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
Tag: publishing
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
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
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?
Self-Publishing; Instant Gratification or a Whole Lot of Work?
On my lunch hour today I invested some time in researching publishers, agents, and all the intricacies of self-publishing. It was dang exhausting and I'm nowhere near done. The whole process of landing an agent and then making it to one of the Big Five publishers seems a bit like winning the lottery. The small … Continue reading Self-Publishing; Instant Gratification or a Whole Lot of Work?
Firsts
November, three years ago I decided on a whim to try to write a novel in thirty days. I joined nanowrimo.org and after about ten false starts, I stopped hating everything I wrote. Instead of deleting a thousand words at a time, I was writing two thousand per sitting. Miraculously I finished on time and … Continue reading Firsts
Christa MacDonald 