HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you peace, happiness and all good things in 2009!

Happy Holidays!

HOLIDAY

GREETINGS!

I hope your holidays have been fabulous and spent with loved ones. Here's a shot of our Christmas tree the day after. Perhaps tilting to one side but still standing.

(Or is that description more suitable to me?)

We have had about a week of snow here in Washington, which has been so AWESOME. The most snow since the '50's. Of course, driving and shopping became a little complicated but it all worked out. :)

And then to top it off, I learned I was the #2 winner in Lisa Schroeder's contest! Woo hoo! I'm hoping to get an autographed copy of her new book, FAR FROM YOU, but I'm thinking the #1 winner will pick that one, but you never know....

How are your holidays going? Have you got snow?

Lisa Schroeder's new release FAR FROM YOU

Lisa Schroeder, author of the wonderful I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is having a little contest in honor of the upcoming release of her new book, FAR FROM YOU. Part of the contest is posting her post on your blog. Confusing for the simple-minded, like me, but those prizes look pretty good and I'm sure her new book is wonderful too, so here you go:

Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is celebrating the release of her upcoming YA novel, FAR FROM YOU, and hosting a contest with LOTS of great prizes!
For three days leading up to the book’s release date of December 23rd, you can watch VLOGs and hear some excerpts read from the book. The VLOG schedule is as follows:

Sunday, December 21st – Liv’s Book Reviews - http://livsbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 22nd – What Vanessa Reads - http://whatvanessareads.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, December 23rd – Lisa Schroeder, author - http://lisa-schroeder.livejournal.com/ AND http://myspace.com/writerlisa

Help spread the word, and you might win a fabulous prize!

Copy and paste THIS entire blog entry into your blog between now and December 21st, then come back to Lisa’s blog at either Livejournal OR Myspace and leave a comment with the link to your blog and you will get TWO enteries to win a number of prizes.
Wondering what you might win? Here is the list (there will be multiple winners):
~ An Advanced Review Copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan
~ An Advanced Review Copy of SOMETHING, MAYBE, by Elizabeth Scott
~ Young adult novel GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones
~ Young adult novel, THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD by Donna Freitas
~ Young adult novel, UGLIES by Scott Westerfield
~ Pair of YA fairy tale retellings by Cameron Dokey (BELLE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT)
~ TWILIGHT movie soundtrack
~ $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card along with some Harry & David’s chocolate moose munch
~ And of course, a signed copy of FAR FROM YOU
For more chances to win, watch one or all of the VLOGs and leave a comment on that vlogger’s page, and you get another entry. That means if you post the schedule on your blog AND comment on all three VLOGs, you can have FIVE entries for the contest!
A live drawing with winners announced will be done by Lisa Thursday morning, December 24th, in a special holiday VLOG.

Writing that catches one Agent's eye

Many of us enjoy Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford's daily blog. His focus is on the art of writing and not only is he knowledgable and happy to share his knowledge but he's funny and entertaining too.

Nathan recently held his 'best first paragraph' contest where anyone could submit the first paragraph of their WIP for the potential of winning fabulous prizes. Over 1300 (!) entries later (he only had the contest open for a few days...) he picked his top finalists and posted their entries on his blog along with this thoughts about why they intrigued him - which I'm listing below. If you want to read his whole post go here. Otherwise, here are Nathan's top picks (congrats to the winners!) and his reasons why, giving all of us writers in the group a little food for thought:

The Winners:
Natalie has an immediately catchy high concept plot (ninja school!) combined with a very effective voice. In particular, I really respect the second sentence: "Of course, he’s says it all ninja-like, but that’s the gist." A paragraph about ninja school itself might make a good opener, but this sentence builds a character: the narrator's father adopts a ninja-like voice to say something as simple as "keep it simple stupid." Hilarious! Natalie's paragraph also shows a deft touch by conveying a unique voice without being too chatty. It has a breezy style, but note that other than the above-quoted sentence and the word "dude," the rest of it is not chatty. Just enough to get to sense of the voice without being over the top. Very well done.

Morgan's paragraph balances a couple of different elements in a way that I find very effective. This paragraph packs in quite a lot of plot, but that's not all that it accomplishes. It also conveys a keen sense of style -- there's a breathlessness to the writing that lends a feeling of importance to the descriptions. Also, normally I don't like it when a series of unknown words and concepts are thrown at me right away, but in this paragraph they are described and named in a way that I can get a taste of the meaning and deduce enough of the world to stay within the paragraph without worrying that I don't understand everything. And the idea of a twin within a twin.... intriguing.

Steve Axelrod (not the agent, btw) steadily builds a memorable image: a girl walking onto a Cape Cod island without knowing the effect she's going to have. The details are evocative and memorable, and the flow impeccable. Quite a few people have asked about the closing simile. Normally I don't care for big bold similes, but this one really works for me. It didn't take me out of the world because everyone knows what an avalanche is, and it also, in an effective way, contrasts directly with the sun-drenched imagery. It's also evocative to think of setting an avalanche off with a sigh. It just works.

MA's was the shortest of the bunch, just two sentences. It wasn't just the image of blood in the shape of a butterfly that led me to choose this paragraph. Rather, it's the combination of an evocative opening image along with the description of the blood sparkling on the kitchen floor (two pretty descriptions that contrast with the fact that it's blood). Plus there's a certain casualness and distance on the part of the observing character. It accomplishes a great deal in just a few words.

Alexa's paragraph is a study in steadily building a memorable character. Having read so many paragraphs that began with the weather (particularly bad weather), I was sucked in by the feint that the narrator is describing how the weather would be in one of her mom's novels. Combine that with a perfectly-described and memorable fashion choice at a funeral ("defiant yellow and movie star sunglasses" just flows), and you have a sense of a very unique individual. It's all built through imagery rather than straightforward description.

Lastly, Chris' paragraph snuck in precisely at the Thursday 4pm deadline. It's an intriguing setup -- a group of heliophobes meeting in a strange place with some interesting animosity toward the sun. It's the combination of a big idea (heliophobes) with small details (the z-shaped ramp, the eggs in the belfry) that makes this come alive.

Insider look at promoting your book

I love business. I love the process of understanding the features and benefits of your product and identifying market demand. There's an art to devising the best method to bring a product to market, pricing the item correctly and maximizing exposure, not only to your target market but to ancillary markets that you might not have orginally identified. I've been fortunate enough to work in several different industries where we are selling something and while the products change, the underlying process does not.

As I've returned to a first love of writing it's been an interesting process to understand how the business of writing and publishing works. I've learned in stages. First, the art of the craft - one must learn the essential first step of writing well enough for someone to consider publishing your words. Not as easy as an outsider would think. Second, the mystery of acquiring representation. Learning who the agents are representing your genre and then finding those that will recognize and understand your voice. Third, finding an editor that shares your vision for your book and wants to publish it. (I'm in the middle of the learning curve on this one....stay tuned) and now returning back to the idea of business - fourth - working with a publishing house to form a successful business model to publish your words and maximize their exposure. And did I mention the profitable bottom line part? Everybody in business likes that idea.

So, to that end, I'm posting an excerpt from Alan Rinzler's blog, (Alan is an industry insider who's been in the publishing world for 46 years) which is actually entitled 'How to negotiate a bigger book advance' but really speaks to the reality of an author's responsibility in marketing and selling their own book in the ever-changing publishing industry. If you want to read the entire article go here. Otherwise, here are Alan's thought-provoking tips:


What you can do to negotiate a higher advance

1. Be a celebrity ~ Tina Fey just got upwards of $6 million for an unspecified humor book. Incredible, yes? That’s an exceptional figure by any stretch, but if you can claim a measure of celebrity status in your particular field, it can help boost your own advance.

2. Be honest and smart about your platform ~ Be sure to have that web site up and working, and a blog posting going out at least two or three times a week, before your book goes out for sale.

3. Tell the publisher how many names you’ve captured for own your email list ~ We know that a certain percentage of any blast to a personal email list will buy the book, and they’ll add in those numbers to their total units sold first year.

4. Tell us how many email lists you’re going to purchase yourself ~ These are not very expensive, and they’re key for ongoing email blasts. Publishers know that these lists work and are delighted to keep adding in more units. I know an author who sent out two million emails for his first book and it worked so well he’s committed to sending seven million the next time around. If you get the right lists for your book’s market, it can definitely pump up those numbers.

5. Commit to hiring your own publicity professional or web site marketing specialist ~ Every successful author I know these days has their own publicity and marketing people to fill in all the gaps left by conventional publishing efforts. Publishers will increase their projections when they hear you’re planning on this, so do this for at least a few months before and after pub date, and further, if all goes well.

6. Sell a chapter from your book to a respected periodical ~ That proves your work is already recognized and that it has a real market. For fiction there are many excellent literary journals. They may not have a huge circulation but publishers respect their taste and judgment. For non-fiction it depends on your topic, but there are good magazines and journals in every field.

7. Include a DVD in your proposal ~ Whether it’s you on a big network show or at the local Kiwanis, we want to see who you are and how you present. In one case, a first-time author sent me a home video her husband took of her full-face, just talking into the camera. She was so telegenic and persuasive that we doubled our numbers and paid her a larger advance.

8. Get endorsements from recognizable names ~ Go for published authors, respectable experts, folks with good affiliations and credentials. Sure there’s a lot of mutual back-scratching in the blurbs business, but it really does work to have an outside quotation, publishers do want them, and it affects their estimated numbers.

9. Meet the editors, sales and publicity people ~ Offer to come into our offices, especially when your dollar expectations are high. Making the human connection can greatly strengthen your case. As an editor, I sometimes bring an author in to meet with key decision-makers on my team.

The pressure of writing deadlines

Of course, the point of a writing deadline is to put pressure on yourself to meet said deadline. But once you set the deadline, well, then, there's pressure. Like so many writers I find a million ways to waste time doing other things instead of writing. All writing related, of course. Or mostly writing related.

I read the most hilarious post on Maureen Johnson's blog today (author of Suite Scarlett and numerous other titles) about Nanowrimo and her own experience as a PROFESSIONAL WRITER. Go here to read it and get your own tips on efficient and effective methods to succeed at writing. And while you're enjoying that, I'm going to, er, ....write. Really.

Wasko's adventure

One of our most recent traveler's took his first cruise. We were able to match him with a fantastic price on a cruise in and out of San Diego. Since it was his first "time" at sea, we had him sample a great 5 day cruise. We matched his travel dates with a great price, armed him with lots of good information, proper documentation, while he supplied the sense of adventure and off he went......



Here he is with new found friends...

He is back at work, with fond memories and thinking of taking another trip soon!

If You Can Dream It We Can Plan It!

Our company motto is one we take seriously. Whether you want to travel with a group or plan your own independent vacation, your vision is our reality. Sail the seven seas or ride in a hot-air balloon over Africa. The possibilities are endless!

The start of the sequel to TFR

I've got several books fighting to get out of my brain and I really want to write ALL of them simultaneously, but that's not the way it works for me. I have to pick one, immerse myself (before work, after work, occasionally during work... whenever I can squeeze in the time) and gut my way through it and then go on to the next one.

Since we have officially launched THE FAERIE RING into the editorial abyss, I've decided that I will focus on writing the sequel to TFR first. So, I've seen these cool little measuring devices on other blogs that show how many words you've written relative to the goal, so I'm going to snoop around and see if I can figure out how to put one of those things up. But regardless, this is the start! The working title is DARK SHADOWS and the story is set in London in 1872. I wrote TFR in 30 days (plus a few more weeks for polishing) so I'm going to shoot for a completed first draft by 31 Jan. The manuscript will probably run 80-90,000 words so I'm afraid to even figure out how many words a day that is. Probably better not to know right at this moment.

How about you? Any goals, writing or otherwise you'd like share?

THE FAERIE RING on submission

Sorry for radio silence this last week. I was in an intensive, week long class on financial analysis of commercial investments culminating in a 4 hour test yesterday. Suffice it to say that talk of faeries and submitting manuscripts to editors sounds much more appealing at the moment!

Which brings me to the great and exciting news - Kate, my lovely agent, has officially sent out THE FAERIE RING to several editors. This would be the time for crossing our fingers and toes, wishing on a star, saying a prayer, throwing a quarter in the wishing well and having a straight shot. Whatever it takes, is what I say. :)

So, now we wait. Anybody else out there waiting? On agents or editors or.....?

Websites - they're the double-edged sword. I love to go visit them, especially if it's the site of an author that has written a book I love. (Or a musician). But I am struggling trying to put mine together and keep it interesting, yet pertinent. And the TIME - OMGosh, it takes forever, figuring it out, then sizing it and back and forth. Who has this much time??? So, hire someone you say. Let's just not get into the control freak issues, okay?

On that note, I just gave my website a little facelift. Click here to go check it out. Who's website do you LOVE? Send me a link.

Amadi's Worldwide Virtual Tour

Wow! As you know, I am horribly guilty of not blogging and as it turns out, I've been horribly guilty of not visiting blogs, either. And I've been missing good stuff! My friend Katia Novet has launched her wonderful picture book, AMADI'S SNOWMAN, which I mentioned in a previous blog, but what I didn't know was that she has been on a worldwide virtual tour this entire month (Katia - you're a rock star!) with Amadi. It is SO awesome. Check out the Global Virtual Book Tour . From India, to Nigeria, to Haiti to the US and back to India. It's fabulous to see the faces of the kids that have connected with Amadi and shared their thoughts and questions about this charming book over the internet. Check it out - you'll love it.

Representation - Accepted!

Well, I'm back and I've got exciting news - my dream agent, Kate Schafer Testerman, offered to represent BOTH my manuscripts yesterday! And of course - you know the ending to that story - I said yes! (Those sassy red heels are for the holidays and you, KST - hope you like!)

I listened to Kate moderate a First Pages session at our local SCBWI conference last spring with Arthur Levine and I thought at the time, 'there's the perfect agent for me'. So about a month after the conference I submitted a query and she requested a partial of THE GETHEAS STONE (formerly The Legacy). Then the full. In the meantime, I wrote another manuscript, THE FAERIE RING (formerly The Thief's Apprentice). In September Kate asked for revisions on TGS and said she'd read TFR in the meantime. Well, I finished my revisions about two weeks ago and she's interested in both manuscripts. Yay! :)

We're going to go out with THE FAERIE RING first so I'll keep you posted. Set in London, 1871, TFR is the story of 16 year old Tiki, an orphan and pickpocket, who steals the Queen's ring. What Tiki doesn't know is that the ring is a reservoir that holds a truce between man and the fey. Rieker, a thief from the North End, takes a sudden interest in Tiki and accuses her of taking the ring. Tiki denies the crime, but Rieker begins following her and tells her that not only are the royals seeking return of the Queen's ring, but faeries, some quite vicious, are after the bauble too. Tiki isn't sure what to believe until Clara, a frail and sickly five year old she cares for, is stolen by Larkin, a faerie obsessed with Rieker. Who can Tiki trust? Can she get Clara back and get the reward for the return of the ring?

So, with all the excitement I thought hmmm, maybe I should check my website. It was down. So hopefully that will be fixed sometime soon. Then I wandered over here to the woefully neglected blog. Hmmmm, guess I need to do a little better on the posting thing - but NOW, I might have to something to post about! Woo hoo! Stay in touch - hopefully more good news to come!

First Draft Completed!

Hello, from the horribly negligent Blogger universe....let's just blame it on summer vacation, okay?

Hope you're enjoying your summer. My agent quest is still in process. I have two fulls and a partial out on THE LEGACY right now so keep your fingers and toes crossed. This is a bit off subject but I like looking at pictures so here's a picture of my koi pond with all 16 of my koi. They all have names and are quite beautiful. Picasso, Fanny, Doggy Paws, Sushi and Pete (for Mustachio Pete) etc. They are such curious creatures. They totally recognize me, even through the kitchen window and they'll come zooming over when they see me because they think I might feed them. The whole pond, fish, waterfall thing is incredibly soothing.

But back to the writing world - which was the original purpose of this blog....Good news! - I just finished my first draft of The Thief's Apprentice today! Yay! I'm so excited about this manuscript. I still have to go through and tie up loose ends etc. but so far, so good and in record time! I'm trying to figure out how to post the beginning on my website, but I don't think there's room unless I take something down. Anywho...that's a problem for another day.

Stay tuned and I hope you're enjoying your summer!

(Don't you love this orange echinachea?)

Writing and Stormy Weather

I don't know what it is about stormy weather but it always brings out an overwhelming urge in me to cuddle up to my computer and write, write, write. As you can see from the picture - it ain't summer here in good, ol' western Washington yet. In fact, it's been down right cold. And gray. And wet. BUT, it is perfect weather to write.

There's nothing I like better on a cold, gray day than to ensconce myself in my cozy office, overrun by plants, with a view out to the garden and the elements of nature. I guess it's just easier to plunge into these make-believe worlds I create and dream my life away. (And yes, that is a witch with a green hat on my desk). Here's the view from my office complete with busy blue-jays today:

Case in point - I started a new novel yesterday that I am SO excited about. The story just flowed out of my brain - which is a nice, unusual surprise. My working title is either The Thief's Apprentice or The Thief King's Apprentice. Which would you choose?

Anyway, the weather is supposed to get better but time will tell. In the meantime, back to work while the weather muse is raining down on me!

Amadi's Snowman

I am so pleased to share that my friend Katia Novet Saint-Lot's delightful story, Amadi's Snowman is now in bookstores. She is a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!! yay! Her beautiful picture book tells the story of a proud, young Igbo man, Amadi, who plans to grow up and be a businessman. His mother wants him to learn to read, but Amadi sees no need for reading. He's already good with numbers - what would he need reading for? Until he catches sight of something in a book that needs to be explained. Something that forces his imagination to stretch to new limits.

Katia's effortless prose, along with the colorful illustrations of Dimitrea Tokunbo, create beautiful imagery of hot Nigeria where Amadi lives and at the same time convincingly protrays the engima of snow. Amadi's Snowman is a delightful trip to another part of the world yet rings with familiarity as we fondly remember the magic and power of learning to read.

Katia grew up in France and has lived in several different countries. She now resides in India and posts regularly on life as a writer, expatriate and on multicultural themes. You can read Katia's blog here at Scribbly Katia.

Additionally, another writer friend, Annette Gulati, has posted a great interview with Katia on her blog at The Writing Wildlife. Fun stuff!

Congratulations Katia!

Sea shells and favorite books

Sea Shells are like art. I love sea shells. They are so beautiful and fragile and functional all rolled into one. Check out this guy: Mr. Spiny Oyster... makes you think twice before snuggling up to him, eh? I don't know if you can tell from this picture but those spines are, like, three inches long. And some are broken! I have to admit there are some days (like today, er..Friday mornings when I don't want to go to work but want to stay home and write....grrrr!) that I know exactly how Mr. Spiny feels. I read somewhere that these particular oysters only exist off the Baja coast - but I'm not sure if that's true and accurate - so don't quote me! But kind of cool to think they have developed their own little secret society hidden in the briny depths, as it were.


Which leads me to my next shell - The Lion's Paw. (Camera panning slowly to the right please....) This shell became one of my favorites in part because of a book I read as a child aptly entitled 'The Lion's Paw' by Robb White. To this day I still love this book, though it is out of print and very difficult to find. I secured this copy, at great personal risk on ebay, (cough cough, make that financial risk - the tattered old 35 cent paperback doesn't sell for 35 cents anymore...go figure...). Can you see the knobby knuckles and the flanges that look like the paw of a lion? Cool, huh?

Which then leads me to the notion of inspiration in writing. Great books like The Lion's Paw are a huge inspiration for me. Books that I love, still, many (many) years later and will never forget. That's my goal with my writing - to make the characters so real and the story so magical that someone remembers it, fondly, many years later. What do you find as inspiration in your writing or if not a writer, in your world?

Since we were talking about Crop Circles...

I, for one, love mysteries. Love them. Especially the kind that are real, touchable and defy logical explanation. Take crop circles, for instance....(Get used to this - you will see this topic again - I love the mystery of crop circles... :)

Have you really ever looked at crop circles? They are absolutely fascinating! Some of these formations are bigger than football fields and appear overnight. Turn off the lights at 10 pm, everything's normal, wake up with the roosters, go out to find a big, beautiful, amazing design blazed into your crop. Can you imagine?

Who does these things??

The stalks of wheat or rye (or whatever crop they have appeared in) are never broken, but simply bent over with all the stalks lying the same direction to create the design. It is truly amazing. When you look at these from the air you can see how intricate the designs are. Always perfectly to scale. There's no way you can ever convince me that somebody is sneaking out into a field in the middle of the night and playing a big trick. How could you possible create these perfect circles or arcs or angles on a scale of this size from the ground (which, in essence, becomes an ant's eye's view) in a few short hours IN THE DARK???


For those you who don't believe in magic - take a look at some of these crop circles! Most of these are found in the old fields of England.

Who do you think makes crop circles?

I'm Launched.....eek!

Well, after months of thinking about it, changing my mind, wondering what the heck I would blog about (and even more confusing....who would even read it?) I've decided to launch my own blog. Which is potentially a fabulous opportunity to talk to myself (in print) whenever I want. But maybe someone, somewhere, will read it and want to talk too, and then things might really get interesting! So, if you're out there and feeling chatty - dive right in!


We went to see Prince Caspian, the movie, of the Narnia series this weekend. Though I loved the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe I have to say the talking animals thing in the movies always throws me. A bit much on the battle scenes too, but our friends loved the whole thing. What did you think?