Day 175

Those of you who have been following this blog may have noticed that from time to time its more about my life than my writing. Well my life impacts my writing A LOT. This is more of a "life" post.
--

I have a problem. ("A" problem I know most of you will say). Okay I have several problems that often make me wonder what it's like to be normal, but this particular problem is screwing with me right now.

There are a several things I need to do:

• Renew my drivers license
• Sort through and shred at least 4 years worth of settled bills and statements
• Clean out our one closet
• Call my grandmother
• Take my car into the shop
• Finish work on the preliminary edits for my manuscript
• Stop eating my weight in pizza, snickers, cookies and burgers at every possible moment
• Search for some cheap round trip flights to the east coast. 
• Vacuum
• Fold a serious mountain of clothes
• Take a serious mountain of clothes and shoes to Goodwill
  

And the responsible adult in me is wondering why all of these things aren't done yet.

My bill paying job was really crazy between the months of September and last week ( i know last week isnt a month.), my dude changed jobs twice and then the holidays set in. I'm exhausted, my weight is all over the place and mostly heading upwards and I'm stressed about four trips I would like to take in the first half of 2011 which I may not have the funds to do.


NOW, I'm on vacation. My brother comes into town tomorrow just for a day, but after that I still have four days of vacation and I cannot make myself relax. I've been staying up late, getting up early and all but pacing around my apartment giving my manuscript the side eye. I do this all the time. Deny myself rest, while also putting off the things I need to do. Then I look at the clock and the anxiety starts to kick in F-ing up my ability to be productive or sleep even more.


Both of my parents have an insane work ethics. I grew up watching my father sleep a few hours a night, grabbing odd bits of shut eye here and there in the car while waiting for my mother to come out of the bank or in his leather recliner on the odd occasions that our house was quiet. I like being busy and I like working hard, but I have the hardest time shutting it off. Even as I type this I'm dreading just how late I'm going to be up tonight because I wont be able to sleep.


Is part of it the ADHD? Yeah. Is part of it the marathon of the First 48 that is more interesting than ANYTHING I could possibly be doing at the moment? Hells yeah. But most of it I feel is guilt. I know it sounds crazy, but I feel guilty when I'm doing nothing. Even when I catch up on much needed sleep and am grateful to feel rejuvenated, there's always this tiny or sometimes thunderously loud voice in the back of my head saying "Ya know, you could have gotten a lot done in those 8 hours."

The most annoying part is all of these things will get done. I'm not about to look at my publisher and say "Oops didn't do my edits." and I will vacuum because our carpet is kinda gross, but I would LOVED to avoid the stress and anxiety during it all.

I know what I need to do. I need to eat better, because heartburn and gluten bloat have been known to wake me up at 2 am. I need to exercise more because that always seems to knock me out at the end of the day and I need to stop beating myself up. I'm on vacation. I have no kids. My bills are paid. My boyfriend is deep in the world of WoW. I'm allowed to relax. Now I just need to do it.

When all of my problems are solved, I'd love to get a tattoo of either Tsuru. ♥

Day 167

So I say things and very rarely they work out the way I want them to, but in this case things worked up pretty damn good.


A few weeks ago I signed a contract with Bold Strokes Books, the company I have been waiting to work with. Please see the awesomeness below.


"Bold Strokes Books is pleased to announce the acquisition of Rebekah Weatherspoon’s new erotic paranormal romance, Better Off Red: Vampire Sorority Sisters Book 1, scheduled for release in 2011 from Bold Strokes Books..."

You can read more about my awesome book and the awesomeness to come here. (I don't actually think I'm all that awesome)

My boyfriend thought I had somehow backdated the future and past, or something like that, so that this announcement would actually line up with my previous comment about "hopefully knowing something by Dec 20th". Pure coincidence. Sweet, glorious coincidence. I'm really excited and humbled by this opportunity and beyond psyched to work with this team.

Now I'll be blogging what I can about edits and promotion, my nights up crying as I stress over my edits and promotion. If you couldn't tell already, I'm a big stresser. In the meantime, please do check out the other authors Bold Strokes Books represents. Of course I haven't read every single titles, but I have LOVED the ones I have been able to get my hands on.

I will end by saying, I was able to find these sneakers, in my size. I bought them as a Christmas gift to myself and they should arrive by Wednesday. HOOORAY!

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Day 166

I HAVE HUGE NEWS!

 

Day 159

The past week kicked my ass. Work was brutal and the boyfriend's new work schedule is insane. I found these sneakers. TOTALLY wanted to buy them, but couldn't find them anywhere in my size. It was devastating. I had very little time to write, but I did set up an author page for myself on facebook HERE and I attended my first RWA meeting here in LA.

The folks in the LARA chapter were so welcoming and I heard some great stories about some really amazing and inspiring journeys to publication.  I have a few things to get done writing-wise this week. Let's hope I actually get them done.

In other news, I saw TANGLED and absolutely loved it. This is my favorite song from the soundtrack. And here's another picture I rather enjoyed.

(art by will murai that reminds me of my ginger.♥)

Day 153

I am going slowly out of my mind. Intense writer's block and too many carbs.

(it doesn't get much crazier than this)

Day 134

I haven't update this blog in almost a month because, guess what, I'm still waiting to hear back from a particular agency. I should know something by December 20th and hopefully this will turn into a blog about how my awesome book is about to be published. I'm 20,000 words into my next book and seeing more and more that I really am a sucker for a happy ending.

In the past 28 days the following things have been consuming my thoughts and my time. Some of them actually have to do with my writing.

laundry. college loans. my car. virgin america. the hampton inn. black nail polish. dogs. kittens. homemade pie. new jeans. old jeans. the cost of jeans. car insurance. boardwalk empire. jackie, evie, john III and jacob.  cartoons. screenplays. my imdb STARmeter. old friends. crappy friends. reese peanut butter cups. nipple piercings. pregnancy. cheese. lover unleashed. lavryle spencer. /s/. irene. getting my money back from jae. false advertising. cover art. mainstream success. wolf tales. mother-in-laws.


tattoos. the swedish. giada at home. domestic violence. the woman at ralphs who made me a delicious turkey club. google maps. gluten. back fat. coupons. good old-fashioned lover boy. my morning jacket. finding the woman who lets her pug use the rug in front of the elevator as its toilet. black on asian racism. wonder woman. gem stone appraisal. snickers. debt. starbursts. jordans. a dark room of my very own. liars. melissa etheridge. the crazies. sarah palins vocab. amazon.com. evil wylie. kissing. Airborne (1993). j-walking. mochi. lima beans. food in general. light bulbs. npr. acne. ginger and camila. fandango. stress fractures. #unfat2010. def leppard. ABBA. Prince. front end damage. vegas. arson. neville. green apples. kick boxer. pre-marital affairs. food poisoning. frontin'. the art of being fancy. cards. ikea. bikes. 10-South. snow. dishwashers. trust funds. ethnic nannies.  lexus's limited engagement. adderall. doing it. potlucks. ms. HAIR.

oprah. unemployment. key grips and electricians. my sister. sloan parker. baba. parent/teacher conferences. NYC. Huffington Post. christmas trees. bacon. oil based lube. tantus toys. el mac. adam hughes. my boyfriend's mohawk. triathlons. single dads. lumberjacks. firetrucks. rite aid. the shake weight. angelia jolie's face. tera. female ejaculate. amber rose.teaching. brie larson. radio shack. nelson franklin. scooter. poop. SUV hybrids. africa. the homeless. black presidents. natural hair. lip gloss. feet. bald women. rick james. oranges. call of duty. fat stupid garbage. the pedo bear. facebook. humility. crayola. boots. vasily. Dora voice over disputes. TMZ. auto-trader.com. regular show. stoners. t-pain and toshiba. russia. beards. wolves. the general. sleep. current tv. annie and oksana ♥.

Day 106

Busy with bill paying work. Submitted a short little something for an anthology. Waiting. Writing depressing book #2 is on hold for upbeat book #3 (which I supposed will end up being book #2 once its finished.). Decided against doing NaNoWriMo. Boardwalk Empire is my favorite Fall television program. Nothing else to report. Terribly sad. Still waiting.

[I'm not actually reading 1776. Started it back in '06, left my copy at my dad's house, reclaimed it this past July. I think leaving it up here will remind me to actually open it.]

Day 94

Its been a while since I've updated, mostly because I've been going through more wacky adventures with ADHD. I love to sleep, add working full time and being easily distracted by pretty colors and whatever is on [adult swim], and you have a Bekah who is like a 3 year old on speed when it comes to focusing. It also didn't help that there was a South Park marathon on the other day completely dedicated to Butters. I love Butters.

After WEEKS I've finally, seem to have "gotten my groove" with my second book. My main character is essentially my complete opposite in terms of her natural reactions to the world around her, so it's been a challenge working through her emotions. A challenge and a learning experience. And thank god, because her mental torture is keeping my mind off the replies I'm still waiting for.

I'm all for some good old fashioned patience, but some days I just want to throw myself on the floor and roll around whining. I've done the rolling and the whining, just on the couch. Not the floor. I've "met" more helpful writers and agent types through twitter and engaged in some very informational/encourage twitchats. They've helped ease some of the query process pain. It really is like applying to college, but this time I actually care if I get in. That sounds awful, doesn't it?

I will continue to write, network, read, stalk my favorite authors... watch cartoons and fight this sudden urge to pack on winter pounds since the temperature in LA has suddenly dropped. Cookies are good.

Day 82

I'm still waiting on replies, so no tales of rejection woe this time around, but I still have things to share.

It's been a really long week, but a good week. I hopped in to a few great chats with other authors and agents on twitter and got to hear my 5 month old nephew mumble nonsense on the phone. I added a bunch of books to my to-read list, which is pretty much a book geeks foreplay. AM I WRONG??



I would also like to get these sneakers for my Wonder Woman shelf. Not to wear.

Today, I came home to a wonderful package from my friend, Margie. A group of us, who have been buddies since kindergarten, started a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants if you will. GO AHEAD. LAUGH. We are all drastically different sizes, (starting at 16 and sliding all the way down to what I'm pretty sure is a child's medium) so the pants thing made no sense. We send a giant red photo album around and fill it with deeply personal letters and pictures of our lives since we last had the book. Margie had the book for a year, but she added some great stuff and has been forgiven. I wrote my letter and it will go out with some pictures of my boyfriend wearing a really small hat and a sample of my writing on Monday morning. It's corny, but in the three years we've been sending the book around, its been pretty cool to see how things have changed in such a short amount of time.

Tonight I'm writing. Tomorrow, more writing and maybe going to Zuma Beach. Sunday I'm going to the West Hollywood Book Fair which should be great, then watching some fooootball. 

Writey-wise, I'm 6k into my next book. Hopefully that will turn into muchmorek by Sunday night.

HI NEW FOLLOWERS. It's lovely to see the two of you. ♥ Enjoy my favorite song of the week.

Day 74

My bill paying job has been pretty busy this week so I haven't had a lot of energy to blog in addition to my other writing adventures. I've had one partial requested and then rejected, but I press forward, spirits brightened by the fact that I came home to a dish-free sink and a happy boyfriend with a clean-shaven head. He looks super bald.

Here are some things I've learned/thought of since my last post in no particular order. And a picture I like. The artist is Ben Newman.

- I'm confused by writers who become enraged with agents who reject them. They said no to your query. They didn't call you ugly to your face, which hurts, trust me. I've learned A LOT from a couple agents who have rejected my query and they are actually pretty nice people. I hope to actually meet them some day.

- If you email people, more often than not, they email you back. 

- Not everyone should give advice (I knew this before, but it's come up a lot this week)

- Playing with my characters in my head is a fantastic way to pass the time while sitting in traffic in Beverly Hills. Lil' Wayne, Does It Offend You, Yeah?,  and Chromeo only add to the pleasure of it all.

- Patience does pay off.

- Even when you walk into a really awkward situation you will be able to pull something from it that you can use in your writing. An old man named Stewart weirded the hell out of me this week and he will show up somewhere in my work. I can guarantee it.

- You will get fired if you sit across from your boss and don't do any work for two weeks. This has nothing to do with queries

-There are some really nice people out there internet land and I enjoy finding them. Some times they point you toward helpful things like agents to query, good books, home remedies and recipes. And some times they just offer a virtual hand to hold.

-Current TV has hilarious programming that makes me laugh, smile and think a little harder.

Hi new followers. ♥

Day 68

Still waiting for replies...

 

Happy Friday Everyone ☻!

Day 59

Here's the thing I love about rejections, they give you a chance to step back and make improvements on your work. I've had some great beta readers, but I passed my book on to one more person who caught something that NONE of my pre-readers had seen. AND he caught it right before I submitted my manuscript to an agency who requests a full up front (which i think is just super, by the way. i hate query letters. period).

It wasn't something that would make or break my book, but it was something that I think this particular agent would have noticed, which I suppose could make or break my book. His super catch gave me a chance to look a little closer at two more things that were bugging me a bit. Now I feel much better about submitting my manuscript and I'm patting myself on the back a little bit for being so patient.

In the meantime, I've been getting more great tips through blogs and chatting with agents and other writers on twitter. I've added agent Jennifer Laughran's blog to the sidebar because she's got some great pointers and a hilarious review of book that remains me of this -->
which I couldn't quite finish.

I received another rejection this week and it didn't even bother me because its all part of the process. I know I will find someone who is totally into my concept and loves the way I write and is tickled by the ideas I've put down.

 The waiting sucks, but its helping in more ways than one.






Also Katy Perry is haunting my days and nights. I'm pretty much in love with this song right now.

Day 54

Last night at dinner (The Farm at The Grove has great sweet potato fries) I was suddenly inspired to tackle a particular synopsis. Then I went to see Scott Pilgrim. I'm working on the synopsis now. Will I finish it today? Let us see... I'm clever. Don't act like I'm not.

And here's a chunk of something I wrote. I just closed my eyes and scrolled to a random page. And then kept scrolling til I found something that didn't really give too much away. And now I'm just boring myself. Enjoy!

              "Is that a nightgown?" Amy asked.
              "Yup." I ditched the ribbon on my bed along with the hanger, then held the baby-doll style nightie up to my body. It came about an inch or two below my crotch.
              "See! This is exactly what I was talking about. They're gonna parade us around in lingerie and then makes us screw the OBA boys and tape it."
               "Shut up. They would never makes us do that," Amy laughed. She held her own scrap of lace up in front of her chest. "It is kinda kinky."
                "Yeah, kinky. Amy, I swear if pictures of me in this thing end up on the internet, I'm going to kill you."

I'm not sure I'll be doing that again.

Day 51

Still waiting. Daydreaming about cover art. Praying the JETS have a good season for my father's sake. Reading, a lot. Writing some. Waiting some more...

It's not for a book obviously, but this cover art has stuck in my head since I was a little kid.

Day 45: Confession #1

I know I've promised to be positive and I know that keeping your mouth shut is the very best thing to do in certain situations, but if I don't put this out there it will eat at me all weekend. And maybe next week.

I have few synopses to write for different agencies I would like to submit to, but it's taking forever to get them done. At first I was lying to myself, blaming my ADHD, weddings, my boyfriend's rugged good looks, my recent discovery of black diamond on my procrastination, but last night I realized the real issue. I'm holding out for a particular agent's reply. I may be shooting myself in the foot for saying this, but its the truth. I found them and got the warm-fuzzies from their website, their blog, their agents tweets, even the nice way they explain their review process.

In general, I suck at cover letters. Applying for colleges was one of the most miserable experiences of my entire life, but I did it. I'm pretty sure I've lost plenty of jobs to my cover letters, but I always kill in the interview. Not to say that my query letters are terrible, but I just hate writing them.

I don't have too long to wait to hear back from this particular agency, so I've decided to just wait on writing those synopses. I know myself and anything I force ends up sucking, hard. So I'll wait and if I get a rejection from that agency I'll be able to mourn properly and move on. If they request a partial...

I feel a lot better sharing this information with you and just like that the positivity has returned. 

Also, I'll confess that I wish my boyfriend still played football. His knees and back are glad that part of his life is over, but he looked really good in his jersey. Something like this -->

Day 43

Just sent out another query. Sometime tomorrow I'll stop worrying about it. Until then...

Day 42

A particular agency states on their website that email queries are, from time to time, lost/bounced back if they are sent from a - we'll call it a "sketchy"- email address. They recommend that you resend your query if you haven't heard back from them in a certain amount of time, as it may have been lost/kicked back by their spam blocking system.

My fear on this Monday morning: I build up the proper level of anxiety waiting for this period of time to run out (exactly 3 weeks from today), resend and the very same day I receive a rejection for the initial query. Additional horror would come if they rejected the resend as I suspect they would.

In other news, wedding #2 was amazing even though Bridesmaid #4 fainted in the third quarter of the ceremony. She was quickly whisked to safety and the vows were completed. We all made it to the reception and the THREE after parties in one piece. My toast was well received even though my voice carries the silken tones of a very seductive man and then I was actually handed the bouquet by the bride in front of all the guests to eliminate any possible dance floor injuries (I didn't want the bouquet, but a disabled woman was taken out last year during the bouquet toss at another friends wedding).

No one laughed in my face, I repeat, IN MY FACE, when I told them I was writing romance novels for the foreseeable future. The bride and Bridesmaid #2 actually gave me all sorts of fun bits on being in Alpha Delta Pi and offered to help me with my research for Book #2. Sleeping in SPANX isn't as bad as it sounds and I will never fly United Airlines again. If you haven't discovered the joys of SPANX, please visit their website.

The bride and groom danced their first dance to...

Day 37

3 Quick Bits

Bits 1: I received another form rejection this morning. This one was extremely polite and a little bit inspirational, reminding me, the writer, that the literary world is very subjective and even though my work may not have been for them, there are still other agents out there who may be very excited to represent my work. And I believe it.

Bit 2: Some good news... M and I have officially decided to work on a screenplay together. She's a pretty awesome person to be around in general and she's an amazing writer. The idea of jumping into this project with her is keeping my spirits extra high as I pack for wedding #2. Overnight flight with a layover. YAY!

Bit 3: Here are a few pieces by the artist El Mac. His murals are all over the world, several spread around Southern California and a couple of which I pass daily in LA. He's inspired a scene in my book (elmac.net). I would also give a solid lock of good hair to get cover art from this man.

Tally to Date --- >4 Out in the Universe
                         7 No!

Day 32

My week went from bad to weird to good to ALRIGHT!. Bad because I was really tired and tired makes me cranky. More bad because Jersey Shore isn't that funny the second time around. Weird because the cranky lingered when there was no reason for it. Good because Mrs. Lucky's insurance co. gave me no hassle and offered to handle all of the repairs and a rental.

ALRIGHT! came twice. The first time was when I heard Prop 8 had been overturned. I could write many a blog post about that subject, so I'll just say I'm more than happy California has finally seen the light... in terms of gay marriage. If they could just fix this whole bankruptcy thing. I'm looking at you, Arnold.

ALRIGHT! part two came around when I met a writer/actress friend last night. We'll call her M. She is blunt like myself and has no issue telling me when something I write/do/say/wear/order for dinner sucks. She read my book and she loved it. I was actually floored by her critique and her praise which meant even more coming from her because she doesn't read a lot of romance or paranormal. I know my work will not be for everyone and I didn't write it with that crazy idea in mind, but it was nice to hear that someone who isn't exactly my target audience still enjoyed the characters and the story.

We were on to movies then, her first love and my second. I've had an idea for a screenplay for over a year, but something has just been a little off when it comes to sitting down to write it. I told the idea to M and she is completely on board with helping me flesh it out. The conversation rolled over to our feelings on Disney Princesses, Zoe Saldana and Meryl Streep and then ex-boyfriends and then it was late and time to go home.

I am still waiting to hear back on the 4 remaining queries and I have plenty more to send out. I'll be in writer (hopefully not twitter) mode all weekend, with a short break to go salsa dancing with my best friend who I've been blowing off since April-ish, when I crawled into a deep writing hidey-hole. I'm interested to see what and who the weekend brings...

I think this picture is funny.

UPDATE: I just realized the NFL preseason starts this Sunday. I'm going to go ahead and say that qualifies for ALRIGHT! part 3.   :)

Day 24

WARNING: THIS POST HAS A LOT OF PICTURES!

Another good day, even though an old lady ripped my passenger side headlight completely out of its mount on my way home. She was nice and for once in my starving artist life, I have car insurance. Those little things kept me from freaking out in the middle of Beverly Hills as I shoved my headlight back into place. Anyway...

Last night I had decided that I wanted my next blog post to be about my writer wishes and dreams. I was watching HBO's newest documentary, LUCKY (also the last name of the old woman who sideswiped the hell out of my Corolla. seriously, her last name was Lucky) and a lovely science teacher, who'd won several million dollars in the lottery, talked about all of the things he dreamt of buying if he'd ever selected those magic numbers. His current life isn't one I'd wish for, but he made an excellent point about how the fantasy of being rich and buying whatever he wanted was a large part of the fun of playing the lottery in the first place. I have to agree. I may never be a millionaire off the sale of anything I crank out, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about the things I do want in terms of my writing career, even if some of those things may seem a little ridiculous.



Meanwhile...while I was at work, agent Rachelle Gardner posted a helpful bit on her blog about writers managing their expectations and for a brief moment I was afraid that Rachelle had pooed on some of the fanciful ideas that are bouncing around in my head. She didn't, so I'll share a few things I sort of secretly want. I'm sure I'll add to this list.

 
1. To have Adam Hughes do the cover art for something I write. AH! is my favorite comic book artist. I love the way he captures the female form, particularly Wonder Woman's form. My book has several female characters and it would be great to see him bring them to life visually. Yes, these are a few samples of his work

2. To have one complete stranger tell me they liked my book. I got to work with the woman who wrote my favorite movie ever, Girls Just Want to Have Fun. She was shocked and flattered to find out just how much I loved it. I'd love to hear just a taste of that from a reader. Just a taste.

3. To get a check to pay off my injured Corolla. It's not a whole lot of money.


I fully understand that none of these things may ever happen, BUT these are the kind of nice thoughts that add to the positivity and make it a lot easier to swallow rejections.

Some time in my adult life I would also like to own one of the following breed of dogs: Husky, Newfoundland (all black), Great Dane, A Chocolate and Yellow Lab. I need to have both or my plan wont work, or German Shepherd. I will name him Norm.

I think I can manage the dog situation and I will keep working towards wishes 1-3 and then some.

POSITIVITY RULES!!

 i feel like im getting closer to finding my Ginger.♥

Day 23

Yesterday I received another form rejection, but it was the most polite rejection I've gotten so far, so I didn't feel so bad. From there, the day just got better and better. I started a new job that I enjoy. When I got home, I found that the UPS guy had left another bridesmaids dress from J. Crew outside my door. Hooray. I love my friends. I hate them for getting married. I also love that my neighbors aren't prone to thievery. This dress actually fits. Mostly. It's still a little crazy in the bust area, but I only have to wear it once so I'll survive.

After the dress was stored to be ignored until August 14th, I was able to hang out with my boyfriend for a while, which means he sat next to me while I read through my manuscript again. Afterward, he accompanied me to a book signing with Maggie Stiefvater. The night almost peaked when she actually wrote "Rebekah -Haters gonna hate.."* inside my copy of Shiver, but things hit an all time high when she told me she'd received hundreds of rejections before she landed her first deal. I have a long, LONG way to go before something I've written even sees shelves, which I know it will if I keep trying and improving, but it was nice to have more conformation that I am not alone and will not be alone in this journey. It's strange how much you like to know that others have felt your pain. Anyway, she told some great stories and signed our books. We had Chinese food after that.

Today has started off quite nicely, as well. While waiting in line for the DMV to open, I was able to start Maggie's most recent book Linger and after I was handed my number (B022) to wait in another line, I was able to outline a good chunk of my next book in the trusty leather notebook I carry around. I'm back home now, preparing my query package for other agent. Maybe this will be the one. Who knows :)

And since I haven't mentioned it, my book is a paranormal romance between two girls. Yup, two girls.

Tally to Date ---> 4 Out in the Universe
                         6 No!

*she really did write that in my book.

DAY 19... the wee hours

I haven't updated in while because I've been in a very negative head space. I was put in the negative head space by this bridesmaids dress.

The wedding was magical and the reception was a blast, but the dress was miserable. I got passed the dress because I didn't really have a choice and boarded a red eye to Boston, where I threw up a tainted Strawberry Frapaccino 20 minutes into the flight, all over the flight attendants' station in the rear of the plane. They were very gracious, offering me ginger ale and making sure no one bugged me while I sulked in the bathroom for 40 minutes. I didn't sleep a wink on the 6 hour flight, spent the whole day shopping with my mother and the whole night being a good friend to the bride. 3 hours of sticky sleep later, I was off to the beach with another friend to continue being a good friend. I spent the week sweating in unbelievable July humidity and when I finally got to sit down to send out more queries, I found out my mother had been completely wrong about my father switching over from dial-up to wi-fi. I did make use of my free moments, re-reading my book, AGAIN.

So I came back to LA... mission critical... sending out more queries.

At this stage in the game, I'm submitting to a few agents who would like a synopsis along with your query little. Some want a 1 page synopsis, some want 2 pages and a few want 5 page synopses. So I'd planned on tackling the 1 pager first and of course I ran into a few roadblocks.

Roadblock 1: My Boyfriend
I've noticed on twitter and facebook a lot of people like to complain about their significant others. I think this is weird. I actually like my boyfriend. Actually, I love him. I missed him a lot while I was away (several factors kept him from coming with me... work, my mother's puritanical views. work). I wanted to spend some time with him. So that happened.

Roadblock 2: A Serious Lack of Sleep
I am a little nuts when it comes to my schedule. I usually eat, sleep, wake up, workout at the same time everyday, so sleeping only a few hours a night for a whole week wasn't great for me. I can do it for months on end, but when my body sees that window for rest, it throws up its elbows and jumps through that window. I had a beautiful to-do list written out in the beginning of the week. I was so tired I ended up staring at the television, let my eyes water to re-runs of Amazing Wedding Cakes. Tuesday I woke up in a puddle of my own drool with re-runs of Law and Order SVU on at full volume. Finally I gave in and tried to get 8 hours the next couple nights, but I still felt like I was slacking even though I was researching my butt off.


Roadblock 3: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
It's real and I have it. I thought I was seriously crazy in high school and college because I had to lock myself in a silent, windowless room to get any amount of homework done. I cried in my twelfth grade genetics class because I wanted to get an A and I was having such a hard time focusing. I almost dropped out of college over a Dickens paper I just couldn't seem to write. Now that I know that I have it, it just makes my difficulty with focusing a little better, because I know I'm not crazy. I've tried Adderall. It works GREAT. Totally helps you focus... on whatever you're already focused on. I've set out to write two chapters in a day and have ended up cleaning my entire place top to bottom, which included taking apart a fan to clean the blades. Most ADD meds are mild forms of Meth, in my opinion and coming down from them makes you cranky as all get out. Without the druggies, if I'm on the ADHD rollercoaster, its hard to get off. I'm stuck on the ride at the moment.

So it's Friday. I've researched more agents, got some very helpful resources on writing a romance synopsis from a published author who is a pretty cool lady in general and I bugged some lit agents and assistants on twitter* (got some great feedback). Still, I head to bed synopsis-less and a little sad.

Here's where I keep it positive, though. I have a roof over my head and a nice family who felt really bad that I puked on the plane. The wedding was actually fun and my boyfriend is still nice to look at. I was down in the dumps before I pumped out one of my favorite chapters and an epilogue I was really happy with. I will write this synopsis and then I will write another one and another. True Blood will start to level out in terms of comprehensive story lines. And I will find an agent...eventually.

p.s. j. crew does not cater to big chested women, but the ladies in their call center were very sympathetic to my problems.

*ive added Lit agent's assistant Cassandra Marshall to the sidebar. Her blog is helpful and positive. I need the positive.

Day 8

Got two more form rejections this morning. Spirits are high, though. Traveling to a wedding this week/weekend. My parents finally got wifi, so my free time will be spent querying aggressively.

Tally to Date ---> 5 Out in the Universe
                         3 Thanks but no thanks
                         2 You have to be joking!


In other news, "Made You Look" by Nas has been in my head all week and I really want this bag. 

Day 3

Like me and all of my personalities, every agent is different. Doing my best to bring my best work forward to find that special one..

After going through about 12 that were too inappropriate for any sort of bookseller that doesn't also carry lube, I settled on a title today. Feel super about that.

Tally to Date ---> 7 Out in the Universe
                         2 No!


                         

 I would like a Sam Summer before bed.

An hour and 6 minutes before Day 3...

Learned a few more things and I'm not loving my title. What will I do... Will Steph be able to help me...

Day 2

I woke up to a rejection in my inbox. Again, the turn around was pretty quick. This particular agent requested 2-4 weeks for an e-reply. They got back to me in 7 hours. I will be very honest, my query letter was too long and didn't tell the right parts of the story. I lived, I learned, I went in search of help. For a few minutes the sensitive six year old in me wished they'd given it at least a whole day. The quick turn around made me think they skimmed a bunch of queries or simply didn't read mine. In the end the mistake was mine.

Crappy Query = Rejection.

Anyway, I was over my own failing some time around 8:30 am. I need one agent, not all of the agents.  I sent my awesome bf off to work and got back on the query pony.

I resisted the urge to watch Say Yes To The Dress and did 4 things.

1: I went back in search of query letters that actually helped people land an agent. Book Ends LLC has a few sample query letters from their own clients and they are good. I hate mystery novels, but the two queries she posted from mystery writers were so good I'm going to read their books. (BELLC's link is in the side bar -->)

2: I rewrote my query.

3: I had it critiqued.

4: I rewrote it again.

I ate lunch and folded towels in there somewhere. Then I drove across town listening to Passion Pit. All in, a good day. I've learned a ton in the past 12 hours and I'll probably spend the rest of the night learning some more, while trying to stay away from conversations about Qhuinn and Blay and Manny and Payne. I always get sucked into those.

Tally to Date ---> 2 No!
                         3 Out in the Universe 

Amateur Tip: Research query letters. Research 'em hard.

Day 1... Part 3

I got some really helpful feed back on my query letter from a writers forum this evening. Taking the those tips to do some re-working before I send out more.

In the meantime... Cupcake Wars is on.

Day 1... Part 2

Sent out 4 queries.

- Received one form rejection (a general dear author letter saying the agent has decided to pass on your work based on your letter of summary) exactly 36 minutes after I sent it. 

I was totally okay with this because I spent a week pretty much reading up on how to expect several million rejections before you get some good news. Odd thing was this particular agent was on twitter not 10 minutes later talking about how they blew through a large number of queries in an hour and only approved 6. Didn't let that get me down,though I felt a little bad for the person who's query they openly mocked using examples.

2010 has been a pretty positive year for me so far. I'm going to keep this positivity thing going and hope for the best... ♥

Tally to Date ---> 1 No!
                         3 Out in the Universe

Day 1 of Querying...

So I wrote the book. I'm happy with it and completely okay with the fact that it has a specific audience in mind. I'm not looking for everyone to love me or my book (although that might be interesting for a day or two). I am however looking for an agent to represent this book and bring it to a publisher that is willing to put it in people's hands.

I'm gonna blog about it as I go, cause blogging is the thing to do these days. And we'll see sooner or later what has becomes of this tale I wrote.

This picture has nothing to do with my querying process. I just like wonder woman.