Monday, July 5, 2010

Day 31: Kinda, Not Really, More Opinion

Still need to send out last three partials... What light through yonder window break? It is the east, and Stamps, thou art the sun!

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Summer's here and with that came Eclipse and another Twilight debate (You'd think these things would just go away but nooooo.... had to keep coming back.)

The newest debate over whether S Meyer's books are any good revolves around the issue of whether they contribute to society or not. While I am a fan of Ms. Meyer herself for opening up the literary world to many young women, some things just don't work for me.

Personally, I think they do, just not in a way I consider useful, but I'm only one person. They're very... carnal, as in appealing to the crudest of human sensations, a gateway for man's animal instincts. But contrary to what Ms. Meyer depicts, we young people are not all bundles of hormones waiting to be jumped.
No, we the modern youth still have our brains, logical senses, philosophies related to science, math, economics, history, and psychology. "[insert name here] is so hot" is not our only thought, and stalkers, however sparkly or vegetarian they may be, are still creepy.

Practical analysis:
Speaking from personal experience, I'd recently received a facebook message from a young man who a) is very good looking - sandy blond, blue eyes, tall, b) very communicative, c) drives a red convertable, d) just graduated from one of the nation's top universities and already has a job, e) athletic, and f) knows me through a few of my friends.
He started flirting, then admitted to facebook-stalking me, then finally hinted that he would be up to meet up sometimes and hang out. I told him no. Why? Is Blanche so full of herself that she can't see a good thing when it's right in front of her face? No... This -- and someone should really let Ms. Meyer know -- is what we, the youth of this generation, call "a creeper".

And Edward Cullen, I'm sorry to say, is... a creeper.

Now, my summer apartment on the second floor has a window looking in at my bed, and a tree next to said window. Though I admit to having a mad crush on a cutie at school, he would instantly become uncute if I ever found him outside my window, or anyone else's window. And if he then turned out to be a vampire, that would not make the window incident better, it would simply inspire all three of us who live here to transfer schools. I heard the deep south is accepting new sunburnt students...

So what could have improved the situation? Well, anything. Edward could have used the front door (that's what doors are for, right). He could have sent an email, or asked next time Bella saw him. Heck, if Ms. S. Meyer insists on using the window/tree combo, Edward would've been less creepy if he'd miscalculated his coordinates while skydiving and gotten stuck in the tree, and then after Bella found him, proceeded to ask her out.

Does anyone see my point?
Anyways, just a little rant for a little book that's creating lots of drama

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Day 30: Wow, it's been 30 entries...

So, newwise, I got another "no" on a partial =(. It was a romance agent who thought I needed more description... I added a little bit more, but since I'm not writing romance, I don't really care what their distinctive faces and bodies look like. I hope that's not going to be a huge factor in getting an agent...
Odd thing happened today. I got another partial request in my mail, but my box also told me I had spam. It turns out that I've had another partial request for some time; it just got sorted into spam for some reason... Feeling apologetic towards the agent =(

Material Status: ( so i figured I'd list everything I've had, and put an "x" next to the one no longer active)

Partial 1: x
Partial 2: x
Partial 3: 9 weeks (nudged)
Partial 4: 27 day
Partial 5: 18 days
Partial 6: 17 days
Partial 7: 13 days
Partial 8: x
Partial 9: not yet... stamps D:
Partial 10: prepping
Partial 11: prepping
Full 1: x
Full 2: x
Full 3: x
Full 4: 26 days
Full 5: x
Full 6: 15 days
Full 7: 14 day


Midterm tomorrow. My TA took off 3 pts out of a 10 pt assignment for an incorrectly written bibliography. Really not happy with her...
Now I have to go find out what the deal behind caffeine is. I'll say this... I was fond of coffee until I had to separate its elements. Hell must smell like Calcium Sulfate + 1-propanol + caffeine
Turned down a commission for a flash game =( No time...

Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 29: No Writer's House

Semi-personalized rejection from Writer's House. Complexing context, interesting character, overall no go. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the first chapters... Based on the comments, I don't think anyone's made it past chapter 14 yet... maybe the seeming-irrelevant-details-but-are-totally-clues-to-the-mystery's-solution need to be a bit more obvious.

I had a nagging thought yesterday after one of my... older friends (she's 35) read it and said that maybe my context is "too complex" for YA. I can't tell if she means I should try YA literary fiction or if I should put the book under Adult Mystery.
Either way, I hope it's not because she thinks teens and YA's aren't as smart as adults, because we very much are, thank you very much. Maybe not metaphysically, but logically, I'm pretty sure teens and adults have equally capacity...

Got another partial request. They want snail mailed partial. Need stamps... again. I think the bane of my existence is now stamps.

Good news: Lost my wallet the day before yesterday. Found it today. =)

Material Status:

Partial 1: 8 weeks (will nudge in a few days)
Partial 2: 21 day
Partial 3: 12 days
Partial 4: 11 days
Partial 5: 7 days
Partial 6: 7 days
Partial 7: not yet... stamps D:
Full 1: 20 days
Full 2: x
Full 3: 9 days
Full 4: 8 day

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 28: Waiting, TV and Homework

Loving the Gilmore Girls right now. Great source of stress relief.

Confession time: So I finally decided to query Writers House, and two weeks ago, I got a full manuscript request. It's been two weeks currently, and so far, I've heard nothing from them. Querytracker tells me that most people hear within 2 weeks, or if not, get either "revise and resubmit" or "so close but reject because the assistant quit on me".
I was pleased until five minutes ago, when I realized that they could have very well not received my email in the first place. My email was malfunctioning that day, I remember, as when I clicked "Save Draft" it told me "Message sent" (cue lots of screaming and cursing).
I really want Writers House, but I don't want to think about it anymore... Must watch more Gilmore Girls

Material Status:

Partial 1: 7 weeks (will nudge in 8 weeks)
Partial 2: 18 day
Partial 3: 9 days
Partial 4: 9 days
Partial 5: 4 days
Partial 6: 4 days
Full 1: 17 days
Full 2: 14 days
Full 3: 6 days
Full 4: 5 day

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Day 27: Back in school

Classes start tomorrow. Not sure if I'm suppose to have a roommate or not, but the apartment is empty for now. Got locked out yesterday because the manager didn't feel like coming to give me the key after I got off the plane. I ended up stranded outside, standing by myself for 30 minutes before a friend came to rescue me and feed me. Thank God for God and good friends.

Material Status:

Partial 1: 7 weeks (will nudge in 8 weeks)
Partial 2: 16 day
Partial 3: 7 days
Partial 4: 7 days
Partial 5: 2 days
Partial 6: 2 days
Full 1: 15 days
Full 2: 12 days
Full 3: 4 days
Full 4: 3 day

Dear Santa,

Please tell me somewhere in there is an agent who'd give me a change =(

Blanche

Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 26: Stamps again...

Why is the post office never open when I'm awake? Well, I'm fixing that today. I'm going to print and submit today for sure!

It's funny, as an artist, I use to worry about wasting paper all the time. I never used blank paper, or even new canvases. Everything was on the back of something (mostly homework) and my AP Art teacher even gave me all the old canvases people left behind (about 30-40). Heck, even the rough draft of my book was written on the back of old statistics and econ homework.


Material Status:

Partial 1: 6 weeks? (should probably nudge)
Partial 2: 14 day
Partial 3: 5 days
Partial 4: 5 days
Partial 5: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)
Partial 6: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)
Full 1: 13 day
Full 2: 10 days
Full 3: 2 days
Full 4: 1 day

Oh, and here's a painting I finished yesterday. The lighting's not great, but I thought I'd share.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 25: Requests

Oh boy... so I need stamps now, because the last two agents who requested partials want snail mail packages. I'm also a little broke, being a college student and all. My parents are lending me a little for the process, but they're not exactly literary people and would rather I spend my time studying science instead of writing.

I ran my plot and theme against a professor of mine, and she said that if my book as a intricate as what I told her, there shouldn't be any problems on getting it published. The problem, she said, was that agents may not see the theme initially unless I tell them, so I should revise my query to state my point more clearly.

So I sent more (revised) queries out yesterday, mostly because the wait is killing me, and two came back this morning: one for a partial, one for a full, both for a synopsis.

So far...

Status

Queries sent: 38
Query Rejections: 19
Material Requests: 14
Waiting on: 5