HILARITY

A ridiculously funny video about a VERY deluded aspiring author.



Sadly, I know people who think that it's really that easy. Please. If getting published was that simple I'd have a shelf in Borders right now.

I didn't make this video. I only wish I had.  © 2010 David Kazzie  Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9fc-crEFDw

This scared the CRAP out of me!

The video below is for an autonomous taxi cab which can pick you up and drive you somewhere with NO DRIVER. I would've thought my initial reaction would be "Cool! Robotics!" but instead I was terrified. As I watched the man climb into the driverless robo-cab all I could think was "NO! Don't get in the car! Didn't you see The Bone Collector or that one episode of Criminal Minds??? Bad things happen to good people who get into creepy cabs!" Mind you, I have nothing against cabs, I use them all the time, but I am on major creeper alert before I'll climb into one. Here is my checklist:
-Does all the paperwork look like it's in order?
-Can I see the driver's face? (Sorry, but if your face is obstructed by huge sunglasses and a hat pulled low, I am not getting into your cab...Unibomber!!!)
-Do the 'unlock' mechanisms in the backseat appear to be fully functional?

Granted, it's not foolproof, but I like to think it prevents me from riding with any OBVIOUS psycho murderers. And now I have to add a NEW question to my checklist:
-IS THERE A DRIVER AT ALL?

After watching this video, my mind immediately went all dystopian and started wondering "What if that cab was sent by the government to abduct you? Or what if you really believe it's taking you where you asked it to, but the cab has ideas of it's own because it's part of the machine revolution? Or what if the man behind the helm is some sort of psycho killer who lures his victims to his lair in autonomous cabs?" Mark my words. I will never get into one of those things. Oh, and you know where they are? GERMANY.

 I'm sure they're much more progressive now, etc, etc, etc, but I'm gonna  be honest. I already have some real hesitations about the idea of ever being IN Germany, and now they're putting people in robocabs? It's just too much. I can't take this.

Maybe this time...I'll Wiiiiiiin!

"All the odds are, they're in my favor, something's bound to give in. It's gonna happen, happen sometime. Maybe this time... Maybe this time I'll wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!"

So I've previously mentioned that I have a bunch of songs I repeatedly listen to on YouTube and/or Grooveshark when I'm feeling down about the Agent Search (yes, I know that shouldn't technically be capitalized, but it's a really big deal in my life OK? lol)

This is the song I sing to myself whenever I get a response to a submission, before I actually open it.

(Yeah, I know it's actually from Cabaret but I'm a total Gleek so I listen to this version. And, yes, I know I am incredibly melodramatic. I'm okay with that.)

Maybe This Time - Glee Version (feat Kristin Chenowith & Lea Michele)

Feeling Optimistic

I've been working on a new project for the last few hours and am feeling pretty good about it. Plot holes are starting to come together in my head. My characters tend to be like real people, in that it takes time to get to know them, and they won't reveal everything in the beginning no matter how much I try to rush the relationship. I was writing for two months before I figured out how Jasmine got her superpowers. I had the entire plot mapped out but there was just this small issue of how she happened to be super. Which is clearly, not a small issue at all. And the idea didn't come while I was writing either, I was actually crossing the street by the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Stop in DC and I tripped. And a light bulb went off. Random right? 

I'm learning to accept that sometimes I can't force the ideas, and they will come when they're good and ready. In the meantime I just keep writing, writing, writing - and depending on the gaps to fill themselves in as I get there. 

Since the last YouTube video I posted was incredibly melodramatic (What can I say? I'm an artiste. And all that pent up emotion makes for good material), I'm going to post something a bit more inspirational today. Another song I've mentally remixed to be about my writing experience, and the song I plan to sing all day when I sign w/ the right agent. From Legally Blonde, the Musical. (Love that movie!)

(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)

Where it all begins...

So I've been trying to figure out exactly what's going to become of this blog. It started out as a resting place for my sample chapters, but then I started to kind of have fun toying around with it. I think it is gradually becoming an online diary of sorts, describing my journey from desperate, starving artist to (hopefully someday) successful, published YA author extraordinaire. So I guess I'll give the background and then share how things progress from this point.

 My journey so far has consisted of:
-a year of writing (I started Jasmine Powers, Super Geek in July '09),
-a LOT of revisions (I've been trading chapters with 3 online critique partners and reading at a weekly in-person critique group),
-and a fair share of queries sent out. I'll just say that if I hit 100 query rejections with no agent, that's when I give up the ghost and trunk this book. And I've still got a long way to go, so I'm feeling pretty good. Got a lot of rejections on my first round query because frankly, it was horrible and I just didn't know enough to realize that then. Took a long pause for the cause and did a new round with my current, much transformed, many times revised version.

With my current query, I've gotten a good number of requests and one particularly helpful rejection on a partial, which led to some revisions which I think really improved the story. I've also had a few form rejections (not right for my list/ just didn't fall in love with the story/voice/concept/ME. Ok, no one said they didn't fall in love with me, but really that's what it felt like) and those were tough. I am usually pretty rational and constantly remind myself that I read and enjoy a lot of well-written books which I don't fall in love with, and I know that it's in my best interest to be patient and find that perfect agent who loves my story the way I do....BUT....I still have moments where I feel like this:


(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)


I've been remaking the song in my head to be about writing my experience. Once I get an agent, I promise I will make a remake of the video w/ my aspiring author version of the song and post it here. One more fun thing to look forward to!