Edits Are Like Shiny Objects...

...I get easily distracted by them.

First off, I'm alive!

Second, I finished my latest round of revisions for Knights of Avalon. It only took me over a year. I actually finished about a month ago, but then the holidays happened, and free time was not happening.

Now that I'm done and the mss. is out with my beta readers, I desperately need to busy myself with something else. Because when you're waiting for your beta readers to get back to you, it's like this:






Yes, I need to chill and just enjoy the puppehs. While I wait, I'm also going to try and update this blog and maybe do a giveaway. Is there any book in particular you'd like me to give away? I take requests! I love to get things for people. I live around the DC area, so if you know of an author headed my way, I can get books signed and hold a contest.

Update:

The always awesome James of Book Chic Club has put together a list of Mid-Atlantic book signings and events. Check the list out. If you see something on there that you want, let me know and I will do my best to get it and have a contest. I want to get you all books! Let me get you books!

Also, the Internet Famous Intern (IFI) has drawn a picture (several, in fact) of Justine, my MC from Knights of Avalon. That's my girl! In stick-figure form. I love it.

PAYA Giveaway, Week 4: The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin

Update: I've never had a contest with no entries before, but I really, really wanted to read this book myself. And it's signed, "Rock You Like a Hurricane!" I guess I'll keep it. Can I do that? I'm totally doing it!

Last, but not least, I'll be giving away a signed paperback copy of Josh Berk's The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin. At PAYA, Josh half-jokingly offered to sign it, "Rock You Like a Hurricane." I totally took him up on that, so think of the prize as an extra-special Hurricane Irene commemorative edition of the book.

Summary:



Will Halpin has ditched his former “deaf school” and is now trying to merge into the auditory-able mainstream at Carbon High in eastern Pennsylvania. As the new, overweight kid who has to sit off to the side during classes so he can try to read the lips of both his teachers and his classmates, Will—no slouch when it comes to reading human reactions—quickly downsizes his social expectations and retreats back into the soundless cocoon of his own skull. Luckily for readers, it’s darkly hilarious in there.

What teens wouldn’t want to have Will’s skills as he, notebook in hand, monitors the school bus mirror and pieces together what all the cool kids are talking about? Most, Will discovers, as he deftly dissects personalities and devilishly deconstructs high school culture, are slavishly focused on being invited to an exclusive party being thrown by popular jock Pat. But when Pat dies during a field trip to a defunct coal mine, under suspicious circumstances, the story morphs into an engaging mystery as Will reluctantly accepts the unsettlingly friendly overtures of a quirky classmate bent on enlisting him as a partner in some amateur sleuthing.

How to Enter:

1. Respond to this post and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The winner will be chosen at random.

2. For extra credit (and one extra contest entry), please answer the following question: If money, time, and materials weren't an issue, what would be your ultimate Halloween costume?

3. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

4. You must follow my blog. You're also more than welcome to follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you're not required to. But it would make me happy.

5. Deadline to enter is Monday, October 31, at 11:59pm EST. At midnight, I turn into a pumpkin and no more entries will be accepted.

6. The contest is open to everybody, US and International.

If you have any questions about contest rules, please leave them in the comments!

PAYA Giveaway, Week 3: A Touch Mortal - Winner Announced

Update: And the winner is...Maidenveil! Woohoo! You go, girl!
I'll be in touch via e-mail, or quite possibly messenger dog (it's like a messenger owl).

Check back Monday for my last giveaway, Josh Berk's The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.

--
Next up, a signed copy of Leah Clifford's A Touch Mortal. Not only is this book a great read, it teaches us a valuable lesson: Don't date fallen angels. Seriously, you want something cute with wings? Get a cockatiel.

Book Summary:



Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

How to Enter:

1. Respond to this post and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The winner will be chosen at random.

2. For extra credit (and one extra contest entry), please answer the following question: If you were dating a Fallen Angel, where would you go for your first date? I understand Skeeball is very popular with the winged set.

3. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

4. You must follow my blog. You're also more than welcome to follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you're not required to. But it would make me happy.

5. Deadline to enter is Thursday, October 20, at 9pm EST.

6. The contest is open to everybody, US and International.

If you have any questions about contest rules, please leave them in the comments!

A Brief Intermission, and Contest Alert

I'll be posting my next giveaway tomorrow, but to tide you over, I wanted to share some cool contests and links:

1. Have you ever wanted to visit Japan? How about getting a free round-trip ticket to go there? To bring back tourists after March's deadly earthquake and tsunami, Japan will pay for your airfare if you're willing to blog about your adventure. You'll have to provide your own funds for food, hotel, and anime though.
2. Are you a fan of Jimi Hendrix? Sirenz co-author Natalie Zaman is giving away a rubbing she took of Jimi Hendrix's grave. I have to say, of all the prizes ever given away in a contest, this is definitely one of the coolest and most unique.
3. Over at Scribing Shadows, it's Sandy's second blogoversary. There's still time to enter and get the chance to win books and other goodies!
4. Best dog costume of the year? Quite possibly.
   

Feel free to leave any contest links you might know of in the comments.

PAYA Giveaway, Week 2: Sirenz - Winner Announced

Update: And the winner is...Seleste deLaney! Congratulations! I'll be in touch via e-mail.

Thanks again to everyone who entered. Stay tuned, in the next couple of days I'll be giving away a signed copy of Leah Clifford's A Touch Mortal.

--
I was in the car this morning when the Bananarama song Venus came on. You know, that song from the 80's:

Goddess on the mountain top
Burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name

She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus, I'm your fire
At your desire

1) Yes, I'm old. Shut up 2) Yes, I grooved around in the car to this 3) I always thought that last line was "Trojan fire."

The song, besides being a catchy '80s tune, got me thinking about Sirenz, my next PAYA giveaway. And not only do you get a signed copy of this tasteful tiffany blue-hued work of fiction, but there will be swag, oh yes, for authors Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman have some of the best swag around.

Book Summary:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they've done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there's the matter of the fine print in their own contracts...



How to Enter:

1. Respond to this post and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The winner will be chosen at random.

2. For extra credit (and one extra contest entry), please answer the following question: Who's your favorite Greek God or Goddess?

3. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

4. You must follow my blog. You're also more than welcome to follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you're not required to. But it would make me happy.

5. Deadline to enter is Thursday, October 6, at 9pm EST.

6. The contest is open to everybody, US and International.

If you have any questions about contest rules, please leave them in the comments!

PAYA Giveaway, Week 1: Witch Eyes - Winner Announced

Update: And the winner, as selected by my dog Hope, is...Erinberry! Congratulations! I'll be in touch via e-mail.

Thanks to everyone who entered. Stay tuned, because tomorrow I'll be posting another PAYA-related giveaway.

And as for what I'd name my not-at-all-haunted, I-swear-there's-nothing-strange town, here are some of my ideas:

-Last Chance

-Bleak Pines

-Solitude

I'd suggest Silent Hill but that was already taken.

--

I've been waiting for Scott Tracey's Witch Eyes to come out for a long time. How long? I first heard about the book ten months ago. I went to Good Reads, saw lots of great reviews, and knew I had to run out to the store to get it. Except no one had ever heard of Witch Eyes. People looked at me like I was crazy. I was all, "No, I saw reviews for it, it must be out." Lesson learned. Just because a book has reviews on Good Reads doesn't mean it's out.

But now you get a chance to win a signed copy. Besides being a fun read, Witch Eyes is a natural hellhound repellant and an excellent source of Vitamin C. In addition, did you know that Scott Tracey's tweets are insured for $10,000 and that he does car commercials in Japan while speaking Norwegian? Bet you didn't.

Book Summary:

Braden’s witch eyes give him an enormous power. A mere look causes a kaleidoscopic explosion of emotions, memories, darkness, and magic. But this rare gift is also his biggest curse.

Compelled to learn about his shadowed past and the family he never knew, Braden is drawn to the city of Belle Dam, where he is soon caught between two feuding witch dynasties. Sworn rivals Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe will use anything—lies, manipulation, illusion, and even murder—to seize control of Braden’s powers. To stop an ancient evil from destroying the town, Braden must master his gift.

How to Enter:

1. Respond to this post and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The winner will be chosen at random.

2. For extra credit (and one extra contest entry), please answer the following question: Witch Eyes takes place in the ominously-named town of Belle Dam. If you were writing a novel, what ominous name would you pick for your town? If you need any help, here's a helpful post Scott wrote on naming your fake town.

3. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

4. You must follow my blog. You're also more than welcome to follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you're not required to. But it would make me happy.

5. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, September 27, at 9pm EST.

6. The contest is open to everybody, US and International.

If you have any questions about contest rules, please leave them in the comments!

It’s Back….PAYA 2011

No, not the fruit.

Bring YA to PA, dedicated to spreading the YA love and supporting Pennsylvania’s libraries, is back with its second annual festival, August 27 in West Chester, PA.

You should go.

No, really. I went last year and had a blast. This year, seventeen amazing authors (with possibly more to be announced), including Leah Clifford, Jeri Smith-Ready, and A.S. King, will be signing books, chatting with readers, and just generally being awesome.

On top of that, there’ll be a bake sale, a raffle, and a writer’s workshop.

You should go to the writer’s workshop.

I’ll be at the writer's workshop.

I don't want to be the only one there. Then I'd be lonely.

Wait, wait! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you off.

But really, if you have a WIP, you should go. It's $40 if you sign up before August 10, $50 afterwards, and you get to have your opening pages critiqued by either Jeri Smith-Ready, Keri Mikulski, Dianne Salerni, Ellen Jensen Abbott, Charlotte Bennardo, or Sarah Darer Littman.

I went last year and it was so incredibly helpful. You can read about my misadventures here, here, and here. The plan is to actually bring back the opening pages for the manuscript I brought last year, Knights of Avalon, and have the new and improved pages critiqued again.

If you can't make it, (but really, you should go), I'll get some books signed at PAYA and will be giving them away on the blog. So if there's a particular book you're interested in, let me know. I love to giveaway stuff and I definitely take requests.

Contest Alert

Yet another great contest from YAtopia, this time it's the chance to pitch your YA or Adult UF/Paranormal mss to Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst & Associates Literary Management. Here's the thing though: The contest is limited to 50 entries, has only been going on for 1 day, and is already filling up quick, so if you want to enter, do it now! Hurry! Time is of the essence. Pretend the world is ending if you must.

I'll definitely be entering. According to the rules, your manuscript must be completed. Well, mine is completed and quite polished, but is going through yet another round of edits (you lose count of what round you're on after a while). I'm so close to being done though, hopefully this will push me to hunker down and finally finish up. I'll let everyone know how it goes. And until then...if you have a YA or UF mss, enter the contest!

Contest Alert

Looking for a critique? Looking for an agent? Looking for a critique from an agent? Then do I have the contest for you.

Author Shelley Watters is hosting a Made of Awesome first page contest on her blog, judged by the completely bad-ass Judith Engracia of Liza Dawson Associates. I don't usually use that term, but Judith has a Siberian Husky named Grendel, does martial arts, and graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University with a B.A. in English and History. Oh yeah, and she did it on a full presidential scholarship. I mean, it's not every day you read a literary agent's bio and ask yourself, "If my MC Justine and this literary agent got in a fight, who would win?" Let's see, both Justine and Judith have martial arts training, but Justine does happen to wield Excalibur. Judith probably doesn't have a magic sword. Then again, Justine doesn't have a Siberian Husky named Grendel, who quite possibly has magical powers, and who may or may not transform into a fierce fighting companion the way Battlecat did in He-Man. So let's call it a draw.

Anyways, the point is: Awesome contest, ends today, May 31, so enter now. First-place winner will win a 10-page critique and the way these contests usually work, Judith may ask to look at the runner-ups' work as well. So, you know, enter! Now!

Still Alive!: An Update

Hi all,

Just wanted to give a quick update on what I've been up to. For the past six months (no, I cannot believe I've been at it THAT long), I've been revising my beloved manuscript, Knights of Avalon, whenever I've had a spare minute. The thing is, between work and cat rescue, there haven't been that many spare minutes.

I have two big goals this time around:

1. Build more of an emotional connection between the reader and the characters, especially my main character Justine.
2. Strengthen character relationships.


That's a little edit, right? I can do that easy. No problem!

It's all about the emotion, people. Not having an emotional connection is like having a car without an engine. But, well, hrm, how do I put this gently... I'm no good at the emotional stuff! Apparently I suck at it more than a factory full of Dyson vacuum cleaners.

I am getting better though, bit by painful bit. Every revision has a little more emotion. And now I've been studying it, putting it under the microscope and figuring out the mechanics of building a connection with the reader, because some people do it naturally, and then there's me.

I hope to be done in a few weeks. When I am done, I'll do two things: 1) Post about what I've learned 2) Have another contest, because it's been way too long! BTW-If there's any particular book you'd like to see go up for grabs, let me know. If I don't have it, maybe I can get it. I definitely take requests when at all possible.

Contest Alert

This just in:

For those of you hunting for an agent, the elusive, usually closed-to-submissions, Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency is judging a pitch contest over at YAtopia. Do you have a finished manuscript? Is it YA/Kid Lit? Can you deliver a fantastic pitch in two sentences? If you can, then head on over. But hurry, the contest is limited to the first 150 entries (and you better believe I'm entering).

The Swamps of Revision

I have climbed the Mountains of Adversity, wandered the Desert of Rejection, and hacked my way through the Jungle of Self-Doubt. I finally had to stop at the 7-Eleven of Dashed Hopes and get myself a Slurpee (the Slurpee of Everlasting Optimism!) because all this wandering around is exhausting.

So, where am I? I'm currently in the Swamps of Revision. I haven't run into any Rodents of Unusual Size yet but if I see one, I'll let you know. In a later post I'll talk about how those revisions are going, but I really came here to mention that I'll be attending the Breathless Reads book signing in Raleigh tomorrow.

I didn't think I'd be able to make it, but thanks to my best bud Aine and my boss, who's very big on me having a life and getting time off, I'll be there!

For those who don't know about the Breathless Reads tour, there'll be five YA authors at the signing:

-Kirsten Miller - The Eternal Ones
-Brenna Yovanoff - The Replacement
-Andrea Cremer - Nightshade
-Ally Condie - Matched
-Beth Revis - Across the Universe

What an amazing lineup! Kinda wish you were going, don't you? Or if nothing else, maybe you wish someone would get you a book signed? Maybe some nice YA writer who has a beagle and blogs on occasion?...

First person to respond to this post gets their pick. Tell me which book you want and who you want it made out to. And if you respond too late, no worries, there'll be more contests.

Update: Congrats, Harmony! I'll be putting your signed copy of Across the Universe in the mail in the next few days.

Never fear, I also got a copy of Andrea Cremer's Nightshade for a future giveaway!

Sisters Red Giveaway: Winner Announced!

I had this grand plan for Lucy the Beagle to help me pick the contest winner. Fanciful ideas of how we'd do it flitted through my head. Perhaps I'd use a bunch of books as dominoes, get Lucy to somehow knock them over, and set off a chain reaction that would reveal the name of the winner. Maybe I'd write down everybody's name on pieces of paper, wrap them around dog treats, and see which one Lucy picked. But in the end, there was one glaring flaw in my otherwise brilliant plan:

Lucy was napping, and she didn't feel like getting up.



I called out to her, "Lucy! Lucy! Come here, girl! I'll give you a treat, you want a treat, don't you?" She must've known I was up to something, because she cracked open one eye, stared at me like I was ridiculous, and returned to her snore-filled slumber.

I tried again, a little more desperate. "Luuuucy! Lucy! Come here! Come! Now!" But the beagle took no pity on me. So I threw everybody's name into a hat and picked a winner. And the winner is....

Pam Vickers!

Congratulations! You win the signed copy of Sisters Red, a $20 gift card to either Borders or Barnes & Noble (your choice), and this because it's cute and wolf-like:



Just don't go after it with an axe, please! It's not a Fenris.

Sisters Red Giveaway

I promised a Sisters Red giveaway, many eons ago, to mark the end of NaNoWriMo. Let's ignore the fact that it's almost January and get this contest started.

The Prize: A hardback copy of Sisters Red, signed by the very funny and very gracious Jackson Pearce. In addition, because I was late with this contest, I will throw in a mystery prize to sweeten the pot. I promise the 'mystery prize' will not be my dog Hope (aka Li'l Sofaeater).

Book Summary:

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris—the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax—but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they’ve worked for.

How to Enter:

1. I'm going to change it up and do a random drawing this time. All you need to do is respond to this post and you'll automatically be entered into the contest. The winner will be chosen by my beagle, Lucy. How, I'm not quite sure, but I'm already working on some sort of Rube Goldberg type contraption.

2. For extra credit (and one extra contest entry), please answer the following question: You are skipping towards Grandma's house, carrying a basket full of gifts and supplies. Out of nowhere, you are attacked by a Big Bad Wolf. Using just your cloak and/or the items in your basket, how do you fight back?

3. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

4. You must follow my blog. You could also follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you don't have to if you don't want to.

5. The deadline is Monday, January 10, at 9pm EST.

If you have any questions about contest rules, please leave them in the comments!

Update: The contest is closed! I'll announce the winner either tomorrow or Friday. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Zombies vs. Unicorns: Winners Announced

Thanks to everybody who entered. Considering myself to be somewhat of an expert on the subject of Zombies vs. Unicorns, I thought I had heard just about every conceivable argument on the matter. I was wrong. Not only did you guys make some really thoughtful and creative points, but oftentimes you had me laughing hysterically while you made them. Well done!

After much consideration, rending of garments and gnashing of teeth, the winners are:

First Place: Dr. Beatrice Alfalfa-Scrimstone...er, I mean, Stephanie!

Runner-up: Reena Jacobs, who had me at "Unicorn Jello"

Congratulations to you both!

Thanks again to everybody who entered. I had a blast doing this and hope to have many more contests in the future.

Zombies vs. Unicorns: The Contest!

Yes, a contest. My first official contest. Why am I so nervous? I don't know, there's no reason to be.

But yes, I am having a contest. There have been many great debates in our time: Tastes Great vs. Less Filling, Pirates vs. Ninjas, Do Dolphins Secretly Rule the World or Do Mice?, and now... Zombies vs. Unicorns. Here's your chance to weigh in, have some fun, and in the process, perhaps win a prize.

Contest Details:

The Prize: A copy of the highly coveted, much sought after Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology signed by Holly Black, Justine Larbalestier, Diana Peterfreund, Kathleen Duey, Scott Westerfeld and Carrie Ryan.



How to Enter:

1. You must choose a side. There will be no Switzerland. I will have no Team Zombiecorn or Unicorn Ninja or Sparkle Zombie on this blog. It is forbidden.

2. Explain to me, as creatively and convincingly as possible in the comments section below, why zombies or unicorns are better. I'd also love to see some arguments in favor of the practical value unicorns or zombies might have.

3. You can enter three times. Any entries above and beyond that will be thoroughly ignored.

4. If you're my little brother, you can't enter.

5. You must follow my blog. You could also follow me on Twitter (@LiteraryMouse), but you don't have to if you don't want to.

6. The deadline is Wednesday, October 20, at 9pm EST...or whenever America's Next Top Model ends.

Entries will be judged on creativity, passion, and humor. I reserve the right to add more cool prizes if there's a ton of responses.

Update: Because of the awesome entries, I'm going to add a prize for the runner-up: A copy of Rampant signed by Diana Peterfreund. Keep those answers coming!

Update2: Thanks again to everyone who entered! I will announce winners Saturday evening, when I'm not in a sleep-deprived, work-induced haze.

Starting a Query from Scratch

Lookee! Over there! It's yet another blog contest, this time to "Be an Agent for a Day," and as everyone probably knows by now, blog contests are my crack. Oh yes they are.

There are two components to this contest. The one that interests me the most is the part where people send in queries to be judged by Nathan Bransford's readers, as if they were actual agents. I know not all queries will be selected, but what the heck, let's give it a shot, so I'm going to send in a query for my unfinished YA Urban Fantasy, "Knights of Avalon."

Except here's the catch: I'm going to have to write the query first. From the ground up. My Surviving Matewan query I posted a while back? I had worked on and revised that for months before anyone ever got to see it. But I think it'll be an interesting exercise to show you my thought process as I put a new query together.

Before I start writing a query, the first question I ask myself is: What should I put in it? I love to bake and to me, this is like putting together a list of ingredients. And yes, it's very easy to forget ingredients, because as writers we're so close to our own work that we sometimes assume readers know something that they don't.

For Knights of Avalon , here's the basic premise: Knights of the Round Table reincarnated as New Jersey teens. To find out who is killing them one by one and save the future, they'll have to join together and discover their pasts.

Here are my basic ingredients for the query. I'll update this list if I think of anything else:

• Story inspired by the legends of King Arthur and Camelot
• The title (you think it's obvious but people apparently have forgotten)
• Wordcount
• Genre
• No credentials will be included, because I really don't have any. Except that I love to write, my beagle thinks I'm brilliant and that I make the best pralines ever! But I don't think any of that's relevant here, so I'll leave it out. But seriously, my pralines are really yummy
• Set in Avalon, New Jersey
• In the plot summary, mention that Guinevere/Gwen has been kidnapped and it's this event that spurs her best friend Arthur/Justine to action and ultimately draws the knights together
• Mention the murder of New Jersey teens, all of them brilliant and heroic in some way
• Should I include quick one sentence descriptions of some of the individual knights? Will have to think on it. For example, for Dinadan, "a self-professed drama nerd whose only fighting experience is in West Side Story but finds herself able to take down a champion blackbelt with ease."
  

I'm clearly brainstorming here, but this is how I start a query. Just start tossing out ideas. I'll start a rough rough draft tomorrow and post it.

Thoughts on Word Counts

First of all, did you see the winners of the Query Haiku Contest over at Colleen Lindsay's blog, did ya, did ya? Honorable mention, bay-bee! Yeah!!!!

Second, and wholly unrelated to writing, but my mother got the foster kitties that are living in my bathroom all these toy mice and pirate-themed cat toys. Arrrrr! I'll try to post photos of the kitties some time, they're quite adorable...and adoptable. If you live in the Washington DC metropolitan area and want a kitty, let me know!

But to the point, I've been lurking around lots of fellow writer's blogs lately and noticed that they like to put up the word counts of their WIPs, and this includes very successful published writers.

And I realized something...I don't do that. In fact, I have a feeling I shouldn't do that, because I'd become obsessed with how many words I've written instead of how far I am in the story and whether or not it's any good.

For better or for worse, I did this with Surviving Matewan. I just focused on trying to write a good story and didn't check the word count until I was done. Of course, I ended up with an 81,000 word manuscript, which is too long for YA/Middle Grade. Even more impressive, when I made another round of revisions aimed at reducing the word count, I ended up with 89,000 words. Check out my mad editing skillz! But still, my attitude is story first, word count second.

That works for me, it probably won't work for others. Once I have the story, I can shape it and tweak it until it's an acceptable length. Plus, I still have a bad habit of telling and not showing, so there's a lot of fat in that 89,000 (now down to 87,500) word manuscript that can be cut.

With Knights of Avalon, I've revised my strategy slightly. I still don't know what my word count is, but I've learned more about what's considered acceptable in different genres and have a word count target in mind (75,000). I also have a better feel now for when I'm going long and what my word count probably will be based on how many pages I've written. We'll see how that works. Right now, my main concern is with pacing and bringing together all these characters who are scattered about at the beginning of the story.

My Haiku Brings All the Readers to the Blog

I don't know why, but for some reason, I've had the following lyrics running through my head all day long:

(sung to "Milkshake")

My haiku brings all the readers to the blog
And they're like
It's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours,
I can write you another one
But I'd have to charge

All. Day. Long.

It probably has something to do with the fact that I finally finished my haiku for the Query Haiku contest. Now, I will warn you up front, I have written haikus before and almost always mangle the syllable count. I can check and re-check and still get it wrong, so hopefully this one's all right.

Oh, and I did it for my YA Urban Fantasy, tentatively titled Knights of Avalon, because I kinda think it's really cool. Here it is:

Knights of Roundtable
Reborn as New Jersey teens
Learn past, save future

Update:

Special Friday Bonus Haiku!

Milano Cookies
Half-off at supermarket
Nom nom nom nom nom

Damn Turkey

Apologies for being so absent from the blog...had a very long week which in all honesty kind of sucked, which says a lot when I look back and consider all the good stuff that's happened in the last seven days.

The least suckful (bear with me, I'm making up new words as I go along) news is that my partial got rejected by a wonderful literary agent who I really wanted to work with. I am sad. Once again. But wait, perhaps it will work out for the best!

While I try to work out the kinks in Surviving Matewan, I'm going to focus more attention on my YA Urban Fantasy. It's still going to take me a while to complete, but I can already see that while I love to write both fantasy and historical fiction, I'm trending more towards the fantasy side of things. So if I'm lucky enough and skilled enough to eventually get an agent, it probably makes more sense for the first work an agent sees to be in the fantasy genre. Plus, I honestly think my YA Urban Fantasy is better written than Surviving Matewan, or at the least, has better pacing and plotting. We shall see though, first I've got to finish writing the darn thing.

In other news...blog contests are still my crack and lo! and behold!, Colleen Lindsay over at The Swivet is having a Query Haiku contest. You may recall the last time she held a contest, it was to write a query in 140 characters or less and I likened it to writing... a query haiku! This clearly means that I am psychic! I shall now go play the lottery and when I get back, start work post haste on my contest entry.