Wicked Wednesday - Of Blood and Sorrow

Wicked Wednesday will be on hiatus over April. Not only will the A to Z Challenge be happening which I'll be participating with a group on Untethered Realms, I have my mother visiting for a week, and my husband's and son's birthdays. Lots going on. I'm giving myself a little break and easing off on blogging.

As many of you know, I've been working on revisions all this year. One of my manuscripts is a paranormal romance called OF BLOOD AND SORROW (formerly known as "Sorrow Phage"). I hope to get this polished to query before the end of this school semester. I'm going to tease you with my query blurb.

Erin Driscol works the perfect job consoling fellow demons by feeding off their grief at Putzkammer & Sons Funeral Home.

When fledgling vampire Nicolas Reese wakes in the mortuary, Erin hastily sets him loose on the city before she regains enough sense to call a hunter. Vampires are vile, unnatural creatures, or so she thinks. Nicolas returns to her for help, and she learns the truth behind the legends. Breaking all the rules, Erin hides him from his sire and vampire hunters. But when the Putzkammers begin to die off one by one, she must find a way to save the family that loves her. While every demon desperately searches for a way to survive whatever horror is slaughtering them in the night, Erin faces her greatest fear to rescue Nicolas from his dark fate.

Would this blurb snag your attention?

Wicked Wednesday - querying paranormal romance

Since I'll be querying my paranormal romance (PNR) novel soon, I've been doing a lot of reading about how to write the most effective letter. PNR stories are so varied and quite popular these days. You need to stand out to get noticed, and it all starts with this one email.

The same rules for any query letter apply here too:

- Be professional.

- Be concise.

- Mind your manners.

You want to hook the editor or agent. Most people reading queries for PNR don't want the email to start off with the boring "I'm seeking representation for my blah blah blah." Jump right into it. Ensnare them immediately with the story hook.

If you're able to capture the hook in one sentence, go for it. It's difficult because you want it to encompass the protagonist, the tone, and the conflict. Example: When reluctant psychic, Remy Jones, saves the life of an old woman, she doesn’t expect to be granted a wish in return. (Keri Arthur's HEART'S WISH)

The brief blurb for the book should be between four and six sentences. Make every word count. You must cover the who, what, where, when, and why. And it can't be an every day voice. This is PNR. You must take them out of the ordinary. Also remember that the romance is key. It's what everything hinges upon. Grab their hearts and twist with a great furry werewolf hand.

Include tropes. If you think you don't have any, read your manuscript again. They're there. The tropes like vampires-hate-werewolves-but-protagonist-falls-in-love-with-one or best-friends-turned-lovers are important for the agent or editor to know where you're coming from. PNR publishers tend to like Alpha males, but they won't totally discount you if you have another powerful trope. There's also a call for unique supernatural creatures.

I wish I could offer you more tips than these. I wish someone could tell me what the secret is to writing an amazing query letter. As much as we want to break it down and make a science of it, it's more about heart than anything else.

Do you have any tips for writing query letters?

My 2013 writing goals

The 13th Floor series: This is going to be my main focus for the year. I have four novellas to write, five tours to run, and all the promoting that comes with it. I put myself on a tight schedule for it. Maybe too tight? Being sick has already put me behind schedule. I keep telling myself it will be okay if I'm not rigid and strict with myself, because life happens and self-publishing gives you flexibility. That's why I decided to take that path after all. So yes, you'll be hearing A LOT about the 13th Floor series from me in 2013. How convenient the year matches my series!

The A to Z Blogging Challenge: You may have noticed I didn't schedule a book release in April for this very reason! *winks* I love the Challenge. It was incredible last year. So many original posts from people. I wrote Fearless, and I self-published it. It's been a huge success. (Almost 700 downloads just this month!) I've gotten a lot of requests for another book. You might scream and protest, but Abby, Demetrius, and Tawa's story is done. I'm not going to do another with them. BUT I might do another story about a different Fearless. There are hundreds of these warriors around the world saving children from the monsters. I haven't any ideas yet, but I'm a pantser. It'll come to me!

NaNoWriMo 2013: I considered doing Camp NaNo instead, but November wouldn't be the same if I didn't participate in this challenge. Besides, I have a book tour in June. I have no idea what I'll write, but that's okay. This is one thing I want to do every year for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter if I publish every book or not. It's the rush of the challenge and the creation of a new story.

Short stories: I'm not going to do the write 1 / submit 1 this coming year. It was an excellent exercise and I encourage writers to try it, but I need to concentrate on the 13the Floor series. Yet if I am inspired, I still would like to try to do six in 2013. I would love to get something accepted by a SFWA approved publication. That dream hasn't faded.

Revise and query one novel: I have several completed novels. All of them need to be reworked and polished. I hate revising but love writing first drafts! I want to find them homes. I'm not sure which one I'll work with. This won't be until the latter half of the year after all my work with the 13th Floor series is complete.

What are your writing goals for 2013?

Wicked Wednesday - finding an agent

Though you don't need an agent these days to realize your publishing goals, some writers still want one. The number one obstacle for new writers is that agents have very few spots open for them. An agent can read a several great manuscripts, but in the end, s/he may only have an opening for one or two. You have to stand out amongst the best, and with the popularity of paranormal romance, you really need to wow the agent.

Here are some tips to help you attract an agent:
1) Know your genre. With paranormal romance, you're going to need to focus on the romance and have a Happily Ever After ending. Try to stay away from vampires and werewolves. Some agents stop reading a query the second they see either of those words.

2) Have some knowledge of the industry. Agents will look at your website, blog, and Twitter account. Have you been networking? Have you joined writers' groups? How much time have you invested in your writing and yourself?

3) Be professional. Always be polite even when rejected. Conduct yourself as such everywhere. Learn from your rejections and grow as a writer.

4) When writing your query, make sure your genre is clear through your blurb itself. Of course, you'll say it's a paranormal romance when describing your book, but reading the blurb alone should say it too. Make sure it focuses on the romance with both external and internal conflicts.

5) Be original. Even if your story is a traditional Romeo and Juliet type, emphasize what makes yours different. Don't be afraid to go over the top. And if you're able, use a bit of humor. Usually if you can make someone laugh, you've got them hooked.

Karen Fox has an excellent updated list of agents seeking paranormal romances. Always make sure to research the agent you're sending your query to before you send them anything.

Do you have any tips on how a paranormal romance writer can stand out in the crowd?

Chocolate for the rejected, please

I queried my latest WIP and I was rejected. Rejected fast and hard.

Right now I'm eating chocolate and ice cream, feeling like it isn't worth it in the end. The rejection depression is not good right when NaNoWriMo is due to start. I lost the desire for it. I ask myself why I bother when I'm never going to be good enough.

I know when Tuesday rolls around, I'll force myself to start up on NaNoWriMo even if I'm still feeling depressed. I have no doubt I'll get caught up in it and let that creative rush bring me back my love of writing. Even if it isn't NaNoWriMo, it will be another story. My compulsion to write, the ecstasy of it, always comes back.

It's just at moments like this that I feel the lowest of the low.

I aimed high. I queried the number one epublisher of romance. I'll go over my cover letter, synopsis and manuscript again. I'll query the number two press next.

I also wanted to let everyone know that my posts will be shorter and less frequent in November. Some posts might just be my NaNo word count for the day. I won't be able to read and comment on blogs as often either. Most of you know how NaNoWriMo consumes you. Please don't think I've forgotten about you. Come December, I'll be making the rounds routinely again.

Good luck to everyone doing NaNoWriMo! The buddy tool still isn't working. I hope they get it fixed soon.

Update: A big thank you to Josh Hoyt and Krista for giving me The Versatile Blogger Award. You made me smile today.

Squish the big ideas

It's been a productive week despite everything that has happened. I researched queries and tweaked one of mine for my paranormal romance trilogy. The query had gotten some attention and I thought I couldn't fix it up any more. I surprised myself that I managed to do so. I sent it out to an agent earlier this week. I hope it looks even more professional and, more importantly, nabs the attention of the agent.

I submitted a horror story to an anthology yesterday. An old one about a horrific fever that I edited for the anthology.

I've also been working on my new dark fantasy short story. I hoped to finish it this week, but it's turning out bigger than I planned. My muse has big ideas. She creates great worlds. Yet sometimes they're too big. It's up to me to rein her in and squish her big ideas into a smaller space. It's tough work for me, but it's also good for me. I want to write novels, but short stories are an excellent way to learn the craft of writing.

My son's hands are healing well. It's driving us both bonkers to be stuck in the house and unable to do everything we usually do, but we're surviving. We're going to get together with friends this weekend to do something even if it's just playing at a park. It will be a quiet long weekend, but that's fine. Five weeks until Gen Con.

Happy Canada Day! And Happy Fourth of July!