My Crazy week!

I've had the craziest week so far. In order to tell you about it I must go back to Thursday May 16th. My daughter's b-day is Friday May 17th so I was up all night making cupcakes for her class. I've never made cupcakes before FYI. However they turned out amazingly awesome. YAY! Friday I get most of my work done, then I'm off to the store getting b-day presents. So far everything is fine just super busy. So after the birthday party which lasted from Friday to Sunday, I was ready for Monday which is never like me. Monday's and I are like AHHH!

Monday rolls around and my daughter says she's not feeling so hot. Turns out she's got the flu. Ewww. I just got my house all put back into order too, so yeah this was like an AWWW MAN. Not only do I feel bad for her I keep thinking about all the recleaning of every surface I've got to do. And apart of me was cringing whenever I saw her touch anything. By Tuesday I thought this would go away but it didn't. She's still horribly sick.

Wednesday comes, and she's feeling remarkably better. I think OH THANK GOODNESS I can reclean. But that bubble was popped about hour later when the school calls and tells me I need to come collect my daughter. So, I do this. by the way the conversation on the phone was, "Her temp is a hundred and five." I thinking OMG my kid is freaking dying! Nurse apparently can't actually read the temp correctly because the slip in her hand says 100.5 but no matters I am taking her to doctor office.

I spent six hours between doc office/ xrays/ and back to doctor office, and the best they can come up with is that she's got a bad case of a stomach virus. Awesome. The whole time I thought they were going to tell me it was puberty which I'm so thankful its not that. But I'm sad she can't take any meds because it viral. Poor thing.

So for the most part of today I've been playing catch up, cleaning, and after this blog post I will reading, and gathering up all my things for BEA. In the mist of all my running around, errands and taking caring of my children, I did some querying. And do You know what?? I got a full request wahoo!! I am so excited about it, I jumped around like loon for a good ten minutes.

What's been new with you?

Query me

Query letters are a Bitch! I'm not even going to sugar coat it. But they are in fact masterful and can get your book in places you've been dreaming IF and only IF you do it right.

So what's the perfect Query letter look like?

Well, for starters it has a Hook, A snappy but well thought out entertaining summary, and an ending that leaves you with an Ouuuu! 

You must remember P's and Q's. Be polite, and remember your manners when writing a query letter.

Here's an example of a decent query letter:

Dear Agent, (Obviously not what I'd really address my letter. Mr or Ms Agent's name is the proper way)

I am seeking representation on my Young Adult, Sci-fi Romance, RUNAWAYS. (I'd also add in here the reason I was querying them above all else.)

Your Pitch "Hook"----->What if your blood contained all your secrets, like a diary, how far would you go to protect it?

Summary pitch "Short and snappy"---> In a time when juries will be replaced by truth telling devices, which not only projects your darkest secrets, but every emotion, thought, and reaction you’ve had throughout your entire life. And when seventeen-year-old Analee Summers is accused of murdering her roommate Mia Morgan, she must put her faith in her own blood to set herself free. But the court refuses to test her innocence using this device.

With the help of a snarky, guy named Brooks Rawson, she flees Winter Academy. However running from the law isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Especially when the guy she’s with is more like a overbearing cynic, constantly telling her what to do, keeping her isolated from others and moving them from place to place. Analee desperately wants her life back and knows the only way that will happen is if she finds Mia’s true killer. But discovering the truth might not be enough to set her free. RUNAWAYS is complete at 70,000 words.

This is the part you tell them a little bit about you. What kind of things do you actively do, publication history, etc.---->I am an active member of the YALITCHAT writing community.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you. (End with politeness)  

Sincerely,

Practice make perfect. Also join a writing group ones that have query critiques. A lot of them get down to the nitty gritty and really help your query letter shine. good luck

Profanity

Are you for Profanity in YA, New Adult, or even Adult? Are you turn off by excessive amounts of curse words in novels today?

I'll be honest I've got a potty mouth and my characters well, they tend to have potty mouths. However after reading over a lot of reviews made for other authors works I noticed there are some people down right offended when a character drops an F-bomb. Says the words Piss, Damn, or even Hell. Now I'm not one to judge for this doesn't bother me. I mean I heard all these words and few others on the school bus at age five. Yes, my youth was forever changed when I told my mother at the age of six "I'm going to piss." Instead of saying I'm going to pee. Soap not so awesome, in the mouth.

What's your thoughts?

N=NYC

Are any of you attending BEA?

I am and let me tell you I'm so excited to be seeing all the authors I communicate with daily. As well as the ones I've read all their wonderful published works from. But not only am I excited about all these things but just being in NYC brings me a thrill.

So if you were to go anywhere where would you go?

M=My oh My

When it comes to romance what draws you in? Is it the steamy kisses? The love bursting forth that you can just feel it from every corner. Through screens, TV shows, and even books, how do you like to feel?


If you ever watched Dawson's Creek, yes, I was a watcher "Don't hate!" We're you secretly rooting for each one of Joey's conquests. First her all time crush Dawson, from their love of films, to camping out sleepovers in his room. A beautiful friendship turned more finally, after all these years of Joey pinning over her best friend. Then her romance with the joker/slacker Pacey, a person she loathed. Tolerated because he was Dawson's Best (Dude) bud, and they were sort of like this trio, and Dawson was the peace keeper between them. And yet, Joey slowly succumbed to Pace's charms. And we all silently cheered because it was one of those Awe they love each other. And they can be great for one another.

So I ask again, what draws you in? For me it's that person who can hold balance. The one person who can equal out the other without it being too weird or overly annoying. I'm a fan of forbidden love, enemies falling in love, the underdog. Yeah I'm a sucker for these.

Do I like writing about these kinds of things? Oh yes.

L= Liebster Blog Award

So I've been tagged for this award from the Awesome Month9Books author, Vanessa Barger! Wahoo!!!

1.       What is your favorite vacation you've ever taken?

Ah this is between two places Vegas and Bahamas

2.      What is your biggest pet peeve?

Messes. I don't like clutter of any kind.

3.      What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?

The Rite, because it's about possession and it's just creepy. I had nightmares for a week.

4.      Name one food you cannot live without.

Bacon!

5.      Pirates or Ninjas?

Pirates

6.      What is your favorite childhood movie?

Beauty and the Beast, or Mulan Loved them both

7.      Do you have any pets? 

Yup a Dog.

8.     What is the best piece of advice you've never taken?

Um ... Okay so like four years ago, someone told that I should read a bunch of books on writing. And I just started doing it.

9.      Road trips: good or bad?

Great!!!

10.  If you had to spend the night in the woods and could only have one thing to entertain you, what would it be?

My Nook

11.   Do you have any writing rituals?

I always outline with Post It's. And about 35K in a book I send over to my CP's and see what they think.

The Liebster Rules:
1. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers.
2. Each blogger should post 11 facts about himself / herself.
3. Each blogger should answer the 11 questions that are asked by the nominating blogger.
4. Choose 5 new bloggers to nominate for the Award and link to them in the post.
5. Create 11 new questions for your nominees.
6. Go back to their pages and tell them they've been nominated.
7. No tag backs.


Tagging:

1. Sheri Larsen

2. Kelly Hashway

3. Shannon Duffy

4. J.L. Spelbring

5. C. Lee McKenzie

New Questions:

1. Think of your favorite character, got it, okay what's their favorite color?

2. What's the last book you've read?

3. What kind of music do you listen to?

4. Do you set writing goals for yourself?

5. Which do you like better Dogs or Cats?

6. Are you a Rule Breaker or a Rule Maker?

7. Brownies or Cupcakes?

8. Favorite Movie?

9. Name one book you can read over and over?

10. Name your favorite meal to eat?

11. Name your favorite character name? (It can be from your own works or someone else's)

K=kickin it

Bad Habits are hard to break. Writing ones, Personal ones, and Work too.

My horrible habit is cursing. God, can I curse. But I've been trying to kick the habit of swearing. So I've been replacing my words where I use profanities for other words. Example: Oh you mother of a cookie monster! --when I have some road rage. When someone keeps repeating something after i gave an answer: Oh holy mountains of hot chocolate are you serious? ---this has been happening a lot. 

It's also been kind of a fun word building experience.

What kind of Habits would you like to Kick? And how would you go about it?