Test Subjects Needed -Must be Willing to Handle Infectious Materials

Okay, so there is another "pitchfest" this week. This time with one of the agents from the Knight Agency. Unlike the previous one, she'll be accepting submissions all week and it will be private.

So, I'm doing a second run through on Re: Straint, but then I'll need some betas to read. I'm planning on submitting to this pitchfest, but it'll just be a short submission. I have a bit to get the full ready. Normally, I'd love to reciprocate on Beta-ing, but I really struggle NOT to do line-by-line, and these next two weeks are going to be freakishly busy for me, so it wouldn't be an immediate reciprocation.

Before anyone volunteers, let me tell you what I need and about this one: I converted the entire manuscript to first person from third person as well as adding in epistolatory sections in between each chapter. So, I need third person typos found and those sections typo-checked. (That's as deep of a line-by-line as I'm looking for. Glaring typos.) Also, in the conversion between third and first--there are going to be some "kinks" especially with exposition. (I.e. Lucas shouldn't spend paragraphs talking to himself about things to do with the Strain for no reason... it would be odd.) I've been working on that last night and this morning. That will create possibly new problems, though, in that I might cut enough exposition that it'll be confusing. So, I need continuity, clarity, and flow watched.

Let me give you a summary of this before you get nuts too:

The skeletons hiding in Lucas's closet are microscopic, but deadly. He's never had a normal life. Genetics have predetermined what he eats for breakfast and who he can be around. Nothing about his existence is healthy including his reaction to Hallie. He's been stalking her as his desire to be around her has proven to be irresistible. Like an infection, she's in his blood, but he desperately wants to keep his germs... and family to himself. There are those among the Strain who'd kill to keep them apart.

The feeling of hollowness and waiting has finally lifted in Hallie's life, but the mystery surrounding Lucas just seems to grow exponentially. She keeps trying to convince him she needs him in her life completely and forever, but he's convinced he'll prove fatal to her. His mother is rather terrifying, but how bad can she really be? What is the Strain and why do its members hide in dark and quiet corners?

Not everything is visible to the naked eye in this story of infectious love.

Re: Straint is an Urban Science-fiction YA 89,000 words, with mild profanity (PG-13 rating for violence and so on) It does mention cannibalism in an off-hand, glib way--so if that bothers you... this isn't the book to read. It's first person with three POVs.

Anyway, my email address is wendy at sparrow dot us I think two or three betas would be perfect on a stick.

Okay, I'm going back to revising. Have a good Monday everyone. Hugs.

Oh and, in the end, I decided not to do ABNA even though that's what originally spurred-on this rewrite. Best of luck to those that entered.

WIP Wednesday-Scorched Revise

So, it's more of a revision-in-progress kind of thing. I'm thinking of using Scorched for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (hereafter called ABNA) in February. That means I need to do some solid revisions. I've got a few really odd questions.

Okay, so it's a first person narrative aimed at an older YA crowd. Poor Sidra, the MC, has a father that is a jerk and has run off with a girl just six years older than his teenage daughter. Sidra is seventeen and pissed off because of it, and she calls this other woman her dad's "superwhore." I've got mixed responses on this. I've had several people say that the word "slut" is a lot less offensive. Hang on. I'll post a quick quote. Oh... also, Sidra goes by "Scorch" and is being bullied by the superwhore's brother. So, opinions on the whole whore vs. slut thing would be appreciated if you feel like giving your opinion on something that's possibly offensive and also very weird. If you're offended by either or both, I apologize, but there is a certain level of anger that would go along with being dumped during your father's mid-life crisis. I know someone who went through this. So, here is an excerpt. Opinions welcome.

“Scorch’s dad is married to Lyle’s sister,” Penny said.

Thanks Penny. Let’s just get it all out into the open.

“He hates her because of that—because they’re related?” Asher asked.

“My father had an affair with Lyle’s sister, who is about twenty years younger than him. He divorced us, married her, and now they live in Mississippi. I think he told my mom that Bliss is knocked up, but she is trying to keep it from me. Yay. The sibling I always wanted will come from the superwhore.” Perhaps I’d been too vehement because my statement caused complete silence. I flung myself on my back to stare at the blue, blue sky. It was easier than seeing pity or whatever on Asher’s face. Okay, so maybe I’d one-upped Penny on spilling my life story. I had no idea where that had all come from.

“Bliss is pregnant?” Penny repeated.

“Yep. I think so. My mom was just about to go through in-vitro when she found out about the affair. It’s not a good subject to bring up and confirm. I’m still trying to never talk with my father, so I don’t know for sure, but that’s what it sounds like.”

“Your father is such a….” Penny couldn’t find the right word. I couldn’t find the right word. I sympathized with her plight.

“Yep,” I agreed. “I’m supposed to spend Christmas with him as part of the divorce settlement. It’s fine, though, because I won’t have to travel as Bliss wants to spend time here in Vegas with her family, so I can spend time with Lyle during winter break. I’m hoping to have my father committed to an asylum before it comes to that.”

“Wow,” Penny said.

“Totally,” I agreed.

“That’s really messed up,” Asher said, in complete agreement.

Fantasy and Reality collide and explode--shrapnel everywhere! Ahhh!

I know what you're asking. What would be the shrapnel of a fantasy and reality collision?

Unicorns. Seriously, they're almost horse, but... not. Once again, unicorns are the answer.

So, in my fantasy "I'm a writer" life, I sent off a query today. (I know, shocked the crap out of me too.) I finished Diana's line edits on Honor Among Thieves last night--really this morning. Well, okay, I haven't finished the page sixty exposition that she wants pared down to help with flow. I'll do that this morning now that I have a fresh idea of what can be cut because it's explained later. That's the goal for this morning.

I also got an answer to my DAW question in a chat room last night, so I'm feeling ahead of the game this morning.

In my reality, I need to tackle laundry, dishes, and post-holiday recovery. I also really, really need to clean the kids' therapy room while they're at school. T has three loose teeth. How does that relate? We can't even cut his hair without him getting spun out of control from sensory input. Having three loose teeth is making him manic--seriously. It's terrifying. With how much it is raining outside today, he won't get enough of that energy burnt off at school. Their therapy room has swings and hammocks and a ball pit and so on. (Yes, we have a play gym inside--with two kids on the Spectrum--it became vital.)

Oh, this week I also need to get busy figuring out what I'm submitting to Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. I'm thinking Scorched so I won't have to deal with the "literary novel expectation" that I think might be present in the adult category. I'd rather try to dig my way into the Young Adult category. So, if that's the plan, I need to do a rewrite on Scorched ASAP.

Okay, so that is today. It's a Monday so, per usual, I can anticipate the day falling to pieces and very little getting accomplished, but it's still good to start with a plan of blind faith and determination.

Oh--on the DAW thing, you know how I seem to specialize in holiday rejections? I'm thinking if I submitted on Groundhog's Day--there would be no way they could reject me on Valentine's Day. See! Clever, huh? I know. I'm full of clever ideas. They got back to me really fast last time for it making it to the second reader. I've seen a lot of writers wait for months to hear back from them at all. I think I got a month and a half turn around. For a full hardcopy slushpile entry, that seems fairly good. I mean, for a writer, that's sheer torture, but a lot of agents take longer than that on a query.

Okay, this morning there should be Frosting. I didn't get much sleep. The end of Honor Among Thieves still rocks my world. There were still a few places that made me cry. (It's nice to have such a poor memory. It gives you weird split personality moments to enjoy.) I still laughed in a bunch of places. Reeve is still hot. It was fun. Of course, then I wanted to move on to "editing" book two. Doh.

Okay, good morning, world. Happy Monday to all.

Scary Decisions and Diving in

And you thought you'd never get a picture of me. There it is. Okay, it's a painting, and it's from a while ago, but it's me. It's done from a picture the husband took about ten years ago of me sitting in a lighthouse window. It was my second painting--ever. It's even on canvas board instead of actual canvas. Still, it's hanging in my house right now.

I was going to post a different painting, but this one scrolled to the top first and fit better anyway.

So, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a shiny thing kind of writer. I get easily distracted by new and shiny ideas. I run at them all smiles and hugs and love. That's not to say that I forget my old loves. I'm in constant rewrite mode. Whenever I get stuck on something new, I go back to an old manuscript and rewrite it. I just went through most of the Honor series looking for plot inconsistencies.

(BTW, if you're going to write a series of books without a real plan, writing the entire series before getting published is the way to go in my opinion. Then, you can go back to the first and second and third and fix things that don't work later on. I've got to go through and change the ages of a few vampires in rewrites fairly soon.)

So, the point--I'm sort of a shiny thing kind of blogger too, after all, and I'm easily side-tracked, but I do have a point, or a quandary really.

I'm trying to decide whether to go back to DAW and try updated Honor Among Thieves, or to continue plugging away at finding an agent. Honor hasn't met many agents actually.

Then, I have both Scorched and Re: Straint that I'm wondering if I should work on those for submission into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest.

I just don't know where my strengths are--and as fun as getting rejected is... I'd rather send in the right thing and work on the right manuscript.

Then, there is this other thing--which I thought of in the middle of the night--when I had insomnia last night, and I should have just gotten up written instead.

I'm thinking of making "Sheri's Tales" free for download on Lulu. Honestly, while I'd like to write for a living and earn money at it, I write because the stories are there in my head and I won't be able to sleep if they don't get out. This whole process starts eating at your soul eventually if you're not thick-skinned. (I've been trying to wear around this new thick skin, but it's heavy and I swear it makes my butt look big.) Anyway, this "book" is a stand-alone completely. It needs a rewrite or two first, but that way... anyone curious... and my friends could read it and see what my writing style is like. I'd thought of doing the same thing on the web, somehow, but it's just an easier format to go through Lulu.

Anyway, that's my stream of consciousness mind dump for today. I need to find a thing to concentrate on and quit getting completely distracted by new, shiny manuscripts.

1. Honor among Thieves--do a final rewrite, print out, and resend to DAW or not? Send to a few agents--or not?

2. Scorched and Re: Straint--do rewrites and work on preparing for submission to Amazon's thing--or not? Submit to agents who prefer YA--or not?

3. Sheri's Tales--consider all the ramifications of making a single manuscript available free for download to the public.

I'm a little stressed out by my real life today, actually, too. That was the secondary reason for my insomnia. Poor little B is getting bullied. She's in third grade and one of the other girls has targeted her for torment. I've been warning the school for years that this is a concern. Autistic girls are easy targets and B behaves "differently" enough AND doesn't recognize bullying or meanness. She also doesn't relay things unless you ask about them. Knowing which questions to ask--is a complicated thing. This other girl, Laurel, has been punching B in the stomach, stealing her stuff and refusing to return them without a monetary payment, and yesterday she poked her in the eye with a rock. I think she also tried to frame B for a money theft and then later stole B's allowance. Yeah. This all came out last night. The husband and I have talked about taking B out of school for Junior High and home-schooling her because girls are mean to one another, but it turns out that girls are mean a lot sooner than you'd ever guess. I need to call the school and deal with this. Since B has SN and a diagnosis, I have the clout to insist that something be done immediately. Crap... I want this Laurel chick in a different class ASAP.

My best friend's little boy is in the same class as B, and I'll ask him to look out for B again. (He did this in Kindergarten.) Even if he's a turkey at times--he is also fiercely protective.

Dang it. The world is cruel.

Anyway, my stomach still feels skittery today. I'm hoping that boring oatmeal will help.

Okay, wish me luck, I'm off to call the school.