New Blog Site

My new blog is up and running.  I will be personalizing it more as time goes on.  It's a work in progress.  However, I think in the long run it will be a better place for me and my writing journey.

www.tinarazz.wordpress.com

WordPress (?)

So, I'm thinking of switching to WordPress for my blogging and webtacular adventures.  It seems more...professional?  It's a pain though.  I signed up for the site a couple of months ago, but there are so many decisions to be made:  What the title should be?  The (specific) content).  Taking the time to learn the site and it's features.  Ugh.  There are so many other things I should be doing.
1.  Writing a Pitch for my novel.
2.  Fervently editing said novel. 
3.  Getting serious about the title (Yes, it does have a title.  In fact, it has had a few working titles)
4.  FRG training (no that has nothing to do with this novel, but it is something I should be doing)
5.  Vacuuming (I said I would, I should.)
6.  Other things even less exciting.

I am open to ideas, thoughts, and comments.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

So . . . Amazon has a contest where they publish unpublished novels.  Great!

Just like in the real world, one must submit a pitch, excerpt, and full manuscript.  If the novel is liked by all it gets published!

Unlike the real world, the whole process is rather quick.  There is no contract negotiation if you win (ie you get what they offer or nothing).  It is possible to receive a review, even if your story doesn't win.  Oh and there is voting and reviewing by the people.  Again . . .

Is this something I want to do?  Yes and No.  Resounding no.  But yes.  Yes?  Yes.

I don't know.  This novel has been rejected by three agents.  They are not publishers though.  Nor are they my "fans".  Like those exist yet.  Other than my fantastic family and friends who voted so fervently for me in the America's Next Author Competition.  Can we do this again?  We can try.  Maybe.

The whole deal has to be submitted by January 27, 2013.  I guess I will be combing through it again.  I haven't looked at it, in a while.  Maybe the distance will help me see anything that I must tweak.

Brave face.  Go write a pitch.  Get the excerpt together.  Polish the manuscript.  Enter contest.  Breath.  Hold it together.  Here goes nothing . . . again.

Sorry I left you hanging . . .

My realization was that the FREE online courses I signed up for on Coursera begin in a couple of weeks.  Sadly there are no writing classes.  However, the two I am enrolled in will directly impact my writing.  The first is "Science from Superheros to Global Warming".  The second is "Fantasy and Science Fiction:  The Human Mind, Our Modern World".  Yes, I have taken science classes and Science Fiction and Fantasy classes.  However, the science class is stated to focus on what is "good science" in relation to things such as superheros, movies, and real world issues.  The SF&F class tackles a few stories I have read, but many more I have not.  Both classes are lead by real professors from top notch colleges.  Oddly, I get more done, when I have a lot going on.  So, here's to more reading, more writing, and more learning! 

If you are interested in free college level online classes check out:  http://www.coursera.org/ 

All the hope for a happy new year-

Dashed.  No it's really not that bad.  Just irked that the first day of mail delivery of 2013, I get a rejection letter.  Not only did it take forever to arrive, since I sent the queries out in August (yes I know up to 6 months response time and agents are super busy reading shit they will reject).  Must be exhausting.  However, this is the most disappointing rejection letter to date.  Here it is, in all it's brevity:

Dear Author:  Yup, August to end of December, and he couldn't even stick my name in there.

Thank you for your letter. You're most welcome.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel I'd be the right agent for your work.  Would it kill you to tell me why?

Best wishes for finding a good agent and publisher.  Thank you.  It's beginning to look like I'll need it.

Cordially,  Now you're trying to make your obviously photo copied rejection letter unique?

Agent signature  The reason it's obvious photo copied.

Agent name printed

***

Well there you have it.  I don't even have a lot of sarcasm for it, because it doesn't say much.  Now I'm only waiting on one more.  I'm not holding my breath though.  It was an email query.

More news tomorrow.  I came to an awesome realization last night!  You must wait to hear what it was.  :)  See ya tomorrow.

Welcome 2013!

Quick 2012 overview:  I finished my first novel and began my second, got my first novel rejected twice and ignored twice, entered a few contests (didn't win any), had my story in the very public America's Next Author competition and had some really good moments, participated (and did not win) NaNoWriMo and actually began a third novel.  I do have feelings about all of that, most of which is documented elsewhere in this blog, so there is no need to go back through it.  I learned a lot and have a long way to go.

Welcome 2013!  What is ahead:  buckling down and finishing the sequel to novel number 1, participate in a local start up writers group, re-read/edit novel number 1, find a new list of agents to query, revamp query, send out said query, writer more short stories, submit said stories to lit mags, work on gaining a better presence on social media/this very blog, publish something in 2013!  Sounds like a busy year to me.

I'll update soon.  Once I reorganize from our holiday trip and remove the Christmas decor from my house.

America's Next Author - In Review

Overall:  Good -- I put my writing out there.  That's the hardest thing for me.  I'm so afraid of rejection (which being a writer, one must expect and embrace).  Understanding and acceptance of this fact are two very different things.

Not only did people see my writing, but I went out to several local (and not so local) businesses and talked to people.  Another thing I'm not so strong at.  (One reason I wanted to write when I was young).  I now see my faulty thinking in that.  Of course, when I am actually writing, I do not need to interact with people.  However, if I want people to read my stuff, I now know I do - and a lot.

Next I need to send out some serious thanks!  First to my husband, Rob, who I sent to work with instructions to make everyone he worked with read my story and vote.  I could not have done this well without him.  Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story.  Your input will help me become a better writer.  Thank you to everyone who voted, shared, tweeted, and asked friends to vote too!

Complaints:
-My biggest complaint about the competition is I am still not sure how the votes were tabulated.  I know they stated the reason being for that is that no one could cheat.  However, it would have at least been helpful to see how many quick votes everyone had.  I am guessing this had the biggest effect and in the weeks where I was in the top 20, I think being able to say "I am 50 votes behind number one" would have helped reach more readers.  Just a thought.
-I also did not like that the voting started a new every week, but it didn't seem to in all respects.  I guess I just wished that I had understood the voting system better.

What next?  Well I am going to read, vote, and review all of the finalists starting Wednesday.  I would like to read what I lost against and help (who I feel to be) the best writer win.  I encourage anyone who reads this to do the same.

Next next?  I will go back to the novel I was writing before NaNoWriMo.  No I didn't even come close to winning.  However, I do like where my NaNo novel was going, and I suspect that I will finish that some day too.

Reaction to Reviews

The America's Next Author contest is coming to a close with this week as the last to secure a nomination or wild card spot (however one get's that).  I have gotten mostly positive feedback, which makes me feel amazing and sends me smiling ear to ear, especially if someone gives specific positive feedback.  Negative feedback on the other hand sends waves of irritation streaming through my blood.  There were only a couple that were negative, and after being in multiple creative writing workshops in my life, I have the innate need to defend my work.  I've been letting this simmer for a couple of weeks now and I think it's time to share.

1.  I proof read this piece over and over again.  If there is a misspelled/misused word, incorrect punctuation, or something else, I obviously missed it.  I'm sorry.  No one is perfect.  If it bothers you or you want to help me improve my writing, please email me at tinarazz@yahoo.com and tell me where the errors are, I will be happy to fix them.  I too, have not earned a single penny from writing and cannot afford to pay someone to edit my work.

2.  This is NOT part of some larger story.  I have had many people say that they would like, "more".  There is no more.  I also do not feel that it ended abruptly, 911 was obviously called, the little boy was secluded from everyone else, and we find out he likes fire trucks.  Does it really matter where the knife hit the clown, how serious his injuries were, if he is alive?

3.  I too, have worked with individuals who have autism.  I am sorry if this specific story upsets anyone.  This is one, FICTIONAL, character.  He in no way represents anyone I have ever known or heard of.  I did not set out to scare anyone, but rather illustrate how misunderstood he is by the people around him, including his parents.  There are many people who are misunderstood in the world.  I just wanted the opportunity to get inside this particular character's head.

Well that just about covers it.  I miss the ability to have the dialog with my readers.  I appreciate feedback.  It means someone cared.

Day 6

It's day six and I am working hard on earning my NaNo merit badges.  Today I earned my procrastination badge by cleaning instead of writing.  This was a bad choice because then the dog brought in dirt on my newly cleaned floor.  Worth it?  That's debatable.  However, I did end up writing my daily goal.





I am also officially working on promoting my story, "Counting Blows" in the America's Next Author Competition.  If you read this blog post:  please read my story, vote, review, tweet, like on Facebook and ask others to do the same.  Thanks!

http://www.ebookmall.com/author/tina-morris

NaNoWriMo - Day 5

I've written over my goal 4 of 5 days and not written at all one day.  I did not write a lot over my goal, but if I sat down to write, I made the daily goal mark.  Today I went to Panera to write.  Coffee with free refills?  I'll take it.  Not to mention that I earned (by spending too much money at Panera) a free espresso drink!  So, score on that, looks like I'll go pick that up and write more later this week.

In other NaNo news, I am super stoked for the Rolla Write-in at the Rolla Public Library this Saturday!  I'm hoping to catch up on the day I missed, and get ahead.  It's from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.  I should well exceed my daily goal, with ease.  It generally only takes about an hour to get to my daily goal.

Also, I am really liking Scrivner.  I specifically like the count up to daily word goal and color changing graph. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something as I go.  When I "win" NaNoWriMo, I will use my coupon from them to buy this product.  I love it!  A little motivation goes a long way for me.

America's Next Author Update:  I have taken the week off and am sitting somewhere in the 70's.  Promotion is hard, and exhausting.  I will push again next week; I think.  I just needed a week to not pour my heart and soul into it.  So if you read this, please prepare now to help me get to number one next week.  How?  Idk Mentally is fine.

Daylight saving time:  I hate it.  Almost dark at 5pm.  I'm going to have to start waking up earlier to take in as much daylight as possible. :( boo

Lessons

Ya win some.  Ya lose some.  But if you look at it through the door, between the cracks, squinting just right, you will learn something about yourself and about life.  I'm talking about specifically, all of the new writing journeys that I have been, and will continue to explore.  It's not an easy road.  I never believed it would be.  It's too early for a yearly re-cap (that will come in December).  But with October ending, and November beginning it only seems apropos to reflect and look ahead.

October started the America's Next Author contest.  I have done well, and it's not over, but I'm exhausted, both emotionally and resourcefully.  All of my friends, and their friends, to the best of their abilities have voted, shared, reviewed, FB liked and the rest.  I have printed flyers, talked to businesses, talked to people, joined craigslist, tweeted, written more than a few too many FB posts and emails.  Everyone has been great to me.  My highest place so far is 4th of 285!  Which made me feel like a million bucks.  No, I'm not giving up, but I know better than to put all of my eggs in one basket, and too much of my heart, soul, and efforts this month have been in that contest.  So, I'm going to stop worrying.  Stop looking at my page every day.  And start something new.

November starts National Novel Writer's Month.  I've got the t-shirt.  I've got the merit-badge buttons.  I've got Scrivener.  I've got a playlist (which still needs to be synced with my ipod).  I've got a region (well I'm hovering in between two).  Springfield is closest, but it's still over an hour away, so I've joined the Missouri: elsewhere also (hoping to find activities closer).  And I did!  There will be a write-in in Rolla, which I will be excitedly (nervously- it's me) attending.  I also hope to get to a write-in in Springfield, though being out of town a week (including two weekends) hinders that a bit.  I hope this will help teach me discipline  and just what it takes to pump out a novel like the pro's.

So here goes nothing.  Keep voting/sharing.  Keep writing.  Keep dreaming.

My heart is melting

In a good way.  Today when the ranks updated, I found I had climbed to 8th place!  I have gotten support from people who I adore and my face continues to redden as I type this.  I keep having to bring myself down to reality in order to keep focused at the task at hand:  promotion, promotion, promotion!  I shudder to think what my physiological reaction will be the day I get an agent or (gasp) a novel signed with a publisher.  Thanks for making my day!

Promotion

Today is a good day!  I woke up to find that I am currently ranked 4 of 285 in the America's Next Writer Competition.  It's only because I have the support of some awesome people that this is the case.  Thank you all.  Because I know that you all are trying to help me, I have re-made (as a picture so blogger would insert it onto this page) my vote for Tina sign.  I am asking anyone who is willing, to print off a couple (quick print is fine with me - it's how I save  ink) and hang them up.  I've placed a few at the local Panera Bread.  I am also thinking of heading out to my local library to ask them.  Other ideas:  If you work some place you could hang it there.  If you teach, hang it in your classroom.  If you are in a class, ask your teacher to hang it.  If you go to a coffee shop, book store, library, car mechanic(?) ask if you can hang it up.  My only request, is that you have permission to do so.  Tell them a little bit about the contest and me.  I appreciate any and all help you can give.  

''

Prepping & Moving Up

Prepping:
No, I'm not a doomsday prepper.  I do like to watch the show sometimes and then I contemplate the fact that maybe I should be more prepared. For what?  Armageddon, end of the Mayan Calendar, tornados (more realistic here is Misery - I mean, Missouri), Nuclear War, whatever might come up.   Anyway, I haven not been doing that.  I have been continuing to prep for National Novel Writer's Month (NaNoWriMo).  Today, on my regional forum (the location of which is debatable because of my distance to anywhere) I found "Writing Tools".  Within this post is a program called Scrivener, and there is a free trial specially for people participating in NaNoWriMo.  I have downloaded it and gone through the tutorial.  I am going to set it up on my mini laptop and see if I can become comfortable enough with it to use for the month.  (both the program and my mini laptop).  It's the perfect size to throw in a bag and carry along with me -the laptop.  I am also coming along on my playlist.  I am close to 80 songs.  I am hoping once I get to an "end", that I will be able to group them by idea/topic/theme/tone and put them into Scrivener somehow (at least the lists).  We'll see.  I'm also hoping I can do the same with my NaNoWriMo pinterest board.  Again, we'll see.

Moving Up:
I am now in 17th place in the America's Next Author Competition!  That means that my face shows up on the first page of author rankings!  If it sounds conceited, fine, but that's not why I'm so excited.  For one, I have awesome friends who are voting and sharing and tweeting, and being awesome.  For two, now, more people than ever will see it and may stumble upon it, because in theory, it's one of the best -I mean it's on the first page!  So thank you friends!

Update

My confusion about the America's Next Author contest has been resolved.  I sent a message and asked how my ranking feel so fast and promptly got a response stating that after a couple days, the ranking should sort itself out - and it has.  I did drop a few spots - I'm not in 28th.  However, we can bounce back from that!  Share my cause with everyone you know!

A little bit of this

and that.

1.  The America's Next Author contest is confusing me.  I went from 24th to 129th place overnight.  I have no idea how to bounce back.  I thought once the ranking reset, people could vote again, but this is not the case.  Personally, I think the votes should be cumulative if people cannot vote every week.  It was my understanding that they could.  So, I'm frustrated and I'm sure I am  not the only one.

2.  Besides my frustration, I'm happy with all of the positive commentary on my story.  I appreciate my friends and their friends for all of the support.  Win, lose, or somewhere oddly in between, my confidence is growing and I'm excited to continue to work on new things.

3.  NaNoWriMo Playlist:  It's coming along nicely.  I keep adding new songs to it daily and once I am done, I will try to put them in a useful order.  I'm excited for this story because the character is unique and I look forward to the dark side of this novel.

4.  I've been thinking about making "Counting Blows" a longer piece.  It makes me nervous because now that people like it, I don't want to upset anyone with how he turns out.  I like the quirky, wondrous nature of little Steven and of the story.  I will continue to think on this for all of my (dare I say it) fans.

5.  I still haven't heard anything from two of the agents I sent my novel to.  The first two rejections came quickly.  This waiting is daunting.

6.  Book two is in a good place.  Well, it's been at a standstill of sorts while I try to promote "Counting Blows" and get ready for NaNoWriMo.  However, when I'm ready to jump back at it, which I'm guessing will be after the new year, it will be in a good place to go.

7.  Completely random:  I need a haircut and the shirt I put on this morning is fading colors in random spots.

Putting Myself Out There

A few days ago, I called upon my High School graduating class to vote for my story in the America's Next Author contest.  Then today I asked my whole town, both via Facebook.  Since the contest is a social media contest, I am trying to find my votes through social media.  I know that in order to get a nomination, I will have to reach farther and wider.  Self promotion is not something I have ever thought too much of before.  It's a new concept to me, but honestly it's going really well.  I have had a lot of positive reception to my story and it's helping me push my comfort zone.  I believe this competition is prepping me for my future because I'm beginning to realize that when the time comes to publish a novel, I will have to self promote.  In fact, even something like trying to get an agent requires a level of self promotion.  So while today is Sunday and #SubmissionSunday isn't happening in the traditional sense perhaps, I am basically submitting my story to a variety of individuals hoping many will like it and vote.

NaNoWriMo Playlist

So today I've been working on a list of songs to help me get into the mood for different parts of my novel for November.  This will be in place of an outline.  I have the artist, song, and a description of what might happen.  It's all out of order right now.  I already have about 40 songs and I am not half done; I'm sure.  I will try to post the total list before November.  If I don't, I probably won't happen.

. . .and we're off!

Off to quite a start in the America's Next Author competition, that is.  Earlier today, I posted on Facebook that the voting was underway.  I have been working hard to get the word out.  I have never been very inclined to at promote myself, but this is something I really want.  I have a couple awesome people who have already left reviews and I greatly appreciate it.  I also know that some people have FB "liked"  my author page, which also counts towards my popularity (I mean "Counting Blows" popularity).  :)  I've already sent out a first wave of private messages and pleas to family members to read, vote, and share with everyone they know.  If you are reading this blog, please do the same.  I really would like to get to the point in the competition where people who don't know me have heard about me, are reading my story, and (fingers crossed) liking it.  I realize this is up to me, which is why in the middle of this post (right here in fact) I stopped writing and asked the people in my "local" NaNoWriMo group to read my story.  No fear.  No shame.  This is only the beginning 

Submission Sunday Success

Oh I love the alliteration of that title.

I submitted the SF story, that will be part of my second novel (in some way), once I get to writing that part of it.  It's called "First Jump" and I submitted it to the Pop Fiction Competition that Writer's Digest does.  Won't know anything about the outcome of that until the end of December.

America's Next Author starts next week.  Get pumped up!  I know I am!