A writer's journey

Halloween Party

2006-10-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

I am gearing up for the fourth annual Sparling Halloween party.

This is a huge event every year with...oh about 70 people running around my house in every costume imaginable.

Well...I am in the design phase of my haunted house, which means, I need ideas for a space that is about 20ft in length/7ft width. The majority of the kids hitting this house will be between 7-10 and I have several teenagers commited to do the scaring.

Last year I was a blast. We have a fog machine, a red strobe light, the spooky CD. I cover the area in a tarp, so the smoke lingers picking up the light for a totally eery effect.

Inside the area, last year I made it like a maze with a section partitioned off with card board boxes that I painted black. I had holes cut out in the sides where I had teenagers hidden with their hands faces pressed in the hole and they would sometimes reach out and tap the kids. It was fun.

Then I had a giant spider that dropped on their heads. A little field of wet strings that they had to manuever through and a bunch of pretzels under their feet to sound like bones crunching.

In the front yard I have an infatable monster mouth enterance and a thirteen foot long dragon made out of balloons. In the back they had to manuever through a ten foot spider web also made of balloons.

So...what to do this year? Now is the time to speak up.

Chrissie

The bad thing about setting goals is....

2006-10-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

You really have to do everything possible to see them through. This year I made a few promises to myself that, do to "acts of God", I might not be able to complete. However, as there are still a few months left before the end of the year, I am hitting the keys and pounding out the words. One novel has to be finished before Jan. 1 2007. If I play my cards right, Angenii will make it, and maybe The Road to Periodical. I will say that when Jim Baen died it dampened my spirit to continue on with that story, but like him, it deserves the right to shine.

Angenii has reached the half way mark coming in at 50,000 words as of tonight. And I have outlined the next few chapters which should make them easy to write. I've been putting in about 3000 words a day, with any luck that pace will continue and I'll have the book done and off to my editors (Who am I kidding...My husband, my sister and her girlfriend, my seventeen year old, and my pal-- Kimmy. They have the best "free" editorial services/advice a girl could ask for :) by end of Nov. Ready to go off agent hunting. (one agent: I wrote this book with one person in mind and I hope she loves it. I won't give any clues here: Miriam Kriss :) Hee hee hee.

So...with so much writing to be done, soccer practice, Tae Kwon Do, tournaments, fundrasiers, all three of the kids birthday bashes, HUGE halloween party to plan with haunted house, and ...oh yeah WORK, plus "wifely duty" and "Motherly duty" I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis SOON! My planner can't take much more of this...neither can my mind. :)

Chrissie

I'm back

2006-08-29T00:42:00.000-07:00

Boy oh boy!

I feel like I'm returning from the dead. Well...have had the computer back now for a week and halfish, but the cable was out. So round and round I went with the cable company about not getting enough signal to the house and them telling me that I should be and me telling them that should be isn't happening. Then after two cable guys and several attempts at them trying to tell me I needed to rent a cable amplifer at 39.99 a month to be able to run HDTV in the living room, cable in the playroom and my bed room and internet for the office(which I then have a router that connects the other computers to the interenet) and me telling them that they are a service and I pay them to make certain I can obtain that service. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I won. I now have functional cable, and all is happy in my world. I have a serious amount of catch up to play -- between my two email accounts I have over four hundred emails to return -- YIKES!!! Anyway...just wanted to let my loyal readers know, I'm back amongst the internet junkies once more. THANK- GOD. Being in the dark ages is scary....now I know what its like to be my parents...hee hee hee hee

Chrissie

Sorry

2006-07-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

My computer crashed. I'm at my folk's house tonight, and they let me log on to check my email. I should have it back in a few weeks with any luck. As many of you know, normally I bottle my luck, saving it for publication, but in this case, as I'm writing books with an aged type writer, I will forfeit half the bottle to get my baby back. I'm so sick of white-out and the sound of plunking keys...and MISTAKES. I never knew I was such a horrible speller.

I'll be back with all the gossip of my life just as soon as I get my computer back.

Chrissie

Jim Baen...

2006-06-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Good-bye, my friend. I love and miss you already.

You're love for puns, your flirty nature, your quirky personality--fit me like a glove. I never made it on your roster of shining stars but that never once discouraged me. Twice you encouraged me, even gave me the book idea for The Road to Periodical. You always made me laugh, and smile. You were the kindest person to everyone despite the cold nature of the industry. You are and forever will be a great role model. You are one of my hereos. Without you I would have given up writing long ago. It was your kind words, your personal thoughts, your vision that kept me writing and will forever propel me on.

I love you, Jim. May your quest to be different be never ending. And because of that wish, I hope you continue to force those stuffy shirts, everything must follow the rules, to conform to our GE's (God Editor) ways in Heaven.

Good-bye, Jim!

Chrissie

To busy for my own good

2006-06-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

Can't complain though. For the past few months money has been tight, but this month...well...I've been working everyday, we made quite a bit of money (though I have yet to see much of it as in the entertainment industry being paid day of means nothing to the corporations you work for. They pay you when they get around to it, which sucks, but oh well.)

It has been a hot weekend. Today it must have been in the ninties. We worked the strawberry festival and thought we'd bring the kids along. That way when we were done performing we could hang out, play games, jump in the bounce houses, before Scott scooted off to his final show for the evening. Well...we managed to stay for an hour when both kids were anxious to sit in the shade, saying they were to hot to be in the sun anymore. We got to the car, turned on the AC made our way to North Seattle where we had deposited our truck at a friends house the night before, Scott left for work, and I made my way home. During the hour drive back to the house I kept checking on the kids noticing how red they were looking as my eyes were adjusting from being in the sun most of the afternoon. Both of them are lobster colored, as am Scott and I. I aloed us all up and now everyone is off to bed.

In sad news, I recieved a call from a friend of mine on Baen's bar. And my friend, Jim Baen, Editor and Chief of Baen books, who I admire and adore, has had a major stroke. I haven't been on line for over a week, and apparently he had the stroke shortly there after and has not awoken.

My prayers go out to him and his family. I wrote this last, because it is hard for me to write.

So close, but...

2006-06-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

not there yet. I got another rejection on a partial. It was a very nice letter, but damn! Oh well...still have one partial out and a full, so maybe one of those will want to represent me. Anyone after this bunch, I am putting Murmurs aside and plugging full force into Angenii. I want to finish Angenii by the end of summer, and then complete The Road To Periodical by the end of December.

Anyone else have writing goals they are trying to achieve?

Chrissie

No rest for the weary

2006-06-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

I work weekends. I've been living on pepto and tums. In my line of work there is no such thing as sick days. The Show Must Go On, and mine did, without anyone knowing I was dying inside. I smiled and played as if all was well. :)

I am feeling better, though. Today I relaxed, well, I hurt my back so I had no choice, but that is another story. Silly me, after performing for several hours on Sunday and driving for the equivalent of five hours my upper back was killing me. So I laid out the massage pad and...fell asleep. An hour later, my back throbbed with pain as the massager was grinding into my skin. I turned it off, slid it onto the floor, and tried to stand up. Key word there...TRIED. I was in so much pain I couldn't move. Couldn't sleep. Called the doctor, and now I am happy with codene and flexeril. The world is a flowery place for the next three days. :)

Hope you guys are all happy.

Chrissie

I'm sick

2006-06-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

I distinctly remember talking to God when I was pregnant with both my kids and we came to this unanimous agreement that since I threw-up everyday of both my pregnancies (several times a day in fact) that I was immune from vomiting for the rest of my life. Well, one of us isn't holding up our agreement as I have had my head over the sparkling clean, bleach white, porcelian pot all dang day.

It is so unfair.

Just so you know

2006-06-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

My grandmother told me that story when I was little. It is as close, if not word for word, as I remember it. I didn't embellish or deviate.

Sorry to detour from the usual "everything about writing" but my life has been occupied with my tribe since mid last week.

I am writing though. Angenii is coming along just fine. My writing group spotted a few problems with Murmurs chapter three so I edited those, and wrote a small 2000 word short story for a magazine that I need to edit before submitting.

Other than that -- Life is good! :)

Chrissie

The Snoqualmie Story

2006-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Aw-to-wa-to-wa ~ Long ago two beautiful Snoqualmie women were out gathering roots. Upon their return home, with their baskets full of food, Star man descended from the sky and stole the two women from the Snoqualmie people.

Star man brought them into the stars to live with him. They were the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen, instantly, he fell in love with them both, and soon one of them became pregnant with his child.

Though Star Man was nice to the two Snoqualmie women and offered them much to live by, the women were unhappy and lonely. They missed their Snoqualmie people. They passed their days by gathering roots, a pass time that kept the memory of their old life close to their hearts, but they had been warned by the Star People not to dig deep in the star ground for if they did the ground would crumble and fall, and everyone who lived in Star Land would be gone forever.

One day when the Snoqualmie women were digging for roots one of them accidentally poked a hole into the Star ground. They started to hastily fill in the hole with star dirt, sealing it before the ground could crumble and fall beneath them, but nothing happened. And just when the two women were going to leave, something familiar caught their attention.

Instead of covering the hole in the ground the Snoqualmie women, took a chance, and widened it.

Below them, shinning in the light of the Spirited Fox and her many beams, was their homeland - earth. Before the Star People could see what they had done the two Snoqualmie women covered the hole, marking the spot with a pile of Star leaves.

As the Snoqualmie women finished gathering their roots for the day, and were on their way home to Star Man, they had formed a plan that would re-unite them with their Snoqualmie People.

Time passed.

Everyday the women gathered and kept up with their daily chores for Star Man, but they were also braiding a rope out of cedar roots - a rope that was strong and exceedingly long.

Mean while, Star Man’s baby arrived.

It was shortly after his birth that the two Snoqualmie women, with the baby on one of their back's, took their baskets with the finished rope inside out to the star field.

When no one was around, they lowered the rope from the stars all the way down to earth, and climbed home.

The Snoqualmie people were so happy to have the two women back with them that they had a gathering. They welcomed the baby, Snoqualm-Moon Transformer, and celebrated his birth. The Snoqualmie people knew the baby, Snoqualm-Moon-Transformer, was special beyond that of earthly children, so they raised him with the Snoqualmie mother.

The years passed, and Snoqualm-Moon- Transformer grew into a man. He saw the earth around him in need of healing. So he left the Snoqualmie people, and traveled the great world.

He transformed the land that you see today; changing water to trees, dirt to plants. He created medicine for healing, rivers for drinking, forests for shelter. After he traveled the globe, he returned to the Snoqualmie people, giving them the greatest gift of all.

He changed the great rock that Raven built into a Wear. And when he did that, vast amounts of water fell over the cliff side. Snoqualmie Falls was born. The water and the river gave life to the forest about the falls, and the people found that the mists would carry their pleas to the Gods.

The Wear then created first man and first woman, and the Snoqualmie tribe was re-born.

Snoqualm-Moon-Transformer, felt his job on earth was completed, so bid good-bye to his mother and his family, The Snoqualmie Tribe, and climbed the rope, that his mother and her sister made of cedar root, back to the moon where he still watches over us today, listening to our pleas, healing our hearts, and uniting the Snoqualmie People.

A minor victory for the little people

2006-06-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

There was no vote at the tribal meeting on saturday. Apparently, after review of the bi-laws, which me and several members of my direct family sent them by certified mail, they realized this was an illegal vote. The vote will still be brought forth, only it will happen on June 24th, proper notification will be sent out, and every member of the tribe is being sent a copy of both our bi-laws and the exact changes of what the council wants to amend in them.

After the discussion on Saturday, I realized this is going to be a tough battle to fight as the council is trying to dissolve the general membership of having any voice in any financial endeavors. Which just sounds scummy to me. It has trouble written all over it. But the majority of the people on the council, with their family and friends make up a good chunk of the tribe, so my family and friends are going to have to come up with one hell of a good opposing argument to keep this from happening.

This just sucks!

But I promise to do my best. My tribe deserves it. My grandmother deserves it -- God rest her soul.

Chrissie

One of the little people

2006-06-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

Being one voice amongst thousands can make it tough to be heard, but I'll do my best!

I'm Snoqualmie Indian. A proud tribal member. I'm raising my kids to be proud native americans; teaching them about mother earth and their brother and sister spirits. My daughter is linked with the eagle and the frog, my son a squirrel. I've taught them the rain dance, and how to call on the spirits. But as it stands, on Saturday June 3rd, our council will try to squash our voices. Making us no longer heard. Over what you might ask? Money! Lots and lots of money! Greed!!

We were supposed to break ground this month on a casino and now our council is trying to take power from the people and place it into their own hands.

I'm sick over this!

Come Saturday, they better be prepared for war. Because that's what they started.

Busy Busy Busy

2006-05-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Where to begin...

All at once my family went crazy. I'd blame it on the full moon but I haven't seen it lately as the nights here have been overcast.

Two of my many aunts decided this was the weekend, one to move, and the other to clean her three story home from top to bottom. I am the family Cinderella, so it was up to me to go to work doing magic shows, then off to Port Orchard, which is an hour drive from my house, to pack one aunt, and then while they unloaded, zip down to my other aunt's house, who lives in Maple Valley, another 45 minute drive from my house (nearly 2 hours from Port Orchard) and clean sweep, starting on the top level and work my way down. Needless to say, I haven't had a moment in several days to do much of anything else. I miss writing on Angenii. The story is going very well. I got a first reader for the book and she read the first hundred pages in a few hours and has been hounding me for more. I just love that!! :) So, today, hopefully, life will go back to normal.

Oh yes...I got another request for a partial for Murmurs. Yeah! This one from PMA Literary and Film Mgt. in New York. This makes five partials, two fulls and whole handful of others who have yet to respond to my query.

I made some changes to the first couple of chapters to speed up the story, but I can't do to much more without ruining the rest I think. So I will have to stop editing. Over editing can kill my chances just as much as under editing...so its a done deal. Unless, of course, like I have been unlucky to experience before, they want a different page count synopsis, then I will write one of those, but the book is done. So far I have a 1 page, 2 page, 3 page, and five page synopsis. I bet the next person to request a partial will say, "Sure. Pass me along the first three chapters, an author bio, and a 4 page Synopsis." I can hear it now.

Chrissie

I finally picked it right!

2006-05-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Taylor Hicks is the next American Idol!!

Yeah! This is the first year I ever perdicted the winner. Jack Black said it best on Ellen today, "the spazzo guy is gonna win!" And he did.

My 2 daughters and I were up screaming and dancing. If I had a bottle of sparkling cider I would have shaken it up and popped the cork in celebration.

In other news, I got another request for a partial. This is my third request for a partial this month, but the journey always ends there -- well I have gotten the full request twice before, but lately I can't close the deal. I'm hoping to revamp the first three chapters to speed up the story, but I don't know. I guess I know chapter one and two are a little slow, but those are the only two chapters I have to establish the characters before everything changes. But if mosts readers demand a faster pace I should speed it up. I'm so confused.

Chrissie

A nice surprise

2006-05-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Most of you might not think this is a nice surprise, but in my sick little mind I thought of it that way. I think I have said it before, but I own a small entertainment business. My husband and I run it and we have known it would never make millions, but until September 11th, 2001 it did rather well. Since then we have had good years and we've had bad years, like I am sure everyone else has had as well.

Anyway, this year has completly and totally sucked, to the point where we have debated on closing it down and going to get other jobs.

Well, today we get this phone call from another entertainer, a friend of ours who has been in the business since before I was born (I've always wanted to say that) and he asked us a couple of odd questions that led us to ask a few of our own.

Turns out nearly all the small entertainment businesses have shut down. Even he has had to go and get another job. Said he has worked in months.

Now, I know this doesn't sound glorious or even remotely like a good story, but we are still open, still scrapping by, and to me that says something. :)

I BETTER GET PUBLISHED SOON! hee hee hee hee

Cutest thing

2006-05-22T00:22:00.000-07:00

My son is potty training. To encourage this I have a stool with a toy compartment in the bathroom and I sit on the tub lip and we play "guys". The little army men are his favorite. So today I have to go potty and he grabs my hand and we go running back to the bathroom and he anxiously sets me on the potty and tells me, "I'll get the guys." He handed me two and he took two, then he sat on the lip of the tub and let me pick the game.

What little sweetie!

Take the test

2006-05-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

See which character you are. I am Aragon.

Bottled Luck!

2006-05-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

I went to the casino last night with some girl friends, and while I was looking at these earrings that one of the cage handlers had on, I was granted an ominous vision. I could be lucky tonight, or I could bottle it up for another use. Of course, I chose to bottle it up because I need every ounce of luck I can get in order to get published. Then, clear as day I knew what machines would hit big. Now money is tight at my house and I knew I could earn a hundred or so bucks which would really help out, but, like I said, I'm bottling my luck, so I told my girl friends which machines to play. The first spin, Kimmy won $300.00, The next spin, Julie won $200.00. Within 15 minutes I completely lost the ten bucks I went with and enjoyed the rest of the night tagging along behind them. My luck completely saved for publication!

Chrissie

On a roll

2006-05-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

My story, Angenii, is really taking off. I'm just under a hundred pages into it, but boy does it read fast. I am so excited. This is my very first first person POV novel, and I think it will fall under the YA catergory, but wow it reads smooth and is just flowing out of me. I love it when writing is this easy. Of course, in reality, I am going to read it over later and see the words on the paper aren't even good enough to fill my towel paper holder with. But right now, I will bask in the self-proclaimed glory and scream at the top of my lungs -- THIS BOOK IS THE ONE! My million dollar idea! Hee hee hee.

Chrissie

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

To all the mothers in the world...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! My kids and I were supposed to go and spend the day with my mother, but, unfortunately, I got sick on friday and that carried through to today. I will go to the doctor tomorrow to see what the heck is going on. My face is swollen on my left side from my cheek to my ear, and down my throat. I couldn't talk all weekend, and have had a heck of a time unclenching my teeth to eat or drink anything. I had a fever on sat. but that broke today.

My folks made the hour drive to my house and spent a good hour with me. They ordered me and the kids pizza,(Scotty had to work) which made my mother's day. I didn't have to cook! YAY!

That's it from me.

Before I go, I'd like to toast all mother's in the world, "May all your kitchens be cleaned by someone else's hands, all diapers changed by your other halfs, and may the others in your homes down the aprons for today! CHEERS!

Chrissie

A highlight for today

2006-05-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

billybobjimjack made my day.

Why? Because in this obscene world, where others hide behind anonymous faces to mask their ugliness, someone chose to step out of the shadows for me. I didn't ask for it, or expect it. It just happened. So thank-you, Billybobjimjack. Thank-you for not being just another sheep in the pasture willing to follow an Evil path because it was set before you.

Chrissie

Taking it up the ass like a Big Girl!

2006-05-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen this is my query posted on Evil Editor site. Just in case the post has been pushed down, mine is the one that is so horrific in nature that EE couldn't fix it (starting with Dear Mr. Evil Editor,)

My personal favorite highlight of EE's rant is when he says I need ten years of education before I will ever get published. {Nothing like negativity to spark the drive for success!} :)

The reason I am going to go ahead and subject myself to this humiliation is because unlike anonymous "big wig" editors I'm not afraid to accept responsibility. I WROTE THAT! And am damn proud of it. Why shouldn't I be? I spent hours making that letter flow, have style, and show something other than "this is how every query letter should sound" blah blah blah. For my efforts, EE, as expected, trashes it, but not just sends it through the wringer like he does all queries sent to him, he doesn't even offer a re-write because this is such an un-educated piece of shit it is unfixable.

Well, this exact same piece of shit query letter was sent to one agency. It received a request for a partial. Not to shabby for a girl who needs ten more years of education before she'll ever get published, if I do say so myself.

All in all this experience has left me to wonder how many of the query letters EE fixes receive requests for partials and fulls from agencies or publishers? And how many of those would have gotten it by just leaving their query alone?

I think I will be sticking to my "so pathetic it doesn't even warrant a re-write" version! It seems to be working for me.

Chrissie

This was...

2006-05-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

a day for the books. Not sure how it happened, but all three kids left last night to have a weekend with grandma and grandpa, and scott and I didn't have to work. Of course, that meant we had no money, but it also meant a nice relaxing day at home. We brain stormed two entire novels (one for him and one for me) and then we put together an awesome kids books proposal for an on going series. Then we watched three movies, without interruption! That's big! And even had time for personal pleasure! Yes, today was a great day!

Chrissie

Back to business

2006-05-06T03:34:00.000-07:00

Writing.

Today was one of those scenerios where I finished my thousand words, read slush for Baen for a while, then read stories for my crit group, and now I am blogging. I feel as though I could read and write some more if only my eyes would stay open, but as it is 3:30 in the morning here, they won't.

Good-night fellow writers.

Chrissie

G is a blue belt!

2006-05-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

A writer's journey

She passed her test. Two kids received an outstanding out of the ten that tested, and Glaysia was one of them! This was the first test where two kids attacked her, and my sweet little angel, kicked both their butts. I have never seen her so aggressive. She broke her board on her fifth side-kick (much better than last time, when literally I thought she was going to break her foot before the darn board would bust).

In other news -- Bubby (Aurrick, my 2yr old son) told me today life wasn't fair. Yes. He's a genious. Already has the world figured out.

Maria has her first job interview tomorrow.

Scott is getting another story published with Humdinger E-zine.

And I am now editing my synopsis, which just sucks in its current state. I really want to get it done and send it off to the Harvey Klinger agency (one of their agents has requested a partial -- yeah!)but I don't want to rush this. I rushed my last request for a full, and don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Chrissie

YEAH!

2006-05-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

I got a request for a partial today from an agency. YEAH!!!

So in three weeks, I have had 21 rejections and 1 rquest for a partial. I'm going to change up my synopsis, and submit it tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

Chrissie

BTW-- Happy May Day! Hopefully, someone sent you flowers from their garden. If not, know I would have if you lived local. I sent out six bouquets of lilacs. Two to my neighbors, two to friends, one to my daughters teacher, and another to her tae-kwon do teacher. And on Wed. I am bringing one to my mother -- so seven total.

Submission tracker

2006-04-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

This week I sent to five agents and have received four thanks but no thanks letters. Using this as a guideline, statistically speaking, if I submitted to hundred agents with the same query letter I could expect 20 out of one hundred to either want to see a partial, a full, or just not get back to me out all. Not bad! ;)

Chrissie

This is too funny not to share

2006-04-25T23:56:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to post this by M G Tarquini/ who I found to be very witty on her site. Usually, I refrain from posting any thoughts outside of writing, but I got this "letter of resignation" in email today, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

I am hereby officially tendering
my resignation as an adult. I have
decided I would like to accept the
responsibilities of an 8 year-old again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think
that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud
puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than
money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and
run a lemonade stand with my friends on
a hot summer's day.
I want to return to a time when life was
simple; When all you knew were colors,
multiplication tables, and nursery
rhymes, but that didn't bother you,
because you didn't know what you
didn't know and you didn't care.
All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of
all the things that should make you
worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair.
That everyone is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is
possible. I want to be oblivious
to the complexities of life and be
overly excited by the little things
again.
I want to live simple again. I
don't want my day to consist of
computer crashes, mountains of paperwork,
depressing news, how to survive more days
in the month than there is money in the
bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness,
and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of
smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth,
justice, peace, dreams, the imagination,
mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So . . . here's my checkbook
and my car-keys, my credit card bills
and my 401K statements. I am officially
resigning from adulthood.
And if you want to discuss this
further, you'll have to catch me
first, cause........
......"Tag! You're it."

Author unknown

Blogger hates me!

2006-04-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

I've posted three new entries that have all been eaten by cyber rats -- bumber. One of them was a very nice rant about the famous word "Subjective", which, for those new to this business, is a word you will become highly familar with as it is the "standard" word used by most agents and publishers to ease the pain of rejection. However, I find it maddening. As readers of the fields we wish to write in, I think we are all aware how "subjective" the business is. So what point is achieved in drawing attention to it? I just wish, as a common curteousy, publishers and agents would offer one hint of advice. It doesn't need to be good advice, just let us know SOMETHING! Dear Author, I read exactly two sentences into your query, found one misspelled word, and threw it away. At least now we know something important. Sure the letter is brief and to the point, but now GUESS WHAT? the author actually KNOWS what they need to do to make the query one step better.

I am so sick of trying to fit into that perfect mold publishers and agents want you to be, while at the same time, proving in all of one sentence that you have a voice that stands out above the rest. JUST QUIT WITH THE DOUBLE TALK AND TELL US WHAT YOU WANT!!!!

More and more, I know why there are crazy people in the world, because everyone who is supposed to be guiding us, supposed to know what is good for the average Joe and help us reach new levels of comprehension and existence, makes the paths impossible to follow. Everywhere you go, everything you do, there is a catch. We often refer to it as catch 22. It is a life "standard" that people have grown to accept. But me. I refuse to live by the industry standard. REFUSE TO BE JUST ANOTHER HEN IN THE HOUSE!

What's the hook to getting published

2006-04-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

Being as subjective as the industry? Knowing the right people? Writing fast-paced, plot driven stories? Certainly, all these things help, but what is the golden ticket?

Ever feel like...

2006-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

something needs to give, one way or another. Life is to stagnant. I've been at this point for awhile now. My problem is, I feel things giving the wrong directions. Everything is about to come crashing down, and I don't have idea how to brace for it. I thought I was already at rock bottom; no money, kids going through the back talking and whiny stages, completely depressed over my writing never getting anywhere, honestly, how much worse can life get? Well, I think I am about to find out.

Useful tip

2006-04-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the writing community again, visited
Keri Arthur's site, and found ImaJinn Books tips for writers. I found the list helpful, so I thought I would link it here.

Chrissie

I think I am going to submit Murmurs to these guys. They sound good.

Almost there

2006-04-18T01:04:00.000-07:00

Today, my daughter, glaysia age 7, got her testing application to try to go for blue belt in Tae Kwon Do.

At her Do-Jong the belts go:
white
yellow
purple
orange
green
high green (green one strip)
blue
high blue (blue one strip)
red
high red (red with one strip
junior black belt (red with two strips)
black belt

So we are almost there. Another two years maybe is all, at which time my son will be old enough to start.

I fear the sybiling fights when Aurrick is ten, Glaysia 15, and they both have their black belts. YIKES! I better invest in a loud whistle.

Chrissie

How I stumbled onto the path of writing

2006-04-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Rachel Vincent who in turn was inspired by
Diana Peterfreund

I wasn't one of those kids who wrote stories, or who always had their nose in a book. Nope. As a matter of fact, I was quite opposite. And when I entered sixth grade, the only profession I was 100% sure I would never enter was writing.

September 7th 1985 -- the first day of my sixth grade year. To get us in the mood to learn, and perhaps get friendly with the kids who were to be our classmates for the entire year, we had a story round. I remember it vividly. I was put into a group with two girls and boy. Are desked were pushed together in a square. Each of us had a piece of paper and a pencil in front of us. Miss Mason told everyone we had fifteen minutes to write the first part of a story, then we were to pass our papers off, read what the person on our left wrote and write a paragraph to their story. Everyone would write on each others. It was supposed to be a fun excerise, not one that haunts you for twenty years. I wrote a story about a rock, don't remember details of it, but the girl next to me couldn't understand it so she scribbled it out and wrote her own story over my start. I, however, worked on the boy's story, adding a monster that chased him down the street as he rode his new red bike. Then I got one of the other girl's story and put in a people eating plant to her gardening with mommy tale. The last piece I read was about a girl and her pony, which were sadly eated by a crocodile in the middle of the road, but not to worry, because there was a witch three houses that caught the croc, and when she cut into it's tummy out came the girl an the pony. I thought it was a happy ending, but the folks in my group were not happy.

They complained to the teacher that I could not stay within the confines of the subject matter.

First recess came, and within minutes, everyone knew that I didn't know how to write a story. They branded me, "The Worst Writer in the World." Needless to say, I spent the afternoon in bathroom stall, swearing my story telling/writing days were over.

Things did not change for me in junior high or high school. I passed English only by cheating off my neighbor. Come my sophomore year I had no idea what a verb was or how to use nouns properly. Commas, colons, semi-colons, en-dashes, were all way beyond my comprehension. Then enter Ms. Merkle. My sophomore English teacher. She read my homework assigned story, and talked to me about it. I had good ideas, she praised, but no sentence structure. She wanted me to help her grade the other stories. I don't know how many hours she spent outside of class with me. Teaching me English from scratch. I read the other kids homework assignments, and gradually I learned what a run-on sentence was. That was my big break-through. My revelation! I still had no desire to be a writer, but I understood the design of a sentence.

From then on out, I had my work cut out for me. I had to pass the high school equivelancy test. Math and science, history -- I had already passed, but English...

Ms. Merkle worked very hard teaching me how to understand what I was reading. It became clear that I could read just fine, but not a single ounce of it was stored inside my head. So, here she started again. Teaching me from the ground up.

Springtime of 1992, my senior year in high school, I passed the English exam. I graduated with a 4.0. But still I had no desire to be a writer. I was going to be an actress.

Skipping much of my life now, as quite a bit of years were devoted to theatre, which just couldn't sustain a living, my husband introduced me to D&D. I was a "closet" gamer. Never admitting it to anyone. Scotty told the most amazing stories. He made me fall in love with every new idea. He started writing, and I read everything he wrote. Which was all brilliant! But I wanted more. I had ideas that I thought he should use, but he had ideas of his own. Mine were good though, and I wanted to see them in writing. So I picked up a pen, something I swore I would never do, and I wrote a story. It was the most horrific thing I could have ever possiblity have written, but I loved it. When I had a spare minute I would jout a little more down, then I started making time for it. Next thing I know I have a 120,000 word novel completed. It took two years to write, but I finished it. Scott read it, and it wasn't the worst thing he had ever read. I've been hooked ever since. :)

I've never shared that before. I tell you about it now, I guess because no one really knows where they are going and we shouldn't block the road because of one fall.

Chrissie

Ten years of bliss

2006-04-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my ten year wedding anniversary. My husband and I this year, as we were together five years before deciding to get married, will have been together half my life. We were high school sweethearts, and, surprisingly to some, we are those two who still kiss and hug and hold hands when ever we are together. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him, happy. :)

Though I will confess, if either of us gets published, that would make life a lot happier. :)

Chrissie

Someone is watching over me

2006-04-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was a part of/witnessed an extremely scary event. Luckily, I was alone in the car with only my Harry Potter book 6 on CD for company. I just merged onto the freeway, on my way to perform at Bobby's third birthday, which surprisingly I was able to pull myself together and give him and his other 9 friends a great party.

I had just settled into one of the middle lanes when the two cars in front of me smashed together. Somehow, I gathered my wits, did a quick head check and switched to my left (the fast lane). The car that had been next to me, joined the collision. All three cars spun out of control, one flew right in front of me. I saw two kids heads slam into the glass windows from the first car hit, and as their car spun I caught a glimpse of a frightened mother's face. The other two cars were spiraling all over the freeway trapping me in their wake, as there was nowhere for me to go but smack into them.

Time slowed -- literally. My thoughts began to pick apart the situation. I must have only had a second or two to think, but with how many possibilities rushed me there was just no way I could think that fast without aide from someone else.

I saw a small opening between the three cars and gunned it. I am still not sure how, but I slid between the three. On the other side, I slowed down, but not for long. In my rear view mirror, I saw the cars behind me, still turning wildly, and the next set of cars, that were behind me originally, smash into them. Their driver's not as lucky as I had been in the escape. I was so shaken up, and cars kept smashing together. I called 911, where I was adviced to keep driving. On freeways, it is unwise to get out of your car just in case those traveling at high speeds don't see the collision in time to stop. They were sending troopers to the scene, and ambulances.

I flipped on the radio. Heard from the DJ that there was a six car pile up right where I had just been. Some people were injured, but no one was in critical. Thank-god!

Above my head, an eagle soared. That has been a sign for me, for a very long time, that someone lent me a hand. And I shall go to the Snoqualmie falls today, to thank them for it. :)

Chrissie

Happy Birthday Scotty

2006-04-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

He's 33 today. For the next few months, he'll be considered two years older than me. He he he he he. :)

I made him an awesome scapbook. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it. I cut out the title of all his novels, plays, and poems, put them all on inked tags, stippled the canvas, and man what a pretty, old-style book I created. He loves it. I love it. The world is a happy place. :)

Chrissie

And it begins

2006-04-07T02:01:00.000-07:00

A writer's journey

My seven year old daughter, Glaysia (AKA Angenii), and I are disagreeing about Angenii the story. I think this is my book, and though her ideas are worthy of exploration, I get the ultimate say. She, however, believes since the basic story line is somewhat about her (her indian name, some of her experiences with ghosts) she should have more say in the development.

What do you guys think?
Chrissie

Angenii

2006-04-06T01:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give you a taste of my new story, Angenii. The folks over at Hatrack have offered up some great feed back for the beginning. Thank-you. :)

If anyone cares to critique more, feel free. :) I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing.

Chrissie

Haven't written in days

2006-04-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

And it is killing me. I've been skirmy and completely unfocused because of all these ideas and phrases widdling to the front of my thoughts with no release. Tonight/tomorrow I will force time to stop so I can sit at my computer for a while to sketch some words down. I have too before people start to wonder -- even more so than they already do -- if I lost my mind.

Chrissie

Pen name

2006-03-30T03:31:00.000-08:00

What do you think of C.R Sparling or C. Rae Sparling. One of those will be my pen name, I just can't decide which. Any ideas?

Chrissie

April Fool's

2006-03-29T01:33:00.000-08:00

I just wrote a quick April Fool's story for a writing challenge on the Stephen King board at S&S. It's pretty cute. If you guys want to read it click here. It's the post under giggles. :)

Chrissie

Back on my feet again

2006-03-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Okay now that the rejection is settled and done, I am back at the books. I wrote only a thousand words or so on my Angenii story, so it up to sixtten single spaced pages now. And I researched my next set of agents and publishers I am going to hit.

Agent:
Liza Dawson will be hearing from me this week
Gabriel Davis, Loretta Barrett Books, Inc.
Linn Prentis, I sent her an email about guidelines yesterday.
Ricia Mainhardt

Publishers:
Chippewa publishing

Goal set: I will have a query out to all of these guys by next friday. Of course I need to develop my query so that it is "Perfect". I just ain't sure what approach is best. So far I have read five different "write the perfect query" books and they all say something "Completely" different, so where does that leave the writer -- flipping off the books and doing it there own way. :)

Talk to you soon. I must go make balloon animals, and jump around like a lunitic doing magic tricks so that I can pay the bills this month!

Chrissie

DEVASTATED

2006-03-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well...I've been avoiding this long enough. I heard back from Miriam, The agent I'd been holding my breath over for the last month, and she said she didn't love my story. I cried hysterically for about an hour, ate two dozen cookies soaked in milk, then cried some more. Notifying my large, extensive family came next and that was the toughest thing I ever had to do -- let everyone know I failed to reach the top. I cried for along time after that, and now I am notifying you guys, which is equally as hard. Of course, tears are rolling down my cheek as I write this once more and right now all I can think is, "Thank God I don't have webcam so you guys can't see how puffy my eyes really are."

Through this all, I have developed my own slogan: Today I fell off a mountain, tomorrow I will start to climb again.

And just as true as I can be to that, I will start climbing this mountain again tomorrow. But boy does it hurt today.

Chrissie

word count

2006-03-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

I started a new story yesterday called, "Angenii - Spirit Greeter". I'm about 6000 words into it, and already it has taken a life of its own. I love it. The story is just spewing out of me.

This is my first book in first person POV so I am a little worried I will convert back to third person at some point, but so far so good. I read over it today, and it ain't to shabby. :)

Hope you all are getting to dedicated sometime to something you love doing.

Chrissie

The "IT" factor

2006-03-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

Do you have it? Everyone wonders. But how do you know?

As I am kicking back waiting on pins and needles for Miriam to get back with me about Murmurs I am writing four different novels contemplating whether or not I have what it takes to make it to the top of this industry. At some point in life I think we all end up at this same cross road. It might be under different circumstances, but we are all secretly seeking the answer. The challenge is to answer this question for yourself. That is the only answer that should ever matter. No one else can dictate whether you have it or not -- only you!

So I answered my question today after the tarot deck for the third week in a row pulled up failure at some point in the reading. "Yes! I do have what it takes to get to the top." :)

Chrissie

I have my first published story

2006-03-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

It is a short story titled, Being Sam. Published with Humdinger E-zine. It's free to read. My husband has a story published with them this month as well -- "Nick of time". Hope you guys can visit the sight and read them. They are under the suspense stories for this month. :)

Chrissie

PS. Still no word from Miriam (the agent).

An offering...

2006-02-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

It was offered to me, therefore, I offer it to you. A good friend gave me some advice. She said every story ever written has three elements: the setup, the call for adventure, and the resolution.

So, there you have it. Every piece of work ever to grace paper, or the big screen, broken down into three simple things. Do with it what you will. I intend to apply it to my writing, though I actually think somewhere in that thick skull of mine I already do.

I learned something else as well that is invaluable to us writers. The beginning pages to your story must have a lot of action. Trust me on this. It has been tattooed in my brain by editors, publishers, and fellow writers. And stupid me, I still find myself being swept away with any old current that wants to take me for a ride. :) I'm going to have to tame those day dreams that I write down constantly. Don't they know they won't sell if there is no action! :)

BTW -- Still waiting on word from the agent.

Chrissie

The wait...

2006-02-27T02:26:00.000-08:00

IS KILLING ME! I sent my ms out on friday, and already I am a wreck. It could take a month for her to get back to me. Of course I wish she'd get back to me right now, but at the same time, I have that can't eat can't sleep feeling, so maybe this is a good time to go on that diet I have been putting off my entire life! :) AWWWW! Ok. I'm going back to biting my nails.

Hopefully, I will be posting soon with a link to my big New York agent. Wishful thinking!

Chrissie

Walking on Sunshine

2006-02-24T03:26:00.000-08:00

I hate to get my hopes this high, but....I talked to my writer friend today and she said I have some powerful writing. She wanted me to call her agent right after I spoke with her, but I felt I was to much on a "happy high" and potentially dilutional, so I'm calling her first thing tomorrow morning -- or this morning -- Friday morning! Breathe -- Breathe! Someone better catch me if I fall, because this one will hurt.

Chrissie

I got my first bite

2006-02-23T02:18:00.000-08:00

Well....I've talked to an agent about "Murmurs of the Mad" and she wants to read it. So, this past week I have revamped the entire book, wrote a prelude for it to bring more action to the beginning, completely re-did the opening to chapter 1, deleted tons of chapter two, re-wrote chapter five entirely, and added a new ending. I hope it is ready! I send it to her on friday. Keep your fingers crossed. This could be it!

Chrissie

GOOD NEWS

2006-02-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

Good News!

My husband is getting published! He has a story entitled, The Balloon Guy, coming out in the Sofa Ink Magazine. When I get a link to it I'll post it here!

Way to go Scotty!

Still Figuring Out How To Blog

2006-02-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

I'm still figuring this blogging thing out, I am sorry to say. Until I get better you will have to click on my profile, scroll all the way down, and you will see all my other blogs. I have some sample writing posted there, and also for new writers I am gathering information, seperating it into genres and posting links to publishers and agents who I believe to be legit (meaning they are out to put money in your pocket, not the other way around).

Hope everyone finds it helpful!

Also, I am going to gather information and sites that I feel help the writer develop the query letter, synopsis, and other writing tips from authors. So keep checking back!

Chrissie

Let's Get Serious

2006-01-23T03:53:00.000-08:00

All right my fellow writers, let's get serious. It is 2006. The publishing houses are out there and waiting to find the next JK Rowlings, Stephen King, and Debbie Macomber. I say let's not keep them waiting. If you have a novel, clean it up and ship it out.

That's what I am doing.

This year I plan to submit to every house possible. I have no agent, so I am limited to where I can submit my ms to, but I'm not discouraged and neither should you be. There are many houses out there who accept unagented material. I've been researching them for a long time and I ain't about to let that knowledge go to waste. That's why I am going to share it with you. I'll break down what I know into genres on a seperate page in my blog (view profile and a list of all my other blogs with come up). The list I am thinking about creating will have both publishers and agents, and some writers who are successful in each genre so that you might be able to compare your writing with theirs. All publishers and agents I've checked on preditors and editors and have clean slates. In other words the people you find listed here are not scam artists.

Also, I thought it would be neat for people who are or are not writers to see what life is like for the want-to-be. So, I will be tracking both my failures and my successes here. Anyone else wishing to do the same -- vent your frustration about the rejection process, or share your joys of success -- feel free to use my blog to do so.

I am excited about starting this new year, and paving this road with you guys.
Chrissie

Shifting blog pages

2006-01-23T02:32:00.000-08:00

I'm shifting around my blog pages to keep each story together rather than slopping one chapter here and another one there. By clicking on my profile you will be able to read all my blogs. Just soes you know, I've added another chapter to Murmurs of the Mad and one more to The Road to Periodical. If anyone is following a particular story and would like to have more posted just let me know.

Also, I am doing everything I can to learn the craft of writing still so if you see something I didn't let me know. I know I'm not perfect and expect my writing isn't either. :)

Happy reading!

Daily Horoscope

2006-01-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

I thought we should all know what we are up against each day! :)

2006-01-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

Chrissie's Goals For 2006

2006-01-05T01:31:00.000-08:00

I never set these things during the first of the year because I'm not one that thinks I could follow them, but this year is a time for change. So...my biggest goal this year is to write two novels. I'll finish "A farce for Lord Bain," which I am heavily considering changing the title to "The Road to Periodical," and I am going to write book two to "Murmurs of the Mad" -- which I'm debating on calling it "Cycles of Madness" or, I don't know, something else. LOL Then, if any time remains, I am going to edit From Ashes to Ash, which I haven't let anyone sample yet...I should do that. It is a three book series that is in pieces at the moment, but it was also my first novel, so the likelihood of it ever seeing the light of day isn't on my side, but I'll let you all sample it, maybe some of you will be able to help me get it off its back and on its feet. I so love the story, but the writing....well, we all have are finger paintings from kindergarten that we can look at to see how far we have come. :)

Did anyone else set goals this year?

Let's do them together!!!!

Giggles

My life according to the cards

2006-01-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

After doing my yearly tarot read with my husband, I've decided, by grace of the cards, that this is the year to mold my own luck, open my own doors, and weave my own paths. This is the year of success. And this is the time to start the journey.

Wish me luck.

Leave me Feedback

2005-12-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

ANYONE please feel free to give comments on any of my stories. I'm always up for constructive critisism.