Caught Up in Christmas . . .

So much to do . . . and so little time . . .

Dear friends, I'm caught up in Christmas and won't be able to come visiting till Sunday.

And Herself Spoke . . .

. . .  and said my proposal wasn't quite what she was hoping for. 

No, this isn't devastating news. Because she went on to tell me a bit more of just what it was she would like to see in this next book I write.  And I know I'm close.

I think I've mentioned before that working with Herself has made me a much better writer. She will NOT let me take the easy way out -- no short cuts. 


So I'm rethinking that proposal --  same characters, but a different emphasis . . .
 

Eddie Does Christmas

FAQ - How Can I Get an Agent's Attention?

Q: I want to submit a query letter to your agent. Any suggestions on how to appeal to your particular agent in my query letter?

If she likes chocolate, let me know what kind. (joke)

A: Oh, I know this feeling. How can you stand out in the crowd of submissions?  Write your query letter on the back of a hundred dollar bill? Drop names of people that the agent might know?  Say that you're sure your book will be a great TV show? Include cookies?

The only one of those suggestions that might work is the name-dropping -- and then, only if the name in question has read your manuscript and is willing to provide a blurb for it, if it's ever published.  (Not many authors will read unpublished manuscripts because of the possibility of being accused of plagiarizing should they at some time in the future write something similar.)

Another time you might name drop would be when using a comparison -- as in, 'When I learned that you represent Glamora LaMour, I thought you might be interested in my manuscript which contains a similar blend of red hot passion and culinary hints.'

Really though, the best thing that you can do is to give an honest look at what your book is about.  Of course you want a tantalizing hook that will make the agent want to learn more . But don't promise something you can't deliver.

For example, suppose you find out that the agent you're  querying is fond of books with feisty grandmothers and your main character has a grandmother who appears in one scene. It might be tempting, when you write your query, to make more of that scene than there is.

But imagine the agent , enticed by the thought of a story about a feisty grandma, eagerly reading the manuscript only to find that it's really all about a twenty five year old  triathete/astro-physicist . . . well, I suspect that agent might feel not only disappointed but that she'd been had.

My agent asks for a brief letter and the first ten pages of your book.  It's those opening pages that will make the difference as to whether she'll want to see more. 

All the gimmicks in the world won't sell an agent if she isn't grabbed by the story itself. It's the  writing that will single you out from the crowd.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Yesterday morning, once again we awoke to find that the snow gods had been at work. We had put our tree up the day before and with a little help, got the popcorn/cranberry chain in place.  In past years we've had a full living room of family and friends to help with the decorating but because of the impending weather, the decorating session was curtailed.

So I spent most of Sunday, hanging ornaments, tying red satin bows, putting candy canes in place (I'm fussy and like them all to face the same way,) making sure the little twisted metal icicles dangle freely --- oh, it's a job!

But it's a trip down memory lane, as well. Ornaments inherited from my mother and my husband's mother and grandmother; god's eyes my boys made when they were very young, the felt ornaments we made for a Christmas at my grandparent's house almost forty years ago, the stuffed cloth hearts and all the odds and ends that have accumulated over the years -- gifts that I treasure (the bristly donkey that looks like our Kate is the most recent) and little gems I couldn't resist (the pink pig with a piglet at her side.)

A pleasant way to spend a snowy day!

Impending...

Snow

 Sliding slow

Snow.

Mackeral Sky

Mackerel sky, mackerel sky,
Never long wet, never long dry. 

That's what we had Friday morning -- a sky filled with rows of cirrocumulus or small altocumulus clouds, named for its resemblance to a mackeral's skin and usually indicating a change of weather.

The temperatures climbed into the forties, icicles were hurtling to thhe ground, and the sun shone all day. But the sky and the online weather forecast are predicting more snow on the way.

And on the north side, which includes our driveway, the snow hasn't melted. And it's not even winter yet.

Things To Do While Waiting . . .

Almost sixty years ago, when I was a Girl Scout, I made a pomander by sticking whole cloves in an apple. It took forever and made my fingers sore, as I covered the entire surface so that not a speck of red could be seen. And the pomander -- a Christmas gift for my mother -- hung in her closet for years -- the apple shrinking and drying and the cloves smelling wonderful.

About twenty years ago, I thought it might be nice to repeat the endeavor, possibly using oranges or tangerines as I'd seen done in a magazine somewhere --  some nice patterns and you don't have to cover the entire surface.

So I ordered a pound of whole cloves. And that's as far as I got.  The cloves have been sitting in a jar on a shelf all that time. (They keep very well.)

But while finding things to occupy my time while waiting to hear from Herself -- ironing,  rearranging the living room to get ready for the Christmas tree, cleaning out the refrigerator -- I was about to throw out (well, give to the chickens) some clementines that weren't very good -- not rotten, just a bit dry -- and suddenly I thought of those cloves.

Things to do while waiting. . .

Is This the End? - FAQ

In response to some questions/comments on my past two posts, I feel I need to say that it's not actually my decision as to whether there'll be another Elizabeth Goodweather book after the one coming out next year.  It will be the publisher's decision and they'll make that call based on sales. 


Sad but true -- it's a business.  If a series isn't continuing to sell more with each new release, the publisher will often drop the series.  And when a series hasn't done that well, it's unlikely that another publisher will want it. 

So what's an author of a dropped series to do? Often the author will come up with an idea for another series --  under a different pen name.  


Why a different name?  To entice booksellers and readers to take a chance on this 'new' author.  If Glamora Tynnsdale's (made up name)  books about a amateur sleuth who is also a professional tuba player haven't done well in the past, evidently booksellers will be reluctant to order her new series about a psychic CPA who solves murders -- unless that new series is written under a different name -- say, Tynnsdale G. LaMore.


Silly games.  But the reality of publishing is this -- it's all about the bottom line.

I still have good ideas for more Elizabeth books though . . . and conventional wisdom says that it often takes five or six books to really establish a series.


We'll see. I feel good about Under the Skin which is coming next October. But only time and sales will tell if the numbers are good enough to warrant more Elizabeth books. It will be probably be 2012 before it's clear one way or another. More waiting . . .

And, yes, I'm still waiting  to hear if my new characters find favor with Herself.  Maybe if I changed my name as well  . . . Victoria Elan . . . Victory Lane . . .

The Waiting Game... with Snow

Out the back door, looking north. . .

From the dining room windows looking east . . .

And from the kitchen, looking east and south . . .

We woke Tuesday morning to a world of snow.

By mid afternoon, it was over...

 

And the clouds were moving away.

My agent is enthusiastic about my proposal and has sent it on to Herself ...
now for more waiting.

 

FAQ- Something New

It snowed most of the day yesterday. There was a break around ten when the sun actually made an appearance and I crept down the steep and icy road to bring warm water and feed to the chickens.

In spite of the cold, which is intense, I'm feeling pretty cheerful as I finally got my proposal for the next book together and emailed it off to my agent for her thoughts before it gets sent on to my editor.

Approval is not, alas, automatic.  Herself has rejected my ideas before, telling me I could do better. And I have.

This time though, instead of focusing on Elizabeth or characters I already know, I'm riffing on an idea that Herself and I discussed back in October. It's a bit of a departure. Though it's still set in familiar territory -- Marshall County --  there is a whole new cast of characters --  and that's where the FAQ part of this post comes in.

Q:  Do you find that once having established the locale and characters, that writing additional books in the series is easier/quicker or not? 

A: When Darla sent me this question some weeks ago, I pretty much ignored it, not having considered it one way or another.  But now,  having spent quite a lot of time constructing family trees and back stories for a bunch of new characters who may or may not turn into characters in a book, it's quite obvious that I'm basically reinventing a world -- or at least the people in it. And it's a LOT of work!

Once I'd written a couple of Elizabeth books, I was on firm ground --I knew these people and how they were likely to act. It was just a matter of bringing this familiar cast to a new situation and turning them loose.

But here, in this proposal for a new book, I'm just getting to know these folks. Rachel and her great aunt Mim, Leonie and John Standingdeer are still nebulous figures in my mind. And yes, it would have been easier to go back to the old familiar gang. But there's always the danger of things growing stale or even preposterous -- how many murders can a fifty-something herb farmer reasonably expect to find herself involved in anyhow?

I hope Herself like this idea -- or at least most of it. I'm already getting attached to these folks. 

And of course I'll keep you updated.

 

All Day Snow .. and the Winners!

It's been snowing all day long and I've been up in my workroom, watching the flakes swirling outside the windows and trying to organize a proposal for the next novel to send to my agent and thence, perhaps, to Herself.

It's not easy. But more of that later...

I am emerging just to say that I've drawn two winners for the fairy crosses -- Helen T in GA and Victoria in CA! If you all will email me your addresses, I'll put the goodies in the mail -- as soon as I can get out...