Feed an Author. Buy a Book.

I decided it was long past due that I revamp this blog a little bit and give an update. If you'll take a moment to notice, I changed the background so it's more colorful and happy. What brings happiness like bookshelves full of books, right?

Right. Nothing does.

I also went back through my posts because I remember sharing some excerpts from the novel, which would be okay, except I know it was from the early revisions. Which means they were probably terrible. I was right. That's a good thing, though! Those excerpts embarrassed me today, which means I have grown and learned and moved forward in the book. The transformation of this novel from start to right now has been incredible.

I deleted most of the excerpts because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that's how I write. It's how I used to write. I'm better now. I'll be better tomorrow.

I am still in the query process if anyone is wondering. It's exciting and a tad nerve-wracking. One of my biggest weaknesses is writing these letters. I've been studying the craft for many months, practicing and learning through trial and error. I can't wait for the day that someone sees potential enough that they eventually read the whole manuscript and get as fired up about Adira's story as I am.

While I'm doing that, as I mentioned in my last post, I have started the next project. (While reading back through post, I realized I said this before about another project that did not end up being The One.) While doing this, I have these moments of Nothing-will-ever-be-as-important-as-Capture-Me-Strong. (CMS is Adira's story.) Ahh. Maybe nothing will, but that doesn't mean another story won't be important. If it entertains and helps one person feel that someone gets them, then it is important. I'm not ready to share what the next one is about yet, but there's some scandal. That's all you get. Vague, I know. Sorry.

One last thing: I have vowed that I'm going to start buying more books. Honestly, I'm a super thrifty person, so this means I'm a huge fan of the library. The writer in me cringes at this. To be clear there is nothing wrong with checking out books from the library. Doing so has led me to love books so much that I go out and buy them. But...the writer in me knows that writers have to buy groceries and pay electric bills and put gas in their cars and stock up on tea. I'm blessed to have a husband who does those things while I pursue my dreams, but one day I would like for my years of hard work on this novel to pay off so I can do some of those things, too. I want to help other writers do the same. I should be a HUGE supporter of authors, and I haven't been. I'm so sorry, all you authors. I vow to buy more books. I encourage all of you to go out an buy a book. (And buying it used from Amazon doesn't help the author, just so you know.)

Cheers,
Jessie

Writing Characters

I'm having way too much fun with this, so I made a video to show you how I'm creating characters for my next project while I'm working on query letters for Capture Me Strong, my completed novel.

If this video won't load, click here to watch it on YouTube.


Thanks for watching! Don't forget to comment, check my Facebook page and Follow me on Twitter @Je55ieMullin5.

True Love

Dear readers,

Things I am doing:
Line edits for Capture Me Strong (unrepresented and unpublished YA novel)
Working on the craft of Pitch-writing
Getting to know Scrivener--and loving it!
Connecting on social media (Tweet @Je55ieMullin5 or visit me on Facebook.)
Hosting this contest for artists on Period Fairy (submissions end October 31!)
Trying not to starve to death while my sweet potato bakes ever so slowly in the oven because I don't (want to) own a microwave
Re-evaluating my beliefs about microwaves

Things I am Not Doing:
Not a very good job at line editing because I keep getting wrapped up in Adira's story in Capture Me Strong. That's a good and bad thing! Good because I see it finally coming together. Like, together together. Bad, though, because line edits are vital for catching easy-to-glaze-over mistakes. I might have to start reading backward...
Also, totally not changing my mind about microwaves.
Letting haters and naysayers get to me. Still.

If I can work on this novel for three years and not get sick of it, only have to take one solid break (that was actually a good thing), and only feel more and more excited about, then...I know this is love. True never-give-up-on-it love.

Cheers!
Jessie

Updates and Horse Tranquilizers

Here's what is happening with Capture Me Strong:

This is the novel I've been working on since 2010. It's finished. Kind of. How on earth do people decide their novel is truly finished?? It has gone through revisions. I sent it to some Beta Readers, who gave me feedback. I chewed on said feedback and applied it to the novel to make it better. And then I took the entire manuscript and changed in from past tense to present. Which sucked. I did that in about a week because I needed to have that done before I sent it to Amazon for this contest they had going on. This was in December.

I didn't make it past the first round, which was based solely on Pitch. A Pitch is kind of what you read on the inside flap of a novel when you decide whether or not you want to read it. Except...it's not really like that. The pitch sells your book to the agent, so it has to have voice, show why they should care about the protagonist, show the main plot--with the ending!--and tell why this story is different from any other story. And all of this has to be told in as few words as possible. Some say 500. Some say 200. It depends on what the agent requires. Oh, and it has to really wow off their pants.

Try this. It's hard.

So, I learned I'm not skilled at pitch-writing. I'm soaking up anything I can find about this art so I can send a much better pitch next time. 

I haven't yet touched Capture Me Strong since December because all of that was so intense I just needed a break from it for the sake of sanity. It is now time to pick it back up and give it one last thorough round of edits before I send it back out to agents whom I admire.

I've started the next novel in the meantime. I worked it out for a few months before I finally started a messy first draft this month for Camp NaNoWriMo. My goal is a rough draft of 40k words by the end of July. As I write this (with seven days remaining), I stand at 10,275 words. I don't know if I will make this deadline because I've been busy with my best friend's wedding! Yay! Also, my back is inflamed, so my doctor prescribed a muscle relaxer which I think they got confused with a horse tranquilizer. But I am trying my best. This is practice for when I have real-life deadlines one day, so I take it seriously. But some things are unavoidable. Like my bed while I'm on horse tranquilizers.

For four days last week, I worked as a freelance writer, writing articles for websites. I hated it mostly because I was getting paid $0.60 per 500 words, and it took up all my work time so I couldn't work on my novel. I'm sure freelancing works for some people, but I don't have it in me to work my way up to the high-paying stuff, and I value creativity too much to write about dentistry in Fayetteville, NC. So, I finished everything assigned to me and told the guy I was moving in another direction.

I'm also trying to build a platform so I have a built-in audience when an agent does agree to work with me on my book. Would you be so kind as to Follow me on Twitter @Je55ieMullin5 and Like my author Facebook page? Thank you a million times for those of you who already have!

Finally, the hot topic with authors today is traditional publishes vs self-publishing. I'm leaning toward traditional because that has always been my dream, but people say self is a good way to get to traditional. So, what do you guys think? Leave a comment below!

Much love,
Jessie

PS, here's a picture.

     

And then She Went Mad

Since you have't heard much about how my novel, Capture Me Strong, is going, you may have pictured something like this:

Jessie printed  out her manuscript, read over a few pages, realized she had the beginning of the story ALL WRONG. Again. And then she tore the manuscript to pieces, went mad and tossed it in the garbage. Then she realized it was only the beginning that was wrong, so went dumpster-diving to pick out the shreds and tape them back together. Only to discover the end wasn't very good either. And then she drank some tea. 

But no. I DID print out the manuscript. And now I'm raking through it to fix tiny typos and such. I shouldn't be raking through. They say a writer never truly feels like the book is finished and ready, but you just have to take the plunge and decide it's done, dangit, at some point.

I just don't want to give this manuscript to my (FANTASTIC) beta readers and them find a bajillion typos and think I'm a bafoon wannabe writer. But...that might happen anyway, so...

I also have to mail it to myself because then it will be copyrighted, so if anyone tries to steal it, they will be in giant trouble.  Don't steal. Plagiarism is the worst sin. Satan got kicked out of heaven for plagiarizing  Or...was it something else...? (It was.) 

So, what am I dong in the meantime? 

Oh, nothing. Just...a little something called NaNoWriMo. What? Oh, you can't read that. I said NaNoWriMo!!!! Don't know what that is? National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50k word novel in the thirty days of November. Want to know more? Check out the site. 

I'm doing this, but I'm getting a dreadfully late start. It's day 15 (exactly halfway ohmygosh!) because, you know...life happened. Ahem. I MARRIED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! His name is Gary. I'm quite fond of him. My name is now...(ready?)...(drum roll, please.)...Mrs. Jessie Mullins! That was official on Octoer 20th. Yay! 

And also my computer died for good. So. We're living together now. Paying bills and stuff. Gary is amazing enough to tell me it's okay (he even wants me to because he believes in me and my writing so much) focus on my writing and not get a "real job". Not many people believe in me like he does. Aah. So, anyway...bills and stuff. And so I don't have a computer right now. This means when I can work on NaNoWroiMo, I need to binge-write to get this baby done. (Then why am I making a blog post??) I assure you, I will get it done. BEAST! 

To wrap it up, here' a quick synopsis of my NaNoWriMo novel, which is also the next novel I will be seriously working on toward my career and dreams of being a published author. I'm calling it Ashes to Ashes for now. 

Frances loses her dad to stage four prostate cancer the night of her high school graduation. All she has known for the past seven years was taking care of her dad. With her mom gone, too, and her big sister's disappearing act four years ago, Frances has had no life aside from getting good grades and keeping her dad alive as long as possible. When he passes, Frances can think of nothing to do except to honor her dad's dreams of riding his Harley across the country to the Hollywood sign. Problem: She's deathly afraid of motorcycles. Oh, and her sister is suddenly back in the picture...with a very cute, and very bad, motorcycle-riding cowboy. 

He miiiight look like this. Enjoy. 

 Thanks for reading! 

Jessie 

How I Got Over a Nasty Case of WB

Urban Dictionary (truly the most reliable of all dictionaries) defines Writer's Block as such:

A point in writing where the writer runs head first into a brick wall in their writing process. Which may result in a writer bashing their head repeatedly into their keyboard/laptop/notebook/etc. until words or blood is freely flowing. Also might be because the characters are fed up with all the crap the author puts them through and go on strike.

What usually causes Writer's block for me is the much dreaded and only useful half of the time Inner Editor. Dun Dun DUN.

My Inner Editor looks like this. She doesn't bake me cookies or offer me iced tea. She's as mean as she looks. And she says stuff like, "You can't put that in your book--your parents, uncles, pastor, ladies in prayer group, etc. are going to read this! That line sounds about as corny as a bowl of corn flakes! You don't write as well as Suzanne Collins! Are you sure about that comma? Wah wah wah." On and on.

Usually I have no trouble ignoring her. Sometimes what she has to say is actually useful and I take it into consideration. And she will definitely come in handy when I'm going through line edits at the very end of this whole thing.

But these past weeks...

She's been ultra bitter. Let's say someone had their panties in a bunch and since she knew I was watching and doesn't like mistakes, she was afraid to just pull that wedgie and get on with her day. So she took her frustration out on me. It might also have to do with the fact that I'm so close to the end. I've sent out queries to six agents (Eeeeee!!), but more about that in another post. I know I said I'd have this out to my Betas almost a month ago, but I've learned things take longer than I expect and I'm still learning so much every day about writing and my style and all that good stuff I'll never completely have down.

Anyway, I've been working on a new scene I added to the story for the past two weeks. And most of those days, I'd sit down, stare at the page, get frustrated, type a line, erase that line, and watch an episode of Supernatural. Start over the next day. On the bright side, I am all caught up on Supernatural I learned a lot about my writing process.

Last night I was about to get started on that ugly cycle. But! This time I was for sure, for SURE going to get a lot done. And then my Inner Editor started in on the thousands of  reasons why every word I typed out totally sucked.

It was frustrating, kind of like this.

I could feel I was on the edge of a meltdown, so I tried to have one that was like this.

 But it wasn't working because by this point, I was whining like a two year old. So, I made a little rant status on Facebook because that SUPER productive and then danggit, I made a cuppa! (I learned from a Harry Potter cookbook the other day that Cuppa to the English is a cup of tea. As in "Let's go have a cuppa!")

Then with my tea in hand (tea fixes all), I knew what I had to do next. I had to show my Inner Editor which of us is Boss Lady (me). I opened a blank Word doc and started a story off the top of my head without caring in the least bit whether or not it was ridiculous or cheesy or scandalous. It worked! She retreated behind her editor desk with random mumbles about perfection and excellence, but I didn't care because I had the floor again. Score.

I looked at the beginning to the top-of-my-head story and saw that it was, in fact, not bad. Not bad at all. And I reminded myself there is no such thing as perfection, and if I aim for it every time I write, I end up with nothing but wasted time. I have to write my buns off and get a few crappy scenes to get those scenes that really rock. Besides, my Inner Editor will take care of those later.

So, I reminded myself of this:

   Then I gulped down the rest of my delicious tea and got to work. And the scene actually grew and was pretty good, if I do say so!

Cheers.

P.S. It's totally fine if not everyone agrees with what I write as long as I stay true to the story. Write on. 

Rockin' Revisions, Querying Quest, and Bubbly Betas

This last revision part was supposed to be easy. I went through and wrote out what corrections had to me made and then went through and made them. However, in doing so, I found holes in plot and what have you. So. I'm just working that stuff out, and then the book will be...ready for my betas! Back in September, I wrote about my need for beta readers. And I said it would be soon.

The revision part of writing is really hard, but I won't bore you with my whining. It's taken longer than I expected, and I'm sorry to anyone who talked to me about being a beta. I still need you, and I need you soon (for real this time)!

The difference between my betas and this betta fish is...a lot, actually. Hmm.

I'm giving myself until the March 20th to get this baby polished, and then I will have it off to you, my dear beloved betas! I'm in full-force mode because while looking at my calender, I discovered a beautiful lull in my schedule during these next couple weeks. Yay! That means hard core work time.

I'm also doing something very exciting (starting today...right now, after I post this). I'm sending out queries to literary agents! I'm finding egitimate agents I don't have to pay and who follow a code of ethics on a site called the Association of Author's Representatives. I've done my research, and this is the pace to find an agent. I've researched many of them and picked the ones looking for the kind of novel I have written.

Ahhh! I'm absolutely tickled. I think I'm supposed to be terrified, too, but I'm not feeling that. I'm confident that God has me just where He wants me and has given me all I need to succeed. I should hear back from any agent(s) who want to represent me within 3-6 weeks of sending out my query. In that time, I will have sent out my novel to my betas.

So, yes! Good stuff is happening. Thank you to everyone who has been there for me all along. Thank you to my betas for your patience and willingness to help me and for your input I'm sure will be ever so helpful!