Second Rejection and Sliver of Hope

My internet has been slower than getting stuck behind a tractor on the roads of rural Indiana, so I’m a little late posting this!

I have received my second rejection, and although rejection is never fun, the sting of this one wasn’t so bad.

I received a personal letter from the agent that I queried. Eeek! I printed it off and had my own little dance party, because personal letters aren’t very common!

The agent considered my novel, but finally opted to pass. The agent didn’t know if he/she would be able to sell a story like mine in this market. Although it was disappointing, the note was kind, and at least I know that my story was intriguing.

I have definitely gone into this knowing that my story isn’t what agents are looking for right now. There seem to be a lot of agents looking for modern day stories, paranormal stories, and edgy stories. The market says that fantasy has been overdone, but I’m hoping to change someone’s mind! I sent more queries out, and I’m crossing my fingers that the saying, “the third one’s a charm” will be true!

Happy writing ya’ll!

Joining the likes of J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, and Kathryn Stockett

I would proudly like to announce that I have officially joined the likes of J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, and Kathryn Stockett!

Am I getting published? No, but just like them, I have received my very first rejection letter! I have it proudly taped to my writing wall, and bought myself a new teacup to commemorate and celebrate moving towards the next part of my writing career!

Why celebrate rejection? Because, I can finally move past the years spent writing and editing, and take the next step of my journey. It isn’t uncommon for hopeful writers to have a shoebox full of rejections, and all I’ve had is an empty one gathering dust on a shelf. Filling that box is a sign of progression. It means my story is finally ready. It means having the courage to let professionals see my work, and it means getting my name out in the exciting world of publishing.

So, here’s to the first rejection, and many more to come!

The Imperfect Writer- Coffee CrAzE

Most of us writers don’t have the luxury of being able to sit at home and write all day. Instead we have to fit our passion into the nooks and crannies of life. Five minutes here while waiting at the doctor’s office, ten minutes there in between classes, as well as late nights and early mornings when life is at rest for a few hours.

That being said, coffee is my greatest ally. I prefer early mornings to late nights, and sometimes the only thing that is going to drag me out of bed is a nice warm cup of Joe.

Heaven's light shining down on Reepicheep, my loyal writing companion.

Coffee is my one indulgence while I’m working hard on a novel, so I’m always looking for excuses for why I must drink it and how it’s useful for the writer.

One day I was in the nano forums and another writer wrote that the reason writers always need something in their mouths (be it coffee, snacks, or pens) is that when your mouth is working it increases the creativity levels in your brain. Yes! Coffee drinking, snack eating, and pen chewing all in the name of creativity! Then to my demise, I couldn’t find any type of research what-so-ever to back it up. Darn.

Then I was reading Family Life magazine and stumbled across this very important research-

Drinking coffee not only provides healthy antioxidants, but also makes you positive, helps you on tests, and helps you catch grammatical errors.

Viola! I needed to drink coffee for the sake of editing! Yes… for editing!

One cup down, one chapter down. Two cups down, two chapters down. Three cups down, three chapters down. Four cups down, um, bathroom break. Five cups down, and the jitters set in.

Suddenly I felt like I was at the fair in the fun house on one of those moving floors. I chose to step on that vibrating floor, and I wasn’t getting off of it anytime soon. I Googled how to counteract the coffee shakes and someone suggested protein, so I wolfed down leftover chicken. Several minutes later I was still shaking, so I added nuts, cheese, and peanut butter.

Did it work? Nope. I spent the entire day with my brain whirling in circles and my feet wearing down the floors of my house. Work on my novel was very unproductive.

Lesson from the imperfect writer- coffee is not the magic editing potion, especially in large amounts.

The Sunflower House

Every year my mom planted a sunflower for us girls when we were growing up. Yes, it really is a playhouse grown from flowers! We would sit between the thick green stalks with the sun over our heads giggling and drinking "tea" from our cups filled with water and mud.

This summer I decided to pass on the tradition with my own girls. Not only is it a cheap and easy summer project, but it gives me time with my girls, and will hopefully fill their summer with memories of tea parties and fairy games in the sunflower house.

Prepare the ground to plant! We made a rectangle, but you can make your house any shape that you want!

Plant a sunflower seed along with a morning glory (or other vine-type flower) next to each other around the edge of your sunflower house. The sunflower stalks will be the walls and the morning glories will eventually make up the roof. Don't forget to leave a space for your door!

This is a sunflower and a nasturtium. (We ran out of morning glories)



This is a sunflower and a morning glory.

The walls of our sunflower house are beginning to grow!



The girls helped plant the seeds and they help me water and weed the house. The had a blast when the seeds first sprouted, investigating the ground for each new sprout! Lately, we have had to just be patient and wait for the flowers to grow. It seems to take forever, but patience is a virtue and we've had a lot of fun working together in the process. Part two to come soon!

The Imperfect Writer- Backpack Brain

           People who are creative tend to use the right side of their brain, that’s the part that can think outside the box and dream up an entire novel after seeing a tattered purse lying near the neighbor’s yard. It also happens to be the side of the brain that is disheveled, tousled, and unkempt. It’s like a backpack on the last day of school, stuffed to the brim with twisted and wrinkled papers, old nametags that have fuzz stuck to the once before sticky part, broken pieces of crayon and pencil, candy from the holiday party several months ago, and many other surprising, yet treasured items that haven’t been seen for months.

                Imagine all that helter-skelter in your head, and then trying to get in out on paper, or if you’re at work, a random sticky note or the back of your hand. Or if you’re at a restaurant, your napkin, your friend’s napkin, and then napkin of the unobservant man at the next table (possible future blog post- how to secretly slip napkins off tables when you’re desperate for paper for your  fantastic idea).

                Writers have all sorts of ideas and we tend to lose them due to the overflowing backpack that spills from our brains, to our hands, to anywhere we can jot a quick note. Then that note gets lost, or when we look at it again it suddenly makes no sense what-so-ever. I have a note to self about my novel that says, “In case of emergency, read, wipe, and burn.” To this day, I don’t know where it came from, and where I was going with it. It’s truly devastating because I’m convinced that there was a brilliant idea there that would change the world as we know it, and now it is lost for forever. Oh well.

                In all seriousness, I’m not sure if all writers are really this bad, but if you are a writer, chances are you have lost a notebook or an important sticky note with a great idea, and somehow it feels like you will never recreate it the same way ever again. I’ve lost a few very important notebooks to me, in fact cried over said notebooks, because they were filled with stories I liked, years of research, and little notes about everything you could imagine. At first it feels like a tragedy, but then you find a way to rewrite, rebuild, and keep on going.

                 There are a few things that help me stay a little more organized as a writer, so I can at least attempt to keep track of my ideas.

1)      Have a designated place for all writing material. For me it’s a shelf holding all of my notebooks, some boxes to throw notes in, and a basket filled with pens, sticky notes, and more note cards filled with ideas. True to my right brain, it is disorderly with notebooks strewn here and there and papers falling on the floor, but it keeps everything mostly together, and I try to clean it once every few years.

2)      The envelope file system. This may not work for everyone, but it has sure helped me to collect my ideas. I put the working title of my novel idea on the front of an envelope, and then anytime I get an idea for it, whether it be a description, a name for something, or a character’s line, I write it on whatever I have available and then shove it in the envelope when I get home. Whenever I’m ready to start that novel, I pull out the envelope, flip through the ideas, and start building my outline.

                                    

3)      Idea Log- this was recently sent to me from my nanowrimo writing friend and I am in love with it! It is a notebook that is small and light enough to fit into my purse or go bag for the day, it has a place for a pen, and plenty of pages for lots of ideas!

 

                                    

I really loved the intro in the log book. How true! Hopefully if you're as scatterbrained as I am these ideas help you out!

Summer Reading Program

One of the summer activities that our family has been looking forward to for months in the summer reading program! This is the second week and we are having a ball!

Magician C.R. Ryan kicked the program off with a fantastic magic show!





The girls petting the rabbit that magically appeared!



My summer reading so far- The Secret Garden, Leota's Garden, and The Humming Room! The Humming Room was inspired by the Secret Garden and it is one of my favorites that I've read this past year.

One of my favorite places to read and write during the summer.

We made a tent using the laundry line and a few sheets for the kids to read in. Along with favorite books and snacks, they spent the afternoon curled up and reading.

The Cancer Files of C.E. Austin- Relay For Life 2013

          This past weekend our family went to the Relay For Life in our community. Not only did we have a wonderful time, but all of the money earned went to the American Cancer Society for cancer research. It was  incredible to see so many people come together to raise money for this great cause and support the survivors in our area.

  


Way better than a hospital bracelet!

 I walked the survivor lap with Denny. He's such an inspiration to me!

The kids' favorite part was the jump house!







Goodie bag for survivors.

I'm geeked for days whenever I receive a pen- there were ten in my goodie bag! 



They had a dinner beforehand for survivors and their families. These flower arrangements were on each table.

 

This is a strip you can plant in your garden with flowers in it. I love gardens that tell a story and can't wait to plant these flowers and remember this day.

Hope lights the darkness.