Be My Nook Friend...

I can't believe I've become one of those people...you know, the electronic book people. I was determinded never get one as I love my paper books so much. But, I got a Nook for Christmas...and I think I love it. Please don't tell my books. I haven't broken it to them yet.

Now I'm looking for Nook Friends to share books with. Every year it's my goal to read 100 books. I know this may seem like small potatoes for some people who read/skim books with the spead of light, but it takes me time to read, especially when I'm really enjoying a novel. I know I'm backward. Still, for the past few years I've fallen short of my 100 goal, ending at about 75. Now that I have my Nook, I hope to see what others are reading and that way I can add to my list. Maybe this time I'll meet my goal of 100 books read in 2012!

If you have a Nook and want to be my friend, send me an email, or leave your email in the comments and friend you!

2011 IN REVIEW

• February 3rd slipped on ice and dislocated my right shoulder, resulting in a broken bone. Ouch!
• March 8th had surgery to remove bone shard and repair damage.
• May 7th went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Beyond Awesome!
• July 7th three requests for my full manuscript!
• July 15th the final Harry Potter movie came out and I went to my fist midnight viewing! I’m sorry that I waited until the last one to do it. There is such a nerd-energy that I love. Thank you J. K. Rowling for giving me something to be super nerdy about.
• July 23rd went to New York to see Daniel Radcliff in How to Succeed in Business Without Trying. Was part of the crowd who sang happy birthday to Dan. The musical was FANTASTIC. I wonder if there is anything he can’t do once he sets his mind to it.
• August 3rd turned 39. I’m blessed to have 39 years in this world and be comfortable with who I am. No complaints!
• August 23rd the East Coast Earthquake. Nothing more to say about that. LOL
• August 27th-28th suffered zero damage from Hurricane Irene. Thank you God!
• November 7th test results from endometrial biopsy came back negative!
• December 9th pathology results from D&C came back negative.
• December 21st my sister came to town for Christmas.
• December 23rd head to Delaware to spend the holidays with family.
• December 28th bought a new car! 2012 Hyundai Sonata. I love it!
• December 31st had a very restful New Year’s Eve.

While I have some goals that were not achieved during the year of 2011, namely, weight loss and obtaining an agent (I’m still waiting to hear back from two of those agents who requested from me in July), I think my year has been very good. The days between each of the listed dates were days filled with writing, reading, laughter and love. I don’t have one complaint. Hope all of you had a full and wonderful 2011 and may 2012 be even better!

There’s a Thin Line Between Literary Genius and Crap

As my current work in progress nears the end, I have moments where I say to myself, “I can’t believe I wrote this. It’s the most amazing story I’ve ever written. It’s emotional, philosophical, scientific and funny.”

And then there are times when I say, “I can’t believe I wrote this! It’s whiney, pretentious, inconceivable and no one is going to get my jokes.” In other words it’s crap.

The problem with writing something you think is brilliant is at some point your bubble will get burst. I love this story I’m creating right now. I love the characters, the world and definitely the dialogue, but I guess it has to happen to authors at some point.

We are too close to the work and then doubts start to creep in. The only way I know how to handle this is to keep writing. If it turns out it’s crap, you can believe someone WILL tell me. It’s just that I recently noticed that I’d written a chapter without thinking much about it. It came from an emotional place and when I read it back, I thought, this is fan-freakin-tastic!

But then a few days later, I lay in bed thinking about that chapter and started to second guessing myself. Is it too emotional? Too preachy? Am I full of crap and therefore my writing must be full of crap too? Inquiring minds want to know, people! LOL.

I can’t be alone in this. Please tell me I’m not. At some point do you think you’ve written the next new classic novel? They will make movies, a theme park and everybody will want to be your characters. And then you think this is utter garbage and is probably not good enough to line a bird cage?

Tell me I’m not alone.

A Bit of Downtime

With all the writing, reading and online shopping I have no time for blogging. Well, the truth is, I've sufficiently fried my brain so I'll be taking a small break.

Carry on!

Beta Block

I’ve long since come to the understanding that I’m not going to agree with every beta. That would be impossible. Still, I never want to disregard someone’s hard work. Whenever I get feedback that is a bit hard to take, I always take a few days, weeks, or sometimes months, and come back to it with fresh eyes and an open mind. If I still find the comments off, or bizarre, or just completely out of left field, then I disregard them. Sometimes I don’t need days or weeks or months. I know instantly that I’m not going to heed the comment.

My most recent venture into Beta Land was with someone I’ve never worked with. I want so desperately to form a core group of good betas, but I’m not sure how to do that other than to give strangers a chance. Yeah, you can read their sample work, and like it enough to say, ‘okay, you seem to have some writing chops, take a whack at my work.’ But in the end, it’s still a person you don’t really know pawing over your manuscript. This is what we as writers have to do, so I’m not really disputing this process. I lucked up three times and found betas who give honest, constructive criticism—beta’s who have helped me immensely. One is sadly no longer with us, Zellie, whom I miss dearly. The other is Tere and the third is Abby. I’m looking for two more to have a core group of four. I don’t need a like mind, because sometimes someone who thinks differently will see things I miss. I just need some good tough love.

So tell me, do you debate the disagreements with your beta? Generally, I don’t. Unless I truly don’t understand her point, or I think she has misinterpreted something I’ve written. Otherwise, I don’t bother.

If any of you out there are interested in swapping manuscripts with me, let me know...or should I be asking for a crit partner? Do you think there is a difference? I’m nearly done my current WIP and will need a reader/critter sometime after the new year!

Hope everyone survived the tryptophan coma!

Looking on the Bright Side

After a rejection, I often tell myself, “It wasn’t meant to be.” And even if I really don’t believe that at the time, most of the time, I come to believe it eventually. Yesterday I got a reply on a full that wasn’t an offer, and as sad as that may be, it was the first time I truly felt that it wasn’t meant to be. The email was so gracious and complimentary that I had to smile while reading it. (My mother is under the impression that it wasn’t a rejection, but a postponement-lol.) Here is a bit of the letter:

Dear Karen:

I like your work so much. It’s odd, quirky and refreshing; all at the same time. It also grabs my attention. Believe me, I read all the time and it takes a lot to become memorable in my book.

Still, at this point, I’m just too booked. I don’t want to stand in the way of your success and I don’t believe I could even think about offering you representation until sometime in June – or so. That’s not fair to you. It’s not fair to me. It’s not fair to my current clients.

Thus, as sad as it makes me, I’m going to have to pass on this completely fun, exciting work. Now…if you’re still looking for representation come the Summer – 2012 – I’ll hope you’ll let me know…

I have to say, I’m hoping not to be able to take her up on her offer come summer, but I’m glad to know it’s out there. It’s funny, reading the forums and taking count of all the new clients this agent has just taken on, I began to feel like this may not be the place for me. I don’t want to take anything away from the agent; however, I began to wonder if I’d get lost in the crowd. So, I think it was truly meant to be that I was passed over.

Have any of you ever received a rejection and thought, yeah, that was probably for the best?

Implausible

While reading, I came across a chapter that I just couldn’t believe. Yes the story was about paranormal activities and entities, however, even in speculative fiction the reader needs to believe that what’s happening is plausible. I was having a hard time buying into the scene and the steps the characters took to solve the problem.

Reading urban fantasy, dystopian or sci-fi means the reader has to come to the novel with a bit of suspended belief. We know that werewolves don’t exist, but we are willing to accept this for the sake of the story. However, if said werewolf suddenly sprouts wings and starts to fly (when it hasn’t been established that he is a flying werewolf), then we as the reader will most likely go, “Um…WTH is going on here?”

My point; think about what you are writing and make sure that it is logical within the world you have created. Don’t just have characters acting in a certain way just because it will be easier to get the plot moving along. Make sure that normal, rational people will say, “yeah, I can understand why she did that.” And if they can’t, make sure you have truly explained why your character has done something so seemingly foolish.

It’s tricky because you want your characters to be active and not passive, so sometimes they are going to do things that make the reader yell, “No dummy! Don’t do that!” That is different from a situation where just about every reader is scratching his head thinking, um…why in the world did she just do that? And even your explanation doesn’t make it plausible.

We’ve all seen it. The horror movie where the people are safe inside their home and suddenly someone spots something out in the dark woods.

“There’s someone out there.”
The crazy person says, “Let’s go check it out.”

Am I the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous to leave a nice, warm, well-lit home complete with possible weapons and a working phone to go looking around in the woods for a lurking stranger? Who do these people think they are going to find? It’s NEVER going to be Publisher’s Clearing House with a big check.

I know you have all read/seen this type of thing before and you’ve said to yourself—or perhaps out loud—“No one would EVER do that!”

Tell me all about it!