I’d hoped to have a new version of this blog up and running by now, which is why I hadn’t posted yet… I wanted the first post of the year to be NEW and SPECTACULAR and EXCITING…

Well, sometimes life gets in the way and things don’t quite work out the way you expect. But that’s alright. I’ll get back into the swing of posting sooner or later, but for now I just wanted to say “hello, blog readers” and “no, I’m not gone, I just had an extended holiday from blogging”!

I have several outstanding book reviews from 2009 to post over the next few days (not outstanding as in quality, though I’d like to think my reviews are half decent… I mean outstanding in terms of time), so there’s something to look forward to!

I’ve also neglected to post my thoughts on the Holly Lisle courses I’m taking, so hopefully I’ll get to that sometime this month. I’m taking both her ‘How to Think Sideways: Career Survival School for Writers’ and ‘How to Revise Your Novel’, and they’ve been invaluable thus far… and I’d like to share why

Until then… happy writing, reading, and revising (there seem to be a lot of us doing that these days), and I’ll see you soon.

By now, I’m sure most of you are sick of hearing about the Harlequin controversy that’s going on right now, with the launch of their new vanity press. If you haven’t heard about it… clearly you’ve been living under a rock without internet access to check your blog feeds, because honey, this is BIG.

And  if you’re like me, you might have read all the press releases, blog posts, rantings, and gone… “Huh?”

At first, I thought “isn’t everyone just blowing this a bit out of proportion?”

This morning, I read a few more posts about it, and began to change my tune. What helped me understand the whole thing was a post over at Jackie Kessler’s blog, where she breaks it down in a fictional dialogue between a writer and the Harlequin vanity line.

If you’re looking for a clear and concise outline of what’s going down, please head over there and read that post. Then, feel free to rant and rave all you want:

–> The Day After: Harlequin Blinks <–

It’s mid-September, 2009. How did we get here so fast? Another summer zipped by, and another fall is well on its way… and what do I have to show for it?

Well, not much. Or at least I feel it’s not much, but here’s where I stand in terms of WIPs and so forth:

• A Work in Progress (2007) – First Draft complete, currently under second read-through.

• The Door in the Wall (2008) – First Draft complete (minus a few paragraphs at the end), currently under first read-through.

Yikes. That’s a lot of work… the 2008 manuscript needs a lot more work before it’s coherent in any way, and I feel the 2007 novel is much, much closer to being ready than it was a year ago. Lots of edits still to do, but progress is progress. The frustrating part is that I want to be able to devote myself to new stories, and I wish these ones would just be done & get out of the way for awhile. But, that’s not how we writers do things, is it? Baby steps, baby steps.

In the meantime, I’m trying to:

• Plot my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel.
• Think about which novel to write as part of a course I’m taking (more on that sometime soon).
• Do the work for above mentioned course.
• Finish my cat care ebook.
• Finish edits on an inspirational booklet for a client.
• Learn my way around in my new volunteer editor position for an online flash fiction magazine (more on that another time too!).
• Find more work that I can actually be paid for!

This comes in the midst of teaching 2 dance classes a week, taking an additional 3 dance classes for myself (two of which are performance troupes), trying to read & review all the ARCs that keep showing up in my mailbox, maintaining this blog, editing the blog for Lifeline Design.ca, keeping my friends (haha), caring for a cat/bird/husband & all associated things that come with a marriage and household. Ah, and I have an application in to be this year’s NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison for my region (which I should hear back about within the next week).

It’s a lot. I probably missed something in there, but that’s that, and now it’s documented… so people can bug me about getting my work done! I figured, it’s been awhile since I updated everyone on what I’m doing, so there you have it! Apologies if it came off as whiny… not my intention

And to all of you who have huge projects you’re dealing with, or many little ones you’re trying to juggle, I wish you all the best in the coming months. Autumn is a beautiful season (my favorite, actually), but is it ever busy… yet somehow, I look forward to it every year. Good luck with whatever you’re doing! And if you’re really excited about it, please go ahead and share it with us in the comment section!

Ah, conference season. The sweet smell of… other people attending ‘The Big Ones’, while you sit at home wondering how everyone can afford trips to Denver or California or Tennessee in the middle of the year. Right around summer vacation season, no less!

But what about attending a smaller, one-day conference someplace that you can drive to? I’ve heard that such things exist, but until a few weeks ago, I’d never actually seen evidence of one…

A few weeks back, Susan at Reviews from Innisfree posted a status message on a social networking site that asked if anyone else was going to something called ‘PYI’. “What on earth…?” I wondered, and promptly plugged it into Google to find out. Here’s what I found:

Packaging Your Imagination 2009

“A day of workshops for those interested in writing, illustrating or performing for young people”

This is a one-day conference held by CANSCAIP (The Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers) on November 7th, 2009. From the looks of things, you don’t have to be a member to attend, though you can join for a $10 discount when you register for the conference (which is only $135.00). Your registration includes 3 sessions, morning coffee, lunch (for the first 120 registrants), and the keynote address by none other than the well-loved Kenneth Oppel. Yes, this Kenneth Oppel –>

And guess what? For all us writerly types living in Southern Ontario (or anywhere within driving distance, really… that includes you, Buffalo!), we can easily drive into Toronto, take in a day of writing sessions, and drive home, without having to shell out money for a flight/hotel/enormous conference fees or losing money from taking time off work. How exciting is it to have something like this in our own little corner?

Admittedly, I haven’t registered yet, as I’m not 100% certain I can go… but if you can, I encourage you to sign up and get as much as you can out of it. It looks like they have some great session topics lined up.

Question: For those of you who don’t live around here – have you ever attended a one-day conference in your area? How did you find that compared to a larger conference (if you’ve been to one), and did you feel it was time well spent?

Ah, that all-encompassing first line… the one that keeps us up at night writing, so that we can keep others up at night reading.

But what if someone wrote the first line for you? Then all you have to do is write the rest of the story. Simple, yes?

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a literary journal that does just that. It’s called The First Line, and I love it. When I first fell into the website, I thought “what a neat idea”… and promptly ordered a copy of their latest issue. I read it, went back to the website, grabbed the ‘first line’ for August – wrote something – and submitted. They didn’t take it (oh noes!), but that’s alright… the next issue’s submissions are due November 1st, and I’ll probably try again.

I love this journal because I find it fascinating to see where the human mind can go when everyone starts from the same place. There are so many different stories that can be told, regardless of that first line… it’s like when you sit down to plot your latest novel idea, and there are a million different directions you could take the story in. Here, it actually happens.

I wanted to share this find with others because I suspect it has limited circulation, and I’m not sure how many people outside the 30 or so bookstores listed which carry the journal actually know about it. I wish I could remember where I saw the listing for it so I could give him/her/it credit, but alas, all I can do is share it with you and hope you like it enough to spread the word. A little boost in subscriptions from this side of the pond wouldn’t hurt, right?

All I know is… I’ve subscribed, and am looking forward to curling up on the couch with the fall issue and a cup of tea in the near future.

Has anyone else recently (or in the past) stumbled across a hidden gem of a journal/magazine you wish more people knew about?

So, I was going to write something useful and interesting today, but I was struck by a curiosity-driven question.

How did you feel the first time you submitted your work – be it an article, manuscript, query, whatever – to someone for publication?

Over the weekend, I took the plunge and submitted something to a journal. It wasn’t great, and I know it wasn’t my best work, but I needed to break that psychological barrier of ‘not good enough yet’ and just get my work out there. After all, we writers need to amass a nice pile of rejection slips before the acceptances come in, right? And what better time to start than now?

What I didn’t expect was how emotional the experience would be. It’s like… sending a part of your soul away to be judged & cast aside (because that’s what will happen, 99% of the time). Not only does it take courage to do what we do, but what normal person seeks out the rejection of something precious to them, over and over and over again? We writers are definitely not normal.

When I hit “send” on that email & attached piece, it took all of 30 seconds before it hit me. My husband asked me some question about supper and I snapped at him, realizing only after I apologized that I’d just send a part of me out into the world for the very first time, and I broke down. Was it fear? Relief? Writer’s post-partum? I’m still not sure. I was excited and proud of myself that I’d sent something and actually made the deadline, sure… but what was it that caused such an outpouring of emotion?

I’m still trying to figure it out, and I wonder if I’ll feel that way every time. What I’m really curious about is everyone else… what was your experience the first time you submitted something? Did you jump around the house with joy and excitement? Did you tremble with nervous fear? Did you settle down with a cup of tea and relax with a sense of accomplishment?

We writers are strange types, and we all deal with the various stages of the writing process in different ways. So… let’s hear about it!

Yesterday, I was catching up on my Google reader feed, and happened to come across a post written a few days ago by Susan at Notes from Innisfree. To my surprise, I was one of her chosen recipients of the ‘Superior Scribbler Award’, a sort of “blog-style chain letter award” that’s been going around lately.

The blog award rules are as follows:

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.

Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Thank you Susan!!! I’m honored… especially when I’m such a new face (is that the right way of putting it?) on the blog scene. Not that I’m new to blogging, I’ve been doing this for awhile… but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to connect with other bloggers on a regular basis. Heck, I only set up an RSS reader a few weeks ago (the horrors! I know!). Pretty bizarre for someone who spends the majority of their day on the computer, isn’t it?

And so, I come to what should be my next step with The Award, passing it on to others. Okay, let’s see… nope, she already has it… how about… oh, she already has it too… maybe… nope… oh, crud. Looks like nearly everyone I follow already has this award?!? What does this say about my blog reading choices? Lol. Like I said, I’m new to this game…

Ah hah! I’ve found a few that I’d like to pass this on to.

• Amy Jane @ Untangling Tales. Amy Jane blogs about writing, books, life, and the stories she’s working on. Her posts are calm, fluid, and engaging.
• Kari @ Imperfect Clarity: Perceptions of a Wannabe Writer. Kari blogs about writing, posts interviews with authors, and has the occasional contest! Her posts are honest and entertaining.
• thekoolaidmom @ In the Shadow of Mt. TBR. Book reviews, funny posts & videos, and the occasional giveaway! Lots of extras at this blog make it a fun place to be.
• Susan @ Susan’s Multiply website/blog. Susan is a wonderful, warm woman who I met on Librarything.com. She posts her reading lists, thoughts on life, and anything else that strikes her fancy. She also has some beautiful photographs of her home, cats, and places around Romania!

And those are my choices! Hope you enjoy reading these blogs, and thanks again to Susan for bestowing the honor on me & my little corner of the Interweb.

My deepest, humblest apologies to those of you who have stopped by my blog, taken precious time out of your day to read & comment on posts, and then found that your comment never showed up, even several days later.

It turns out that ALL comments since November have been rerouted into the spam folder, for no logical reason that I can currently comprehend. I’m doing my best to figure out and fix the problem, but until then, I promise to spend at least 15 minutes per day sorting through the spam comments and finding YOURS, and approving them to post. I found a number of them today, and have replied to as many as I could.

Again, I apologize. I had no idea this was happening, and I didn’t catch it until today. I really am very grateful for all your visits and comments, and I hope that this won’t deter you from coming back in the future. I’ll do everything I possibly can to approve all comments at the end of each day (at least)… and hopefully get the filter fixed in the meantime!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have you heard? Been reading your copy of ‘Shelf Awareness’ e-newsletter every morning, if you’re a librarian or bookseller? Done a Google search for YA publishers lately?

If you haven’t kept up with what’s going on, it’s pretty big news: Harlequin is jumping on the YA bandwagon with a new imprint, called Harlequin Teen. The website isn’t complete yet, and there are only 3 titles officially announced so far, but this is big stuff. With the popularity of teen/young adult fiction, I suppose it was only a matter of time before everyone jumped on the bandwagon… and for ‘unagented’ authors like myself, a new imprint such as this is a hynotizing, flashing neon sign.

Before you jump out of your seat in outrage, thinking of all the horrible possibilities for teen-directed Harlequin romances, I’ll remind you that in the past decade, Harlequin has branched out create a new image. Yes, they still sell smut, but they also have imprints for Christian romance, fantasy/paranormal fiction, chick lit, historical romance, and now… teen fiction.

For this imprint, they’re looking for:

“Fresh, authentic teen fiction featuring extraordinary characters and extraordinary stories set in contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, science-fiction and historical worlds.”

Hmm. Interesting. The first book in the imprint comes out July 29th, called My Soul to Take, about a teenage bean sidhe (ie. banshee). Now that sounds like an interesting concept! (I wish I’d thought of it… hrrmph.) To help promote this first novel, the author is offering an 80-page e-book prequel for free on the book’s website – which I plan to read. If it’s not half bad, I plan to pick up the book when it’s released, and see how that is. If it’s not half bad as well, I plan to wait for the August & September releases, read those, and see what they’re like.

The good thing about Harlequin imprints is that they take unsolicited manuscripts, and many a writer has begun their career with Harlequin. In the past, that’s meant writing smut and moving upward, but thanks to their new imprints, that isn’t always the case…

Then again, it’s still a publisher known for the “romances” it publishes. Would I be comfortable, morally speaking, being published by a place like this? That’s a question only I can answer for myself (and you for yourself), but it’s something worth considering in the process.

At the very least, it’s a new opportunity to think about, pray about, and examine carefully. Many changes in the publishing industry have recently been viewed as negative – small presses closing, imprints shutting down – and it’s easy to forget all the new and exciting things that are happening. This could be one of them! And I, for one, will be watching closely.