwords

Now for the Celebration! (*throws confetti*)

One of my sweetest, longtime bloggy friends Sheri Larsen (link) just signed with Literary Agent Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary! 

And because our literary community is so freaking fabulous and generous, she's having a Bigger-Than-A-Shopping-Mall GIVEAWAY!! 

The giveaway is open until September 27th. WINNERS will be announced on September 28th. (Entrants may win more than one prize!)

Click HERE to enter, and Thank you so much for celebrating with us!

List of Rocking Participants: Lenny Lee, Colene Murphy, LM Preston, Darby Karchut, Joanne Brothwell, Patti Larsen, Christine Fonseca,Catherine Stine, Jessica Bell, Kelly Hashway, Leigh Moore, Christine Danek, Alex Cavanaugh, Katie Mills, Matthew MacNish, Beverly McClure,Marcy Hatch, Jennifer Million, Nicole Zoltack, Christina Lee, Kris Yankee, JL Spelbring, Sharon Mayhew, Candice Granger, Dianne Salerni, Lisa & Laura Roecker, Elana Johnson, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, Susan Kaye Quinn, Lydia Kang, Julie Musil, Natalie Agurrie, Talli Roland,Medeia Sharif, Kelly Polark, Angela Brown, Sarah Fine, Stina Lindenblatt, Lynda Young, Susan Fields, PK Hrezo, Shannon O'Donnell, Shelli Johannes-Wells, Theresa Brown Milstein.

Congratulations, Sheri!!! So excited for you, and I can't wait to see your books on the shelf!

There's so much awesomeness going on right now. Have a great week, reader- and writer-friends! <3

Orson Welles Says Wait

I'm about to share some advice I haven't completely internalized myself. There's two-parts, so here's #1: Publishing is the slowest business on Earth. (I've got that.)

#2: It's OK for me to slow down, too.

Gah! That's the part I can't internalize.

We live in a super fast-paced society, right? Everything is instant gratification, and no one should be made to wait for anything. It's bad business, and it's bad for business. That's how we're trained since childhood.

I have the added disadvantage of coming to this game from a primarily print-news background. It's actually good and bad.

Source

It's great because I have loads of discipline about meeting deadlines and getting stuff done. Staying on point, crafting strong ledes.

It's bad because news is one of the fastest businesses on the planet.

Even worse, I worked about 18 months in television news, which moves at the speed of light.

OK, maybe more like sound, but I'm just saying. In television, if it happened today, and you didn't get it on by 10 p.m., it's Old News.

I know, exaggerate much? Actually, No. I don't.

So then I got it in my head to try and write a book. And lo and behold, I did it! Oh my god!

About half-way through, when I realized it might actually happen, I shot off a ten thousand-word equery to Dan Lazar at Writers House all about how I was a published journalist, I was writing this book, and he was going to love it once it was done. Oh, why him? Meh, I picked his name off the list because I'd heard Writers House was good, and he took equeries. The end.

Ten points to Gryffindor if you can name everything I did wrong in that paragraph.

As time passed, I got feedback from some agents that my very first book needed revision. Pretty significantly. Perhaps if I hadn't equeried 500 agents at once, I could've addressed that.

But no worries! I wrote a few more books and ultimately I did get an agent. Now I'm looking at revisions for the book we're about to send out.

And you know the advice I've been given? Take your time. Get it right.

For me, that is the hardest lesson. Slow down. Let it sit a few days and then go back to it with fresh eyes. Pick it up again, polish it some more, make it better.

Good books, like good wine, take time. Take it from our boy Orson. Once it's out there, it's out there. No taking it back.

Why not make it as good as it can be before releasing it?

Personally, I want it to happen now, now, NOW! But I bet we can all name books that would've benefited from a few more weeks (or months) in the barrel.

Have a great week, reader- and writer-friends! <3

Game change

JRM and I started watching The Social Network last night. Being the parents of small children, we didn't get to finish (yet), but we made it a good three-fourths of the way through.

I'm not familiar with the real Mark Zukerberg, but I remember being on MySpace for about six months, and I remember when Facebook hit the scene in late 2006 (early 07?) in south Alabama.

At first I didn't care for it, but soon it replaced MySpace. It was simpler and much easier to use.

Then in early 2009-ish, it seemed everyone found FB. I went from about 150 friends to 500 in one month. (Not bragging--just noting the speed at which it progressed.)

I closed my MySpace account and focused solely on FB for sharing family pictures and ultimately reconnecting with people I hadn't seen in approaching 20 years (or more!).

Friend requests came out of the woodwork (ghosts everywhere!), and it was fun.

Back to the movie. Justin Timberlake plays the role of Sean Parker (Napster founder), who is described at one point as paranoid, and who it seems is following the Zukerberg character. Z is fascinated by Parker and repeatedly seeks his advice.

What stood out to me was (movie) Parker's claims of what he did to the music industry. In the movie, he insists that he changed music forever, at which the Eduardo Saverin character scoffs. Parker quickly replies, "Want to buy a Tower Records?"

Ouch.

This morning, that scripted exchange got me thinking about the publishing game. Napster did change the music industry--you could also throw in iTunes and the rise of the 99-cent single. But wasn't that a response to Napster?

More might happen in the movie, but right now I'm focusing on that small nugget--the conversation where Parker tells Zuckerberg, "We're changing the game. It's our game now." (var.)

My angsty post last week led to some interesting conversations with several very thoughtful bloggie buddies--BBs who are not inclined to be rash or impulsive.
And they're seriously considering taking the game into their own hands. One emailed me this weekend that she's doing it, and asked if I'd help with getting the word out. (To which I said, "Yes. Of course!")

These friends have agents--some are on their second. They've gone on submissions, been dissatisfied with the results, and now they've decided to take the power back.

We've read about big-name authors doing the same thing. Then yesterday on the Today show, Kathie Lee quoted Dolly Parton's line, "Don't sell your babies." (She was talking to Pitbull--I'm not kidding--about not selling the rights to your work.)

I'm still on the "wait and see" fence. I'm still committed to the traditional route, and I still think it's the cleanest, most quality-controlled way to go.

I still want an editor, a gorgeous cover, the works.

But I'm watching.

And to those of you who are trying it, I'm wishing you the best of luck. And I'm here to help.

Have a great weekend reader- and writer-friends. Til Monday~ <3

Twenty-to-One Shots

So I started watching the Derby with my Dad when I was a kid. My mom'd had a horse when she was young, and she'd always spoken of it as being this sort of magical playmate.

I was scared of horses back then, but I liked looking at them. Then at camp one summer I was assigned to the stables, and ultimately got over my fear.

In my 20s, I fell in with this group of guys about 15 to 20 years older than me. They were old bachelor curmudgeons who I met because I worked with one of them. I was his boss. He was my senior editor.

That arrangement was ridiculous, but he was very cool about it and a huge help to me in that difficult workplace.

One afternoon I met up with them at a local LSU hangout The Chimes (link). They were smoking stogies and arguing the best performance by Orson Welles. The Mars radio show was tossed out as was Citizen Kane. I weighed in with The Stranger and instantly upped my cred.

They started tolerating my presence, and before long they were including me in their rituals, one of which was juleps and the Derby on race day.

Before it was all over they'd even invited me to their annual Christmas Eve day-long "dinner" at Galatoire's in New Orleans (link). I never could go because my mom's birthday is Christmas Eve, but it was nice to be invited.

I miss those guys.

Anyway, my daughters are finally old enough to care, and on Saturday, we sat down about ten minutes before race time and I explained it all to them. It was fun. They were into it, and as we talked, I realized how much like anything involving hard work, skill, persistence, and a little bit of luck it was.

Like getting a book published, for instance.

We work hard, train, hone our skills, then we pass our horse off to an agent and hope for the best. We're advised to put our heads down, not obsess, write while you wait (or as I like to say, "just keep swimming").

Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and before long (the hope is), you'll look up and you're there. You've made it.

Right?

Who knows. You might even be the 20-1 shot, and on your 13th try, on a horse you weren't even supposed to ride, you win.

Have a great week, reader-friends!

Quick reminder: Our "Laughter is the Best Medicine" blogfest is next Monday (link). I'll post another reminder Thursday--should be a laughing good time.

Til Thursday~ <3

How I Met My Agent...

The post is up! Go here to read it (link).

And thanks so much to all of you for your congratulations and well-wishes. I can't tell you what it means to me.

Update! Party at PK's (link). Ya-whoo!  Thanks, girl~ ((big hug))

Have a great week. Til Thursday~ <3

Blogging Wins

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be at Miss Snark's First Victim (link) telling how I met my literary agent, Kate McKean of Howard Morhaim Literary, Inc.

Today I'm still walking around, smiling, and trying to wean myself off checking my email every five minutes. It's hard after a year and three months of querying, waiting to hear something. It's hard to think now I've moved to the next phase. Submissions.

I'm not sure what to expect.

Once again, though, I have to give it up. Blogging wins. After all those queries, I found my agent through a blog. It's possible my story's unusual, but maybe not. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts, so I hope you'll drop by MSFV tomorrow.

In the meantime, have a great Monday! After all this daydreaming, I've got to get back to work.

Til Thursday, reader-friends~ <3

Restless Anchovies

Once again, Elle Strauss had this amazing video on her blog Friday (link, in case you missed it). This time it was Margaret Atwood talking about the evolution and future of publishing. She compared writers to anchovies growing restless in the new publishing waters.

She talked about the United Artists model where actors Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglass Fairbanks, etc., started their own production company to have more control over their careers and get a bigger percentage of the money for their work.

Atwood's point was, in this new world of electronic publishing, it doesn't make sense for authors to be paid less for an ebook than a paper book, and her implication was that authors could band together to produce and market their own books.

It sounds fantastic. And Atwood is a writer talking to an audience of writers. So there was a lot of love for this idea. Heck, I even loved the sound of this idea!

But reality check: this was Margaret Atwood talking about self-publishing. I'm sure if she and Stephen King and John Grisham all decided to start doing it themselves, they'd have a pretty easy time producing books and being profitable. I'm not so sure it would work for the real anchovies like you and me.

And I have to come clean about something else: I'm not a big fan of self-publishing.

Sure it's great for small projects for a set audience--like a family reunion book, or a book of recipes, or my mom's Bible studies--but in general for mass-market consumption, I think it has... control issues.

Most of you know I worked as an editor for more than a decade in the academic setting and most recently at a local magazine, so perhaps I have a bias. But publishers actually do do more than just make money off writers. At the very least, the editors do.

I edited manuscripts for Ph.D.s, non-Ph.D.'d smart people, experienced writers, very good writers, and I can tell you this: every writer needs a good editor. Even Margaret Atwood. Heck, even Stephen King. (Who's read Insomnia? I haven't, but JRM did...)

If you continue watching through to the Q&A portion of Atwood's lecture, she explains what a good editor does and why she still needs one. So that's the main reason I don't care for self-publishing.

But there's also the marketing side. Imagine having to spread the word all by yourself to the billions of readers out there. Going up against the billions of books already published, the free books, the ones being pushed by the establishment and/or hired publicists...

There's also a quality control element. Self-publishing opens the floodgates to all the garbage out there just waiting to be washed ashore. All the needles, plastic bags, condoms, oil. Remember that guy who wrote and self-published through Amazon the "how to" guide for pedophiles?

Think about it, people. All those inappropriate, unproofed, repetitive, plot-holed, earnest, and sometimes brilliant works of literature.

Yeah, I know, Is that really an argument? That stuff happens anyway, and what? Am I over here advocating the suppression of ideas? What is this? Hitler's Germany?

No.

I don't know. Maybe it could work. As I already confessed, I really like the United Artists model. Mostly because I've got critique partners that include these guys (their names are links):

• Carolyn Snow Abiad
• Tami Hart Johnson
• Anne Kenny
• Jen Daiker
• Jessica Bell
• Kittie Howard

Every one of these ladies is a fantastic writer, and when they send me a MS to read, I send it back to them covered in notes on where something could be stronger or where they must rework a section or where they repeated themselves, where I got lost... but more importantly where I laughed, cried, punched JRM and a read a passage aloud to him it was just. that. brilliant.

And/or they do the same for me.

So maybe we could do it together. We could be editors for each other, help each other publicize...

And after Talli's successful ebook launch via social media, and Nathan B.'s heads up about Amanda Hocking and Kindle millionaires, maybe it could be profitable...

Sigh. I'm still skeptical. I'm not ready to declare a mutiny just yet. But at the same time, it really doesn't make sense to me that authors should get paid less for a cheaper medium.

What do you guys think about the United Artists model? Self-publishing? Editors, publishers and the future of publishing? Restless anchovies?

Personally I lament the loss of bookstores. Til Thursday, reader- and writer-friends~ <3

Buckle up

Seems I've been apologizing a lot lately. I'm sorry.

I really do have a good excuse, though. You might remember my post back in October about several things happening at once. I'd gotten a revise/resubmit request from my all-time Dream Agency. The first agency I ever queried back in Sept 2009 when I was just starting Debut Novel.

(Yep, in 2009 I sent a million-page query letter re: an unfinished novel... and then when I didn't hear back a week later, I sent a follow-up email. I was clueless. And rejected.)

Back to the story: I got right on the R&R, polished it up, sent it through the critters, and had that MS back in DA's hands by Thanksgiving.

All through the holidays, I bit my nails and refreshed my inbox while JRM admonished me that no one's working through Christmas. Me: They might!

January 4, I heard back from DA saying she really liked the revision and would I send my synopsis for others in the office to review. I didn't think I could breathe when that happened.

Naturally, I fretted that my synopsis wasn't good enough, but I sent it on and waited.

And waited.

And in the meantime, a different agent contacted me about liking my MS and would I be interested in talking on the phone about revisions and possibly resubmitting? Me: Yes, yes, nice to meetcha New Agent, but you see, I've got Dream Agent on the line here.

New Agent: Give that person a nudge and see where you stand.

So I hesitantly sent an email nudge, and guess what? That person was an assistant who is now gone. In a puff of smoke, she got a job elsewhere--a great job for her--but she left me high and dry.

I dragged my feet back to my chair and sat. Then I went under the desk and cried. And then my little gmail sing-song went off. New Agent wanted to know if I still wanted to talk--?

Me: Oh, right. Right. What were you saying again?

We made a date. And literally the same day, things at home went Off-the-charts Crazy. I'm not kidding.

Some of you knew unexpected schenanigans were happening on hubs's work front. Well, that day it became imperative for me to bring home the bacon. And a lot of it. Fast.

Thankfully, I've got one of those hourly jobs that never ends. So I was able to plant my butt in my seat and work nonstop for the last days of the month clocking hours.

Last Monday I posted about going down to stare at the waves so I could calm down. When I first got there, repeating in my brain over and over was the sound of Dorothy's voice: "I'm frightened, Auntie Em. I'm frightened."

(I know. I'm a goober, right?)

Those words were very formal for the panic gripping my chest, but I don't know. My brain.

I left after an hour of watching those glassy waves rolling in, one after the other, never stopping for centuries, at peace. By then my only thought was, "Thank you."

We really are going to be fine. God's been setting up a safety net for us since September--and we weren't even looking! I've got work, we've got a cushion, and there's even a job waiting that we simply have to accept. It's a good one, too.

It's just been... an exciting seven days.

And what about that call? Well, unfairly, I know, I put a lot of pressure on it to bail us out. You know, the Hollywood ending where the big offer comes and the music swells and we all click our heels because There's No Place Like Home.

It didn't happen. New Agent and I basically just chatted about the changes she thought I should make, and it now stands as another R&R request. The ball's back in my court.

I need to get started on it, but right now I feel completely winded. Motivation has abandoned me. And I've got bacon to bring home.

But I appreciate all your hugs and well-wishes and prayers. And I'll get back on my feet. We've got a mountain to climb before June (a yellow-brick road to follow?), but I'm hoping once we get there, we'll find out it had to get worse before it could get better.

More soon~ <3

Tips & Tricks - Writing samples on your blog

Two wonderful bleeps recently shared with me that they'd been contacted by publishing professionals who'd read synopses or excerpts of their works on their blogs. (SQUEE for them!!!)

Then I over-read (like over-heard) a comment where an agent lamented that he'd like to read more of a writer's work, but it wasn't readily available on the writer's blog.

Naturally, I got to thinking... I didn't have writing excerpts here until two days ago, so I can't say whether it works for me. But it makes sense. Just because I can write a decent blog post doesn't mean I have the chops for a novel. Or even the bright idea for one.

So maybe this is more of a heads up. And maybe I'm the last person getting the memo...  (Am I?)

I'll keep this post short in the hopes that you might check out one (or all) of my new linkies to the right over there > > >

And while I still have everything crossed that I can possibly cross in the hopes that I'll hear back positive news from Dream Agent soon, I certainly won't turn away any interested parties.

Anybody else contacted through writing samples on their blog? I'm just curious. And I'd love to hear any feedback you might have on my new pages!

Hope your week is filled with things to be thankful for. Til Thursday~ <3

Revision Reaction

Reaction isn't the right word for what's buzzing in my brain right now, but I wanted an alliterative title... I need Jessica's help.

What's the R word for "revision performance anxiety"? Or "complete and total revision panic attack"?

For those of you completely lost, ten days ago I got a "revise and resubmit" request from my personal top-pick agency. Like the only agency I ever wanted to query from Day 1 last year when I decided to pursue this novelist thing seriously.

But you don't just query one agency. That's crazy, right?

Still, every writer who's ever played a role in my life as a reader (or a writer) is handled by these guys, and working with them would be like... I don't know. Like the seal of approval as a novelist. Or something.

So it happened. They're giving me a shot. And ten days later, I still haven't started revising.

Oh, yes. I've made lots of notes. I've discussed it ad nauseum with crit partners and local betas and JRM. I've told them my ideas for approaching the requested changes and everyone's given helpful suggestions and been so super-supportive. ((big hugs))

And yet I sit here staring at the compuer screen. My throat's tight and it's possible my stomach has completely closed up. I can't seem to open the document...

What's the problem, right? I've worked as an editor for more than a decade. It's really not that big of a deal. Hello? Mountain? Molehill? Just do it already.

Well, I'll tell ya (as I told another crit partner who's vying for sainthood)... I'm not really sure where to begin. I mean, I've never revised a book before.

All my revisions have been on short, feature-length news stories. And that's just a matter of beefing up the lede and other things I won't bore you with here. The gist: it's pretty straightforward (and quick) work.

In this case I've been given some guidance but nothing terribly, terribly specific. And I feel very, very overwhelmed. Like throw-the-whole-thing-out-and-just-start-all-over overwhelmed.

... and well... There's this other thing...

I've been afraid to say it out loud in case somebody hears me. Come close and I'll whisper it... shh...

What if I do all this work, make all these changes, think I've got it perfect and then they come back and say, "Right. Well, nice try, thanks--Pass."

...

(gulp)

Then what?

All that time, the energy, the neglect of family/friends/house/appearance/fitness... And in the end, They passed.

In my mind, the idea of that happening is, well, it's me under the desk for a month. At the very least.

...

Okay, now that I've reread all that, I look at it and think, "Who is this person? God, what a ninny! Just shut the whining and do it already."

You never know unless you try, right? And so what? What if they do say "no thanks" after all that and pass? Nothing ventured, man. It's not about the agency, it's about my ability to tell a compelling story that people want to read. These guys don't represent King or Grisham or Rowling and they all seemed to manage just fine.

sigh.

And as my finger hovers over the "delete" key, I pause...

I know part of our blogging writers' community here is sharing this kind of stuff. So I hesitate to wipe out this pathetic mess of a post in favor of giving you something cheery and upbeat that will make you giggle.

Anybody else out there felt this way? Or feeling this way? Or got some advice for the ninny taking up space in my head?

Til Thursday... I'm opening the document now, dangit.

And if you need a giggle, here. I give you... well, I was going to give you some pining for the fjords. Instead I give you the Queen Victoria Handicap. Love~ <3

And Twitter, too

So KarenG's a superstar. I picture her doing the Molly Shannon "Superstar!" right about now...

And I'm sending her all the B-love for giving me an excuse to befriend some of you cool folks I've been seeing around the blogosphere w/o seeming creepy or stalkerish...

In my ice distribution, I read a funny post where one of my new blogging buddies was feeling "old" because she didn't get Yo Gabba Gabba (Vicki).

You know what made ME feel old? Twitter.

I'm sure I'm over-thinking it. And friends I hang with in person always give me heck because I don't text either.

But that's largely due to the fact that the mobile communication industry still hasn't streamlined their product.

I mean, seriously, people. You buy a PC, regardless of brand, and you know how to use it.

You buy a Mac, you scratch your head for six months, you figure out how to use it, you fall in love with it, you realize there's no software for it and the only people using it are graphic designers, then you go back and buy another PC and fondly remember the days when you had a Mac and it was SO COOL.

Sorry... digression.

But am I the only one who is tired of having to learn a new phone every two years? My contract's up, but I'm holding on to my little pink flip phone til it thunders.

Which brings us back to Twitter. You're really supposed to tweet from your phone, right? And anybody can follow you. You don't "lock" your tweets. That's like blocking anonymous comments on your blog...

See? I am trying. It's just weird to me. Because, for one I'm not convinced I'm that interesting. And for two, well, I end up knowing all this personal stuff about people I don't really know.

Like for example: Natalie Fischer had a cold last week.

[Fast bkg: I did a webinar w/Ms. Fischer a week ago (Thanks, Candy!) and she specified we had to have a Twitter account. I've actually had a Twitter account for three years so I went back and played with it, added Fischer as one of my "Follow"s, and now I get her updates all the time.]

I now know Ms. Fischer's a recovering Cheez-It addict (like me) and when she was sick her boyfriend brought her liquid Nyquil. This made her very unhappy...

(Personally, when I was pre-kids and sick, I chugged liquid Nyquil like it was Coke. It was the night time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, why am I on my bathroom floor? medicine. Remember that?)

But good lord, we are not friends. She is not my agent. She might possibly be my agent one day, but at this point she's a total stranger to me. And yet I know all this about her life... I feel like a creepy stalker!

On Friday, when I sneaked a Cheez-it while packing the girls' school snacks, Natalie Fischer crossed my mind...! And I'm supposed to be doing this with hundreds... thousands of people?

All charting my every move?

So in the same way I argued with Vicki--"all the music for Yo Gabba Gabba is by Mark Mothersbaugh! They have Biz Markie doing the beat of the day!"--feel free to argue with me about Twitter.

Help Grandma understand The Twitter, people. Did I just hear thunder?

B-love~

Awesomeness and fishing

Gotta take a break from the world. Catherine and I are beside ourselves about this (use your back button to return): The new trailer for The Last Airbender movie.

The first word out of both our mouths was "Appa!" The second out of Catherine's was, "It's in 3D?"

My children haven't embraced the whole 3D movie craze. As a result, I haven't seen a 3D movie yet either... Here's the deal: a few years back Monsters v. Aliens came out in 3D. (I think it was one of the first for kids.)

Well, a mommy friend of mine called and wanted us to do a girls movie date to see it. That was cool, I was onboard. I love, love, love the movies, right?

Laura dug her little heels in and said "NO!" She was literally offended at the suggestion. But not because it was in 3D. Laura's like me as a little kid--she likes to sleep. And it only took one scary movie for me/her to realize that hiding under the covers in the dark shivering for three weeks straight was no way to spend your nights.

I said Monsters v. Aliens to Laura, and she looked at me like I was a monster. Or an alien. So we agreed she'd stay home with Daddy and watch Kipper or Angelina Ballerina.

Catherine definitely wanted to go, but I can't remember why she didn't. She might've gotten sick--it was first grade. They still get sick a lot at that age. But the rest of the gang went, and after it was over, word got back that one of the little girls had left the theater and thrown up afterwards.

Her mom said it was because during the movie, this tiny six year-old (she really is the littlest of the girls) had consumed her popcorn, her neighbor's popcorn, a box of gummies, a whole Sprite... you get the picture.

Made no difference to Catherine. She lives her little life by a strict "no vomiting" philosophy. (I'm onboard with that, considering I'm the clean-up crew.)

No amount of reasoning would convince her that her buddy had just eaten too much junk food. Nope. It was the 3D. Catherine actually left another friend's birthday party because it culminated in watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D.

I'm almost relieved M. Night gave us an out. Because while we LOVE the animated Nickelodeon TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender (upon which the movie's based) and we have every episode on DVD, I've said before it's one thing to see Koh, the face-stealing spirit, as a cartoon. It's a whole nother to see it in real life. And a whole nother to see it in 3D.

Still, for me July 2 can't get here fast enough. I might have to sneak off with Aunt Dara and the boys to see it... whee!

And what's all this about fishing? Well, let me tell you. It's about Brand New Novel.

There have been times in my agent search when I've been discouraged. I've said I wasn't doing it anymore, it was stupid, why was I wasting my time, I was tired of it, I didn't really care if I never got published, etc., etc., etc.

At the risk of driving away ALL my friends, I've tried to keep these moments to myself as much as possible. Only poor Richard has to hear it. Oh, and my mom.

My sweet mom has been so great. She listens and has no idea what I'm talking about half the time, but every time she says the following: "It's just like fishing. You've just gotta keep casting and one of these times you're going to catch a big fish."

Well, reader friends, I caught The Shark.
...

I'm trying to be philosophical about it. It doesn't matter if she comes back and says "no thanks." Now I know I have a query letter for BNN that will result in a full manuscript request from a veteran, top agent.

I'm also trying to apply Catherine's "no vomiting" philosophy. I've got 59 days to go.

My uncle Kelly's a welder. When he was in his late 20s-early 30s, he worked on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf, and they used to deepwater fish from the platform. He caught a shark once... It was delicious.

More soon~

P.S. Hey, Locals! The Hangout is donating all profits from this weekend's music/art festival to oil spill relief. Click here for more info.

Author-Agent Match dot com

OK, so originally this post was going to be something about the oil spill.

I've been thinking about our beaches and growing up in south Louisiana, living on the Alabama Gulf Coast, having family in Mississippi, a brother in south Florida. We're all virtually joining hands in this crisis praying it can be resolved with as little damage as possible.

Then I got a form rejection on a query letter for Brand New Novel from an agent who, according to her stated interests, should've at least wanted to read a little more... It's OK, I wasn't that upset. (big lie)

I can say I was pleasantly surprised that after only a few test letters, I got a full MS request from an extremely nice and reputable agent I interacted with on Debut Novel. (whee!) She seems like a neat person to work with. I'll keep you posted as that unfolds.

So since it all comes back to the books, I was thinking about how the agent search is a lot like using Match dot com to find a date/potential mate. (Never used MDC, but I'm betting it is...)

I read somewhere a caution to writers to approach selecting an agent even more carefully than you would your husband/wife. That seems a little extreme, but I get it. This person is going to have a huge role in my career path, and as most agent-author relationships involve contracts, there's a similarity.

So here's how it works (and those of you who've used MDC, see what you think):

The search is 98 percent online now--almost everybody's wanting to be green, and it sure saves on postage, so I'm all for it. You set out, aspiring novelist, finished novel in hand (teeth brushed, coolest outfit), and you head over to Query Tracker to set up your dbase/do a search for agents seeking your genre.

QT has links to agency websites and agent email addresses--even a comments section from queriers as to how fast they respond or if they do.

I'm sure this is some Big Brother means of tracking the habits of aspiring novelists and plotting trends in the industry, but I Don't Care. The fellas who designed and maintain QT (which is free, btw) are Heroes.

The list is made (profiles matched), so you pick about seven you'd like to ask on a date (i.e., send a query).

Pause.

I once read a long blog post about how a bad agent's worse than no agent at all--possiblly worse than never being published. (gasp!) I can't remember where that was or I'd give you a link.

So how do you know if this person you're about to ask out/possibly marry's crazy or not? What if you get an offer from the literary agent equivalent of Glen Close in Fatal Attraction?

Run over to Absolute Write Watercooler for the skinny. It's an online forum of writers who post about agent behaviors. Sometimes agents even drop in for interviews or to update threads about themselves. It's basically like your group of girlfriends, although I feel like the total guy in this scenario.

You can also Google the agent's name to see if he/she has a blog or has been interviewed recently by many of the helpful agent-interview blogs out there (e.g., Guide to Literary Agents, Literary Rambles, etc.)

For me, even after all this homework, it's been very hit or miss.

I've gotten several form rejections from agents who specifically state they're seeking what my novel is. I've gotten several partial requests from the same. And the I've gotten full requests (the home run) from agents both specifically seeking it and from some I've queried because I liked books they handled or their agency, regardless of whether they were specifically seeking what I'd written.

I've gotten the no call the day after treatment. I've gotten the surprise positive follow-up from the date you didn't think went so well...

And then I discovered Agents on Twitter. Can I just say, following AOT is a big mistake.

I know it helps us keep track of them 24/7, but when they start tweeting about queries, it's a lot like being the guy who overhears the group of girls discussing a bad date when you've just gone out with one of them.

They never tweet the name of offending querier, but you just KNOW they're talking about you.

Or then you have the agent who tweets that she just had the most amazing cookie at some NYC bakery while hanging with the Shark (Janet Reid), and you're thinking, "Why are you hanging out with the Shark eating cookies and not reading my partial???"

The best are the tweets from the agent who's so disappointed because she never gets the MS she really, really wants. Or the one who proposed to an author who'd already gotten married. But based simply on a query, not on reading the full...

Naturally, I hopped over to her profile to see if I should ask her out! I discovered she's seeking exactly what DN is! I tentatively send her a "Would you like to go out with me?" query and get back the insta-slap. The "Dear Author..." form reject.

LTM: (Puzzled frown, rubbing cheek) I guess she was still in mourning...

They should start using "John" instead of "Author" in those. Just to inject a little humor.

If all this sounds bitter, I've failed. It's totally not meant to. I'm actually extremely optimistic, and I've gotten super feedback on Brand New Novel.

The agent search is frustrating, but I still think it's way better than sending my MS off to the slushpile of four major publishing houses and hoping for the best. And I very much appreciate the fast-responding agents, positive or negative.

It's just the entire process brings to mind that Fountains of Wayne song "Someone to Love." (You knew there'd be a musical tie-in.)

I'm Seth. Agent Seeking Exactly What BNN Is, But Who Sends "Dear Author" Form Reject To My Query can play the role of Beth. Pay careful attention to the taxi interaction... Here's the link to the song.

Onward and upward, reader friends! Oh, and some Happy Mother's Day recipes (my contribution is #3).

Undah Pres-sha

First, took the girls to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie yesterday, and it was a hoot! I was glad I'd read the first half of the book aloud at bedtime with them before going. It helped me be ready for the jokes.

It's also had the added benefit of keeping me from getting the "cheese touch" at the playground lo these many weeks. (Note to reading Moms: crossing your fingers on both hands grants you immunity.)

So what's all this about pressure? Well, it's tough, I tell ya. Waiting to hear back from favorite agents, waiting to hear back on queries that are lurking out there in the far silent reaches of queryville... It's pretty easy to become self-absorbed.

But an interesting, very recent turn of events got me to thinking about life on the other side of the wall.

I know, I'm making you guys gag, but I have a tendency to try and get into the head of the "other guy" in situations like these. I try to imagine what could be going on in his/her brain and why she is (or in this case isn't) doing what I think she ought to be doing. (Like going crazy over Debut Novel!)

It just so happens there's a particular agency out there that has represented just about every book I've ever loved. OK, that's a grand, sweeping statement that isn't entirely true. But they've handled a lot of them.

And in my little pea brain way back last year, I thought it would be just amazing to have my book in there with all those other ones I loved. So before I'd even finished writing Debut Novel, I shot a query to one of their junior agents.

Rut-roh!

Did I mention I've learned all about *breaking* into publishing by being the proverbial bull in the china closet?

Well, at the top of all Agency No-No lists is this (it's usually like #1 or #2): Never, NEVER query an agent until your novel's finished.

I learned the Why behind that rule as I actually finished Debut Novel and saw how it changed and evolved as I wrote it. I told Richard, if anything, the experience of writing an entire book really stretched me as a writer who's accustomed to doing quick, in and out news stories.

I learned how books can take off as you write them and head down different paths than you expected. Things you weren't really paying attention to before can become very important, and characters you thought were going to be minor can become major.

It's a lot of fun! It also makes going back and re-reading a few weeks after finishing super important.

So too bad for inexperienced me, junior agent at Dream Agency kicked my little query to the curb. I'd violated Rule #1 (sometimes #2 behind "spell agent's name correctly.") No hard feelings; his assistant was super nice about it.

I tucked my little devastated tail and kept writing. Also, most importantly, I kept researching. And I discovered another potential agent at Dream Agency who might, might be interested in my novel. (However, I'd also learned at this point to finish the dang thing before querying again.)

So I wrote wrote wrote, and kept my eye on second Ms. Junior Agent. But as I watched, I noted an interesting evolution in the tone of her advice to potential queriers.

When I found her in, let's say November, (OK, it was October, but I was eager!), she was very happy, "I love agenting. I'm seeking that novel I can't put down." To queriers, she wanted to see a personalized query letter and the first ten pages of the book.

Then I found an interview with her in January in which she lamented the staggering number of queries she was receiving (as many as 200/wk), and noted that maybe one day she'd have an assistant.

By late-February, her requirements had dropped to query letter, first page of your book.

And there was a definite tone.

I still had my eye on Ms. Junior Agent, but I waited. I had just sent out a batch of queries, and the rule is to wait several weeks and give folks time to get back to you.

That part's extremely hard. Especially when you read interviews in which agents say they "get back quickly" when they're interested. It's also hard when you have those agencies who say you won't hear back if they aren't interested. (Who's holding the clock?)

And then there's the agent who Tweets the following: "Everyone who queried me before Feb. 8, if you haven't heard back from me, consider yourself rejected."

That agent needs to have her portrait made into a dart board.

So on Friday, after refreshing the Gmail for the 5,000th time, I wandered over to see what Ms. Junior Agent was up to and found a strange notice. She had quit Dream Agency and seemed to have gone "off the radar."

It was odd. I felt like I knew her after reading all the interviews, planning my letter that would be personalized just for her and even going back and forth on whether my half-page Prologue should be included with my query now that she was down to "first page only" status.

The wheels in my little imaginative writer's brain were nudged into motion. What could have happened? Did she become so disillusioned that she ran screaming from the building? Maybe she stormed out one day amid a cyclone of unpersonalized query letters and first pages of manuscripts that did not fall into her stated preferences.

Maybe she looked at the sea of 200+ queries coming in week after week embodying the dreams of all those aspiring novelists and the mountain became too much for Mohammed. Maybe she just got sick of waiting on that assistant.

I like to imagine my query might've given her hope. (Eh, who knows.)

Perhaps she could be a character in New Novel. Something like the disillusioned junior agent who meets the singing goose artist who refuses to allow post-production to take place on her bare-bones recorded tracks.

They leave their fields of choice to go off in search of adventure and perhaps even to save the world. Maybe they fight crimes.

Anyway, it was interesting to me as I continue waiting. I realized there just might be pressure on both sides of this wall.

On Self-Publishing

For some reason I have "Blame Canada" in my head this morning.

Also, finished the Dessen novel, and I really liked it. She's got a nice style of writing that's very engaging. And she manages to sneak in good advice without sounding school-marmish.

I would've handled the scene where the primaries (finally) get their first kiss a little differently. I mean, in my opinion, it was a bit wordy. I would've done more, "warm embrace, the world melted away, and it was just... perfect."

Something like that, but a little more polished. You know, give them their moment to savor, and then pick up with the bit about forever and all.

But that's just me. Otherwise, good stuff! I can totally see me reading another of her books.

So to self-publishing! Some people are curious as to why I don't like that option. I've been an editor for years. I've sent back many a bleeding manuscript. I even know how the printing process works. What's the big deal?

Well, one set of reasons is practical, the other is more philosophical.

First, let me say, I'm strictly talking about publishing books. Novels. Not cookbooks or family geneologies or things like that, which are intended for a specific group of people for a specific purpose. I'm talking about self-publishing my work of YA commercial fiction. (I.e., vanity press.)

On the practical side, publishing's expensive. There's also the problem of editing your work. Yes, I'm an editor, and I've even edited the works of tenured Ph.D.s, and guess what? EVERYBODY needs a good editor.

You just need an outsider to read your stuff and make sure all the thoughts that were in your head made it successfully into the story.

It really does take a full six-week break to be able to go back to something you've written and see that "Oh! I thought I explained that better." Or "Wow, I could've expanded on that a little more."

Second, you need a good copy-editor. You just do. Somebody's got to un-split all those infinitives.

Finally, the most important thing, Marketing. I was just telling someone that if I hadn't seen an aritcle in Entertainment Weekly about the "Twilight phenomenon"--this was back when Breaking Dawn was dropped--I would never have picked up a copy and read it. Why would I? I have no tween children. We were still reading Madeline every night.

But I did see that article, and so did a lot of my peers. And Stephanie Meyers thanks us all.

Maybe you don't care to be that successful. (What?) But even to get a little publicity--to get the word-of-mouth wheels turning--takes a lot of effort and time. At least with an actual publisher you get some help with that. I know, the amount varies and is reportedly shrinking.

Coming from a marketing background, that is just so counterintuitive...

As for the philisophical, well, it's about the joy of reading.

Now you've all heard me complain about how long this finding an agent process takes and then how long it's going to take after that to get through publishing and yadda yadda yadda.

But that's just part of it. And the complaining's primarily for laughs because I know that's just the nature of the business. I've also decided to get back into yoga.

It can be discouraging that a big part of one's success seems to hinge on the ability to write a superstar sales pitch that sums up a 300- to 500-page work of fiction in one titilating paragraph. (Angela: "I hate being titilated.")

I can only imagine the mountain of super-great books that are just never going to be published because of this whole query-letter test.

But I do think moving the slush pile out of a few publishing houses and into hundreds of agency offices actually gives more people a shot at being considered--or at least actually read once.

That just brings us back to quality control. I know that a big part of my learning came from the books I read growing up. I learned to communicate effectively, to use language, even some mechanical tricks. (But I was nerdy like that.)

Philosophicaly, there's a certain authority to a printed book. I know, there's a lot of bound garbage out there, but there's also a lot of bound good stuff. Interesting stuff. Fun stuff. Deep and meaningful stuff.

I don't know, it's frustrating and rejections are depressing, but I think authors should resist self-publishing. If everybody's doing it, then where's the value in actually getting it done?

Finally, in conclusion, when you're sick of waiting and you see that icon promising to get your book published for a few hundred dollars, stop. Think: What would Brian Boitano do?

And then send a query to Nathan Bransford.

Silence is Golden

No it's not. Silence sucks. It also blows. It's a freak of nature. And it especially blows when you're waiting to hear back about how fabulously awesome Debut Novel is...

I know, I know. I've read the writers' self-help blogs. Publishing is a waiting game. You have to be patient and learn to take no news as good news. (insert exclamation point)

But you see, I'm a talker. I really like to chat chat chat, primarily about me me me and how great my book is.

I got so bored yesterday I queried O. J. Berman.

Yep, I did! I'm sorry!

Who's he, you ask? He's the agent who is (writing) world-renowned for his fast response to queries. The man LIVES in front of the computer screen. (Says the girl who hasn't showered today.)

I think he was looking for some legal thriller or a noir mystery to turn into a movie. That was close enough for me, so I shot him my letter. He shot me back a very nice "not really what I'm looking for," but it took him ALMOST THREE HOURS!

You're slippin, O. J.

I know, that's not the way to break into publishing. That's the way to end up on Gawker.

I know I said I was mending my bull-in-the-publishing-china-closet ways (see Debut Post). But it's hard. It's super hard. And what's even super hardest about it is that my real job, my actual paying gig, requires me to sit here in front of this dang laptop writing articles for the paper or updating bcbe.org. (Yep, that's me that got your name wrong, Elsanor School!)

So I can't just get out and do something else. And every time bcbe.org slows or I'm waiting for a picture to download, that little G-mail icon is right there staring at me, begging me to click it and see if some agent has written back to agree that Yes, I've done it! I've written the best work of commercial YA fiction to date, and he/she has my six-figure, multi-book deal all polished up and ready for my signature!

I was researching potential YA agents on a great blog for such things the other day (caseylmccormick.blogspot.com), and I read this great bit of advice from one of them: "Don’t act crazy. It’s harder than you think, but agents hate crazy people."

That actually made me LOL! In a crazy-laugh sort of way.

It reminded me of Pee Wee's Big Adventure and the meeting in PW's basement where he's got the little model of the shopping mall and he's saying, "Some questions get answered, others appear. It's like a giant sweater that someone keeps knitting... he-he-and knitting... he-he-and knitting..."

OK, I'm meeting a friend for lunch. Hopefully she won't have me committed.

Final thought: If you didn't get the agent joke, I have a homework assignment. First, google "O.J. Berman." Next, go to your local video store (or get on Netflix)...  Last, enjoy!

So Tell Me About Your Book...

It's Friday! To make up for yesterday, I'll give you two of my favorite redneck jokes:

#1-You might be a redneck if...

You've been married three times and you still have the same in-laws.


OK, one more...

#2-You might be a redneck if...

You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off its wheels.

BAH!

* * *

OK. I'm getting lots of VERY nice feedback re: this here blog via Facebook, email, etc. Thank You, All! I aim to entertain! And please feel free to leave those comments here. I really do think I fixed whatever was causing the problem before.

Now everyone's asking, What's all this about a book? What's the story?

Well, I'm still looking for an agent, so I'm loath to put too much out there. That's probably not the right approach. Maybe I should put it all out there. I don't know. I'm so new at this...

Sorry, The Book. Well... OK. Here's the plot in a nutshell (deep breath):

Heading into junior year, 16 year-old Anna is expecting the worst. Her best friend has just moved, and she's left with kids who only care about trucks, football and fishing.

Enter sophisticated, wealthy twins—beautiful Lucy with a troubled past, and striking, aloof Jack. They're transfer students from an exclusive private school on ritzy Ono Island, and as Anna gets to know them, she finds a friend in Lucy and what might be first love with Jack.

But all isn't right at their home. Lucy engages in self-destructive behavior, and Jack is sullen and withdrawn. Their mother is dead, and their father is strangely detached.

When Anna's pal Julian, a promising young art student, begins making romantic overtures, she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to him.

Then, during the course of a student internship at her local paper, Anna discovers the twin's father's long-guarded secret. He insists she must keep quiet. But his secret involves Julian, and Anna is determined the truth must come out.

* * *

So ring-a-ding-ding, that's the plot in a nutshell--75,000-words of commercial YA fiction.
 
I already told you it's not Cormack McCarthy, but it IS suspenseful and romantic, and test readers have been V. positive.

The unique part is that I incorporated lots of fun Baldwin County elements in the setting--the local art scene, local places, and even some local folklore. I tried to capture the great art community we have here, and I really think readers will get a sense of life in this area. In a good way!
 
The character development's solid, it's funny at times, and it's fast-paced. Being an admitted book-putter-downer (and never picker upper again-er), I tried to avoid all the things that make me stop reading. I think it works.
 
So, yay! Anybody know a good literary agent?

On Inspiration

When I first started writing, a lot of my inspiration for plot and character came from music. I wrote in a previous post about statements people have made in interviews that stuck with me and turned into scenes (or whole books as the case may be). Well, music is amazingly inspirational to me as well, and the muse strikes during odd, unexpected songs and at absolutely random times.

Like every time I hear "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd I think of MC in Book 4--where he's going to be and his state of affairs in that opening scene. The sounds of that song are driving across the Causeway under an overcast sky watching the drifters fish from the roadside and the occasional shrimp boat pulling out for a day's work.

If there was one song in the whole world that I could get credit for writing, I'd want it to be that one.

Other inspirations? My MC in Debut Novel came to me the day I was thinking about my friend Amy Wemyss. MC's named after one of my daughters' school friends, but MC's best friend was originally named Amy.

Amy was one of my first friends when we moved here, and we always had such a fun time running down to the beach with the kids, swapping musical favorites, chatting, spending time together during the days while the boys were at work. Then after Katrina, her superstar husband (postal inspector) got transferred to Maryland for some big fat promotion. It was all very cool for them, but it left me high and dry.

Sound familiar, test readers?

Of course, all my characters are just amalgams of all the cool, interesting people I know and have known in my life. And some I've only heard about or interviewed over the telephone...

But back to music. When I was writing Book 2, I was listening to "Defying Gravity" a lot. I thought of the picture--black and white--and the connotations of manipulating for the "good"; the idea of fighting against negative stereotypes, only to lose in the end and go with one's basic urges.

I'd go jogging and "Thunder Road" would come up on my iPod, and the story of the song led me down another rabbit hole and after another potential story twist. I liked Springstein's image of the scruffy miscreant persuading the past-prime love interest to run away with him, especially the line, "Come, take my hand. We're riding down tonight to case the Promised Land."

Who would say that and why? What would happen if she said OK? What would happen if she didn't? There's so much raw emotion in that song.

So that's a little of how I do it. I don't outline. I don't draw out elaborate diagrams and character sketches. I just go into my head and follow these characters where they lead, and I tell you, by the end of Debut Novel, it was hard to keep them contained.

As Jimbo used to say, "Good stuff."