Wow! I arrived home from Los Angeles, after a very busy chapter meeting and critique session and then a doctor's appointment on the Monday and felt totally brain dead, and dreading fronting up to the computer. The first email I opened changed all of that.
It said, Congratulations, in red, in all caps.
My heart took wings and flew around in my chest and then I settled down and read some more. It said, "You're romantic suspense, Gone Tropical, is a finalist in the Where The Heart Begins contest." I was so excited I sent off an email to my critique partners and some friends and family. I never noticed the attachment.
My critique partner Janet Maarschalk had given a talk the day before on entering contests. She's a whiz at these things, I'm quite a novice when it comes to contests. Anyway, Janet has had some great experiences and many wins and placements over the years and noticed the attachment. I then went back, read the entire email and saw my first round critiques were attached. :0
Shauna Summers from Random House will judge the finalist entries. I could kick myself, because this isn't the real beginning of my story. I'd entered the contest because I was unsure if the story would hold up as a suspense. I was looking for feedback from a rough draft. Don't ever do that. Always send your best work. Sigh. Now I've missed a golden opportunity. Since that time, I've written a new higher energy beginning with more suspense and showing insight into the villian. Dang. Oh well, hopefully the agent who is reviewing the full manuscript will appreciate the new changes and can convince Shauna to take another look. ; )
I'm still happy, still doing the Snoopy dance. I now have a contest placement for both of my current manuscripts. Yay me!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Post birthday week
Well, the birthday week has come and gone and there was much celebrating in the desert. : )
I had a writer friend from the mountains come down here to the valley to get me out of my computer chair and that was good.
Her timing was perfect, I'd just put the completed manuscript in the mail to the agent. Even though the last half is a bit rough (still to be revised a third time) I was happy that the story was finished and in reasonable condition. I have two of my roadrunners notes on the manuscript back already. All are wonderful suggestions that make really good sense to me. Just minor issues e.g. where a sentence or two of dialogue can give more clarity to a secondary character's relationship to the heroine. Or, in another case, information on a secondary character could be trimmed because it wasn't necessary to the ongoing plot. One reader wanted more of a fight in a scene between the hero and the bad guy. In my version the fight was over too quickly ... guess that shows you that I don't like physical violence, even though he had to protect the heroine. : )
Everyone liked my sex scenes. Good. I hate writing those.
My friend stayed for four days and we did a lot of talking about life and relationships and of course, writing. I barely got the housework done before my kids came (well, they're no longer kids) and the celebrations continued.
A friend from La Quinta and my son and daughter and I went out to dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn. That afternoon my daughter had taken me shopping in Old Town. She bought me a bracelet to match my energy muse necklace, which I love. It has energy stones and an ancient Chinese coin in the center. My son gave me back a nice sum of money he'd borrowed a few months earlier and I'd already written it off. What a nice surprise. He's turning into quite a mensch. That for the non-Jewish is a gentleman. My kids are fabulous people. I love them not just because they're part of me, I actually enjoy being with them and find them to be strong, intelligent, thoughtful, and VERY entertaining. Now on the latter, their senses of humor are often a little over the top but heck, they keep me young and on my toes.
Nothing much to report on this week other than the desert is a dust bowl as they do the yearly ritual of "scalping the grasses." They churn up the grass, cutting it to a sixteenth of an inch of its root, disturbing the sandy soil beneath, and blowing dust and pollens for miles. And I'm not just talking about here in the development which I live in, but everywhere in the valley. The beautiful green manicured grass of every development and country club (and there are many) do the same thing at approximately the same time. It takes a week to ten days to do our development. Then they re-seed.
Having had to visit the Doctor with asthma caused by these irritants I asked why? Back in smog-ridden L.A. I didn't have asthma. And we didn't scalp our grass. We just tossed down steer manure and then threw down seed. In the spring it grew back nice and healthy. The Doctor said, it's because the people who return every winter during "the season" pay big bucks to play the golf courses and they want everything green and pretty. They can't wait for spring. Okay. So, no complaints then. This is definitely a seasonal town and our tourists bring income to the area, even if it means I have to get out of town for days on end so I can breathe. ;)
I'm taking time off from writing for a couple of weeks. I have outlines for a couple of stories but am going to give more thought to my decision on whether to go the same route as the last, another Romantic Adventure, or go back to Contemporary Gothic. I do need to write darker. I know that and I'm trying, so this time I'll have to push beyond my own boundaries and limitations. Should be interesting.
I had a writer friend from the mountains come down here to the valley to get me out of my computer chair and that was good.
Her timing was perfect, I'd just put the completed manuscript in the mail to the agent. Even though the last half is a bit rough (still to be revised a third time) I was happy that the story was finished and in reasonable condition. I have two of my roadrunners notes on the manuscript back already. All are wonderful suggestions that make really good sense to me. Just minor issues e.g. where a sentence or two of dialogue can give more clarity to a secondary character's relationship to the heroine. Or, in another case, information on a secondary character could be trimmed because it wasn't necessary to the ongoing plot. One reader wanted more of a fight in a scene between the hero and the bad guy. In my version the fight was over too quickly ... guess that shows you that I don't like physical violence, even though he had to protect the heroine. : )
Everyone liked my sex scenes. Good. I hate writing those.
My friend stayed for four days and we did a lot of talking about life and relationships and of course, writing. I barely got the housework done before my kids came (well, they're no longer kids) and the celebrations continued.
A friend from La Quinta and my son and daughter and I went out to dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn. That afternoon my daughter had taken me shopping in Old Town. She bought me a bracelet to match my energy muse necklace, which I love. It has energy stones and an ancient Chinese coin in the center. My son gave me back a nice sum of money he'd borrowed a few months earlier and I'd already written it off. What a nice surprise. He's turning into quite a mensch. That for the non-Jewish is a gentleman. My kids are fabulous people. I love them not just because they're part of me, I actually enjoy being with them and find them to be strong, intelligent, thoughtful, and VERY entertaining. Now on the latter, their senses of humor are often a little over the top but heck, they keep me young and on my toes.
Nothing much to report on this week other than the desert is a dust bowl as they do the yearly ritual of "scalping the grasses." They churn up the grass, cutting it to a sixteenth of an inch of its root, disturbing the sandy soil beneath, and blowing dust and pollens for miles. And I'm not just talking about here in the development which I live in, but everywhere in the valley. The beautiful green manicured grass of every development and country club (and there are many) do the same thing at approximately the same time. It takes a week to ten days to do our development. Then they re-seed.
Having had to visit the Doctor with asthma caused by these irritants I asked why? Back in smog-ridden L.A. I didn't have asthma. And we didn't scalp our grass. We just tossed down steer manure and then threw down seed. In the spring it grew back nice and healthy. The Doctor said, it's because the people who return every winter during "the season" pay big bucks to play the golf courses and they want everything green and pretty. They can't wait for spring. Okay. So, no complaints then. This is definitely a seasonal town and our tourists bring income to the area, even if it means I have to get out of town for days on end so I can breathe. ;)
I'm taking time off from writing for a couple of weeks. I have outlines for a couple of stories but am going to give more thought to my decision on whether to go the same route as the last, another Romantic Adventure, or go back to Contemporary Gothic. I do need to write darker. I know that and I'm trying, so this time I'll have to push beyond my own boundaries and limitations. Should be interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)