Thanksgiving

Will be off for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Don't eat too much. And Drive Safely.

Outline

Mr. Bailey says I need to get some work done. I know I do as well. I just want to say that even if I'm not writing, per se, at the keyboard, I do have pen and paper on hand to jot down notes, scenes, dialogue. I even keep paper and pen in the bathroom, which the munchkin thinks is funny but you never know where inspriation will strike.

I worked on the outline for the YA I'm still trying to write. I actually finished it too. The outline. I wonder if I could use it as a synopsis. Anyway, I usually never do that. I'm generally a panster and find sticking to a 'formal' script blows my creativity apart. But this book needs some kind of structure. The word count is different, the plot is small, the characters are one-dimensional, okay maybe two dimensional. The chapters have now been plotted out and it seems easy enough to just sit down and write it. Maybe not.

I've also been working on Book 2 of the romance genre. I have no outline for that. I'll write the synopsis at the end of the book.

I'm also developing another little something something that may or may not make it to the front burner. I'm searching for my voice, and damned if I know where it is. Is that why I can't settle in to write just one thing, is that why I have so much angst with a little thing like a YA. Is that why I'm falling apart every time I turn around?

All in the search for a 'voice'.

Well Now...

It's Friday people. I wish I could say it's the end of the week, but it's not. It's sort of the middle for me. Although Monday still comes in 3 days.

Thank you to GhostFolk for stopping by yesterday. I'll have to e-mail you my ghost stories. One of them is kind of weird. As to the 5 year old story trying to get written, I'm still thinking on it. I need to find all my notes and put them back together. Do a real outline, you know, be literary about it because that's the kind of book it is. It ain't no country fried women's fiction.

And I don't mean that in a bad way. Please don't take offence. I grew up on the East Coast, New England, in the city. I adored Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy. I couldn't write that if I tried. Southern women have that "way" about them that only southern writers, I think, can capture.

Hot snot on that whole Harlequin "Horizens" thing going on huh? Good thing I didn't decide to persue that avenue. Good God Almighty, what next? It's all over the blogs I read, the writing group I'm on. Crazy stuff man. Makes me wonder if writing is all that it's cracked up to be. Okay I won't start THAT again.

Wish me luck this weekend I get some work done.

Another Curveball

You know how I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what to do next...and then I figured it out...and decided to truss up my books and send them out to Harlequin...something that I didn't really want to do because my books were not created for that market...well, this morning on Pub Rants Kristin Nelson said that Harlequin was produncing a couple of e-publishing lines and one of them was sort of for self-publishing...

I'm not really good with the whole publishing end of the spectrum, that's what agents are for, but basically she said it wasn't a good thing because now ANYONE can publish a book. And how did she say it...this will flood the market of books that aren't being read anyway...or something to that effect.

I've decided I don't care. I'm not going to send them to Harlequin. I'd have to cut 40K off the first book and I wasn't really about to do that anyway. I'm going to go with Book 2 now that I have the seemingly correct formula and do them for the imprint I wanted in the first place.

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. I know what I've written is good. I'm going to make it great. And I will be published if it kills me...and it just might.

Working Steadily

Believe it or not, I did get the chance to write today. I even wrote when I was in the car waiting for my daughter. It's not the next chapter but a dialogue between the H/H on the dance floor. See what happens when I wake up at 4:19. I'm in a better place today because I've finally gotten back to what I love doing. Writing.

Like I said before, it's a kind of drug. And thank you Davin for those words. Every once in awhile, life throws me a curve and I have to figure out a way to deal with it, but going through this last writing, or should I say, NON-writing phase has shown me that I NEED to write. If I don't, I tend to lose my mind.

I'm very happy with what I've done to Book 2. I tore up the first 3 chapters this morning and re-arranged them to THE FORMULA so I'm hoping this is the way to go. If not, I'll have another book under the bed, on the shelf, stuck in my documents, where ever I choose to keep it.

Who knows, I'm so excited right now, I may even sneak back down to the computer after I put the munchkin to bed so I can transcribe what I wrote this afternoon. I love it when a plan comes together.

Decision Part 2

I don't why, but ever since I started this blog it's getter harder to write. Yesterday I was supposed to tackle the new/old projects, it was totally my fault of course, as soon as I posted the blog, the phone rang and stupid me picked it up. I knew as soon as I said hello I would regret it and I did. I was on the phone for 3 hours. Yes, three hours.

Yesterday afternoon when the small one got home from school, she was whiny and petulant and I knew it was from the new medication the doctor had put her on. She also had a few other side effects so needless to say, she won't be taking those anymore. And by the time her little friend across the street got off the bus at 2:30I was on the phone again. My mother came over to see how the munchkin was just as I got settled in to write. The whole afternoon was shot.

The way things transpired yesterday, it left me totally drained, frustrated, and about ready to cry. We went to bed at 7:00. Yes. Watched a movie until 8:15 and went to sleep. I woke at 4:19 this morning and started thinking of the work I had to do. I find it soothes me to plot things out in this manner. I now have a handle on how to re-write the first few chapters of Book 2.

I will try and get it done today but small one isn't going to school, they have a field trip and because of her condition, the doctor reccomends not having her around so many germs at one time. School is ok because it's just 15 kids and they sanitize like they own the company. So we'll see what kind of work I get done.

And by the way Michelle, I'm so sorry for spelling your name wrong all this time. I don't mean it and it's certainly no excuse but my friend Phil says he thinks I'm losing my mind. Some days I'm likely to agree. So I do heartily apologize.

Let's see if I can get some writing done.

Decision

The small one is in school, I have the house to myself. I thought through the weekend, and last night I think I came up with a plan.

I always wanted to write romance, they all say, write what you know, I know that. I've been reading it for more than 30 years. I know the formula, I've done the research, I have new information to make the writing successful, even in this economy. I have plots, I have characters, I have the setting (Regency England), I have inner and outer conflicts. I have happy endings. I also have four chapters each written for the next 3 books in the series that I planned to do for the manuscript that is finished. So...

I am going to tear apart the finished manuscript and get it down to 75K and submit it to Harlequin. I am going to work on Book 2 of the series and send that in. Well, I'm going to have to find an agent of course, which is probably harder than writing the books to begin with. I worked on Book 2's query last night and I think I can go with it.

Now all I have to do is write it.

I also wanted to mention that as soon as I can figure out how to post things on this blog, I will. I have some great information that I'd like to share with my readers (hahaha so far it's only Michele) but hopefully I'll get more. They say I have to build up to a fan base, but I can't do that without the books. So I need to write them and publish them and hopefully become successful so I CAN have readers.

So, I'll say goodbye now and go to my documents and write my little stories.

Now What?

I've been having a conversation with a friend, I should clarify this, a writing friend, I've been having trouble with what to do next.

A) I wrote an historical romance. complete at 107,648. Reading a few posts on my writing group page, I've begun to think (and have for some time) that it needs more revision. I sent it out for query and received only rejections. Form to boot. I read it so much and revised it so much, I'm sick of it. I really don't even want to look at it again.

B) I started a project for NaNo, I've only got 6400. It's a pretty good story, I think anyway, written in first person POV, which I've never done, YA, which I've also never done. I have everything I need to pretty much finish it, outline, synopsis, half a query. I'm not sure I want to invest my truly precious time in writing something that really never has a shot at publication. The romance might. I mean, hey everyone loves a good romance right?

C) I have something that I've been dying to get on paper for the last 5 years. Yeah, I know. I've written blurbs, I've tried different points of view, I've written a few chapter outlines. I have the beginning, I have the middle, I have the end. I have a woman's story. Hope, redemption, stupidity, love, hate, more hope. The problem is, I think, honestly, it would make a fantastic movie. I want to write it like a movie but not a screenplay. Does that make sense? And I have no idea how. I just don't know where to start. At the beginning of course, but I don't know what would have the bigger impact, first second or third POV because it would work with any. There are only 2 MC, mother & daughter, a few perifery(sp.) characters, and a lot of introspection. It's a fictional memoir of sorts, or it could be, the way I want to write it. I just can't begin. Herein lies the problem. My friend says I should just write it. If not now, when? Yes, I agree. But I don't know how.

So, what do I do? Rework the romance, finish the YA or start the memoir? I'm all into instant gratification. I need something to be published. I need something to have a shot at being published otherwise, this whole writing thing is going to make me quit writing. (I take things way too seriously and I know it, everyone says I'm way too sensitive. I prepared for the rejections, I knew they would happen, I just didn't think they would. Hope, it's a killer.)

I also have to say truthfully, I'm in this for the money. Sure I love to write, but I'd damn sure love it more if I could get paid to do it. My daughter is the major factor here. I need to work from home. Problem is I have looked into all the crap you can do from home, and I can't do any of them. I live in a one horse town. Literally. Writing is something I love, and Marsha Sinetar wrote the book "Do what you love the money will follow." I've always thought that anyway. As soon as it stops being fun I quit. That's why I left the big fancy chef job I was making fantastic money at with full bennies. It stopped being fun. I don't regret it.

I'd regret not writing though, if I gave it up. And that's how I'm feeling these days, I'm ready to give it up.

NaNoWriMo Revisited

Well, so far, my word count for Nano is 6497 or somewhere thereabouts. I've been reading blogs because the munchkin is sick. I can't write with Ariel, Dinosaurs, Elmo, Woody and Buzz and Jesse in the background. (We don't have regular TV so the munchkin watches movies -- which isn't really all that bad because I've memorized all of them so far, however we bought a few new ones and now I have to familiarize myself with them, memorize the songs and dialogue, before I can tune them out.)

I've been reading blogs,(when I find a new blog I generally read as much of it as I can, learning as much about the person as I can before I commit to putting it on my favorites bar) Editorial Anonymous to be precise, and as she is a Children's Editor I figure she could tell me what is hot right now in the YA department. WELL, what I found out is that the whole zombie, vampire, witchcraft, thing is pretty much OVER.

Hence my hesitation to finish my NaNo project. It deals with a 15 year old girl who finds she and her mother come from a long line of Celtic witches. It probably would be a pretty good story, but now I'm not really interested in finishing it. I'm afraid I was chasing the trend. I thought I could be like so many other debut authors who are now multi-millionaires with movie contracts and all kinds of deals.

Guess what. I'm not. I've always heard, write what you know. Unfortunately, I've hit a snag, and I don't know what I know anymore. I thought I could be a romance writer of historical proportions. 16 rejections. Now I can't even seem to finish a 65K YA. I really need to regroup and fast.

This whole not writing thing has depressed me. And there's nothing I can do about it until my daughter goes back to school next week. God I hate to say it, but I wish she was in school full-time. I miss writing. I miss my creativity. I miss my solitude. Please Please Please don't take this the wrong way...I LOVE MY DAUGHTER with everything in my whole heart soul. But she's 5 and she is so damn good at it. She also has a problem with talking...she doesn't stop from the moment she wakes up in the morning until she goes to bed at night...and now has developed the habit of talking in her sleep.

I am usually a silent person. I don't normally speak until spoken to. People think I'm a snob but I'm really not, I'm just quiet. I don't listen to music, I don't watch tv, I hate the thought of background noise. So writing is a silent accomplishment. I can't really do it if I can't gather my thoughts. (Like now, Ariel and Sebastian have just finished "Under the Sea" and for the rest of this post I'll be humming that damn song. UGH!)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the NaNo project. I should finish it, I mean, I did the outline, synopsis, and partial query for it. It's not as if it'll be that hard to write/finish it. I know what's going to happen. And I suppose, hey who knows, I might be able to throw it in front of a few agents. But I don't know. What's the point if I missed the mark. Maybe I should just go back to rework the romance novel.

Well, no matter what, I can't wait for Monday morning at 9:12 because I'll be all alone in the house in front of my keyboard. And it won't matter what I'm writing because I'll be happy JUST writing. Even if it's all crap.

Writing

I can't stand the fact I haven't written anything lately. It's like being an addict without the fix. I don't even think it's that I have this burning scene/dialogue/narrative to get down. I filled in the big gaping hole Tues. morning when Munchkin was in school. It's more like I need to breathe. I need to work. I need to feel like I've accomplished something for the day. Yeah, I can clean my house from top to bottom, do all the laundry, dishes, cook and whatever else needs to be done. But at the end of the day it's still the same old crap I've done before. No matter how many times I do it, it'll still be there tomorrow.

Writing is different. No matter how many times I write during the day, week, month, year, it's different. It's fresh, new, sometimes crap, often times brilliant LOL, it's not the same pair of Levi's I've been wearing for the last 15 years, it's not the same dishes I've been eating off, the same vaccuum cleaner with the stuck handle.
Writing is words, nuances, attitudes, descriptions, passages of dialogue, people, places, things, that take me away from my ordinary existance. It's an escape from the ordinary mundane world of dishes and laundry and cooking.

Best of all, and I think what I'm trying to say, is, it's mine. It's my world, my characters, my setting, my dialogue, my creativity. Definitely not the same as my dishes, my clothes, my dust bunnies. Like the old Calgon commercial, writing takes me away from my boring predictable life. It's a drug. It's an addiction. It gives me a high for so many hours, minutes a day. And if I don't have it, I get cranky, crazy, uptight. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I the only one? I think not. I think with all writers we have this thing inside us trying to get out. This monster that we breath, eat, sleep, can't get out of our heads that follows us, lives in us, sometimes even breaks us.

I wonder if Hemmingway ever felt this way.

Going Dark

This was recently the title of another post written by a lovely young woman who was/is having trouble with her writing life. She feels it has taken over her other life and she can't seem to figure out where whe wants to be. She, I think, decided she was going to give up the writing for awhile. She explained how it, the writing, was consuming her and that she felt she didn't have anything left for her family.

Been there, done that. I am much older than people would think and I've lived a lot of life. Some good, some not so good. I've made choices that I don't necessarily regret, but somehow, I wish I never made. I wanted my life to be different than it is right now. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Gloria Steinam taught women of a certain age they could have it all. But at what price? My mother went to work full time when my youngest brother was in school full-time. That left me as the oldest girl to care for them when they (my other siblings) got out of school. Start dinner, finish the laundry, check homework, and to make sure there was no blood or head wounds. I missed my mother's presence and resented her at the same time for not allowing me the freedom I needed/wanted as a teenager. My mother has always maintained she worked to support us and give us the extra's that my dad didn't. (They were married, still are, but should have been divorced 10 years in.) It was the choice SHE made but it also forced me to make choices I wouldn't have otherwise.

I believed everything Gloria Steinam said. I am a self-actualized woman of extreme independance who is raising a child on her own. Good for me. But at what price?
I am a writer. I am not wealthy. Does the lack of finances affect my daughter in any way? Not really. The only thing we haven't done is go to the zoo.
Does the choice I made to let go of her father affect her in any way? Sometimes, although, HE would have to be a whole other blog. Is the choice I made to stay home with her full-time and write the best possible choice for me right now. Yes, I believe it is.

When I first moved to the Piedmont, I was broken, literally, physically, and stayed in bed for almost a year. I had no choice. I put up with a bunch of crap because I had no choice. But then you know what, I read something. I can't remember what it was, but it was like a beacon, a lighthouse, beckoning me away from the darkness, away from the rocks. I got out of bed. I stopped taking the crap. I got rid of all the stress and the shit and the complications. I felt so much better.

That's when I made the decision to write a book. It was last October. My first anniversary moving to the Piedmont. I finished that book in July. In August I started querying. By the end of September I was doing a major revision ripping out chapters, adding, subtracting scenes, rearranging dialogue, going crazy. I sent out only about 10 queries and of course they all came back as rejections.

For Nanowrimo I started something I know I'll have to finish. It's too good not to.
Maybe that will be my gateway to fame and fortune. Maybe it'll be another manuscript that sits in my folder after a round of queries. Maybe I'll have missed the market push again. There is not one vampire in it so who knows.

But these are the choices I'm making. I even gave up the offer of a part-time job so I could write full-time. Which is kind of backfiring on me now. But still, it's a choice. It's my choice and one I made with my daughter in mind.

Life is all about choices, some good, some bad, some we're not sure of. Who knows where this writing life will take me. I've been hoping for a miracle that I'll be found and published but it's just plain hard work to write the best possible book you can. It takes a lot out of you, and your family, and your other life.

But as much as I love this life I have right now, which I do, I'm free kind of like Hemingway...kind of...I would trade it all in for a decent job and a decent man, and a nicer house in a better neighborhood. If I had the life the lovely young woman describes and I had to choose between my writing life and my real life, I would choose my real life. Hands down. I know that my daughter will suffer in the long run, even though I'm home all the time. I'm turning into my mother for something I'm not even sure will come to fruition.

But that's my choice, isn't it.

NaNoWriMo Update & A Big Fat Shout Out

Well, as you know I was very excited about NNWM. I was very excited about the story I was going to tell. I was very excited about the word count. I was even very excited about filling the big gaping hole in Chapter Three. Until last Wednesday.

The munchkin got sick, double ear infection. No school Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.
The five thousand words I could have written, even with the big gaping hole, are not there. I am devastated. It's my own fault, but you have to do what you have to do.

I didn't get a shot to even get on the computer for more than 20 mins. a day so I read some blogs. I found new ones, I went back to old ones, I did some research for the big gaping hole, I checked some more blogs.

It seems I am committing the first cardinal sin, I am not writing. (Yes, but my child was sick, still is to tell the truth, but she went to school anyway. She's not that sick and she needs school. And I need the solitude. It's only 3 hours, it's not like I sent her to "real" school.)

Anyway, as I've been cruising around the web, I guess it doesn't matter what I'm doing, as long as I've been 'working'. It's all for the sake of the book. It's all about the writing. I've found other writers at one point or another, going through, dealing with the same angst, anxiety, gaping holes, hang-ups, rejection, progress, that I've been going through. Don't let'em shit ya'. Writing is hard work. As my munchkin says, quite frequently by the way, "It's all in my brain." She's cute that way. Wisdom from an almost 5 year old.

(By the way, I don't generally abbreviate my words for Capital Initials. I'm a writer, perhaps too old school for this new fangled thing called 'text'. If I wanted to do that kind of writing I would have been a stenographer.)

To get back to the WIP -- I've had some brilliant ideas, I just need to get them down. Today is Mon. and I've got to get this blog done. Then I've got to pick up the small one, bank, post office, scratch that, today is Veteran's Day. Can we have a moment of silence please.

Thank you. Then hopefully I can sit her in front of the TV for a little while and I can get some work done. I actually did have a brilliant idea over the weekend and I've been dying to get it down. Which you may ask, surely you must have paper and pen, scratch it down that way. Gentle reader, I did. Now I just need to transcribe it. Maybe I should have been a stenographer, at least paid more attention in business class.

But I digress...Now, let me say a big fat Piedmont Writer/Anne Gallagher thank you to Davin Malasarn from the Literary Lab for stopping by my humble blog over the weekend. It's nice to finally have a "friend" (I refuse to say "follower" I'm not running a cult.) Thank you for the lovely comments, they really helped my writing "mood". I appreciate the warm welcome, truly, it's nice to be able to share my thoughts with people who understand what I'm saying. I'm a very small fish in a very prejudiced pond out here and finding people with whom you have a kinship is better than totally f***ing awsome. Dude.

And Scott G. F. Bailey. It was nice to hear from you as well. Thanks for stopping by, even if you do steal my Proper Names. LOL (Okay, sorry, one instance where I abbreviate.) And I really have to say, that Halloween post was FANTASTIC!! LOVED IT!!

Okay, so there it is. My Post for the day. 10:17 am. I must get on to other things now. Have a great day!! Remember our veterans. My Uncle Jake fought in WWII. He was a mechanic.

What to do when not writing

I found a very interesting thread on Romance University yesterday from a Kensington editor named Leah who said you must develop a web presence. Which is why I have this blog. She also said it might be a good idea to comment on other people's blogs to show you're an informed and intellectual person. Which I have done, but I also know I have annoyed more people than showed my intellectual side. Not because I'm stupid but because I'm always there.

Unfortunately where I live has a lot to do with my web presence. I have no critique group. I have no friends. I have no beta-reader. I live a very spartan existence with my munchkin in a very, I mean very small town. When we first moved here I asked the local librarian if she could recommend a reading group to join, she said, "What is that honey?" Obviously I am in the wrong place. But I can't leave, I'm here for my parents. It's very frustrating.

I'm not saying I'm an intellectual snob but you know what, I am. I'll freely admit it. I've read tons of books and own tons of books and borrow tons of books from the library. I put myself through college, and most of the people in this town didn't even get through 7th grade. They worked in the tobacco fields. The women my age and younger are GRANDMOTHERS. They had their children when they were 14, 15, 16. Scary. Some of them have been married 3 & 4 times. And these are the women my age. Mommies at my daughter's preschool are spitting out kids left and right. Women not even 30 have 4 kids already.

Now please, I'm not saying this is wrong, believe me if I were just a few years younger I'd have another child in a New York minute...I'm just saying, good God, get an education, do something with your life, get out of this one horse, and I literally mean one horse town, go somewhere else even if it's just for a weekend. Even if it's just to Raleigh. Get some outside experience and know that babies and tobacco aren't all there is.

To me, there is nothing worse than a woman who is not self-actualized. Even if you try it and find you don't like it, at least you tried it. I read Kiirkegard and didn't understand a damn thing he said, but at least I tried.

So I hope dear reader, now you know why I have this blog and make my pain in the ass presence known on other blogs. I have no one to talk to. I have no one who understands me or even can 'get' what a query is, never mind a logline or a pitch. Forget about Kiirkegard.

Leaves

Had to go out and rake leaves this morning with the munchkin. She's out of school - election day.

However, I now have 4876 words for the new WIP. I hate to say it, and I really shouldn't because I don't want to jinx myself, but it's almost easy. Sort of, see I got myself stuck this morning with research, and I knew I was going to. I suppose I could leave a big blank space and in the middle of it put the words - come back to - write the next couple of chapters (I do know where the plot is going) and fill in the blank space another time...I suppose I could do that. But I know I won't. Maybe I will. I guess it depends on what I find in my own library by way of research. Maybe that too will be easy. Don't know.

I have to finish the leaves.

Auspicious Beginnings

I started my own version of NaNoWriMo yesterday and found on my word count I had 3510.
Pretty good I think considering I have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm writing in first person POV which I have never done. I am also writing from a 15-year-olds POV something else I have never done. I am also writing about the dark arts, which I know a little about, but have never put on paper. Scary stuff.

I think I am excited about this new WIP but I'm not sure. The whole rejection thing on Saturday caused a major meltdown in my creative process but I think I survived. I ate a bunch of white chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies which appeased my depression somewhat and I feel better for it. Chocolate always helps.

Now, if I can stay focused long enough to finish this before December 15 (Yes, I know I'm cheating with 2 extra weeks, but please don't hold that against me) I might be able to work on the query. Then revisions by Christmas.

If all goes according to plan.

Etiquette

I did not grow up with a computer. I am older than 45 and did not actually get a computer until I was 43. It seems after reading so many blogs I have no computer etiquette.

I didn't know you had to introduce yourself.

I didn't know you had to thank, acknowledge people who comment on your blog.

I didn't know you had to keep your blogs to 250 words or less...like a query.

Well, so many things to know on-line, makes me wish for the old days when a simple 'thank you' note and snail mail would do.

So for those of you I have insulted, I do so heartily apologize.

NaNoWriMo

Good Morning Ladies & Gentlemen. When the clock strikes, please open your book and make sure your pencils are sharpened. Or, your laptops are on, or your keyboard is functioning. You know what I mean. It is time for NaNoWriMo.

It is strange I would think about NaNoWriMo at all. Who could possibly write a novel, at least 55,000 words in a month. I don't know, certainly not me, before yesterday anyway, but I'm going to give it a try.

Three incidents coincided yesterday to completely rattle my set, very staid life, such as it is. I should say my writing life. I am a writer of historical romance. (remember that, then you can remind me later)

#1) Yesterday was Halloween which I did not know until 4:00 when George, at the Gas n' Go, asked if I was going to bring my daughter up to town for the outside Halloween party. I had not thought of a costume because last year when we went to this same party, my daughter cried and wanted to come home 5 minutes after we got there. Skip to last night after throwing a makeshift costume together, she lasted 20 minutes and upon arriving home said, "I don't think I want to do this again next year. It's just candy." No rides, no games, no fun, just the uptown merchants handing out candy. And a bunch of really scary people, some in costume, some not.

#2) I received a rejection yesterday morning, 23 hours after putting it through the e-mail. This was to one of my B-list e-mail agents. Actually, she was my #1 B-list e-mail agent because on her blog she specifically asked for Regency writing and she would love it if, you took the sex out the book it could stand alone by itself. Well, yes, my book does that. (The only reason she's B-list is she's not AAR.) Anyway, I got a form rejection that said my book was not what the agency was looking for. Naturally I wanted to write her and say, "Well take the damn thing off your blog" but I didn't.

#3) I found another writer's blog yesterday morning and read with wild abandon... she has been writing her blog for almost 2 years, heart on her sleeve, witty, charming, funny, writes YA, and didn't get an agent until 6 months ago. I was blown away. She said she queried almost 100 agents for the first book. 60 for the second. She finally landed Nathan Bransford. She also said she writes 1000 words a day. Which I thought was pretty impressive.

Last night was also the start of Daylight Saving Time. Naturally I was up at an ungodly hour. Thinking about the three previous paragraphs. So I decided to give up on my historical romances for the nonce (LOL) and develop a YA manuscript with a little paranormal stuff thrown in for good measure.

I have a main character, semi-plot, antagonist (I think), and nothing to lose. The romance isn't going to cut the mustard (obviously) and every agent blog I've read in the last two weeks is clamoring for YA. I haven't a clue about vampires (besides Twilight has already been done) but I do have a notion about witches and Celtic lore.

So, here I am, the first day of NaNoWriMo, hopefully being able to write 1000 words a day. If nothing else, I'll have 30,000 words by the end of the month. Maybe more. Wish me luck.