Busy! Work! Busywork!

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Let’s just say this is for Memorial Day. From Me2 (Me Too)

Busy! I’ve been busy. Except, it doesn’t really feel like being busy. I think, more, id that I’ve been doing a lot of things that are emotionally and mentally draining, so I feel like I’ve been doing a lot, without necessarily having the products to show for it.

Things like commuting 45 minutes four times a week.

Writing a book thing. (Oh, book thing, I lovelovelove you. I do. I know sometimes I yell at you, but when I step back and think about you for half a second my heart aches with how much cool I think you are.) (Aaand, there come the tears. That’s a good sign!)

Being a wife/friend/cat mother. I spend an inordinate amount of time bonding with my kitties. It is also time I spend reading, more often than not. And what is reading if not job prep? There! I spend a lot of time working. ^_^

Other stuff. Some of it cleaning. But not much.

I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately, and have been struggling to get my wordcounts done. I’m a bit troubled by this phenomenon, especially considering the above lovelovelove I have for said book. Next weekend we will be going out of town to visit Caleb’s family, down at the beach. I think the change of scenery will help, as well as having some time off work. My goal is to get ahead of wordcounts a bit, so I can take it easy and just enjoy the company of good people.

(Dear characters: you are good people [most of you], but you are also in my head. And it smells weird in there, so pardon me if I get out for a while.)

I’ve written before about how important it is to keep yourself fueled. Since restarting my dayjob, and dealing with a much longer commute than I’ve ever had before, that need is more apparent to me than ever. also, harder to keep up. I’ve been exercising more, too, since that’s supposed to be good for, well, everything. And the walks I take with Mr. Eliza are pretty fantastic. So long as we don’t walk around the part of our town where the crackheads live. Cause that’s just depressing.

What I want: A weeklong solo retreat at a house with no wifi, situated on a rocky beach far from humanity.

What I have: A turquoise office with a pair of Parisian Street Urchins and two adorable if distracting kitties (and one adorable if distracting husband).

You know, in the grand scheme of things, I’m coming out ahead.

Now, if I could just get those damn queries sent out.

Aside  —  Posted: May 20, 2013 in planning, reading, writing
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Plans were made, and traps were set…

Posted: April 25, 2013 in conventions, not writing, planning, social
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From Paparutzi

This weekend I attended my first writer’s retreat. I’m not going to say much about the retreat itself, other than: Wine & Words. That sums it up. I don want to point out the location to anyone looking for a getaway in the Pacific Northwest, though. We went to Fort Worden, near Port Townsed, WA, and stayed in an old barracks out there that can comfortably house between twelve and fourteen people. The coolest part was the decommissioned battery on the hill above the barracks. Huge cement structure, abandoned to the elements but left mostly open to the public. There are these tunnels that snake through the inside, pitch black and echoey and perfect story fodder. Or if you’re just a fan of urban decay. Plus, Port Townsend is a cute town, and the landscape is gorgeous.

In other news, after waffling for the past month, I bought my plane ticket and registration for the World Horror Convention and Bram Stoker Awards. This year, the con is in New Orleans, at the Hotel Monteleone, in the French Quarter. Two blocks from the Mississippi River. Five blocks from Marie Laveua’s House of Voodoo. Eight blocks from the French Market, which seems to be a hybrid farmer’s market/flea market.

Not that I’ll have a whole lot of time to go shopping, because WHC! Bram Stoker awards! Now, this particular iteration of both events is especially appealing to me, for such a whole lot of reasons.

The first thing, of course, is New Orleans. No other city in the United States holds the same kind of mystique. Not only does it have the history of the Civil War, but the place is steeped in magic. Questionable reputations. Catholicism. The stuff of great stories. I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid. After Katrina, I was worried New Orleans would be completely changed, and might lose all the things that were so attractive. But I think the people who love that city loved it so much that even tragedy and destruction can’t keep the city down. Now that few years have passed, and the city has had a chance to rebuild, I think it’s the perfect time to visit.

Next, and not far from the location, is the guest of honor list. Specifically Caitlin Kiernan. I cut my teeth on her novel Silk, and would reread it religiously every winter. When I went to Charleston, taking the Greyhound, I was thrilled to discover it stopped in Birmingham, where the book takes place. I took pictures. None of them were very good, so you don’t get to see any. She’s one of the reasons I started writing. And now I’ll get to meet her. Or, at least, see her across a crowded room.

Clive Barker is another person being honored that weekend. He’s been given the lifetime achievement award from the Bram Stoker Awards, and he utterly deserves it. He’s another author I grew up with, starting with The Thief of Always. Do you have kids? READ THEM THIS BOOK. Do you not have kids? READ THIS BOOK. It’s beautiful, it’s creepy, it’s everything I needed at that point in my life. Then I read his adult books–Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, Weaveworld–and the first two books in his Abarat series (if you want to read these, try to get your hands on the full color versions). Everything that man touches is gold. I don’t know if he will be at the con, but I have high hopes. And if he isn’t, maybe they will at least have some prints of his mind blowing artwork available. I’d love to hang this or this on my wall.

And the cherry on top? Rooming with Folly Blaine, horror author and podcaster for Every Day Fiction and occasionally for Beneath Ceaseless Skies. (Also award winner!) I am convinced I will burn as many calories laughing as I will intake drinking.

And there will be drinkin’.

This will likely be my only convention this year. KillerCon is tempting, since I had SUCH a good time last year (plus Christopher Rice! Ellen Datlow!). But I’ll likely keep things very tame this year, while we gain equilibrium after buying our house.

What conventions are you going to this year? If you’re planning on WHC, let me know. We can grab some absinthe!

Writing My Query Letter and Trying Not to Freak Out

Posted: April 17, 2013 in career, discovery, doubt, planning, research, writing
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This past weekend has been dominated by the hair-raising, hair-ripping experience of writing my first query letter. That means the really hard editing/revising stuff is done, at least. (Though the book is now loaded onto a twelve year old’s Kindle, to get feedback from my target audience. Gah!) I’m scanning the manuscript for word stuff right now–cliches, redundancies, finding better and more economic ways to phrase things, etc.

Can I make a confession here? I’m going to pretend you all just said yes, and gave me soft, encouraging smiles.

I’m really nervous about this manuscript.

I believe in the story. My characters. I know what I’ve done to the manuscript (the rewrite, the deep revisions, the feedback integrated by my amazing alpha readers) has made it hella stronger, and I’m proud to call it mine. ALL MINE! Mwahaha!!!

Ah…right. But there’s still that seed of doubt. That niggling, irritating stone in the bottom of my writerly boot. And at this point I don’t know if it is a legitimate fear, or if I’m just experiencing the built-in self doubt that comes with the whole being creative (being human?) thing.

So, dealing with that while at the same time trying to draft a letter explaining why someone might want to read this staggering work of genius. In 350 words or less. Yay!

I found a couple sites that were helpful during this process.

Successful Query Letters for Literary Agents. Listed here are a number of query letters that garnered representation, for a lot of different genres. YA Fantasy, Steampunk Novel, Lady Lit Mystery. (What is a Lady Lit Mystery?) Seeing how these authors formatted and presented their information helped give me direction on what to include, and how to include it.

How to Write a Query Letter from AgentQuery. I’m sure many of you are familiar with this site. Essentially it’s a database of literary agents, along with some nice resources. Take this article, for example. A very comprehensive look at not just one way to write a query letter, but several different approaches an author can use. Most of this stuff I either didn’t know, or hadn’t considered in this context.

Like, should I use a more ‘formulaic’ style blurb? When necrophiliac Nancy meets celebrity impersonator Ned, sparks begin to fly. But can she overcome her need for necrotic flesh, or will Ned be the next body on the slab?

Or should I try something a little different? Nancy knows she has a problem when the only guys that give her the hots are cold, dead stiffs. At a work party, she meets Ned, in the guise of Elvis Costello, and for the first time her heart beats faster for someone ambulatory. Now, Nancy struggles between her desire for love–and her desire for lifeless corpses.

The article goes on to describe what else is necessary–mini synopsis, author bio–and has a list of resources and examples as well. I think this one article might be enough to illustrate everything one needs to know about query letters.

Lastly, the Query Shark blog is invaluable. This blog is run by a literary agent, and she does the whole literary world a huge favor by dissecting query letters submitted to her by readers. There is a crazy lot of good information here, though it takes some time to get through the archives.

So, I have the draft ready. I have four agents picked for my first mailing. I’ll go through and personalize each of the query letters maybe tomorrow, and then I’ll start trying to breathe while my heart lives in my throat for a while.

Oh! And I finally changed the title. Toulouse is now *drum roll*… A Little Bit of Magic! I think it’s better. Not amazeballs, but better.

Do you have any query letter resources or stories? I’d love to hear them!

Photo used under Creative Commons license from Freddie Pena.

A Call For Help For Ben Wolverton and Write1 Sub1 Update

Posted: April 8, 2013 in news, social, writing
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BenAs many of you have probably heard Dave Wolverton’s son, Ben, was in a traumatic longboard accident last Wednesday. Dave Wolverton, also known as Dave Farland, is the author of The Runleords series, for one, as well as several Star Wars tie-in novels. He’s also the driving force behind the Farland’s Writers Groups. This online critique forum proved indispensable when I was revising “The Nightmare Eater”, the story that got me into Clarion West, and my first published work.

He’s also the author of the Daily Kick in the Pants emails, which are regular sources of advice and inspiration. Plus, he’s involved with Writers of the Future, the Superstars Writing Seminars, and much more. Basically, he’s given a lot back to the writing community.

A Book Bomb is being organized for Ben Wolverton. Here’s some information:

Ben Wolverton, age 16, was in a serious long-boarding accident on Wednesday the 4th, 2013. He suffers from severe brain trauma, a cracked skull, broken pelvis and tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drum, road rash, and is currently in a coma. His family has no insurance.

We are having a book bomb on Wednesday, April 10th, on behalf of Ben Wolverton, who is the son of the New York Times bestselling author David Farland.

You can learn more about Ben’s condition, or simply donate to the Wolverton family here.

What is a Book Bomb?

For those that don’t know, a Book Bomb is an event where participants purchase a book on a specific day to support the author, or, in this case, a young person in serious need: Ben Wolverton.

The focus of this Book Bomb is on Dave’s YA novel Nightingale, and his nonfiction book Million Dollar Outlines. Both of these books are available through Amazon (here & here) and Barnes & Noble (here & here), and the enhanced version of Nightingale is available through iTunes.

So this Wednesday, consider helping out a good cause by picking up a new book, or even just donating to the family.

In addition, you can join the Book Bomb event on Facebook, here.

In other news, last week I posted on Twitter that I would be doing my own iteration of Write 1 Sub 1. In case you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s an idea taken from Ray Bradbury. It’s pretty self-explanatory from the name: write one short story, submit one short story, and do it every week. You can check out the official website here.

This last week, I wrote most of a short story. It was a LOT harder than I expected, I think primarily because I haven’t been writing on a regular basis. I’ve often lauded the value of writing every single day, and this really drives home the necessity of that practice for me. That being said, I now have most of a short story! And high aims to keep up with Write 1 Sub 1 for the rest of the year.

Scrubbing Out the Bad to Make Way for the Good

Posted: April 4, 2013 in creating, discovery, not writing, planning, writing
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Spring is finally here! And not just on the calendars, either. Flowers are sprouting everywhere. Being greeted by buttery yellow daffodil blossoms makes it much cheerier to walk into work. Our rhododendron bush is starting to unfurl blossoms that are almost the same color as Pi’s cute pink nose. The air is starting to smell like life again, and not just rain. This weekend Mr. Eliza mowed our new yard for the first time, after we went to Sears and bought our first lawnmower. It’s one of those non-motorized numbers, which means I’ll feel comfortable using it, if I need to. Those whirring blades and motors in regular lawnmowers kind of freak me out. Too much opportunity for unintended bloodshed.

I’m really glad the weather is turning. I moved to the Pacific Northwest in large part because I love rain. There wasn’t nearly enough of it in Colorado. (Though the thunderstorms back there are spectacular, and missed.) I expected to relish the rain, and I do. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with Spring. The world opens up when the temperatures start rising, stretching its arms toward the sky and giving off a great, big, wholly refreshing yawn. Except, instead of morning breath we get this delicate floral perfume carried on gentle breezes.

This year, I strive to be more like spring. Renewed. Renewing. Open to freshness and light. The last few weeks have not been easy. As I mentioned to a friend the other day, my mantra feels like it’s been “It could have been worse.” It’s time to spring clean the negativity that’s been building up. I’m not entirely sure how to go about doing that, but I have a few ideas.

  • Exercise more. Fo’ realz. And not the treadmill, or even the gym. That place depresses me. Makes me irritable. I want to get out in all that lovely awesome nature PNW supplies at every turn. Every year I say I want to do more hiking. This’ll be that year, dammit.
  • Plant things. I’ve never been a green thumb, but I love watching things grow. Probably the scrap of maternal instinct I’ve got floating around. Plus, I hate paying four bucks for a bundle of rosemary, most of which I’ll just throw away. So having a little herb garden would make me happier on two counts.
  • Make things, specifically clothes and jewelry. I need to create, which is a large part of why I write. But sometimes I need to have a tangible product, and that it’s something just for me. No editors, no readers, no critiques. Just a flirty skirt or a new necklace. The latter will also help salve the robbery wound, since they took nearly all of my jewelry.
  • Write more. Write fun things, with crazy-ass characters and wild settings and terribly beautiful monsters and color and gorgeousness.
  • Sleep more. Because I love sleep. I could use a nap right now, actually.

In conjunction with the sun and mild weather, I’m hoping these steps will help me shake off the gray that’s been clinging to my skin. Replace it with violet and lime and..gah…maybe some pink.

What are your plans for Spring cleaning, either literal or figurative?

Photo by promanex.

This Stuff Happens to Other People…not me

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Because why the hell not?

Monday night, about midway through my 45 minute commute home from work, I received a text message from my husband.

We have been robbed.

For a second, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Then the words sunk in. Robbed. Someone had broken into our home.

Are the cats okay?

I needed to know that before I could do anything. It’s one thing to have our privacy invaded, our belongings ganked by some jerkhole. It would be another thing entirely if our cats had been injured, or killed, in the process. They were fine, he assured me, and I proceeded to breathe again, even as the rush of emotions accompanying the news hit.

My skin started to tingle, as if it was disconnecting from the rest of me. My chest constricted, and I couldn’t decide whether to cry or scream or some other expression my body doesn’t even know how to do yet. I started sweating, despite having been chilled only minutes before. And all the lovely laxness I’d been living with since my massage the week before disappeared as my back and neck tensed up like a mongoose ready to strike.

Because that’s what I wanted to do: strike.

Instead, I concentrated on staying in my lane and keeping within spitting distance of the speed limit.

I got home. Hugged my husband. Went through the bottom level of our home looking at the damage. Playstation3; gone. My laptop; gone. Two half bottles of good whiskey; gone. And a bowl Mr. Eliza made during a glassblowing adventure with friends lay broken on our table.

Still, it wasn’t until I went upstairs that I broke down. Something about seeing our dresser drawers pulled out, our clothing rumpled. The thought of having a stranger’s hands touching the fabric that rests against my skin, the cloth that covers me and protects me, struck deep where the electronics had failed to reach.

They’d been there. In my home. Looking at the things I kept private, for my eyes only. I felt invaded. Sullied.

And so. Fucking. Angry.

Neither of us slept well that night, despite doing a complete lock change on the house (no windows were broken) and indulging in violent fantasies via iMessages with good friends. Next morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed, wincing as we faced a new world where this kind of thing didn’t just happen to others. It happened to us.

I started reaching out. Touching base with those nearest and dearest to me. As I sent off messages, I had a strange feeling. As if I was making sure no one had broken into my life and taken the people I cared about, sometime in the dark night. Of course, no one had. My people wrote back. I commiserated with my boss (who didn’t make me feel bad for breaking down when I realized they’d taken an irreplaceable piece of ClarionWest memoribilia). I broke the news to that lovely massage therapist. (I’m so lucky to work with the people I work with. Fo’realz.) That afternoon I had lunch with my sister-in-law, and she bought me the first nail polish of my new collection, since all my bottles had been plundered the day before. And that evening Mr. Eliza and I went to Folly Blaine‘s house for a delicious dinner, too much alcohol, and a good helping of wonderfully bad TV with her and her husband.

This morning, when I woke up, I felt better. Both of us managed to get a decent night’s sleep, despite getting in late. And having submerged myself in the pool of awesome that is the people I love went a long, long way toward restoring some semblance of well-being. I don’t know how this will affect either one of us, long term. But we’re both strong people. I’m confident we’ll be okay.

There are a lot more people out there who hold onto a piece of my heart, whom I didn’t contact in the wake of the robbery. Not because any of you are less important, but I felt fragile. A little desperate. And very scattered. And writing or saying those words–we were robbed–lost its appeal pretty damn quick.

So. What now? Well, we move forward. We hope that the police catch this guy (not likely) and that the insurance company covers our losses (fingers crossed). Me, personally, I’m going to pack this away for a while, get some distance. Then, in some story, somewhere down the line, I’m going to dig the package marked robbery, blow off the dust, and open it up.

Photo from Adam Foster | Codefor

Aside  —  Posted: March 27, 2013 in not writing, research, social
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The Progress of Things

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Just a quick update. Today my story “A Song for the Season” went live on the Cast of Wonders site. They’re a YA SF/F podcast based out of the UK. This is the first time I’ve heard one of my stories read by someone other than me. A cool, if a little weird, experience. The narrator, Kate Baker, did an excellent job. I’m very happy with the results.

On the other hand, Struck By Chocolate came back from Avon Impulse with a big fat rejection letter. Or, rather, a very tiny form rejection letter. Which is pretty much what I expected, but hope does spring eternal. Now the new and improved edition will go back to the trunk.

I’m working on re-imagining Blood Berries into a modern setting, and feel better about the whole project already. Things are definitely changing in the plot arena, and the characters. Well, a lot of things, actually. We’ll see. I’m torn between starting it up, or doing revisions on Toulouse.

Other than tinkering with a new outline, and some short story revisions, I’ve been very lax in the writing department for the last week or so. House things have taken precedence. Cleaning out a couple closets, starting a crochet rag rug with Caleb, getting our office at least partially set up. I’m writing this from a freshly painted turquoise room, atop a big, shiny black table, looking out a window to the tops of neighborhood trees. A marked improvement from my previous desk, which was tucked in the corner of the dining room, with a window that looked at a fence.

Well, I think that covers it. Go out and enjoy spring, if you’re that kind of person. Otherwise, hunker down with the internets next to me, and we’ll share some tea and biscuits.

Photo used under creative commons license from Brandon Christopher Warren

Aside  —  Posted: March 9, 2013 in career, creating, not writing, publication, writing
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