A sweltry breeze blew the sheer curtains at the open window. Moonlight splashed across the room, casting shadows on the floor. In the corner, a fan rotated, the rhythmic whup, whup of the blade creating a white noise that drown out the night sounds.

Somewhere in the house, a muffled sob.

“Daddy, help!”

He sat straight up. Blinking, he tried to focus through the dim light. The clock read 4:40 AM. He glanced down at the side of the bed, his eyes focusing on a strange, dark shadow. Good God, what was that? His eyes narrowed. It looked … Read more »

Excitement, doubt demons and motivation. That’s what’s on my mind. Or not on my mind as the case may be.

Two full requests on MB in two days from two RWA approved agents. One would think that would excite me, eh? Not so. I’ve had requests for fulls before, and have gotten my hopes up, only to be sucked down by the doubt demons when it turns out to be nothing (or when I just don’t hear back). When these requests came in, I wasn’t excited in the least. Does that mean I’m becoming jaded? Realistic? Just don’t care anymore? … Read more »

My six-year-old daughter was grounded yesterday. Why you might ask? Because the night before she threw a complete temper tantrum at bedtime. She was absolutely convinced there were mice in her bedroom (it’s on the second floor) and that they were going to “get” her. Now, I can understand childhood fears, but I commisserated with her, explained there were no mice in our house, and then lost it when she wouldn’t stop screaming. It’s one thing to cry and be upset, it’s another to FREAK OUT. At any other time I would have just shut the door and left her … Read more »

Linda and I have decided to become literary agents. She can rep. me, I’ll rep. her, and we’ll still make money off other writers. How does that sound???

Seriously, how hard can it be? She’s got the background in Literature, I have a master’s degree . . . in . . . something. We’re two highly educated, bright women. We should be able to make this fly.

The scary part is, we think way too much alike, so not sure how things would go. 🙂 If I wasn’t absolutely sure I wasn’t a twin, I’d think we were separated … Read more »

What inspires you to get those words down on paper? Is it blogging? That steady stream of consciousness, that writing exercise to pump up your brain and flex your fingers? Is it that jolt of caffeine in the morning, awakening your mind? Is it a quiet house…a good run…a shot of tequila? What exhilerates you?

For me, generally, it’s music. As I sit here listening to my favorite songs downloaded off that wonderful web world of Napster, I can listen to whatever I want and let my mind wander. More than one novel has been spawned by songs that … Read more »

I got my Daphne contest results today in the mail. Surprisingly, I tied for sixth place. The top five final and get their work in front of a Berkley/Jove editor and an agent at Trident. *sigh* So close…and yet so far…

On the plus side, all three judges said they’d like to read the complete book and that they would recommend it if it were published. That’s encouraging. And they all had very positive things to say…”fantastic voice, excellent sense of place, excellent characterization, pacing kept me turning pages, excellent use of senses…overall, beautiful.” So that’s nice.

As … Read more »

Let’s see. At this point, my agent search stands like this:

Marina’s Bane:
18 unanswered queries (2 from November I never expect to hear back on)
4 Partials out (one to dream agent)
1 Full out

Wait For Me:
1 Partial out (to another dream agent)

No rejections in the mail today. That’s always a plus.… Read more »

Sweeter words were never typed.

WFM is done. Now I get the fun of going back through and editing/layering.

Is a story ever really finished? That’s a topic for another blog.… Read more »

Are. Emotionally. Draining.

I feel like I’ve been through the wringer. Better yet, I feel like I just broke up with my husband, lost my best friend, was told I have 30 days to live, and oh yeah, my dog was hit by a car. That’s what the big black moment is to me today.

For Ryan and Kate in Wait For Me, it goes like this:

She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Kneeling in front of her, he placed trembling hands on her thighs. Anguish clawed at … Read more »

Last week: mailed two partials and a full on MB, one partial on WFM. Sent five more e-queries this morning. Signed up for one editor and one agent appointment at Nationals. Feeling lucky – lots of people I know didn’t even get one appointment.

Hoping to have an agent before Nationals. Wouldn’t THAT be nice! 🙂

And no rejections in the mail today!… Read more »