But alas, each time I checked, my inbox sat empty, so I had to devise a way to keep myself from going insane. The product of my insanity was to create a list of the top five things to do when you’re waiting for query responses.

5. Go back through your Angry Bird* levels and try to top your previous high scores. *Note, you may use insert another time-wasting, but equally as addictive game.

4. Create a list of all the characters from the Harry Potter books and then alphabetize them. Oh wait, someone has already created the list here. I guess, you can create a list of death traps from The Hunger Games trilogy.

3. Run a marathon of your favorite movies/TV show. If you need to waste even more time, you can always host a party and create personalized memorabilia, invitations, etc. Check out this hub page on how to host a marathon (scroll down the page to find tips on creating themes by actor/actress, topic, etc. and must haves at your night).

2. Use those old sticky notes, telling you to check your email, as sticky note origami. Don’t know how, there are plenty of books. Stick Note Origami. But you can also check out Youtube. They have a whole list of videos on sticky note origami. (Sample Video Below).

Origami Star

1. You can create a list of fun, but useless, things to do while you wait for a response to your queries.

What do you like to do to keep yourself from checking your email every five seconds?

To commemorate the new year, I have some exciting news. I recently found out I won my first contest. Yup, I actually won the Windy City’s RWA Four Seasons contest (YA category).

When I found out, I was shocked (and then I did a happy dance). When I entered  I never, not in a million years, thought I could actually win a contest. True, I’ve attended classes and workshops–thank you Suh-weet Success Sisters–and I’ve forced my husband read and reread my book–thanks sweetie. I’ve made countless revisions and corrections, but to win. Wow. It’s a great feeling, one I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their lives.

I keep getting told the road to publication lies in contests. The more contests you can win, the more likely you are to be published. That being said, I came up with a list of RWA chapters who are holding a contest within the next few months. Then I though it would be cool to get the word out to all of my writing friends. Here’s the list. Most of these have a YA category (some don’t even need to be romance). The rest of them are all RWA chapters, so hopefully you have an element of romance to your story. Good luck to y’all.

• Yellow Rose Jan. 21 (the deadline’s tomorrow–eek)
• Desert Rose RWA Jan. 31
• Fire & Ice Contest Feb. 1
• Smoky Mtn. RWA Feb. 1
• NEORWA Feb. 14
• SARA Contest Feb. 15
• Great Beginnings Mar 1
• Fab Five Contest Mar. 1
• Heart & Scroll Contest April 1
• Orange Rose April 14
• Sheila Award April 7 (Contest opens Mar. 1)
• Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest TBD
• Save the Best for Last–This contest looks interesting. You submit the last three chapters of your novel instead of the first, but I couldn’t find a deadline. It may have already passed.

Later this month I hope to put out a list of children writer contests (YA) from the SCBWI.

Some of us are too fast, rushing through our first drafts, throwing words on the paper like a teenager. There’s nothing wrong with a little speed. We all want to make it to the finish line before we lose gas, but if we forget to slow down and run spell check or meet with our critique group before submitting to an agent–crash. The race is over before we’ve made it around the first lap.

Likewise, driving too slowly can be equally as dangerous. You know the people who get on the freeway going ten miles an hour? They cause just as many accidents, truly. If the fear of rejection has us editing our WIP for the hundredth time or we agonize over our manuscripts for five long years, the market will pass us by.

Publishing takes a certain amount of guts. We need to step on the pedal and put ourselves out there, but only after we’ve slowed down long enough to take in the sights.

I’m guilt of doing both (and playing my music too loudly while I’m at it). How about you?

But my good news helped soften the blow. I found out Andropodan is a finalist in the Windy City’s Four Seasons Contest!!! When I got the email, I literally jumped around my bedroom. This is my first finalist win, and I couldn’t be happier. Honestly, I understand when people say it is an honor just being nominated. But I’m not going to lie and say I don’t have delusions of actually winning. How cool would that be!?!

Anyway, I’m off to do some more writing. It’s NaNo–and I’m already 3,000 words behind. Hope the rest of y’all are keeping up.

1. Halloween is the holiday for writers. We live in our own worlds most of the time, but this the one time of the year get to share our kookie side with others. Okay, maybe I’ve shared some of my wackiness with some people at a sci fi convention a few years ago, but that doesn’t count.
2. In our new and improved world where everyone is overly suspicious, Halloween is the only time we can walk around our neighborhoods, chat with all the cute kids, and meet the people we vaguely see as we rush to and from work (without people wondering if we’re insane or pedophiles).
3. And probably the biggest reason Halloween is the best holiday (better than any red and green tribute) is the ready-made excuse to have family time without breaking the bank. This year, I spent probably $20 on thrift-store clothes and $5 on a bag of candy. For $25, I can’t even buy my family movie tickets.

The next time people argue the jolly guy hosts a better party, remind them the day of the dead is more lively.

There are nights when I don’t get much accomplished, but for the past month, I’ve been pretty consistently writing/editing. Yay!

Today’s been great. Last night we had close to 10″ of snow here. The roads weren’t bad, but the heavy snow snapped tree branches, and consequently, power lines. While this was horrible for many (I feel bad for all of those people w/o power), it was wonderful for my writing.

I worked almost all day. I made it past a chapter I’ve been struggling with and I continued on with some rewrites to one of my steamy chapters–those are fun.

Hopefully, I’ll be done with the edits by the end of November. Then, I’ll have to decide whether to start the query process before or after the holiday season.

First, I spent all of Friday in workshops with agents and editors, who know the industry inside and out. Brian Farrey, acquiring editor at Flux (responsible for launching careers for people like Maggie Stiefvater), shared one important tip: be specific. He told us many new authors try to be mysterious. For example, we’ll introduce a strange man, but this man won’t speak to the main character until chapter five. According to Farrey, this is a big mistake. We lose our readers to vague writing. Instead, if we give specific, interesting details, our readers will be intrigued and will be likely to read more.

The rest of the weekend, I dodged in and out of various workshops, where talented writers shared their own experiences. Most of it was good. Some of it was random. But I still remember these key pieces of advice.

1. Kirt Hickman gave several workshops, all of which were excellent. He gave us so many tips, I can’t even begin to write them all down. Probably the most helpful–Get rid of filler words. I’d heard this advice before. Take out as many “looks, felts, etc” and so I worked on finding other words to use instead. Hickman explained why we need to take these words out.

He told us if we’re writing a story from Mike’s perspective, we wouldn’t say… Mike looked at Jessica as she fluffed her hair. We would simply say… Jessica fluffed her hair.

If you want to read more simple tips, buy his book, Revising Fiction. It’s well worth the money.

2. Tip two comes from Carol Berg. She spoke about fantasy fundamentals and things we should consider when writing unique worlds. I learned about some of the stereotypes in fantasy, but the most interesting tidbit was about keeping it realistic (for the world). If your travelers are out on the road, they are not going to make stew. Think about it, she told us. Stew takes hours to make, so why is it always in fantasy novels?

3. Finally, Bernard Cornwell (keynote speaker) had the best advice for writers–find a different job, any other job. But in all seriousness, he said we’re writers and probably wouldn’t heed his advice. If you have a passion for writing, any other job just won’t do. So he wished us all the best of luck.

I’m still light years away from being a “real” writer, but it’s another step in the journey.

For those of you who like entering contests, check out the Windy City’s RWA contest–The Four Seasons. They have openings for a range of categories, including YA. Good luck.

I wrapped up the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Gold Conference today (say that three times fast), and I have so much great writing information to share out. However, I didn’t think I could let the 10th anniversay of 9/11 pass without acknowleding the tragedy.

This morning, as I got ready for another round of workshops and mingling, I caught snippets of the new memorial for the Twin Towers. And I have to say it’s beautiful. The inverted tower of water is a perfect reprsentation of the empty void that tragedy left in the heart of our country.

It’s interesting because, for me as a high school teacher, I’m surrounded by people who can’t even remember 9/11/01. They were five or six years old. Crazy. I’m one of those old people who says, “I remember when…” But I do. And now, even after ten years, I still get teary-eyed when I reflect on the day.

My heart continues to go out to those who were affected by this tragedy, and I hope someday we’ll find a way to unite the world.