A friend of mine sent me the link, so I decide to play.

I have accepted an offer of representation from Diana Fox.

She requested the full within a day, read the full within four days and made the offer. To be honest it took longer for me to sign the dotted line than for her to make the offer. (Poor Diana…she probably never imagined it would take me three weeks to sign the agency agreement, but I had lots and lots of questions.)

As for why I chose Diana…

1. She was very professional, be it by email or phone.
2. She was also very funny.
3. Every time I spoke with her, she let me know that her enthusiasm for the story never waned (despite her having to wait three weeks to have me sign the agency agreement). She named her favorite characters from my story and told me all the things she loved about my book with specific examples. And she was also upfront about minor revisions that may be required to make the work stronger.
4. She was very patient with my newbie-ness and answered all my questions.
5. It was obvious that she and I have very similar outlooks on how we want to work together.
6. Finally DD’s favorable in-person impression of her cinched the deal for me.

And now I want to take a moment to thank the following people:

• BF who has always believed in me and beta-reads all my manuscripts.
• My CPs, from Passionate Critters or otherwise, who read the story and encouraged me.
• Divas who have been helpful and encouraging (you know who you are!)
• AbsoluteWrite members who have been generous with their advice.
• My parents who have finally accepted the idea that I’m going to be a novelist and are very encouraging now.
• My brother who’s been supportive from the beginning of all my ventures and wished me nothing but success and happiness.
• Elaine English for her expert legal advice.

I’m really looking forward to working with Diana.

Reuters reported:

She is big-busted, petite, very friendly, and she runs on batteries.

A Japanese firm has produced a 38 cm (15 inch) tall robotic girlfriend that kisses on command, to go on sale in September for around $175, with a target market of lonely adult men.

Using her infrared sensors and battery power, the diminutive damsel named “EMA” puckers up for nearby human heads, entering what designers call its “love mode.”

“Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype and provide a robot that’s sweet and interactive,” said Minako Sakanoue, a spokeswoman for the maker, Sega Toys.

“She’s very lovable and though she’s not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend.”

The model name EMA stands for Eternal Maiden Actualization, and the girlfriend robot can also hand out business cards, sing and dance.

It’s for adult men, although I’m not sure what adult men can do with a 15 inch-tall “girlfriend”. Of course, the real sad thing is that I’m pretty sure it’ll be popular among otaku.

Just got the first four episodes. It’s a historical drama from Korea (most likely some kind of count intrigue). I love watching Korean historicals because I find them highly interesting, and I like the cast and so on. We’ll see how much I like this series.

I’m completely covered with mosquito bites. I have no idea how or why or … anything, but a legion of mosquitos bit me everywhere, and I feel itchy and gross. (They, however, didn’t bite BF…)

If that’s not bad enough, some homeless guy has been really loud outside for a while (between 3 and 4 a.m.!), and I haven’t been able to sleep very well for a couple of nights. There’s only so much Coke Zero and coffee can do to keep me lucid.

A lot of Americans who have never been to Japan or studied its culture in detail think that anime = Japan.

(Which BTW is 100% false.)

The influence of media however isn’t limited to America.

I was talking with a Japanese friend once (BTW — she’s never been out of the country) and she told me that although she wanted to visit San Francisco, she thought America was entirely too dangerous for someone like her.

So I asked her, “Why do you think that?”

Her response: “Because…they have guns in America, right? What if they don’t like me or something and shoot? People always shoot each other in American movies.”

*facefault*

I think there are a lot of unrealistic ideas and/or expectations about what critique partners can or cannot do for you out there. I’m constantly amazed by some of the things people say they want from their CPs, but they don’t realize that it’s not something their CPs can do for them. Here’s a partial list:

1. Help me write / finish my story.
2. Help me with motivation.
3. Help me with basic grammar.
4. Help me get an agent and/or sell.

Help me write / finish my story.

Unfortunately, your CPs can’t write your story for you. The only thing they can do is help you improve what you’ve already written. That’s it. I’m hugely puzzled by the idea that having a CP or two can magically help people finish their manuscript.

Help me with motivation.

This is somewhat tied to the previous item, but unless you’re already motivated deep in your heart, I don’t think anyone can help you. I think a CP can provide a shoulder to cry on when you get really discouraging rejections, cheer you on, etc., but I honestly don’t think they can help you become motivated. I’m not saying that a support network is useless, just realize its limitations. If all that was needed was a CP to be motivated, everyone with a CP would be writing and producing saleable projects. Sadly, this isn’t the case.

Help me with basic grammar.

Unfortunately, you have to learn basic grammar yourself. I’m not talking about something like how to use comma or something that can be a matter of style (depending), but I am talking about not using the right tense, etc. I know it can be hard, and I make mistakes, too. We’re all human. But the last thing your CPs want to do is fix every single basic grammar mistake you make. I’ve seen people submit incoherent — incoherent because of horrific grammar –chapters for critique. I couldn’t tell who was doing what or to whom because none of the sentences had clear subjects, verbs, objects, etc. That’s bad. I usually ignore such chapters because I don’t feel like spending an entire week trying to decipher each line, and I personally feel that it shows a disregard for your CP’s time. A writer’s tool is language, and the basic engine of clear communication is grammar. So learn it well. Your chances of finding good CPs and keeping them will increase.

Help me get an agent and/or sell.

I think good CPs can help make your writing stronger, which increases the likelihood of your landing an agent and/or publisher. But I don’t think that your CPs can actively help you get an agent or sell. You have to learn the industry, and you have to do the research and so on yourself. You can ask more experienced CPs for help, but ultimately, it’s your career.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to comment on any other unrealistic expectations you’ve seen and how your crit partners have been helpful, or anything else you feel like talking about.

…for Rivera. Karen reported:

Apparently, Siren wasn’t the only publisher that ex-Ocean’s Mist Press owner, Noemi Rivera lied to, about who she was. She also apparently faked her name over at Red Rose Publishing. She got found out though:

From: “Wendi”
To: redroseauthors
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:40:50 -0000
Subject: [redroseauthors] Important Information for you all!

It has been brought to my attention the owner of Ocean’s Mist Press was at Red Rose Publishing. She was writing under the name of Maria McBean. She submitted to us and gave us that name and signed her contract as such.

When this was brought to my attention I ran her social security number and it showed that it did not belong to Maria McBean but belonged to Noemi Rivera.

I am so sorry as I have concluded that she has commited fraud as she fraudulantly signed an alias and that makes her contract null and void.

She has been removed from the authors loop plus her book has been taken down or in the process of being taken down at all the other places we are distrubted at.

She has breached her own contract and is NO LONGER WELCOME AT RED ROSE PUBLISHING! Nor would she have been welcome if she submitted as herself.

I wanted you all to know what was going on. I am so sorry as she SCREWED every one she has ever came into contact with.

Take care and have a great evening!

Wendi

Do people honestly believe that nobody’s going to find out? I wonder if it was worth the humiliation. Besides now her name is linked to all sorts of questionable and/or illegal and/or unethical behaviors. Not a great way to go.

I’m currently rereading Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel. It’s my third time. Every time I read it, I get something new out of it. I feel like I can re-read it every month until the day I die, and I’ll still learn something new. Just an incredible book.

Yesterday there was a tragic incident in a high traffic area in Akihabara, where many electronics goods, anime shops, etc. are located in Tokyo (it draws a lot of tourists and is popular among otaku). A young man named Tomohiro Kato (age: 25) drove a white rental truck into the area, rammed into people and stabbed multiple victims indiscriminately. (Note that guns are illegal in Japan, so he couldn’t shoot people.) Seven people were killed, and ten were injured. The police arrested Kato, and the media reported his life story, along with his resume. (Japanese people are always very interested in whether or not the criminal was employed and if so, where.)

Some reporters have said that Kato is a yakuza member, but later it turned out to be false. Besides, Yakuza members do kill each other, but it’s usually for a very specific reason (mostly revenge or territorial disputes) and they do not kill indiscriminately. You usually never hear about yakuza members killing non-yakuza civilians without a very good reason.

Kato claimed that he was sick of everything and wanted to kill people. He was a temporary worker at a car part company and was making about ¥200,000 a month (that’s about $2k US). Some believe that the inequality in the system probably angered him among other things. Temporary workers and full-time regular workers (called “seishain”) are treated very differently even if they do the same work. Seishains get paid more, are eligible for promotion and the company-sponsored pension plans and other benefits, may join the labor union, and receive biannual bonuses and so on and are generally treated like a family member. However, temporary workers are treated like a second-class citizen, even if they work hard and so on (meaning the only thing they’re entitled to is the pay). And most likely Kato also had some mental instability of some sort, although it’s not clear yet as to what kind and how severe since psychiatric help is not something people seek in this country. (Culturally speaking, it’s not looked upon favorably to seek such help.)

Many Japanese people claimed that they feel unsafe in Akihabara, and if people avoid the area it’ll have a fairly significant economic impact in Tokyo. Most likely the government will step in to allay people’s fear. There are memorials and so on in Tokyo for the victims, and many news analysts are wondering why there are so many stabbing rampages in Japan recently.