27 January 2006
More Words of Praise
Turned in another 10 pages for my TeenChickLit class and got more good feedback from the Teach:Here are your pages back. I loved this! The dialogue was great --Also, I'm wondering if you should start Chapter One here, with them at
lunch. I just think this scene is so snappy and flows really well, the
dialogue is great, etc. You could work the previous few pages, with
Draven in the classroom, in right after lunch. This just really
grabbed me, and think it's a nice change from the prologue which is
really ominous. You could go from spooky prologue to the lunch scene,
then to her sitting in class.
After the first assignment, Lauren posted this question in her blog: I'm in the middle of reading the assignments that my class turned in, and some of them are very, very, good. So good, that I'm wondering if these people have started their agent hunt, and if not, WHY NOT? See, I love the submission process. I love having my stuff out there, I love querying agents, I love checking my email obsessively, waiting for people to get back to me.
My response?: No, I haven't started my agent hunt and I won't until I'm 4th book deep into the series I'm working on. I'm the owner of Gemini Mojo Press, a local (Phx, AZ) indie press. I have a vision of what my covers should look like for this series and as a new author in a big house, I know I won't be allowed to have much input during that phase. I want to see my vision come to fruition before someone else takes over the reins.
She also asked: So that's my question for today -- why do you write? Do you have a burning need to get published, or do you do it just to do it?
My answer was: I write because I've always had an overactive imagination. I write because I've always been able to communicate better on paper, than verbally. I write YA because I have a lot of high school memories--some of which are not my own--and I felt they needed to be told. From the time I was in high school till now (I'm in my late 30's), I've unintentionally immersed myself in the YA culture. I read YM and Teen People every month, my favorite shows are "Smallville" and "Supernatural" (before they were cancelled, I loved "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and "Angel"). I go see the teenybopper flicks. And even though I'm addicted to adult series romance books--and could probably write one--the only dialogue I hear in my head right now is that of a teenager. I write because I want to offer YA readers something different.
I'm really enjoying my time with this class, what it's going to teach me, and what I can learn from not only Lauren, but from my other classmates as well. All I know is that when I'm ready to do "the hunt", Firebrand will be at the top of my list. If I'm lucky, Lauren will be a full status agent by then and she'll be the one to represent me.
