Oops!

It was just brought to my attention that comments weren't working on this blog. I've changed the format so they should be all right now. Though since I have yet to publicize this anywhere, I doubt I have too many reading and trying to comment yet. Still, I figured I'd say something just in case....

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A little venting

I'm starting to come to a sad realization that my timing is very, very off. You see, back when I started writing (early 2000s), I was a big fan of vampire fiction, which at the time wasn't the craze it is today. Since this is what I enjoyed reading, it was what I enjoyed writing. So I did. I wrote a couple of different books featuring vampires in various ways. And now that I finally have one polished and edited to a point where I feel it's ready to start sending out, that's what I've done. The problem? I'm starting to suspect agents are sick of...

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Round Two!

I sent out my next (small) round of queries today. I was feeling a little bummed about the two rejections I've gotten so far, but reminded myself that this is normal. Every writer deals with rejection at some point, so this is just par for the course. It sucks, but what can you do but move forward? This group included more agents that requested actual sample chapters rather than just a query letter like the first group. I find it harder to send those, mostly because I don't trust email to keep the formatting right. I can't send the pages as is:...

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First rejection and random tech rant

I got my first query rejection this week. I was prepared for it, so it didn't crush me or anything. I've done enough research about the publishing industry by now to know how difficult it is to get an agent's attention, and I know even some of the best writers out there got rejected dozens of times, if not more, before landing that first agent. So I'm all right about it. Disappointed, sure, but not discouraged. Yet. I'll probably send out another small batch of queries soon, now that it's almost been a month since the first ones went out. I know...

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It's hot

I know it's summer, and it's pretty much hot everywhere (unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere, that is), but I live in Florida, where it is really hot. According to the Weather Channel's site, it's 88 degrees with 49% humidity, but I swear, it feels hotter than that. Maybe it's the heat of the sun beating down? I don't know, I only know that it's HOT. The highs this week are forecast anywhere from 91-95, and with humidity and whatnot, the heat index (aka "feels like") tends to be a few degrees above that. So we could be nearing heat indexes...

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So, I've finally done it

I sent out my first query today.  *nervous squeal* It's just one agent so far, because I don't want to do a mass e-mailing to every agent on my list right off the bat.  I'd rather keep it small, say 3 at a time, for now.  Which means I should pick out 2 more to send while I'm in such a brave mood. Eep!...

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Where I kick my own butt just a little

So, as the title of this blog states, in addition to being a writer, I am also a designer and a crazy cat lady.  In a perfect world, I can juggle all 3 in total harmony.  Sadly, the world is not so perfect, and sometimes things have to take a backseat. All month (more than that, really), one of my cats (Ana) has been having an allergic reaction to something.  Most likely a flea bite, but really, it could be anything, even the pollen in the air.  Whatever it is, it's making her extremely itchy, and she's licking off a good amount...

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Well, that week was a bust

I had the best of intentions this week, I really did.  I was going to do more agent research, settle on a couple “top choices,” and send out at least one query. If I was feeling really productive, I was even going to dust off one of my other completed novels and start polishing it up. Instead, I had a minor personal crisis come up that took away all my focus, and I never quite got back to my plans before the week was up.  My vision disorder (I have cone dystrophy, which means my vision cannot be brought all the way to 20/20 with a prescription....

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Shiny New Blog

I'm not sure whether or not I consider this my first blog. On the one hand, I've been journaling online for years now. On the other, I never consdiered any of that to be blogging. Maybe because no one other than my friends ever read it, and I've always considered a blog to be more of a public thing, where anyone could be interested if the topic appealed to them. Or maybe it's just becfause I was using LiveJournal, and not Blogger, so I was more prone to think of it as a journal. It's right there in the name! Anyway, that's all semantics. Point...

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