Teaser Tuesday

 I had a rough weekend.   After posting on Saturday, I thought many thoughts about my Rosetta story and decided to give it up.  For now.  I don't know why, but I can't write that story right now.   

I got all depressed about it.  Like I do.  In the midst of a lengthy conversation where I felt sorry for myself, my way-too-patient husband convinced me to give MEOW SISTERS one more shot.   

So, I'm going to see what I can come up with.  I'm not going to read everything I wrote two plus years ago if I can help it ; I don't to be swayed into clinging to old ideas.  I'm going to start all over again and keep only the components that make sense.  I've learned a lot about writing a novel since I put this one aside, so I think I can do a better job with it than I could have back then.

Anyway, I know I said I wasn't going to read the old stuff.  But I did read one scene written March 30, 2006.  I might not use any of this in my new version, but I liked it and felt like sharing it.

I buried my face against Karl's chest and sat numb in his arms.  It was a horrible story, a horrible thing he’d been through.  And yet... part of me couldn’t help wondering if maybe it wasn’t the whole truth.  I mean, why didn’t he tell his dad?   And how could there have been no witnesses?   

I wanted to trust him.  I wanted to be a supportive girlfriend.  But I was starting to wonder whether he was truly the unluckiest guy on earth, or just some kind of pathological liar.  It seemed that he was a little of both—although I’m pretty sure calling someone is a little pathological is an oxymoron.  

Karl's breathing was loud in my ear.  He was waiting for me to freak out.  He wanted me to say something that would make it all better.  Like the last time he'd told me he'd almost been killed.  And the time before that.  And the time before that.  

Partial request!

Hooray!  I just got a partial request based on my new query alone!  (No sample pages were pasted per the agents guidelines). Phew.  I really was starting to get worried about the lack of agent responses.  I was on the verge of sending e-mails to myself from other accounts to make sure my account wasn't broken or something.

Michael Cera = every YA Nick?

Some time ago, I posted about my confusion - dare I even say disappointment! - in Michael Cera being cast as Nick in the movie adaptation of NICK & NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST.  It's nothing against the actor.  It's just that I had a big old crush on Nick while I was reading that book, and I did not picture him anything like Michael Cera.  Not at all.

Since posting about that, I've actually sort of developed a tiny crush on Michael Cera from his roles in SUPERBAD and JUNO.  (Mostly his character Evan in SUPERBAD, because [NOT EXACTLY A PLOT SPOILER DUE TO VAGUE PHRASING] in of one of the scenes near the end, he really wants something, but he doesn't follow through because it isn't the right choice under the circumstances.  I loved him in that scene!  So sweet!)   He still isn't Nick to me, but maybe his performance will blow me away and I'll change my mind later.

So, the other day, I read YOUTH IN REVOLT by C.D. Payne.  (Sidenote:  I'm not sure if I would actually recommend this book to anyone.  I did enjoy a good portion of it and I don't regret having read it, but it was like bad chick-lit for boys with all the hi-jinx.  If you like dirty books (I do) and don't mind wacky-smart dialogue that rarely a real fourteen year old would utter along with tons upon tons of unrealistic situations, this might be the book for you!)  Afterward, I learned that Michael Cera has been cast as Nick Twist in the coming movie adaptation of YOUTH IN REVOLT.  

What the...!

YA novels into movies + Characters named Nick = Michael Cera?

Ha!  But I actually approve of this choice.  I think he'll be a great Nick Twisp!  I expect they'll be bumping the character's age up, though.  I don't think he can quite pass as fourteen!

Query stats.

Agents contacted:  31
Total number of fulls sent:  4
Rejections of fulls:  2
Fulls I'm waiting to hear back on:  2
Rejections of queries:  9
Requests for partials:  1* 
Queries I haven't heard back on yet:  18
Number of weeks since my first queries for this ms. went out:  5

*I wasn't able to send it, unfortunately.  Turns out there was a mix-up with the agency online form.  One agent requested the full.  Days later, another in that office requested the partial. 

The good news on this list is contained in the second line and the last one.  In five weeks, I've been able to send the full out to four agents!  That's good stuff!    

But the rest of it is all rather depressing to me.  I always knew this was going to be a situation where the voice/style/story wouldn't be everyone's thing.  I guess I was just hoping it would be someone's thing from the onset.  Deep down, I was wishing for a best-case scenario.  

I know.  I'm getting way ahead of myself with this whine-fest.  But since it's what I'm feeling right now, I needed to write about it.    

Everything I've Written Meme

I've been seeing this meme all over.  So, now I shall partake.  My list will be much shorter than most, I expect.  I used to be all about short stories in my younger years.  (If I only included COMPLETED novels, it would be a list of two.  So, I'm including my abandoned manuscripts as well.)

1.  SIMPLE AND STRIKING.   (Literary fiction.  Limited 3rd person.  November 2003.)  
This was my first (and only, now that I think about it)  NaNo attempt.  It's the story of a 21-year-old girl married to an abusive spoiled rich guy.  She is naive and falls in love with a stoner.  (While she's married!)  She and her love go to lots of concerts and clubs together and kiss and get high and stuff.  There is a recurring theme involving epiphanies.  It's intense and depressing.  I never finished it.  At the time, I thought the most interesting thing about it was the format.  The scenes were coming at you backward and sideways and all out of order as the MC was making her epiphanies.  I thought it would be a trip for readers to try to piece it all together.  Now I'm thinking... not so much.

2.  Untitled.  (Fantasy.  Omniscient.  Winter (?) 2004.)  
An enchanting tale involving a portal to a new dimention, a run-away 17-year-old female stripper (stripping illegally, of course) from this 21st Century, a devastatingly handsome Chosen One (although he is on the side of evil at first and doesn't know his important role) who will fall in love with her, magical jewels embedded in folks' skin which gives them powers, a Very Romantic Sex Scene (never written.  It came to me in a dream), and a murderous would-be-rapist for a villain.  This one is lost and gone forever.  I had it saved on my laptop and my husband reformatted the hard drive or some such nonsense a few years ago.  I cried when I found out, even though I never had plans to come back to it.

3.  FADED AS MY JEANS.  (YA.  1st person.  October 2004 - June 2005.  Revised October - Dec. 2005.)   My first completed novel.   The story of 15-year-old Carah Greene who is obsessed with Janis Joplin and is searching for the truth about her father who has been out of her life since she was five years old.  In the meantime, she chases and is chased by boys, learns to drive, excels in art, and gets over her fear of letterman's jackets. (Heee!)  Also, there is an alcohol-poisoning storyline for no good reason!  *sigh*  But it was my first finished novel, so there will always be a special place in my heart for it.

4.  MEOW SISTERS.  (YA.  Alternating 1st person.  June - October 2005.  Then January and February 2006.)  This is the story of Cat and Neko, whose lives are turned upside down when they learn as teenagers that they are only half-sisters.  Their mother had a long-ago affair and kept it a secret!  Neko is a science genius who is also precocious and... promiscuous.  Cat has an inferiority complex and a manipulative, pathological liar for a boyfriend.  There is sibling rivalry galore.  I've quite honestly thought about revisiting this one.  If I did, I'd start over and stick with only Cat's POV.  But I do think there is potential here.  

5.  CHANGE MY TOMORROWS.  (YA.  1st person.  March - July 2006.)  The story of River Truesdell whose semi-famous parents and wacky cousins are way more interesting than she is.  This was originally set to take place in a (fictional) tourist town meant to resemble a teeny-tiny piece of Venice.  I've considered revisiting this, too.  But first River needs a personality.  And I'd probably lose the town.  And the cousins.  Uh... yeah. 

6.  THE FAKE MCCOY.  (YA.  1st person.  August 2006 - February 2008.)   You all know this one.   The story of 16-year-old Seth McCoy who is kind of trashy and tragic, but is also attractive and talented as all get-out.  He struggles with his sobriety and intense stage fright while he tries to move past his grief and guilt over the death of a friend.  He also loses his pesky virginity at least once (ha!), and falls in love with a girl who is an even bigger mess than he is.   I absolutely adore him.

7.  Untitled Rosetta story.  (YA.  1st person.  Started April 2008.)  I'm in early stages, but this is a connected story to take place several months after the end of THE FAKE MCCOY.  The mess of a girl mentioned above will be the protag.  I'm very much looking forward to it!