Secret Agent!

I found out about a delicious contest on the blog of Miss Snark’s First Victim.

The idea is so delightful, I couldn’t resist entering. Fifty (raised to sixty for reasons explained on the blog) aspiring authors submit the first 250 words of their completed novels. A agent, about whom we know nothing except what genres he/she represents, reads them. At the end of the contest, the Secret Agent unmasks herself/himseslf and picks “prizes” for the winners like a read of a partial or a full. Pretty sweet.

In addition, everyone crits other entries, so, even if you don’t catch the Secret Agent’s eye, you still receive helpful feedback on your novel’s opening.

I entered.

Wow, though, the competition is intense. There are a lot of entries which I, personally, would love to keep reading.

* * *

UPDATE

I just finished reviewing all sixty entries. Whew — and wow. There’s some really lovely prose and smashing hooks in that bunch. It’s intimidating, but also exhilarating. I also received some good feedback on my submission.

With so many excellent submissions, I fear my chances of coming to the Secret Agent’s attention are not just slim, but downright anorexic. It’s depressing to realize that real slush piles are just like this, except with no cap on the number of submissions. I honestly don’t know how agents retain their sanity.

However, I’m glad I entered, and so excited to find out who the Secret Agent is!

Two Things I’ve Learned About Outlining

Break out your violins, cause I’m gonna wail and whine.

I was supposed spend this month finishing my Mother of All Outlines. Instead, I did the usual shoddy-bum half-baked outline I usually do and then immediately snuck off to continue writing on Book II.

Now, I had an excuse. (Naturally.) Each book has a number of story threads, which follow different PoV characters and eventually meet up somewhere in the book. One of these threads, for every book, is not like the others. It’s usually a series of events from the past. In Book I, a thread follows the mysterious Corn Maiden. In Book II, there’s a thread which follows Mayara, an Aelfae orphan whose whole family is murdered by humans, and who is then taken in by humans who don’t realize she’s fae.

Since these threads are in the past, they are out of chronological sync with the rest of the series. When I write them, however, it’s easier to do it in chronological order — so I like to write the whole sequence as a set piece, which I then divide and distribute to the proper chapters.

I did write a shallow outline, which still manages to be more detailed than my previous outlines. I even included some dialogue.

But I learned I need to include two important things right there in the outline, if this detailed “phrase” outline system is going to work for me.

One: Characters.

Who is in the scene? This seems like a no-brainer. How can I have dialogue if I don’t know who’s talking? But I don’t mean the main characters. I know who the PoV character is going to be, but sometimes there are also bit players present, doing things, and I need to figure out who these guys are at the outline stage.

Two: Setting.

Again, I know generally where the scene is taking place. What I need are the specifics. Inside or outside? In whose room, by which rock?

* * *

These still aren’t things I’m used to thinking about during the outlining stage.

Example:

My outline phrase: Mayara watches her whole family slaughtered by humans.

My realization when I went to write the scene: Who is she with — mother, father? Where is she compared to her family — i.e. she must be close enough to watch, but far away enough she herself isn’t killed. Are her family members given names or just called “her family”?

My draft:

“Give me your wings,” her mommy said. “I’ll bury them.”

Mayara wasn’t sure what to do. Her wings were part of her – they grew from her back. How could she give them up, even if she wanted to, any more than she could take off her arms or her legs?

“Hurry!” Mommy kept looking back over her shoulder. The forest beyond the cave looked innocent enough, but Mayara could hear the war cries of humans climbing the slope, out of sight. Hu, hu, hu! they shouted in the distance, to the beat of drums.

Outling Hard, Boo Hoo

Break out your violins, cause I’m gonna wail and whine.

I was supposed spend this month finishing my Mother of All Outlines. Instead, I did the usual shoddy-bum half-baked outline I usually do and then immediately snuck off to start writing on Book II.

Now, I had an excuse. (Naturally.) Each book has a number of story threads, which follow different PoV characters and eventually meet up somewhere in the book. One of these threads, for every book, is not like the others. It’s usually a series of events from the past. In Book I, a thread follows the mysterious Corn Maiden. In Book II, there’s a thread follows Mayara, an Aelfae orphan whose whole family is murdered by humans, and who is then taken in by humans who don’t realize she’s fae.

Since these threads are in the past, they are out of chronological sync with the rest of the series. When I write them, however, it’s easier to do it in chronological order — so I like to write the whole sequence quickly.

I did write a shallow outline, which still manages to be more detailed than my previous outlines.

(Granted, sometimes my outline consisted of a proper name of the hut.) Huh? I just read this last line I wrote and it made no sense. Damn, I am falling asleep.

Cannibalism and Parenthood

I took my younger son (also known as “Spawn: the Sequel”) to his doctor for immunizations. The doctor reminded us of the usual things. Don’t shake him. Put him to sleep on his back. Car seat must face backwards. And so on.

She added, “It’s also great to read to him. At this point, he doesn’t care what you read, he just loves to hear your voice. You can read him any book, whatever you’re reading, such as…”

Here she leaned over to pick up the nonfiction book I had brought in with me. She read the title out loud.

“…Cannibalism, Headhunting and Human Sacrifice in North America.” Pause. Blink. Look of horror. “Um. Ok, maybe not that book.”

Note to self: Do not bring research books for that chapter on human sacrifice into the pediatrician’s office.

Sending

I’ll be sending out the full mss of Dindi to an agency by this Friday.

More or Less Typical Day

5:30 Awakened by Baby. Feed him in bed.

6:00 Around the time that Baby goes back to sleep, Toddler crawls into our bed. “Wan bu-barry ba.” Wants Blueberry Bar, or, in other words, breakfast.

6:30 After breakfast, Toddler requests play time. We play with his Duplo firetruck set.

7:00 DH is up. He works in the office for a while, while I watch Bob the Builder with Toddler.

8:00 DH takes Toddler to school and goes to work. I paint for an hour. Yesterday, I had prepped the canvas with a green base, this morning, I outline the form with sepia.

9:00 I settle down at my desk. I read my email while feeding Baby again. After that, I start work. To get the most difficult task out of the way first, I write my query letter first, and post it to my writer’s group for feedback.

10:00 Breakfast. I’m out of chocolate donuts, so I eat a beef Cup of Noodle. I eat at my desk, still working. Now I futz around with my Outline for the rest of the Dindi Books.

13:00 Feed Baby again, read some entries on the OWW. Check email again. I get some feedback on my query, and make the changes.

14:00 Walk time! I pack Baby into the stroller and we head down to the supermarket where I buy more chocolate donuts. While I walk, I call my mom on the cell and tell her about the latest changes to my book outline.

15:00 Once home from the walk, I put Baby down for an afternoon nap. I paint another layer on my painting, this time the black and white layer.

16:00 I’m happily back at writing when DH comes home unexpectedly early from work. He distracts me.

17:00 Since DH is home already, I leave him to watch Baby and go with the single stroller to pick up Toddler.

17:30 Toddler wants “Mommy drive cars!” so DH takes over dinner and I go play some more with Toddler.

18:30 I feed Baby again. Dinner is ready.

19:00 After dinner, I sneak off to see if I can regain my lost hour of work while DH plays with Toddler, but DH is tired. He attempts to take a nap. I feed Baby while playing more cars with Toddler.

20:00 We watch Smallville. I feed Baby. Through-out, Toddler repeats, “I want drive cars!”

21:00 Normally, at this time, DH would give Toddler a bath, and I would dry him off and put him in his jammies. But DH is sick, so Toddler watches Maisy, while I write in my blog on my laptop, sitting next to him on the couch. I think DH is in the office — no, the bathroom. Still sick. When he comes out, he gives me some advice on how to fix the nostril on my painting.

21:30 DH says he’s well enough to supervise “Brush Teeth Time!” and read Toddler a bedtime story. I go to write some more.