Round Two: DONE!!!!

Well, I guess there is nothing like the sight of failure to motivate a person.

Tonight, or should I say early this morning, I finished the second, and most elaborate stage of revisions on Midas. I am PUMPED!! This is a first for me, as significant as finishing my first first draft. As you know, I never made it through the second, deep edits stage with Tristan. So, yes, I am very pleased to be here with Midas.

I am going to let her sit for the week (in the meantime of which, I will be struggling my way through a synopsis). Then, this weekend, I will throw myself into the final stage. This will involve a healthy amount of trimming and a whole lot of polishing. Overall, though I don't see this phase taking much more than a few days. So, that means that querying will commense in less than two weeks! *gulps*

October 1st . . . uh oh.

A couple of weeks ago, I made the enthusiastic goal to be sending out my first batch of queries by October 1st. Well *sigh* I can see now that it would take a miracle to meet that.

I am nearly through with my second round of revisions, which has involved strengthening characters, adjusting the overall cohesion of the story, and filling out the plot where it needed to be filled out. Trouble is, I have added almost 10,000 words! Now, I feel like I should slim it down. And, I also feel like I should go through it one more time to polish up the prose.

*SIIIIIIIIIIGH*

I am getting so impatient. I just want to be done. I want to throw that thing out there. But, at the same time, I know that I want to submit only my best. I just need to tough it out here at the eleventh hour.

Yep, you guess it: a MEME!

1. What are your nicknames?
Ren is the only nickname I've ever had, but I love it.

2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
Fellowship of the Rings, extended version. It was the only video Ben and I had when we were first married, so we watched it again and again and again. We would compulsively quote it and had numerous inside jokes about it. :) Ah, such warm memories.

3. What is your favorite scent?
A freshly opened Dr. Pepper.

4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?
Hawaii. I grew up there, but haven't been back since High School. I'm desperate to take my family there.

5. Do you trust easily?
Oh yes.

6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
Depends on the act.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
I'm leaving Ohio in two months. Four years ago, when we came out here, I was sure that I would be thrilled to leave, but now I know I will really miss it and the people we have come to know.

8. Do you have a good body image?
Depends on the body part.

9. What is your favorite fruit?
Cold watermelon. I love to cut off the end and eat out of it with a spoon.

10. What websites do you visit daily?
Hatrack, EE, PubRants, Nathan's blog, NY Times, and all my writer friends' blogs.

11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Only you, Dr. Pepper. Only you.

12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
She is extraordinarily clever and funny, a talented writer, and a very nice person.

13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
Apple Bottom Jeans--T Pain. . . . don't ask me why.

14. What's your favorite item of clothing?
I have a special place in my heart for my dark jeans. They were the first pair after having my second baby that made me think, "Oh snap."

15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
Not really. I'm a fan of Frosted Mini Wheats.

16. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
If it's any indication, when I was in fourth grade, I found a $50 on the ground. I ran up to grab it, all the while screaming, "A fifty dollar bill! A fifty dollar bill!"

17. What items could you not go without during the day?
Internet, Dr. Pepper, and Benny. :)

18. What should you be doing right now?
Putting the fajitas into the marinade. We're having company over tonight.

If writing doesn't work out . . .

I can always go Ninja full time.

Renee's Melodramatic Love Poetry

Inspired by Kiersten and Writtenwyrdd, who both posted some of their older writing on their blogs, I thought, what the heck?
I'll give only one disclaimer: I was in High School when I wrote this poem. I urge you, gentle reader, to remember the passionate emotions of those times. Remember and be merciful.

Untitled

To you, I bring the ripeness
of my everything,
which has hung from the branches of my heart,
heavy with longing.

For you, I give the deserts
in my hourglass of time.
The beginning and the end, as long as you will hold in your hands,
it's simple grayness.

Before you, I will lay my arms
full up with all my dreams.
My dreams, so wild and colored.
Those are dear to me,
For they have stayed with me the longest,
resting in my eyes and on my skin.

But, I will give you this,
and everything.
For in return, you give me
the everything
that swims in the stars
and waltzes on the moon,
that laughs with the wind.

I'm up!

Well, at long last (it's been a whole week) I am up at Evil town.

BTW, I can't help but feel special that my query got the Evil King of Hearts. :)

October 1st

That's my goal date to send out those first queries.

I'm feeling nervous and excited, and every emotion in between. Mainly, I just can't wait to actually do this! I have been seriously pursuing the whole writing thing for three years now. That's three years of hoping, despairing, dreaming, researching, and, of course, working.

I can't believe that I am FINALLY going to send out a real live query letter. It's bizarre. The other day I bought a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper, and I thought to myself, by the time I finish this case of soda, I will have queries out on the market.

And yet, I am getting ahead of myself. I still have work to do on edits, and a synopsis to write, and a query to hammer out. (Look for me on Evil Editor any day now.)As exciting as it is, I just need to focus and work hard. .

Computer Scare

So, I was typing away, testing out a new version of Chapter 1 with the Great Gatsby theme. I save regularly, and at one point reached up to click save. A little window popped up, telling me in Computerese that I had some error saving. I frowned, and clicked okay. A second window, this time with a serious looking logo, telling me that the document had more problems. Okay. Third window, saying that Word needed to close. At this point I was concerned, but mainly just confused.

Then I reopened Word and the new version was GONE. I searched in every file, in every way I knew how, but the whole thing had suddenly ceased to exist. As you can imagine, I went into freak out mode.

Luckily, I remembered enough to rewrite the whole thing, though it took me over an hour. The whole experience has freaked me out now. What if that had been my novel??? I mean, I save almost every time on a flash drive, but what if it still had problems? What if???

So, now I am all worried about how to save my work. I've heard of internet storage sights, but never looked into it. What do you do? Any tips?

Dilemma # 3284

Well, once again I have found myself wrestling with a thought. Last night I had an epiphany for Miss Midas that, at the time, seemed brilliant. Now, I'm having my usual round of doubts.

To be brief, (and cryptic) I'm wondering if I should take out the Shakespeare/Much Ado about Nothing theme and replace it with a Fitzgerald/The Great Gatsby theme.


Overall, I think that the Gatsby theme works better with Jane's character arc. Much Ado about Nothing bears no comparison to the story. Also, I'm enchanted with the idea of having the Top Strata give Last Blast a Roaring 20's theme. I think the Jazz Age, with it's hedonism and extravagance works so well with everything the Top is about.


That said, what average YA reader is familiar with/would relate to F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby? Not many, but everyone knows Shakespeare. And, Last Blast could have a Shakesperian theme. . . maybe.


Thoughts?

Take Two!

First off let me say that I bow down to Natalie! She's the BOMB. :) With her excellent, excellent help, I shaved 68 words off of the query. And that is no small feat with a one page document. That's 20%! (. . .right? I'm awful at math.)At any rate, it's fantastic. So, now, I present to you the svelte new version of my query:

Sorry . . . it's gone. But, don't fret. Look on Evil Editor any day now. :)

Query!!!!! (I'm excited)

Well, here it is, my first attempt at a query for Miss Midas. I feel pretty good about it, but I have high hopes that, with your help, I can polish her till she shines. Heck, I may even get up enough nerve to submit this to EE . . . maybe . . .after you guys help me first. :)Okay. . . here goes(for a limited time only):

See above for revised version.

I will now give you all a case of the creepy crawlies. . .

This is a picture of a house centipede. They live in humid climates, like Ohio, and are just plain CREEPY!

Honestly, I fear these little buggers more than any spider. Just looking at the picture makes me shudder with terror. Here is why they haunt my dreams:

-They run SO fast. Look at those long legs, those legs move over carpet like nothing you've ever seen.

-They bite. Nuff said there.

-JUST LOOK AT THEM! Creepy! Oh, how I hate them.

Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with writing. That would be a valid question, cause I sure don't know. I am working on edits though . . . it's coming along.

Whew!

I have three little words for y'all: I hate moving.

Oh the joys, the joys of packing up your entire house--three years accumulation of furniture and other junk, loading it into the moving van, cleaning that house, then cleaning up the new place, unloading all your junk, and finally unpacking and distributing your junk throughout the new place. Not to mention simultaneously going through all the rigmarole of closing a house.

BLEH

Remind me never to move again. Oh wait . . . I have to move again in three months. Oy veh.

At any rate, I am back at last. Can't wait to read all the old posts on my favorite blogs. :) I've missed the internet so.