Weekly Deets -- 7.15.15

Tweet, tweet! And twitter tweet some more :-) It's what I am doing today with another *sigh* contest. I truly believe writers are addicted and these fav stars are our crack candy! I collect them, for sure. 

Thank Yous: Anyway, I wanted to check in and extend a warm thank you to all those who help the starving, struggling writers, (count me in) with supporting comments, wonderful promos, and just being all around nice. Kudos and cheers to you! 

Business: Last Saturday I spent the afternoon at the Learned Owl Book Shop. No, I wasn't shopping or browsing for books, though I love doing that. I was there for a book signing. It was fun, met a few really nice folks, chatted up a storm (I do it well) and sold ... well, who cares about that? lol It's the socializing and stuff that I enjoy most. Next up? The Wadsworth Library on Tuesday evening July 28th.

Reflection: It's been twenty-three years this month since my mom passed away. She was a grand lady, spectacular cook and baker, and always overflowing with love. Never one to ask for something in return, she gave and gave even more of whatever she had. I'd like to think she's my special guardian angel. I can't imagine a more appropriate one. After these many years I am able to remember her without crying, or at least most times I can. When I write characters into my stories and need one to be that person, you know, the one who guides others, offers sound advice, and isn't afraid to tell the truth, like it or not, I think of her. She was funny, too. Loved to gab with strangers. And never showed a dark side, at least not to me. She loved nature, the color yellow and long rides in the country. She grooved to soul music more than anyone her age I know. Play some Brooke Benton or Sam Cooke tunes, and maybe throw in a little rockin' blues by Elvis and she was happy. She'd sacrifice her all to save you. And never complain. She was my rock, but taught me how to stand on my own two feet. It doesn't get better than that, folks. 

I think I will leave this post, now. Before those tears start! Besides, I have to get back to all the tweet, tweet twitter feed going on! It's booming. 

Cheers! And enjoy your day!

Weekly Deets -- 6.29.15

Did I skip a week? Yes, I think I did ... oh boy. How time gets away from me. I spent a lot of it rethinking new projects and old. I've decided to change my most current MS from 3rd POV to 1st. Why? It's the only way I seem to be able to get inside her head and give her a fuller voice. It's going to take a lot of work, but I have to believe it will be worth it. Next up, I start with this idea from the MSWL, aka agent manuscript wish list on Twitter and tweak it a bit. Take a Veronica Mars like character and plunk her down in Louisiana, then create a mystery full of voodoo and murder. We'll see what happens. But I'm definitely liking it so far! And .... next! Still working to finish writing my romance dashed with a bit of mystery. I'm maybe a third of the way through. It's a seat-of-my-pants approach where I really have no idea how it will end! How do writers do this? Oh, I use to, but it's scary after all my recent work done from planning and outlining.

And on Friday I got pulled into another Twitter contest -- #writepit. Yes, I'm addicted. It's fun and like fishing, I sometimes get a nibble or two. This time my catch included two publishers and one agent. I'm slow, but I'm beginning to think this is me just wanting positive strokes. Tell me you like me enough to want my work and I'll be proud as a peacock! Geesh! The real problem with Twitter pitches is just that. It's a 140 character pitch. How can anybody tell what the writing is going to look like based on a skimpy pitch? I'd guess their acceptance rate is about a gazillion to one. Still, it's lots of fun to do and you can make great Twitter friends. In the meantime, never know when you'll be that one in a gazillion!

Okay, enough about me and all this writing stuff. Well, sort of. This is more like a footnote. Do you folks who write ever need some kind of outlet? You know, a hobby, recreation, or whatever that distracts you from writing and helps you stay sane? I bought a needlepoint kit. Sad, right? I'm thinking I can needlepoint while plotting in my head. Yeah, that's not really a distraction from writing, but at least I will have a needlepoint creation :-) 

One more thing ... I said I would update about my True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse observations. I am on season 5 and just started reading book 1. The show is so creepy and disgusting with all the blood and gore, but that makes me want to watch it even more! The book is, well, I can't really say too much yet. The writing is simple, but in that way probably appeals to a wider audience of readers. I will have more on that later. 

Alrighty then. That's it for the week. I will try to do better next time and be on time. Happy Fourth of July! Enjoy your freedom, your family, your friends. 

A Tweeting We Will Go ... to Find an Agent

I decided it was time to post about my experience tweeting. No. Not just any tweeting. I'm not a newbie to that. I'm talking about Twitter contests for authors and agents and publishers. I ventured into that world recently to see what I could accomplish, and frankly to see what the buzz was all about. After all, I've been writing for many years, had a few books published, which gained a modicum of success, depending on how you view success. I've been enjoying the experience thus far, but want to take it to another level, i.e. agent represented, i.e. knock on pub doors I can't do otherwise. 


I discovered Twitter contests like #adpit, #agentmatch, #pitchmad, etc. by accident while using Query Tracker (an excellent resource, by the way) and perusing the comments. Authors were saying how they submitted to such and such agent after said agent requested their work on __________ Twitter contest. So, I ventured over to Twitter and ... Voila! All those little goodies, a paradise land for writers scrambling to get noticed and sell their work to an agent were here, popping up all over the place. I could already feel the attraction, the joy it must bring to be a part of it all. I mean, there can't be anything better than that feeling of validation where one hears an agent tweet, "I liked what I read in your pitch. Send me the first 20, 30, 50 pages." What??? Somebody likes me, really likes me ... that is, I hope so after he/she reads my sample pages. 


So, I took the dive. I entered #sunvssnow, #adpit, and #agentmatch. Now here's where I must warn you, it's addictive. A drug you want twenty-four seven. But that aside, I gladly joined the realm of agent-seeking peons. And it hit me. So, here's where the party is happening! All the agents are coming over to take a look. Then another thought slapped me in the head. Of course, they'd come here. Scanning through maybe fifty to a couple hundred pitches vs. hundreds of query emails coming at you almost everyday? I'd choose door number one, too. Not to forget, these contests provide a support system with lots of success. Writers helping writers helping agents, and it's turning out to be a wonderful pay-it-forward cycle.


Oh, about that support system? Writers connecting with other writers is gold, pure gold, giving each other encouragement, pulling each other up from the trenches when it gets rough and mean, and sometimes offering help with that precious baby called a manuscript. Trust me. Nine months is nothing when there are some who've spent years on developing, polishing, and polishing again that "precious baby". 

So, what did I accomplish? Lots of new Twitter friends, like-minded people with similar goals and obsessions. And I did get a few nibbles at my work. Who knows? One of them may work out and a partnership will be made. I can always hope. In the meantime, I glow from the validation, the acceptance, the camaraderie. Yes, that part is priceless. 

Oh, and did I mention the addiction aspect? Hmm ... I think I'll head over to Twitter and see what's happening next. I hear #pitchmad is approaching, or maybe ...

Happy writing, all! 

Thank You.

Just wanted to say thank you to all 1870 who joined in for a chance to win the Goodreads Giveaway of Not So Snow White. The contest is over and congrats to the winners who will be receiving a free copy of Snow White in the mail in the near future. It is the support of readers who give authors the inspiration and drive to write on!



Kathryn Long
aka K. Sean Jennkrist
Cinderella Geek
                                           

Stylish Blogger Award

It's the little things ... I received a blogsite award from a new-found friend and blogger -- Krista and The Jelly Beans of Writing So, I am honored and now will talk a bit about me :-) How hard can that be?! (sweating profusely now). Before I start, here are the rules of the game. And best of luck to those five I pass the award along to!

Ok, here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 new-found blogging buddies.
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them

R.F #1: I used to be a closet Victorian Romance reader! You name it and I read it. From Victoria Holt to Barbara Cartland, I had no boundaries to my ravenous appetite. But then I got married, had romance of my own, and didn't find as much interest in that genre. I switched to Stephen King and Dean Koontz horror for a while. It took a heavy dose of gruesome to get me to change camps once again. And it's been mysteries and suspense ever since! (Although, I admit, once in awhile I will venture back into a syrupy sweet romance and feel joy!)

R.F.#2: I am like an only child, but am not an only child ... No, it's not a riddle. My youngest brother is 16 years my senior. I have a sister, the oldest, who is 23 years older than I. And I have 9 nieces and nephews who range anywhere from 3 years to 8 years younger than I. Those were and are like my brothers and sisters. It's crazy during family reunions. I recall when I was a kid, I used to tell them, "If you ever call me Aunt Kathy, I will deck you!" It must have had the impact I wanted because when one of them had a bridal shower years later she asked if it was okay now to introduce me as her aunt!

R.F. #3: I wrote my first song when I was 12. It was actually just lyrics which I put to the tune from a movie, "The Moon Spinners" (Haley Mills was my idol then. And Cary Grant. I loved his old movies.) Anyway, I remember going out into the backyard, swigging on the tree swing and singing my song. It doesn't get more cheesy than that, folks!

R.F. #4: I've been writing stories since I was 7, belonged to my high school writers' club, and even took a class or two on creative writing. But it was when I approached my 50th birthday that I remembered the promise I'd made to myself: If I didn't write a full novel by then, and try to get it published, then I would give up on writing. Rather harsh, don't you think? Anyway, I finished Oklahoma's Gold that year. It felt good :-) And I was encouraged to write even more.

R.F #5: I actually decided to dabble in the self-publishing arena, but I didn't want to publicly say it was me :-). So, I published a young adult novel under a pen name. It's actually a fusion of my children's names into one. It's here, somewhere. I will let you all do the detective work to figure it out!

R.F. #6: I love bodies of water ... oceans especially, but I can't swim! I often say that when I retire, I would like to live in a beach house and watch the ocean waves move, smell the salt air, and just relax on my deck. To me that is Utopia!

R.F. #7: I talk to myself. Not that it's so unusual. I know lots of people who admit to that. But I do it to act out scenes I'm writing about in whatever WIP I'm working on. It helps ... I think ... yeah, it does. Or at least that's what I tell myself ... out loud ... when I'm carrying on a conversation with no one else in the room. Oh, boy ...

That actually wasn't too hard. I guess like most of us, I enjoy writing about myself. It's almost cathartic. Okay, so here below are my five "victims". Enjoy!

Allison Simon

Sue Maynard

Elena Solodow

Katherine Crawford

Danielle Raver 

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is upon us once again. Starting November 1st for an entire month, those who want to run the marathon of writing words at a frenzied pace should check it out. The idea (for those who have yet to experience the madness) is to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. Yeah, I know, but it can be done :-) Have tried and done it myself. And without any temptation or submission to cheating, either!

So cruize on over and climb aboard the NaNo train. Exercise your creative writing muscles! That's what they are there for. Right?!

NaNoWriMo

Enjoy! ^^^^

Name That Poet #10

Try your hand at naming the American Poet who penned this poem.




Hunters, where does Hope nest?
Not in the half-oped breast,
Nor the young rose,
Nor April sunrise—those
With a quick wing she brushes,
The wide world through,
Greets with the throat of thrushes,
Fades from as fast as dew.
But, would you spy her sleeping,
Cradled warm,
Look in the breast of weeping,
The tree stript by storm;
But, would you bind her fast,
Yours at last,
Bed-mate and lover,
Gain the last headland bare
That the cold tides cover,
There may you capture her, there,
Where the sea gives to the ground
Only the drift of the drowned.
Yet, if she slips you, once found,
Push to her uttermost lair
In the low house of despair.
There will she watch by your head,
Sing to you till you be dead,
Then, with your child in her breast,
In another heart build a new nest.

Happy hunting for the name :-)

I guess I will have to let this one out. The poet is Edith Wharton. Thanks to those of you who may have read and thought about it :-)

Name That Novel #24

Here are some words from a character's inner thoughts taken from what classic novel? Title and author, if you please :-)


"Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of the unknown past into the unknown future."

Luck to all!

And letting this one out as well (no pun intended....honestly!): It is H. G. Well's The Time Machine.

Name That Novel #23

Let's see what you can do with this American author's work.



"Look at the ugliness. Yet one has a feeling within one that blinds a man while he loves you. You, with that feeling, blind him, and blind yourself. Then, one day, for no reason, he sees you as ugly as you really are and he is not blind anymore and then you see yourself as ugly as he sees you and you lose your man and your feeling... After a while, when you are as ugly as I am, as ugly as women can be, then, as I say after a while the feeling, the idiotic feeling that you are beautiful, grows slowly in one again. It grows like a cabbage. And then, when the feeling is grown, another man sees you and thinks you are beautiful and it is all to do over."



Title and author name, please!

Good luck :-) Congrats to Joel with the correct answer: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway

Name That Novel #21

A portrait of American history: name this treasured story and its author.

"It ain't that big. The whole United States ain't that big. It ain't that big. It ain't big enough. There ain't room enough for you an' me, for your kind an' my kind, for rich and poor together all in one country, for thieves and honest men. For hunger and fat."

Congrats to April! The quote is from Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.

Name That Novel #18

Let's try this one.... slightly more contemporary, but still a classic and well-read.

"Winston had disliked her from the very first moment of seeing her. He knew the reason. It was because of the atmosphere of hockey-fields and cold baths and community hikes and general clean-mindedness which she managed to carry about her. He disliked nearly all woman, and especially the young and pretty ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy."

Good luck!

Congrats to Tina! 1984 by George Orwell.

Name That Poet #7

Let's try for this one, a poem by another great contemporary American author. So, name and title, if you can guess.



They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice--stout of
Step
With fists as well as
Hands
How they battered down
Doors
And ironed
Starched white
Shirts
How they led
Armies
Headragged generals
Across mined
Fields
Booby-trapped
Ditches
To discover books
Desks
A place for us
How they knew what we
Must know
Without knowing a page
Of it
Themselves.


Good luck to all! The time has passed..... And the answer is: Alice Walker

Name That Poet #6

We had a very unusual burst of winter the other day, perhaps some remnants of snow and ice left over to give one final show. It left the roads and sidewalks glazed and the tree branches coated with its frostiness. It made me think of this. So, let's try and guess the poet from the lines of this very appropriate poem.

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.
Icestorms do that. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust--
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

Example Pitch or Query for ABNA

For those who are interested in the ABNA contest, I thought I would post my pitch/query entry. Please note, it is customized to fit the contest specifications, so you will see there isn't any mention of my credentials and such that you might typically place in a query letter to a publisher or agent. If you visit the message board for ABNA you will see a thread for contestants to post their queries, and you will see quite a variety. In any case, here is mine, for what it's worth:

Your aunt is missing and no one seems to have a clue where to look for her. In the meantime, your editor won’t stop bugging you about getting that overdue book finished, and your family just can’t seem to stop meddling in your life. So, what do you do? If you are Lilly Millenovanovich, there is only one answer because family comes first. Find Fran. As she searches for her missing aunt, Lilly finds herself on a hazardous, sometimes unpleasant journey in Whips, Cuffs, and Little Brown Boxes, a 97,000 word cozy mystery.

Turning forty, menopausal, and single, mystery writer, Lilly M. needs a little excitement in her life now and then. So, when her aunt Fran turns up missing, Lilly decides playing amateur detective might do the trick. Of course, she would have to keep her snooping from Millie, her overprotective mother. She thinks Lilly will snoop herself straight into trouble. It doesn’t take a crystal ball for Millie to predict Lilly’s fate; most of the time, her life just turns out that way. Fortunately, Lilly has boyfriend, detective Jake Kline, several friends and family to keep her safe, as together they confront many dangers and unsavory surprises. From death threats and drug trafficking to the mob and sex clubs, the journey in Whips, Cuffs, and Little Brown Boxes will reveal answers even Millie couldn’t predict.

Whips, Cuffs, and Little Brown Boxes provides an entertaining combination of mystery and humor with a plot driven by lively, amusing characters. Readers of women’s contemporary fiction will enjoy this humorous cozy and relate to its likable characters and their experiences.

ABNA or What To Do In Your Spare Time

Happen to have a completed novel sitting on the shelf and collecting dust? Or one that you've been trying to pitch, but haven't gotten that fish on the hook, yet? Or maybe you've self-published the precious gem and just want more recognition ... anyway, if you haven't come across this bit of news in your surfing the web, you might try the ABNA contest through Amazon. Here's some info:

AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARD-DEADLINE: February 7, 2010GENRE: BooksDETAILS: Unpublished or self-published novels, 50,000-150,000 words. Two categories general fiction and young adult fiction. PRIZE: Winner in each category (General Fiction and Young Adult) receives publication by Penguin Group USA and $15,000 advance.

URL: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011

And good luck, if you take the plunge! :-)