To query or not to query? And a name by any other rose . . .

I managed to get in some writing time today. I wrote a query letter . . . nay, I lie, for I wrote three versions. You know, one version simply isn't good enough these days. Truly great autors second guess themselves and it isn't above them to write several versions. They care not about the wasted time and effort put into the never-to-be-sent-out versions. Nay, truly great authors rejoice in the writing of said queries, knowing if the version they submit gets rejected, they have backups.

GARH!!

Today is NOT a good day. It's a day when I say to myself, "Self, why are you doing this? Self, you are delusional to believe your work is good enough for publication!"

Are queries really necessary? Maybe I should just play the lottery . . . my odds of winning are better, right?

*sigh*

When I'm finished wallowing in self-pity, I'll remember I love writing (though not writing queries) and go back to my thousand versions (okay it was only three) and pick one or combine them all into a brilliant fourth version to stun editors and make them all beg for my novel (hey, it's my fantasy).

There are times when I read something and wonder why it made it into print (not mentioning any books specifically) and feel I may have a chance. And other times I read something amazing (again, not mentioning any specifics) and think I'm the worst writer ever.

I'm in a love/hate relationship with my fantasy novel at the moment. Couldn't tell, could ya? Today I thought about deleting the entire thing from my hard drive and starting from scratch. But said, "Self, there are some good things in there. Don't you dare hit that button!"

I really want to overhaul the-beast-that-is-my-novel, but haven't the stomach for it . . . at least not today.

And with the query giving me so much trouble, I wonder what the synopsis will do to me?! *EEEKKK*

And it doesn't help that I've decided my working title is lame and I need to get a shiny new one. Great, right? But I've called it by it's current title for so long that my mind is completely frozen to other possibilities. *WAAAAAAH*

And thus goes the 15th day of August, 2008. A day in the life of a stressed out writer. I'm off to get my kids from school now. Maybe I'll pick up 1 or 10 bags of chocolate on the way home. *grin*

Later.

Um . . . yeah

Other than this blog entry and a couple of emails, I didn't get any writing done. I did put lots of bread on the shelves. Bread, Entenmann's, Thomas Bagels and muffins, even some Tia Rosa tortillas.

While I stocked shelves, I dreamed of being home writing . . . well, maybe not so much dreaming of writing, but dreaming of being home for sure. I worked as quickly as I could and was able to finish in time to get the kids from school.

Now, it sounds like I spent all day stocking shelves. But I didn't. The first part of the morning I walked Calypso with my friend C and her dog Chancho. Then I visited with her for a while before coming home to put Calypso back with the other dogs, feeding them, and putting a load of towels in the washing machine. In all truthfullness, I began stocking shelves at about a quarter to twelve. The kids get out at 2:30 so I really only worked for about two hours (minus time driving from one store to the other). I only did Wal-Mart and Safeway so it was about an hour per store. Not bad time, considering.

Anyway, after picking up the kids, I came home and had a little nap. I was TIRED. What do you want from me? My supermom powers are on vacation so I need more rest than usual . . . either that or the cold/allergy I've been fighting is the culprit. So I had about a twenty minute nap before going back to the stores to re-stock the shelves. Why, you ask? Well, people have this habit of buying things off the shelves and if we want to make money, we have to have things on the shelves for them to buy. Crazy, isn't it?

I had hoped to get some writing done tonight after the kids went to bed (about 15 minutes ago) but I'm tired, and after this update I intend to go to sleep.

But I'll think about it tomorrow. "After all, tomorrow is another day" (one of my favorite lines . . . love the movie, too, though the book was better).

My plan is to work on my submission materials tomorrow. We'll see how it goes (and it better go the way I plan . . . darn it)!

And I'm off to get some sleep . . . after I make one more stop to wish my baby sister a Happy Birthday!

Later.

What a day!

I planned on spending time on my query, summary, etc. today. However, it didn't happen. My hubby wasn't feeling well and asked if I'd help him with his job (he delivers Oroweat bread and Entenmann's to the stores in the area). I, being the good wife I am, felt sorry for him and agreed to help.

While we were stocking the bread in one of the grocery stores, hubby's back went out. He was in a tremendous ammount of pain. We were driving different vehicles so I suggested he go see the chiropractor while I finish stocking the shelves in the stores. He agreed. After he finished at the chiropractor, he came back to help finish the stores. He was in a back brace and informed me he had injured his back pretty good. *sigh* He tried to help stock the shelves, but realized he had lost his cell phone. PANIC! I told him I would finish the store while he went to re-trace his steps and hopefully find his phone. If he couldn't find it he would go to the cellular store and de-activate it.

Well, he didn't find it. However, when I finished working, I called his cell phone in the hopes someone had found it and would answer. They did! It was the receptionist from the chiropractor's office (he had already been there in his search and they found it after he left). I went to get it and spent the next hour driving around town trying to find him to let him know I had it.

I gave up and went home. Eventually he came home to call Altell because they couldn't deactivate his phone in the local store. I told him I had his phone and they were happily re-united.

I could have spent the remainder of the afternoon working on my writing as planned, but hubby wanted to lie in bed and sleep (the pain meds helped). I guess I type too loud and it was bothering him so I graciously stopped.

I had hoped to get back to it tomorrow, but hubby has asked if I will help him again tomorrow since he is still in so much pain. So I am going to spend tomorrow stocking shelves and wishing I were home writing. But I'm nice and can't say no when he so obviously needs me.

In other news (though not writing) the kids are enjoying school. Even my youngest! I wasn't sure how he would take to all day kindergarten since he barely turned five July 14th, but he is doing well, considering. We did have a moment last week when he had some tears and didn't want to go to school, but he appears to be over it now and likes it well enough. Hopefully this will be a great school year for all involved . . . especially for my 15 year old sophmore in high school!

My 15 year old is looking forward to getting his lerner's permit (for driving) in January. I'm not looking forward to that so much. *wink*

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Gotta rest up for tomorrow.

Later.

The day's half over and I'm just beginning . . .

The kids are off to school the animals have been fed, I've got a box of Cheddar Jack Cheez-It and a glass of ice water. I'm ready to get to work . . . but thought I'd post first.

What's the plan for today? Revision? Rewriting? On to a new project?

No, my friends.

Today is National Researching Publishers Day (NRPD)!

What? You've never heard of NRPD (pronounced nerped)? Why it's the day when writers unite in setting aside their beloved manuscripts and researching publishers. It's on the calendar!

Well, okay, it's on MY calendar . . . but it SHOULD be on yours, too.

Researching publishers is rather like being Santa Claus. You make a list and check it twice (at least) to find out who's naughty or nice. Nice publishers get a query. Naughty publishers get crossed off the list.

How do I differentiate between the naughty and nice?

Nice publishers:
Open to submissions
Accept new authors
Accept unagent-ed submissions
publish books in my genre
recently published books I enjoyed reading
offer reasonable contract terms
heard good things about from others

Naughty publishers:
Not open to submissions
Accept only agent-ed submissions
Don't publish books (or very few) in my genre
Didn't care much for their recently published books
Unreasonable contract terms
On the predators list

So I'm off to pour over market listings, guidelines, catalogs, and websites. Once I've narrowed it down, I'll make lists of books to read from the "nice" publishers.

NRPD, here I come!

Well, it's about time!

I'm horrible about updating this blog! Gee, since I last updated, I've acquired several more dogs (Toy Fox Terriers) and have been breeding/raising/showing them. You can see pictures on my website at www.treasuretoyfoxterriers.com if you so desire.

I've been writing, living, working, playing, and generally enjoying life. My children started school on July 30th this year and for the first time, ALL four of them are in school. My youngest is in all day Kindergarten. So, what am I going to do with all my free time?

Write and work. I have a part time job as an archivist and am working on archiving the documents of a sculptress and her mother (a silent film star). It's been fun, fun, fun and I've learned a lot. However, I'm looking forward to the project coming to a close and devoting all my free time to my writing.

I submitted a story to the Cheerio's contest and am waiting to hear the results. I'm sure many entered and only three can win (one grand prize, two first prizes). I'm hoping, but trying not to hope too hard.

The work on my YA fantasy has continued and I believe I am close to being ready to start submitting it. We'll see how that goes.

That's a QUICK update on all that has happened in the last two years.