Another Day, Another Rejection

I received another rejection today for my young adult novel, and I have to say it’s my best rejection yet. Mary Kole’s response to my manuscript was both kind and encouraging — proof that agents are not heartless beasts searching for any reason to trash your work. (I never believed this, by the way, but I think it bears mentioning that an agent or editor can reject your work AND be a good person, just as your work can be rejected AND be good work.)   So, I was honestly more encouraged than dismayed at this most recent rejection, except that my work seemed to fit particularly well with what she was looking for. But, if she didn’t love it she didn’t love it, and now we can move on. Next up, March! (I haven’t yet decided what my March submission will be, but I have a long list of possibilities and it’s just a matter of zeroing on one). It helps to know that every time I submit something, I’m getting closer.

Today was my first session of the senior college class I’m teaching this year. I always start my writing classes with a few tools for busting writer’s block. Today, I had my students write without letting their pen stop for ten minutes; then followed that up with mapping; and then did free writing inspired by my collection of bizarre postcards. About a third of my students are repeats from last year, so I’m trying to vary things a little while still giving a solid foundation to the new students (and it’s nice to know those students who did return found the class worth taking again — many of them spoke highly of it during our introductions). At the end of the session, one of the new students who seemed unsure about what exactly he would write came up to me and said, “I never knew writing could be so fun!”

And that’s really step one toward any successful writing journey.

My First Book — Coming Soon

Over the past year, I’ve made mention several times about an anthology of young adult Catholic voices that I’ve been working on. Last week, my co-editor and I heard back from the publisher, and this morning we confirmed that the project is a go. The book will be available in the fall, hopefully by September, in print and ebook editions. I can’t wait to hold it in my hands, and more importantly, to share these stories of passionate, gutsy, smart young adult Catholics with the world.

I’m also excited to be moving into the phase of book production that has before now been purely hypothetical to me. Although I’ve seen dozens of magazines, one poem, and one short story through publication, this will be the first time that I’m moving through the post-acceptance process of something that I’ve pulled together on my own, and not because I was hired to do so by someone else. I also very much appreciate knowing that I’m “on the right track,” as our publisher referred to our submission as one of the “most professional proposals” he’s ever seen. That’s encouraging, since I’m now regularly putting together similar proposals to shop my young adult novel to agents and publishers.

If you want to meet some of the writers featured in the upcoming Hungering and Thirsting for Justice anthology, check out the Young Adult Catholics blog. And if you’d like to read some high-quality, thought-provoking Catholic/Christian/Spiritual literature, definitely check out ACTA Publications, a publisher I admired years before knowing they would publish my first book project. In particular, I recommend one of their newest offerings, Grace Notes by Brian Doyle, and the book that first put them on my radar, Remaining Catholic: Six Good Reasons for Staying in an Imperfect Church by Martin Pable. I have a long list of additional books from their catalog on my “To-Read” list. They’re definitely a publisher to watch, and I’m thrilled to be working with them.

Writing Resolutions

It’s that time of year again … the time to make writing resolutions. I almost always make New Year’s resolutions related to my writing, and they’ve helped me grow as a writer over time. This year, I have one writing resolution: to submit something once a month. I’m feeling optimistic because I already know what I’m submitting for January — the manuscript I’m co-editing for a Catholic publisher is due on January 15.

I also made some writing “wishes” way back in July that I haven’t given up on, either!

So far, my writing year has started out with a bang. In addition to the first phase of the Catholic manuscript project coming to a close, I found out today that a manuscript I edited for a private client has landed a publisher. I can’t wait to hold the book in my hands this summer! (I’ll let all of you know where to get it when it’s available, too!) I picked up a new freelance client this week, and I also gave a presentation on “Building a Fantastical World” to three groups of 6-8 graders at today’s Young Author’s Conference. I attended this conference when I was a middle schooler myself, and I credit it for instilling in me the importance of writing every day (a goal I still strive for, and in striving for it, write a lot more than I would without it.) Although presenting to any age group is a little nerve-wracking to me, doing so always leaves me with a new energy, too. And I’ll definitely need it for the year of writing ahead!

I also got another rejection for my YA novel today, which, believe it or not, actually made me feel good. It was the tangible proof that I’m attaining my goal of getting my writing *out there*; I’ll cross another market off my list for now, and move on. There are plenty more where that came from! (markets, and rejections. )

Finish What You Start

On the Belbin Team Inventory, I score as the Finisher. This may be why I haven’t often fallen into the trap that snags many writers, of starting multiple projects but finishing none of them. That is, I haven’t fallen into that trap until … lately, when I’m in the middle of editing an anthology, writing a short story, submitting a novel, and still hoping to enter at least two contests, apply for a grant, and maybe write an essay or two.

So when I read these Six Tips for Finishing What You Start on Susan K. Perry’s blog (Susan is an author I “follow” on Goodreads), they resonated with me in a way they wouldn’t have in the past–especially tip number one, about keeping a schedule. I can definitely attest to the importance of keeping a schedule in finishing writing projects, and not sticking to this schedule has been my downfall in the past couple months. As a part-time freelancer, sometimes my schedule is too flexible for my own good. My writing time gets shifted around from day-to-day … and sometimes, it gets shifted right off the agenda. So here I am, once more making a renewed commitment to write first-thing in the morning, every morning. On days that I’m working from home, my day starts when I say it starts; and on days when I work at the library, I rarely have to be in before noon. So in theory, writing consistently first thing in the morning shouldn’t be hard. Except, it is hard.

It’s hard because writing at any time of day is hard. It’s hard because no one wants to start off their day doing something as grueling as writing can sometimes be. But for me, there’s something that’s even harder: writing at ANY other time of day.

When I don’t write first-thing in the morning, I have lots of excuses as to why: I needed to see if I had any assignments that were “on fire” and in need of immediate attention. I’m at a loss for inspiration and hoping that it will come to me throughout the day. But although waiting sometimes brings results, I honestly can’t feel good about my day until after I’ve worked on a writing project. So if I work on my writing first thing in the morning, I go into the rest of my day knowing that the hardest part is behind me–and feeling a weight lifted from my shoulders. And if that elusive inspiration really does strike as the day goes on, well, there’s no rule against writing twice in the same day, is there?

So now, I’m off to bed–I have to wake up early for writing tomorrow.

Snow Days and Writing

Snow days are so good for writing.

Being snowed in today reminded me of living in Duluth, and the time I was snowed in my apartment for two days in a row. My room-mate was in India, missing the only blizzard we got that year. I was working on the novel I jokingly called “Go to Hell” because it was a companion novel to one that had the word “Heaven” in the title, and because it gave me so much trouble while I was writing it. But there was something about those snow days that kept driving me to the computer again and again to get those scenes down.

Today I finally collected my 30+ poems from November, pulling them from my paperjournal, my Pictojournal, my Livejournal, and even my program for the Call to Action conference. Now I need to cull the collection down to 10 – 20 pages (currently it’s 36, but I won’t be sorry to see some of those poems go.) Here are a few that I feel more comfortable showing in the light of day now that they’ve gone through a first revision:

Tower

Did I ever tell you how happy I was in that tower?
From there I saw blue water stretch out forever—
I thought the silver moon on the black lake
Was the essence of joy.

From there I saw blue water stretch out forever—
And a narrow bed is never lonely under a full moon.
Was the essence of joy
Lining up my shoes perfectly at the door?

And a narrow bed is never lonely under a full moon,
And no one ever kicks my shoes across the floor.
Lining up my shoes perfectly at the door,
I rearranged the furniture to fill the empty places.

And no one ever kicks my shoes across the floor
When the hours stretch before me like the water below
I rearrange the furniture to fill the empty places,
And I don’t wait at windows for you anymore.

When the hours stretch before me like the water below,
I thought the silver moon on the black lake
And I don’t wait at windows for you anymore.
Did I ever tell you how happy I was in that tower?
- Nov 5, 2010

Disturb the Dandelions

Did you hear what I said
as you glanced up at TVs and waiters?
This conversation
has been choking my brain
like dandelions overrunning the lawn.
I watched them grow as I watched you shrink.

She accused me of pulling out my hair,
dropping it in the breeze like dandelion fluff
just so she could make all
those nights of crying make sense
as I kept my secrets in the room upstairs.
We can open the door to that room tonight,
even if it says
Do Not Disturb.
- Nov 30, 2010

Up to My Eyeballs

My status over at gmail, which is where I keep my “freelance/writing” account, claims that I’m “up to my eyeballs in writing projects.”

And the end of the year certainly is a busy time for writers, but now that we’re on the last day of November, I’m finally able to tick some of those items off my list.

1. NaNoWriMo. No, I didn’t participate this year. But I did spy on my friends who were participating. How did you do? And when can I read your stories?
2. The McSweeny’s Highwire Fiction Award: This is a grant given to a woman younger than 32 to work on her writing. I sent my application off the week before Thanksgiving, and it wasn’t nearly as daunting as I expected it to be. The moral? Don’t ignore opportunities because they seem hard in your mind. Try it before you decide how “hard” it is.
3. The Gotham YA Novel Discovery Contest: This contest requires only the first 250 words and title of your novel, along with a $15 entry fee. I entered it last year, but the rules didn’t say anything about not being able to enter the same novel twice. So, I did. I’m sure the first 250 words are better this time around, anyway.
4. The PAD Chapbook Challenge: I wrote 30 poems in November, y’all! Although I’ve won NaNoWriMo 3 times, this is the first time I’ve successfully completed a poetry challenge. Now I’m putting them aside as I focus on December’s projects.

Numbers 1 – 4 above ALL have November 30 deadlines. What does that mean? If you read this post immediately after it goes up, there might still be time for you!!

Now that those writing adventures are behind me, I can focus on these, in deadline order:

1. Finishing the revision on my final chapter of the YA novel, in time to turn it over to my writers’ group on December 11th.
2. Frantically spit, polish, and shine said novel between December 17 (writers’ group) and December 31 (Delacorte Press First Young Adult Novel Contest deadline).
3. Turn my attention to this jumble of 30 poems and perform same treatment on them to send them off for the January 5 PAD Chapbook Challenge deadline.
4. Prepare a curriculum for Writing for Expression, Reflection, and Legacy, a writing class I’m teaching to senior citizens this spring.
5. And after the class ends in April? There appears to be . . . a void. For now. I can’t wait to see what fills it!

I Have a Plan!

So, I’ve made my decision: I’m not going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I don’t want to abandon my revisions of ETD when I have good momentum going, especially since I want to have it ready to submit to Delacorte Press’s Young Adult Novel contest, which closes on December 31.

However, in lieu of NaNoWriMo, I’m going to participate in the November PAD Chapbook Challenge, which is akin to National Poetry Writing Month’s Poem-a-Day challenge, except . . . November’s resulting poems are eligible to be published as a chapbook. Poetry is not my strong suit, but it’s never too late to learn. And the Jan 5 Chapbook Submission Deadline will help keep me on track.

Finally, I’m also going to apply for a McSweeny’s Grant to work on my writing. So, I have October to focus on the rest of my novel revisions, November for massively producing new work, and December and January for submitting. I’m excited!

Follow-up Friday

I missed the boat on last week’s Follow-up Friday due to pulling an all-nighter on Thursday and using the remaining time after I woke up on Friday to prepare for the arrival of houseguests. You could say I finally cleared the “follow-up” list on putting the house in order, however.

This week, however, I’m back at it, pursuing the following opportunities:

• Applying for a temporary position at my local library, overseeing the library’s Teen Program
• Sending my head-hopping article off to Writers’ Journal, which expressed initial interest after I queried the editor. This is not a guaranteed sell, but it’s one more step in the right direction
• Mulling over ideas for a short story to submit to Glimmer Train’s biannual Family Matters contest

Writing Website Review: Wordhustler

So, I’ve mentioned Wordhustler many times in my blog; I read all their enewses, and I adore their comprehensive market listing of agents, publishers, and contests (which they’ll soon be expanding to include listings of editorial services). But even though I’ve been a member for over a year, last Friday was the first time I actually used their primary service: sending manuscripts out via the site.

Here’s how it works: you upload your projects to your dashboard on Wordhustler. When you’re ready to submit a project, you can hunt down markets and click the handy-dandy “submit to this market” button. From there, Wordhustler walks you through a wizard that allows you to select one of your uploaded projects, write or paste a cover letter, pay the fee(s) where applicable, and send that baby off. Wordhustler takes care of printing, packaging, postag-ing, and sending the manuscript, for a reasonable fee.

I used their service to submit to their Literary Storm Novel Contest, and there were a few things I really liked about it: the easy format of the wizard, the security of knowing that I wasn’t forgetting anything and that my submission was properly formatted for the market, and not having to deal with the mess of pages and envelopes and stamps strewn about the desk (or a trip to the post office). One thing I didn’t like was that, when WordHustler converted my Word docs to PDFs, the pagination came out slightly different. Not a big deal for the novel submission, but it bumped my carefully crafted one-page query over one page. So, for future reference: err on the short side when uploading queries to WordHustler, and double check submission paginations (i.e.: did your text get bumped down enough in the conversion to add pages? If so, you’ll both have to pay for those pages, and depending on how strict the market is about following their guidelines, you may jeopardize your chances of being seriously considered.

Now, I’m one of those people who balks at the idea of paying for anything online. One of my first thoughts when encountering WordHustler was something along the lines of, “Sweet! I have access to their markets for free, so I can use that information to send my own submission!” But since the Literary Storm Contest requires submission through them, I was forced to give it a try their way. And it’s a good way, especially if you’re a person who hates dealing with all the pesky details of submitting. Submitting is definitely my least favorite part of writing, so I just might let them ease the burden again in the future.

Two down, four to go

Well, I finally did it: I just sent of my short story submission to QueeredFiction. It feels liberating to have it gone. Now it’ll be someone else’s problem for a while.

Although I didn’t blog about it here, a few weeks ago I queried The Writer magazine about a head-hopping article. Unfortunately, they didn’t bite, but now I’ve still officially submitted to two publications. I’ve got four to go to make my New Year’s Resolution, and the year is still young.

Too bad I don’t write horror (I don’t even read it), because QueeredFiction has a new call for submissions out:

Call for Submissions: Blood Fruit (Queer Horror)

Open call for submissions for a Queer Horror Anthology – Blood Fruit – to be published by QueeredFiction where speculative genre is queered. Deadline is 31st May 2009.

Queer, dark, macabre tales of horror, (blood and gore and rotten fruits welcome) are sought by QueeredFiction.  Chill us with your horrifying, sensual tales of gay and lesbian terror. Your submission should be a short story between 4,000 and 10,000 words. We are seeking fiction with positive images of queer characters. We’re not looking for clichés. We do not want reprints. We are seeking first world rights for this anthology which will be published as an eBook and in Print format.

Your submission should be via email to editor@queeredfiction.com with Blood Fruit Anthology submission in the subject line. Please embed your short story within the body of the email and provide a brief author bio. Payment will be a 50% royalty split of eBook sales between contributors.

Submissions open: 1st March 2009 to 31st May 2009
Reading period begins: 15th May 2009

As a queer publisher, QueeredFiction would like to have an emphasis on the queer community as a whole, rather than by segments. So ideally the perfect submission would have ‘queer characters’ in the forefront and in the background … just mainly prominent!

Queries can be directed via the QueeredFiction blog.
The contract for the QueeredFiction anthologies are available upon request.