The Day After

As predicted, very few comments (so far) on Star of Justice. I don't think people quite know what to do with the story. I am grateful to one of my "new friends from the boards" who copy-edited it for me. I slapped my forehead when I read it. How could I have missed those obviously glaring issues? Because they were my glaring issues, obviously.

Oh, I relish the thought of mingling with other fantasy authors, even if it is virtually.

I suspect I know who the author of Dying For Dragons is, but I'm very bad with logic problems, so I could be wrong. We'll see.

The main critique for my synopsis, and every synopsis that has posted thus far, seems to be "too busy." While that may be true, it does beg the question of exactly how to distill a 166,000 word book into, let's say, 500 words. That's about one page single-spaced.

I just did a quick count (very quick) but I have, at least, seven different storylines/ mysteries/ plot complications in Star of Justice. (to paraphrase Quillek to Dr. Lazarus in the deleted scene from Galaxy Quest: "it's very complicated.") I mentioned the five main characters in the synopsis because they each play a part in what is most likely the main story of the book: Caissa's quest to verify the truth of the so-called prophecy. That's not the only thing happening in the book. For 166.000 words, I would hope not.

Plus, a synopsis, according to Jeff the Publisher, is supposed to lay out the meat of the story in three acts. At Jeff's request, the synopsis I submitted for the contest covers acts 1 and 2. I appreciate this deviation. It allowed me to leave out some major zingers that would have ruined the book if they were told in synopsis form. Since I hope one day some of these people will be readers, I would have hated that. For a regular synopsis reviewed only by an editor, I would include those because they show I have tricks up my sleeve, new twists on an old story, as it were.

Some of the synopses in the main contest were written the proper way, and the irony is people complained about giving the whole plot! Chuckle. This highlights the difference between editors and readers. Are editors visionaries? They read the little blurbs and see what could be instead of what is? If that is true, I am not editor material.

Now, this is not sour grapes. This is real puzzlement. If a synopsis is supposed to summarize the story and give a flavor of the writing style, it's no wonder so many people aren't doing it well. I've actually relaxed my normally uber-legalistic rule-following because I see how much trouble we newbies are having with this.

If premises and blurbs and synopses are what get a writer's foot in the door, it is to my advantage to learn to write them well. This contest is the first step.

For Me, the Contest Is Over

I noticed that yesterday was my 100th post. In TV, that would mean I could now be in syndication.

Star of Justice did not advance. I am not crying. I am not shaking. I feel, for the most part, completely normal.

My dear readers should know by now I handle failure better than success. Success frightens me.

The irony is Dying for Dragons, the only other premise I started a thread for, did advance! Chuckle. God has a sense of humor.

Congratulations to the author of Winter (wink). I told you it would move forward.

My intention is to revisit the remaining 10 and try to look at them with new eyes. Most of them haven't interested me genre-wise since the beginning, but we'll see if 500 words makes the difference.

In the main contest, I was more surprised to find neither Sword of the Patron nor Vinnie's Diner advanced. I'm starting to think a vote from me is the kiss of death. Except The Last Apostle moved forward, and I voted for it, too.

I will post a feedback thread for Star of Justice. I'm waiting for someone else to do one first so I know where to put it. I've been trying to compose an appropriately humble yet cheeky intro for the thread. Something like "With straightened shoulders and one raised eyebrow, I step forward to claim Star of Justice as my own. I welcome anyone so inclined to offer whatever they feel is appropriate."

Although, wow, that sounds stiff yet geeky. So maybe not that. I'll think about it.

My thanks to everyone who took part in the contest on my behalf. Please don't stop just because I'm out of it.

Last Day to Vote in Phase 3

I want to believe tomorrow is not bothering me. Last night's restless sleep (for once, not attributable to cats - yea!) tells me differently. I had the feeling I was missing the deadline. Odd, since I voted several days ago. It was a little bit high school nightmarish. You know, you forgot your homework, but you're really 38 and high school has been over for a while? That kind of thing. I had a nightmare three years after I graduated that I had to take my master's degree oral exam the next day. Woke up in a cold sweat.

I don't want to spend tomorrow with a post-weeping headache. Those are rarely good days.

I finally compared the voting totals for the various phases. I'm no statistician (despite that last boring college class), but I was curious.

Seems aside from the first slam of 779 voters in phase one of the main contest, voters are, for the most part, holding steady around the 500 mark. I'm not even going to try to interpret the number of votes cast. That way lies madness for the math-challenged turtle.

Phase 2 saw a drop in participation in the main contest and an increase in the premise contest. That makes sense. Several people on the boards who were in the main contest and didn't advance have admitted to turning their attention to the premise contest now that every waking minute isn't spent thinking about whether they'll win the prize. That was a long sentence.

With one day left, all the procrastinators may show up in droves and add another couple hundred to the tallies. Polls close at 11 PM Central time today.

It has occurred to me that with the race so close, and only 10 spots available, we're playing a game of musical chairs. With only one vote separating 20 and 21 last phase, this could be interesting. I wonder if Jeff the Publisher has a contingency plan for multiple-ties.

I'm so glad I'm not running this contest. I would have eaten my own hair by now.

The Flip Side of Pride

Only the proud probably know this, but the flip side of pride is doubt. Self-doubt, to be specific.

This is important to know. Not so you can go around wigging out proud people. That would be fun, but hardly Christ-like.

No, it's important because everyone is plagued by self-doubt. Everyone.

Every time I hand my manuscript over to someone new, every time I post a comment on a message board, every time I write a post in this, my own blog, I struggle with how it will be perceived. When I reply to an email, I worry I'll be misunderstood.

Why? Because pride and doubt are the same thing: an intense focus on self.

Let this be a ray of hope to all you insecure folks out there. You, too, can appear just as proud as I do (if you wish). Here's how.

When I was young, I was told most people have no idea what they're doing most of the time. For this reason, when you walk into a room, act like you know what you're doing, and most folks will believe you do. Why? 'Cause they don't have a clue, either.

I cannot remember who told me this. It must have been someone I trusted.

This has been my SOP in new situations for most of my life. It works. When I was young, I was bossy, arrogant and proud when I did this. As I've matured and learned to inject a good dose of self-directed humor into situations, I am often perceived as confident and self-assured. This could not be further from the truth.

So, that's the secret. When you encounter the proud, bossy, arrogant person (or the calm, self-assured, in control person), realize - she's just as terrified as you are. She just hides it better.

I've focused a lot on pride this week. I wonder what God's trying to tell me.

Word Count

I can't remember if I've thought about this, talked about it or written about it. If I can't remember, I seriously doubt you can.

The subject of word count has come up several times during the contest. Star of Justice is one of the higher word count submissions. Naturally, I am quite interested in these discussions.

In single space/12 font, Star of Justice is 314 pages long. I always assumed that would be close to the final, published page count of the book. Books are smaller, but so is the font. I don't believe I've ever learned a conversion guide for computer type to printed type.

According to an MLS poster (and I have no reason to doubt him), it's actually closer to 500 pages. That's a lot of pages, even to me. No wonder people are hesitating.

I didn't have a page count in mind when I wrote. I just wrote until the story was finished. I covered all the bases, answered all the questions I meant to answer in this book, and called it done. It happened to be done at 166,000 words.

My writing process is to start with a quick sketch of the scene using emotional dialogue or action. My second sweep adds specific actions for each character that move the scene forward. Finally, I add sensory details to bring the action to sometimes delicious, occasionally disgusting life. I gained weight writing this book because many scenes revolve around eating, and I didn't want to be the only one left out.

Early on in the contest, a writer admitted his book was 150,000 words and Jeff the Publisher wanted him to cut it down to 120,000. That's 30,000 words. By my (albeit shaky) math and tiny solar calculator, that's over 100 pages.

Now, maybe that author's book can benefit from the cutting. He seemed at peace with the decision. Maybe that peace had to come after some wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I can't imagine cutting 100 pages from my book.

I have always expected to do some rewriting. I've done my best to prepare it for publication as is, but I learned yesterday, having one other writer look at something can be invaluable for spotting wasted words.

A few posters at MLS would tell me to suck it up and slash and burn, baby. My paraphrase. Boy howdy, though, would Star of Justice really be better without Horus and Callista, Master Thall and Tusk and Daria? Those are the people in the scenes most likely to get cut. I don't know if I like the idea of a book without them.

I don't want to borrow trouble. Maybe whatever publisher picks it up won't mind the word count. It just occurred to me I might want to prepare myself for the possibility.

I'll let you know when the wailing begins.

A Bit of A Ramble About...Pride

Pride is my top deadly sin. Gluttony and Sloth are tied for second place, but since I don't weigh 500 lbs and live unemployed in my parents' basement, I'll stick with Pride as number one.

Why pride? Allow me to quote George MacDonald from The Lost Princess:
"As she grew up, everybody about her did his best to convince her that she was Somebody; and the girl herself was so easily persuaded of it that she quite forgot that anybody had ever told her so, and took it for a fundamental, innate, primary, first-born, self-evident, necessary, and incontrovertible idea and principle that she was Somebody."

I could be either girl in that story. While I identify with Rosamund, I fear I resemble Agnes. I would hope I no longer walk her path.

Fortunately, God in His wisdom sent a thorn in my flesh in my 12th year of life. I learned there were other Somebodies in the world besides myself. I've been learning it one way or another ever since.

So, while pride is my problem, I have two advantages in my fight against it. One, I know it's my problem. Two, I don't like it.

I recently told a friend that my default state is cynical, perfectionistic, and critical to the point of cruelty. My family calls it "being honest." Normal people call it "being mean." I suspect the normals have the right of it.

Couple this default state with the Judgment aspect of my personality type according to Meiers-Briggs, and I can seem quite heartless and insufferably arrogant. I can do it without trying, actually. (Hmm. Does that sound proud?)

My point with this post is complicated. On the one hand, I want you my readers to know I struggle with this and to know that I know I struggle with this. On the other hand, I also want you to know that my prideful statements are rarely deliberate (unless they're funny. I have to go for the funny). It is a remnant of my fallen nature, something Christ will continue to draw out of me as long as I live.

My brother and I once got into an argument that went something like this:
"You are never wrong," he said.
"That's not true," I replied.
He rolled his eyes and left. It took me years to understand why. Turtle proud but not always bright.

I am not perfect. I can be mean, but I promise I don't do it on purpose anymore. My Jesus frowns on such behavior, and I try very hard to make Him proud of me.

I guess I'm saying it helps to read the turtle with a grain of salt, because I can't always tell when my words are hard to swallow.

You, my readers, have permission to call me out for bad behavior. It's one of my rules.

I Only Missed A Day

Huh. Feels like an eternity.

I was not exercising my sabbath rest. I've been ill. Not death's door, praise the Lord, but not the happiest camper, either. Fever finally broke. Today I got up, showered, and tried to stay awake.

I mostly succeeded.

I hope tomorrow will get better.

Drink your elderberry juice, children. The world is an ugly, germy place.

I Voted

It wasn't easy.

The voting part is easy. All the entries now fit into a single thread so it is by far the easiest process in the whole contest.

The not-easy part was choosing the entries I would support.

In the premise contest, some of my favorites were knocked out. Of those that remained, I found three (other than Star of Justice, of course) that held my interest and seemed to know how to put a sentence together. Jeff compared me to a copy-editor in one post. I wouldn't have the patience to be a copy-editor. Or the fan base to support me. On the other hand, I could be known as "The Dragon Lady." That sounds nice. Better than "Crazy Cat Lady."

I started a thread for Star of Justice with this reasoning: I promised I would start some in this phase, thinking I would be knocked out. If I didn't start some, people would know I was still in. This is assuming anyone is paying any sort of attention to me at all, which is beyond arrogant at this point. Rationally, if I didn't make it, I should have started a "Why Did You Hate My Book?" thread. Since I didn't, I'm either a coward or I'm still in the contest.

I didn't want to start threads on premises I didn't like, and fortunately two of my picks remained "open for discussion." So I started two threads, one for my book, one for someone else's. I haven't promoted either since starting them. My secret identity is intact. Maybe. Mwahahaha!

The nice part is hearing from a few people who liked it. One even went back and changed her votes to be sure she had voted for it. That was nice. Made me feel all warm and tingly.

In the main contest, boy howdy! The difference 30 pages makes!

I'm keeping The Last Apostle, but only because I can't find another one that I would want to read more. It was a little boring in the first 30 pages. I hope the next 30 give me a reason to go on.
Vinnie's Diner has returned to my list, much to my surprise. I don't like first person writing, but this first person is hilarious. I enjoy being in her head. She reminds me a lot of Kiven, one of my characters from Past Ties. This may end up being The One I vote for in the end.

Sword of the Patron continues to hold my interest. As a fantasy, it reminds me of Star of Justice, although the story is completely different. Caissa doesn't live in an occupied land, for one. The characters seem more fleshed out to me than some of the others, and for the most part, believable in their actions and reactions. I'm all about the characters. I also like some of the word choices. This author isn't afraid to use words out of the norm.

I did try to read through the remaining five entries when I realized I wasn't as happy with the Apostle John as I hoped. They just didn't hold my attention. Altar has potential. The emotions are there. The skill seems a little lacking yet. Maybe that could be improved with copy editing. I wouldn't know.

I almost voted for H20. I hadn't been interested in it until I got the 30 pages, but the main character is interesting. High-powered exec yet rides a motorcycle. Maybe that's true of all execs. My biggest fear? After reading the synopsis, I know she swears off water for a while, and I didn't want to read about her all grungy and gross in first person. A little too Crime and Punishment for me.

So, there are my three votes in the main and my reasons. We're only allowed to vote for three this time.

Polls close 11 PM Dec 15. Don't forget to vote!

I hope you're enjoying the contest so far. I think I am.

Winter

Winter is my least favorite season. Were I able to stay inside all snuggly warm in a hand-knitted sweater like Little Mouse on the Prairie, it wouldn't be so bad. But I have to scrape the cold off my car and brave treacherous streets and more treacherous drivers to get to work and back twice a day. I hate that.

I also miss the sun. And the warmth. And I hate it when things die, which many, many things do in winter.

My favorite part of winter is the solstice. I tried having solstice parties, but Christmas kept getting in the way. Just kidding, Jesus. Your birthday is more important.

I like the solstice because once it's over, days start getting longer. Within a few weeks, I can see the difference in the morning. Weather-wise, the worst of the cold, snow, ice, etc. is just getting started, but knowing that the earth is tilting toward spring, my favorite season, makes is bearable.

Today brought a forcible reminder that winter has arrived, even though, officially it doesn't start until the solstice. Bundle up. And leave at least two car lengths between you and the guy ahead. If it's me, I've already paid my deductible for the year.

Why I Write

All authors have a reason for writing. We have a reason because writing is hard work and why work hard with no reason? The reason usually falls somewhere in the spectrum between "I want to be richer than JK Rowling" to "God gave me this story and the world needs to read it."

I don't expect to make a lot of money. I won't be upset if that happens, but that's not my aim. I will not write simply to appeal to a mass market audience. If I was OK with that, I'd write GLT porn and make a mint.

I don't particularly feel God has called me to write. He gave me some ability in that direction. He gave me an interest in it, and has opened doors in the writing world, but I don't think my stories are "change the world" stories.

I don't write just to write. I don't have a degree in journalism because I don't want to write about things that bore me.

I don't write to challenge people's worldviews. I don't feel the need to push any envelopes or step on toes or cause great theological upheaval. One of the reasons Star of Justice isn't getting much discussion at MLS, I suspect. What is there to discuss?

So, why do I write?

I write because I'm tired of secular authors taking up all the space on the fiction shelves. My books illustrate my basic worldview: God created the universe (He created any universe I write about), He put humans in it, humans turned away from Him and He went to great lengths to redeem us. He also recorded all this in writing so we'd know it.

These ideas will present themselves in every book I write. Some of my characters will reject God. Some will have an incomplete understanding of Him (who doesn't?). Some won't have a clue He exists. Some will know Him in a real relationship.

My stories are stories about people dealing with God, specifically the God of the Bible. Other things happen in the stories. That's how life works. We don't just sit around thinking about God all day. He shows up in the things that happen to us.

I used to role play (alas, I lost my group in a divorce. Not mine). In every campaign, the characters I played believed in God. I had a friend who thought that was silly. She just played good characters. My question to her was "how can you be good without God?"

That's the question my story characters must answer. How can you be good without God?

So, no money, no calling, no drive to write. Just a basic interest in improving the general quality of fictional literature produced today.

So far, that's reason enough.

Oh, and voting opens today and runs through Dec 15. If you're looking for info about Marcher Lord Press, click on the label on the left side of the blog. You may have to click on "older posts" if you don't find what you're looking for, like how to register with MLS.

Stress Relief

Seems I'm not the only one feeling a little frustrated. Several "fights" have broken out in the premise contest threads (chuckle). I wondered early on how long it would take for things to get ugly. To paraphrase the little cartoons seeking answers about a Tootsie pop:
"How many rounds does it take to get to the nasty in a writing contest?"
"Let's see. One. To-who. Crunch! Two."

Poor Jeff the Publisher. He called for a group hug. Hopefully, it will be enough to remind us all to behave ourselves. I'm feeling a little more magnanimous today. I apologize to any and all yesterday's rant may have offended. I'm not sorry for the rant. I'm sorry for the offense.

In the spirit of stress relief, I recommend everyone take two hours off and watch a Christmas movie instead of fret over the contest. Here are some of my favorites.

Galaxy Quest: Not technically a Christmas movie, but I once watched it every single day in a December (that's 31 days for those of you who like math). It is, quite possibly, my favorite movie ever. It exalts teamwork, loyalty, self-reliance and helping innocent aliens whenever possible. It also has some of the funniest one-liners ever uttered by Tony Shaloub: "The floors are so clean," "Didn't you see that thing, with the eyeball, like this?" and "Seems okay." This may be my most quoted movie, too.

Scrooged: This is my favorite incarnation of A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray is Frank Cross, a TV executive who hates Christmas and is planning the largest live Christmas show ever on Christmas Eve. It has the Solid Gold Dancers in it! By the time Frank comes around to the meaning of Christmas, I'm balling like a baby. Every time. Great show. Susie, you'll need the TNT version.

The Addams Family: Opened during the Christmas season and spawned a not-too-bad-all-things-considered sequel. This show proves that good triumphs over evil, because in trying to show how evil this family is, the writers only showed how powerful love it. This is a multi-generational family living together, involved in their children's lives and rearing them according to family tradition, with parents completely devoted to one another and supportive of each other's quirks. That's how I see it, anyway. Some of us could learn a few things, eh?

The Fellowship of the Ring: Also opened during the Christmas season. The best of the three in my opinion, and closest to the book in execution, this movie has it all: friendship, devotion, romance, endurance under persecution, and a great soundtrack. I recommend the extended version. If you have the time, go ahead and watch the other two movies. If we get that blizzard on Tuesday, you might need a way to pass 12 hours.

Die Hard: Did you really think I could list Christmas movies and not include the most iconic Christmas movie of all time? This blockbuster took America by storm, spawned three sequels and put Twinkies back on the food pyramid. Susie, you'll definitely need the TNT version of this one. But if shoot 'em up, never-say-die American spirit personified by a bloody, battered Bruce Willis is your cup of joe, by all means, sit back and enjoy the ride. It might also help get some of the fight out before you hit the forum boards again.

Happy watching, people.

Premise Contest Phase 3

That's what you're looking for this time around. Minimum vote remains 3, maximum vote is now 8.
I have chosen four, and I'm being nice about one of them. I won't say which one.

I'm a little snarky today. Not the best thing considering I posted a comment on the forum that may attract some return snark. It went a little bit like this: I'm disappointed in the synopses.

Here's the exposition I left off the forum. Anyone truly annoyed by my comment there may come here and read how I really feel.

Hi!

Silly, I suppose, but I figured everyone who applied to a publishing house would actually know how to write well. Perhaps naive is a better adjective.

By no means do I consider myself a master's level writer, but I do have an English Composition and Grammar course book sitting next to me at the computer, and when I have a question, I look it up.

I love the English language. Like Henry Higgins, it pains me when people misuse it. "Less" instead of "fewer." "Raised" instead of "reared." "Busted" instead of "burst." Modifiers dangling without hope of finding an object. I forgive most people because they don't know better.

Writers should know better. I can appreciate breaking rules for drama or tone, but show me you know the rules before you break them.

Last night was the first time (I'm having a lot of firsts with this contest) I considered that the premise contest is an actual slice of the kind of submissions Jeff the Publisher gets on a regular basis. Great ideas in less than perfect form. Grrr!

For him, the question is probably "Can I work with this writer?"

For me, the question is "Are you kidding?" OK, that's a little exaggerated. My emotions are getting the better of me. Engage Vulcan calm.

It's a good thing Jeff is laizzez faire (I have no idea how to spell that. I love English, not French). I'm uptight, anal-retentive and occasionally (occasionally? Ha!) insensitive. I'd tell everybody to go home and come back when they knew how to use commas.

Yeah, Vulcan calm not engaged yet.

I would like to say the main contest has had much better writing overall. And better discussions.

Another rant coming on...

That's another thing that helped bring on the snark. I check in to the premise sub-board after 2 days to see what's going on, and there's a thread discussing the funny permutations of mibillie2's login name.

IS THIS REALLY THE TIME FOR SUCH LEVITY?

Vulcan calm just transported up to the ship, and left Klingon rage alone on the planet. I suppose we all need to blow off some steam, and making fun of Hill-mibillie the Redneck Son is how some folks choose to do it. I will not be participating in that thread.

My viewpoint from here on out is I can't afford to engage emotionally with winning this contest. It's like owning a newt. Won't do it again. They don't live long enough to offset the week long crying jag that follows their deaths. I will not spend a week of my life sobbing into my computer at work because my entry didn't make the next cut. It's silly and undignified.

To be clear, I will still do that. I'm just aware that it's silly and undignified.

To sum up, three minimum - eight maximum, I'm freaking out again, and tomorrow will be better.

This is why you don't trust your feelings. They can make you write stuff like this.

Evaluation

It seems important to perform a monthly evaluation of this site most likely for the next year (unless the Internet gets shut down in that time, that is). Important to me, anyway. Let me know how you feel about it. It is nice to pause and look back, around and forward. Hmm. I don't think I've looked forward yet. See? That's why you evaluate.

This month I've added one official follower. Hi, Kristen! I know of a couple more who read it but don't "follow" officially. Hi to you, too!

I've increased the number of commenters to five (I think), including my mom. Way to go, mom, on figuring out how to post a comment! Mom's also learned how to navigate The Anomaly. I'm very impressed with her.

I've learned how to put a picture inside a post (see Neno Award). Thank you, Susie, for the award and the instruction. If only I took more pictures!

I've added "labels" to my posts (not all of them yet, but I'm working on it). I saw that on (correction) Kristen's site and liked it.

I've tossed out the corny poem and replaced it with a less-corny guidance verse of Scripture.

I've added my own website link to this site.

This blog (as well as my website) shows up on search engines. Irony: when I googled my name, one of the links that came up listed "Star of Justice entered in Marcher Lord Select Premise Contest" from my website. Of all the parts to list. I decided to leave it on there. How many people will be looking me up by name? A lot, I hope, but originally, Jeff the Publisher was considering posting author's names, so...shrug. Besides, I wanted the website to promote my name as an author, and I'm doing that. I will not feel guilty. That's a topic for another post.

I started this post early this morning, and almost forgot I hadn't finished it. I'll finish it now.
The last month's posts have focused mainly on the Marcher Lord Select contest. Prepare for some MLS posts for the next month. The contest will conclude New Year's Eve. I'll give more details tomorrow. I haven't looked them up yet.

I do have other things to write about, though, and I'll get back to some of those, too.

Now, I have some main contest reading to do. I'll start with my picks that made it, and work out from there. I think we're only allowed three, and I think only three of mine made it. Choices might be pretty simple here.

And a heartfelt "I'm so sorry" to Ginny Jacques. I was surprised Zinovy's Journey didn't advance. I'm more shocked by some of the ones that did. This is a weird contest.

Titles

What to write about today? I'm starting the morning with a headache, crick in my neck, and a stuffy nose that's upsetting my stomach, so I'm a little bit off. I'm thinking I need to lay off the wheat and eat nothing but greens for the next week to get back into balance.

Since I was having trouble picking a title for this post, I've decided to write about titles.

Seems titles are difficult for some authors. My ideas usually come to me in title-form. The title pops up in my brain and the story follows soon after. The only title I ever had trouble picking was Star of Justice. The book was written before I realized the title was staring me in the face.

The funny part is I didn't tie the title into the blurb or synopsis in any way whatsoever for the contest. That probably isn't good.

A star of justice is a magical tattoo of rank for the Goloran knighthood. Instead of medals, Goloran knights have a six-pointed star (basically a Star of David) on their left inner forearm that is altered each time a new rank is achieved. A seventh-ranked knight's star includes all the colors of the rainbow with gold edging. Caissa is a second-ranked knight when the story begins, so her star is purple and blue with silver edges (described in the first 500 words). A knight of Golor is known colloquially as a Star of Justice.

See? Obvious title. Can't believe it took me four months to see it.

Elementals was simple. It's a story about elemental forces of good, evil, fire, water, darkness, light, etc. Past Ties was so simple its sequels (or possibly acts) followed immediately with Present Tense, Future Perfect, and the side-squel Dangling Participles that starts the events concluded in Star of Justice.

I have a file cabinet full of titles and ideas. I've just never had the follow-through to work on them. Hopefully, that is now changing.

Unfortunately, the MLS contest has halted work on Past Ties. I have 245 pages of main contest entries to read and consider in the next week. Some people are already commenting on the boards. I have to wonder how many of the posters in the contest have other jobs. Or lives :)

I have both, and I should be getting back to them.

See you on The Anomaly.

What I Meant to Write Yesterday

I wrote my concession speech the day before. I was prepared to be all thoughtful and magnanimous.

Then I made the cut, and pretty much went out of my mind for the day. I expect to be finding mistakes I made at work while thinking about the contest for the rest of the month. God-willing, they'll be small.

I have told you before I do not make snap judgments. That is sort of correct. I do have a default setting, if you will. When confronted with a completely new situation, something I've never encountered before (or don't recognize as something I've encountered before), I freeze. Caissa from Star of Justice shares this quality with me, poor girl. It's not a good reaction to have when dragons want to kill you.

I do absolutely nothing until I can figure out what to do. This is not a right or wrong response. It is just my response.

When I believed I would be eliminated, my first response was to do nothing. Yes, I've lost things before, but not quite this type of thing. I would wash Star of Justice's hands of MLS and move it on to other pastures as is, and write another book for MLS (still a good plan).

Then my brain started working. I realized I was missing an opportunity to really look at the writing I submitted and consider how it could have been different. I've said before I was aiming for accuracy, but it's a big book. It could be accurate in a lot of ways.

Marketing is about knowing the audience. What kind of blurb would catch the attention of this audience? What parts of my book would appeal to them?

I believe truth is absolute. Truths are true all the time, for everyone, without exception. This belief about truth can cloud my thinking sometimes. Just because absolute truth exists doesn't mean my back-cover blurb must capture it.

I'm not saying I should lie about what's in the book. I'm not saying I should rewrite the book to please this audience. I am saying if I'm serious about being a published author, I should try to think of explaining my book in different ways for different audiences. Yes, this is a new thought for me. No instincts, remember, and very little real life experience.

The truth is Star of Justice won't appeal to everyone. I don't expect it to. It's not the Bible. But it does appeal to a wide audience.

I just need to figure out how to communicate that.

So that's what I was going to write yesterday, and it's still true today. I'm going to fiddle a bit more with premises and cover blurbs, and even the synopsis, keeping in mind that truth, in this instance, can be reflective instead of absolute.

And if Star of Justice doesn't make the next cut, I will post a thread and ask for advice and take it like a real woman. While crying into my java chiller.

Oh, and I've added my website link to this blog. It's a little rough, but feel free to hop over there, check it out, and sign my guestbook! You can also email me from that site, if you wish.

I Love Everybody!

When I checked the MLS forum this morning, it was merely to complete the formality of not seeing Star of Justice on the list.

It's there.

The phrase I uttered cannot be written here, for decency purposes and because I know of at least two people who would be offended. Think Frank Barone and take it up one notch.

Not the best way to give thanks to God, but I was startled.

Startled? Floored. Dumb-founded. Shocked. I kept checking to make sure I really was looking at the right list.

Tears started immediately. I'm crying now, so I'm having trouble seeing the keyboard. Sorry if I miss a typo.

This was entirely you people. According to the boards, people at MLS are generally not interested in my type of fantasy. The three other fantasies like mine did not make it (the other ones I voted for).

That tells me it was entirely people who actually know me, whether they've read my book or not, who voted for me. That's you guys.

I'm crying again. I know I love myself. I never realized other people might love me, too. Except you, mom, you're a given.

Anyway, thank you, everybody. I don't know how I'm going to make it through work. I can't stop crying and now my head hurts.

See? This is what happens when I win something.

And a special thank you to my Lord and Savior. You've been with me through all of this, the writing, the submitting, the waiting, and the resignation. Thank You, Jesus, for my life and my friends. May You bless each of them as much as You've blessed me.

To Ask or Not To Ask?

I'm experiencing contest fatigue. Maybe it's just fatigue. I ate a cornbread muffin for lunch, and wheat makes me sleepy. Tasty muffin, though. Copper Oven.

I was on The Anomaly for a while, but it's just not as interesting tonight. Perhaps it's the impending losing that's taken the shine off. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've already accepted this as fact.

My concern now is whether to post a thread asking for critiques. I'm pretty sure I know the reasons Star of Justice wasn't picked:
1) the title is boring
2) the hook is boring
3) the blurb is boring
4) pretty much the whole thing so far is just plain boring

Yeah, that sums it up.

On a more realistic note, I'm concerned only 5 people will comment, and it will be the same 5 people who are commenting and it will be basically the same comments they've given to everybody else; namely, if you weren't quite so boring, we would have picked you.

I suppose there are worse fates than being boring. I've often aspired to boring in my life. It may surprise some people to learn most of the time I prefer not to be noticed. It was difficult for me to make that first comment on the boards, or to contact MLS in the first place, or to start this blog.

You know my real fear? No one will comment. My book is so boring, no one even noticed it sitting there patiently at the top of poll two.

Or worse, someone will comment who's been annoying me the whole contest. Not in a gloating fashion, mind you, just a polite "Oh, yes, this was just too boring for me. Been there -yawn- done that, you know? I mean, dragons in fantasy. How cliche."

I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, although I kind of just quoted somebody who's actually been pretty informative.

Of course, if I don't ask for critiques, who will think I'm just a coward? Which I am, by the way.
Would it make a difference with Jeff the Publisher? Do I care? I've pretty much decided Star of Justice isn't Marcher Lord Press material. Not because of quality, mind you, but because MLP audiences would find it boring and not buy it. As confirmed by this contest.

That's OK. I'll find an audience somewhere.

I have high hopes Past Ties will be better suited to MLP. It's sci-fi, deals with psychic nuns, cyborgs and time travel.

Of course, I'm sure someone somewhere has read something -yawn- like that. :)

See you at Sonic.

What to Say?

I'm ready for November to be done. I have some posts I want to write but not this month.

Voting continues on MLS. This is day two. Apparently, front runners have become apparent to Jeff (not us, because we can't see the polls). Star of Justice's thread has dropped to page two. Only Kristen and I have commented on it. I will not say "welcome to the story of my life" lest I provoke another comment from elder brother.

Reminder: you must vote for at least 3 entries in either contest or your vote will not count.

Purely out of curiosity, I counted words on Past Ties (the words I wrote 15 years ago, that is). Turns out it's only 33,000 words. No wonder mom couldn't remember any of it. I may have to combine it with Present Tense just to make one reasonable book. That would certainly speed up the process. If I try real hard, I can jam Future Perfect in there, too, and turn my trilogy into a book in three acts.

I've looked over some of it, and a lot will probably get cut. Working on Elementals taught me it is far better to let go of past writing than cling to it hoping to make it work now. If I'd written the book then, it would be done. Since I didn't, I pretty much need to start over.

I did decide to get rid of Mars and the lunar colony. This allows me to move the timeline much closer to now (I kept ending up in the 25th century otherwise and how cliche is that?) and removes a lot of that pesky research that keeps getting in the way of my muse.

Now, I need to pull out Peter Gabriel, Celene Dion and soundtracks for Blown Away and The Bodyguard cds so I can get writing.

Yes, I am afraid those are the main artists in the Past Ties soundtrack. I have some Roger Whittaker in there, too, but he tends to show up somewhere in all my books.

Phase 2 Voting Starts

I voted early this morning. Thought I'd get it done and move on with my life.

The boards were quiet. An eerie sense of anticipation lurks...

Not really. I suspect most people don't have cats to wake them up freakishly early on any day ending in "y."

Voting in the main contest is now very simple. All 18 entries fit in one poll.

The Premise Contest remains split in two polls. Star of Justice is listed in the second poll and once again, the first poll has more hits.

Of course, the first time I voted, I missed some on the first page and had to go back. Maybe that's what's happening to other folks, causing an artificial inflation of the counts. Whatever.

I'm tired today. I have no reason to be other than winter makes me tired. Like the turtle, I am a sun-worshipper. When the sun is up, so am I. When the sun is down, down I go. I would normally be sleeping later, except for the cats. This is my first winter with six cats. When I only had four, they knew to leave me alone. The two newest can't seem to grasp the concept.

I hope to take a nap tomorrow. I may go to bed early tonight.

Well, I have a book to write. See you in the morning.

Thanks for...New Friends?

OK, so my bubbling ecstatic mood just got squashed by the fact that I somehow managed to delete an entire post I had just finished writing. I don't know how. I blame Satan. Mica may have helped.

Since my bubbling ecstatic mood is in serious jeopardy, I may have trouble recapturing the spirit of that post. I will try.

Last night, while on the phone with My Dear Friend who does not have Internet, I made a wonderful discovery! I was reading her some of my blog posts (yes, I am that self-centered) and realized I had new people commenting! Woo-hoo!

And not just any people. Marcher Lord Select people! WOO-HOO!

My diabolical plan to make weird, Christian fantasy writer friends is working (insert evil laugh here)!

Everyone, meet Kristen. Kristen is one of those amazing people whose manuscript Jeff thought worthy of publication. Alas, the votes did not favor her (I voted for her, which may have been the kiss of death), and she is now seeking God's will for her manuscript. Please pray for Kristen.

Our other mystery commenter is Ginny Jacques, who has a blogspot of her own and lists MLS and Zinovy's Journey, which is one of the stories I'm following in the main contest. I will review Ginny's blog more thoroughly this weekend. A link may appear later ;)

Welcome to Ranunculus Turtle, ladies!

You may wonder how they found me. Well, in keeping with the spirit of no campaigning on the MLS forum, I did not list my contact info on my public "forum face" but put it on my private face. These ladies must have seen something they liked (or didn't maybe) in one of my comments and clicked on my name to find my blog. Again, diabolical plan working! HA HA HA!

At least, I assume that's how they found me. I suppose they could have hired a private detective. Or be affiliated with the FBI. Hmm.

Seriously, ladies, thank you for stopping by. I am honored.

Reminder: voting for the next phase of MLS starts tomorrow. Some of you will be getting an email about that.

Oh, and Jeff is running some Marcher Lord Press special sales today in honor of Black Friday, so if you want to pick up a speculative Christian fiction book for Christmas, this is a good time for it.

PS: I just went to Ginny's site and, yeah, she's my kind of weird. You'll find her on my "Blogs I Follow" list now.

Happy Thanksgiving

Like most of you, I have plans for the day. I thought I would get the blogging done early. I hope very much to write on Past Ties this evening, provided I'm not passed out from too much turkey.

If you have a chance, tune in to Bott Radio, Topeka FM 92.5 or American Family Radio (my favorite station), Topeka FM 90.4 at 7 PM to hear David Barton of Wall Builders on Focus on the Family speaking about our Thanksgiving heritage. I love and admire David Barton very much. He is worth a listen. I heard him at 7 AM, but I can't help being up early, even on holidays, thanks to the critters. A special thank you to Mica, who woke me up at 5 crying in my ear.

Hi, Cornelia, love you, sweetie!

Now that the aberration of mom in bed after 7 is over, my entire family is curled up in little balls on various pieces of furniture throughout the house. I keep it cool here because they all have built-in fur coats. I'm the only one who actually suffers.

I am fighting the desire to check out MLS forum. I suspect I will lose.

I think I've figured out the difference between New Member, Junior Member, Senior Member, and Full Member. It may have something to do with number of posts on the forum. There is a "members" button where you can sort members by frequency of posts. The titles are listed with the posts.
I'm still New but once I hit 50 posts, I should become Junior. Now it's like a contest, which is bad. I get a little competitive.

Anyhoo...day's a'wastin' so I'll move on.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I am thankful for each and every one of you.

More Thanks

I intended to devote the entire week to Thanksgiving. Then Aunt Flo showed up and rained on that parade. Good one, eh, my lamb?

I am thankful no homicide was committed yesterday. Mocha java chillers seem to have healing powers beyond the normal caffeinated beverage.

I am thankful for my family. I spent the evening celebrating The Flash's birthday (that's your new nickname, Molasses). I love that the nieces like each other now. I remember when being in the same room meant someone got grounded. I hope it lasts.

We talked of movies, driving (another learner's permit -eeek!), boyfriends and breaking up with boyfriends (ruined me. I never could get it right after that first one), and a host of other things while eating way too much food for way too much money (thanks for dinner, Elder Brother).

I am thankful for food, and movies, and boyfriends and the lack thereof. I am thankful for being debt free except for the house, and having a job, and having outside interests.

I am not thankful for coffee, but I am thankful other people enjoy it (that's all you're getting, Bessie. I can't capture the true spirit of the moment: "Oh, yeah, coffee! I should slow down."

I am thankful I have a house to come home to, and little people who are, for the moment, giving me enough space to finish this post. That won't last, but I'm thankful for that, too.

One of my favorite STNG episodes has Data creating a child. I fear I cannot remember the name of the episode. Loll enrolls in school, serves drinks in Ten Forward and generally captures our hearts. When a scientist from Starfleet command comes to take her away and study her, she develops emotions - fear, for starters - and consequently self-destructs.

My favorite scene from that episode is her last moment with Data, her father. It is very calm, as a farewell between androids would be. She tells him she loves him and says "thank you for my life." I cry every time.

How often I have said those words to my Father. Even when the sky is dark, the cold rain falls, and moon days overwhelm my reason, I am grateful for my life. I am even grateful for those hard times, because they remind me of how good the good is.

"Thank you for my life." So simple. So appropriate.

Gratitude is the greatest gift we can offer. Offer it whenever you can.

Why Jesus Was a Man

Forget for a moment the Bible refers to Him as masculine (unless you have a femi-Nazi-approved Bible). I try not to argue gender about a spirit.

The reason Jesus was a man is obvious. You can't have PMS and remain without sin.

Yes, PMS, that reproduction-involved miracle of biochemistry that turns the kindest, gentlest creature into a sneering, snapping harpy willing to eviscerate anything that dares to enter her breathing space on those most unfortunate days.

"Moon days," the Indians call them. I can only assume it relates to the wackiness so associated with that celestial body that our word lunatic is derived from its name.

In season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Oz confesses to Willow he's a werewolf, she replies with "Well, three days out of the month, I'm not so fun to be around, either." Understatement of the century, Joss Whedon.

Leviticus says a woman is unclean during her monthly discharge and must go to the priests to offer sacrifices afterwards. You can bet money Moses was writing that little bit of wisdom in the back of the tent while Zipporah was on a rampage. Even God knows women are going to need extra grace afterwards.

The woman with an ounce of decency in her otherwise regular life will warn her fellows once she is aware of the chemical wash about to shut down her cerebellum and leave her reptile brain in control. Because the one thing you must never, ever do is ask "Are you PMS?"

How many tragedies could have been avoided by not asking that question? The world, alas, will never know.

God, in His infinite wisdom, side-stepped the entire issue by making Jesus a man and keeping Him single.

Because a man with a wife cannot be without sin, either.

A Week of Thanks

For those who scroll down, I finally got the Neno Award on my blog. It's not where I want it, yet, but I'll get there. Thank you, again, Susie! (I'm supposed to pass it on to other bloggers who love blogging, but I only know two and one of them gave me the award. I need to make more friends)

(HA HA! I learned how to add picture! Thank you, Susie!)

Thank you to my nieces for growing up. School plays and musicals only become more enjoyable as that happens. I'm thanking God for that, too. Two hours is a long time to sit in a bad play. Topeka High School's production of Grease was not a bad play. The play isn't that great from a Christian worldview standard, but the kids did great. Some of them have some very impressive pipes.

Thank you to all my readers. Without you, I would be a sad schlub endlessly reading my own writing wondering "Why doesn't anybody like me?" I wouldn't care, but I would wonder.

Thank you to those dedicated souls taking part in the writing contest. A 35 year old woman from Texas mentioned Star of Justice in a mostly good way on one of the threads yesterday. Since I don't think I know any 35 year old women in Texas, I took it as a positive. Not positive enough to get me to the next phase (most likely), but a positive.

Anyway, those are a few things I'm thankful for this season. I'll probably give you more tomorrow.

Take a few minutes and thank God for your life, even if it sucks at the moment.

What I Should Be Doing

I should be researching Antarctica.

I should be working on my new website.

I should be writing about the Fair Tax on my other blog.

I should be reading Starfire by Stuart Vaughn Stockton.

What am I doing?

Reading and rereading the MLS forum boards.

I believe I have now made my selections for both premise and main contest. I will not go over them again until vote results are posted in December. Probably late-morning, mid-afternoon December 1.
I have picked my final six in the main contest. They are, in order of current interest:

The Last Apostle
The Sword of the Patron
Primary Source
Neil Before God
The Mysterious Calling of Mike Malone, and
Zinovy's Journey.

Having the first 500 words has made all the difference for me. I can now judge where I am comfortable, in the art of story-telling.

The most telling story is the comments of the participants. What a varied audience this contest has collected. Jeff the Publisher does not have an easy job. Some choice will undoubtedly offend someone. It must happen. But, I am sure we will all still respect him in the morning.

Now I must go resort my choices into an Excel file for later. Yes, that's just the kind of nerd I am.

Neno Award?

Let's see if this works.

OK, it didn't. I'm supposed to put a picture of this award on my blog, but I don't know how. Susie's done it, so she'll have to walk me through it.

Susie of Susan's Sampler, one of the blogs I follow, gave me a Neno Award.

First, this is an honor, and I recognize it as such.

Second, it apparently requires a skill set I do not yet have. :) Kinda of makes me wonder whether I deserve such an award!

There are Rules I'm supposed to post. One of them is to explain why I love blogging.

I'm not sure that I do. Yeah, I probably do.

I like putting my thoughts on the proverbial paper. I never would have thought this could be true when I was in high school being forced to write essays about my thoughts. (Thank you again, Mr. Freidline). Now that I'm doing it, and have some (very few) people reading them, I like it.

I'm also supposed to nominate someone else, but since I can't figure out what to do with it yet, I'll wait for further instructions.

But first, I'll say, "Thank you, Susie! I am honored!"

PS: HA HA! It worked this time!

Missing the Target

You may have noticed, yesterday's post stirred some reaction in at least one reader. I was aiming for amused epiphany. Apparently I hit whiny butt.

I've said before, I wrote Star of Justice without a specific audience in mind. It honestly never occurred to me it might not be interesting to actual Christian fantasy nerds. This is where that research I mentioned in my rejection post comes into play.

I submitted to Marcher Lord because of what I saw after one month of reading about Jeff the Publisher. I believe Jeff would have no problem with my writing skill level or story content. Often, the editor is the first hurdle to pass. I submitted with a clear understanding that I was worthy of publication by his company (we're not worthy! we're not worthy!)

I did not get onto the boards and learn about the readers until the contest. One month into it, I am realizing these people are looking for something startlingly new and ground-breaking (the ones who are talking on the boards, anyway). Apparently, that's what speculative Christian fiction is about.

That's not Star of Justice. Those who've heard me talk about it for any length of time, and you know who you are, know that I have no fantastic new ideas there. Certainly not Harry Potter new. I have old ideas rearranged with interesting characters and unexpected twists.

So, even though Jeff the Publisher might have no problem with my book, he has to consider what will sell to his audience. If none of his fans will buy it, it makes no sense to publish it, no matter how well I write.

I am not automatically rejected if I lose. I will not throw Star of Justice back into the proverbial drawer. I will see the book published, one way or another. If not by Marcher Lord Press, then somewhere else. Maybe my own company, Ranunculus Turtle Publishing.

But the first tale of Caissa Ocren is not my only book. Elementals is finished. Past Ties is begun, as is The First Man, Dangling Participles, Justice for All, and The Royal Pain. Provided the world doesn't end tomorrow, I have plenty to keep me busy. For now, I will continue with the contest and with seeking a venue for Elementals, and researching Past Ties. That is more than enough to keep one turtle busy.

Which reminds me, the premise contest vote this time is minimum 3 - maximum 12. I have 13 on my list, and I don't know what to cut.

I know which one I won't! :)

I Don't Read Fantasy

My mom said this to me yesterday as we discussed the MLS contest.

It had never occurred to me before, but she's right. Mom's bookshelf nowadays is stacked with political thrillers by authors whose names I can't even think of to write. When we were younger, she liked historical romances and westerns like Louis L'Amour and that guy that writes about Indian reservations. Hillcamp? Huxtable? Something like that. Perfectly good books I would never read.

Another friend who only read biographies and non-fiction historical commentaries also read my book and liked it. We were talking about cover art once. I told her I knew what picture I wanted for the cover (Caissa sitting at the feet of a dragon as they talk) and what picture a publisher would want (Caissa with sword drawn rushing a dragon breathing fire). I was told in no uncertain terms that my friend would never pick up a book with a picture on the front of it. She suggested a star of justice symbol instead. Maybe I suggested that and she concurred.

My sister-in-law read my book. While her taste runs to gangsters and vampire/horror, and she cannot stand English romances (or authors, for that matter, who are my main inspiration), she liked it. She even suggested I add a few more fight scenes. The dismembered monks in Manarot are for you, Triny.

Even my postman read it, and gave me the greatest compliment I have yet heard: "It's like a real book."

Either all these people are flat-out lying to me, or my book has appeal. Which floors me, considering I can't get a mention in the MLS contest. Yes, it's early, but once again, Star of Justice is noticeable by its absence. (I am not telling you to mention it, mom.)

So now I'm wondering, is my book too normal for real nerds? Is my lack of fantastical and uniquely startling creatures a drawback with the hard-core fantasy crowd? Is the very thing that makes the book accessible to people with other interests making it boring to those I would normally market to?

Egads! What a disaster! People who like the book would never pick it up to read, and those who would pick it up won't because it's too normal.

Welcome to the story of my life.

Premise Contest Phase 2

That's the title you're looking for when you log on to MLS's site. You can go back and look at the Premise 1 stuff, if you like. Some discussion threads are continuing. I will now look forward. Except for when I go back to post on the discussion threads, that is :)

The premises have been rearranged and the 100 word back cover blurb has been added to them. This has caused Jeff to break the entries into two threads. I'm listed at the top of the second thread. Yea! It means nothing, but it feels good.

The addition of blurbs did not make much difference to me at first read-through, but appears to have changed some minds. One poster pointed out that if a writer can't take a few hours to write a good blurb, why should you trust they took the time to write a good book? Given my own two-week struggle to write a good blurb, I'm not sure I agree with him, but I will go back tomorrow and look with a slightly more critical eye.

I am heartened by my blurb. I had forgotten what I wrote, and while reading it at MLS, I still think I did a pretty good job of giving the highlights of the story, a glimpse of the interesting characters, and the problem my heroine faces. The only question now is "will anyone care more knowing these things?"

I will know the answer in ten days. The next vote will take place Nov 28-30. End of the month, possibly end of the line for Star of Justice and the Marcher Lord Select Premise Contest.

We will see.

My, that sounds grim!

I am not depressed. I have not purchased that mocha java chiller yet, nor have I felt the overwhelming need to do so. As long as the weather cooperates with some sunshine in the next 10 days, I will do well.

I will no doubt do well long after that, too. My hopes for this contest are more than just publication. Those hopes show every indication of being fulfilled.

Game on!

Results Are In

I lost.

I can't actually lose this round because Jeff made it a freebie, but I would have lost if it counted.

I'm not surprised. A little disappointed, but not surprised. My premise doesn't catch the eye. Nobody cares about dragons destroying the world or Caissa Ocren.

I wonder how I might have written it differently. I was going for accuracy, but maybe snappy would have been a better approach.

These dragons don't need magic: they have lasers! They don't, actually (not in this book, anyway), but you have to admit, it's snappier.

I do wonder what the vote count was. I'm guessing nine. That would be me, the three people who mentioned it on the forum threads, the two people who emailed me with "break a finger's" and the three people who answered yes when I asked if they'd voted. Some others might have gotten around to it, but I don't count my dragons before they're hatched.

The next round of voting seems to happen in two weeks. That's the one that will knock me off for good. That's a slightly more depressing thought.

I'm waffling between eating my mozzarella sticks and java chiller then or having one now and one then, too. I am a little, tiny bit depressed. Not surprised, mind you, but a little depressed.

On the plus side, my Swedish squeegee mop really cleaned the slush off my back steps, so, Yea!

"It's the simple things in life you treasure." -Fred Kwan, Galaxy Quest.

Last Day to Vote

I haven't checked the boards today, so I have no idea how things are going. Tomorrow is soon enough to find out how my choices did.

I suspect some people (authors, namely) may stay up and wait for the turnover at 12 midnight Eastern. I think Jeff is on Colorado time so would that be 10 PM for him? I don't know when he finds time to sleep.

I have started working on my new website. This will take a while, I think. At the moment, I have no idea what to put on there or how to put it on if I knew what I wanted. I'll learn. Slow and steady.

Today, I decided to work on Past Ties again, the book that started it all. Technically, it is mostly written, but based on my experience with Elementals, I'm probably going to throw most of it out. Maybe. I don't know.

I stopped working on it because of the research needed to answer all the sticky questions that came up while I was writing it in the first place.

The story involves future governments (how far in the future? what kind of governments would have survived? would the US exist? if so, who are her enemies?), nanotechnology (what are we doing today in that field and what do we project for the future?), lunar and Mars colonization (which would come first, if we did either? what would drive such a push? would this be a government-run colonization or a private-industry venture, or both? what would it entail?) and artificial intelligence and robotics (I don't even want to think about how long that research could go on).

Getting an idea of why I stopped working on the book? This turtle don't care for research, and these are all things I would have to answer before I could comfortably publish Past Ties.

The problem with writing science fiction is you have to emphasize the science. In TV and movies, you can emphasize the fiction and use great CGI and explosions to keep the audience's mind off the obvious "that would never happen" plot weaknesses. Don't have that option in books.

However, now that I have the Internet and the will to use it, I'll begin my slow and steady course of answering these questions. Since Past Ties sets up events that impact at least eight other books I want to write, I guess it's time to get it done.

On the bright side, once I've answered these questions, I don't have to answer them again.
And speaking of bright sides, morning comes sooner and sooner for me, so I'll sign off and pick up in the AM.

Voting Continues

I've heard from some of you. Thank you for taking part in the Grand Experiment.

I cast my votes today. It seems I can change them through tomorrow 11 PM Central, if I wish.

I had 12 on one page, so I voted for ten and sent Jeff a personal message listing the other two.

I did this by clicking on his name (he's the first person who's written something after putting up the poll, so his name is there on the left hand side above his "picture.")

The click took me to his personal information, which includes the option to "send a personal message" at the top of the info box. That leads to an email, where I typed in my choices and my name and clicked "send personal message" one more time.

Once it was sent, it took me to a screen I didn't know how to get out of, so I clicked on "home" just above his info and that returned me to the MLS main board. You could probably also log out from that page, if you don't want to go read some of the discussion boards.

Tomorrow is the last day to vote in this round. Pray for the folks who are on pins and needles awaiting the outcome. They've worked hard for this, but, as The Highlander would tell us, "there can be only one."

PS: I just went to MLS to see how things are going, and totally unbeknownst (yes, it's a word) to me, Jeff has a post called There Can Be Only One.

I am so perfect to be one of these people! If only they could figure it out.

Oh, and I saw Star of Justice listed three times now. Yea!

Some of my more discreet friends...feel free to talk it up, if you'd like. Not you, mom. You're not discreet. Love you anyway.

Voting Starts Today

When I got onto the MLS site this morning, there were a few minor system glitches, which seem to be worked out now.

One problem: since the polls are split into two per contest, Jeff had to limit the number of choices per poll. I discovered for the main contest, I have more than 10 choices in the first poll and fewer than 10 in the second.

This problem will be solved by emailing Jeff any entries I couldn't enter due to the restriction. (Does that sentence make sense? I can't tell).

I will let you know how to do that once I do it. I think I can click on his name and it will take me to his bio where I have an option to "send a personal message." Like on Facebook. We'll see.

Anyway, while the voting is going on, I will continue to peruse the comments. I'm wondering if non-author campaigning will begin in earnest now.

We can't see the tallies, so no one will know 'til Monday whether they advance or go home.

"The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last." - Willy Wonka

Voting Starts Tomorrow

The title says it all.

Now, the premise contest people (i.e., me) won't be eliminated this round. This is more of a test vote for us. For the main contest people though... Come Monday morning, 16 will be done and 20 will remain.

Due to a technology hiccup, the voting threads will be split into two threads per contest. It seems Jeff the Publisher can't list all the entries into a single poll.

So, when you vote, you will need to vote in two polls per contest. You may split your 3-minimum/20 maximum votes between two polls. These polls should be fairly obvious and most likely titled something like "Premise Contest Poll One" and "Premise Contest Poll Two." I'm guessing here. I'll let you all know in the morning.

Meaning: if you don't find Star of Justice in the first poll, go to the second and look for it. If you want to vote for Star of Justice, that is :)

Reminder: you must vote for at least three entries in each contest or your vote will be discarded. OK.

So, since I don't actually get eliminated this round, I'm not nervous. The votes will not be visible, so I won't know how I did, either. I can email him and ask, but I don't think it would be helpful this time around. According to the discussion threads, most of us have realized you can't tell much from 20 words and we'd rather see more than less.

The part I find most interesting is as I read comments from people who not only seem very serious about writing, but many of whom are actively pursuing publication, I keep thinking of Seth Godin's Tribes book, where he says a real leader has the vision and everyone else follows it. Jeff the Publisher is the leader, and we're all clamoring to be part of his tribe.

Question is, what makes Jeff the leader? His experience in the field? His ability to create a website? His willingness to wade through mountains of excrement looking for that one great monument of fiction?

Yeah, pretty much.

Since I'm not willing to do all that yet, I'll clamour with the rest of them. For now.

Print On Demand has changed a lot of things. If I think Jesus is coming back that soon, I will self-publish, just to say I did.

A Bit of A Ramble About...Time

I was thinking last night about my childhood. Eighth grade, specifically, the year of Trapper Keepers, sneakers with velcro instead of shoestrings, and the erasable Bic pen. Good times.

I wrote back then, too, little snippets of scenes and stories that took my fancy and petered off as I lost interest. Nothing finished. Nothing terribly noteworthy.

My teacher Mr. Freidline gave us a writing assignment: what will you be doing when you're 30?
I told him I couldn't complete such an assignment because I didn't expect to be alive at 30. I think I annoyed him with that response (otherwise, except for one incident with a bug collection, we got along famously). I don't remember what I wrote for the assignment. A complete fabrication, no doubt.
I honestly didn't expect the world to be around by the time I was 30. Yet, here it is, eight years after the fact, and shows every indication of continuing for a while.

I wonder what my life would be like if I'd actually finished stories back then. If I'd sought publication when I was 15 and attending conferences, or 19 and writing continually in college, or even 21, when I "officially" finished my first book (that was Past Ties, but it wouldn't qualify as finished to me today because I left too many loose ends that I planned to address in the sequel Present Tense).

In The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle (one of my favorite books ever), the author tells us unicorns don't feel regret. A useful lack for an immortal creature. Eternity wishing you had chosen differently would be hell.

I've tried to live my life that way. Not by trying to experience everything, but by deciding not to regret the choices I make along the way. No point in regretting what cannot be changed.

I don't consider the intervening 20+ years between me then and me now wasted. I am a different person than that fourteen year old. I hope my writing has improved and my stories have gained depth and wisdom.

God is teaching me the journey is as important as the destination. Each step builds on the one before and prepares the way for the next. Taking the steps, even in my plodding, turtle way, is what matters. Persistence provides payoff.

It is not a regret, necessarily, but I do hope I have time to write more books. Now that I have a taste of the joy of completion as well as the agony of creation, I find I like it. I'd like to do more of it.
In the hopes that the world continues, I will continue, as well, without regret and with my eyes focused on the goal of completion, one story at a time.

Oops

Yesterday, I spent my morning blog time in daily devotions, my afternoon blog time checking emails about the writing contest, and my evening blog time getting my picture taken for my church directory.

Result: no post. My apologies to my faithful follower. ;)

I've been reluctant over the past few weeks to get on my computer. As I wrote elsewhere, it seems the amount of conflict produced in my life is in direct proportion to the risks I am taking as a part of my new Gene Getz-inspired life. I don't like conflict. Conflict makes stories interesting to read, but it makes life a real pain to live. It's making me want very much to pull back into my shell and stop talking to people altogether.

I won't, but I want to. This is why I never took chances before. My calm is being seriously disturbed by life. I don't have an ulcer yet, so I'm counting that a plus.

Contest voting starts this Friday. If you have registered, you received an email from Jeff the Publisher restating the rules. If you know me personally, you probably received an email from me doing the same.

All premise contest entries will advance in the first round, no matter who gets what votes. I think MLS is realizing a blurb alone does not a good premise make :) If they do this again, I wonder if the premise contest will be allowed the hook and the cover blurb to start.

Anyway, have a happy Tuesday, everyone. Love God and serve others today, no matter what conflict it generates. Choose the hard right instead of the easy wrong.

Polishing Is Finally Done

I took my own sweet time about it, too, but when I realized the contest was going to take so long, I decided not to rush it. I won't revise it again without a publisher telling me to do so.

Mostly, I've added more chapter breaks, which means coming up with more chapter headings.
I think it's been a full year since I've looked at this story. I'm pleased to say I'm still pleased with it, beginning to end. That doesn't always happen with stories.

Now I'm starting to think about the four books that go with it. I've two prequels, a side-quel, and a sequel all started. See, I wrote Star of Justice as a stand-alone, but I seem incapable of writing about a world without connecting it to other worlds in my universe.

Star of Justice is a spin-off from an as-yet unwritten story series based in our near future called Past Ties. That series is a time-travel, sci-fi mystery. And, no, I can't seem to stick with one genre. Anne McCaffrey never did and she's probably my biggest secular influence.

Actually, I should look over Elementals again and start researching possible publishers for it. I consider it a Young Adult book (mostly because the heroes are fourteen and fifteen), so Marcher Lord Press won't do for this one.

On the other hand, I wrote it with the intention of self-publishing through Print on Demand. Now that I have a website, I might go ahead and do that.

What I really need to do is finish reading Stuart Vaughn Stockton's Starfire. It's the book that got me into this whole contest with MLS, and makes me want to write for them. He's an amazing author. Anyone who can get me reading about dinosaurs would have to be. I'll be writing a review on it shortly.

Looking at the clock, I guess what I'm doing next is going to bed. God willing, the cats will let me sleep 'til the alarm goes off.

A girl can dream.

Reading Posts at The MLS Forum

Seems Jeff the publisher may want to have discussions after each round of voting about why you voted the way you did, and why you rejected certain titles/premises.

Sound a little risky, but he's hoping (with good reason) that people will be nice when they critique and the info might be useful for everyone.

I'm strangely for this concept.

Thanks for the prayers. I seem to need them more every day.

Rule 3

My posts have been a little long lately. The price of trying to instruct and comment at the same time. I'll keep this short.

I spent my morning computer time reviewing the last 16 entries for the MLS main contest.

I've picked my preliminary 20 to vote for. I figure why not give as many as possible a chance for as long as possible? I have time left, so I'm sure I'll go back over them and reconsider.

I must admit, some of these stories seem a little silly to me. I won't name names since theoretically someone from the contest can now find my blog and possibly read this. Plus, my silliness may be someone else's Grand Vision. I don't have the market cornered on great fiction.

A few of these entries make my worldview lens cloudy wondering if these are areas open for fictional interpretation. "Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial" kind of stuff. I personally would hesitate to tackle a few of them just in case I tread in heresy territory. For example, I wouldn't want to be the author of The Shack (not a book in the contest, by the way, I mean the real The Shack). I don't think he set out to cause the stir he did, but woo-doggies, did he ever.

On the other hand, this is speculative Christian fiction. What's the fun in speculating only on "safe" topics?

I am enjoying reading the discussion boards. I've even made a few comments, checked and double-checked for accuracy, I assure you.

Anyhoo, feel free to join us in the grand experiment. Countdown continues. Seven days to go.

TUTAW: Rejection

The Ugly Truth About Writing is...rejection happens.

We all know this. When you put yourself out there, odds are you will be rejected. Even more true about writing.

You write a story. Or not. Some people have an idea first and wait to write until they have a backer. This is a good use of time, but I'd rather just write the book and worry about publishing later.

So here's this story. You think it's good. You think other people will think it's good. You do some research (hopefully. otherwise you will waste a lot of money) and pick a publisher you think will like your story. Actually, you pick a publisher who publishes stories like your story. The difference between those two sentences is the emotional meaning you will attach to their response.

You submit your story, following all the guidelines the publisher requests. You wait. You do whatever it is you do while you wait (don't bother the publisher!). I try to keep my mind on something else.

Your response arrives. It has probably changed, but back when I regularly attended conferences, it was your manuscript returned in a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelop) and a pink rejection slip. The slip is very polite, and states something like "We have reviewed your manuscript, and it does not fit our current needs. Thank you for contacting us." A polite brush-off.

You can be crushed. It's OK. It's not helpful, but it is natural. Even I would be a little dented.

Here's the problem. That slip doesn't tell you anything. It may be saying they are too busy to actually read your story. Or, they have so many submissions already they can't produce one more right now. Or, your story really doesn't fit their needs (meaning you didn't research your market well enough). Or, the editor (likely junior) who read it just didn't like it that day.

See? All kinds of reasons. None of them are personal.

It is possible the editor hates you. If you went to conference, met her and annoyed her, it's possible. If you call her twice a day for a month and ask if she's read your manuscript, it's likely. Don't do that, by the way. The editors I work for won't talk to anyone who "bothers" them about a press release (with certain exceptions, except none of those will apply to you and your publisher, believe me).

So, the rejection isn't personal. It doesn't stop it from hurting.

The Marcher Lord Select contest is an editorial review by other authors and potential readers instead of one editor. However, this doesn't mean that losing the contest assures none of these people would like my book if they read it.

The contest is set up with a lot of hoops to make conditions as fair as possible. I support this whole-heartedly. It is not fair for one person with a lot of friends to win just because they can rouse more support from people they know.

On the other hand, the audience itself is people who know about the contest; i.e., potential authors and readers who are Internet users. MLP books are sold on the Internet, not stores. These people are nerds and geeks (my own kind) but they are not the only nerds and geeks in the world.

Plus, the length of the contest itself and the commitment involved in following it through to the end may create conditions where the final voting is done by only a handful of people. As I read the comments, I'm seeing about 10-20 people currently active in the process. Will more vote? I hope so, but I don't know.

I want to win. I'm in it to win. I may not. Some of these books sound pretty good, and they seem to be touching nerves with this audience. I think that's great. I'm astounded to learn there are people in the world as weird as I am, and that we have a place to gather. That knowledge alone makes all this worthwhile. Even if I lose the contest, I am not barred from resubmitting my story to MLP. It will just take longer to get published (see? Optimism!).

Rejection happens. It is a fact. I try very hard not to connect it to my sense of self-worth. For the most part, I succeed.

It seems I may have sounded a little depressed and possibly suicidal in yesterday's post. Please believe, I am fine. Fear gives way to resignation for me. Whatever happens now is God's will. I'm just looking for the teachable moments. And I'm looking forward to seeing who wins.

It may be a book I wouldn't want to read. ;)

The Premise Contest So Far

Another way-too-early morning for me. This time, I woke myself up at 4:11. The cats had nothing to do with it.

For the record, nothing good seems to come of waking up at that time for me. I try to pray for folks until I fall back asleep (if I can), 'cause most folks need it, but at that time, in the dark, when sunrise is still hours away, my mind naturally goes to bad places. All the worries of my waking life find me. Even though I'm talking to God and trying to listen to Him, He seems far away at 4 AM.

Result: today I get up with a knot in my stomach as well as a stuffy nose. I have no reason for the knot. It's just there, annoying me, trying its best to make me grumpy.

Last night, I spent an hour or so at the MLS website looking at the premise contest and the first 20 main contest entries, and reading what other people are saying about both.

(Reminder: check out my How to Register with Marcher Lord Select post to get signed up to be a judge in this contest)

Star of Justice is listed on only one person's I'm going to vote for list, and it was only picked after a second read-through of all the premises. Hey, I'm glad for any press at this point. There are other entries that aren't listed by anyone. Yet.

We're three days into the contest, ten days before actual voting can happen. Now is the time to read and choose what you will vote for on Nov 13, 14 or 15. Now is the time to make public comments at The Anomaly forum about which premises interest you and why. This information is helpful for new writers.
(Reminder: you must vote for 3; you may vote for up to 25)

I might believe that my book being listed toward the end is making a difference, except a premise that seems to interest everyone is after it. Sigh.

When I wrote Star of Justice, I had no particular audience or theme in mind. I just wanted to write a great book. That lack of intentionality may hurt me in this contest, but I find I don't care so much. I like my book. People who've read it like it. And some of those people aren't related to me in any way (like my mailman).

Hey, at some point, I owe everyone an Ugly Truth About Rejection post. It's coming, never fear. I like that the people who are posting comments at this time seem to be taking the whole thing seriously. I suspect that makes MLS happy with their grand experiment.

The entire premise contest is based on 620 words: the 20 word premise, 100 word blurb, and first 500 words. That's a lot of pressure for about two pages out of 300. Every participant should be commended for even trying. Right this moment, I wonder how many (like pre-Gene Getz me) didn't try because they were afraid they couldn't do it.

Well, I'm starting my day an hour ahead. I suspect I'll end it an hour behind.

May God bless your day anyway.

Second Month Evaluation

I'm two months into this blog. Let's pause and reflect, shall we?

I haven't gained any more public followers, although I think, based on outside conversations, I have more readers than I suspect.

I have learned how to post a poll and links and move things around layout-wise.

The thrill of writing daily has faded into duty. I knew it would, as life caught up with me. I suppose as my writing goals become more serious, it is logical my writing about those goals would follow suite (it is suite, right? like suite of cards?). I'm fighting it, though. I want to keep on the sunny side of writing. The weather hasn't helped my mood, but as The Wise Woman would say, "You cannot be princess of others until you are princess of your moods."

Now that the contest has begun, I feel very calm. I suppose that's because it is officially out of my hands.

I want to make it very clear, as I write about the contest, I am fully aware I am over-functioning. In the real world, I would tell you about it and leave it up to you to do as you will. In the real world, that's how I work. Personal responsibility applies to everything, even contests.

However, since this is important to me, and if you're reading this blog it may be important to you, I will help you as much as I can without violating my conscience.

If you notice the time stamp on this post, you may wonder what I'm doing up at this sacred hour.
Cats are no respecters of daylight savings time. Cats won't give you an extra hour of sleep. In fact, cats will wake you up an extra hour early just to make sure you don't forget to wake up at the usual time. We're doing some retraining, but I'm going to be a little fuzzy for the next week or so. My apologies to those of you who must deal with me in the real world.

As far as the contest goes, I read through the prospective premises last night. Turns out I'm very picky about my reading subject matter. A few premises I dismissed out of hand, not because they didn't sound interesting, but because I would never read that kind of book. I tended to be interested in the fantasy ones. Shocking!

Anyway, I've chosen 11 to vote for, so far. I will probably go back and add some. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know I don't form snap judgments. I have to gather information and mull things over.

I'm following dizzyjam's advice about how to choose. I credited it to Jeff the Publisher, but it's one of his senior members who actually wrote the post.

Keep in mind, some writers don't know how to write a good hook. This doesn't mean their book is bad. In the next round, we'll get the back cover blurb and that might make all the difference in your interest level. If you're remotely interested, there is no harm in voting for it.

I must also admit, I'm looking at the word count. At 166,000 words, Star of Justice is a little over 300 pages single-spaced. I think 100,000 words is the average for a Christian romance novel, and that would be about 250 pages. Some of these premises have 78-80,000 words. I don't know if that means they are amazing writers who know how to make every word count, or beginning writers who have a good idea that's a little thin in execution. Of course, I've read some fantastic books that were small and to the point: The Myth Adventures series by Robert Aspirin springs to mind, or anything by George MacDonald. A book doesn't have to be long to be great. Also, if the story is a great idea but a little thin, I'm sure the publishers/editors would be willing to offer some help in bulking it up.

My dilemma is whether or not to assume these writers are like me. Are they experienced but unpublished? Is this their first foray into the publishing world? Do they have good ideas but lack ambition? (this is me.) Or, are these real newbies, eager to jump into the writing life and get it going but maybe still lacking some skills? Wow, that sounds arrogant even for me.

I'm not saying I've got it all figured out. I don't. But I have read manuscripts that are more eager than coherent. A good story is a balance of many elements. It's hard to do. I've also heard good pitches that were poorly executed. Just because the hook is a zinger doesn't mean the book will deliver.

Hmm. That stream of thought wasn't helpful, was it?

It will be hard to figure out from the tiny slice of writing we're allowed in the premise contest who is capable of presenting a good story. I suppose that is why the prize is a review, not a publishing contract. Marcher Lord Select has already figured this out. It's one of the reasons I like them.

How to Register with Marcher Lord Select

Marcher Lord Select is up and running. The contest entries are listed. It is time to review and select your favorites.

I know some wonderful folks who are not tech-savvy. This post is for you.

If you click on the link at the left corner of my blog, you will go to the login page for the Marcher Lord Select contest forum. From this page, you may "Create New Account."

Choose your user name (mine is robynnt), a password (I'm not telling you my password, but you choose what you can remember) and enter your email address.

You will receive an activation code in your email inbox to make sure you're real. The code will come from correspondence@proboards. Copy that code (ctrl C) and use the link in the email to complete the registration process by pasting the code (ctrl V) into the form and submitting.

Then you can use the link on my blog to log in directly to the forum with contest information, and you should be good to go.

Most of my readers have my email address and phone number. If you get too stuck, contact me.
Once you're registered and logged in, you will see Phase 1 for the Main Contest and the Premise Contest.

I encourage you to check out both. The main contest winner will actually get published. The premise contest winner will get her manuscript reviewed by the publisher for possible publishing next year. Both ideas are really cool.

Actual voting will be Nov 13-15.

Now is the time to look over the contestants and pick the ones that interest you. Jeff the publisher recommends opening a Notebook file (I don't know how to do this) and saving the names into that. I'm going to type the names into a Word file and save it as Favorite Contest People. Or maybe something shorter. As names get eliminated and moved around, you'll have a list of what you liked in the beginning.

In the premise contest, you'll have to vote for three. This is to dilute the chance of one person dragging a lot of folks in just to vote for one entry. You can vote for up to 25.

Tonight, I'll give you a chance to try the logging in process. You can stay logged in or you can logout using the logout option on the tool bar under and a little to the right of the Y in The Anomaly. I always log out of stuff. I'm a safety girl.

Tomorrow, I'll walk you through the articles Jeff has written about the contest. I encourage you to read them yourself as primary source material, but I'll do my best to summarize accurately for those barely interested.

Now, I'm almost done with my polishing of Star of Justice, so I'll get on with that.

God be with you.

Nothing to Say

My "contest break" continued today as I focused on the rest of my life. I'll pick back up with Marcher Lord Select in the morning.

I spent time outside raking leaves and inside watching season 1 of The Mentalist. I met a cousin who talks now and seems to like me (I kept winning prizes at imaginary bingo and imaginary pumpkin carving) and spent time with my grandmother on her birthday (97, I think). I started the morning talking with my Savior and finished the evening talking with the same Guy.

The sun was shining and I think I saw a bank sign with a temp of 77 degrees. I would call it a good day. I should call all days good days, but I'm still biased toward the shining sun.

Since I have so little to write about, please feel free to share your day in the comments section. I'd love to know how my readers are doing.