Strings On Me and a Children's Agent

Strings On Me

When Gep woke from the dream, he could still see the giant leviathan bearing down on him when he closed his eyes. He reached his hand over and felt the cold half of the bed. He wondered if, tonight, his wife was also dreaming of monsters.

He looked at his clock but it confused him. Time didn't make sense anymore. It had been three weeks since it happened. Two weeks since the funeral. One week since he'd found the empty pill bottle and taken his wife to the hospital to have her stomach drained. He didn't know when she would be back.

He could feel the waves of what had happened cresting inside of him, and he sat up in bed in an attempt to keep from drowning. It didn't help much, and he rocked back and forth until he was afraid he was going to rock himself to pieces, and he stood up and paced the floor and ended up in the hallway, walking past the bathroom, toward the door of the other bedroom that hadn't been opened in days.

Hadn't been opened in three weeks.

The dream was overwhelming him, and he knew he had to see the empty room with his own eyes or he might start going crazy. He pushed open the door.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating toys that hadn't been put away, and the small, empty wooden bed. It was as if the moon was mocking him. There were too many empty beds in this house.

What was it his son had said to him? In the dream? Maybe the dream was the first step toward madness, but he couldn't bare to let it slip away. His sternum ached like someone had hammered nails into it. It had for several days now.

Without really intending to, he lay himself across the pale blue sheets and settled his face into the pillow. It smelled of bubblegum toothpaste and M&Ms and the peculiar little boy dirt, and Gep knew that this smell would be what killed him.

In his dream he'd escaped the leviathan, holding the boy in his arms. He could still feel the wait of him. He could still feel the dent in the skull where the bumper had made contact.

When he finally began drifting off, the smell and moonlight pouring into him like chloroform, he heard an echo of the boys voice. "Papa," the dream had said. "Papa. I want to be a real boy."

***

Writing Prompt: If you were to write about a secondary character from any fairy-tale, who would you pick?

Agent Spotlight: Check out this Literary Rambles spotlight for more information on a great children's agent.

Read More: 7 Resources to Make You a Better Writer from The Write Practice

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Shared Differences and a Call for Submissions

Shared Differences

He said, take this watermelon.
It is something we have in common.
Hold the gnawed rind up to your face
like a smile.
I said, I take thee, smile,
for mine own.
That's right, he said. That's right.
I said, I take thee, stadium lights
I take thee, sidewalk crack
I take thee, plutonium core
of a hydrogen bomb.
Then he and I and all of us
smiled a mushroom cloud
and when the smoke cleared, we all
turned to our neighbor and said
Here, take this face.
It is something we have in common.

***

Writing Prompt: Finish this sentence (and share in comments so we can see your genius!)

My toothbrush is red. This is the most important thing you need to know about me because_____________________________.

Call for Submissions: Funny in Five Hundred is looking for flash humor pieces. Try your hand!

Read More: Check out Anne R. Allen's great post this week on keeping an open mind and teachable heart so we don't get caught in our own flawed perspectives as writers.

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Killed the Cat and an Agent Spotlight

Killed the Cat

He knew what she wanted. Her with her pristine white coat and sapphire studded collars. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d taken the penthouse and everything in it. He walked the railing, looking out over the city. His city. She could have the place. What did he care. His brother had that boat out on the bay, and he had his health. The butler opened the glass door to the balcony. “Can I get you anything this evening, sir?” he said. “Get me the lights, Manfred,” he said. “The city lights.”

***

Agent Alert: Elise Erickson seeks Romance, Some YA, etc.

Read More: Check out Jane Friedman's excellent post on how to start blogging.


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How To Keep In Touch With Future Readers

So, as someone working on my writing career, but without a book published just yet, this is something I've pondered on quite a bit. I don't want to miss chances, you know? When you have a book out, every person you meet can know you as the author of that book. But how do you bring prospective readers along with you on the journey before you've got the book out?

I don't want to miss connections. I don't want to lose track of people.

The first thing I automatically think of is a newsletter. We've been told time and time again that newsletters are the big deal, and that collecting emails should be our focus. On one level this makes sense to me. This isn't putting something on some social media and hoping it gets seen. This is knowing someones number. This is being able to talk to them individually. This is finding their house and stalking them until they buy your book. Er, wait. No, not that. The point is, its personal.

Here's the thing though. I asked myself, have I ever bought a book based on an authors email newsletter? The answer is a definite no. I've never bought someones book because of anything they emailed me. In fact, I don't even subscribe to any author newsletters. There are a few authors whose blogs I keep in mind and remember to check regularly, which is sort of similar, but that number is very few. I would, however, remember those bloggers names if I ever saw their books. In fact there are a few of their books on my to-buy list.

So newsletter doesn't quite fit, and blogging is a sort of sometimes, and only if you're a serious blogging Rock Star. (I'm talking Anne R. Allen and Chuck Wendig.) Its sort of similar on other social media. There are a very few people whose YouTube channels, Tumblrs and Instagrams I know by heart, and check regularly.

What I've come up with so far is basically what Steve Martin said: Be so good they can't ignore you. This is true of blogging and social media too. I remember the ones I remember because I truly adore and value what they provide. I just love their work.

So. While I'm working on ways to incorporate this idea into my own social media, I'd love your thoughts. How do you keep track of writers? 

Sarah

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The Three Things An Editor Notices First

AAHHHH EDITORS!!

Just kidding. Actually, editors seriously rock. Especially the good ones.

Anyway, this Saturday was the annual Life, The Universe, and Everything conference, where us hopeful and dewy-eyed writers got to learn at the feet of masters such as Brandon Sanderson, M.T. Anderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Shannon Hale. There's just something so completely cool about actually seeing in real life the actual, flesh and blood person behind the books that have changed your life. 

*We now interupt this program for a Public Service Announcement*: Shannon Hale is amazing and a goddess and she gave the keynote address and you should all go read this post on her blog RIGHT NOW. I'll wait. Back? Okay. *ahem* Now back to our regularly scheduled program.*

So anyway, one of the most practical workshops I attended was given by a professional editor who spoke as cleanly as he preached, and had some seriously great advice to give. One of the things he mentioned were the top three things he and other professional editors notice when they receive a new manuscript.

First, though, why should we care? That's a fair question. We are artistes, after all. What care we for the gruff and superficial opinions of others? Well, first of all, we need others. As the analogy goes, be the artist for a while, soak in the muse and creative juices, make your masterpiece shine, and then LOCK that artist in the closet, STEAL the manuscript and run away cackling and SELL IT for as much moulah as you can get. I'm sorry, if you want writing to be your job, that's how you've gotta do it. If you're just writing for yourself, then just write for yourself. But if you really want to get your work out there and be taken seriously, then plain and simple, you're going to be dealing with editors.

Editors are great. They're human just like everybody else, and are trying to get the best work they can to publish the best product they can. Our job as writers is to make it easy for them to say yes. As easy as possible. (Yes, this means following submission guidelines. If they ask you to send your manuscript in size 42, Comic Sans font on yellow paper, then you darn well send it in size 42 Comic Sans font on yellow paper.) But these guys see so, so many submissions a day, that even you follow the instructions to a T, how can you make yourself stand out of the pack in a positive way? Well, according to this one editor at least, here are three things editors notice first when they pick up a submission:

1. The Prose: This may seem backwards. We often think of clean prose as the icing on the cake, and all the meaty, juicy stuff like character and plot and theme and voice as the stuff that really matters. However, thinking this way may be doing yourself a disservice. You may have the coolest characters ever, but if your prose isn't clean and flowing as rainwater, then they can't even see those awesome characters. They're buried and distorted under the brackish muck. There are SO many resources out there about good characters and cool plot twists and how to improve your writing voice, but not so many on good grammar. However it's not as nasty as it sounds, and this editor even has a rare great resource. Check out his blog The Story Polisher. I plan to go through his posts, and I know it will help make my writing what I envision it to be.

2. Structure: After making sure they can read your writing, the editor wants to know if you can tell a good story. Spin a good yarn. They want a chauffeur who knows what they're doing--student drivers make us all sick. Make sure you're reading a lot, and picking up what the overall structure of a successful story looks like. Have other people read it to make sure there aren't confusing or boring bits. Make sure your ending feels right in the story, and the editors who receive your piece will cry in gratitude.

3. Creativity: Editors also look for something they haven't seen a heptillion times before. Don't stress out too much about this though. C. S. Lewis says, "Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." Just be you, as you as you possibly can, and you're work will be a breath of fresh air.

Two more quick things the editor said that I think are worth mentioning. First: we all make stupid mistakes. All of us. Don't feel bad when you do. Just learn and fix and improve for next time around. (I'm working on this as much as [more than] anyone). And second, this editor actually said that items two and three are what he can help you with. He can help your story's overall structure and help you make your idea a little more unique. However, if your piece is riddled with errors and the prose is broken, it will take him twenty times longer to try and teach you the rules of language, and fix every mistake. So make sure you're learning that well on your own (or in a class). I hadn't thought of things that way before, but I'm glad I know now.

Whew. This was kind of a long one, but I hope it was helpful. Get that writing polished and don't be scared to submit!

Sarah Allen

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