I know I broke the news over on facebook. But, since you are not all on facebook (You could be. You could be my friend, unless you are creepy, then you cannot.), I can give you all of the juicy details about my latest news here.
I am so pleased to announced that I am now officially agented by the amazing Steven Chudney of The Chudney Agency. (Pausing here for applause. Thank you. You are too, too kind. Thank you.)
I was first impressed with Steven last fall when I signed up for a pitch session at an SCBWI Conference in Salt Lake City. It came about as a last minute thing: I thought I wouldn’t be able to attend the conference, but when my schedule opened up, I was able to send Sydney Salter my first ten pages with only minutes to spare. (It really helps to have friends in high places–Sydney, who I am lucky to be in a writing group with, was also in charge of the conference. Moral of this story? Network. And writers are nice people.) She said my writing was good enough to be put in the agent pile (I hoped she wasn’t just doing because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings.) and sent it off to Steven–which I promptly forgot about. Hey, I had A LOT on my plate at the time.
When conference time came I remember two things distinctly: the unreasonable amount of nervousness that nearly paralyzed me and a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t like my book. You see, I had no excuse for the nerves–this was not my first pitch session, but the sinking feeling was a result from sitting in on his presentation that took place just before lunch and my pitch session. He seemed very competent, knowledgeable, and even dreamy as far as agents go, but (and that is a big but) he had no interest in fantasy. And I imagined myself standing in my underwear with a fairytale in my hands. My novel is not high fantasy. It’s a sleeping beauty story with all the fantastical elements of a fairy tale: witches, sleeping potions, and magic–but no dragons. I can’t do dragons. (Why didn’t I do my homework and see what he liked beforehand?!) Read more…
Posted by admin on 05.26.2011 at 10:38 am// Tagged under: Misc. //
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I’ve been really stingy with my writing. I haven’t shared much of my book with anyone. Well, yet. I plan on sharing it with everyone and their dog once I get it all, well, right. But my friend posted about a blogfest where you post your 99th page of you WIP. Fun, huh? I checked out my 99th page. I like it. I will share it with you. It still needs to be revised again. But here it is for what it’s worth…
I heard a loud groaning behind me at as the door to the sallyport opened and lantern light tumbled down the stairs. With it a cold fear washed over me. The bounty hunter had found me. My heart pounded in my ears now and I turned and ran full force through the darkness with my hands outstretched, groping and stumbling until I ran straight into it.
The outside door. Freedom.
I could hear his footsteps coming fast behind me. A stumble followed by cussing. In a few moments. I’d be his. The wavy lantern light grew steadier. I pushed on the door with every bit of strength I had. It gave way more easily than I had expected and I found myself buried face down in a pile of dead thrushes on the outside of the castle wall. I jumped up frantically and tried to drag myself through the tangle of deep grass and mud. More like swimming than running. My foot caught on a skinny log partially buried by the grass. What luck! I picked up one end of it and dragged it quickly over to the sallyport door which had swung shut behind me. With surely only seconds to spare, I heaved the log against the door, wedging it tight. Jumping up and down on it for good measure. It sank a few more inches into the mud. Who knew how long it would hold, but it was worth a try to buy me some time.
I pushed through the grassy mote and then sprinted toward the forest. The night was stark clear and still. The soft churning of the River Nodd the only sound to be heard other than my gasping as I tried to catch my breath, still I didn’t slow. My lungs burned and the cold bit at my cheeks. I ran on.
I hesitated as I reached the forest’s edge. Dare I enter? The forest was dangerous place with thieves and robbers and wild animals–where few dared go alone. Where girls like me could disappear forever. The bare trees stood with their skeleton arms lifted to the sky as if to warn me, to stop me from entering, echoing Tate’s words of caution. Stop, they seemed to say, do not enter here. I ignored their haunted plea. Instead, I ran headlong toward them. It was the only way I would survive.
So, there you have it. Page 99. I love to write….And now I must go and fix page 69-79. They are giving me grief! Delete and rewrite is what I’m going to do. Eep! Wish me well….
Posted by admin on 01.28.2011 at 11:57 am// Tagged under: Misc. //
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