Thursday, April 07, 2011

This and That Thursday

Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox

First, let me address a couple questions / comments from yesterday.

Angelina, I used the word "fired" from Samhain for lack of a better one. Basically, any author who hadn't been contracted by them in two years was told that they had to go through the slush pile again. I suspect this one an effort to free up their editors a little. Don't know -- I do know that a BUNCH of authors were affected. They aren't saying I can't ever go there again, they're just saying I can't go through my editor. Truthfully, I'm not that concerned. The editor they had me with had never actually edited for me before... I went through a bunch of editors there as mine kept leaving and I was reassigned. This might be a blessing, truly, as my previously assigned editor kept saying she was looking for GLBT erotica most, and that is certainly not what I'm writing. Maybe I'll find a better match this way.

Brandy and Dru, I might submit other places besides Samhain. I'd like to keep the series together but they might not want the story. I have a few other publishers in mind as well, which is always a good thing, but I'll go to Samhain first. I have another story I'm working on that isn't part of that series that I may submit elsewhere first.

In other news, my manuscript went off to two people yesterday. This is always the hard part, especially since I really hadn't sent this out in pieces first. Way back when I actually was part of an organized crit group, I'd usually have had the story critiqued in chapterlong bites first, so doing it this way is a little nervewracking.

We had a gorgeous, sunny -- though incredibly windy and cold -- day yesterday, and it looks like we're having another one today. Maybe I'll have a chance to get outside soon and clear out all the leaves and such from my gardens. I did it a little bit in the places I know I have daffodils, so they could grow (they're about 6" tall and have buds now, yay!), but there's a lot more work to be done. It's also about time to plant seeds for my annuals and my veggies. I should be able to put in my "cold" crops like peas and spinach in the next couple of weeks, and then mid-to-end of May I can put in everything else.

I love warm weather. I really with DH wasn't so attached to snowy winters...

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You Are Reflective



You don't expect perfection. You accept yourself, flaws and all. You are good enough!

You are proud of what you know how to do. And you know that you're improving every day.

You tend to keep good news to yourself... or only share it with a few very close to you.

You are self-sufficient and don't need many friends to live a happy life. You are very private.



Mostly right.

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5 comments:

Angelina Rain said...

Thanks for the answer. I’m still new to this whole publishing thing.

I’ve never had a critique partner. Actually, besides me and my publisher, no one has ever read my first few contracted pieces. However, I’m getting more and more anxious about my writing so I think I would benefit from having a critique partner.

Melissa McClone said...

I think reading the entire ms. would give a critique-er a better idea of conflict and plot. The big picture so to speak. I hope they love your story so you can get it submitted ASAP!

Maybe you'll end up with an editor more aligned to your stories with this happening.

And maybe it was in the comments yesterday about someone being surprised this can happen...your publisher can let you go. This has happened to friends of mine who were selling, but not enough based on the monthly rankings so they were let go. Never an easy thing to have happen, but I know in at least one case the writer ended up with a new, more successful career!

Brandy said...

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question about submissions elsewhere.
I hope your weather stays sunny for you to spend time starting your seeds!

You Are Detail Oriented
You are efficient and precise. You like to get down to business.
You choose your words carefully to make sure you communicate effectively.
You are concerned about others and the world at large. You worry a fair amount.
You are neat and accurate in any work you do. You take pride in a job well done.

Pretty accurate.

Best wishes for a glorious day!

Dru said...

Thanks for answering.

I'm not fond of Mother Nature right now because it's colder than it should be.

re quiz: I'm detail oriented and it is very accurate.

I hope you had a pleasant day.

Maria Zannini said...

Melissa is right. I much prefer to crit entire manuscripts rather than piecemeal. It gives me a better feel for the story arc.

Here's hoping your next editor is aces.