Potent Quotable + Fun Facts - Rejection Edition

“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” 

                                                               ~ Sylvia Plath

So, as I've mentioned, I have been querying literary agents with my first completed YA novel. Today I got my first personalized rejection. For those of you who are not foolish enough to try to be a writer, mostly agents (who receive a gajillion queries a day) send back a form letter that looks something like this:

Dear wanna be-writer,
Thanks for sending your mediocre/pile of crap/nothing new here manuscript to me. Unfortunately, I make my money selling art, and this isn't gonna cut it. Better luck next time,
                                                           xoxo,
                                                           Agent

Just kidding, they are usually much nicer than that, but it's clear that they are just plugging your name in and send it. This makes sense, of course, they have lots to tend to. Sometimes they say encouraging things about how so much of writing is personal preference so it's just not for them, but maybe for somebody - and that's always nice (even though it's a little like it's not you it's me, let's just be friends). I did get one a few weeks ago that had some helpful links at the bottom about making your query more appealing, which was kinda cool.

Anyway, today I got one that was personalized to me, to the specific letter I wrote and what the agent thought my manuscript was lacking. Very cool. Of course, even though it gives me something to ponder, any rejection always makes you feel a little butthurt.

Apparently Isaac Asimov felt butthurt about  rejections too - here's a much more dismal quote about rejections from him (just to contrast the one from Ms. Plath above)

“Rejections slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil – but there is no way around them.” 

                                                ~Isaac Asimov

 

 So there ya go, and if it's possible, I feel both ways about them. In order to be less butthurt - please enjoy some fun facts about famous authors' rejections:

• Dr. Suess' first book And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected 27 times before an old pal of his said they'd publish it - it was thought to be too different from the juvenile books being published at the time
• Slobbering Sled-dogs! Jack London wracked up nearly 600 rejections in his day, and you can see them all at his estate, creepily named "The House of Happy Walls"
• Nicholas Spark's The Notebook was rejected 24 times, then Ryan Gosling made it happen with his magical pecs. Okay, I made that last part up. 
• Gone with the Wind was rejected by 38 publishers before it was printed.

Also, for funsies, here are two websites which list some other famous rejections. Go here for 50 writers who were rejected
or for one that actually has some harsh rejection letters included, go here.   
Also, YA author Barry Lyga (who despite awkwardly flirting with at TBF a few times is not my boyfriend) posts lists of his rejection letter on his blog, here.

In which I get a sign from my dinner

So, okay, I am a school librarian, as such, I have the summers off. (If you say something douchey like "Must be nice" I will bust through your screen and punch your mouth off - every job has pros and cons!) Anywho, as a result, I make summer goals much like most people make New Year's Resolutions. Every summer I work on writing pretty much like it's a full time job, either writing a draft of a new project, or editing. (More on this summer's new project to come.)

Anyway, the product of the last two summers (and of course, all the months in between) is a YA novel that I'm trying to find an agent for. I have queried agents before, but now, I have heavily edited both my manuscript and my query and am making a clean new go at it. I plan on sharing the process (in convenient, sexy blog form - now with more snark!) as I go. My current goal is to send an even 100 query letters before school lets out. So far I have sent...13.

I know, that kinda sucks, but I'm working on it. Anyway, I sent out the first batch yesterday morning, then later, Boyfriend and I went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant where we chatted about my ideas for my upcoming Summer First Draft and my Querying Process. Then the bill came and...

 So, I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's a good sign. Wish me luck!

My name is bee, and I'm a Constant Reader

Kayso, when I was about 11 or so, I started stealing my sister's Stephen King books off of her shelf and reading them in frantic, stolen snatches. I didn't understand a lot of what I was reading, probably, and I think it began as me looking for another book like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Boy, did I find ever so much more than that. I don't know when I started to get it, when I became what King calls a "constant reader," but every summer from the time I was 13 til the time I was in my 20's I reread IT. I still vividly remember the first time reading a book gave me honest to Jesus, actual chills. I was laying around on a hot summer day reading instead of being outside making friends, and I was reading Pet Sematary. I think one of the best books about writing is King's On Writing. Speaking of his writing advice, please enjoy these 20 quotes (you know I love quotes too!).

True Story

Anyway, I'm telling you this because this summer there's a lot to look forward to as a King fan. Under the Dome is gonna be a tv show, which I sincerely hope doesn't suck.
Also, he's got a new book: Joyland. This one is from the Hard Case Crime publishers and is supposed to be a good pulpy old-school creeper - review coming some time this summer, I'm sure.

Oh, and by the freaking way - he has a musical!? (We'll talk about my need for an interobang key another time) Yeah... you heard that right, and yeah, it's making my 15 year old cast geek self all aflutter. Seriously, kids, I love some musically goodness. (I am like freaking Florence + Motley Crue + Idina Menzel in my car/shower.) Anyway, he cowrote this with John Cougar Mellencamp (yeah, I know he dropped the "Cougar" but a heart doesn't forget, John) And you can check it out/gleek out over it here.

Anywho - King was recently on the Today Show talking about the new book and musical and his general awesomeness. He also gives recommendations for summer - which include his sons' works. I haven't read any Owen King yet, but I am reading Nos4a2u right now and it will be my next review. (You can read my review of Hill's Heart Shaped Box here).
Enjoy the video here:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

So, that's all happening. Also, what the hell, here's a picture of me in my "MidWorld Lanes" t-shirt - a reference to the Dark Tower series.

Oh! And when you have a pal who's a photoshop god, you occasionally get things in your inbox like this, unbidden, and awesome (Thanks JK!):

So, yeah, I know I seem a little Annie Wilkes right now, but you know, I'm just an enthusiastic kinda gal.

The Importance of Writing Space

I wanted to share with you this cool link I found the other day, which is a blog where authors display their writing space. It's called Write Place, Write Time.
I think this is pretty cool. I found it while I was on A.S. King's website (she's too BA to even call her my girlfriend, but you know...I'd take her on a date if I could). Here's a link to her entry. Joe Hill, one of my favorites also had a recent entry complete with cute pictures of his corgi (Squee! That's my second most wanted breed of dog!)
Some of these authors have extremely fancy offices some of them have a crazy mess happening (I'm looking at you, Peter Straub).
This is also timely because I spent a good deal of yesterday futzing around with my desk and office area in order to make it more streamlined. I argued to myself that this was a good use of time (you know...instead of writing) because it would make the space more...inspiring...user friendly...etc. This is crap, of course. As an amateur writer with lofty hopes and dreams it's somehow very easy for me to fritter away time that could otherwise be spent on writing.
So...on to writing....

Book Review: The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (October 15, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1440525889
• ISBN-13: 978-1440525889
• List Price: $8.98
• I finished this book on January 2

Okay, soooo...first off, thanks to my gorgeous and talented sissy for letting me borrow this even though it was a Christmas present and you clearly didn't want me to take it.

Alright, let's get down to business: the book. It's about...well....books. Okay, I've probably checked about 15 books on writing in the last couple of years. My favorite so far is Stephen King's On Writing and to be honest, it's only 50% about writing (the other 50% is memoiry. Yeah, that's a word). The other ones? Yeah...I'm not saying I didn't read them but...I didn't finish a single one. The closest I've ever gotten to finishing a book about writing was 90 Days to Your Novel of which I probably read 3/4. Why am I telling you this? Because you should know I read this whole book cover to cover. And that's got to say something.

The book has some slightly cheesy encouragement parts and a lot of stuff about how your story fits in the "Universal Story"

The Universal Story would be more fun if there was a luck dragon in it.

But aside from that stuff the book is a solid, step-by-step plot building guide. Alderson takes you from the general story stuff to the in depth: character development, transitions, themes, all the elements you need to develop a great story out of your ideas. As in all books about writing Alderson uses several examples from classic works and popular literature. Now...I read a lot, and I will tell you, it's pretty rare that one of these books references a book I have read. This one mentioned at least two or three I had read amongst the many I had not. Gold star for me.
I think this book's advice was particularly helpful for me because of where I am in the writing process - I have finished a first draft (which is mildly terrible) and am revising. I was able to take many of the suggestions and apply them to my story.
If you're a writer, I would wait to begin this book until you have some semblance of an idea to work with before starting. If you follow the steps in the book you will end up with a crazy thorough plot diagram that looks like a rainbow threw up post-it notes on a posterboard.

And really, if you have that many post-it notes you should be doing this...

In google stalking Mrs. Alderson (like ya do) I found her crazy involved website and a shit-ton of youtube videos she's posted on plotting if you're into that sort of thing. Though, curiously, I couldn't track down one novel she's written, so....weird.
Either way: I liked this. It definitely gave me stuff to think about while I'm revising. I'll probably be featuring different parts of the book as I apply them to my writing process