Had the best morning writing in Starbucks...

First of all, let me say just how much I love Starbucks.... 

From the smell of rich coffee, to the hub-ub of people chatting, to the cushy chairs and cute little tables--I love every bit of it.  And, I just realized today, that Starbucks is my muse.  I can write at home, but the laundry keeps calling and if I get up to make myself coffee, the dishes practically SCREAM to be washed.  I can't think about hot boys or space aliens or all the fictional possibilities half so well as I can in that cushy Starbucks chair.  I need an assigned seat at Starbucks every day of the week for a few months so that I can finish this first novel.

Unfortunately, my employer would probably not allow me to take 40 personal days....sigh....

I may have to try this out in the evenings sometimes.  Maybe instead of heading to the writers group, I will head to my writers spot and just finish that first draft instead. 

How do you make this gig work? Please let me in on your secrets!
~Cinnamon

Review: A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

I LOVED this book!  I stayed up very late to finish reading it.

At first, I thought my failure to develop an immediate emotional connection with the MC  Rose was a flaw in the book.  But, in reality, I was feeling like Rose--disconnected from all real emotion.  This is her journey and the major story arc that I didn’t catch until half way through.  She denies she has feelings or opinions or a personality even, because she is damaged and the consequences of expressing herself have been so dire in the past.

Late in the story, her emotional vault pops open and she begins to evolve into a character we want to love.  Also, there are plenty romantic elements and I can’t wait to know more about Otto, but, in the end, Rose saves herself.  I like that.

This book has a SCIFI flavor, but it’s not heavy on the science.  That’s OK with me.  I really don’t need a lot of details about how statis tubes really work—just enough to understand the premise of the fictional world build around it.

I finished this book a week ago and I’m still thinking about it!

Ever deleted a bunch of work...argh..gah...speechless

I needed to scan a file off my printer, so I used the memory stick with my edits from last week on it.  VERY BAD IDEA.  Apparently, very-crappy-printer likes to reformat memory sticks and create a new folder all it's own.  GAH!

Ok now, it's not like I deleted my whole WIP.  I had just reworked the first two pages of chapter one to really pop.  And I liked it--a lot.  

Deep breaths...

So, I found the most recent copy on my laptop and got to work with all the lines I could remember while they were still fresh-ish.

I do the memory stick thing so that I can work during lunch at my job and then take it home and keep going after the kids are in bed.  What do you guys do?
I'm seriously considering paper, but the versioning will be hell!!~

More DFW Con Gems

Jamie Harrington Totally the Bomb says Pay it Forward.

Make friends with other aspiring writers at the same place in the process that you are and then help them whenever you can.  You will develop amazing friendships and a support system that is essential to your well being as a writer.

Set up a google alert that will tell you whenever someone mentions your name online.  This allows you to respond quickly to thank them for the nod and also allows you to reciprocate.

Keep blog posts under 500 words plus a cool picture.  Some of the blog readers only display 500 words, so most followers won’t click through after the 500.

Lock down your personal Facebook account and create a fan page for yourself (even though this makes you feel like a tool since you don’t really have fans yetJ).  No need to permanently scar the psyche of your unsuspecting young readers with the edgy, inappropriate humor of your adult friends.  This has to be done BEFORE people you don’t know start trying to friend you.

Agent Jessica Sinsheimer's Advice on Query Letters from DFW Con

Jessica Sinsheimer

Her advice -- the short version.

Send queries Tuesday thru Thursday during regular business hours.  They get way too much sent over the weekends and your work could get lost in the shuffle.

Don’t bother sending queries in August or December.  They are too busy to deal with them.

Tailor your query to show that you did some research about what the agent likes to represent.

Some reasons she says no to queries:

Bad writing in the query letter (Hey, if you can’t write a query what are the odds on your book?)

Derivative

Depressing

Sounds like a public service announcement

Inappropriate to YA

Some reasons she said yes:

Writing style in the query

Voice

Concept

Do not start with a What if question in your query.  Without exception all agents at the conference say they hate this technique.

What new query advice do you have?

DFW Writers Workshop this weekend!

Whew!  Having I have survived the siege on my personal domain with my sovereignty intact, I recovered quickly from having a malfunctioning body part removed.  Sounds scary right?  I thought so too, which was the reason for my panic about invading hordes last week.  I managed to plan ahead well enough to discourage even the most insistent helpful friend.  THANK GOODNESS!!  The absolute last thing I want when recovering from illness or injury is someone stopping by to chat.  Hair sticking in every direction is my personal right under such circumstances and I would feel the need to comb it or something if visitors arrived!

Anyway…DFW Writers Conference.  Yea!!!

I am losing my jangly nerves about this and starting to get really excited.

Since I joined the writers group in August just before starting this blog, I have access to the Friday night happy hour meet and greet with all the agents, publishers and writers that will be part of the conference!!!  AMAZING! 

I just have to figure out what to say other than…ILoveYourBlogBookWorkAndItsSoCooltoMeetYou.  Yeah, that is one word.

I am looking forward to meeting Weronica Janczuk from Lightning and Lightning Bugs a Publishing Blog and Rosemary Clement-Moore who wrote the fabulous Prom Dates from Hell series.  Rosemary is part of the writers group, but she’s never been at the meetings when I have.  I might even get to see her on Wednesday night since she is doing a little pre conference class at the group.  Ok, so I might be stalking her just a teeny tiny bit, but only in the nicest—I totally want to be you—kind of way.

I would love to know if anyone has been to a writers conference before and has pointers.  Do I really need business cards?  They feel silly to me, but I want to network.  Could I just print up a few dozen little cards with my contact info on them to hand to people who ask….  I’m more of a scrap of paper from my purse networker thus far, but I suppose I might run out of scraps if things go well.

~Cinnamon

Nutty Obsessions

We have all got them. Fear of heights, flying, waking up naked at school ... Or having strange people realize you have messy dresser drawers full of holey underwear and old sweatpants.  Ok, maybe my fears aren't so typical, but they're MINE!

I have reorganized half my house over the last week because of this OCD insanity. I don't actually worry about living with these things on a daily basis.  I mean, mismatched socks and worn out favorite pajamas stuffing my dresser don't actually bother me a bit.  It's just the idea that, in the event of an emergency, someone like mother-in-law or a helpful neighbor, would be examining my life through the lense of domestic madness.

I think it goes back to my horror when I babysat and opened cabinets in search of utensils to make popcorn or cocoa and found an explosion of crumbs and partially clean pots.  I wondered how anyone could live that way.

Now I know, of course.  I wash my dishes while double checking homework, doing laundry and supervising lunch preparations for the next day.  I'm lucky I don't end up washing them in grape jelly while putting cascade on the PBJ sandwiches.

So, anyway, what are your irrational fears--writing related or not.

~Cinnamon