Announcement Time

This is a very hard post for me to write. Like torture, really. I suppose I still have some residual fear from my experiences this summer. You know, the whole orphaned author thing? Yeah, that. I had some very good news this week (Monday to be exact), but I haven’t wanted to announce it because, yeah, I worry that things will fall apart. Again. And I’ll look like an idjit.

But someone (you know who you are) told me this is a sure thing and that I should share it with y’all. So I will. *deep breath*

I found out this week that the first two books in my Veil series will be published by SirenBookStrand! I…okay, my brain still stutters every time I try to imagine it, but there you have it. I’m going to be p-p-published. Seriously, people, when I read that e-mail, my brain went into shock mode. It wouldn’t work. I alternately beamed and gaped at my monitor for about six hours only to go home in a daze. I’m still in a daze today, but it’s lessened some. I can sort of actually think now. (This is a good thing.)

It just doesn’t feel real. It feels like some kind of gimmick. I keep expecting to hear “but wait, there’s more!”, but so far…I haven’t heard any of that.

I broke the news to my family on Monday night. I spent two hours on the phone (and I hate the phone), calling cousins, aunts, and uncles. Out of the 9 people I spoke to, 3 of them thought I was calling them to let them know about a pregnancy (either mine, my sister-in-law’s, or someone else’s), one of them thought I was calling to tell them someone died, and the others didn’t tell me what they were thinking. Those talks on the phone still left me with a feeling of disbelief.

But it was last night that made me realize…yes, this is happening. I went to dinner with my sister, brother-in-law, their boys, the boys’ girlfriends, my aunt, mom, brother, and sister-in-law. After a delicious meal, which I had accompanied by a very nice Shiraz, they all toasted me. But it was the big grins on their faces that told me how proud they are of me.

Sure, my nephews are mercenary and wanted to know about money and if the publisher was legit (cause my baby takes care of his nanny). They all talked about what they wanted for Christmas. My brother-in-law was the 2nd person to mention a boat. I know they were joking. At least, I hope they were. I’m being realistic in what kind of sales I expect to see. Modest, hopefully. Stupendous would be even better, but that’s more like a wish.

Looking down that table last night at all those smiling faces…I realized that this writing thing I’m doing isn’t just for me. It’s for them. My stories are reflections of the things my family has been through, overcome, and laughed at. I couldn’t have done this without them and without the people I’ve met through my writing. Y’all all are the absolute best.

I hope to have more information in the next couple of weeks, such as publication dates and the like. I’m still kind of stunned, okay, I’m a lot stunned. *looks at the sky for the lightning bolt* To keep myself occupied, I’ve been working on the 3rd book in this series and hope to send it to them by today or tomorrow.

****UPDATE**** The first book in the Veil series, Ruby: Uncut and on the Loose will be released electronically in May 2011, print in October 2011. The second book in the Veil series, Succubus-in-Waiting will be released electronically in June 2011, in print November 2011. Yay!!!!

Oh! And tomorrow, my soon-to-be publishing house sister, Jillian Chantal, will be by for an author interview giveaway, and Fantasy Man Friday! Be sure to stop by!

Writing is Like the NFL

Brace yourselves, this is a long one, but I think you’ll enjoy it

It should be no surprise by now that I’m a major NFL fan. I wait for football season like some kids wait for Christmas. To be more precise, I wait for the Saints to play.

I’ve been a Saints fan since I was a child. I grew up with this team and while I spent most of my youth with no idea what the team colors were, or what our emblem looked like (you have to realize, our games were ALWAYS blacked out), I knew that this was my team. Bobby Hebert, the Cajun Cannon. Pat Swilling, Dalton Hilliard, Reggie Jackson, Sam Mills. These were names bandied about through my developing years.

So, you’re probably asking yourself ‘Is she ever going to get to the point of this post she tricked me into reading?’. Why, yes. I am

After all of these years as a football fan, I’m now writing and suffering through all the ups and downs writers go through. There’s the normal hair-pulling-my-characters-are-driving-me-crazy-and-I-can’t-sleep phase of writing the manuscript. This is what I would compare to training camp. This is when all of your players show up and start doing their thing, building a strong team for the upcoming season.

Then there’s the oh-my-God-I-finished-I-finished!-what-do-you-mean-I-have-to-edit-it? phase when the manuscript is complete. This is comparable to preseason. You’re putting your players out there for the world to see and critiquing them on their performance. If they suck, you cut them. The same with editing/critiquing your manuscript. You’re weeding out what doesn’t work and finding replacements for what does.

Followed by the what-the-blue-blazes-do-you-mean-I-have-to-send-it-to-someone? phase which is when your manuscript is ready for submission to an agent/editor. This, of course, is after the I-have-an-agent-pitch-and-I-think-I’m-going-to-puke stage, but that passes relatively quick since most pitches are no more than 15 minutes. To me, these two stages are the regular ups and downs of the NFL season. Your team is out there, they’re doing their best to win and they suffer through growing pains. They’re losing one week, winning the next. Just like the pitches you’re tossing out to the editors and agents you meet with. Then comes the win! Someone wants to read a partial or a full of your manuscript. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating.

After all of these stages of writing, editing, editing some more, pitching, and submitting, then it’s time for the waiting phase. You wait and pray. Wait and pray that those agents or editors will like what you’ve read. Finally, this is followed by one of two outcomes: you get either the we’re-sorry-but-this-doesn’t-fit-our-needs rejection, or you get the holy-hell-you’re-so-getting-published acceptance. I personally haven’t reached the second stage yet, but that’s okay. It’s a process. So this final phase I’m going to compare to the Superbowl. *cracks her knuckles*

On one hand you’ve got your manuscript. On the other, you’ve got your agent/editor. These are the opposing teams. Your manuscript has battled its way through rejection after rejection. It’s bloody from all the editing you’ve done. It’s bruised around the edges from scenes that have been tweaked so many times it really should be on injured reserve. The day is here. The editor/agent is looking over your work. The outcome has you sick with nerves, edgy with anticipation. You want it so badly you can almost taste it. And then-

Well, I don’t know what happens in your own Superbowl. I just know that whatever the outcome, you’ll either feel depressed or jubilant. The point is, the teams who go to the Superbowl play the next season. They can’t give up and neither can you. Writing is a sport. It’s a sport with one person against many and only through diligence, training, and lots of bruises can you get to the top.

So, did I totally lose you, or did the analogy work? I loved it myself, but then I’m sometimes called strange.

Hello again, Cookies and Query Letters

I realized that I haven’t blogged for at least 4 or 5 days. OMG. I know you’re all just dying to know what’s been going on (well, maybe not, but thinking it was a great ego boost).

Cookie is home finally. She came home complete with a cone around her head on Saturday. She hates the cone, hates having to take her medicine, and is eating like a little pig. Her stitches look good and she’s becoming more accustomed to having us around. She likes to greet us with an extended paw and a Darth Kitty purr (because of the cone, when she purrs it sounds a bit like Darth Vader…too cute). She’s gaining weight and attitude and we love it.

I sent out five or six query letters last week and got one rejection so far. In thinking that the query just wasn’t strong enough (because apparently the story was ‘intriguing’ but didn’t make the agent enthusiastic for more), I posted it in the Absolute Write forums in the hopes that some tough criticism will help me. I’ve only had a couple of reviews, but it did help a bit. I rewrote the query and reposted, so hopefully it’ll be better than the first.

I have a feeling that there are some people out there who just NAIL the query letter and pitch, while others struggle mightily. I have a feeling I’m in the latter group. I’m long-winded and grinding a 93,000 word story into 250 words or less is downright scary. I think I’m no longer afraid of the synopsis. No, it’s the query letter and pitch.

Speaking of pitches, I’ve got to get working on mine soon. Next weekend is the Writers for New Orleans Workshop and the editor appointments. Maybe working on the query letters will help me get through the pitch, or is it the other way around? Mais, this is so confusing.

That’s about it really. Life has been busy with Cookie and the family, oh and a wardrobe malfunction at work yesterday. About halfway through the morning, I realized that my jeans had ripped right next to the back pocket. A HUGE rip…straight down my butt showing off my bright colored undies. Can we say ‘OMG’? Oh yes, people. I was laughing hysterically, praying that no one at work saw it before I bustled out the door so fast that I think I kicked up dust. This is really no different than my very FIRST day at this company, when I went the entire day with my fly undone, or the day that I realized that the slacks I was wearing were not only on inside out, but also backwards. I’m a disaster when it comes to dressing myself apparently. I hope that got some laughs out of ya’ll.

So that’s all for now folks.