Thought #2

I'm pretty sure I'm the worst vegetarian in the world. I buy leather products, I think PETA is creepy, I support gun hunting, and I sing along to the Hillshire Farms "Go Meat!" commercial.



(On the upside, I sent out 14--count 'em--14 query letters today. BAM.)

Thought #5

A tendency to see all one's worst traits in a changing room mirror seems to be universal among my female friends. Still, shopping stays popular.

So this is what we've become:

I also tell people about my dreams. And psychoanalyze them. Oh, the humanity.

So. In a small attempt to make my life less boring, I'm going to start updating. The updates won't be good. But they'll be there. I'm thinking of doing a thought of the day kind of thing, and maybe Miri will pop in every now and then with a quality update. We'll see.

For today: I think tiny houses are awesome. Who wouldn't want to live here?

Query Letters: the eighth circle of hell

This January, I had the honor of spending New Year's with my family, some friends, and Miri. After watching the whole New Year's Eve extravaganza on TV (and then flipping right back to Sweeny Todd), I decided what I really needed to do was create some New Year's resolutions, despite the fact that I didn't have an edited novel. I wanted to write, draw, and exercise daily. That didn't last a week. The other thing I wanted to do was to send out 50 query letters.

"Maybe 30 would be a little more manageable," Miri suggested.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said. "Hey, we should both send out 30 letters!"

"... how about 15?" Miri asked.

Since then, 15 query letters has been my goal, seeing as the other ones failed. So far, I've sent out four. Of course, I edited my novel and wrote a query letter, all of which took time. Then it was the middle of summer, and sending query letters when it's hot and icky does have an effect (just ask Miss Snark). So far, I've sent four query letters. I've gotten two rejections, one personalized. Still waiting on the other two.

I'm about to become very busy, and that probably won't let up until the end of the year. If I want to get those 11 letters out, it's gotta be today.

AgentQuery has given me 16 names that look appealing. It's a start.

Wish me luck!

Wow, it's been awhile

I think we can say for sure by now that Ink and I are rather remiss about updating the blog. Perhaps even notoriously remiss.

So, as an apology (and definitely not a blatant plug for my far-and-away second-favorite show in the history of ever), I give you the best animated music video I have ever seen in my life. It's only 3:15, and you won't regret it.

I love well-timed music videos.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

... because we haven't updated since January and we're very sorry. (And because Ink gets overexcited about Saint Patrick's Day, what with the shamrocks and greenery and such.)

14 Hours Into the New Year And I've Already Screwed Up

Yep, I thought I'd be cool and title this post "a goal unwritten is just a wish" and find out who said it, but Google and Wikiquote yielded no answers until I realized it's a proverb, not a quote, and proverbs < quotes. Alas.

Either way, the sentiment is correct, and it's especially true for writers. If you'll forgive me another overused canyon metaphor, you and story are one one side of the gulch and publication, riches, renown, and literary immortality are on the other side. Waaaaay on the other side.

So, like good metaphorical mountaineers, we lay down some ropes between the sides and start building ourselves a bridge. However, those ropes snap, and they snap a lot. Sometimes it's rejected query letters, sometimes it's a bad critique, or, like the publishing horror story Miri was telling me the other day, it's having the company who bought your manuscript go under. Canyons are dangerous and falling rock is everywhere.

This is the part of the post where I should be saying something cheesy and inspirational, but actually, after that, I've kind of forgetten what brilliant, moving point I was going to make. So I'll wrap this up.

We can't decide how many rocks fall on our heads, but we can decide how many lines we cast to the other side. That means setting goals. Building a sturdy bridge doesn't happen by accident--it requires planning.

My goals this New Year are pretty modest--fifteen minutes of writing or revision each day, and sending out fifteen query letters by next New Years' Eve--but they're goals all the same. How about you? Got any goals this year?

Holly Lisle's post on goal-setting.