Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thankful
I am thankful for all the usual things like good health, my family, my friends (writerly and otherwise) and in these tough times, my job. I am thankful that I can still pay the bills and buy books. But most of all, I am thankful for the support I receive from my dearest hubby and kids when I write, revise, brainstorm, keep in touch with the writing world online, go to conferences, read subs from my critique group, write my critiques, go nuts over writing query letters and the submission process, listen to my disappointment when I receive a rejection, listen to my excitement when I get a request for a partial or full, and on and on and on.... They are the awesomest, coolest, simply the best family I could hope to have in my journey to be an author. <3
Monday, November 23, 2009
I forgot to mention ....
I forgot to mention that Shen's books focuses on Cultural and Multicultural books and since my story takes place in the Philippines, I am jazzed at the possiblity that they might like it .... :)
ttfn
ttfn
Eureka!
Through the wonderful post of LJer Jama Rattigan, I have found a publisher to submit my picture book story to!!! She had posted a review for this book ...
... check it out! So cool!!! The publisher is Shen's Books and they are right in Northern California. I was so excited about submitting to them that I printed out the most current critiques I had on my story and am now in the process of polishing it up to send out asap. Well, that was my intention. As I reviewed the critiques, one in particular stood out and had me thinking. She brought up some very valid points to improve upon so now the revision and polishing is taking a little longer. But I mustn't neglect my WIP!! And since I want to be a good member of my critique group and submit on time, I will work on my chapters to sub to my group first and if time permits (and it will!), I will work on my picture book submission.
On another note, I've decided to resurrect my notes from the SCBWI Summer Conference and share some of it (whatever I can decipher that is) here on this blog. I think I mentioned this in my previous post so sorry for the repetition. The next post will probably be my notes from Jennifer Hunt's talk, "Finding Your Inner YA".
Till then ...
ttfn
... check it out! So cool!!! The publisher is Shen's Books and they are right in Northern California. I was so excited about submitting to them that I printed out the most current critiques I had on my story and am now in the process of polishing it up to send out asap. Well, that was my intention. As I reviewed the critiques, one in particular stood out and had me thinking. She brought up some very valid points to improve upon so now the revision and polishing is taking a little longer. But I mustn't neglect my WIP!! And since I want to be a good member of my critique group and submit on time, I will work on my chapters to sub to my group first and if time permits (and it will!), I will work on my picture book submission.
On another note, I've decided to resurrect my notes from the SCBWI Summer Conference and share some of it (whatever I can decipher that is) here on this blog. I think I mentioned this in my previous post so sorry for the repetition. The next post will probably be my notes from Jennifer Hunt's talk, "Finding Your Inner YA".
Till then ...
ttfn
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Finally ... another blog!
Yes, it has been a ridiculously long time. I actually have an LJ account as well and I haven't been blogging there either. But I think I'll switch to using this one for now as I journey through submissions and writing my second novel.
I haven't blogged about my submission journey for fear of jinxing it. Being superstitious though, doesn't do me much good. What will be, will be, and if someone out there loves my book, then they will love it regardless of how much I blab about it here.
So, in submission news, I do have fulls out to a couple of awesome agents. It's been nearly a month since I've sent them out and am trying to wait patiently. Having a new project really helps! I've been happily brainstorming and writing in between my compulsive email checks, which I have disciplined myself to doing only every two or so hours on week days .... yes, it still sounds pretty manic but I try ... of course, being busy at work helps. I work in the cytogenetics field, btw, so if you have any questions about chromosomes then I'm your girl!
About my wip, I was hemming and hawing over what to write because of something I heard at an SCBWI conference. It was something about writing a second book that is similar to your debut novel because the audience you build with your first book will be looking for something similar in your second. Not that I have a debut novel yet, but I thought I'd get a head start. Anyway, my writing friends say that I should just write whatever my heart is telling me to write at the momment. So, the decision was made. Unfortunately, my wip sounds a little like a novel that came out last September ... I've purchased the book and will read it soon just to make sure my wip isn't too similar.
On reading news, I'm reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. It came highly recommended by my good friend Stephanie so I bought it right away. I'll write a review on the book as soon as I finish.
On knitting news, I recently finished a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Edith who recently moved to Boston. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of them. They are very cute and wonderful to have for writing in cool weather. I'm currently working on a hat for my daughter. I will post a picture of her modeling it soon.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am in cooking mood. Yayy! I love the cooking smells of a Thanksgiving dinner .... Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!
ttfn
I haven't blogged about my submission journey for fear of jinxing it. Being superstitious though, doesn't do me much good. What will be, will be, and if someone out there loves my book, then they will love it regardless of how much I blab about it here.
So, in submission news, I do have fulls out to a couple of awesome agents. It's been nearly a month since I've sent them out and am trying to wait patiently. Having a new project really helps! I've been happily brainstorming and writing in between my compulsive email checks, which I have disciplined myself to doing only every two or so hours on week days .... yes, it still sounds pretty manic but I try ... of course, being busy at work helps. I work in the cytogenetics field, btw, so if you have any questions about chromosomes then I'm your girl!
About my wip, I was hemming and hawing over what to write because of something I heard at an SCBWI conference. It was something about writing a second book that is similar to your debut novel because the audience you build with your first book will be looking for something similar in your second. Not that I have a debut novel yet, but I thought I'd get a head start. Anyway, my writing friends say that I should just write whatever my heart is telling me to write at the momment. So, the decision was made. Unfortunately, my wip sounds a little like a novel that came out last September ... I've purchased the book and will read it soon just to make sure my wip isn't too similar.
On reading news, I'm reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. It came highly recommended by my good friend Stephanie so I bought it right away. I'll write a review on the book as soon as I finish.
On knitting news, I recently finished a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Edith who recently moved to Boston. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of them. They are very cute and wonderful to have for writing in cool weather. I'm currently working on a hat for my daughter. I will post a picture of her modeling it soon.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am in cooking mood. Yayy! I love the cooking smells of a Thanksgiving dinner .... Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!
ttfn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)