Sunday Update - Week 8

First off, I smashed my pinky finger yesterday, so it's making typing a pain in the butt.  If you didn't already see the drama on Facebook, I was unpacking groceries and when I lifted the ice cream out of the bag, I misjudged the distance to the underside of the cabinets.  Got stuck between a cabinet and a brick of chocolate ice cream. 

Anyway, this last week hasn't been the most productive.  But here goes...

I wrote about 2100 words on the beginning of Djinn 3.

Then I got distracted working on the edits for Wrongful Termination because I got a wild  hair to rewrite the beginning of that.

I did manage to get some more submissions out.  Just one or two a day - and not every single day - but it's something.  One of them did result in a response...

I got an email back from an agent's assistant asking me for a tiny bit of clarification.  Also, they said they liked the beginning, though, so that's something.  We'll see if my response encourages them to ask for more pages.  I've got my fingers crossed but I'm not holding my breath. 

So that's the long and the short of the week.  Nothing much worth talking about in the old personal life.  (At least nothing I'm willing to spend any time yammering about here on the blog.)  Everyone's still alive, so that's something.

What happened to you this past week?  Remember, even if it was craptastic, try to think of something positive, even if it's only 'I managed not to piss anyone off this week'.

Rebaiting the Hook

I don't know how many of you have been fishing, so bear with me here. 

You've got the perfect spot picked out right where the fish traditionally are.  Maybe it's like our old fishing hole - not far from the bridge, just around a bend, under a leaning tree.  You set out with your tackle box, your rods, and your bait.  It's a beautiful day for fishing.  So you set up your chair, bait your hook, attach your bobber and cast that sucker into just the right spot.  And you wait.

And you wait.

Sometimes you see the bobber jiggle a little, but no strikes.  Just more waiting.  After a time, you reel in to see if you can figure out the problem.  Often, you're reeling in an empty hook because all the little fishies have nibbled your bait off.  Occasionally, you see your bait looking just like it had when you threw it in the first time, only wetter.  So, you rebait your hook or not, and cast again. 

After a few hours of this with still no fish on your stringer, you reel in again and maybe try a different bait.  Maybe the bass aren't biting on nightcrawlers today.  Maybe they want a different kind of worm.  Maybe they're looking for a fat frog or a chunky bug - which you can provide in the form of a lure.  You ditch the bobber, add some sinkers, and try the cast and reel method. 

Sounds a lot like where I'm at in the querying.  Well, actually, right now I'm at the rebait your hook method.  Not quite sure what the analogy would be for using a lure.  It's possible I just don't have any lures in my tacklebox (i.e. tasty reasons why an agent would want me over Author X).  All I have is my hook and my bait.  I have to hope that will be enough. 

To that end, I'm swapping out that drowned nightcrawler I've been using for a lively little redworm, and casting again.  We'll see if anyone bites. 

On the Trail Again

:whipcrack:

I'm on the submission trail again.  Over on QueryTracker*, I'm working through the list of agents that represent suspense - prioritizing who gets queries in what order, and who I'm not going to query because they're not a good fit.  200 agents.  Tonight I got through page 4, which means 160 down and 40 to go.  I had planned on not querying any of them until Monday, but I found two today that seemed like such a good fit, I couldn't help but shoot queries right off to them. 

I'll get those other 4 done tomorrow morning and then set it all aside so I can get some re-writing done on RTL.

And maybe talk the husband into a drive somewhere or a walk or something. 

Monday, I'll pare down the top half of the agents and send out queries to a select group of those.  More a day or two after that, and so on, until I get a nibble or I feel like I need to re-adjust my query.  (Not again, please for the sake of all that's holy, not again.) 

What am I querying?  Dying Embers.  It's gotten some positive nibbles in the past, but I always just wimped out after too-few rejections.  This time I'm gonna ride that horse until she drops, and then I'm going to drag the carcass across the finish line.  This sucker will be published if I have to do it my own goddamned self.  So there.  Everyone who's read it loved it - and they weren't even family.  Some of them were even published authors.  Double so there.  =op

Yeah, I'm feeling a little immature and bratty tonight.  You wanna make somethin' of it**? 

;o)

Have a great weekend, if I don't see ya around the webs.

*If you don't use QueryTracker, you really should try it.  And if you try it and like it, it's worth paying for the premium membership.  Seriously worth it.

** All in jest, I assure you.  Which just underscores the fact that I am full of piss and vinegar... vim and vigor tonight.

Unexpected Positive

So, I was sitting around the house this weekend when an email arrived from a friend of mine.  It was in regard to that Twitter thing I did on Friday.  She was asking if I had any bites.  When I told her I hadn't, she expressed surprise - natch - and wondered why a particular agent hadn't snapped me up.  Then she suggested I query this particular agent directly. 

Needless to say, I was hesitant.  I've got lot going on, and... okay, I'll come right on and say it... I was afraid.  This gal seemed awesome, but her querytracker listing didn't say she wanted suspense.  (And the last thing anyone needs is another rejection.)  My friend kicked me in the ass nudged me to send a query anyway - pointing out an article where it specifically says the gal's looking for my genre. 

I hemmed and hawed, but promised to send a query.  I had planned on waiting until Monday, but Sunday night, I got a wild hair, gathered my materials together, tweaked the query letter and sent that puppy off.  I wasn't expecting anything to come of it.

I got a reply around lunch on Monday.  She wanted a full!  Coulda knocked me over with a feather. 

Anyway, after the Hubs went back to work, I sent out the full and the synopsis she asked for.  Keep your fingers crossed.

But well wishes isn't why I'm writing this post.  (Well, they're always nice, but not my main goal here.)  I wanted to let you know so you can maybe see that sometimes, when you least expect it, good things can happen.

So, send those queries out.  Even if you're crazy busy.  Even if you're pretty sure they're not the right agent for your manuscript - because the information out there says they aren't.  Even if you don't think you can take one more rejection.  Because you never know.  You could get a request for full.

And who knows?  It might turn into an offer of representation.  Stranger things have happened.

I'm not holding my breath, but I am crossing my fingers.  ;o)

Trying and Failing... and Trying Again

As some of you may know, I joined in the Twitter pitch party thing yesterday.  I ended up sending out a bunch of tweets for Djinnocide - in various forms - and a couple tweets for Dying Embers.  And the response I got - I mean, other than from friends - was...

:CRICKETS:

True, one agent did say that if she 'favorited' your tweet, she wanted you to send her pages, and after some checking I realized my Twitter settings didn't alert me when people who aren't my friends favorite my tweets.  (It does now.)  Still, unless that one agent tried to favorite me and I don't know it, I didn't get a single response.

But I tried.  I sent my loglines out into the world during a pitch contest and I didn't die.  I even tweaked my loglines, so they're crisper and catchier.  It took a lot of work, and more than a little indigestion, but I did it.  Of course, it was an epic fail.  But that's not the point.  The point is, I tried something new.  A change was presented to me and I embraced it.

And I will try again.  As many times as I need to try, I will try.  Because the only real failure is giving up.

What about you?  What haven't you given up on?

Oh, and to curb any curiosity for those who don't Twitter or didn't see my tweets, here they are (with the hashtag #pitmad removed)...

Djinnocide - paranormal suspense: Even all-powerful genies aren't safe when someone unleashes the deadliest of wishes.

When Jo began saving her fellow genies from those 3 wishes, she didn't dream they'd ever need saving from something worse. 

When something evil starts killing the genies Jo's devoted her eternity to freeing, she discovers a fate worse than slavery.

When Jo began saving her fellow genies from slavery, she didn't dream they'd ever need saving from something worse.

Emma's mission to kill all her old flames leaves Agent Jace Douglas to catch a murderous pyromaniac despite her own fear of fire. 

Not bad, eh? Or am I the worst pitch-artist ever?

Update: Thanks to the supreme Twitter goddess - you know who you are - I now know how to check if people have favorited any of my tweets.  And, no, nobody did.  :shrug:

This and That

In case you missed the announcement at The Unpublished Writers' Guide to Survival (or you missed it over at Alexia Chamberlynn's blog), some people having a Twitter pitch party where you use the hashtag #pitmad* and tweet your pitches.  After which, I assume, anyone who likes your pitch will get in touch with you.  Personally, the idea scares the bejeebers out of me.

In other news, I had submissions out to three publishers.  The two for Dying Embers have... well... died.  As far as I can tell, Djinnocide is still alive at Harper Voyager.  Just as well, I guess, since I'm going to be a busy beaver soon.  (And that's the story I'm sticking with - like Aesop's fox who didn't want those sour grapes anyway.)

The reality of it, though, is that no matter how busy I think I'm going to be, I'll always have time to work.  (Or, if there's a contract involved, I'll make the time to work.)  My problem, though, is right now I'm thoroughly unmotivated.  I don't have anything driving me to get writing done.  Yeah, it's there.  And yeah, I still love it.  But no, it's not motivating me on its own.  Must be the Mid-winter Malaise has me in its dastardly clutches.

If you need postage, buy 'forever stamps' TODAY.  Stamps go up by a penny over the weekend, and if you get the 'forever stamps', they still work for the higher rate.  Who knows what the freight rates will be.  :shrug:  Last year they went up like 8 cents for the lowest cost Media Mail package.  Bleh.  I know it's only 8 cents, but they're nickel-n-diming me to death.

What's going on in your world?  Any this or that to share?

*corrected after Janet pointed out I had it wrong.  D'oh.

Baker's Dozen Submitted - Urp

Y'all might already know about Authoress' Baker's Dozen and the fact that the submission window for adult manuscripts opened this morning.  What you might not know - because I didn't know myself until this morning - is that I entered the contest this time.  Sure, I've tried entering before but I never managed to make the submission window.  Today, I woke up, got my shit together, and made it in!

I got the confirmation email this morning letting me know Djinnocide will be entry #14.

Here's hoping I get some good responses.  Hell, I'll settle for some not so good responses.  The only thing I really don't want is crickets.  I always feel bad for the people who get crickets.  So, keep your fingers crossed the crickets stay away.

And now... the nausea begins.  Oh, and it came with a friend - Self-Doubt. 

:urp:

Good thing I got that prescription for Prilosec yesterday.  I haven't started taking it yet, but it should help with my indi-stress-tion. 

The Truth and the Guilt and a Vow

I'd like to go back to a point I made in my last post.  I've been thinking about this a lot since I wrote it, and I think I might've only just skimmed the reality in my fumbling attempt to understand this.

If you missed it, what I said was: I wonder if other writers ever wonder if perhaps the reason agents are shifting to a 'no response means no' reaction to query letters is because as a whole agents are sick of being the bearers of bad news - as well as the targets for all the potentially postal writers out there.  Or maybe it's just that as a culture we seem to shy away from saying anything that might hurt someone else's feelings - even if it helps them in the long run.

But the more I think about it, the deeper it goes.  For instance, this morning a blog pal of mine posted her query letter and the first 150 words of her book, looking for helpful comments.  The other comments before mine were all 'this is really good' type comments, but I posted what I thought - which was basically that her query and her 150 were both pretty good, but they didn't seem to go with each other very well.

I hit Enter and the guilt set in.

Even though I did what the writer asked, I felt awful about being critical of her work.  I could tell she worked really really hard on what she was offering up.  Like I said, both pieces were polished and well-written.  Apart they seemed to stand perfectly well.  Together they missed the mark.  And this person is so funny and nice, I felt like a shit for saying it.

Maybe that's the feeling agents are trying to avoid when they go with a 'no response means no' (NRMN) policy regarding queries.  Can't say that I blame them really.  No matter how well-worded their form letters may be, someone somewhere is going to get their feelings hurt.  I mean, just look at me and that rejection I talked about a couple weeks ago.  He was perfectly awesome telling me what he really thought, and then I went and spoiled it by getting my feelings all dented.  Of course, his words helped me in the long run, but in that moment, I became a whiny baby.  "How dare you?!"

Waaa

Now, as I consider this and many other things, I wonder if maybe agents are using a 'NRMN' as much to protect the overly-sensitive feelings we writers tend to have sometimes as to protect themselves .  Perhaps if we band together, pull up our big-girl panties and take our lumps, agents can go back to saying what they really think - instead of just avoiding the truth.

Unfortunately, in order for this to really work, everyone would have to be on board.  All it takes is one total loon bad apple to spoil it.  But, I swear before the internet and everybody on it, that I won't be one of those writers.  Give me the truth.  It's the only way I'll learn.

(And as for the people who think giving someone the truth is a license to be mean?  Well, we'll discuss that at another time.  Needless to say, I don't allow that crap here.)

What about you?  Are you ready for the truth?  Will you stand with me as someone who is ready to hear the truth and let it make you a better writer?  Will you stand as someone who is ready to give the truth if that's what someone really wants to hear?

Random Thoughts for an Early Sunday Morning

I wonder if other writers ever wonder if perhaps the reason agents are shifting to a 'no response means no' reaction to query letters is because as a whole agents are sick of being the bearers of bad news - as well as the targets for all the potentially postal writers out there.  Or maybe it's just that as a culture we seem to shy away from saying anything that might hurt someone else's feelings - even if it helps them in the long run.  (Or at least one aspect of our culture.  In others, hurting other people almost seems to be in style- but that's a rant for another day.)

Yeah, my butt does look big in this.  Don't worry.  That's the one good thing about gaining weight.  I have a butt for the first time in my life.  My best friend - post HS - used to refer to me a 'B.E. Buttless'*.

The other day I was talking to my husband and came up with a really neat way to explain how he gets anything done at work.  "Slaloming Around Stupidity"

I became a great aunt for the third time last month.  My first great niece.  The early polls indicate she looks like my mother.  I totally see that.  However, I also catch myself seeing my mother when I look in the mirror - a lot, lately.  But the baby totally doesn't look like me.  What's up with that?

Last Thursday, I picked up a CD - Stone Sour - because it had a song I really liked: "Through Glass".  Unfortunately, that's the only song on the whole CD I like.  The rest sound like a weird mash up of Metallica and Pink Floyd with a twist of Tourette's Syndrome (the malady, not the band - if there is one named that.)  Whatever it is, it ain't my style.

If I stand next to my mailbox, I can watch my neighbor's super huge flat screen TV through his front picture window.  He really needs some drapes or something.  But he's way better than the guy I used to live behind.  I could stand on my back porch and see into his bathroom.  I'd be standing there, staring off into space as I enjoyed a cigarette and BAM, I'd want to scrape out my eyes with a putty knife.  That guy definitely needed drapes.

I'm not nosy, I'm just observant.  (I need to print that on a t-shirt.)

Got any random thoughts for me today?

*He used my real first name and not my initials. 

(The above pic's a closeup of my former puppy - Tutter.  Isn't he pretty?  And yeah, he had one blue eye and one brown.)

Abject Terror, Nausea, Palpitations? Must Be Query Time

Pray to whatever god you call yours for me.  And if you have no god, keep a positive thought in your head.  Because today I will be wading back into the query pool.

Okay, so maybe this morning I won't be wading in.  I have agent research to do.  Which means, at least this time around, a Premium Membership over at QueryTracker.net.  Hell, it's only $25 (or one Amazon book order) a year and I just happen to have that amount available in my book order account.  I'll get that done today* and get started pulling information to plug into the Access database I created.

And then once I have a few good agents on my list, off the queries go.

:urp:

Anyone got some Pepto?

You're an Agent And This is Crazy...

...But here's my query, so call me maybe.

:smirk:  I couldn't resist jumping on the bandwagon with this one.  Hey, if the Olympic swim team can borrow the song for their video, I can at least snatch the line for my blog post title.  ;o)

Okay, so I was talking with a friend of mine (who shall remain nameless unless she decides to out herself in the comments).  She's been reading a book I sent out for query a couple years ago, that I got discouraged about.  I didn't send it to her to critique.  We were just chatting and I said 'Hey, you should probably read my suspense one of these days'.  She found a free spot in her busy life and asked to see it.

Last night she wrote me to tell me she's almost done and asked the eternal question.  "WHY did you stop querying this?"

So I told her the long, sad* stupid story.  Actually, the short version is Jessica Faust rejected my full and then I got all defeatist. 

And Ms. Faust's comments weren't bad.  They were actually really nice.  I just got all tangled up in my head with my own self-doubt and decided 'You have no business writing suspense'.  After which, I stopped production on the half-edited book I was tweaking and the half-written WIP I was working on. 

They sit on my hard drive giving me the stink-eye every time I scroll past their folders.  And I don't blame them.  I deserve a little stink-eye from those books.  They're good ideas.  They ought to be finished and sent out into the world.

As for Dying Embers (aka Manhunter - if you've been around the blog that long), I never should've walked away and left it lying in the dust.  After all, as my friend pointed out, Ms. Faust requested the full for a reason.  So, as soon as I screw my courage to the sticking post, I will send it out into the world again. 

What about you?  Have you ever let a little discouragement stop you from going after something? 

PS.  If you haven't seen that video of the swimmers lip-syncing to 'Call Me Maybe', it's hilarious.

*sad as in pathetic, not depressing... well, unless you count that being pathetic is often depressing.

Freaking Out a Little

Okay, so here's the deal.  You might've guessed that I'm smack in the middle of a crisis of self-confidence.  (Or you might not have.  I skipped posting a lot of the worst of it.)  I know it's not rational, but right now, I think everything I write sucks.  In fact, the little voice in the back of my head... You know the one... keeps telling me that everything I've ever written sucks and the future ain't lookin' too good either. (Henceforth, this place shall be known as the ES Zone.)

Enter yesterday morning.  I opened my Outlook and watched the universe deposit a shiny new email in my 'Agent' box.  (Yes, I'm such a geek. I trained my Outlook to place anything with the word 'query' in the subject into its own box.)  Of course, with as negative as I've been feeling, it had to be a rejection.

Except it wasn't.

You'd think my first reaction would be one of glee.  You know, jumping around, doing the Snoopy dance, celebrating a little before I sent my awesome packet out.  My reaction wasn't even close to that.  I think my first thought was 'Sunuvabitch' and then, 'How in the world am I going to send out a quality packet with any confidence if I think everything sucks right now'.  I couldn't even look at the damn thing to make sure I was wrong.  Hell, I'm at the point where I even think my grocery lists are lame.

Don't get me wrong.  I know I loved this story when I first wrote it.  I loved it even more when I rewrote it to make the middle sing.  Now?  Well, the ES Zone doesn't allow for love.  It sure as hell doesn't allow for objectivity.  It just sucks everything into the same pool and leeches the wonder out of it.

So, I was freaking out a little.

I didn't tell my husband.  I didn't say a word to Mom.  I just ran around on the little hamster wheel in my head, thinking "As god is my witness, I don't know what to do."  I debated sending out a blanket email beseeching people for help.  I briefly pondered the idea of writing the nice agent a lovely letter asking her to be patient while I rewrote everything I'd ever written - because, of course, I stink on ice.

Instead, I cleaned.  I scrubbed the kitchen floor by hand.  I dust-mopped and swept and vacuumed.  I beat rugs until I was covered in a thin layer of dust.  When I was too tired to move, I flopped on the couch and read while I watched TV.  Later, I delved deeper into my family tree - discovering a spot where my suspicions were confirmed.  (I knew at some point I'd find cross-breeding in my direct descendent line.)  Finally, as my husband was heading off to the nice warm bed I wanted to climb into, I screwed my courage up, pulled my big girl panties on, and got to work.

I'm trying to forge through the ES Zone - re-reading with an eye toward fatal errors, but not changing anything major because I know I'm being Super Subjective Sally right now.  My fingers itch to wipe everything away and start over - using someone else's brain and hands because mine suck so bad - but I'm pushing ahead.  Just because I'm in the ES Zone doesn't mean I actually suck.  I'm just not objective at the moment.  (Yeah, yeah.  I don't suck.  I'm just not being objective. That's the ticket.)

Here's hoping the agent isn't hanging out in the ES Zone herself.  Now THAT would truly suck.

If all goes well, the submission materials will be going out today or tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Update: 6:55pm - Submission package sent.  I looked everything over and I did the best I could.  Thanks, Everyone, for your well wishes and luck.  We'll see how it goes from here.

Busy Work

I spent the morning creating and updating databases with the submission info for my last three finished books.  It was just busy work, but it felt good to do something productive.  (And yes, it was necessary, but anything that's not writing these days is 'busy work'.)

As an aside, you gotta love Access.  Really.  Sure, it's a pain to actually create a new database, but once you have the thing laid out, you can use it for every book you want.  I now have most of the data entered that I lost when I shifted computers last year.  Data entry... funfunfun.

(And there are aspects of Access I'm not using that could make my life even easier, but right now, setting those things up would take more time than I have.)

On the upside, I now can access exactly who I queried for Manhunter and Blink so I don't re-query anyone when as I send those puppies out again.   Yay me.  (I still have to power up the old computer and thumb through data on there, but at least I won't step on my own tongue again - like I did with my lost queries from Spectacle*.) 

Unfortunately now that I've spent 4 hours reading blogs, updating Access and reading the forums at Querytracker, I have computer brain.  It actually feels like it's flat on one side and my eyes are going all squonky.  Time to crochet, I guess.

What kind of busy work do you do when you're avoiding writing?  Is there anything you let slide while you're writing only to find yourself totally behind when you really need that stuff? 

*Due to the Great Computer Crash of 2006, I lost all my query data from both Spectacle and Caldera - my first two books.  As a result, I ended up querying agents who already rejected me.  D'oh.  Here's hoping being more organized - and keeping redundant backup copies - will save me in the future.

ETA:  Microsoft Access is the program I use to keep track of all my submission data.  Here's a snapshot of it (click to make it larger):

It ain't pretty and it doesn't do all the nifty stuff my old pre-made contact management software did (like keep a running history for each contact), but it's a pretty good method for keeping track of submissions.

Breaking the Rules

Yeah, yeah.  I know you're not supposed to post rejection letters.  I also know you're not supposed to reply back to the agent who sent it.  I just couldn't help myself.

Because it made my day.

Thanks for sending me your query.  I like your premise and your opening pages are certainly exciting and get the story off to a strong start, but as you know, urban fantasy is a crowded genre, and I'm only taking on projects that completely blow me away.  Yours is very good, but when I came to the end of this sample I didn't feel like I just had to know what would happen next.  I'm sure other agents will feel differently, but I'm going to pass.

Best of luck with your agent search,

Cameron

Yup, that was from Cameron McClure.   I wrote her back and thanked her for this.  Because, really, when the shit is flying thick and deep, it's the little things that keep me afloat.  Nice and encouraging rejection letters, nifty notes from my blog pals, a sweet comment from my niece about my last book.  

So, I hope you'll all forgive me for breaking the rules.  It just gave me a little hope and I wanted to spread it around.

Speaking of hope, I just finished Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn.  Awesome book that meshes old myths with edgy dystopian fiction.  If you read it, you'll see how it connects.  After all, hope was the last thing left in Pandora's box and it's the one thing we all need when the world's going to hell around us.  (And damn you, Carrie.  You made me cry.  =op )

Got any good news to share?  Any hope to spread?  Come on, share the love.

Taking the Good Where You Can Find it

I got a rejection today.  I know writers aren't supposed to blog about them, but I can't help myself.  Sure, it was probably just a personalized form rejection, but I'm taking it as a positive.  She said she liked my voice and my general premise.  She just couldn't connect with the overall plot.  She also took way longer to respond to my query than she has with other queriers.  I'm telling myself it took longer because she was agonizing over her decision.

Heh.  Works for me.  These days I have to take the good where I can find it.  Sometimes this biz threatens to suck the happy right out of me, and a good attitude is all I've got to hold onto, so I'm running with it.

Anything good - or sorta good - happen in your life lately?

Who Am I?

I was thinking about my author bio this morning and I came to a realization.  On paper, I'm boring. 

Seriously.  I'm a housewife, living in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.  I spend most of my time in my house, dorking around on the internet, reading, crocheting and teaching my kid what few things I have left to impart on her High School Senior person.  And, of course, doing writerly things.

Want to see what my bio paragraph looks like right now?

When I’m not writing full time, maintaining my blog, or doing other writerly things, I’m a housewife and homeschooler, who reads everything she can get her hands on and watches too much TV.  Before I dropped into this semi-hermit existence, I spent the majority of my time in corporate America—schmoozing, consulting and administrating wherever my unfinished degree in Speech and Psychology would suit me best.

Yup.  That's it.  Total snooze-fest.  It's also totally accurate.  Sentence one tells what I do now.  Sentence two tells what I used to do (and imparts a bit of what I'm still capable of, despite the fact that I am now boring).  :yawn:  That's me in a nutshell.  Snooze-a-rama. 

People I know don't find me boring - I hope.  My Facebook and blog friends haven't given any indication that I'm a yawner to be around.  Hell, I have more fun inside my head and around the house than anyone can imagine.  I don't think I'm boring, but I can see how it might appear that way.

The problem is I have one paragraph to boil who I am into a rich and meaty stew any agent would be delighted to enjoy. 

I've been places and done things way beyond the confines of this dinky place on the eastern plains of Colorado.  I've driven the mean streets of Detroit and Flint.  (Okay, yeah, I was too chicken to get out of the car, but wouldn't you be?)  I've weathered the edge of a hurricane in my apartment in Tallahassee.  I've explored the back roads - sometimes at the risk of great bodily harm - of the Wasatch Mountains.  I've hung out with artists in their gallery in Salt Lake City.  I've dined with the CEOs of multi-million dollar companies - once on a yacht on Lake Michigan under the glow of Chicago.  I've driven through wildfire smoke so thick I could hardly see and tornado force winds where the tumbleweeds were blowing sideways as the car shook around me.  I've endured frostbite and heat stroke and brain damage and physical therapy that would make a grown man cry (and judging from the other patients, it often did).

How do you take all the rich experiences of a life and turn them into a paragraph?  Especially one that relates to writing?  All the things I've done go into who I am and what I write.  Those words up there in italics are totally accurate and at the same time, wholly insufficient. 

Who am I?  I'm a former road-warrior who's often gotten herself into scrapes she almost didn't get herself out of, who is willing to break herself into tiny pieces if it means getting the job done, who married a man she spent a total of six days in the physical presence of before the wedding and then moved 600 miles to the middle of nowhere to be with that man, who dropped everything to homeschool a child who was failing in the public education system.  Sure, I live most of my life now in my head, but I have 40 years of life experiences that go way beyond what it says in that one little paragraph.

Who am I?  I'm a writer. 

Do anyone really need to know anything else?