It’s December… how did your NaNo-ing or projects go in November? Well, whether they went as planned or flopped, you’re still here, reading this blog, which means: You made it through the month, and that’s something to celebrate!

Here, have a cookie:

And while you’re munching away, why don’t you tell me what your goals are for December? Anything fun or exciting planned? I have a couple non-writing related things happening for these next few weeks, so my goal is to get through those without perishing, and then get back to the writing goals… though I still hope to participate in storypraxis as much as I can!

Anything else…?

*squints at Google Friend Connect*

It’s my understanding that in the blogosphere (also, I’m torn on whether I like that word or hate it with a passion), it’s tradition to hold a 100 Followers Contest… and seeing as how I am almost there…

Heck, I like tradition (usually), so a contest it is! Next week, keep your eyes peeled for a contest/giveaway/blog party to celebrate YOU, my readers, and also to contribute to the holiday spirit by giving away PRESENTS. Who doesn’t like presents? Crazy people, that’s who.

Also, anyone submitting these days? I know things start to slow down in December, but there are still lots of open markets and anthology calls! I sent something to The Vestal Review and Tesseracts 15 at the end of November and have been refreshing my mailbox obsessively ever since.

And, that’s my update for today! Helpful posts will resume at some unscheduled point, but in the meantime, keep checking back for a giveaway or two. *w00t w00t*

(…er, if this post seems rather scattered, I *did* have two coffees this morning, and not quite enough sleep over the weekend…)

It’s been over a month since I did one of these! But that’s okay, I didn’t get a whole lot in November anyway, comparatively speaking, of course. I’m really looking forward to a lot of these… I just have to make it through all the reading for the course I’m taking (and get my final paper written) first!

FYI: In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by The Story Siren to showcase books you’ve received for review, bought, borrowed, or swapped. Anyone can participate, and it’s a great way to showcase new books and encourage blogger/commenter interaction!

My Dearest Husbando also had a birthday in November, and he received these books that I can’t wait to read :

So, that’s my November on a bookshelf! How have your November mailbox adventures been?

Received anything that you just can’t wait to snuggle up with as the holidays approach?

With less than a week to go in NaNoWriMo Land, I find myself sitting at 37,010k and wishing the month was over. Not because I don’t love NaNo – I do, very much – but when you’re writing at this pace with the goal of completing one specific novel, after awhile I start to miss the freedom to work on other projects.

But that’s all right… November is almost over, and I think for once I’ll be writing THE END when it’s all said and done. Not that I’ll have all the necessary scenes inside the story, but I think purposely finishing the story will help motivate me to go back and edit it in January. Otherwise, I’ll dawdle around for a few months trying to wrap things up, ultimately get frustrated that there’s no specific end goal in sight, and it’ll sit in a drawer for several years like all the other NaNo novels. I don’t want that to happen again!

And with the dawning of December right around the corner, I’m beginning to emerge from the November fog to realize that, well… I have 13 books to review that I really should have reviewed earlier. But, of course, November hit and anything not NaNo-related went out the window (and my memory).

So, in order to space them out a bit, I might backdate a few reviews here and there. I’m just weird like that when it comes to looking at blog posts. And plus, it’s my blog, so I can do it if I want to. LOL. I just thought I’d mention it so you’re not looking at the dates thinking…”Am I going crazy? That was posted 2 weeks ago???” No, it wasn’t (or WAS it? *cue Twilight Zone theme*), I just have a touch of OCD when it comes to posting.

With that, how are you doing with NaNo or your other November projects? I’m looking forward to getting back to all your blogs soon… I’m sure I’ve missed out on hearing about great stuff this month, so I’ll have to do a marathon-blog-post-reading-day or something.

See you all again soon

I’m still here! Writing, writing, writing.

Our NaNoWriMo target for the 15th is 25,000 words, and as of this morning I’m sitting at 21k. I’m hoping to jump the gun a bit and be closer to 40k by the end of this week, as my weekends this November have been filled with anything but writing… just too much going on, but isn’t that the way life is?

I’ll be back in December with regular posts again. As for right now, good luck with whatever you’re working on!

In the meantime, look at this adorable cover that a fellow Wrimo made for me!

Talk to you all soon!

And thanks again to those who voted / are voting for my Husbando’s Pepsi Refresh proposal… I really really really appreciate it!

I read a really good blog post this morning, which I highly recommend that you read and pass on to others (particularly anyone you know who needs it). It’s called:

Writers, Stop Being Mean to Each Other!

Thankfully, no one on this blog has been mean to anyone, and I’d say that above all, it’s a rarity… but every year as NaNo rolls around, mean writers pop out of the woodwork left, right and center.

Head over there and read it. What do you think? Have you run into this lately?

Also, if you have time, I’d really really really (x 1,000,000) appreciate it if you could do me a favor. Have you heard of the Pepsi Refresh Contest? People submit their ideas for a chance to win $25,000 from Pepsi… they’re supposed to be ideas for charity-type things, betterment of society, that sort of thing… (though some kinda aren’t).

My husbando’s web development company put a proposal together for this, and I’d be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL if you could please take a moment to vote for their idea. They want to rebuild the websites of 5 charities who desperately need new websites, and I know you all know how important it is for businesses to have good platforms these days, and a website is a big part of that.

His company is also planning to match the $25,000 prize money, because to fully rebuild five websites costs a lot more than that (especially for large charities, which is why they have crappy websites to begin with… they can’t afford good websites, but that means they’re losing out on visitors and donations, but without the donations they can’t afford things… it’s a vicious cycle!).

The websites they want to re-do are for: Epilepsy Ontario, Ontario March of Dimes, United Way of Halidmand-Norfolk, Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis Centre of Peel, Wellesley Institute.

If you’re so inclined, please go HERE and vote for Lifeline Design. I think you have to sign into the Pepsi site to do it, so I apologize for that (I think it’s so they can ensure no one abuses their voting privileges). You can vote once per day, so I have the page bookmarked for the month!

And if you want, share the link on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you SO VERY MUCH in advance I really appreciate it, and I’d love to see these charities get new websites that bring in more traffic and awareness of each cause.

And remember… mean writers suck. Let’s all keep being nice to each other!

This post is going to be a slew of randomness thrown together. No cute tips, or helpful advice, or book suggestions… just me spewing word vomit onto the screen, so to speak.

It’s the first week of NaNoWriMo, what do you expect?

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On NaNoWriMo

Yep, it’s the first week of NaNoWriMo. I’m the ML for our region for the second year, which means I’m in charge of everything and getting people organized. And promotions. And getting fun things together for everyone. And moderating our forum. And staying on top of my own word count as an example for others to follow.

Yeah, I definitely crashed and burned yesterday. Those of your who also struggle with severe stress & anxiety will understand—there are some day when you just can’t. I spent most of yesterday lying on the couch, hating myself and the world. This isn’t something I’ve talked about on the blog before (and I don’t know if I’ll ever mention it like this again), but I know there are some of you out there who struggle with the same thing, and please know that you’re not alone.

Today is much better, though I’m not back to normal yet. However, I switched projects and got caught up by writing the daily count for yesterday, which means I’m back on track and will be able to get today’s word count in at tonight’s write-in. I’m feeling much more confident now that I switched projects, even though I’d spent the last two months planning to work on a different project.

But I think that was maybe the problem… I planned to work on something else, but I didn’t actually have time to plan the project itself, I was far too busy with other things like work and ML duties. I felt like I was doing so much for other people, that I didn’t have any time to do the things I needed to for myself. I still feel that way a little bit… but this other project is simpler, mostly planned (I have a general outline, and the story is very linear), and I know I can finish it within the month. Plus, an agent recently posted that she’s looking for books in this same vein, so I may use that (querying her) as an end goal to push me through, even though writing is the last thing I want to do right now. Yeah, perfect timing for my mental health to go wonky, I know.

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On Blogging

This month, my posts will be sporadic at best, and complete and utter ramblings at worst. In order to not end the month as a quivering pile of jelly, I’m not going to commit to any regular posting schedule, including weekly memes and/or a previously mentioned new series of writing tips (I think I must have been insane when I said I wanted to start that this week).

So if you don’t hear much from me, that’s why.

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On 100 Followers

I’m almost there! And yes, I will be running a contest of sorts once I get there. I even have a few of the prizes already lined up, cute little things that I’ve found here and there… and of course, there will be a book or two up for offer. That’s just the way of things. So stay tuned for that!

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On the Crusader Challenge

I’m so sorry, guys… I’ve really dropped the ball on you recently. Please see the above section on NaNo to know why I didn’t get around to joining the second challenge last week. Also, please know that I’m reading your blogs and commenting as much as I have time for. It’s not that I don’t love you, promise.

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On Book Reviews

Oh, good grief. I have so many of these backed up that I don’t even know where to start. I’m going to try and get to some of these this month… though I’ll warn you that I’ve read some pretty crappy review books lately, so I’m not exactly motivated to write some of them. Oh well. I’ve committed, so that’s that.

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And now I’m going to leave this and get back to writing… I’m going to try and get to as many blogs as I can in the next 30 minutes and comment, and then I have to move on to other commitments… yeah, this post was entirely too self-indulgent, and I don’t plan to do it again anytime soon. But I didn’t have anything unique or funny or wise to say today, so… that’s that.

See you around, Wrimos and non-Wrimoing writerly types!

Here’s to a successful November, whatever you’re doing.

Today I’m featuring a two-week backlog of books… and I really wish my camera was connected to this computer, because it would be a whole lot easier to just take a photo and post that, but… since the software is on the Husbando’s computer and he’s very busy, the long way of things it is.

I should also mention I went to a discount store when looking for treats for my NaNoWriMo group, and found a bunch of classic books on sale for $1.88… which is why there are so many books this week! Whoo-hoo for discount sales! (If you’re in Canada and live near a Liquidation World store, I recommend you check out their shelf of books… you never know what you’ll find!)

FYI: In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by The Story Siren to showcase books you’ve received for review, bought, borrowed, or swapped. Anyone can participate, and it’s a great way to showcase new books and encourage blogger/commenter interaction!

ARCs

Purchased

Borrowed

(This is a huge, 500+ page anthology of Ms. Marvel comics, starting with Ms. Marvel Issue #1.)

So… that’s what my mailbox (and wallet) have been up to for the past few weeks! The Love Inspired books I actually bought for market research – I have a package of highlighters and the Harlequin guidelines for writing one of these things next to me, and I’ve started highlighting the book according to different elements (ie. conflict, romance, backstory, hero vs. heroine POV) so I can see what goes into writing one of these things… we’ll see how that goes, and I’ll probably write a whole post on it sometime (I got the idea from author Holly Lisle, so I can’t take credit for it!).

And with that… what came in YOUR mailbox this week?

No, this isn’t a post about titles… it’s just me not really having a good title for the post. Heh.

I know, I know… I haven’t been around much this week. Sorry for not letting you all know and leaving you hanging… I meant to put up a “the Faith is not in” sign this week, but didn’t get around to it.

There are only a few days before NaNoWriMo, so I’ve been trying to take it really easy this week in prep for the insanity that’ll soon begin. I haven’t visited any blogs, made any posts, done much of anything, really… so I’m not ignoring you, I’m just taking a bit of a break.

I’m hoping to get a few minutes today or tomorrow to participate in the Second Crusader Challenge, but I need to stay low-stress (I’d say “no-stress”, but I know that’s pretty much impossible) so I’m not going to push it if I’m not feeling the post.

Never fear, I’ll be back next week in full force. Until then, have a great final week of October, and happy plotting to those of you who are also in NaNo prep mode!

See you in a few days

Last week on the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents Editor’s Blog, author Anne Fortier wrote a guest post about the “4 Golden Rules of Being a Writer”.

If you haven’t had a chance to read it, head over there and check it out. Then come back here and let’s talk about it!

Rule One was:

“Start at square one.”

The idea here is that there are no shortcuts in this business. You can’t spend all your time chasing down this connection or that connection, hoping someone will introduce you to an agent or editor known by a friend of a friend of a friend.

I’d add to this that it’s up to you to make those connections first-hand. Attend conferences, follow agents or editors on Twitter or read their blogs, and if by some chance someone does know someone who knows someone… it might be worth checking out, but don’t invest all your time and energy into it.

Rule Two was:

“Do your homework.”

I think this ties in nicely to Rule One, don’t you? It involves not taking shortcuts with your manuscript and query letter. Formatting, grammar, specific guidelines for each agent / editor / publishing house—all these things are crucial when you’re putting your work out there.

I’d also add to this that when you do your homework on these things, pay attention each and every time. It’s too easy to read five or six different guidelines here or there and then allow your eyes to skim over the requirements on other guideline pages. Yep, it’s tedious. Yep, it’s hard work. But think of it this way: This is your writing career, not some fanciful hobby (well, maybe it is… in which case, you’ve got it much easier than the rest of us!).

You wouldn’t hand in a half-completed essay to a professor and expect to get an A+, right? So why would you ignore important guidelines and expect an agent or editor to offer representation?

Rule Three was:

“Pitch your book before you write it.”

Okay, Fortier, what are you talking about? Aren’t we supposed to finish our manuscripts before doing anything with them?

What she’s saying here is: Write your query first, then write your manuscript. That way, you’ll be thinking about your book in terms of why you’re writing it and what the story needs to do as a whole, rather than ending up with a rambling mess at the end that you can’t seem to make any sense of. This is a “thinking through the story early on” piece of advice.

I see what she’s getting at… but I don’t think this always works. This type of thing is going to depend on whether you’re a panster or a plotter, and while each of us surely begins a novel with some vague idea of what’s going to happen, I don’t necessarily think writing a query letter before you’ve put one word down on paper is going to help, all the time.

What I do believe in is Holly Lisle’s concept of “The Sentence.” If you’ve never heard of this before, you’re missing out! This is a one-line summary that tells us what your book is about. Protagonist, antagonist, conflict + twist = the whole book. That, to me, is the kind of thing we all need before starting a novel.

How about you? Do you write a query first, or have you tried writing one first before?

Rule Four was:

“Don’t jump the gun.”

The point here is to be ready before doing anything rash. Be absolutely ready. And then make sure you’re not rushing things when you do put yourself out there.

Sure, I see her point here. Finish the manuscript. Polish it up and make it shine so brightly that no one can ignore it. Then polish it again. But one thing here that I’m not sure I agree with is her advice to not “send query letters to more than one agent at a time.” Er… I sure hope she means not to send the same letter to multiple agents, because if you’re not sending out plenty of queries when the time is right, you’re going to be spending an awfully long time in the query stage.

Some agents respond within 24 hours, some within a week, some within 6 weeks, and some take a few months. I don’t think waiting to hear back from each agent before sending another query out is the most practical course of action.

What do you think? How have you handled the query stage? Send them out in batches, or wait for each reply to come back in?

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And those were the “Golden Rules” of being a writer in this article. Hmm… are those really the best and most important rules for writers? What would you have included instead? What wouldn’t you have put on this list?