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Came across this entertaining Publishers Weekly article by Stephen Barbara (Foundry Literary + Media) from November 2008 ... enjoy!
The Great American Query Letter
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1) Do not let any Eagle Brand Decadent Fudge Dessert Kits accidentally find themselves in my shopping cart.
2) Write more.
3) Do not under any circumstances drink Diet Coke. Nah, that'll never work. Let's change that to: Limit Diet Coke to 2 cans per day.
4) Spend more time revising my writing.
5) Flat-iron my hair every day.
6) Spend more time submitting query letters.
7) Do more sit-ups ... and bicep curls ... and squats ... and all those other painful exercises I like to pretend I've never heard of.
8) Attend the New England SCBWI annual conference.
The even-numbered ones ought to be a piece of cake, but we'll have to see about the other ones. Baby steps! |
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I attended my first New England writing conference this weekend. The conference was busting at the seams with an attendance of 550. People had to be turned away at the door due to fire regulations. Wow! The workshops were fantastic although it was strange to be at a conference without my Florida critique crew in tow.
If you've never heard Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak) present, I would highly recommend that you do so. Her keynote address gave me the kick in the pants I've been needing to get my writing back on track. She's hysterically funny in person as well as extremely energetic (she ran across the room and back during her speech--and it was a BIG room). She discussed the struggles she's faced as a writer and how she overcame them. She also offered tons of good advice for aspiring and published authors. The most memorable piece of advice for me was when she said, "Turn off the TV!" Yep, I'm pretty sure she was speaking directly to me in that crowded room of a kagillion people. I've asked my hubby to hide the remote before Mama Laurie comes to take it away from me :)
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Boo-hoo-hoo! I miss my critique group. My fault, unfortunately, since I moved far away last year. I did get to catch up with them over the Christmas holidays, which was great. Check out the following websites to see what some of them have been up to:
http://www.gregneri.com/g.neri_news.html
www.ninawright.net
www.theodorawrites.com
So what to do now? I'm hoping to join a new critique group soon and am looking into regional SCBWI meetings as well. Got to get back on that writing horse! |
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Nina Wright's 3rd novel in the Whiskey Mattimoe series Whiskey and Tonic is now in bookstores. I just received my copy and can't wait to read the final version (I read an earlier draft since we're in a critique group together).
Congratulations, Nina!!!
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| » What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know |
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Check out the announcement below regarding the sequel to one of my favorite novels-in-verse, What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones. I can't wait to read the next installment!
WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW HITS THE STORES IN ONLY EIGHT DAYS! | Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know that my new novel WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW will go on sale on June 5th! What the heck took me so long? Well, I didn’t get the urge to write it until a couple of years after I wrote WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW. It happened because I kept getting emails from fans saying: “OMG! What happened next! I’ve got to know!” And after hearing this question day after day, year after year, I realized that I, too, wanted to know what happened next. And that the only way for me to find out was to write the sequel. I chose to write it in Robin’s voice because his was the story that intrigued me most—what would happen to a homely guy, the school’s biggest loser, if he suddenly found himself with a girlfriend for the first time in his life? And in only nine days, you can finally find out! By the way, if any of you live in southern California, please come to one of my signings: BARNES AND NOBLE in Huntington Beach on June 7th at 7pm DUTTON'S BOOKSTORE in Brentwood on June 10th at 2pm (there’ll be homemade cookies and milk at this one...) BORDERS at Westfield Shopping Towne in Century City on June 13th at 7pm I hope I'll get to meet you! xx, Sonya |
May. 29th, 2007 @ 12:12 am
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| » Hiatus |
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Since my last post:
-Major career change
-Move to another state (1400 miles)
-Death in immediate family
Needless to say, I haven't had much time (or mental focus) for writing. But lately, I've begun writing scenes and dialogue in my head again, which is a sure sign that written words are soon to follow. Wish me luck!
May. 27th, 2007 @ 01:46 am
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| » Plotting |
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Check out this helpful discussion on plotting.
I attended a writing workshop last year that covered similar material but have somehow managed to misplace my notes :)
Sep. 17th, 2006 @ 01:28 pm
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| » What I've Been Writing |
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Considering my hectic work schedule the last couple of weeks and my commute to work, I've actually gotten quite a bit of writing done recently:
1) I wrote two Chapter 1's for the Avon FanLit Competition--one straight Regency and the other Regency with paranormal elements. I've never written anything remotely Regency before, so it was a great exercise. I actually got a comment from one of the voters that I "obviously know the period." Um, nope. I have read quite a few novels set in that era, but mostly I just crammed in a bunch of online research before cranking out my chapters. I did learn a lot of cool stuff about the Peerage in England as well as 19th century dress, dialogue, and dance.
2) I revised my synopsis for my YA novel-in-verse and submitted my query, sample pages, and synopsis to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) raleva31's Query X Workshop.
3) I wrote 2,000 words for my YA paranormal romantic suspense novel yesterday and am planning to write more today. Still have 3/4 of the book left to go, but I'm getting there.
I've also snuck in quite a bit of reading--everything from Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella to Hank Zipzer: Day of the Iguana to YA dark urban fantasy. I'm currently reading the 6th Harry Potter book. Yes, I know, I'm a bit behind on that one.
Let's see, I've also done critiques for fellow crit group members, including one for a book proposal for the 4th book in an adult series as well as one for a writing website.
And tomorrow my crit group meets.
O.K., so what are my writing goals for the next two weeks?
1) Write at least 2 more chapters for my YA WIP, not counting whatever I write today.
2) Continue to research agents and submit my YA novel-in-verse.
3) Submit at least one chapter for Round 2 of the Avon FanLit competition.
4) Work on revisions for my MG mystery that's sitting around collecting cyber dust.
Phew!
Sep. 17th, 2006 @ 09:43 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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I just finished a major update to fellow crit group member Nina Wright's writing website.
I'm totally psyched for Nina because her second adult novel Whiskey Straight Up and her first YA novel Homefree are both hitting the shelves next week. How cool is that?
Aug. 30th, 2006 @ 10:32 pm
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| » Look-alikes |
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The Celebrity Look-alike picture I posted recently reminded me of someone I used to get mistaken for all the time. Her name's Maria, and she was a contestant on The Apprentice a couple of years ago. She was booted off the show for being a know-it-all control freak. Thankfully, the resemblance ends with our appearance :)
Hint: I'm the one on the left, and Maria's the one on the right. If you ask me, it's mostly just the haircut ... but a lot of people thought I was her (or at least told me I looked like her). I actually had a customer at my old job demand to see my name tag to make sure it didn't say "Maria."
Aug. 25th, 2006 @ 11:37 pm
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| » (No Subject) |
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If you haven't already seen reference to it on agentobscura's LJ blog, check out the Hottie of Publishing, Men's Division hosted by GalleyCat.
Based on e-mail correspondence, I can tell you that Stephen Barbara is a super nice guy. Not sure about the hotness factor as I've only seen photos of him. I hear Michael Stearns is pretty cool, too.
Voting ends Friday at midnight.
Aug. 16th, 2006 @ 07:02 pm
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| » I'm going shopping! |
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Received a gift card for Barnes & Noble (yippee!) and am trying to decide what to buy. I'm looking for contemporary YA fiction I'll want to read over-and-over again. Any suggestions?
I'm especially interested in:
Chick lit
Romantic suspense (including paranormal)
Mysteries
Urban fantasy
Novels-in-verse
Thanks!
Aug. 14th, 2006 @ 11:14 pm
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| » Coolest Dog in the World |
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Check out the coolest dog in the world.
Now if my husband only had that much rhythm :)
Aug. 13th, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
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| » Dream Agent |
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I've once again been researching agents for my YA novel-in-verse and have discovered a new agent to crush on (and I mean that in a completely non-stalkerish kind of way). You know, that dream agent who not only comes across as enthusiastic, dedicated, and well-connected, but also witty and fun. Better yet, said agent purports to be looking for exactly what you've written.
Too bad my dream agent is unaware I'm supposed to be his/her (I won't give it away too easily) next dream client. But here's hoping ... and yes, I did e-mail a query tonight :)
Aug. 6th, 2006 @ 11:56 pm
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| » Fire Extinguisher and a Pillow Case |
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So my husband's reading an online article just now and says to me, "Hey, listen to this! If you take a CO2 fire extinguisher and spray it into a pillowcase for about 10 seconds ..."
I start cracking up before he can even finish. He's one of those people who sees a sign that says "Do Not Enter" and immediately feels the need to enter whatever it is he's not supposed to. Or he notices a strange electrical device attached to a streetlamp and not only says, "Hey, I wonder what that is," but also, "I wonder how long it would take me to get the lid off that thing with a ________ [insert tool of choice]."
To me, "Do Not Enter" simply means what it says (not only that, I assume there's a good reason I shouldn't enter), and as for streetlamps ... well, they're just streetlamps ... with mysterious parts/attachments I would never even notice if it weren't for my husband.
So, for all of you out there who are as curious and adventurous as my husband is (and don't mind frequent trips to the ER), what does happen if you spray the aforementioned fire extinguisher into a pillowcase? You make your own dry ice. But why make your own dry ice and not just buy it at your local grocery store, which would probably be a lot cheaper than having to replace a fire extinguisher? According to my husband, the answer is ... because you can. So now what do you do with your homemade dry ice? My husband informs me that you can make your own ice cream. Seems like a lot of work when I can buy a risk-free, non-break-the-bank pint of Ben & Jerry's half a block away.
But for those of you who are just dying to discover the how-to's of making your own dry ice (and subsequently your own ice cream), check out Popular Science's Dry Ice Cream.
Aug. 5th, 2006 @ 01:04 pm
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| » Cracked me up! |
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You are on a horse, galloping at a constant speed. On your right side is a sharp drop off, and on your left side is an elephant traveling at the same speed as you.
Directly in front of you is a galloping kangaroo, and your horse is unable to overtake it. Behind you is a lion running at the same speed as you and the kangaroo.
What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?
(Drumroll, please ...)
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Get your drunk *** off the carousel!
Aug. 4th, 2006 @ 05:34 pm
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| » (No Subject) |
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I laughed so hard I almost cried when I saw what type of inbred dog I'm supposed to be. O.K., so I do have freckles, and my hair's a bit wild, but really ...
Aug. 4th, 2006 @ 05:23 pm
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| » (No Subject) |
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I spent some time updating my writing website www.rebeccagall.com today, mostly the content of my YA manuscript pages that can be linked to from my writing page. Will have to proofread tomorrow as I'm a bit too bleary-eyed right now.
A couple of months ago I bought the domain name and designed the color scheme for my alter ego website www.sashagrace.com but haven't written any content yet. Sasha Grace is my pen name for my YA novel in free verse (and anything else I write in free verse in the future).
Why "Sasha Grace"? "Sasha" because I love the name, and "Grace" because it's my 8-month-old niece's middle name. More importantly, I waited too long to buy sashagray.com, which was my first choice. Ugh!
Jul. 30th, 2006 @ 10:02 pm
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| » A Writer's Call |
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A Writer's Call
The page demands
I utter the words before
I choke on them
and drown
Jul. 30th, 2006 @ 11:56 am
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