The Next Step

You’ll probably notice me getting a little quieter over the next week or so.  Yes, part of it is that I went back to work Monday and have been in a whirlwind ever since.  Today, for example, I’m going to be attending an all-day teachers training seminar with a hundred anglophone students right off the boat.  It should be interesting.

But the biggest reason I haven’t been around this week is that I’m doing revisions on my recent manuscript. 

But not just any revisions. 

This revision is based on agent notes. 

And not just any agent,

but THE agent I was most excited about. 

If you’ve been following this blog for awhile you’ll know that in Creepy Query Girl’s world, this is huge.  After wading through the query trenches for two years with three different manuscripts, this is the first time an agent has shown enough interest to actually READ the manuscript in its entirety and offer ideas as to how to make it better.

At first I panicked.  What if I can’t pull off what she has in mind?  What if I have to tear the whole thing apart? Trash the story?  Or what if she has some kind of existentialist ideas and I have re-write the whole thing from the point of view of a cockroach?  Or make my main character Australian?  I don’t know how to write an Australian accent!!!  WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!???

*ahem*

But when I actually received the notes, it made me see why agent feedback is so valuable.  She doesn’t want me to trash my story.  The story is what interested her in the first place!  Instead I’m focusing on fleshing out certain characters, tweaking plot details, and revisiting the ending.  It’s not exactly child’s play for a revision hater like me, but totally do-able and in the end I’m positive my manuscript will be stronger for it. 

Will this lead to representation?  God, I would love that.  But even if for some reason it doesn’t work out, this experience and the benefits my manuscript is receiving from it is priceless and I couldn’t be more thankful.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s Misdemeanor :             Reckless Driving  

      
A high speed chase in a book or movie can be a cheap thrill or a buzz kill. I admit, I enjoy the crazy maneuvering- the screeching of wheels and shifting of gears.  And my favorite is when the car ‘flies’ off of some higher surface to land with impossible accuracy on a moving object- like a freight train, boat, or big ass tow truck. 

When the mc’s best friend/lover/mother/father

/sister/goldfish is in absolute danger and the author has made you ADORE this character- the high speed reckless driving scene can be essential to the tension.  You want to grab the wheel and scream FASTER! and have to will yourself not to turn a page or two ahead just to make sure they’re safe. (or maybe that’s just me)

Unfortunately, if I were behind the wheel, I’d probably end up driving my car into some obscure, completely-out-of-my-lane object (like a gas tank) and the supporting character would be toast.  Sorry.

I’ve never been a very good driver-which is why I decided to take driving lessons in France in order to survive. You can’t just get away with knowing how to drive here.  Frenchmen let out some serious inner psycho on the road.  If you can’t predict what they’re going to do- you.will.not.live.

This is embarrassing.  But in the five years I had my license in the U.S., I managed to get pulled over for:

Speeding-  1^st transgression- I got a ticket for going 60 in a 45 and I decided to take it to court. (I was 18)  I told the judge that there was no way I was speeding since I had not only slowed down at the 45m sign but was goinguphill and my piece of junk car won’t go faster than that when I go uphill.  (yes, I seriously did use this as an argument).  He must have thought I was funny because he went on to explain that they’d got me with a radar-but he told me to get my speedometer checked and waved the ticket.

2^nd transgression-  The officer pulled me over and said I’d been going 65 in a 45.  I told him that was impossiblebecause my car was overheating and I was crawling to get home.  My car WAS overheating.  You could see the smoke.  He let me go with a warning. (You starting to see a pattern here?)

Headlight out-  I had a Ford Probe with those stupid batmat flip-up headlights.  One of them wouldn’t open, but I had a special way of ‘fixing’ it.  When the officer pulled me over and said I had a headlight out I asked him 'if I could get out of the car?'  He said yes.  I took my hustry trusty headband, pulled up the headlight and jambed it in underneath to prop it up.  The officer scratched his chin and rolled his eyes heavenward muttering something about ‘women’ before letting me go.

Backing Down a Highway On-ramp because there was nobody around to see me....except the officer waiting for me at the end.  Sorry folks- there’s just no getting out of that one:)

What do you think about reckless driving scenes in movies and literature?  Cheap thrill or buzz kill?  For more Monday Misdemeanor's click here.

***PS- I apologize to my old-time followers for today's rerun- I went back to work today and ended up with a lot less free time than I thought I would:( But I’ll be back to my regular schedule Wednesday!***

More Bloffee? Allow me...

Welcome everybody to Friday Morning Follower’sBloffee!  -A way to meet new people and up your followers during your normal friday morning rituals.  Place your breakfast contribution on the counter and settle in!

 All you have to do to participate is 1.  Comment. 

2. Tell me what you’ve brought for morning bloffee.  (Today I’ve started out with coffee and English muffins dripping with butter.  Mmm.) 

3. Click on someone you don’t know in the comments section and check out their blog!  Voila- a new friend and potential follower connection has been made!

In the meantime I’ll be available for chat in the comments section.  The winner of this Banned Book Week’s novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is:  Jennifer Hillier!  Congrats Jennifer!  Please be sure to send your mailing address to katiemills18@hotmail.com.

In other news- what did you guys blog about this week?  I know one blog post that caught a lot of attention was the ebookexperiment by Shelli Johannes Wells. – thus leading me to this week’s topic of bloffee conversation:  Have you guys noticed a definite shift in mentality when it comes to self ebook publishing these last few months?  I know in my mind, self publishing has almost completely lost its taboo connotations.  And I think it can definitely work out in some author’s favor if the circumstances are right.  To be truthful, after years spent in the query trenches, self publishing is looking very tempting and I’m definitely gathering information and keeping an eye on Shelli’s ebook experiment. 

That said- I have to wonder WHY traditional and self publishing are being compared like they’re in some kind of competition. Why must one win the other over?   Isn’t there room for both?

Any other big themes you noticed around the blogosphere this week?  Be sure to pass the orange juice and have a great weekend everyone!:)

*CQG*

Book Release! SHIFTING by Bethany Wiggins

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred  to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal.

Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step.

Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter.

But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

‘Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.’

About the Author:

Bethany Wiggins has always been an avid reader, but not an avid writer. Seriously!!! She failed ninth grade English because she read novels instead of doing her homework. In high school, she sat alone at lunch and read massive hardback fantasy novels (Tad Williams and Robert Jordan anyone?). It wasn't until the end of her senior year that the other students realized she was reading fiction--not the Bible

Several years ago Bethany's sister dared her to start writing an hour a day until she completed a novel.  Bethany wrote a seven-hundred page fantasy novel that she wisely let no one read--but it taught her how to write.  The fifth novel she wrote, SHIFTING, is being published by Walker Books September 27, 2011.

Blog: www.suzettesaxton.blogspot.com

web page: www.bethanywiggins.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10224627-shifting

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Bethany-Wiggins/dp/0802722806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316660383&sr=1-1

***I don’t know about you guys but I think Bethany’s debut novel has a fantastic premise!  Definitely going on my tbr list!  


also- Be sure to check out Monday's post in honor of Banned Books Week and comment to be in the running for a free copy of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'!

Drive Me Wilde!

-There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

-Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.

-Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.(Lady Windermere's Fan)

-When good Americans die they go to Paris. (The Portrait of Dorian Gray)

-It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

-To many, no doubt, he will seem blatant and bumptious, but we prefer to regard him as being simply British. (Pall Mall Gazette)

-I never play cricket. It requires one to assume such indecent postures.

-One must have some sort of occupation nowadays. If I hadn't my debts I shouldn't have anything to think about.(A Woman of No Importance)

-Duty is what one expects from others, it is not what one does oneself.(A Woman of No Importance)

-It is very easy to endure the difficulties of one's enemies. It is the successes of one's friends that are hard to bear.

-I have nothing to declare except my genius.(at New York customs)

-All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. (The Importance of Being Earnest)

In high school, I totally had a crush on Oscar Wilde after reading his play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.   So like I did with every dead artist newly discovered by my teenage heart (Elvis, John Lennon, William Shakespeare, Jim Morrison.  Huh-Come to think of it, I guess I kind of had a thing for dead guys back then.)- I quickly went out and bought a book of Oscar’s plays and the only novel he ever wrote ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.

Wilde wrote plays that mocked high society.

And they loved him for it.

He was a masterful wit- stating the obvious, the absurd, and above all- the truth about the world with a clipped humor that remains unmatched by any other.

‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, however, touched on a truth that no one of the time was willing to acknowledge.   Homosexuality was illegal in England when the book was published, and the insinuations of romantic feelings between two men were denounced by the general public.  -Add into that Wilde’s philosophies on aestheticism and hedonism and you’ve got yourself a Molotov cocktail of controversy.

 The Daily Chronicle of 30 June 1890 suggested that Wilde's novel contained "one element...which will taint every young mind that comes in contact with it." and the book was banned from many major booksellers.

Today I’m offering up a FREE COPY of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’- considered today to be one of the greatest works of the time.  All you have to do is comment to be entered in the drawing.  And be sure to check out the other participants in the Banned Books Week Bloghop!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

*CQG*

Grab Some Bloffee and Pull Up A Chair

Welcome everybody to Friday Morning Follower’sBloffee!  -A way to meet new people and up your followers during your normal friday morning rituals.  Place your breakfast contribution on the counter and settle in!

 All you have to do to participate is 1.  Comment. 

2. Tell me what you’ve brought for morning bloffee.  (Today I’ve started out with a pot of coffee and a carton of virtual krispy cream donuts because in real life I only get to taste one once every three years or so...which is probably best for my waist line.) 

3. Click on someone you don’t know in the comments section and check out their blog!  Voila- a new friend and potential follower connection has been made!

In the meantime I’ll be hanging around for chat in the comments (which I hardly ever do) so feel free to check back if you’ve left a question or comment.  Tell me- what did you blog about this week and did you notice any big themes going on in the blogging world?  I noticed quite a few posts about online personality versus real life personality.  Do you think you change while blogging in order to put your best face forward?  I also noticed quite a few posts about knowing when to move on in the querying process, including mine.  Thanks so much to all who commented!  The thing I learned this week is that it’s important to keep going no matter what.  -Keep querying the project you’re most excited about at the moment!  Any other blog posts that really stuck with you this week I should know about? 

Enjoy the food and conversation and have a great weekend everyone!

If It Doesn't Happen Fast- It's Not Gonna Happen

Do you ever feel this way about querying?  I know it’s happened to me.  My final draft was given the go-ahead from betas.  I was so excited to share the premise and my characters with agents and when those first few queries went out, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

And then nothing happened.

I tweaked my query.  Went over my first chapter with a fine toothed comb.

I queried some more.

REQUESTS!  Yay!  This was really going to happen!  In two weeks time I just might have myself an agent!  After all, that’s how it happened for...  (insert the hundreds of published authors who found their agent right away). 

But then the requested material came back with an ‘I’m sorry, but...’

Months went by and the cycle got old.  And then I felt like ‘well, if it didn’t happen for this book in the first six months of querying agents- it isn’t gonna happen.’  I gave up and moved on to a new project.

But should I have given up on the project if it wasn’t taken on by an agent in the first six months?  If one out of ten agents requested the material and eight out of eight didn’t want to commit for whatever reason, is it over?  Is my book really not worthy of being read or did I just not find the one agent who likes it as much as my betas did? How do I know that if I don’t just keep going and querying, it might get into the right hands?  

I think this is a dilemma a lot of writers today face.  On one hand- if it doesn’t happen fast, it doesn’t happen because we give up!

On the other, some published authors query their books for YEARS, hitting up hundreds of agents before finally finding ‘the one’. 

And on a more depressing note- some query for YEARS, hit up hundreds only to never be taken on at all.  (kill me now)

How do you feel?  If you believe your book should be out there but it’s just not happening, do you move on?  Or do you continue to query come hell or high water?  Do you think if it doesn’t happen fast, it’s not gonna happen at all?