The Bitter Taste of Rejection

After receiving three rejections and two automatic rejection responses, I’d say were on a roll lol. We started our querying around the 20th of June and here it is a month later and we are still swallowing small bits of rejection. Why can’t literary agents respond in a timely fashion? Because you know, that they hold all of their clients accountable and on a schedule.

I understand that everyone believes that they are the next J.K. Rowling, but realistically, even though we are sending in unsolicited query letters it could be the next big thing.

My reapers book is coming along well, I’ve made a vigorous goal to complete 4-8 pages daily until I finish the 90,000 masterpiece. Surprisingly, it has taken a lot of mythological turns that I hadn’t expected.

Jennifer has become a crutch in my writing motivation. She has read my books and has given me the motivation I need to keep going. That’s why I love her (shhhhh, don’t tell her I said that).

Not to mention, she has started writing her own novel and if I might say, it’s one of the best works I have ever read. Every time she posts a new chapter, I run to it and eagerly read through it…wishing I had more. Damn her for making me wait for another chapter.

As I have continued on this writing journey, I have truly come to respect well published authors…but of course it is probably a little easier for them to write because they don’t work a full time fifty hour a week job and on top of that load, I spent the first six months of the year in college and I am just now coming up for air to write. But no worries, I will be a full time writer one day and people will travel miles to come see me in person. I can’t wait.

Also, now that I am thinking about it, I am going to start posting my writing playlist, so if anyone ever wants to get motivated you can listen to my mix of works. For now it consists of: Christina Perry, Journey, ACDC, CCR, O.A.R., John Mayer, Bryan Adams, the Cars, Kansas, Joan Jett, Ray LaMontagne, Lady Antebellum, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Nsync, Otis Redding, Adele, Ace of Base, M&M, Young Jeezy, and Snoop Dog. And of course you have to add in classical, Beethoven and Mozart. Their fantastic!

On a happier note, Richelle Mead’s new book Bloodlines comes out on August 23rd. I can’t wait to get more Sydney, Jill and Adrian. I can’t wait.

Until next time, adieu and merry writing.

Networking and Querying

Today we received our first query rejection. Which is a little disappointing because he reps one of the well known authors that we read. Dangit. Oh well.

I’ve been fighting with my muse lately. Of course I got hurt at work so I have been distracted with doctors appointments and prescription medications. But luckily Jennifer has pushed me and motivated me. And I think I finally know what I need to do in my Reapers book: The first 22.

We have queried a total of 14 of the top agents on our list. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long for one to grasp us up. But if all fails, we have hundreds of other agents who can publish us…but I don’t think that Jennifer or I would feel comfortable with settling on a mediocre Agent. We want the top notch agent with access to the top notch publishing houses. We want six figure book contracts and a large advance would be nice as well.

In my dreams, right? I hope not.

And one more thing, I would like to add my own little batch to Jennifer’s most recent blog about blog sites. NETWORKING is the key to success. You have to sale yourself and put yourself out there for everyone to see. Twitters, Facebook, Live Journal…all of these are fantastic, legit things that you need to have in order to be successful in the literary world. And now that I think of it, having your own webpage isn’t such a bad idea either.

Next week I am going on vacation to Michigan to see my best friend Rebecca. Until then, I will try to keep you guys updated on our Manuscript requests and rejections. Have a happy independence day!

The Magical World of Blogging

For the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with reading other author’s and agent’s blogs and I’ve discovered something I’m sure previous aspiring authors have discovered before me. There is an absolute treasure trove of instructive and wisdom filled blog posts concerning the writing world just waiting to be devoured by anyone willing to seek them out. If there is a particular issue that a writer wants to know about all they have to do is search for it and it’s pretty much waiting to be found.

Most recently, I’ve been scouring over the blog Literary Rambles, which is Casey McCormick’s brilliant blog that talks about anything and everything about writing and finding an agent. A lot of the agents that Stacey and I have been querying are thanks to that blog. Ms. McCormick does a particularly helpful blog every Thursday called Agent Spotlight, where some of the literary world’s most respected agent’s introductions, interviews, query requirements, and interests, are laid out for authors like us to get to read through and decide for ourselves which agents suit our books or our career goals the best. That’s not to say that separate research doesn’t need to be done for each agent, but the Literary Rambles blog gives writers a serious head start.

Another blog that I’ve found to be helpful is Janet Reid’s Query Shark blog. With this blog, Ms. Reid takes query letters that have been specifically submitted to the blog to be, well pretty much torn apart and analyzed, and she offers suggestions to help query writers write the best query they can. While, Ms. Reid is blunt and honest as heck, she is also brilliant at what she does. She breaks down the query writing process and gives writers an idea of what agents want in a query letter, when to stick to the rules of query writing, and when to break them. This is a definite help, especially as writers, like Stacey and I, get to the point where we’re ready to step out into the more professional waters of the literary world.

Of course Casey McCormick and Janet Reid are only two of the bloggers that I follow and let me tell you, they’re also only a couple of drops (significant drops, but drops none the less) in a massive pond of information just waiting to be discovered. I’m still finding new and helpful blogs everyday with some of the most informative posts I’ve ever read. It just reminds me that learning never stops. It doesn’t matter how successful you become as a writer, learning will never stop until you have no more life left to learn with.

Young Adult Fiction - To Ban or Not To Ban

I know I’m a bit late with this, but I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the affect Young Adult fiction has on today's youth. In the article, a writer named Meghan Cox Gurdon states that Young Adult fiction has changed from the happy-go-lucky Judy Bloom series to the doom and gloom of hauntingly dark book covers and even darker subject matter. While, she's not wrong in this, she goes on to say that, in a manner of speaking, the youth in today's society have no need to be reading fiction that deals with serious subjects like suicide, self mutilation, or the more violent aspects of bullying, just to name a few topics.

Now, this idea can be looked at in two ways. While, yes, the subject matter is difficult to read for even the most emotionally stable adult, in a world where suicide, cutting, and bullying are a reality for countless teenagers, these books are shining a light on dark subjects and are giving our youth important information that can either help them fight their own personal battles with the subjects or enlighten them as to the reality of some real life situations that they might or might not encounter at some point in their lives. On the other side of the argument, however, it could be said that our youth need to be sheltered and shielded by the horrors of reality and have no need to read such topics. Granted, I can definitely see how this could be ideal for parents, but it’s not necessarily the most realistic mindset.

Gurdon even went so far as to discuss the “banning” of certain books because of parental worries for their children’s well being. Of course, I’m not arguing the rights of parents who wish to protect their children from whatever they want. But it’s clear that not only are writers like Gurdon trying to stifle the creative nature of several YA (Young Adult) writers, but they’re also insulting the intelligence of our youth, some of whom will experience worse things in school than they’ll read in one of the “ban worthy” books on Gurdon’s list.

*takes a deep breath and lets it out*

Good Lord. I didn’t mean to get so long winded on the subject, but when I read that article it blew my mind. While I can see and understand both points of view, I don’t think censorship or banning is the answer for anything. I think we need to educate our youth and allow writers the opportunity to express real life issues, regardless of how uncomfortable the subjects might be. Reality is reality. There is no escaping it no matter what your age.

And with that, I’m off my soap box. Sorry for the novel lol.

Oh and if any of you are interested in reading the article, here’s the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html

P.S. This post is actually something I wrote for a discussion board question for the class I’m currently enrolled in called The Novel. It just seemed like a good idea to post it here too since the subject is so close to my heart, especially now that Stacey and I have been diving into YA writing ourselves.

Some New Ideas and Feedback!

Recently, Jennifer and I have started some new writing projects on our own. I think that using our creative juices outside of AOE, is exactly what we need.

But on a more important note, one of my guest readers read our original version of Age of Eden and this is what she had to say.

Ashley Horger May 31 at 9:38pm Report
Ok, so I finished your book tonight :) I downloaded it onto my Kindle, much easier to read that way than on Microsoft Word. ;)

It was really good. I did make quite a few corrections to it, but I will need to go through and do it on the word version and email it back to you.

Most of the corrections were spacing issues or the wrong word used. The plot and characters were fine.

Good book, I can't wait to read the next one! :)

SO KUDOS TO JENNIFER AND I. I actually sent her a message back that said, we decided to change a crap ton of stuff, so she will be getting an updated version of what we have. Other than that....I'm going to be away from KY for a few days. Orlando here I come! You all have a fantastic week.

Happy Belated Memorial Day!

Memorial Day weekend was a blast, filled with mucho alcoholic beverages. I came into work hung over this morning. Blah. I haven’t posted for a while, but for the record I had a very successful graduation. It came and it went…quickly and I didn’t trip and fall either so kudos to me. Right now I’m preparing for a weeklong trip to Florida. Can you say the Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Yep, that’s right….Universal Studios here I come! I don’t know if I am more excited to see the beach or going to Universal.

Also, Jennifer and I have been delayed a bit on the release for querying….we decided officially to make our novel YA. So, I went back and revamped our first five chapters and this week I will continue on the other two chapters that we edited to get it up to par with the rest of the chapters that I fixed.

And one more thing, this weekend my husband had a dream and with the brainstorming efforts of none other than my identical twin sister and her significant other, I have a title for a new book that I want to write….it will be called…wait for it…..The Circle. Starring none other than my real life family….it’s going to be awesome. Probably one of the best ideas I’ve heard of in a while….but it’s fiction and it will be bad ass.

Now that you have been updated, I’m going to hop off of here so I can regurgitate up my breakfast in hopes that my hangover will recede into nonexistence. Have a great week.

News is better than No News...or maybe Not!

Jennifer and I have been dead set on getting this novel to meet our standards and I would like to say that it is kicking our butts. We are having major debates on seperating some chapters into two chapters and then changing around the first 3-4 chapters to make it more appealing to the reader. Not to mention any further literary agents who will be asking for the manuscript.

Also, today is my last final. Saturday is my graduation and I couldn't be more excited. I want to thank everyone who has helped me in this long and demanding journey. Including my partner in crime, Jennifer, whose unwavering support and confidence in me, has kept me going.

But now that school is almost over, I can focus on new and more important things....In the next few months there are a lot of different authors who are releasing their next books in some of my favorite series, so here is a few of them to look forward to.

Laurell K. Hamilton's
Hit List (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 20)
This title will be released on June 7, 2011.




















Lauren Kate's
Passion (Fallen Series, Book 3)
This title will be released on June 14, 2011.





















Here is one of my favorite TV shows and book series that was written by Charlaine Harris. True Blood: The Complete Third Season (HBO Series)
This title will be released on May 31, 2011.

Reading, writing, and editing...

Since Stacey and I have been revamping AoE and neck deep in the editing process, I’ve found myself more focused on the formats and writing techniques of other writers than I have been in the past. I’m not going to name specific books or authors, but there have been a lot of Ahha! Moments to be had recently. The first thing I’ve noticed is that some of the books written by authors on my favorite list are really, really simple. While the descriptions are present, they’re not over the top, they aren’t embellished with unnecessary words, and they’re really straight forward and to the point with just enough description to give readers just enough information to create their own pictures in their head.

Another observation I made came when I started to read the latest release of one of my favorite authors. Now, I’m not sure if her writing has always been this way or if my view of reading has just changed, but with this particular book I am seriously disappointed in the quality of the writing. It feels like either she didn’t edit it correctly herself or her editor is seriously slacking on the job. The dialogue is choppy, the descriptions are mediocre at best, and I find some of the characters (who I used to adore without question) annoying as hell. I think I’ve been so critical of Stacey’s and my writing lately that it’s started to transfer to my views on the books I read, which can be a good thing in some instances, but kind of a drag when I really just want to be swept away by a story and not distracted by the numerous mistakes between pages.

I know this is a pretty random blog topic, but for some reason it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Strange thing is, I’m really not a big fan of editing, but now that I’ve started I can’t seem to stop. It’s really starting to affect the entertainment value of the books I read. I’m afraid by the end out our current editing on AoE I’m going to need some kind of 12 step program to get some control back lol.

Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting observation. We’ll see how far it goes. In the mean time, we’re almost to the halfway mark on editing AoE and there shall be querying in our future. Good times!

T-Minus Eleven Days

In the back of my mind, I have Europe's, It's the Final Countdown, playing in my mind. Eleven days until graduation and it has been a long and hard journey. The sacrifices I have made to become a college graduate....and I hope that it's well worth it.

Today, I spoke with my aunt and she asked me what I planned on doing with my degree and I said, "Nothing, until I know what my writing career is going to look like." And then I continued the conversation by saying that I have become very ambitious and want a literary agent before September. That might sound aggressive, but I don't think it's aggressive enough. As soon as school is out, we are going to finish perfecting AOE, formatting it into a formal manuscript and then sending out our query letters.

You can say that we are fairly nervous; I hope we get a bite soon, because I think if we don't then it will deflate our spirits, but we do have a list of top twelve agents in our genre that we will send our queries out to first.

Julie Barer
Barer Literary, LLC

Jim McCarthy
Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

Ginger Clark
Curtis Brown, Ltd.

Anne Hawkins
John Hawkins & Associates, Inc.

Barry Goldblatt
Barry Goldblatt Literary Agency, Inc.

Irene Goodman
Irene Goodman Literary Agency

Wendy Schmalz
Wendy Schmalz Agency

Susan Schulman
Susan Schulman Literary Agency

Bill Contardi
Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.

Laura Rennert
Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Jodi Reamer
Writers House

Rosemary Stimola
Stimola Literary Studio

Kate McKean
Howard Morhaim Literary Agency

Alan Nevins
Renaissance Literary & Talent

And then after that, we are going to query everyone in that genre.....no particulars until we get either rejections or partial submissions, or even maybe full submissions...I'm hoping for the full requests. And if we are lucky, we will become as famous as Stephanie Meyer or Lauren Kate....either or.

Then we can start living our lives the way we want to. The End.
P.S. Charlaine Harris' new book is coming out today, Dead Reckoning.

Dealing with Rejection

re·ject (r-jkt)
tr.v. re·ject·ed, re·ject·ing, re·jects
1. To refuse to accept, submit to, believe, or make use of.
2. To refuse to consider or grant; deny.
3. To refuse to recognize or give affection to (a person).
4. To discard as defective or useless; throw away.
5. To spit out or vomit.
6. Medicine To resist immunologically the introduction of (a transplanted organ or tissue); fail to accept as part of one's own body.

When sending out query letters, receiving rejections is inevitable, but how you handle the rejection tells a lot about your character.

Not all forms of rejection are true rejections, I think that is the important thing to remember. After going to the writers workshops, we found out that there are three types of literary agents:

1) The ones, who after reading your query letter, don't even take the time to respond because they aren't interested via it isn't there genre, your query letter sucked, or they aren't excepting clients.

2) The second type are the agents who will respond, but what they say is limited like, "I'm sorry, but we aren't interested."

3) And then the third type of agent, are interested in your work even though they don't cover your genre or they were really fascinated with your query letter and they will respond with a somewhat rejected non-rejection, which makes you feel like you had them hook-line and sinker until you told them it was a YA novel.

"Thank you for your query, which I read with interest. Unfortunately, I am not the right agent for your work. Do not despair as another agent might feel quite differently. Thank you for considering me. I wish you the best with your writing."

Chuck Sambuchino said that if you receive the third type of agent rejection, that you are on the right track with your query letter, but the agent might not be interested in the genre.

So, I am hoping that with Age of Eden, we will receive the third type of agent response and be able to walk away from the experience with our pride still intact. Because even though it's a rejection, it still says, that they were interested in your book, but they don't handle that type of genre and they are confident that another agent would feel quite differently....so there is hope on the horizon.

And now I am stepping off of my soap box. Everyone have a safe and happy Easter!