Can you tell I'm excited about the book? Trying to spread the word!

Carrrie is giving away a free copy of the book (ARC). Come join the fun!

http://dogearedandwellread.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/hush-hush-by-becca-fitzpatri...

Frankie
 

Okay! You guys know that I normally do NOT do this. However, I read the first three chapters of this book (Paranmoral YA) and I think it has the potential to be something really frelling awesome. I can't WAIT to get it.

Steph Su is hosting a pre-release contest for the book. Check it out. It looks like it's going to be awesome!

http://stephsureads.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-giveaway-hush-hush-by-becca.html...

How did it catch me?

#1: There are no vampires.
#2: There are no werewolves.
#3: The voice--once you get past the prologue--is fantastic!
#4: Move out of the way, Edward! I think I like Patch better. Muahahahaha!
*snort*

Okay. So, for real, it starts out as a well-written book and I'm very excited for October! I can't wait. I think I might have found a new favorite to add to my list of favorite authors. I'm HUGELY excited! Oh, wait. I said that already. Becca Fitzpatrick. Hush Hush October 13, 2009
 

On Monday, August 17th, Raregem will be hosting a two week course on reviews in the "The Novel Workshop's Workshop!" . This will be for newbies and old fogies alike.

Being a great reviewer is what makes The Novel Workshop and WDC work so well. Even if you think you’re the best reviewer we’ve seen, I’d still like to see you in there. There might be things that you could offer, or you might even learn something. Please join us on August 17th.

In September, I will be hosting a 4-week workshop utilizing Donald Maass’ book, Writing the Break Through Novel. Don’t miss it. There’s lots of GREAT information there. It will be a bring your own ms workshop.

In October, I will be hosting a 3-4 week "Writing a Book in A Month". I'm still working on how this is going to work, but this is in preparation for NaNoWriMo which happens in November. You want to have everything ready so that you CAN write your book in a month.

November is slotted for a class, but we don't have an instructor. It's tentatively slotted for "First Chapter" stuff, which I think would be frelling awesome! I hate those! They kick my preverbial behind! I would like to join this workshop and learn something. So if there's anyone out there who's good with chapter 1's AND doesn't mind hosting a "bring your own ms" type class--they do tend to be a bit labor intensive for the instructor--please let me know. OR if you have an idea for a different class. That would be wonderful.

We'll be taking a holiday in December.

Have fun, everyone!!! Hope to see you in the Workshop on August 17th! I know I'll be there. My reviews are starting to get rusty...*scuffs toe and hangs head in shame*
 

Okay. Holy cow! I've been concentrating for the last couple of months on building a platform on the world wide web and, boy! There's a lot of people out there AND it's hard to get seen through the sludge of...well, everybody else. Reading other blogs, commenting, Tweeting--still can't figure out Facebook and what the heck is RT in Twitter? I replied to an agent's Tweet today and I'm not sure if I should have. Poor agent. Probably has a ton of stalkers already and now she's got me. Great!

So, trying to get more readers to my blogspot blog--which is doing really, really well--AND trying to launch my NEW website...http://www.smblooding.webs.com...come see me! I'm exhausted.

Sometime this week, I plan on being a writer and WRITE!
 

Well...um, I've been VERY busy! I've submitted The Key to several agents and have been rejected several times. It's currently out there with two more agents. Firebrand just rejected me yesterday. I've modified my pitch. I've...*biting lip*...it's just not hot. Probably because there are no vampires or zombies or werewolves. I have centaurs. Centaurs probably seems a little childish? Maybe? I don't know. I'm grasping at straws here.

Um, what else? I sent Demonic Alliance out there! To one agent. It's like the sniffer test. How quickly does this rejection come back? If it comes back quickly, then I might need to tweak my synopsis or pitch or something. *shakes head* The way my mind works. I just don't know. Anyway! I sent it off to a very busy agent and I'm pretty sure she'll reject me. *winces* I can hope not, but I'm not getting my hopes up!

Gotta get to work.
 

I sent off to The Nelsen Agency and to Writers House and was rejected within a week. The good news is that I'm not waiting. The bad news is that there's something seriously wrong with my letter ... or the pitch...or the book concept. *snort*

No. I'm just submitting to the big dogs and they're all booked with hot best sellers already.

So...note to self. Find someone smaller.
 

All right! Thanks to the review frenzy in YA, I now know how and where Key of Sorrow needs to be revised. And it's going to be a minor/major revise. So...yeah and *groan* ugh. LOL!!

1. Re-revise Key of Sorrow

2. Complete synopsis of KOS

3. Send KOS out to 3 more agents.

4. Complete the revise of Demonic Alliance

5. Revise the synopsis to match the blurb (inject more Dexx).

6. Send DA out to 3 more agents.

I still haven't heard back from Jennifer from the Andrea Brown Agency, so that means that she's rejected me. Darn it. I hate the rejection without a rejection letter. You always ask yourself why and maybe they're still looking at it and stuff. But oh, well. Don't have time to wait anymore. GADS
 

And I didn't meet my personal goal this month. I, um, gained weight, actually. Apparently, when you stop smoking, your metabolism goes down because smoking made your metabolism go up. AND if that weren't bad enough, I eat to curb the nicotine cravings. *clucks tongue* Not good. But I'm guessing that I set the wrong goal for myself this month. I need to wait until...*looking at calendar* July to try that one again. By then, I will be completely smoke free. No patches. No gum. Well, I can still chew gum, I guess. But no crutches. And then I can focus on that.

I did create a budget. It's going to take a few months before I can get caught up enough to actually follow it. I'm a little upside down right now. But it's created, so that's my personal goal that I half-way met this month. *frightened look* It's a start.

The girls and I had a pretty good weekend this weekend. It was long and I think I might have--well, no. I DEFINATELY pissed off a couple of people which is going to affect them. I had only the one patch and besides that, my frustration level and my ability to put up with...what I have to put up with is...well, it's low. It's really, really low. I had a hard time putting a lid on my anger and my "pissy-ness" before, and since I've stopped smoking, it's a lot harder.

But, you know what? Maybe that's okay. Am I a nicer person? Hell, no. But then again...should I be? Should I feel glorious and wonderful for being thrown into this situation? Give me a show of hands out there of parents who have had their kids taken from them and then been alienated from them. Give me a show of people who have had their entire family stripped from them because they aren't "good people". Now, of those, give me a show of hands of people who are HAPPY and SMILEY and all GIGGLES all the time? *peering through the crowd* No one? Really? Oh, there's one. One. Out of how many? Yeah. No. I didn't think so.

So I think that I'm being normal, but I'm no where near the kind of person that many could love. I'm not the sweet, (it's hard to imagine, but I was...sweeter...a loooooong time ago) naive, gullible, lovable (okay, maybe not lovable since the people closest to me found it too dificult to do so), romantic, mousy person that I was when this whole thing started. The situation has created a knife, carving me into someone different. Uglier, meaner, angrier, bitter, resentful. Am I happy with this? Do I like the person I am? Not really. But I'm a hell of a lot stronger. So there's the toss up. I'm stronger, but bitter. I'm less happy, less likable. *shrug* Toss up. Will I ever get my girls back? Probably not. I am no one and nothing to them.

ACK!!! But enough of that blibber-blabber! GADS! What a freakin' soap box! I am studying for my JW and hope to take it sometime this year! No. I hope to PASS it sometime this year! I need to make time to study when I have a brain though. My time to study is when my brain is either not awake, or when it's dripping from my ears, eyeballs and nose. *cringe* Grooooooooss! I'm getting frustrated because I don't know the answers to things I SHOULD know. GADS!

My writing goals...didn't go anywhere this month either. I'm still editing DA. I have a query letter ready for KOS. Need a synopsis for both still. I'm behind. Again. BUT!!! The revise is going...well on DA. So, I'm going to end this on that positive note.
 

Okay. I found some Step 2 patches and they're working okay. I do have a few minor episodes of wanting to go off the long side of the handle, but for the most part, I'm doing okay on the not smoking thing.

I did for for a five mile walk on Saturday. It was great. Now, I just need to keep doing that. I like the late night walks. Freaks a lot of people out, but I like them. Everything's so much quieter at night. And sure, there might be a mugger. But what is he going to get? I mean really? Nothing. My shoes, maybe, but I have such small feet, no one would want them. Plus, they're cheap shoes.

I have started working on a budget. So I'm starting to get my money under control. I mean, I'm doing...okay now. But I could be better. So I'm working on that.

I've also started studying for my journeyman exam again. I should be testing next month---at the end of next month. So...*calming the breathing* I'm trying not to freak out.

The WRITING goals that I haven't posted here are going well. The query workshop is going well. Almost all of the query letters have passed now, so, YEAH!!! Now we're into the synopsis. I still have to get my synopsis complete. *groan* And that's going to take the brunt of my time this week.

The revisions to Demonic Alliance are going really well. OMG! I wrote a book--two books now!--that I really like to read! How wonderful is that? The Voice in this book had me in stitches as I was re-reading it. Of course, there were things that had to be cut. There were "flashback" narratives and a few passive passages that I whacked. I have to cut 17K out of the book before I resend, but that should be easy to do as long as I stay on track like I have. There's a few rough patches (revise wise) coming up due to the fact that I'm changing the focus of the series so that it can go on indefinately...doing kind of an Anita Blake. This is going to be so much FUN!! I'm excited. Really, really excited. I just got to the part where Dexx is introduced. Holy HADES!! I looooooooooove this man. Too bad he's pretend...but oh well.

And that's...it.

No it's not. Rare wanted us to reflect on what we did great last week and how we're going to improve this week. Uh...*thinking*....Hmmm....*still thinking*

I, um, had a few cigarettes last week, so not doing really great on the quitting part.

I exercised ONCE last week, so not doing so great on the working out part.

I did start a budget, though I didn't finish it so there's nothing to live with yet or goals to meet there yet...so...it's nothing more than an idea still. So...not great.

And I started studying for my JW, though I haven't done my homework yet, so again, not great.

How to improve...hmm...well, I can tell you what the drill sergeant in me says. "GET TO WORK, YOU STINKING MAGOT!" However, even the drill sergeant hasn't been able to get much out of me. How can I be such a procrastinator and still get so much done? That's what I want to know.

So, I'm going to walk 5 miles or so on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and work myself up to working out with weights later. I'm on a poor-man's diet right now thanks to an pending move, so no real money for real food which means cup o noodles and 99 cent pizza's. Great. Healthy. Very healthy.

Um....I'm going to finish my budget so that I have a gauge to go by for the rest of the week. Should finish it by...oh, maybe the end of the week...ish. And then I need to follow it...My roommate says I live "in the future" and don't spend enough time "in the present". I think she might be onto something there. *shrug* Who knows? This might work...but the present kinda sucks!

And I'm going to DO my homework for the JW test that I'll be taking at the end of June, early July. And I'm going to actually TAKE the darned test this time...that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Who thought this was a good idea anyway.

The only non-movement goals on the personal level are the "getting the girls back" which is a losing battle right now and I have no idea how to fix that. I want to strangle people. I almost decked someone--who will remain nameless--last weekend. *breathing* That was one my few my-patch-is-too-small moments this weekend. It's really difficult to handle. I just want to....*growl* scream, punch, claw, mame. No killing. I don't want anyone dead. I just want them all to live...really, really...REALLY long freakin' lives...

And finding a boyfriend. *winces* Or a cat. The problem with the cat is that they're so darned expensive. Vet bills. Added rent. Added deposit. Litter box clean up. Kitty food. The problem with the boyfriend is...well, I can't find a someone to get mixed in with MY chaotic life that I don't want to seriously...well, get physical on a not-so mutually pleasant level with AND hold a descent, smart and slightly witty conversation with. Are my standards too high? *thinking*

Maybe, but I tried the "settle for something more realistic" a couple of times and that ended horribly. Vampire, reincarnation of Merlin, "assassin", the stalker, Frog-eyed I-love-you-and-we've-only-just-met man, weapon's smuggler, drug dealer...there are a couple I'm missing. There were a few good ones in there too, so don't get me wrong! But...gads, my personal life makes finding a relationship TOUGH.

Maybe I'll just adopt a stray cat. *nods sagely* Yes, I think that's what I shall do. Stray cats are good.