Author Archives

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Thoughts on finding an agent

I finished another (not the final) read-though and revision of Wine Bottles and Broomsticks yesterday, so naturally, I’ve started the process of researching agents and agencies who might be interested in what I’ve got. My first reaction of this process is that it’s a soul-crushing experience.

I’ve only gotten as far as starting a list of agents to query once I’m ready. The best thing I can say about it thus far is that every agent is pretty clear about the stuff they’re interested in. The less awesome part is that I don’t see how my particular book is going to fit in. Not only that, I anticipate being involved in the process of research, querying, not hearing back (standard procedure), and fretting for a good long while.

The query letter also has me worried. As a hiring manager for a number of years, I know that the cover letter makes all the difference in hiring and even a well-written one can suck. Furthermore, I also know that a generic cover-letter doesn’t do anyone any favors. I expect query letters more or less work the same. After all, the query letter is only an application to have your work looked at. Writing an individualized query to speak to the specific stated interests of various agents could take two or three days each. To put a cherry on that sundae, I’ve got no more than a handful of sentences to sell the idea of the book, so they go on to read the sample (assuming they’ve requested one), and then hope that all of those things get mefrom ‘nope, boring’ to ‘go on…’

The bottom line is that even though I’ve got quite enough work left to on the manuscript, there’s a lot more work to be done in trying to get the thing sold. A lot of work. I don’t mind work, but I have no idea what to expect or how best to approach this, so the mountain looks a lot higher. On the bright side, I’ve got a day-job, so yay for that.

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Siblinghood of the World Blogger award

siblinghood-of-the-world-award

Thanks to Jessica M. Baumgartner (jessicamariebaumgartner.com), I’ve been nominated for the sibling of the world blogger award. Before I go an answer the questions though, go and check out her book By the Stars. There’s another one coming out pretty soon.

1. What do you like to eat when writing?

Carrots. Carrots and whiskey. Especially Alaska (Mat-Su valley) carrots and scotch. That’s what I’m doing right now.

2. If you could be any monster, which would you be?

Sully from Monster’s inc. He’s big and friendly with broad shoulders, nice teeth, and a shiny coat. That would make me feel super-good about myself.

3. Do you find that the psychological effects of writing warp reality at times?

Yes, sometimes and only when I get really into it. Most of things I’m working on now are tongue-in-cheek kinds of things and so the whole point is warped reality so it gives me a bit of distance from what’s going on. Reading actually tends to warp my reality more. Crime and Punishment made me feel like I was losing my mind.

4. Blanket, hoodie, or robe? (You can only choose one)

Hoodie!

5. What do you hate most about editing?

The part where I have to do editing. It sucks, necessary, yes, but still a pain.

6. What do you love most about the writing process?

Making shit up. I love the fact that there is a legitimate way you can daydream on paper and let other people in on it, without being a total weirdo. I mean think about it. I’m fantasizing about some romantic interlude, scratching that down on paper and then someone reads it, maybe even likes it – and somehow that’s not weird.

7. Caterpillars or butterflies?

Caterpillars are way creepier than butterflies. The whole thing is bizarre though. A worm that turns into a flying insect. The only thing stranger is the tadpole frog situation. It’s almost alien.

8. What are your thoughts on the possibility that the characters you create could be real on some plane of existence?

For the sake of my characters, I hope not, but the universe is a bizarre place and I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if one of my characters was trying to write me as a character in a book (a book that would suck, BTW.)

9. When sending work out for critiques how do you cope with waiting?

Whisky and more writing. It’s the only path. If I get feedback, that’s great-even if it’s tough. If not, that means the work really extra sucked, and that’s not awesome.

10. How do you celebrate when your work gets published?

I’ve never been, so I’ve never had occasion. I’ve been co-author on a lot of technical papers on subsistence in Alaska, which is cool, but it’s just work, so no celebration. If I did get one of my stories published though, I would celebrate with whiskey and more writing. It’s the only path.

Now, it’s time to pass along the joy of the blog award nomination. These awards are great because they allow us to connect and give us an excuse to talk about ourselves. So, here are my nominations:

Matt Bowes (pontiuscominius.wordpress.com)

Gabriel Penn (officialgabrielpenn.wordpress.com)

Emily Russel (pisscoffeeandvinegar.wordpress.com)

May B. B. (http://maybbooks.com/)

Tarquin Carlin (blogofmanycolours.wordpress.com)

Jeff Baumgartner (jbaumgartner13.wordpress.com)

I know I should have more, so if you feel like you’ve been left out, assume you’ve been nominated and feel free to berate me for not officially nominating you. If you’ve been nominated, just answer these questions and pass along the nomination with your own questions.

  1. Do you agree with Scully or Mulder, why?
  2. If you could write an episode for a TV show, which one would it be?
  3. How much time do you spend writing?
  4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
  5. Why do you love/hate Star Wars?
  6. Do you have an elevator pitch for your work in progress (WIP), what is it?
  7. What’s your opinion of the #7?
  8. What was the last book you finished reading?
  9. What was the book that got you interested in reading?
  10. Why do you blog?

There are my 10 painless questions. Answer and send this along to some other bloggers!

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On a break

This week, I’m headed off for a break. It’s a writing break, a work break, and an at-home stuff break. My family and I are hopping on an airplane tonight (a few hours) to head off to LA (Yes, Disneyland). We’ve never all been on a vacation together, the closest we’ve gotten is a trip down to Seward or that one time we went to Fairbanks for a weekend. 

Normally, the airplane is a great place to write, it’s one of the few places where the distraction IS writing. Hotel rooms are also particularly productive, I mean, what else would I do? Last couple of work trips I spent my hotel and airplane time knocking out about half of Wine Bottles and Broomsticks. That’s even after dinner with co-workers and talking with the wife on the phone. This isn’t that sort of trip though. I’ve got the kids with me so there will be those distractions, plus I’m flying late-night flights there and back. I’m not going to have the energy to be creative or productive in any meaningful sense. 

At the moment, most of what I’m working on is line edits and various bits of polishing, not an awful lot of content creation going on anyhow. By taking a break like this, I’m hoping that when I come back, after I get a bit of sleep, I’ll be able to focus on not only editing book 1 of the Rick Basket stories, Wine Bottles and Broomsticks, but I’ll be able to start seriously thinking about plot details and outlines for the second book. I think a good break to absorb some of the real world will do wonders for my created world and make sure I stay excited about the project. 

In any case, I’m sure I’ll be all over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook during my time off, so if you’re wondering what sort of trouble I’m getting in to, there will be a full-public accounting of that. Except for the moments where I’m getting told to ‘put that damn phone away.’