Of all the things that suck about being a writer (and believe me, there are many) I think what I hate most is waiting for a rejection letter. It's so nerve-racking that I tend to get seriously anxious about it. Overeating and everything. Okay, I always overeat but, more than usual!
Notice I said waiting for a rejection letter and not waiting for a letter that asks for your completed manuscript. Cause I've never received one of those from a literary agent. For those of you who don't know, I've only ever published through a small online publishing house.
But this time, for my "big, epic" novel that I've been working on for over six years now, I want to go through a big publishing house. So, it's search for an agent time! Yay! I seriously suck at self-promotion so my query letters always get rejected without a second glance. I'm just not good at summarizing. I don't know how to make my letter grab their attention without throwing my hands in the air and yelling "Hey! Look at me! My story is awesome-sauce!"
The wait though. Oh geez, it sucks. And worse is when you don't even get a response. Some agencies actually post on their site that they won't give a response if they aren't interested. Okay, I get that, you guys are busy. But those that say "Will respond in 4 to 6 weeks" and then you hear nothing back? Not cool. Especially when you query them again, a different agent of the same company even, because you think maybe it somehow got lost in the mail or went to their spam folder and you STILL never hear a word back. Not a damn peep.
That's just not cool.
I'm not naming names but since 2008 I have queried multiple agencies on different works and have had ten "no responses". That's how I label them in my query notes. I guess that may not seem like a lot but at that time I would never query multiple agencies simultaneously so that was a long time of waiting and waiting before finally just moving on. Just thinking about all that wasted time makes me wanna go eat some ice cream.
I've queried two separate agencies recently; one in July and one a few days ago. I'm really hoping that I hear something back from at least one of them in the next two months. Meanwhile, I try to keep myself busy with kids, reading, TV, chores, other writing, gaming, etc. so I don't wring my hands.
But checking my email everyday is awful.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Writing Advice
I once tried to join a local "writer's club" just to pick the brains of others and maybe not feel so alone in my craft. Turns out most of the writers were non-fiction. I write only fiction. The only other fiction writers and I got along okay but it wasn't all I thought it would be.
I thought I'd make friends with like-minded individuals and we could maybe bounce ideas off each other, beta read for each other, talk about what we loved to read, that kind of stuff. But everyone was so different. Yeah, I was young and naive. Well, I was younger, I'm still pretty naive.
They had different techniques, habits, opinions, etc. I think I made three meetings before I bailed. (It didn't help that they always wanted to meet in a small, crowded coffee shop where we had to practically yell to hear each other. Who the hell wants to yell out their short erotic story to strangers in public?)
My point is, people are different and writers are people too. You can't clump us all together. We think differently and we approach our writing differently. What works for one may not work for all.
Our writing isn't all the same too. You can't compare me to Anne Rice because we both wrote some erotica. If I say I write fantasy, don't say "Oh, like The Lord of The Rings?"
Uh, that is a fantasy, yes, but nothing at all like what I write.
So when you give advice, remember that what works for some may not work for all. You might want to self-publish, I might prefer a publishing house. You might like to describe your characters in minute detail, I may leave more to the imagination. You might utilize all your social media outlets to promote your book and be very successful, I might do the same exact thing and be ignored.
This is why I take all advice from publishers, editors and authors with a grain of salt. I listen, I consider it, then I decide if I should actually use it or not. Just because it worked for fifty other people does not mean it will work for me. I expect people to do the same with any advice I give because I am no expert. I only observe and report here, people. But I do the best I can.
Don't we all?
I thought I'd make friends with like-minded individuals and we could maybe bounce ideas off each other, beta read for each other, talk about what we loved to read, that kind of stuff. But everyone was so different. Yeah, I was young and naive. Well, I was younger, I'm still pretty naive.
They had different techniques, habits, opinions, etc. I think I made three meetings before I bailed. (It didn't help that they always wanted to meet in a small, crowded coffee shop where we had to practically yell to hear each other. Who the hell wants to yell out their short erotic story to strangers in public?)
My point is, people are different and writers are people too. You can't clump us all together. We think differently and we approach our writing differently. What works for one may not work for all.
Our writing isn't all the same too. You can't compare me to Anne Rice because we both wrote some erotica. If I say I write fantasy, don't say "Oh, like The Lord of The Rings?"
Uh, that is a fantasy, yes, but nothing at all like what I write.
So when you give advice, remember that what works for some may not work for all. You might want to self-publish, I might prefer a publishing house. You might like to describe your characters in minute detail, I may leave more to the imagination. You might utilize all your social media outlets to promote your book and be very successful, I might do the same exact thing and be ignored.
This is why I take all advice from publishers, editors and authors with a grain of salt. I listen, I consider it, then I decide if I should actually use it or not. Just because it worked for fifty other people does not mean it will work for me. I expect people to do the same with any advice I give because I am no expert. I only observe and report here, people. But I do the best I can.
Don't we all?
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Where Have I Been?
For the few of you that actually follow this blog, this might have been your question for the last few months.
Honestly, I can't even answer that. It's somewhere dark, for sure.
I've been in a pretty bad place lately and crawling out of this midnight-black hole is a slippery, nail breaking process. But I'm working on it.
I've felt pretty overwhelmed in all aspects of my life but one that's killing me is dealing with other authors. It's starting to get to me for reasons it shouldn't. I've been trying to review and critique for friends and fellow struggling authors and though I really want to help these people, I just can't get motivated anymore. My days are busy this summer with the kids out of school and when I do have a minute to sit down and read, I just don't feel like it. I'd rather sleep. Or drink. Or watch Supernatural and get my Dean fix while I drink and before I sleep.
Also struggling with my vampire novel. I know the story is great but I feel like I just suck at telling it. No one will critique it for me or give me helpful pointers. At this point, I just don't think it will ever get published because I refuse to do a self-publish on it. I want a publishing house, however small, with an in-house editor to look at this thing.
But it isn't there yet. It still isn't quite presentable.
What to do when I feel like my own creativity is failing me? I've stepped away from it and completed other works, hoping that when I come back to it I will have a fresh perspective and better ideas. Alas, it isn't so.
Perhaps I should get someone to co-author this manuscript with me? Two heads are better than one and honestly, what could it hurt?
But how do you even go about finding someone to write with you? Who do you ask in the online world? How do you find someone that not only writes the exact same genre but has a similar line of thought?
Yes, I know this is a rather depressing post and I apologize for that but this is life. It isn't always sunshine and rainbows shooting out of a unicorn's ass while it skips through a field of daisies with a drunken leprechaun on it's back.
Sometimes it just sucks. Sometimes you get lost.
Sometimes you stumble on your way back to the light.
And sometimes you just need help. Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while. I might need three to lift my ass out of this funk.
Until next time, find your happy place people and good luck with whatever problems life is throwing your way.
Honestly, I can't even answer that. It's somewhere dark, for sure.
I've been in a pretty bad place lately and crawling out of this midnight-black hole is a slippery, nail breaking process. But I'm working on it.
I've felt pretty overwhelmed in all aspects of my life but one that's killing me is dealing with other authors. It's starting to get to me for reasons it shouldn't. I've been trying to review and critique for friends and fellow struggling authors and though I really want to help these people, I just can't get motivated anymore. My days are busy this summer with the kids out of school and when I do have a minute to sit down and read, I just don't feel like it. I'd rather sleep. Or drink. Or watch Supernatural and get my Dean fix while I drink and before I sleep.
Also struggling with my vampire novel. I know the story is great but I feel like I just suck at telling it. No one will critique it for me or give me helpful pointers. At this point, I just don't think it will ever get published because I refuse to do a self-publish on it. I want a publishing house, however small, with an in-house editor to look at this thing.
But it isn't there yet. It still isn't quite presentable.
What to do when I feel like my own creativity is failing me? I've stepped away from it and completed other works, hoping that when I come back to it I will have a fresh perspective and better ideas. Alas, it isn't so.
Perhaps I should get someone to co-author this manuscript with me? Two heads are better than one and honestly, what could it hurt?
But how do you even go about finding someone to write with you? Who do you ask in the online world? How do you find someone that not only writes the exact same genre but has a similar line of thought?
Yes, I know this is a rather depressing post and I apologize for that but this is life. It isn't always sunshine and rainbows shooting out of a unicorn's ass while it skips through a field of daisies with a drunken leprechaun on it's back.
Sometimes it just sucks. Sometimes you get lost.
Sometimes you stumble on your way back to the light.
And sometimes you just need help. Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while. I might need three to lift my ass out of this funk.
Until next time, find your happy place people and good luck with whatever problems life is throwing your way.
Friday, May 16, 2014
4 Things Stephen King Novels REALLY Taught Me
I'm a fan of Stephen King. I'm not a die-hard fan who's read everything he's ever written but I do have a bookcase of his works that I reread once in a while. I've always loved horror and fantasy but his stories involve much more complicated concepts than just things going bump in the night.
So I started thinking about what I've really taken away from his novels and why I have always enjoyed them so much. WARNING! There may be spoilers for those who haven't read some Stephen King novels.
1. Some of the scariest monsters are human.
Vampires and sorcerers and all manner of scary creatures reside in the pages of Uncle Stevie's works but often the most horrifying events occur between members of our species. A good example is James "Big Jim" Rennie from Under The Dome. Here is a character who has no problem manipulating and even murdering people for his own gain. King does a phenomenal job creating these believable characters that we can relate to but also these believable characters that we loathe. Isn't this true in real life as well?
In The Mist, we see what fear can do to normal, rational people: turn them into spineless sheep who will rally behind anyone who may have a solution, however immoral or insane it may be. This theme is used in many of his works including one of my favorite Castle Rock stories, Needful Things.
They may be just stories but I think they reflect how society reacts to stress and panic quite well.
2. Anyone can die.
I remember reading Cujo in high school and when I asked an adult I knew if they had read it, she made a disgusted face and said, "When I read the part about the boy dying, I threw it in the trash." I'm sure the horrified expression on my face was something to see. Throw a book in the TRASH! Because you didn't like the fact that the little boy died?
Let's face it, our favorite characters can't live forever. As much as I cheered for Peter at the end of The Eyes of The Dragon, I was upset but not put off by the death of Jake in The Dark Tower VII. And this poor kid died twice! It may be upsetting when one of your favorite characters dies but come on people, is it really a reason to discontinue reading a book or series that you were enjoying so much before the death?
I like that Stephen King isn't afraid to kill off a main character, even someone he's made you get quite attached to. People you love really die. Children get cancer everyday. Tomorrow I could be hit by a car. Death is a part of life. A painful part to be sure but a real one.
And sunshine and rainbows everywhere all the time isn't what I consider a great, entertaining read.
3. Happy wrap-it-up endings are nice but that's not always the case.
Continuing with the theme that doom and gloom are more believable, our protagonist doesn't always get to ride off into the sunset at the end of a book. I like it when they do (hell doesn't everyone?) but it just can't happen every time. At the end of 'Salem's Lot, Ben and Mark survive the vampires and escape but both are mentally exhausted and nearly broken. They still have to go back and kill every person in the town and that is certainly nothing to look forward to.
If you continue on and read the real ending of The Dark Tower VII, you find that Roland has traveled all this way to find the dark tower and once he enters the last room, he is transported back to the very beginning of the first book only to begin the quest anew, with no memory of having done it before. Man, that sucks.
Things can't always end well and sometimes it doesn't really end at all. And I'm okay with that.
4. I want to be a fantasy writer.
One of the biggest influences for my interest in writing fantasy and science fiction is Stephen King and the magical worlds he has created. I'm drawn into these places and fall in love with these characters every time I read one of his books. And I buy them so I can visit these stories again and again.
I want to be able to do that with my own stories. I want my readers to be unable to put it down, to thirst for the next chapter, to hunger for a sequel. I know I'll never be quite as talented as Mr. King, but I want my worlds to be known, if only for my own enjoyment.
I'm been a writer for some time now. I've had a couple works published but I still struggle to get a fantasy story in print. It can be daunting sometimes but I will continue to write and edit and rewrite because when you have a story inside you, it's something you can't contain. You have to let it out and you can only hope that others will love it the way you do. The way I love Uncle Stevie's works.
So I started thinking about what I've really taken away from his novels and why I have always enjoyed them so much. WARNING! There may be spoilers for those who haven't read some Stephen King novels.
1. Some of the scariest monsters are human.
Vampires and sorcerers and all manner of scary creatures reside in the pages of Uncle Stevie's works but often the most horrifying events occur between members of our species. A good example is James "Big Jim" Rennie from Under The Dome. Here is a character who has no problem manipulating and even murdering people for his own gain. King does a phenomenal job creating these believable characters that we can relate to but also these believable characters that we loathe. Isn't this true in real life as well?
In The Mist, we see what fear can do to normal, rational people: turn them into spineless sheep who will rally behind anyone who may have a solution, however immoral or insane it may be. This theme is used in many of his works including one of my favorite Castle Rock stories, Needful Things.
They may be just stories but I think they reflect how society reacts to stress and panic quite well.
2. Anyone can die.
I remember reading Cujo in high school and when I asked an adult I knew if they had read it, she made a disgusted face and said, "When I read the part about the boy dying, I threw it in the trash." I'm sure the horrified expression on my face was something to see. Throw a book in the TRASH! Because you didn't like the fact that the little boy died?
Let's face it, our favorite characters can't live forever. As much as I cheered for Peter at the end of The Eyes of The Dragon, I was upset but not put off by the death of Jake in The Dark Tower VII. And this poor kid died twice! It may be upsetting when one of your favorite characters dies but come on people, is it really a reason to discontinue reading a book or series that you were enjoying so much before the death?
I like that Stephen King isn't afraid to kill off a main character, even someone he's made you get quite attached to. People you love really die. Children get cancer everyday. Tomorrow I could be hit by a car. Death is a part of life. A painful part to be sure but a real one.
And sunshine and rainbows everywhere all the time isn't what I consider a great, entertaining read.
3. Happy wrap-it-up endings are nice but that's not always the case.
Continuing with the theme that doom and gloom are more believable, our protagonist doesn't always get to ride off into the sunset at the end of a book. I like it when they do (hell doesn't everyone?) but it just can't happen every time. At the end of 'Salem's Lot, Ben and Mark survive the vampires and escape but both are mentally exhausted and nearly broken. They still have to go back and kill every person in the town and that is certainly nothing to look forward to.
If you continue on and read the real ending of The Dark Tower VII, you find that Roland has traveled all this way to find the dark tower and once he enters the last room, he is transported back to the very beginning of the first book only to begin the quest anew, with no memory of having done it before. Man, that sucks.
Things can't always end well and sometimes it doesn't really end at all. And I'm okay with that.
4. I want to be a fantasy writer.
One of the biggest influences for my interest in writing fantasy and science fiction is Stephen King and the magical worlds he has created. I'm drawn into these places and fall in love with these characters every time I read one of his books. And I buy them so I can visit these stories again and again.
I want to be able to do that with my own stories. I want my readers to be unable to put it down, to thirst for the next chapter, to hunger for a sequel. I know I'll never be quite as talented as Mr. King, but I want my worlds to be known, if only for my own enjoyment.
I'm been a writer for some time now. I've had a couple works published but I still struggle to get a fantasy story in print. It can be daunting sometimes but I will continue to write and edit and rewrite because when you have a story inside you, it's something you can't contain. You have to let it out and you can only hope that others will love it the way you do. The way I love Uncle Stevie's works.
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