Yesterday was the cover reveal of my book, The Summer I Became a Nerd, which is just well... CRAZY TOWN!
THE cover... Of a book... That was written by ME... I mean, that's just BONKERS!
If you haven't seen it yet, here you go!
It's adorable and I love it and I think it fits the vibe of the book and just.... *faints*
But enough about that, what this blog post is really about is me saying THANK YOU!
Thank you to all you amazing bloggers who took the time to work up posts for the reveal, who were brave enough to put my stupid face on your blogs, who talked about my book and what you thought of the cover and the concept. To all of you who went to Goodreads and added it to your shelves. I was ridiculously happy all day long!!!
And as I clicked on post after post, the love I felt for the book community and all the readers and authors friends just grew to the point where I realized something. And here's where the promise part comes in. I feel a responsibility and want to make this the best book it can be. I want it to make you laugh out loud! I want you to fall in love with these characters as much as I have! I want it to go in your keeper pile and stay there!
So, that's my promise to all of you. I will make this the best book I can. Because you are all wonderful and...
The cover for THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD by yours truly will be revealed on November 30th and I am over the mooooon :D
So, if you'd like to help me reveal this awesomeness on your site, please let me know in the comments and leave your email address so we can send you all the juicy details!
Sign ups will end on Monday, November 26th, so get to commenting!
It seriously hit me hard. Like hard hard. I encourage everyone to read it.
After reading it, letting it really soak in, I came to two conclusions.
1. I let things get to me way too easily. Then, I let those things dig their stupid, meaningless claws into my brain where they constantly bug the crap out of me. You see, I'm a worrier (I might have mentioned this before). Tiny things, things that happened years ago, still nag me. Most of the people that were involved in these insignificant happenings probably don't even remember them or remember them differently than I do, but still, they're there in my brain. This habit has got to stop because pretty soon, when TSIBAN is released, there will be people who like my book (hopefully), but there will also be people who really don't like it, maybe even hate it. I've already vowed not to read the bad reviews, like the really bad ones that might be super hurtful. I don't know if this makes me smart or a coward, but it's just the way I'm going to approach the whole thing because life is too short, dude.
2. I have GOT to unclench when it comes to writing. I have GOT to relax and remember what is wonderful about doing this. I don't know what it is that's causing this sometimes overwhelming feeling of fear and doubt. Maybe I'm trying to hard to improve, maybe I'm letting other people's writing intimidate me because there are so many awesome authors and am I even worthy of a place on a shelf even close to them and *PANIC*
... Deep breaths...
See how quickly the anxiety sets in?
So, here's my promise to myself (and maybe you want to join me on this):
I shall care less.
Simple enough. Easy? Highly doubtful, but if by saying that over and over in mirror gets me another thousand words down then it is worth it.
I decided to go back over all my old
blog posts today because of this post
from Roni Loren and I realized something. In the beginning, this
blog was meant to be a place for me to discuss my writing journey.
Back when I started that first book, this blog was where I went to
vent, talk about writer stuffs, converse with new friends, get advice
and maybe even give some advice along the way. And rereading some of
those posts reminded me of this. Granted, some of those posts make me
shiver, but ya know, whatever.
Anyway, I enjoyed those posts, so I'm
going to try to get back to that type of blogging. Being honest,
talking about the craft, and sharing stories instead of these other
things I've been doing (or not doing because I'm sure you can see
that I haven't been blogging hardly at all lately).
So, I'll just get right to that :)
I've been having trouble lately with...
well... all of my WIPs. I remember the days when I had just one book
I was working on writing.
*sighs, looks wistfully off into the distance* Those were the days.
Now I think I might be stretching myself too
thin. With book #1 and then with TSIBAN, I had this need to focus on
just them. While I was writing each one, they were it, the end all,
be all. I don't know what's happened to my brain. It's like I'm just walking along then:
BOOM! NEW IDEA!
Then I can't be satisfied until I've written the first few pages. THEN after I've
done that, I immediately go into this self-doubt mode like, "What am I doing working on this? I should be working on this other thing. And this isn't that great anyway. Right? But I really like it." And on and on.
SHINY NEW IDEAS! THEY'RE KILLING ME!
*deep breaths, deep breaths*
And there you have it. A seriously
rambly and out of nowhere post. Please tell me I'm not alone in this.
What do you do to keep the new ideas at bay? How do you stay focused?
It was Friday, February 10th. I was a little down and out about querying. I had given a certain publishing company a look before, I knew who they were, I knew some of their authors, I knew they were very author friendly, and I knew that they were legit and making a big splash. After even more research, they seemed like exactly the type of team I wanted to be on. So, I thought, "Why not?"
I put together my query for Heather Howland, Senior Editor, and pressed the send button. Normally, when sending a query, I would hem and haw over clicking that button, but for some reason, I barely hesitated this time. Twenty minutes later, she responded with an enthusiastic full request.
One week and a day later, February 18th, I was having a phone conversation with her. She loved my book... Sigh... That feels SO GOOD to say!
Today, I signed the contract!
That's right... I'm an Entangled Teen author!!! My book, THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD, is slated for Spring 2013!!!
Wow... I still... I can't even... Yeah, I'm still in shock...
What's a writer supposed to do when they start reading a book and it seems like every other aspect of that book is incredibly similar to the book said writer is writing?
1. Freak the f*** out!
2. Keep reading said book because it is awesome.
3. Berate self for being a crap writer because this book is so well written, it is ridiculous, and there is no way self can do better.
4. Set awesome book down because it is now a ticking time bomb.
5. Call DH to whine about your predicament.
6. Throw manuscript in trash.
7. Write a rambling email to critique partner about how you're thinking of changing the whole vibe and voice of your book.
8. Read critique partner's amazingly inspiring response email that begins with "Deep breaths. Deep breaths."
9. Take said deep breaths.
10. Man up and finish reading time bomb.
11. Realize that critique partner is right. You shouldn't completely change your book just to be different from this other book. Just because there are some similarities does not mean you have to give up.
12. More deep breaths.
13. Pull your manuscript out of the trash, dust off coffee grinds, and get back to making it sparkle. Because you've worked way too hard to get to this point and not finish.
So, here I am, just three or four more scenes from finishing my first draft and it is so hard. Not because I don't know what happens. Of course I know what happens. I've known that since I wrote the first word. Its because life is interfering.
Life, as in money troubles, keeping the house clean, giving my family the attention it deserves, money troubles. Oh, I said that already, huh? Anyway, all these things are weighing on my mind making it incredibly hard to focus on the imaginary world I've created.
What's a girl to do? And why didn't anyone tell me being a writer is tough? Oh, that's right, EVERYBODY has said this. It is addressed in every blog I read. *sigh*
*think, think, think*
Let's see, I have a few more hours before I have to pick up my son from school. Plenty of time to focus on pumping out a couple thousand words, right? Also plenty of time to fold some clothes. There's nothing I can do about the money situation at the moment. And the only family member here is my youngest son who is currently watching his favorite show.
OK, 2 hours of writing, 1 hour of laundry, pick up kid, do dishes, pick up living room, start diner, and while doing these chores I will multi-task by thinking about the rest of the book. Maybe if I stick to this plan, I won't spend the whole day worrying about junk I can't do a darn thing about (I have a big tendency of doing that, I blame my mother. You know its true, Mom. I love you, though.).
So there you have it. My whine, whine, bitch, bitch post. Hopefully, there won't be anymore of these...*crosses fingers*
What the hell is going on here? The words have disappeared. They've flown away. They've packed their bags and left for Bermuda. "Don't forget to take a left at Albuquerque!" I yell and wave bye-bye.
I'm half way through my novel and I can't think of how to start this next scene. And things were going so well. *shakes head in shame* What do I do now? I can't even think of a way to just push through it. ARG!
Why is this scene so hard to write? Does that mean I shouldn't even write it? Oh no, I'm starting to doubt myself. My ability, my plot, my characters. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I'm spiraling down.
How do I get past this? Any suggestions, all you beautiful, wonderful, supportive people?
Nothing, nothing, nothing happened on this day. No writing. I felt blah all day and just watched TV. So, instead of talking about my viewing of Run's House and Storage Wars, I'll just post a good song.
I spent a lot of yesterday on the internet, which I realized is not always a good thing for a budding writer.
At this point, I'm trying to learn as much about the industry as possible. I know, I know, I should probably have a finished manuscript before I even think about agent hunting and query letters, but I want to prepare myself as I go along. So, I went to querytracker.net and started looking around.
That's when I started to get pretty frightened.
There are so many agents out there. How does one decide who to query? How does one decide how many to query at once? Should I send out only a few at a time or do I send out tons to improve my odds?
Then I started checking out some of the authors' websites and I became intimidated. They all look so cool and young and stylish and... so not like ME! They all seem to live in New York and go to art gallery exhibits and have equally cool and young and stylish friends. And here I am, a stay at home mom living in the country. I mean, I've traveled but that was when I was young and moving around with my parents for my Dad's different jobs. I have been to California but that was when I was like eight years old. I have been to Atlanta but it was just a layover during a flight to South Carolina. I didn't even leave the airport.
I just felt so naive and bumpkin-like. When I started feeling really freaked out, I told my husband what was going on and he texted me with a statement that I'm sure I'll never delete off my phone:
"Step back, take a deep breath, and relax. Everything will be fine."
So I did. I closed out all those windows that had those cool author websites, all those that had anything to do with finding an agent and how to write query letters. Instead I began to search for people who might be feeling the same thing as me. People that are in the same boat as me.
Friends, I need friends who really, really understand what I'm going through. Yes, my husband is my best friend and I couldn't do any of this without him but he can't really give me serious advice about what I should do. So, how do I find these friends?
I've decided to take a cue from Regina Brooks's book Writing Great Books for Young Adults and put together a want ad, not for a character but for people like me. So, here it is:
Wanted: Writers of YA fiction who are just as nervous
about delving into the publishing industry as I am.
Who both love and hate writing as much as I do.
Who might want to start a critique circle.
Who won't be afraid to laugh and cry.
Who are willing to give and receive support and advice.
I don't care where you live or whether or not you attend
super cool art exhibits, just as long as you're friendly.
If you are considering replying to this ad, here is a little bit about me to help you make the decision:
1. I love cherry coke.
2. My brother taught me to read with comic books (he read the boy parts and I read the girl parts).
3. I really like fuzzy socks.
4. I never miss an episode of Top Chef or Project Runway, but I've never seen an episode of Jersey Shore.
5. If I won the lottery today, I would go out and buy every new electronic device on the market, take a trip to Scotland, buy my mother whatever she wanted, and donate a million dollars to St. Jude's.
6. My favorite French word is l'histoire because it's fun to say.
7. I am horrible at every type of sport but I'm a HUGE Boston Celtics fan.
8. I really like to make people laugh. Like, REALLY laugh, giggling is unacceptable.
9. When children aren't present, I tend to have a potty mouth.
So there you have it. I'm excited to meet you all! My last little fact: the Beatles are my favorite band ever, ever, ever! I could listen to them day or night, in the car or in the bathroom, bad mood or good mood.
Mother, wife, and YA author living on a windy hill in Louisiana. I love fuzzy socks, comic books, cherry coke, and brand new office supplies. Represented by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency. Stay cool! Contact me at leahraewrites(at)gmail(dot)com
