Spidey 3 tonight!

We're going for David's birthday! Can't wait! I'll post more later.

EDIT


It was postponed till Sat night.

Revised Chapter 2

It came to me out of nowhere a few nights ago. I figured out how to take the following...

Chapter 2, intro to the setting and two major characters plus intro to three other characters

Chapter 3, intro to three more characters plus the mystery of the town.

Chapter 4, more info on main character

I discovered how to take these three boring chapters that do a lot of telling and merge them into one chapter. I hope I'm showing more than telling.

Anyway, this means stuff starts really happening in chapter 3. I put the new chapter 2 on AW for review.

Gulp!

A real Super Hero?

A real super hero? Here's the news article.

In some ways I think he might me nuts, but on the other hand at least he's doing something.

Here's his Myspace site.

There seems to be a whole lot of them.

I'm Visionary!

Adam created a quiz with his characters. I would do the same except I'm pretty busy.

Which member of Visionary's cast are you? Your Result: Visionary   You are most like Visionary: A little slow on the uptake, but a good guy and not at all fake. You might not have the flashy powers, skills or wardrobe of your peers, but you have friends, family, and the respect of.... Well, you have friends and family, at least.
Hallie
Magweed and Griffin
Kerry
Fleabot
Quoth
Mary Prankstar
Roni Y. Avis
Which member of Visionary's cast are you? Take More Quizzes

Man, I can't get enough of this show!

Rejection

Remember that request for a partial? Well I got the form rejection letter today.
Guess I need to get back in the game.
Maybe I should rewrite chapter 2-4 like I planned. Or maybe I'll just send some more queries out.

In the rejection she says she could not connect with Annabelle or Roland.
What still frustrates me is kids can connect with them, but agents are blocking/ denying them the chance.

Ah well.

UPDATE

This just occurred to me. She wanted "50 or so pages" and I emailed her, requesting I send 66 pages (cuase page 50 is in the middle of a chapter. She never replied. I bet I left a sour taste in her mouth, so to speak.

This is more reason to rewrite chapter 2 so that it covers info from chapters 2,3,4 and 5. Then chapter three will be the Mysterious Cabin. Things get better paced there.

Why did Rowling get to do two boring first chapters? I'm talking about back when she first tried.

I know, I'm whining, but I just want a chance.

Whoohoo! I'm original!

I did it for both Annabelle and Roland.

Annabelle got 18,102

Roland got 108,615.

Foresight got 0

Yes! Original!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

As for "Jack Roberts", my pen name...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 729 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

My name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 198 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I knew it was popular.

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, RIP

Dang.
I actually thought he already was dead.
Well, RIP to a funny legend.

Shame they don't have Annabelle...

You scored as Dracula. You are the smooth sexy cool Dracula. Patient and lustful. If you were any cooler youd be ice. Great style with a way of seducing those around you. And three brides who wouldn't want to be him. Dracula 100% Marius 92% Armand 83% Blade 67% Louis 50% Deacon Frost 50% Spike 42% Lestat 33% Angel 33% Akasha 0% Whose your Vampire personality? (images) created with QuizFarm.com

The guy who did the quiz could learn how to spell.

I'm a wizard, Harry!

You scored as Wizard. You are a wizard. Through reading books and leanring the histoy of the mistakes in the world, you figure out a way to revamp them and figure out the answer on your own. You search for the unknown and thus is why you know how to use sparkly magic thingies! Wizard 92% Ranger 88% Cleric 58% Fighter 54% Monk 38% Bard 33% Rogue 17% Barbarian 13% What D&D class are you? created with QuizFarm.com

My Hook review on Fangs, Fur and Fey is up...

It wasn't good. I don't care about the contest because the prize was for pages to be sent to Rachael Vater, and she's already rejected my book twice.

I entered to get feed back and that's just what I got. One of the published authors who frequent the site judged my hook on whether it could grab him or her. Some things held it back.
I really do appreciate the chance so don't think I'm whining. I'm just concerned because . . . well take a look.

Hook 61

What happens when you take two happy, optimistic kids, and turn them into vampires? Ten year old Annabelle loves animals and has a strong desire to learn. She would much rather read her favorite books than explore. Her brother Roland is twelve and thinks reading is boring. He’d be happier exploring. It is the late 1600s and their family had just moved from England to the New World . Annabelle and Roland’s lives are shattered when the evil vampire Dominic kills their parents and leaves the children to die. His wife does not agree with his actions but has always been too afraid to rebel. Seeing the children’s plight, she acts on impulse and rescues them the only way she knows how, by transforming them into what she is and teaching them how to become children of the night.

Annabelle and Roland learn how to turn into bats and wolves. They struggle to control their cravings while mastering their vampiric abilities. Annabelle and her brother befriend the Mohegan Indians, free a witch from the Salem jail, hide from a ruthless vampire hunter and struggle to keep their existence as vampires a secret in their colonial town. They grow from inexperienced young children to confident teenagers while facing Dominic’s wicked servants. Each vampire, witch and werewolf that tries to kill them is tougher than the last until finally, after years of apprehension mixed with fear, they confront the master vampire who slaughtered their parents. Future uncertain, the teen vampires must try and stop Dominic before he destroys everything they hold dear.

Notes—My first thought to your opening question was “Happy vampires?” This could be fun, though—you’ve put young adult vampires into a time we don’t read too much about. I was a little concerned Dominic turned the kids at such a young age, and wondered if it couldn't’t have happened to them when they older? Older kids might be better able to survive/blend in—just a thought. As for the description of the two kids—can you dig a little deeper than simply giving them the opposite interests? Also, their interests don’t come into play in your synopsis—perhaps they do in the text, but since you make a point of telling me Annabelle likes to read, I thought that might come up later on.
I also wondered about the available books in this time—not light reading for a ten year old. As for the rest, it seems episodic—attack after attack—each stronger than the last. Why is Dominic sending creatures to kill them? And I don’t get a sense of what they “hold dear”. Are their friends in peril? Again, my first thoughts were that this could be fun—the setting is unique, but I need to see a story arc.

---

OK, me again. I noticed that she/he didn't see that it was Eliza who turned the kids. At first I thought I didn't clarify that well, but there it is in the first paragraph.
I'm concerned though. She/he mentions that the kids should be older. Aprilynne said the same thing. Do I loose the happy little bats and children learning to be young vamps? The kids at the school loved those things. I really believe in my gut it should stay that way.
Also, in my query/hook I mentioned the ageing of the children at the middle of the book. The guys at Absolute Write told me that detracted from the hook. Now I see where it would help. It's a major part of the book, watching these young kids change into teens overnight. It relates with the same growing pain problems pre-teens go through all over the world. I want to mention it but how?

In the book I cover how Annabelle could have gotten a hold of books
during those days. Her father was a bookbinder. Maybe I should mention that?

Episodic. That's what Adam said after reading the book. Maybe it is. Maybe it wont sell because of that. How can I fix this? Should I throw the book away and rewrite?

Here's what someone else said in the responses...

lnhammer on April 25th, 2007 12:10 am (UTC)
I'm very intrigued by #61, but with reservations. It's that each opponent is tougher than the last thing -- like a sorting algorithm of evil. Rather than training them up, why wasn't a tough enough minion sent to take care of things first time through? It makes the plot sound very by-the-numbers.


Ouch! Very true.
Man, it feels like I almost have it. It's like my goal is just outside of my reach.

This, combined with my fear for Janeen's present physical health and mental welfare, has made my mood deeply concerned and very unrested.

Krypton?

This is cool.

Wish it was posible for scientists to go there.

Another new trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

Oh man!

YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!

Newest Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix preview!

Oh man! I'm going insane here!

Here is the Leaky Caulron page...

Great site for Harry News!

And now, BUNNIES!

Thanks for the idea Adam!

WWII Robot battle!

Here's a site where these guys did some great computer animations.

My favorite is a WWII Giant Robot battle.

Here’s their site.

And now, thanks to Chris Karath, here it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!

My eldest turned 14 today! Happy B-Day!

She has a friend over and family came down and cake was had by all.

Contest update

I now have a number for the Fangs Fur Fey contest!

I got this email...

Hello. You are hook #61 in the Fangs, Fur and Fey contest. Please look for that number on Monday, April 23rd at Fangs Fur Fey when we post the hooks.

Your hook has not been assigned to a judge for critiquing yet. Hooks will be randomly assigned this weekend. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Fangs, Fur and Fey

...

Cool, huh?

Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione

While I'm showing YouTube videos,

Here's a great tribute to Harry and Ginny, as well as Ron and Hermione.



They mispelled July, but it's still sweet.

Doctor Who Tribute

And here is a cool tribute to the Doctor.

Two greats together . . . sort of.

So cool. Doctor Who mentions Harry Potter.

Man, I can't wait till both book 7 and the airing of Season 3 of the Doctor here in the states.

FAN-FRICKEN-TASTIC! GREAT NEWS!

I received a request for my partial and I'm in the contest!

I entered a Hook contest at Fangs Fur and Fey. Now published authors will look at the first two paragraphs of my query and post it online, with serious thoughts that can help me improve it. I got in! Can't wait to get my email stating what number I'll be.

Here’s the recent post on the Fangs Fur and Fey site.

Now, for even better news! I got a request for a partial! YES!

Now I'm going to be practical about this. It could end up being a rejection still. I must expect the rejection.

But still, getting my foot in the door is the first battle!
I hope those first four chapters hook her. I feel greatly confident about the first chapter, but the second one (Family entering the New World), second and third ones (there's a mystery in town.) and the forth one (AAIIE! There's a spooky cabin on our land at the mysterious 'witch' rumors are true!) worry me greatly.

Actually, only chapters 2-3 worry me. If I get a ton of rejections this time I'm going to condense them and rework them.

So, today is a very good day. :)

Busy

Work is so darn busy. It used to be that I could write a PV story in one setting. Now my lunch never lasts.
Sigh.

Guess I'd better evolve with the times and adjust my schedule.

Tired, little sore, but happy

There is an amusement park called Lagoon here in Northern Utah. We bought season passes and Saturday was the first day it opened. We've been looking forward to it all winter.

We had a good time, but man are we tired.
Whew.

Happy Easter '07

It was a good one. Pretty simple. We decorated eggs last night. My wife was too sleepy (because of our first day at Lagoon) and missed out on the Easter Bunny coming and hiding eggs.

This morn.Dave woke Janeen and I up with a cold he's got. He crawled back into our bed but It was too late. The damage was done. The girls woke and that's all she wrote for sleeping in.

Everyone had fun finding their baskets and the eggs and now we're taking the day off and relaxing.

So, all in all, a good Easter.

Update, we went to a family picnic and had a good time. Then we bathed the dogs and kids.

Better

I'm feeling better guys. Thanks to my wife, Willard and Dani, plus some of the guys on AW (especially Triceratops, poster/published writer), I feel 100% again.

I submitted two electronic quires and prepared two snail mail ones to mail tomorrow. I feel that I should write some Parodyverse stories and let the book go out to agents. Maybe some non-New York ones, and smaller press ones. Maybe I'll try an editor too.

Anyway, I'm back in the saddle. My real problem is proper time management. I only have lunch, before and after work to write or query. That's not enough time.

I'll get it though.

British covers (clues?)

What's with the shiny castle? The snake in the ball, why? What are the trio in? Gold? Is that Harry's money?

Cover to Harry Potter 7!

As I'm sure you already know, the cover to book 7 has been released.

Can't wait till this one! I'll be sad when it's over. If only there was a book out there that could grab people and keep them entertained.

Hmm.

New JibJab!

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Painful rejection

I just received a rejection from a certain agent. This is the same agent who wrote a note on my query last October, stating that she held onto it for awhile but ultimately didn’t go with it because of all the editing.
After a great deal of editing I resubmitted to her.

Here is what she said…

“This is going to be frustrating to hear, but last fall a lot of YA & middle grade editors were looking for vampire & werewolf type novels. Now they aren’t. Trends come & go quickly. It will probably come back around again, but probably not until fall again. Or even later if the publishers don’t feel these books sold as well as they hoped.”

So what does this mean? Should I just give up and wait? Last fall? You mean last fall as in the season that she got my query the first time? It was last fall that every one rejected it. Should I have skipped the agents and went straight to the editors last fall? Is it too late now? Is she for real? Should I just quit and take her word for it? DAMN!

Ok, let’s count the facts.

1.Getting started at a published writer means getting an agent and agents are fickle with what they want. The one thing that you can count on is that they expect everything to be unworthy and unmarketable.

2. Editors feel the same way as agents and even if you do by some miracle convince one that you’ve got the stuff, that your story has the stuff, they have to convince a group of editors who expect failure.

3. While you may have tried your novel with the age bracket, and they liked it and honestly wanted more, the opinions of the age bracket means squat to the professionals. You’re not supposed to tell them that readers liked it. They don’t care. If they don’t think it will sell, who cares if a bunch of kids think otherwise? Even if it’s the kids who would buy it in the first place.

4. The fiction I originally set out to do is no longer desired by editors or agents. I didn’t sit down one day and say “Hey, how about vampires?” No, the idea came to me in a powerful, overwhelming passion. I never cared about vampires, yet I had to write it. This character had to get out to schools, libraries and any where else. She had to teach and entertain children. She had to make their lives better. I feel in my bones that this is right and the thirty kids who read it feel the same way. I’m told “Write something else.” Well I have other stories in me, tons of them. But the passion is with Annabelle. The passion is with this story.

I don’t know what to do. I could, in one gust of fury, take the passion and rewrite the first two chapters, but why? Why do anything?

A small voice filled with passion, one that feels “right”, tells me she was just one agent. She’s just one opinion. The voice says to keep trying. She’s not the voice of every agent or editor. Don’t let her get you down.

On the other hand, she is a professional. Her ear is set to the industry. How could she be wrong? I’m just a clueless little wannabe writer. I know nothing. She’s clearly right and I’m clueless optimistic. I’m stupid, living in a fantasy world of wish fulfillment. I’ve lost a lot of faith in this dream. This was the straw. Final straw? I have no clue. I have little clue about anything these days.

Star Trek Vs. Battlestar Galactica

Some guys did this great job of editing.

Take a look.

Long Time No Post

Sorry guys!

I've been very busy working. I have evenings and lunches to do stuff, but I've been pretty tired.

I submitted ten quires last Friday. We'll see when the rejections come forth.

My Disney Channel rant

Hey, long time no post! Sorry!

I liked how this came out on the RTM so I posted it here to, so I could keep it.
Danni, Willard, if you feel like replying, go for it!

---

It would be nice if there was a Vault Disney channel that showed all the stuff from decades ago. Disney has such a strong, rich history but all they cram down people's throats are stupid teen sitcoms and lame cartoons. "Give the kid a couple years, then a TV movie, then throw them out and get a new kid."

Where is Escape from Witch Mountain? Where is The Cat From Outer Space? They have enough programming to fill several channels, but we get rehashed teen movies and reheated stale sitcoms.

ENOUGH with Raven, Zack & Cody and Cory! Give us Apple Dumpling Gang, Herbie and Swiss Family Robinson!

Disney, you want to flush your channel down the toilet? Fine! But create a Vault Disney channel so us parents can teach our children what wholesome programming is!

Queries

I received my first new rejection.

This is my new push for the novel. After the extensive 3rd edits I sent out one electronic query and prepared nine snail mail ones. I'm still waiting to send the nine (between checks right now).

Today I got a rejection back from the electronic. I know I should laugh it off but after all those edits, I'm worried that maybe the edits were not enough.
What if no one wants it?

It's very frustrating, because those kids in Jeff's class really liked it and they are the demographic, but the agents are supposed to represent the demographic and they keep rejecting it.
GAHH!

I sent another electronic one today and sent a request to a prior queried agent to see if he would like to look at the new version.

I just feel so far away from my goals.

How was my birthday?

It was good.

At work, the PC I've got is a slower model. Today I entered work to discover they gave me the newer one that they promised me. It's not the newest and I don't care. It's fast, it has Windows XP and I can do my work while listening to my tunes, and that's all I care about.

At lunch I made my goal. I updated my synopsis, typed up a letter for Rachel Vater and emailed her. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up but all I truly want is for this story, these characters to reach children. To entertain and maybe inspire.
Tomorrow I'll organize a group to send queries to.

I received well wishes from friends online and on the phone. My parents sent a nice card, too.

My wife made me chocolate brownies (I wanted that instead of cake) and the kids made me cards. Two new figures (Green Arrow and Red Tornado) arrived today, too.

All in all, not a bad day.

Happy Birthday

Well, today I turn 40. Weee. Yeah, right.

Nice part of having a blog no one reads? No one knows it's your birthday. ;)

New Potter figures, good and bad.

Here’s the Leaky Cauldron picture site.

The good is that these figures are coming out.
The bad is that they are only released in the US.
Aw well.

Finished with the edits!

Finally!
Now to update the synopsis and query letter, compose a letter to Rachel Vater and then it's resubmission time!

Facts:

Fact #1, new job is going great. There is a learning curve and I'm working more than at the last job, but it's fun and I'm enjoying it.

Fact #2, The new car we bought a few weeks ago (new as in 2002) is doing great. This week I (with the help of my wife) turned some mp3s to wavs and burned some cds for the van. Finally we're driving with real tunes!

Fact #3, Stranger Than Fiction is a good movie. Go rent it. Of course I'm partial because I'm a wanna be writer.

Fact #4, Five more chapters to edit and it's done! Then it's time to revisit the synopsis, the query and write a letter to Rachel Vater.

Fact #5, I'm in a good mood tonight!

Fact #6, Monday is my birthday. Gah. I'm too young to be 40. Gah.

Fact #7, No one reads this blog so my birthday is still a secret. Well, Willard and Dani read this blog, but who are they gonna tell? 40? GAH!

Fact #8, The dogs want to go for a walk.

Fact #9, This email is finished! Bye!

(40, yuck)

Message to Willard

Hey bud, I still can't get on your blog.
I can get to Dani's and other blogger blogs, but not yours.
You might want to look into it.

New Job

Well, it's not so bad. The benefits are good and the pay is great. The commute is OK, too.

I'll be working harder and I hope I can do the work.
I guess we'll see.

First Day

It's my first day at the new drafting job.

Wish me luck!

Things

Things didn't work out for the move so we'll be staying here in Utah. Ah well. At least we have a house and I've got a new job to get to on Monday.
We'll look forward to things here, and fix up the house a bit.

Btw, we bought a new car a few weeks ago. It's another Windstar. It's newer and has all the bells and whistles.

I'm still going through the novel one last time. I'm starting Chapter 15 today. So much to do and so little time to do it.

JLA the Movie! FOR REAL!

I saw this on Raving Toy Maniac!

I'm so excited!

Here it is, as posted by fellow Utahn, LilMissVixen.

----

Justice prevails for Warner Bros.
Studio eyeing DC superhero team feature
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
DC Comics super-team Justice League is heading for the bigscreen.


Michele and Kieran Mulroney

Batman may meet up with Superman on the bigscreen after all -- along with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and all the rest of DC Comics' biggest names.
Warner Bros., with its major appetite for fresh franchises, is looking to make a feature based on super team the Justice League of America, hiring writing duo Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to pen the script.

It's the first major action the studio has taken on the project.

Feature film is bound to include some combination of DC's most iconic superheroes, although the studio wouldn't confirm which ones they might be. It's unlikely that the studio and DC Comics, a division of Warner, would opt to feature second-tier characters.

Since its inception in 1960, JLA has featured almost every major hero in the DC Comics universe, although the core team has largely remained the same: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.

The heroes typically band together to fight alien menaces or groups of supervillains.

"The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves," Warner prexy of production Jeff Robinov said in announcing the hiring of the Mulroneys.

In taking on the ambitious project, Warner faces several conundrums.

Now that the Batman and Superman film franchises have been revived, does the studio go after Christian Bale ("Batman Begins") and Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns") to star in a Justice League pic? Studio is also trying hard to bring Wonder Woman to the bigscreen.

To a large degree, casting will depend upon the story arc for the JLA feature and at what point in the superheroes' lives the plot takes place.

Warner also must deal with myriad producers working on the Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman franchises.

Studio dropped its efforts to make "Batman vs. Superman" in order to focus on relaunching "Batman" and "Superman" as individual properties, which it has done.

Filmmakers Chris Nolan ("Batman Begins") and Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns") are each on board to helm the next installments in the two respective franchises. Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is eyeing a 2008 release and the next "Superman," 2009.

The potential payoff of bringing JLA to theaters can't be ignored by Warner, which turns out more tentpoles than any other studio.

Comicbook fans have long clamored for a movie version of JLA, and word of the Warner project is certain to be a hot topic at New York Comic Con, which unspools today in Gotham.

JLA has spawned several cartoon TV series, including 1960s and '70s show "Super Friends" and current Cartoon Network skein "Justice League Unlimited" from Warner Bros. Animation.

The Mulroneys -- Kieran is the brother of thesp Dermot Mulroney -- caught the attention of studios around town with their rewrite of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for Fox.

Other screenplay projects include "On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction," "Paper Man" and "Worst Case."

Kieran and Michele Mulroney are repped by Creative Artists Agency and Management 360.

(Ben Fritz contributed to this report.)

Locked out!

RASSEN FRASSEN!

The stupid dead bolt on my front door is a bit loose. Sometimes it locks on it's own.
This morn' after returning from dropping off the kids at school, I went inside, dropped my keys on a night stand type piece of furniture, set the dogs free from their kennels and promptly closed the door to keep the cats inside while the dogs went pee outside.
After the dogs were done I discovered that I was locked out. Oh I had made sure that the main lock was unlocked, but forgot to grab my keys in case the dead bolt tricked.
Outside in a coat, pajamas and tennis shoes, I walked around trying windows. My in laws don't have a key to that lock (they will!) and my cell was inside.
I had to try a window that needs fixing and it broke. I got in and then let the dogs in through the front door.
I made copies of the dead bolt key and called the window guy to come estimate the window.
So much for two hours of novel fixing.
Ah well.

Chad Vader # 6!

Here's the newest from Blame Society Films and YouTube.

Funny look at job hunting.

Thoughts

We went to church today! YYAAAY!
See, I've got a rep for being this staunch Mormon guy, but the truth is we are inactive due only to laziness. Heck, I want another Saturday.
Well, we went today. I took the kids because I promised my wife I would while she was in Cali with my parents.
It worked out OK. I need to do that more often.

Meanwhile, she's doing great with them. I haven't heard from her much today, but she's happy because she can breathe better there. I hope she gets the job and we can move.

Got my MS (manuscript) back! Not much editing left to do! I'm excited! I'm planning on working on it this week to polish it up. After that I can resubmit to Rachael Vater and a few others.

Tonight the kids get to have a slumber party with me. We'll be watching Abbot and Costello movies until we fall asleep. No school tomorrow.

More on my life tomorrow for the two people reading this blog. ;)

The Wilhelm Scream Compilation

This sound effect scream was used in a lot of movies. I'm surprised at some of them.

Here it is, by way of Youtube.

My wife left me!

HA!
Made you look!
We just dropped her off at the airport.
We made a decision to try to move to California. This was decided last month. My wife is tired of working at home and would like to try the office life. I'm tired of the office life and would love to try the home dad thing.
So she started looking for work while I remained at my last job. We realized that we both should try, because the cost of living there is more expensive, so I put my resume on Monster.com.

Turns out Northern Utah is desperate for drafters. I wound up getting an interview for an SL architectural company and got the job. I start on the 26th.
Unless my sweetie gets her job.

See, I miss my family very much. They all live in central California while my wife's family live here in northern Utah. I've lived here since '83 but for the last 19 years I've lives far from my family.
Meanwhile, we live 30 miles away from a Charter school and the entire Utah school system sucks. They pass my learning disabled children by instead of teaching them on their level. If we remain, my kids will be left behind in their education.
My wife might still be able to progress but she's fighting a bad rep that her family have caused.
These are all reasons why we feel it's time to move.

She got three options in central California. One's with a Charter school, doing accounting. Two others are with the city of Merced. One as a County clerk assistant and the other is an accounting job. She is set to appear in Merced, California on Tuesday at 10 am for a job interview. If she gets one of those jobs, we're moving.

So we just bid her goodbye and now we get a week without her while she spends time with my parents and goes to the interviews.

*Crosses fingers*

Note to self...

Reminder:
Must make blog entrees about wife's California job interview and our new car.
Also must make entree about kid's responses to my questioners.

Busy me.

NECA's Harry Potter figures

I said "Only collect the Justice League and Avengers" but these Potter figures are tempting me!
When I heard of thier plans to make sets and include pack in figures like Ginny, I started to go nuts.


Here’s figures.com's pics of the NECA Toyfare display.

One of these days I need to check out thier web page to see if I can get these.

Toy Fare o7

It seems pretty small this year. DC Direct showed a lot of stuff that we've already seen. For me the coolest thing from them was the Marvel Family. I can't wait to get them.

I also saw a special sneak peek at the upcoming Marvel Legends Black Knight. This head shot pic is so rare I had to get it by email.

There are a lot of figures I'm looking forward to this year.

Speaking to the class

It was so strange.
I didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous but I pushed the nerves back and just went into the school. As I approached Jeff’s class (I’d been there before, after school) a young boy started calling out my name.
“Mr. Bryan! Mr. Bryan!”
I guess he was my escort. I’m not used to being called Mr. Bryan but it made sense. It was kind of funny.
So I entered the class and Jeff was up front. All these 6th graders smiled with excitement. Holy spit! They’re all excited to hear from me. Plain ol’ me!
Jeff had told me ahead of time that they had questions. Once I was there, at the front of the class I just figured I’d open it up for questions, then after I’d tell them about the changes to the book and how a writer tries to get an agent and publisher.
During the questions I was able to tell them those things too. When I said that I heard they had questions over half the class shot their hands up! I was so happy that so many kids enjoyed Ann and her brother. Man what a rush!
There were questions on how did I come up with many of the characters. People wanted to know the name of the second book and how many books there would be. They wanted to know if I was going to write other books after Ann’s tales were done. They wondered what my vision of the covers for books 1 and 2 are and when I told them what I wanted for cover 1 they smiled. When I told them that I didn’t have cover 2 planned they had ideas! They laughed and shot even more hands out as I explained things. They seemed to understand as I told them of Ann and Roland’s aging problems and hoped that I would be published.

I was scheduled for 30 minutes and it took 45. Jeff finally had to cut it to those who still had their arms up. No more questions were allowed after them. The last question was if a kid could have my autograph. Soon I was signing a bunch with my real name (cause they knew it) and my pen name. I guess that pen name idea is redundant now, but I’ll still proceed with it.

After I left, my head had swollen very big. Don’t worry. I’ve had strong beta reads and a bunch of rejections. I wont believe any dilutions of grandeur.
Still, it was an amazing experience. They all wanted it published. This was the earlier version, too. The one that needed lots of work.
I can only hope that the next version will entrance adult agents like it entranced the main age group it’s meant for.

Yes! Finally got my Destroyer!

Toy Biz made quite a few figures during their time as Marvel's chief action figure maker. One line was called Marvel Legends and it featured many of the comic company's characters. Even some of the most obscure characters made it on the shelves.

The toy making rights have passed onto Hasbro, but last year before the switch, Toy Biz released Marvel Legends 15. I needed each character for my collection with the exception of one. The Thor Buster Ironman was useless to me. Problem was, each figure had a piece of the villain Modok (that's him on the far left in the chair thing).
As luck would have it they created variant versions of most of the line. I needed most of those to fill in certain gaps in my collection too. The variant Ironman was a Thor baddie called the Destroyer. He's an unstoppable suit of Asgardian armor that can be activated and sent out to kill Thor. A rare character and a truly dangerous bad guy. He's on the far right.
New problem. I never saw any of the variants here in Utah. So I waited until the time came to finally buy Destroyer on eBay.
$40 bucks! Sheesh.
He arrived today and I couldn't be happier. :)

Stuff #2 The class

Tomorrow is the day I get to speak to a classroom of 6th graders!
GAAAAHHH!

I'm scared, because I've never done this before.
I'm excited, because I get to talk about my book!
Yes, I know. Writers are pretty self absorbed about their stuff.

Thing is, I'm no longer the green little writer who stepped off the finished novel bus, waiting for the first passerby to get swept up in my masterpiece.

See, I don't have a masterpiece. I don't have junk either. I've got a story several people like and enjoyed, but still needs work. Now that the 3rd edits are done and it's in the hands of a friend who is checking that the "I"s are dotted and the "T"s are crossed, so to speak, I'll be able to take her mark ups, change it and (maybe) it'll be ready.

Another online friend (who happens to be a teacher) gave the first two chaps to her class with a questionnaire. I got five responses back.
This was for the 2nd/3rd draft. It still had the Parker first hook chapter and a second chapter choking in description, POV swapping and over stating stuff. Tell, tell, tell.
A lot of what those kids said were problems Aprilynne and "Moth" pointed out. Stuff that Willard, Dani, Jeff and Mike saw and I had thought I fixed. Well after two major read troughs and some heavy fixing, I think those things are not only fixed, but some more things that Adam and Chris saw were changed as well. I had to cut some of Ian's ideas though. They wound up hurting Chapter two.

The version Jeff read to his class is just as out of date as the two chapters "Night Author" gave to her class. I wish this version was the one all those kids saw.

Now the book shows children vampires becoming teen vampires. What happens to your body (it's clean guys, I'm NOT that kind of author)? How do you feel when your body changed out of control? How does it throw off your vampire abilities? What does this mean to a girl who is over obsessed with being in control and always learning first? Now she's way out of control.
The Advancement is what happens to children vampires. It allows for their children bodies to catch up to their ages. It's supposed to happen a couple times, allowing the vampires to grow up. It occurs over day while they are asleep. For Ann, it's at age 14 and for Roland, at age 16.

Preteens and teens are facing growing up into strange out of control bodies. They can relate. If only the class could see THIS version!
But, at any rate I'll be talking to them about it.

I'm hoping to get a questionnaire to them. I reworked the one "Night Author" gave to her kids. Here is my version.

1. On a scale of 1 - 10, this is a ______.
2. Would you like it if Annabelle was 14 and Roland 16? _________
3. Should they age? ________________________________________________________________
4. The part I liked best was_________ because___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. This story would be better or more interesting if __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
6. I liked this book. Yes No Why? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
7. Which character was most interesting and why? _______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

So tomorrow's the day!

Again... ahem... GAHHHHHH!!!!!

UPDATE!
Jeff has the questionnaires. He's going to give them out so I'll have them to work with after tomorrows class apearance. He said his kids really loved the book! That's the earlier revision, too! That gets me excited that the newer version will rock even more!

Stuff #1: Jobs

Things are clicking.
Yesterday I went to that job interview. I scored well on the time test and even did a little extra. I could tell they were impressed with me during the interview. I could be starting in three weeks.

I took the rest of the week off on vacation. Can you tell I'm not very serious about my current job? Hey, I'd rather be elsewhere than getting exposed to chlorine gas and acid drips. Let the EPA keep sorting them out.


If I do get this new job, it may potentially be for a short time. the reason?

My second news.

My lovely wife has passed the first level and is scheduled to go in for an interview for her job as Assistant county clerk of a particular Central California town. It's an hour from my parents and two hours from my sister. I think it's four from my brother.
We live in Northern Utah, far away from my family,surrounded by her family and getting sick of it every year. Don't get me wrong, I love Utah, too. But I miss my California and my family.
Things could work out for the bad school situation for my kids as well. There is a possibility of them going to a Charter school out there because we'd be closer to it there than we are here.

So she's scheduled to go in for that interview ion the 20th. Either she's going by herself or we're all going.

Wait and see!

Cool Heroes behind the scenes thing

They have set up a web page for Primatech Paper. That's the fake paper company seen in the show.

This site explains how you can get into the "secret files" through the Primatech Paper site.

Keep checking that page. It might update every time there is a new episode.

Job thoughts

What to do? What to do?

Recently, my wife and I decided to move to Central California. There are some job opportunities there for us, a better schooling system for the children and for the first time in almost 20 years, I would be near my family.
I can't really take time from my current job to look, though.

There are a few negatives about this job and only a couple positives.
The positives;

1. It's slow and there is time to do my own thing.
2. The work hours are 7-3:30 (which is really 3:15)
3. Transportation. I pay for a seat on a van to get out here, saves on gas and I can sleep on the way in.

The negatives

1. Hazardous environment. I do sit at my desk all day, but any given time I'll need to go into the plant for measurements. This means the possibility of exposure to chlorine gas, acid or chemical drips, and walking on very rusty scaffolding. They are in deep trouble with the EPA.

2. Personal Time Off is called UNEXCUSED Absence. Last year I used 10 when we're only allowed 4 a year. I'm on probation because of that and so I can't have any family emergencies unless I want to use vacation for it. I was told by the HR person that "It's hard but you can do it". Yeah, right. My wife has bouts of sickness, Three of my children are special needs and I can do it? Shyeeah.

3.No communication. No cell phone coverage out here and the work phone is loud.

4. No tardies allowed. It doesn't matter if the highway i shut down for extreme weather, or the weather makes it too hard to get to work on time or even if your car breaks down on the way out here. It's a tardy and therefor an absence and not tolerated.

I know here's another negative but it's escaping my mind.
Anyway, I'm set up with Monsterjobs so that I can look into California. Well, about four local employment agencies all told me the job market is great. They want me to leave this place and interview for them.
I'm set up for an interview tomorrow. I've been taking lots of vacation time and the boss just eyes me when I do come in. Two weeks ago I took Thurs and Fri. Last week it was Wed and Fri. This week it will be yesterday (Mon), tomorrow (Wed) and Fri (that's the day I finally speak to the class. YAY!).

I don't think they're going to fire me so I might need to just give my two weeks. I've lost any desire for this place. It's not horrible like my previous job, but it's not great either.

So it's decision time.

Holy Heck! Heroes Shocker

I really love this show. The writing is fresh and the show keeps up a good pace.

I want to mention that even though I suspected that SPOILER was Clarie's dad, it was still a shock to see it happen. I would say the name but I don't want to spoil it.

Fun show.

1st ever Speaking Engagement

Next Friday I speak in front of Jeff's 5th grade class. He's been reading them my novel ever since October of last year. They've been enjoying it and that's very encouraging to me.

So Jeff and I set up next Friday as the day for me to come in and speak to the class.

I'm scared and excited all at the same time!

Harry Potter Book 7 comes out July 21st!

It was announced!




Read here.


And here.

I week after Movie 5!

What a month that will be. :)

Doctor Who Curse of Fatal Death Pt 1 & 2

Check these out! Both Willard and Ian told me these existed. Here they are thanks to Youtube!

Parodyverse Moments #1, There Came A Composite, Part 1

The Parodyverse...



...is really hoping lately. Several people are posting stories, some of our old friends (Lisa!!!!! and Messenger!) have returned with new stories and we have a couple newbies writing too.

So, since my novel writing duties have shrunk a bit, I've written a story for the board.

Come see!

Done!

I just finished reading the manuscript to my girls. They loved it. I found more sentences that read wrong and fixed them.

I kept my goal! Now it's all finished and ready for a couple of people to read through it. Once they're done, and I make any corrections from that, then it will be submission time!

Today I improved my query letter as well. Now I need to make a special letter for Rachael Vater, and another for those agents who requested pages. The edits were extensive enough that any of these agents might be interested again (at least I hope so).

So the mood is happy tonight. :)

What's happening?

Almost finished... again.

One more chapter to silently read through. I'll be done with that this afternoon. Three more chapters to read to the kids. That should be it, then.

Now, I do realise it will need more work. I can guarantee there must be some telling still and a couple punctuation problems too.

Then there is the evil demon in my head. A previous beta reader who told me it wont sell because it should either be all little children bat stuff or all teen romance. That voice keeps echoing in my head: "You can't have it both ways. I thought I was the exception, too but I was wrong."
I don't know. I made a very big change and lots of little ones. I show Ann and Roland as they are at the end, then the book shows them growing into that. Becoming that.

I'm full of self doubt. Beta voices echo but no agents have actually SEEN the new version. I'm afraid to show them.

Doctor Who season 2 outakes!

Enjoy!

Frustrated.

Rant to follow.

Beware.

GGGAAAAHHHH!

I've put two chapters on AW for review. There is always crap I've got to fix. Yeah, I know. That's how it works. But every time I fix something and repost, there's not much change. I thought I got rid of all the tell and focused on the show, but there is painful info dumps.

Crap. It was hard to read to the kids tonight. All I saw in Chapter 29 was crap but they loved it. What the hell do they know, right? They're just kids. Everyone who's read it and liked it? Morons. Because only morons would like this tripe.

Can I say "tripe"? Has it been invented yet?

Aprilynne said I could just write stories for my family and friends, but to sell it I have to make changes.

I'm really trying to. But after a month of straight reading (twice) and fixing, I'm losing steam.

Maybe all these changes are worthless? Who the Hell are these people? But 25 rejections says somethings wrong.

I'm just so tired. Will I EVER get published?

Oh wait, I shouldn't capitalise too many words. I shouldn't use too many exclamation points either.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There. Still want to read this?
Actually, no one's reading this stupid blog so who cares?

Too much telling, info dumps, words that don't belong in that period. What the heck was I thinking?

AAAHH! Zombies are real! Zombie Orville Redenbacher is going to use our brains for popcorn!

Trimble in fear!

Wrote a new couple of scenes...

As I got to the halfway point in the novel, tightening the POV and showing more, I finally reached the changes I recently did with Annabelle.
At the beginning of Chapter 20 (the Hawke chapter) I wrote two new scenes where we experience Annabelle's awkward advancement from a 10 year old body to a 14 year old body. Then I wrote a couple of telling paragraphs on Roland's age advancement.

Well, once I reached that chapter in my personal read through, I discovered just how much it suffers from the telling of Roland's advancement.
So last night I broke the whole age change scenes into their own chapter. A new chapter 20 where I show Ann's change, the consequences and Roland's change, with some brief consequences. Roland has to be brief (all show, no tell, don't worry) because one of my rules is it's a birthday event and so that means it leads right into the Hawke chapter.
It worked out great because the chapter ends with Roland getting shot by Hawke. Cliffhanger!
I can't wait to read it to the kids in a couple of days.

"Justice" was fun!

I enjoyed last night's Smallville.
This is a rare thing for me. See, while I'm a big super hero 'geek' I normally can't stand the show. I do watch it, because I want to see how this dying show limps itself into a corner.

But last night was very enjoyable for me. Yes, I know it was corny, with all the tips of the hat to the Justice League comic, but that was what made it fun for me.
Sure, hard core DC fans would argue that Cyborg should never be the same age as Clark (I said that during the Cyborg episode)but that didn't bother me this time.
I suppose I was just swept up in the entire Justice League tribute.
And Bart got the name he should have! And a costume!
Aquaman didn't do a whole lot but that's always a problem with the character.
They made Cyborg closer to his comic self. Jet Jackson did a great job with him, again.
This was a wonderful way to send off Green Arrow.
I hope we see these guys again.

Still busy

Still busy working on the Manuscript. I'm ahead of schedule. I'm finding all of the POV problems and other things that need changing and fixing them.
At night I read it out loud to the kids. I'm catching sentences that don't read as well as they should and I'm fixing them.

So that's where I've been. Sorry for the dry blog spell.
Be back soon.

Still going strong

Despite sickness, and trying to get a handle on a new project at work, I'm still editing my novel.

That's why I haven't posted much. I'll be back to regular posting once this novel is ready!

update

After some stress brought on by a friend's opinion, and then some advise from another friend (plus some other help in general) I've decided on some more changes to the manuscript.

In some ways it's frustrating to be back at the writing/editing stage, but I still feel very good about this and I have a good plan of action.

All I can do is have faith ion myself and the future.

Guess we'll see.

Back to editing...

more editing

... still editing the manuscript... having fun but busy, busy, busy!

All out Space Show battle

Wow this was cool looking! Congrads to Johan Alm for a fun bit!

writing

...busy fixing novel. Be back later...

A solution!

I know what to do!

In my world vampires CAN age! Well, up to a certain point (20 maybe), but they can age.

The beginning of the book will be child vampires (Ann 10 and Roland 12).

The middle on up they will age just a bit (Ann 14 and Roland 16).
I'm going to work it out into the book.

It's frustrating being back i the edit stage, but now that I know why it gets rejected I can do something about it!

Thrown for a loop

With all these rejections on my query, I tried another couple beta readers. A beta reader is someone who reads your novel first, to tell you where you screwed up.
She was brutally honest and I'm very grateful for that.

I'm depressed. She pointed out that while I sell it in the query as a Young Adult (12 up) story, the first few chapters read like a middle reader story. I'm not quite sure what that is but this means it's not what it advertises itself to be. Also, it later becomes that. So I can't quite focus on an audience.

Meanwhile, Ann cant ever have love because the whole love feelings between her and Tom cant work with her being a 10 year old. The visual is quite disturbing. To take the high ground, she could never have love and that is not what readers would want.

She suggested Ann be 14 instead of 10. Then I could go for the love/ infatuation and it works.

She's right, of course, but that means letting go of the little children vampires and such. She says teens wont want to read about children vamps. She says that the teens she asked turned their noses at it.

So child vampires that play or teen vampires that grow and love?

My friend Mike pointed out that I could start out as kids and allow them to age a bit. This would mean that they start out as cute vamp children and become teen vamps in love later.

Of course, this is my story and not theirs, but I've received 24 rejections. Some of those came from people who either read part or all of the story. Rachael Vater said their were a lot of editing problems I needed to work on first.

I feel good about the age idea, but would that sell?
So confused.

Chad Vader #5 is up!

Those guys are so funny over at Blame Society Productions.

My new query

I fixed my query letter! I also picked three agents to send partials to (these three automatically desire partials with queries) and prepared separate queries for them.

Now to ship them out tomorrow.


For those of you who might be interested, here is my new, improved query letter. I renamed the file to become this one. Never destroy an original! You never know when you might need it again!

---

Attn. XXXX:
Annabelle loves life. Her brother, Roland, loves adventure. What happens when you take two happy, optimistic children, and turn them into vampires? An evil vampire destroys their family and leaves the children to die. His estranged, gentle wife rescues the children the only way she knows how, by making them into what she is and teaching them how to become children of the night instead of night monsters. The children discover how to turn into bats and learn to control their cravings while facing a ruthless vampire hunter, witches, werewolves and finally the evil master vampire that killed their parents.

ANNABELLE & ROLAND, THE NIGHT CHILDREN is an 89,000-word young adult fantasy novel. It begins the ongoing adventures of these two children as they are thrust into the strange, hidden world of vampires, werewolves and other mysteries in the last years of the 1600’s. This book covers their first seven years of discovery as they learn to be vampires. It is a self-contained story that has the potential for more adventures afterward.

For eight years, I have honed my skills by writing various short stories for some of my friends and close associates. While this is my first try at professional writing, I feel extremely confident about this novel.

Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Sleepy

Man I'm tired. I dragged myself out of bed this morn, did all my pre-work stuff (shower, walk dogs, etc) and drove to the van stop. It was all I could do to stay awake.
At work it was hard to get through without nodding off.

Maybe it was those stupid cats, fighting all night? We so need to fix energetic, crazy Monster so he wont pic fights with tired, lazy Rascal.

Christmas '06 Pic is UPDATED!

Christmas '06 Pic from my Caption the Pic site has been updated with captions.

Page 28 of my Caption site


WATCH THIS SPACE! Tonight I'll be putting up a new caption on the regular sites.

Updated Query

Well, I've taken the wonderful advice to heart and altered the query. I've also fixed the hook and removed the mention of 13 books in the series.

I've got it up on Absolute Write for review. I'm going to send three queries out this weekend with the new query/hook. Wish me luck!

I'm on the crapometer!

Well, it’s on there and it made it ok. I mean, she didn’t say "It sucks!" or anything.

Here it is…



HH Com 490


Vampire children, excited to learn what they can do, while at the same time scared at the new world of danger all around them. Annabelle loves life. Her brother, Roland, loves adventure. What happens when you take two happy, optimistic children, and turn them into vampires? This question is answered in this 89,000-word young adult fantasy novel when an evil vampire destroys their family and his gentle wife rescues the children the only way she knows how, by making them into what she is and teaching them how to become children of the night instead of night monsters.

ANNABELLE & ROLAND, THE NIGHT CHILDREN, begins the ongoing adventures of these two children as they are thrust into the strange, hidden world of vampires, werewolves and other mysteries in the last years of the 1600’s. This first book covers their first seven years of discovery as they learn to be vampires. The children discover how to turn into bats and learn to control their cravings while facing a ruthless vampire hunter, witches, werewolves and finally the evil master vampire that killed their parents. This is book one of a thirteen book series. The following twelve books will chronicle their many adventures, covering three hundred years of world history from the perspective of these vampire children.

And her comments…



Ditch everything in red (green for my blog).
Focus on ONE book. You'll make my blood run cold to hear it's a 12 book series this early in the game.

Tell us this story. Use the Hook Me Up starting point for your mis en place.

…

Hmm. Not bad. I was afraid of far worse. I could easily ditch the stuff in red, but then there would be no word count, no title, how would potential agents know that info? I heard you have to include it in the query.

Also, I heard that you should let the agent know up front that it’s a series. Should I keep mum about that until later? I could. That’s no big deal.



What did she mean by "Use the Hook Me Up starting point for your mis en place"?



Thoughts guys?

Post Christmas

I had a good Christmas. The kids got us up around 6 am. Everyone was happy about their presents. There were a few things that didn't fit but it all worked itself out.
All in all we rested a lot and had a good time.

I'm sick today. My stomach has been threatening me all day. I'll just keep plugging along. Work can't stop for sickness. I wish it could, but it cant.

Christmas Eve night

It's so peaceful. A part of me wants to stand out in the cold, feeling the spirit of the season as the snow sparkles, the stars twinkle and a quiet feeling of love and peace fills the air.

My sweeties are in bed. Some truly are asleep, others are trying hard. ;)
Neen and I are roughly half way done with preparations for tomorrow's Christmas dinner and stuff.

I love this part of life. I love this whole thing. I hope when the kids are moved away, before the grandchildren are born, that this spirit will continue to fill me.
I'm pretty sure I will. ;)

Mysterious lurkers, friends and whomever else, may you have the best in holidays.

The Greatest Action Story Ever Told, Mad TV

I remember seeing this back when it first aired. I couldn't help but laugh. The last line is the best.

What a send off! Doctor Who Spoilers

WOW!

Very good send off for Rose!
My friends, Ian and Willard, did such a great job keeping it secret. When Mickey stayed in that alternate universe and there was a Rose dad who had lost his Jackie, it was a perfect set up, but my friends told me that was it for Mickey. Or they led me to believe that was it.

It was a perfect full circle. They set up Jackie's loneliness and her love for her husband since the very beginning and resolved it as she says "What have I done for my life." Now she and her lost husband are together.

I liked Rose but to be honest, there have been times when I wanted to shout at the screen "Look at Micky! He's trying! You're so head over heals on the Doctor you can't see that you're ignoring where you need to be!" She didn't have Lana-winer-itis but she was central minded. She needed the heart break. Only through heart break can we move onto the next, greater part of our life.

That black actress who became the first Cybermen victim did a nice enough job to empress the creators to sign her on as the new companion. Should be interesting to see how that works out. I know the runaway bride at the end wasn't the new companion. Ian and Kirk gave that away. That's OK though.

I loved how the Doctor imitated Bill Murray in Ghost Busters. He even got the voice slur that Murray does as Doctor Peter Vicman (I know, the spelling is off and I could go to IMDB and fix it, but I'm short on time right now).

I realized fairly early that the ghosts were coming from an alternate universe. I've seen too many alternate universe stories (and I love them all) to not pass up the signs. Once I realized that and the Doctor started to talk in ways that tipped it off, I started thinking of how stiff the "ghosts" were and then it was just another step to realize they were Cybermen and that Micky was coming back. I took Willard's advice and stayed far away from Sci Fi Channel because they were giving it all away in their previews. I managed to stay spoiler free! When the Doctor was describing the sphere I was certain it was the Beast/Satan/Devil inside. The Dylacs took me by surprise. I HAD to call back Willard and share my excitement.
It was fun watching the robots argue and insult each other. I LOVED IT! And then they tossed their catch phrases at each other. "Exterminate!" "Delete!" It made me wish Star Wars Episode 1 droids and Star Trek Borg were there to add "Roger, Roger" "You will be assimilated" to the chorus of robotic villains.

Ahhh. A fine meal. That's what that two-parter was. My only regret is that I have to wait till next year to see the season (3) that is just beginning in good ol' Londontown.

I wrote a New Parodyverse Story!

Christmas Special ‘06

Come check out the adventures of the Son of Santa!

Excited

Wow, here I sit at the beginning of Friday afternoon.

Tonight we're going to see a movie and that's always fun. This one is Night at the Museum. I've been waiting to see that one. It's looks filled with all the things I like in a movie; comedy and special effects! And as if that wasn't good enough, the premier for Fantastic Four II airs before the movie!

Then tomorrow will be a nice Saturday where well catch up on cleaning, baking and wrapping (and if I'm lucky, buying Marvel Legends!).

Then we have Christmas Eve, where we'll go light looking and family stuff, and finish Christmas dinner preparations.

THEN CHRISTMAS! I don't think I need to say more about that!

Then another day off with nothing to do except maybe write. ;)

So I'm VERY excited right now!

First pic of ther Silver Surfer!

Click me!

I can't wait!

And we're going to Night at the Museum tonight so I'll get to see the preview!

Full

Whew. I'm tired today. We had a pot luck lunch at work today and I ate too much.
Now that the work shift is done I'm ready for a nap!

Title to the next Harry Potter book

Well now we know.

It's called...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I guess this is the beginning of the end for the Potterverse. Of course no one knows what the title means, but we do know that we're on the home stretch now. Soon she'll be done writing it and I'll read it and then no more new Potter.

So in some ways the news has me excited an in other ways it has me sad.

Joseph Barbera, Rest in Peace

Cartoon legend Barbera dies at 95


As a child, Hanna & Barbera were my favorite cartoons. I watched as many as I could. The best was Laugh A Lympics, at least in my opinion.

I wanted to grow up and work for them. I had these characters and I would always play my own cartoons.

Nowadays there is a channel on the Satellite. It's a spin off of Cartoon Network. It's called Boomerang and every Saturday and Sunday morning they play tons of those classic H&B cartoons. It's the only that my Davie wants to watch at that time of day.

You will be missed.

Another submission

Well, I just submitted to another agency. I'll keep at it till someone represents me. There are plenty of fish in the sea!

Oh, and 6 more days till Christmas!

Positives and negatives

Well, the negative is that I received another rejection. This time from Shadow Mountain. That's a small imprint of the local Deseret Book. It's not bad in and of itself, because I really did not want to go with that small publisher, but this means another rejection.

Doesn't ANYONE want this book?

The positive is that I got some action figures in the mail. I'm excited to see them, but it's kind of tarnished because of the continual rejections.

1 week!

1 week before Christmas!

YAAAYY!

Little better

Sorry for my depressed attitude earlier, oh faceless lurkers. See? Sometimes I can get down too.

I don't know what the future will bring. I long for someone to give me a chance. Who knows.

But this is Christmas week and there is a lot I'm looking forward to so I'm swinging back to being happy and excited.

Kinda depressed

On the blog belonging to Lit Agent Jenny Rappaport, a question was raised...



Dear Jenny,

What is more marketable these days for fantasy and science fiction - series or trilogies?

Kimberley in Alaska

"Personally, I think trilogies are more marketable in general, but only because I can do the following. Say you've written me a great book about elves. I love your book. The editor I send it to loves your book. The publishing house wants to buy your book. Everything looks rosy! Then the editor we're doing the deal with calls me up one day and says, "Jenny, we love Kim's book. Does she have more? I'm thinking we'll make it a three-book deal." At which point, I call Kim, we have a little chat about making that book about elves into a trilogy, and voila, she whips up some material for me to e-mail off to the editor. The editor loves it, the publishing house loves it, and there we go, a contract for three books. (This is an idealized picture, by the way.)

The reasons why three is often the magic number in terms of series' are many and varied. From the pure publishing perspective, NO ONE is going to offer a new author a book deal for anything more than three books. It may occasionally happen, but it's really a statistical anomaly. You're an unknown quantity, even if your book is great, and when they make you an offer, they have to put their money where their mouth is. Simply put, more than three books is too great a financial risk to take. Many new authors don't get three-book deals on their first go; most will probably be given a two-book deal, if the agent is persuasive enough, and they love your writing enough. Some will only be given a one-book deal (with an option clause, of course).

This is something that you should be aware of, if you've planned out the next Harry Potter or GRRM saga. Structurally, it's better to make your masterpiece into a trilogy or a duology, since you're not going to get the book contract for more than that. Also, be aware of the fact that if you have an eight book series planned, and your first two books sell badly, they're not going to give you a publishing contract for the next six books. I have an online writing friend whose first two books sold decently, but didn't have spectacular sales numbers behind them. Her editor decided not to pick up her option book, which is the last one in her trilogy, based on the sales numbers. So it's not going to get published--at least not for the forseeable future. That sucks, and really, you'd like to avoid that happening. And trust me, it happens all the time."




Ouch. I've got a thirteen book series in my head and I just queried her. I responded with this...



Thank you for this information Jenny.

It’s kind of scary for me because my over all story arch is a thirteen book saga.
It shows three hundred years of world history through the eyes of vampire children so it would be hard to cram that all in to three books.
I suppose I shouldn't’t concern myself though. The first one is a stand-alone story and all the others are planned to be. All thirteen would hook together into a bigger story but each one would have it’s own proper conclusion.
I’ll just keep hoping I get the first one published. If people like it, then each book will have to stand on it’s own.





OK, some guy replied to me...



annabelle's scribe:

A single title is a one night stand. A series is like a marriage: the publisher has to know you can deliver on time, on spec, no b.s., no excuses. Do you have proof that you can do 13 books? More to the point, can you do 13 books?

A trilogy can be just one long book -- like LOTR. But if you extend out beyond that you start running into the structural differences that define a series. Series have their own issues -- back story that starts accumulating like barnacles, the fact that characters can't have much of an arc, the out-of-control proliferation of characters and subplots (see George R.R. Martin).

Series come naturally to some people, but it's easy to see why publishers are dubious.



Double ouch. I know he has a point. I believe I can do 13 books, but how will I ever prove that?
Maybe I shouldn't have joined Miss Snark's Crapometer. After this, and another rejection I got in the mail yesterday, how will I take it when she obviously is going to tear me up?

I'm fooling myself.