Thursday’s Children July 18, 2013

Inspired by Firsts…

So, last week I screwed up and didn’t do my “Firsts” post. What can I say? I was a virgin when it came to co-hostessing an online writing contest. All inept and blush-y.

Which makes now the perfect time to publicly acknowledge Kristina Perez as

The Goddess of Coding, Subdomains and a Whole Bunch of Other Techy Stuff.

She was extraordinarily patient too, because I’m sure, especially after I tried to be helpful and ended up bollixing up a page, she was feeling like this…

Thank you, my dear, for not turning me into a llama.

As my First, I’ve decided to share a Cautionary Tale.

About three years ago I’d finished my first book. Only my husband, a coworker of his, and the coworker’s brother read it before I began querying. No CPs, no betas. I didn’t even know they existed. I discovered QueryTracker and sent out ten queries. I got a couple of requests for fulls and partials. I thought, “Hey, maybe this won’t be so hard after all…”

Right. Ultimately they all ended in passes. I squared my shoulders and soldiered on. A couple of months later, a few more requests – one of them from a BIG DEAL agent. She’d repped PILATES WIFE, brokered the MIB and WITCHES OF EASTWICK movie deals, film/tv rights for Tom Clancy, John Updike and the list went on.

She emailed to say she wanted to talk. I narrowly avoided cardiac arrest.

It went well. She said, and I quote, “This book is going to huge, but…” Yes, there’s always a “but”. Apparently because I was new to writing, there were things that needed fixing before she offered representation. She suggested a freelance editor. The agent said if I implemented even half of what the editor advised, the ms would be “there”. I did them all. The agent felt it still needed tweaking. Her assistant got involved. More changes. Still not quite right. Still no contract. The possible sub date kept moving into the future. A mysterious third person appeared on cc’d emails. The agent stopped returning my calls.

You can see where this is going, can’t you? You’re cringing, I know. Eventually, in response to my frantic emails, she emailed me. “I’m sorry, but I think your time would best be spent finding another agent.” Ouch.

I felt super SUPER crappy for quite a long time. If I hadn’t been taking a writing course at the time I probably would have quit writing altogether, but I had assignments due. And ultimately, I have a fairly wide stubborn streak.

Every so often I checked the agent’s website. You know what? She got out of the business shortly after jilting me. She’s doing marketing for non-profits now. That made me feel better, like maybe it wasn’t just my failure to fix the ms.

So, if you’re waiting for a first call with an agent this isn’t meant to discourage you, just a reminder that sometimes things don’t go the way you want or expect them to. But don’t let that be a reason to give up, getting a call is still a HUGE validation that you’re doing something right.

Here are the Codes for this week. I hope some of our Like A Virgin people will join us!

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Thursday’s Children July 11, 2013

 

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

This week Kristina and I are launching the Like A Virgin Writing Contest!

Part of the festivities include a blog hop to help contestants get to know each other by answering Seven Questions. Thursday’s Children can play too if they like, or you can do a “standard” inspiration post, or you can talk about a “first”. Your choice. The linky on my post is the regular Thursday’s Children blog hop. If you want to answer the questions and be part of the Like A Virgin blog hop (opens Friday), the linky will be on the Like A Virgin website.

Here are the Questions. Oh, and we want the Truth (not a Dare)~

1. How do you remember your first kiss?
2. What was your first favorite love song?
3. What’s the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
4. Who’s the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?
5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting?
7. What’s the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone’s tongue when they think of your writing?

Here are my Answers.

1. With disappointment. Beginner syndrome for both of us.

2. “Uncertain Smile” (The The) If you’ve never heard it, or are feeling nostalgic, click here

3. I read what I wrote the day before.

4. Stephenie Meyer. I know, I know. But I read TWILIGHT and the writing didn’t blow me away, so I thought I should give it a shot.

5. Yes, basically. But in between it had other first chapters.

6. Plot. The same can’t be said of my second, but can be said of my third and fourth. General setting has been a “given” so far, therefore I don’t count that as coming first, though maybe it does. Hmm.

7. Haunting. Because my favorite books are the ones that haunt me years after I’ve read them. P.S. I don’t think I’m “there” yet.

Now, I can’t wait to read all YOUR answers! Or about your “first”, or whatever inspires you this week.

Here are the Thursday’s Children codes for this week. If you use Blogger and have trouble with the Linky, try deleting the ” marks and retyping them when you paste the code in html mode.

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And here are the Like A Virgin Blog Hop Codes. Again, if you have trouble getting the linky to show up on your post, try deleting the ” marks and retyping them. To join the Linky List go to the Like A Virgin website.

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Thursday’s Children July 4, 2013

Next week, I hope you’ll all join in for the Like A Virgin Contest “Getting to Know You” blog hop! Go here to see the list of questions to answer. Think of it as Truth or Dare (without the dare…)

This week I am Inspired by Author Kimberly P. Chase…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

I’m delighted to offer the APOLLO ACADEMY cover reveal as my Thursday’s Children post. I met Kim last year when I was pre-agent and just entering the world of CPs, contests, and in short, sharing my writing with strangers. She had an agent and therefore in my view, had at least one foot in The Promised Land. She was a judge/mentor in two contests I entered and was unfailingly gracious, enthusiastic and encouraging-a perfect role model for giving back. Writers like Kim made me want to host a writing contest too, and fortunately my partner in crime, Kristina Perez, was eager to do the same and we’re about to launch the Like A Virgin contest!

Now I get to say “thank you!” to Kim in a meaningful way. Without further ado…

THE APOLLO ACADEMY by Kimberly P. Chase
Launches: 8.6.13

Cover Art by Cliff Nielsen

ABOUT: As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. All she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-prone life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting. Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.

Early praise for The Apollo Academy:“I am obsessed with this book! Suspenseful, sexy, and just a great read!” -Cora Carmack, New York Times Bestselling author of LOSING IT.

“Exquisite worldbuilding, thrilling suspense, and a sexy flight instructor! Chase’s exciting debut novel is one you don’t want to miss.” – K.A.Tucker, Author of Ten Tiny Breaths and One Tiny LieAdd The Apollo Academy to your GoodReads Shelf!

AND WE’RE ALSO REVEALING THE BOOK TRAILER! About the author:

Kimberly P. Chase holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which basically means she’s kind of a geek and loves flying airplanes. Naturally, her books tend to include aviation, hot flight instructors, aviator glasses, and—let’s not forget—kissing! When Kimberly’s not writing or reading, she’s hanging out with her husband, four-year-old son, and two dogs. 

 

website: www.kimberlypchase.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyPChase

twitter: https://twitter.com/kpchase817

 

WAIT! THERE’S EVEN MORE AWESOME….AN APOLLO ACADEMY SWAG BAG IS UP FOR GRABS! ENTER BELOW:

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now here are this week’s Thursday’s Children codes…

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Thursday’s Children June 27, 2013

Inspired by Houses New and Old…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

It struck me while writing a welcome note for the new owners, to go with a bottle of wine and trio of sand dollars…

Leaving a house you’ve built and turned into a home is a bit like turning a completed book over to readers. They’ll inhabit the rooms you’ve created, survey the views you’ve designed, follow the pathways of the floorplan. But, they’ll bring their own personalities to those spaces, which will make their experience of the home different. They’ll arrange their own furniture, they may even repaint. Their new favorite spots might not have been yours. They MIGHT even build on or renovate… Your old home isn’t really yours any more, it’s theirs.

Now I have a new project, a blank page of a home with bland American cheese-colored walls, builder lighting fixtures, and curtainless windows. We’ve determined the purpose of each room, placed some of the bigger pieces of furniture, figured out how to operate most of the appliances. Now we’re contemplating paint colors. We’ve got to turn this place into an enjoyable, exciting and functional home with good flow. It’s not unlike writing a book…

Photo by R. Wynn-Nolet

Do you like decorating new spaces or beginning a new manuscript? Do you find it exciting or daunting?

Here are the codes for this week.

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Thursday’s Children June 20, 2013

Today I have no inspiration to offer…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

Tomorrow we will say final good-byes to the Old House in Maine

“Old House”

And if all goes according to plan on Saturday we will say hello to our New House in North Carolina

New House

I will try to check in with other bloggers this week but it probably won’t be until Sunday or Monday. Meanwhile, here are this week’s codes-

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Thursday’s Children June 13, 2013

Inspired by Packing Up…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

As most of you know, I’m moving next week. I can still barely believe we’re leaving Maine and New England, where I’ve lived almost my whole life. It isn’t that I haven’t moved before. There was suburban Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Boston, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and then Kennebunkport, Maine. But this is different, it’s a move to an unfamiliar place with real professional movers whose fee is based not only on distance, but also on how much the truck weighs.

Killing my darlings.

The process of sorting and packing isn’t unlike editing and revising. Things come to light that I’d completely forgotten. Holding certain items in my hands, I can’t believe I ever liked them. Other times, it’s like seeing a beloved friend and having a silent conversation about a certain period of my life.

Which items are worth their weight? Which aren’t? Which deserve a place in my “new” story? 

Some pieces can be re-purposed, fit into a different space where they will shine. But not always. The losers end up in our yard sale. It’s always entertaining to see which objects catch the attention of strangers and find their way into a new story. Still others blow their second chance and go to the Goodwill store where there’s a larger audience. As for the true rejects, well, it’s a tragic ending.

Have you moved a lot during your life? Have you made big moves or small ones?

And because I can’t think of a better occasion to enjoy some Mr. Bean humor…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zavsd6etz_Q

I will try to get a post ready for next week, but I may not succeed. Either way I will put the Linky codes up next Wednesday. Hopefully we’ll have an internet connection soon after we move in on June 22.

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Thursday’s Children June 6, 2013

Inspired by Judging and Pilgrims…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

From late summer through fall of last year I slogged along the road to The Holy Land (aka a traditional publishing deal), with a troop of fellow pilgrims, several of whom are Thursday’s Children. *waves*. We were a merryish band of hopefuls, joking to hide our insecurities, sharing bits of our writerly life stories, trying to offer helpful suggestions to each other, clutching our offerings in our sweaty hands as we approached each shrine. And by shrine, I mean contest, you know how I love metaphors…

From John Lydgate manuscript

At any given stop along the way, some might receive the blessing of a contest victory, or an agent offer or, or the cautious benediction of an agent request. Others might garner the praise of contest organizers and judges. Many might get only “constructive” feedback. I know for me it was hard not to view this kind of result as “your writing sucks, but here’s a few ideas that MIGHT help.”

This past week I was one of the decision-makers, part of a panel deciding victory, or defeat. Agent Query Kombat matched thirty-two pairs of contestants head to head. The experience was humbling for me. It also gave me a new appreciation for our brilliant writing community and also of the work that agents do on a daily basis as they mine the slushpile looking for gold. Thank you to Michelle Hauck for inviting me to judge. If you’re not following her, you should, she’s got a great blog and is a wonderful person.

Here are some things I’d heard before, but until last week didn’t feel in my bones to be the absolute truth.

1. Writing a query and writing a story require different skill-sets. Sometimes writers have one, sometimes both. It really IS genuinely disappointing to read a killer query followed by an underwhelming writing sample.

2. Typos have a nasty aftertaste.

3. Vagueness in a query is not alluring, it’s frustrating. “Mysterious” requires explanation, as does “losing everything”.

4. Overly contrived character names, including regular names with weird alternative spellings, irritate me. (But this is just a personal peeve). Also, if you’ve named a character Ash or Asher, you’re part of a naming trend.

5. Pretend. Every. Word. Costs. You. Money. And. You’re. Poor. This is especially true in your actual writing. When you’re pinning everything on a sample, don’t repeat ideas or words (other than pronouns, conjunctions etc.)

6. Make your opening engaging, but not overwhelming. Pull me in through action or emotion, but don’t make the action so fast-paced I can’t follow, or the emotion so over the top that I can’t relate to an MC I’ve just met.

7. Humor is a great way to engage your reader. It’s disarming when someone makes you laugh or smile. Humor can take the form of a hilarious situation, or an MC’s voice that is either Wanda Sykes/Dawn French/Will Ferrell funny or a quieter voice laced with dry observational wit. Fear also sucks the reader in, but scaring the reader is harder to pull off when the MC isn’t someone the reader cares about yet.

8. There IS lots of subjectivity involved, whether it’s genre, or voice, or plot. Let’s say you’ve written a historical fiction about a sheriff’s wife who left cultured Boston for a lawless Western frontier town, and you’re being judged by someone whose passion is hard sci-fi… Your entry REALLY has to knock his or her socks off. But being judged by someone who’s passionate about your chosen genre also means you must come up with something “new” or a new spin on something “old”, otherwise the judge won’t be impressed.

9. All these things ARE risky beginnings – backstory, info-dumps, too many characters all at once (especially if there’s similarity among names or difficult names), passive voice.

10. Feedback can ultimately be more valuable than a contest win and it doesn’t actually mean your writing sucks. I’d venture to say that statistically few people get an agent through contests. Weaknesses in your query and your writing sample (which often hint at overall issues in your ms) CAN be fixed so that you DO get an agent or a small publisher offer.

Don’t be afraid to enter writing contests, they’re great opportunities to learn a few things, and meet other writers and people in the pub industry.

Don’t let “winning” go to your head

and don’t let “losing” get to your heart.

Have you ever judged a writing contest? Did you enjoy it? If you haven’t judged, would you welcome the opportunity?

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Thursday’s Children May 30, 2013

Inspired by Bedrooms…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

Alright, alright, get your minds out of the gutter, I’m talking about what bedrooms look like, not what takes place in them. To date, all my books have been YA. Teens usually don’t have much say when it comes to how a house is decorated, with the exception of their own bedrooms. A bedroom is a private domain, sometimes a refuge from what happens in the rest of the world. This room is also the one that is most likely to reveal the interests and fundamental traits of its teen inhabitant.

Writers can exploit this sneaky way of “showing” the reader facets of a character’s personality.

From UNQUIET SOULS

Here’s what my MC has to say about her own room…

I found I had a strong opinion about what color to paint my room. I’m not sure who was more surprised—me, or Mom. Instead of going along with the bright pastels she preferred, I insisted on a color which she named Dismal Drab. It was neither blue, nor green, not gray, but a soft misty tone that hovered somewhere in the middle. Like me, it was vague, nondescript, elusive.

She is obsessed with a boy named Sam. Here’s what she has to say about his room…

He slid what looked like an old barn door along its track, revealing a spacious, airy room inside. A row of windows at the back looked out at the sea. Mounted on the walls were several skateboards, a surfboard, antlers, a longbow, stone arrowheads in a glass-fronted case, and shelves holding the skeletal remains of numerous small animals. Suspended from a branch in one corner was a huge paper wasps’ nest. Long planks ran under the windows, forming a desk covered with scattered papers, drawing pencils, shells, and feathers. Comic books, skater magazines, CD cases, and hunks of driftwood littered the floor. So. This is where Beauty lives. It was perfectly imperfect.

photo from ebay

photo from pbase(dot)com

In my book FOOLISH, the MC’s mom is a hoarder. Sparrow’s room is her safe haven and it’s neat as a pin. An OCD pin.  She has laid down the law. Phil (her name for her mom’s hoard) is not allowed entrance.

Do you use decor to help readers learn about your characters? Which rooms do you like describing?

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Thursday’s Children May 23, 2013

Inspired by Contests!

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

Late last summer, after beginning to query my third book, I decided to figure out Social Media Platforms. Seemed like a good distraction from the horror of an empty inbox. My Twitter feed was soon clogged with tweets about writing contests. My first foray into the contest world was WriteOnCon. Though I had no idea what the hell I was doing, in addition to getting some feedback on my query and first few hundred words, I met some wonderful people. One of them was Kristina Perez.

We exchanged manuscripts. Out of our CP relationship, a true friendship was born. We supported each other through the ups and downs of other contests, querying, revising, etc. Thursday’s Children is our first “baby” and we’re very proud of how it’s grown into a fabulous community for writers to share ideas and cheer each other on. Both Kristina and I are inspired by writers who give back (Heather Webb, Brenda Drake, Deana Barnhart, to name just a few) and we promised each other that if we EVER, FINALLY got agents, we’d do a contest too.

Well, that day has come! Here’s our second “child”! Hop along to Kristina’s TC post for more details and a link to the contest website! We hope you’ll enter if you’re eligible and we’re counting on your help to spread the word!

Have you ever participated in a writing contest? What was the best thing about it? What was the worst? 

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Thursday’s Children May 16, 2013

Inspired by fog…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

Last week, Jessika Fleck’s TC post about snow sparked my idea for this post, in addition to time at the beach, during which I snapped these photos.

Photo by R. Wynn-Nolet

Photo by R. Wynn-Nolet

When I was in high school I wanted an airbrush, just so I could paint realistic mist and fog. Last week, on my way home, the sunny skies five miles inland gradually gave way to a thick fog blanket at the coast. It took only a few wisps drifting across the road to make my pulse race.

Fog is…atmospheric…transforming…disorienting…the sky brought down to our level. Otherworldly.

Sometimes, at the beach, people materialize out of the fog, right in front of me, like magic.

Fog makes an appearance in almost every book I’ve written.

Here are some excerpts about fog (which will also demonstrate that I don’t always write from a dark and twisty POV).

Unquiet Souls

The muffled sounds of waves lapping the shore enveloped us as we walked along the path. Clammy, salty-tasting mist turned the evergreens into feathery shadows. Our feet made almost no sound on the pine needles.

A slight puff of air on my right hand, like someone’s breath, raised goose bumps on the backs of both arms. I glanced behind us, but saw nothing.  Somewhere in the woods beside me a twig snapped. 

And later in that scene…

We kicked off our shoes and sat on a big boulder, above the seaweed line marking high tide…Droplets of moisture, like tiny crystal beads, collected on his hair. If only this moment could last indefinitely, the two of us in a cloud world, isolated from everything and everyone else.

If TENDRIL were actually a real book, mist might drift out from between the pages. It takes place in a fog-bound Maine town.

TENDRIL opening…

Sporadic blasts of the foghorn heralded our arrival at the lighthouse. The headlights illuminated the mist shrouding the island but couldn’t penetrate it. Once we were out of the car, fog clung to my skin like a veil. The air was thick with the smell of sea creatures, both living and dead.

Later in the book (“Pegasus” refers to her rickety bike)…

The fog was so dense I could taste its saltiness. Between the island and the mainland I flew among clouds, riding through the sky on my elderly Pegasus. The bleating of the foghorn and the disembodied cries of Canada geese seemed to come from the mist itself. I could see no more than a few feet in front of me… Had I not traveled the same route so many times I might easily have gotten lost.

Still later, in the voice of the male protagonist-

“Wait. Will you go out with me on Wednesday?”

“Yes…if I can…then I will.”

The way she said it gave me goose bumps. The bad kind. “What does that mean?”

“Well, you know, if I’m…free. There’s a chance I might not be. Goodbye, Dylan.” Before I could think of what to say, she disappeared into the fog, almost like she was part of it.

So, as you’ve read, I love the way fog can set a mood…ominous, romantic, mysterious. I think I need an “I ❤ Fog” bumper sticker. Or as we say here in Maine, bumpah stickah. Here’s a photo I took last fall. Those are my editorial assistants, getting a closer look at the boat.

Photo by R. Wynn-Nolet

Does fog appear in your writing? Do you like fog?

Here are the codes for this week. If you have trouble with the Linky, try deleting the ” marks and retyping them.

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