The lady who waits.

Since accepting Pulse's offer in May, I've done a pretty good job (all things considered) about not dwelling upon things which are out of my control.  Like these sorts of things:

Is your book deal going to be listed on Publishers Marketplace?
At my publisher's request, my agent is waiting to post it until after a new title has been settled upon. 

La lala.

Oh, right.  How's that new title change coming along anyway? 
I compiled a list of ideas which my agent sent over about five weeks ago.  My editor wants to get more folks at Pulse to weigh in before making a decision. 

La lala.

Have you received your revision notes yet?
I have not.  At the end of May, I was told that the notes would arrive at the end of July. 

La lalalalalalala la .

Hey, is anything going on with your book at all?
Probably.  Maybe.  I hope so?  Really, I have no idea.  If things are going on, no one is telling me about it.

A problem has emerged, damaging my not-dwellingness:  signs indicate that today is July 28th.  Which, I have somehow gotten into my head  as officially qualifying as "the end of July." 

Naturally, I have been refreshing my email and holding my breath whenever a new one appears. 

I've GOT to make this nonsense STOP.

Ignorance. It was bliss.

I didn't know a lot about writing when I first became serious about writing novels about six or seven years ago. I'd read a lot, sure, but always for pleasure. I didn't have a clue about plotting, character arcs, or any of that stuff. It never occurred to me that there were methods to creating these stories, processes involved. I just knew that liked what I liked. I didn't analyze why.

So, my first (and only, so far) attempt at a fantasy novel contained a unique idea where one character was dragged through a portal that took her from our regular 21st Century to another world entirely! Several years later, I learned that, um, this idea isn't so unique after all. In fact, some agents and editors have blogged about how they find portals to be the opposite of unique. Some even say they aren't interested in novels with a portal device at all because they don't find the concept fresh enough.

In my first completed manuscript -- a contemporary YA -- I thought it would be a unique twist to have the MC spend the book chasing after one boy, only to realize that her BFF is the really the guy for her! Now, having read hundreds of YA novels, I've realized that a great many other writers have used (and continue to use) that same scenario. And, most often, it works well. But it definitely isn't in any way unique like I'd originally thought.

Knowlege is power, right? (Please pardon the cliché.) Since I've read enough to know some of what's already out there, I can try different approaches, or at least put my own spin on what might be overused scenarios. Now, I'm not writing things that I think are super original only to find out otherwise. That's good, right?

But at the same time, ignorance truly was bliss. (Oooh.  Another cliché!) 

Currently, I'm working on a draft where my MC's life and perceptions are changed by something having to do with an act of which her brother might or might not have committed. I haven't seen this particular thing out there in YA (although, it very well could be), but I find myself thinking: Oh, no! I'd better hurry up and re-read THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG ROUND THINGS to make sure there aren't similarities between Coley's brother and Virginia's brother!

I am also trying hard to do a little something different with the dynamic between the MC and her Love Interest. But I worry: Is it possible that readers will compare Coley and Reece to Sophie and Robin in WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW? Or to Annabel and Owen in JUST LISTEN?

Like I didn't already have enough to get paranoid over, right?  ;-)

Faux pas?

My editor is getting married in October.  I was invited verbally to said wedding in April 2008, long before she was my editor. 

For the longest time, I didn't really know whether I'd go.  But now that I'll be getting some advance money and stuff, I thought it would be a cool thing to do!  My husband and I have always wanted to visit D.C.  Also, I got a crazy good deal for the plane tickets (two round-trip for Seattle/Baltimore for $330 TOTAL price!).  So we're going.  Between Baltimore and D.C., we'll be there for nine days.

So, the thing is, I have three crit partners who were all students of Liesa's, too.  We have a private message board where we upload work for critiques and post updates about what's all going on in our writing lives and such.  There was a recent conversation (about peacock feather headbands, if I remember correctly), where one of them said, "It would be so much fun if we could all meet up someday!  Too bad we all live so far from each other." 

(One of them lives in DC, one in NY, and one in CT.  And I'm in Seattle, WA.)

I said, "I might be going to Baltimore and Washington DC in October for a wedding.  Is that far from all of you?"

And then we started planning it.  Meeting in Baltimore.  The NY and CT girls might be able to carpool, and DC is all kinds of close to Baltimore!  It could really happen!  Which would be so super fun!

Now I'm feeling uncomfortable, though.  Because, to my knowlege, none of them have been invited to the wedding.  And I didn't specifically say upfront, "I'm going to Liesa's wedding" because I didn't know for sure that I was going anyway.  And, also, I didn't want to seem like I was rubbing it in their faces or something.  (Since, you know, they would all love to have her as an editor, too.)

We are all FaceBook friends, so obviously they are soon going to realize that the wedding I'm going to is Liesa's.  And anyway, even if FB wasn't a factor, they would still at some point, bring it up in conversation, "So, do you have family in Baltimore?  Whose wedding is this that you're attending?"

I'm worrying too much.  I know I am.  I'm just feeling awkward.  I'm not sure how to proceed without feeling like I'm turning it into a thing.

Edit:  After taking up all this time to type this, I ended up explaining in a comment on FB anyway.  (Not specifically to one of the three.)  So, now it's out there.  And I'm feeling much less awkward already!

Movie theater trauma.

My husband and I saw HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE at the theater last night.

Things were going well enough.  I was tired--we went in the late evening--but the movie was keeping my attention.  The truth is, I haven't read HBP since it first came out four years ago.  I remember the major events, but the rest was foggy.  It helped; I probably enjoyed this one more than any other Harry Potter movie because I couldn't make educated comparisons.  (FYI:  I've never been a fan of the movies.)

Anyway, there came a point near the end of the film.  A big confrontation.  A young boy--who I'm guessing to be around age eight or so--was sitting a few seats from me.  He whispered to his mother, "Is Dumbledore going to die?"

She said, "Shhh."

He asked again, frantic this time.  "Mom, is he going to die?"

"Just watch."

And then, not too much later, it happened.

For the rest of the movie--I honestly don't know how long it was, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes?--the boy was crying.  He was all curled up on the seat and his mom was hugging him.  (This theater has the arm rests that can be pushed up.)  He was stifling his sobs, so most of what I heard was just sniffing and occasional whimpering, but it was obvious that he was just devastated.

Afterward, when the credits started, I watched him leave with his parents.  He was wearing a sweatshirt and had the hood pulled low over his eyes.  My husband turned to me and said, "That poor kid!  He was making me cry!"

Well, that made two of us.  I mean, sure, that part of the movie was sad and all, but I'd already known it was coming.  I forget that there are people who don't read the books, who don't know all the major twists. 

 

My ears are younger than the rest of me?

You know that mosquito sound that teenage humans--but not adults--are supposed to be able to detect? Well, according to this thingy I clicked on, I can hear a pitch almost as high as some teenagers hear:

The teen repellent will no longer foil you, but you can still hear some pretty high tones.

The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 16.7kHz
Find out which ultrasonic ringtones you can hear!

(It's not true what it says here; I'm much older than twenty. But thanks for the compliment, answer generator!  Also, why does this switch from third person to first?)

I really can hear things very, very faintly all the way down to the 21.1kHz option, but not well enough that it would actually bother me or stand out above other sounds. 

What about you?  :-)