Wait a minute, what happened to all of that energy and enthusiasm and motivation that I found at the SDSU Writers' Conference over the weekend?
While I was at the conference, I couldn't wait to get back to my computer to address the changes that agents recommended for my two manuscripts. Now that I have some time to write, I don't want to. Huh?
I'm going to blame it on the conference. I didn't really get a weekend, so now I'm too tired to sit in front of my computer without closing my eyes.
And I'm going to blame it on my book club, because I have to finish reading "Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver so that I can read "Once Upon a River" by Bonnie Jo Campbell before the book club meeting on Feb. 12 and in time to read "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater before it's due back at the library.
And I'm going to blame work, because it's been pretty busy the last two days.
And, who else can I blame ... there's got to be somebody or something responsible for this lack of desire to work on my books. It can't be me ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
I Am Exhausted!
I spent all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday at the SDSU Writers Conference, so I didn't really have a "weekend" to relax. I worked a full, busy Monday at the office today and now I'm too tired to write, even though I have SO much work to do.
I've got to do some revisions on both of my completed manuscripts before I send out queries and/or a couple of chapters to my new contacts, but I am just way too tired and have much too much of a headache to even attempt to do any writing or revising tonight.
So, I'm going to rest up tonight (by watching Downton Abbey on the DVR) and, hopefully, start fresh tomorrow before I lose sight of the re-energized forward motion that I built up at the conference.
I've got to do some revisions on both of my completed manuscripts before I send out queries and/or a couple of chapters to my new contacts, but I am just way too tired and have much too much of a headache to even attempt to do any writing or revising tonight.
So, I'm going to rest up tonight (by watching Downton Abbey on the DVR) and, hopefully, start fresh tomorrow before I lose sight of the re-energized forward motion that I built up at the conference.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Conference Over; Now the Work Begins
My head feels like it's going to explode (literally and figuratively, since I have a massive headache) from all of the information I absorbed during the last two days at the SDSU Writers' Conference.
I had great consultations with two agents about my two completed books and got good feedback from both of them. Now I need to incorporate their suggestions and give each manuscript at least one good read-through.
The agent who read my women's fiction novel asked me to send her my first three chapters after I revise the manuscript. The other agent ... didn't ... but I might at least query her after I revise my young adult novel and see if she's interested in reading the first three chapters. She liked my opening, but recommended some changes, and she seemed to like my concept when I explained the plot to her, so ... you never know.
All-in-all it was a good conference and money well spent. I met two other agents who said I could send them at least a synopsis, so I did some fruitful networking. Yay me!
Now, back to work!
I had great consultations with two agents about my two completed books and got good feedback from both of them. Now I need to incorporate their suggestions and give each manuscript at least one good read-through.
The agent who read my women's fiction novel asked me to send her my first three chapters after I revise the manuscript. The other agent ... didn't ... but I might at least query her after I revise my young adult novel and see if she's interested in reading the first three chapters. She liked my opening, but recommended some changes, and she seemed to like my concept when I explained the plot to her, so ... you never know.
All-in-all it was a good conference and money well spent. I met two other agents who said I could send them at least a synopsis, so I did some fruitful networking. Yay me!
Now, back to work!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
SDSU Writers' Conference Day 1
I spent all day at the San Diego State University Writers' Conference and came home energized about my writing. I went to some good sessions, got some great feedback on my women's fiction novel, and made some good contacts with agents and editors. Mission accomplished!
Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I'll meet with an editor to discuss my young adult novel. No one has ever read and commented on this book for me, so I'm kind of flying blind. I did give an editor a quick synopsis of the book and she seemed to think it was intriguing. She asked me to send her some pages. What more can you ask for after giving an elevator pitch?
It's a little different vibe this year than last year. Maybe last year I was intimidated, because it was my first time there, but this year the agents and editors seem nicer (and younger) than the agents and editors I met last year. They certainly seem more open to the kinds of things I'm writing and that I'm interested in.
The breakout sessions were a mixed bag. I went to three different panels on query letters and they were kind of repetitive. There are lots of sessions on self-publishing and e-books, but I only have enough interest in that topic to justify going to one panel.
I would have liked to have seen more panels moderated by agents and editors. This year, a lot of the speakers are writing coaches. There are a handful of them doing several sessions each. And they're all selling their writing books and classes. That's disappointing. I didn't pay $399 for the conference so that I could sit through a sales pitch.
One of the best things about last year's conference was panels of agents who would tell you what they're looking for and what's selling in the genres they cover. There are none of those panels this year. Perhaps it's because there seems to be fewer agents in attendance.
Oh, well. I still think it's been a valuable experience, so far. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Fingers crossed that it's as good as it was today.
Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I'll meet with an editor to discuss my young adult novel. No one has ever read and commented on this book for me, so I'm kind of flying blind. I did give an editor a quick synopsis of the book and she seemed to think it was intriguing. She asked me to send her some pages. What more can you ask for after giving an elevator pitch?
It's a little different vibe this year than last year. Maybe last year I was intimidated, because it was my first time there, but this year the agents and editors seem nicer (and younger) than the agents and editors I met last year. They certainly seem more open to the kinds of things I'm writing and that I'm interested in.
The breakout sessions were a mixed bag. I went to three different panels on query letters and they were kind of repetitive. There are lots of sessions on self-publishing and e-books, but I only have enough interest in that topic to justify going to one panel.
I would have liked to have seen more panels moderated by agents and editors. This year, a lot of the speakers are writing coaches. There are a handful of them doing several sessions each. And they're all selling their writing books and classes. That's disappointing. I didn't pay $399 for the conference so that I could sit through a sales pitch.
One of the best things about last year's conference was panels of agents who would tell you what they're looking for and what's selling in the genres they cover. There are none of those panels this year. Perhaps it's because there seems to be fewer agents in attendance.
Oh, well. I still think it's been a valuable experience, so far. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Fingers crossed that it's as good as it was today.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Late Night Writing
One of the things I love most about weekends is that I can stay up as late as I want and write to my heart's content without my son or my husband coming in to my office to ask me for some milk or what time I'm coming to bed. I'm pretty good at tuning them out when I'm in a writing groove, but not completely.
I've started a new book. Yes, a new book. I haven't gone back to one of the previous ones that I started, but didn't finish, now that I'm taking a break from my two completed manuscripts until after I get a little feedback from agents and editors at the SDSU Writers' Conference next weekend.
Well, that's not completely true. I hand-wrote the ending in my journal for one of my old ideas and it's perfect. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to develop those characters and that story. I think it's going to be really great.
But this new story is just pouring right out of me. I started it last weekend and I'm up to 55 double-spaced pages already. I've got lots of ideas written in my journal for the new book too.
If I ever do get a book published and have the opportunity to write novels full-time, I'll probably aggravate my agent, editor and publisher, because my mind is constantly jumping around to different ideas. I remember being frustrated at last year's SDSU conference when agents and editors said you pretty much have to find one genre and stick to it. That's just a ridiculously stifling concept to me.
Anyway, I'm having fun. But it's getting close to 1 a.m., so I guess I should get in bed. The "Awake" tea I drank around 10 p.m. is wearing off now ... zzzzzzzz ...
I've started a new book. Yes, a new book. I haven't gone back to one of the previous ones that I started, but didn't finish, now that I'm taking a break from my two completed manuscripts until after I get a little feedback from agents and editors at the SDSU Writers' Conference next weekend.
Well, that's not completely true. I hand-wrote the ending in my journal for one of my old ideas and it's perfect. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to develop those characters and that story. I think it's going to be really great.
But this new story is just pouring right out of me. I started it last weekend and I'm up to 55 double-spaced pages already. I've got lots of ideas written in my journal for the new book too.
If I ever do get a book published and have the opportunity to write novels full-time, I'll probably aggravate my agent, editor and publisher, because my mind is constantly jumping around to different ideas. I remember being frustrated at last year's SDSU conference when agents and editors said you pretty much have to find one genre and stick to it. That's just a ridiculously stifling concept to me.
Anyway, I'm having fun. But it's getting close to 1 a.m., so I guess I should get in bed. The "Awake" tea I drank around 10 p.m. is wearing off now ... zzzzzzzz ...
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Shockingly Poignant
My 5-year-old catches me by surprise with something he says pretty much every day. Most of the time it's funny, like the time he said he wished he was a "knock-turtle" so that he could stay awake all night.
But then there are times like tonight when he says something that just takes my breath away. He's been learning about Martin Luther King Jr. in his kindergarten and they obviously left out some of the tougher parts of the lesson. Here's our conversation from the dinner table tonight:
I wanted to cry and wrap my arms around him and protect him from all the horrible things in this world. But at the same time, I want him to know the truth. That some people are really bad people, but not as many as there used to be. That some black and white people don't get along, but these days most of us do.
Being as nonchalant as I could, I tried to turn it into a teaching moment. When he said, "But black peoples and white peoples are together now," I said, "That's right, because we're all the same, but we have different colored skin." Then he asked, "But are there other kinds of colors of people?" And I said, "Well, yeah. Asian people, like people from China, they kind of have yellow or tan skin. And Mexican people, their skin is kind of brown isn't it?"
By then, I started to kind of lose him, but he got the point. He said, "Like there's black dogs and white dogs and black-and-white dogs and brown dogs and they all get along." And I said, "Yeah, that's right." But then it devolved into a discussion of cats trying to get along with dogs, and cats eating mice, but they shouldn't and so on.
He's 5 years old. He has only so much stamina for these kinds of things. It does make me a little worried about and excited about the conversations we're going to have at the dinner table in a couple of years.
I can't wait to see what kind of insights he comes up with then when he's had a little more exposure to the world -- both good and bad. So far, I think he's turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.
But then there are times like tonight when he says something that just takes my breath away. He's been learning about Martin Luther King Jr. in his kindergarten and they obviously left out some of the tougher parts of the lesson. Here's our conversation from the dinner table tonight:
I wanted to cry and wrap my arms around him and protect him from all the horrible things in this world. But at the same time, I want him to know the truth. That some people are really bad people, but not as many as there used to be. That some black and white people don't get along, but these days most of us do.
Being as nonchalant as I could, I tried to turn it into a teaching moment. When he said, "But black peoples and white peoples are together now," I said, "That's right, because we're all the same, but we have different colored skin." Then he asked, "But are there other kinds of colors of people?" And I said, "Well, yeah. Asian people, like people from China, they kind of have yellow or tan skin. And Mexican people, their skin is kind of brown isn't it?"
By then, I started to kind of lose him, but he got the point. He said, "Like there's black dogs and white dogs and black-and-white dogs and brown dogs and they all get along." And I said, "Yeah, that's right." But then it devolved into a discussion of cats trying to get along with dogs, and cats eating mice, but they shouldn't and so on.
He's 5 years old. He has only so much stamina for these kinds of things. It does make me a little worried about and excited about the conversations we're going to have at the dinner table in a couple of years.
I can't wait to see what kind of insights he comes up with then when he's had a little more exposure to the world -- both good and bad. So far, I think he's turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Rebelling ... Against Myself
I am so tired of editing book no. 1 (and just tired in general) and I really, really want to start working on something new (or something I haven't finished, anyway) but I'm trying to be disciplined and finish one project before I start another. But tonight I'm rebelling against myself. I started looking around at random blogs that I haven't visited in a while (including mine). I'm thumbing my nose at book no. 1 and saying, "I don't want to and you can't make me!"
Then again, I just had a cup of "Awake" tea and I'm suddenly feeling much less sleepy, so ... back to reading and editing, I guess. Is it a bad sign that I'm weary of this book or good that I have so many other ideas I'm anxious to work on?
Yes, ideas. New ideas. I thought of a really great one just today after I read Jennifer Brown's "The Hate List," a young adult novel. She wrote about bullying and admitted in the author's note at the end that she was bullied in school. I started thinking about things that I went through in high school (not bullying) and I thought of a really great story with vivid characters, relate-able issues and some cool plot points.
But, there's that annoying book no. 1 whispering in my ear "Finish me," so I can't work on anything new yet. Arg!
Then again, I just had a cup of "Awake" tea and I'm suddenly feeling much less sleepy, so ... back to reading and editing, I guess. Is it a bad sign that I'm weary of this book or good that I have so many other ideas I'm anxious to work on?
Yes, ideas. New ideas. I thought of a really great one just today after I read Jennifer Brown's "The Hate List," a young adult novel. She wrote about bullying and admitted in the author's note at the end that she was bullied in school. I started thinking about things that I went through in high school (not bullying) and I thought of a really great story with vivid characters, relate-able issues and some cool plot points.
But, there's that annoying book no. 1 whispering in my ear "Finish me," so I can't work on anything new yet. Arg!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
One More Goal
My last post was about writing goals for 2012. I have one more to add: I want to write blog posts more frequently.
I always feel like I should wait until I have more than a few sentences to get off my chest ... and then sometimes I just forget how long it's been since I stopped by to chat.
So, here's me, just stopping by to say, "Hi."
Otherwise, I have nothing new to report. I continue to edit my first book based on the great feedback I got from a friend who read the manuscript. It's going well, though I'm in the middle of moving a few things around (she was right; that scene does come too early in the book) and I've added 12 pages. *Sigh* I guess I need to start thinking about what to cut too.
I always feel like I should wait until I have more than a few sentences to get off my chest ... and then sometimes I just forget how long it's been since I stopped by to chat.
So, here's me, just stopping by to say, "Hi."
Otherwise, I have nothing new to report. I continue to edit my first book based on the great feedback I got from a friend who read the manuscript. It's going well, though I'm in the middle of moving a few things around (she was right; that scene does come too early in the book) and I've added 12 pages. *Sigh* I guess I need to start thinking about what to cut too.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Writing Goals for 2012
With two books finished (although editing continues as if the process will never end) I have an ambitious goal for this year: to finish two more books. And I found a quote this morning that was particularly inspiring, considering my grand goal:
"The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them." -- Alfred North Whitehead, British mathematician and philosopher
I have four other books (and several ideas written in various journals) that I started months or years ago and I never got anywhere close to finishing one of them. So, this year, now that I have two full novels written, I plan to finish two more.
They involve characters or story lines that I absolutely love, but I'm still figuring out how to end their tales. I think it's time now to sit down with those old friends and see where they take me.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Looking Forward to New Projects
After I finish the latest round of editing for my first book -- and while my second book is being read by a friend -- I'll actually have time to work on a third project. Somehow, I just realized this fact today.
I've submitted the first 10 pages of my first two books for review by agents and editors at the SDSU Writers' Conference at the end of January. After I get their feedback, I'm sure I'll have more editing to do on both manuscripts. But if I finish my latest round of editing for my first book soon, I'll have a couple of weeks to work on book no. 3 before the conference.
Now, the hard will be deciding which unfinished project to work on next. I have a few partially written manuscripts that have sat untouched for almost a year as well as several ideas for other books, of course.
If only I could win the lottery ... well, that would mean a lot of things ... but if I won the lottery then I could spend all of my free time writing all of the different book ideas bouncing around in my brain and piling up in my journals and eating up space on my hard drive. I guess I better start buying lottery tickets.
I've submitted the first 10 pages of my first two books for review by agents and editors at the SDSU Writers' Conference at the end of January. After I get their feedback, I'm sure I'll have more editing to do on both manuscripts. But if I finish my latest round of editing for my first book soon, I'll have a couple of weeks to work on book no. 3 before the conference.
Now, the hard will be deciding which unfinished project to work on next. I have a few partially written manuscripts that have sat untouched for almost a year as well as several ideas for other books, of course.
If only I could win the lottery ... well, that would mean a lot of things ... but if I won the lottery then I could spend all of my free time writing all of the different book ideas bouncing around in my brain and piling up in my journals and eating up space on my hard drive. I guess I better start buying lottery tickets.
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