... check out the Hide and Create Podcast, where my agent Rebecca Strauss was recently featured as a guest. She'll be on another episode very soon, too.

I submitted Clockwork Dagger to my editor this week. I'm nervous, yes, but I also feel strangely good about the revisions I made. I feel better about them than I expected to, really. A few reasons for this ( Read more... )

You know that saying, "Time flies while you're having fun?" Well, last weekend at the conference passed in a blink. It was an amazing blend of camaraderie, business, and fun.

My dear friend Rachel flew from Texas to partake in the conference. We became friends back when we both lived near Seattle in 2003, but we've been apart for years now. We ( Read more... )

A year ago today, I posted my 2011 goals. Now it's time to see what resulted.

1) Begin querying for Normal by late January. Keep five queries in circulation at all times.
Note that the goal didn't say "get an agent." To me, that was just setting myself up for failure. It was enough to do what I COULD control: send out the queries. I sure didn't ( Read more... )

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the yard and shot it." ~ Truman Capote

I live. I spent much of the past week at my parents' house in California and had a wonderful time despite being mauled by allergies.

This week's quote addresses a major note of progress for me. Minstrels of Fate has been sent off to my agent. Now I wait ( Read more... )

I have a new post up at Flash Fiction Chronicles about how flash fiction can hone your writing skills and lead to representation.

Drop by, say hi, and keep the faith in your writing! Always remember: It's okay if your writing sucks. In time, you'll suck less.

This is a sequel to my post from April on querying and the links that helped me through that process. I'm the one in the crowd who is loaded like MacGyver. My purse is a bag of holding when it comes to disaster needs: ibuprofen, bandages, disinfectant, tissues. I'm OCD. I take comfort in being ready. Therefore, it only made sense that when it came ( Read more... )

Another round of revisions done. This time I added 4,000 more words where I took my character to hell and back. Celeste is a strong lady, and by the time I was done, she was a sobbing, bloodied mess curled up fetal position in a shower.

Go me!

This means I'm trying to switch my brain around so I can get back into Minstrels of Fate mode, which is ( Read more... )

"Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance." ~Dan Greenburg

On Friday I dove into the latest revisions on Normal. I did most of the minor fixes throughout the manuscripts--awkward or unclear sentences my agent pointed out--and added a new scene at about 1000 words. The big work ( Read more... )

I was going to type up a blog post right now (hey, look, I am!) and then an email arrived from my agent. More revision notes on Normal!

Time to read and brainstorm and make this thing all shiny.