Empire State of Mind

I really love music. And there are some songs that really speak to me, especially when they are about following your dreams or unrequited love. Lately Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind pt2 is in my head. I know what does that have to do with my literary blogging. Quite a bit. The chorus part really strikes a chord with me. I'ma make it by any means/I've got a pocketful of dreams/baby I'm from New York/concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
I'm not from a big city like New York but my dreams are just as big. Big enough to believe there's space on the bookshelf for my book alongside the Stephine Meyers and J.K. Rowlings of the literary world. I gonna make it by any means despite how daunting and difficult it is to navigate the publishing terrain. The arrows of rejections won't pierce my pride b/c I'm gonna keep writing and polishing my manuscripts. I've got a pocketful of dreams, baby.

Today

Today I mailed the first 30 pages of The Strange World of Neve Rimbel to Bookstop Literary Agency via snail mail. I also sent an e-mail to another agency. So far my manuscript hasn't had the best of luck, but I haven't exhausted my list yet. So I'm ever hopeful.

Of course I'm not resting on my laurels I'm still working on the revisions of my third manuscript, it's called QuestSeekers or I might change it to the Quest or TruthQuest. Anyways, it's about a young prince and three villagers who search for the fountain of truth to clear his name. I know I have to work on the pitch.

Today I learned a new word, insouciant. It means to be calm and carefree. Here's to tomorrow being insouciant.

Tenacity

I just finished reading an interview with this seasoned author named Mitali Perkins (I actually follow her on Twitter) I found her writing journey inspiring. She let the rejections she received shape her vision as an author and improve her craft. Despite numberous rejections she refused to give up on her novel, letting it sit at the bottom of a desk drawer. She was unwilling to abandon her vocation. That's how I feel about writing, despite rejections I keep writing. Keep honing my craft. I believe in my stories and that there's a better place for them beside my notebook.

In the interview Perkins also stress discipline being vital to a writer if they want to be successful. And that writers should treat their craft as a serious profession not a hobby. Besides that I took to heart when she said, "good books take time to write, edit, get published, and reach the hands and hearts of readers."

Sea of No

I started sending out queries for my middle-grade novel, The Strange World of Neve Rimbel the first week of this month. By the second week, two of the three agents respectfully declined. I've been swimming in the sea of no for so long, I wonder where the shore of yes is. I know rejection is part of the literary game and it's a subjective business. I've worked really hard on my novel. I think it's a very good story. A twelve-year-old girl and her family moves to a cursed town. The girl sees beware, bewarned, be afraid eteched on her window. Thus begans her encounters with strange things from a woman bursting into crows to alien baby imposters.

A lot of the middle-grade/young adult novels I read the protagonist are white. My protagonist Neve Rimbel is black, but of course I like to think that wouldn't be the cause of a no. I would like to believe a fantasy novel with a black protagonist could have a decent number of readers and buyers. Character race shouldn't matter if the story is well-written and compelling and you believe in the story you're telling.

Often when I look at the book sections in Target and Wal-Mart (where I work) I get a wistful look in my eyes. Given a chance I would love to see my story ideas in book form.

The Mirror World

In the year 2004 I made my first attempts at breaking into publishing with my children's novel entitled The Mirror World. Well, actually at 53 pages it was more of a long short story. Anyways, I felt it was publishable. So off it went. And back it came. The story was a fantaasy about a lonely 12 year-old girl, named Taryn Hayes, who gets sucked into another world via an antique mirror. (What is it about mirrors being portals). From there she ends up in the land of Arnasor. (My name spelled backwards. Clever. Clever). Where a rabbit sporting a tweed jacket sees her fall from the sky. Mr. Timbleweed (the rabbit) belives she was sent to help the oppressed creatures defeat an evil giantess, Desmara.

Most agencies gratfully declined but one although they said it wasn't strong enough to market, they suggested a critique service. This lead me to DeeDee Hughes. She critiqued The Mirror World (along with all my subsequent manuscripts). She thought I had the makings of a very fun and exciting adventure story. After revising and following her suggestions, I sent it back to that agency, exactly a year later. This time they said they didn't feel they could market at this time.

The Mirror World probably won't ever be on any shelves but it was a good learning curve. There are loads I like about the story and descriptions. Mr. Timbleweed broke into a loping gait, with Taryn in tow. She struggled to break free, but the homicidal rabbit had a stronghold on her. Another butterfly fluttered by.

Ambrosia looked at Taryn. A clod of dirt landed on the fairy, knocking her to the ground. Hoof beats could be heard from above. The wooden door started to splinter and bulge. Shamus let out a squeal. “We’re being infiltrated.” Taryn saw his foot narrowly miss the fairy that still lay on the ground. “Watch it you idiot,” she snapped. She ran and gingerly picked up the lavender fairy. She held Ambrosia in her hands; she was no bigger than a dragonfly. The fairy’s wings brush against her palms, her tiny crystal eyes looked into Taryn’s. This can’t be real she thought.

In 2006 The Mirror World did get published online with Sweetgum Notes. My former creative writing professor had accepted my submission. She said her staff thought it was delightful. (Why weren't they agents). Well there are some characters I'll use in other stories. I really like Cyan and Rue, my goth-like rainbow sprite. The Mirror World started it all.

Often rejected....but not dejected

Well my middle-grade manuscript, The Strange World of Neve Rimbel has received a slew of rejections. More than 30. Most just are curt (sorry not for us). Or its not right for our list. My most recent rejection had an explanation attached to it. She liked my concept, and opening pages. But she wasn't in love with the writing itself. She found my middle-grade voice uneven and my length a bit short. My novel is 19,037 words. But the Literary Marketplace states that MG fiction lengths can be from 20,000 plus. So I'm not that far off.

I know most books on the market are as thick as the Bible but I've seen a few slimmer ones, like the Spiderwick Chronicles, and the Chronicles of Narnia. I haven't been told before that my MG voice was uneven (but then again all the others just say they'll pass). I have been told by another agent that my concept was original with interesting characters. But of course she passed on it. Maybe it's the character's voice. GREAT. Now I'm questioning Neve Rimbel's voice.

I hear a song or two

If I had a theme song(s) that summed up my literary aspirations and frustrations it, would be a mashup of Natasha Bedingfield's unwritten and these words.

Unwritten/These Words

I am unwritten/the pen's in my hand/

staring at the blank page/trying to find the magic/

trying to write a classic/Don't you know/Don't you know/waste bin full of paper/nothing I write is ever good enough.