The Daily Rejection

Antonin said:

Also, damn, did the PW-mentor thing already start? I wanted to submit to that.

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No, this was just query/page crits in prep for the mentor round. Subbing for that is Aug 18th.

Grrrr. AW stopped sending me alerts for no reason, so I thought everyone had stepped away for the day.

I hate that I missed all your good thoughts. No word for me. My inbox was quiet, but that gave me time to read a friend's opening-and it was AWESOME. I love when I discover just how talented this group really is.

I'll be MIA until Tuesday, but I'll pop by if I get anything good to report. Till then, stay strong and query widely, my friends.

Well, Hercules was a stinkeroo, as predicted. I did not predict how far afield they would go from the original mythology, though.

Who knew he had a band of merry mercenaries to help him? Including his glib, non-fighting nephew and a token Amazon (who didn't get the special armor the others got -- hell no, she got a skimpy, tight sports bra/miniskirt combo)? And... and... oh, never mind.

I'm glad I had a couple of pomegranate martinis beforehand. I can't seem to pass up anything pomegranate these days, in case this will increase the mojo of my Persephone book.

Now to fix it. Ragged E noticed a loose thread. I pulled it yesterday. This morning I woke up, realizing that my fix unraveled the logic of another scene. Oh what tangled webs we devise, when at first we start to revise

I felt pretty crappy yesterday (random migraine, yey! or actually, it's not random, which is worse; I know it's because of my eyes which, continue to bug and worry me), so I didn't do the writing and researching I had planned on. Bummer. My plans to go to the pool today, though, have been scuppered by the weather, so maybe I'll do those things today.

Hathor, how bad was it? Did it give you any ideas for YOUR Hercules adaptation? I watched the Affair of the Necklace, a movie portraying the same historical incident I wrote a novel about, and it was pretty crappy. It kind of inspired me to do the story justice, you know?

Oh, and if you--or anyone--wants an amazing, super awesome movie to see, go see Boyhood. It's in limited release, but it's totally worth it if you can find it.

Well, I finished a really neat MG story about fortune cookies yesterday () and have been trying to figure out what to do with August. I think I'm going to make it my goal to have MS3 completely set and ready to send off to my agent by the end of the month so that Sept & Oct I can focus on MS4, which has been barely touched since I finished the first draft in April. Trying to revise two MSs at a time just hasn't been working out for me, so I need to just focus on one and get it done now that all the chaos of moving is done.


Carleree - Wow, that is a cryptic message. *Fingers crossed* that it means good things for you!

Hathor - Did you decide who your POV character is going to be for your Hercules story?

CCC - Good luck w/ your rewrites. I'm totally right there with you w/ MS3.

liz - Sorry about the migraine. Those are the worst

Liz, oh it was very bad. A few minutes of a couple of the classical tales were there, but they were accompanied by a voice-over of his nephew -- who may or may not have been telling the truth. Then it veered off into a tale of mercenaries who think they've been hired by good guys but discover they are working for the wrong side. They resolve that situation and... the movie just ends. One hopes they aren't planning a sequel.

It didn't give me any ideas, except for not fudging the issue of whether the guy is a demi-god or not.

I'd never seen Dwayne Johnson's legs before, though. My. Oh my.

Wendy, I was thinking POV character could be Kleio (or Clio), muse of history, or I could try for a series of characters (which would mean I'd have to master different voices in the same book). An idea that occurred to me this morning was to use Persephone again, this time as Hercules is being judged in Hades following his death. My concern now is that his story is so episodic, without a story or character arc. But a trial would be a way to bring together his entire story. Also, he would get his true punishment at the end: deification and eternal marriage to Hebe.

An alternative next novel would be taking something out of Egyptian myth. Maybe that's on my mind because my daughter is home and she's a grad student in Egyptology. Anyway, I was thinking that you have the entire Isis/Osiris/Set story, which has probably been done any number of times. But has anyone ever looked at all of this from their fourth sibling's perspective? Not that I know of. This goddess has apparently been somewhat of a nonentity for millennia, so I feel for her. I'd have to come up with a nice innovative story line for her.

Anybody else know of a well-known myth or fairy tale that needs a revisionist take?

My stepdad keeps watching the news. Those shows where they yell at each other. With breaks for Dr. Phil and Days of our Lives. Loud b/c he doesn't hear well. I love him. But I am shaky from the stress of all that. I can't focus to read or write.

Hathor said:

I'd never seen Dwayne Johnson's legs before, though. My. Oh my.

Wendy, I was thinking POV character could be Kleio (or Clio), muse of history, or I could try for a series of characters (which would mean I'd have to master different voices in the same book).

Anyway, I was thinking that you have the entire Isis/Osiris/Set story, which has probably been done any number of times. But has anyone ever looked at all of this from their fourth sibling's perspective? Not that I know of. This goddess has apparently been somewhat of a nonentity for millennia, so I feel for her. I'd have to come up with a nice innovative story line for her.

Anybody else know of a well-known myth or fairy tale that needs a revisionist take?

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I Like the idea of multiple retellings, all through one other POV, like Clio.

Oh, her name starts with an N, right? I beta'd an Isis retelling last year and you're right, N chick was so non-memorable as compared to Isis and Osiris and Set. Then again, I'm easily distracted by golden penises and then no one else in the story maters...And I like Set. I like the bad boys.

I have a retelling idea, but I'm guarding it in a tower surrounded by a moat filled with 2 headed dragon-alligatory things that spew acid in a field of razor-sharp thorns, all because I probably won't get to start writing it until next year. And after I saw a book now coming out with the title of one of my books I had below, I'm guarding all my shiz like a fiend (not that she got the name from me, but I had a bit of a "What if?" moment).

Yep, Nephthys. Always have to look it up because I can't remember the spelling. Poor forgotten dear... looks like she has a martini glass on top her head.

Oh goodness, I spent all day yesterday walking around the outside of Comic-Con (no badge for me). Awesome people watching, fun random events, and we got tickets to the @midnight live, which was hilarious. Great day, but I didn't get home until 1:30 AM and I ended up walking about 12 miles. I hurt everywhere!! Makes today perfect for staying home with tea and my stupid novella-length MS.

Hathor, I have always loved Persephone since she was my goddess for a report I had to do in like fifth grade. I've always wanted to do my own take on it, but I don't think I have a strong enough voice for retellings. I hope yours gets out there soon so I can read it!

noranne said:

Oh goodness, I spent all day yesterday walking around the outside of Comic-Con (no badge for me). Awesome people watching, fun random events, and we got tickets to the @midnight live, which was hilarious. Great day, but I didn't get home until 1:30 AM and I ended up walking about 12 miles. I hurt everywhere!! Makes today perfect for staying home with tea and my stupid novella-length MS.

Hathor, I have always loved Persephone since she was my goddess for a report I had to do in like fifth grade. I've always wanted to do my own take on it, but I don't think I have a strong enough voice for retellings. I hope yours gets out there soon so I can read it!

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Thanks! I hope so too. First step was to finish the latest draft. My computer went berserk tonight and got stuck on "delete" and began eliminating lines. Word wouldn't respond to any command. I began to screech and my family told me to close Word. Then I turned it back on and couldn't find the latest saved draft. I said nasty words, made fixes, almost finished-- then the hyphen key got stuck and started eliminating lines. Turned the entire computer off. Once back on, it behaved itself.

This sort of thing happens with me and computers. *tears out more of remaining hair*

I finally have the next draft. I worry because it's 94,000 words now. Too much for my genre?

And, re: your first paragraph, I feel sore just reading of your experience.

Meanwhile, hubs and I are introducing our daughter and her boyfriend to Road Warrior. Somehow I didn't remember just how horrible the acting was. Maybe some movies just don't age well.

Finally figured out how to put together that WIP-based short-story. Now I just have to do it. And I'm pretty sure what I want to do for my next WIP. Of course, I really need to so some more work on the last two (on the prequel and the novella). But it's been a while since I've written actual, new material and I'm tired of editing endlessly.

Might pull the trigger on a few queries today.

I don't mind revising. What gets to me is this laborious process I apparently have to do with each book in order to get the word count to a more attractive level: running searches for words I often use unnecessarily (-ly words, "just," progressive tenses, "well," "oh," etc.), then going through the work sentence by sentence to see if any are superfluous or can be made shorter.

Yep, that's what I started this morning. Right now, I'm wondering what is it with me and adverbs. Yeesh. I just really, truly love them intensely.

Got another form rejection today. Man, I hate forms. I know agents are busy and forms are sensible, but they make me sad

Hathor - that sucks! It didn't delete too many words, did it? I'm pretty sure there are some computer whizzes who can recover stuff like that, if you wanted to.

Yeah, I don't mind editing. I get a kick out of it. I'm a freak and for the most part like my own writing (I always worry I have golden-word syndrome . . . ). It's the structure and story I always need to work on. And I don't mind that at all.

But it's been, what, maybe six months or longer since I've written anything new. Meanwhile I've been beating my brains out trying to figure out what The Agent might want.

Form R for me today. Kind of saw it coming.

LadyA said:

Hathor - that sucks! It didn't delete too many words, did it? I'm pretty sure there are some computer whizzes who can recover stuff like that, if you wanted to.

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Fortunately, the substantive bits that were deleted I was able to find in an earlier draft. I had to redo a number of my corrections (twice) but it was mostly either obvious stuff or bits I remembered. I do wish I knew why this happened, though. The same thing happened with my old computer (with a different version of Word).

It was as if my keyboard was sending a constant signal to delete and wouldn't accept any other input.

It turned out to be more a frustrating waste of a few hours than a disaster.

But it was sure scary at the time to see my words disappearing.

(It's been behaving today. That's because I've been saving more frequently, of course.)

In other news, no news. Two more days of a dead inbox.

All of the stupid, tedious "busywork" of moving is driving me up the wall. Between the DMV and the financing for our new vehicle (yup, we did the "fiscally responsible" thing and went with the van), I'm about to pull my hair out. Then there's all the new utility bills to figure out. Arrgh.

On the plus side, yesterday I took a few hours and totally powered through some revisions I've been putting off. Made me feel quite accomplished.


Hathor - The malevolent spirits in your house working remotely through your WiFi to ruin your MS?

Hi all! It's been a while, but I'm attempting to return to the land of writers soon.

Basically, I finally have a job (yay!), but balancing it+writing+living has turned out to be more difficult than I'd expected. My right arm is still messed up from the car accident months ago, and I've pretty much given up hope that it's going to stop hurting any time soon. But on the positive side, I'm quite good at eating and writing with my left hand, now, and I've gotten more used to doing work despite the pain, though, so I'm hoping to be able to hang out on this thread a bit more. And also get something else ready to query (so I can have a reason to hang out on this thread more)!

Hathor--94k isn't really too long for fantasy (unless it's MG). It's always good to cut unnecessary words, of course, but you don't need to go nuts.

RaggedEdge said:

Ellielle - Haven't heard from you in a long time. If you're out there, how's your recovery going?

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(The recovery=crap, but I'm excited to have been remembered.)

Wendy, I feel you. I'm trying to find a new apartment right now and I am dreading the prospect of moving so much. It's the worst! But sadly our current apartment is way too expensive now that I'm not working. Which means I get to move into a smaller, crappier place in a worse neighborhood. And I have to take care of everything myself since my bf is gone and hope he doesn't hate it when he comes home in January. Blah.

WendyN said:

All of the stupid, tedious "busywork" of moving is driving me up the wall. Between the DMV and the financing for our new vehicle (yup, we did the "fiscally responsible" thing and went with the van), I'm about to pull my hair out. Then there's all the new utility bills to figure out. Arrgh.

On the plus side, yesterday I took a few hours and totally powered through some revisions I've been putting off. Made me feel quite accomplished.


Hathor - The malevolent spirits in your house working remotely through your WiFi to ruin your MS?

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That's as good an explanation as any.

Do not tear your hair out. Treasure it.

I don't envy all your moving-related work. Dealing with DMV, utility companies, and such is draining.

Ellielle said:

Hi all! It's been a while, but I'm attempting to return to the land of writers soon.

Basically, I finally have a job (yay!), but balancing it+writing+living has turned out to be more difficult than I'd expected. My right arm is still messed up from the car accident months ago, and I've pretty much given up hope that it's going to stop hurting any time soon. But on the positive side, I'm quite good at eating and writing with my left hand, now, and I've gotten more used to doing work despite the pain, though, so I'm hoping to be able to hang out on this thread a bit more. And also get something else ready to query (so I can have a reason to hang out on this thread more)!

Hathor--94k isn't really too long for fantasy (unless it's MG). It's always good to cut unnecessary words, of course, but you don't need to go nuts.



(The recovery=crap, but I'm excited to have been remembered.)

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I'm so sorry to hear you're still hurting. But I'm glad to see you back.

Also glad to hear that 94,000 isn't too much for fantasy. I'm now down to 93,000. Most of the cuts have been unnecessary adverbs.

I think I'll go through my usual list for tightening my work, print the ms out and read it out loud (I catch lots of stuff that way), and then accept where I end up.

Moves, physical pains...I sympathize. I offer hugs.

Got a form R on a short partial this morning. I expected this one, but still, not a great way to start off a Monday.

Digging into revisions on WIP that I hope to finish before PW. As I started rewriting the beginning last night, I was feeling pretty good about it. Hopefully, it pans out.

Ellielle said:

Hi all! It's been a while, but I'm attempting to return to the land of writers soon.

Basically, I finally have a job (yay!), but balancing it+writing+living has turned out to be more difficult than I'd expected. My right arm is still messed up from the car accident months ago, and I've pretty much given up hope that it's going to stop hurting any time soon. But on the positive side, I'm quite good at eating and writing with my left hand, now, and I've gotten more used to doing work despite the pain, though, so I'm hoping to be able to hang out on this thread a bit more. And also get something else ready to query (so I can have a reason to hang out on this thread more)!



(The recovery=crap, but I'm excited to have been remembered.)

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Ellielle, I'm so glad you stopped in to update us! But I'm sorry you're still in pain - boo! Kudos for learning to do more with your left hand. Keep fighting. You can do this.

Hathor said:

I'm now down to 93,000. Most of the cuts have been unnecessary adverbs.

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Hathor, I agree; I don't think your word count is a problem for your category and genre. And I didn't notice any unnecessary adverbs, FWIW. But I am wondering if any of the net 5000 words you added include more of Hades hot touch.

Happy Monday, everyone. I had an unusually quiet inbox this weekend - I usually get at least one or two short story responses rolling in.

Sounds like everyone's been pretty busy with their WIPs. Yay for being productive and getting stuff done!

Hathor said:

Yep, that's what I started this morning. Right now, I'm wondering what is it with me and adverbs. Yeesh. I just really, truly love them intensely.

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*scrambles back onto the map*

Hi everyone Sorry I've been MIA. Life has been insane, but in a good way. So to do a quick catch up... Huzzah for all requests! And glasses of wine for all rejections!


I'm happy to be back