Clean Slate

New Years resolutions . . . I don’t make them.  Not because I am bad at keeping them (which I totally am) or because I see them as a reminder of last year's failed accomplishments.  Rather because I view each New Year as a clean slate, the first day of a whole new year of possibilities.  What happened last week, or last year, or even ten years ago is done.  I will build upon it.  I will learn from it and grow because of it, but I will not let it define me.  

My writing aspirations won’t magically change at midnight -- I still want to publish a book, I want to write something that totally blows my agent’s mind away, and I want to be a source of constant encouragement for my writing friends. I want to take on a new beta read each month from an aspiring author I have never met or read for.  I want to lose myself in their world, let them know exactly how talented they truly are!

Sure I could stand to lose five pounds, but I love cheesecake too much.  I would love to read 100 books this year, but I have a hard enough time getting through the monthly book club assignments. And as for my personal life . . . I wouldn’t change a thing.  I’ve got three great kids who I love and drive me crazy, and a husband who tolerates my often erratic mood swings.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.  Happy writing!

A Little Sprinkling of Self-Confidence

 I have read countless blog post about what Santa did or didn't bring  my fellow writing friends.  Yes, I am insanely jealous about the iPad Natalie got and thrilled that Santa brought Lindsay her muse  . . . a muse I fully intend to harvest for my own creative benefit .  I couldn't be happier that only a few days before Christmas a writing buddy scored an agent, and I jumped for joy when Mary sent me the fully complete, finished copy of her ms for me to edit.

Now I didn't go empty handed.  There were loads of electronic gadgets for the kids, every imaginable color of Playdough for my youngest, even a fair amount of "conservative" clothes for the parents.  We had a gluttony of food, too many desserts, and a winter snowstorm to set the mood. But what surprised me the most was the restored sense of self-confidence I woke up with that morning.  Amongst a houseful of peculiar guests and a holiday schedule that allowed for no down-time, I found myself quite relaxed.  With an editing deadline fast approaching, a sci-fi manuscript nearly done, and a new writing project taking control of my mind, I found myself without any qualms about my ability to get everything done.

Now all I have to do is teach my dog to pee in the snow and all will be perfect!

My Muse Loves the Snow

Greetings from a very cold, very snowy Cape Cod.  The weather man called this one wrong.  Our dusting of snow turned into 11 inches, and it is still coming down.  On the brighter side, there is nothing like a snow day and a mug of steaming, dark hot chocolate to get my Muse flowing!

The Mental Ledge of the Publishing World

 

Often time writers view agents as the intermediary point between writing and publication . . . the doorman between us and the publishing house.  They are responsible for tweaking our manuscripts, matching us with the prefect acquiring editors, and negotiating our contracts. But those tasks don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what a great agent really does. They are our perpetual cheerleaders, the ones to guide us through the murky waters of publishing, and listen to then assuage all of those writing fears that never seem to go away, even after you are agented and/or published.

Just this week I found myself weighing the options between three books, two my agent has read and one she knows is coming down the pike.  I got revisions, and a synopsis, and plot demons to work out for each one.  Needless to say, I found myself a tad bit overwhelmed with the personal deadlines I’d set for myself.  To put it mildly, I was a little panicked when I talked to her, wondering exactly what I had gotten myself into.   She didn’t tell me what to do and when to do it.  She didn’t remind me of my personal deadlines or instruct me to focus on one before the other.  In true Jessica form, she calmed me down with a simple yet profound statement: “We’ll figure it out.”

And that is what a really great agent does -- talks us down of our mental ledge when we feel so overwhelmed that the words stop flowing.  They are that calm, rational force that reminds us to take step back and think things through.  So when it comes time for you to choose your agent, have a conversation with them, ask questions  . . . not just about what they have sold, but about who they are and how involved they want to be.   Because at the end of the day, they do so much more than simply open publishing world doors.

Juggling Too Many Balls

I was handed a list of agent-suggested revisions to my latest ms Inside Out last week.  It is YA contemporary; and, although the revisions are lengthy, it will not require a major over-haul of characters or plot.     I then sent her the first 30 pages of my WIP Amalgam . . . just so she would know what I had in the pipeline and to be sure that Inside Out was in fact the one we wanted to put out first.   

She got back to me that same day with an amazing note indicating that she loved it, wanted to know where it was going, how I saw the plot developing, and when it would be complete.  It is a dystopian (which apparently are hot right now) and written from the Male POV (which editors are begging for).

           

Being as sweet as she is, she told me not to base my decision on what editors are currently seeking and work on the whichever ms is calling to me now.  Of course she threw in the little caveat that perhaps I could work on both at the same time. lol

There is not a hard and fast deadline in which I have to get one of these manuscripts back to her, and the publishing world does grind to a virtual halt during the Holidays, but I have a nasty habit of putting personal deadlines on myself.  I tagged that date as January 15^th.  Problem is, I know have two sets of completely different characters swirling around my head each written in totally different style. Add to that the stress of holiday shopping, the impending doom of visiting family, a half dozen holiday events I have committed to attending, and the everyday challenges of raising a family.  I find myself struggling to keep all the balls in the air!

A good non-writer friend of mine tells me the problem is that I am not focused, that until I decide which manuscript to dedicate my time too, they both will still in limbo with my muse taking an undeserved and unwelcome holiday.  I say what I need is a few more hours in the day, a housecleaner, and somebody to manage my carpool schedule!

Ahh . . . my neglected blog

I have been remiss in updating my blog lately.  I can't blame it on the Holidays, visiting family, or even my unnatural love of gingerbread men.  I have no excuse except sheer mental exhaustion and obsessive comparison shopping for e-readers.

The only thing on my 13 year old daughter's Christmas list is an e-reader.  Fantastic, that should be easy enough I thought until I found out just how many different e-readers there are out there.  Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Cruz, and the oh so amazing iPad to name a few.  So, I turn to you more technically savvy e-reader enjoyers; tell me which one to buy so I can cross her off my list.