Just a few days I ago I entered an online contest for new authors - Secret Agent run by the amazing Authoress who remains nameless. Click the link if you'd like the particulars, but the purpose of this one is to see if your first 250 words will attract an agent. The agent remains nameless as … Continue reading The Strongest Chain: First 250 words
Category: Writing
In Defense of Happily Ever After
In 2014 I finished my very first novel and decided to take a workshop to polish it up before seeking representation. I emailed all 135,000 words of what I thought was a women’s fiction off to the editors only to be told that it was far too long for a contemporary romance. I read their … Continue reading In Defense of Happily Ever After
Language Most Foul: Profanity vs Vulgarity
True confession? I swear. Sometimes a lot. Usually in my car when no one is around, but sometimes at my husband. Sad, but true. It's also true that profanity and vulgarity are like the toxic twins of modern speech. They are everywhere and pretty well tolerated in most situations and definitely in most entertainment. Take … Continue reading Language Most Foul: Profanity vs Vulgarity
2015 – Goals for the New Year: Like real ones, not the fake ones you tell people, but never do.
I am not one for resolutions, but I do like goals. This year I wanted to set a few realistic ones so I sat down after the 1st and thought about what I'd really like to accomplish. Here we go. 1. Put full effort into querying The Strongest Chain (formerly the Davies). I've been … Continue reading 2015 – Goals for the New Year: Like real ones, not the fake ones you tell people, but never do.
The Business of Publishing
Once again I have gotten lost down the rabbit hole with my manuscript, editing the bejabbers out of it. I'm much happier with it now and finally I can say I'm done. It's ready for a real editor who can polish it up. I hope to be putting up a summary soon for all those … Continue reading The Business of Publishing
NaNoWriMo Fail
Here I sit, deadline approaching and it is clear I have failed. For the first time in four attempts, I will not be finishing NaNoWriMo. What's that you say? National Novel Writing Month. A contest of sorts challenging folks to write 50k words during the 30 days of November. The idea is to write, write, write, … Continue reading NaNoWriMo Fail
Editing, Editing, Editing
The title is an answer to what I've been up to for the last some-odd weeks. I am doing a great workshop called From Pitch to Published. The book is now down to 90k words and they're all really fabulous! Actually, fixing your manuscript is the first order of business. Then comes the really hard … Continue reading Editing, Editing, Editing
Pitch Wars Mentee Bio
Howdy! This is my first time doing Pitch Wars (click link for details on this writer's contest). After reading so many amazing mentee bios here, I decided I had to break down and do one myself. Here we go. A wee little background on me. 1. I have a BA in English and Sociology and … Continue reading Pitch Wars Mentee Bio
Query, in which an author asks an agent to the prom
Or at least that's what it feels like. One time, and one time only, did I ask a guy out. It was to my prom. My on-again off-again boyfriend was off and there was no one in my school I was interested in at all. So, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and … Continue reading Query, in which an author asks an agent to the prom
Writing the Author Bio – A bit excruciating isn’t it?
Today's lunch hour task was to write an author bio. It's the last thing I need to complete the query I have ready to send an agent. Finding an agent I thought was a good match proved easier than anticipated. Finishing this dang query is another matter. I was moving along nicely until I crashed … Continue reading Writing the Author Bio – A bit excruciating isn’t it?
Christa MacDonald 