Insert Witty Title Here

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

New York, New York, a Hell of a Town...

Was in NYC today, looking at a club for my upcoming launch party in January. Me likee the club; just have to go over pricing and whatnot, but I think I'm going to book it. A night (well, three hours) of schmoozing, drinking, shooting pool (yes, there are pool tables in this club, get off my back), listening to music, talking...and celebrating. :)

I also dropped by two indie bookstores to pitch HB. The first store could have gone better; the second went pretty well...and I even pitched the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar to the terrific guy by the bag-check who wants to get serious about his writing again.

Note to all authors who visit bookstores to promote their stuff: Have your pitch ready to go. Because "Um, I wrote a book and it's getting published" just lacks that oomph.

Came back to more than 60 email messages. One of them was from my faboo crit partner who said THE MAGIC BRIGADE is ready for my agent! Joy! Once I hear back from him about ROAD, I'll give him TMB...and will keep my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking about HOT and ALMIGHTY. (Okay, and HB4.) Hope to get actual words down tomorrow.

And in about 10 days, I'll have something to announce. (No, I'm not pregnant. Stop that.)

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Heckle a Literary Agent!

Well, maybe not heckle. Ask questions? You bet. Listen in rapt attention when the agents speak? Probably not a bad idea. Network? Darn tootin'.

On November 3, 2006, you can attend the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. This seminar is an intense, one-day program of panels and workshops geared to help authors questing for a literary agent.

Says Karen Dionne of Backspace:

With only agents on the program, a full fifteen minutes between program parts, an afternoon mixer, small-group agent-author sessions, and an unusually high number of agents with a ceiling of 100 registrants, the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar offers plenty of face time with attending agents.

Does this high ratio of agents to authors mean that those who attend this event will walk away with an agent? Many conferences have various scripted ways of meeting agents, giving rise to the feeling that the agent will discover the author, wave a magic wand, and make all their dreams come true.

The reality is, this rarely happens. (Please see Folio Literary Management's Jeff Kleinman's excellent article on what writers can expect when attending conferences.) Because of this, the Backspace seminar does not include formal pitch sessions.

Instead, the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar offers the opportunity to network, ask questions, listen, and learn from the people who make their living selling books.

Participating agents include Jenny Bent, Rolph Blythe, Michael Bourret, Paul Cirone, Katherine Fausset, Irene Goodman, Scott Hoffman, Miriam Kriss, Dan Lazar, Sharlene Martin, and Jennifer Unter.

If you are currently on the query go round, or if you're thinking about it (and you're already nauseated from the reality of how hard it is to get an agent), this seminar could be exactly what you're looking for.

Seperately...

Git off your high horse, Jezebel. Some of us have work to do.

Freaking succubus diva... ((grumble))

Monday, August 28, 2006

Beginnings

Well, Hellions, I'm thrilled to say that I've officially kicked off two new writing projects. (Yeah, yeah, with all of my free time.)

Hotter Than Hell, also lovingly known as HB3. This one's still in the Jesseverse, but it stars the incubus Daunuan. No worries -- you'll get to know Daun very, very well in both Hell's Belles and in The Road to Hell. So far, my Crit Partner and my Loving Husband both say they're eagerly awaiting this story -- my CP because she's crushing on Daun, and my LH because he thinks it's going to be a damn good story. And just before, one of my Trusted Beta Readers said that "Daunuan is my new paranormal fiction boyfriend." WOOT!!!

Schmoozing the Almighty. Another paranormal romance/humorous urban fantasy, but not set in the Jesseverse. At least, not in the direct Jesse story arc. Here's the gist: After a spectacularly bad breakup, Lee Segal returns home to Brooklyn to spend Passover with her family. While dusting off Grandma Ellen’s sedar plate, Lee finds a piece of paper nestled in all the wrapping, paper with odd symbols on it. She looks closer, and just as she realizes the symbols are a form of Hebrew, the paper glows, the symbols disappear…and boom, Lee Segal suddenly knows one of the secret Names of the Almighty. With this knowledge, Lee can work miracles: cure the ill, see the future, even create a human-like golem. Sadly, it doesn’t improve her love life: one condition of wielding such power is chastity. It also makes her the target of a group of mystics, who would do anything to possess that Name. With her sidekick golem and the protection of the mercenary Gabriel, Lee must find the Hidden Temple in Sheepshead Bay so that she can get the Name out of her head and safely hidden away—before the mystics find her, and before she does something altogether sinful with Gabriel.

Hooray, new projects!

So who needs to sleep?

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Stress

Haven't posted in a bit, neither here nor on my website. This past week, I got hit with proofing the galleys for Hell's Belles.

Galleys, in this case, are the photocopied pages of the actual book already laid out -- it's very, very cool. It was also pretty awesome to read the whole thing like a book, instead of printed out as a manuscript. World of difference. (I wound up flagging 45 pages with changes. I have no idea if this is too much or not; my editor's away until Tuesday. If he yells at me when he's back, then, um, it was too much.) Most of my changes were things I absolutely should have caught in the copy edit phase: word-style choices/inconsistencies (like "earth" verus "Earth" and initial capping the "m" for "My" whenever Lucifer would say things like "give Me that whip"). (Not that Lucifer uses a whip. But whatever.) There were a couple typos, too, and some chapter title inconsistencies. Anyway, here's hoping that my editor is still talking to me. (You are, aren't you, J.?)

So, I had galleys, which I sent back a week early. (Please don't be mad at me, Kensington gods!) And I got hit with a horrible stomach bug, which I thought was either caused by a nasty beastie, or maybe even by stress. (Even good stress can suck.) But I just got slammed with the stomach pain again last night, and I'm fairly certain it's not because my mom is coming to visit later today. Crap. I'm wondering if I'm allergic to shellfish (I had shrimp last night, and I'm pretty sure we had shrimp Monday night, and I got sick a couple hours later.)

Sharing too much? Sorry 'bout that.

And on Thursday night, my editor asked for the one-page synopsis for "the next book," due no later than Monday. Eek -- does he mean THE ROAD TO HELL (November 2007) -- the book that's already written, that my agent is currently reading, the book that the chapter outline my editor already accepted? Or does he mean the NEXT book, HOTTER THAN HELL -- the book whose outline isn't due until March, the book that I've only just started to think through? Can't ask my editor -- he's out until Tuesday. Right, until the day AFTER my synopses are due. Well, crap. What's an author to do?

So I wrote both synopses. A huge shout out to Heather Brewer and Caitlin Kittredge for their input, and for keeping me from losing my mind.

Worst-case scenario? My editor has exactly what he wants. Best case? I handed in my one-pager for HB3 uber early.

Off to moan and groan about my stomach. Sheesh. If this isn't because of the shrimp -- if this is all because of stress -- then I really, really need to figure out how to relax.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I So Rock

Okay, I'm seriously impressed with myself.

First, I finished the final revisions of THE ROAD TO HELL. It's on its way to my agent. Woot!

And...

I finished the first draft of my YA-urban fantasy, THE MAGIC BRIGADE. Double woot!

:-D

Off to celebrate...

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Buy HELL'S BELLES at Amazon.com!

Oh hellions...lookee look!

Hey, Jezebel...

Hey, Jezebel: thpthpthpthpthpthp!!!!!!

(Ahem)

If you can overlook a temper-tantruming ex-demon, you'll see on Cat and Muse a new interview, with Eileen Cruz Coleman's Carmella, from "Dancing on the Riverbank."

(Freaking diva succubus...)

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Two Bucks for a Car

One of my dear friends, EJ, just lost his car to creditors. Sucks, right? More than you know. EJ is on disability, and he needs his car to see his doctors. He has twenty days -- count 'em, days -- to earn $3,000 to buy back his wheels.

EJ called on his Backspace buds to help him collect 1,500 stories, which he will sell at $2 per story. In twenty days. He's setting up PayPal on his blog, Only On Sunday, and he will launch the first batch of stories ASAP.

I kicked in a story and will throw in two more, as well as a poem. Other Backspace writers have been flocking to EJ's cause to help him raise money to buy back his car.

Spread the word. Link to EJ's blog.

And dude: buy a story or two. Two bucks. Just over two songs at Apple's Music Store. Less than a latte at Starbucks.

Help EJ get his car back.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

A Demon and a Superhero Walk Into a Studio...

Finally, over at Cat and Muse, Jezebel interviews Melanie Lynne Hauser's Super Mom! A superhero for the Swiffer Generation, indeed! Super Mom is just as cool here as she is in her memoir, Confessions of Super Mom. While you need to read the book to get the skinny on matching your underwear to your costume and how to join the Justice League, the interview delves into those important questions on a superhero's romantic fantasy and whether Superman is gay.

For those of you who haven't read Confessions, run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore (or click on the spiffy link for Amazon) and purchase a copy today! I adored this book, and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, Super Mom Saves the World. A wonderful story and -- dare I say it -- a super read.

Confessions is out in paperback today -- congratulations, Melanie!