Monday, December 31, 2012

My Ubiquitous - but Sparkly and Awesome - New Year's Post

I love sitting down on New Year’s Eve or Day and thinking about the year retrospectively, as well as the year ahead. Why do we do this? I don’t know. Maybe because it’s kind of cathartic to look at two big chunks of time simultaneously – the faded past, the hopeful future – and reflect. I’m the queen of reflecting and analyzing and planning, so a NYE post is perfect for that.

And blogging is actually perfect for looking back on your year because you’ve written down all the important stuff.  So that’s what I did before I started writing this. I looked back and read through many of my 47 blog posts from 2012 and had fun letting the year unravel before me. The first few months of 2012 were occupied with editing Martinis with the Devil, and then me and hubs went to Italy in March (click here for lots of pretty pics). After that I started querying, and got zero agent responses – vamps really are a tough sell now. I think it’s a terrific book, but I was able to let it go, because in May (May 7th to be exact) I started Everdream, which has an incredibly unique premise. With hopes that it could be “the one” I was willing to let Martinis go on the back burner while I worked on Everdream. In July I got a big promotion at my day job, so that was very exciting (Oh, and I turned 30. Not quite as fun). And this fall has been filled with writing contests and editing Everdream. I made it into GUTGAA with Everdream, made it into the semi-finals of Write Club with Martinis, and got chosen by the mentor I wanted for Pitch Wars (with Everdream). That last one is still unfolding – I got awesome feedback from my mentor on the whole manuscript, and just finished those edits. The agent round is at the end of January.  So, all in all a very exciting year. I didn’t get to my last writing goal, which is to completely rewrite Countless, my first book, from third to first person. I started playing around with it, but Pitch Wars took precedent. Oh, and random aside, this is probably my fave post that I wrote in 2012.

So, looking ahead to 2013. I find myself in an odd place for writing goals this upcoming year, because they all depend on factors that are somewhat beyond my control at the moment. So, I’ll just talk about what I would like to happen, and what could subsequently happen after that. I’d like to find the perfect agent for my writing career early in 2013. I need someone who represents and loves both my middle grade work and my adult urban fantasy stuff. They are kind of night and day, so this person will need to be as ying-yang/multi-faceted as me to enjoy both. If I find this agent and this agent finds a publisher for both Everdream and Martinis, my main goal for 2013 is probably going to be writing the second book for both of those series. I have the second books for both loosely plotted in my head. I would also like to work on revamping Countless when I have time. I’ll be optimistic and not write about Plan B (not finding an agent). I already wrote about that in this post, so no need to repeat myself. Other goals: read more and develop better timelines for editing (blog posts to come on that topic). Learn to live in the present moment. Focus on gratitude. Train my horse. Travel somewhere awesome. Keep exercising regularly and even more. Dance. Sing. Enjoy the beauty of life.

Wow, so I’ve written a pretty long blog post. I usually try not to do those, since we all have lots of stuff to read and do. But anyways, let me know in the comments if you’ve written a New Year’s post and I’ll totally come read your long introspective retelling of 2012 J Happy New Year everyone!! I love this writing community, and I’m super thankful for you all as we head into 2013. Let me know what your plans are! 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Editing Galore at the End of the World

We're all still alive! And I'm so very happy, because I've got some major editing to do. Some of you who saw my guest post over at The Unpublished Writer's Guide to Survival know that I entered Pitch Wars, right on the tail of Write Club. I actually entered on a whim, just a bit before the contest window closed. It works kind of like The Voice on TV, where a group of agented mentors picks mentees and they prepare together for an agent panel at the end of January. Well, I applied to the lovely Heidi Schulz and she chose me!! Holy crap, right?

Heidi read through the whole manuscript of Everdream and provided a super kick-ass critique, and now I'm editing my happy little writerly buns off! It's good timing, too, because I have the next eleven days off work. So, the world keeps spinning, I keep editing, and I'll jump into the new year with a much stronger book.

That said, I probably won't post here for a couple weeks. I do pop on Twitter once every day or two though, so you can catch me there. I hope everyone has a beautiful, magical, completely rad Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Solstice and/or New Year and anything else you celebrate at this time of year!! I love all my writer friends and I can't wait to hear what everyone is working on in 2013. And just for funsies, here's a picture of Mr. Fox helping me wrap presents:

Monday, December 10, 2012

I'm Over at Unpublished Writers' Guide to Survival!

My lovely blog friend B.E. has let me take over her new blog for the day! Pop over to get the deets on my obsession with writing contests and James Marsden.

I suggest you follow her blog, too - lots of fun stuff on the horizon! Thanks, guys, and have an awesome week!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Code Name Eleven

Hi, writer friends!! I thought I would reveal a secret I've been keeping... which is that I've been participating anonymously in DL Hammon's Write Club under the code name Eleven! I used excerpts from Martinis with the Devil, and I made it to the semi-finals before dying a noble death. So, I'm not too bummed about that, although obvs I love winning more :) But, final four is not so bad, so I'm proud of that. I got lots of great feedback from other writers, and it was an all around fun time. This week the two finalist's excerpts are up, and a panel of agents and editors are deliberating on the winner behind the scenes! The winner will be announced and unveiled next week. Pop on over if you haven't already.

In other news, I've begun querying Everdream as of last night. Wish me some serious luck!! This is the third complete book I've written and third venture into Queryland, so I'm hoping the old adage holds true.

What's up with you guys? Any secret identities to reveal? Queries? Other news? Happy December!!