BLOG BREAK

I've decided not to take the laptop to Ecuador.  Which means I'll be taking a very long blog break.  I'll see you all on April 3rd. 

FIRST ROUND EDITS...

D  O  N  E  !  !

We finished them Monday and immediately jumped into second round edits.  I'm leaving on Friday though and will be gone for two weeks.  Two weeks is a LOT of time to be making NO progress.  I'm rethinking whether the take the laptop.  All the hotels have free wifi and I could make some editing progress while the kids have down-time. 

On the other hand, getting it through airport security is a pain.  Dragging it around, also a pain.  And if it gets stolen...serious pain.  On top of that, the hubby would not be happy to hear my email addition will be fed during our vacation.  Ugh...what to do????

The photo is a page out of the book I created for the kids.  There are pages about all the things we'll do, all our hotels, pages that spell out our travel days and itineraries, as well as pages for them to add their opinions (Cool Stuff, Crappy Stuff).  Forty pages in all.  It turned out well but it took a   r e a l l y   long time.

THIS WEEK AT INDIE-DEBUT

INDIE-DEBUT 2010

Blog: http://indiedebut2010.blogspot.com


M E D I A R E L E A S E


CONTACT: Amy Allgeyer Cook, Author
Email: amyacook@live.com
For Immediate Release


Indie-Debut - Continues to Celebrate Small Press Month


The celebration of Small Press Month continues at Indie-Debut 2010 http://indiedebut2010.blogspot.com.

Even if you missed the first week of exciting events, do not fret!  Our goal at the Indie-Debut 2010 continues to provide intuitive interviews, hot discussion topics, excerpts of soon to be released books and contests. Come on over and participate in lively discussions and learn more about the latest giveaway. You will not be disappointed.

Highlights for the week of March 14, 2010:

Mon, March 15:
SPOTLIGHT: Jo Ramsey
QUESTION OF THE WEEK GIVEAWAY: Do you feel small presses are the wave of the future? Join in the discussion by leaving a comment be automatically entered to win a First Chapter Critique by Indie-Debut Authors.

Tues, March 16:
Jupiter Gardens Press Interview with Jo Ramsey

Wed, March 17:
St. Patrick's Day prompt: What would you want to see in the Leprechaun's pot?
DISCUSSION: Where do you prefer to purchase your books? Online, the big guys...Barnes Noble, etc., or Independently Owned Bookstores? Join in the discussion by leaving a comment be automatically entered to win a First Chapter Critique by Indie-Debut Authors.

Thurs., March 18th
Lori Calabrese interviews Lisa Cottrell-Bently and Wright on Time.  What does it take to start an Indie-Press?

Fri, March 19:
SPOTLIGHT: Donna McDine and announcement of the First Chapter Critique Winner


Thank you in advance for your interest. We look forward to your visit.
Be sure to check back for next week's schedule.

The Invisible Sister update

I haven't posted about my publication progress lately. Last week, we had a brief skirmish of editing. I did a round on the last three chapters, but am still waiting to hear back on those. Hopefully, just another round on those chapters will wrap up the whole first pass of editing.

Then, I get transferred to the managing editor and start the second pass.

After that, the third pass.

The original deadline to have all edits completed was Jan. 27th. Obviously, we're way behind. Will that affect my publicaiton date? Who the heck knows? I'd say a July release is NOT looking good.

I'm also still waiting for the owners to approve the contract for my cover art. It is gorgeous and I can't wait to post it, but until the contract is signed I'm not allowed.

Lastly, I'm changing servers for my website. Most of the work is being done by my web-goddess but I'm dealing with domain name renewals and serving as the go-between for all parties. Such fun, webwork. I'm so glad I have my web-goddess for the hard stuff! She does a great job. xo, Whitney!

PS--the image is the sketch my son did that I used as the basis for my art panels. Isn't it cute? I love all his misspellings.

:)

To all my followers:

You guys are great. Have a fantastic weekend and make sure to do something nice for yourself...just because I said!

THINGS ON THURSDAY

1. This is a panel of children's artwork I did last year for a company called Snickle-Pickle. It's based on drawings my son did when he was six. I just like it 'cause they all look so happy.
2. We're working through the LAST TWO CHAPTERS OF EDITS on The Invisible Sister. It's such a good feeling, even though I know there are two more rounds to go. I'm just happy to be making progress again.
3. Have you entered this week's Indie-Debut2010 Small Press Month Giveaway? Go! You could win a great prize pack including books and a tote from Indie-Debut 2010 Authors just for following us on our blog or on twitter or becoming a Facebook Fan.
4. While you're there, check out my interview of Stephen Mooser, co-founder of SCBWI, and our profile article on the do's and don'ts of Small Press Authors working with Indie-Bookstores.
5. I finally finished the kid's Ecuador Guidebook. It's forty pages long, has photos of all our hotels, maps of each city, intineraries and images of all the places and things we'll see. I just need to get it bound. It. Took. Forev. Er.
6. YESTERDAY, was my 200th blog post! I should have given something away or at least mentioned it! Alas, I didn't even notice until today. Such is my busy-ness.

Creators vs. Sustainers

A few days ago, a friend of mine was talking about some career decisions and she said this:

I'm a creator, not a sustainer.

I don't know what she said after that, because my brain was going, "Wait...what?"

I pondered those words all night. They gave me goosebumps. Because I, too, am a creator. I'm great with ideas. They stream out of my ears, out of my pen, out of my fingers. I create buildings, groups, teams, school carnival food booths, books.

But I'm not a sustainer. The long-haul stuff bores me to pieces. The daily maintenance? Bah.

Knowing I'm a creator is no surprise. I've always known that. What shocked me is the idea that ... are you ready? ... IT'S OK TO BE ONE OR THE OTHER. WE DON'T HAVE TO BE BOTH.

I can't tell you how many times I've beaten myself up over stuff I'm not good at. It never occured to me that I don't have to be good at sustaining. I don't have to be ...

a distance runner

a great house cleaner

careful with my things

a diligent mender of clothes

a consistent manager of people

a good writer of the chapters after 5.

Because I *am* good at:

sprinting

creating and remodeling houses

assessing what we need and procuring it

ignoring the fact that my coat is missing a button

putting people together

chapters 1-5

Sure I still need to do those other things, especially the chapters after 5. But I'm not going to consider myself a loser if they seem difficult, or if it takes me 8 months to finish a painting. 'Cause I'm a creator. Not a sustainer. And that's ok.

Winners, Eggs & Miscoterica

1. If you entered the Query Contest at Indie-Debut2010, click over today to see if you won! There's also a fantastically intriguing query by I-D 2010 member Miriam Forster, author of The Flute & The Dagger.

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2. A big feathery thanks to DL Hammonds for gifting me the Quillfeather Award. As the recipient, I'm supposed to tell you how I like my eggs. I like them deviled. I could eat a whole dozen deviled eggs. Mmm. Now, I'll pass this award along to PJ Hoover, because I think all Texans must eat eggs, right? (PS...There was a picture of a chicken that came with the award, but I preferred to use my own chicken's pictures. Above are Skrall (the black chicken in the back) and One-Up Mushroom.)

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3. I'm at 8.5 on the busy scale this week. The architecture biz is busy and picking up; editing started up again over the weekend for The Invisible Sister; I'm trying to tackle some critique group revisions to the WIP (which is out on four full requests!); I have one month to finish my continuing ed credits for the year; we're leaving for Ecuador in less than two weeks, and I'm supposed to be designing booths for the school carnival. If I were allowed to cut one thing from my to do list, it would be the booths for the carnival.

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What to-do would you like to get rid of?

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PS--Be sure to visit the Indie-Debut blog tomorrow to read our interview with Stephen Mooser, co-founder of SCBWI!

Today on Indie-Debut: A GIVEAWAY!

Happy Small Press Month!! Be sure to check out the Indie-Debut2010 website for a big giveaway and a short story by yours truly.

Have a great Friday everyone, and if you can't enjoy your weekend, at least enjoy your ice cream!

TO BUILD A BETTER QUERY

First things first: THANK YOU times ten to the tenth to agent Joanna Stampfel-Volpe for throwing the "No Form Reject Contest". And to agent Kathleen Ortiz for hosting her. Joanna ended up reading 240 queries in something like 36 hours AND let submitters know what she was thinking while she read them. Good feedback for all who participated. You can read the final stats here.

I was one of the lucky duckies to get a partial request. In the hopes that this will help somebody, I'm posting my query along with Joanna's response. You can also visit my Wadmates blogs, Sharon at Random Thoughts and Susan Fields to see their queries and responses (which may not be up immediately).

Dear Ms. Stampfel-Volpe,

AJ Scales can sum his life up in numbers: thirteen years, fifty-eight cities, one crazy mom and zero friends. He longs for a real home and a family. What he gets are motor inns and fantastic stories about reincarnated holy men and his dad being a god. Out of money, he and his mother land in Pittsboro, NC, where AJ's life takes a happy turn. He finds an uncle, makes a friend and learns how to ride a bike. But clues about his father’s identity, a fortune-telling aardvark and a do-it-yourself vampire book begin to test AJ’s idea of reality. When his mother flees the painful memories Pittsboro holds for her, she leaves AJ there to decide for himself: Who am I? What do I believe?

My magical-realism novel, Gods & Vultures, would appeal to a middle-grade audience and runs about 39,000 words. The southern setting and voice are based on my childhood in rural North Carolina and the rich character of the folks who inhabit the South.

I'm a member of SCBWI, have been published in Family Fun, A Fly in Amber and Stories for Children. I am a graduate of the Institute for Children's Literature and an alumnus of the Highlight's Workshop at Chautauqua. My first middle-grade novel, The Invisible Sister, is scheduled for release in 2010 by PM Moon publishers.

I've pasted the first twenty pages of Gods & Vultures below. I appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
me

And the response:

Dear Amy,
Not a bad query at all! I'd like to take a look. Can you please send the first 20 pages as a Word doc attachment in Reply to this email?
Thanks for participating, and I look forward to reading,
J

TRUTH FOR TUESDAY

That was so fun! Thanks everyone for playing. No one guessed the right answer, though most of the lies had a grain of truth in them.
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2. I have four brothers: two have the middle name 'Joe' and one has 'Joe' for a first name. Both of my sister's middle names are 'Anne'. I guess when you have seven kids, you start to run out of names.
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5. I tested many, many parachutes from our jungle gym, but luckily never broke anything.
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6. Likewise, I've been badly sunburned at Myrtle Beach several times, but never required hospitalization.
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7. Sharon, I'd love to watch The Big Chill with you...especially since I've never seen it.
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And so, the truth...
I was born with six toes on each foot and nobody noticed until my brother counted them on the little inky footprint my dad brought home from the hospital.
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Now, I'd like to pass this award on to two people:
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MIRIAM at Dancing With Dragons... and AUBRIE, who's book Nebula's Music just came out. As a fantasy writers, I'm sure they'll have no trouble feeding us some outrageous untruths. Good luck ladies!

MANIC MONDAY

Thanks to Susan, my friend and Wadmate, for this award. I never get awards!! This is so exciting! :) Susan, I love you even more now.

You've probably seen this played out. I'm supposed to tell six lies and one truth and you're all supposed to guess which is the true bit.

1. I was kidnapped as a child, by a neighbor, and held for two days in her basement before the police found me.
2. I have four brothers and two sisters, and they all have the same middle name, except my sisters spell it "Jo" instead of "Joe".
3. I was born with six toes on each foot and nobody noticed until my brother counted them on the little inky footprint my dad brought home from the hospital.
4. I am a certified masseuse.
5. When I was in third grade, I broke my arm trying to test a parachute I made out of two bath towels by jumping off our jungle gym.
6. At Myrtle Beach one summer, I got so sunburned I had to spend two days in the hospital.
7. The Big Chill is my favorite movie of all time.

So ... can you spot the truth??? Speaking of truths, I entered my query into Joanna Stampfel-Volpe's Yes I can handle the truth Contest. For an hour on Saturday, agent Stompfel-Volpe accepted queries via email and will respond to each of them by this afternoon at 5:00. Did any of you enter?

Today has been a whirlwind of architecture: billing, discussions with the city, sketches, drawing packages...a very busy day. Now I'm off to run errands, er, I should say 'walk' errands given how sore I am from soccer yesterday. Still, it was a beautiful day and great to run around in the sun. I'm going to look pretty funny in Ecuador, though, with a shin-guard tan.