INSECURE WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP

This is such a brilliant idea! Thank you Alex J. Cavanaugh. What it is about is...that on the first Wednesday of each month you post what insecurities you have as a writer or the progress you have made with your writing or any writing problems or questions you have and then other writers who have been through the same thing or that knows the answer will leave comments. And if you just need a little encouragement, someone will help with that too.

So head over here: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html to sign up or to read more about the insecure writers support group. Hope to see you all there.

THANKFUL AND RICE PUDDING!

I am so thankful that all my blogger fiends safely made it through hurricane Irene. I was really worried for you guys. Wish you all the best during the hurricane clean-up and that you guys haven't suffered much loss due to this whole ordeal.

Last night I had the strangest craving for rice pudding, which is weird because I have never eaten rice pudding and I don't cook or bake. So, I decided to go whip myself up a batch.

The dummy that I am decided to cook 1/4 cup of uncooked rice in some milk with sugar and cinnamon, on a low heat. And let me tell you, I had been stirring at that damn rice for more than an hour and in the end I still ended up with crunchy raw rice, a tooth achingly sweet paste and having used about 1 litre of milk.

So next time I am definitely using cooked rice and just adding it to the milk, sugar and cinnamon mix.

Thankfully I liked it and the sauce actually tasted awesome. Shame about the raw rice in it though. Once I perfect the recipe I will share it.

PLEASE BE SAFE

To everyone touched or affected by hurricane Irene. I hope you, your families and friends stay safe. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

CALLING ALL PARANORMAL ROMANCE WRITERS!

Just letting you know that Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management is looking for great paranormal romance stories. Here is the link

http://navigatingtheslushpile.blogspot.com/2011/08/wednesday-reads-dragon-bound.html.

Good Luck to everyone who is going to submit their manuscript.

JUST NEEDED SOME INSPIRATION

I needed some inspiration today and stumbled upon this article by the wonderful Stephen King and thought I might share it with everyone. Oh, and I am seriously saving to buy me his book on writing.

Here's the link: http://oldsite.greatwriting.co.uk/content/view/312/74

LIEBSTER AWARD AND YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!

I would like to thank all my bloggy friends who took the time to comment on my latest post. Your feedback was very useful and is invaluable. Thank you!

I got another award! They really do make me smile and act all hysterical, but it means a lot to me because it comes from my fellow bloggers. It is called the Sweetheart Blog Award!

1. Thank the person who gave the award to you.

Thank you so much Tonja!

You guys who don’t know Tonja, she is a truly awesome lady with a lot of guts and determination and you guys can find her over at http://tonjasmusings.blogspot.com . Thanks again.

2. Pass on the award to 5 other blogs with less than 200 followers

So now I have to pass it onto 5 other blogger friends with less than 200 followers. I chose the following people because they have less than 100 followers and they could really do with some more followers. Please pay them a visit.

Renee – http://reneesilvana.blogspot.com

Better is possible - http://clpcs-betterispossible.blogspot.com/

John - http://writepirate.blogspot.com

Tanyakschua - http://claustrophobicminds.blogspot.com

Reina - http://reina2000.blogspot.com

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog (check).

YOUR HONESTY IS DESPERATLY NEEDED

I think I might be a little crazy or at least have masochistic tendencies. You know how people always tell you that when one of your W.I.P’s is unsuccessful with agents that you should query another project? Well, I can’t let go of this one. I truly believe that this is my best work to date even though I have written other completed manuscripts as well.

I know it is really stupid to keep querying a manuscript that keeps getting rejected, but my heart is truly invested in this one. It is the first book in a series and that might also be what puts off agents.

I just keep thinking, what if I wrote a bad hook or what if I didn’t do justice to the first chapter, because the hardest part about writing for me is the first chapter. I just can’t seem to get it right.

So I keep rewriting the first chapter and my query letter hoping I will finally get it right and impress an agent. I am aware I am wasting a lot of time with just one manuscript, but isn’t it worth the trouble if you really truly believe in your work? I naively think so.

So to torture myself further, here is the hook from my query letter. Please, do not be afraid to be brutal. Your honesty is what I am yearning for.

What would you do if you were told you had the potential to be an immortal? That was an offer Claire could not refuse. But could everything be so easy? Not if Alex, an Amaranthine, could help it. He constantly makes Claire’s journey into the world of immortals difficult, at times resulting in moments of laughter and tears. But is Alex simply obnoxious or is he trying to prevent Claire from understanding the true meaning of their relationship.

Did you like it? Did you hate it? Please, leave a comment.