This morning I woke up at 6:30 and dragged myself to the City with a hangover (courtesy of the Warriors) and in the midst of sideways rain caused by gale force winds.
I arrived at the tallest building around, rather wet, collected my bib and timing chip (after multiple attempts and a relocation of the registration tables to somewhere dry), checked my gear, and then proceeded to climb to the top of the building, 52 stories and 1197 steps. This was the 2012 American Lung Association Fight for Air Climb, and I participated as part of the Bank of America Community Volunteers team courtesy of a TNT ski buddy. We were the third team to climb after the firefighters and CrossFit. Many of the fire fighters climbed in full gear - I cannot imagine how much that weighs.
I obviously hadn't trained for this event and was rather nervous about how difficult it was going to be, but it turned out to go much faster and easier than I had expected. I finished in under 13 minutes. At the top, there were spreads of bagels and fruit, a DJ, and amazing views, looking down on everything else around. There were a million volunteers for this event and they were fantastic.
I had worried about claustrophobia in the stairwell, but it was rather big, and they stagger starts by 8 seconds so there were never all that many people around. The elevator ride back down was much worse.
Overall, it was a fun time, and I am sure it would have been even better without the terrible weather and consequent clusterf*** surrounding registration, as well as all the people packed into the lobby creating a din. It was so much nicer to be on top. I would definitely do this event again, and so should you!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Ant Infestation (Day 37)
On Tuesday it poured. While walking to BART with my laptop in a bag and under my umbrella (or so I thought anyway), my laptop got wet through my bag. When I arrived home and stepped under cover to dig my keys out, I noticed thousands of tiny ant swarming up on the threshold. I hoped upon hope that they had not gone inside. I imagined millions of ants eating every errant crumb in the kitchen, coating the counters.
When I walked in, there were hundreds of ants, but luckily they had not seemed to find a trail yet so were mostly milling around just inside the door and around the door frame. This is not the first time we have had ants inside the house, so I reached for my spray bottle of soapy water and took aim. Soon, I had masses of dead ants. I wiped up the dead ants on the threshold and door frame to avoid creating any juice when I shut the door, but I did not clean up all the many other dead ants inside the house. I guess maybe I was hoping Matt would take care of it.
Matt did not, but when I approached the door yesterday, I realized that the huge mass of dead ants had disappeared. I guess the ants cleaned up themselves. I will have to remember to thank them.
When I walked in, there were hundreds of ants, but luckily they had not seemed to find a trail yet so were mostly milling around just inside the door and around the door frame. This is not the first time we have had ants inside the house, so I reached for my spray bottle of soapy water and took aim. Soon, I had masses of dead ants. I wiped up the dead ants on the threshold and door frame to avoid creating any juice when I shut the door, but I did not clean up all the many other dead ants inside the house. I guess maybe I was hoping Matt would take care of it.
Matt did not, but when I approached the door yesterday, I realized that the huge mass of dead ants had disappeared. I guess the ants cleaned up themselves. I will have to remember to thank them.
Episodic Nonfiction
Reading your April 8, 2008, blog about narrative nonfiction, I wondered about the storyline for nonfiction, e.g. The Perfect Storm, In Cold Blood, Jon Krakauer's work, and other well-known stories.
Is there such a thing as "episodic" narrative nonfiction? Where the stories are short vignettes? So instead of one continuous long thread, a series of short threads that maybe by the end become a total memoir?
The reason I ask: I am a poet who also writes creative nonfiction, but they are not continuous chapters. They are episodes.
Well, I'm a believer that pretty much anything can be done if done well. Certainly there has been nonfiction published that's really a series of essays. Are you talking about something different from that? I think there's been a great deal of nonfiction published that's really a collection of stories that create a larger tale. If that makes sense.
Jessica
Is there such a thing as "episodic" narrative nonfiction? Where the stories are short vignettes? So instead of one continuous long thread, a series of short threads that maybe by the end become a total memoir?
The reason I ask: I am a poet who also writes creative nonfiction, but they are not continuous chapters. They are episodes.
Well, I'm a believer that pretty much anything can be done if done well. Certainly there has been nonfiction published that's really a series of essays. Are you talking about something different from that? I think there's been a great deal of nonfiction published that's really a collection of stories that create a larger tale. If that makes sense.
Jessica
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Salterton Trilogy - Robertson Davies
I'm cheating a little bit here by reviewing 3 books in one post, but since I originally read them as a trilogy; and have just finished re-reading them as a trilogy; I am going to review them as a trilogy! These count as books 6, 7, and 8 in my attempt to re-read 13 Canadian books for The Canadian Book Challenge over at The Book Mine Set. (5 books to go, and only 3 months left in the challenge. Can I do it?)
So, using the format that I have been using for these reviews, here goes...
Book(s): Tempest-Tost, A Leaven of Malice, and A Mixture of Frailties, aka The Salterton Trilogy. My copies are all in one volume (one rather thick-ish volume). I'm not sure that I like these covers that Penguin is currently using.
First Read: The spring of 1995. For anyone who attended high school in the same province as me, in the same era, I read them for my OAC English Independent Study. At that point, I had read all of Robertson Davies' other books, loved him as an author, planned on reading these books anyways, so why not read them for credit!
Original Impressions: Not surprisingly, I loved them. I went into the books expecting to enjoy them, so I did. I don't have the essay that I wrote about these books, but I remember the thesis - that these books marked Robertson Davies' transition from playwright to novelist. He had previously written several plays, and when he came up with the idea for Tempest-Tost (a group of amateur actors put on a performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest), he figured that he would never get a group of actors to actually perform it as a play, since it is essentially poking fun at amateur actors and theatre groups. And so he wrote it as a novel, changing the direction of his future writing career. My essay was probably a bunch of pompous garbage, but I did inspire my English teacher to read these books (he hadn't previously, even though we were studying another Robertson Davies novel - Fifth Business - that year).
Current Impression: I have re-read these books many times over the years. Robertson Davies is one of my laugh-out-loud authors. I love his ironic sense of humour and his ability to draw such sharp characters. I still enjoy them. And I still agree with that original essay, though I could probably write it much better now. The first two books in the trilogy read more like plays - very character and action driven; an ensemble cast; episodic - I could almost see the scene and act divisions; and a romp with not much growth from beginning to end. But by the 3rd novel, there is a distinct main character who has grown by the end of the book.
The three books are held together by a common setting (Salterton - based on Kingston, Ontario) and by many common characters. The third book deviates a bit - it starts out in Salterton and the opening chapter gives the impression that the cast of characters is going to be similar to the previous books; but a new "main character" is quickly introduced, and the main plot line moves to London (England, not Ontario).
Let me say here and now that these books contain what is probably my favourite character in all of fiction - Humphrey Cobbler. How can I not like a character who is described as follows: "Cobbler was a man so alive, and so apparently happy, that the air around him seemed charged with his delight in life." Or who can declaim a speech such as, "Purcell! What a genius! And lucky, too. Nobody has ever thought to blow him up into a God-like Genius, like poor old Bach, or a Misunderstood Genius, like poor old Mozart, or a Wicked and Immoral Genius, like poor old Wagner. Purcell is just a nice, simple Genius, rollicking happily through Eternity. The boobs and the gramophone salesmen and the music hucksters haven't discovered him yet and please God they never will. Kids don't peck and mess at little scraps of Purcell for examinations. Arthritic organists don't torture Purcell in chapels and tin Bethels all over the country on Sundays, while the middle classes are pretending to be holy. Purcell is still left for people who really like music." I don't remember ever pecking away at Purcell's music for examinations; but I do torture Purcell on the organ the occasional Sunday! (Though I'm not yet arthritic.) I would love to meet Cobbler in person, but I don't know if I would be able to take his intensity if I had him as my teacher.
OK - diversion over. These books were written in the 1950s, and while there are a few cultural references that can place the books in that decade (see the gramophone reference above!), I can almost imagine much of them being written today.
One thing that bothered me on this re-read is Revelstoke's treatment of Monica in A Mixture of Frailties. Their relationship seems to be very much that of the abuser and his victim (psychological rather than physical); and possibly because I am older now than I was when I first read this book, it seemed more tinged by horror. I know that in the decade in which this book was written, domestic abuse was present by not openly acknowledged; but in this book, other characters reference it, and in the end she is free of him.
But all-in-all, these books include all that I love about Robertson Davies' writing, and really do show his development as an author. They will probably cycle through my re-read list every few years!
Engineering (Day 36)
Matt likes to make fun of engineers a lot. He thinks all they do is plug numbers into equations. He considers them "less than" scientists. I like to defend engineers because I spent two and a half years in an engineering program before dropping out. In addition, both of us have graduate degrees from a college of engineering (although our program is no longer in that college).
Many of my jobs have bordered on engineering, and my first job out of grad school was even classified as Environmental Engineer. I have developed models, reviewed savings calculations from energy efficiency measures, and tried to understand various technologies as I help develop federal energy efficiency standards.
I am spending three days in a class about pumping systems, which will culminate in a test to become a qualified pump systems specialist, or some such designation. This test is really all about plugging numbers into equations, and in particular a tool that does all the calculations for you. This is definitely the part of engineering that Matt likes to make fun of, and it is certainly boring me to no end. I am glad I get to spend most of my days thinking about bigger picture issues like how to regulate pumps and other equipment instead of using these equations over and over again. (And I realize regulations probably sounds amazingly boring to a lot of other people! And it certainly can be.) One of the girls in my class (two others finally showed up) has her own company that does things such as performing audits to improve energy efficiency, and she noted that she likes being able to see a result at the end of every day. I may not see a result for three years, if ever. So I guess there are trade offs to everything!
Many of my jobs have bordered on engineering, and my first job out of grad school was even classified as Environmental Engineer. I have developed models, reviewed savings calculations from energy efficiency measures, and tried to understand various technologies as I help develop federal energy efficiency standards.
I am spending three days in a class about pumping systems, which will culminate in a test to become a qualified pump systems specialist, or some such designation. This test is really all about plugging numbers into equations, and in particular a tool that does all the calculations for you. This is definitely the part of engineering that Matt likes to make fun of, and it is certainly boring me to no end. I am glad I get to spend most of my days thinking about bigger picture issues like how to regulate pumps and other equipment instead of using these equations over and over again. (And I realize regulations probably sounds amazingly boring to a lot of other people! And it certainly can be.) One of the girls in my class (two others finally showed up) has her own company that does things such as performing audits to improve energy efficiency, and she noted that she likes being able to see a result at the end of every day. I may not see a result for three years, if ever. So I guess there are trade offs to everything!
Agent Shopping
I currently have an agent who has a good reputation and has a decent track record. I have done all the background checks I can and when I signed felt I would be well represented by this person. However, through a series of situations and over a six month period with 0 submissions to publishing houses despite a great deal of talk about multiple submissions, I am beginning to believe that this business relationship is not a good match.
What I would like to know from you is, is it bad protocol to start feeling out the waters with other agents (querying) while still under contract? I don't want to do anything unethical or something that would tarnish my reputation as a new author, however I also would like to have an agent that is doing their job asap. And if it is okay to start querying while under contract, do I mention that I am under contract and looking for a more suitable agent?
First let me congratulate you on making the decision early on that this might not be the right relationship. Too often I see authors flounder with an agent who they don't feel is a good fit, but out of fear they won't find another. Taking control of your career from the beginning is a smart move.
I'm going to assume that you've talked with your agent about your concerns. Often I find that assumptions are made about what others are doing without really knowing the facts. For example, I'm constantly shopping books, talking to editors about the work my clients do, hounding publishers for money and contracts, etc., but I'm not always filling my clients in on every step I'm taking for them. For all you know, the agent could be talking you up to editors.
Okay, on to your question. Yes, it's bad protocol to shop for an agent while you're under contract. Honestly, it's a breach of contract and puts all parties, including the agents you're talking to, in a very uncomfortable position. What if your agent happens to be best friends with one of the other agents you're talking to? How does it make you look to other agents if they know you're the kind of author who might go behind their backs when unhappy? That being said, it does happen all the time. While certainly some agents will feel "protocol be damned," others might tell you to get back in touch after your relationship has been dissolved.
The smart and easy thing to do is quit the relationship and then query. After all, what if you're querying at about the same time your agent decides to start talking to editors about your book? Suddenly you're not going to have much of a project to talk to agents about since by that time it will have been shopped.
Jessica
What I would like to know from you is, is it bad protocol to start feeling out the waters with other agents (querying) while still under contract? I don't want to do anything unethical or something that would tarnish my reputation as a new author, however I also would like to have an agent that is doing their job asap. And if it is okay to start querying while under contract, do I mention that I am under contract and looking for a more suitable agent?
First let me congratulate you on making the decision early on that this might not be the right relationship. Too often I see authors flounder with an agent who they don't feel is a good fit, but out of fear they won't find another. Taking control of your career from the beginning is a smart move.
I'm going to assume that you've talked with your agent about your concerns. Often I find that assumptions are made about what others are doing without really knowing the facts. For example, I'm constantly shopping books, talking to editors about the work my clients do, hounding publishers for money and contracts, etc., but I'm not always filling my clients in on every step I'm taking for them. For all you know, the agent could be talking you up to editors.
Okay, on to your question. Yes, it's bad protocol to shop for an agent while you're under contract. Honestly, it's a breach of contract and puts all parties, including the agents you're talking to, in a very uncomfortable position. What if your agent happens to be best friends with one of the other agents you're talking to? How does it make you look to other agents if they know you're the kind of author who might go behind their backs when unhappy? That being said, it does happen all the time. While certainly some agents will feel "protocol be damned," others might tell you to get back in touch after your relationship has been dissolved.
The smart and easy thing to do is quit the relationship and then query. After all, what if you're querying at about the same time your agent decides to start talking to editors about your book? Suddenly you're not going to have much of a project to talk to agents about since by that time it will have been shopped.
Jessica
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Pumps, pumps, pumps (Day 35)
Three days of pumps.
What more could a girl ask for?
And I didn't even do my homework.
Note to self: probably not ready to go back to school.
Bernoulli is enough.
What more could a girl ask for?
And I didn't even do my homework.
Note to self: probably not ready to go back to school.
Bernoulli is enough.
Handling a Referral
I sent a query, synopsis and 10 pages to a popular agent who is no reply = no. Two weeks later, I received an amazingly sweet letter in which she gave compliments, made suggestions and then told me she'd already sent an email to a colleague of hers (the VP of their agency) and really thought she'd like it so would I send it to the colleague as well, with the referring agent's name in the subject header. Firstly, wow - because this was based on the 10 pages and synopsis, which I know because she referred to plot points. That was in [6-8 weeks ago]. My first assumption is that a referral will at least garner a rejection letter, even from an agency that doesn't reply if not interested. (Is this a bad assumption?) I don't intend to nudge, since it's just a query, but I also think it was awesome for the first agent to go through the trouble and would hate to not be diligent about the opportunity she sort of created. After getting writer feedback that insists I should nudge, I thought I'd better ask an agent (I trust). :)
This is really exciting. Congratulations!
According to the dates you are giving me the agent has had the material, which I assume is a full manuscript, for 6-8 weeks. At this point you're probably on the early edge of hearing back on a full submission, even if the material was requested. My suggestion is give it about 10 weeks or so (while some agents are really fast, it's not uncommon for agents to take an average of three months to respond to full submissions), and then I would send an email to check the status.
I agree that you should definitely receive a response on requested material, but I don't have insight to this agency's exact policy either.
Jessica
This is really exciting. Congratulations!
According to the dates you are giving me the agent has had the material, which I assume is a full manuscript, for 6-8 weeks. At this point you're probably on the early edge of hearing back on a full submission, even if the material was requested. My suggestion is give it about 10 weeks or so (while some agents are really fast, it's not uncommon for agents to take an average of three months to respond to full submissions), and then I would send an email to check the status.
I agree that you should definitely receive a response on requested material, but I don't have insight to this agency's exact policy either.
Jessica
Monday, March 26, 2012
Cupcakes for a Penny?! (Day 34)
I have complained about my neighborhood before, I'm sure. It's very nice and pretty and well-maintained, and we see all sorts of people out walking about, but people just aren't friendly. They try to avoid eye contact. They don't respond when you say hi. They yell at their dogs for taking an interest in you.
Today as I walked home, a little girl was drawing in chalk on the sidewalk. As I approached she suddenly shot up and said, "Cupcakes for sale! Would you like a cupcake?" I stopped. Her little brother was sitting at a tiny table with a tray of cupcakes in front of him.
"How much?" I asked.
"One dollar," she proclaimed. Then, "One penny or one nickel."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"One penny or one nickel. How does that make you feel?" she responded.
"Well I think you should charge more," I offered.
I opened my wallet to find I had no dollar bills. "Do you have change?" I asked. This concept was a bit beyond them.
The father, who had been sitting on the steps, walked over and said, "It's one coin. Here's the deal: After we sell seven more of these cupcakes, I get to go inside."
I laughed and dropped my approximately 40 cents in change into their cup.
The little girl picked up a cupcake and held it towards me. "Would you like whipped cream or sprinkles?"
I declined, and continued on my way home. Quite a steal for a cupcake - the coffee shop down the road sells them for about $3.
I'm not sure if this was a spring break adventure. I'm kind of sad that the father was bored of hanging outside with his cute children who seemed to be quite enjoying themselves. It was a fairly nice day. But hey - at least I finally talked to someone in my neighborhood.
Today as I walked home, a little girl was drawing in chalk on the sidewalk. As I approached she suddenly shot up and said, "Cupcakes for sale! Would you like a cupcake?" I stopped. Her little brother was sitting at a tiny table with a tray of cupcakes in front of him.
"How much?" I asked.
"One dollar," she proclaimed. Then, "One penny or one nickel."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"One penny or one nickel. How does that make you feel?" she responded.
"Well I think you should charge more," I offered.
I opened my wallet to find I had no dollar bills. "Do you have change?" I asked. This concept was a bit beyond them.
The father, who had been sitting on the steps, walked over and said, "It's one coin. Here's the deal: After we sell seven more of these cupcakes, I get to go inside."
I laughed and dropped my approximately 40 cents in change into their cup.
The little girl picked up a cupcake and held it towards me. "Would you like whipped cream or sprinkles?"
I declined, and continued on my way home. Quite a steal for a cupcake - the coffee shop down the road sells them for about $3.
I'm not sure if this was a spring break adventure. I'm kind of sad that the father was bored of hanging outside with his cute children who seemed to be quite enjoying themselves. It was a fairly nice day. But hey - at least I finally talked to someone in my neighborhood.
Making Twitter Personal
I'm no Twitter expert and have never claimed to be. That being said, I always have plenty of ideas about what works and doesn't work in social networking, primarily because I use it.
A lot of the people I follow on Twitter I follow because I'm a fan. Sure, I follow other industry experts and friends, but I also follow a lot of chefs (in my case). People I admire for their culinary skills. Some of my favorites are those I've gotten to "know" through various food competitions like Top Chef, Food Network or even their cookbooks or blogs. Not too long ago I was leaving Atlanta after a great conference with the Georgia Romance Writers. While waiting at the airport I Tweeted that I was leaving ATL and was bummed I didn't have the chance to visit Flip Burger and I included chef and owner Richard Blais (@RichardBlais) in my Tweet. Just a few short hours later @RichardBlais tweeted back "not as bummed as we are."
Okay, call me a fan geek, food geek, whatever, but I was on cloud 9 all day over this silly tweet. Over the fact that one of my chef heroes tweeted me back and actually seemed bummed that he wasn't able to see me. Does it matter how truly bummed he was? No. Not to a fan. When you admire and respect someone you're excited to be acknowledged by that person. And you should be. Life is too short not to get excited over the little things.
So here's my question to you writers. Are you giving your fans the little thrills that make their days, that give them reason to spend hours, heck days, talking about you? After my Tweet from Richard Blais (which by the way resulted in a number of people asking about this Flip Burger) I went to my personal Facebook to tell my friends and then I told everyone who would listen and now I'm telling all of you. That's buzz and that's the sort of thing that sells a product. It has nothing to do with the Tweets @RichardBlais himself has made, but everything about the "retweeting," so to speak. It's about the connection.
Jessica
A lot of the people I follow on Twitter I follow because I'm a fan. Sure, I follow other industry experts and friends, but I also follow a lot of chefs (in my case). People I admire for their culinary skills. Some of my favorites are those I've gotten to "know" through various food competitions like Top Chef, Food Network or even their cookbooks or blogs. Not too long ago I was leaving Atlanta after a great conference with the Georgia Romance Writers. While waiting at the airport I Tweeted that I was leaving ATL and was bummed I didn't have the chance to visit Flip Burger and I included chef and owner Richard Blais (@RichardBlais) in my Tweet. Just a few short hours later @RichardBlais tweeted back "not as bummed as we are."
Okay, call me a fan geek, food geek, whatever, but I was on cloud 9 all day over this silly tweet. Over the fact that one of my chef heroes tweeted me back and actually seemed bummed that he wasn't able to see me. Does it matter how truly bummed he was? No. Not to a fan. When you admire and respect someone you're excited to be acknowledged by that person. And you should be. Life is too short not to get excited over the little things.
So here's my question to you writers. Are you giving your fans the little thrills that make their days, that give them reason to spend hours, heck days, talking about you? After my Tweet from Richard Blais (which by the way resulted in a number of people asking about this Flip Burger) I went to my personal Facebook to tell my friends and then I told everyone who would listen and now I'm telling all of you. That's buzz and that's the sort of thing that sells a product. It has nothing to do with the Tweets @RichardBlais himself has made, but everything about the "retweeting," so to speak. It's about the connection.
Jessica
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Oakland Running Festival Race Report (Day 33)
Well, I downgraded to the half, and as a result I got to sleep in for several hours. As I was heading to the BART station past all the full marathoners running through mile 5, a woman on the side of the road exclaimed, "Oh no, did you have to drop out?" I informed her I was running the half and it hadn't started just yet. When I arrived at BART, the platform was covered with many other runners heading to the race, and when we exited two stops later, I really don't think I had ever seen so many people in that station, even at rush hour.
The race started right across the street from where I used to work. I wished I still had the key card to get in the building because it was freezing outside and I had to use the restroom. But I headed into the park with the masses and shortly ran into a friend. When they let us into the corrals, it became claustrophobic. I am not sure there was quite enough room for the 4000 people that were supposedly starting the half. The pace markers were not very far apart.
The mayor greeted us, to not much cheering. I don't think she is very popular. However, the Oaktown pride was still alive, as someone near me in the corral yelled,"I love Oakland." People jumped up and down to the "I Work Out" song. Finally we started. The course was full of potholes, and it was difficult to deal with all the runners and try not to turn your ankles. There were also numerous turns on the course, and at every one, numerous jerks listening to music cut me off to cut the corner tight. I realize that ideally you should run the inside of the course, but when you are as slow as me (or really anybody who is not going to win the race), you should probably just hold a line.
There were not too many spectators along the first part of the course. At one point some people with a stroller went through the cross walk not far in front of me and not very fast. Someone in a "Half Full Running Club" shirt yelled at them, telling them we were in a race. Now, they could have crossed much faster, but it didn't slow this girl down much and she clearly wasn't going to win the race either way. I have no idea why you would want to make the local neighbors hate the race more than they might already. All her running club buddies commiserated with her. Net to self: do not join that running club.
Near the BART stations and by Lake Merritt, there were huge crowds of spectators. It was fabulous to have so many people out cheering for us. The TNT cheer and water station was a noisy tunnel of support, and of course I saw several people I knew there, although Matt did not notice me. I also saw one of my coworkers at a water station.
I can't say I enjoyed the course and event as much as I did last year when I ran 18 miles of the full as a bandit. The full takes you to more of the city, and there were not nearly so many runners packed so close together. I on't remember ever getting cut off at turns. And there was enough space to see and avoid all the potholes and uneven pavement.
In the end, I PRd. 1:56:20, about four and a half minutes faster than the PR I set last year at Kaiser. This course was definitely flatter, and the weather was perfect for running - 50 and cloudy. I didn't even rain. So I am glad I did this race. It was nice to roll out of bed and BART over to the start. But definitely not one of my favorite races. (Could be that I was just trying too hard.) Thanks to Matt and everyone else who was out there cheering or volunteering!
The race started right across the street from where I used to work. I wished I still had the key card to get in the building because it was freezing outside and I had to use the restroom. But I headed into the park with the masses and shortly ran into a friend. When they let us into the corrals, it became claustrophobic. I am not sure there was quite enough room for the 4000 people that were supposedly starting the half. The pace markers were not very far apart.
The mayor greeted us, to not much cheering. I don't think she is very popular. However, the Oaktown pride was still alive, as someone near me in the corral yelled,"I love Oakland." People jumped up and down to the "I Work Out" song. Finally we started. The course was full of potholes, and it was difficult to deal with all the runners and try not to turn your ankles. There were also numerous turns on the course, and at every one, numerous jerks listening to music cut me off to cut the corner tight. I realize that ideally you should run the inside of the course, but when you are as slow as me (or really anybody who is not going to win the race), you should probably just hold a line.
There were not too many spectators along the first part of the course. At one point some people with a stroller went through the cross walk not far in front of me and not very fast. Someone in a "Half Full Running Club" shirt yelled at them, telling them we were in a race. Now, they could have crossed much faster, but it didn't slow this girl down much and she clearly wasn't going to win the race either way. I have no idea why you would want to make the local neighbors hate the race more than they might already. All her running club buddies commiserated with her. Net to self: do not join that running club.
Near the BART stations and by Lake Merritt, there were huge crowds of spectators. It was fabulous to have so many people out cheering for us. The TNT cheer and water station was a noisy tunnel of support, and of course I saw several people I knew there, although Matt did not notice me. I also saw one of my coworkers at a water station.
I can't say I enjoyed the course and event as much as I did last year when I ran 18 miles of the full as a bandit. The full takes you to more of the city, and there were not nearly so many runners packed so close together. I on't remember ever getting cut off at turns. And there was enough space to see and avoid all the potholes and uneven pavement.
In the end, I PRd. 1:56:20, about four and a half minutes faster than the PR I set last year at Kaiser. This course was definitely flatter, and the weather was perfect for running - 50 and cloudy. I didn't even rain. So I am glad I did this race. It was nice to roll out of bed and BART over to the start. But definitely not one of my favorite races. (Could be that I was just trying too hard.) Thanks to Matt and everyone else who was out there cheering or volunteering!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
It Could Be Worse (Day 32)
As I was getting off the train on my way home from the Oakland Running Festival expo, the man next to me told me good luck. As we was also carrying expo goods, I told him the same and asked which race he was doing.
"I won't be running," he said. "I signed up for the full, but it's not going to happen this year."
His face and voice were deflated. I understood. And I will count myself lucky that at least I will be able to run and probably finish the half. A little rain, a little sore throat and cough, and a little toe problem never hurt anyone, right? Plus I will have TNTers cheering for me! Maybe I should wear purple.
"I won't be running," he said. "I signed up for the full, but it's not going to happen this year."
His face and voice were deflated. I understood. And I will count myself lucky that at least I will be able to run and probably finish the half. A little rain, a little sore throat and cough, and a little toe problem never hurt anyone, right? Plus I will have TNTers cheering for me! Maybe I should wear purple.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A Toast (Day 30)
A reclassification and 20% raise calls for two pints with friends on a week night. And sleep. In a happy coincidence, I have no more early meetings on Friday either. This calls for sleeping in.
Defining "Unsolicited Manuscripts"
When a publisher doesn't except "unsolicited manuscripts", does that mean they will only except an ms or query from an agent?
Below is some information I've found. Can you verify if it's true or not?
"No unsolicited manuscripts" does not mean you can't send something to these publishers. (Those who are truly closed will say something like "Not accepting submissions.") "No unsolicited" just means you must send them a one-page QUERY first. If they like your idea and feel your book is a possible fit for their list, they will reply to your letter inviting you to send your manuscript. Then, WHEE! Suddenly you're sending a solicited manuscript.
This is one of those questions that's hard to answer without more specifics, but I'll do what I can. Unsolicited manuscripts would mean specifically that you don't send any manuscript unless it's been requested. That could mean that the publisher accepts queries first and will request manuscripts, or it could mean that they don't want anything unsolicited.
Most publishers (and I say most because I suppose there are some smaller publishers that might not like working with agents) will accept submissions from agents, but even agents tend to contact editors first before simply sending off a manuscript.
If the publisher has submission guidelines on their website, but they say "no unsolicited manuscripts," then they will expect a query first. If they have no guidelines for submissions it's likely they aren't accepting unsolicited submissions of any kind, and that includes queries.
***
On a related topic, please note that Kim Lionetti has closed to all queries in an effort to catch up on submissions and any unanswered queries she's received to date. This is only temporary. Kim will be opening again once she's all caught up. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please see our submission guidelines if you'd like to submit to one of our other agents.
Jessica
Below is some information I've found. Can you verify if it's true or not?
"No unsolicited manuscripts" does not mean you can't send something to these publishers. (Those who are truly closed will say something like "Not accepting submissions.") "No unsolicited" just means you must send them a one-page QUERY first. If they like your idea and feel your book is a possible fit for their list, they will reply to your letter inviting you to send your manuscript. Then, WHEE! Suddenly you're sending a solicited manuscript.
This is one of those questions that's hard to answer without more specifics, but I'll do what I can. Unsolicited manuscripts would mean specifically that you don't send any manuscript unless it's been requested. That could mean that the publisher accepts queries first and will request manuscripts, or it could mean that they don't want anything unsolicited.
Most publishers (and I say most because I suppose there are some smaller publishers that might not like working with agents) will accept submissions from agents, but even agents tend to contact editors first before simply sending off a manuscript.
If the publisher has submission guidelines on their website, but they say "no unsolicited manuscripts," then they will expect a query first. If they have no guidelines for submissions it's likely they aren't accepting unsolicited submissions of any kind, and that includes queries.
***
On a related topic, please note that Kim Lionetti has closed to all queries in an effort to catch up on submissions and any unanswered queries she's received to date. This is only temporary. Kim will be opening again once she's all caught up. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please see our submission guidelines if you'd like to submit to one of our other agents.
Jessica
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Skewer Drama (Day 29)
(Clearly I have nothing valuable to contribute to the writing sphere today and you should probably just stop reading now...)
This winter I have been attending my XC Ski coach's free spin classes at Sports Basement. My coach had been nice enough to bring me a trainer to borrow for several classes, but it had become time to acquire my own trainer so he could accommodate other new people in his classes. Luckily one of my teammates offered me his trainer as he has a fancy new device. He claimed his trainer was nice enough not to ruin skewers, so I was not supposed to need a special trainer skewer. However my skewer turned out to be square and would not sit properly in the trainer.
So my coach told me he would bring me a skewer to borrow for that week's class if I ordered a trainer skewer online. S that's what happened, and he even let me take the skewer home with me so I could spin at home. (Which was great because I discovered running after spinning is awesome.) My new trainer skewer arrived in the mail last weekend, and I promptly put it on my bike. Because a little extra weight never bothered me (I have a steel bike after all), I figured I would just leave the trainer skewer in rather than having to change it every week for spin class. So when my bike went to the shop this week, it went in with the trainer skewer. It apparently did not come out with it.
When I showed up at spin class this evening, I returned my coach's skewer to him, and he lent it to someone else for the class. I then promptly discovered that my local bike shop had replaced my trainer skewer with a new skewer matching the lever up front. I am sure they thought they were doing me a favor.
Luckily my coach was able to get the new square skewer to sit in the trainer sufficiently for the class. I called the bike shop and they were very apologetic and told me to come in anytime to pick up the skewer. My coach said, "So much for hearting your local bike shop." Not sure what their deal is with skewers. The last time I had my bike in for service, they called me the next day and told me they had left their trainer skewer in my bike and could I come in to return it to them. I was skeptical of this based on the appearance of my skewer, and when I went in they confirmed, that no, I did not have the trainer skewer. Luckily I do not live far from the bike shop, and they are still nice enough to make it worth it.
Ah the skewer drama!
This winter I have been attending my XC Ski coach's free spin classes at Sports Basement. My coach had been nice enough to bring me a trainer to borrow for several classes, but it had become time to acquire my own trainer so he could accommodate other new people in his classes. Luckily one of my teammates offered me his trainer as he has a fancy new device. He claimed his trainer was nice enough not to ruin skewers, so I was not supposed to need a special trainer skewer. However my skewer turned out to be square and would not sit properly in the trainer.
So my coach told me he would bring me a skewer to borrow for that week's class if I ordered a trainer skewer online. S that's what happened, and he even let me take the skewer home with me so I could spin at home. (Which was great because I discovered running after spinning is awesome.) My new trainer skewer arrived in the mail last weekend, and I promptly put it on my bike. Because a little extra weight never bothered me (I have a steel bike after all), I figured I would just leave the trainer skewer in rather than having to change it every week for spin class. So when my bike went to the shop this week, it went in with the trainer skewer. It apparently did not come out with it.
When I showed up at spin class this evening, I returned my coach's skewer to him, and he lent it to someone else for the class. I then promptly discovered that my local bike shop had replaced my trainer skewer with a new skewer matching the lever up front. I am sure they thought they were doing me a favor.
Luckily my coach was able to get the new square skewer to sit in the trainer sufficiently for the class. I called the bike shop and they were very apologetic and told me to come in anytime to pick up the skewer. My coach said, "So much for hearting your local bike shop." Not sure what their deal is with skewers. The last time I had my bike in for service, they called me the next day and told me they had left their trainer skewer in my bike and could I come in to return it to them. I was skeptical of this based on the appearance of my skewer, and when I went in they confirmed, that no, I did not have the trainer skewer. Luckily I do not live far from the bike shop, and they are still nice enough to make it worth it.
Ah the skewer drama!
Keeping It Real in YA
I'm writing on YA fantasy novel (for want of a loose description) and I'm wondering about the use of profanity and drinking in a YA novel.
While swearing is not a massive part of the story there is the odd bit of what would be described in a movie as 'low level' language and I also have a fairly major party scene (it all goes wrong).
My initial instinct is to write what I want to write and worry about censoring it later as at this stage I'm part way my first draft especially as I hate reading YA where the characters say 'oh drat' or the equivalent. What are your thoughts on teens drinking and swearing?
Back in another lifetime I edited YA. I loved it and wanted to do more, but quickly became frustrated with what was popular at the time and what I was limited to doing based on what was supposedly selling. Now, keep in mind I was not working at a YA house and I imagine if I was I might have had a different experience, but still, what I was seeing published were not YA novels I would have ever been interesting in reading. In my opinion, they talked down to the reader, were written to appease adults, and didn't at all reflect the real life of teens.
Thank goodness times have changed.
The reason, in my mind, YA works so well today and has become so popular is that we are no longer afraid of adults. We are actually writing and publishing books that truly speak to kids. There is drinking, swearing, sex, abuse, love, hate, and bullies. We are no longer just writing about jocks and cheerleaders, but also about geeks and freaks and the one in between who is easily forgotten. Today we are writing about real kids and the real worlds they inhabit (sometimes).
I think your frame of mind on this is perfect. Write what you want to write and keep it real. When you've finished the book, read and edit and make sure that it sounds real. That the words your characters are using are fitting to the situation and to them. If there needs to be drinking and swearing, leave it in there. If it seems gratuitous, take it out. But don't take it out because you're afraid of what an editor or agent might think. Take it out only because it no longer suits the book (if that's the case).
Jessica
While swearing is not a massive part of the story there is the odd bit of what would be described in a movie as 'low level' language and I also have a fairly major party scene (it all goes wrong).
My initial instinct is to write what I want to write and worry about censoring it later as at this stage I'm part way my first draft especially as I hate reading YA where the characters say 'oh drat' or the equivalent. What are your thoughts on teens drinking and swearing?
Back in another lifetime I edited YA. I loved it and wanted to do more, but quickly became frustrated with what was popular at the time and what I was limited to doing based on what was supposedly selling. Now, keep in mind I was not working at a YA house and I imagine if I was I might have had a different experience, but still, what I was seeing published were not YA novels I would have ever been interesting in reading. In my opinion, they talked down to the reader, were written to appease adults, and didn't at all reflect the real life of teens.
Thank goodness times have changed.
The reason, in my mind, YA works so well today and has become so popular is that we are no longer afraid of adults. We are actually writing and publishing books that truly speak to kids. There is drinking, swearing, sex, abuse, love, hate, and bullies. We are no longer just writing about jocks and cheerleaders, but also about geeks and freaks and the one in between who is easily forgotten. Today we are writing about real kids and the real worlds they inhabit (sometimes).
I think your frame of mind on this is perfect. Write what you want to write and keep it real. When you've finished the book, read and edit and make sure that it sounds real. That the words your characters are using are fitting to the situation and to them. If there needs to be drinking and swearing, leave it in there. If it seems gratuitous, take it out. But don't take it out because you're afraid of what an editor or agent might think. Take it out only because it no longer suits the book (if that's the case).
Jessica
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
My Alma Mater (Day 28)
Today I stopped in a shop by the shuttle stop in Downtown Berkeley to get some tea prior to Technovation. My cup of hot water emerged surrounded by this:
.JPG)
.JPG)
That's right, my alma mater is apparently advertising in the heart of Bears country.
While I actually feel as though I received an excellent education from Arizona State, I doubt it compares to Cal. All I can figure is that they are trying to sop up the people who can't quite cut it at Cal? Perhaps I'm not giving them enough credit. But it's kind of like the billboard in Phoenix proclaiming, "This is Wildcat Country." Not so, not so.
Maybe I should look at what they're offering?
Choosing a Title
I am in the process of finishing my first book. I believe the title I have chosen is a real eye-catcher but I'm concerned it may be too dark. My book is nonfiction or should I try to come up with something softer. I don't want the title to scare people off.
This question actually came as a comment to the previous blog post I did of the same title, but since I thought it was an important question, I thought it deserved its own post.
If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that you should go with your gut. In other words, if you're questioning something about your book, your plot, your title, your submission plan, your characters, whatever it is, you're probably right. If there's a niggling feeling that something isn't working, it's probably not working. It's amazing to me how often I'll give revision suggestions to a client and the client will turn around to say that she had the same concerns, but wasn't sure how to fix it. Hopefully at that point we've figured out how to make the fix.
It's hard to know if your title works without knowing anything about the book or specifics about the title; however, if you think it's too dark and doesn't properly represent the tone and voice of the book, no matter how eye-catching, the title probably isn't working.
Jessica
This question actually came as a comment to the previous blog post I did of the same title, but since I thought it was an important question, I thought it deserved its own post.
If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that you should go with your gut. In other words, if you're questioning something about your book, your plot, your title, your submission plan, your characters, whatever it is, you're probably right. If there's a niggling feeling that something isn't working, it's probably not working. It's amazing to me how often I'll give revision suggestions to a client and the client will turn around to say that she had the same concerns, but wasn't sure how to fix it. Hopefully at that point we've figured out how to make the fix.
It's hard to know if your title works without knowing anything about the book or specifics about the title; however, if you think it's too dark and doesn't properly represent the tone and voice of the book, no matter how eye-catching, the title probably isn't working.
Jessica
Monday, March 19, 2012
I Heart My Local Bike Shop (Day 27)
Today I dropped my bike off for its semi-annual tune-up and inspection at Tip Top Bike Shop in Temescal. The co-owner, Richard, greeted me by name and proceeded to lead me through an assessment. New brake pads, new chain, possibly new rear cassette, new rear tire. Yikes! Bikes are an expensive proposition. Then I asked about a new saddle, so he and his co-owner, Charlotte, took me over to the saddles and discussed which I should try, which ultimately was not in stock at the time. So Charlotte took my name down to call me next week when they come in. Meanwhile Richard found the brake pads for my bike so he could price the estimate for work. While Sam, one of the mechanics, ran the estimate for me, Richard talked to me about how my ski season had gone. In between, Charlotte and Richard greeted and bade farewell to other customers like old friends.
Tip Top is where I originally purchased my bike last year, and it comes with free maintenance. They were the fourth shop I visited when searching for a bike following: Montano Velo (which I liked but did not really have a good bike for me in stock), Missing Link, and Mike's Bikes. Charlotte was super friendly, extremely patient with me, and totally not one of those bike snobs who seems to mock you for knowing nothing about bikes. In fact, today Richard had to tell me that my front wheel was not on completely straight and didn't make me feel bad about it at all. This couple really knows how to make a person feel good about dropping a couple hundred bucks on a toy. Although for them, the toy is really a useful method of transportation. I generally just ride my bike in a circle...
I just found this cool video on their website today. Check out the video and next time you're in Oakland, check out the shop!
Tip Top Bike Shop from Video For The People on Vimeo.
Tip Top is where I originally purchased my bike last year, and it comes with free maintenance. They were the fourth shop I visited when searching for a bike following: Montano Velo (which I liked but did not really have a good bike for me in stock), Missing Link, and Mike's Bikes. Charlotte was super friendly, extremely patient with me, and totally not one of those bike snobs who seems to mock you for knowing nothing about bikes. In fact, today Richard had to tell me that my front wheel was not on completely straight and didn't make me feel bad about it at all. This couple really knows how to make a person feel good about dropping a couple hundred bucks on a toy. Although for them, the toy is really a useful method of transportation. I generally just ride my bike in a circle...
I just found this cool video on their website today. Check out the video and next time you're in Oakland, check out the shop!
Tip Top Bike Shop from Video For The People on Vimeo.
Blind Book Date Follow-Up
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and curl up on the couch because it's time to find out the dirt on your blind date with a book.
I was really excited about this idea and even more excited to see the unique list of books everyone came up with.
Up to the point of the blind book date I had been reading a lot of romance and women's fiction. Previous titles on my just-read list included Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Madeiros, and Every Last One by Anna Quindlen (all of which I'd recommend, by the way). So when I first met my date and discovered that it was The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker, I was excited. Not only was this something very different from what I had been reading (which is what I'd hoped for in this exercise), but I had also never read Alice Walker.
There's no doubt this book is very different from what I had been reading, and while I can certainly agree with the many who will say Alice Walker is an amazing writer, I have to confess that I just didn't love this book. In fact, I didn't finish the book. I gave myself permission long ago to not finish books I'm not enjoying. Life is too short and there are too many books I will enjoy to force myself to finish something, and while I didn't find this painful it was ultimately not my cup of tea. I suppose someone is going to say that it's not a romance and that's why I didn't enjoy it. I don't think that's the case. I think I'm savvy enough to recognize when I'm not liking something because it's not in the genre I'm in the mood to read vs. when I'm not liking something because I'm not connecting with it, and in this case I just didn't connect.
Will I read something from Alice Walker again? Probably not, but never say never.
Was I happy to have tried? Thrilled that I was given the opportunity to experience this iconic author.
Did this open up new reading possibilities for me? I'm not sure. It's not really classified as a genre and therefore not something I've never experienced (like a SF book for someone who has never read SF, for example), but it also didn't close any doors.
Would I participate in something like this again? Absolutely. My to-be-read list has grown exponentially thanks to the suggestions on the blog.
Now it's your turn. What book did you read (or attempt to read) and how was the experience for you?
Jessica
I was really excited about this idea and even more excited to see the unique list of books everyone came up with.
Up to the point of the blind book date I had been reading a lot of romance and women's fiction. Previous titles on my just-read list included Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Madeiros, and Every Last One by Anna Quindlen (all of which I'd recommend, by the way). So when I first met my date and discovered that it was The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker, I was excited. Not only was this something very different from what I had been reading (which is what I'd hoped for in this exercise), but I had also never read Alice Walker.
There's no doubt this book is very different from what I had been reading, and while I can certainly agree with the many who will say Alice Walker is an amazing writer, I have to confess that I just didn't love this book. In fact, I didn't finish the book. I gave myself permission long ago to not finish books I'm not enjoying. Life is too short and there are too many books I will enjoy to force myself to finish something, and while I didn't find this painful it was ultimately not my cup of tea. I suppose someone is going to say that it's not a romance and that's why I didn't enjoy it. I don't think that's the case. I think I'm savvy enough to recognize when I'm not liking something because it's not in the genre I'm in the mood to read vs. when I'm not liking something because I'm not connecting with it, and in this case I just didn't connect.
Will I read something from Alice Walker again? Probably not, but never say never.
Was I happy to have tried? Thrilled that I was given the opportunity to experience this iconic author.
Did this open up new reading possibilities for me? I'm not sure. It's not really classified as a genre and therefore not something I've never experienced (like a SF book for someone who has never read SF, for example), but it also didn't close any doors.
Would I participate in something like this again? Absolutely. My to-be-read list has grown exponentially thanks to the suggestions on the blog.
Now it's your turn. What book did you read (or attempt to read) and how was the experience for you?
Jessica
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Basketball (Day 26)
The thrills,
The tears,
The shots,
The moves,
Jukes and fakes,
Around the back,
Reverse lay-up,
Make them lose their shoes.
The glory,
The pain.
Maybe the next day
You do it all again.
For the love of the game.
The tears,
The shots,
The moves,
Jukes and fakes,
Around the back,
Reverse lay-up,
Make them lose their shoes.
The glory,
The pain.
Maybe the next day
You do it all again.
For the love of the game.
Say to This Mountain - Ched Myers et al
Yet another book I read for the Lay Worship Leader course that I am doing, and this is the one that has spoken to me the most strongly so far. It is also the book that has taken me the longest to finish so far, I think because I wanted to savour each chapter and take time to think about it as I was reading it. Anyways, it took me 3 weeks to finish a book that is just over 200 pages which is unusual for me (though I confess that I was reading some fiction at the same time - watch for a post later this week).The books I have read so far were Required Reading, but this was my first elective book, and I managed to pick a good one from the pages and pages of possibilities!
This book goes passage by passage through Mark's gospel, drawing out themes of discipleship. In my formal reflection that I submitted, I summarized the message of this book as: The world we are living in is full of injustice. Jesus' mission was to overturn the social order and bring justice to the world. And Jesus calls all who would follow him to do the same.
Each chapter deals with a passage from Mark, working all of the way through the 16 chapters of the gospel. The chapter starts by giving context - what was going on in Mark's world as he was writing, and how might his original audience heard these words? - and then goes on to look for examples of "The Word in Our World". I found here that I didn't necessarily relate to all of the examples given (I found many of them to be U.S. based), but at the same time my brain was working overtime while reading and I had no trouble coming up with other examples on the same issues.
I was a little bit skeptical coming into this book, as it is written by committee; and having seen how committees work, I don't know how they managed to end up with such a cohesive, engaging, and read-able book! Ched Myers wrote a book entitled Binding the Strong Man, and this book was later written to make the material more accessible to the lay reader. In the introduction to this book, the group of authors describes themselves as follows:
"Our group represents a spectrum of church traditions: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and "free ecumenical." We live and work in Los Angeles, Tucson, and Washington, D.C. We are male and female, lay and clergy. None of us are professional academic theologians, though we all take the task of critical theological reflection seriously. We are of middle-class, European-American background, yet we are deeply committed to defecting from our dominant culture entitlements in order to participate in the work of justice and peace in solidarity with the poor in the U.S. and abroad."
This book takes many of the themes from a book I read last year, Compassion and Solidarity, and expands them and digs in more depth than was possible in that book.
There was much in this book that I could relate to personally with my experience of living overseas in Tanzania, from the more profound: "To be in relationship with these brothers and sisters is to become a divided person, tied to the worlds of both the privileged and the oppressed." to the every-day: "No one who has lived in a poor country can enter a First World supermarket without being overwhelmed with anger and sadness."
I could probably go on a lot longer here, but let me just finish by saying that this is a book that I will probably go back to and re-read in the future, as there was way too much to absorb the first time around.
Next course weekend is coming up in a week. I can't wait!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Spring Runs (Day 25)
Running in the spring, after the rain.
Or in a lull or light drizzle.
Streaks of silver sun low across the surface of the bay.
Mud and puddles, the right size.
Bright green, dark earth everywhere.
A bit chilly.
Reminds me I love running.
Or in a lull or light drizzle.
Streaks of silver sun low across the surface of the bay.
Mud and puddles, the right size.
Bright green, dark earth everywhere.
A bit chilly.
Reminds me I love running.
Friday, March 16, 2012
March Madness (Day 24)
As most of you know, I'm sure, I grew up in a basketball family. And by that I mean that I was basically forced to play basketball as a child, as was my sister. We also watched a lot of basketball, especially the Detroit Pistons, as they won back-to-back championships when we were young. We loved to watch the celebration video, Pure Pistons, and sing along with the raps ("Jump ball, tip to Isiah..."). We loved The Worm and The Microwave. We especially loved Joe Dumars. One day while we were at the ticket counter at the Detroit airport, the agent leaned toward us and asked, "Do you like basketball?" "Boy, do they ever," my aunt responded. "Well that's Joe Dumars," the agent said, indicating toward a ticket counter further down. I remember barely being able to see him, but being excited nevertheless. A brush with greatness.
Although I was raised to root for Ohio State and hate Michigan, I do not remember being very into college basketball until we lived in Tucson. We attended a high school with a rather stellar boy's basketball team, and the coach had connections in the college world. One year the first rounds of the NCAA tournament were in town, and the Stanford team came to practice in our gym. My team of course went to the gym to get a glimpse of them. My parents were also nice enough to buy my sister and me tickets to the tournament. It was quite exciting!
My sophomore year of high school, the Wildcats won the national championship. Not only were they the local team, but one of the boys from our high school was a walk-on there. We had all been smitten with him since our freshman year when our coach had the varsity boys bring us roses before our first game. He rarely played at UA but sat at the end of the bench looking cute next to Josh Pastner, now the head coach of Memphis. The 1997 tournament run was amazing and nail-biting, and I remember watching games with my friends, all basketball players, and screaming at the TV. It truly was March Madness.
For the last many years, I have stopped paying much attention to sports, partly because I am away from my sister's influence and we don't have a TV. In addition, Matt likes hockey and baseball while I prefer football and basketball. But it is still fun to fill out a bracket. Two years ago I used Barack Obama's, but it did not do me very much good after the first couple rounds. This year I spent about 37 seconds filling out my bracket while the first game was playing, and I am now losing miserably to Matt, having lost 11 of the first 28 games including one of my final four picks. But we paid $3.99 to watch all the games online, and we have been enjoying some nail-biters this evening. Two crazy upsets! I guess that's why it's March Madness!
Although I was raised to root for Ohio State and hate Michigan, I do not remember being very into college basketball until we lived in Tucson. We attended a high school with a rather stellar boy's basketball team, and the coach had connections in the college world. One year the first rounds of the NCAA tournament were in town, and the Stanford team came to practice in our gym. My team of course went to the gym to get a glimpse of them. My parents were also nice enough to buy my sister and me tickets to the tournament. It was quite exciting!
My sophomore year of high school, the Wildcats won the national championship. Not only were they the local team, but one of the boys from our high school was a walk-on there. We had all been smitten with him since our freshman year when our coach had the varsity boys bring us roses before our first game. He rarely played at UA but sat at the end of the bench looking cute next to Josh Pastner, now the head coach of Memphis. The 1997 tournament run was amazing and nail-biting, and I remember watching games with my friends, all basketball players, and screaming at the TV. It truly was March Madness.
For the last many years, I have stopped paying much attention to sports, partly because I am away from my sister's influence and we don't have a TV. In addition, Matt likes hockey and baseball while I prefer football and basketball. But it is still fun to fill out a bracket. Two years ago I used Barack Obama's, but it did not do me very much good after the first couple rounds. This year I spent about 37 seconds filling out my bracket while the first game was playing, and I am now losing miserably to Matt, having lost 11 of the first 28 games including one of my final four picks. But we paid $3.99 to watch all the games online, and we have been enjoying some nail-biters this evening. Two crazy upsets! I guess that's why it's March Madness!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Spring Training (Day 23)
 |
This year, it just didn't happen for us. In between my XC Ski race, a half marathon, and other events I planned, and Matt's ridiculous work schedule, and a lack of proper advance planning, we will be missing out on Spring Training.
I hope everyone has fun at the games without us!
 |
Random Questions
Do you automatically reject a query if the author does not have a college degree?
No. I don't know of any agency who would. Unless you're an expert writing nonfiction on a subject that would require a degree of some sort, I don't care if you've never been to school.
Is "mainstream literary fiction" an appropriate term/genre to describe a novel in a query letter? I'm getting ready to submit a book that doesn't fit easily into either category. Bret Easton Ellis would be an example of an author that writes this type of fiction.
Yes, mainstream literary fiction is fine.
Do you work with authors from other countries?
Absolutely! We don't care where you're from, only that you've written a good book. We have authors from all over the world.
I have two nonfiction books published (under my married name) and am now working on a novel. I may be taking back my maiden name in the future and am wondering if pursuing publication using a different last name will affect the career I hope I can have as a novelist.
Since nonfiction and fiction are two different markets, it shouldn't matter at all which name you publish under. Of course, there's always an "it depends," in this case based on what kind of nonfiction you wrote (memoir, for example) or how successful your nonfiction was, but ultimately writing under two different names should be fine.
When an agent requests pages, are they referring to the physical pages in a word document, or is the referring to 250-word pages?
I assume you mean page count. These days I think you can go by the word count in your Word document. However, if you feel more comfortable with the 250-word per page count, go with that. Honestly, it doesn't make that much of a difference to the agent. If you mean how many actual pages, the agent will look at the number on the bottom of the Word document, so go with that.
Jessica
No. I don't know of any agency who would. Unless you're an expert writing nonfiction on a subject that would require a degree of some sort, I don't care if you've never been to school.
Is "mainstream literary fiction" an appropriate term/genre to describe a novel in a query letter? I'm getting ready to submit a book that doesn't fit easily into either category. Bret Easton Ellis would be an example of an author that writes this type of fiction.
Yes, mainstream literary fiction is fine.
Do you work with authors from other countries?
Absolutely! We don't care where you're from, only that you've written a good book. We have authors from all over the world.
I have two nonfiction books published (under my married name) and am now working on a novel. I may be taking back my maiden name in the future and am wondering if pursuing publication using a different last name will affect the career I hope I can have as a novelist.
Since nonfiction and fiction are two different markets, it shouldn't matter at all which name you publish under. Of course, there's always an "it depends," in this case based on what kind of nonfiction you wrote (memoir, for example) or how successful your nonfiction was, but ultimately writing under two different names should be fine.
When an agent requests pages, are they referring to the physical pages in a word document, or is the referring to 250-word pages?
I assume you mean page count. These days I think you can go by the word count in your Word document. However, if you feel more comfortable with the 250-word per page count, go with that. Honestly, it doesn't make that much of a difference to the agent. If you mean how many actual pages, the agent will look at the number on the bottom of the Word document, so go with that.
Jessica
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Technovation (Day 22)
I recently became a mentor in a program called Technovation Challenge, which is designed to expose high school girls to careers in technology and entrepreneurship. Of course, I have no experience in either of those areas, but this year the app they design has to be about science education, so the Lab hosted a site and invited its scientists to be mentors. I also qualify loosely as a scientist, but I guess that is neither here nor there.
Today we were unexpectedly joined by the Lab Director, Paul Alvisatos. I am not sure many of the girls comprehended how exciting it was that he had taken a few minutes of his busy time to speak to them, but after I squealed about it to my group of girls, they at least feigned some amount of interest.
I was extremely impressed by the director's talk; I thought it was perfectly suited to the audience. He talked about how the lab is designed to provide an environment in which people can do exciting science, particularly by allowing collaboration. He dispelled the notion of scientists sitting by themselves in a corner and talking to no one all day. He noted that even though all science and math classes may not come easy or be enjoyable, we have all been there, and there are always better things to come. Finally he got out his smart phone and talked about all the science apps he had on it, including of course a periodic table and scientific calculator, but also about climate change and other diverse topics. I had never even thought to download a science app before! The girls were also rather impressed, as they have a hard time believing that adults use smart phones and apps, probably more than students do. I am sure I am forgetting a key piece of his talk, but his presence there and the care he had clearly taken to prepare the talk certainly will leave a lasting, positive impression on me, as one of his thousands of employees.
We also heard from likely one of the highest ranking females at the lab, Kathy Yelick, who is the associate lab director for computing science and the director of the lab's large supercomputer. She gave a fascinating talk about world problems that can be solved with computing science, such as health and environmental problems. And she even showed similarities between video games and simulations.
My team previously expressed sadness that their app had to be about science, as they originally signed up for the program because of the technology side of it. I am glad that the lab was able to offer two enigmatic speakers and role models to share the benefits and fun of science with them.
Today we were unexpectedly joined by the Lab Director, Paul Alvisatos. I am not sure many of the girls comprehended how exciting it was that he had taken a few minutes of his busy time to speak to them, but after I squealed about it to my group of girls, they at least feigned some amount of interest.
I was extremely impressed by the director's talk; I thought it was perfectly suited to the audience. He talked about how the lab is designed to provide an environment in which people can do exciting science, particularly by allowing collaboration. He dispelled the notion of scientists sitting by themselves in a corner and talking to no one all day. He noted that even though all science and math classes may not come easy or be enjoyable, we have all been there, and there are always better things to come. Finally he got out his smart phone and talked about all the science apps he had on it, including of course a periodic table and scientific calculator, but also about climate change and other diverse topics. I had never even thought to download a science app before! The girls were also rather impressed, as they have a hard time believing that adults use smart phones and apps, probably more than students do. I am sure I am forgetting a key piece of his talk, but his presence there and the care he had clearly taken to prepare the talk certainly will leave a lasting, positive impression on me, as one of his thousands of employees.
We also heard from likely one of the highest ranking females at the lab, Kathy Yelick, who is the associate lab director for computing science and the director of the lab's large supercomputer. She gave a fascinating talk about world problems that can be solved with computing science, such as health and environmental problems. And she even showed similarities between video games and simulations.
My team previously expressed sadness that their app had to be about science, as they originally signed up for the program because of the technology side of it. I am glad that the lab was able to offer two enigmatic speakers and role models to share the benefits and fun of science with them.
Workshop Wednesday
Thanks to all of your contributions, Workshop Wednesday has been a success. We're going to continue on with it for as long as we have entries and the energy to comment on them. If you haven't yet submitted but are still interested, don't be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post.
For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.
And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.
Dear Ms. Faust:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit to the BookEnds Literary Agency query workshop. Don’t Mess with Mick is a completed Romantic Suspense of 75,000 words.
This is a great opening. Succinct and respectful.
Amateur photographer, Rachel Copeland, is in trouble. An early morning wildlife shoot at the deserted Salton Sea, soon becomes a shoot-em-up. And she is the one being fired at. Held at gunpoint, and her male attacker demanding her camera, she fights back and escapes.
Newly transferred detective, Michael Delaney, is on surveillance at the sea. Rumors have circulated that a Mexican Kingpin and his brother, who evaded capture when their drug compound was toppled by a U.S. DEA agent, are out for revenge. It’s Michael’s assignment to find them before they can identify the agent who has turned civilian and resides in one of the California desert cities.
Hearing gunfire, Michael gives chase. He apprehends the guy only to find an angry, but very sexy, redheaded woman. She tells him she was shot at, had her camera stolen, was subjected to a harrowing highway chase (by him), and she is grieving the recent disappearance of Grandpa Henry, a wildlife photographer and her only living relative.
The above paragraphs read like a synopsis of the beginning of your manuscript. We don’t need to know exactly what happens, play by play. Instead, we want to know who the characters are, what their conflict is, what is standing in their way and how they might get around it. We need the larger scope of your story.
Michael learns Henry’s isolated cabin is at the edge of the Salton Sea, and that he has a dark room. He’s convinced that photographs might hold a clue to the whereabouts of Henry, and the Saurez brothers. Rachel is sure that Henry is not dead, and Michael begins to believe her. While they uncover clues, and their mutual attraction grows, someone is waiting for them to produce what he needs, and then he has a plan of his own: to extinguish them both.
This last paragraph comes the closest to telling me the gist of the story, but it should be expanded to the size of the whole query and should absorb pieces of (but not all) of the paragraphs above it. The skeleton of the story here is that two people need to find the same guy—Grandpa Henry—for different reasons and they come together to make that happen. But we don’t learn this information until the last paragraph and by that point, you seem to be wrapping up.
I am a member of RWA and the Los Angeles chapter, LARA, and have attended many of your panels at the national RWA conference, and also enjoy your daily blog. Should you wish to read more of Don’t Mess with Mick, it is completed.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Although I think there is an intriguing story here, I would reject this query because it takes some time to get to the point and I worry that would continue in the full manuscript. I wish you the best of luck!
Lauren
For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.
And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.
Dear Ms. Faust:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit to the BookEnds Literary Agency query workshop. Don’t Mess with Mick is a completed Romantic Suspense of 75,000 words.
This is a great opening. Succinct and respectful.
Amateur photographer, Rachel Copeland, is in trouble. An early morning wildlife shoot at the deserted Salton Sea, soon becomes a shoot-em-up. And she is the one being fired at. Held at gunpoint, and her male attacker demanding her camera, she fights back and escapes.
Newly transferred detective, Michael Delaney, is on surveillance at the sea. Rumors have circulated that a Mexican Kingpin and his brother, who evaded capture when their drug compound was toppled by a U.S. DEA agent, are out for revenge. It’s Michael’s assignment to find them before they can identify the agent who has turned civilian and resides in one of the California desert cities.
Hearing gunfire, Michael gives chase. He apprehends the guy only to find an angry, but very sexy, redheaded woman. She tells him she was shot at, had her camera stolen, was subjected to a harrowing highway chase (by him), and she is grieving the recent disappearance of Grandpa Henry, a wildlife photographer and her only living relative.
The above paragraphs read like a synopsis of the beginning of your manuscript. We don’t need to know exactly what happens, play by play. Instead, we want to know who the characters are, what their conflict is, what is standing in their way and how they might get around it. We need the larger scope of your story.
Michael learns Henry’s isolated cabin is at the edge of the Salton Sea, and that he has a dark room. He’s convinced that photographs might hold a clue to the whereabouts of Henry, and the Saurez brothers. Rachel is sure that Henry is not dead, and Michael begins to believe her. While they uncover clues, and their mutual attraction grows, someone is waiting for them to produce what he needs, and then he has a plan of his own: to extinguish them both.
This last paragraph comes the closest to telling me the gist of the story, but it should be expanded to the size of the whole query and should absorb pieces of (but not all) of the paragraphs above it. The skeleton of the story here is that two people need to find the same guy—Grandpa Henry—for different reasons and they come together to make that happen. But we don’t learn this information until the last paragraph and by that point, you seem to be wrapping up.
I am a member of RWA and the Los Angeles chapter, LARA, and have attended many of your panels at the national RWA conference, and also enjoy your daily blog. Should you wish to read more of Don’t Mess with Mick, it is completed.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Although I think there is an intriguing story here, I would reject this query because it takes some time to get to the point and I worry that would continue in the full manuscript. I wish you the best of luck!
Lauren
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Deleting Contacts (Day 21)
Today I was thinking of writing about my other grandmother, Grandma Doris. In the midst of this endeavor, I became distracted by cleaning up my cell phone contact list. I realized that I still had Grandma's phone number stored. I stared at it. I had run into this problem before. First, when a friend passed away in college. Then, when my Grandma Nore died. It seemed so strange to look at the phone numbers and think that if you dialed it, no one would answer the phone. This time, nearly a year has passed, so the concept is not as strange. And I am lucky to have only faced this situation a few times.
I think Grandma Doris used to cross people out in her physical address book, with a note that said deceased. It seems too final on a cell phone. When you delete the contact, there is no proof that it ever existed. No name crossed out. It just disappears into the ether. I did it finally, again this time. The last two times I left them for awhile after I realized they were still there, but eventually I removed them too. It is just a phone number after all. But still it seems almost disrespectful. More evidence of the change technology places on the world. Would I rather have an address book with a record of all the people I had ever known and lost, or simply lost touch with? Maybe as I get older I will wish I had that record. But a cell phone does not hold my memories.
I think Grandma Doris used to cross people out in her physical address book, with a note that said deceased. It seems too final on a cell phone. When you delete the contact, there is no proof that it ever existed. No name crossed out. It just disappears into the ether. I did it finally, again this time. The last two times I left them for awhile after I realized they were still there, but eventually I removed them too. It is just a phone number after all. But still it seems almost disrespectful. More evidence of the change technology places on the world. Would I rather have an address book with a record of all the people I had ever known and lost, or simply lost touch with? Maybe as I get older I will wish I had that record. But a cell phone does not hold my memories.
Switching Agents within an Agency
What would happen if the author, after due time with one of the new agents, felt one of the other agents would be a better fit? Do authors ever move to a different agent at the same agency?
This question actually came as part of another question, but it's something I've often wondered about myself so I thought it deserved its own post. If you like the agency you're with, but over time maybe you or your agent has changed directions, would it make sense to request that you be transferred to a new agent within the agency. I guess it depends on the agency and how that agency operates, but I think it's a very reasonable request. After all, we've made the request on behalf of our authors that they switch editors within a publishing house, so why couldn't you ask the same of your agency?
We've never done this at BookEnds, unless of course an agent has left, but I know I'd be willing to do it if the author felt it was best for her. First of all, why would I want the agency to lose good talent, and secondly, I wouldn't necessarily see it as a slight against the agent. What if you've decided that you want to write mysteries instead of romance and the agent you're working with said that she has no real interest in mystery, but another within the agency does? Wouldn't it make sense for you to switch if that other agent would have you? I think it's worth asking.
Jessica
This question actually came as part of another question, but it's something I've often wondered about myself so I thought it deserved its own post. If you like the agency you're with, but over time maybe you or your agent has changed directions, would it make sense to request that you be transferred to a new agent within the agency. I guess it depends on the agency and how that agency operates, but I think it's a very reasonable request. After all, we've made the request on behalf of our authors that they switch editors within a publishing house, so why couldn't you ask the same of your agency?
We've never done this at BookEnds, unless of course an agent has left, but I know I'd be willing to do it if the author felt it was best for her. First of all, why would I want the agency to lose good talent, and secondly, I wouldn't necessarily see it as a slight against the agent. What if you've decided that you want to write mysteries instead of romance and the agent you're working with said that she has no real interest in mystery, but another within the agency does? Wouldn't it make sense for you to switch if that other agent would have you? I think it's worth asking.
Jessica
Monday, March 12, 2012
Grandma Nore (Day 20)
My grandmother was a trail blazer and a rebel. She played basketball before Title IX when girls wore skirts and could not dribble. She drove the car to the post office at the age of 12 because she had not explicitly been told to walk. She put off having children until the age of 29 and "time was running out"* while she pursued a career at a bank, which she only had because no one thought to ask her during her interview if she was married. She later became one of the first female loan officers at the same company.
She once wrote:
As a woman, I am truly thankful for her efforts. I certainly inherited many of her "trouble-making" (I prefer "fairness-seeking") tendencies. Despite all the advancements she and others in previous generations made, it is still troubling to have to fight for a job because you are a woman and try to stop the talk that your success is a result of your looks or your dress. (Yes, these situations both happened to me.) And still women make less than men, especially in my field - the discrepancy is huge between men and women with advanced degrees in the sciences.
I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be fighting for your gender and yourself during the depression and the second world war. At a time when they tried to wear bras as tight as possible to hide their breasts. At a time when choices were so limited. I am so lucky to have had her in my life.
*I think we can all agree that times have changed in many ways, and it seems as though 29 is now young to have children. Or maybe that is just here in the big city.
She once wrote:
I suppose one of the biggest satisfactions in my life has to be the small part I played in helping to prove that ability has nothing to do with gender; that women's talents should be recognized, used, and rewarded. And that women should have the right to choose what to do with their lives.
As a woman, I am truly thankful for her efforts. I certainly inherited many of her "trouble-making" (I prefer "fairness-seeking") tendencies. Despite all the advancements she and others in previous generations made, it is still troubling to have to fight for a job because you are a woman and try to stop the talk that your success is a result of your looks or your dress. (Yes, these situations both happened to me.) And still women make less than men, especially in my field - the discrepancy is huge between men and women with advanced degrees in the sciences.
I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be fighting for your gender and yourself during the depression and the second world war. At a time when they tried to wear bras as tight as possible to hide their breasts. At a time when choices were so limited. I am so lucky to have had her in my life.
*I think we can all agree that times have changed in many ways, and it seems as though 29 is now young to have children. Or maybe that is just here in the big city.
New Agents at BookEnds
When an author is considering Bookends LLC, should the disparity between levels of experience between the agents play a major part, or can she trust that even a new agent at your agency will have the support and expertise of the other more experienced agents behind her? Is it all right to query the new acquiring agents even if you have already queried other agents at Bookends LLC, since that agent was not available to query (or have the query referred to them) at the time of the original query?
As someone who, at one time, was just starting out, either as an editorial assistant or a new agent, I'm a strong believer in "new blood." In fact, even today I seek out smart new assistants to submit to. They are hungry, they have time on their hands, and they are excited to work with new authors and promote those new authors to the people who make the decisions. The same holds true of new agents. They are excited to build a list, hungry to add new authors to their list and, if I can be so bold as to speak for the "new" people at BookEnds, incredibly smart.
I think there's no doubt that experience can play a role in how an agent operates, but so can an agent's personality. When selecting an agent at any agency I think it's more important to look at how that agent works and how well you communicate. A new agent at any agency has the backing of the agency's name and the experience of the other agents to rely on. We work very closely at BookEnds. We discuss proposals, manuscripts, submission strategies, editors, authors, and even revision suggestions with each other. I have a ton of faith in the people I work with and each of them has their own set of strengths. It's amazing how the opinion of one, and the experiences of one, can help all of us.
When sending out your submission to any agent I wouldn't discount the new or the younger agents. In fact, I would look at them first. They are the people who have the time to take chances and are looking to grow a list. Agents who have been around for a long time tend to be pickier because they can be. They don't have as much time to take a rough project and spend time working to build on the potential they see. And yes, they will always have the support of the others within the agency.
And yes, feel free to query other agents within the agency even if you've already queried someone. The worst that can happen is a pass.
Jessica
As someone who, at one time, was just starting out, either as an editorial assistant or a new agent, I'm a strong believer in "new blood." In fact, even today I seek out smart new assistants to submit to. They are hungry, they have time on their hands, and they are excited to work with new authors and promote those new authors to the people who make the decisions. The same holds true of new agents. They are excited to build a list, hungry to add new authors to their list and, if I can be so bold as to speak for the "new" people at BookEnds, incredibly smart.
I think there's no doubt that experience can play a role in how an agent operates, but so can an agent's personality. When selecting an agent at any agency I think it's more important to look at how that agent works and how well you communicate. A new agent at any agency has the backing of the agency's name and the experience of the other agents to rely on. We work very closely at BookEnds. We discuss proposals, manuscripts, submission strategies, editors, authors, and even revision suggestions with each other. I have a ton of faith in the people I work with and each of them has their own set of strengths. It's amazing how the opinion of one, and the experiences of one, can help all of us.
When sending out your submission to any agent I wouldn't discount the new or the younger agents. In fact, I would look at them first. They are the people who have the time to take chances and are looking to grow a list. Agents who have been around for a long time tend to be pickier because they can be. They don't have as much time to take a rough project and spend time working to build on the potential they see. And yes, they will always have the support of the others within the agency.
And yes, feel free to query other agents within the agency even if you've already queried someone. The worst that can happen is a pass.
Jessica
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Elusive Full Marathon (Day 19)
Today I sent an email request to downgrade my Oakland Running Festival entry from full to half. This makes the 3rd marathon for which I have been signed up but will not complete. The marathon remains elusive.
The first one, San Diego, I had been hurt early in the season and was woefully unprepared for my first half marathon that season at Avenue of the Giants. After those 13.1 miles, I ran-walked a 19 mile training run, which actually went fine. But I was still nervous about attempting to run a marathon on only one run longer than a half marathon. So I downgraded that entry. Looking back on it, I probably just should have done it that time. There were other people running it with whom I probably could have kept up. I was no longer hurt at the time. But I was reasonable instead.
The second one, Big Sur, I trained well for. I completed a lot of runs over 13 miles, including an 18 mile run in 3 hours. But that proved to be my downfall. After that run, my toe started hurting, and it eventually got to the point where I could not run more than 4 miles without pain. I saw a doctor and a physical therapist in hopes I could complete the race. On suggested I could and one suggested I shouldn't. The course was an out and back without many spectators, and I worried that if the pain started during the race I would not have much recourse. Then my grandmother's memorial service was scheduled for the weekend of the race. So I bailed.
This time I thought I was going to make it happen. It occurs just 3 weeks after my ski marathon, so I knew I would be in good shape, and I had been told by a coach that I could replace some long runs with skis. That meant fewer opportunities for repetitive stress injuries. I ran a fabulous half marathon, but when I went out for a 15 mile run the next week, my toe pain returned and I completed only 6 miles. In an effort to preserve myself for my primary event, the ski marathon, I stopped running. No 15 or 17 mile runs as I had planned. I kept telling people maybe I would just go out for the full anyway and take a bus home when my joints complained, because after all, the race is ins Oakland. I went out for a 6 mile run yesterday and felt quite fine.
But then I realized that was silly. Even run-walking, I am sure my joints are woefully unprepared to jump from 13.1 miles to 26.2 with nothing in between except skiing (up to 25 miles!)So I did the reasonable thing and asked for a downgrade to the half. Maybe I can even attempt a PR. But for now, again, there will be no marathon. That charm remains in it's case, waiting to be added to my running charm bracelet. Maybe someday!
The first one, San Diego, I had been hurt early in the season and was woefully unprepared for my first half marathon that season at Avenue of the Giants. After those 13.1 miles, I ran-walked a 19 mile training run, which actually went fine. But I was still nervous about attempting to run a marathon on only one run longer than a half marathon. So I downgraded that entry. Looking back on it, I probably just should have done it that time. There were other people running it with whom I probably could have kept up. I was no longer hurt at the time. But I was reasonable instead.
The second one, Big Sur, I trained well for. I completed a lot of runs over 13 miles, including an 18 mile run in 3 hours. But that proved to be my downfall. After that run, my toe started hurting, and it eventually got to the point where I could not run more than 4 miles without pain. I saw a doctor and a physical therapist in hopes I could complete the race. On suggested I could and one suggested I shouldn't. The course was an out and back without many spectators, and I worried that if the pain started during the race I would not have much recourse. Then my grandmother's memorial service was scheduled for the weekend of the race. So I bailed.
This time I thought I was going to make it happen. It occurs just 3 weeks after my ski marathon, so I knew I would be in good shape, and I had been told by a coach that I could replace some long runs with skis. That meant fewer opportunities for repetitive stress injuries. I ran a fabulous half marathon, but when I went out for a 15 mile run the next week, my toe pain returned and I completed only 6 miles. In an effort to preserve myself for my primary event, the ski marathon, I stopped running. No 15 or 17 mile runs as I had planned. I kept telling people maybe I would just go out for the full anyway and take a bus home when my joints complained, because after all, the race is ins Oakland. I went out for a 6 mile run yesterday and felt quite fine.
But then I realized that was silly. Even run-walking, I am sure my joints are woefully unprepared to jump from 13.1 miles to 26.2 with nothing in between except skiing (up to 25 miles!)So I did the reasonable thing and asked for a downgrade to the half. Maybe I can even attempt a PR. But for now, again, there will be no marathon. That charm remains in it's case, waiting to be added to my running charm bracelet. Maybe someday!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Short (Day 18)
Twitter seemed like a funny idea at first, but sometimes 164 characters is all you have.
***
I am saving you from a very boring post, but I hope to try to write a story tomorrow. Creative historical non-fiction coming up. Maybe.
***
I am saving you from a very boring post, but I hope to try to write a story tomorrow. Creative historical non-fiction coming up. Maybe.
Friday, March 9, 2012
I am Already Out of Words (Day 17)
17 days in and I am fresh out of intrigue. My Alaska adventures have run their course. It is Friday night, and I do not have to wake up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I have two full weekend days to do with whatever I like. I think I will go for a run and a bike ride. And hopefully find my insipration for my subsequent blogs. I have lost all creativity. My work week provides no good fodder. Tonight I tried 3 new beers. This is my life. Tomorrow I promise a real blog. Somehow, some way.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
My Amazing Teammates (Day 16)
When I joined the XC Ski team, I was lucky enough to have 4 people I knew join with me: 3 lovely teammates and friends from my very first TNT season, and one fabulous co-worker. I had no idea that by the end of the season, I would have made about 20 new friends (or more!), all of whom are wonderful people. It helped that the team was small, so there were more opportunities to get to know people. Then there were the hours and hours of car rides. I carpooled with at least 7 different people. Then there was downtime at the lodge, while everybody was getting ready or winding down to go home. And then the skiing! I skied with many different people, and ran into many others out on the trail. We shared a lot of laughs - and I helped provide many of them with my numerous but lovely falls.
This team faced a lot of adversity - mainly that there was virtually no snow this season. We did a lot of hiking, skied in a softball field, then skied in a parking lot. I think only the last three skis of the season did we actually get to go out on trails. Even then, conditions were not good. There were a lot of unmarked obstacles, icy patches, lakes, slush mountains, and so much more. We were fairly lucky with the weather - we had 40 degrees and sunshine on many of the skis and I only recall nasty conditions that day in the parking lot.
You would think that with this whole lack of snow thing, people would start dropping from the team like flies. Not so. We had an incredible retention rate! Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, my teammates took everything in good humor. There were incredible amounts of hugs, smiles, and laughter. Unlike my cycling ride group, which bonded through crashes and tears, our ski team seemed to bond through a sense of adventure and indomitable spirit. Much of this may be thanks to the wonderful coaches and volunteer staff, particularly our web and community captains.
The event weekend in Anchorage was a fabulous culmination of a season. I think we all had an amazing time, with the possible exception of the event itself... Everyone did an amazing job at the race, accomplishing wonderful goals for themselves. And so many teammates remained at the finish line to cheer in our other skiers until we were forced to get on the bus to return to the hotel. But the lack of snow and preparation definitely took a toll on us, and many of us struggled, declaring it one of our hardest events ever. But in the race and throughout the rest of the weekend, we continued to share good cheer and good laughs. We enjoyed plenty of tourism and sampled the local brews, and I honestly cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard so often. Or the last time there were so many fights over the bill.
So a huge shout-out to all my 2012 XC Ski teammates. You are all amazing, and I am so lucky to have shared this season with you. I look forward to seeing you on future teams and all sorts of other fun events. I love you guys!
This team faced a lot of adversity - mainly that there was virtually no snow this season. We did a lot of hiking, skied in a softball field, then skied in a parking lot. I think only the last three skis of the season did we actually get to go out on trails. Even then, conditions were not good. There were a lot of unmarked obstacles, icy patches, lakes, slush mountains, and so much more. We were fairly lucky with the weather - we had 40 degrees and sunshine on many of the skis and I only recall nasty conditions that day in the parking lot.
You would think that with this whole lack of snow thing, people would start dropping from the team like flies. Not so. We had an incredible retention rate! Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, my teammates took everything in good humor. There were incredible amounts of hugs, smiles, and laughter. Unlike my cycling ride group, which bonded through crashes and tears, our ski team seemed to bond through a sense of adventure and indomitable spirit. Much of this may be thanks to the wonderful coaches and volunteer staff, particularly our web and community captains.
The event weekend in Anchorage was a fabulous culmination of a season. I think we all had an amazing time, with the possible exception of the event itself... Everyone did an amazing job at the race, accomplishing wonderful goals for themselves. And so many teammates remained at the finish line to cheer in our other skiers until we were forced to get on the bus to return to the hotel. But the lack of snow and preparation definitely took a toll on us, and many of us struggled, declaring it one of our hardest events ever. But in the race and throughout the rest of the weekend, we continued to share good cheer and good laughs. We enjoyed plenty of tourism and sampled the local brews, and I honestly cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard so often. Or the last time there were so many fights over the bill.
So a huge shout-out to all my 2012 XC Ski teammates. You are all amazing, and I am so lucky to have shared this season with you. I look forward to seeing you on future teams and all sorts of other fun events. I love you guys!
Do I Really Need an Agent
i just recently signed with a publisher... on their website, it said submissions only accepted by agents etc
i ignored that and it turned out okay! (i didnt have an agent and still dont)
my question is.... ive already signed the contract with them.... should i still look into getting an agent?
It's a tricky situation because it sounds like you really don't want an agent, however it's important to note that an agent does a lot more than simply submit a work. Sure, negotiating a strong contract is a huge part of what an agent does, but so is career management and guidance. An agent will also help you understand the business and learn what you can expect from the publisher, she can answer your questions and explain things you might not understand, and she can help spot trends and see where you might fit when it comes to building a career.
I think at this point it's going to be difficult to get an agent until you're getting ready for your next contract. At this point, there's not a lot in it for the agent. You've already negotiated and signed the contract so she's coming in to help manage something she's never going to get paid for, but of course I would suggest that you consider getting an agent for your future works. There's a lot an agent can and will do for you, and submitting to the publisher is the least of it.
Jessica
i ignored that and it turned out okay! (i didnt have an agent and still dont)
my question is.... ive already signed the contract with them.... should i still look into getting an agent?
It's a tricky situation because it sounds like you really don't want an agent, however it's important to note that an agent does a lot more than simply submit a work. Sure, negotiating a strong contract is a huge part of what an agent does, but so is career management and guidance. An agent will also help you understand the business and learn what you can expect from the publisher, she can answer your questions and explain things you might not understand, and she can help spot trends and see where you might fit when it comes to building a career.
I think at this point it's going to be difficult to get an agent until you're getting ready for your next contract. At this point, there's not a lot in it for the agent. You've already negotiated and signed the contract so she's coming in to help manage something she's never going to get paid for, but of course I would suggest that you consider getting an agent for your future works. There's a lot an agent can and will do for you, and submitting to the publisher is the least of it.
Jessica
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Alaskans (Day 15)
This weekend has given me fodder for many blogs. One of the first things I noticed about Alaska was how friendly everybody was. The girls at the hotel reception were extremely engaging and interested in what we were up to. Although my coach pointed out that they are paid to be nice, they certainly went above and beyond.
At dinner that night, we sidled up to the bar of a local brewery, and a friendly gentleman next to me explained which beers the brewery specialized in and recommended a few. Awhile later I discovered he was a transplant from Ruidoso, NEw Mexico, but had been in Alaska for over 20 years. The gentleman who replaced him at the bar also chatted with my teammate about our upcoming adventure. The bartender herself was also extremely friendly.
The next day at the Iditarod start, a friendly woman next to us patiently explained the difference between the ceremonial start and the real start and various other race intricacies. Later at the reindeer run, other spectators explained to us how that race worked.
Our tour guide was quite friendly, although less so after someone made a comment about Sarah Palin. At lunch, one member of our group was a little too friendly with an Alaskan, offering him his uneaten chips. After a first look of surprise and possibly disdain, you could see the Alaskan in him kick in and he proceeded to have a friendly conversation with us. That night, a host at the hotel cafe spent considerable time with us outlining our options for dinner downtown and finally choosing a restaurant for us.
The Alaska Airlines customer service agents at the airport were rather less friendly, but it was late at night and maybe they were not actually Alaskans. I wonder how long a person has to live in Alaska to become super friendly. A teammate speculated that because they are likely to be from cold places such as the Midwest where people are already friendly, they might be pre-inclined to that character trait. Whatever it is, it was a welcome change from the East Bay where my neighbors and co-workers regularly avoid saying hi if at all possible. Unfortunately it is way too cold in Alaska for me to consider enjoying their friendly company on a more permanent basis.
Thanks for welcoming us to your state!
At dinner that night, we sidled up to the bar of a local brewery, and a friendly gentleman next to me explained which beers the brewery specialized in and recommended a few. Awhile later I discovered he was a transplant from Ruidoso, NEw Mexico, but had been in Alaska for over 20 years. The gentleman who replaced him at the bar also chatted with my teammate about our upcoming adventure. The bartender herself was also extremely friendly.
The next day at the Iditarod start, a friendly woman next to us patiently explained the difference between the ceremonial start and the real start and various other race intricacies. Later at the reindeer run, other spectators explained to us how that race worked.
Our tour guide was quite friendly, although less so after someone made a comment about Sarah Palin. At lunch, one member of our group was a little too friendly with an Alaskan, offering him his uneaten chips. After a first look of surprise and possibly disdain, you could see the Alaskan in him kick in and he proceeded to have a friendly conversation with us. That night, a host at the hotel cafe spent considerable time with us outlining our options for dinner downtown and finally choosing a restaurant for us.
The Alaska Airlines customer service agents at the airport were rather less friendly, but it was late at night and maybe they were not actually Alaskans. I wonder how long a person has to live in Alaska to become super friendly. A teammate speculated that because they are likely to be from cold places such as the Midwest where people are already friendly, they might be pre-inclined to that character trait. Whatever it is, it was a welcome change from the East Bay where my neighbors and co-workers regularly avoid saying hi if at all possible. Unfortunately it is way too cold in Alaska for me to consider enjoying their friendly company on a more permanent basis.
Thanks for welcoming us to your state!
Workshop Wednesday
Thanks to all of your contributions, Workshop Wednesday has been a success. We're going to continue on with it for as long as we have entries and the energy to comment on them. If you haven't yet submitted but are still interested, don't be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post.
For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.
And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.
Dear Ms Faust
Every 100 years there comes upon this planet a writer whose work enlightens that generation and those that will follow. Until that person arrives you'll have to make do with me.
While I did chuckle a bit at your opening line I wonder if the self-defeating tone might hurt you in the end? It didn't bother me, but I'm not sure other agents wouldn't have a different reaction.
Mae Clarke is a nineteen year old girl who's been alive for six months after being created in a test tube having been brought up by robots and an insane non-scientist. Her mother, Carla Neill, is on the starship Dravid (currently patrolling the Colonial side of the Zone), trying to avoid everyone and who everyone tries to avoid. Her father, Alan Radford, is passing the rest of his life on early twenty-first century Earth hoping that he won't be kidnapped and sent into the future again.
I'm having some trouble following this. Your first sentence was one I had to read twice and I guess the introduction, this entire paragraph, doesn't grab me. Nothing about this feels particularly riveting or different.
All three are destined to meet (there wouldn't be a novel in it if they didn't) at least that's what Harold, the insane non-scientist obsessed with his and their destiny, thinks is their destiny. Aided, abetted and obstructed in his plans are two robots, a seven foot reptilian doctor, the commander of the Dravid and a dictatorial Dagon who is determined to resurrect her military career by breaking as many rules as she can without her rusting brick of a ship falling apart.
I like how your humor comes through. I think that's my favorite part of your query, your asides, however since I doubt you do that in the novel I'm not sure it's going to be enough to make me want to request the book. I think part of the problem with this is that you're so focused on trying to put the comedic elements into your query that I'm getting no sense of what the book is about or the story. When querying a humorous story the humor needs to come through in the showing of the story, not trying purposely to be funny.
A Stitch In Time is a Science Fiction comedy written by [redacted] (that's me) and has some vague similarities to Blonde Bombshell by Tom Holt and the Space Captain Smith Trilogy by Toby Frost.
Good comparisons.
I have had two short stories published in failed ezines, two on failed websites and two non-fiction articles for succesful magazines as well as being a regular book/film/tv reviewer for the irregularly published SFF ezine Hub. I have three teenage boys, an old car, a rented flat and act out my fantasies for the Knebworth Amateur Theatrical Society twice a year, as well as being the author of this stunning query.
I think this is funny. Obviously I appreciate your humor, I only wish I could get it in the blurb of the book, without you trying to be so in-your-face about it.
I look forward to hearing from at your earliest convenience.
Jessica
For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.
And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.
Dear Ms Faust
Every 100 years there comes upon this planet a writer whose work enlightens that generation and those that will follow. Until that person arrives you'll have to make do with me.
While I did chuckle a bit at your opening line I wonder if the self-defeating tone might hurt you in the end? It didn't bother me, but I'm not sure other agents wouldn't have a different reaction.
Mae Clarke is a nineteen year old girl who's been alive for six months after being created in a test tube having been brought up by robots and an insane non-scientist. Her mother, Carla Neill, is on the starship Dravid (currently patrolling the Colonial side of the Zone), trying to avoid everyone and who everyone tries to avoid. Her father, Alan Radford, is passing the rest of his life on early twenty-first century Earth hoping that he won't be kidnapped and sent into the future again.
I'm having some trouble following this. Your first sentence was one I had to read twice and I guess the introduction, this entire paragraph, doesn't grab me. Nothing about this feels particularly riveting or different.
All three are destined to meet (there wouldn't be a novel in it if they didn't) at least that's what Harold, the insane non-scientist obsessed with his and their destiny, thinks is their destiny. Aided, abetted and obstructed in his plans are two robots, a seven foot reptilian doctor, the commander of the Dravid and a dictatorial Dagon who is determined to resurrect her military career by breaking as many rules as she can without her rusting brick of a ship falling apart.
I like how your humor comes through. I think that's my favorite part of your query, your asides, however since I doubt you do that in the novel I'm not sure it's going to be enough to make me want to request the book. I think part of the problem with this is that you're so focused on trying to put the comedic elements into your query that I'm getting no sense of what the book is about or the story. When querying a humorous story the humor needs to come through in the showing of the story, not trying purposely to be funny.
A Stitch In Time is a Science Fiction comedy written by [redacted] (that's me) and has some vague similarities to Blonde Bombshell by Tom Holt and the Space Captain Smith Trilogy by Toby Frost.
Good comparisons.
I have had two short stories published in failed ezines, two on failed websites and two non-fiction articles for succesful magazines as well as being a regular book/film/tv reviewer for the irregularly published SFF ezine Hub. I have three teenage boys, an old car, a rented flat and act out my fantasies for the Knebworth Amateur Theatrical Society twice a year, as well as being the author of this stunning query.
I think this is funny. Obviously I appreciate your humor, I only wish I could get it in the blurb of the book, without you trying to be so in-your-face about it.
I look forward to hearing from at your earliest convenience.
Jessica
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Alaska Adventure (March 2012)
Sadly there appears to have been a smudge on my lens the whole weekend, but here are the Alaska pictures.
Alaska (Day 14)
So I skipped a day. Do I post-date a blog and call it good? Do I just skip it? After all, it is the unlucky number 13. Not that I find that number unlucky - I used to wear it in basketball.
Anyway...
I had an amazing time in Alaska! My team is full of fabulous people. In addition to the event itself, we explored the local beers, watched the ceremonial start of the Iditarod, had a practice ski, watched some people in funny costumes be chased by reindeer, enjoyed team meals, took a tram up Mt. Alyeska in minimal visibility, and saw meese, elk, musk ox, bald eagles, Kodiak brown bear cubs, and more reindeer. Then we explored more local beers.
Finally I learned what it is like to depart when about 6 inches of freshly fallen snow have landed on the plane and runway. Step 1: several de-icings. Step 2: sit a the end of the unplowed runway with brakes on and engines revving to full power. step 3: release the brakes and shoot off down the runway. Scary! I think I saw that move on Pan Am when they were trying to escape from Haiti...
Anyway, more thoughts and pictures to come later.
Anyway...
I had an amazing time in Alaska! My team is full of fabulous people. In addition to the event itself, we explored the local beers, watched the ceremonial start of the Iditarod, had a practice ski, watched some people in funny costumes be chased by reindeer, enjoyed team meals, took a tram up Mt. Alyeska in minimal visibility, and saw meese, elk, musk ox, bald eagles, Kodiak brown bear cubs, and more reindeer. Then we explored more local beers.
Finally I learned what it is like to depart when about 6 inches of freshly fallen snow have landed on the plane and runway. Step 1: several de-icings. Step 2: sit a the end of the unplowed runway with brakes on and engines revving to full power. step 3: release the brakes and shoot off down the runway. Scary! I think I saw that move on Pan Am when they were trying to escape from Haiti...
Anyway, more thoughts and pictures to come later.
The Evolution of My Rejection Letter
All of the talk lately about whether "no means no" is an appropriate response for agents to give to query letters had me thinking about my own rejection letters over the years. I agree with Janet Reid when she says that a response is not only important, but pretty easy. It's something we've always done at BookEnds--responded to all queries and submissions--and something I think we all agree is important and plan to continue to do.
That being said, it's amazing how things have changed in the past 12 years and how much my queries, submissions, and responses have changed. When we first opened the agency we were hungry agents looking for great authors. Everything in those days (2001) was done by snail mail, so we had an open policy to unsolicited partials. That meant that without even getting a request you could snail mail us a copy of your query/cover letter, the first three chapters of your book, and a synopsis. Man, you should have seen the piles of mail. More often than not it took multiple armloads just to get from the mailbox to our desks. That was every day.
At that time, because we were hungry, I somewhat personalized every rejection. I had several forms, sure, but I actually took the time to type into each letter the name and address of each person I was rejecting. I'd love to know how much time that took me each week.
Over time, within probably 3 to 5 years, we were getting busier and busier, actually tending to our clients, because we actually had clients. So instead of the personalized rejection, we started to go the way of the "Dear Author" form. Away went the address and name and instead we had a stack of letters printed out that we could just stick into envelopes and send off. This was for unsolicited material. For solicited proposals we were still writing in the names and addresses.
And then email really took hold, at least for submissions. Agents became less afraid of being inundated with queries in their email inbox and opened to email submissions. We were right there with the rest. By this time we had done away with the unsolicited partials and were accepting queries only via email and we came up with a very clever way to reply to those queries. That magical signature line. Most email programs allow you to have multiple signatures to choose from. Maybe you have your business standard and another for personal use. Well, we have somewhere around 10. I have my standard signature that goes on the bottom of all email, and then I have the "letter" signatures or the form rejection signatures. I have one that says I'm closed to queries, one that requests material, one that rejects material, one I can easily modify to make more personal, and those that give some specific information (like the book is too short or too much like a magazine article).
I've found it's never hard to pop on that signature and hit send, and hopefully it allows me to keep networking with authors and helps them to keep thinking of me.
Jessica
That being said, it's amazing how things have changed in the past 12 years and how much my queries, submissions, and responses have changed. When we first opened the agency we were hungry agents looking for great authors. Everything in those days (2001) was done by snail mail, so we had an open policy to unsolicited partials. That meant that without even getting a request you could snail mail us a copy of your query/cover letter, the first three chapters of your book, and a synopsis. Man, you should have seen the piles of mail. More often than not it took multiple armloads just to get from the mailbox to our desks. That was every day.
At that time, because we were hungry, I somewhat personalized every rejection. I had several forms, sure, but I actually took the time to type into each letter the name and address of each person I was rejecting. I'd love to know how much time that took me each week.
Over time, within probably 3 to 5 years, we were getting busier and busier, actually tending to our clients, because we actually had clients. So instead of the personalized rejection, we started to go the way of the "Dear Author" form. Away went the address and name and instead we had a stack of letters printed out that we could just stick into envelopes and send off. This was for unsolicited material. For solicited proposals we were still writing in the names and addresses.
And then email really took hold, at least for submissions. Agents became less afraid of being inundated with queries in their email inbox and opened to email submissions. We were right there with the rest. By this time we had done away with the unsolicited partials and were accepting queries only via email and we came up with a very clever way to reply to those queries. That magical signature line. Most email programs allow you to have multiple signatures to choose from. Maybe you have your business standard and another for personal use. Well, we have somewhere around 10. I have my standard signature that goes on the bottom of all email, and then I have the "letter" signatures or the form rejection signatures. I have one that says I'm closed to queries, one that requests material, one that rejects material, one I can easily modify to make more personal, and those that give some specific information (like the book is too short or too much like a magazine article).
I've found it's never hard to pop on that signature and hit send, and hopefully it allows me to keep networking with authors and helps them to keep thinking of me.
Jessica
Monday, March 5, 2012
Gifts 101
I love my agent. I think she's fabulous, and I never want her to doubt for an instant that I think she's fabulous.
Are there "rules" governing gifts from the writer to the agent? I figure it's okay to send cookies just 'cuz, but what about a gift when the agent sells your manuscript? Is it okay to send flowers? A bottle of the agent's favorite wine? (I've recently found out you can have anything delivered in Manhattan.)
For the record, my agent has never asked me for anything other than a splendid manuscript.
You sound like a sweet and fabulous client, and what I love most about this post is that I don't often get questions from readers telling me they love their agent. Yay for you and yay for your agent. It sounds like you're a good match.
There are no "rules" when it comes to giving gifts to your agent. Of course no agent expects gifts (editors don't either) and certainly they aren't required, but sometimes we just like giving gifts to show our appreciation and some of us are just natural gift givers.
When it comes to giving gifts I think it's about the giving and not the gift. If you want specific ideas, though, get to know your agent a little and see what she likes or just think about what you see from Tweets and blogs. For most agents, anyway, you can never go wrong with food or booze. I think any of the thoughts you have on what you send your agent will be touching and greatly appreciated. Heck, I'll tear up over a thank-you email from a client. Sometimes that's the best gift I can get.
Jessica
Are there "rules" governing gifts from the writer to the agent? I figure it's okay to send cookies just 'cuz, but what about a gift when the agent sells your manuscript? Is it okay to send flowers? A bottle of the agent's favorite wine? (I've recently found out you can have anything delivered in Manhattan.)
For the record, my agent has never asked me for anything other than a splendid manuscript.
You sound like a sweet and fabulous client, and what I love most about this post is that I don't often get questions from readers telling me they love their agent. Yay for you and yay for your agent. It sounds like you're a good match.
There are no "rules" when it comes to giving gifts to your agent. Of course no agent expects gifts (editors don't either) and certainly they aren't required, but sometimes we just like giving gifts to show our appreciation and some of us are just natural gift givers.
When it comes to giving gifts I think it's about the giving and not the gift. If you want specific ideas, though, get to know your agent a little and see what she likes or just think about what you see from Tweets and blogs. For most agents, anyway, you can never go wrong with food or booze. I think any of the thoughts you have on what you send your agent will be touching and greatly appreciated. Heck, I'll tear up over a thank-you email from a client. Sometimes that's the best gift I can get.
Jessica
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Tour of Anchorage (Day 12)
Today I completed a 40k XC ski marathon. This amounts to approximately 25 miles, or nearly a full marathon, and definitely farther than I have ever travelled in one day on my own two feet. This may have been my most difficult event yet. Pretty much every movement past the 20k mark came from sheer willpower.
I was home sick from work with a cold or mild flu most of the week, and although I am better, I am not yet recovered. The first 5 or 10k of the race involved climbing several hills, which is where I first noticed that the cold was getting me. Then I realized my camelbak was frozen, and I was never able to unfreeze it. I continued to carry this dead weight (70 oz) of water for at least 30k before I had the bright idea to dump it out. Clearly my brain was not working so well. My shoulders were extremely tired. I stopped at every feed station for at least one cup of water or gatorade, but I was still often thirsty, especially the last 10k where no feed stations were to be found. The lack of water also limited my eating choices, as some of my snacks made me to thirsty. I subsisted on shot blocks most of the event, and finished my last one mid-way up the last hill.
As usual, the TNT support was amazing, from the hotel in the morning to the start line to various anchorage members along the course, our manager and special cheered Larry, and everyone at the end who had already finished. I thanked them by being the rude, no responsive person coming up the last hill. I had nothing left.
It took me maybe 15 minutes less than 6 hours. I was so exhausted that I didn't even remember to check my time. After an influx of water, hot chocolate, and pizza, I began to feel like a normal human being again and returned to the finish to cheer in the rest of my amazing teammates.
I probably failed to mention that the scenery was amazing. Even now I am sitting in bed, watching a gorgeous twilight over the inlet. We were actually treated to sun today despite the previous prediction of snow. I guess someone was looking out for us. Thanks Alaska!
I was home sick from work with a cold or mild flu most of the week, and although I am better, I am not yet recovered. The first 5 or 10k of the race involved climbing several hills, which is where I first noticed that the cold was getting me. Then I realized my camelbak was frozen, and I was never able to unfreeze it. I continued to carry this dead weight (70 oz) of water for at least 30k before I had the bright idea to dump it out. Clearly my brain was not working so well. My shoulders were extremely tired. I stopped at every feed station for at least one cup of water or gatorade, but I was still often thirsty, especially the last 10k where no feed stations were to be found. The lack of water also limited my eating choices, as some of my snacks made me to thirsty. I subsisted on shot blocks most of the event, and finished my last one mid-way up the last hill.
As usual, the TNT support was amazing, from the hotel in the morning to the start line to various anchorage members along the course, our manager and special cheered Larry, and everyone at the end who had already finished. I thanked them by being the rude, no responsive person coming up the last hill. I had nothing left.
It took me maybe 15 minutes less than 6 hours. I was so exhausted that I didn't even remember to check my time. After an influx of water, hot chocolate, and pizza, I began to feel like a normal human being again and returned to the finish to cheer in the rest of my amazing teammates.
I probably failed to mention that the scenery was amazing. Even now I am sitting in bed, watching a gorgeous twilight over the inlet. We were actually treated to sun today despite the previous prediction of snow. I guess someone was looking out for us. Thanks Alaska!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Alaska (Day 11)
Yesterday afternoon I saw Alaska for the first time. Flying into Anchorage, we passed snow-covered peaks emerging from the clouds. Then whole mountain ranges covered in snow from crest to plains. The landscape seemed so, well, immense.
Then we could see the sea, filled with ice. First covered in splotchy segments from bright white to nearly black. Then paths cut through by ice breakers. In some places, ice just floating on the sea. Unfortunately we were below the altitude at which you have to turn your electronics off. I had a hard time telling the difference between sea and land. The landscape continued, unbroken by civilization, at least that I could see. I could not see Russia.
I am so excited to be here. A landscape so different from any I have seen before. And I haven't frozen yet.
Today, the Iditarod.
Then we could see the sea, filled with ice. First covered in splotchy segments from bright white to nearly black. Then paths cut through by ice breakers. In some places, ice just floating on the sea. Unfortunately we were below the altitude at which you have to turn your electronics off. I had a hard time telling the difference between sea and land. The landscape continued, unbroken by civilization, at least that I could see. I could not see Russia.
I am so excited to be here. A landscape so different from any I have seen before. And I haven't frozen yet.
Today, the Iditarod.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Water for Elephants (Day 10)
I cheated. I am traveling to Alaska as this blog is posting. I was worried I wouldn't remember to blog today, and I was looking at my kindle books and realized this would be a good topic. So...
Water for Elephants was the first book I read on my iPad. I loved it. It was a page turner. I started it on an airplane flight to Washington DC. Such a fabulous invention - set the iPad on the tray table, and every so often lift up a finger to "flip" the page. Hands free reading! Who would have thought?
Anyway, this was supposed to be about a book, not my love affair with iPad.
I haven't seen the movie. I am not sure if the elephant would be as lovely in the movie as I imagined her from the book. I pictured her smiling and laughing. And of course enduring things that would make no one smile. I do love animals, but I especially loved the knowledge, humor, and intelligence ascribed to Rosie. I remember learning that elephants actually mourn each other - they are quite social beings.
I also enjoyed the perspective of the 90 or 93 year old man telling the story. I can't remember many books being told from that perspective. Te author imagines what the elderly gentleman is thinking as things happen around him and to him in an assisted living home. The grasp on reality slowly slipping away. The humanity. It was really quite beautiful.
I also enjoyed the story, which is quite impressive given that I do not generally read fiction. It was an interesting look at an era of a true depression, so much worse than the recession of today. A story about being trapped. Or feeling trapped at least. A story of devastating loss, risk and reward. A story of an elephant that smiles at you with love in her amber eyes.
I recommend it. (As well as the e-reading experience!)
Water for Elephants was the first book I read on my iPad. I loved it. It was a page turner. I started it on an airplane flight to Washington DC. Such a fabulous invention - set the iPad on the tray table, and every so often lift up a finger to "flip" the page. Hands free reading! Who would have thought?
Anyway, this was supposed to be about a book, not my love affair with iPad.
I haven't seen the movie. I am not sure if the elephant would be as lovely in the movie as I imagined her from the book. I pictured her smiling and laughing. And of course enduring things that would make no one smile. I do love animals, but I especially loved the knowledge, humor, and intelligence ascribed to Rosie. I remember learning that elephants actually mourn each other - they are quite social beings.
I also enjoyed the perspective of the 90 or 93 year old man telling the story. I can't remember many books being told from that perspective. Te author imagines what the elderly gentleman is thinking as things happen around him and to him in an assisted living home. The grasp on reality slowly slipping away. The humanity. It was really quite beautiful.
I also enjoyed the story, which is quite impressive given that I do not generally read fiction. It was an interesting look at an era of a true depression, so much worse than the recession of today. A story about being trapped. Or feeling trapped at least. A story of devastating loss, risk and reward. A story of an elephant that smiles at you with love in her amber eyes.
I recommend it. (As well as the e-reading experience!)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Post-Event Depression (Day 9)
There is a phenomenon in which, after several months of training hard for an event, and after successful completion of said event, a person feels empty. There is no longer a goal towards which to strive. No reason to go to the gym. Just normal, boring life. A climax followed by a cliff.
I don't think this has happened to me on any large scale before, as I either already have something else on my plate for which to train, or I don't complete an event big enough to cause this depression (for example, not running my two planned marathons).
I can't say I've been training hard for this ski race. I haven't been following the training calendar. There hasn't been much snow. In the last year, my obsessive compulsive need to follow training calendars to a "T" has disappeared. Don't know where it went.
But still. A week and a half ago my toe injury returned. This week I've been home sick from work, and I have to get on a plane tomorrow. I've always been amazed that I haven't gotten sick before a race in the past (except for that nasty swine flu I had before my first ever race, but that was nice enough to come early enough so I had a week or two to recover pre-race). So because of my toe, another marathon bid is off the table. All I have right now is the ski race, and I'm not even sure how that will go - hopefully I can push through the pain and the weakness.
I'm looking forward to this weekend. I plan to be on my way to recovery tomorrow and enjoying the company of my fabulous teammates. I plan to remember that I'm skiing slightly down hill so a little illness-related weakness won't be a huge problem... I plan to push through any pain in my toe. I plan to have a great weekend.
And then I'll return to normal, boring life. But hopefully I will bring some of the joy and amazement of Alaska home with me. And then I'll figure out how to fix my toe once and for all. Hopefully I will sleep.
I didn't mean for this post to be depressing. I'm contemplating erasing it all. But I suspect I'm not alone in this. Many of us participate in Team in Training for a reason, and part of that reason is that it adds something good to our lives. So maybe on Tuesday I'll just sign up for my next season. Surely by September or October I'll be able to run another race?
I don't think this has happened to me on any large scale before, as I either already have something else on my plate for which to train, or I don't complete an event big enough to cause this depression (for example, not running my two planned marathons).
I can't say I've been training hard for this ski race. I haven't been following the training calendar. There hasn't been much snow. In the last year, my obsessive compulsive need to follow training calendars to a "T" has disappeared. Don't know where it went.
But still. A week and a half ago my toe injury returned. This week I've been home sick from work, and I have to get on a plane tomorrow. I've always been amazed that I haven't gotten sick before a race in the past (except for that nasty swine flu I had before my first ever race, but that was nice enough to come early enough so I had a week or two to recover pre-race). So because of my toe, another marathon bid is off the table. All I have right now is the ski race, and I'm not even sure how that will go - hopefully I can push through the pain and the weakness.
I'm looking forward to this weekend. I plan to be on my way to recovery tomorrow and enjoying the company of my fabulous teammates. I plan to remember that I'm skiing slightly down hill so a little illness-related weakness won't be a huge problem... I plan to push through any pain in my toe. I plan to have a great weekend.
And then I'll return to normal, boring life. But hopefully I will bring some of the joy and amazement of Alaska home with me. And then I'll figure out how to fix my toe once and for all. Hopefully I will sleep.
I didn't mean for this post to be depressing. I'm contemplating erasing it all. But I suspect I'm not alone in this. Many of us participate in Team in Training for a reason, and part of that reason is that it adds something good to our lives. So maybe on Tuesday I'll just sign up for my next season. Surely by September or October I'll be able to run another race?
An Agent's Acknowledgment
I think on a number of agent blogs you've read how much an acknowledgment or a dedication to an agent in a client's book can mean to an agent. I never get tired of reading them and I never feel anything less than humbled that the author would consider me when writing this most public of thank-yous. But today I'm feeling a very special appreciation for all of my clients. I don't have a book in which to acknowledge them, but I do have this blog.
Each day my clients make me better at what I do. They provide me with information on the industry, hot topics among authors, and information that I can use to become better at what I do.
They humble me with their combined and individual talents. I'm continually amazed by the ideas they come up with, the skill it takes to write a book, and the perseverance each of them has to succeed and excel in this industry.
I'm thankful to know them both professionally and personally. I'm thankful for the support they give me in my job and I'm thankful that they are willing to listen to my ideas and sometimes take them without laughing.
So while I won't list you all by name, you know who you are. Published or unpublished I appreciate every single one of you. Skol!
Jessica
Each day my clients make me better at what I do. They provide me with information on the industry, hot topics among authors, and information that I can use to become better at what I do.
They humble me with their combined and individual talents. I'm continually amazed by the ideas they come up with, the skill it takes to write a book, and the perseverance each of them has to succeed and excel in this industry.
I'm thankful to know them both professionally and personally. I'm thankful for the support they give me in my job and I'm thankful that they are willing to listen to my ideas and sometimes take them without laughing.
So while I won't list you all by name, you know who you are. Published or unpublished I appreciate every single one of you. Skol!
Jessica
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)