Halston

Just called the vet. Halston is doing good and we can pick her up at 6:30
Yay! Thanks so much for your prayers and postive energy.
:)

Halston needs prayers...

This is Halston. She was born at the Seeing Eye up in Morristown, NJ. That's a place that raises guide dogs for the blind. Halston was given to our family to raise for 18 months. And we did. We took her to Guide Dog Puppy Club every month. As a group we took the dogs on trains, planes, into stores and libraries and even some school functions. It was a great time and the kids loved it.
Then one day a van from the Seeing Eye pulled up in our driveway to take Halston back. Our job was done. We had to give her back so she could be trained to lead blind people around. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. We walked Halston out and they put her in a crate in the van. As the crate door closed and she realized we weren't going with her she went crazy. Barking and clawing at the crate door as they closed her in. The kids burst into tears and ran back into the house. I tried to tell myself we were doing a good thing for the blind person who would some day have a great dog like Halston to guide them, but it was so hard.
About a week later the phone rings and my youngest daughter answers it. It's a lady from the Seeing Eye. As I take the phone both kids are bouncing up and down in front of me with hands clasped, praying to get her back.
See, if the dog fails guide dog school for any reason the puppy raisers are offered the dog back.
The lady on the phone says Halston failed, do we want her?
:)
Of course we do!
They fixed her first and then four weeks later we headed up to Morristown to pick her up. We were guided into a room and told to wait. Then the door opened and there was our Halston. Thinner but definitely the same happy dog we gave up. She ran into my arms and sent me sprawling backward as she attacked with wet licky kisses. It was wonderful and Halston has been lighting up our lives ever since. 13 YEARS!
Last week I found a lump on her chest. Wednesday they aspirated the site and it came back as mast cell cancer. Sunday (yes, my wonderful vet is open on Sundays) we did xrays and blood work. Both came back clear. A good thing! Now she is scheduled for surgery on Friday to remove the lump.
Please pray that everything goes good and she comes out of this happy and healthy. Halston needs some prayers.

Confrontations are a bitch...

What's for dinner deer?

Dear little Blog...

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. Work gets busy and by the time I get home my eyes are bleary from staring at the computer for so long. I work in the election biz so we're gearing up to make sure November 3rd is all by the book. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes when you walk into the polling place. The election officials have been working for months to make sure everything will run smooth and by the time you place your vote their brains are fried. And it ain't over when the returns come in. There is still more to do. Clean up work. Then it starts all over. There are lots of little elections going on around the country in little towns that you may never hear of. Special school elections, fire elections, municipal elections...
So, if I haven't been here a lot it's because my brain cells are fried. My writing is taking a back seat and I feel like it's eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work...
Hopefully, I'll be back before November...but it not...happy writing!

Judge not lest I can judge you too!

Let's talk about critique groups. I've been to the bad and I've been to the good. The worst was the one where the two most vocal guys in the group would harp on one or two words in the chapter. Especially words of the four letter kind. Like real life people never uttered such a word. ~~~Okay, avoid that kind of group. Sadly, one or two wackos can truly ruin a group.
A good group gives you positive feedback even while they tell you where your problems are. They watch for punctuation, story flow, head hopping and grammar. And they deliver the critique in a positive and encouraging manner. These groups are out there but usually it takes some time and patience to find.
The important thing is you don't stop looking. If one critique group doesn't fit, keep looking. Or even develop one on your own.
Critique groups are like shoes. Try them on, walk around a bit and if they pinch a nerve put them back on the shelf. Sooner or later you'll find the support and insight you seek.
But if you don't keep looking, you'll never know what's out there just waiting to ignite your passions.

Does she need a friend?

This is Halston. She's 13 years old. She came into our lives from the Seeing Eye school for the Blind. She was supposed to be a seeing eye dog.
We were puppy raisers. Halston lived with us from 6 weeks to 18 months. Then the Seeing Eye sent a van to pick her up. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. When you raise a dog for the Blind you have to write a report that goes back with the dog. In Halston's report I said she seemed afraid of loud noises. Fireworks, thunder, parades and anything else that goes boom.
A week after she went back to the Blind school they called and said she failed school. After reading my report they took her out in traffic to see how she would do in a busy area. Halston failed. It was too noisey for her delicate little ears. So we got her back.
Happy Day!
The whole time we had Halston we also had Lokie, a Sheltie, a year older than Halston. They were best friends and often cuddled together, bathed each other and romped in the yard together.
When she was about 8 Lani came to live with us. Lani was a greyhound mix.
Last November we lost Lokie. She passed on to the rainbow bridge.
Last month Lani moved to Florida with my daughter.
Now, for the first time in her life, Halston is an only dog. :(
We're thinking of getting her a friend. Go to the shelter and let her pick out another dog. Probably an older, couch potato like her.
What do you think? Good idea?

Kudos to Vermont! Yay!

As of today Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. New Hampshire's law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.
Land of the Free! Yeah!

Boo!

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.

CHERRY BOMB

Just finished reading Cherry Bomb by J.A.Konrath and it was a real page turner.
Bad girl Alex Kork is back with more of her twisted games to torture our hero, Jack Daniels. If you like Serial Killers, Cops and lots of action buy this book. The imagery is vivid and might keep you up at night. Konrath has a real talent for wretching emotions from the reader. This read is like a roller coaster ride of tears, fear and edge of the seat screams. His writing will paint you such a vivid picture that you can't help but keep turning the pages.

The opening of this book will answer the cliffhanger at the end of Fuzzy Navel. Thank you Joe! It was totally unexpected. Brought tears to my eyes. They didn't last long though as we were dragged into the non-stop action.

Good read! I give it five stars! *****

This man was a God

Amazing.
Bruce Lee played Ping Pong with his nunchuks. I wonder how long he had to practise to get that good in hitting the little ball with the chuks.
To liken this to writing I'd have to say it all comes down to practise. Every story we write, every novel we finish and shove under the bed to never see again is all part of the practise. If we didn't do it we'd never be able to hit the ball.

Now I'm imagining peeking under Stephen King's bed. I think it might be a little scary under there...

I may have to go dust off my nunchuks.

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?