The weekend

Today's Mood: a trifle giddy. Today's Music: Mix--currently it's Foreigner. Today's Writing: a poem titled (I think) Intoxicated. Today's Quote:

Some days the dragon wins. -unknown

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How cool is it to have your friends get something published? Tricia did, Gloria did, Larry did. That is so awesome! PW has incredible writers and I am honored to be in such company.

As for me, I'm just plain old intoxicated with the smell and feel of summer. Only two more weeks with kids--students, not my own kids. I'll keep those. Only three more weeks until Glen Lake--and the absence of my own children for a week. And I get to sleep in the next three days in a row! Ah, life is good.

Of course, it helps that my writing is working for me. Less agony--opening a vein to bleed on paper--and more playing, more highs.

So the dragon may win on some days, but not today.

Spring--not hardly

Today's Mood: Preoccupied. Today's Music: U2--at the moment. Today's writing: research for IFFY. Today's Quote:

Originality is not seen in single words or even sentences. Originality is the
sum total of a man's thinking or his writing. Isaac Bashevis Singer, New York Times Magazine, Mar. 12, 1978US (Polish-born) Jewish author (1904 - 1991)

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Hello all! Just got back from Georgia and what a climate shock! I felt like I was coming back to Christmas, not Easter. At least I don't mind being back at work--other than the early morning thing.

I have to be honest and admit I didn't write even one word during vacation. I read two books though. Good stuff. King of the Pygmies and Cage of Stars. Both deal with schizophrenia. I had no idea there could be very mild cases that are manageable without meds. Of course, Cage of Stars showed the other end of the spectrum--murder.

Have any of you set up writing as a business? You know, there are things I could write off--conferences, mailings....--but of course, I have no way of knowing when I'll actually sell any of my writing. I've got two novels I'm sending out hither and yon, but as we all know, it could take awhile to get published. But it doesn't really seem fair that you can only write off expenses for the year you get published--I mean, come on! It takes all those prior mailings to get there.

What do you do? How long can a business show a loss before the IRS gets annoyed? I mean, yes, it is a hobby, but I do hope to sell something someday--not that I'm in it for the money. I've read enough to know better.

Oh, and how's the writing going? I have small group tonight and I'm excited. Hope it helps get me going again. I'm stuck in a quagmire of do I totally change the trigger event for my story because it isn't very original, or do I just go with it.

Query, synopsis, and cover letter--oh my!

Today's Mood: fair to middling. Today's Music: Foo Fighters (although, maybe it should be something like Bang Your Head) Today's Writing: Cover letter for Black Dragon. Today's Quote:

"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it." -Jane Wagner

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When I finished revising my first novel (for the zillionth time), I still remember thinking I had finished the hard part. Wrong. Oh so wrong! Then came writing the query letter, the synopsis, the cover letter. Why it is harder to write a 400 page book in 5 pages is one of the mysteries in life--but it is, trust me.

And then there is the figuring out all the ins-and-outs of the publishing business. What happens when Writer's Market says a company doesn't take SIMULTANEOUS submissions, but that same company's website says it doesn't accept MULTIPLE submissions? Not the same thing, but which one should I go by?

I received another form rejection yesterday--from a publisher that said it didn't respond AT ALL unless they wanted to publish the manuscript. It had an encouraging hand-written note at the bottom, and they had paid the postage to send it to me, but then the signature was unreadable. So okay, I've been told by writers far more professional than me that I should refer to that hand-written note when sending my next manuscript to them. I looked at all the names in Writer's Market and on the website--can't find a one that looks even close to what's on the note. I called the company, and after being shuffled around six or seven times, the mail room guy told me just to send the note itself with the next manuscript. Sigh. I'm trying to make connections, really I am. But it sure isn't easy.

Anyway, what about you all? Sending things out? Want to rant about writing queries, synopsises, cover letters? Any publishing frustrations? Or is life all roses for everyone except for me? (Ha-I don't believe you!)

Catching Up

Today's Mood: Busy and Tired. Today's Music: The Verve Pipe. Today's Writing: Chapter 2 of I Feel For You (IFFY). Today's Quote:

"There is no factory. There is no assembly line. There is a swimming pool."
-James Patterson

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I know, I know, it's been awhile since I've posted. Life has been hectic--in my job, in my life. My writing has been going okay. I struggled like crazy getting a first chapter I was comfortable with, but when I brought what I thought were two different beginnings to my writers' group, they said what I had was chapters one and two. So, hey, I'm further along than I thought!

Anyway, I need to be brief, but I just wondered if anyone caught the article in USA Today--Monday, Feb. 5, 2007--about James Patterson. The article talked about how he uses co-authors to help put out as many books as he does. When I started reading, I admit I was feeling like he was cheating. I mean, if I buy a book with an author's name on it, I want that person to actually BE the author of the book. But by the end of the article, I was thinking maybe this was a great way for new authors to break into publishing. And according to the article, James Patterson provides a very detailed outline and signs off on the end product--in a way it's a great mentoring system.

And James Patterson, he admits he has way more ideas for great books than he has time to write those great books.

So what are your thoughts on the matter? Oh, and how's the writing going?

Form Rejections

Mood: plodding. Music: Tori Amos--Beekeeper. Writing: nothing today. Today's Quotes: "I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top."  ~English Professor (Name Unknown), Ohio University. "Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."  ~Author Unknown, commonly misattributed to Samuel Johnson

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So okay, given those quotes, maybe form rejections aren't all bad. In fact, the first one I received made me feel pretty good because it was addressed: Dear Author. They called me an author! Pretty heady stuff. But after 6 or 7 of those letters, it no longer has the same effect. When a publishing company responded to my query letter by requesting my manuscript, a big part of me was pretty sure I'd still get rejected. But there was that small part. The part called hope that dies hard. So it wasn't that I didn't expect rejection--it was that it was a form letter that told me nothing--taught me nothing. I'm a teacher, and so I'm always looking for that teachable moment. I have to continually remind myself that editors and publishing companies are not in the teaching business. It's poor comfort.

The biggest comfort came from friends who are writers--who have been there, done that. Just having another writer (a more experienced writer) say, "Form rejections suck," helped me feel better. I'm not the only one who has had to endure this. And it does suck, but there it is. And then I had another writer (published at that) tell me she has heard editors say that if they have no intention of publishing a MS, they don't want to make comments that might be taken by the author for revision. They feel any comments should be left for an editor who is interested in publishing the manuscript. That made me feel better too. At least I can see the logic in it.

Form rejections still suck, but my writing group gave me good suggestions for revisions on my second manuscript, and other writing friends encouraged me to keep writing, to believe, to trust. And even though that's hard for me right now, it's okay, because they are willing to trust and believe for me. And I'll pick it up again soon. After all, Alfred Kazin said (Think, Feb. 1963), "The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax."