22 Blogs

I'm currently following 22 blogs, all of which have something (if not everything) to do with writing. Some (not all, sorry, soon) of the blogs are those of people who are following (big thanks, woo-hoo) my blog. At some point, I'll follow all those that follow me. I have, btw, checked out the blogs of each of my followers.

I'm just amazed at the amount of writing information available in the blogsphere. Who knew? Whatever a writer is searching for info on - querying, synopsis, pitfalls, contests, etc. - they can find it somewhere in the blogsphere. Woo-hoo! I seriously don't know how people survived before the blogs. Oh, that's right, that bought countless books about writing and filled their bookshelves to overflowing. They also had to snail mail everything. Woo-hoo for technology! Email rules . . . as do the blogs that provide all the useful information I need to craft the most brilliant query letter ever and get representation on the first try. Okay, so that's not gonna happen. I sometimes live in my own deluded little world. : )

Life is good in the blogsphere, though I am realizing that reading through all the blogs, especially the recent ones I'm following is very time consuming. Shouldn't I be writing the next most brilliant novel ever discovered by an agent? Shouldn't I be polishing up my query letter so that no agent, no matter how jaded and desensitized, cannot help but request the full manuscript, and a list of all other works of mine currently in progress? Shouldn't I be . . . Well, hell yes, to all those questions, and any more you can think of at the moment!!!!

Still, the blogsphere is a source of information and every (yes, EVERY) writer needs this information to succeed. There is no golden parachute, no magic wand to wave, and no fairy godmother (don't get me started on fairy godmothers - they somehow became a part of my current project out to query) to magically appear and solve all our problems. There is only perseverance, determination, and the dogged belief in our own writing to carry us forward day by day as we scan the gazillion blogs providing us with every bit of information we could possible need. Whew. I'm exhausted now.

So, dear readers (10 in all, though I'm sure there are a few trillion lurking in the shadows not yet comfortable to publicly follow me), fret not when you discover you spent 23 hours of the day scrolling through all the writing blogs. It is, in my opinion, time well spent. Yes, you could have written the next bestseller in that time, but at least you - hopefully - learned something while lost in the blogsphere. I know I have!

S

p.s. make that 23 blogs!!!!

Going Green . . .

. . . with the editing process. Yes, I decided a while back that I should go green with the editing process. WTH? Really, it's quite simple (so said the first lemming in line as he headed toward the cliff). I just don't print off the pages and pages of my manuscript to read through and edit any longer.

I hate it, I absolutely hate it! I love the feel of paper in hand, the pen poised over the page, and the notes and scratches and scritches as I read through the words that are my brilliance transformed into sentences and paragraphs. SIGH. Double SIGH!

Alas my love . . . for the pen and paper in hand, is not good for the environment. Trees are being felled on a daily basis to feed my addiction to the feel of paper beneath my fingertips. I must resist the urge to deforest the Earth. I must resist all temptation to print out a gazillion pages, toss them into the air, and let them float down to the ground around me while I reach out greedily for each page.

Okay, so I'm really not that obsessive, but I was on a roll and couldn't seem to stop myself.

Basically, I am trying to curb my desire to print and edit. Now, I scroll and scroll and scroll some more, make the changes, make a few notations in BOLD and go on my merry way in the editing process. It's just not the same. There's something missing.

Why am I doing this again? Oh, yeah, that's right, global warming. Dratted hole in the ozone, greenhouse gasses, and melting icecaps. If not for you, I could revel in the feel of paper beneath my fingertips and listen to the scritch-scritch-scritching of the pen on paper as I make notes. Now, I just hear the clackity-clackity-click of the keys on the computer as I edit in a green world.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving the environment and doing what I can to reduce my carbon footprint. I just didn't realize how much I would miss the simple process of editing the old fashioned way: pen in one hand and paper resting on my lap or on the desk before me.

S

Venting

Is venting (i.e., bitching about something) no longer acceptable? Are we (yes, major generalization, get over it) not allowed to vent when we become frustrated? Are we supposed to just hold everything in and hope for the best?

In my opinion - hell, no! Venting is a part of life. It is the release of frustration, the ability to shout, stomp your feet, and then, in a major drama queen moment, fall back onto the couch and cuddle up with the cats, dogs, or whatever! If we cannot vent, then sooner or later, we will explode. It's a fact of life. Okay, maybe not a real fact of life, but holding everything in is not a good thing, not at all.

So, my 8 followers are wondering has he been paying homage to the Three Sisters this early in the morning? No. I've just been reading my way through the blogsphere and came across another post in defense of the query process and how people who are whining about it obviously don't love their job (i.e., writing). Okay, maybe the post didn't actually put it out there so boldly, but the underlying implication was easily seen.

I love to write. I hate the query process. I still query. I still agonize over every word in my query letter. I still love to write. I'm allowed to vent (i.e., bitch) when I get frustrated. Agents are allowed to vent when they get frustrated (i.e., writers bitching about the allegedly broken query system). It's all a part of life. Being frustrated does not equate (at least in my opinion) to not loving what you do. It equates (again in my opinion) to loving what you do so much that learning that a) some agents skip totally over the query letter and go straight to the submitted pages or b) if the query letter doesn't grab their attention they don't read the submitted pages or c) well, there's not another thing at the moment, amounts to a drama queen moment of whining about the unfairness of the cruel world of publishing.

In the end, the passion put into the whining is a de-stresser. I've posted about my frustrations with the query process. I haven't stopped querying. I haven't stopped writing. I follow blog after blog after blog, gleaning what bits of useful information I can glean so that, one day soon, my love of writing will be seen by the world at large.

So, excuse me if I bitch every now and then. Excuse me if I toss my tiara to the ground and kick it across the room. Excuse me if my frustration, every now and then, gets the better of me. I'm an artist after all. I happen to like my ears, so I'm not going to cut one of them off (Van Gogh, any one??) in a drama queen moment. In this Age of Technology, I'm going to blog about my frustration and hope that it doesn't bite me in the proverbial ass one day.

I suddenly feel so much better. I must get more coffee. The day is barely begun and I, suddenly, feel energized. I think it's the writing. Sometimes, the writing is better than . . .

S

When to Quit

http://www.murderati.com/blog/2009/4/19/how-do-you-know-when-to-quit.html

The above link was first accessed through Janet Reid's blog. If you're not following Janet's blog, well . . . start following. It is a source of great information. The web is full of sources of great information. Yeah, sometimes you have to slog through a ton of crap to find the diamonds, but it's definitely worthwhile.

The above link is a must read. It's an eye-opening experience kinda read that has just started my day off right. Okay, Starbucks actually started my day off write, but the above blog link is coming in at a close second. The post is all about when to quit following your dream. There is, of course, a Susan Boyle mention (quite a few paragraphs in fact), because what are dreams without the mention of Susan Boyle? She seems to personify the tenacity and spirit of dreamers everywhere. I'll leave the rest of the explanation to the above link. Read, enjoy, and learn.

S

#queryday

For those not in the know, #queryday is going full force here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Queryday

I've only been checking sporadically throughout the morning, but I have learned a lot. The most important (and contradictory, I might add) things are:

• Some author's don't write killer query letters, but they write killer books - this agent reads the submit 5 - 10 pages.
• If the letter doesn't grab my attention I don't read the submit 5- 10 pages - this agent obviously doesn't read the pages.

My thoughts: my fears have been confirmed. If my query letter doesn't knock the agent's socks off, then they aren't reading my 5 - 10 pages. SIGH!

Yes, I know the school of thought about anybody who can write a novel can write an excellent query letter. I'm just not sure I believe that school of thought. Sometimes, the written novel is excellent, and the query letter is just okay. Should an author be penalized by an agent for an okay query letter? Possibly, but what's the harm at glancing through the first few submitted pages? Yes, time constraints and all that jazz. Still, if an author took the time to follow the submission guidelines and craft the best (maybe not as great as the novel) query letter they could craft, then shouldn't they be given the consideration of the agent at least reading the submitted pages?? Why ask for submitted pages if you're not going to read them??

Yes, I'm whining . . . somewhat. I know agents are deluged with queries and time is of the essence for them. I know they are looking for the best of the best and have devised the best system to find the best of the best. I just think that if guidelines are outlined on an agent's site, and part of the guidelines are to submit 5 - 10 pages, then the pages should not be dismissed because the query letter isn't a shining star of brilliance.

And, yes, this was only one agent's response (personally, I follow the agent's blog, love the agent's sense of humor, and would submit to said agent if she repped my genre). I think querying is hard enough in this day and age without the realization that the submitted pages are not being read. I'm just saying . . .

Now, back to #queryday. I must see what other interesting tidbits (and there have been many) I can glean before the day is done and the time for margaritas arrives.

S

http://queryvote.wordpress.com/tips/
http://queryvote.wordpress.com/

http://community.livejournal.com/fangs_fur_fey/tag/queries

The above are some helpful query sites out there - the first two are all about writing the query letter, and the last one is regarding query letters that worked. Enjoy and Learn!

UPDATE: One space after a period is the new thang! OMG, how in the frak am I supposed to change a lifetime habit?? Oh, wait, I hear Sister Margarita calling my name. She always makes things better. Okay, it's really not that bad. It's very easy to 'replace' in Word. I did an experiment and, contrary to something on #queryday, two spaces after a period does not change the word count. I'm just saying . . .

Dreams

By now, most everybody has heard about Susan Boyle - 47 years old, unemployed, and . . . WOW! Watch the YouTube video. Be prepared to laugh and cry.

How many people truly follow their dreams? How many people have the courage to say this is what I want to do, and this is what I'm gonna do? Not many, not many at all. Susan Boyle showed amazing courage. I hope she soars to the greatest possible heights with her dreams and holds on to who she is - spunky, cheeky, vibrant - at the same time. I hope the same thing for everybody with a dream.

I never dreamed I would be a writer. It just happened one day. Perhaps it was always happening, but I was just too oblivious to recognize the happening. I wandered through childhood - in a time before 300 channels, video games, etc. - with my imagination close to me. My friends and I played outdoors all day long enacting our own imaginary games based on Batman (the reruns people, not the original episodes . . . but close), Emergency, SWAT, Star Trek (again, reruns people, reruns), and so many other television shows. We spent hours by the creek bank making roads, digging tunnels in the dirt, and playing with our Matchbox cars creating all sorts of scenarios. We used our imaginations. As I grew older, I immersed myself in book after book, going on adventure after adventure. All the while, my imagination soared to greater and greater heights. All the while, my mind moved slowly toward a dream I didn't know I had: writer.

Childhood into teens into adulthood. One day - new city, no friends as of yet - and I finish reading a book. I think, gee, I want to know what happens to the characters. So, I decide to continue the story. Yes, I did. I wrote a gazillion pages following the characters I loved in that book and creating some of my own. Then, I went on to something else and something else and something else. I wrote like a fiend.

Now, many years later, I call myself a writer. I follow the dream to wherever it might take me. I'm not 47 and unemployed, but I still have a dream.

So, it's never too late to follow that dream, that idle thought in your mind about what you really want to do in life. Sometimes, Susan Boyle for example, all it takes is the courage to take that first step.

I took that first step many years ago and haven't stopped since, not even with the this just isn't right for me response from agents. My writing is right for somebody. I just have to keep searching.

S

p.s. watch the video, multiple times!!!

Humanity

Normally, I don't have great faith in humanity. The news is constantly filled with horrible stories - shootings, child abuse, pirates, and all that jazz. Manners - a simple smile, thank you, holding the door open for someone, saying yes, sir or yes, ma'am - seem like an alien concept on most days. Every now and then, however, something happens to restore my faith (okay, not all the way, but somewhat) in humanity.

One of those events was a random act of kindness that occurred around Christmastime when the person in front of me in the drive-thru at Starbucks bought my coffee.

On Good Friday (not so good for a lot of people) severe storms moved through Tennessee (and other parts of the country as well). Tornadoes ripped through Murfreesboro (about 30 minutes from Nashville) and caused mass devastation. Two of my co-workers live in Murfreesboro and were thankfully spared the wide-spread damage caused by the tornadoes. Not everybody was so lucky. Still, in the face of chaos, the human race again surprised me. See below email:

I am sending this to you all to be more efficient. I appreciate all the calls and e-mails asking how we are.

The tornadoes spared my house and Horse Science, and the university as a whole. It is a miracle that more people didn’t die. The devastation is terrible and very widespread in our town.

I did have one of my girls from my team lose her house. I am attaching pictures of her house so you can get an idea of what this storm did. We spent most of today helping her scavenge through the rubble to find any belongings that she could. Everything the family owns is now in our two-horse trailer. Tomorrow we will sort through it all and split up all the clothes which are soaking wet and were scattered all over the place. We will get them washed and cleaned for them.

Her house was wiped off its foundation, as you will see in the first picture, and exploded in the front yard of the house across the street, which you will see in the second picture. Her sister’s bedroom was on the roof of the house across the street. Her dog and cat, who were in the house at the time, were missing. Today about 4:30, on a trip back from the horse trailer with the wheelbarrow, our barn manager Jess Schultz saw a little boy with a dog on a rope. She asked him if that was his dog and he said “No, do you know whose it is?” and it was Elaine’s dog! We were all doing all right till then, but we all cried at that point. And then, thirty minutes later, the neighbors found her 17 year old cat in the rafters of the house across the street, where Elaine’s house had landed! He must have got deposited in there by the tornado, and was hiding till then. So we cried again.

I have to tell you some other things. I am very proud to live in Murfreesboro, TN. People came out to help everyone, walking by and leaving cases of water, bags of sandwiches, pizzas, snacks, boxes. Some people set up grills on the corners and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and held up signs “free food.” People who didn’t know the victims came out to carry boxes and help sort through the rubble. Churches dropped off big plastic totes, trash bags, toilet paper, cups, cleaning supplies, and people came out with their chain saws and bobcats and tractors to move the trees out of the way, and help pile things up out of the streets. Tree services are out chipping limbs, and guys were on roofs of houses that might be salvaged nailing up tarps and nobody is charging anything today. The streets were lined with cars of people who walked into the blocked neighborhoods to help. Storage places are giving a free storage unit for a month to everyone who needs it.

So, little young me (okay, not that young) gets all teary-eyed reading this. What can I say, I can't make it through an episode of Little House on the Prairie, or the Waltons for that matter, without crying. Anne of Green Gables - well, just have the Kleenex box handy, because I'm gonna need a slew of them. The tornadoes brought out the best in people in the worst of situations. Humanity might be on a steady decline to chaos, but there is still hope. People do still care. It's just often hard to find those caring people in this crazy world we live in. I just wanted to take this time, this post, to show that people do still care.

S

p.s. Sorry, I didn't include the photos that go along with the above email. You can click here to hopefully get a slide show or go to www.wkrn.com. I'm not sure how long the slide show will be up, so if the link doesn't work . . .