Research, Submit, Research, Submit....

So, I've been researching agents, trying to figure out who's who in the land of agents and books. I've created a tentative list of ten agents that I think would be excellent for my work and that would fit well with me. The hard part is hitting that "submit" button.
Yikes.
But no one said it was easy. And nothing will happen if I don't hit that button. So, I submitted my queries. Now I nervously chew on fingernails until I start hearing back from them.

One last thing, there is a new #15 Dear Lucky Agent Contest for young adult writers. Go to Guide to Literary Agents blog and check it out.

Until next time...
Janice

I'm BAAACCCKKK! And ready to submit!

Hey everyone! I'm BAAACCCKKK!
Where've I been....these last, oh I don't know, two years? Time flies, doesn't it?

I have had a crazy time in the land of agents. First, Marissa left the business (we still keep in touch). I was reassigned to Rachel Coyne at Fineprint. These last two years have been with her, and it's been a roller coaster ride, to say the least, and my books have yet to be sold. Then, I just found out that Rachel is leaving the business. So, here I am.

That's all right. The journey to publication is a long and arduous process, and I'm not one to give up. I decided that I've used the excuse of being "too busy for a blog" for too long. Writing is therapeutic, and I want to write to all of you about how tough this writing business can be. So, stay tuned.

First things first, I am entering Writer's Digest Lucky Agent contest (number 14)! I'm going to submit my pages for my middle grade novel I worked on with Marissa. If you write Middle Grade, give it a look-see. A critique from an agent would be dy-no-mite!!

Until next time!

New Year...New Hope...

The publishing business plays tricks on the mind. One minute you hear that it's okay to break the rules...the next minute another someone says to never break the rules. An author interview might show that one author's road to publication was like a blink of an eye to those of us who have sojourned on this long and winding road for years. We hear the importance of having an agent on the one hand, and on the other hand, someone else of reputable standards says that an agent is not needed.

We write. We submit. We stack rejections. We rewrite. We submit. We stack rejections. And we keep plugging away. Why? Because we're writers. It's what we do. And as long as we keep on keeping on, one day....just one day, it will happen.

So here's to 2012... another year open to possibilities and purpose. Let us renew our HOPE as we continue down this long and winding road.

Dealing with disappointment

Rejections suck.
This isn't exactly a newsflash, but it's the premise for this blog posting. If you are thinking about writing, or if you are currently writing, or if you are already shopping your manuscript, then rejection is something you'll probably have to endure.
After countless hours of drafting and revising, I am still waiting for "the moment", all the while continuing to accumulate rejections.
My stance? Two words.
Oh, well.
There comes a point when you become numb to it (and it takes awhile, let me tell ya'). But that's where I'm at. I stopped counting total rejections (including ALL projects) after sixty. And I've had a dozen or two since then. But in the big scheme of things, why get worked up about it? If we don't quit, eventually someone is going to fall in love with our work.
Here are a few things I do to keep rejection from getting me down:

• Set the work aside and MOVE ON. This is good advice if you are in the process of revising, or if you're stumped on a plot issue, or if you are mid-process of submitting. Set the work aside and move on to another draft. WHY? Because it'll get your mind off of the craziness at hand with the one manuscript, it'll keep you working creatively, and if your book sells, your agent/editor will want to see what else you've got.



• Read books/magazines/blogs on craft. I learn so much from all of you and other writers out there. You can never know too much, right?



• Remind myself of the "why". Why do I write? I write because I love creating stories, I love delving into other worlds, I love putting dialogue together onto the page and seeing what comes of it. The "why" will help you keep things in perspective. (It certainly helps me!)

I'm not saying rejection has stopped bothering me, but I've accepted it for what it is. And I refuse to stop doing what I love because of the little rotter. So...I tarry on....

And so should you!! :)

My August media break...

Oh where, oh where, has Janice been? Oh where, oh where could she be?

Not in cyberworld. At least not for the month of August. Yes, I checked out of the internet for a month. No e-mail (now THAT was hard), no facebook, no blogs, no DISTRACTIONS. See, here was my dilemma. June and July had already went by and I wasn't where I wanted to be with my new novel.

My goal: to use my summer months (I'm a teacher, so I pretty much get June, July, and August as a vacation) to write a rough draft of this interesting idea I had. I vowed to myself not to revise one word. Just write a draft. I even used Laurie Halse Anderson's advice: I gave myself permission to write horrible.

I began to notice that life's distractions were really getting in the way of any substantial progress for the draft. I was checking my e-mail every ten minutes to see if my agent wrote me. I was checking facebook. I was reading blogs like crazy (because I love all of your blogs!). None of this is bad, per se, but it is if it detracts from a very important goal.

When school begins, I know (from past experience) that I am super busy. I teach, then I try to squeeze in workouts a couple times a week, then my son has piano lessons, and now he's in football, and you get my drift. Writing takes a back seat. Since I know this, I like to use summer to be as absolutely creative as possible.

So when I realized two months of summer had passed me by, I decided to get serious. That meant saying good-bye to media. I focused entirely on writing my rough draft with every minute of spare time I could devote to it. It was my hopes to complete the entire novel by the time school resumed.

You're probably all on the edge of your seat wondering if I did it....well, I'm pleased to say that August was successful in that I have over 200 pages of the novel drafted. I am not finished, but I have the last chapters outlined. With all that being said, I'm really proud that I cut off all the distractions for the month and focused on my writing.

But I'm not going to lie. I am SOOOOOOO happy to be back on the internet!

Maybe it's time for you to cut some distractions...you don't have to be as drastic as I was. But remember we'll never get published if we don't write the book! :)

Cheers,

Janice

Book Review #1

Ready to catch up on some reading...I'll try to do book reviews on middle grade, young adult, and chapter books every so often.

The first book I am reviewing is Starcrossed, by Josephine Angelini. (3 out of 4 stars)

In Starcrossed, Helen Hamilton is the awkward protagonist, who has a hard time fitting it. Why? Well, first of all, she is breathtakingly beautiful. Secondly, she can't stand people looking at her or giving her attention (she gets cramps and doesn't feel well). Then she starts having these horrible nightmares where she's wandering the desert, and she wakes up to find her feet dirty and her throat parched. Along comes a new family on the island, and everyone is talking about them. But as soon as she lays eyes on the exquisitely handsome Lucas, she wants to kill him with this uncontrollable, unexplainable rage. Come to find out, they are both demigods, born of different houses. There's been this raging war where all the houses want to kill each other (and do). Lucas's family think they are the only house left standing. Until they discover Helen, of course. Turns out, she's a demigod...from a different house. Her mother, who abandoned her at birth, sure has some explaining to do! However, she's not around (until the end of the book). While all this is going on, Lucas and Helen hate/love/lust after each other. What to do? Lucas's family decides to protect Helen and "train" her as a demigod. All of a sudden, she has these amazing powers and abilities.

This YA book is almost Twilight incarnate. Lucas and his family even sleep outside her bedroom to "protect" her from those demigods wanting to kill her. There's this fierce attraction to someone she can't have, and Lucas's family is large and very similar to the Cullen family. HOWEVER, with that being said, I couldn't put the book down. It sucked me right in. And I even sat in the car during church because I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN(did I say that already?)! I thoroughly enjoyed the mythology ties, and I really liked Helen as the main character. I thought the whole romance thing was a little shmultzy, but high school girls will love that part of it, I'm sure. The ending is what I had an issue with. It left off at a climactic moment in the story. Of course there's a sequel due out next May, but that's besides the point! Sigh...

It's a nice YA read that will suck you in, disappoint you a bit at the end, but will have you wanting more.

I'm sure I'll buy the sequel next year!

Cheers...

It's summertime...and the writing is easy...or is it?

I waited all school year long for the chance to have my days devoted entirely to writing. After a hard, draining day teaching to high school sophomores, the idea of writing or revising took a back seat to cooking dinner, helping my son with homework, spending time with hubby...you get the drift. However, I DID make time to write. No matter what, I found a way. But, I'm just sayin'...I longed for summer.

(Do you like the picture of my three year old enjoying summer?)

So, summer's here. I'm off work. I haven't stepped foot inside my classroom since June 7th (our last day of school), and yeah, well...

There's the boat on the lake, which is very distracting, I must say, and it calls to me and my family quite regularly. There's the day trips visiting all of Northern Michigan's wonderfulness. Then there's the swimming, and the bonfires (we actually have a bonfire pit in our backyard), and the camping, and the reading all the awesome books.

I guess, I'm just confessing that I seem to be almost as busy as the school year. But like I said in an earlier post, I have to give myself permission to write...and I have to carve out the time. It's true. I know it, you know it, right???

Here's how my writing is surviving the summer...(and you get to read this rambling, lol):

• I take my notebook with me: so helpful!!
  


• I write in the morning while I'm fresh and newly energized (thanks to sleep and coffee).



• Any rewrites my agent wants me to do, usually happen in the afternoon or evening. (I don't know why. Do I really need a reason for my madness)?



• I don't sweat the small stuff: my kids will only be this age right now. If I set down my writing for a day with them, I make up for it that night or the morning after.



• Journal! (I tell ya', I just love journaling. It's not really about my life; it's more story ideas, outlines, character descriptions, that sort of thing. But I find it really helps.)

There you have it, folks. So, go ahead, grab that corn on the cob and chat it up with family and friends. Just don't set writing on the backburner for too long. There's a world of readers waiting to hold your book in their hands (and I'm one of them)!

Cheers...