I am totally listening

It's rude and inexcusable and I absolutely hate it when someone does it to me, but I can't help it.  I sometimes find my mind drifting off during conversation; I should be listening to a story about a friend's hilarious canoe trip to Montreal with her dad (not a real story) but instead I am thinking about how the girl ordering a coffee looks like she has been crying and the way she is worrying her scarf with her left hand makes me think that she has just called off an engagement - maybe because she found out some secret about her beloved (something magnificently horrible!) - and is throwing furtive glances over her shoulder like she is on the run from someone.  My brain goes into character mode and in seconds that girl has a backstory.  Luckily my memory seems to be able to function without my active participation and even though I am tuned out, I still catch enough of the story to not endanger my friendship.
In other news, I have sent out my first query for An Unexpected Kingdom!  I created a handy Excel spreadsheet that I have dubbed my Query Tracker in case this process gets unwieldy.  The agent I emailed tonight (let's call him Agent 1) is with an agency that I have followed for a while and he just moved there last year after a dozen years as an editor.  I also submitted my short short, Last Ride, to a contest at American Short Fiction magazine.  Fingers and toes crossed.

Writing Begets Writing

I used to think that if I wrote on a blog or a website that it would be taking time away from my "actual " writing, but actually the opposite is true.  The more often I do any type of creative writing, the more I write in general.  I've heard it's the same with exercise... [crickets]. Anyway I am really enjoying creating the personality of Ben Q. Flanders as I write his story (or rather, the story he happens to be in; as Ben will tell you nothing actually ever happens to him).  I need to do some research for the plot so thus far I have mostly been writing about Ben's life from his point of view.  The story is written in the first person, which is new for me- An Unexpected Kingdom is in the third person although the story is told from Ava's point of view.  A lot of what I am writing now will very likely be cut out of the short story, maybe some will be kept in if I end up writing a full-length story, but I like the exercise anyway. 
Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!

Ideas

When I say I am a writer, I am often asked where I get the ideas for what I write. As with most writers (I think) my ideas come from everywhere. Most of mine come when I'm not trying- when I'm in bed or walking the dogs.  I got my idea for An Unexpected Kingdom after spending a weekend with my then 14 year old cousin Annie.  Like Ava, she lives in a nice New Jersey suburb, and as I was driving back to Boston I starting thinking about how she would react if she found out she was really a princess and not a Dolan at all.  From that silly thought came the whole outline of Ava's story.  I started writing when I got home.  The idea for The Guardians of Ben Q. Flanders came while I was walking my dogs after re-reading the entire Percy Jackson & The Olympians series last week.  I thought what if some poor kid who loved these kinds of stories ends up in the middle of one, but without any of the cool stuff happening to him- he doesn't get any powers or find out he is a wizard or a demigod or part of a secret society.  For me it is about the characters.  The protagonist usually forms in my mind immediately and then the story sort of falls in around him or her.  That part I think is different for everyone. Stephenie Meyer has often recounted that Twilight came out of a dream she had (which was of the scene of Bella and Edward in the meadow) and J.K. Rowling saw a building that she thought looked like it could be a school for wizards, which worked out pretty well for her in the end. 

Waiting Game

The hardest part about querying agents (or submitting to publishers directly) is waiting for the response.  When I had first written An Unexpected Kingdom I sent off my first query to Stephenie Meyer's agent (as did everyone who wrote a young adult novel in the two years after Twilight was released, I'm sure).  I was so sure that she would drop everything when she read my dazzling query and call me directly that I would hyperventilate whenever an unknown number showed up on my caller i.d..  Of course, she passed on my novel as did the other six carefully selected agents I queried over the next year (March 2008- March 2009).  Two sent form rejections through the regular mail, the others sent emails (actually one I never heard back from as he only sends a reply if he is interested).  The letters were actually an unintended cruelty because it was so tangible to hold a letter from my dream agent in my hand and think that it could be a "yes".  Email is easier; the band-aid is ripped off more quickly.  Now that I know those early queries were terrible (cringe-worthy to read now) and that my writing was not ready it is easier to think about that whole process, but now I am about to enter it again.  I called Grub Street today as I had not heard from them about what is happening with my agent meeting (was supposed to see an agent on Sunday as part of the Manuscript Mart at their conference but he was not available to see me) but I did not get a return call.  I hope to hear from them tomorrow.  I am waiting to move forward on my query process until I get the first-hand feedback from this agent.  Hopefully soon!

Muse & The Marketplace

This past weekend I was at Grub Street's (http://www.grubstreet.org/) annual writers conference Muse & The Marketplace.  It was my first trip to this event and I found it more than worth the price of admission.  My favorite sessions included The Essentials of Structure with James Scott (he was so funny and engaging and made me see the importance of bringing all my stories back to Star Wars- believe me it makes sense in context), Writing Funny For Young Readers with Ben H. Winters (I randomly read his new book on Saturday night and then got to meet him on Sunday morning, this session was so relevant to my work and Ben's advice- Don't try too hard- was on point as I am often guilty of just that), and a book publicity overview from my friends at Kelley & Hall Book Publicity (http://www.kelleyandhall.com/). I also submitted my first ever piece for consideration to a literary magazine, and it was a verbal submission!  The Drum is an online audio journal and I read my short short (a really short story) "Last Ride" into a cool big microphone and it was recorded.  If I am selected to appear in The Drum it will be my first "publication"!  There were a few disappointments at Muse: 1) The biggest was that the agent I was slated to meet with on Sunday morning was a no-show, which was a huge bummer as I was so excited to get feedback on my query letter, synopsis, and first 20 pages of An Unexpected Kingdom. Hopefully Grub Street will contact me soon to let me know about a make-up session. 2) I really didn't like lunch either day- the second lunch had melon with mint as a dessert.  That is not a dessert.