Island dreaming

I've been a bit busy recently... hence no posting. Don't believe me? See below.

Oh, and I'll be back to posting about life, writing, and internships starting May 22nd(ish)...

Tidepools by the place we're staying. Incredible snorkeling

Lava Tree... created when lava engulfed wet, cool trees
in this forest.

Ube ice cream! Made from purple sweet potato. The color is
all natural!

Rainbow Falls in Hilo, HI

The Red Road. It really IS that color!

Black sand and a re-seeding project in an area that was destroyed
by volcanic activity.

Kilauea Iki Crater

Petroglyph in Hawaii Volcanoes NP

Baby wild boars... rescued by a permaculture farm after
a neighbor killed their mother.

Hilo has a zoo, too!

Two toed Sloth!!!

Namaste the white Bengal tiger.

The first of May

http://loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/04/beltane-spring-festival-of-fertility.html

It's the first of May and Earth has cast off her winter white in the northern hemisphere. A chorus of birds and a cool spring rain herald the coming days of warm and plenty, drawing us out to plant, to trim, all in anticipation of the harvest. Creatures creep out into the sun, chasing away winter's bone chilling season with promise of a sultry summer.

And yet Spring is capricious, clinging to winter's chill for just a while longer, reminding us that there are aspects of this world, of nature, over which we have no control. A last fickle frost sweeps over, causing new furled leaves to momentarily retract... and then the sun comes out and we dance again.

Awarding the Leibster and some literary agency internship questions answered

First! I'm awarding the Leibster to Matt over at Matt's Writing Lair. And thanks to the fabulous Jess McKendry nominating you for this award, Matt. For details on the Leibster Award, please see this post.

Second! I only received one comment asking me questions re: my internship, but Rena (of Doctor Faerie Godmother) provided MORE than enough to work with (thanks Rena!). As you'll see below, I've reposted her comment and added my answers in between.


Rena: Questions? Oh yeah, I'm full of questions.
me: Great! Bring 'em on!

Rena: I'm going to just make the worlds biggest comment here because I really have so many. The first, I know tons of people who say things like: "Why did this book ever get published? The characters are terrible, the language is sad, and the plot could use some help." I've always assumed that books like that made it through because of the personal preference thing: how much of that did you see?
me: The agent I worked with did pick things based on personal preference. That said, she had a pretty high standard for what she would shop around to publishers because, while an agent may have a personal preference, the publishers are less likely to. It's still a waiting and guessing game for an agent shopping a book. They have to figure out which publishers will be likely to pick up a manuscript, the same as you... it's just hopeful they will have more experience and/or contacts than you (which is why you bother with them in the first place).

Rena: Did you ever pick out a manuscript and basically get laughed down? Or was everything you liked also liked by the agent/s?
me: There were two cases where I really liked a manuscript and the agent, after she had reviewed them, rejected them. One because she wasn't feeling the backwoods southern dialect the author chose to use (I found it to be accurate and appropriate for the novel). And one because she felt it just wasn't ready yet (where I thought it was a hot YA novel that really will sell, and it may if the author gets a good editor). And then there were a couple that I really loved that she agreed with me on as well. So, yeah, there's definitely some personal preference involved. An agent has to really love a manuscript to want to take it on because they have to be in a relationship with it, and you, for at least the year it will take to sell it. Therefore, your novel could be amazing, but just not right for that agency.

Rena: How important is the query letter? Is a good query letter really going to make it, or is it all about the pages? Did the agency you working with go to pages even when the query wasn't that great?
me: The agent I worked with, as a general rule, didn't read queries. That was my job. And to be honest, there were days when I didn't look very closely at them. I would skim a query for the synopsis of the work and, if it grabbed me, would look at the pages sent as well. A query is as good as the synopsis, in that regard, because the point of it is to make me want to look at your pages. However, if your pages are terrible, no amount of great querying will help you. There were a few that I rejected just based on the fact that the query was SO terrible grammatically (how can your manuscript be any good if you can't compose an e-mail?). And there was one query that I deleted without a response because it was just plain offensive. So I guess it's important to know your audience and approach them accordingly.

Rena: Statistics, I'm sure everyone wants to know the stats: How many queries a week, how many requested manuscripts, etc.
me: I'm not sure how many came to the agent's personal e-mail, because she forwarded many to another account where we also received queries for me to read. I read anywhere between 25 and 40 queries in a week... and requested 7 manuscripts in the 2 months I was at the agency. Of those manuscripts, 2 will actually be signed, I would venture.

Rena: I know that I'm not the only one who wants to know: what made the stand out manuscripts stand out? I know this has been answered a million times, but so often the only thing people will say is "Voice," but we've all seen plenty of manuscripts with killer voice but unenthusiastic everything else (from concept to dialogue). What did you notice about the manuscripts?
me: Voice is definitely important. Also, timing. Occasionally I would read a synopsis that sounded great but when we got more pages I would find it wouldn't pan out accordingly. If the pacing of the plot wasn't just right, didn't keep me interested in what was going to happen next, then I would end up putting it aside, not recommending it to the agent. In those types of situations we would always send a note to the author explaining that while we like the idea/style/characters/etc., the manuscript still needs more editing before it's ready to be marketed. So yes, voice... but have pity on your reader! Move the plot along. (And just a note: You may never see this in your own work... which is why it is important to have someone else look at it with a critical eye. Professional edits and crit partners are a MUST.)

Rena: Did any new clients get signed while you were there?
me: Yes. One. She was the author of the first manuscript I read when I started. The last intern had requested it, but I was the first to review it... and it was amazing. I can't wait to see it on the bookstore shelves (in a year or so. It hasn't been picked up by a publisher yet, but it's really a gem of a work, so I have confidence that it will be soon).

Rena: Did you get to work on any existing clients' work? How did that go? Specifically, did you get to read any of the already signed clients' first drafts? and how did those compare to the manuscripts in the slush? What I'm trying to get at here is, in your opinion, did most of the manuscripts in the slush suffer from first-draft-to-query-itis? Would most of the manuscripts in the slush have benefited from some word smithing? Or were they doomed by concept?
me: I don't know if other agents work differently, but the agent I worked with did not want a first draft from anybody. Anything that looked like it still needed major work (and ALL first drafts need major work) was told to find a professional editor and then contact the agency again once you had followed that editor's advice to fix the manuscript. I assume that people who were signed with her already knew that. I must say I'm amazed at the amount of querying and pages sent to the agent that looked as if no one had ever read them (including the author). The best chance you can give your manuscript is to have people whose skills you trust look at your work and offer you suggestions for improvement... over and over again... maybe even through 10 revisions. The agent, and the publisher, are not going to help you fix fundamental issues. There's likely no money in it for them. Your manuscript needs to be the best that it can be before you start sending it out. A lot of rejections you get could be solved if you had a professional editor look at your work.

Rena: You know what, I think I'll stop there, but I could sure keep going.
me: Thanks for playing! I hope my answers were helpful. If you have more questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll be happy to respond!

Leibster award and internships abound

I'm starting off this post with a big THANKS to Dave at Dave Wrote This and Kathy at Imagine Today. Thanks to Dave for bestowing on me the Leibster Award, in all it's glory. And thanks to Kathy for nominating me for it!

Rules for accepting this award:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
2. Nominate up to five others for the award.
3. Let them know via comment on their blog.
4. Post the award on your blog.

I like the idea of awarding this honor to 5 people who have less than 200 followers on their blog. So! If you know someone who fits that criteria and deserves a shout out, I'm leaving it up to YOU to nominate them in the comments below. I will treat these on a first come first served basis, as well. So hurry and get your nominations in!

On the internship front... this is my last week with the Agency in NYC. I am so grateful for the experience I have had there these past two months. I think that the Agent would have kept working with me forever if I had let her... but I'm not necessarily in it for the long term yet. I'm still trying to figure out my path. I have read so many queries now... and I can tell you what mine WON'T look like... I have seen how to professionally submit a manuscript for review... and I have seen that even if your novel is really amazing it's not always likely to get picked up by a particular agent.

Everything I have learned so far will, I hope, make me a better writer in the long run. We'll see.

I'm leaving the internship with the Agency after only two months, though, because I have landed ANOTHER internship... with a publishing house satellite office only 30 minutes from my home (instead of a one and a half hour train ride). I'm excited because here's a new angle of the publishing industry I have not seen yet! I'm headed from the agent's world into the publisher's world! By the time I am done interning my resume will be thick with experience!

The next challenge is what to do with all that experience.

I have one more response request. A couple of you mentioned wanting to know more about my experience the past couple of months at the Agency. There's a blog post here, that I think sums up a lot of what I have learned, but I'd like to open the floor for questions. Please ask me questions regarding the internship and I will compile and answer them in a post next week!

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

5 tips for writing from C.S. Lewis

I read an article today wherein a letter from C.S. Lewis to one of his fans was described. They listed the following 5 rules as Lewis recommended them to the young person who had written him for advice regarding her own WIP. I thought the rules were worth sharing with you:

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
4. In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, "Please will you do my job for me."
5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Good advice for any writer to live by. Thanks, C.S. We'll take these rules to heart.

In other news, I did NOT see the fabled Matt Smith and Karen Gillan... although they did arrive on set later that evening... around 10:30 p.m. with 1,200 other fans all clamoring for their attention... Yeah, I left earlier... because it's a long train ride home and because while I LOVE Doctor Who, I'm just not that kind of girl. If they had been there earlier I would have been excited... sigh... how complacent I have become.

Although... if I had been waiting for THE Doctor, not the man who plays him on TV, I would have stayed until he came and happily run away with him in the T.A.R.D.I.S. Ya know? If only...

Photo from Wikipeida

A girl's gotta have her Doctor Who dreams

I was totally on my way into the City today for my internship... but then what should pop up into my Facebook News Feed but a post from Doctor Who saying that they are filming in the City today! Eeek!

What is a girl to do? I could be responsible, yes... but I've done that before. And sometime's a girl needs to be ridiculous. So I ditched.

I'm crashing at a friend's place for the moment, and hoping to catch a glimpse of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan... or at least the T.A.R.D.I.S. a little later.

Likely I'll miss them altogether, but I'd hate to say I didn't try!

Diversion

In case you were wondering... this is what I do when I'm trying to distract myself from writing or obsessing over a scene that is getting me no where... (well, when I'm not lazy and watching re-runs of Doctor Who instead :)).

This is actually my first still life attempt.
I'm not usually so studious.

Noah decided he wanted to do a still life as well! Fun!

Insecure Writer's Support Group, yay!

Hi all! It's time for a monthly installment of Insecure Writer's Support Group, as hosted by Alex Cavanaugh.

I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's already April! Where does the time get to?

I wanted to post about blogging memes today... because they make me insecure. Currently, when I look through my blog reader, it seems like I am the only person I know who is NOT doing the A-Z Challenge, a monthly meme started here.

Now, part of the reason I didn't join in was because I've been doing an internship in the City (which ends April 19th). The internship has been intense and educational and I'm SO glad I have had the chance to take part, to get dressed up professionally, commute into NYC, and learn about the art of discovering a marketable manuscript. But it takes up a lot of time! So I haven't been posting very regularly, anyhow... and the idea of writing a blog post a day within the loose theme of the alphabet (much less the more planned out themes that I see some of you are doing)... well I'm not super woman.

But also, I don't want to be a joiner just because I think I'm supposed to attach meaning to something that everyone else does. I'm not just referring to this particular challenge. There are "blog awards" and weekly/monthly memes all OVER the place! How does a girl choose between them all without feeling like she's missing out on something, or more importantly, without feeling like she's losing her blogging identity?

Obviously I am choosing. I'm participating in a meme right now! IWSG has been very useful to me - from reading other writers' insecurities to sharing my own insecurities to receiving supportive feedback. I will definitely continue to participate in this one. I just wonder, does anyone else out there besides me feels overwhelmed by the flood of daily/weekly/monthly blog memes?

7 things you learn from interning with a literary agent

I've survived the first month of my internship! I don't know whether to be impressed by that fact or not. Overall I'm going to say that I'm impressed, because it's hard! For so many reasons, too...

I wanted to share with you the first few things that I've learned... because as a writer, I feel they are important. I'd love to hear your take on things as well, so make sure to comment and let me know what you think! It's possible that the things I'm learning here are NOT useful, and only apply to the agent I'm working with.

1. Your synopsis is important! Seriously. I know a few people have been posting recently and complaining about having to write synopses. They're hard to do. After all, your masterpiece of a novel is probably 50,000-100,000 words! How can you summarize the entire plot in just a few measly paragraphs? But, if an agent (or an agent's assistant) can't get the essence of your plot in a neat little package, the likelihood of your manuscript being picked up drops significantly. So craft them... craft them well, grasshoppers.
2. Building off of number 1., make sure to review and refine your pitch. Sending a query to an agent involves so much more than just copying and pasting your synopsis into the body of an e-mail and pressing send. Standard etiquette, people. Introduce yourself. Tell the agent why you're writing (This involves a synopsis of your synopsis. Madness!). Remember. There's nothing new under the sun. Don't bother telling the agent that your manuscript is one-of-a-kind. It's not. I guarantee it. Cheesy pitches and synopses get tossed right to the slush pile.
3. Find a way to graciously handle rejection. Agents receive hundreds of submissions a week. And in-depth discussions of the reasons for choosing not to take on your work is not on the top of their to-do list. Although, the one I've worked with is willing to take a little time to discuss it with you if you ask politely. Always remember, though, that whatever advice you wish to receive is a gift, not a right. (Maybe this is different with other agents. I don't know.)
4. Your first two chapters are key. Write well, little grasshopper. Hook your readers early. Introduce the characters and the plot in a way that grabs the reader's attention and draws them forward into the story. If the first 10 pages aren't amazing, you're looking at rejection.
5. Story arc. It's kinda important. If your novel wanders off in the middle, near the end... anywhere, really... it's going to get rejected, or at least asked for a rewrite. If you can catch this before the agent does, you'll save yourself the pain of opening that e-mail rejecting your work. The last two chapters matter just as much as the first two.
6. How can you catch things like a weak story arc? Get it edited. Well edited. Don't just have beta-readers look at your manuscript (although they're important, too). Have a professional look at your work and do an overview for you. It costs money, but it can mean the difference between a publishing contract and the slush pile.
7. Nothing is sacred. My friend Sarah Mebasser said that the other day, and it's true. Scenes that you've slaved over, that are your precious pets, that you think are pivotal to the whole story can be cut, likely WILL be cut. Language that you have deemed poetical will be criticized as ambiguous, vague, even bad grammar! Prepare yourself for this inevitability. Shelve your ego and go to work. (This goes as well for interns who work on projects/blog posts/etc., for their bosses. If you can get rid of your ego, you can learn a lot. Easier said than done, though.)

Well, that's all from the peanut gallery so far. I know that I'm a beginner, learning as I go. If you have any thing to add, I'm happy to listen and consider!

Knights of Microfiction!

It's time for Knights of Microfiction! This is a monthly meme hosted by the fabulous Jess and Kathy McKendry. I have had very little time to blog recently, so flash fiction is right up my alley!

Here are this month's rules:

Use at least one of the following adjectives: delicate, repulsive, hostile, and at least two of the following nouns:  New York City, my 16th birthday, and kilts. Write a MicroFiction/flash fiction piece of 250 words or less.

And here's my entry:


It's a delicate balance, I thought to myself, living here in New York City. Just surviving day to day can be a challenge, albeit one that I accept. Never let it be said that a Wallace is not worth his salt. I adjusted my kilt as a couple of beauties strolled by on the avenue.


There’s just one problem. No one can see me. And… they’re all dressed so strangely. It’s only very rarely that I see anyone else in a kilt, and they’re usually stone drunk. Those drunks can see me. And they’re usually terrified when they do. I think something may have happened to me.


Last thing I remember before I got here was it was my 16th birthday. Ma had made this new kilt for me especially. I was going out riding, and when I got home it would be time to celebrate. 16. Coming of age for a Scottish lad.


Only I never made it home. All of a sudden I was here. My stomach growled. I was starving. The night was just beginning here in the City that never sleeps. If I played my cards right, I could find myself a drunk with a conscience, someone to slip me some food. Best place for that was in Greenwich Village. They were just more accepting there. A couple of handouts and I’d be set for the night.


Somehow, I’d survive. Somehow, I had to figure out how to get home. Or at least what had happened.

Off to the internship again today. Lots of reading to do and I think my fellow intern is going away. I guess that's the point of an internship. It never lasts for very long.

It's Young Adult and Teen Tuesday!

It's Tuesday and the YATT meme is hosted by S.A. Larsen at Writer's Ally. Yay!

I'm going to slip in a little post here this morning about Young Adult lit. I've been contemplating the differences between young adult lit versus books you read as a young adult. There are just a few things that puzzle me about the distinction.

See, I read "Of Mice and Men" when I was young, but I wouldn't consider that a "Young Adult" book. But, is it? Also, it's apparent to me that just because a protagonist is a youth does not make the book a YA book.

I'm sure someone out there much smarter than me has a wonderful, textbook answer for me and I'm hoping you'll leave it in the comments.

What I see as YA lit is defined by what you can and can't do with the characters. In YA, fantasy is much more acceptable, animals figure largely (or rather, IF they figure largely, it's considered YA... another confusing point), and the protagonists are often (though not always) in the YA age range of 15-24.

In "Adult" lit... I feel like there's a lot more pretended "realism" (although I know there's a lot of sci-fi/fantasy going on out there in adult lit), and more sex and violence. But this just seems disappointing to me. Also, I'm sure there's a lot more "thematically" to it than this.

And so I'm wondering where YOU draw the line.

Are there any of your beloved books that seem to defy definition?

Internship... you get out of it what you put in **UPDATED**

**Updated at the end.**

Quick post before I have to head in to the City this morning. I have been MIA the past week or so because I started this internship 3 days a week in the City with a literary agency. I would love to report that all is going well and I'm having the time of my life. Truth is, it's a mixed bag.

The thing I keep reminding myself is, I'm not getting paid. I'm volunteering time to learn about an area of the book business. I don't NEED a job. I WANT the experience.

And I am getting experience. I have read over a hundred submissions in the past 2 3 weeks, I would venture, the majority unsolicited. I could tell you right up front what will get through and what won't. Of what gets through, I couldn't tell you what will get picked up, though. This agent is finicky. She says she doesn't want to pass up on a really good manuscript. It's possible that we just have different ideas of what is good. 

However, that's an area for me to learn in, too. What do I know about what sells? I guess in the YA market, I have a bit of an eye. I've read a LOT of YA... but then, not as much as some of YOU. Still, I know what people are reading right now. In other markets not so much.

Sigh... on the other hand... I have had my patience tested over the past 2 3 weeks in ways I did not realize I might. I'm sitting on a hard chair at a kitchen table in a tiny Manhattan apartment, walking someone else's dog, commuting 3 hours a day... all to deal with a personality that I find less than appealing... trying to squeeze information about the business out of her... because it's more than choosing a good manuscript. Of that I am sure.

I guess I'm telling you all this, not to excuse myself for having been absent from the blogging world, so much as to say it's not all a bed of roses on the other side of the pen and paper... and I'm beginning to understand that actually means.

I hope to make it around and read some blogs this weekend. So write some good posts for me!

**I have to retract a statement. I really DO appreciate her personality... when she's not wearing her boss hat... and when she IS... I just have trouble dealing with her work style.

Today I found got better as I went... I'm sure in part due to the encouraging vibes you all are sending my way :)**

Kony 2012 **UPDATED**

(**Updated at the end of this post)
Ok guys. I have to talk to you about something close to my heart. They said we should tell all our friends, and... since I moved from California to Connecticut I don't have too many friends... but I have YOU! So I'm telling you.

I hope that all of you have already heard of Invisible Children. If you have, you can skip this next bit and watch the video below. If you haven't, let me tell you a quick story.

Almost 30 years ago a war began in Uganda. For the full history of the war, go here. The leader, Joseph Kony, formed the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and began attacking towns and villages, raping, pillaging and murdering wherever he went. Unable to gain regional support for his movement, he began stealing food and abducting children to fill the ranks of his army. The horrific violence that he has perpetrated against the people of Uganda has gone unchecked for the last 30 years. You can watch Invisible Children: Rough Cut here and hear the story for yourself.

Invisible Children takes its name from the children of the villages of Uganda who, too terrified to sleep in their own beds in their homes for fear of being abducted and forced to become child soldiers, would walk many miles to the nearest large town to sleep on the streets every night. What Invisible Children seeks to do is make these children, and this horrible war, visible... to bring the war to an end and to bring Joseph Kony, #1 Wanted Criminal on the International Criminal Court's most wanted list, to justice. They have been working tirelessly over the past 9 years to raise awareness about the LRA, to bring hope and help to the people of Uganda, and to end this horrible war. Frankly, they make my life look pretty shabby. But they also make me want to get up and DO something.

Over the years I have participated in a few of the IC events. The Global Night Commute was my favorite. I have hosted viewings of the IC: Rough Cut in my home and passed out copies of the video to my family and friends because I believe we can all make a difference. Knowledge is power. But not if we keep it to ourselves.

I hope that you will take a little time to learn about the Invisible Children... and that once you know about them... once you know about Joseph Kony... you will share what you know with others. Together we can bring change in the lives of people who desperately need our help.

This is the latest video from the IC campaign to make Joseph Kony the most known man on the planet so that there is nowhere for him to hide. It's 30 minutes long, but worth the time. Please take it. Share it with others. And thanks for listening.


KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

**UPDATE**There have been many critics of Invisible Children in the past 24 hours or so raising some valid questions. Here is IC's response to the criticism. I support their position wholeheartedly.

Making Time: Insecure Writers' Support Group

It's the first Wednesday in March! Can you believe it? That means it's time for Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by the fabulous Alex Cavanaugh, who, by the way, just published another novel, CassaFire! Yay Alex! Living the dream! And thanks for hosting us insecure writers. We need it.

I wanted to mention "Making Time" today. I haven't had to deal with this issue in a while. See, for the past year and a half I have been living the dream... not working, just writing. Except that I didn't really take advantage of the time while I had it. I was distracted by other things and allowed much of the time I could have devoted to writing to slip away.

Now that I am doing an internship in the City three days a week (on week two and it's going GREAT!) I am suddenly reminded of the value of time. I have less time for posting and less time for writing because other things are taking up the space (you know, like groceries, cooking meals, walking the dog, etc.).

It's only two weeks in, but I'm already worrying about how my creative outlets will suffer from neglect. Am I over reacting? This past weekend I did put down 900 words towards my WIP (in the new POV, too!). And that's huge! Because I have been stalling and recently got a bump of inspiration. But I wonder if that is an exception to the rule and if the urge to create won't be drowned out by the lazy monster or the "I have so many other necessary things to do" monster. I know I have to build better habits, but I'm a little at a loss as to how to do it without creating a crusty layer of guilt that I have to break through every time I want to write.

Ugh. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Damned if you do and damned if you don't... It's honestly one of my biggest barriers to moving forward with my writing, I think.

New post with some rambling about my internship on Friday. Thanks for listening.

An inspirational moment

I'm sitting here working on writing Lilith from a 1st person POV... and it's not quite as easy as I was hoping. But... I am not discouraged yet. I think I just need to rearrange my own POV, not expect things to go exactly the way they did the first time around, and keep moving forward.

And then I read this quote from the amazing Neil Gaiman's latest blog post:

"It's a weird thing, writing.

Sometimes you can look out across what you're writing, and it's like looking out over a landscape on a glorious, clear summer's day. You can see every leaf on every tree, and hear the birdsong, and you know where you'll be going on your walk. 

And that's wonderful.

Sometimes it's like driving through fog. You can't really see where you're going. You have just enough of the road in front of you to know that you're probably still on the road, and if you drive slowly and keep your headlamps lowered you'll still get where you were going.

And that's hard while you're doing it, but satisfying at the end of a day like that, where you look down and you got 1500 words that didn't exist in that order down on paper, half of what you'd get on a good day, and you drove slowly, but you drove.

And sometimes you come out of the fog into clarity, and you can see just what you're doing and where you're going, and you couldn't see or know any of that five minutes before.

And that's magic."

Thank you, Neil.

Weekend goals: It's gonna be one hell of a re-write

If you are looking for my campaign entry, go here.

Ugh... don't you hate it when somebody gives you a suggestion and at first you think, "Nah, that'll never happen." But then the more you think about it the more it seems like a good idea? And then you start to think, "Oh my god, what am I thinking? This'll take forever!" But you can't get the idea to go away... and so you eventually resign yourself to the fact that you are going to at least have to attempt it.

Well, my pal Julie over at rosewood pencil box made just such a suggestion. First, there are two things you should know.

1. I LOVE JULIE!

2. I completely respect her opinion. 

So, the other day she so sweetly suggested that I might think about writing my WIP in first person, because she liked the voice I gave Lilith in the character interview.

At first I laughed and said to myself "Yeah, like I haven't thought of that." But I have 50,000 words of copy! Why would I go back and just re-write the whole thing? Only... the more I get to know Lilith, the more I like her voice, too... and now I've had some feedback it's got me thinking... sigh.

So this weekend's goals are to relax and perhaps look at how a few of my scenes sound from Lilith's perspective. It's not a commitment... it's a "What if?". I'm just experimenting. Who knows what will happen, really?

In other news, I read 2 novels this week. Yep, 2... that haven't even been published yet! This new internship is scratching an itch, that's for sure. The work environment is quirky, but then, so am I so... I'll reserve my judgments for a little later after I see how much I'm learning. So far I've been learning lots... including how to, and how NOT to, solicit an agent to review a manuscript. Wow people. All I can say is, the more people that review your 'script, the better.

Also, I just wanna say thanks to Jess, who awarded me two different blog awards this week. If you don't already know Jess, hop on over to her blog Write.Skate.Dream. She's an amazing, inspirational, plucky young writer. I think you'll love her blog, too!

It's cold here right now... and I keep hoping spring is around the bend. Who's with me?

Knights of Micro-fiction and other Big News

So! News first and micro-fiction second :) If you are looking for my campaign entry, go here.

About a month ago I read a blog post by Brightened Boy. I love his posts because they feel so authentic and his observations on life are very astute. Anyhow, this particular post mentioned the fact that while he was in school (I assume... because he JUST graduated) he did an internship with a literary agency. I immediately thought to myself "How cool!" and then, for the instant that I always do, I lamented the fact that I was never brave enough or forward thinking enough to do this while I was in school myself. In all fairness, I really had no idea what I wanted when I was in school.

But that led me to thinking... why not now? Of course, there's the fact that a lot of internships are specifically for college credit... and there's also the fact that I'm well past the age demographic that most people want/expect an intern to be. But other than that I'm ideally situated. I know what I want to learn about now, what direction my life is leaning... and I don't HAVE to have a paying gig to survive.

So... because I always do things a little half-heartedly so as not to get my expectations up (which may not always be healthy, I acknowledge)... I sent out 6 resumes 10 days ago. Within a week I had an interview and landed a paying internship in the City. Ha! So starting tomorrow I'll be commuting to the City 2-3 days a week and learning all about the book business from a literary agent's perspective. Which will be EXTREMELY interesting and helpful for me. I can't even believe it happened that fast! I'll make sure to post regular updates here, for better or for worse, but I'm hoping for better :)

Now on to Knights of Micro-Fiction, as hosted monthly by the fabulous Jess and Kathy McKendry. the rules are: Write a micro-fiction/flash fiction story of 250 words or less beginning with these words:
After all this time, there it was...

Here's my entry:

“After all this time, there it was,” I said. “Right there in front of my face.” 

“Well you obviously weren’t looking hard enough, Lani,” Keegan shot back, rolling his eyes. He was always impatient with me, had been ever since we were little. 

“Hey, punk.” I took a swipe at him, which he dodged. “It’s not like it matters how long it took. I found it, didn’t I?” 

 “Yeah, but now what are you going to do with it?” he asked. 

I raised the shimmering amulet from its hiding place to eye level. Keegan’s spiky-haired reflection beamed out at me as it turned to face him. “What am I going to do with it?” I raised an eyebrow and threw him a mischievous grin. “Do you even know what this is?” 

“Of course I do,” Keegan rolled his eyes at me again. “It’s a transmuted teleport. Turn it three times in the direction the moon travels and it’ll take you anywhere you want to go. But not just anywhere… anywhere in time or space.” 

“Exactly,” I said. I had had a little time to ponder the thought. Years spent in a prison cell, your mind wanders. No, I knew exactly where I wanted to go and when. I had a score to settle. 

“You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?” Keegan looked unsure. 

“’Course I am, Keegs,” I said, grabbing his wrist. “And you’re coming with me.” The amulet turned three times and I closed my eyes.

I hope you like, and I hope you'll take a few minutes and participate! Seriously, it's called Flash Fiction for a reason, people.

UPDATED: Campaign Challenge! Flash Fiction!

**Update at the end**
Campaign Challenge time! And just in time too! It's been a busy week... I'll work up another post this weekend to tell you why. In the mean time, here are the rules for the flash fiction challenge from Rachael Harrie's Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign!

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)
• include the word "orange" in the story
• write in the same genre you normally write
• make your story 200 words exactly!

Here's my entry:

Shadows crept across the wall and the silence in the room was deafening. Lenore took in a deep breath and was surprised at how loud her lungs sounded. The last words she had spoken had been an oath… the name of her goddess. She had been frustrated. There was a blinding flash of light, and then everything went black. When she woke, she was the one who couldn’t speak and the mute little old woman she had taken in last week was gone. There were scorch marks on the hearth where she had been sitting… before the light… before the charm had broken. Was it possible that the little old woman had really been an all-powerful goddess in disguise? Had she waited that long for Lenore to name her so that she could break free? How had Lenore not noticed? She thought she was a better witch than that. Lenore rose and ran her fingers through her hair, still trying to make sense of it all. If she had just released the Sea Mither, it was possible that there was still hope for Lilith, as well. She had to find Steffan and tell him. There was work to be done.

It's 200 exactly (according to MSWord) and is a re-worked scene from my WIP.

**Oh yeah, and I forgot... if you like my entry, you can "like it" here... and I might win something cool :) I'm entry #193. Thanks!!**

YATT: A character sketch... ultra-long post...

So, today for Young Adult and Teen Tuesday (a meme hosted by SA Larsen over at Writers' Ally) I am posting a bio sheet on my Main Character from my novel... I asked followers on my blog and the cool peeps over at Fairfield County Writers Group for input on 50 questions to ask her and promised to post them here.

I got 150 questions, actually. One of the cool peep writers over at FCWG posted a 100 question bio-sheet for developing your character. It's AMAZING. I'm only posting the first 15 questions from that sheet (the Basics) and then the 50 questions you guys contributed because... I feel like 150 is overkill. (am I right?) If you want a copy of the full bio-sheet for use with your own character, shoot me an e-mail and I'll gladly oblige. Also, I tried to link back to everyone who offered questions unless I didn't have a website for you. Let me know if I missed anyone.

I really enjoyed this exercise, because it made me THINK about what my character thinks. She came alive more to me than she has yet, and now I'm ready to take her back to the page and make the re-write happen for her.

I wrote her answers in first person, but the novel is not drafted in first person. It just felt more natural to do it this way. It's pretty long, so if you make it all the way through to comment, bravo you! And thank you.

I'm a little nervous about doing this to be honest. Reasons: 1. You might hate her. 2. You might not hate her, but tell me she's dumb anyhow. 3. You might hate her but tell me you love her. 4. Someone might love her so much that they steal her from me! Ugh. Honesty here... but... if I don't show her to anyone, how will I know if she's any good, right? So I'm attempting to be brave here and take a step. Please give me your honest opinions about her! And... I hope you like her... Um... and lastly, don't steal her, ok?


-BASICS-

1. My full name is ____. Lilith Evangeline Scott
2. I was born in ____. I was born on Sanday, part of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK…
3. My birthday is ____, making me ____ years old at the start of the story, and ____ at the end. My birthday is December 1, 1996, making me 15…
4. My parents are ____, who is a ___, and ____, who is a ___. My ma’s name is Lenore. She handcrafts baskets from seaweed and driftwood to sell in town and to tourists. My da was a sailor. He drowned at sea before I was born.
5. I have ____ siblings. Their names are ____ and they are ____ older/younger than me. I’m an only child.
6. Right now I live ____. Right now I live in the ocean… in a cove a few miles up the coast from my ma’s house. It’s a long story…
7. My occupation is ____. (n/a)
8. I am ____ tall and have a ____ build. I have ___ skin, ____ eyes and ____ hair. My facial features are ______. I like to wear _____. I’m five feet tall when I’m in human form… I have a pixie build Molly says. My skin is mostly white… freckled a lot… or it was before I became a mermaid. Now it’s kind of a freaky bluish white. My eyes are green; my hair is dark auburn and long, past my shoulders. My facial features are delicate, adding to the pixie look, I think.
9. When it comes to money, I have ____. (n/a)
10. When it comes to allergies, diseases and other physical weaknesses, I have _____. I don’t have any allergies and I’m pretty healthy… 
11. I am ___ handed. I’m right handed.
12. My voice is _____. My voice is… I used to have a great singing voice. It’s a little scratchy since I live in the freezing cold ocean now. I wonder if Millicent stole my singing voice, too?
13. A phrase I use frequently is ____. “you know”
14. In my pockets right now, I have _____. Ha! I don’t have any pockets! Mermaid, remember???
15. My most annoying habit is ____. I bite my nails???? How should I know? You’ll have to ask Molly. But she hardly ever gets annoyed with me. Maybe ask my ma.

Reader questions for Lilith:

1. Regardless of what’s happening in your life right now, you do realize things will only get harder as you grow up, right? (Hildred) Really? Harder than accidentally switching places with a murderously evil mermaid who has a grudge against my mother (which, by the way, I still don’t quite get…) and being exiled by the rest of the child-stealing/child-eating clan because I won’t become a cannibal? The ocean is no place to survive alone when you only just got here. Plus… it’s effing freezing here! I’ll take a little misogyny any day… but thanks for the encouragement.
2. Which subject do you hate in school? (Gina C) Ha! Well… when I went to school, I’d have to say it was math that I hated most. Too logical.
3. What do you like to spend your money on most? Money? We never have anything extra after food and fuel and supplies for ma’s craft. We’re lucky to get what we have and no thanks to any of our neighbors, you know?
4. Who do you want to dress like? Ah… I wear what I own… but I love Molly’s clothes. She’s my best friend and she always wears the softest clothes.
5. What song do you listen to on repeat?  “Swim until you can’t see land” by Frightened Rabbit is all I can hear in my head right now… over and over… Ironic, you know? Most of the stuff I used to listen to back on land you probably would’ve never heard of anyhow. I’m from a tiny island off the northern coast of Scotland. Everything about my life is obscure.
6. Who was the biggest bully in your life? It’s not the bullies I mind so much. They’re easy enough to avoid and not very bright either, you know? It’s their gossiping harpy mothers that really get to me. They make life hard on my ma… make her cry when she thinks I’m not looking. I hate them. Strange, but Molly’s ma is one of the worst. She hates it that Molly and I are friends. Too bad for her. She’ll never keep us apart.
7. Who have you bullied? You’re kidding, right? I’ve never really spent any time with anyone except Molly… and ma. The other kids don’t like me or are too scared of what their mothers would do if they found out they’d been talking to me at all, even if it was to be mean to me. I’m not sure why that is… probably has something to do with the reasons they make ma cry… but when I ask her she always looks sad and won’t answer me.
8. If you had a round-trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go? Somewhere warm. I don’t care where… although it’d be nice if it had an ocean… It’s just so damn cold here… I feel like I’ll never be warm again. I might never come back, either…
9. What is your favorite movie? (Charles M) Everything I get to see is a million years old by the time it gets here… but there was this one movie when I was a kid… Howl’s Moving Castle… I dunno… I guess I liked how nothing was what it seemed to be… and you could open the door and find yourself in different places any time you wanted.
10. What is your favorite book? I’d rather hear ma tell a story. She’s so amazingly good at it. The magical people she talks about almost seem real… come to think of it… maybe they ARE real. She always talked about mermaids, but I never would have believed they actually existed… except now I am one. What if selkies and Teran and the Sea Mither are really real, too?
11. Who is your favorite boy? Boys are dumb and a waste of time. You can’t even make them into mermaids.
12. Who is your favorite teacher? Miss McCormack… English Lit. I think she felt sorry for me. Whatever. I don’t need her sympathy, you know? But it sure beats the shit way the rest of the teachers treat me. More detentions than the biggest bullies in school… for what? I dunno… being alive? But Miss McCormack always let me do my own thing. I think I even paid attention in her class.
13. What do you like to do in your spare time? Mostly I like to hang around at the shore. No really, even on land I did. I love tide pools more than anything and the crash of sea waves, the smell of salt on the wind… Molly and I can always find someplace where no one will bother us. Most times I just sit and listen to the waves while she collects shells. Since THIS happened… we still meet at the shore, and she brings me news about my ma and Millicent… and we work on our plan…
14. What is your favorite animal? (CM)  Dolphins. Why? (Julie M) They’re brilliant, beautiful, and handy if I run into trouble with sharks. Happens a lot more than you’d think.
15. What kind of car do you want next year? (CM) You’re joking, right? But we don’t need a car. Everything is so close. Car is just money wasted, ma says.
16. Who do you think is cute? (Catherine K) Like I said… boys are a waste of space and energy… and Molly is beautiful.
17. Who supports you? Molly. And Ma, even though she can’t see me now. She tried to once, but it must be part of the curse. So anyway, Moll takes her my messages and tells me how she is… and helps keep a watch out for Millicent. She’s ridiculously brave, that Molly.
18. Who is your mortal enemy? Millicent. She’s evil incarnate. She stole my life from me and left me here for her lackeys to tear to pieces. But I’m going to ruin her little scheme with one of my own… and when she gets back here she’ll learn what pain really means.
19. What did you do last weekend? (Gabi C) Last weekend I spent convincing a couple of fringe mermaids (that’s the clan outsiders) that they want to help me get rid of Agra, Millicent’s number own. She’s been causing havoc in the clan ever since Millicent “disappeared”. No one will believe that Millicent traded places with me, but whatever. She basically made a power grab when it looked like Millicent wasn’t coming back… nobody is happy about it. Even I know that and I’ve been banished. But Agra really wants me dead… so I have to figure out how to take her down a few notches… Yeah… not your average weekend in the life of a teenager.
20. Where would you like to go on vacation? Like I said, somewhere warm with ma and Molly. And maybe we’d never come back…
21. Who is your favorite relative? My only family is ma. Da is gone… ma never talks about him or anyone else…
22. What scares you? Used to be the dark scared me. Now it’s the open, exposed ocean… I don’t wanna ever be caught with my guard down… Getting ripped apart by sharks or mermaids… not how I want to go. Also, never seeing ma or Molly again… that scares me.
23. What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s funny. I always wanted to be a ship’s captain. But they don’t take girls on as deckhands or mates or anything… so I’ve been teaching myself to sail, sneaking off with Molly in her da’s skiff whenever he’s not looking…. Learning to read the water…
24. Where’s your dad? (me) Ma says he’s dead. Lost to the sea. Molly’s heard all the rumors and she says that other people say he went off and drowned himself because ma broke his heart and had another lover… I never met him, so I wouldn’t know… but if he’s the type to go off and leave his family like that, I don’t know if I’m missing much.
25. What’s your favorite food? Ma’s homemade bread is the best… warm, with butter… I hate eating everything raw and cold now…
26. Do you believe in magic? I would have said no… all those tales ma told me… I thought they were just stories to scare us into behaving and going to bed on time… but now… the only explanation is magic. Nothing else makes sense.
27. What’s your favorite color? The deep brilliant blue of the ocean.
28. Who’s your best friend? You haven’t been paying attention. I said it was Molly. I’d die for her… and she’d die for me… but I’d never let that happen. She understands me better than anyone… she’s brilliant.
29. Do you have any pets? Ma always leaves a bowl of milk out… for the fairies, she says…. But I know the village cats find their way out to our place and drink it up most days. They keep the mice away and let me scratch behind their ears sometimes.
30. Have you ever travelled anywhere? We don’t have money for travelling. Furthest I’ve ever been is the next island over in Molly’s da’s boat. It’s uninhabited, so we beached the boat and spent the day exploring. Found a colony of puffins… they’re amazing. We left the eggs untouched. Molly got in so much trouble when we got back… we haven’t taken the boat out since. It started to get harder for her to sneak away and see me after that. Now, though… they think I’m dead and they’re a lot more free and lenient with her. It’s just harder for me… can’t be seen by other islanders. They wouldn’t like it.
31. What’s your favorite time of year? I like summer. It’s light longer… lots longer way up here in the northern latitudes. And the air is warm then.
32. Does your mom make you do chores? Yeah, but I’m happy to help, you know? We only have each other… and I have Molly… so I try to pay attention and do what she needs.
33. Do you like your mom? I love her. She tells the most amazing stories… and she’s so strong… and so good….
34. What do you think of love? You mean mushy romance? I don’t get it. The only person I ever loved besides ma is Molly. I don’t need anyone else.
35. Do you like where you live? Ma’s house… my house… is well enough. We don’t need all the plush fanciness other people have. We have color and light and a warm fire… and we’re right by the shore… I love the shore. Only think I hate are the people in town. Not a decent person besides Molly. Bunch of homogenized clones, if you ask me. They all have to dress alike and listen to the same music and make the same jokes.
36. What TV shows do you watch? (Dave D) We don’t have a TV. Big waste of time, in my book. We used to have one, but I made ma give it to the charity thrift shop. We never watched it anyhow.
37. What magazines do you read? Ma gets a subscription to National Geographic. It’s the only luxury we afford ourselves. I like to look at the pictures and dream about what it would be like to go to those places.
38. Have you ever written a novel? Nah. I make up stories in my head… but that’s it… they’re all just stories. I wish I could make them come alive the way ma’s stories have. Who’d have thought that homicidal mermaids existed? ‘Course they don’t HAVE to kill children… but I can’t talk about that here… it isn’t safe.
39. What do you think is gross but secretly want to try? (Catherine K) Kissing.
40. What do you say you want to be when you grow up? What do you really want to be? Ma always gets sad when I say I want to captain a ship. She doesn’t want me to leave her. I told her I’d take her with me, but she says no… She gets sea sick, she says. I think she’d want me to stay here… raise sheep for wool… you can make a good living selling yarn from our island. But I need to get away.
41. What did you do for fun as a little kid? I’d go down to the tide pools and look for the biggest prettiest shell I could find. Usually it was in the most hard to get places. Ma didn’t like it when I went down without telling her. I guess I see why now…
42. What’s your favorite thing about yourself? (me) I can sing. Pretty well, too. Only ones that ever heard me are ma and Molly. I make up songs… sometimes the seals come close to shore when I’m singing… like the selkies in ma’s stories… I wonder…
43. What would you change if you could? I always wanted uncontrollably curly hair… you know… all wild and sticking out everywhere… mine is straight as a plank of wood. Still wild and tangled, though.
44. What have you done that you are proud of? Well for starters I’m not dead yet. I could’ve been… but I’m a survivor.
45. What was your biggest embarrassing moment? I don’t get embarrassed. No really…
46. When things get overwhelming, where would you most like to hide? (Julie M) Under the covers in ma’s room… but I can’t. I’m stuck here. In the cold… alone… I have this safe cave, out beyond that point over there. I always try to be sprinting distance from that cave… in case of danger, like sharks and stuff, you know?
47. What interests you about your hometown? I try to steer clear of town, you know? People aren’t very nice. But I often wonder how people came to be away out here on this island… what brought them here… Ma has a story about that too.
48. What are the things that make you most excited to be alive? Mostly the ocean and all the things in it… and so many more than I ever imagined… and seeing Molly every day. It’s always something new with that girl.
49. Do you advertise your affections or would you rather keep them secret? Moll and ma know how to read me. I doubt anyone else will ever figure me out. But if you asked me, I’d tell you what I think. I’m not scared.
50. What’s your favorite thing to wear? (me) When I can wear clothes (like not now that I’m a mermaid) I always wear a great worn out pair of blue jeans and any of the sweaters ma’s made me.

If you made it this far you are my hero. No seriously. Thanks for sticking with it! Luv and puppies and stuff.

Character growth and a blog award

Ok, blog award first. A big thanks to the fabulous kmckendry over at Imagine Today who bestowed the "Kreativ blogger award" (and the Versatile blogger award, I think) on me the other day! Luv luv luv!

Since I have some new followers, I'll give you some new facts about me... haven't done this in a while :) If you think you already know enough about me, feel free to skip to the end of this post.

1. I have 4 cats and a dog... this may not be new to you if you know me already... but... I didn't MEAN to have 4 cats... they just sort of multiply... (and yes they are all fixed... I mean multiplied in the magically appearing sort of way). I'm trying to re-home one of them, actually... so if you know anyone who wants a nameless, needy, talkative female gray tabby/muted calico kitty with a short-ish tail, please let me know.


2. I have mild depression and anxiety (mostly self-diagnosed, but I went to therapy for a little while, too). There are days when I can't convince myself that I am capable of doing anything at all, much less anything creative... I hate those days. I am actively combating them... one of the BLOGS that has been super instrumental in my warfare against the monsters is The Fluent Self. I heart Havi and Selma! Seriously... they're better than therapy. Also, I have not openly admitted the depression before (at least not that I can remember)... although I would tell you if you asked me.


3. I am a painter. I'm not saying I'm Vincent Van Gogh... I guess really I'm more of a visual artist... because I like photography, too. But some days I need color, canvas, and abstraction to help clear my head. I say abstract because none of my figures ever turns out as I see them in my head. Same goes for my writing, actually.


4. Last one, I am sprouting seeds in a terrarium on a bookshelf so that I can grow my own veggies this summer. Right now I have heirloom tomatoes, sweet yellow cherry tomatoes, and collard greens sprouting... but I have seeds to plant for cucumbers, okra, and carrots, plus some herbs and flowers. I'm crossing my fingers that this project is successful. Usually I buy seedlings already started... but I wanted to try starting them myself this year. Eeep!

I so love all the new friends I am making out there in the blogosphere! I hope you'll humor me and claim this award for yourself if you want it. I'm not going to tag anyone to pass it on. I think you're all pretty "kreativ" and versatile! Luv!

Just a reminder from my last post that I'm looking for some questions to ask my main character so that I can get a better grip on her. You can leave your questions in the comments here. Between your comments already and some from my fab friends in the Fairfield County Writers' Group, I'm up to 40 questions! 10 more to go before I hit my goal of 50, but if I have more than 50, I'll just have to answer them... then I'll post the questions and answers next Tuesday so that you can get a look at my MC... and hopefully give me some feedback.