Friday Obsessions: Doggone Voice, Rainy Mood, and Cake

Happy Friday, sweet readers!

I've had a heckuva week - I was home alone (!!!) with all four of my monsters for the first three days of it, and I am 

So! Quick obsessions rundown, shall we?

1. THAT DOGGONE VOICE Workshop over at Brenda Drake's!
Yes! I am famous! Brenda asked me to be part of The Voice Team in her latest workshop, along with my CP Marieke. Some of these entries are STELLAR, you guys, and it was all I could do to not ask to read their manuscripts. Come visit and tell them what you think when it opens to comments next week!

2. RainyMood 

Raise your hand if you like to read, write, or just generally BE inside with a thunderstorm happening outside.

Yeah, I thought so.

Navigate to rainymood.com for a summer thunderstorm any time, any place. You can play your music over top of it, too. Writing bliss!

3. Cake


I want cake. Just some cake. Any cake. So badly. *sigh*


Yeah, I know it was short. The workshop wore me out!
What about you, sweet readers? What were YOU obsessed with this week?

Adventures in Reduxes, Step 1: Deconstruction

Hey, sweet readers.

Either we've known each other for awhile or we're planning on the sticking it out for the long haul, yes? So I might as well be honest with you. I need to tell you three things right now:

1. I'm a pantser, (which you might have known.)
2.  But I hate that about myself, (which you probably didn't know.)
3. I am LAZY. (which, if you've been paying attention at all, you definitely knew.)

So, what does a lazy pantser do when she wants to write with an outline but doesn't actually want to write an outline?

She writes a redux.

It makes perfect sense! You can just take a story you love, change some details to put it in a different setting, or a different universe, or add some aliens, or change someone's gender, and BAM! Awesome story! Outlined for you! Just write it! SO EASY.

Right?

So very very not even close to right.

I'm currently working on a Bible story redux and an Austen redux, and the first thing I'm learning is that the first step in any redux is perhaps the most counterintuitive -

Separate yourself from the story.

This was so, so tough. I'm doing this redux because I love the story. LOVE it. But in order to do this redux right, I had to first tear myself away from making gaga eyes at it so that I could completely critically rip that sucker apart.

These are all issues I'll be exploring in subsequent posts, but questions like:

• What was the original pacing of the story? How does it need to be changed for a contemporary reading audience?
• Where - and what - are the themes? 
• What did the settings, characters, and individual events symbolize and accomplish plot-wise? 
• Are there too many characters? Too few? Do I have to change any? How much? Why? 
• How do the character triumphs and flaws translate into my new setting and/or plot? Do I need to change any of those?
• How do the character relationships translate into my new setting/plot? Do I need to change any of those? 
• What am I trying to communicate with this story, and to what extent does the original story serve that purpose? What needs to be fundamentally the same, and what can I change without ruining that message? What must I change to get that message across to a contemporary audience?

Now that I'm typing this all out, I'm realizing that the question I should have been asking myself when I started these reduxes is not what I wanted to change about the original, and why, but what I could reasonably keep, and why. 

(The important part being WHY. I can't let flaws in the original story and/or how it translates to be an excuse for lazy writing. No deus ex machinas, telling instead of showing, or stock characters allowed.)


In other words? I thought writing a redux would be easier, but it's actually way, way, way harder.
I guess it's a good thing I love the story.


What about you, sweet readers? Have you had experiences with reduxes, either reading them, watching them (yay Clueless and Ten Things!) or writing them? Tell us in the comments!

Friday Obsessions! Interview at Becks's Place, Twitter, and Taylor's "Enchanted."

Hey sweet readers!

I'll bet you thought Friday Obsessions were dead.

Nope! It's just that I have an eight-week-old in the house, and it turns out that when I'm physically/mentally exhausted, my obsessive personality calms down just a tad. But I can feel it coming back readers, slowly, surely, wonderfully-obsessively, creeping into the exhausted recesses of my heart.

So. Enough sentimentality. FRIDAY OBSESSIONS!!!!

1. Becca interviewing me!

So apparently people think it's hilarious that I have so many critique partners (really?) and are inspired by my querying stats (which, really, really, really?) so Becca thought it would be a good laugh to interview me. And whaddya know? She was right. We had an awesome time.

Check us out right here!

2. Twitter.

You guys, Twitter was down yesterday, and I think it highlighted just how obsessed we all (yes, ALL, don't deny it) are. Yes, we resorted to Facebook. Yes, we texted each other. Yes, we all lived. Don't worry.

3. Taylor Swift's "Enchanted."

Each of my WiPs' playlists has had one song from my girl Taylor on it. Solving for Ex's didn't have one, and I put out a call on Twitter for help. 

Wouldn't you know it? The amazing Amanda Olivieri gave me this song and it is HOLY CRUD SO PERFECT. *sigh*

(Also I kind of really love how Taylor writes like half her songs about real boys that she met/dated. Amazing.)

That's it for me for this week! What about you guys? What were you obsessed with this week?

How to Build the Best Crit Group on the Planet

Hey sweet readers!


A week ago, I made a blog post about my amazingly supportive and encouraging team of critique partners. A lot of you marveled at how wonderful and tight-knit our group is. Some of you asked me how I got such great writing besties.


So, I'm going to tell you my secret for building the best, closest-knit, most helpful, honest, and supportive writing group in town. 


But first, I'm looking for some help.


 I've got this house I need someone to clean up.  It's very cluttered,  has some grime in the carpet,  and the walls need a bit of scrubbing. Also,  there might a leak in the roof,  so could you just climb up there and patch it up? And if the walls buckle,  don't mind that - I'm sure they won't fall on you. Probably they won't.

It's really not all that much work at all,  considering that I'd let you into my house - I built it myself, you see,  and I'm very proud of it. I'm sure you'll love it!  While you're in there taking care of things,  you might even get to talk to me. No promises, of course - I'm very busy - but it could happen.


Sound like fun? No, I didn't think so. Alright, well, how about this?


You look so nice today! In fact, I've noticed that you have really lovely clothing, and you pay such close attention to how you dress.

 What's that, you say? You're worried your closet is a bit of a mess? You know, people say I'm good at organizing closets. I have a couple of hours. I'd love to help out, that is, if you could use the extra hand.
How does each offer make you feel? 
Which one are you most likely to take up?


Now, here's the story of my critique group. One year minus eleven days ago, Gina commented on this here blog (when it was just a baby!) offering to critique my manuscript.

The key part of that paragraph? "Offering."

She must have known from reading the blog what a hot mess the MS in question was. She didn't care. Something she saw over here made her want to hang out with me (God help her) and she offered her help.

Well, I followed her example, and started stalking the Dickens out of contests and blogs. I scoped out plot lines that interested me, writing I loved, people who seemed dedicated to their work. I asked them (begged them) to read their manuscripts. That's how we found Maggie, Chessie, Jenny, and Jamie, in pretty short order. Not long after that, we snagged Marieke, MarcyKate, Megan, and the whole rest of the crew. (I have a list of my CPs and their blogs on my "Resources for Writers" page. - go visit them!) I read, critiqued, and raved about their manuscripts.

And, wouldn't you know it? All of them offered to read my MSs, too.

We became friends over email and Twitter. We dragged each other through the mud and muck of revisions and/or the query trenches. We probably would be lost without each other.
So, instead of getting people to read your stuff and give you their amazing input by asking them to do something for you (i.e. "Who wants to beta read for me?!?!",) try asking people if you can do something for them. I'll bet that not only will they give a lot more care to your work, but critiquing their work will make you a better writer, too.

And if things work out, you'll have a friend for life. 
Which is the best part, really.

(If you made it this far and still don't hate me, heads up - I'm going live with a new site in the next few days, and the blog address will change to www.leighannkopans.blogspot.com. If you follow through Google or just clicked the "follow" button, it should still show up in your feed, but if it doesn't, now you know why. THANK YOU for following and for staying with me while I'm under construction!)

It Takes a Village to Raise a Writer (Or: Agented!)

My dear sweet readers,

A couple of months ago, I made a blog post called "Belief," about having written a manuscript that I truly believed in with all my heart, even though it wasn't getting a great - or really any - response from my carefully planned and strategized querying efforts.

To be honest, I almost didn't post it. I thought it made me sound like an entitled, maudlin jerk.

But you all came on over and expressed your love and support, your "it's normal"s and your "ONE is fabulous"s, and your "keep on truckin'"s, and I felt better.

Your comments, and your love and support, pushed me to put it in just one more contest before I officially called querying quits - The Writer's Voice Contest. I was lucky enough to get plucked from the contest slush by Cupid, and my amazing teammates helped me polish ONE's query and first page to an even higher shine.

Three weeks later, I got this email:

I LOVED ONE. Merrin Grey is complicated, she's not waiting to be saved (THANK YOU SO MUCH for writing a heroine like this) and Elias is complicated and intriguing and the entire premise freaks me out in a good way...

You guys. This agent THANKED ME for writing Merrin. (Um, what do you even say to that? "You're welcome?") I figured I'd died and gone to heaven. 

Well, it got better. We talked on the phone, and the way she talked about my characters, it was like she'd crawled into their brains and stayed in there awhile, taking notes. She said she felt like she could fly with Merrin and Elias (cue copious tears.) But wait ! It gets better! She wanted to talk about TWO (sequel to One, if we ever got that far) and all the other projects I'm cooking up. (I mean, seriously. So surreal.) 

Tonight, I was delighted and honored to sign with Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary. Tomorrow, the paper contract goes in the mail, and we're officially super official.


There could not possibly be a better fit for this manuscript or for me, for so many reasons. Her excitement for ONE is palpable. She's squealing-excited, and we haven't even gotten to work yet. But I can tell she has big plans, and will do just about anything to see ONE and maybe some other things I dream up succeed. She gets the story, you guys. She gets it. She gets me. She's a truly amazing agent, part of an incredible team, and I can't believe my luck.

******

But that's not the real "How I Got My Agent" Story. Because, after all, in order for all that to happen, I had to have two things:
1) An Insane Amount of Luck and
2) a finished and polished manuscript that would catch Tricia's eye.

To get to that manuscript, I had to have the strength and perseverance to keep writing, keep working my butt off, even when my own better judgement told me that ONE was destined for a life in The Drawer.

How did I keep myself standing, and wading through the muckiness of Query Hell?
 You. Each and every one of you, who ever:

• read a horribly messy draft and cheered it on anyway,
• helped me tear my MS apart and reassemble it time after time after time
• dragged me through the mud and muck of the query trenches
• grabbed my bootstraps and pulled me up 
• made me feel ashamed of wallowing in self pity
• inspired me to write more
• challenged me to keep going
• guilted me when I said I would give up
• made me feel ashamed about feeling sorry for myself
• hugged me when I thought I couldn't take any more
• loved my writing
• loved me, especially when I whined and complained and really, really, REALLY didn't deserve it.
• Who gave me chance after chance after chance at success.

Most especially, and never, ever to be taken for granted, my critique partners.
The sweet Gina, the energetic Maggie, the understanding Jamie, the reflective Jenny, the hilarious Megan, the cantankerously brilliant Chessie, the encouraging MarcyKate, the painstakingly proof-reading A.K., the fangirling Amber, the levelheaded Cait, the enthusiastic Kat, the supportive Rachael, the industry-insightful Jessica, the loving Jani, the ruthless Marieke.

You gave me exactly what I needed at exactly the right time to make ONE the best it could be before going out into the world, to survive the query trenches, and to come out having signed with exactly the right agent, in a way I never expected, never planned for.

That's how I got my agent. I leaned on all those people, I loved them the best way I knew how, and they gave back to me in spades. They carried me through all the writer's toughness and helped me come out on the other side intact, alive, and kicking. With a manuscript that's now, happily, doing the same.

Thank you. I owe you everything. 

Lastly, since I know you're wondering, some (terrifyingly abysmal) stats:

Queries sent: 127
Rejections: 89
No-response: 38
Requests from queries: 6
Requests from (three) contests: 4
Informal requests (AKA "ninjas"): 2
Offers: 2 (You never know how the offers will come. YOU NEVER KNOW.)

Last, my (hopefully) non-condescending, non-platitude advice to aspiring authors like me:

Keep writing as long as it makes you happy.
Surround yourself with loving, supportive, encouraging people.
Keep sending your work out, if you believe in it.
Remember:You never know what's around the corner. NEVER. (Even though, if you're a control freak like me, that thought makes you CRAZY.)

Please wish me, Tricia, and ONE, the little manuscript that could, tons of luck as we send it even further out into the world! (We sure could use it, and appreciate it more than I can say.)

Critique Partners 2.0 - Inspiration for our Work, and Book Recommendations!

Hey, sweet readers!

I am just over the moon that my CPs and I are vlogging now. I mean, I'm seriously psyched. We're getting comfortable with a new tool in self-marketing - which we'll all need for book promos verrrrry soon obviously - and most importantly, we get to hang out without leaving our houses! (Or, um, changing out of our pajama pants.)

Last week, I asked the crew where they got their inspiration for their work. Jenny answered, and asked us a new question for this week: (also her cutie little boy is in here, *smoosh*)



Do we have some book recommendations?


Uh, yeah. Obviously.

Here's my answer, and next week's question (plus! All four of my monsters cuties! *smoosh smoosh*)





Megan's book recs, including one book she DEFINITELY DOESN'T OWN. And neither do I. *ahem* And the inspiration for her fabulous querying MS, BETWEEN.



Chessie's inspiration for ALL OF EVERYTHING, and her pre-emptive answer to next week's question.



Marieke tells us all about the BEAUTIFUL inspiration for her about-to-query-MS, and makes her CATS NARRATE THE VIDEO.


The inspiration for Gina's AMAZING ROMANCES, featuring the now-famous "bitch face."



Maggie shares her inspiration for her YA international thriller, The Elite, and also HER HAIR CONTROLS THE LIGHT OMG.



Also! Angi shares all about her first published work. It's AMAZING.


Stef shares LIVE FROM HER CAR about the ever-painful experience of SHELVING A MANUSCRIPT (been there. It is ALL THE PAIN.)

And meet my sweet Ohio State writing friend Abbey, who responded during a study break.



Wheeeeee! Isn't this fun?


Do you have a vlog this week?  Link up, loves!

Sometimes You Need Some Mac and Cheese

Happy Monday, sweet readers!

There's a reason I love writing Young Adult Science Fiction. I'm a geek, first of all, and besides that, it gets me excited. I like thinking about the future, I like thinking about what scientific advances mean for the future of humanity. I like to think about, and write about, what the changes of the future will make people do - what will remain the same and what will change forever.

So, I wrote a YA Sci-Fi book I LOVE - One - and I'm currently clutching it to my poor beaten-down bosom while wading through a particularly horrific portion of Querying Hell - the WAITING. This is the fun part when your manuscript is on the desks and/or e-readers of some really, truly, fantastic agents, and you've been waiting for an ETERNITY (or, okay, a week and a half, whatever, that's not really the point, okay?) for them to respond to you with their thoughts. And the fact that they didn't respond within 24 hours could mean that they HATED it (probably that's what it means,) or that they're giving it careful consideration, or it could mean that they're ultra-busy and just haven't even clicked the darn file open.

(But probably they hated it.)

D'you see where I'm going with this? Querying Hell isn't called "Hell" for nothing, folks. The only hope for a writer's addled mind at this stage is to GET BUSY.

Luckily for me, CampNaNoWriMo is happening in June, and is the perfect kick-in-the-rear challenge I need. I tried to get psyched to finish up Chrome, my futuristic Sci-Fi retelling of the Exodus, but every time I thought about it, my brain went on strike. A big, foot-stamping, whining strike. All my brain wanted to do was write a Young Adult recasting of Mansfield Park.

Yeah.

I've never written straight-up romance before, though like 99% of my critiquers for One very helpfully contributed, "So, this is a sci-fi...romance?" (Uh, yeah. Probably. Maybe. Whatever agents want it to be.)

Anyway. I loooooove YA SF (sci-fi or speculative fic, either-or and both.) When I think of all my favorite books from the last three or so years, all but a couple were YA SF.

But THEN, I think about my comfort reads. The ones that make me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and completely lose myself in them. The ones that don't require too much thought, or prompt any Big Revelations About The Nature of Humanity.

One of them is MG Sci-Fi Romance (A Wrinkle in Time, duh.)
And the rest are classics. Mostly Austen, a little Bronte, Alcott. Which, if you think about it? Are all YA (about 18-20-year-old girls) and ROMANCE.

So...if YA Romance is my comfort reading...
why wouldn't it be my comfort writing, too?

After my customary agonizing over this on Twitter, my dear, sweet, wise writing buddy Jenny said, "Sometimes you just need the writing equivalent of Mac and Cheese."

Mmmmm.

And you know what? She was right. Four days later, I'm 8K into SOLVING FOR EX, a YA recasting of Mansfield Park with Mathletes instead of snobby rich people.  I don't know if it's any good, and it's highly possible I'll never query it. But it IS good for my soul - I'm pretty damn happy writing it. And right now, in the depths of Query Hell, that's really all that matters.



What about you, sweet readers? What's your Mac and Cheese, for reading or for writing?

"What Else Are You Working On?"

It's been happening kind of a lot lately. 
Not all over the place, but enough for me to sit up and take notice.
 Whether it's me or one of my writer buddies, a lot of agents have been asking,
"What else are you working on?"

Sometimes it's after an agent has read requested material.
Sometimes, it's before she'll request material at all.

I don't know how you would feel, but the first time I heard this question I had a tiny moment of freak-out.

"I'm a pantser. That's how I approach my art. I can barely write a pitch for a book I've finished, and you expect me to throw one out for a book that's being drafted, or outlined, or is just an idea flitting around in my head? Are you crazy?"

Um...excuse me?

But after a few seconds, it started to make sense. Agents want writers for a career, not just for that one book they're signing on. They want to know that writers have potential to be more than a one-hit wonder, and rightfully so. More than that, agents want to know that an author can be enthusiastic and articulate about something besides that one shined-up book baby that happens to be sitting in their inbox.

After a minute or so, though, I started to feel appreciative of the question. Grateful, even. For a couple of reasons.

1. For a professional author, it's always about the next book. By the time your book is being shined up by editors at a publishing house (please God,) your next draft probably should be finished, at the very least. By the time your book appears on a shelf (please please please God,) your next one is in the final stages of production.

2. "What I'm Working On" is what keeps me sane. My life has been so crazy lately, between having a new baby six weeks ago and riding a little wave of querying/revision/contesting excitement, that I totally forgot about how important it is to have The Next Book in the works.

Yesterday, I was reminded how, the week after I started querying my first manuscript, I started writing ONE, and didn't stop for eight weeks. That's probably the only way I survived the emotional trauma of putting my first manuscript in a drawer. I should probably be ready for another round of that. I need a new draft, one into which I can pour all my optimism and hope, now that I'm at the end of my second tour through the query trenches (sigh.)


So! Thank you, literary agents, for asking questions that kick me in the butt and remind me of all the above. And please, ask me what else I'm working on. Because now, I can confidently, articulately, and excitedly tell you all about it. (And, if you don't actually want to talk to me, click here to read my blurbs.)

What about you, sweet querying-writerly types? What else are you working on?

Critique Partners 2.0 Week 2 - What's the Best Critique You've Ever Gotten?

Hey, thanks everyone for your heartily enthusiastic response to the first installment of CPs 2.0!
(Remember, you can keep track of any and all additions to the series on my regularly-updated CPs 2.0 playlist...click here!

It turns out that, as a whole, we really seem to like vlogging...and SO MANY of my CPs and CPs once removed answered this week's vlogging question, originally asked by Megan:



Jamie vlogged for the FIRST TIME (and I kind of couldn't contain myself.)



Here's my response to Megan, where I also ask Next Week's Question:



Aaaand, some extra treats!

Chessie's surprisingly entertaining intro!



Marieke's super geeky intro! (cool accent alert!)



Jenny's intro, plus a tour of her house!



Maggie's intro, plus cats, writing cave, her natural hair color revealed, and her shopping list!



Jani's intro, where you learn how to pronounce her name! (ANOTHER cool accent alert!)



Angi on why writing is like karaoke! (You'll agree with her when she explains it to you.)



And Sarah with her official intro!



Next week's question is: What inspires your writing??? So check back here next Wednesday for everyone's AMAZING responses!

Critique Partner 2.0 Kickoff! (with Vlogging!)

Sweet readers, the past three weeks have been a whirlwind for several reasons which may or may not turn out to be immediately relevant to this blog. (*raises eyebrows*)

What IS relevant is that I had a FABULOUS time being a member of Team Cupid in The Writer's Voice contest this week! The support and love of the entire Writer's Voice community was INCREDIBLE.

It made me wish I could spend more time with you. Yes, ALL of you. 

I've been a longtime viewer of John and Hank Green's Brotherhood 2.0 series (and subsequent related videos) on YouTube. It made me think that we should do something like that with all our writing buddies - a conversation via video, to make our interactions even more personal than they are now. (but not too personal, I mean my goodness, everyone should have a chance to do their makeup.)

All my critique partners (except Megan) shot back with reasons they "can't vlog."
Thus, the first episode of "CPs 2.0" was born. Enjoy!



(a bunch of my writing buddies jumped on the bandwagon! So you get to see EVEN MORE! Enjoy!)

The Power of Readers

I've had a lot of readers for One. 

No, really. Like...20? Maybe more?

Some of them have served as Megans, some have given beta feedback and reader's reports, others have commented on large-scale issues, and my most dedicated CPs have done in-line comments.

Of course, they didn't all read at once. I did my due diligence before querying, of course - about a dozen people read before I queried.

But even after I started querying, crazy things happened.
People were telling me they were willing to read One.
Sometimes, people even told me they wanted to read it.
Sometimes, they said - get this - they were excited to read it.

You can imagine how I felt sending off a copy to those people.

And then? If one of those readers told me she liked it?

Well, something utterly magical happened a couple of weeks ago - one of those readers said she liked the book - actually she said she "LOOOOOVED it" - (*dies*) - and that she had a couple suggestions for how to make it even better - tightening here, ramping up there, a little extra something-or-other somewhere else. Here's the really magical part - I agreed with every one of her suggestions. 

So, I made the changes. Even though they were just a couple not-huge changes, we all know about the revision house of cards, so of course their effects were manuscript-wide. Guess what you need when you spend dozens of hours making manuscript-wide changes? 

More readers. *gulp*

Amazingly, I managed to find even more people willing to read and give me their thoughts.
Even more astounding than that is that my dear, dear CPs agreed to read One YET AGAIN.

And then? And THEN?

Some of them even told me they loved it even more than they had the first time around.
 (Of course they had notes. They're my CPs. And obviously I'm not perfect. But they still liked it.)



You guys, this is like the first draft high times one hundred.

As hard as I worked for the first draft, there's something about pushing your manuscript over one more hump, about shining it up even more than you thought you could, and people saying, "Well done. Really well done," that is completely and totally overwhelming to me. 

It's like circuit overload, honestly. There's so much work and love and emotion that goes into a manuscript, and then to have people VALIDATE that effort, whether by reading, being excited to do so, taking the time to give me critique, or straight-up loving my story? Holy geez. I almost can't handle it.

Seriously. I think that, if I ever became a published author, I'd need to schedule time every day just to respond to every person who said they read my book. My gratitude for that alone, and my shock that someone would even take the time out of their day to do it, is so huge, it's overwhelming.

You know, the good kind of overwhelming. The whole-reason-we-do-this kind of overwhelming.

So, because it's starting to look creepy and maudlin to do so on Twitter and emails,
Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you.
I love you all. I can't thank you enough. You, and your time, and opinions, and reads, and re-reads, and re-re-reads, and enthusiasm, and support, and hugs, and hand-holding, mean the world to me. 
The WHOLE FREAKING WORLD.


What about you, sweet readers and writerly-types? Does it totally throw you for an emotional loop every time someone reads your stuff? What do you do with All The Gratitude? And, published readers - how do you handle the circuit overload on a daily basis?

Writing Rewards

Well, sweet readers, this is shaping up to be a pretty intense week between some revisions I've been doing on One (I know, I know, I thought it was almost dead too) and The Writer's Voice Contest Agent Round starting tomorrow (GO TEAM CUPID WOOOOO,) so I thought we'd have a bit of a light post today.

So, here's the thing. Writing is my passion, it's exhilarating, it's delightful, yes, yes, all that. OBVIOUSLY.

One of the reasons I love writing, though, is that it's so darn CHALLENGING.

Which means I look like this about half the time I'm working on something (which is, you know, half of All The Time.)


So. Hard work deserves rewards, right?

I don't know many writers who don't reward themselves with chocolate, a stiff drink, a favorite TV show, or similar after a few thousand words drafted or revised...



And when One was ready for queries, I treated myself to this beauty of a poster, which now hangs on the wall of my writing cave:

The Wasp is almost dead center on the poster. Definitely a Sign.

If any other really really good things were to happen with this sweet manuscript about misfit half-superpowered kids *ahem,*

I'd buy myself this sweatshirt. Because, to those of you who have read it, obviously:

I'd give one away on the blog, too. I'M JUST SAYING.

So, writerly types - what are your rewards to yourself for work well done? Anything you'll buy yourself when you hit that next big milestone?

How to Be a Megan - Guest post by Alexa Hirsch

Sweet readers! Today we have yet ANOTHER blog post from the Amazing Alexa (who told us about her literary crushes a few weeks ago, remember?)


Before the post, a bit of background: I read a blog from the amazing Jani Gray on how to find writing support in the obvious places. She has a friend named Megan who is always one of her first readers because she is positive, supportive, and unfailingly loves everything she writes.


This post lead me to adopt the following philosophy: Every Writer Needs a Megan.


(Now, before you get all snippy and accuse me of not wanting to hear or being able to take critique, I'll advise you to read my "crit diaries" posts and think twice about posting that comment, or I'll do a whole terribly boring post highlighting my amazingly scathing army of CPs. Ahem.)


Well, sweet readers, I'm super-duper lucky, because I have a Megan. It's Alexa! She also happens to be a Real Live Teenager and rabid reader of YA, so her opinions matter to me on a number of levels.


She's put together a post on How to Be a Megan. So, without further ado, here's she is:

******

One day Leigh Ann and I were hanging out in her office, talking about my favorite thing, her books! She told me she read a blog post about another person trying to get published who had a friend named “Megan” who always told her how amazing all of her books were and was just a super awesome peppy cheerleader!

Now don’t misunderstand me, this position is in NO way fake. I honestly ADORE Leigh Ann’s, Chessie’s, and Gina’s books! But if I didn’t, I would have to tell them, but luckily for me, they are all PERFECT. So readers, here’s how to become me in three short steps, minus all the craziness.


1.     Think Positively. If you look at everything with a silver lining it makes everything way more enjoyable.


2.     Fall in love. This is simple when you have such great pieces of work. The number one thing is just engrossing yourself in the novel. Even if it’s only a few minutes a day, don’t get distracted! Allow the beauty of the words to take you in, and don’t ever come out! Even if you have trouble picturing yourself as the main character, picture yourself as a fly on the wall. Having a vivid imagination about other people’s work lets you truly feel the book in your own special way. No two people interpret something the same, so maybe you think Merrin can fly on her own, or that Ryan isn’t such a douche, it’s all up to interpretation!


3.     Don’t worry about being fake and pleasing people. If you really love a book, praising it will be second nature to you! Just state your opinion, and maybe the author won’t have even realized how much their own words affect you! There is nothing more special than realizing that an idea you had is changing someone else’s life.


Now if this sounds like a lot of work to you, then maybe you aren’t supposed to be a Megan, maybe you’re better at Critiquing, or better at Grammar, and that’s AWESOME. Because honestly the more Megan’s there are, the quicker I’m out of a job.


Well here it is folks, my shameless plug! If you have written anything at all and you are looking for a little encouragement, hire a Megan! I come free of charge, all I ask is an ELECTRONIC copy of your awesome novel! Hopefully Gina, Chessie, and Leigh Ann would give me a good recommendation! Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome!


Isn't she fab??? If you're looking for your very own Megan, Alexa's a great one! Leave your comment below and she'll get in touch with you when she's got a free minute to read.

In Which We Do the Happy Dance

Sweet readers!  Happy Happy Friday!!!

It's pretty much the happiest kind of Friday possible.

Why?

I'm glad you asked! 

My first ever and super-sweetest critique partner Gina
HAS AN AGENT!!!!!!

Yes, that's right. She's off the market!
Read the post and weep, Other Agents. You can't have her!

As for me and the rest of her critique partners?
Well, we've pretty much been doing this on her behalf for the last week.
Join the partayyyyyyyyyy!

Congratulations, G!  You deserve it times a million.

Love you tons!

The Writer's Voice Contest Entry - ONE

Hey, Sweet Readers! Well, I was lucky enough to nab a chance to compete for a spot in The Writer's Voice Contest Blogfest, which is being hosted, hand-picked, and coached by the incredible Krista VanDolzer, Brenda Drake, Monica B.W., and Cupid's Literary Connection.

Getting past that first stage was a matter of having the fastest clicky-finger, but getting to the next level depends on one of these amazing ladies choosing ONE for her team. For one of them to say, "I want you!" would mean she's willing to give up some of her precious little free time to help me shine up my query and first page to show to an incredible group of agents a couple of weeks from now. It would be a big deal -  it would be a sign that they believe in ONE, out of all the amazing entries out there. 

And, sweet readers, you know how much I believe in this MS, and how much I'm hoping the perfect agent will believe in it too. Querying it has been tough, tougher than I ever would have imagined. The truth is, ONE has been querying for months, and it's almost at the end of its road. I'm crossing my fingers that this contest is just the boost it needs to finally land in front of the right pair of eyes.

So. If you all would cross your fingers along with me, and send some good vibes ONE's way, I - and all my darling characters - sure would appreciate it. Thanks. 

****

Title: One

Genre: YA (superhero) Science Fiction

Word Count: 76,000

Sixteen-year-old Merrin Grey would love to be able to fly, or even drift along like a freaking ghost - too bad all she can do is float up and down. When almost everyone else is a Super, with at least two powers, or a Normal, with none, being a One is the worst kind of in-between.

All Merrin has ever wanted is to land an internship at the Biotech Hub. She busts her butt in AP Chem and salivates over the Hub’s research on the manifestation of superpowers, all to find the key to fixing herself.

Then she meets Elias VanDyne, another One, and all her carefully crafted plans fly out the window. Literally. When the two of them touch, their Ones combine to make them fly, and when they’re not soaring over the Nebraska cornfields, they’re busy falling for each other. Merrin’s over the moon - Elias is as good at kissing as he is at helping her fly. Better yet, her mad chemistry skills land her a spot on the Hub’s internship short list.

But when the Hub kidnaps Elias, Merrin discovers The Hub’s sick experiments don’t heal Ones - they get rid of them. If she stands up to the Hub, she not only risks Elias’s life, she’ll also destroy her chances of ever finding a way to fly solo – of ever being more than a One.

Most nights, and some mornings before sunrise, I sneak to the back of the shed and I practice. I push myself off the ground, telling my body to go weightless, and hover. An inch, two, six, a foot. I stay there for seconds, then minutes.

I can’t generate enough tension between my body and the air to take a step - can’t even make myself drift. I’d give anything to be able to float along like a freaking ghost.

It’s the same for all of us.  Ones start with an ability everyone thinks will turn into a superpower. A really fast runner might have muscles that can’t take the strain. Or a kid who can stretch an arm out really far will wait days for it to pull itself back into place. They put up with getting teased at Superhero High, waiting for their Second – in those cases, enhanced muscle power or elasticity - to show up. While they do, that One power starts to fade. There are still shimmers of it, but after awhile the kid quits trying and the One fizzles into nothingness.

Then their parents ship them off to Normal High, like mine did.

Here’s my secret: I never quit trying.  

For a long time, I tried to move. Once I tried so hard my muscles strained, then burned, then ached, then trembled, and I hovered there behind the shed, weeping and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, until Dad came looking for me. Then I collapsed on the grass. 

One, Two, Three, Four....

I declare a WORD WAR!!!!

I've mentioned before how I need coersion, shaming, and teasing to actually turn out an impressive word count.
Or, more positively, ACCOUNTABILITY.







You know when you're trying buff up, or lose weight, and everyone says, "What you really need is a gym buddy, who will check up on you to make sure you're working out?" The little kid in you rolls your eyes because you will SO TOTALLY go to the gym on your own, you don't need THAT, you don't need SOMEONE CHECKING UP ON YOU.

Except deep down, you know - you're really not going to the gym.

Having a word war opponent is like having that gym buddy.


So. What's a word war? Courtesy of urbandictionary.com - 

word war
	An occurrence in which two or more writers set a time limit, such as ten minutes, or thirty minutes, to write or type as fast as they can on a specific topic or to add onto their current novel. The person with the highest word count at the end of the time limit wins the word war.

So, you promise Megan or Chessie or Jamie or Gina that you're going to word war with them, probably at 9 PM or so, and it's early afternoon, so you're all PSYCHED and PUMPED UP about the word war, because you're definitely going to beat them, and the words you write will sparkle and shine and they will make agents WEEP.

And then you get stuck in rush hour traffic, and your kids throw their dinner at you, and your husband wants to TALK or something ridiculous once they go to bed, and by that point you're FREAKING EXHAUSTED and all you want to do is fall asleep on the couch watching reruns of Arrested Development.

And then you look at your clock and it's 8:55. You are supposed to bring your A-game to a word war in five minutes. You have PROMISED to be there.

And then you hate Megan. Or Chessie or Jamie or Gina.
Just like you hate that gym buddy when you're lacing up your sneaks at 7 AM.

But you know what? You open up Scrivener anyway, and Chessie throws some trash talk at you on Twitter,
and your creaky exhausted fingers start moving over the keyboard. And then your character says something awesome, or her boyfriend does something cute, and your heart jumps a little. And you get all excited, and your fingers move faster, and oh geez can you believe you just wrote that gorgeous description of the desert at sunrise? You are BRILLIANT!!!

Before you know it, your half hour is up, and you take a look at your word count ticker, and HELL'S BELLS, you've written 1200 words, you genius you!!!

Yeah. That's pretty much how it works for me.

Even pantsing, I can hit 2K an hour. TWO THOUSAND WORDS AN HOUR.

The power of competition works to get me writing. Just writing. Even when I know I won't win.
And sometimes, just getting words down on paper can inspire the brilliance.

*****

To end, I'll ask a favor of you - My sweet new little one is 2 weeks old now, and I've figured out a way to balance both her and my netbook on my lap. Meaning - I'm ready to word war again. Anyone up for a challenge??? *cracks knuckles*

***

So, what about you, sweet writerly-type readers? Have you word warred? Do you love it, or do you think it's insipid, childish, and pointless? I'd love to hear. And probably CHALLENGE YOU.

"It's Complicated"

The other day, I sort of flinched a little bit at calling one of the characters from my querying MS another one's "boyfriend." I mean, Elias *is* Merrin's boyfriend, but he's so much more than that. Their relationship is so special, and so unique. Their attraction is so different from anyone else's, you know, on a cellular level. And so he's not just her boyfriend, he's this other thing to her as well, and it's kind of difficult to explain, but it's one of the things that you have to understand to get the premise of the book, and OH HERE YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST READ IT.

And, of course, being a querying writer, I worried about that.
I mean, shouldn't the relationships between our characters be easily definable?

But then I started thinking about my CPs' work, and the relationships in those manuscripts. The paranormal and sci-fi ones usually do have the same weird element of "they're together, but they're not just together, there's something different and special from anything else ever between them."

But even the contemporary stuff, or the romances, have the "it's complicated" thing going on.

Maybe the characters are in love, but it's because they ALSO have this weird connection that no one else could possibly have, intellectually, emotionally, or experientially.

Or maybe the characters are friends, but really they're in love, but they won't admit it, because one of them confessed last year and got turned down by the other, and now the other has a boyfriend but really loves her best friend. Except now he's dating someone new, who happens to be another one of her friends.

Whenever possible, choose this status for your characters.

See? It's complicated.

The best kinds of relationships are the undefinable ones.








It's not just boyfriends, right?

Parents turn out to be villians, partners-in-crime turn out to be long lost siblings. The new kid at school is the same guy who killed your best friend. The horrible professor is really a secret agent, and he was always on your side, but you never knew it. The MC's baby brother is a genius, and actually holds the key to some of the greater biological mysteries of the universe.

It's complicated.

So the way the characters feel, and act,  is complicated.

Which complicates the plot. (Or sometimes is the plot.)

Which makes the book awesome.


Okay, sweet readers, weigh in - If you're the writerly type, have you ever worried about "it's complicated?" Or do you try to make relationships more complicated? And, everyone - what are your favorite complicated - and uncomplicated - relationships in literature?

Will the Real Writers Please Stand Up?

Writerly types, do you ever feel like frauds? Like calling yourself "a writer" is like one big silly joke?


It happens even when I write it in an email to my CPs. (You know, the people who actually believe in my work?) EVERY SINGLE TIME I write something about any aspect of getting an agent, I scoff at myself.


Anyone else mentally following up their declarations that they dream of getting published with a mental eyeroll and private,  "Yeah. Like that's ever gonna happen?"



It would be awesome if the real writers were actually orange. Then I would know to take up knitting or something.


I have an idea of what would make me feel like A Real Writer - someone whose work has been accepted as "good stuff" by some sort of pro.


But I really can't visualize it. I mean, I know what emails requesting The Call From an Agent say, because I've read about them...I just seriously am not capable of taking the mental leap of imagining one in MY inbox.


Same with a printed book with my name on the cover. Or, heck, even a digital one.
 (In fact, on the cover I mocked up for One, you'll notice my name isn't on there at all. I literally couldn't make my fingers put it on there and post it on this site. It felt...weird. Presumptuous, maybe.)


I don't know what would make me consider myself "A Real Writer."


I do know that some things make me feel more like a writer, sometimes. Like when I read Kathryn Stockett's story, where she reports feeling "truly neurotic" after 45 rejections. The fact that I've had over 160 (granted, on 2 MSs) and have not yet checked into the looney bin makes me feel a bit more...in the game. Or when people express shock that Ms. Stockett worked on her manuscript while in labor. I didn't quite do that, but I did send a submission from my hospital bed about 15 hours after my daughter was born last week. 


So...if one works on her writing while in the hospital, does that make her a real writer? And, if so...um...congratulations to me??? Kathryn Stockett club? (And where's my movie deal???)


Trouble is, one of a writer's greatest enemies is...feeling like a fraud. A not-a-writer. A poser. This reluctance to say "I'm a writer" with any seriousness deep down inside, or to even say it at all, can poison our knowledge from that other deep-down-inside  spot that our stuff is any good, even our fundamental belief in our work, or in our core story. 


Even though I know that...I still feel like a fraud most of the time. Is it because I don't have an agent? Maybe. Maybe I'll only feel "legit" when I get a book deal, indie or otherwise. It's a curvy, bumpy road, and I don't know what lies around the bend. I have no doubt that writing is something I *need* to do because it's an essential part of what makes me ME...but I'm still WAY more inclined to shrug and say, "yeah, I write things" in a dismissive tone than to smile brightly, look at someone right in the eyes, and say, "I'm a writer." 


So, what about you? Do any of you actually feel like A Real Writer? Does it have anything to do with what you tell people, or do you say you're a writer but do an inner eye roll?

Do You Have a Meta-theme?

As a reader, I delight in finding the theme of a work. Especially for a story I love, the Theme reaches me at about 80% of the way through - a beautiful, sweeping, unexpected crescendo of Big Meaning that hits me in the chest and takes my breath away. And, once in a blue moon, makes me weep with its truth and beauty.

As a writer, I write a story. I write from my heart, and I write from my gut. I see characters, and I hear them, and I try to capture who they are with words in black and white.

I don't intentionally write to communicate a theme - mostly because I don't believe that books should be in the business of constructing and sending messages to readers.  More than that, because I have a deep, unwavering trust that any story that comes from my heart is going to communicate a theme that resonates as true to me, and hopefully lots of other people, too.

So. I've always written the book first, and then thought about the themes later. This third book, though, is a story that is thousands of years old. As I find myself in the role of retelling the story, as opposed to discovering its basic plot, I'm finding myself in a different relationship with the characters than I ever had been before.

You see, to write about characters, you have to invite them to speak to you. When I ask the main character of this story what motivates her, what confuses her, what makes her hurt, she always comes back with the same answer:

She doesn't know where she belongs. 
Maybe she doesn't belong anywhere.



When I hear that, I nod my head, sit back, and try to communicate that into every one of her thoughts, words, actions and reactions. And then I realize - that's been a problem, maybe THE problem for all of my MCs so far. How does one find out where she belongs? Does it already exist, or must she make a place of her own? Is belonging a place, an ideology, a mission, a group of people, a single person?

These questions choke me up, and they tear my heart out. And I think, sweet readers, that this theme of searching for belonging, is a theme that speaks to me on such a deep level that not only is it present in all of my books, but also that books that carry the same theme get a special kind of love from me.

So...do you have a meta-theme? One that chokes you up again and again, so much so that you write about it all time, or latch on to books that hit it extra hard? I'd love to hear.

My Literary Crushes - Guest Post by Alexa Hirsch

Sweet readers: Following is a guest post from Alexa, who is all kinds of amazing. You'll see.
Hello fellow readers!

While the lovely Leigh Ann takes a slight maternity leave I’m going to be doing a bit of guest blogging. I am one of Leigh Ann’s students at The Ohio State University and an extremely ridiculously voracious reader. Now being a “teenage girl” I obviously tend to have multiple crushes on a ridiculous amount of people, so I won’t go into all of them, but there are a choice few I’m going to share with you.

Peeta: I understand that every other sane person on this planet has this exact same crush, but besides Leigh Ann, I love him the most. I have never felt so much toward one fictional character, and it wasn’t about his looks!Whenever I think about Peeta I seriously swoon. His personality and just the things he says…. sigh, I’m head over heels. 


"Real or not real," you ask? Definitely real.







Elias: Oh Elias, those of you who follow this blog regularly, or randomly know that Leigh Ann wrote an incredible book called ONE with Elias in it. Elias is probably one of my all time dream guys; I just freak out thinking about him. His amazing music skills, his unbelievable fleck filled eyes and just him….. Woah I’m losing it here, but basically if you haven’t read ONE, you’ll get the pleasure soon enough I hope because Elias is worth reading about over and over again.







Jace: Now some people may not be as familiar with this but Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series honestly has one of the sexiest characters EVER. Jace Herondale, the mysterious moody shadow hunter is the epitome of yummy in these tales that go through self-discovery and some badass training scenes.









David: Gina, one of Leigh Ann’s incredible CP’s wrote the heart-wrenching Last Year’s Mistake, which included the Best Friend that everyone is rooting for you to be with because he is honestly perfect. At this point in my gushing I really just want to say that David is perfect in every way no matter what, and you should just love him for that.

Miles: Okay one of Leigh Ann’s other FABULOUS CP’s, Chessie, wrote Alexithymia and I honestly cannot tell you how much I loved this book. There are more than a million reasons, but one of the best ones is Miles, the sarcastic, yet amazing man candy. Miles is the world’s best guy and he deserves the world, and I basically feel like he’s in love with me…err Alex….anyways this book is a NECESSARY read.








Isn't she the GREATEST??? Leave Alexa your love and adoration in the comments, please, and guarantee she'll do more awesome guest posts!!!