Saturday, May 05, 2007

I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC.

Willard showed me this great "I'm a Mac, I'm I PC" satire. Take a look.








Friday, May 04, 2007

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!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

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.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

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

Monday, April 30, 2007

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.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

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
LogoThere 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
LogoThere are
729
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

My name


HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are
198
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?



I knew it was popular.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, RIP

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

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

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.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

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!


Sunday, April 22, 2007

Saturday, April 21, 2007

And now, BUNNIES!



Thanks for the idea Adam!

Friday, April 20, 2007

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.

Monday, April 16, 2007

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?