Insecure IWSG

The Insecure Writers Support Group was created by the wonderfully talented Mr Alex J Cavanaugh, so that writers could talk and communicate to others about the fears and insecurities that they might have. You can visit Alex Here, or you if you want to join us in discussing our insecurities on the first Wednesday of each month, you are welcome to join by going Here.

Congratulations with the 2 year anniversary Alex! Thank you for giving us writers this outlet. I bet you must be so happy and proud. It has been really fun and therapeutic to get all my insecurities out there. 

I must say that though it has been two years, I still feel insecure about certain things, but I think that is normal. I don't think that if you are a writer that you ever stop feeling insecure about your work or any of the writing processes. But I am less crazy about it all. I know I have to work on sharing my work. I always fear posting any of my writing on my blog. I fear my peers. I fear being ripped to shreds. But that kind of feedback would probably be very useful. I guess I am just secure in general. 

How about you? How is your insecurity level this month? 

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

I want to thank Deanie from Thoughts and Ideas of Deanie Humphrys-Dunne for tagging me. She is super nice and if you have the time, please pay her a visit. She can really do with a few more followers and blogging friends.

The rules

Answer the 10 questions and then tag 4 other people

The 10 Questions

1-What is the working title of your book?
The Amaranthine

2-Where did the idea come from for the book?
I was just in a really bad place in my life and I needed some cheering up, so one day I woke up with the idea in my head about Immortals and how I had a story that needed to be written. I liked the idea of living in a different world.

3-What genre does your book fall under?
Romance, but more specifically, paranormal romance. 

4-Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
For my main character, Claire, I would say a 23 year old Salma Hayak. As for her soul mate and love interest...I have not yet seen an actor that has Alex's dark and handsome features.

5-What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Claire soon finds herself drawn to the immortal world after meeting the handsome Amaranthine warrior, Alex. 

6-Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Hopefully it will be represented by an agency. I am in the process of looking for someone to buy or represent this book. 

7- How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It took between two to three months. 

8-What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I would say The Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter and Jacob by Jacqueline Franks. I read both these books afterwards and loved them. 

9-Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I deep need to create or temporary live in a world that I wished I could belong to myself. The real one was not working out so well for me at the time. It still isn't, which is why I still end up running off to my imaginary worlds whenever I can. 

10-What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
My main character, Claire, is easy to relate to and the themes about the underdog saving the day and good triumphing over evil really comes through. That is if you like that sort of thing. And then there is the other theme about a soul mate being out there for every one, no matter how messed up you are. 

I am tagging
Katie KCross Writing

Julie Julie Flanders

Carole The adventures of a children’s author

Crystal Crystal Collier: Young Adult Author

If you don't have a project at the moment, you can talk about a past project or any other project you like. Enjoy!

Super Sweet Blogging Award

I have to say a huge thank you to Crystal Collier for giving me this award. I think she is so super cool and talented. Thank you.

The Rules:

1. Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that nominated you. 
2. Answer 5 super sweet questions. 
3. Post the award.
4. Nominate a baker dozen (13) bloggers. 
5. Notify your nominees.

The Super Sweet Questions

1. What is your favorite dessert? There are so many I cannot just choose one. But what I don't like for dessert is any type of fruit. 
2. Cake or ice cream? Cake of course!
3. When do you like desserts most? Anytime of the day. I have a really sweet tooth.
4. Would you choose cookies or cake? Cake! I love cake.
5. Vanilla or chocolate? Chocolate. 

Nominees...

I know I am being a bad sport, but I really hate having to choose who gets what award. Plus, I had a list of people to give this award to, but there were more than 13 people, so I just couldn't make up my mind. So please, if you follow my blog, feel free to grab this award. You deserve it, because you guys always give me so much support. 

Feedback received from first few query letters

As you know I have sent out a few query letters to literary agents and in the past few days I got a few replies. Three were the same as the other rejections that I have gotten in the past, mentioning that my book was not right for them at this time or that it wasn’t right for that specific agent, but that they encouraged me to keep querying other agents. The fourth one said that though this project was not right for them at that time, they encouraged me to submit any of my other projects to them in the future.

Now I know that might not sound like a big deal, but to me it means that though they didn’t like my paranormal romance novel, perhaps one of my contemporary novels might be to their taste. On the other hand, I have written one, but I never went on to edit it. I just always felt that The Amaranthine (book I am querying now) was the most important book to me, as it was the first book in my Undying series.

I also sent out two query letters to publishers, but they might take months to get back to me, if they even have the time at all. So for now I am just doing more research on who to query next. I am planning on sending away a few more query letters next week.

What are you up to my dear friends?

Ignorance and submissions

I never thought I would live to say this, but I had the worst evening last night. I was invited to dinner by my cousin and I had been dying to see her for so long. I knew some of her friends would join us and I didn't think anything would go wrong, but it did. There was this one woman that just made me feel like shit when she started going off about how stupid people in my town and country was and how European people are the best, and yes, she is from Europe. It was just vile. I didn't even get to talk to my cousin, who I wanted to see. This lady was seated next to me and took over the whole conversation for the rest of the night. She didn't think much of me being a romance writer either (my cousin mentioned that I was a writer, not me) and the worst part is that most of the guests didn't contradicted her about anything that she said, except for two of us, but she just made a lengthy debate out of everything, when all I wanted was to have a good time. So I just gave up. If you are ignorant, you are ignorant and no one can convince you otherwise.

I finally took the plunge and submitted my novel to Avon Romance and Kensington Publishing Corp. I just felt that it was time that I took a chance. I have 20 different versions of The Amaranthine and I have even changed the name of the novel a few times too. I feel that I have tried to make this book perfect for so long, but I have done everything I could for it. It is time for it to go out into the world and be seen. If I get rejected and it never gets published, I will be sad, but at least I can say that I had tried. I just can't worry about this story any more. If I want my dream to come true of being published, I have to take the step of actually submitting my work. How else will it be seen?

So, what are you up to?

I got tagged

I was tagged for this meme by the wonderful and talented Julie Flanders, author of Polar Night. Thank you Julie!

The rules of this tag are very simple.  I have to answer four of the following nine questions, link back to Julie and then tag four other writers.

The questions:   

1. What are you working on right now?

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre? 

3. What experiences have influenced you? 

4. Why do you write what you do?

5. How does your writing process work?

6. What is the hardest part about writing?

7. What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

8. Who are the authors you most admire?

9. What scares you? 

So, here are my four questions: 

What are you working on right now?
I am between projects. I am in the editing process of The Amaranthine, a paranormal romance about soul mates and then I am trying to finish another novel, Island of Manoa, a contemporary romance about a type of love that is so strong that it will move through time, if it has to.  

How does it differ from other works in its genre?
The Amaranthine does not have any sex in it. Sure the characters fool around, but unlike other paranormal romance novels, the sex only comes in book two. I just felt that the characters weren't quite ready yet. As for Island of Manoa, think chick flick in book form.  

What experiences have influenced you? 
I have always felt like the odd one out. I never felt like I really belonged anywhere specific and growing up it can be pretty tough feeling that way and not really having friends. So in my books it is important for me to have the underdog come out on top and for my characters to get their happy endings. 

Why do you write what you do?
Living happily ever is very important for me. Even though I might not experience it in real life, doesn't  mean I can't have my readers enjoy a happy ending. I also believe in love, even though I have never experienced it personally. So I guess that is why I am so obsessed with romance novels. My characters get to have their happy endings. 

So, now for me to tag 4 other people: 

C R Ward, Tonja from Tonja's Musings, Katie Cross and Beverly from the Beveled Edge. 

Editing done and research begun

* * Update: This is an old post so some of the links in this post is broken. Here is a new resource for you from Reedsy, to help you on your writing journey, https://blog.reedsy.com/scams-and-publishing-companies-to-avoid/.

I had just spent that last week in my room editing the crap out of my novel the Amaranthine. There was not as much to fix as I had initially thought, but it was pretty bad. I am at the 'I hate you stage' of my editing now. I had to really push myself to get the editing done, as I am currently unemployed, which mean lots of time for editing and when I do get a job soon, my writing may suffer again.

I was curious and started looking at a few literary agent's websites, just for curiosity and man have things changed. These days there are online submission forms and most agents ask for electronic submissions only, which I like by the way. I noticed that the agents I looked at only asked for query letters. They didn't want to see a synopsis or sample pages, which means more pressure in getting my query letter just right.

Though, I have a strategy this time. I am only querying agents that are on the Preditors and Editors website and a member of the AAR (The Association of Author's Representatives). If an agent does not have a website with information, such as clients and book sales, I am passing. This time I am only querying the best of the best, which could mean that I might not get representation at all, as your writing has to be pretty ground shaking to secure representation, but better safe than sorry.

I have this fear this time around that I didn't have before. This time I am so afraid of the whole process. Of the rejections. The fact that nobody might like my book but me. The fact that I might have spent 5 years on a project that is never going to happen. I looked back at my old rejection letters and 99% of the letters said, "I am not the right agent for this project, but I encourage you to keep querying, as the the publishing business is subjective." This means that there is still hope for my book, right?

I am going to take a break from editing and go back with a fresh pair of eyes at a later stage. For now, I guess I will do my research about which agents to query in the future.