Friday, April 3, 2009
Day 1 Results
3 rejections. One was a form letter, one was a single sentence, and one was an absolutely fantastic, individual response listing his concerns and his thoughts about the project. It was a rejection, but it was excellent feedback, and went well above and beyond the call of duty. I have 8 more left in play. We'll see how they shape up. If they all fall through I'll be rewriting the book with the criticisms of the helpful agent in mind.
Scariest thing ever
Why is sending out query letters the scariest thing ever? I write the book, I polish it, I make sure that it's as typo and error-free as I can possibly make it. Then, I handcraft query letters individually tailored to each agent. I revise them, I go over them five or six or fifteen times to make sure there are no typos. I check and recheck the names, the agencies, the addresses, the titles. I am desperately afraid of calling a Mr. a Ms. After I've done this a bunch of times, I get the materials together - the query, the synopsis, the sample chapters, whatever the agent requests in his or her guidelines. I put them in the email for e-queries, or I print them out for regular queries. Then I go over them all again...and again. I just sent out ten email queries tonight. I had done all of the work ahead of time. I had already written the book and edited it many times, I'd passed it to other people for typo checks, and I'd fixed any errors that had been found. I had written the query letters in advance, and quadruple checked them. I had written the synopsis in advance, and I'd checked that over about ten times too. But when the time came to push the button, it was impossibly hard to do. I had to check another five or six times. It took me close to 3 hours to send out 10 letters, and all of the contents had been written in advance. And I'm still dreading the one typo I missed that will ruin everything.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Random stuff
I got past the 50% mark in my book, which is great. Also great is the fact that I still like the concept, and in fact have been liking it more as I've gone along. This isn't my normal operating procedure. Normally, when I get to 50-60% of the way through a book, it becomes a chore to write and finish. I want to move on to something new, or I'm not as enamored of the concept as I once was. This time, I'm pretty pleased with what I've come up with so far. Hopefully, I'll have the remaining 50% banged out in the next two-three weeks. That'll give me a bit of time to do the necessary revisions and then start querying agents in February. I've been following the blogs of quite a few agents, so I know what they want, what they've looked for in the past, all that good stuff. I'm cautiously optimistic. My goal is to at least get a request for a partial or a full, even if I get rejected.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Write now, worry later
I was working last night, and I needed a momentary distraction, so I was reading Jennifer Jackson's blog. She's kind of a big name agent in the speculative fiction market, and she represents names like Jim Butcher and CE Murphy to name but two. Anyway, she asked her blog readers to tell her what they were sick of seeing in bookstores, and urban fantasy was the big winner in what people were sick to death of. So, maybe taking a break from writing my urban fantasy to read that wasn't the best choice on the planet.
At another time in my life, that might have really disheartened me. I might have waffled about what I was writing, stopped it altogether and started a new project, or spent some time moaning about how difficult this profession really is. Yesterday though, I kind of just shrugged and said, "What're you gonna do?" And I got back to work on my book. I think that's really the attitude any author needs to have. You have to write the book you want to write and then hope that it's good enough to get published, and then hope that when it is published people will actually be interested in reading it at that moment. Public opinion can be rather fickle and luck often plays a role in what novel makes money and what novel doesn't make money.
I was watching Biography (on the Biography channel appropriately enough) and it was the biography of Clint Eastwood. He's made some blockbuster films, some films that have won academy awards, some films that were critically acclaimed that nobody watched, and some films that were panned by the critics that lots of people watched, and probably every combination of those things as well. One of the interesting things he said was that you can't predict the success of a movie, there's no formula for it. He said that the surest way to have a failed movie on your hands is to set out to make a successful movie. Instead, he said that you have to make the best movie you can make and just put it out there. Que sera sera. Despite my currently unpublished status, I think it's the same with novels. You do the best you can, you put it out there to agents and publishers, and you hope for the best.
At another time in my life, that might have really disheartened me. I might have waffled about what I was writing, stopped it altogether and started a new project, or spent some time moaning about how difficult this profession really is. Yesterday though, I kind of just shrugged and said, "What're you gonna do?" And I got back to work on my book. I think that's really the attitude any author needs to have. You have to write the book you want to write and then hope that it's good enough to get published, and then hope that when it is published people will actually be interested in reading it at that moment. Public opinion can be rather fickle and luck often plays a role in what novel makes money and what novel doesn't make money.
I was watching Biography (on the Biography channel appropriately enough) and it was the biography of Clint Eastwood. He's made some blockbuster films, some films that have won academy awards, some films that were critically acclaimed that nobody watched, and some films that were panned by the critics that lots of people watched, and probably every combination of those things as well. One of the interesting things he said was that you can't predict the success of a movie, there's no formula for it. He said that the surest way to have a failed movie on your hands is to set out to make a successful movie. Instead, he said that you have to make the best movie you can make and just put it out there. Que sera sera. Despite my currently unpublished status, I think it's the same with novels. You do the best you can, you put it out there to agents and publishers, and you hope for the best.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Another Meme
Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Turn to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.
"North, South, East, or West might be anywhere."
From "Sagittarius Rising" by Cecil Lewis published in 1936.
Friday, January 9, 2009
A meme
I got tagged by my friend James to do a meme listing 7 weird and wonderful facts about myself. Since I haven't posted in forever, I figure I should use any excuse, right?
1. My first novel-length manuscript was about a post-apocalyptic medieval California.
I took up writing back in 2003, largely because I found it very cathartic and a fun way to wile away the manic hours. At the time, I had no pretensions of becoming a published author, I just had the need to write. I wrote a bunch of attempts at novels that ended around page 30 or 40, like everybody does. Then, I got the idea to write a book about a post-apocalyptic medieval society around Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, CA. I knew the area well and I drove around a lot to research the terrain for my book. Since I was a medieval studies major in the thick of my studies, I also knew a great deal about how medieval societies operated.
The book rambled on for about 300 single-spaced manuscript pages (two-hundred thousand words) and it never did get a satisfactory conclusion. However, it taught me a lot about writing. Looking back on it now, the errors are painful and obvious. There is some purple prose, descriptions of everything immediately follow the introduction of that something, the descriptions can be long-winded and boring. My dialog is far too current to really feel at home in the book. I have about 7 different viewpoint characters. That may be an exaggeration, but it isn't much of one. However, despite all those flaws, my understanding of medieval society was excellent, especially the importance of religion in medieval societies. All in all, it was terrible, but it was a learning process. I'd have liked to have come back to it sometime, maybe, but SM Stirling's Dies the Fire series is out, and it does much the same thing, far better than I ever did it.
2. I was one of the Homecoming Princes my senior year in high school.
Yes, I did say "prince" and not "princess" but we can't have everything, can we? Anyway, I was in the International Baccalaureate program at my high school, so I was sequestered away from the popular kids most of the time. My best friend Ariel and I were sitting there in English class one day when the ballots got passed around for the homecoming court. Somebody, I don't remember who it was, suggested that everyone vote for the two of us to be on homecoming court. So, that's precisely what the class did, and thanks to that block voting, we were both on the homecoming court. I can still remember showing up after our names were called and having the cheerleaders say to us, "Who are you?"
3. Until the age of 16, I only listened to classical music and opera.
No, really, it's true. I don't know why, that's just what I was brought up with, and it's what I stuck with even as a teenager. I didn't know who Pink Floyd was when I was 16. Scary? You be the judge.
4. I'm a huge fan of aviation and aviation history.
Someday, I hope to get my pilot's license. Of course, that requires money that I don't have, but it's one of those things I want to do before I die. Until then, I satisfy myself with flight simulators and visits to aviation museums and the like. I posted earlier in this blog about meeting some female Russian combat pilots from World War II in Seattle. That was a really memorable experience. Recently, I went to the National Air and Space Museum and spent like thirty minutes staring at the Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk. It's a fighter designed to be deployed from an airship back in the 30s. How cool is that? I hope to go to Fighter Factory in Virginia Beach sometime. They have Russian fighters from World War II there including the I-153, I-16, MiG-3, and Yak-3. That should be a lot of fun.
5. My favorite author is Harry Turtledove.
Harry Turtledove is an author of science fiction and fantasy novels, though lately he is more known for his alternate history stuff. I first read his WorldWar series starting when I was 11 years old. I loved it, couldn't put it down, and couldn't wait to read more. While waiting for more of that series, I ended up reading the Krispos series of books and the Videssos Cycle. Instantly, I fell in love with the Byzantine empire, which served as the basis for his fictional Videssian empire. In fact, I got a degree in Medieval Studies because UCSB didn't have a Byzantine Studies department, otherwise I would have gotten my degree in that. Still, his impact on my life has been tremendous. Our life paths are also eerily similar, except for the whole me deciding to be a girl thing. We both started off as science majors, both switched and got degrees in medieval/byzantine history, and he's a published writer and that's my main goal. All in all, I think I could have picked a worse role model.
I also met Harry Turtledove once at Borders in Thousand Oaks, California, and got some books signed. He was a really cool guy, and it was great to meet him. His beard is impressive. Seriously.
6. My favorite pleistocene megafauna is the smilodon.
I'm a big fan of pleistocene megafauna in general, but I have to say that the smilodon is my favorite. The wooly mammoth is a very close second, but I have to say it's second place. You just can't beat a sabertooth cat. I've seen smilodon fossils at both the Page Museum near the La Brea Tar Pits in LA, and also at the Paleontology Museum near Temecula, CA. I think it's officially in Hemet, but I don't recall. Anyway, very cool extinct animals.
7. I have a huge collection of books on the occult.
These books are research for my urban fantasy novels, and for my medieval magical studies, but they can still weird people out. I've got some transcriptions of medieval necromancy manuals, the Clavicula Solomonis Regis of course, Daemonologie by King James (yes, the same one of Bible fame), and numerous others. I've got overviews on Voodoo and Santaria, textbooks on charms and spells of hoodoo, and a ton of others besides. I've had to go to some weird new age shops to get some of these books, but some of them can be found at your local Barnes and Noble in the religion and spirituality section. One of my favorites is an ebook I got on Taoist talismanic magic. I plan to use that one extensively for an urban fantasy series I'll be tackling later this year. Anyway, I think it's really neat to see the spiritual and magical beliefs and practices of different cultures and to incorporate those beliefs into urban fantasy, as I think the genre is kind of too bogged down in vampires at the moment. (Though I guess whatever sells books, right?)
1. My first novel-length manuscript was about a post-apocalyptic medieval California.
I took up writing back in 2003, largely because I found it very cathartic and a fun way to wile away the manic hours. At the time, I had no pretensions of becoming a published author, I just had the need to write. I wrote a bunch of attempts at novels that ended around page 30 or 40, like everybody does. Then, I got the idea to write a book about a post-apocalyptic medieval society around Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, CA. I knew the area well and I drove around a lot to research the terrain for my book. Since I was a medieval studies major in the thick of my studies, I also knew a great deal about how medieval societies operated.
The book rambled on for about 300 single-spaced manuscript pages (two-hundred thousand words) and it never did get a satisfactory conclusion. However, it taught me a lot about writing. Looking back on it now, the errors are painful and obvious. There is some purple prose, descriptions of everything immediately follow the introduction of that something, the descriptions can be long-winded and boring. My dialog is far too current to really feel at home in the book. I have about 7 different viewpoint characters. That may be an exaggeration, but it isn't much of one. However, despite all those flaws, my understanding of medieval society was excellent, especially the importance of religion in medieval societies. All in all, it was terrible, but it was a learning process. I'd have liked to have come back to it sometime, maybe, but SM Stirling's Dies the Fire series is out, and it does much the same thing, far better than I ever did it.
2. I was one of the Homecoming Princes my senior year in high school.
Yes, I did say "prince" and not "princess" but we can't have everything, can we? Anyway, I was in the International Baccalaureate program at my high school, so I was sequestered away from the popular kids most of the time. My best friend Ariel and I were sitting there in English class one day when the ballots got passed around for the homecoming court. Somebody, I don't remember who it was, suggested that everyone vote for the two of us to be on homecoming court. So, that's precisely what the class did, and thanks to that block voting, we were both on the homecoming court. I can still remember showing up after our names were called and having the cheerleaders say to us, "Who are you?"
3. Until the age of 16, I only listened to classical music and opera.
No, really, it's true. I don't know why, that's just what I was brought up with, and it's what I stuck with even as a teenager. I didn't know who Pink Floyd was when I was 16. Scary? You be the judge.
4. I'm a huge fan of aviation and aviation history.
Someday, I hope to get my pilot's license. Of course, that requires money that I don't have, but it's one of those things I want to do before I die. Until then, I satisfy myself with flight simulators and visits to aviation museums and the like. I posted earlier in this blog about meeting some female Russian combat pilots from World War II in Seattle. That was a really memorable experience. Recently, I went to the National Air and Space Museum and spent like thirty minutes staring at the Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk. It's a fighter designed to be deployed from an airship back in the 30s. How cool is that? I hope to go to Fighter Factory in Virginia Beach sometime. They have Russian fighters from World War II there including the I-153, I-16, MiG-3, and Yak-3. That should be a lot of fun.
5. My favorite author is Harry Turtledove.
Harry Turtledove is an author of science fiction and fantasy novels, though lately he is more known for his alternate history stuff. I first read his WorldWar series starting when I was 11 years old. I loved it, couldn't put it down, and couldn't wait to read more. While waiting for more of that series, I ended up reading the Krispos series of books and the Videssos Cycle. Instantly, I fell in love with the Byzantine empire, which served as the basis for his fictional Videssian empire. In fact, I got a degree in Medieval Studies because UCSB didn't have a Byzantine Studies department, otherwise I would have gotten my degree in that. Still, his impact on my life has been tremendous. Our life paths are also eerily similar, except for the whole me deciding to be a girl thing. We both started off as science majors, both switched and got degrees in medieval/byzantine history, and he's a published writer and that's my main goal. All in all, I think I could have picked a worse role model.
I also met Harry Turtledove once at Borders in Thousand Oaks, California, and got some books signed. He was a really cool guy, and it was great to meet him. His beard is impressive. Seriously.
6. My favorite pleistocene megafauna is the smilodon.
I'm a big fan of pleistocene megafauna in general, but I have to say that the smilodon is my favorite. The wooly mammoth is a very close second, but I have to say it's second place. You just can't beat a sabertooth cat. I've seen smilodon fossils at both the Page Museum near the La Brea Tar Pits in LA, and also at the Paleontology Museum near Temecula, CA. I think it's officially in Hemet, but I don't recall. Anyway, very cool extinct animals.
7. I have a huge collection of books on the occult.
These books are research for my urban fantasy novels, and for my medieval magical studies, but they can still weird people out. I've got some transcriptions of medieval necromancy manuals, the Clavicula Solomonis Regis of course, Daemonologie by King James (yes, the same one of Bible fame), and numerous others. I've got overviews on Voodoo and Santaria, textbooks on charms and spells of hoodoo, and a ton of others besides. I've had to go to some weird new age shops to get some of these books, but some of them can be found at your local Barnes and Noble in the religion and spirituality section. One of my favorites is an ebook I got on Taoist talismanic magic. I plan to use that one extensively for an urban fantasy series I'll be tackling later this year. Anyway, I think it's really neat to see the spiritual and magical beliefs and practices of different cultures and to incorporate those beliefs into urban fantasy, as I think the genre is kind of too bogged down in vampires at the moment. (Though I guess whatever sells books, right?)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Haunted Houses and Patriarchal Violence
I went to a haunted cornfield here in North Carolina. By Haunted, I mean that it was set up for the purposes of scaring teenagers and young adults during the Halloween season. This was accomplished by the normal type of thing where men and women in costumes jump out at unexpected moments and say boo. However, there was something else that I haven't seen, or perhaps noticed, before. They had actors and actresses playing the roles of violent serial killer types, and their victims. It goes without saying that there wasn't a single female perpetrator of violence, rather all of the women were relegated to screaming and being mock-attacked by the males.
There were several instances that I would term "re-enactments of patriarchal violence." That is to say, the men were threatening the women with knives, pipes, and other objects to beat them or perform violence against them, and the women shrieked and cowered helplessly. One girl was even dragged until her shirt was ripped from her body, revealing her bra. I couldn't believe this sort of thing was supposed to entertain, or frighten. It really just disgusted me.
At many different points, men with chainsaws or men in monster costumes, or simply men dressed as hillbillies came up to the girls who were going through the maze, myself included, and leaned in and said "My friend up there's going to have a lot of fun with you" or other such things. Nowhere were the men in the group threatened in similar fashion.
So, I have to say that my only experience with a modern haunted house brought out the feminist in me. It was nothing but a series of re-enactments of patriarchal violence aimed to frighten the women in the groups, but not the men. Moreover, the haunted corn maze stated, rather unequivocally, that women should fear men and their power, because they are helpless against them.
I wonder what a feminist haunted house would look like.
There were several instances that I would term "re-enactments of patriarchal violence." That is to say, the men were threatening the women with knives, pipes, and other objects to beat them or perform violence against them, and the women shrieked and cowered helplessly. One girl was even dragged until her shirt was ripped from her body, revealing her bra. I couldn't believe this sort of thing was supposed to entertain, or frighten. It really just disgusted me.
At many different points, men with chainsaws or men in monster costumes, or simply men dressed as hillbillies came up to the girls who were going through the maze, myself included, and leaned in and said "My friend up there's going to have a lot of fun with you" or other such things. Nowhere were the men in the group threatened in similar fashion.
So, I have to say that my only experience with a modern haunted house brought out the feminist in me. It was nothing but a series of re-enactments of patriarchal violence aimed to frighten the women in the groups, but not the men. Moreover, the haunted corn maze stated, rather unequivocally, that women should fear men and their power, because they are helpless against them.
I wonder what a feminist haunted house would look like.
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