NO NAN-O FOR ME-O

Today being November 1st and the start of NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) I have to say I'm a bit bummed. I was so excited to finally do it this year.

But . . .

The H1N1 virus and secondary bacterial pneumonia have dampened my spirits, (and my health) so I won't be participating.

I want to wish everyone who IS participating a huge GOOD LUCK!!! Know that I'm right behind routing for ya.

AGENT MARY KOLE'S QUERY CONTEST

Associate Agent Mary Kole (from Andrea Brown Literary Agency) is holding a query contest over at kidlit.com.

I'm entering a query for my middle-grade fantasy novel. You can check out all the details here.

SOMETHING ABOUT A SECRET

Don't you think there's something special about a secret? Everyone loves hearing secrets and (sometimes) telling those secrets.

My MG fantasy novel used to be mine. I wrote it to myself. I was the only one who knew all of my characters, my world, my setting. Every time I'd sit down with my pages my characters were there like old friends, waiting for me . . . and no one else knew about them.

Now I've shared most of my secret with friends and family as well as other writer's for critiques. It's exciting to talk back and forth about MY story, to finally ask and answer questions with other people, but a tiny bit of my heart is sad.

It's not only mine, anymore. Others know my secret. Soon I will send my manuscript off to agents and editors and they also will (hopefully) read my secret.

Anyone else ever felt this way? Writing is such an intimate thing.

THE MOTHERHOOD MUSE

My buddy, Kimberly Zook, is launching a new literary magazine called The Motherhood Muse.

I planned to post an interview and some pictures to help spread the word for her, but Blogger is being wierd and won't let me do it.

I guess I'll try again tomorrow. In the mean time . . . check out this link for The Motherhood Muse:

http://themotherhoodmuse.blogspot.com/

WRITER'S BUTT

I know you've all heard of WRITER'S BLOCK, but have you ever heard of WRITER'S BUTT? I define it as the tingling sensation you get in your rear when you've been sitting too long.

Last Saturday my hubby took the kids fishing and I stayed home and wrote . . . for 7 hours. That's a long stretch for me. That NEVER happens. So, it was my "pretend-like-you're-a-full-time-writer-day" and I learned a few things:

1. If I force myself to pretend like my internet connection has been cut, I actually write!

2. Snacking on anything I can find will NOT help me figure out a difficult scene. It WILL give me lots of crumbs in between the keys on my keyboard.

3. When my bum falls asleep, it's time to take a walk around the neighborhood.

4. If I'm still talking out loud to my character's on my lunch break, it's time to take a second walk around the neighborhood (and maybe find some real people to chat with.)

Yep, the next time I have a whole day to myself to write (in like, ten years) I will be sooooo prepared.

FAIRY TALES

Do you believe in fairy tales? I do. I'm going through an I'm-obsessed-with-fairy-tales spell right now. I'm even obsessed with Taylor Swift's "Love Story".

Since I'm currently writing a mid-grade novel based on a fairy tale, I've been borrowing a Grimm Brother's book from the library (for, like, two months now!) and I read it every night before I go to bed. There are some awesome stories in there that are unknown, and I feel like everybody is missing out. I promise ya, there's so much more than Cinderella out there.

Here's some of the things I've noticed about these stories:

They mostly have happy endings.
They are filled with surprising twists.
Titles are general, uncreative (but hey, how else would they remember each story?)
They don't dig deep emotionally.
They are told very straightforward.
They repeat a lot of the same themes, sentences, and paragraphs.

A few of my current favorites are The Raven, The Water Fountain, and The Salad. (See what I mean about titles?)

Leave me a comment and tell me what YOUR favorite fairytale is. And your not allowed to say Cinderella.