| Friday, October 31, 2008 |
| On The Brink |
Yes folks, tomorrow is the big day. I'm really not pleased that November is starting on a Saturday. I actually find weekends the most difficult time to write. If I get up early to get something done I'm generally followed by my DH who loves to chit chat. And I work a full day on Saturday. And Sunday we need to paint. No, every November should begin on Monday.
I'm really looking forward to this story. While I had a touch of the paranormal in Dreamer's Sea, this one will have a full fledged haunting. Been watching Ghost Hunters for my tips. Diane Craver has my hero up as her Hottie Of The Week.
Speaking of Dreamer's Sea, I've decided that it's in NO WAY done. I thought it would be easier than it would be, but of course I've been distracted lately. I did hear back from one of the agents I queried. A polite no thank you but good luck form letter. Okay, I'm not bummed (well, a little) but I don't wear rose colored glasses either. I would not be surprised if I fall flat on my face with these three agents.
Someone will love it. There's an agent for me out there somewhere!
I missed a lot of writing time yesterday with an unexpected trip to the doctor. My calf has been hurting with a cramp like ache for a day and a half so I had to check it out because of the worry of blood clots. Had an ultrasound done on it. Thank goodness its all clear. Still sore but no iminent death lurking down there. Then I had to do laundry. Blah. I need to be rich so I can hire someone else to do that stuff.
Okay, time to get to editing.Labels: agents, Dreamers Sea, Nanowrimo |
posted by Ceri Hebert @ 1:36 AM  |
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| Monday, October 27, 2008 |
| One Down.... |
I did it.
Yesterday I sent out my first query to an agent. After I sent it my fingers were all tingly and I got a little light headed. I get that way everytime I send something out. I guess I'll feel that way a lot since I'd like to send out at least 3-4 more queries. Still, it's good to have actually done it. I feel like I've taken a huge step forward after months of being tied up in the starting gate. Now I just have to wait, 2-3 weeks, according to the agent's website. Maybe I'll have heard back from Harlequin by then.
Heroes and heroines..... my how they've changed. I'm currently reading an old Nora Roberts book. It was published by Silhouette in 1983. That was right around the time when I was really into Harlequin books. Back then the heroes were really kind of jerks. Really pushy egotistical jerks with gobs of money. And usually the heroines were delicate wisps of fluff without a brain in their heads who were down on their luck. I remember one I read way back in the 80's where the hero thought that the heroine (who was only 18) was a call girl there to sleep with him. What the heck????
So, here I am. I write about the common man. My heroes are usually small town guys who are comfortable but not rolling in the dough (with a few exceptions) and they don't push the heroine into anything they're not ready for. And the heroines are definitely silly pieces of fluff.
Is there anyone out there who likes that 80's kind of pushy hero?Labels: querying an agent, the 80's style of man |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 1:26 AM |
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| Sunday, October 26, 2008 |
| Uncertainties |
Break out the violins
I went to Borders the other day and walking around all those books I got the horrible feeling that I'm just not good enough to compete with all these writers.
Okay, I know I have to stop that. I may not have my books at Borders (yet) but the local bookstore does have them on their shelf and there are people out there who really do like them. Fine, lots of them are family members, but that's okay. Got to start somewhere.
Anyway, it really got me thinking. Where do I want to go with my writing? Do I want to stick with what I know, keep the same style, which for me is pretty much Drama Queen, or branch out into different areas. I find that most of what I write is very character driven. Is that what people want or is plot driven stories more popular? For me, personally, I want to care about the characters. If I don't care about the characters than I could care less about the plot.
I've been working hard the past few days with my synopsis and query for an agent. I haven't sent one out yet because I want it to be perfect, but I know that Dreamer's Sea needs more polishing too. And with NaNo less than a week away I don't know if I can do what's needed so I can turn my attention completely to my NaNo story.
And I'm babbling. Oh well, sometimes babbling is good.Labels: is it ready? When will it be ready? What direction am I going? |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 7:49 AM |
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| Tuesday, October 21, 2008 |
| Searching For An Agent |
Yesterday I began the serious hunt for an agent. I'm thinking of going for one that takes electronic submissions. I've been sweating over my synopsis (which is a 4-letter word in my opinion) but I've found that most of these agents only want a 1 page query to begin with. Okay, so I'm going to have to squish 105K words into one page. Need to brush up on my blurb writing.
Of course I wouldn't be off the hook for that synopsis. If they're interested I'd still have to write one.
This is pretty big! But I've been slacking in the publishing area. I'm ready for something new to come out.
No word from Harlequin yet. Still have another month. Maybe this is a good thing. ???
Well, the beautiful glow of autumn is nearly gone. It was so short lived. We're into the frost season now. Scraping off the windows each morning. Just one day closer to that first snowfall, which I actually like. The first few are wonderful. By New Years Day I'm ready for green grass and seventy degrees. As soon as I make my millions I'm definitely buying a winter home far from here.Labels: agents, fall and winter, synopsis writing |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 1:37 AM |
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| Saturday, October 18, 2008 |
| Life Is Playing With My Head |
It's so much fun.
So, I ordered my new phone. Yeah.
And I found my old phone, nestled amongst my phone and computer wires under my desk.
BUT when my DH was fixing the flat tire on my van this morning, he dropped HIS phone in the road. Guess what.... it got run over.
SO he'll get "my" new phone when it arrives on Monday, a phone that is far far unsuperior to his own.
And this, children, is why you should buy the insurance on your electronics.Labels: hee..... heee..... he. not really |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 8:05 AM |
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| What Can Go Wrong.... |
********WARNING!!!! ********* MAJOR COMPLAINING BELOW
Yesterday was just super. Got some writing done, ordered a new 8 gig flash drive for only 20.00 from Radioshack, made a really good dinner. Coffee maker broke down... (there's nothing worse than pouring a cup of coffee and discovering it looks more like tea). I had a spare floating around that was supposed to sell at a yard sale. Yeah, except it didn't have any filters. So I had to make do with an incorrect filter and hope it works. Oh, and our van has a serious flat.
Why not? This coming on a day that both my DH and I need to be going in seperate directions.
Just one more expense we don't need.
And I had to replace my phone yesterday. Ca-ching. We're not the kind (you know, the smart kind) of people who buy the extra insurance. No, we like living on the edge. Had we bought the insurance I wouldn't have had to pay full price. And even the most stripped down model is pretty pricey. With luck it'll be here Monday.
Watch my phone show up on Sunday.
And last but not least, speaking of insurance, our beautiful big screen tv isn't working properly anymore. We had to play switcheroo with a few other tvs, but I'm sad. It was such a nice tv.
Now if only that dream about me receiving that 9400.00 would come true.
I promise the next post will be less complaining
OH OH OH!!! But before I go, just one more. In the apartment we live in we've had a serious problem with other tenants. The landlord keeps finding these young people who make the place seem more like a frat house. We thought we had it made, finally had some nice people, everyone was friendly. Then the unit next door was empty. Nice 3 bedroom apartment. Did he find a family to put in there? The nice lady with the minivan who looked at it? No. I've got a couple 20 something guys there now. Okay, I won't judge them yet, but I'm being very pessimistic about this right now.
I need my own house!Labels: bitch and moan bitch and moan |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 1:38 AM |
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| Friday, October 17, 2008 |
| Modern Conveniences |
How can we live without them?
I lost my cell phone this week and I'm heartbroken. It's not so much that I had an emotional attachment to my phone, but I had lots of pictures in it and I hate losing them. Oh, and I've really come to depend on it. I feel completely lost without it.
I think of the other things we have and wonder if I could "live" without them. I need the internet. No ifs ands or buts about that. It's a tool for my writing. TV/Tivo? Yeah, okay, I probably could live without it, but I have too many shows that I really enjoy watching, and I dont know what I'd do without my news. We have Sirius. Yeah, I could live without that.
Actually that's not a whole lot. But a heck of a lot more than when I was a kid. We didn't even have a VCR until I was around 16 years old and we didn't have cable tv. The internet was unheard of and we didn't have a PC.
Its amazing how different lifestyles were back then. I actually miss it.
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| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 4:03 AM |
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| Monday, October 13, 2008 |
| Collages |
I'm so proud of myself. I made myself two collages, one for Dreamer's Sea  And one for my NaNo story which is so far untitled.  I really like being able to do this. Like the visuals. Now I need to do one for the sequel to Sweet Forever. But Marianne's are still prettier Labels: collages |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 3:00 PM |
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| A Really Good Dream |
If only it could happen in real life. I dreamed that I heard back from Harlequin and they included a check for 9400.00 as an advance for That Kind Of Magic! Wow! I was absolutely thrilled. And to add to it I had another letter from another publisher with a check for 120.00 for a short story.
Hey, a girl can dream, right?
And so this morning I'm back to editing because I'd really really really like to someday receive a check like that.
I've pretty much decided that I'll do NaNo. I've got a story brewing in my head and it won't leave me alone so I'm going to go for it. Ive got my characters picked out, I've got my setting, which I absolutely love, I'm going back to horses in my story, which I miss. I'll post a collage and a blurb on the story when I get it put together.
This means I have half a month to finish up on Dreamer's Sea, which I think I can do. The synopsis is the most difficult part I have to face now. I really dislike doing them, but gotta do what I gotta do.
We got more painting done (I'll have to post pictures when we're done) this weekend. Just need to do trim and then move my desk so we can finish the dining room. I really like the colors and can't wait to get new curtains. Going to be real purty.
Time for breakfast. I'm enjoying a quiet morning. The kids don't have school today so they're sleeping in. I really enjoy the quiet even if I have to get up at 4am to get it.Labels: Dreamers Sea, NaNo, painting, really good dreams |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 2:03 AM |
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| Monday, October 6, 2008 |
| To NaNo Or Not To NaNo... that is the question |
I'll probably wait til the last minute to decide. I have to weigh the projects I have going against starting something new. Currently I'm still working on Dreamers Sea (this was my 2006 NaNo project), but I'm thiiiisss close to finishing it. Just have to rewrite the beginning and then I'm going to send it off to another pair of eyes and I'll write my synopsis. Then it's agent time! I should, if I concentrate, be done with this in no time. Right?
Yeah, how often does THAT happen? Life always throws something in my path.
But the good news is that I'm not expecting any visitors, no people in to do work on the house, no appointments outside the house for a while. So there's no excuse not to get the deal done. Well, except for Wednesday when I have to go pick up our new dining room table and a new chair. There is that.
Otherwise my calendar is clear for the rest of the month.
So while I'm inspired and have my DS document open I'm going to go work on it.Labels: Dreamers Sea, Nanowrimo, other projects. |
| posted by Ceri Hebert @ 3:29 PM |
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