Random Wednesday evening remarks

[annathepiper]

-0: The weather this evening is, in a word, craptastic. Cold wet rain and strong wind is not my favorite form of weather, especially when I am sans umbrella on my way home and happened to wear shorts today to work. Note to Self: really must buy more jeans. Also, I think I need me some hot cocoa big time, now that I am home and have put on thick fuzzy socks.

+1: Greetings to another person glancing at my journal: elbom.

+2: Side Note to My Cat: Polly, the computer still functions within sufficient specifications, and really does not require you to apply your wet kitty nose to the keyboard for it to work.

+3: Tonight's agenda: editing!

Comments

weather we like it or not

[howlinhobbit.livejournal.com]

The weather this evening is, in a word, craptastic.

Yes indeedy. And guess who discovered his coat wasn't even water-resistant, much less water-proof!

Oh well. I need these daily walks, rain or not, as I've gone from chunky right past obese and seem to be approaching obscene.

Happy editing!

Re: weather we like it or not

[annathepiper]

Oof! Sympathies about the coat! (My new jacket holds up pretty well against a stiff cold rain, thankfully.)

And walks are good. I'm hoping daily walks up the hill to our house will go well with me. :) If I can make it up the hill without breathing hard, I know I'll have achieved a victory!

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

wet kitty nose!

[annathepiper]

Hee hee. Dara and I theorize that if cats ever invent their own computers, they will be operated by wet kitty noses. And possibly also by lying on the keyboard.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

-0: The weather this evening is, in a word, craptastic. Cold wet rain and strong wind is not my favorite form of weather, especially when I am sans umbrella on my way home and happened to wear shorts today to work. Note to Self: really must buy more jeans. Also, I think I need me some hot cocoa big time, now that I am home and have put on thick fuzzy socks.

The weather here sucks too... been windy and rainy all day, and was actually thundering and lightning here about 2 hours ago (while I was watching Harry Potter)... Got all kinds of calls for ComEd in Chicago while I was at work, for power outages... they were having wind,snow, rain, sleet,etc this evening, and it's all headed this way- OH JOY!!! And I am trekking down to Edinboro, in the heart of the NW PA snowbelt to my cousin's for Thanksgiving Dinner... I hate driving in snow..

+1: Greetings to another person glancing at my journal: elbom.

Hiya Elbom... don't mind me, I ramble on about anything and everything, and most likely totally off topic, and yadda yadda yadda...

+2: Side Note to My Cat: Polly, the computer still functions within sufficient specifications, and really does not require you to apply your wet kitty nose to the keyboard for it to work.

you get that too? but don't you know, they have to help in the editing process, and make sure everything works... Palin's (the youngest, and yes I named him after my alter ego) favorite trick is to sit on my keyboard while I'm here and bat at the cursor on the screen...

[annathepiper]

Polly is indeed known to try to lay on my hands as I am typing. And given that my computer is in fact a laptop, she effectively prevents me from seeing the screen OR typing!

Random Thanksgiving Remarks..

[(Anonymous)]

Stuck at work(last time I work for a effin' hospital..you start to forget there are holidays)Cold and snow flurries..which I kinda like..I can deal with cold a lot better than I can with heat. To me, Fall and Winter are a more laid-back time of the year. I ride my bike to work year-round, unless it's icy outside(snow isn't that big a deal).
My 20 pound Calico, Miss Callie Fae, doubles as an alarm clock(she's used to getting fed at 4:00 A.M.)and around 4:15 will start walking on you and meowing if not fed. At this point, Q, my older cat(almost 17 years old), joins in.
One of them has learned to use the remote to the TV, but I'm not sure which one. Sometimes,when I come in from work, the TV is on...Scott

Re: Random Thanksgiving Remarks..

[annathepiper]

I like the cold and snow, yeah, better than the current weather we're getting. Just as long as there's not huge amounts of wind involved. :) We'll have to see how my new shoes hold up walking on ice, though!

And GUH, cats waking me up at that early hour is why I close the bedroom door before I go to bed. :)

[elbom.livejournal.com]

-0: The weather in Grand Forks, North Dakota, is a miracle. Deep blue Skies, relentless sun, and only 20 degrees. Usually it's 20 below on Thanksgiving. At least that's what they say. It's my first Thanksgiving here.

+1: I glanced, then I read. You can write.

+2: No pets allowed in my building. Can't break the law. Don't want to be deported.

+3: What are you editing?

[annathepiper]

I just spotted your other post about the snow! But yeah, the sun sounds delightful. I love sunny days in the winter here just because they're so unexpected--and it makes them all the more wonderful when they show up after weeks on end of gray.

Re: my writing, thank you! I am hoping to convince Tor Books of the same thing. What I am editing right now is the third draft of what I hope to make my first published novel. :)

Pleased to make your acquaintance, especially after seeing over on your journal that you are also a writer!

[elbom.livejournal.com]

Hi, Anna. Nice to meet you. I'm Gilad. I'm 4 months older than you. Are Tor Books looking at your manuscript? I just published my first novel, currently working on the second one. Editing your own work is fun - I like that stage when all you have to do is perfect your own existing text. What's your book about? Sorry for asking you to reduce 300 pages to a single sentence. Who are your favorite writers? Mine are Gilbert Sorrentino and Stanislaw Lem. Do you have an agent? I don't.

[annathepiper]

*grin* No problem about asking about the reduction to a single sentence. That's a skill I've been trying to practice lately, actually! A writer's conference I have recently attended calls it writing a pitch for your novel. :) And the one-sentence summary of this book is this:

"A young woman discovers her fey heritage when her Seelie Court kin come to Seattle to kill her."

It's an urban fantasy novel, basically. And yeah, the first three chapters are at Tor Books right now, and a synopsis of the complete novel.

My favorite writers... in the fantasy and science fiction fields, that'd have to be Doranna Durgin, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, Jim Butcher, Sharon Shinn, and J.R.R. Tolkien. In mystery and suspense, my favorites are Elizabeth Peters (who also writes as Barbara Michaels), Tami Hoag, Elizabeth George, and Elizabeth Lowell.

I don't have an agent yet. I'm pretty much hoping to go the route of selling a novel and then perhaps finding an agent to help negotiate the actual paperwork. Other friends of mine who are also in the industry and who have sold books have said that's generally the fastest way to get an agent: selling a book. ;)

I really love your title, by the way!

[elbom.livejournal.com]

Yes, I figured you'd have a readymade one-liner that "captures the essence" of your book. It's one of the first things we have to learn to do, whether we like it or not. Here's mine: "It's about an assistant nurse in a psychiatric hospital in Jerusalem who, unable to deal with the reality of life in the Promised Land, escapes to obsessive linguistic analysis, Biblical poetry, heavy metal, and violent sexual fantasies." The title was the only thing my editor wanted me to change. It used to be called MASTER OF THE SYMPTOM - but he said it was "too postmodern" (whatever that means). The good thing was that he let me come up with my own new title, never forcing me to do anything I didn't want to. So I came up with SCREAM QUEENS OF THE DEAD SEA. My book is full of zombies rising from their graves, both real and metaphorical. What's your title? And your friends are absolutely right about the agents. I had been rejected by 50 of them before I gave up and started submitting directly to publishers. It worked right away, and as soon as I got a deal - the agents started calling. But then I decided to sign the contract on my own. Don't know exactly why. I think none of the agents looked really enthusiastic. I'll probably try to get an enthusiastic agent for my next book.

[annathepiper]

I went and did a search on your book! It sounds fun; I will see if I can find it in local stores. :)

My novel's called Faerie Blood, and it's one of two works I'm dealing with at the moment. This one is the only one I've finished; the other is a little under halfway through its first draft.

I've been turned down by a couple of agents already--between that and the advice of my other writer friends, that's what's led me to try to get at least one work looked at myself and then to see if an agent will be a route I wish to pursue. I think I need to spend a little more time meeting others in the industry, though. The Writer's Weekend conference I attended this past July was incredibly helpful in this regard; it helped me become aware of a couple of agents who handle science fiction and fantasy and who I may query when the time comes.

(I highly recommend this conference, by the way, if you are in a position to attend next year's. It had writers and editors and agents attending from several countries; one lady came all the way from Australia, and another all the way from Cairo.)

[elbom.livejournal.com]

Let me know if my book is in your local store. A girl I used to know in grade school sent me an e-mail the other day. She saw my book at a bookstore in Cambridge, England. She's a professor of biology. Strange.

I hope Tor Books say yes to Faerie Blood! But if, for some reason, they don't - don't give up. Just say to yourself "They'll regret it for the rest of their lives" - and keep trying.

[annathepiper]

I'll definitely sing out if I see your book--there are a couple of local places I will want to check, which will send me out of my usual daily way. I used to live closer to a couple of very large bookstores which would be great places to check. Having recently moved, I'm now nearest to a very large new-and-used bookstore which may be a good place to look; not as familiar with that place yet, though. I'll let you know. :)

And thanks for the kind words of encouragement! This will actually be my second attempt to get them to look at the book; I sent it to them earlier this year, had it turned down, and sent it back after revising it some. And I've been working on taking rejection letters with a positive outlook.

[elbom.livejournal.com]

OK, forget the miracle. It just started snowing. Now I know I'm in North Dakota.

[annathepiper]

Heh! No snow for us, yet; we probably won't see any until next month at least.