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.

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.

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.

• Complete All the King’s Women Fast Draft. ETA: May 14.
• Start Nine Final Draft. ETA: May 16.
• Complete at least 50% of Nine Final Draft revision. ETA: May 31.
• Read four new-to-me books. ETA: May 31.

I just signed my first contract with Samhain. I submitted Devil Falls in November 2007. Tera of the Most Impeccable Taste emailed me on March 11 my time. I read her email before I had my coffee. So I thought it said, “Thanks but no.” So I was about to put it in my “R” folder when my BF said, “She says she wants it!” BF to this date doesn’t understand how I could’ve possibly gotten a “no” out of a “yes”.*

Some of you might wonder why it took me so long to sign…after all, it’s already May. It just took me a while because I’m unagented and had a lot of questions. Special thanks to Chrissy, Tera and Elaine for being so patient with me!

The book is coming out in Fall 2008. I’ll post more details later.

* Note to Self: Don’t read anything important unless you had your coffee, especially if you had very little sleep for about a week.

I’m looking for some crit partners. My info below:

What I Write: SF thriller with romantic elements, historical fantasy, paranormal romance. (I also wrote contemporary romance, although I’m not concentrating on that anymore.) You can go to my bookshelf to view my projects if you want.

POV I Write In: mostly 3rd, but sometimes 1st.

How Long I’ve Been Writing: This is my 4th year writing seriously.

Writers I Enjoy Reading: Jacqueline Carey, Jim Butcher, J. R. Ward, Robert Crais, Eoin Colfer, Rick Riordan, Linda Howard, Lisa Gardner, J. A. Konrath, Naomi Novik, Barry Eisler and so on.

Genres I’m Willing to Crit: Any subgenre of romance except inspirational. I don’t read it, so I don’t think I’ll be a good fit. Also fantasy, futuristic / SF or YA. 1st & 3rd POV okay.

I’m looking for experienced writers and CPs who read what I write (I already have CPs who don’t read my genre). I’m not looking for an accountability partner or anything like that, although I’ll be happy to do that with you if you wish. If you’re interested, reply here or email me. I’ll be happy to exchange a couple of chapters from my latest WIP with you so that we can get a feel for each other’s style and so on.

Thanks!

• Complete All the King’s Women Fast Draft. ETA: May 14.
• Read four new-to-me books. ETA: May 31.

I can’t believe I forgot to do this. Better late than never.

• Enter the Shomi Contest with Nine. ETA: April 7
• Finish Maass revision on Nine. ETA: April 30. Completed on April 29.
• Read four new-to-me books. ETA: April 30. Read only three.

Sorry I’ve been totally remiss with my blog. I’m still in the middle of Fast Draft, and it’s sucking up all my time. Of course, if that’s not bad enough, I’m also working on a short novella. It’s very different from my usual tone. No body count or anything like that. Actually it’s rather…fluffy…?

All the King’s Women is going to require a ton of revision, but I like it that I’m doing Fast Draft because I’m beginning to understand my heroine’s motive and her relentless drive. She appears a bit ruthless at times, but the reason for her increasingly Machiavellian method is obvious and sympathetic as the story unfolds (or so I hope).

I’ll post more about Fast Draft and lessons learned on May 15.

It started out a bit slow, but wrote 22 pages. Yay!