Thursday, September 27, 2007

One down and four to go

Well, folks. As some of you know, my story has been with several editors, some longer than others. All of them requested the manuscript, so that's a good sign, right? The only thing that sucks about having a manuscript out with a bunch of editors is the waiting, which I have blogged about before. It can be hard, mostly because, at this stage of the game, you are just soo...darn...close.

Well, today there is one less publisher for which I am waiting. I got an email from one of the pubs which said they thought the story was "very well written," "thought-provoking," and "very well received" (all three of those lines are direct quotes). However, they did not "have a place for it at this time." (another direct quote) I received this email first thing this morning. I turned on my compter, checked my email, and the first thing I saw was their reply. It kinda set the tone for the whole day, which I knew then and there would be completely unredeemable.

I posted about this here, and I got a few sympathetic replies. Call me crazy, but I like to hear nice things when I am feeling bummed. I dunno why. But the gist of the responses I received seemed to be that, as far as rejections go, that's definitely one of the better ones to get.

While I can certainly understand this point of view, it does not change the fact that a no is a no, regardless of how nicely it is phrased. So I do not actually feel warm and fuzzy thinking about how they liked the book, but just couldn't publish it. Instead, what I tend to concentrate on is how, despite the fact they liked the book, they didn't like it enough.

Which is a statement that, no matter how nicely it is phrased, still merits a strong Jim Beam and Coke before going to bed tonight.

On the plus side, it is a good rejection, and there are still four publishers out there looking over the full manuscript. I remain optimistic that someone will like it enough to put it on a shelf. Then again, I have to remain that optimistic, don't I? Otherwise, why would I write?

Ah, me. Sometimes a little Jim Beam goes a loooong way. Sometimes a little more Jim Beam goes even farther. And hey, sometimes, after a liiiiiittle too much Jim Beam, I start typing stuff I can't even read myself the next morning. Can you guess which one of those is happening right now? (Hint...I won't be turning on the computer before I leave for work tomorrow).

Well, poop. I think I hear my bottle calling me. G'night, folks!

See Y'all!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Perspective is Important

Read this post by Moonrat. Seriously. This should be required reading for any aspiring author.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

This Is Amusing

What, oh what to do with Barry's 756th Homerun Ball?



This oughhta be good.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Today I Am Still Sad

My friend Aprilynne Pike said it far better in this post than I ever could.

I have tried. I have sat here now for an hour trying to type something beautiful and meaningful on this topic, and for the life of me I just can't find the right words.

That is a terrible thing for an aspiring writer to admit, I know, but if I am nothing else I am least honest about my own limitations. Which is I guess what was so wonderful about the three who have recently passed. Did they know their limitations? Hell, did they even have any limitations?

I don't know. And neither does anyone who listened to Pavarotti or read l'Engle or Jordan. Because if they did have limitations, they didn't show. The talent, the skill with which they performed their respective crafts left little room in the minds of those who enjoyed them that there was nothing these three people could not do.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be that talented, that brilliant. Alas...

In my mind I see this as a move toward sunset, and now the world is just a little darker for their passing.

Rest In Peace Robert Jordan, Madeleine l'Engle, and Luciano Pavarotti. You may be gone, but your work will remain here, among those mere mortals you inspired, your gifts to antiquity.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Bloggin' Buds

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy! For those not familiar with Gary Larson (or not familiar enough), that's from one of his cartoons; one of my personal favorites, actually. If I had anything worth giving away I'd host a contest. Y'all would have to tell me which cartoon that tag is in.

But, since I'm just a poor, starving, unpub, I'll just skip all that and get to the point. I have a nice little circle of folks who come by and say Howdy every now and then, and I'd like to take a moment to plug them all in my blog. They are all listed to the right, but I wanna introduce them, anyway. It's pointless, it's useless, it's a time filler, and it's cheesy and sentimental. Gosh darn it, that's just the kind guy I am.

Ready? Ok, here goes:

Aprilynne Pike is a friend of mine from Absolute Write. She's a writer of High Fantasy and YA, and is represented by none other than Jodi Reamer of Writer's House. She also loves her kids and hubby, her friends, writing, and kumquats (and Quatlimes or Citriquats...I'm still working on the name).

Patricia Wood is the author of Lottery, which is easily my favorite book of the year. See my review here. She is going to be so incredibly big in the very near future that I am going to call her and ask if she'll loan me ten bucks, even though I won't actually need it. She also happens to be an extremely nice person, and I feel priviledged to know her, even if it is only in cyberspace.

Adrienne Kress is the author of the middle grade book Alex and the Ironic Gentleman (or Alex and the Wigpowder Treasure, for those of you not in the US). I have read the book, and it's charming, witty, cute, very entertaining, and a joy...much like Adrienne herself. I owe her a review, but lazy old me still hasn't written it yet. I'll do it, Adrienne, I promise.

Chris Stevenson, aka triceratops in Absolute Write, is the author of Word Wars and a soon to be HUGE book that I can't mention. But if I could, I would, and then y'all would all be like "Guh...get outta here. You know that guy?" I do, and I am very proud of the fact. Chris is my Numero Uno bestest writing bud, and I wish him all the success in the world (no matter how envious I am).

John Elder Robison is the author of Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger's, which, of course, is his memoir about growing up Aspergian. Now, I have not read this book, but I have ordered it through Amazon and I am very much looking forward to the read. But the appeal of John's blog is that he talks about many things, including small business issues, the publication process, the stigma and misconceptions of Asperger's, and many other interesting topics. Plus he's a pretty nice guy, so any of y'all that haven't gone to his site yet oughtta make plans ta do so.

Moonrat, aka the Editorial Ass, is a new addition to the lineup over there on the right hand side of I Have A Blog? She's an Editorial Assistant who blogs anonymously (can you blame her?). I love getting this perspective, and she has helped me with questions I have had about the publication process. Not only that, but you can tell reading her entries that she'd be fun to hang around with, as long as Robert wasn't around.

EDIT: I have been corrected. Robert is apparently quite fun and likes to pay for squid. :)

Dawn Rotarangi, the Kiwi. Author of Ripples on the Lake and also a calf-rearer extraodinaire. I'm not exactly sure how she found my li'l blog, but she did, and she even left a comment! Woo! I think she was actually one of the first to do so. Fun fun. I love the stories she tells about rearing calves and doing radio interviews. She's just fun to read (except for that post about Noddy...that was a real downer).

Michael Southard. You know, I don't really know much about Michael, but he seems like a nice guy and I visit his blog often, even though he hasn't updated in in...uh...what year is this, again? Anyway, I like him, so I'm going to include him on here. Hi Mike!

Thomma Lyn. I absolutely adore the name of her blog. I mean, Tennesee Text Wrestling? How can you not love that? Dawn is the author of Thy Eternal Summer, and she is also the one who introduced me to the Thursday Thirteen meme. Now, I still haven't signed up for it (lazy, remember?) and I still dunno what a "meme" is, but TTW is one of my favorite blogs to visit. One of these days I am going to sneak out there and surprise her. I think she lives about 5 feet from my house. :) Ok, maybe a little farther.

Lady Bronco writes the Frustrated Author blog. If there's a concept I can dig, it's that of a frustrated author. Seriously, how many people reading this can't relate? I thought her post today was hilarious. :) Hip Hop Community in Colorado Springs? The game of tag banned? Huh? What kinda crack they got over there in CO, anyway?

Tyhitia Green is slacking lately. She hasn't put up a new post on Obfuscation of Reality since 8/31/07. Ok, ok, so that's not that bad. I've gone much longer, but I just wanted to pick on her because I'm a jerk like that. :) I have also just realized that, of the above mentioned blogs, hers is the only one I don't link to over there to the right. I'll have ta fix that (if she ever puts anything else on her blog...kidding, kidding OW!)

Ok, ok, I think that's enough for now. See how shmoozy this whole post reads? That's me shmoozing, 'cause I'm a shmoozer. Doesn't that just warm the cockles of your heart? That was my intention, or maybe I just like the word shmooze...and cockles. Yeah, that's it. They are fun to say.

Cockles cockles cockles. Shmooze shmooze shmooze. Hey, I could call it networking...but that's not as quirky.

Y'know...I just reminded myself of that movie Hocus Pocus, specifically the part where Sara Jessica Parker's character is jumping up and down like a ding dong and saying "Amok amok amok amok."

In any case, hope y'all enjoy the free plugs. I kinda think the whole thing is pretty silly since most of the people who visit my li'l blog come from one of the sites listed above anyway, but hey, like I said before...pointless is who I am. :)

See Y'all!

Thursday, September 6, 2007