It's Friday the 13th!! Looking at Superstition in Books...

Today is Friday the 13th~ feel free to blame any work-related errors, computer malfunctions, query letters sent with typos, burned cooking, or shrunken laundry on bad luck :)

I was going to do a post about books with superstitious themes, but Rachel Seigel over at Pub Crawl beat me to it:


Superstitious Reads for Friday the 13th


*To her list, I might add The Adventures of Huck Finn~ lots of good superstitions in that novel!


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Want to know more about the day's "bad luck" origin (including some interesting info on the connection between Friday the 13th and the Knights Templar, as popularized in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code)? Click below.


FRIDAY THE 13th (as defined by Wikipedia)


Do you have any recommendations of books featuring superstitions?

Cool Secret Passages (For Your Manuscript or Your Home!)

Secret passages have fascinated me since visiting "The Castle" as a young Indian Princess. Indian Princesses is a YMCA program that serves as an alternative to Girl Scouts. It focuses on father/daughter bonding ~ the dads are tribe chiefs. We did a lot of camping and pow-wows and trading with other tribes. I found out later that our tribe's dads enjoyed it because once we all went to bed they would sit up by the fire, drink beer, and tell inappropriate jokes. They scored daddy/daughter time and got their male bonding in, too. I'm not sure, but I don't think my Girl Scout Troop leaders of later years had that kind of fun :)


Anyway, the Castle was an old stone house on state park grounds near one of our campsites, and there was a secret room behind one of the bookshelves. I thought it was the COOLEST thing in the world. Still do. I used to draw house sketches with hidden passageways, and I'd still love to have one included in my home if we ever leave Renter-ville.


Yesterday, msn.com had a feature called What's the Big Secret? It featured real hidden passageways in homes. Since my current WIP takes place in a manor house with a secret hall/room or two, I thought I'd check it out to see if there were any creative ways of masking a passage that hadn't been done before.


One of the coolest things I saw ended up being a hidden garage in San Francisco:

Pretty neat, huh?

Want a secret passage for your own home? Click on these guys:

CREATIVE HOME ENGINEERING

Whether you're looking for an old wardrobe/armoire that will lead to another room (sorry, no Narnia available), a traditional bookshelf facade, a clever way to hide your "man cave," a stone wall that conceals the entrance to a wine cellar, or just looking to be impressed, this website is worth drooling over.

And you might just get an idea that will sneak its way into your next manuscript!

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*PITCH CONTEST NEWS: YAtopia is holding a New Adult pitch contest that runs now through July 10th. Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary and Heather Howland of Entangled Publishing are hosting. Click HERE for entry instructions!

Books I Would Have Saved From The Fire

Fire danger to our home is officially over (I live near the location of the recent Colorado Springs fire).

We were lucky enough to remain on pre-evac and never had to leave our home, but in the moments when I was convinced we would be put on mandatory evacuation, we prepared our “essential items” to take with us—photos, financials, files, etc.

I found myself taking only a few personal items.

Among them were books that I apparently wanted to be there if we had to start over in a new place. I certainly would have grabbed more if it were an option, but you can only fit so much in a car (plus, we took video of everything in the house, and I made sure to pan the bookshelves slowly so I knew exactly what would need to be considered for replacement).

I ended up with mostly kidlit, by the way~ go figure:

Barbara Cooney’s Oxcart Man, Emily, and The Story of Holly & Ivy (hardcovers)

Arnold Lobel’s Fables

Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World

Beth Hilgartner’s A Murder for Her Majesty

Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Charles Dickens’s Collected Christmas Stories 

Works of William Shakespeare (A biiiiig book)

The US Army Survival Guide (to practice knots and learn about snakes I’ll never encounter)

And cookbooks:

Morton's Steak Bible

Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook

The French Farmhouse Cookbook

City Tavern (Colonial cookbook)

Soups!

The Cheese Companion

And that's it~ that's what ended up in my pile. My instinct in movies was The Snowman (an artsy, animated short film), Elf (I know, I know—an odd choice, but it’s Will Ferrell in tights and he talks to a claymation narwhal whale! Starting over requires a sense of humor), A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version), Love, Actually, Little Women, and Pride & Prejudice.

What have I discovered about myself?

-I like the Christmas season.

-Hot weather makes me crave cold weather.

-Craving cold weather makes me crave comfort food.

-I have, and will always hold a deep nostalgia for all things childhood-related.

What books and movies would be on your must-come-with-me-to-start-over list?

DON'T FORGET ABOUT UPCOMING PITCH CONTESTS (check my link list at the top right of this blog)

Have a great weekend!

Pitch Contest this Friday on Savvy Authors!!

(Sorry about the wonky formatting on this post!!)

Have I mentioned that writers can learn a lot on Twitter? Without Twitter, I would never know about Savvy Authors, a website dedicated to "Writers helping writers."


Like YAlitchat, a basic membership to Savvy Authors is free and will get you access to some amazing writing classes, workshops, and events (like contests!). Even more benefits come with a purchasing a Premium Membership.


Here's the contest announcement from their website:


On Friday, July 6th, agent Tamar Rydzinski (of the Laura Dail Literary Agency) will be taking one line pitches on the Savvy Blog from 9 a.m. to midnight (EST).


Tamar is not interested in prescriptive or practical non-fiction, humor, coffee table books or children’s books (meaning anything younger than middle grade). She is interested in everything else that is well-written and has great characters, including graphic novels. A fantastic query letter is essential – “you need to make me want to read your book, and be excited to read it,” she says, “with those first couple of paragraphs.”


There is no cost to enter this pitch contest, but you may need to register for a basic membership. See the links below for details.


PITCH CONTEST LINK
ABOUT SAVVY AUTHORS
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
NEW USER REGISTRATION


Oh, and I took a little peek at their event page and saw LOTS more fabulous pitch contests coming up in July. Agents you can pitch to include: Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, Laurie McLean of Larsen Pomada Agency, and Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.

If you're a querying writer, I suggest you check out the links above and take a look around :)

*Not sure why Blogger won't let me format this post correctly and has decided to highlight certain things and add unnecessary spaces...my apologies if it's difficult to read!*

Agent Tweets~ The "#askagent" Addition

For those of you who don't know, #askagent is an awesome stealthy Q&A that pops up on Twitter now and then. An agent will usually say something along the lines of, "I feel like doing an #askagent in an hour. Who's with me???"

That's your cue to get prepared for any agents who might show up to address your burning questions about publishing.

You ask the question, making sure to include the hashtag #askagent in your tweet. It's an amazing opportunity to interact with literary agents and you can learn TONS by following the twitter feed, even if you're feeling too shy to ask a question.

Here are some questions and answers from a session earlier this week:

QUESTION: Can a YA MS have an adult perspective? I've heard it's rare, but haven't heard if this is automatically a bad thing. #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse Very difficult; more likely to turn itself into an adult novel if an adult perspective.#askagent

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QUESTION: To clarify- can a YA novel alternate between a YA and adult POV, or must it only be a YA POV? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchill If it's a POV, rather than MC, perhaps. But does the book stay true to core reader? A challenge there. ‪#askagent

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QUESTION: Once you sign a writer, how much personal time do you spend on each client? What should we expect, roughly?

AGENT ANSWER by Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse: Impossible to quantity; a lot! Often couple rounds of edits then regular contact. V close professional r/ship. #askagent

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QUESTION: I thought I read somewhere that publishers don't want pre-illustrated picture books. Did I misread, or have my genre wrong? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by Sandy Lu‏@sandylunyc: Publishers often work with their own list of illustrators. It's harder to sell both texts and illustration as a package. #askagent

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QUESTION: Do you believe genre fiction can also be literary? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Annie Bomke‏@ABLiterary Usually the genre designation trumps a literary one. If you have a literary sci-fi novel, it has to be sold as sci-fi. #askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent Say ur hooked on first chapter, second ch is mediocre, third is fine, and 4th-end is great. Would you rep? (i.e., "mostly" great)

AGENT ANSWER by:   Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchill If it's mostly great, then quite possibly. 'Mostly great' doesn't have too much of a leap to 'totally great'. #askagent

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QUESTION: On that note what would you like to see more of? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse Contemp real-world stories. Always love intriguing thrillers! Luminous MG writing of any kind. #askagent

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QUESTION: Do agents typically want new author to focus on nonfiction OR fiction? I write both #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse If you get a fic deal best to follow up with more fic (publisher will prob want you to). At least start with one genre.#askagent

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QUESTION: Is it bad to query two projects at once? Or should you pull subs on a book u don't think is as strong to query a new book? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Jodie Marsh‏@Jodiemarsh31 I'd say best to let a sub run its course before next. Might be interest to follow up on from first sub with second. #askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent Should those seeking representation cease using sites like critique circle, authonomy, bookcountry, ssf online writing workshop?

AGENT ANSWER by: Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchill No. Community helps. I've asked authors to come off Inkpop or similar, but only once I'd signed them. #askagent

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QUESTION: Should specific projects in process of being submitted be removed or are they ok to remain on such sites? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchillThey're fine up there. I don't mind. If I offer to represent the author, I'll suggest they bring them down. #askagent

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QUESTION: can a book with specific historical context be either, literary, comercial, or general fiction? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Annie Bomke‏@ABLiterary Yes, it all depends on the plot and writing. #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse I don't really see those distinctions - or not in children's/YA. All eds want quality writing with a commercial hook.#askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent Ever rep'd a book that you weren't personally passionate about but that you knew was marketable?

AGENT ANSWER by: Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchill  I rep a debut 'cos I think it has a place in the world, & want to help make it happen. Sounds bit worthy. True tho. #askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent How much of 'personal preference' is characterization? If 1 agent rejects full with that as deciding reason, fix or keep subbng?

AGENT ANSWER by:  Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse  If your wise critique partners love it, keep going. If the crit confirms your own instincts, take another look! #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Annie Bomke‏@ABLiterary I'd say everything is subjective in publishing. One person might not connect to the characters, but another might. #askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent If you really loved a story and its voice/concept but not the author, would that be an issue?

AGENT ANSWER by:  Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse Need to feel we can work together, openly + with enjoyment, for the long haul. If one side doesn't feel that then tricky! #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by  Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchill We just need to be able to work well together. They don't need to be a future bridesmaid. ;-) #askagent

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QUESTION: How imperative is it to have a website or blog before querying?#askagent

AGENT ANSWER by:  Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchilll When I googled many of my (now) biggest authors, I couldn't even find a facebook entry. It didn't bother me at all. #askagent

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QUESTION: Do previous writing credentials matter? Some credentials more alluring than others with so many different e-book pubs out there?#askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse I always look v closely at mss from MFA grads. But anything you've done before is interesting.#askagent

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QUESTION: #askagent Is there anything you'd like to see more of genre/age-wise?

AGENT ANSWER by:  Julia Churchill‏@JuliaChurchilll I'd like to see a bit more balance towards 9-12 and younger in my inbox. #askagent

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QUESTION: Should writers be wary of agents with no list of clients? Even if they are associated with reputable company? #askagent

AGENT ANSWER by: Sarah Davies‏@SarahGreenhouse Depends! Could be good new agent - which could mean you are top dog! I did fab deals for my 1st client.#askagent

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Always feel free to check out the hashtag #askagent to see what you've missed lately! 

I'm off to another baseball game this morning. Being on pre-evacuation notice for the fire here hasn't brought my interaction with baseball to a halt (my stepson plays in a different area, so we'll be driving into a non-smoky area with our "essentials"-packed car in case something crazy happens in the few hours we're gone).

Have a great weekend, and happy reading/writing!

Duty Calls...

Heading downtown to do my civic duty. Last time they didn't end up needing folks, so I got home by lunch. We'll see what happens this time.


Too bad I don't have a fancy phone so I can browse blogs while waiting (yup, I still own a flip phone...I'm so behind the times).

Have a great day, and don't forget about the 1st page contest with Tricia Lawrence~ this Friday on Daisy Carter's blog!