The Waiting Game

Just an update on how The Influence is faring over in DAW land:  there's no word as of yet.  They did say that it would take awhile because they were backed up so I'm patiently biding my time and keeping busy with my new novel and my writing jobs.  It took almost three months to hear from them the first time and as of now, it's only been a little over two months since the first letter.

But now, due to the wait, I'm almost convinced that they won't accept it.  I'm being paranoid, I know.  But even though I still have hope and my mental fingers are still crossed, after having gone back over some parts of that novel, I can still see some mistakes I've made.  Ugh!  I wrote that novel about six to eight years ago.  I put it back, revised, rewrote, and revised again.  After being unable to market it, I rewrote, revised, and rewrote again.  Yet, I apparently can't catch everything.  I even did a final revision and even changed the title of it before sending it to DAW.  It was formerly titled Bella Mae, but after the whole Twilight thing, I thought it best I rename the novel.  Granted, I named my character Bella years before Stephanie Meyer did, but I'm sure to potential agents, it looked like a fad plea.

Anywho, still waiting.  And while I wait, I've reached almost 32,000 words on Memory's Hostage.  I'm making great progress on it.  I even have "beta" readers who I'm sending a chapter to every so often.  Many of them have given me valuable feedback on it which will greatly help with revisions and rewrites.

The minute I hear something, I promise I will inform you guys.  Thanks for reading!

My Examiner Page is Live!

I've never had so much fun "working" before.  I love this new job and it is the perfect end to the various array of work I do online to make money.  If you care to take a glance at my page, click on my Creative Writing Examiner page here.  If you want to keep up with my posts on there, you can subscribe your email address and be notified when I make a new post.  Best of all, it is FREE!  :)

Thanks and happy writing!

Another Job for Me!

As if I need another job.  As if writing for two websites, and blogging, and running my own website, AND writing my next novel isn't enough, I have to be superwoman and take on another project.  I applied to Examiner.com and due to my experience with creative writing, researching, marketing, and such, I have gotten the position of Creative Writing Examiner.  I am very excited about this and have big plans for my page.  I'll be sharing tips, writing resources, prompts, and more.  I'll get the link up here when my page has been set up.

I almost forgot to mention, too, that I've recently been granted the positions of poetry category editor and short story category editor on Associated Content. 

In the meantime, it occurred to me that I haven't posted the progress of my new novel in quite some time.  It is moving along nicely.  I have almost 29,000 words done.  I also have what I like to call my "beta" readers who are reading my rough draft and letting me know if the story is running smoothly and giving me their thoughts on the novel in general.

It's quite rough to be doing all this while taking care of a husband and three boys.  I think my husband thinks that I have a secret lover on the computer.  Only my work, my dear, only my work.

My Brand New Shiny Implement of Destruction!

For no reason other then I mentioned them on my previous blog post, Writer's Relief, sent me this shiny new stylish letter opener that also doubles as a refrigerator magnet and will soon replace my ninja throwing stars. I'll try not to implicate anyone in anything illegal that might require the use of this sharp instrument. In the background is my sexy finger and my letter from DAW that I have tackily (is that even a word?) hung on my fridge for all my beer loving guests to see. Sorry for the apparent darkness of the picture. I swear I don't walk around in the dark like a vampire. That's my crappy camera phone for ya. And in case you can't see the words on the letter opener, it says, "Each rejection brings me closer to publication!" Because every writer should remain optimistic, no matter if his writing sucks or not.

Alright, I'm done being silly for today... maybe. Thank you, Writer's Relief! Once I have my current novel completed, I'll be getting some query help. :)

Dammit Jim, I'm a writer, not a salesman!

Some Great Guys

I want to introduce my readers to Writersreliefblog.com. They are an author's submission service that has been around for 15 years helping authors. I've only been aware of them for the last month or two, having found them via a friend on Twitter. You guys should check their website out. They have so much good information that I wouldn't be much of a writer friend to you guys if I didn't mention them. :)

Have fun exploring their site!

Finally! It's NOT a Rejection!

It's been a couple of months since I had so many problems getting my manuscript out to DAW. When I finally accomplished that, I could rest easy for a bit while waiting for my rejection.

And that's what many writers have come to expect. I've heard it said from several that a query sent out is just a rejection waiting to come back. While I understand exactly how that mindset can come about, if you think about it, it is plain sad that writers have to have that mentality sometimes in order to cope with the massive amount of rejection that we get.

In any case, I got a fantastic letter yesterday from Daw Books. For those who don't know, they are a premier publisher of science fiction and fantasy. They are also an imprint of the Penguin Group USA, one of the most famous publishers in New York. I sent them a submission a couple of months ago, it being one of the most frustrating submissions I'd ever put together because I kept running out of ink, my printer messed up... just a host of problems. But the letter that came back stated that The Influence had passed the first reading. Apparently, when they review submissions, it goes through one reader, if it passes through that reading, it goes through a second reading. If it passes the second time, it will go to a senior editor who will make the final decision on whether they want to publish it or not.

Even though it wasn't exactly an acceptance, it wasn't a rejection. I've been excited since I got the letter yesterday. There's a part of me now, despite this excitement, that knows I've gotten close to publishing before. I had entered the same novel in a contest held by Iota Publishing. My novel was in the top five and was being considered for publication when Iota went under. Good news... then rejection. I fear so much that it will happen again with this and then it will be back to square one again.

Please keep your fingers crossed and maybe utter a little prayer. My ultimate dream rests in the hands of DAW Publishing right now.

They said in the letter that it would be awhile before I heard anything else as they were greatly back logged. I will be patient!

*Edited for excitement typos in case anyone gets another published notification! :)

My Poor Neglected Novel

So I made the goal to have the rough draft of my new novel finished by now. While I made some progress with it, I have to be honest... for the most part, my novel rested to the side, collected some dust, stayed frozen in time. This is exactly why I don't generally make goals when it comes to writing my fiction. Real life has a way of taking priority. And that's exactly what happened this month.

Shortly after the beginning of the month, I had an opportunity to head up my own webzine. And I'm glad that I bit the bullet and just did it instead of running away from it like my old self would've done. In the three weeks since the site has been live, we've not only gotten thousands of page views but we've even rank number 1 on Yahoo! and the support from the community has been outstanding. So needless to say, my focus was on that project this month. Now that the site is rolling, I can get back into the normal swing of things, which includes taking this novel and progressing some more chapters. And even though I am extremely happy to be doing my own webzine now, the creative writer in me still screams to come out and I will continue to write fiction to my heart's content. There's nothing else I'd rather do. Someday, I will earn a paycheck for it and that will be the day I can sit back, give a long sigh of relief, and relish in what I've accomplished. I suspect many creative writers out there know how I feel.

I don't feel shame or guilt in not getting more fiction writing done this past month, only because I was doing something contructive with my time. With that being said, it's okay if real life takes over here and there.