The madness continues. . .

March 18, 2013March 18, 201311 Comments

. . .but not for me. The emails are out, and I didn’t get one, which means I’m not moving on to the second round of Pitch Madness. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I’d also be lying if I said I’d been holding my breath. My pitch needs work. Maybe I should have gone with my gut and used the short pitch I’ve got up on authonomy. But the competition was pretty stiff; 300 or so people were culled from the competition, so I’m hardly alone in my disappointment. Besides – I’ve made a bunch of new friends, and that is quite obviously the best part of these competitions. 🙂

So for me, it’s back to querying the old-fashioned way – research and submit, research and submit. Oh, and pray. Cuz, you know, you gotta pray. A lot. The competition out there is stiff, and marketing is not my strong suit (I’m working on that). Meanwhile, there’s always the #PitMad contest on Twitter next week… 😀

Congratulations to all those moving on, and good luck in the upcoming rounds. I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines and doing my best to keep thinking positive while I hunt for agents to add to my query list.

Pitch madness! (suddenlytheyalldied.com)
Other Blogs I Recommend (ephixbooks.wordpress.com)

Pitch madness!

March 16, 20136 Comments

Lipei
Artwork by Hazel Butler

That’s right, folks, I’ve got pitch madness! What, pray tell, is pitch madness? Why, it’s a lovely competition run by the lovely Brenda Drake and it’s happening right now! 🙂 Well, kind of. The submission window was yesterday and the task for those who chose to accept it was to submit a 35-word logline (a pitch) and the first 250 words of their completed novels. The slush zombies are currently wading through all the submissions and choosing who will advance to the next round.

Unlike during GUTGAA when I was on the edge of my seat, I was slightly more relaxed this time around because there was no entrant cap – everyone who entered during the window got in. But! That hasn’t stopped me from second-guessing every bit of my submission ever since I hit send yesterday morning.

I’ve been working over my pitch and my MS quite a bit over the course of the last six months, but that hasn’t stopped me from feeling insecure about the whole big mess, especially since I have a variety of short pitches in the works now. Do I use one of the ones I created for the #PitMad pitchfest last fall? Do I use the one I currently have up on authonomy? Do I use the one-sentence synopsis I spent a whole day trying to draft?

Why I read

March 15, 2013March 15, 201318 Comments

So, what has prompted me to write about my reading motivations? Well, I’ll tell you!

In addition to being lousy at blogging so far this year, I haven’t been so great at keeping up with Facebook and Twitter, either. This means I spend a lot of time playing catch-up. During one of my crazy bursts of catch-up reading, I found the following tweets in my stream:

His argument was that it’s already sci-fi & the m/m story pushed average readers another… @yabookshelf @thedharmadiva @valerievaldes

— Layla Messner (@LaylaMessner) March 14, 2013

…level outside their comfort zone. But changing it to m/f would just perpetuate that problem! @yabookshelf @thedharmadiva @valerievaldes

— Layla Messner (@LaylaMessner) March 14, 2013

RT @thedharmadiva: @laylamessner The m/m story may stretch their comfort zone, but isn’t that WHY we read?

— Layla Messner (@LaylaMessner) March 14, 2013

And I got to thinking: Why do I read?

Transcendental pinning

March 13, 2013March 13, 20132 Comments

Walt Whitman’s use of free verse became appreciated by composers seeking a more fluid approach to setting text. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, a couple of hours ago, I was happily scrolling through my Pinterest feed when I came across a quote by Walt Whitman. I thought up some clever quip to use in the description field, hit the Repin button, and then decided to double-check something before I posted it for all the world to see. It’s a good thing I did, because as it turns out, I had my nineteenth-century American authors mixed up. (I always get Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau confused.)

Of course now, after having spent the last couple of hours reading about Walt Whitman, the Washingtonians, “O Captain! My Captain!“, the Wilmot Proviso, and a few other random things on Wikipedia, I have absolutely no idea what that clever quip I thought up was anymore. Heck, I couldn’t even remember why I was reading about Walt Whitman in the first place till I clicked over to my Pinterest tab and saw that I was in the middle of pinning something.

But I guess that’s just the way it goes. This has been one of the longest weeks in recent memory and I don’t suppose it will get much better in the next day or so. But! Come Friday, I’ll be entering Pitch Madness, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

Okay, that whole last paragraph doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I’m tired. I’ll blame the time change. And then I’ll go to bed. 😀

When Oscar Met Walt: Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman, January 1882 (irishamericancivilwar.com)

Castle of Dreams

March 1, 20131 Comment

Today I had the pleasure of guest posting over on my good friend Andrea Baker’s blog. She’s been running a series called Castle of Dreams and I’m delighted to participate in it. My contribution concerns the palace in Lokana, where my book The Lokana Chronicles and my current WIP are set. It was a whole lot of fun to write.

I hope you’ll head on over and check it out. While you’re there, have a look at some of the other entries in the series. Not all are fictitious entries; there are also posts about very real castles, including Kenilworth Castle, which figures prominently in Andrea’s book, Worlds Apart – Leah, recently published by Taylor Street Publishing.

And now, I’m off to bed. It’s been a long and busy day, full of work and good food and good friends and great family and fun and I am exhausted! Happy Friday! 🙂

Castle of Dreams – Week Five (willmacmillanjones.wordpress.com)
Review : Leah – Andrea Baker (thesplendidsiren.wordpress.com)

The stories we tell ourselves

February 14, 20134 Comments

From the moment we are conceived, we are part of a story. And once we are born, we begin to tell our own stories. New plotlines are added every day; new characters and plot twists pop up like dandelions in new spring grass. These stories shape our personalities and color our interactions with the world around us; the stories we tell ourselves affect every aspect of who we are and who we will become.

Photo by Kay Kauffman

Stories shape, and sometimes even become, our worldview. But when that worldview is challenged, how do you respond? Such challenges are often met with outrage, sometimes even hostility. People throughout history have paid the price for their inability to rewrite their own sagas, sometimes losing sanity and life. As ink jockeys, we know that all writing is rewriting, but what about the ordinary storytellers of the world?

Star Trek and books: A Valentine’s Blog Hop

February 11, 2013February 8, 201315 Comments

Well, it’s that time of year again: the stores are full of chocolates, red and pink decorations abound, and if you’re not careful, Cupid might get you with his trusty bow and arrow. That’s right, Valentine’s Day approacheth! Joleene Naylor, one of the wonderful members of the Ink Slingers League, is hosting a little blog hop celebrating the loveliest of holidays and the loveliest of pastimes, reading! Here, then, be my entry for the I ♥ Books Blog Hop! 🙂

Valentine’s Day is not the only special February day in the Kauffman house. February 10 is a pretty special day, too. February 10 is the anniversary of my first date with Seymour an unbelievable five years ago. And February 16 is his birthday, so that’s another special day. I can hear you all now: What the heck does your first date have to do with Star Trek and Valentine’s Day, let alone books? Well, if you know us, or if you’ve been reading my rambling scribblings here for long enough, you’ll know that it was Star Trek that brought Seymour and me together (among other things, like small-town curiosity (okay, fine, small-town nosiness)).

On our first date at the local pizza joint, we ran into my kindergarten teacher, who stopped to chat.

The Rose and other tidbits

February 2, 2013Leave a comment

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Photo credit: alice_ling)

The rose she has gone back to Nature
Her petals on the grass by her mother tree lay
But memories of her blooming in the sunshine
With me till my own end will stay.

“The Rose,” by Francis Duggan

I hopped on the Alliance thread this morning and found the above waiting for me with a belated birthday wish from the Dreamcatcher. It’s a lovely little poem; you can follow the link to read the rest of it. A quick Google search revealed that Mr. Duggan is quite prolific and that a lot of his work is available online. The site I linked to above had nearly 500 pages of his work alone, possibly more.

So what’s new? I’ve been rubbish at posting since the new year struck. I’ve been struggling to get into a routine – any routine – this year and I’ve had some other things weighing me down as well. Hopefully I’ll have all that unpleasantness resolved soon and I can start making progress on the rest of my goals for the year.

Speaking of goals for the year, I’ve passed 40k on my sequel.

Books I want to read this year

January 28, 2013January 8, 201425 Comments

I have an extensive list of books that I would like to read and it seems that my list grows longer every day. But since I’m keeping track of which books I’ve read through the course of the year, perhaps if I keep track of which books I’d like to read, I might stand a chance of reading a few more of those desired titles.

So, without further ado, here are some of the books I’d like to read this year:

I’m fantastic?

January 27, 2013January 27, 201313 Comments

That’s right, folks, it’s another award post. But this is not likely to be one you’ve seen a thousand times before. This award is brand new, created by my friend Sophie Tallis to honor the one-year anniversary of her adventures in blogging and to celebrate the fantasy genre. Today’s award post is all about the Flight of Fantasy Award.