Butterflies and Feathers-YA signs

I love signs and reading into them. Synchronicity of life awakens when you pay attention to them. Animal Wise by Ted Andrews is my main reference book. It gives the behavior of various animals, birds, bugs and sea life and what they mean/symbolize. While snorkeling last week, I observed for the first time a moray eel disappearing into the sea grass. Moray eels form symbiotic relationships with certain kinds of shrimp. The eel swimming into my life may mean an unusual symbiotic relationship is on the horizon and like the eel, I must be observant to recognize this opportunity. I'll let you know how that unfolds.

Butterflies and feathers were the signs that the protagonist paid attention to in these novels that I meant to blog about awhile ago. Love in the Time of Global Warming by Frances Lia Block has Penelope's decisions confirmed by the presence of butterflies. After an earthquake and tsunami hits southern California, leaving Penelope alone in her waterlogged house, a butterfly(transformation) leads her on a Homer influenced odyssey. I loved the characters she hooked up with a long the way and the relationship that evolved with the transsexual. But the giants and antagonist added a sci-fi/super hero-villain vibe that I couldn't connect to. The biological father revealed, fell short. "I am your father," might as well be a Star Wars copy right. Because of the well-defined characters and relationships and signs, I'd definitely read the sequel, if there's one.

The feather was a sign that kept reappearing for Cameron in Going Bovine by Libba Bray. This YA has one of the best first lines I've read. I'll admit it took me several pages before I realized Cameron was a boy, probably because he uses so many words.Women use twice as many words than men do. (something I learned late in life ). Besides the brilliant first line, I loved the irony. The fast food joint that Cameron works at, a Buddha Burger in Texas, had me laughing. Cameron is diagnosed with mad cow disease and so, the odyssey here, begins. It's basically Wizard of Oz goes YA complete with teen angst and sarcasm with a punk rock angel to soften the edges. Libba is an amazing weaver of story. At this point, Going Bovine is YA classic- a must read.

Remember: when you follow the signs, like Penelope, Cameron and me, magic happens.

Sea of Agents-Part II

I should have posted this yesterday, but I decided my hands needed a break; Saturday was a no-computer day. This other opportunity is coming up fast to have a chance of landing an agent."Miss Snark's First Victim" is a writer's blog; the bloggerette (feminine for blogger :) goes by Authoress. Through her love and devotion to writing and fellow writers, she has created an awesome community. The Baker's Dozen is a contest she has ran for the past two years, and I'm experiencing it for the first time. For the contest, you submit your pitch/logline and your first 250 words from a completed work. Wait a minute, there's an end to revisions? Then she and a fellow author read over the submissions and choose 35 winners in the YA/MG category out of 300. There's also a NA/Adult category this year. The winners are posted for twenty-two agents to bid on. You may end up getting a request for a partial or full manuscript, and perhaps, land an agent.

In the month leading up to the contest, Authoress has posted success stories, the list of agents, authors and editors involved, and she has ran three rounds of logline critiques. The last round, my logline was randomly picked. Yes, it was exciting! Holly Bodger, a published YA author, critiqued it along with a few fellow writers. It was helpful and I spent two days in rewrites/edits. I highly recommend becoming a follower of Miss Snark's First Victim. Click on the Baker's Dozen Guidelines, and read everything before entering the contest. It starts this week and for a nominal fee of $15, it's way worth a try!

In the sea of agents, we must swim through various waterways to increase our chances of catching the right one.

Sea of Agents

In a sea of agents, swimming up to the right one is a challenge. Thanks to SCBWI, it can be easier. Earlier this month I attended the OC SCBWI Agents Day where I got to hear Lori Kilkelly of the Rodeen Literary Management, Sean McCarthy of the Sean McCarthy Agency, Christa Heschke of McIntosh and Otis Inc., and Charlie Olsen of Inkwell Management speak about his/her agency, the business, what they're looking for, and writing topics i.e. the beloved query. And I was lucky to have my name picked to lunch with Christa Heschke along with four other attendees. From listening to their presentations and speaking with most of them one on one, I got a sense of which ones to submit my work to.
Rule of thumb: Do not judge on presentation/lecture alone. Some agents aren't good speakers, and why should they be? They spend most of their time on the phone and computer. Get over your shyness, introduce yourself, and talk to them; note: it doesn't have to be about writing. Through the stormy sea of agents, a rainbow eventually shines above. I'll be posting other agent opportunities soon like tomorrow : )

Power Revision Breakfast ; )

Dove back into my revisions last Sunday with my power breakfast. It's been years since I've had our local, infamous Heidelberg cinnamon roll and it was better than I remembered. I also thought I'd advertise the awesome coffee I buy at Trader Joe's. "This ultra dark roast coffee has a full body that is complimented by medium acidity and dark chocolaty sweet overtones." This pitch left me wanting more, how about you? I admit I'm a coffee snob. I'm still powering through revisions-amazing how one cinnamon roll can keep you going for days! ; )

Reading distracts from Revising, or Does It?

Skipped September, so make-up blog time for October. These are my feet and yes I often read, daydream and receive inspiration here on this hammock in my backyard. My latest two MG book reads starred a squirrel in one, and two raccoons in the other(star status is reserved for talking/thinking animals and bugs only). Flora & Ulysses...The Illuminated Adventures, by Kate DiCamillo combines a graphic novel and novel in one-brilliant! I adored all her quirky characters, especially the labeled cynic, Flora and the "unassuming" squirrel, Ulysses. I wonder how many fourth graders had to Google the word "cynic." Congrats to Kate DiCamillo for receiving 2014 Newberry Award for this fun and touching novel.
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt had quite a few animal characters, but the true stars were the scouts-two raccoon brothers, Bingo and J'miah. And who couldn't love Chap Brayburn? A twelve year-old boy devoted to his mother's sugar pie business and the the swampland who struggles becoming a man after losing his grandfather. It's bitter-sweet like coffee and fried sugar pies. I was pleasantly surprised by the "save the environment" theme which is one of my themes in my book that came to me eight years ago. Until about two years ago, it was a rare find to come across an MG with this theme. I'm happy to see this niche in the market growing and having Kathi Appelt, a Newberry Honor award author to be a part of it, is awesome! Though I'm not a fan of a narrator being a character, this one did set a nice tone and rhythm. I definitely would have edited some of the details on the Desoto and instead, a point of view might of been fun. I did enjoy reading the several points of view that was in this book. Both of these MGs are a must read.
As for my question, yes, the reading did take time away from writing, but what I learned fueled my revisions. Stay tune for my latest YA reads.

WriteOnCon 2014-Addictive

The past two days was the WriteOnCon annual FREE online conference and it rocked. I was addicted-up late reading,watching and posting since my work interfered with me seeing and reading some of the events live. Elana Johnson and all the organizers truly blow me way. I wish I had more time to prepare, and gotten my butt on twitter. I hope to brave that next week and be ready next year.

YA writers pitched on twitter, 140 characters, and I watched the reactions of the Spencer Hill Press Gals- Patricia Riley-managing editor, Danielle Ellison-senior editor, and Asja Parrish-senior editor on the Writeoncon site. You got to see what they're a sucker for, learn what they're looking and not looking for, and most important, experience they're enthusiasm. It was insightful and fun to watch. And there were a lot of requests for full manuscripts! The Forum is a great opportunity to connect with other writers, post your work & receive critiques, and possibly get noticed by a "ninja" agent or editor. Though late on the draw, I posted my MG, The Firefly Field, which was a technical feat after several attempts, ye! The forum will remain up for few days which I'll be revisiting after I jump in the ocean : )

Sub-Mission Accomplished

It was late night, Thursday, deadline pulsating like a neon sign in a window of diner. It read open. Time was still on my side. I hit send at exactly 8:50pm; Sub-Mission accomplished with the ultimate weapon, a typewriter gun. This process will never mess with me again. You too, can arm yourself. Available at LGOCA. Artist: Eric Nadeau.