Life as we knew it

In my quest to make my next book absolutely as fantastic as possible, in addition to extensive historical research I've been reading mg/ya novels written in journal/diary form. Magdelena (my mc's name!) will begin her diary as she journeys across the Atlantic to her new home in America. Anyway, I've just finished reading a very well-written and (only MY opinion here folks) extremely depressing novel, Life as we knew it, by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

In a nutshell, an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of whack, causing very great and severe disturbances on the earth, obviously. Sixteen year old Miranda is suddenly thrown into dealing with cataclysmic problems. Written as Miranda's journal personalizes the difficult situations and carries the reader through all the disasters so intimately I needed to stop reading several times and take a walk outside just to bring myself back to reality. Surely that is the sign of a great writer!

WENDY's travels

WENDY's hit the road, or the air, or something, again today. She's gone out to pub/editor number six. Another one who does not want an SASE..."we'll be in touch is we are interested." In other words, don't call us, we'll call you and if you don't hear from us by the time you die, just assume your manuscript was not right for us at this time. Yada, blah, blah and yada.

Big sigh....but, alas, also, big hopes.

73% nerd

Okay, I found this test at a few of the blogs I read religiously and simply had to pass it on. My score: 73% nerd, 26% geek and 39% dork. I guess that pretty well sums up my personality!

And here are the results of said test: quoted directly from the THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

"For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendencies associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!"

The test if pure fun! Give it a whirl....

Butterf(ly)

Another week has passed. Today I visit the archives again. Next week I buckle down and start my outline. I have such mixed feelings. I'm very excited to get started--scenes and characters are constantly swimming through my mind. But I'm also somewhat nervous; almost like stage fright. Fear of failure. Honestly, it happens to me each time I start a new story. Luckily, once the actual writing process begins the butterflies vacate...until I reach a stumbling block. Then I must coax them out slowly, but firmly.

I love using "ly" words in my blog!

Nigts of Rain and Stars

Warm and fuzzy feelings of total comfort engulfed me as I read Maeve Binchy's Nights of Rain and Stars.

All her books bring me contentment and peace. Everything works out for the best. Relationships meander through difficulties, characters grow and gentle touches heal wounds and ignite flames. I love it. As always, there are multiple storylines that weave and meld seamlessly. This particular novel is based in Greece, a place I've fantasized about since The Tempest.

Don't remember much about the movie itself, except the scenery was spectacular and I've mooned about it ever since.

Life is good. Especially if you're a Maeve Binchy character.

Keep on keeping on...

So who remembers that phrase? From the disco-crazed 70s of my teenage years--yikes!

Yet that about sums up the way I feel about writing and attempting to get published. I've been extremely lucky with some of my short stories getting published. I know having one of my children's novels published will take years off my life if I allow the stress to consume me. Instead I'll enter the 70s and just keep on keeping on...

That being said, yesterday WENDY went out to another publisher. I've decided to stagger the submissions, not sure why, but what the hey! Tomorrow WENDY will hit the mail to some other lucky editor.

Peace on. ; )

Rejected...again

I received yet another rejection for WENDY. This is rejection number 3. Just a pre-printed form letter, no special handwritten comments, nope, just a copy of a Dear Author letter. Such is life...how many rejection letters did JK Rowling receive??? More than 3! But I certainly will continue to send the manuscript out to editors and agents. I mean, in reality, a rejection is a good thing, right? After all, if I wasn't actually submitting, no one would be rejecting!

I'm reviewing the listing of editors and agents on my latest SCBWI market guide and still believe I'll continue to send WENDY to editors, not agents. Unless, I come across a spectacular sounding agent, just chomping at the bit for a novel like WENDY.

It also really, really helped to read this blog entry: The 8 Rules of Rejection

I'm going to add Editorial Anonymous to my fave blogs, excellent info in the archives.

Dial tone, Emily Ebers and Ireland

The sun is shining and I have a dial tone...yipee, not too loudly, don't want to jinx anything!

Finished So Totally Emily Ebers and it was so totally fun to read! It will be added to my fave list.

My research notebooks are filling up quickly. I'm reading a local history book, Washington's Woods for tangible flavor and it is proving to be a well-spring of information. Dream Soul by Laurence Yep

Set in 1927 West Virginia, Dream Soul explores the life of 15 year old Joan Lee and the problems her family encounters being the only Chinese American family in the small community--very enlightening.

I'm also immersed in West Virginia Baseball: A History, 1965-2000 by William E. Akin. It's providing real insight on the workings of minor and independent leagues during the 1920s.

As I dig deeper and deeper I discover that West Virginia has a long and illustrious history of creativity. At first thought, Ireland and it's literary masters come to mind.
Many similarities, it seems.