Update

More submissions sent, couple more standard rejections.
Rewriting chapter one of book two, since it needs it badly.

YES!

One of the agents I had sent it to before wants to see it again!
GAAAHHH!
I'm so excited!

I need to calm down. Must expect a rejection.

But I've worked so hard all year and everything this last year. This was the agent who called the prior version "unnatural in places". I've worked that out. At least I think so. Sherry told me some of the first chapters still may have that feel. I hope not!
Anyway, I'm going to be insane now.

GAHHHHHH!

My muse got carried away last night...

On Twitter there are lots of fake accounts. Everyone from Darth Vader to Alfred Pennyworth to Bigfoot have Twitter accounts. This means somewhere there is somebody who is pretending to be their favorite characters and twitting stuff. In my opinion these are fun to read and I like some of them.

I'm following almost the entire cast of the Twilight book series. Every night "they" get into it. They work off each other, acting in character and relating to each other that way. It seems several of them are now following me. It always makes me feel good to get followers (except spam).

So last night "they" had a story where Victoria was casing the house and the various cast members were reacting. At first I replied with questions and statements as me, the author of Annabelle.

Then once again "she" wanted to play. I created an account for Annabelle...

http://twitter.com/Annabelle_vamp

Last night "she" traded snarky remarks with the Twilight evil child vamp, Jane. Annabelle also had friendly conversations with Jacob the werewolf and Renesme, the daughter of Edward and Bella.

It was fun but I don't think I'll do it too much. I should be working on the synopsis. I still got to get Ann out into the world proper.

Who is Doctor Impossible?

My sweetheart bought me a complete set of DC Universe Classics assortment 6 last week. It sure means a lot to me.

As I look over Doctor Impossible, a brand new villain who just popped up in the pages of Justice League America, I can't help but think of his mystery.

No one knows who he is. Some of the stories are that he's Mister Miracle's brother or a goon who works for the Penguin. In my mind those answers ar boring and are there to throw people off.

In Superman Batman Vengeance we meet a female Mister Miracle from an alternate Earth where everyone is the opposite sex. She used a "Father Box".
There is now a new Earth 3 where all the heroes are villains and vice a versa.
I think Dr. Impossible, an escape artist on his universe (Earth 3), escaped to the Female/male Earth and stole a Father Box. I think he's hiding in the main universe.

At least I hope that's what it is. Because it could mean a follow up, maybe with both the JLA and JSA where they visit lots of Earths and we meet the JLAs from both those universes.

Well, it'd be fun.

A treat for Willard...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Query Complete!

Finished the query letter this morn! After a year break from submitting, my old query looked new (and in some places, bogged down).
I cut all the crap that isn’t important and focused on the stuff this novel is really about. I also kept the things Snark taught me.
I’ve sent it to some betas for a look, then it’ll be ready.
Now to work on the synopsis.

What's next?

While I'm chatty, and since the monsters are dwelling on the Nick channel, I thought I'd put down my next plans.

Annabelle isn't gone. Last Feb I received more of the same rejections. Yup. Tale as old as time. Author just doesn't get what the betas are saying and all the agents keep rejecting.

So I took a year off from submitting. Willard introduced me to Michelle's critique group, then when the time didn't work out for me he helped me start my own. Chapter after chapter my new collection of betas ripped it to shreds while I followed along with a dust pan, cleaning, fixing and then strapping on skates and trying to fix my messes before they saw them. I learned a lot and when I look over old beta notes from Chris, Aprilynne, Night Author or others I slap my head and say "They knew, how come I didn't hear them". Still I was finally listening.

Is it perfect? Heck no. Some think I should go one way, others thing another. Maybe I'm still a fool for some of my decisions. No clue. But as for actual writing mistakes. Things like passive words, telling instead of showing, following up on clues I left, etc, etc, well I ironed all that out.

There are five chaps of hand written mark ups fro0m Christy that still need applying. There are still more passive words that need to be searched out and changed into more telling.

Then it'll be "finished". This means submitting and resubmitting can begin in February. I'll start making noise again and getting her out there.

Yes, I'm pessimistic or realistic. In a year I'll probably still be just a dreamer. But I cant sit in a turkey coup and be satisfied when I know this story is an eagle and deserves to fly. So it'll be time to attack.

Meanwhile, I'll rework book 2. Ouch it's ugly. Sure, it's done, but it's ugly. Not fit for human eyes. Only Chris has seen the entire thing. Only Steven has seen sample chaps. It's wrong and needs serous edits. But that's going to be so fun. The stand alone revised ending to book 1 has allowed for a much better chapter 1 of book two. Heck, Usha gets to cameo!

Usha, for those who don't know, is the opposite. See, the idea of Annabelle was that she is the opposite of Claudia from Interview With A Vampire. Well, Usha is the opposite of Annabelle. But she's not Claudia.

OK, sorry. Got carried away. Anyway, I'm going to edit book 2 while subbing book 1. I'm also going to go deeper into world building my other novel. Yes, there ARE other novels that don't involve vampires.

So I'm excited. I can finally move forward!

Somebody's watching me!

Yup, I'm quoting Rockwell from his old 80's song.

I accidentally sent an email to one of my past beta readers and she replied back, saying "Hi"! Turns out she's been lurking. That's great! I do worry that some of my more grouchy moments have come forth too, but it's still wonderful that there are people out there.

Meanwhile, the author of Fablehaven started following me on Twitter. Yes, I finally was able to sit down and read his second book. But that doesn't mean I contacted him currently. This was a complete coincidence. I contacted him back in 07, asking questions about writing and he replied back with some great advice, but that's the only contact we've had.

Heck, there have been plenty of times in the last two years that I've wanted to speak with both Brandon Mull (said author) and Stephenie Meyers. As a fellow Mormon writing fantasy (and in Stephenie's case, vampires) I would kill for the chance to pick their brains on a number of topics only they could answer.

But my point is, that's two people (a prior beta and an author) whom contacted or followed me. Me! Sheesh. Makes me want to clean up my digital house a bit more.

It also raises a question. Since '06, after I thought I was finished with book 1, I started making a lot of noise online. I posted all over the place, trying to get Annabelle out there. If two people I contacted back then are still watching, who else is?

It's exciting.

*Sniff* The group is done

I'm sure going to miss them. We've all got various things going on and mutually agreed it was time to quit. But while it was going I learned so much. In fact, before I started it with Willard, before Sherry, Christy, Antonio or even Clare joined, I learned at the other group with Michelle, Kim and Kirk. All of the members of both critique groups have helped me beyond words.

I've thought, since day 1, who I would thank on a dedication page. In fact the rough draft had such a page and I keep everything.

So it's time to update it. I may never get published and die an old drafter who couldn't quite touch the sky, but if by some miracle I do get Ann out there and she makes it, it's due to many shoulders. Here are all the ones I can think of at the moment...

There is a special virtue in taking a curse and making it a blessing.

For the knowledge and help;
Jeff, Steven, Willard, Chris, Ian, Jay, Adam, Mike, Daniel, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Warner, Claudia, Night Author, Aprilynne, Danielle, Jason, Jesse, Michelle, Kim, Kirk, Liz (RIP), M’liss, Claire, Anna, Sherry, Antonio, Christy and two of Mr. Russon’s 6th grade classes.

For the heart and soul;
Janeen, Laura, Katelyn, Sara and David


----

Yep, this year of edits is done. I've got a couple things left (5 more chaps of hard copy mark ups, possible last scene from Roland's pov) then it's resubmit time. But did I catch everything?

Does it still talk down? Does the show outweigh the tell? Is the history stuff accurate? Are the characters interesting enough? Strong enough? Does it resolve things enough to be considered stand alone? Is the action paced enough? Are the redundant and passive words replaced with active words? And is it still stiff?

Sigh. Will it ever be right? Am I over-editing?

"They" all say they get sucked in. Will "they" still get sucked in? I see so many errors in so many published works, yet those books are popular. Their characters and entertain and inspire. Can mine? Will mine?

I've traded very short, brief emails with Brandon Mull and Daran Shan, but I wish I could just sit and chat with a published author about my fears. Ask them if they went through it. How did they survive? Did they ever find out if their editing was "too much" or "not enough" or did it ultimately even matter?

A part of me feels close. A part of me feels very far away.