Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

Here's the book Joelle sent me that I couldn't put down. Highly original and extremely well-written, it's an amazing debut novel. Dreamdark is as colorful and wondrous as the Jinn-crafted tapestry that gives it life. If the cover art didn't tip you off, this book isn't the gag-me-sweet faerie world of little people who flit around and make things grow (there is one in the book, but you can't help but like her). It's the brilliantly conceived tale of Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, who hunts devils that have been released back into the world by meddling humans who keep opening bottles hoping to have their wishes granted. She's tough, she's good, and she's endearing from her foxlick to her crow feather skirt. Shannon Hale calls it a tremendous book, and I agree. I hope Laini Taylor writes a sequel soon.

Anyhow, after reading that book and getting a reality check about the odds of getting my books published, I've been rather discouraged. Janet Evanovich says on her blog that she queried every agent in New York, twice, for her first three novels with no bites. Ten years later, she finally got a book published and now she's a NY Times bestselling author. But it took a whole decade! Publishing a book is a much longer road than I first thought. Now the blinders are off. Nearly 4,000 manuscripts were submitted to Fire Brand Literary during their recent open submission query holiday and mine weren't counted in that total. I think DK, Princess Pots, and my works-in-progress are good, but I'm not sure they are good enough to get noticed in the crush of hopeful writers. I think getting published is a lot of luck, perseverance, and hard work. But given the odds, every new writer that gets a book published is a small miracle.

I believe in miracles. I guess the big question is whether I believe that this particular miracle can happen for me.

All's Fair in Love, War, and High School

I haven't had time to read much lately, because I was helping Jeff submit two articles. I have one more to go, but I took a break on New Year's and nicked Lindsey's copy of All's Fair in Love, War and High School by Janette Rallison and finished the next day. Yes, a year of painstaking work, voraciously read in mere hours. It is unfair. Wouldn't it be nice if the words just poured from our brains to our fingertips in final version? It sure would save time. If anyone figures out how to do it, please let me know;)

All's Fair in Love, War, and High School was very cute and made me smile. One of my favorite scenes was the psycho cat who freaked out on the way to the vet, puked in Samantha's boyfriend's car, and then escaped to the roof of the clinic while Samantha's boyfriend took off. What a break up! You'd think those types of things can't happen, but since Janette's own psycho cat inspired the scene, I thought she did a fantastic job taking a really bad day and turning it into a funny read. Maybe I should just sit down and brainstrom my worst days ever and then figure out how they could work in one of my stories.

Anyhow, that was the last book I read, until I started a new one yesterday. I have a ton to do, so it wasn't on my radar screen of 'things to do next.' But becuase I'm sick and I feel crummy and when I got the mail, surprise, there was a book for me from Joelle (post on Pay it Forward and I'll send you something too), I couldn't resist cracking the cover and taking a peek. I really only meant to take a peek, but after the first paragraph, I had to read the second. Then the third and before I knew it, I was on Chapter 5. It's sad that my life is so busy right now that I have to justify reading, even to myself. So my excuse is that I need to recharge before I can help anyone else and reading always cheers me up.

Inaugural address

President Obama's speechwriter is amazing. I thought that was one of the best inaugural addresses I've heard in a long time. Of course, having a President who is good at public speaking really helps. But when I read the transcript of the speech afterward, it was still fantastic. I wonder how many drafts he or she went through to get to the polished final version?

Misty Moors of England, oops, I mean, Idaho

I've read a LOT of books set in England. Misty moors and foggy streets are a geographic feature in most of them and even a plot necessity in many. I used to imagine these settings and try to picture them in my mind. And then I'd try and figure out how anyone could get so lost in the mist that they would fall into a pond and drown, or fall off a cliff, or assume ghosts were haunting them. I'd honestly never been in fog so thick that you could really get lost in it. Then I moved here. Wow. The fog has been unbelievable over the past month. It comes and goes rather unpredictably. My headlights could hardly penetrate the mist a few weeks ago. In fact, later that night a woman came to our door because she was hopelessly lost and couldn't find the highway. Most days the fog lies thick in the lowland where we live because of the stream near our house. But with the rolling hills and numerous valleys, there is fog somewhere most of the time whenever moisture is present.

When it freezes during the night, we're treated to a glorious morning. Here are pics of this morning before it warmed up and the frost turned back into mist. Everything on the trees is frost, not snow.















I think I need to make sure that my stories have a strong sense of place. I want readers to picture my settings in their minds and want to go there. I've had descriptions of quaint villages, thatched roofs, hedgerows, imposing Downs, and misty moors running through my head for most of my life. Maybe I need to write a story set here, among the misty hills of the Palouse. The only problem is that a town full of tract homes and student apartments doesn't impart the same level of ambiance as a village of thatched-roof cottages. Sigh. Sometimes I wish the American west had a little more charm to go with its natural beauty. Oh well, I guess that is what fantasy is for.

Pay it Forward

On the writing front, I've started writing Diary of an All-American Goth Girl, but not much is happening with DK. Adams Literary sent me a really nice rejection and I sent my revised manuscript to Elizabeth. But I also posted my first chapter on an online discussion board and it was picked apart. There weren't any major issues, but a lot of individual word choices and imagery that the other writers on the board didn't like. Some comments I agree with, others I don't, but I wish I had waited to send it off. Oh well. I just hope those little things don't turn Elizabeth off. But if they do, I guess I'll take care of them in my next revision before I send out my next batch of queries. Sigh. Have I mentioned how much I hate the query process? No? Well let me put it this way...I'd rather give birth to twins...without drugs. Once I find a good agent, then I can focus on the writing. Right now, I feel I'm split between selling my potential and realizing that potential and it's rather counterproductive.

Now off the subject for a little fun. I was catching up with some of my friends blogs over the holiday and found that Joelle was doing a fun 'pay it forward' game. I posted on her blog at http://www.joelleanthony.com/ and, woohoo, now I get to play too. And so can you - if you want to. Here are the rules:

The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will pass the kindness along and pay it forward in their own way. This is how it works… I am going to send something fun, inspiring or uplifting to the first 3 blog owners who post a comment on this entry (please leave your email address if I don’t all ready have it.).

In turn, you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. There are no rules on what to send, but don’t go crazy! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie, just a gift that will make the person smile. Maybe something unique from where you live? And remember that kindness doesn’t have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around.