June 2001OK, I'm really going to do it this time. I'm going to target, write, submit. Let's see how long it takes to make a sale.
June 29, 2001
I mailed 50 pages + synopsis of
Perils of the Heart to Dorchester’s contest. First prize is publication, but no matter what, my stuff will be read by an editor. I mailed it 2-day UPS on Tuesday—but I can't find the receipt with the tracking number anywhere. If I lost a receipt, it had to be that one, didn't it? I'll just have to pin my faith on UPS that it gets to New York and delivered by the deadline (7/1). That's why I mailed it on Tuesday.
Now to submit my short story to Blue Murder's anthology. [Note from the future: Blue Murder was an online short mystery fiction zine, now defunct]. Maybe I'll clean up my writing area next. (Sure).
Just sent off my submission to Blue Murder. whew. Now I want to go back to bed.
Afternoon: Ok, so I found the tracking receipt, and the package was delivered to New York on June 28. So I didn't miss the deadline. And Blue Murder wrote back saying they got the submission and were passing it to the committee. Both are in. We'll see what happens.
The next thing is to start writing a short mystery for Avalon Books. I have six pages. Only 194 more to go.
June 30, 2001Didn't do any writing, but Forrest came up with an excellent idea for a short contemp. romance. I thought it was good and might do something with it.
July 1, 2001Got up and wrote two songs. Amazed at self.
Reread some critiques of my romances [entered in contests] while throwing stuff out. I can't believe what some people say. Do they read romance? If characters acted like regular people all the time—boring. But I do see how some of my motivations get complex and complicated. I can't expect readers unravel that kind of stuff. For example [ … rethinking unpubbed Regency plot …] Not as much fun, in my opinion, but there we go.
Started writing Lacey, The Glass House. Always have to do something, don't I? Tomorrow it's back to work on the Avalon book.
I have in my mind that I'm going to read a stack of romances this week and try to look at 1. structure; 2. incidents—what they are and where they fall in the book; 3. also plot and character reaction to plot.
July 6I haven't written in a couple of days. I'm swamped with freelance editing work. I took 4th of July off, too. I did cruise the Net for leads on magazines. I found DNA publications who publish Dreams of Decadence, Aboriginal SF, and others. Also Cemetery Dance and Weird Tales are still out there. I might try a Regency-dark-noir protagonist vampire story. Also I need to polish the draft of Perils just in case. Of course, if I polish it, I won't need to. If I don't, I'll be asked for it. I hope I can get some writing time in today.
I did have the idea to cut down Desmond and Maude to 60,000 words (getting rid of aforementioned complex plot), and sending it to Avalon. We'll see.
July 9, 2001Writing again, whew. This weekend I worked on polishing/revising Perils, on the off chance I make the finals in the contest. If I don't, I'm going to send that puppy out. It's decent.
I also started on the contemporary mystery and am getting some ideas. I only wrote three pages last night, because I didn't feel good, so went out and watched part of an Agatha Christie’s Poirot. This morning I made it to page 11. (Only 189 more to go). If I can write fifty pages a week, I can finish that off in 4 weeks. I think, though, realistically I'm going to make 25 or 30, so six to eight weeks. I wish I could write as fast as I think. Dump brain to computer, and then mash it into shape. Of course, it would probably be crap.
I tried to start cutting Desmond and Maude, but realized that if I get rid of the comedy, there's no plot. What does Desmond want besides Maude? He needs a life. She's ok; she's trying to please her family by marrying the right man. I don't know if it will work. Or maybe it will; what's boring to me might be rich entertainment to someone else.
July 26
I have not been keeping up my diary. I never do. Reading over the revised edition of Perils, I'm convinced it sucks, writing-wise. I can only hope an editor will say "like the idea, even if the writing sucks..”
I have decided to go in a new direction. I want to write mysteries (Lacey, couple new ideas), and for romance, I am going to write historical adventure with romance subplots.
Finished the story for Dreams of Decadence magazine. It's too long, of course, and has a couple of plot forgetfulness, but I'll revise. Hopefully I can stop myself before I edit the life out of it. Let's see what happens!
August 9, 2001Well, the Blue Murder contest deadline was extended to Dec. 1. Who knows why. I emailed and asked if I had to resubmit (they said no).The historical romance contest was extended to August 15. Who knows why. I suspect in both cases they didn't get enough entries or didn't get enough that were good enough. Makes me feel that good about myself.
I looked up some of those travel magazines I submitted to way back when, figuring they were out of business. No. They're still going strong, they just never got back to me (two years ago). No point in emailing them now. Have to start over again.
This business is insane.
I finished revising the story for Dreams of Decadence. But it's more fantasy than vampire, so maybe I'll submit it to MF&SF. But I'm not a big-name writer, so I doubt that will go anywhere. I'm so optimistic today!
Later that same day:I decided that what I want to do is intensely work at writing (career-wise) until the end of the year, and then assess where I am. I mean really work, as in apply myself. (Can she do it?). In December, I will ask:
1. Am I happy? (Is it fulfilling? or just a lot of thankless work?)
2. Have I made any $$ at all?
3. Have I had any successes—sales to magazines, sales to or at least nibbles from publishers and/or agents?
4. Have I been able to focus on it? that is, invest a good chunk of time each week?
5. Is my writing good? (Did I take the time to write well, or did I just slam words onto the page to look like I was getting something done?)
6. Do I think I will be able to carry on with it to complete a full year?
7. Have I been able to come back to it with drive after I take a vacation or a day off?
If I have negative responses to most of these questions (especially the first two) then I will stop. There's no sense in doing it if I just fiddle away my time. I will either become a writer, or make another career choice.
August 14, 2001
Last night I printed out the Dreams of Decadence story. I am actually going to submit it. When I get the reject, I'm sure I'll be less chipper, but I'm actually sending out a story. This is exciting. Now to write and print the cover letter.
I am reading Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block. It's “old,” but only details are dated (writing on typewriters, agents submitting short stories—those days are over). But the advice is as fresh as if someone wrote it today.
One piece of advice he gives is not to over revise and kill the freshness of your story, which I tend to do. A good draft and a few revisions to keep the energy. (Not 10 or more edits like me!)
Speaking of revisions (ahem) I'm revising two things: Lacey and Perils of the Heart. Lacey I can save. Perils stinks on ice. I can still revise it for the contest, but when I have stupid characters do stupid things--the writing is stupid. Lacey is much better. I am changing the first part of the plot, which is why I'm rewriting, plus the writing in the first hundred pages was wooden.
Block also says something that makes good sense. Don't try to write something you hate. According to the book, he tried to write confession stories and couldn't even read them. He started reading suspense/mysteries, loved them, thought he could do it, and the rest is history. Good advice. Why kill yourself trying to write something you loathe? There are easier ways to make a living.
Onward. I have story ideas for Blue Murder, the Twist mysteries, and a sci-fi.
We commence.
August 19, 2001I did it. I mailed out the Dreams of Decadence story. She has made a breakthrough!.
Now I'm onto revising the Lacey story. One rewrite/revision, and that's it! It's better now that I've hacked off the wooden beginning and reworked it. I over-describe. When I'm not under-describing. Hew.
More short stories! In my copious spare time. But I'm going to go for it.
August 24, 2001A very odd thing happened. On Tuesday, I got a letter from Dorchester saying my contest entry intrigued them and to send the full ms. I don't know if that means I'm one of the three finalists or someone simply liked it enough to request it. (And who cares?) I spent three days frantically polishing it and sent it off this morning (cost me $50, sheesh). I was surprised, but hey. Who am I to argue?
Back to reality. I do have an idea for another romance in case it's needed. [… musings on plot that never got written …]
Anyway, if I need another romance plot, that might work. Plots, the key is plots. Characters are great, but they can't stand around and just be unless you're writing literary fiction (and then they can stare at cabbages and muse on the state of mankind while the little dog whines for the child who has died).
Back to work.
August 28, 2001I've been busy rewriting Lacey, hopefully to get that done. I might send it to the St. Martin's Press contest in October. Probably it will get disqualified because it's a historical and a bit noir, but maybe not. Gotta try.
Dorchester received my full ms. of Perils. We'll see. Now to sit tight.
If I don't want to write romance any more, why do I keep having ideas? Ah well.
September 21, 2001Well, planes have been hijacked to crash into the WTC and the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center is no more, and life is just peachy (not).
This does not put me in a mood to write.
I am almost finished with a revision of Lacey, though. I got a critique from a Regency reader; many of the things she said were good. I hope my revision hasn’t ripped too much heart from it.
I did not make the finals of the Dorchester contest. Still, Dorchester did request my ms., and had me send a SASE, so that does not look like it’s part of the contest.
I do have some good ideas for more romances, though.
Truth is I’ve been very depressed for the last week. Thousands of people dying for no reason will do that to you. Plus […freelance client…] ] laid off a good number of staff, and who knows how long they’ll keep needing my freelance work? It’s a bit dismal. I need to take my life in a new direction or something.
We got ants in our kitchen in a big way and had to send for an exterminator. At the same time, our living room is empty because the sofa and chair are out for reupholstering. When the exterminator came I pointed to the living room and said “See? The ants even took the furniture!”
All right, so I needed a little humor break.
I’ve read over this diary and realized something. I have no focus or direction. I keep starting things and then not finishing. What I’ve accomplished since starting to keep this diary are the following:
1. Wrote and sent short story to Blue Murder contest.
2. Polished partial of Perils to send to Dorchester contest.
3. Polished and sent complete ms. of Perils to Dorchester at their request.
4. Finished Lacey and started revisions.
5. Wrote and sent short story to Dreams of Decadence.
What I have not done:
Written further short stories as outlined above
Written short contemporary for Avalon books
Perhaps I expect too much from myself. Perhaps what I’ve focused on and finished were what I truly wanted to do. Not that any of the above writing accomplishments have resulted in a sale, a contest win, or anything else!! (yet)
I think I’ll go play my guitar.
September 25, 2001An odd thing happened yesterday. I got an issue of Renaissance magazine, a mag. I’d submitted a book review to almost two years ago. They published my review and sent me a check for $20! I guess blind patience is the key to this career. So that means everything I’m doing now will see fruition in two years. So I keep going and hope one day it snowballs. Why can’t I just be rich and famous without having to do anything? J
September 27, 2001Haven’t had much time to write the last couple of days because of freelance editing. My Dreams of Decadence story was rejected. Boo. The form letter was checked “not for us; just didn’t grab me; and please submit something else.” If I can come up with another vampire story I will.
What to do with the story now? If I de-vampireize it a little I can send it out to a fantasy magazine. Now to find one besides MSF&F. I wish I knew the markets a little better. Of course, part of the problem is there aren’t very many markets for short fiction!
But the point of the D of D story is that I actually sent something out! I want to send it out again… (maybe a mystery market would work).
October 15, 2001Well, I mailed Lacey to the Malice Domestic/SMP contest. But the delivery confirmation I purchased for it shows that it has no idea what happened to the package. And the deadline is today. I suspect the person at the mail box place didn’t actually attach the delivery confirmation to the package. So I’ll never know. Everyone’s cagey about the mail these days anyway. And I have to pick a profession that relies on the mail.
But the deadline did one thing for me—it made me get the Lacey novel done! So now I can start marketing it. To heck with the contest.
I got page proofs for the Sword and Sorceress story that I sold last year. It was exciting, just like I’m a real writer! The anthology will come out in mass market paperback by Daw in January.
MysteryNet.com says it went under and will no longer be doing stories for the moment. Which really sucks. They actually paid authors pretty well. But what can you do?
I splurged at Poisoned Pen and bought a bunch of mysteries to read. I actually feel like reading, which is a nice change.
I plan to work at my freelancing stuff for a couple days, then spend whole days this week finishing up my stories and marketing them. I hope the mail scare dies down so people actually want to open what I send them.
Heavy sigh.
What I’ve done since my last assessment:
1. Finished Lacey novel (for real!) and submitted it to contest.
2. Started second Lacey novel
3. Started romance novel.
3. Made $100 playing my guitar for the Library concert series (whoa, like I’m a pro or something)
October 15, 2001 (afternoon)Well in the middle of my gloom, despair, and agony, I got a letter from Dorchester. They said I didn’t final in the contest (I knew that) but they really liked my ms, and want to hold onto it until after the winners are announced in November, and let me know if they want to publish it. So wow.
OK, , I need to write another one, so that if they reject it and request something else, I’ll have something else to give them.
November 8, 2001I finally got off my butt and started marketing my Lacey novel. I'm actually pleased with it. I have sent queries/partials to the following so far:
1. […big NY agency]
2. […small agency now out of business…]
I will try to get some letters out every day.
I am doing diddly today because I've been a little weirded out from […client…] basically saying they're going out of business. So my most lucrative client is drying up. I sent out two more resumes today. I want to keep on writing, but I need a bit of cash on the side.
I'm about half-way through the next romance novel, the one I'm doing in case. It's called [ …unpubbed romance …] and it isn't bad!
After I finish, what should I do? Lacey sequel? Another romance? another mystery series? action/adventure romance?
Decisions, decisions. I am so glad to have the time to write, though. It's very fulfilling, even if it doesn't fill my bank account.
See, I knew I'd get into it if I just gave myself time.
November 9, 2001Mailed a query to […big NY agency…]. I've been a weeping and depressed fool all day. Tomorrow I go to Tucson to perform in Nancy's Stardust County. I'm taking my alpha smart so I can do some writing.
November 13, 2001I was severely depressed because […], my most lucrative freelance editing client, is going out of business. But I've lined up some other work, and […] can pretty much kiss my butt. DH and I sat down and figured out how much we’ll need to live on, and I think I can shoot for that. It won't be fun, but geez I don't want to go back to a regular job just yet.
I started to send out a query to the […] Agency. Good thing I did a Web search first, because seems that she's passed away. Poor woman. Agent listings are not always accurate. Duh.
Printed out a partial to send to Tor and a query letter to an editor at Berkley. We'll see. Now to see if I can actually get them to the post office. I might have to recruit help….
Did not write at Tus-con, but had a lot of fun with friends and hanging out. I needed the brain break. Also found a good restaurant, so it was worth the trip. J
November 20, 2001[…big NY agency] sent back a rejection by return mail ("could not generate enthusiasm for the project"). At least I know where they stand. I want to send another query. Need to figure out where to…
Clicking right along on my second romance. Have an idea for a romance series …
November 22, 2001Happy Thanksgiving. I mailed a query to the […big NY… ] agency. I'm trying to keep stuff going out as soon as I get it back. We'll see. More ideas on the romance series.
November 29, 2001Query to [ big NY publisher] came back, saying "not right for our list." Right. [Note from the future: This same publisher eventually published this same book]. So two queries have come back negative lickety split. I apparently need to do some better marketing.
Maybe my query letter is dull as dirt. I believe I will try […editor…] at […big NY publisher…]. She does romances and mysteries. I think I'll send her a chapter, instead of just a letter. We'll see….
December 7, 2001For Pearl Harbor day, I did something unbelievable. I called Dorchester publishing. I got right to the editorial assistant and asked about Perils of the Heart. She said that the editor was going to start making decisions, but it probably won't be another couple of months before I heard anything. So I can stop worrying about that. Or start worrying about it, I don't know.
I'm almost done with […unpubbed romance…]. I fear it's not emotional enough. I will write a medieval next and see if I can't crank up the emotion. I also want to plan a strategy.
I discovered yesterday that a man in England has been writing historicals about a cavalry captain in Wellington's army. I was at first dismayed, but they are true historical adventures, like Sharpe's stories, not mysteries. I will read them!
December 10, 2001Got a rejection from […big NY agent…] to a query. I seriously think I've written the wrong novel if it can't even get past a query letter! I hope that when the partials are actually read I get a better response. Poor Captain Lacey. I think I'm going to send only to agents who ask for pages. Maybe that will get the story across a little better. Rejection is so hard…
I am reading and writing a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of a romance I really like. I hope this helps me see the structure. I picked a good prose writer as well.
December 13, 2001In the mail today, I got the author advance copy of Sword and Sorceress XIX. Way cool!!! What a lift, to see my story there in print, nestled on page 167. I am so excited. I want to write and write and write. One author in there has sold 39 stories. I want to do that!!
December 17, 2001Many things going on:
Publishers are slamming their doors to unsolicited queries even. Want agented material only. I suppose I can't blame them because they get so much mail from unknown people, but gah!
I sent an email query to Avon. We'll see what happens with that.
I've recruited Forrest to help me mail queries to agents. It's a distressing job, but he has the knack for it, thank heavens. He's very nice to help me. I'd hate to work for me! Anyway, one agent has asked for a partial of Lacey (yay!!), which is going out to the mail asap.
Blue Murder took down their site "until further notice." That means the contest I entered with them is a bust, and that means none of my short stories are circulating at this time. grumble grumble grumble
So, here's the plan:
1. Finish […unpubbed romance…] and flog.
2. Write a short story for anthology--deadline, January 1 (eek!)
3. Send Perils where I can send it myself if it comes back from Dorchester (which is Avon and Harlequin, basically), and put it into contests judged by editors.
4. Look for new agent.
5. Write short stories and get the darn things published! in bigger zines.
6. Enjoy Christmas with Forrest!
December 23, 2001Updating with news.
1. I let […old agent…] go. I just […specific problems omitted for sake of fairness…] .
2. Emailed agent with Lacey; he requested a partial, that's sent.
3. Tor rejected with a form letter; they didn't even read it. I hate that. (Ahh!!)
I'm on the very last scene of […upubbed romance…]. I'm sure I'll freak out after that wondering what I should be writing (note: and I did). At least I'm writing.
In 2001, I rewrote Perils, wrote and rewrote Lacey, and wrote […unpubbed romance…]. I also wrote four short stories and submitted them!! That's pretty good, considering in all of 2000 I barely got the draft of Perils done.
I'm still torn about writing a story for a "Mammoth" book--it's near-future noir, and I'm not sure I have the time to really do something right. The deadline is Jan. 1. I suppose if I'd started already…
December 28, 2001I have no excuse for not writing short stories. I just wrote one in a day, revised it in a day. The real test will be, does it sell? But come on. No excuses! So I'm going to work on some stories for Woman's World. Hard to get in, but worth it if you do.
I was browsing the library yesterday, whining because people's plot ideas weren't like mine. Or too much like mine, I'm not sure. Anyway, I thought "I don't write the mad Scottish lord looking for a captive bride" or "the ex-confederate soldier, and the plucky girl running away to the west" or whatever. I write about glittering London society and the innocent girl against it. I was depressed. This morning it occurred to me: If I write about decadent London society and the innocent girl against it, then I should just do that really, really, really well. I should make myself known for writing that and being the best at it. Not just slavishly (and weakly) copying what everyone else has already done.
Is this a duh? I wish I had more belief in myself. But it's hard when you look around and see the evidence of what people are looking for.
If I wrote as much as I whined, I'd get so much done.
I thought about writing my medievals geared toward Avalon's new historical line. I also toyed with the idea of writing a western for them, but maybe that’s not for me. J
Here's an update on my last plan:
1. Finish […unpubbed romance…] and flog to new agents.-- Almost done. I'm having trouble with the last scene, but I'm going to let it rest for a little bit before going back through it.
2. Write a short story for anthology--deadline, January 1 (eek!) -- I actually did it!
3. Send Perils where I can send it if it comes back from Dorchester (which is Avon and Harlequin, basically), and put it into contests judged by editors. – Waiting for Dorchester’s decision.
4. Write short stories and get the darn things published! in bigger zines. Started writing WW stories.
6. Enjoy Christmas with Forrest! I did, I did. He got me an effects pedal for my electric guitar and an easel for my painting. He likes me.
