The play structure from hell is finished!

Whew!

Who knew building something from a kit would be so much work. Of course, if we didn’t have to deal with the three gremlins, it would have gone a lot faster, but I am proud to say we are now done, and it looks good. The kids are thrilled.

Well…they were. Until Gremlin #2 realized a family of spiders had taken over. He screamed like a little girl – over and over and over. I will actually be surprised if he uses the darn thing after the terror he experienced yesterday.

But, … Read more »

The falling snow increased in intensity, the headlights from Ethan’s BMW illuminating the large, white flakes as they danced across the road in the dark. With one hand on the wheel, he reached over and turned up the radio.

“I like this song.” Sam tapped her foot to the beat of Anything But Mine and hummed along with Kenny Chesney. “I’m reading a book by the same title.”

“Any good?”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, actually, it is. But the author’s sort of left me hanging. Kinda sucks.”

“Hate it when that happens.” Ethan smiled and turned the wheel. Nothing happened. His … Read more »

There’s no real rhyme or reason to this, just things that are on my mind.

An agent has shown interest in Marina’s Bane. Wahoo, yippie! For some reason, I’m not all that thrilled. I mean, I am, but I’m more at the “Oh, crap, now what do I do?” stage. In an email she mentioned there were “problems” that needed to be fixed, which means revisions. Which is no biggie…but I’ve been obsessing all weekend about what those “problems” could be. She called on Friday, but of course, I missed the call, so I have to wait until to … Read more »

As of today:

Marina’s Bane:

3 fulls out – 1 month, 1 month, 1 week
2 Partials out – 4.5 weeks, 7 weeks
1 other request on a partial if I cut 10K words. Waiting to send on that one until I hear back on the fulls out currently.
14 Out-standing Queries (may need to write off a few of those).

Wait For Me:

1 Partial out – 7 weeks
1 10-pg partial out (I know, don’t laugh) – 1 week
7 Queries from a week ago still waiting on

Debating whether I should send more MB queries, or wait … Read more »

Probably the one RWR article that gets me going is the First Sale column. I mean, come on, I hope to be there soon. So I’m always curious “who’s” making it now. And while I’m usually excited to read it, I’m generally depressed after having done so.

So and so announces her first sale. This was the first manuscript she finished. She has been writing for one year.

Well, gee. That makes me feel spiffy.

So and so announces her first sale. This was the second manuscript she finished. She has been writing for twelve years.

Now here’s where … Read more »

When I was a teacher, I used to live for summer break. Long, lazy days, no responsibilities, nothing to do but bask in the warmth and relish my time away from hormonally crazed teenagers. Every teacher knows without summer vacation, they’d lose that slight grasp on their sanity they’re desperately trying to hang on to.

Then I quit teaching. And now, summer vacation is no longer that most treasured time of the year, it’s my own personal HELL.

Darling daughter had her last day of school yesterday. Forget the fact she was only in Kindergarten and was only going to … Read more »

Since I’m currently in Query Hell, I thought I’d take a minute to dissect the most recent rejection letter I received on a requested partial. Seriously, do agents get together and mass-copy these things? Cause I swear I’ve received this one numerous times from different agencies.

Dear Ms. Naughton:

Thank you for the opportunity to consider your partial of Marina’s Bane.
What the hell kind of title is that anyway? Were you out to lunch when you came up with it?

Unfortunately, after careful consideration, …
Careful consideration? ROFL. As if. Do you realize how many submissions I receive each … Read more »

Dear Uber-Agent,

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my 500,000-word “almost” (but not even close) completed suspense novel, The Sucky Writer.

Romance Novelist Elisabeth Naughton has been searching for an agent all her life. Unable to face rejection, she continues to write with no end in sight. She’s a panster at heart and doesn’t understand the concepts of plotting, or manuscript length or even character arcs. But she knows how to put words on paper, dammit. And she’s darn good at it.

When she decides to hone her craft by signing up for a … Read more »

Seriously.

I’m a pretty private person. In the year and a half I’ve been seriously writing, I’ve only shared my words with a handful of people. I finally mustered up the courage to tell my mother about my writing for two reasons. One, I wanted to go to Nationals in Reno this year, and two, I needed a babysitter for the kids while DH was at work during the day. Since my mother is a teacher and is off for the summer, she was willing to watch the kids. But asking that one small favor has opened up a whole … Read more »

Muse drops onto the couch with a large glass of wine, a bowl full of Hershey’s chocolate kisses and the hot and tantalizing sex scenes in HOTM. If those heroes of hers think she’s yielding to their bitching and complaining, they have another thing coming.

SHE has one important novel to finish reading for her cp and the uber-agent request said cp received.

A wicked grin quirks the Muse’s mouth. Little do those complainers of hers know they were sent over to cp Muse’s basement for a reason. Until this novel is finished, they’re just going to have to hang … Read more »