Find the Strength...

I once heard a man say that bravery is just fear holding out for one moment longer. This guy rescued a child from a burning car. He said he didn't think about the danger or dying, he just thought about the child. He admitted he wasn't any braver than the next guy but the fear just didn't hit him right away. He just did what he had to do.
Although Tank Man had more courage than most he is an inspiration we can bring into all aspects of our life.
What does this have to do with writing?
At first I was afraid of showing my writing to anyone. Just the thought of a critique group struck fear in my heart. But fear was pushed aside and now it's a breeze.
Advice was given and gratefully taken. And I think I grew as a writer because of this.
Joining a writer's group? Who me? I'm no expert, not published, no where near as good as those published authors in that group, but a kind friend encouraged me and again I swallowed past the fear and now I'm loving it. RWA? Liberty State Fiction Writers? Let me at 'em!
I think fear holds us back more than anything else.
Tell me, what do you fear?
How do you break past it?

Go see the Shark...

Every day I have to visit the Query Shark. This site is lorded over by the great Janet Reid of FinePrint literary. She'll take your query, slice and dice a bit and post it online for everyone else to slam....okay, they don't really slam you. Most actually offer some great advice.
I sent a query to the shark but have yet to see it go up. There are no guarentees your query will be chosen, but it doesn't matter. Every time she posts another's query I learn something. I can see my own mistakes in the queries of others. Every time I vist the Shark I learn a little bit more.
Maybe someday I'll learn to put it all to good use.
So go visit the Shark.
PS: I'm afraid of sharks so I posted a picture of my kitty instead.

You gotta check this out....

I have to talk about a blog called "Come In Character". You definitely have to check out this place. It's inspiring.
Right now I'm between stories. I finished one and I'm just sorting through my old stuff to see if I want to resurrect anything. I have one thriller I really love but had to shelve for awhile because it needed more than I could give at that time.
And I'm looking for a home for my angel story.
So what do you do between stories? Do you read all those books you kinda passed on because you were too busy writing?
Do you search for that next story?
Do you just crash?

Josh Zuckerman ~~~The Awesomest!

Throwing your babies out into the world...

There comes a time in every writer's life when they must push their little ones out into the world.
The Query.
Out there. Somewheres. Floating around.
I think you know you're in trouble when they come back with a rejection within 24 hours.
Am I that bad? Or am I hitting the wrong agents? Or is their list too full of what I'm sending.
Questions without answers. Another part of the writing process that just is and we have to accept it.
There's still some floaters out there from this last batch. Time will tell.
I've read the agent blogs where they have like 100 queries a day that they have to go through and I'm thinking...I don't think I want to be an agent.
My head would start spinning, eyes would cross and the computer would probably go flying across the room. I have to give them credit. Its a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Just glad I'm on this side of the fence.
If you have an agent I think you should give them a hug. Maybe we should have Agent's Day like we have Mother's Day. Send flowers to your agent...or maybe an octopus.

Query vs Synopsis

Which is worse? Trying to spit out a query and convey the excitement of your book in a couple of paragraphs or taking a 280 page book down to a couple of pages? I'm attempting both right now.
The query isn't yet perfected, but I'm not sure what more to do with it. I'm going to wait till tomorrow morning when the house is quiet (I'm always up first) and I have a hot cup of coffee by my side to open it up and look again. Sometimes I look at my query and think....did I get it all in? Would a fresh pair of eyes look at this and really get the gist of what my story is about? Or am I reading something into it that isn't there?
I'm also working on my synopsis. I work on it when I need a break from query letter hell. Erica Orloff gave me some great coaching on what makes a synopsis great and I'm happy to say they have gotten easier since then. But its one of those things where I know my story so well, lets face it I've read this thing cover to cover about ten times now, sometimes I think I can't see the forest for the trees. This weekend I'm going to take my last printed draft and set it next to my puter and write two or three lines on each chapter and then try to piece it together from there. At least then I'll make sure I don't forget anything important.
Does anyone out there have a system for doing queries or synopsis? Care to share?

Just ordered...

The new Karin Slaughter book UNDONE. I can't wait to read ...er...listen to it. (Ordered book on CD so I can listen on my way to work) Her last book was great so I have high expectations.
In the last book she killed off a very important character...at least, I think the character is dead...I won't know till I get my hands on UDONE.
My question is this...You have a good series going with two main characters. Well actually one would be the supremo main but the first secondary character is sooo important that when Karin axed him I almost dropped the book. I had to go back two pages and reread everything. I was in shock, yes there it was in black and white on the page...dead semi-main, killed, kaput, gonzo.
I immediately ran to her website to send her a "I can't believe you did that!" email. But she beat me to it. There on her web was a place that explained why she did it. Smart writer.
But really, do you owe your readers anything? Or is this what makes a great writer? The ability to surprise and shock?
And keep us coming back.