Once upon a Query dreary....

I've been playing over at Slushpile and, of course, I love the Query Shark so I was wondering if there's a formula for this stuff?
I have my own idea on what makes a good query and it breaks down to three things. Conflict, motivation and goal.
The conflict would be the hook or whatever sparks the story. Motivation is why the character feels they have to take action. Life or death? Righting a wrong? Saving someone? something? The goal is where they want to get to, which outcome they are working for.
I usually start with three sentences that say these things and go from there. If more is needed then I start layering in more information. Then I go back and start cutting.
Did I really need this word? Is this fact necessary at this point?
And the biggest questions...Do I have everything the agent needs to get the gist of the story? Is my hook strong enough?
If I were an agent and looking at my 100th query before lunch would this grab me?
I get rejections and I get some reads. Some very nice agents and editors give me good comments along with the not-for-them salutation. It's okay, rejections don't bother me anymore. Some day I'm going to wallpaper my bathroom with them.

How's your query?

Ideas?

I've always believed that ideas are all around us. In John Irving's The World According to Garp the main character sees a red glove in the gutter and develops a whole story around it. From that we invented the game we call "Tell Me". I mostly did this to keep my kid's mind busy when we were in places where they could get unruly. (I figured diverting their attention was better than correcting it. Kind of the head-them-off-at-the-pass theory.) In the game someone picks an object somewhere in the room and challenges the person to tell a whole story behind the object. Amazingly we've found a spoon that dated back to the Civil War and once fed General Grant's horse!
So now I'm collecting ideas. I want to make a file of basic plot lines to have on hand for when I need a challenge or hit a block.
Anyone else do this? Does it help?

Thank God it's Friday!

Shame on the NJ Senate

Last week the NJ Senate voted NO to Gay Marriage. Here's a list of the Senators who feel that not everyone is created equal. They took a giant step back in the evolution of society.
Voting in opposition were:

* Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren)
* Sen. Tom Kean (R-Union)
* Sen. Fred H. Madden (D-Camden)
* Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris)
* Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson)
* Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean)
* Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen)
* Sen. Christopher Connors (R-Ocean)
* Sen. Philip E. Haines (R-Burlington)
* Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Passaic)
* Sen. Ron Rice (D-Essex)
* Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer)
* Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Somerset)
* Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris)
* Sen. John Girgenti (D-Passaic)
* Sen. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Steven Oroho (R-Sussex)
* Sen. Jeff VanDrew (D-Cape May)

Thankfully, the fight is not over. Now it goes to court and hopefully a judge will know that all men are created equal and there's no provision in the Constitution that says "except if you're gay".
Some of the nay-sayers suggested it go on the ballot but really, would that be fair?
Would women have the right to vote if it went to a statewide vote?
Would slavery have been outlawed if it went to a country wide vote?
But hey, I'm sure that pesky no talking on the cell while driving law wouldn't have passed if we all had a say in that vote!
Sad to say I'm ashamed of my state. I thought they were more fair and forward thinking. I thought they could separate church and state. I thought they had a brain.

Hello January

Cold weather here in the north east brings pain from an old shoulder injury. The pain radiates from jaw to fingertips so everything seems like an effort. Even typing. I exist on Advil and heating pads while I try to pound out a few pages every day.
And my Blue Diamond seems to be a struggle right now. There are things I have to get settled within the story and it's freakin' boring. She's homeless but I need to have hero-man help her without her being too needy about it. So it's a battle between keeping her independent and letting him in enough to supply some help. I need her slightly indebted to him so she takes up the adventure he's offering.
Does any of this make sense?
How do you get over the abyss in your story? It's there, it tells us stuff we kind of need to know but I feel like I'm missing something here.

Wild Rose Press and finding my groove

Sometimes in this writer's life there comes a certain kind of depression. I recognise it, know it will pass and just enjoy it while it's here. It gives me time to contemplate things I otherwise would be too busy to think about. This time it brought the urge to give up. Thoughts like; Why am I trying so hard? It's never going to happen! I should just give up. Stop the polishing and the rewrites and just forget this idea of getting published.
Whew! I've even stopped visiting my fav agent blogs (a morning ritual). I don't post as much and although I read all my other fav writer's blogs I'm not posting comments there either. I feel like I should crawl into my shell and just let it all pass me by.
:(
Then I got the email newsletter from Wild Rose Press and saw a contest. They are starting a new line and looking for writers to write a story that has "a blue diamond" it in.
Slowly the wheels in my head started squeaking. Turning slowly around the word "blue diamond". So many possibilities leaked through my brain. A person? place? actual diamond? The Blue Diamond could be anything.
And best of all this contest has a deadline.
I love deadlines. They push me, block out all other interuptions and make me move.
So I've been moving, writing once again and it feels good. Then today I realized the depression had lifted. Thoughts cleared and the buzzing in my brain turned into action.
I think sometimes the cure for this writer's depression is a goal. When we have no goals we flounder, wander and sink deeper into the numbness of our own brains.
I have a goal now and hit just hit 30 pages.
Ahhhh....life is good once again.
What do you do when you want to give up? Where is your magic cure for inertia?

It's the Pressure of the Season

As I was driving to work the other day the DJ was talking about not having the Christmas spirit this year and it got me thinking.
I too, lag in spirit this year and I tried to figure out why. I miss the excitement of childhood where I practically danced through December awaiting that big day. When did it disappear? Why did I lose it?

I think it's the pressure.
How many people do I have to buy for? Did I forget anyone? Will they like this? Will they like that?
Oh! Another party tonight! And tomorrow night! When am I going to find time to get anything done?
Company's coming! Clean the house!
Shopping for dinner parties, pick up some wine so you have something to bring to dinner parties, remembering which house you can't bring wine to, and wondering if it's okay to bring store bought cookies because you don't have time to bake.

I admire the people who get all their shopping done early. But how do they know what to buy? I agonize over such things! This causes procrastination and delays the inevitable shopping trips which turn one of my favorite hobbies (shopping) into a torture sessions.

Believe me, the day after Christmas is like letting out a long breath you've been holding for a month...is it over?
Oh no! Another Christmas party on the 27th!
Here we go again....
It's the pressure of the season, hope you survive!
Merry Christmas!