The Plan

My current plan is this:  every day, I either write or I exercise.  I figure this way, either I have books or I have buns of steel.  Both seem to be healthy activities for me.

I've been on this plan for most of this year, though I hesitated to call it a New Years resolution. Not even a birthday resolution (I frequently save my new-years list for March and force myself to confront those ideas along with the hard evidence of a passing year).

I have not had a great year so far.  On the surface, it all looks pretty good. I've been working a lot at the day job, which for once I love. That makes it harder to find the time and energy to write.  Writing has always been a sort of emotional outlet for me, and it's been rough not being able to channel that into words lately. 

I am writing. Slowly. I am making forward progress on The Vegas Affair--a follow up to The Paris Affair that follows Helmut's impulsive little sister Kelsie (who's not exactly a kid) as she confronts her familly's ongoing issues and gets herself in hot water. Or maybe not water? Vegas is a desert. Anyway, I'm happy with the story that I'm writing, but I just need to keep my energy up to write it.

That, and I"m going to the RWA conference in July. I am looking forward to seeing New York City for the first time, to spending the week hanging with my critique partners, and to the crazy motivation that the conference always is.

But for tonight, I wrote. And now, to sleep.

The rudest possible rejection letter

This morning I received the rudest rejection letter from an agent that I pitched to at RWA Nationals.  The reply was in response to a request for a full manuscript, which I had just sent. Here it is, in its entirety, cut and pasted directly from my email:

So, in other words, most of those who you pitched at the RWA have rejected
you and now you have decided to skim the bottom of the bucket? It doesn't
work that way, my friend. I asked you to send me a complete which I assumed
was completed when you pitched me last month. What has happened in the
interim that has forced you to us. That story might be one story that I'd
like to hear. Otherwise, I'm sorry.

And while I'm not above mocking, snarking, satirizing, or venting, I am not replying to this jackass.

I will tell you, my blog, "What has happened in the interim that as forced {me} to {them}":

1. The manuscript that I did pitch was complete. But possibly not polished. I hadn't read through it in its entirety for a long while. And I wanted to put my best work forward. So I didn't email it upon returning to my hotel room. Instead, I read it. And polished it. I fixed typos, removed one place where I had accidentally left {insert research here} from an earlier draft, added a cover page and made sure the formatting and chapter numbering were right (and sequential, LOL). So, shame on me for pitching something that needed work. Not scenes, not re-writes, just polish.

2. I arrived home from Nationals into crunch time at work. I have a day job, and not of the waiting-tables variety. I am a software engineer and the lead over four other software engineers on a project with an August 18 deadline. I worked overtime for two weeks, making sure we met our deadline. Missing it costs our group tens (or possibly hundreds) of thousands of dollars in fees. A hell of a lot more than what my one manuscript is likely to earn should it sell. (Not that those fees go to my pocket, but they do help insure that we have another contract, and thus, a job)

Oh yeah, and this day job pays my mortgage and provides health insurance for my family, including a child with major medical problems. Ditching the day job to submit a manuscript to an agent who, statistically, is likely to reject it anyway is a bit lower on the priority list.

3) The weekend after Nationals was a family reunion. In another state. I actually got a lot of reading and polishing done in the car on that trip (much to my husband's annoyance). The weekend after that was girl scout camp. Did I mention that I have a day job? If I can't write on the weekends, then I can't write. And my family is important to me. Far more important than a novel will ever be.

4) School started. For stay-at-home moms and work-from-home moms, this is a time to rejoice. For those of us who have to re-adjust our work schedule to be available for drop off/pick up, and need to find time to go school shopping (to uniform stores with limited hours, doctor appointments, supplies, gym shoes...), its a source of stress. The first day of school was the day of my work deadline (I didn't get to either drop my daughter off or pick her up that day because I was at work).

5) Child's birthday. Which becomes a multi-part event with families spread out (and I still haven't sent out invitations to her classmates for the third round).

6) All that querying and being rejected by other agents took a bite out of my time. Um, wait a minute. I didn't query any other agents. I didn't pitch any other agents. I submitted a single partial to a single requesting editor. Then I finished polishing the rest of the novel and mailed it out. Yesterday. I guess its good I didn't have to wait 4-6 weeks for this gem of an email.

I honestly had my reservations about this particular agent after the pitch. I wasn't sure it would be a good fit for me given what and how I want to write. And he didn't even want to hear about the manuscript I was pitching. I got the distinct impression that he was looking for a meal ticket, not an author to represent.

I guess my instincts were right. I will never work with this person. After all, in his own words, he is "the bottom of the bucket".

#RWA10 Photos

The Dolphin Hotel.


Fireworks over Epcot.


Jeannie Lin Dressing for Historical Success in Mideval Chinese garb.


Dawn (one of my weekly critique partners) and Ellen (one of the lovely MORWA ladies).


Chaptermate Jennifer Jakes was a Golden Heat finalist in the Historical division.


Jeannie Lin's face on the jumbo tron as she presents the Golden Heart for best Historical.


A washed-out picture of me at the Golden Heart banquet.


The rest of my weekly critique group: Shawntelle Madison, Jeannie Lin, myself, and Amanda Berry.

#RWA10 Wrap-up

Every time I think I’m the last RWA10 attendee to blog about my experiences, I see another post. Maybe I’m not late, exactly.

 

I could give excuses (too busy writing, too many requests to deal with, too exhausted from seeing all of Disney).  Or, I could tell the truth (haven’t gotten to it, grandiose ideas of including photos and no time to upload them, too much laundry).  Or, I could tell you to go friend me on facebook (where I did actually post photos and a few updates). But somehow that phrase “go friend me” sounds an awful lot like “go do something else that starts with an f” when you say it fast. So I won’t do that either.

 

In the week since I’ve been home from Orlando, I’ve done the following:

• Removed pink polish from my toes. I like the nails painted, but it’s just too much effort to maintain the rest of the year.
• Re-polished the first three chapters of my contemporary manuscript, and re-worked the last synopsis I had written. Funny how the synopsis changes once you actually write the ending of the novel.
• Emailed three chapters and newly polished synopsis to a requesting editor.
• Received polite thank-you from the editor requesting the same pages snail-mailed.
• Smacked self on head with hand and said “Doh” because I really, really should have known that the house only accepts printed submissions. To be fair, she did give me an email address, and I had to look up the mailing address online.
• Continued polishing about 2/3 of the remaining novel.  Need to quickly finish that up and send off to a requesting agent.
• Wrote 2 new scenes on my Sci-Fi-that-just-won’t-die manuscript. Last night actually. And I’m kicking myself for not doing something else (like editing or submitting or writing the other darned book that I half plan to finish before the GH deadline this fall), but that’s what happens when you let your subconscious run your fingers for you.
• Laundry.
• Ate a steak sandwich in the cow barn of the Indiana State Fair.  Total non-sequitur, I know. And, FWIW, the steak was excellent though the location was kind of unsettling (not just because of the aroma), as there were cows being primped for competition about 20 yards away.  As my husband phrased it, “There is no second place.” 

 

 

 

Contest News!

My category-length contemporary (formerly titled The Appearance of Impropriety...new title TBA at some point) placed 2nd overall in the Passionate Ink's Stroke of Midnight contest! I was thrilled to just final and fully expecting honorable mention.

Very cool.

The Passionate Ink cocktail party was also fun. Two very interesting speakers. And I managed to get a table with a couple of editors that I have (or am planning to) submitted to. Almost accidentally. Almost. Of course, I was too chicken to really say much. But maybe, just maybe, they'll vaguely recall the silent blonde who placed in a contest and sat at their table with a dopey grin on her face all night.

Or maybe not :) But I am proud of myself for at least going that far. Heck I'm proud of myself for going to a party where I knew no one :)

Ok, I'm off to meander through the hotel bar, or possibly over to the Boardwalk in search of someone to talk to (or souvenirs to buy). If nothing else, I ought to catch the fireworks from the Disney Parks tonight.

#RWA10

Are you packed? I'm not.

I'm a last-minute kind of packer. I'm a last-minute kind of everything, LOL. There will be items that don't hit my suitcase until about 6:10 Wednesday morning. We should be in the car and headed for the airport by 6:15. I still have to decide which gadgets actually come with me (camera, or rely on the phone/camera? iPod or spend time loading music into phone or e-reader? E-reader or a paperback for the plane?). I probably need to make a checklist so I don't leave home without my chargers and assorted cables for whatever I bring.

I could probably safely begin filling suitcases tonight with clothes. I'm sure I can keep my 3-year old from unpacking them for a day. And there aren't a lot of toiletries that I'm packing that I will need the night before or morning of my flight, though it still annoys me to have to segregate all of the "gels and liquids" into a baggie for airport security. Totally messes with my organization.

This is my second RWA conference, and I'm excited. Last year I was nervous. Terrified, actually. And generally anxious about how my husband would do on his own with both kids for 5 days, and anxious about pitching and having to *gasp* meet strangers and just generally anxious. (And guilty about the whole leaving-hubby-with-kids thing, but mom guilt is a topic for my other blog).

This time around, I'm excited. I feel much more comfortable with myself as a writer, and much more comfortable with the RWA experience as a whole. I'm apparently in the minority that I'm not excited to be at Disney World (I was super excited about Nashville). I don't have the time or the budget to spend a day at the Disney parks, and we had already been planning a family trip down there for later this year. But I am excited to be in the middle of the whole crazy RWA whirlwind again. I have a couple of “extra” engagements to attend this year, too, which makes me feel a bit more of a part of things and less like a wannabe.

I'm still terrified about pitching my book to both an agent and an editor. I don't know why the agent ought to terrify me. Lord knows I've queried enough so far. Last year at this time, I'd sent out maybe a dozen queries. My rejections number well into the double digits by now. And the editor shouldn't freak me out. Assuming I remember my name and don't start jabbering about aliens (I'm pitching a contemporary to her), I'll probably at least get the standard-issue request-for-a-partial.

In two days, I should be in a van en route to the Swan/Dolphin. Woo hoo!

Maybe I should get packing.

Getting ready for Nationals

Are you going to the RWA National convention in Orlando?

Its prep time. This past month I've been a little slow at adding new words to my manuscript-in-progress because I'm distracted by lots of other RWA-related activities.

Ordering new business cards. I'm only half-convinced at the necessity of these. I printed my own last year, and wasted hours doing it. I fought with Word for hours and ended up with a stack of cards where no two were exactly the same. No clue why. This time, I spent a few more $ (not much considering card stock and ink) and bought them through Kinkos. The upside: took about 20 minutes start to finish. The downside: hubby and I both agree that the on-screen graphic was a bit nicer than the finished product (more saturated colors, clearer text). But, they're done. Want one? Want 50? :)

Updating my website. Yep, I have one. I had one last year, with a whopping single-page. This year I tried a couple of things and ended up installing Wordpress. I have more updating to do, so be kind if you visit today and think it looks a little scarce :) And don't be shocked if the template changes color more than once. My website-building budget is limited in both $ (I'm not up to paying for a theme yet) and time (because while I have the technical know-how to do it myself, I have a job with a looming deadline and a family who still speaks to me).

Sending out query letters. What better time to get yourself rejected than a few weeks before you have the perfect opportunity to pitch your masterpiece in person? It's a bit masochistic of me, but I keep doing it anyway.

Polishing two manuscripts. my contemporary (which might finally be getting a better name...maybe more on that later), and my sci-fi romance (with which I currently have a very twisted love/hate relationship). But should I at least get the "pity partial request", I'm ready.

Polishing a pitch. Our RWA chapter did a couple of awesome sessions to help hone our pitches. By the end of it, I not only had something written down that I could read outloud, but had some good feedback on it and I think it will actually work pretty well. Assuming I remember my name and native language when I sit down in front of the editor, let alone the particulars of my book. (not a joke, I have been known to forget my own name when in a stressful situation where I had to speak outloud).

Polishing my nails. Once again, the week of RWA will be the only week of the year where I have colored toenails (fingers TBA). Its also the only week of the year where I can 1) wear sandals and 2) am in an environment where it is normal to have colored digits. My day job is working with (primarily male) engineers in a chilly basement. They don't show me their toes, and I don't need to freeze mine. 'Course, hotel conference rooms aren't particularly warm either...

Submission

I have submitted. 2 copies of my contemporary romance (code named Chivalrous, but with a slightly more imaginative—and totally negotiable—title). One to an editor, one to an agent. Actually, only three chapters plus a synopsis. The editor might have been willing to read more, but in my nervousness during the pitch, I failed to find out exactly how much to send. So, I decided to be cautious and only send a partial.

OK, cautious and freaked out. Because I have had the book sitting on the shelf for about a year, and it’s been edited. But every time I open up something I write, I want to edit some more. And I knew that if I was going to send the whole book, then I would want to re-read and probably re-edit the whole thing. I need to do that (I am also incapable of sending my children off in public without brushing their hair one last time). But I wasn’t going to get through it all last week, with work, and an evening class, and kids who hadn’t seen me in 5 days.

So now, why am I so nervous? Its not like I haven’t queried before. I sent out a dozen or so query letters last fall for the same book (and got a dozen or so rejections, though one partial request before the rejection. The worst these two can say is “no”. I think maybe its because the whole situation is more personal—I saw their faces, and talked to them in person. I saw real interest (not necessarily grandiose enthusiasm, but interest) in the idea. Not like a faceless cold-call query letter to an agent found online who had “romance” listed in their areas of interest.

So now, I’m torn between dusting and polishing Chivalrous (thereby investing time and emotional energy into something that is likely to be rejected again), or wrapping up my Sci Fi, and preparing to start something new, or finish something else that’s in progress.

Maybe I should count myself lucky that I have precious little time this week either, so even if I waffle over the decision for a couple of days, I will have wasted minutes, not hours or days, of productive writing time.

About the food

My least favorite parts of the RWA National Convention involved food.

I am no country hick. I expected high hotel prices for snack, room service, and restaurants. I fully expected the catered lunches to all include some form of chicken and pasta or chicken and rice (one of each, as it turns out). I expected hotel food to be, well, institutional to some degree. I did not expect to be appalled by the table manners of some of the other attendees.

I am not a country hick, but neither am I an etiquette maven, and I was raised far from any semblance of the country-club set. But I have attended my share (maybe more than my share) of fancy business dinners and weddings at places like the Ritz-Carlton downtown Chicago, the Frontenac Hilton, the Chase Park Plaza and the Starlight Roof, the Fox theater (dinner on the stage!), and City Hall in St. Louis. (Not that the events were put on by City Hall, but were private events held there—it’s an exceedingly beautiful venue, btw). Some of them black tie, some business dinners with networking opportunities.

At none of these other events that I’ve attended have I seen diners arrive at their seats twenty minutes early and devour their salads, all scraps of bread on the table, and half of their desserts before all seats at the table are even filled! Nor have I seen people wait with their fork and knife in hand, hovering over their food and practically salivating while waiting for the entire table to be served (this one person in particular had at least noticed that others were politely waiting for all to be served). At the Rita/Golden Heart reception, I saw people carry entire serving trays of appetizers off of the buffets, and set up their own private mini-buffets to share with 2 or 3, while others waited in long lines for a bite or two of shrimp.

I don’t care how tight your budget is, YOU ARE NOT STARVING. DO NOT PRETEND THAT YOU ARE. There is no reason to fall on your food like a rabid wolf. There is no call to arrive thirty minutes before an advertised meal time and stockpile your plate like you’ll never see another bagel again. It is not polite, and is very very far from considerate to hoard food while others are still waiting. Wait your turn. Wait politely. Wait for the entire table, if not the entire ballroom, to be ready. Take your share and no more (if you want seconds, you wait until everyone has been served). These are the same kinds of table manners that my husband and I are working very hard to teach to our 2 and 4 year olds. I certainly hope a few fellow RWA members remember them for next year.

I don’t believe that the hotel or the planners helped matters much with some of their choices of presentation and location. The continental breakfasts, and the GH/Rita Reception were served in a landing area outside the main ballroom that was, in my opinion, far too small. The reception was a crush. Literally, a crush. I’ve read about them in Regency Romances, but I’ve never actually experienced one until now.

The food tables were too tightly packed together so that long lines formed around them as if they were a dinner buffet, instead of a more civilized cocktail hour. Maybe some budget-conscious attendees treated them as dinner buffets. The dessert table was too sparse and many of us watched the table emptied by vultures before ever arriving at the front of the line for a single bite of chocolate. And if there was water, coffee, or iced tea available at the reception, I never saw it. Just the bar—with small ticket-sellers set up next to them. $5 for a single soda, alcohol more expensive, and no alternatives in sight.

I am hoping that people will be better behaved next year in Nashville. And that perhaps, our conference fee will go a bit farther so that the 7:30-8:30 continental breakfasts are not stripped bare by 7:52. I would hope that the Rita/GH reception would merit as nice of a venue as the actual awards ceremony—at least one of the side ballrooms, instead of a landing between the stairs and some bland meeting rooms.

Myabe I expect too much. I’ve been to some awfully nice events, after all. And though I didn’t expect Ritz-Carlton from a Marriott crowd, maybe my expectations were just a tad higher than they should have been.

More on Nationals

Every now and then I meet someone who knows everyone. And I do mean everyone. As in, everywhere I go, every stranger I meet, they all know this person. There was a guy from college that I met within the first few days of arriving on campus (no romantic involvement here). He was everywhere, super-involved in lots of things. Everyone knew him. I attended Wash U in St. Louis, which is not a tiny school. Not mammoth either, but with 5000ish undergrads on campus, its not like everyone knows everyone else. He graduated probably 2 years ahead of me in a different engineering discipline. After graduation, I started work at a small local consulting company, where most of the company had worked together for over 10 years. One day, I was sitting in the conference room at a client site, and one of my managers was chatting with the client (they used to work together elsewhere) and they were talking about some guy named (ThisGuysName). Its not a common name, and my ears pricked up. Um, are you talking about (HisName)? Yes, yes they were. Small world. Even smaller when he later married a friend of a friend. I still run into him once or twice a year, and occasionally find a coworker here (at my 3rd employer) who knows him. Weird how that works out.

Recently, I met another one of those everywhere people. Jeannie Lin. She’s been around RWA for a while, attended a bunch of conferences, and been active in at least two chapters—LARA and MORWA. And every other person I met at the RWA conference knows her. The neat thing was when I introduced myself to a stranger and she said, “Oh, you’re one of Jeannie Lin’s crit partners.” It’s a small, small world, and Jeannie has perfected the art of networking. She’s also very nice and a superb writer. So its no surprise that everyone knows her.

In addition to that little observation, my conference experience was great. I’m not quite the social butterfly that others are, but I do warm up with time. I had two pitch appointments—one editor and one agent. I intended to pitch my sci fi to the agent, and my contemporary to the editor, and ended up with 2 requests for the contemporary. The only bad thing is that the editor might have requested either the full or the partial, but I forgot to clarify which. I think I’ll send the partial to both, offering the full as well. And, of course, though I claim that the book is “done”, I feel the need to dust it off and do a quick editing pass before sending it on (I can’t help it….but I think it’s a compulsion that many writers share). I still want it sent by the end of this week. I may have a few late nights ahead of me to make sure I meet that self-imposed deadline.

I loved seeing the faces of editors and agents. Hearing their voices, seeing them laugh and smile, and sometimes even stammer through a Q&A session makes them feel so much more human. Not just an all-powerful being somewhere with the power to make or break my writing career. But a normal, approachable person. And I have noted the names of 2 NY editors in particular who expressed interest in Sci Fi and futuristic romances. I was too scared to talk to either in person, but I’ll be polishing Leap and either tossing it for the slush pile, or waiting for a contest or other opening to get it in front of them.

RWA Celebrity Sightings

I'm not much of a fangirl. Well, I am, but I'm too chicken sh*t to ever consider approaching a celebrity. The first author-signed books that I've ever acquired were from my RWA chapter meetings (from my chaptermates themselves).

RWA National was an interesting people-watching and celebrity-watching event for me. I was not only surrounded by famous people (and quasi-famous people, whose names I only know because I write), but I was almost their peer. Almost. Without the suite and the assistant and the book deal. Even still, I saw the faces of lots of famous folks, up close and personal. With some, I even mumbled my name and waved at my badge so they could sign a copy of their book.

Here's my list of up-close celebrity sightings:

• Kit Bond. Ok, he's not a romance author and was not (to my knowledge) at RWA National. He's a Senator from Missouri. But I sat right behind him on the plane from St. Louis. Not even in first class. I did not ask him to shake my hand, like many of my fellow fliers did once he was officially recognized.
• JR Ward. Right before the RITA awards, I was checking the back of my dress in the bathroom. She told me it looked great. She was probably laughing at me :) (Hello, anyway, should you be googling yourself! I'm the blonde in the cream dress with a big black bow on the back....)
• Brenda Novak. I helped her stock a box of give-aways in the Goody Room during my stint as a volunteer
• Angie Fox, NYT Bestselling author of the Accidental Demonslayer series. I'm cheating, here. She's a chaptermate in MORWA. I did sit with her and another chaptermate during the Dorchester spotlight.
• Kimberly Killion, RITA-nominated author of medieval Scottish romance. Cheating again--another chaptermate. Doesn't stop her book Her One Desire from being awesome. She should have won!
• Jeannie Lin. Cheating again. She's a chaptermate, a crit partner, a Golden Heart Winner, and she sold (at conference) her first novel! So, by this time next year she'll be a bonafide celebrity that folks outside RWA will recognize.

There probably ought to be more. I certainly attended enough workshops led by famous people, and had a couple of editor/agent appointments with names that fellow romance writers might recognize. But I didn't ride an elevator with anyone I recognized, or have a drink with someone. I'm not good at starting conversations. Maybe next year I'll get to chat with Jayne Ann Krentz or Susan Elizabeth Phillips (I did love their workshop...).

Back

I'm back from RWA. My head is still spinning with all of the sights, people, concepts.

Wow. 2000 women in one hotel. I missed men. Funny, that. But I work with mostly guys, in an engineering company that is mostly guys. They give off a different vibe.

I have lots of commentary on what I attended, what I learned, what horrified me, what scared me, what amused me. I will try to digest it and post in bits and pieces this next week.

I will start by summing it up with this: I am glad I went. I had a good time. I definitely think it is a step in the right direction for my career, and my writing.

And I have no intention of wearing high heels again for a really long time.

The final list

To Do before I leave Wednesday for the RWA National Convention:

• Get cash. I thought I had this one covered last night, but Target limits the amount you can withrdraw in a debit transaction. Not that I need hundreds of greenbacks, just enough to make me comfortable for a week of cabs, metro rides, and restaurants


• Streamline my wallet. Must remove all unnecessary cards. Don't think I'll be shopping Build A Bear, Hallmark, Sams Club, the paint-your-own-pottery place, etc while at nationals. I might keep my zoo card, though. That thing gets me discounts at other zoos, including the national zoo in DC. In case I get a few free minutes to sight-see :)


• Arrange for a cab to the airport. I did the math, and parking my car in the cheapest long-term lot at the airport will cost me about the same as taking cab both ways (I live fairly close). I like not having to keep track of keys while in another city. I could get someone to drop me off and pick me up, but my flight out leaves at 6:40 in the morning. I don't want my husband dragging the kids out of bed at 4:30, and I won't impose on friends at that time of day either. I arrive back home at a very civilized 11:30AM, though, so I may be calling for free transportation.


• Pack my carry-on. Which is really my totebag (originally purchased as a diaper bag, btw, a very sophisticated-looking diaper bag). It ought to hold my netbook, iPod, cell phone, travel papers, wallet, and quart-sized ziplock baggie of tiny cream, liquid, and paste products. Some of those items, like the case for my contact lenses, can't be packed until bedtime tonight. I'm NOT wearing contacts at 4:45AM, but I am taking them with me.


• Spruce up my website. No, I haven't published the url here yet. That's because the main page says "under construction" and my test ones have text like "Enter sidebar content here". I think the design and graphics part is OK for now, I just need to type some text. And add a link to the real content (this blog)! And upload the page to my server so that ya'll can see it. Gotta do that before I start handing out the business cards I printed with my website name on them...


• Paint my toenails. I'm packing lots of sandals, and my toes aren't in that bad shape. So they're getting painted the palest pink that almost looks flesh toned. Just enough to be "done" without screaming "look at my hairy prehensile feet!"


• Sleep. Yeah right. I never sleep well the night before an early flight. I get too anxious about missing it, and end up waking up every hour to check my alarm clock. I will probably snooze on the plane.

Just Breathe

I used to think that I was a pretty laid back kind of person.

I’m not. I’m a control freak.

When I was a kid, I could be laid back because I was never in the driver’s seat. I grew up in a big family—I am one of five sisters. Not the oldest. Not the baby. Not the loudest. I pretty much sat back, kept my mouth shut, and followed directions. It made life easier.

Once I went to live on my own, Whoa Nellie. I changed. Or maybe grew into my own personality.

So today, two days before leaving for DC and Nationals, I’m freaking. Travel doesn’t usually freak me out. I’ve done that for work, quite a bit. I really like it. The problem is the control.

It worries me to make my hotel reservations through a third party—RWA—instead of directly with the hotel. Then I buddied up with a chapter mate to room with at conference, and we’re in her room. So I’m a bit freaked about that.

And there is a whirlwind of discussions happening among my chaptermates via email about who’s going where, when, if we’re getting together, how, where, what kind of food, and on and on. And I can’t keep up. I’m not plugged into that email 24/7. I miss things. Lots of things. And I can’t help it. Some of us are on the same flight home. Shall we share a shuttle or cab or something? Maybe. I’m afraid I’ll miss the discussion, and the opportunity. Freaking here.

And text messaging. I don’t do that. I can accept them, sure, for a fee. And I’ve signed up with one e-publisher to receive a text message about the location of their presentation (because it’s not on the official roster of events). Will I end up being charged out the wazoo for text messages this week? Freaking.

And one of my friends is leaving today (this morning, probably). She’s driving. And one of my bags is going with her. Thanks! Yikes! What if it gets forgotten? What if my other bag gets lost in transit? What if they both get lost? I can’t fit a week’s worth of clothes in my carry-on.

Totally freaking OUT.

And I’m stuck at work for two days, attempting productivity. When really, my mind’s on the business cards that I haven’t printed yet, the website that needs finishing (it needs to not read “Enter Sidebar Content Here”, for example..). My MS that needs polishing. The other MS that needs an ending! And I’m pitching them both! Will I remember my power cords (netbook, iPod, CELL PHONE)? Will I forget my airline confirmation number? Will I forget to pack UNDERWEAR? Will my alarm go off at 4:15AM Wednesday so I can get to the airport well in advance of my 6:40 flight? Am I driving to the airport and paying for parking? Requesting that a friend drive me at the ungodly hour of predawn?

Wednesday, about 6:45 AM, central time, I’ll feel better. Because I’ll be enroute, with or without all of my baggage. There won’t be a darned thing I can change at that point about what I forgot or remembered or had time to do.

I like that part of the planning best. The part where my inner control freak has to sit down, shut up, and follow directions.

Notes on the netbook

I really like my new little toy. My husband finds it amusing, since I scoffed at the idea when I first saw them. In my defense, the first one I saw had a 7 or 8” screen and cost over $300. The screen was microscopic, as was the keyboard, and it had very limited storage and usability. The one I bought has a 10” screen, a keyboard that’s almost as wide as my regular laptop keyboard, and cost $250 on sale. The processor is almost the same speed as my laptop, and the hard drive is actually bigger. And it’s about the size of a trade-paperback novel. Price vs features, I was willing to drop $250 (and work an extra day or two to pay for it).

One of the complaints that I heard about this model was that the up arrow and the right shift-key were in awkward spots, so that when typing you frequently scroll up instead of capitalizing. Yep, it was an issue. And totally fixable. I tried finding the exact Windows Registry settings to just manually swap it, but after about twenty minutes of surfing gave up and downloaded a freeware program called SharpKeys. It took longer to download than to swap the two keys around. I haven’t swapped the plastic key tops, so others might get a little confused if they typed on my keyboard. Tough.

After briefly playing with a copy of OpenOffice that my husband had on his memory stick, I went ahead and downloaded it. The word processor reads and writes MS Word documents just fine. So I can transfer back and forth between my laptop and the netbook. And its free :) I like free.

I bought a small case for it at BestBuy. Target (where I bought the computer) had none in the correct size. Office Max (or Depot—I never remember which is which) had exactly one netbook-sized case. Not even one style, but one physical case. And it looked like a mini-briefcase with a strap and everything. I just wanted something that would protect the thing in my totebag. I bought a cute gray one with yellow flowers. The downside: its not big enough to hold a 10” netbook and the power cord. But, the power cord is small, and can tuck elsewhere into the purse.

My biggest gripe so far is with Yahoo mail. If I check it at work, the crazy security settings on our network force me to use the fancier “new” Yahoo Mail site. But when I login from the netbook, it tells me that my screen resolution is too small, and that I have to use “Yahoo Mail Classic”. Very annoying. And there’s no fix for it, unless I give up on checking Yahoo from one side or the other.

My second biggest gripe is that external DVD drives are kind of pricey—I keep finding them around $80 and up. I was hoping for a much less expensive one that I could pack to turn my netbook into a mini portable DVD player for travel. Something around $40-50 max. Not in time for Nationals, I guess. Who needs movies, anyway, when I’ll be around so many books :)

They make a longer-lasting battery for my netbook—like 9 or 10 hours per charge. Definitely something to think about for later. This one lasts 2.5 to 3.5 which is totally fine for now.

The other thing on my wishlist is a mobile broadband card, so I could surf from anywhere through a cell phone line. I actually looked into these, and they’re expensive. Not the cards—they’re frequently free after rebate. But the plans run $40-60 and up per month. My husband and I only pay $50 a month total for 2 cell phones right now. I don’t think that I’d use $60 a month in mobile broadband services when I’m more likely to be working at home (on our wireless), or at Starbucks or B&N (where I can use the AT&T Uverse account we already pay for). *sigh* If money were no object….

Getting Ready for Nationals

Flying is so much easier without formalwear.

I’ve been trying to decide how I’m going to pack for next week’s conference. I’m usually a pretty good packer. Not that I can live for a month with one t-shirt and a single pair of underpants. But that packing doesn’t stress me, and I’m quite comfortable fitting stuff into a single carry-on suitcase. I even own a teeny-tiny roller bag that is absolutely perfect for a 1-2 day trip (assuming I don’t need extra shoes). For my first job out of college, I travelled a decent amount—usually for a whole week at a time, and kept things to one rolling suitcase, one carry-on (usually just toiletries), and my laptop bag. But I never needed a cocktail dress for work.

And, the airlines never charged for checking a single, normal-weight bag. No matter how I re-arrange the puzzle pieces, I’m going to be paying $15 each way on this trip.

I have a nice Samsonite garment bag that used to suffice for flying with suits (back in the day when I wore such things for work). I had even bought the longer “coat length” bag, knowing that women’s suits and coats aren’t as short as men’s when hung. But its not long enough for my two below-the-knee black dresses. I checked last night. I either get to fold up the bottom 12” of each dress and hope that a good hang and ironing fix the damage, or find another solution. Bah. I don’t want to buy a new suitcase, assuming I can even find a reasonably priced one that would hold a dress

At least I’m all set on my carry-on. My new toy (the netbook) will fit nicely into the totebag I’ve been using as a purse, along with power cords, phone, camera, iPod, and ziplog bag of 3-oz or smaller toiletries (gee I just love airline security—there’s no fear of being attacked by a fellow passenger wielding 4oz of lotion!). My roller suitcase should easily hold the rest of my clothes and things.

What I’m trying to say is that I normally don’t’ stress about packing. But I am anyway. Darnit.

So, what are you wearing for Nationals?

For some reason, much of what I’m hearing about preparing for RWA Nationals centers around clothes. It’s the topic of discussion on blogs, and at our RWA critique group last night. And I am vastly amused by it.

I’ve never been a snazzy dresser. I do wear “business casual” every day for work—though for me that means about 50% jeans and 50% khakis. I realized recently I don’t own a single skirt that fits (The few summer ones I own are all too big! Hooray for me!). I don’t wear skirts to work regardless.

See, this is where the clothing thing is kind of mind-blowing. I’m an engineer. Also known as an enginerd :) And I work with guys. Not just guys, but engineer guys. They don’t care about clothes, their own or anyone else’s. There is absolutely nothing I would gain by showing up at work in a floaty skirt, cute blouse, and high-heeled sandals. Nothing. Except possibly the unwanted attention of some of my coworkers, and I really don’t care to cultivate admirers in that way. In fact, dressing too girly can be a real distraction for my job—it can make the folks who live and breathe software manuals not take me seriously. That would be bad. And who wants to crawl under a desk to check cables while wearing pantyhose?

At the same time, I’m not really the floaty skirt and high-heeled sandals kind of girl. I really, truly am a jeans or slacks person. Or sexy cocktail dress. I do love to dress up for a fancy party.

I have bought some new clothes to take to RWA. But they are things that I needed to fill gaps in my summer wardrobe anyway. I spent early 2004 through mid 2008 pregnant, breastfeeding, and/or losing baby weight. Therefore, I don’t have a lot of fresh clothes outside of my basic work stuff. Last summer, for some reason, every non t-shirt top in the stores looked like a maternity shirt and I am soooo over maternity clothing! I bought a couple of tops and capris this spring and set them aside for the convention, mostly so that I they wouldn’t be ruined. I tend to wear a lot of oatmeal, chocolate milk, and other assorted food. And spaghetti sauce. The Red Badge of Motherhood.

I’m not up for any awards, I’m not published, or otherwise known, so I don’t expect to have a ton of attention directed at me and my wardrobe all week. I own a couple of sets of nice slacks and tops/sweater sets that I typically wear at work when we have customers—my equivalent of a dress shirt and tie. One or two of those will come with me for pitching. Otherwise, I’m packing things that I would wear to work or church—slacks, capris, maybe a sundress, flat shoes and sandals. I have heels to go with my fancy dresses, of course, but you won’t see me sporting them all week.

Appointments

So, I’ve signed up for an editor and an agent appointment at RWA nationals this summer.

First, I have to complain about RWA’s website. I couldn’t even see the main page for the first two or three attempts yesterday morning. Once I was deemed privileged enough to actually view their home page, I could not log in. Re-tried for about 20 minutes straight, before the 8am start time. Seriously, folks, talk to your ISP and your web design staff. Surely someone can help you out. Add a few servers for the day. Make sure bandwidth is available. Its not like you didn’t know that the instant sign up opened, that half the RWA membership would be logging in. Plan for it.

Ok, ‘nuff said about that

The editor appointment is someone who looks for contemporary single titles, and I will probably try to pitch both the contemp and the sci fi to the agent. Or that might completely change when I walk in the room. Who knows.

So, now I have some work to do. I have half of a new first chapter for my contemporary single title. I plan to write the second half and revise the first half this week. Then, run that by one of my crit groups. I have a few ideas for revisions throughout the rest of the book. That will happen as we get into the summer.

Next week, back to my sci fi. I made lots of progress last week--wrote about 5000 words over 2 days. At this pace, I won’t quite have it finished and revised before nationals, but close. At least word-complete.

And I got feedback from the one contest I’d entered the sci fi in. It didn’t final, but for once, all of the scores were within the same ballpark of each other (apparently people either love or hate the rest of what I write). I need to spend a little time reading through the comments, and making updates. Some of the feedback looks quite helpful. One of the comments was pretty encouraging—the judge said that she expected the piece to begin finaling in contests soon. That would be cool. Of course, I have to revise it and actually enter more contests for that prediction to have a chance...

Pitching

There's been lots of talk lately about pitching at RWA national. Whether to pitch, To whom to pitch, How to Pitch. And for me, what to pitch. I've been going on the assumption these past couple of months that I'll be pitching my sci fi. And perhaps I should.

But then, someone said at our crit group meeting the other night, "You have a finished manuscript." Oh yeah. I do. But I can't pitch *that*, can I? I queried it to a dozen or so agents, and it didn't get lost in all of their spam filters because I got *some* responses (mostly negative). Even one (later declined) request for a partial. But my contest scores on the beginning were less than encouraging. So no one will want it, right?

Well, here goes attempt #2. No, #3 at the intro. I started with a blank slate. A File->New, if you will. 3000 words later, I'm about half way through the action. I've tweaked the plotline a little--same basic setup, same meet between the H/H, but its a bit cleaner. I've got better characterization, better introspection, better dialogue, better voice. Saleable? Who knows. But definitely better.

And, I've got a chance to read it at our chapter's crit group--with a handful of published authors and several contest winners, and a minimum of at least 8 to 10 people giving feedback. Maybe I will pitch this thing after all.

And my sci fi.

I need a goal

I need a goal. I want to have two finished manuscripts that are pitch-worthy for RWA national this summer: my contemporary single-title (Chivalrous/Day and Knight/whatever other name I come up with), and my sci-fi/romance (Leap). That gives me just under 3 months to finish and polish one manuscript, and brush off the second. I'm at 57500 words on Leap, out of an estimated 90000. I'm going to set a tentative goal of having it story-complete by June 1st, which gives me about 6 weeks for edits. That's a lot of writing. And a decent chunk of editing.

32500 words in 6 weeks
5417 words a week
773 words a day

About an hour a day, maybe 45 minutes if I know where the story is going. Its an easier pace than NaNo, at least.

I hope I can do it. I really do. Or at least have it close enough that I can fudge the whole "finished manuscript" bit at conference.