Posted by Christine on Sep 23, 2009 in Randomness |
I have to admit to some butterflies in my tummy that seem to be getting more and more active as I count down to SiWC. It’s my personal deadline. I started writing Red and Grey over 18 months ago and I have been working hard on it ever since. It has been written, rewritten, revised, edited and is being revised again. At SiWC I’ll pitch it. Because the truth is by then I will probably have hit the point of diminishing returns. The point where I am just second guessing myself and failing to see what I should see in favor of seeing what I think I should see. At that point I will probably need an editor, something I cannot afford to pay for myself. Have I had other people look at it- you bet – the first ten chapters have been through my critique group a half dozen times. I used what I learned there and applied it to the rest of the manuscript. I have two years of classes and conferences under my belt – I listened and took notes. Learning as much as I could and applying it as best I could. In addition four trusted readers have been sent the entire manuscript to read and pick apart – one has already gotten back to me with his feedback and the other three are working on it. So, I’m pretty sure I’m doing everything “the right way” (If I missed something obvious please tell me so I can do it quick ) In the end it’s going to come down to two things, fifteen minutes sitting across the table from an agent or editor and convincing them with my incredible pitch that my writing is worth their time to read -because of course once they read it they will ADORE Red and Grey J, and writing a Query letter that basically makes them fall in love with Red and Grey before they even lay eyes on it and makes them want to read it – because – well see above. Hence the butterflies. I know, brilliant writers are not suppose to have any trouble writing queries – I know this – I’ve read the blogs of thousands of agents who have said it a hundred different times in a hundred different ways. They give the format, tell the writer what to do and what not to do, a fairly simple looking list of rules. Don’t call them the wrong name and gender. Duh! Don’t call your story the wrong genre, yeah I get that – little research might be needed but you can get that. Keep your hook short and sweet but completely and totally enthralling. Sure no problem. Make sure you tell about your characters and give a complete sense of who they are. Well, uhm see it kind of took them an entire...
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Posted by Christine on Sep 23, 2009 in Randomness |
YEAH yeah yeah. It’s been a while. What can I say. I’ve been busy you know – working on a book and all. Pitching Red and Grey in a few short weeks if you really want to keep track of me follow me on Twitter or Friend me on Facebook – but I will try to keep up here too.
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Posted by Christine on Apr 18, 2009 in General, Randomness |
10) Zombies don’t make webs 9) Zombies only eat your brains, they don’t try to take over your house. 8) Zombies only have two legs, even if they are decomposing and slimy, there are still only TWO! 7) Zombies move slowly and moan a lot to let you know they are coming. Spiders are much stealthier they sneak up on you…in your own house. 6) Zombies can’t crawl on you. 5) Zombies can’t hide in your bed without giving themselves away (they make unusual lumps and once again with the moaning). 4) Zombies cannot descend form your ceiling to the middle of your living room and hang there – mid air waiting to strike. 3) Zombies don’t have exoskeletons, in fact, their bones are soft and worm eaten. 2) Zombies come one size fits all – unlike the spider who can range from tiny to huge and hair covered. And the number 1 reason spiders are worse than zombies: The worst a Zombie’s can do it kill you, spiders can seriously creep you out. In fact the only thing creepier then Spiders, is zombie...
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Posted by Christine on Oct 5, 2008 in Randomness |
I just posted a short story – flash fiction – here on the site. It was short listed in a flash fiction competition this past spring. I wrote this piece in responce to a writing prompt in one of the classes I took at Gotham writers workshop. You can find the story under the writing prompt above – enjoy. Christine B.
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Posted by Christine on Aug 15, 2008 in Randomness |
On Wednesday I got the results of the flash fiction contest I had entered back in May. I have to admit the results startled me. I had misread a previous e-mail telling me I was short listed. I assumed from this previous e-mail that I was in the top 25 and was just waiting for the contest results to see where I fell in the fifteen honorable mentions or in the top ten. It turns out that my understanding of the contest was not accurate. While I did pass the first round of judging I was not in the top twenty five. Those in the top twenty five received notice on Wednesday and I did not. I have to admit I am disappointed, it’s hard not to be. I am more disappointed because of my own misunderstanding then because I didn’t place. For the past month I have been waiting for the results assuming I was in the top 25. Only to discover I was never in the top 25. It was a bit of a let down. However I am excited that I got past the first round of judging. And hey since the story is no longer in any type of competition I can share it with you here. I will be posting it soon. Have a great day...
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Posted by Christine on Aug 13, 2008 in Randomness |
This October I will be attending two conferences. The first is the Write on the Sound a local conference. I will drive to this on both Saturday and Sunday. I’ve never attended this conference before so I am not entirely sure what to expect. I am very excited however and I hope to meet other local writers. This is also a smaller event – limited to 200 people then any I have attended before. I will also be attending the Surrey International Writers’ Conference at the end of October. I attended last year and met amazing people and learned a great deal about the industry and writing process. I am looking forward to attending again this year. I know that I will get a lot out of both these events, and in truth I expect them to become annual installments on my calendar. However I also plan to limit myself to these and only these two. Why? Well for starters they cost money. If I am ever published I have no doubt that it will be in part due to the connections I made and knowledge I gain at these events. At the moment though I am not earning anything from my writing. So that imposes a limit in itself. Also I don’t want to become a conference junkie. Someone I met at last years SWIC advised me against that. As an established author she told me she sees some people who come to these events year after year and never make progress in their writing. They enjoy the conference “high” and they make big plans but then go home and don’t do the single most important thing… write. She challenged me not to come to SWIC this year unless I brought a finished manuscript with me to pitch. That is one of the reasons I set goals for myself this year in the form of new years resolutions. I have to admit I am not ready to pitch the project I have been working on this year. However I have two months to get it ready and I plan to be. I have a pitch line ready and the project is in review so in the next two months I will be focusing on writing and working hard to get my story as clean and ready as it is humanly possible to make it so I am ready to pitch at SWIC. Maybe I will see some of you at one of these events. Happy Writing...
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