amaliehoward.com

So on this past weekend’s trip to the romantic oasis of Lugano nestled in the south of Switzerland in the Swiss Alps, I got hit with a hot bolt of inspiration – I am going to write Lena’s story.

Lena is one of the supporting characters from my novel Bloodspell, and she is an intriguing bit of work, especially since she was my main male character’s first love back in the eighteenth century. In Bloodspell, Lena is standoffish and powerful, but she came from somewhere…she was a vulnerable girl once. I want to write about that. At the very least, I’ll jot down some notes, but I’m definitely feeling it.

Although it is now known as the Monte Carlo of Switzerland because of its range of jet-set visitors, Lugano (resting on the shores of the magnificent Lake Lugano) has been populated since the Stone Age, and has been claimed by the Italians, the Swiss, and the French all at some point during its long history, making it great food for thought…and writing this story!

swiss cheese, swiss chocolates, swatches, swiss knives and of course Roger Federer…so if I slack off a couple days, be patient with me.

A European trip of any kind requires meticulous planning, not to mention complete pre-immersion in said trip. Luckily, I speak French so I won’t be completely lost in the land with four official languages (German, French, Italian, and Rumantsch). English is the unofficial fifth language.

Looking for some inspiration for a new story! Woo-hoo!!

Someone once told me if you want something, you have to go after it hard. You have to give it everything inside of you, otherwise, it’s not something you really want. Ok, I just made the last part up. But the first part’s true. The problem is that it’s no cake-walk.

I ask myself, why isn’t it happening like those stories you read about? Instant success! 7-figure advance! 3-book deal! Well, after a lot of research and internal soul-searching, I have come up with a few answers, some lame and some that actually make sense. The most logical (and written-about) one is that the publishing industry is still recovering from the economic fallout and publishers just aren’t signing like they used to. They just can’t afford to take the risk so they go with tried and true, and books/authors that will sell. And well, 7-figure advances only come if you’re famous. Um…skydiving off the Empire State Building anyone? That would be 5 minutes of fame that may get me in the door. Kidding (but not really)! Another answer is that everyone and their mother (and father’s sister’s uncle’s cousin) is writing about the genre I am in – urban fantasy/paranormal. Including traditionally adult authors who want to cash in on the hot YA industry – the only area still growing like wildfire, which makes it incredibly competitive. The other (lame) answer is that maybe my books just aren’t good enough – but of course, that’s crap. If you ever get to read my books, you’ll know they are the farthest thing from crap. *dusts shoulder off*

It’s funny because I actually had one editor come back to me and use specific language that I have used in this blog to review one of the books she published. Sadly, it was not a great review, and yes, I paid the price when I saw her lovely rejection letter. I really didn’t like that book though, and still stand by what I wrote. There’s going to be a publisher out there who loves what I have done as much as I do.

So what’s the point of this blog post, you ask? I guess maybe it’s a bit of a self-pep talk, a pull-yourself-together talk. Despite all of the adversity, I have to pull some gumption from somewhere, and keep persevering. Most writers know that Stephen King was supposedly rejected tons of times before he sold his first novel. But did you know Gone With The Wind was rejected by 38 publishers before it was printed? Or Dune by Frank Herbert was rejected by 23 publishers? John Grisham was rejected by 16 publishers for A Time To Kill. There’s a great blog post from blogger Rachel Zurakowski from Books & Such, Why Are Great Projects Rejected? Interesting read.

Check out this great link for some more inspiration, 50 Iconic Writers Who Were Repeatedly Rejected.

You are not alone, and it will happen for you. All you need is one person to believe in you, as much as you do. So go after it hard. You can falter, that’s human…but as the singer Aaliyah said, dust yourself off and try again. Don’t give up. And remember, you can’t wait for opportunity to come to you, you have to chase it, put your back into it. Make it a life goal, and make the changes necessary to commit to your dream. It’s your dream.

It’s my dream.

I am guilty of not writing. I blog, I read, I’m even reading the Book Review in the New York Times. But I so have not been writing, and I really need to get back in the saddle. I think it’s because the new novel I am writing is more in the literary vein than it is fantasy so 1) it’s harder, 2) it’s not as exciting as urban fantasy is, and 3) I’m probably just lazy. I do know that I need to push through it because it’s an interesting story (or will be). I’m about 13,000 words in so it’s something and it’s really starting to take shape. I do need to get my arms around what I want to accomplish with it in terms of overall theme/message, and for the first time, I think I am going to need an outline. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted on progress.

On my two completed novels, we are still out to submission with Bloodspell, and I’ve sent a 3 page synopsis of the latest novel (a new series!) to my agent, Marly Rusoff. I am hanging in there! But writing is the best cure for waiting, so giddy-up!

Final round of edits completed, and we are off to the races! My agent likes the changes we have made and is happy with the final result. Now we are going to go back to publishers after months of very hard work and see if we can get this book sold! Stay tuned for more updates and keep your fingers crossed for me!

Back to editing (see my last post on Slice and Dice Time). My new question is how and when do I know that enough is enough? Do I err on the side of caution or on the side of just-delete-it? I am finding myself in a curious spot, and my question is, can one actually over-edit?

Self-editing sucks because it’s like staring at yourself in the mirror and deciding which pieces of yourself to cut off or erase. So you start with the relatively painless things like a couple finger-nails, maybe an eyelash or two. But what about when you get to more major amputation? Like an ear or a knee, or even worse, an actual limb? I repeat. It sucks.

For the ‘literalists,’ my example above is an analogy. I’m not really cutting parts of myself. But that’s what editing feels like to me. Shakespeare knew what he was talking about in Hamlet, or in my case, the pain of editing versus the uncertainty of selling to a publisher. So I guess the moral of this post is, editing may be bad, but not getting published would be far worse.

1) Get published.

2) Write like a maniac!

3) Enjoy and treasure time with my children.

4) Be grateful for what I have and appreciate that the grass isn’t necessarily always greener elsewhere.

5) Work hard to achieve my dream.

Just a quick note that I’ve finished my last round of edits on my manuscript, following some notes/comments from an editor (formerly of Harper Collins). I’ve just submitted it to my agent for review, and we will see what the next steps are. Looking to submission in January! Woo hoo!

Paris was amazing – it was everything I remembered and more. Not only did I visit all of the old haunts – the Latin Quarter, Boulevard St. Michel, the Louvre, the Notre Dame, the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, and even the Eiffel Tower, but I also visited places that I wrote about in my books which was an almost surreal experience – the Tour Areva in La Defense (see insert), the palace and gardens of Versailles, the Tuileries, the designer row of Avenue Montaigne. It was fantastic, breathing life into my story and my characters.

Speaking of breathing life, I did spend at least a couple nights lying in my hotel room wondering…what if, just maybe, vampires did exist and were living just where I’d said they’d be living (like around the corner from my hotel in the 8th arrondissement). It felt more real than surreal in the middle of the second night when the wind blew open the curtains of the french doors off the balcony into the room! Oh, and when I woke up, there were tiny drops of blood on my white bed linen. I kid you not! Well let’s just say those French doors remained closed for the remainder of my time in Paris, overactive imagination or not. Freaky!

Photos to follow.

Considering that part of my current novel takes place in Paris and its sequel occurs entirely in France, I am very excited to see this amazing city again. I recently discovered that I am of French descent which explains a lot, as I’ve always felt that Paris was a part of my soul, ingrained in my very psyche. I absolutely cannot wait. I want to smell the air in the Jardin des Tuileries, I want to wander the halls of the Louvre, I want to get lost in the streets of the Marais. I want to breathe it, eat it, live it….love it. I’m excited to rediscover my wonderful muse!

Check out the Bloodspell music playlist that inspired and kept me going while I wrote my novel!

Houston, we have lift off! My manuscript has now been officially submitted to publishers. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I will be sure to post any progress as soon as I get any feedback. Now, on to the waiting game…tick, tock, tick, tock.

I am thrilled to report that my new agent is Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc. Hurrah!!! I look forward to working with Marly on Bloodspell and hopefully, many, many other books!

So here I am on Saturday, first day of “decision weekend drama.” I have a BIG decision to make, re: the best literary agent for me and my soon to be glorious writing career. Last night I couldn’t sleep, not really due to my decision-making stress, but more because I was thinking about karma and wondering if people who suck get will get what’s coming to them. I hope so. Because what goes around, comes around. You know who you are. But I digress. Back to decision making drama. I have my paper out, my pencil is sharpened, and then the dreaded hyper-ventilating, second-guessing happens. What if I choose the wrong one??? Stay tuned.

I now have a total of six offers of representation from six top literary agencies! Oh happy day!

Still, not an enviable position. It’s hard enough to choose between two really good agents, far less six. But hopefully this is a good sign that my novel has a good shot of success in today’s highly competitive young adult urban fantasy market.

Decision to come on Monday 9/14/09.

So far I have received two offers of representation from agents on my YA Urban Fantasy novel, BLOODSPELL!

And yes, I absolutely just did my happy dance all around the room. Stay tuned for more developments – and my eventual choice.

So what’s my novel about? Bloodspell is a young adult urban fantasy – a dark coming-of-age love story about a young woman who discovers that she is a witch. It tells the tale of an emerging heroine with an indomitable spirit who has to face and vanquish the demons on the inside before she can deal with the ones on the outside.