The New Yorker has picked the top 20 writers under 40.  Read the article by clicking here.  It’s inspiring to know that fiction is alive and well!

If you believe yourself to be an artist, then everything becomes possible again. Words are your paintbrush and your life is the canvas.” - The Fifth Agreement

The hardest road for a writer is often the bumpy one of rejection.  But if you can’t see your book published and on the shelves, it will never happen for you.  You’ve got to believe in yourself, your own worth, even when no one else does.  The life of a writer is filled with uncertainty and doubt — don’t add to the weight of that.  Believe in yourself, in your talent, and you’ll see results.  Make a replica of your book jacket, put it around a book and stick it in your bookshelf.  Take a writing class, join a writing group.  When people ask what you do for a living, answer with “I write.” And then do just that.  Soon you’ll see the results of your labor and those doubters and rejectors will miraculously become your most ardent supporters!

It’s happened.  Again.  Another birthday has passed me by.  I hate birthdays, especially mine.  They’re nasty little mile markers of your successes and failures.  And I especially hate being the center of attention.  The cake, the insistent sing songy “make a wish!” and the presents!  I imagine my friends shopping for me and I cringe.

“Would Samantha even like this?”

“I don’t know.  Just get her a book.”

“Does she wear perfume?  Or do you think she’d like a candle?”

This year was especially difficult because I had set certain goals for myself that I was certain would be accomplished before this mile marker.  They weren’t.

Birthdays also make me reflect on three dreaded thoughts:  What If? If only.  And Why?  I always spend part of the week leading up to my birthday reflecting on my life.  And while I’m thrilled that my family and I are healthy, grateful for my wonderful friends, and excited for the progress I’m making at work, I still feel a tinge of regrets over a few important choices I made or didn’t make.  And a certain shock that I haven’t yet lived up to all I thought I would be.  Maybe those old Army commercials had more of an impact on me than I thought.  I really believed that if you just tried to be all you could be — anything could happen.  Wars would end.  World Peace would be a possibility.  Okay, maybe not all that.  But I at least bought into the hype of my potential.  God, how I hate that word.

When I was a kid, I loved those books where you could choose your own ending.  ”If you’d like to see what happens if Amber takes the train to see her grandmother, turn to page 82.  If you’d like to see what happens if she stays home, turn to page 97.”  Wouldn’t it be great if life were like that?  If after high school, college or grad school or whatever your final jumping off point is, you could walk over to your bookshelf and pull out The Book of Me and see what your best option is.  ”If you marry boyfriend A, turn to page 160 to see how it turns out.  If you move to X city, turn to page 202 to find out if you’ll really be happy there.  For career option C, turn to page 300.”

But life isn’t like a book.  We don’t get to skip ahead, to read the ending first.  It’s filled with uncertainty, choice and mystery.  All we can do is smile, blow out the candles and try to be all that we can be.

An amazing writer who’s also a client of my agent’s recently sold her first book in a fantastic 2 book deal to Hyperion.  I am so excited for her.  To live vicariously through her thrilling experience, check out her blog http://robinmellom.blogspot.com/

Go Robin!!

Writing a novel is easy compared with all the steps you need to take on your journey to getting published.  Besides writing a great story, the biggest step on your path is writing a fantastic query letter.

Here’s a great post from my agent Jill Corcoran on query writing.  http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/2010/04/formula-for-query-letter.html She even gives you an outline to follow and links on how to research an agent.

This blog http://www.charlottedillon.com/query.html gives some good points and has links to tons of articles and books written on queries.

In my humble opinion, I think a good query letter needs to show that you’ve done your homework and have approached the correct agent.  My agent, for example, only represents MG and YA, so you wouldn’t send her your thriller that’s sure to be the next Dan Brown.

You also need to narrow your MS down to three sentences.  What does the main character want?  What’s preventing this and how is it resolved?  Your future agent does not need the details of your MS in the query.  You just need to give enough information so he’ll want to request more.

End the query with your request:  Can I send you the manuscript?  And don’t forget to tell the agent a bit about yourself — your writing credits, your MFA, and any information that may be pertinent to the MS itself.

The query is your key to the first door of getting published.  Make sure you polish that key until it gleams.  Happy Writing!

Myth #1: It’s easier to get an appointment with Barack Obama than to get your MS in front of an editor

Myth #2: Editors only want to work with published authors who have a proven record of sales

Myth #3: Editors won’t look at, work with or comment on a MS until it’s 150% perfect

We’ve all heard these myths before, right?  Well, I have had the pleasure of encountering an editor who proves all these myths are wrong.  My super fantastic agent Jill Corcoran submitted my MS to an editor who responded with a very nice rejection.  No seriously, no sarcasm intended.  It was a rejection letter that actually made sense and offered helpful points.  So superhero agent Jill asked the editor to put together some helpful notes for me to incorporate into a revision.  And amazing editor said YES!  Then she agreed to look at the revised MS.  How crazy cool is that?

Okay, back to writing . . .

Check out these great blogs for help with your writing, editing and agenting questions.  The Intern is especially fun.

jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/

http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/

http://internspills.blogspot.com/

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/

http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/

I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been in writing mode.  This is when I say goodbye to friends, social outings and pretty much anything fun.  I’m currently working on three projects at once, but tonight I took a quick break to tune in to TV and tune out of, well, everything else. While clicking past the Oscars, I thought how great it would be if we could have an Oscar’s ceremony for writers.  Not because we need accolades and ego boosts — hardly, we writers prefer toiling in privacy and seclusion — but because it would inspire would be writers and encourage readers to keep on.  It would give a personal face to the creative force behind the books and make us feel connected to the entire writing process. Imagine Oscars for writers, editors, copy editors, agents, publishers, and illustrators.  Wouldn’t that be fun? Any maybe kids watching would think that there’s more to the world than being a famous actor who memorizes lines or an athlete who get some random ball in a hole, goal or basket.  Then, maybe, just maybe, we could start focusing on real education again.  And it would all start with the First Annual Writer’s, Illustrators, and Publishers Oscars.  Ironic, huh?

Thanksgiving is almost here, and while I’m getting excited to see my family but dreading cooking all that food, I will make time to READ.  Because that is, after all, one of my 10 Commandments for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  The rest are:

2. Thou shall not whine

3. Thou shall not obey any other cooks but me and shall lay at my feet compliments and hostess gifts

4. Discussions regarding politics, the national health debate especially, and anything to do with “crazy young people these days” are expressly forbidden

5. Commentary on how the cook chooses to roast, brine, grill, blacken or microwave the turkey are not allowed

6. Thou shall assist heartily in helping cook to clean up.  Tasks may or may not include mopping the floor, taking the dog out and letting the cat in, cleaning out the recyclables, massaging the cook’s feet (hot stone massage is optional), and keeping cook’s wine glass handy and filled at all times.

7. Thou shall promise to listen to cook’s three year old tell the story of Cinderella (again and without correcting her version) with rapt attention and appropriate nods. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I last posted here, and that’s because I’ve been in writing mode.  Seriously writing.  And revising.  And writing.

So I thought I’d blog about how I write, and I’d love to hear comments from other writers about their own odd perks. 

Before I write anything, I fill out a character analysis sheet for each person I’ll be writing about — even the minor characters.  This involves creating details about the character that may never come into the story — their middle name or favorite book for example, but it also forces me to dissect each character’s essential details — what he wants most, her greatest fear.  I write down all sorts of information about them — their car, hair color, pets – if they have   any -, pet peeves – we all have those, hobbies, interests, favorite music . . . you get the point. 

Then I go to iTunes and download music that my main characters would listen to.  I usually put about 20 songs on, and this is all I listen to while I write.  It helps me to jump right back in night after night.

I always write at night.  This is my time, when the world quiet downs, and I can hear myself think.  Read the rest of this entry »