Keep going

I’ve recently taken to doing 10 minute meditations first thing in the morning before work.  (Yes, even before I pour myself a coffee.)  My inner voice has been whispering to me for a while (*ahem* years) to sit down and listen.  

All the meditations I’m doing at the moment are based on the Chakras and they’re all from Youtube (because I get bored doing the same ones over and over).   

Like most meditation novices, my unruley mind wanders off a lot but that’s ok, I know this will improve with practice.  This morning, I tried a new guided Chakra Flower meditation.  It was lovely all the way through and I was able to focus better than usual.  At the end, the narrator said it was time to  receive a gift from a higher power.  The gift could be an image, an idea, a feeling – anything at all.   

My gift was two words “keep going”.  Timely really because I feel like I’m not getting anywhere with my writing and I’ve had another setback with my health this week. 

But the message was clear so I’m going to keep going.  I’m going to keep putting one foot in front of the other and do the next indicated thing…which right now is to get this post loaded up on-time.

Long time no see

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted and it’s great to be back.  Karen Fainges very kindly agreed to step in for me while I underwent a few surgeries.    Thank you Karen for doing a wonderful job. For everyone following her posts, please don’t despair – I’m sure she will make guest appearances.

So, with the surgeries behind me it’s time to get back to business. 

In the last week or so I’ve sent out some queries on Child’s Play – the nanny guide book.  I immediately received the generic “truth be told” rejection from Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (funny!).  The next day, I received a proposal request from Amberly Finarelli at Andrea Hurst (thank you Amberly).  

While Amberly ended up passing on the project, she did give me some valuable feedback.  She said, It sounds like a good premise, but I’m afraid that, with the existing literature in this genre out there already, I don’t see how this stands out enough from them–particularly in this belt-tightened publishing economy.  And she’s right.  From the very beginning I was toying with a somewhat risky idea in relation to the tone of the book.  I decided to be cautious and go with a fairly conventional approach.  I don’t think that’s going to be enough in this market.  Amberly’s feedback has given me the shot in the arm I need to go back to the manuscript and give it a make-over…this time I’m throwing caution to the wind.  Absolutely nothing to lose.

I ask you all, do you have a project that hasn’t been picked up (who doesn’t, right??).   Maybe your work needs a make-over.  How could you rev it up?  What could you do to make it stand out?  I challenge you to go back and take a risk.

More on Editing and Finding Writing Time

I want to tie up a couple of loose ends that I found after I posted last week. First the very talented Pauline Jones tweeted to me that she gets her editing checklists from the book, Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. There are lists at the end of each chapter. I don’t know how I forgot that one, because I love that book. (Whoever borrowed that one from me, please give it back!).

As to the subject of juggling our works in progress, our other writing, and just our lives, telling myself I can’t go to bed until I’ve written a page a day is working for me. I have written without fail since I started back doing that. For those of you who need accountability, I found a group called the club 100 writers. The idea is to write 100 words a day for 100 days. Members report in with their word counts each day.  If you are more motivated by prizes, try the Novelsisterhood. They offer a challenge each month for the member who can write the most words.

Me? I’m trying both, but since I am usually writing late at night, so I can finally go to sleep, I am lousy at reporting in. On the other hand, I wrote this blog while I was running this morning (I was 3 feet from a doe–it was so cool.) so I haven’t given up on the MP3 recording/writing quite yet.

Found something new to help you write? Tell me! I can use the help.

More Blogs We Love

Narelle is still feeling poorly, so I’m doing a little subbing for her. Keep your fingers crossed for her.
I have a couple more blogs and websites that I think might be useful. Readers Read and Writer’s Write both have industry news obviously from different points of view. But I liked putting those two titles together. Someone told me aboutthe Writer’s Life where you can list your own writer’s blog and perhaps get a little more traffic. I’m not sure how up to date that one is.
But this Writer’s Life promises tips on book promotion.
And then there’s Writing Fix to help you get the thing written.
What do you want out of a blog? What makes it useful to you? Do you want writing tips or do you need research help? Or are you drawn back again and again by a writer who has been in your shoes and isn’t afraid to tell you. Leave a comment and tell us!

A Writer’s Resources

 
All this stuff about writing being a solutary thing is, forgive my french, crap. All writers need help to do what we do whether it’s to gather information for our work in progress (wip), find an agent or get published.
With that in mind, the web sure makes it a lot easier to get this help nowadays. In the U.S., helpful organizations like National Writer’s Union can still help you to figure out whether a contract you’ve been offered is good. And we probably all have gone to Preditors and Editors to see if an agent or a publishing house is legitimate. And most US writers would check the association for authors representatives for agents but would you think to check
Science Fiction Writers of America Writer Beware
Here a couple of other links you might not think of:
Need Information on E-Publishers?
Check out Fantasy Writer, Piers Anthony’s site

Need information on Forensics?
Check out Lee Lofland’s blog

Need tips in your genre?
Check out Moira Allen’s Writing-World

And if you’re quick–thanks to my friend Karen Duvall, for this snippet:
“If you’re looking for an agent, there’s a first page contest going on at the Miss Snark’s First Victim blog. Submit the first page of your completed manuscript by Thursday July 17 and it will be judged by a Secret Agent who the blog owner managed to wrangle for the job. Secret Agent will choose a winner and award a prize, which is still a mystery, but my guess is the prize will be a request for the full manuscript. The Secret Agent’s identity won’t be revealed until after the contest is over. For the complete rules, visit the Miss Snark’s First Victim blog.”

Back to Rule of Three, I visited Shelley Munroe’s blog this week as she hosted Romance writer, Marcia James–who gave tips on promo. Marcia will send you a 150 page document on promo, if you visit her website and request a copy through her contact page. Give it a try, Marcia had some wonderful tips with tons of links.

It occurs to me that a lot of the sites I’ve just given to you might not work internationally. Thank goodness we have Narelle and Michelle to tell you what works in the U.K. and Australia. And hopefully some of you will write in too. What web sites, blogs and yahoogroups get you through your work in project?