Sinister Surprise Got My Progress

I've been thinking a lot lately, about how crazy life gets sometimes. Just when you think you've got it all covered, a surprise is waiting for you around the next corner. Sinister Surprise is a pesky little bugger, peering at you from the shadows, waiting and anticipating the worse time to strike.

Take this past weekend, for instance.


Friday, the daughter and I did the whole sleuthing for a gown thing, going about our day, never suspecting anything array. We returned home after fourteen hours of being on the road, where we giggled a ton but also expended a ton of energy.

So I'm thinking Saturday would be for resting, catching up on my picture book ideas, and writing the next few chapters of my newest YA novel.

Nope.

Sinister Surprise had other things in mind. FLEAS. 


Our little itty-bitty doggie had fleas!! Now, fleas do not affect me the way Sp_ _ _ _ s do. (Fill in the blanks, please.) But fleas are a totally pain in the butt. 


Have your animals ever been hit by Sinister Surprise??? What did you do? And even better, have you ever used something so pesky to irritate one of your characters?


****SPLAT ALERT****
I do have two cool things to report. 


1.) A few of you already know this, but I haven't mentioned it here yet. One of my short stories is coming out in a book this month!! A REAL BOOK! Too cool. The book is all about love, of all topics, and is being published by Pill Hill Press. As soon as I get the date, cover, and other info, I'll let you know!!


2.) I did find a gown. I didn't purchase it yet because I wanted the hubby to see it first. And for those of you who asked for a picture - do you know that these specialty gown shops/boutiques don't allow picture taking?? I learned something new on Friday.

Lastly, I want to give a HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY 
to my 4th kiddo, CJ, who turns the big 8 years old today! 


Mommy HEARTS you more than words. :)

The Writer's Head Goes Snap, Crackle, Pop!

image credit

Silly title, I know. But isn't it accurate?

An idea Pops into a writer's head. He/she Snaps to it, scribbling down the idea in the best writer shorthand. Then the fun really begins. The idea Crackles as the writer stews on it, begins to taste it, feel it.

For me, that sums up the month of November, where writing goals are being set and pursued all over the world. Of course, we all know the most famous goal-setting arena among writers - NaNoWriMo. But there are other legitimate NaNo-based battlegrounds created to support, encourage, and drive all kinds of writers to write more. I've opted out of NaNoWriMo, this year, and wish all of you who are participating the best of luck!! Are you?

Instead, I've decided to be a part of two other writing drives, PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriWs4u.

PiBoIdMo is for picture book authors. It's all about letting yourself go and giving into your creative edge. We must come up with one new picture book idea each day. We don't have to develop the idea, although that would be total icing on the cupcake! I'm ahead of myself this year. I've come up with seven ideas and have mapped out two skeletal outlines.

NaNoWriWs4u follows the original NaNo plan closely, except each writer sets his/her personal goals as they see fit. We all have something we've been meaning to write or finish or edit, but life just keeps getting in the way. Or maybe we simply lost our momentum. This arena is to set those goals and report our progress at the end of each day. Accountability yet gently.


Here are my goals:

• formulate a new picture book idea each day and finish drafting two ideas.
• write at least half of the YA dystopian paranormal novel I've been mapping out forever.
• possibly tweak the beginning of MB and the query, yet again.

Feel free to join the group even if you're signed up for NaNoWriMo. Everyone can use a little more support and encouragement.

I won't be around to blog much today, but I will catch up with you this weekend. Heading out of state in search of an evening gown for the pageant. Speaking of which, I've been a horrible pageant guide. I haven't given you any peeks into my journey yet. To be honest, it's been really stressful, but I'm finally finding my center again. I'll share all that with you next Tuesday as well as some writing news and progress. :)

One of my queries is over on the QQQE, today. I'd be great if you could take a gander over and give me your insight into my query letter. I have already used this letter and it has gained me five requests, but I've heard nothing from the other seven that I sent out. So I'd like to tweak it a bit.

Thanks for all your help, and have a fantastic weekend!

I've Been Keeping Something From You...

My personal writing road has seen it's fair share of hurdles, potholes, and ditches lately. Each time I take a step forward, something pushes me backward. I finally finished that total rewrite of Marked Beauty, went through all my beta reads (which were awesome), and polished a bit more. In between, I took my hiatus this summer from blogging and spent the rest of my time with my four kids and the hubby. I did, however, attend WriteOnCon. My goal was to explore my picture book fetish a bit and hobnob with other PB writers. That in itself was very informative--a great experience. But something else happened. 

I noticed the call for writers to post the first 250 words of their YA novel. That's not what I was there for but I figured What the heck? So I posted. And an agent noticed. She requested everything I had--query, synopsis, and the full manuscript. Needless to say, I was surprised. I visited her agencies website. They seemed fabulous, but my gut told me she wouldn't be for me. Her agency represented mostly spiritual stories aka the cancer suffering teen, etc... MB is about another realm within our own filled with supernatural creatures that are not so heavenly. But she asked, so I was sending.


My gut was right, but that was okay. She loved what I sent (actually read the entire manuscript) and seemed to believe I'd have no trouble finding representation or a publisher. She actually told me that. So I started querying--just two weeks ago. I have a full and a partial out, and one refusal (said it just wasn't her type of story). But I've heard absolutely nothing from the other nine queries I sent. 


Though I thought I'd be all cool about this, I'm not. Waiting has completely stifled my creativity. And with all this, I'm taking an online writing class. Last week, Dianne and Marcy posted my first page in their First Impressions segment. I received awesome suggestions on how to improve the piece. It was a positive experience and I felt really good about where it was going. Then I subbed the first paragraph from that same first page to my writing instructor. Let's just say she didn't have much good to say about it. That did it. I was crushed. Haven't written a thing since.

But then, as always seems to happen in my writing life, another writer came along and said the exact words I needed to hear. Susan Kaye Quinn gave me a new lesson in the lies we writers tell ourselves, how we beat ourselves down when all we should be doing is just keep writing. Dianne, my first connection on Twitter, sent me a private email with amazing encouragement and advice. 

And then I visited my friend Jen Daiker, and read her heartfelt words about her recent querying bout. I think she and I are lofting in the same pothole, except she's decided to drag herself out and start a new blog--if she can't find inspiration out there, why not find it within herself. For even more inspiration, Christina Lee reminded me to whisper my goals and let them take flight on the breeze of nature, always keeping in mind that there's room at the publishing table for me. Of course there's my Oasis Sisters, too. Heart them!

Lastly, Elana Johnson asked What skin I was wearing? Yeah, that rang a bell. I'm the mother of four and wife to one, and wear almost every hat imaginable. At that moment, I remembered my chunky bracelet with a heart dangling off one of the links. I also gave one to my daughter. Years ago, I had both engraved with the same words: To Thine Own Self Be True. Nothing more. Nothing less. I really CAN do anything. It's time for me to be true to myself again.

This is for those writer friends I've mentioned and
for all of you who visit and share yourself with me!!

So writer, if you can't find motivation next to you, surf cyber space. Inspiring advice, perseverance, and endurance is waiting for you...not to mention a cyber ((hug)).


Tuesday was another edition of WS4U! Progress Report. It's a great exercise in both support and accountability. Please take a moment to show support to some of our members, also writing posts today. You never know the similarities you might find to your own writing road to publication and beyond.

http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/

http://waibelworld.blogspot.com

http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com

http://susanfieldswriter.blogspot.com

http://skmayhew.blogspot.com/p/tuesday-wip-status.html

http://margoberendsen.blogspot.com

http://www.sherryauger.blogspot.com

 http://www.susanoloier.blogspot.com--in/ 

Shout-outs 4 great Writing!

It seems being absent over the summer has left me with some serious catching up to do.

First thing I'd like to mention is the same pluggy I left you with before the summer--Writers Support 4U! Yes, I created it. But that's not why I'm mentioning it again. It's not really for me. It's for all of you, although I do utilize it.

We went from 1 member, Moi, on July 1st to 96 as of yesterday!! Many of the writers who joined over the summer used the space to share their current struggles or successes, and almost instantly got some sort of response from one of the other members. It's been a great way to connect and expand the skills of our writing community.

We'd love to have you. You can JOIN HERE!

My next item for the Writers' Ally plug is Rach Writes Third Writers' Crusade.

Now, I did not participate in the first crusade; I hadn't heard about it. But I did participate in the second crusade. It was a great experience, and I'm already signed up for this crusade. Rach breaks us up into genres and groups. We meet writers with similar tastes and challenges. And she offers awesome writing challenges, contest, and of course--prizes!!

If you haven't checked it out, please do. You can JOIN HERE!! But you only have until tomorrow. Rach is closing the list so she can get organized.  

So, tell me what I missed. Do you have a specific link or contest, or maybe information you gathered that you'd like to share?? Please do and I'll collect them and write up a post for you!!

~Hearts~ 
Sheri

New site: Writers Support 4U!!

Over the last month or so, I've read many posts and chatted with a few of you about life, writing, and blogging. What purpose does blogging hold?

When I started Writers' Ally, it was at the advisement of my 1st official CP, Marcy. Originally, it was to chronicle my writing journey with her but soon it became more. And with more, my ideas grew and changed and so did the purpose for the Alleyway. I wanted it to become a place where authors, illustrators, and publishing gurus could share their experiences both in life and writing, letting others know they are not alone. And I'm thankful for Writers' Ally's evolution. She'll be open for a long time; however...

{It took me forever to decide how to write this post. Finally, I decided to just be me.}

As time moves forward and I continue to grow as a writer, I find the act of balancing daily life and writing more difficult. This doesn't mean one has to give, only that it's time to reevaluate, restructure.

As the mother of four growing children, who now span three separate schools, life has gotten more complicated. My writing/creation time has been chopped into bits here and snippets there. I'm eternally grateful for each of you and every new writing opportunity that has found its way to me over the last few months. Doors have been opening and I need to take every advantage of them. The final polishing on MARKED BEAUTY needs to be done as does plunging into the querying world, finishing a 1st draft of my MG series, and sending out a few picture books. So, I've decided to take a step back from blogging for the summer.

Do you remember this POST, where I praised ROW80 and talked about the difference between a Support writing group and CPs? Some of you indicated you'd be interested in joining a Writing Group, who's sole purpose is to support each other, giving shout-outs throughout the week on FB or twitter and sharing updates/successes on WIPs, even writing a weekly post to include personal writing/life goals.

Well, I--along with C.Lee McKenzie, Margo Berendsen, & Susan Kaye Quinn--have created a group called SUPPORT WRITERS 4U! on Facebook. If I haven't already invited you, head on over and click to be a member. LOVE, love, love to have you. The more support we all share the smoother our roads to publication and beyond will be. Feel free to take the little logo I created and post it on your blogs with a link. Thank you in advance!!

So, I want to leave you with this thought for the summer.

"I've always been a writer, even when the words didn't hit the page." This quote is from Cher Green, who was interviewed over on Surrounded by Books. It got me thinking about what's lead me up to this point in my writing journey. So often, over the last three years, I've been down on myself, feeling like I should have started writing again years ago. "Look how much time I've wasted. Look what I could have been doing."

But really, every event in my life prior to making the commitment to become a professional novelist/writer/word nark is part of my writing journey. I wouldn't be creating the worlds and characters I am now without my life before the writing thoughts. This is MY journey, and I must embrace it and be thankful for it. Accepting that truth is empowering.

And YOU have your writing road, too. Though different than mine, it's yours and only yours. There is no right or wrong, no special way to become the next hit author.

You must accept your path for what it is, embrace it, and hone your craft, loving what you do. You must live life, letting each and every moment mold and caress you, and you will become all you can be.

I will miss you over the next month and a half. I'll return the second week of August but to blog sporadically for that month. Don't forget to become a part of Writers Support 4 U! We'll stay in touch throughout the summer and beyond, supporting and cheering each other on! Our twitter hashtag is #WS4U.


Here's a smaller logo:

Happy Summer Alleywalkers!! Don't forget to wear SUNSCREEN!!


(WINNERS: a copy of Christine Fonseca's book 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids goes to ~ Ingrid Dallal Fratz!! & a First Five Page Critique goes to ~ Nicole Zoltack!! Congrats!)