Deja Vu Blogfest!

Hi all! So today I'm participating in DL Hammons' Deja vu Blogfest, The Day of The Do Over.



I love that title, because who doesn't have at least one blog post that they'd like to keep blasting into the universe repeatedly?

Today I'm actually going to offer up two, and here's why:

As writers, we experience so many ups and downs. The agony of the query trenches, the frustration of agents not "connecting" with your work, the long hours of revisions, the manic joy of finally hearing that someone believes in your story enough to represent it, the silent hell of being on submission, the sting of editor rejections, the sheer and utter elation of finding out your novel is going to be a real, tangible book.

The list goes on, but since I've yet to experience the rest of it, I thought I'd give people the option of

A) Commiserating over the frustration of querying and trying to find an agent with this post:

Fact Or Fiction: Querying is the Best Way to Get an Agent's Attention

or B) Proving how things can turn around when you absolutely positively least expect by re-sharing the story of how my debut, LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE, found its home at Simon Pulse: 

You Never Know. No, Really, You Don't: My Pub Story

A Desperate Attempt at Productivity Disguised As A Live Blog

Good Morning, Y'all.

The last time I attempted a live blog to show how little time I have to write and be productive, I somehow wound up being... pretty productive. So this morning, when I woke up feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with no idea where to start, I thought I'd try this again in hopes that history will repeat itself.

Here are my goals for today, in no particular order:

- Write at least 1000 words, in spite of the fact that this ms hates me and the characters act like they're too cool to talk to me.
- Pay bills
- Have some photos of my son printed up for my sister-in-law
- Go to the post office
- Finish making my mother's Christmas gift
- Order Christmas gifts for various peeps
- Cook dinner
- Unload the dishwasher

And here's how things are starting out:

5 a.m. - Husband's alarm woke me up, which it usually doesn't. My first attempt at cracking my eyelids apart tells me they're puffy and in no mood to be open. I try in vain to fall back to sleep as my husband gets ready for work.

5:30 a.m. - Husband is in the kitchen, VERY NOISILY loading the dishwasher. I jump out of bed to tell him I'll do it later, when the baby is AWAKE, thank you. He runs it anyway.

6:15 a.m. - Remember that thing about the baby being awake? Yeah. He starts stirring as soon as my husband opens the garage door to leave for work.

7:00 a.m. - Still haven't fallen back to sleep, and the baby is now full-on babbling in his crib. I get up to wash my face and brush my teeth.

7:30 a.m. - Baby is lying in his crib, just chilling. I'm washed up. My hair is combed, but still looks like a wild rat's nest. Since I can't hide under a blanket and avoid Monday altogether, I decide to live blog.

That leads us to now. I'm about to go get my son from his crib. Be back in a bit.....

8:50 a.m. - Baby is changed and fed. Which sounds so easy. But, like his mother, the boy does NOT like to be kept waiting for food. He does this the entire time I'm prepping it:

But at the first sign of pancakes in front of him, suddenly:

And somehow, he still thinks he can fool me with those crocodile tears.

As for me, I'm currently getting ready to eat my breakfast while he watches a video in his playroom (the disaster area you see behind the high chair), and order some photos online via Walgreens. Excuse me, pancakes await....

9:40 a.m. -  I'm fed, dishwasher is unloaded, prints are ordered. I've donned my SAHM uniform of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I even went as far as to put on some concealer, because that 5 a.m. wake up call is written all over my face, in the form of horrendous bags under my eyes.

I am gross today, guys. My hair, my face, my clothes. I am the total package of grossness. And that's *after* putting in a modicum of effort, which makes it especially depressing. But, my errands aren't going to run themselves, so I'll just brace myself as I prepare to go out in public....

12:12 p.m. - Baby and I went to Walgreens and the post office. Discovered it is freakishly warm outside compared to yesterday's downpouring coldness. Which is awesome, except it made getting a 23-pound kid in and out of his car seat and stroller 4 separate times while overdressed extra fun. Plus he decided to kick his shoe off as we were leaving both places.

Had some time to kill before lunch when we got home, so I took the baby for a walk around the neighborhood. Currently we're in my office, and he's pulling at me and whining as I write this. Just turned around to find he'd dumped a bunch of stuff in the middle of the floor. Don't even know where he got it from. Guess it's time for lunch....

1:30 p.m. - Both baby and I have had our lunches. We Face Timed with my mother, who's working from home today. He's in a clean diaper and DOWN FOR HIS NAP AT LAST! The dirty dishes piled up in my sink are giving me anxiety, but I'm not going to touch them. I never know how long these precious napping moments will last, and with 10K left to write, I can't afford to waste any.

2:50 p.m. - 490 words written. The lawn service for my neighbor across the street just started making a huge racket in their front yard with a machine that sounds like 50 chainsaws buzzing simultaneously. I'm sweating bullets that they're going to wake up my son.

And also eating ice cream, because if he wakes up, at least I've had ice cream.

4:15 p.m. - BABY IS UP AND MY WORD COUNT GOAL HAS BEEN MET! 1051 words total. I know it's not a lot, but for a pokey drafter like me, it's a victory!

8:25 p.m. - I read a bunch of books to the baby, then fed him dinner. I LOVE that he now picks his favorite books from his collection and brings them to me to read to him. It makes my authorly AND my motherly hearts happy.

Next I made dinner for my husband and me while Andrew watched Shrek in his playroom. I ate my food where he couldn't see me, otherwise he would've gone into full-on mooch mode. My husband was not nearly as wise.

I also washed all the dishes and wiped down all the counters while my husband played with our son, because it stresses me out to go to bed knowing there are dirty things in need of cleaning in the sink. Then we brushed the baby's teeth and put him to bed. Now I need to get in the shower, maybe write some more, then read a little to wind down for bed.

Oh, and I ate more ice cream. Because tomorrow, I'll need to start all over again.

Hope YOU had a productive day too, Peeps! Feel free to tell me about it!

A Day In The Life: My First Live Blog in Eons

Hi Everyone!

So last night after a zero-word count day, I had a mini-meltdown on Twitter where I vowed that today would be laundry, cooking, and sleep-training free so I could actually get some writing done. I intend to stick with that vow and take some time for me, myself, and I.

My one goal for today: WRITE. Any amount of words at all. And blog, because it's been far too long. My biggest obstacle in doing this, of course, will be my son. So let's see how I fare.

8:00 a.m. - I have already changed a poopie diaper and fed Andrew. I am currently eating a bowl of cereal while he sits in his bouncy chair watching Super Why and the Super Readers. Because, an adorable cartoon about solving problems with books? YES PLEASE.

8:05 - Andrew starts fussing and sucking his thumb, which usually means he's getting tired. So I stick him in the bathroom for a nap.Yes, I said the bathroom.

He sleeps best in total darkness, and it's the one room with no windows. Now would normally be the point where I deposit him in his crib and spend the next 30 minutes to an hour alternately letting him cry and comforting him until he falls asleep, because he HATES his crib. He's been sleeping in a Fisher Price Sleep-n-Play ("sheepie") since he was born, and it's been a hard habit to break.

But today is all about me. So sheepie naptime in the bathroom it is.

Geez, Mom, I'm trying to sleep over here!

8:15 - The bathroom is quiet, I'm done with my cereal. TIME TO WRITE!!!!

9:07 - 346 words written and I hear Andrew stirring in the bathroom. Hoping he'll find his thumb and go back out if I ignore him for a little bit.

9:09 - Nope. He wants out.

9:15 - Brought my laptop down to the living room, put the baby on his Einstein mat hoping he'll amuse himself for a bit.

9:28 - He rolled onto his belly. Is now spazzing because he doesn't know how to return to his back. *sigh*

9:52 - Stopped to give Andrew his Prevacid. Had to change his pajamas because he spit most of it out all over himself. Not that I'm complaining. What's cuter than a naked baby?

10:40 - Andrew had a random bout of crying and thumb-sucking, which told me he was still tired. Unsurprising, after his so-called "nap" this morning. I flipped on the vacuum to relax him (I swear, this works like a charm. White noise is a GEM) and put him back in the bathroom. Took the opportunity to wash and prep his bottles, because when he gets up again, he's going to be hungry. (hint for moms who bottle feed: pre-filling bottles and pre-measuring formula can be a lifesaver if your baby thinks waiting is for the birds like mine does!)

 Am now terrified to turn the vacuum off in fear that he'll wake up as soon as I do.

11:11 - He's up again. Total word count is up to 622.

11:48 - Fed Andrew his bottle. Tried to put him in the bouncy chair, but this was the reaction I got:

Currently shoveling some lunch down my own throat while he watches TV in his sheepie. I am still in my pajamas. I have not yet washed my face or combed my hair.

12:32 - The fussing and thumb-sucking is starting again. Total word count so far: 960

1:07 - Took a break to change the baby and play with him, because making him smile is the best part of my day.

He's now back in the bathroom for a nap (fingers crossed) after I caught him doing this:

1:26 - Andrew is asleep in the bathroom. I swear to you, it's not normally this easy to get him down. I may have to scrap crib sleep training altogether until I finish this book. Which, BTW, I just HAD AN EPIPHANY ABOUT HOW TO END IT while washing my face. Hooray!!

2:30 - Remember that time I shunned housework and let my son sleep in the toilet and did a live blog to prove how little time I have to write, only to have said son nap like a champ and let me get 1336 total words written by 2:30 p.m.?

2:49 - He's up again. Time for another feeding!

3:45 - I caved (been doing a lot of that today) and loaded the dishwasher and made the bed. The sight of dirty dishes and rumpled sheets makes me twitchy. Andrew ate and is amusing himself in the bouncy chair. I'm going to attempt to order some Thank You cards from Shutterfly while they're still having a New Year promo.

THE NEXT DAY...

So I know this blog is technically no longer "live," but I felt like it needed some sort of conclusion. I ordered my Thank You cards and then got too wrapped up with dinner prep, subsequent dinner cleanup, bathing Andrew, and and attempting to have him sleep in his crib to do more blogging.

That last part didn't go so well, and today I'm exhausted. Since I didn't do any laundry yesterday, I had to make up for it and do two loads this morning. It's now 12:24 and I've yet to write a word. Andrew is napping, but I'm pretty sure I just heard him stir, so it will probably be a while before I can get to the WiP.

And that, my friends, is a day in my life as a writer and stay-at-home mom. So tell me - what did you do today?

Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: AKA, What the Hell am I Doing?

Have any of you ever started a project, got halfway through, and found yourself thinking, what the hell am I doing?


That's where I am right now, peeps.

Most of you know the manuscript that landed my kickass agent was a contemporary romance. It makes perfect sense, considering I'm a romance junkie. I love reading it. I love writing it. If most other genres are coconut milk ice cream - enjoyable enough, a lot better for you, but just not quite as delicious - then a good romance is my ginormous bowl of real, chocolate-fudgey Ben and Jerry's dairy Heaven.

Yes, I really did do a photo shoot with a container of ice
cream. 

So why, I ask, am I attempting to write a psychological thriller right now?

I'll tell you.

When the idea for this manuscript came to me months ago, it was as a paranormal romance/thriller type novel.


I let the idea percolate while I finished LYM, but as time went on, it seemed agents and editors alike had started to regard "paranormal" as a four-letter word. (Click the link for a great post by Tristina Wright)

Then I had the amazing fortune to speak to John and the Other Awesome Offering Agent on the phone. The only not-so-awesome part? They both confirmed my fear that paranormal is getting the cold shoulder in the publishing market right now.

Cue instant, intense panic. And sadness, because I like a good supernatural story.

I'd already started writing SP as a paranormal and had about 20K down. There were no vampires, no werewolves, no shape-shifting unicorns or whatever - just a not-so-dead dead girl. I should be fine, right? It's all those *other* things that are crowding the bandwagon, right? RIGHT?

WHAT IN THE HELL WAS I GOING TO DO??


(And just a side note on bandwagons: if everyone didn't clamor for the same one at the same time, they wouldn't have to abandon ship en masse. Though I suppose that's the nature of a bandwagon. *sigh*)

I had ideas for new contemporary romances, but they were just twinkles in my eye at that point, and I am a sloooow drafter.

Cue copious hyperventilation.

I think it was my CP Dahlia who said, "Well... does SP *have* to be paranormal?" (Not kidding, guys, I associate with geniuses)

That's when it hit me: No it does not! I can morph this puppy into a psychological thriller while still keeping the basic structure of the premise AND all the sweet-n-steamy romance! Wahoo!


The only problem? It was WAY easier to write as a paranormal. Like, way.

Developing a main character people can be sympathetic toward while also questioning whether or not she's completely off her rocker has been daunting, to say the least.

Which is to say: this mc is driving me freaking crazy with all her psychological issues and all her damn "feels," because I'm the one who has to do them justice. My original vision was much more cut-and-dry.

I'm finding that when I sit down to write, I wind up staring at the blinking cursor with my bitch face, like so:

Seriously, SP? You can't write your damn self already?

On the other hand, when I do finally manage to pull off a scene that I've mulled over for hours or even days?

It's freaking awesome.

So while I'm still a bit miffed at paranormal being mean-girled out of the market as punishment for its own popularity, the upside is that it's been an opportunity to challenge myself as a writer. I might be kicking and screaming every step of the way, but I have a feeling I'm going to be seriously proud of myself and this novel when and if I finish it.

Will it be good? No clue.
Will my CP's think I've lost my damn mind? Quite possibly.
Will my agent think it's crap? God I hope not.
Will psychological thrillers replace straight romance as my Ben andJerry's? I highly doubt it


But I tried something new, and that in itself feels pretty good. You know... when it's not making me want to go on a murderous rampage. And if it doesn't work out, I can still rock a contemporary romance like it's my birthday (I hope).

What about you, peeps? Have you ever stepped outside your writing comfort zone? Were you glad you did it? (And what are your thoughts on the current stigma against paranormal?)

Fact or Fiction: Querying is the Best Way to Get an Agent's Attention?

Let me preface this post by saying I am well aware that agents have a hell of a task before them when they take on an inbox full of queries. Even my eyes start to glaze over when I read the 25-50 queries posted in contests such as Miss Snark's First Victim or Cupid's Literary Connection, so I can't imagine combing through queries on a daily basis.

I know it makes sense for an agent to judge your writing based on a sample of your writing. But I also know it's daunting.

And it's for this exact reason that I have to wonder if queries are really the best way to get an agent's attention. I'll tell you why:

I recently participated in Brenda Drake's Pitch Madness contest, where 5 different agents put in bids on pages from my LYM manuscript.
- One of them bid after already rejecting my query.
- Another had my query in her inbox, but hadn't responded yet. She requested my full manuscript from the contest. And a week or so later, sent me a form rejection on the query I'd sent weeks earlier.

I'll be the first to admit, the pitch Marieke wrote for me was pretty freaking awesome. But it's basically a 35-word summation of the same events agents would read in my query letter. And while I am EXTREMELY grateful for my requests, I have to wonder: why would they reject the query, and not the pitch?

Were they just sick of reading queries on the particular day they read mine?

Did they actually not see the query at all, and an assistant rejected it? (In which case, should they really be letting other people screen their queries, since everyone's taste is obviously different?)

Had they been requesting romance up the wazoo before they read my query, and rejected based on that alone?

Were they playing eenie meenie mynie moe?

There's any number of possibilities. But the question all these possibilities raise is this: Does every query really get the attention it deserves?

Lately, I feel like the answer is no.

I recently trolled through entries in a contest I entered, but ultimately did not get chosen for. So you can probably imagine my indignation when one of the entries I read - an entry supposedly screened and hand-selected by a panel of readers - had glaring spelling and grammatical errors.

And you can imagine my outright horror when multiple agents requested on it.

So I have to ask - Did anyone really read the damn thing? Or did eenie meenie mynie moe strike again?

All of this tells me that there really is no rhyme or reason to this querying biz. An agent can reject a query one day, and then request pages from a pitch on the same project the next day. One day they're on Blogger or Twitter putting queriers on blast for silly mistakes, and the next they're overlooking them.

So is the query letter really as important as everyone makes it out to be? Or is good luck what you actually need the most? Have any of you had similar experiences?