R&R&R&R

As I do believe I've mentioned before, I don't believe in fairy tales.

One of these days, I may have to alter that statement, but though I am an unflinching optimist in most other walks of life, my realism is my armor when it comes to submitting my work. I started querying my first novel in February 2010, and I had visions of signing my contract before my 22nd birthday in late March. It's been over two years since that first query, and since then I have learned how to take a more measured approach. The submission process is full of rejections and disappointments, after all.

But once in a while, a girl just has to celebrate. It is somewhat hard to celebrate when my work computer keeps crashing every time I try to load a .gif, but I will substitute wacky colors instead.

~*I GOT ANOTHER EDITORIAL LETTER YESTERDAY*~

Whew. Okay. Now that I got THAT out of my system...

We all know about the R&R, or 'revise and resubmit.' This is an R&R&R&R, or a 'revise and resubmit and revise and resubmit.' And you guys, editorial letter #2 is awesome. I wish I had taken a video of my reactions while reading it to put on YouTube; I was sort of worried that someone would come over to my desk and ask what I was doing! In any case, I am beyond thrilled with Secret Agent Man's feedback, and ready to get back to work.

In any case, a huge thank you to all of you for your support, and stay tuned for the continued saga...

Drafting and story playlists

Hey guys! So I sort of have news on Secret Agent Man? Or rather, I have been told that I will have news before long? So watch this space! Hopefully I will have some HUNGRY GROUND news to share with you soon!

In the meantime, though, I have finally gotten back to drafting in these recent months, after repeatedly running into a brick wall with the project I was originally going to work with. (You know how some stories just have to percolate in your head for years before they get to a place where you can write them? Yeahhh. Every time I try to start that story I get closer, but I'm not there yet. Next time, for sure!)

In any case, though I have a long list of story ideas on the back-burner, I decided I wanted to start completely from scratch, and after working out some initial kinks, I decided on my new project: a YA mashup of gothic horror and period drama, set in pre-WW1 Massachusetts. The working title is TICK TOCK, but who knows if that'll change later!

When I started, though, I didn't even realize how long I'd been in editing mode, to the point where I had to get used to the process of drafting again. I eventually re-learned to embrace the fact that I was going to fix everything later (and I hit 16K yesterday!) but I've been doing a lot more tweaking and trimming as I go.

It's also been interesting to switch gears between projects this time around, especially since I know that more HG revisions are on the horizon, but a big part of that is my brainstorming playlist. My playlists tend to expand the longer I'm working on the project, but it all pretty much starts with two or three songs I listen to on repeat as I'm planning the project. So far, my new playlist is mostly comprised of my standard horror-writing songs, like Haunted by Poe, but the two big ones have both been from Florence + the Machine's most recent album: Seven Devils and No Light, No Light. (Incidentally, the two big ones for HG are Howl and Rabbit Heart from Florence's previous album. Clearly she needs to come out with something new every time I write a new project?)

How about you guys? How do you get in the mood for a new project?

Boring Invincible Heroes and Heroines

I watch a lot of TV. Mostly because I like having the background noise while I'm working, but occasionally I will pull my attention away from whatever I'm doing and watch whatever's on. My weakness tends to be the procedural-type shows, because I'm a sucker for a good mystery.

There's one thing I've noticed, though. The writers really, really don't like it when their characters lose. Their typical protagonist will casually go about their business with gaping bullet wounds and broken bones. They're abrasive, but their boss doesn't care, because they gets RESULTS, dammit. They easily outsmart the murderers and their convoluted plans - and if this is an amateur sleuth or a brilliant consultant, the actual police will just look on with their mouths agape. And if it seems like the antagonist HAS gotten one over on our hero, it will secretly be part of the master plan, and it will be revealed in the last ten minutes that the hero was only pretending to be vexed.

This is your garden variety Boring Invincible Hero - and while the example above is from your typical TV procedural, you'll find iterations in every genre. These characters can be fun to watch sometimes, but I can't think of the last time I ever really related to one of them. I think it's definitely possible to write a larger than life hero who the audience can get invested in, and there are great examples out there (my overpowering love for Sherlock Holmes is well-documented), but that aspect alone isn't what makes a character appealing.

I always joke that I can't fully fall in love with a character until they fail at life a little, but there's a lot of truth to that. If there's one thing that the Boring Invincible Hero illustrates, it's how important it is for the audience to see a protagonist really struggle, both physically and emotionally. Without that struggle, the character just sort of glides through the conflict without truly becoming a part of it. If we can't get into their heads and see how terrified or furious or insecure they are, there's no real weight to their victory.

So no matter how much you love your protagonist, don't let them become a Boring Invincible Hero. Let their flaws get them into trouble, and don't let them get out of it easily. Let their relationships be brutally difficult once in a while. If you give them an injury, let it weigh them down. And show us what they care about the hard way. To paraphrase Donald Maass a bit, think of the experience you want to avoid putting your character through. What would happen if you put them through it?

That's all from me today. Happy writing, everyone!

The Lucky 7 Meme

Yay! This one looked fun, and since Hart Johnson tagged anyone who read hers, I am going to join her in rebelliousness. I hope you enjoy!

1 -Go to page 77 of your current MS
2 - Go to line 7
3 -Copy down the next seven lines –sentences or paragraphs – and post them as they’re written . No cheating.
4 -Tag 7 authors
5 -Let them know

Since my current WIP hasn't reached 77 pages yet, I am going to show y'all a little of THE HUNGRY GROUND. I hope you enjoy!

***

Kalinda’s footsteps crackled in the air around her. The quicker Isha explained himself, the quicker they could go. “How long have you been here?” she said.

“Oh, since this morning,” Isha said. “I had to take measurements—”

“You measured the room?” Dev rubbed his forehead.

“Of course not,” Isha said. “I measured the entire floor. And it doesn’t add up, just like I said. I was right.” He watched them both expectantly.

“Right about what?” Dev said. “Pretend for a second that I’m not as smart as you.”

“You’re not, Deva,” Isha said. Dev bristled. “Come on, you don’t notice it at all?”

      “Just tell us,” Kalinda said – the sky was getting redder, they had to go now. When Isha flinched, she sighed, “Please.”

 ***

 And as for tagging, I tag anyone who wants to play and hasn't yet! Can't wait to see your excerpts! 

New review at Afterglow!

Heyyy guys! You want to see me make flaily hands at a really good book? Go check out my review of THE PRICKER BOY by Reade Scott Whinnem. And then go read the book, because it is uh-may-zing.

Contest linkspam!

Happy March, everyone! Wow - is it really March already? I feel like February just blew by in a haze of hyperventilating and constantly refreshing my e-mail.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. (Sort of.) But since I started my revisions last summer, I got back into that groove of proactively working toward my goal, and now, five weeks after submitting my revised manuscript to Secret Agent Man, I am finally starting to readjust to submission mode. Otherwise known as waiting. Otherwise known as wild swings between periods of extreme optimism and periods of HE HATES IT HE HATES IT OH GODDDDDD. Y'all know how it is, I'm sure!

For those of you in proactive mode, however, I have seen a bunch of super-amazing contests around the blogosphere. If you have a finished manuscript, think about submitting to one of them! I will be there to cheer you on!

Operation Awesome's March Mystery Agent Contest. I can't believe it's been a year since I first entered a one-line pitch here! I did the Mystery Agent Contest a couple of times last year, and I met some really fantastic agents through it. And the Operation Awesome ladies are, to be uncreative for a moment, AWESOME. Slots are going fast, though, so hurry up! And make sure to check the Mystery Agent's desired genres!

The Liz Norris Pay It Forward Writing Contest opens today! Do you want to put your manuscript in front of sharkly super agent Janet Reid, and possibly win a trip to a writing conference? Of course you do. Head over there and check out the rules!

The Authoress' March Secret Agent contest opens on Monday. You'll want to be ready for this one. You can get tons of feedback on your first 250 words, and possibly even a partial or full request from the Secret Agent hirself. Details, including submission windows, are over on the MSFV blog.

Best of luck to all of us!

Recipes and outlines

I am a foodie, to put it mildly. I am a foodie to the point where I don't understand how I was ever a picky eater. These days it feels like I'm constantly craving something new and delicious... which is really too bad, because I'm an assistant on a budget.

So I try to cook as much as possible. I don't make very elaborate recipes most of the time - by the time I get home from work, I just want something that's quick and not terribly labor-intensive. But on the weekends or when I have company, I love going all out!

Last weekend, I had some friends over, and I made them salmon cakes and goat cheese mashed potatoes. I had to look up the list of ingredients for the salmon cakes, because I've only ever watched my friend M make them, but I played it by eye in terms of proportions. As for the potatoes, it's a simple recipe, so I improvised and played around with the spices and herbs I've had on hand.

In some recipes, like spinach and artichoke dip, the proportions and the order of the ingredients is important, so I keep the list on hand as I cook. But in other recipes, like risotto, I've made it so many times it's like second nature to me, and there's plenty of room to tweak the flavor as I go. My recipe repertoire is ever-expanding, but within my mental cookbook, each recipe requires something different.

I'm sure you've all heard this question in the writing community: are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you outline, or do you improvise as you go? I almost always have a bare bones outline, but for me, different scenes are like different recipes. In some scenes, there are several points I need to hit before moving on, and I need to write down those points in order. I make notes for future events that need to be foreshadowed, but the timing of that foreshadowing depends on where it'll fit naturally. And for dialogue-heavy scenes, I write off the cuff, and edit/rewrite them later as needed. It all depends on how complicated the scene is, and whether the primary purpose (character development, action, exposition, etc) is playing to a strength or weakness of mine. It can be hectic, but somehow it all comes together!

And now I've made myself super hungry, and I still have half an hour until lunch. Happy writing (and cooking), everyone!