Giveaway Winner

Want to know who the lucky duck is that wins a copy of UNDERCURRENT? Watch and see the drama unfold...

What Can You Say in Six Sentences?

I came across a fun writing website called Six Sentences. With our house going on the market on Friday, I didn't really have time to play around with this idea for very long today. Okay, so I didn't play around with it at all...but I'd sure like to! The gist of it is to write 6 sentences about pretty much anything. Sound easy? Yeah. Try it, smarty pants.

Reading vs Writing

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have time time (or tools) to write. Simple as that."
~ Stephen King

School started yesterday. No, I'm not a student. I'm the teacher. Go figure. Anyhoo, a parent of a former student stopped in to see me after class. She and her daughter were debating over which writing class mom should enroll her in. One provided all the basics and would hone her writing skills. The other provided writing and literature.

In light of today's quote, which class do you think I suggested?

A Half Full Perspective

Do you ever have days where you just feel empty? Not depressed. Not stressed. Just kind of blank, stuck in a white cold zone of nothingness. Those kinds of days make writing really hard, but you know what? You can use it to your advantage. Bring one of your characters into the zone with you. Whatever scene you're writing at the time, have your hero or heroine experience it with lack of feeling, then wonder why they don't feel anything. This could be especially jarring for a character who's normally vivacious and will add a whole new dimension to their personality.

See...even on empty days, there's always something to use in your writing!

{{don't forget the big drawing for a free e-book of UNDERCURRENT is this Friday...make sure to leave a comment this week for your chance to win}}

Survival Mode

My house is under full-blown gotta-make-it-picture-perfect-by-Thursday chaos. Translation: Writing in the midst of plaster dust and paint is more than challenging. It's impossible. I managed to squeak out a measly 500 words last week, but that's it. Surprisingly, I don't feel one bit guilty about it.

And neither should you feel like a worthless writer when life whaps you upside the head with a busy stick. There are still writerly type things you can do so you don't feel like you're wasting precious writing time:

1. Continue character conversations in your head. Next time you do sit down to write, you won't lose their voice.

2. Plot out in your mind the next scene in detail.

3. Put on some inspiring music while you complete other must-do tasks. Music has a way of pulling you into story even when your hands are busy with something else.

4. Allow your senses to experience whatever it is that you're doing. You can use those sensory details in the future.

Now then, I'm off to finish painting the eaves. Hmm. Wonder what it feels like to fall off a ladder?

Nah. Not going there.

{{don't forget the big drawing for a free e-book of UNDERCURRENT is this Friday...make sure to leave a comment this week for your chance to win}}

Fun Friday Giveaway

Looking for a chance to win UNDERCURRENT? Here are the details...

Striking or Charming?

from freedigitalphotos.net

I’ve been around the ol’ sign-a-contract-with-an-agent block a time or two. Okay. Three, to be exact. Needless to say, when it comes to agents, I’m a little gun shy. I knew that the next time I signed, it would either be three strikes I’m out, or third time’s a charm…so what’s my verdict?

I’m going with charming. Barbara Scott of WordServe Literary is my current agent, and I can honestly say she’s an agent extraordinaire.

Before you newbies bust a gasket and freak out over the fact that you have yet to land a single agent, let alone three, let’s back up and walk down the long road together of how I got to this point.

Rewind eleven years. I was sick to death of reading Christian fiction pablum and figured hey, I can write a better story. So I did, kind of. I wrote a story…which wasn’t better. I was too stupid to know that at the time, however. Yes, I was one of those obnoxious rookie authors who sent her manuscript to every publisher and agent I could find. One editor was kind enough to spend a significant amount of time telling me how to make my story better (thank you Jeff Gerke!!!), but I didn’t snag any agents or publishers that go-around.

I took that editor’s 3 pages worth of suggestions to heart, though. I rewrote the whole manuscript, incorporating every one of his ideas. This time when I sent it out, I once again didn’t attract any publishers—but I snagged an agent. He was new to the agenting business, though he’d worked in publishing in other various other aspects. I rewrote that manuscript one more time, and he resent it. And (drum roll please)…nothing. No interest. Plus I lost the interest of my agent. He didn’t exactly fire me, but he didn’t really keep in contact either. I decided we should part ways.

I went on to sell that manuscript—GALLIMORE—to a small, independent publisher.

In the meantime, I worked on craft. Attended conferences. Joined a crit group. Networked like crazy. And my next finished manuscript grabbed the attention of another agent…one with a British accent. What’s not to love about that?!

I sure did love her. She used all her sweet agenting skills to sell UNDERCURRENT. But alas, she decided to go out of the agenting biz before someone scooped up my big beefy Vikings. I ended up selling yet another manuscript on my own to another small, independent publisher.

Along comes finished manuscript number three, which attracted a few agents, but I was a little nervous to sign a contract on the basis of one of my manuscripts alone. I wanted someone who was interested in me as a writer, my whole career, not just a particular story I’d written. I also wanted someone who planned on being in the business for the long haul. Enter Barbara Scott.

One of my crit buddies told me she’d heard Barbara was going to join with WordServe as an agent. Taking my friend’s advice (waving at you, Ane), I queried her right away, as did about 500 other people. She called me about a week later, saying she’d asked God to help her choose the few clients she could manage out of that whopping big pile. My manuscript was one of the blessed that connected with her.

So far that manuscript hasn’t sold. It’s come very close, but no cigar. Who knows? Maybe the whole point of writing that story was just to sign with my agent extraordinaire?

Whatever. That’s my agenting story, and I’m sticking to it.