Category: 1

Why didn't the EYES, better known as Empathic Yoga Ecologist Seers on Erth One, predict so many people would check my website as soon as I started querying agents to represent Erth Won? (That's the book title, not the planet name.) I sent only a few letters, not thinking even one agent would check my website. At least not so soon. And never 20 times as many letters as I sent. It can't be the webcrawler bots checking for updates.

Under such scrutiny, I decided to do a major overhaul. Many agents say they want well-developed new worlds or old ones re-imagined. Though Erth One fits both extremes, I hadn't posted many specifics online. So I did.

For my friends and relatives who already read my home page, please do so again. Same goes for teenage and adult reviewers. Let me know if you like the hisstory I posted for Erth One. Ditto if you have any questions about Erth SCOUTs, Super Conductors of Universal Terraforming. Most important, show your interest and support by clicking the like button and sharing on Facebook. I need a large audience of willing readers, the larger the better.

Why, you might ask? To convince an agent I have enough readers to make it worth marketing my book, These days most publishers won't read any manuscript sent by an unagented writer. And what good is free agency without any doors open to choose between?

Erth Won is a clean read, even if the characters get dirty fighting addictive towbackhoes and other evils poisoning the Heartland. In the end, someone will have make sure evil gets its just desserts, beating some murderous bullies in the process.So share with anyone who has children over the age of ten who might like going along on the reading adventure of a lifetime, saving Erth One's Heartland from destruction.

Writers and Workshops and Wishes, oh my! 07/01/2011

I went and I learned and its do now or die.

There you have it, not exactly panic on the doorstep of success—more like I need to take the next step already. I’m tired of endless rounds of critiques and editing. Taking even more poetic license—this is it—time to submit. My blogs have been sparse because I’ve been busy writing, snatching every second I can between family time, the usual business and unusual business, dealing with disasters.

I’ve revised my query about a hundred times. My synopsis is so sync-copied I can’t see straight. I worked two classes of 7th graders’ fingers to the bone to polish my book. Okay, that’s an exaggeration because I brought treats, gave prizes for the most helpful suggestions, and we had fun. But school ended and I finished entering the students’ suggestions within a month. Then I made another round of adult critiques, and another few rounds of my own. Since I’m my own worst critic, I put a time limit on that or I’d never submit anything. The time limit was SCBWI’s Orlando workshop.

I went to the middle-grade track and enjoyed the success stories and especially the humor, but I went for the lessons. I got those in enough detail to push me forward, through that last leg of synopsis and query editing. So between family business and church stuff, getting choir ready for another performance, I’m going to set out Query Shark bait. That’s how open to criticism I am. Chew me up and spit me out, just leave a few pieces, please.

I’m also taking a few days to regain my calm and feed my spirit with a relative visit. Even a working vacation does wonders when it's to see loved ones. Back home I’ll start researching my first round of 10 agents to query.

I might have to delay another week while I deal with backed up laundry and finances—I can’t stand dirty laundry piled up or receipts not entered in Quicken either. But I hope to have the dirty business under control soon, along with the long awaited launching of one of my children from the nest.

Fly! I won’t cry—much. Maybe I’ll even take over the space for an office.

Afterwards, all other business must take a number and stand in line, because I'll be researching agents and reading their submission guidelines. Last but not least, I’ll send, send, send, because I hear there’s no end to rejections.

Cleaning Up my Act 04/13/2011

Emerald Coast Writers put on their 2011 conference last weekend, a chance for writers to clean up our acts—and facts. Writing is all about cleaning. We clean up our mistakes, grammar and punctuation. We clean up our style to make it interesting and easy to understand. We clean up our schedules to make time to write. We clean up our facts so we won’t get sued. Vincent O’Neal even taught us to clean up our acting—using acting techniques to make our writing on the page reach out and grab the reader like actors do. There’s almost no end of cleaning before we can sell and publish our work. And then, of course, we hope to really clean up by publishing a best seller.

I loved conference, even if a few things didn’t go as planned—minor glitches due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, only one of the 7th graders I’m working with at a local middle school turned in an entry for the student writing contest. The students didn't have time to write in class because of FCAT studies. But no problem at conference got so messy as to make me regret paying to attend. Quite the opposite. The organizers responded with nimble reflexes and quick thinking to straighten things out. Lee Thomas and Joyce Holland put their hearts and souls into conference, along with many other volunteers. Kudos! As a result of their hard work, I am so excited I can hardly contain myself—even though I made a mess of my own plans.

I clean forgot to ask Betsy Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief of Del Rey, to read a page or two of my work to give her more incentive to refer me to the middle-grade editor in another department within Random House, a huge publishing house. I did remember to ask Michelle Richter of St. Martin’s Press, and she said, “This looks pretty good.” She asked me to email her, which I will in a few days. I want to give her time to breathe after she gets back to New York. I had given Dianne Hamilton of OnStage Publishing my first chapter before my appointment. But I was so engrossed in suggestions she made, I forgot to ask if she would be interested in seeing more. There’s another mess I have to clean up later.

The chance to have other writers—great writers—critique my work was the best thing about conference. I had just written a new opening for my book, one meant to hook reluctant readers better than the original, because one seventh grader, a female, mentioned my book’s opening didn’t hook her in as well as it could have. She suggested a back-flash. I didn’t do that before because of word count limitations, but after dividing my book last summer, I had room. So I wrote the new opening scene and brought it to conference for expert critiques. Am I glad I did? YES! Oops, we’re not supposed to yell.

Kathy Carmichael helped me get into a closer point of view and wanted the emotional hook right at the beginning. I knew from previous tries that most men prefer action over emotion, so I asked Vincent O’Neal and Victor DiGenti their opinions too. I got Vinnie’s that afternoon, went home Friday evening and rewrote my first section, marrying the male and female suggestions. A good marriage is all about compromise. The result was much more compelling than either male or female version alone.

Saturday morning, I got Victor’s, Dianne Hamilton’s, and Benjamin LeRoy’s critiques and blended those in. Benjamin seem surprised I actually liked getting criticism. But how else am I going to perfect my work?Dianne is such a great editor; she set my brain on fire. She caught inconsistencies with teenage behavior I had passed right over. I’ve only been working with seventh graders since January, not long enough to catch every nuance. I memorized a few of her suggestions so fast I included them in an afternoon reading of my first page in Joyce Holland’s workshop. The workshop attendees really liked that opening and Joyce said my writing has improved a lot in the three years since she last read it. Then I really messed up by failing to mention that although a seventh grader inspired me to write that new opening, it was Kathy, Dianne, Benjamin, Vincent and Victor who helped me clean it up. So I am now giving credit where credit is overdue.

Please forgive me for being so excited about the seventh grader who inspired that section that I forgot to mention the adults who did the final polishing. I hope I can return the favor someday. But if not, I will continue helping the students get story ideas, develop them, write them, and then clean up their own work. Emerald Coast Writers agreed to sponsor a student writing contest for these seventh grade students. Although it is delayed because of FCAT preparation, the wonderful reading teacher said she’ll give the students time to write during class afterward. I would mention her name if not for privacy concerns. Without written consent, the students have to remain anonymous, but the winning entries will be announced before school ends. I hope they clean up!

Never Say Never 02/18/2011

“I don’t want to write.” That’s what I told my teacher in high school when she invited me to take a journalism class all those years ago. At 16, I didn’t think I would ever like to write. How wrong I was. So Bieber has a brain, somewhere under that mop of hair. Go figure.

I gave a presentation today at Bruner Middle School’s career day. I sort of horned in on another local author’s obligation, but since she just had surgery on her foot and is supposed to be in bed, I offered to take over. Problem was, when I got there at the end of her 2nd presentation, she didn’t want to leave. So she’s young and tough as nails, but who wouldn’t want to stay with a room full of teenagers eager to learn? Before high school, they don’t think they know it all.

There we were, two writers and an accountant sharing one class period. The odd trio. Even us writers made an odd couple, on the opposite end of the spectrum, since my young friend Lydia Golden started as a teen and has written 15 years to my 5 and has books already published. And though the time was split equally between professions, the pay isn’t. The accountant said he makes six figures, more money than both us writers combined. We didn’t let that disparity spoil our fun. After all, he volunteered the information that accountants do a lot of writing too. I added that most jobs require writing, so students should acquire the skill even if they don’t write as a career. I wish we’d had more time, but I can’t complain since none of that time was really mine.

While my young friend was able to speak of getting published after suffering through piles of rejections and the rewards receiving fan mail and finding out other people enjoyed her creations, I was a little more pragmatic at first. I told the students not to eliminate any career at this stage of their lives, like I did. Going gung-ho for something without field testing doesn’t work either. After 13 years of college, I cried when I had to draw blood from a baby in the emergency room. I hope I convinced a few teens to try things before they reject them, and to test them in real life situations before they waste years and money training for a job they won’t like.

Then I moved on to the fun stuff. I explained how to get ideas for short stories and how short stories build a writer’s platform and earn publishing credits and cash along the way to bigger things. The students were impressed when I told them about the $1000 scholarship prizes for current online writing contests. That’s good pay for answering one question: If you could have one superpower for a day, what would it be and how would you use it? That’s just one of several scholarship questions. And there are plenty of writing contests for teens with no entry fees and smaller cash prizes. I left a list with the teacher after the bell rang.

I forgot to say “never say never”. Wait. Isn’t that a double negative? Whatever it is, it isn’t positive. Not saying something can’t happen is far from saying it will happen. So let’s try this: I will do better next time. I will keep writing and I will get published.

Life Down the Drain? Suck it Up! 02/06/2011

Where did January go? That’s right, down the drain. Like it does every year, the whole month went down the tubes. I came home from a family visit, got sick and stayed that way the rest of the month. In spite of New Year’s resolutions to do better, January always marks the low point of my year. If I don’t feel mentally drained, I get sick. I should just rename the month, Drain-you-weary. Some new beginning.

Don’t get me wrong. I did do something last month. Since I decided late last year to bow to the current word count requirements for middle grade novels to get published, I divided my book in two. A previous midpoint crisis became the new mission for book one, so I had to revise much of the beginning before I could write the new ending. I did. I even started the new beginning for book two before I got so sick that I spent days doing nothing. I won’t mention how many days I spent dealing with family problems, including more illness. It seems none of us got off to a good start.

Now here I am, a week into February, realizing I didn’t write for three weeks solid. So, should I give up? Beat myself up? Maybe I should do what I saw in a U-tube video and suck it up. Yeah, that sounds better. I’ll put an old nylon over my mouth, take a deep breath, and see if I can suck up some of that time I lost down the drain. Urgh. I think I just swallowed a hairball. Never mind the sucking up idea.

I think the best thing to do is remember tomorrow is a new day. No use crying over one month down the drain. With another started, I’d better concentrate on getting my toes unstuck from that drain hole and take a step away from the temptation to let life suck me down whole. No matter how bad today was, I can find at least one thing to do better tomorrow. And if I fail tomorrow, well, there’s always the next day. Because until the day I don’t wake up at all, that’s what tomorrows are for.

Whether or not you believe God put humans on this planet with the intent to help us improve, to become perfect, you have to believe we can become better. If we’re not in a position to serve others, we can graciously accept service. And later, when we can, return the favor or pass it on.

I attended Tammy Kerr’s funeral a few weeks ago. Tammy spent her last years fighting cancer while helping save our local mute swans by arranging transport to a Sanctuary in Lakeland. She was always gracious when I went over to help her edit her books, in spite of her own frustration with her physical and mental deterioration. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to help, and that I got to know a person who understood the importance of letting others serve her and gifting them with her spiritual strength in return, a strength that far exceeded her frail physical body.

“They” always say if you put a group of people in a room and let them trade problems, everyone would choose their own. I’m grateful my current illness is temporary. I’m glad I watched the movie “UP” last week, an entertaining message of how to find new meaning in life through serving others. And I’m glad tomorrow’s another day. I intend to wake “UP”. If I lose my lift along the way, well, I’ll eat some beans. If you don’t get the inference, just remember that old hippie saying. Life is a gas. Might as well laugh, whether you’re young or turning into an old fart. I won’t say like me.

Two too much? 12/26/2010

My to do list gets longer every holiday season. It's a wonder I made it anywhere near the computer this month, let alone my blog. The time passed fast, yet the most enjoyable hours I spent all month were two I spent visiting a class at a local middle-school. I have Mary Brown, our ECW critique group chairperson, to thank for coordinating with a teacher friend to get another teacher's reading class to review my first three chapters. I don't want to put names in my blog without permission, but I was overjoyed when Mary's friend called to say the reviews were finished and to ask if I could visit. Yes! I wanted to jump through the phone.

During my visit I talked about reading, writing, how I get my ideas, and all sorts of things, including the difficulty of making a living as a book author vs. a technical writer or reporter, for instance. I asked the students questions and they asked me questions. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. When they voted to let me come back for another visit the next week I was ecstatic, to say the least. I felt like I carried home a bucket of gold in the form of reviews of my manuscript, chapters 1 through 3, which they had been reading since near the beginning of school.

By the time I read through all the stack at home, I was surprised the class didn't give me the boot. The opening of chapter 1 confused everybody, as did much of the rest of the chapter, but the majority of students wanted to read more. Chapter 2 had the worst problems, so much that only half wanted to read more. Hence, the blog title -- 2 was too much. Thank goodness, Chapter 3 turned the tide, with a cliffhanger ending. It was really muddy, a mystery that made all but a few students want to read more. Whew. I was very glad I didn't visit until after they read chapter 3.

Wouldn't you know my mad science puns confused almost all the students. That was just the beginning, so I got busy and rewrote, and rewrote again and again. Two wasn't enough, and even twenty wasn't too much. At the next visit, the day before Christmas vacation, I read some of the revised parts as the class ate muffins, my bribe to keep them happy. They seemed to like those parts better, but the real test will be their written anonymous reviews. I read aloud bits of my favorite reviews from the first batch, one of which was a well-done negative review with helpful specific suggestions. Even so, anonymity will encourage honesty. I left chapters 1-6 for the class to read over Christmas break. And woo-hoo! I get to visit again once they finish, so I guess two wasn't too much for the class, either.

One of my biggest hopes is that more of the students will try writing stories themselves. Two already said they did and I'm anxious to read their stories. I promised if the students would help me with my story, I would help them too. In this case, two is definitely not too much. Bring 'em on!

I also explained to the class why I decided to split my own book in two, catering to publishing industry rules for word count of middle-grade vs. YA. One was too much, but two won't be, in terms of book length. Since then, I have managed to write some of my new ending. I'm maybe halfway through the plan, which changes every time I touch a keyboard. I have another think or two coming before the next class visit. I try inventing new ideas when I take a walk, but that doesn't work. So I let my fingers do the walking. They connect better to my unconscious than my conscious mind does, and they're not telling -- until I type. For those type digits, two is nowhere near too much. I need all ten.

To Self Publish or Not 12/05/2010

To Self Publish or Not Rather than let another week go by without blogging, I searched for inspiration in the easiest way, by reading through my blog subscriptions. This blog will be short and not so sweet, for those of us in the first time author boat. I read my writer beware blog, wherein Victoria Strauss refutes the claims of Author Solutions concerning the supposed takeover of publishing by self-published authors. Not yet, she says.

Ms. Strauss links to another blog, written around three months ago, with some good insights for any peon unpublished (accent on the un), or PUP. I define PUP as me or any other writer who either isn't published or hasn't published a first book yet. Michael Hyatt, chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers,wrote this blog at the time non-fiction author Seth Godin declared intent to self-publish his next book. You might guess Mr. Hyatt listed several reasons most authors shouldn't follow the same path.

You'll have to read for yourself to see whether you agree or disagree. I know Tommie Lynn would disagree, having seen enough success to make a profit. But she started with knowledge I don't have about creating a cover, typesetting, etc. Two months after her presentation, I've forgotten those instructions. I've even forgotten where to look for the handouts. That doesn't give me much confidence in my publishing skills. How much? None. But that doesn't mean I'll tuck my PUP tail between my legs and go home. And I'll try not to peon anybody along the way to success.

I guess I'll worry about ppublishing later, when I finish splitting another book in two. Better than splitting heirs in two, I guess. Better than spitting hares, too. No, those aren't typos. One of those happens in my book. And I'm seeing if you're still awake.

Give a quarter for my thoughts? 10/17/2010

However much the internet is used for evil purposes, it's also the source of a lot of good information, all free - if you don’t count the cost of the internet service itself. So does reading someone else’s ideas cost more than a penny per thought after all? Hmm. How many extra pennies, if any? That’s almost a tongue twister.

Anyway, I've found plenty of writing and publishing advice, and groups I could join for free. But others cost a pretty penny. Recently, I found the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, or SCBWI, a national group with regional chapters. The fees are hefty, over 3 times the yearly dues of Emerald Coast Writers. Ouch. I decided to investigate their benefits before plunking down my money, around 8500 pennies the first year.

I checked the Florida chapter's website, featuring a conference in Miami - in January. Alone, I wouldn't be caught dead in that city. Or should I say if I went alone, I would be caught dead, and nobody would catch the murderer? I've been there, in a car with my family as my husband drove us to the docks for a cruise. That was scary enough. But in January? Who has extra money to spend in January?

So I searched closer to home. The Florida panhandle is almost southern Alabama anyway. The Southern Breeze Chapter, including Alabama and Georgia, plus others, had an October conference in Birmingham. That's much closer to home. But I wasn't happy when I saw they wouldn't allow contest entries from members of other chapters, even if the entrant lives closer to the Southern Breeze conference city than their own chapter's city. Is local talent so lacking that these protective measures are necessary to give their own members a chance? I can't say, but it seemed unfair.

Searching for a local SCBWI critique group yielded no results either. It felt like another dead end. But our church scheduled a trip to Birmingham for the same weekend as the writers' conference and I had time to attend a Friday evening dessert social. I asked permission from one of the organizers to attend and talk to people, and she not only said yes, she was very kind and helpful. She pointed out the critique group coordinator. It turned out she's updating her list soon and SCBWI membership isn't required to join one of the online groups.

I also spoke to other Florida writers from the Cuppa Critique group in Tallahassee. The chairman told me about converting her middle-grade novel to a young adult book. From the description she gave, I'm pretty sure mine is middle-grade. No sex, no drugs, unless you count I-scream or blue-bury pie. As a middle-grade book, mine is too long unless I divide it again. Though digesting that information gave me heartburn, it helped when I got to talk to an agent and an editor. The agent told me who to ask at her agency for advice.

I have Mr. Logan, whose first name I forgot, to thank for the pictures of the agent and editor featured in the conference packet. He's a seminary graduate (not LDS) and ex-Navy Chaplain who had an interesting book idea that sounded familiar enough for me to advise him to read another author's book to make sure he covers the territory in a different way. Who knows, maybe I'll see him at another conference when he's far enough along to swap critiques. Yes, I think I'll try to attend a whole conference next time.

I found out conference fees are reduced for volunteers, plus there's a discount for SCBWI members. And the text of national conferences is available on the SCBWI website for members too. So I guess I'll start saving my pennies to join SCBWI, and to attend the Atlanta conference next spring. Maybe I should save quarters too. These days, pennies aren't good for anything more than thoughts. I hope this batch made a quarter's worth to someone.

Platinum Sellers or Frauds and Failures? 09/20/2010

I’m a day late and a bunch of dollars short, but I can’t complain of boredom. Anytime I think all is well, my life comes crashing down around my ears. Credit card fraud isn’t the worst thing that’s happened, but fraud is the only disaster I can forewarn others about. Who says secure payment systems are secure? They’re not, when every year, like clockwork, somebody somewhere tries to buy something with my credit card. Platinum? Not anymore. Tarnished again.

This year the criminals charged something from London, buying shoes. Last year they started with eBay electronics and moved on to diamonds. The first time, years ago, someone advertised phone sex jobs — I mean for people to man (or woman) one of those 900 number sex hotlines. I don’t end up holding the bag, and the criminals don’t get the goods, since my credit card company refuses the charges. They notify me and change my card numbers. They’re used to it by now. I’m on my 6th credit card.

Notifying all the companies I pay via automatic payment is a hassle, as is doing without the card until the replacement arrives. But it’s a lot better than being robbed in person. Then again, how many people get robbed in person year after year? Using PayPal doesn’t seem to help. That’ll teach me to leave home without my wallet. Wait, I did take my wallet. Did I say the card itself has never been stolen? And it still has a label on back instead of a signature, saying “ask for ID.” I praise the few merchants who do ask.

My sister doesn’t do any online banking. Her card number has never been stolen. But I like those great deals online. Now I have to ask, at what price in time lost? How much price in worry?

Fraud is everywhere. Yahoo’s groups get broken into; I get spammed. I have one email address I use for business transactions nowadays, expecting each company to put me on their perpetual mailing list, and sell my name to others. Do I believe them when they say they respect my privacy? No.

Fraud is just as prevalent in the publishing industry. Take a look at Predators and Editors: http://pred-ed.com/pubwarn.htm. The site gives all sorts of publishing warnings. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of American (SFWA) website provides this page: http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/, proving it’s not just buyer beware; writers must also beware.

The most basic rule is that publishers shouldn’t charge upfront. Agents shouldn’t either. Those who belong to the Association of Authors' Represenatives (ARS) abide by a code of ethics to protect innocent new writers, and not-so-innocent old ones. That’s not to say other agents don’t treat their clients fairly, but they’re not required to. Read that contract carefully, because there’s no organization to back a writer’s rights if the agent doesn’t belong to AAR. Their website, at http://aaronline.org/, provides a complete list of member agents.

So keep your eyes open long enough to read these websites. I’ve done my duty, giving fair warning. Maybe now I can get some shuteye.