Naming a Character...Roller Derby style

Tip of the Day: the library person in me can't help but mention it's Banned Books Week, so support your right to read by checking out a commonly banned or challenged book from your local library this week!

I've been extremely quiet on the blog lately, merely because there hasn't been much going on or things to discuss. But I'm coming out of hiding because I have a favor to ask.

I know...I know...selfish of me.

But...our blog readers are some of the most creative people I know and always have wonderful suggestions, so I thought you'd be the perfect group to poll.

Recently, I got up enough guts to try out for something I've been wanting to do for a very long time...Roller Derby. I used to watch the old banked track matches on the TV with interested and then got really interested in the sport as an adult after watching the "Rollergirls" reality show about the Lonestar Rollergirls league in Austin, Texas. As I got older I really wanted to try it, but never lived near enough to a place with a team, until now.

I have a new appreciation for the sport and it's athletes, since it's one of the hardest things I've done. My currently two very injured knees are proof. But it's a great workout and I've loved meeting all my new teammates. I'm slowly, very slowly, improving and I've found muscles that I never knew existed!

Learning a completely new sport as an adult is fun and a bit crazy. In fact it reminds me a lot of when I started writing fiction. It's lots of fun, but tons of work and at times I frequently find myself asking the question: "What on earth did I get myself into?"

So here comes the favor part...

Most of you know that Roller Derby members have a fun "derby" name and I'd really love to play off of a literary name. However, most of the names I've come up with are taken by other skaters and you can't really pick a name that anyone else has ever registered.

So names like:

* Pain Eyre
* Katniss EverMean
* Lady Gwen A Fear

While they are fun and ones I'd love to use, I can't. So, I'd love name suggestions in the comments section. If I end up picking yours I'll even send you a $10 Amazon giftcard, so you get something in return, besides my gratification. If you want other ideas, there's a whole list of names here. Just remember it can't be too similar to any of the names on the list.

It can be a spin on an author, character, or book related. It can even be library related. I really don't care. My only qualifications are that I like it, the name fits me, and that it's not taken.

So...got any suggestions?


Photo from: http://battlefieldrollerderby.org/

A season for writing

Tip of the Day: trying to get inspired this winter? Try some of these creative writing prompts from Litbridge.

Not sure if it's the cold weather and snow covered roads that force me inside during the winter or if it's just the perfect time of year for writing, but winter seems to be my prime writing season.

Even though winter is always busy with events, the holidays, etc., it still seems that I have more ideas for stories and get inspired to write more than any other time of the year. Maybe it's the NaNoWriMo tradition or maybe it's something else. Whatever it is, it's Writing Time for me.

What's your favorite time of the year to write?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Breaking all the Writing Rules

Tip of the Day: if you live on the East Coast, hopefully you survived The Big Storm and aren't without power for too long. But on the bright side, maybe you'll get to practice your penmanship when working on your writing.

Everywhere I look today seems to bring more pictures of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation the storm left. These are the days I'm glad I don't live near the coast, but I do hope everyone else is doing alright. Hopefully you were a good Girl Scout or Boy Scout and stocked up on your supplies, so you can stand to be without power (that is if you are even reading this, since chances are if you are without power--you'd have a hard time actually reading blogs :))

Every time a big weather emergency hits, I can't help but think of weather in books and in everyday life.

From: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/
climate-weather/storms/calm-before-storm.htm

Weather seems to be a great conversation starter. It's such a cliche to start off a story with "it was a dark and stormy night," but at the same time many of our everyday conversations start out with talking about the weather (Or is that just a Midwest thing? Maybe some of you East Coasters have something far more interesting to talk about...) Whether it's just a regional thing or not, I think talking about the weather is a go-to when you don't really have anything else to say. When all else fails, people talk about the weather because it's something that everyone can relate to.

So even though it's cliche (as with many thing in storytelling--opening with a dream sequence anyone?), it can still be useful:

* If you want to show two characters having an awkward moment...excellent time to have a conversation about the weather.
* If you want to show two characters that don't have a lot in common...why not talk about the weather!
* If you want  to show family members interacting over mundane activities...the weather is a great topic.

So basically, even if it's cliche or overdone, any topic can be discussed if it's effective. Reminding us yet again there really are no rules in novel writing!

Thank goodness, because I'm not really in a rule-following mood lately :)

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Are you stalling?

Tip of the Day: Not a good idea to fall asleep holding your Nook. Your neck will not thank you in the morning.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'm considering doing NaNoWriMo again. This is probably the last thing I should be doing, because I really need to be finishing up revisions on a book and subbing another book.

However, my writing has definitely taken a backseat in my life lately and I feel completely out of practice. Every time I sit down to work on revisions I feel lost and don't have a clue where to start.

My mind is telling me that if I force myself to work on another project and just sit and write and write and write, I should regain some of my writing skills and it will translate over to my other projects.

But I don't know if that's the truth or if I'm just being lured away by other projects, because I don't want to spend the tough time on the one I'm finishing.

The lure of the shiny, new project can be hard to resist!

Hmmm...it is a dilemma.

While I normally don't recommend moving onto a new project until you are ready, I really think in this case it will help.

Because just as a mind in motion wants to stay in motion, I'm guessing a writer writing wants to stay writing.

So let's hear it, have any of you switched projects and found it's helped with the initial book you were working on?

Success stories would be nice to hear.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Our World is a Very Speedy Place

Tip of the Day: everyone knows this I know, but don't forget to vote on Nov. 6 (or earlier if you are one of those people that plans ahead)!

Not that I want to get political on this blog, because I don't really think this is the forum for that and I'm  respectful of the fact that many people have different opinions then me. But after watching the debate this evening and then immediately turning to my twitter feed to read people's thoughts, I am once again reminded how fast the world moves now--which affects us tremendously as writers.

http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

I was about 10 minutes behind due to pausing my DVR and by the time I got online there were already over 90,000 likes on the Binder Full of Women Facebook site and lots of sample pictures posted on Tumblr which were Photoshopped at break-neck speeds. Sure people probably started creating these mid-way through. But still. That is FAST. And they have probably already quadrupled by now.

The last question of the night came from a guy named Barry and by the time I got to twitter there were hundreds--if not thousands--of spoofs with the #toughquestionsfrombarry.

As a society we are moving so fast, so it makes sense all of this stuff was available in such a very short period of time. But as writers that makes our job extremely difficult. Most readers don't want to wait a week to read another one of your books--let alone a year. Who has time to actually write an entire book in one week? And write it well. It's impossible.

I guess you could plan them all in advance and then release them closer together. But by the time you'd get around to releasing them the trends will have changed and everything will be different.

During a staff meeting the other day, someone mentioned a statistic that I can't remember exactly, but basically you can't take longer than one or two months to do a complete website redesign. Because if you take longer than that everything will already be outdated.

Wow...wow...wow. My head just spins thinking about what readers expect now. And what people in general expect in relation to everything revolving around written communication.

And the sad part is I can't even complain, because I'm probably the same way. I'd love to be able to read a book from my favorite author every week. I loved watching the debate and knowing that I could instantly find tons of comments online afterwards. It's just the way it is and it's great. But in the flip, I try to be a bit more lax because doing some of these things I realize the time commitment and can understand people aren't superhuman.

My only hope is that other people are just as lax and don't think books can be created with such speed that blogs, tweets, etc. can be created.

eBooks in general have drastically speed up the publishing process. Megg's post about serials gaining in popularity is yet a further sign of how much publishing is changing in regard to the speed with which books come out. And I'm sure there are even more to come. Probably by the time you are reading this post, there has already been a change in publishing to speed it along even further! 

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

A Season for Writing

Tip of the Day: there's tons of cute fall and Halloween decorating ideas on Pinterest!

Fall...

It's one of my most favorite times of the year. 
 

Whether it's because of the beautiful scenery outside with the changing of the leaves...

the fact that there's an entire day in October where it's perfectly acceptable to pretend to be someone else and dress in costume..

it marks the season I was born in...

Or merely because it's the start of a fun, new TV season :) 

Whatever it is, there is something special about fall to me, and for that reason it's become one of my favorite seasons to write about and the season that seems to motivate me to write the most. The amount of free time I have seems to perfectly align with the work that needs done and the writing flows more than any other time of the year. I've also lucked out that NaNoWriMo happens to take place in late fall, so it's always great motivation to keep writing even when I don't officially participate.

For these reason, I'm not only very excited it's fall, but I'm also considering doing NaNoWriMo officially for the first time in three years.

Anyone else participating?

Does anyone else feel like their best writing times revolve around a certain season?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Branding Yourself as an Author

Tip of the Day: "The Creative Penn" gives a good summary on creating your author platform and branding yourself as a writer.

In my day job, I'm in the midst of doing a rebranding for our library, so I have brands, brands, and more brands on my mind. In terms of the library: branding seems to be a bit easier for me to understand. All your design elements, such as: your logo, website, flyers, etc. need to fit together and emphasis your brand. If you want to be fun, then everything should look fun. We want to be seen as a go-to spot, so we are incorporating that idea into all of our graphics and our general message. Including literally showing dots (or spots) in many of our marketing materials to reiterate our brand. That way people are constantly hit over the head with our library brand. And hopefully they'll remember to stop by and see us. Or at the very least, recognize one of our flyers based on looks alone.

In terms of author branding it's a bit different. Your brand includes not only your website, bookmarks, and design elements, but it also includes the nature and style of writing in your books.

I would imagine if you go to five different fantasy author sites, the design is going to look completely different than going to author websites for literary fiction. The design of everything needs to reflect the style of books you write. Because just like your cover has to reflect your book, so does all your other marketing materials that you might create for yourself.

In the same vein, all of your books should have a similar writing style, to further reiterate your brand. Do you write humorous mysteries? Or deep-thought provoking literary styles? Good! If you write more than one, then people will know where to go when they are looking for that perfect read.

Does this mean you can only write humorous mysteries from now on?

No...but you do still need to stick somewhat in your category and writing style. Otherwise, you'll confuse readers more than you'll bring them in.



Most of us don't have that luxury of being so famous that readers don't expect anything from us but a great story. They find comfort in knowing what type of story we will deliver to them. With twists and turns, of course!

So until we become famous, if we want to try our hand at a different genre or completely different style of book, we'll have to be like all the other authors who write under different names. Or just stick with similar types of books. At least until our readership has been built.  Then when we've become so big, that brands no longer matter, then the publishing house will release anything we write under our names :)

So in my opinion, branding is important for writers. However, I don't think we should be so overwhelmed to let it rule how we write. Since a good story trumps all, and most of branding happens naturally. Because if you write light, fluffy books, I guarantee most of you are also attracted to the color pink (or at least fun looking covers).

Do you agree with that? Or disagree?


--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Revision Angst

Tip of the Day: make sure to check out and possibly participate in Random Acts of Publicity (Sept. 4-7) to share the Book Love by promoting a friend's book!

This comic pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately. I have no idea how it happens, but every sentence that is my favorite usually ends up being the one that needs deleted. Seriously, it seems criminal it keeps happening. And not just to me. I know bunches of writers that say they always have to cut some of their favorite parts of the book because it doesn't add anything to the story or it's out of place.

In fact, I just listed to an interview with Ira Glass about his new documentary film "Sleepwalk With Me" and he mentioned that in several low-budget test screenings for the film that the parts the writers felt were the funniest were getting zero laughs from the audience.

So how could something we love so much, not resonate with the readers (or audience)?

In the case of Ira's story, he said switching how the lines were delivered--almost like flashbacks shown while the main character was driving in a car, instead of happening in real time--made the viewer connect with the lines more. So simply by doing a few re-shoots, all the funny parts got big laughs from the audience.

That's a bit easier to do in film: when writing, you can't exactly re-shoot. You can move around the words and try to place them in another paragraph or even another chapter. Then you can hope since some time has lapsed that the reader can laugh along with the character when referencing the previous scene. Sometimes this might work, but I've found every time I try to do that it doesn't work for me. Instead, I usually love my line so much that I still keep trying to place it in random spots throughout my manuscript. Until it gets to the point where I've revised every sentence around my one line while trying to make it work, that the line itself doesn't even make sense anymore. Then I try to fit my line of pure genius into another spot...where it fits in even less.

And you know what...the second I push delete is the second the story seems to fit together even better.

Why it keeps happening I have no idea. But all I know is that I'm never going to stop trying to fit in brilliant lines into my novels. And I'm also never going to stop hitting the delete key when they keep not working out they way I intended.

Such is the life of a writer...during Revision Angst.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

A Very Hairy Manuscript

Tip of the Day: since Kate posted about pets yesterday, I wanted to join in the fun. And since "have your pet spade or neutered" is already a famous tip from Bob Barker, then I guess my tip would be that if you are in the market for a pet, don't forget about your local animal shelter. There are tons of great animals that need good homes! You too could have your own wonderful animal to jump on your head when your manuscript starts to give you trouble!

... and leaving my hair wherever I go!

I spent most of this weekend doing one of my least favorite things: cleaning. Not my manuscript, but my house. However, I have noticed that the two share many things in common.

Both of them bring great joy...

Along with provide many headaches.


And both are littered with messy dog hair.

Okay, my manuscript doesn't really have actual dog hair mentioned within it, but it contains the messy part. Just in the form of misspelled words, incomplete sentences, dropped plot lines, and a whole lot of other messes that are far more difficult than dog hair to clean up (which trust me is far from easy, especially when your dog sheds more than Howie Mandel likes to mention his Twitter handle on America's Got Talent).

And cleaning up all that mess can feel very liberating. In your house, it's nice to be able to walk around without feeling like you have to hide your face in shame. In your manuscript, it's a great feeling of accomplishment when you tie up loose ends and make all your words sparkly and pretty.

But at the same time, as soon as you get one hair picked up, it always feels like three more have just fallen to add to the mess. In our house, it's a never ending battle against the dog hair, which mirrors my writing exactly. As soon as I pick up one mess, it immediately feels like three more have been created and also need cleaned up. It's a vicious cycle and knowing when to call it quits is hard.

For me the weekend ended, so I decided it was easier to live with dog hair again than drive myself insane trying to pick it up every second. Normally, it's clean enough, though, when we allow company in to see our house. And with my writing, the cycle usually ends the exact same way: when most the messy parts are cleaned up and someone wants to see it. Except it's an editor or agent, instead of a relative.

You will never get the dog hair all cleaned up and completely rid yourself of a mess. And if you did, chances are the book (or your home) wouldn't be nearly as interesting or exciting if it was spotless. But you have to do the best you can and be satisfied with how all that mess can lead to greatness--or at the very least happiness!


--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Getting into the Swing of Things

Tip of the Day: not only is the WriterOnCon going on right now, but Cynthea Liu is offering a Free-tique Round through the end of the day. Lots of great, free resources to help writers out!

Since going on vacation last week, I'm definitely dragging this week, trying to get back into the swing of things again. Seriously, how does a mere week's vacation make you feel like the whole world has changed? Or that getting up out of bed after a trip feels like a Herculean task complete with fits of throwing your alarm clock at the wall because you don't want to return to work and feel that magically getting rid of your clock will make time disappear (thankfully I'm not prone to that much literal dramatics, but you get my drift)?

Does anyone else get this way or is it just me?

Some of it has to do with playing catch up with all the things you missed from the previous week, but most of the feeling for me comes from just wanting to still be on vacation.

Unfortunately, that same things happens to me when I take an extended writing break. And sometimes that can mean even just 5 or 7 days off.

Trying to get back into my book always seems to take a minimum of a day to reprocess the story and characters. And when you have a busy life and writing is your second job, then sometimes taking 5-7 days off occurs more than you would like.

And then jumping back into the book constantly feels like you are running back into circles trying to play catch up. I think that's why the first three chapters of my book probably get read 10 times more than the rest of the book. Not only because they are super important pages, but also because I constantly reread them when coming back to my book after a break.

I haven't really found a way around it, so I've just decided to embrace the fact that my beginning chapters will get read and edited way more than anything else and hopefully wanting to avoid having to play so much catch up will continue to motivate me to work continuously on my projects without taking many breaks.

Any one else have any great ideas on getting back into your projects after a break?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Vacations and Saying No

Tip of the Day: Are you bad at saying "no" to people. Next time try one of these funny ways to say no. Gotta love a list that starts of with "I have to floss my cat."

Sometimes you need to write and sometimes you need to just take a break.

This week is one of those vacation weeks. (If you call rooming in a cabin with eight children vacation, I guess).

Many studies have proven that time away from work actually makes you more productive. So I'm not going to argue with the experts.

As I've gotten older, I definitely appreciate my free time much more and try to say "no" more often so I can actually have free time. Sometimes working full time and then coming home to write can be extremely challenging and taxing. But most of us trying to break into writing are doing just that. Kudos to us! Many times I feel like I have a second job, even though I'm not making any money, nor do alot of people understand me when I say I have to go home and "work"-- aka write.

I think it's something that only writers can understand. Yes, writing is fun. Yes, most of us do it because we enjoy it. But publishing is a business and a hard one to get into at that. So it is a job, even if you aren't making money.

And just like with any job, sometimes breaks are important.

Which is why I'm enjoying my vacation right now.

And next week I will happily go back to "work" and keep on writing away.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Go for Gold

Tip of the Day: want something fun to eat while watching the Olympics? Try some of these dishes from Taste of Home.

It's nearly impossible not to have Olympic Fever right now, so there's not much else on my mind. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that sometimes being an author feels similar to how an Olympic athlete must feel when they have to wait four more years to see if they can make the Olympic Team. And based on the performance of the gymnastics team so far this Olympics, I'm realizing athletes and writers have even more in common.

No tale of sadness at this Olympics has seemed quite as frustrating as Jordyn Wieber being left out of the All-Around competition in gymnastics. Just watching her break down on national television caused me to tear up myself (which isn't saying a whole lot, considering I teared up during the Love in the Wild finale last week...but still). She was slated to possibly win Gold, but instead made a few minor faults and placed third on her team during the qualification round. Of course, athletes make mistakes and it's incredibly heartbreaking not to get the opportunity to achieve something you've worked your whole life for. It's nothing new. But what's makes this tale particularly frustrating has to be the fact that she qualified for the competition--as I'm sure you've all heard by now--finishing fourth overall, while the top 24 athletes move on to the All-Around competition. However, a rule states that only two athletes from each country can compete, and since she finished behind two of her American teammates she was out. Which just stinks and seems to add fire to her wound. 

It's not that she wasn't good enough--well not entirely at least--it's just that she wasn't better than two of her teammates that day.

So how is this like writing?

How many of you have heard stories of writers not being published, not because they weren't good enough, but instead because a certain publisher might have just bought a similar book... or because one editor wants to aquire the book but can't get it through acquisitions for whatever reason? Or even because what you are writing is not in trend at the moment, even though you know tons of people that still read it. There's so many reasons why books don't get published. Many times it has to do with the fact they aren't very good or sellable, but there's plenty of other times when it has nothing to do with the quality of the book or even the content.

Which can be unfair.

Exactly how I'm sure Ms. Wieber feels completely cheated right now at the rule that seems slightly unfair.

Well at least her consolation prize is that she has a chance to win Gold with her team today (unless it's already happened--in that case if you already know the outcome, no spoilers in the comments. I'm sick of turning to NBC by accident right before an event is broadcast only to learn who already won on the Nightly News....on the same network.)

Happy Olympic Watching!

Can authors live like characters?

Tip of the Day: the berry lemonade at Wendy's is delicious!

People say reality is stranger than fiction. Even so, fiction is much more fun to write!

As I've been writing fiction for longer and longer, it feels like it's starting to sink into my everyday life. Not only with the stories and characters themselves, but with how I write in general.

Working in public relations, I write many articles for the newspaper or a newsletter on a weekly basis, but more often than not now I just want to make up a quote that someone said; infuse a deep murder mystery into the most mundane of topics, like the color of the wallpaper chosen for the new library; or make all my stories take place in Europe-which would be much more exciting then writing about events at my library in Indiana, even though those are pretty cool too.

Being able to make up characters and general exaggerations of reality would make my articles much more exciting to read. Blog entries included.

I have a feeling this is why some people have resorted to using pen names: it feels much more freeing to not-be-yourself. I wouldn't feel bad if I assigned myself fake friends and went into detail about them on a blog entry: because I'm a "fake" author to begin with. I wouldn't feel like I'd have to be truthful about how I spent my day: because the person I’m pretending to be doesn’t even exist.

Do you think authors with pen names actually do this? Make up real life too?

Just curious, because I would wager that many snippets of information that celebrities put out into the universe is partially made up to fit their "persona." So I'm not sure if authors could get away with that too. Or even if readers would care.

Just something to ponder if you are considering having a pen name: it could be good for you on more than one level. It's either that, or the con artist book I’ve been revising right now is making me think of strange things. It's possible my character that enjoys changing her identify and personality every time she moves has been seeping into my mind so much that I'm starting to think it’s real and want my real life to reflect it.

Either way, I still think fiction is much more enjoyable to write, and I think I'd have a ton of fun if I decided to make up an author pen name with a completely unique life. And I'd imagine my readers would have more fun with it too. It's seemed to work for people like Lemony Snicket just fine.

Can writers be as cool as musicians?

Tip of the Day: music playlists can be a great way to inspire you for the book you are working on. I never like to listen while actually writing, because I'm not that talented to do both at the same time. However, I enjoy listening to the playlist before working on a project to get me in the mood.

Last weekend I was in Cleveland and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm not a huge music person, in the sense that I don't constantly follow new bands or current trends. I'm just your basic music appreciator who loves to sing in the car as loud as possible--usually the wrong lyrics--just for the fun of it. But even though I'm not a die-hard rock and roll fan, I still love being surrounded by anything creative and find it incredibly inspiring.

Not only were the clothes and memorabilia fabulous to look at, but I particularly enjoyed watching videos of those that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Anyone that can have a career for decades and start an entire genre of music is completely fascinating to me.

From what I gathered here are the two main traits of what a musician or any one in an artistic field needs to have for continued success:

1.) You have to have a good grasp on who you are as an artist and always stay true to yourself.

2.) But at the same time you have to have the ability to keep reinventing yourself to stay relevant to your fans and the general public as a whole.

It sounds like an oxymoron. How on earth can you stay exactly who you are, but at the same time reinvent yourself?

And I'm sure if we could figure it out, we'd all be famous.

But I do think it's possible and I think we as artists need to strive for that if we want to keep being able to produce books that people want to read.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Technology: your best friend and your worst enemy

Tip of the Day: for all of you social networking fans, there's a newer site called Riffle that Publisher's Weekly has called "the Pinterest of book discovery." Tara Lazar did a good summary post about it here.

This weekend my power was out for almost a full four days, thanks to the storms that passed through the area. Luckily, I already had an extended weekend trip planned, so I missed most of it and it didn't effect me much. But the one day I was home, it was a good reminder of how dependent I am on electricity.

So much so that's it's slightly frightening.Without my iPhone I might have gone crazy with no access to the Internet or email.

Every time we experience a blackout I can't help but think of the book Life As We Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, partially because while reading the post apocalyptic book we ironically suffered a blackout in my town and the last half was read using a flashlight in the pitch dark. Every time this happens my mind starts to wonder what life would be like if we were faced with these conditions or at the very least we had no power for an extended period of time.

If I had no power, I have no clue how I could continue writing my novels.

I don't think I could write long hand. I've heard many people speak of the wonders of writing this way, but it isn't for me. I despise writing anything of length with a pen or pencil. Mostly because after two sentences my hand feels like it will fall off. Though typing with the same hand does not effect me that way.

So I suppose if I was without power, I'd have to find an old typewriter. Or I guess maybe just resort to composing stories in my head and be content with sharing those instead of writing them down.

What about you? If you were without power for an extended time, do you think you'd still need to write in some capacity?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Am I anything like an Olympic Athlete?

Tip of the Day: if you are an avid gymnastics fan--like me--don't miss the upcoming Olympic trials this week!

It's not even July yet, but I already have London fever and have been watching a few of the Olympic trials.

What strikes me is how long many of them have been training for the Olympics.

Now it's pretty obvious if you want to be an Olympic athlete you are going to have to practice hours a day and start your sport from birth.

But I've already watched a few diving and swimming athletes that have been waiting four years for one more shot. Maybe they lost the last Olympic team by 0.2 seconds (or whatever). Four years is a long time to wait to see if you've improved by that 0.2 seconds (or now it might be a minute, since everyone else has improved around you too) to be fast enough to make the new team.

Four years is a long time to prove yourself.

Luckily for us writers, even if we get rejected on one book, we don't have to wait four more years to see if another agent will pick up the book or even to submit another book.

However, sometimes it feels like it.

There's been multiple occasions when I've almost said out loud something to the effect of, "I honestly have to write a whole other book to see if that one will be the one that gets published?"

I'm not a speedy writer by any means. I've tried to practice every other writer's advice to start working on the next book, even before I stop shopping the current book. But still, there are occasions when it feels really daunting to come to terms with setting aside one book (or dream) and focus on a completely new book to realize the same dream. And the time and effort put into the new book often feels like an eternity (especially during those times of horrible writer's block). I'd imagine it's somewhat how these aspiring Olympic athletes feel: they had one shot to make the team and lost out. Now they have to focus their energy on the next task where they can realize their dream.


Not that getting an agent or a book deal is the end all of my writing career. It would be just the beginning. But there are days when it feels like that validation of receiving that honor would make all the hard work worth it. Being in limbo is hard to deal with at times. You don't know if you are a good enough writer or if you are just wasting your time. And you don't really know what to fully expect when that book deal does come around.

I'm just lucky we get more than one shot at making the dream a reality, unlike many of these athletes. Thank goodness.

Let's just hope it doesn't feel like another four years until I finish the next book and start submitting it.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Things I'm liking (or a completely random post about nothing)

Tip of the Day: sometimes a list of things you like is a nice reminder of all the awesomeness in the world. It should also come as no surprise then that oddly the only song I probably know the complete "real" words for is "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music.

This week has already been really LOOOONNNNGGGG, so the only thing my brain will let me focus on writing about at this moment in time are things I'm liking right now. 

1.) Iced Fruit Punch--I'm obsessed with this drink right now that I found from Country Living. Basically, you just freeze fruit punch in an ice cube tray and mix with half ginger ale and half seltzer water. Yum.

2.) Stuffed Animal Sleepovers--we had a fun one staging stuffed animals for a sleepover at the library this evening. They got to play tug-of-war, competed in an obstacle course, robe climbed up our tree-shaped coat hangers, had pizza, and of course read books (among many other things). It's always fun to act like a kid on occasion. Isn't that why a lot of us love to write middle grade and teen books, to think like our old selves?

3.) That there will be a new Heather Wells mystery book. Even though it's an adult book, this is one of my favorite Meg Cabot series and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Now if only July 10th would get here sooner!

4.) The coolest pop (or soda for all your Southerns) machine EVVVEEERRR. Pop machines must be completely off my radar, because I had never seen one of these until I stepped into a Burger King in a neighboring city. And now I'm in love with the fact I could get Orange Coke if I wanted to! This takes the idea of mixing drinks that we used to love to do as kids to a whole new level.

5.) Taking a writing break!!! Sometimes it's hard to admit it, but taking a break from writing every now and then can be lots of fun. And just want I needed. After relaxing my Writing Brain, I'm even more motivated and excited to get back to several book projects next week (or possibly the week after that).

Is it odd that two of my five favorite things at this moment are drink related? Or that several of them have me wanting to be a kid again? Hmmmm....something to ponder as I take a brief break from writing.

Which also brings me to the fun idea, of how wonderful would it be to keep just a random journal of five things you are liking at that moment in time? It would be pretty interesting to be able to step back into time and relive my amazing love for slap bracelets, roller skating parties, the game MASH, and so much more. If only I'd thought of this 20 years ago. Maybe that should be my Tip of the Day for all our younger blog readers: think about making a journal of your favorite things. When you are older, you'll totally want to read it!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Library Programs for Authors

Tip of the Day: don't forget about your library's Summer Reading Programs. You might get some fun prizes just for reading!

Summertime is always a busy programming time at my library, and since I book a lot of authors and other performers for my library, I thought it might be helpful to go over some program suggestions if you are looking to make extra money as an author.

Not every program as an author has to be about selling books. Sometimes you can just earn extra money doing school visits or library programs. Most libraries have Friends groups that help provide thousands of dollars worth of programming for their local communities.

I think many authors have this assumption that they can't make money doing library programs and from my experience that couldn't be further from the truth.

Here are some of my tips if you are interested in pursuing this further:

1.) Make all your marketing materials professional looking and don't be afraid to send libraries a sheet of the programs you offer or even an email. We get them ALL the time and are used to it. The more professional they look, the better. You are competing for programming funds against magicians, singers, jugglers, etc. that travel around to libraries for a living. Some of them do up to 200 shows a year and are used to marketing heavily to libraries. It's a much bigger business than I think a lot of people are aware of.

2.) Just because you are an author, doesn't mean you only have to offer programs about writing. If you are comfortable branching out, you might be able to get more of an audience. Do you have something interesting about your book? Maybe it's a book on cupcakes, could you offer a tea and cupcake party with an author program? Or if your book has a singing component, you could actually perform if you are able. The added bonus that you are an author will help sell it, but the more interesting the program the more likely you are to have libraries want to bring you in. Which brings me to...

3.) Give all of your programs a clever name (having more than one-type of program is nice too) and make sure you give prices. If I have a clever name to sell it to my patrons then I'm more interested. And I don't want to waste my time emailing someone or calling them to get their price information, only to find out they are way out of my budget. If you want to work with people, you can always put in your materials that you are willing to work with schools or libraries that might be more financially strapped. But be realistic about how much you charge too and you are likely to book more libraries.

4.) Even if you write books for teenagers, it doesn't mean you might not have a cool program  you can give for kids. Kids are by far the largest audience in libraries. Even though this would be awesome to change, it still remains a fact that most librarians will spend more money on children's programs because they bring in many more people than other programs. So if you can gear anything to kids, even a hands-on kid friendly writing program or something like that, it will help. Just think big, broad, and creative.

5.) Try not to charge mileage if you can. Work it into your price, so we can just pay you a lump sum. If you have to limit that to a certain radius of where you live, then that's fine. But if you can work it out to do several library visits at once, then try that, so that way everyone benefits. Libraries are used to working with authors or performers on getting discounts by setting up programs on the same day or a day apart.

If you are curious how much authors charge, you should be able to find sheets like this online. But I will say on average, in my area (the Midwest) most authors charge between $200-$400 for an hour program. For some authors I would pay that, but for others I won't. Now for New York Times best selling authors, it's more like the top end of that and higher just for a Skype visit. There are also many local authors that will do library programs for free. And to be honest, I usually feel more secure when I'm paying even a small amount to an author. On top of that, our Friends group usually sells books for the authors too or some of them do take care of that, depending on what type of books they are.

School visits are usually far more money than that, but then you do three to four times the programs in one day.

For some people this is enough for them to plan programs. For others they would much rather be writing. But if you want to be a full-time author, just don't forget there are other options out there to supplement book sales. And libraries are always open to the possibilities of authors doing programs. But if I don't know you offer library programs, the chances are pretty good that I'm not going to go to your website or look you up to double check. So if you want to do this, you need to market directly to libraries. I would say on average, I get between 50-75 mailers, phone calls, or emails a year related to those that offer library programs (that is not including all the talk on list-serves from other librarians on programs they have liked...it's just cold calls or mailings). So I'm used to people trying to sell their stuff and don't mind at all.


So do any of you do library visits? Or school visits?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Please give me a laugh...

Tip of the Day: want to try some fun, summer drinks? Check out this list of 60 delicious looking beverages on Martha Stewart's website.

You know how sometimes you have those weeks when you have to double check every five seconds to make sure it truly is Monday and not really Friday? Yeah, it's been one of those weeks already.

All I need today is a laugh.

So please let me know the funniest book you've read lately in the comments. I need to get my hands on it.

Anything along these lines will do!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

What makes a Book Star (or how can you be The Hunger Game too)

Tip of the Day: did anyone else keep thinking it was Monday today? Which is why I'm posting a bit late. Let this be a lesson that you should always get your stuff done ahead of time. Now if I could only apply my "tip" to myself, I'd be all set :) 

After watching America's Got Talent this evening (yes, I know I watch way too much TV and reality TV and talk about it on this blog more than any normal person should, but oh well...that's life), Sharon Osbourne made a comment to a 6-year old performer (or more specifically a 3+2 child) that for some reason has stuck with me this evening. It was something to the effect of: "very few people in life have star quality--and you have it."

This got me thinking about books in general and what makes a book a "star." There's so many amazing books out there, but not all of them can have "star" sales like Twilight, The Hunger Games, or even Fifty Shades of Grey :) So what makes these books stars in the public's eyes (and pocket books)?

Obviously a push from the publisher helps. But what else makes a book a star? Here are some of my thoughts:

Neat, literal book star from www.quietfiredesign.com

• You need a killer title! Enough said. Would The Hunger Games have caught on nearly as much as it did if the title was something as simple as District 12? Maybe, but it doesn't command your attention as much. At least not mine.
  
  
• You need a cool concept. And even more, you need a cool concept that can be summarized in one sentence, or better yet the title. Even though people say there aren't any new concepts, there are still ways to make a story stand out with a simple, yet intriguing concept. 
  
  All of the above titles I mentioned can be summarized in less then a sentence. Even just "YA vampire love" gets across the concept of Twilight. Though there are many vampire love stories out there now and I'm sure there were several at the time Twilight came out, so I guess we could expand it a bit to just be "teen girl falls in love with a hot, sparkly vampire." Which gets your attention if you like love stories. If you like adventure, then a story about "a televised competition to the death" pretty much makes you sit up and pay attention. And if you like "adult" romances, then you know the book for you. Though I do think Fifty Shades of Grey is a bit vague of a title, however, I'm sure that was probably done on purpose, in this case.
  
  
• Then it needs to sparkle enough with the writing, characters, and plot, so that people start talking about it. And if the above two apply it makes it "very" easy for people to start talking and spreading the word, because they have a simple concept to relay with a unique twist, and a cool title that summarizes it all and makes it easy for the next person to pass the info along in a large game of "book telephone." And then, bam, before you know it the book is mentioned on every single show from The View, Saturday Night Live, and everything in between.
  
  
  So basically, also like Sharon mentioned, to be a "star" you obviously need to have some talent, but much of it is being able to move people and get them talking about you, or in this case "the book."
  
  
  --Emily, Miss Querylicious