So remember the novel contest I entered?

Well, today I received notification that I’ve made it into the round of 1000. O_O

Holy shit.

They also included a link to the page for my entry’s excerpt for reader reading and reviewing.

Thanks, Livvy.

Categories: writing
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…though, I really don’t believe it. As a kid, I never thought I’d live past sixteen. Once I got past sixteen, I didn’t believe I’d make it to adulthood. Then I made it past eighteen, quickly followed by twenty-one. Somewhere in there, I’d made a decision to become published by the time I was thirty.

And now I’ve only got two years left.

Categories: philosophical, writing
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One of my friends who still works at the health insurance company where I used to work just emailed me with this update—

“We are now being run by Nazis that won’t let you use any of your PTO unless Hitler comes back from the dead and approves it.”

Makes me very happy that I’m not there any more, that’s for sure. And that things are sort-of moving forward on the fiction writing front as well. The email from Amazon notified me that my entry is eligible for the Breakthrough Novel Award and is entering the first round of judging. Meaning, hey, it got into the first 5000 eligible entries that make up round one.

Yeaaay Meeee! (said like Frank Caliendo)

Also, after a spot of some self-doubt, a good chat with Robin turned me around to realizing that no, I have not fucked up my third second novel that I’m writing. We also had some great brainstorming (mostly through her relentless I-heart-mysteries-without-plotholes-fuck-you-chris-carter-questioning) that led to a very much tightened up second half of the book outline. And both of those things gave me a much brightened new perspective.

And one day, we will make me such an optimist that I won’t check both ways before crossing a one-way street.

Categories: writing
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Thanks to Olivia’s heads-up and urging, I entered Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Since ATSG has yet to have a finished first draft, I entered the heavily re-written and edited new manuscript for Monster Rules. Oddly, the hardest part wasn’t editing, writing, or submitting. The hardest part was writing the synopsis.

I hate them. I would rather go to the dentist than write a synopsis. (And for those of you who aren’t aware of my shit-I-hate scale, you can tell how much I hate the dentist because I’d rather visit the ob/gyn than go to the dentist).

And Amazon’s synopsis? Amazon’s synopsis requirement wasn’t quite the standard synopsis. Instead, it was like a book-jacket blurb with a character limit of 1000, including spaces.

Basically, I had to make moonshine out of my novel. This is how it happened—

1. Full Manuscript: 599,603 characters
2. Summary Outline: 40,351 characters
3. Long Synopsis: 19,631 characters
4. Amazon Synopsis: 937 characters

Here’s the final result—

Saul Gray, a fourth grader, can’t understand why other people don’t follow the rules that keep him alive. When Grace, a classmate, becomes his first friend, he teaches her the Monster Rules. The most important rule of all—never wake up the monsters. But he breaks the rules and it brings in Walter, Saul’s father, who issues a swift and harsh punishment. As a witness, Grace learns the truth about monsters. Then Saul is granted his wish when his father disappears. He’s sent away to live with his father’s sister, but soon realizes he hasn’t left his monster behind. His new friend, his cousin Allie, teaches him about ghosts. But when he becomes the subject of upset in Allie’s family, they send him away. New fears haunt him along with the old ones as he goes to live with his mother’s brother. There, his altered perceptions clash with the nature of reality, and he and those around him learn the truth about monsters.

Categories: writing
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So this morning, in celebration of having managed to submit the manuscript of Monster Rules on time, I made cinnamon buns. Not from scratch, but those Pillsbury ones that come in that cool cardboard tube that pops open. As the aroma of the baking buns filled my little apartment, I happened to catch sight of my cell phone. And I picked it up. (This is not a common occurrence unless I need a scrabble fix and I’m nowhere near my laptop). Then I text messaged my loving husband with:

“I made cinnamon buns. I’m soooo not sharing.”

Which is evil of me, because working freelance I can lounge around in my jammies as I process and write and study, while he’s stuck working at a cubicle farm. But as we all know, I am pharmaceutical-grade evil, and far be it from me to be otherwise.

Anyway, Nathan texts me back with:

“Fuck you, bitch, I want my rolls!”

Successfully making me laugh, my loving husband managed, in fact, to get me to keep some rolls (most of them, actually) for him. However, I’ve hidden them in an unlikely container in the fridge and it’s up to him to find them.

Categories: distracted, writing
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