So, I've been absent from LJ for a while because things have been nutty with finishing up the book and all the fall conferences. Two weekends ago I went to SCBWI Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. My mom and I stayed in the hotel overnight and had a wonderful time. Also got to see lizjonesbooks briefly, as well as Pat Easton, my very first writing teacher and the regional adviser.

Keynote speaker Bruce Coville was absolutely amazing! He gave a very fun speech over lunch, and also a smaller breakout session on children's fantasy. Got to hear him telling (not reading, telling) the story of "The Monster's Ring" and it was enthralling! Funniest moment was when the phone in the conference room rang and he asked someone to answer it. Alas, the person on the other end hung up before they got to talk to Bruce Coville, a shame for both them and us.

Also got to hear Michael Stearns of Upstart Crow Literary (agent of the amazing jeffsampson talk about query letters and submissions, which is always good. There were some interesting sessions that aren't always part of SCBWI conferences, such as a session on professional grants and one on school visits, which I REALLY took notes on. One of these days I should start doing that. Probably be good when the 2nd book comes out, as there's crafts and activities I can do with the kids.

Then SCBWI Mid-Atlantic this past weekend. I must admit, that conference is my least favorite, mainly because I hate driving into DC. It wasn't as bad this weekend, though, because I stayed downtown with one of the women in my writing group, so I wasn't tired and ticked off when I walked through the door. Keynote speaker Patricia Reilly Giff was also amazing, especially all the stories she told about going to Ireland for research. Heard some other good speakers too, including one on book packaging which was quite interesting.

Best of all, I got to see Valerie Patterson talk about her debut novel, "The Other Side of Blue" and I got signed copies for both melissajoyadams and myself. I'm reading that very slowly, unusual for me. Main reason is I'm savoring Val's words and enjoying the first book written by a friend. I've read plenty by acquaintances and plenty by authors who then became friends, but this is the first book published by someone already a friend. I also got to hear Val's editor read her letter to her higher-ups about the book, saying it was "a pretty perfect novel!" Go Val!

Went out to lunch with a friend from Hollins and some other writers. Saw annemariepace for about a split second, and another friend from Hollins. Problem with going to Mid-Atlantic is while I know a lot of people there, all of them volunteer so not a large group to go to lunch with! Driving home was an adventure as I missed the turn off 66 for 495 and had to drive all the way to Dulles airport and back to get back on track (seriously 15 miles without an exit? Really?). Other than that, though, a really good day.

OH! And it looks like I might be speaking at the summer conference for SCBWI MD/DE/WV! They want me to both talk about fantasy and appear on a panel about MFA programs (I'll be singing Hollins' praises, of course!). More details to follow. I'm really, really flattered by this!

And now, back to marketing "Tapestry Threads." I'm currently working on a synopsis, the bane of pretty much every writer. Critique group went over it yesterday and it needs a LOT of work. So off I go to synopsize!

I got the following wall post from kathleenfoucart on Facebook:

"So last night I got this image from the beginning of a book stuck in my head & I was going nuts trying to remember what book it was, looking at all my shelves... And then I realized it was TT. :)"

TT refers to Tapestry Threads, which she's read in workshop and other forms. That was SUCH a great comment to see!

And, hm, I just realized when tagging this that I have 3 tags for TT, because 2 are misspelled. Oops.

Probably not. I'm sure the skills one learns in an MFA program do make it easier to get published. However it is rather timely that I get another contract 2 days after graduating, and get a full MS request from an agent 4 days after. Said agent, btw, gets a prize for quickest request ever: sent query at 12:50, received reply at 1:08. Now I better quit basking and a) review the contract that just arrived and b) give my ms a quick once-over and send it off.

In a few hours, I'll be heading to Roanoke for graduation. Wow. I started this program in 2001, it's been part of my life for 8 years (almost exactly as long as my husband's been in my life as a love interest; our first date was the Wednesday before I went to Hollins the first summer). I've done two abroad trips. I've written two book-length theses, numerous papers, and many shorter works of fiction and even a poem or two. I found I love writing critical papers, but hate finding sources so a PhD is not for me, thus I'm content to be a dabbler in academic scholarship. I sung "Swing a Cat" while dressed in pirate garb and hurling a stuffed cat around my head while pitching little stuffed mice at an audience that included one of the foremost minds in children's literature scholarship. I ran the Francelia Butler conference one year (2003) and saw it evolve over 8 years into a full-blown media event that now raises money instead of needing funds. My husband proposed to me there on June 3, 2006 and he could not have picked a better location (and the fact that he knew that is just one of many reasons why I said "yes"). Through Hollins I found ICFA, at ICFA I found slwhitman, and through slwhitman I found publication of my first book, "Bronze Dragon Codex." I've made some absolutely amazing friends in both fellow students and professors, including kathleenfoucart, candice_ransom, citycountrygirl, darkeyedtravler, heidihumbug, jadedmetaphor, jessleeanderson, mja700, roseleaf, soniaamiller, and zameenah (if I forgot anyone, my apologies, please speak up in a comment!). There's been drama, tears, fights, and even some deaths, much to our sorrow. But it remains one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life and I am so very blessed to have had this opportunity. And anyone who knows me this isn't good-bye, not as long as I have a car and can drive to Roanoke to visit, not as long as there's amazing conferences like ICFA, ChLA, and Cotsen. :)

( Memory Lane of Classes )

I've hit a brick wall with "The White Doe." Said wall will only be bulldozed with one thing: research. I've set this book in Roanoke colony, which means I need lots of research. Lots. With "Tapestry Threads," medieval studies had always been a pet history topic of mine, so I mainly did some more reading and brushing up. Also, I wasn't dealing with a specific place or time, so I could be loose with geography and people (it wasn't like I set in the court of Henry V or something like that).

Roanoke colony, now, there's some more homework. I've been researching things like how many people were there, types of boats, the native culture. I found a WONDERFUL book of John White's drawings of the New World. I've been getting reacquainted with the local library and have found quit a good bit of information. This might seem a bit "DUH!" but I actually have not set food in a public library in maybe 10 years. I am somehow amazed at the access to all these books, for free. Just as well, my library is full to bursting, especially with review books that I really need to sort and donate or put on Bookmooch.

Back to Roanoke. I'm at a point in White Doe where I could go a couple ways. I could research until my little brain bleeds and make it as accurate a picture of the colony as possible (accurate with a unicorn prancing about the lands, that is). I could create a fictitious colony that is obviously Roanoke to anyone who knows the least bit about it. I could set the time a bit later, maybe a century, when there were multiple colonies in the area, so would just have to research life and not specific people. Ahh, the questions that bombard historical fantasy. But I love it. Methinks this could end up being my genre focus.

How about that! I'm actually putting this up first of the month!

Ink Exchange by melissa_writing
Hellboy by Mike Mignola
Under Our Skin edited by stregamomma
Reading like a Writer by Francine Prose
The Worry Week by Anne Lindberg
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Mermaid Park by Beth Mayall
Veins by Lawrence Connolly
Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger (review)
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Petals in the Wind by V.C.
If there be Thrns by V.C.
Garden of Shadows by V.C.
It by Stephen King
The Genie Scheme by Kimberly Jones (review)
Revelations (I have no idea what this is or who it's by, but it was on my daily reading list I keep, so in it goes! Too lazy to look in my library for something not put away yet)
Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Water Steps by Alexandria LaFaye
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by Boyne John
Suite Scarlet by Maureen Johnson
Various Nonfic Review
Writing Research on Roanoke Colony

THAT'S more like it! READING, and a lot of it. I've also started writing again, was working on the TT sequel, but now back to revising TT from my crit group suggestions. Been far too long.

In other news, I've renewed my search for an agent for "Tapesty Threads." In the itsy-bitsy world of children's writing, the agency I think would be perfect (they represented "The Unicorn's Secret" series, which I often cite in my query letter as an excellent example of unicorn fiction for middle grade) is now representing the amazing tltrent! So now I have even more evidence that they have great taste.

It seems like I'm always trying to get back into writing rather than actually writing. The latest interruption was brought on by the combination of ICFA, being really sick for 2 weeks, and a trip to Pittsburgh for some work and family stuff. Now, after about a month, I'm back to working. I was thinking of revising "Tapestry Threads" from my crit group suggestions, but with the fresh air coming in the office window, I wanted to write something new. So I did a page of "The White Doe." Not a lot, but after my experience New Year's Day when I wrote 5 pages and seem to have sprained my writing muscle, I'd rather work up to it. It's been a while since I was just laying new words on the page, rather than rearranging and deleting and adding. I think I'm going to try to get back to doing a page a day on work days, more on weekends.

I do need to do QUITE a lot of research for WD. Anyone have any suggestions for books on the lost Roanoke colony?

I read the first fifty pages of "Tapestry Threads" to Brian during travel to Rams Head last night, and to & from Gaithersburg for a St. Patrick's Day parade this morning. Reading aloud has never been my favorite thing, as I can read faster than I can talk and I can sometimes get tangled up because my brain is further ahead than my mouth. Still, I think I'm going to start doing that with everything before I send to an editor or agent. I never knew how many mistakes you can catch when reading aloud until I took Han Nolan's tutorial a couple summers ago. I'm so glad she ran tutorial the way she did; it not only taught me how to read and catch mistakes in my own work, but it also taught me how to listen. Reading aloud also makes for a VERY quick trip; we seemed to get to the pub a lot quicker than normal. I'll have to do that more often, especially with my historical fantasy stuff (Brian not only enjoyed it, he also caught a few errors, yay!).

Now it's off to the agent who requested a revision, as well as a certain editor I know. We'll see how this goes. I think this is by far my strongest work, so I'm really hoping it's the one that gets picked up as my first non work-for-hire novel.

This means that, as of now, I am ON HOLIDAY FROM WRITING! I leave Tuesday for ICFA, so I'm not getting into a new project or resuming an old one in the next three days. For the remainder of the weekend, I shall stay home, and do some projects (there's an oxalis on my desk that's been begging for a repotting, we STILL have not hung our sword collection after living together for almost a year and a half, and we have to sand and stain more shelves for the library), watch bad horror movies, and play Xbox in person with Brian and online with my friend Jess if she's around.

In addition to notes on "Breathe" and "The White Doe" and a poem for "Tapestry Threads, I have the following in the upper right corner:

To Do
Hollins Thesis:
Page to Han and Chip
Print Copies
Mail to Amanda
CELEBRATE!!!!

Yes, it is DONE!!! Barring some weird mail mix up or the horrifying announcement that I have to do the critical paper after all (because I took the comps for the MA, I didn't have to do the paper for the MFA), I AM DONE!!! I'll be marching in May, anyone else?

I also just found out that I'll be presenting at ChLA. That will be my first paper reading at any conference that isn't ICFA or Franny Butler so I'm pretty psyched. That also means a VERY busy travel schedule in June, driving to North Carolina, attending ChLA, driving back via Hollins, going to my cousin's wedding in Florida the following weekend, but it will be worth it. There's a lot of things scheduled for the summer, but at least I won't be packing up my entire life for 6 weeks. Brian keeps saying that he doesn't believe I'm not running away this summer (I've been doing it as long as we've been together; our first date was less than a week before I left for Hollins the first year), that I'll find SOME WAY to be there. Nope. I'll miss it, but I'm really looking forward to a summer at home (mostly).

I'm going to bask for a little bit, perhaps the rest of the day. Tomorrow and the weekend will be spent revising "Tapestry Threads" to the agent because with THAT done, and the thesis, and my reviews (just finished those this morning and asked them not to send any more until beginning of April; with ICFA and going to PA the following weekend I'd rather not have reviews hanging over my head), I can go to ICFA without anything hanging over my head. Nice!!! My crit group is very happy with the latest round of changes, so I just need to work on their suggestions on the latest version; shouldn't take more than a couple days.

Now.....how best to celebrate. Ideas?

This is very weird. I'm NEVER up at 7:30 unless I absolutely have to be. Very, very strange.

Yesterday I had a marathon revision of "Tapestry Threads" from my critique group's suggestions. Still have a few more I want to wrap up. I'm a bit worried that it's been taking me so long to get back to the agent with a revision, but I'd rather sent it to her good than fast. I lost a few weeks too when my hands/wrists were hurting badly, too, plus the time I spent working on that project audition/proposal (but I'm not apologizing for THAT, that was/is just too good an opportunity to let pass me by!) It's been a while since I was able to sit down and devote that much time to writing, it felt great! Especially since I did it early Sunday morning (ok, early for me, 10AM-12PM), so then I felt writing-guilt-free the rest of the day.

I had an email from a friend yesterday who was concerned about finishing her thesis on time. I gave her advice I once heard at ChLA and think is very good advice. "Give yourself permission to write a mediocre thesis." Truer words were never spoken (although I think this is one of the very few areas of life where mediocre should be a goal!). Really, no matter HOW polished your thesis is, it most likely will need to be revised in some way if you want to get it published. I could have been giving my thesis to my crit group while I was working on it as a thesis, but I knew that would just take even longer and at the time it is too hard to juggle the opinions of 5 people in addition to thesis advisers. Now "Tapestry Threads" is unofficially done for Hollins (still waiting to get my signature sheet back so I can print up copies and get them bound), but there's more work to be done.

Oh! And before I forget, February reading list. These just seem so short these days. :(

Coraline by Neil Gaimon (reread)
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Tales of Beetle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
A Caldecott Celebration
Tru by Eric Melbye (a signed gift from the wonderful stregamomma, one of his students)
Children's Nonfic (reviews)

Arrg. I also never know how to list book on my palm pilot that I read when I'm waiting somewhere, out of town, etc, that take me a while to get through. I've been reading "Elfstones of Shannarra," "It," and "Flowers in the Attic" for more than a month now. But they're all re-reads.

So even though I got clearance that my thesis was done about two months ago, yesterday I FINALLY got around to printing out the signature sheets. Mailed those to my adviser, then once she signs them I can send them to my 2nd reader. Then get copies printed and one copy bound (why the school no longer lets you pay for and get extra copies is beyond me!!! They were very reasonably priced too; I would pay 4X what they charge for another copy and not blink). Then send them to the office and graduate in MAY! :) Anyone else walking then?

It's odd. While I'm very sad that I'm now done with my studies at Hollins, I find myself looking forward to things that I haven't been able to enjoy for 8 years. Not packing and then unpacking (which probably accounts for 3 weeks of my life and house in chaos before and after school). Being with my sweetie on his birthday (July 20). We started dating a week before I went to Hollins the first time and as his birthday is usually about one week before school ends, a visit never made sense. So I've never actually been with my husband on his birthday. Then going to WVA for the 4th of July and celebrating my mom's birthday (yes, hers is July 4 and mine is Halloween. Can't wait to see what my child will land on!). Planning some camping trips and outings with friends. Not having to cram Lucy into day camp every day for 6 weeks. While I'll miss the environment and the classes and the people, I'm ready for a summer off.

But that's not to say I won't show up. I'm only 4 hours away, so I'll probably stop by (if I go to ChLA, I'll stop there on my way home, and then I'm thinking of coming down conference weekend).

I finally got back into revising TT! Did a chapter of that yesterday and sent it to crit group. We'll go over it Tuesday and if people think I'm on the right track addressing the agent's suggestions, I'll press on and hopefully have a revised version for the agent soon. Yesterday was nice, I actually forced myself to stop revising so I wouldn't burn myself out (that seems to happen all too easily). Hopefully I'll have some time to revise a bit today too. I like revising sometimes, it's like filling in the details on a sketch.

I had attempted JanNoWriMo or NaNoWriMo 2.0 (tagline: for those of us who couldn't get our act together in November). Day one (January 1) was amazing, 5 pages! But I think I sprained my writing muscle. I had been away so long that after doing that, the pressure of producing so much every day for a month seemed overwhelming. I've since gone back to my microscopic progress. And most importantly I've finally given myself permission to say, "That's ok."

I am a slow writer without a fire under me. While I was able to produce "Bronze Dragon Codex" in about a year, that was because I have a deadline. Give me a deadline and I can meet it, I've always been that way (that's why I now have 3 degrees in writing, I love the deadlines that classes provide). But when it comes to giving deadlines to myself, that never works. I know myself is a marshmallow about enforcing deadlines and thus when I threaten self with deadlines, self just laughs.

I'm slowly getting back into writing shape, though. Work and some other stuff is really sapping my energy these days, so for now I'm trying to just keep my oar in. I do a little bit on "The White Doe" and am currently revising "Tapestry Threads" per the agents suggestions (really hope to get that to her soon; it's just the first 3 chapters I need to revise, at least for her, and then we'll see where that goes). And even though I'm not producing much (sometimes only a sentence a day) I feel like my brain is working on it without me, getting me ready for the time when I can sit down and produce 5 or even 10 pages in a day. I'm making connections, hearing the voices shine through, deciding which tactics to take (I'm currently writing WD in chronological order, but plan to go back and move things around into flashbacks where necessary).

So I'm a slow writer. I've accepted that. "The Stone Chain"l took me 20 years to complete. So even if "Tapestry Threads" come in at 8 years (idea first popped up in 2002), that's pretty quick for me. Hello, my name is Amie and I'm a slow writer.

I had sent Tapestry Threads to an agent I heard about at SCBWI Pittsburgh (another agent in that company spoke and told us while she was not accepting new clients, another person at her agency was). While she passed on Tapestry Threads (that old problem I have with making my characters emotions shine through, of course! Must work on putting more emotion in my writing!), she did say she'd be interested in a revision of TT or any other work I might have. Yay! :) While I've had other rejection letters that had some good things to say about my writing, this was the first that invited me to submit a revision or even another work. Yippee!

This couldn't have come at a better time. I've been so wrapped up in work-work that writing has been falling by the wayside, especially now that I'm done with thesis work for Hollins. I'm slowly getting back into it, but this was a nice boost!

This morning in the shower (what's with all the good ideas popping up in the shower??) I had the inklings of ideas for not just one, but TWO sequels to Tapestry Threads. Not enough to make it a series, but 2 books tied to TT. Sigh. I should have known this would happen as soon as I officially finished TT! But I have the mermaid story I'm working on now too. Hmmm. I think after I return from Pittsburgh this week and have the ICFA stuff all wrapped up I'll dive back into the mermaid story. I've already re-visioned the backstory on the world, so I think now I need to quit meandering through the story and develop an outline.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, I'll be at SCBWI there on Saturday! Anyone else?

I FINALLY got around to the latest round of revisions on the thesis. It took only about 2 hours. Um...yea? I think because it's been hanging over my head for so long, it seems like it should have taken longer to actually DO it.

But now I can enjoy the rest of the day by putting the house in order. The shed is done, Brian's building some shelves now, and I'm emptying some boxes. I hope we can get all this done before the party next week. Tomorrow's out because of yet another Ren Faire signing (yea!). Those have been taking up a lot of weekend time, but it's only for a couple more weeks and the sales are so good I can't not go.

Today I went to print out the first ten pages of "Tapestry Threads" for submission to SCBWI. This is the first time I'd accessed that file on the new computer. Imagine my shock when, upon opening the file, I do not find my story but 176 pages of what appeared to be either "Dune" or possibly "Dune" fanfic (I saw a lot of names that were definitely from Dune. That was all I was able to make out before I burst into tears). Every file in that folder had something weird with it (although only one that apparently had a completely new story!). Checked other folders. They were just fine. I re-copied from my backup and everything was just dandy again. But...what???? I ran a full virus scan. Nothing. I have no CLUE what could have caused this. I'm overall happy with the new computer, but this is the second weird thing to happen (first was the CD drive no longer being recognized; that happened yesterday). I really hope this is the END of all shenanigans, thank you very much!

So I've been taking a writing break since I got home from Hollins, both because I'm trying to wrap up a few things and also because I felt I needed to turn off my brain for a bit. It's funny how easy it is to forget that you have published something once it's out in the world. But today I spoke with both the local Borders and the main library and gave them my info (dragged kathleenfoucart along for that, hopefully she didn't mind!) and also got my first statement from Hasbro since BDC came out. Once I figured out how to read the thing it was pretty cool, especially when I realized it ended June 30 not July (i.e., the figures I was seeing was for only 19 days of sales). I think I'm going to try to visit a few more local libraries this week and take my info packet with me too. Now that things are winding down with the house (there's still things to do, but hopefully that will only involve me hiring people to paint and clean for renters, not doing it myself!) I can have a little more time for that and also to work on my thesis. I doubt I'll make it through all the hoops in time for October grad, but that doesn't really matter, as no one marches then anyway and I know a lot of people who should be done Spring 2009.

Yes, still alive. For not taking a class for credit, this term has been very busy. I'm sitting in on a critical theory class and working on revising Tapestry Threads. I can see my way clear of the next milestone: finishing revising the 4th and last section. After that back to something a little more fun: floor plan of the castle.

I've also been busy with some proposals. Sent one out yesterday and hope to wrap up another one this week. Then I'm revising something for the Francelia Butler conference. And after this week, I need to really dive into both revising a review for JFA and looking over the various bits of paperwork I've inherited as CYA div head. Yikes. That still seems so weird.

I've also made arrangements to purchase the cover art of Bronze Dragon Codex. Thought a lot about this and I figured, I'll only have one first book. I can't wait to see it!

Looking forward to this week being over; most of the things hanging over my head will be done as of tomorrow. Then not only do I get to see my sweetie on Friday, we have our dorm Halloween party this weekend and one of my best friends is coming down for that too. Should be great!

1) Revise Section 3 of TT from Carlee's notes
2) Revise Section 3 of TT from Marjory's notes
3) Add falcons to the hunt and Lord Michael's interests
4) Work on Dragon Codex proposals

I would add more, but I think that's quite enough for today! I was feeling very sick yesterday, so don't want to overdo it.

ETA: Revision of Section 3 done! Whoohoo!

154 / 185 (83.2%)

Today I talked about the first two chapters of Tapestry Threads with our author-in-residence Nancy Willard. Not only did she both love the story and give me some great feed back, she also gave me some good information about tapestries because (get this) she teaches a course on tapestries! Talk about a lucky coincidence! We also talked about other aspects of medieval life and she suggested adding falcons to the hunt. That's perfect because I would like to give my villain something more to his personality and being a falconer would be a wonderful facet to add.

I also received my crit group's comments today. I went through two sets this evening, will do the other two tomorrow, and be able to make my July 4th deadline. Yippee! I just hate being late on things.