Draft # 5....

I'm on draft number five, no wait...four, no, it was five. Definitely draft number five. And I'm tired of reading and rereading the same old stuff. I want to move on! Its time for a new story, a new idea...but then I think I can read it once more and maybe find something else wrong in there. Maybe a missed word, misspelled word or a scene that just doesn't work so I plod along. Combing through the words I've just about memorized for any weird issues I didn't see in the last two million times I've read it. Is it ready to query? Can I improve anything before I send my baby out into the world?
How many drafts do you do? How do you know if you're done?
Is it ever really done?

Fear of the Jinx

How much do you tell about when you send your WIP in to the world? I mean, if you tell everyone about each query you send out are you jinxing it? I wonder if it's best to keep it on the QT and not share whats going where...but there are all these questions. I often bring chunks of my manuscript to work to play with on lunch or my breaks (okay sometimes when the boss isn't looking too--but hey! priorities!) so peeps there know I write and they are always asking questions about it.
It's kind of like being in a store with a newborn and all these strangers keep trying to put their germs on her...okay, not really exactly like that but you get the idea.
So how much do you tell? Do you believe in jinxes?

Sons of Maxwell & United Airlines

Since I hate airlines I had to post this video. (I found it on Janet Reid's site-Thanks Janet!)
I've long felt that the airline biz is the biggest extortionists in the world. I mean, come on! Two people sitting right next to each other could spend hundreds more than each other. How is this legal??? They've got the country by the gonads and nobody does anything about it! We give them our luggage to take care of and when things are missing or broken it's up to them to decide it they want to give us restitution? Sheesh! Is there no law in the air?
Whew! Rant over. Please watch the video it's hysterical.

Crayons!

There is a blog called Crayons and it's awesome. Check it out.
There is another artist called Don Marco who does amazing stuff with Crayola Crayons. You can see his artwork here. I think I've blogged about him before.
So, I just had to buy a box of crayons and on this lazy day at work I did this:

Cheerio's and Writers

Cheerio's is looking for people who write children's books. Wow, I don't write kid's books but if I did I never would have thought to query Cheerios.
http://www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com/registration_form/

Oy! the Query Letter!

Remember back in school when you had that big test and no matter how much you studied you never felt ready? Or when you had to write an essay and every page you wrote ended up in the trash because it just didn't express what you wanted to say quite good enough?
There it is; The Query Letter.
I've got about six written, three that might be good enough and none that I actually want to send out. I've read lots of stuff on queries, had query classes at critique groups and all that stuff but still....I worry.
I've stared at my manuscript for months, I know every nuance, every little quirk and plot line but am I conveying that in the query? Am I forgetting something important because I can't see the plot for the words? Hmmmm, not sure.
I'm tempted to send it to the Query Shark and let her hack it to pieces. But then you can never be sure if she'll pick your letter.
One of the problems I have is with my bio....I'm boring, no writing credits to speak of. (too bad blogging and twittering don't count!) and my real life job has nothing to do with writing. My platform is; I like to write stories...

Investigating Agents

Since I'm taking a break from writing for this week. (Okay, I've written a little bit but basically I'm off) I'm researching agents. I started with Agent Query which links me to their websites where I read the bio on the agent and their "wants". If they are accepting new clients and cover the genre of my work then I book on over to Predator's and Editors and see how they fair there. Then I make a page for them in my book. I save this for later when the query letter is perfected.
Which brings us to the dreaded Query. Some agencies have specific forms on their website to put your Query into. How do you feel about that? I'm not sure, still thinking on it. I mean if they have a square for Bio and you have none...what do you do? What if they ask for my platform? (I hate that word...platform? It's just a story with some romance.) Can anyone give me a clear definition of "platform?"
So if you find an agent who covers your genre and see on their website lots of really big writers who write in your genre...do you think its a waste to query them? I mean, maybe they have enough of that kind of writer? Or would you have a better chance there because they really, really like that kind of story?