Open Letters

Dear Daylight Savings,


Welcome back! I'm so thrilled to see you again! Please don't go anywhere ever again!


Ecstatically,
Me

Dear Husband,

I'm quite certain snoring would be an extenuating circumstance at my trial. Just food for thought.

Love,

Me

Dear Allergies,


I get it. You're here. I'm giving you all the goodies--the nose spray, the eyedrops, the humidifier. How do you keep coming up with new ways to torture me?


Go Away Please,
Me




Dear Powers-That-Be-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless,


Ball's in your court, people. Just saying.


Patiently,
Me

What I Did On My Blogger Vacation

I've been gone from here. A lot. As usual, no small part of it has to do with me being an infrequent blogger. But for once, I have a decent reason, too.

In October, I accidentally did my own personal NaNoWriMo.

See, I was plodding along through a decent project that I like, and I'm still fond of, but it just wasn't coming easily. Meanwhile, I was struck with inspiration in one of those bolt-from-the-blue moments.

I have an older project that has made the querying rounds with lots of requests, lots of positive feedback, but no offers. A lot of "great writing, not enough of a hook," "love your characters, love your dialogue, but this plot isn't original enough to be a debut." Which was really hard at the time, because I love those characters, too, and I felt like they weren't getting a fair shake (from their story, not from the agents).

Now, over a year later, I finally had my Aha! moment: I was telling the story from the wrong character's perspective. The idea stayed with me, and all but stalled progress on my other work-in-progress.

"I'll just write a few pages to get the basic premise down," I thought. "Get that first scene out of my head so I can concentrate on the other one."

Twenty-two days and 74,000 words later, it was done.

And it feels right. My wonderful crit partners have already given me the thumbs up and the first 50 pages have been through the ringer in my crit group. If I had a Magic 8 Ball, it would be reading 'All Signs Point to Yes.'

It doesn't feel like a first draft, or even a second, third or fourth. It feels like the final edits on the story I told a long time ago. I guess it just took a year, a leave of absence from work, and that final spark to give me the chance to absorb all the input I got on the query trail last time.

So, I'm not doing NaNo this year. I need a break! My wonderful friend Ryan made me my very own certificate though, for doing my personal NaNo a month early. It's at the top of this post. Pretty awesome right?

Fingers crossed, people! And for those of you doing NaNo--It can be done. Trust me!

- Liz

How I Became a Grown-Up and Learned to Revise

The key to revisions is feedback. Without it, you can only see so much. In the case of THE SORBET GUY, I got lots of wonderful, cheerleading feedback from readers who loved the story. But, I knew it was too short, and I knew there was a reason it wasn't grabbing the interest of any agents. Luckily, one agent gave me major editorial notes on the complete manuscript. Of course, that hurt, but he had a lot of good ideas.

With all of that information in mind, and having let the manuscript get some distance and maturity in an oak barrel (or, I didn't touch it for well over six months while I wrote another novel, revised a second, and started a third) I went back to it ready for some neutral assessment and adjustment.

Over the next few blogs, I'm going to discuss each stage of the process that I went through. For today, I'll just give you the rough outline.

1. I looked at the overall draft and flagged those areas that needed help.

2. I did rewrites and sent each chapter to two designated beta readers as I went along. One was a fabulous detail reader, who always took me to task on failure to show emotion and action. The other is unbeatable for big picture stuff.

3. If my betas found any issues that would affect the progress of the manuscript from that point, I paused to revise. Most of their suggestions, however, were stuffed back into that oak barrel to wait for my final draft.

4. Next, I created to-do list from all their suggestions, as well as my own thoughts.

5. Finally, I started back at beginning to do final draft.

So, we've got our work cut out for us as I go through this series. And when we're done, I'll talk about the querying process. Because I sincerely hope to be well into that stage by the time I finish telling all of you about this.

Hope you get something out of it!

- Liz

Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

I've been MIA, AWOL and incommunicado on most fronts for quite some time. The main reason is that I've been finishing a major revision on my project The Sorbet Guy. (There have been a few Teaser Tuesdays featuring these revisions.) I'm mostly done now, just doing a final run-through with notes from my critique partners, but that work is easier and lets me venture out of my Fortress of Solitude.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the things I did and learned during this rewrite. Maybe there will be something in it for you, maybe not, but consider it's all I've been up to, I feel the need to put it out there.

I'm also about to get back in the query saddle again, and I'll give you all updates on how that goes as well. Fingers crossed for requests galore.

So, I thank you all for your patience with me of late, as I have been a terrible blog reader as well. And a Twitter has-been. I hope to get back to it all with a bit of moderation. Writing will stay my number one priority, but I miss the community, so I'll be around. Promise.

- Liz

I Will Never

...be Martha Stewart.

...be able to throw a baseball without looking like a sissy.

...post new blogs on a daily basis, or even three times a week.

...stop watching too much television.

...workout for fun.

...pass on a good chocolate chip cookie.

...understand football.

...enjoy potty training my son.

...think ground beef in a frying pan doesn't stink.

...want to go to work.

...stop reading Young Adult literature.

...regret my years in undergrad, even though I don't use my degrees.

...abide snakes.

...read War & Peace.

...stop writing.

- Liz

I Wanna Be a Sophomore

I'm a Labor & Delivery nurse in my so-called "real" life. In obstetrics, we refer to a woman who has already had babies (one or more) as a multip. They are the most desireable patients, because they know what to do, their bodies have proven themselves and things tend to go more smoothly and quickly. One of the doctors I work with used to joke that it was her life's ambition to be a multip (she is now).

In the record industry, an artist's second album is often called their sophomore album. I honestly don't know if that term is used in publishing, but it's certainly the same idea.

I want to have my first book published and be shopping a second one. I've even heard some agents say that they are harder on their slushpiles than published books. To get out of the pile and onto the shelves, you have to stand out, be amazing, wow everyone with your first page, first paragraph, first sentence. You have to have an amazing query letter, a synopsis that doesn't suck and a book that doesn't need a complete overhaul.

My first impression has to be better than a published author's second, third, or forty-eighth.

So what I want now is to be making a second impression. That's my new goal. Obviously publishing my first novel is a huge part of that process, but now I realize that getting that is a stepping stone. I want a career.

I want to be able to pitch a weird idea and have my agent and my publisher nod enthusiastically and tell me it'll sell.

Is that so much to ask?

- Liz

Of Good News, Bad Days, and The Underpants of Confidence

My life is a pendulum swinging from elation to misery and every shade of emotion in between. This is not a surprise to any human, but I'm feeling it acutely in my writing life right now.

Good news! As you may have seen on Twitter or Facebook, I not only entered Nathan Bransford's Contest, I was lucky enough to get Honorable Mention! That was a lovely surprise, I must say, and thanks to Kristan Hoffman of #YAlitchat for bringing it to my attention. I was oblivious, and might have never thought to check back. If you're interested in reading the letter that got the Mention, I'm going to post it as a separate blog entry when I'm done here.

Bad news. The agent I fell in love with back in December sent me a form rejection. So, apparently my crush was meant to be unrequited. *sigh*

So, I was already feeling pretty low this morning as I was starting a new quest for potential agents when I realized something. I had a big fat mistake in the second paragraph of my query letter. (Especially painful considering the first paragraph is one sentence.) I've already sent this query out to at least three agents with the mistake in it, and it was no surprise to get a rejection from one of them already. It happened after a furious period of revising, during which I moved a sentence, but somehow left half of it behind in the previous paragraph. So the second sentence of my big story paragraph is a fragment AND it gets repeated down the road. I am feeling like the world's biggest idiot. And, unfortunately, there is just no coming back from it. I can't resubmit the query. I can't even send a note of apology and beg for mercy because part of the point of queries is to look professional.

You know that phrase, you never get a second chance to make a first impression? Well, yeah, that's the problem. Any action I take from this point is only going to reinforce the unprofessional first impression I've already given.

How did this happen? I didn't read through it before sending it off. I was so sure the beginning was solid, I just left it alone. Lesson learned: there is always time for patience.

In light of this fantastic display of idiocy, I knew I was going to need something to improve my day. So, I turned to my most trusted method of ensuring a turn-around: The Underpants of Confidence.

Perhaps I'm the only one whose mood can be affected by her undergarments, but I doubt it. Most women probably have some triage system for underwear: ones no one can see, ones everyone should see, ones only one other person should see, ones I will only wear if everything else is in the wash... I have a few favored panties that fit great, don't give me a wedgie and fit under my jeans. These are The Underpants of Confidence.

I knew today, the U of C's wouldn't be enough, so I started with a shower and freshly shaved legs. Then, it was jeans straight out of the dryer, and a shirt that I fully intend to mourn for a year after its demise. I even picked uber comfy socks. This is my version of the power suit.

Instantly in a better frame of mind, I was ready to attack the day. And guess what. It worked!

More good news! I got a request for a partial manuscript today! Wahoo! The Underpants have worked their magic once again!

Today's Lesson:

Patience and more careful attention.

Today's Recommendation:

Identify and revere your own Underpants of Confidence. They are magic.

- Liz

Photo courtesy of Getty Images