Where the Heck Have I Been?

The short answer to that is probably at a wedding.

I did attend three of them within two weeks this month (and I actually have 11 to go to this year, no joke). Two of them required weekend-long travel; one of them I was in; and, for the record, all of them were a good time.

The existential answer to that title question definitely involves some soul-searching, some metaphorical long walks on the beach, and an attempt to figure out not only where I've been, but where the heck I'm going.

This is especially true of writing. Something which this blog is a small part of. The long gap between my previous post and this one is indicative of how writing has been going.

I am working on a first draft of something veeeeeery slowly. Too slowly for my liking to tell you the truth. I'm very afraid of losing the spark, the blind excitement that keeps me going through the awfulness that is a first draft. But I've also had such a busy month, that it's been a good excuse to not write.

And then, of course, I can always find more excuses not to write. Depending on my mood, pretty, shiny things that are much more fun to stare at than a blinking cursor. Or some days a fatalistic attitude that is sure of rejection anyway so what is the point. Or some days, pure and simple laziness. And sometimes, the very lethal combination of all three.

But ANYWAY, I'm going to try to go back to finishing the first draft of this manuscript. My personal deadline is by the end of this year and I know I will be very disappointed in myself if I don't meet that. Putting that on this blog also holds me somewhat accountable to Taskmaster Me, who, by the way, is rather scary.

But, boy, when you get rusty in the butt-in-chair method...man, is it hard to get back to it. I need a writing equivalent of a Richard Simmons yelling in my ear. But, you know, with good ideas I can use and perfect sentence structure that never needs to be edited.

Mystical creature, if you are out there, call me maybe.

TV I Love: The Olympics

I am not a sports person. I'm uncoordinated and slow, so I don't enjoy playing them. And I really have about zero interest in ever watching them.

With one very big exception: the Olympics. Like most of the world, I loooooove the Olympics and will spend every two years glued to my television for two weeks going: Archery? Hit that target! Curling? Look at those brooms go! Swimming? Yes, let's have more poolside interviews with lovely, shirtless men, thank you.

In all seriousness though, I know exactly why I love the Olympics so much whereas I shun all other televised athletics as pointless and boring. It's the stories. Those little edited packages that tell me why exactly I should be rooting for certain athletes (their affinity for one-legged dogs, the fact that they are an over-the-hill 22 years old and this is their last shot for an Olympic medal, their tragic brush with alopecia)...and the instant gratification of finding out whether they win or not. The soft lighting and slow-motion close-ups, the epic music featuring that lone horn, the parental interviews with the crying...my god, I love it all.

So what I'm saying is: manipulate me, NBC, with your carefully constructed narratives. I look forward to it every time.

WIP Quiz Winners!

Thanks to everyone who played along this week on: What the heck is Sarv's work-in-progress about?

Without further ado, here are the correct answers:

If you guessed that the book is about genies, is based on The Arabian Nights (along with other Persian and Middle Eastern folklore) and has the word kingdom in the tentative title, you would have gotten all three answers correct.

Which nobody did. But five people did get two out of three and they are: Liliana, Aeicha, Bill, Lori and Christina. Via random.org, the person selected as the winner from those with the most correct answers is...

Liliana!

Congratulations! You shall be getting your gift card via email!

And as for the WIP, I wish I could give you more details, but for now, that's where we stand. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to share more tidbits soon!

WIP Quiz: The Final Question

And here it is: the very last question in your quest to find out what my work-in-progress manuscript is about!

To recap, you're playing to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card.

The quick and dirty rules: I'm going to ask you three questions about what my WIP is about. Make your best guesses! You have until this Friday at 8 AM EST to answer any or all of them. Whoever gets the most correct will be put in the raffle to win the prize. (In case only one person gets the most correct, that person will automatically be the winner.) Every entrant can answer each question only once (in the event that they answer more than once, only their first answer will be counted).

If you missed question 1 or question 2, there is still time to answer them. Go here for question 1 and here for question 2.

On Friday, I will reveal the correct answers and the winner. The only hint you have right now is that it's middle grade and a standalone (as in, it's not a sequel to Mapmaker).

So ready for the final question? Here goes:

WIP Quiz, Part 2

Here is the second part of my three-part quiz, informally called: What the heck is Sarv's WIP about?

Up for grabs is one $25 gift card to either Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

The quick and dirty rules: I'm going to ask you three questions about what my WIP is about, one every day starting yesterday and ending tomorrow. Make your best guesses! Whoever gets the most correct will be put in the raffle to win the prize. (In case only one person gets the most correct, that person will automatically be the winner.) Every entrant can answer each question only once (in the event that they answer more than once, only their first answer will be counted).

If you missed question 1, there is still time to answer it. Go here. Question 3 has now been posted here.

On Friday, I will reveal the answers and the winner. The only hint you have right now is that it's middle grade and a standalone (as in, it's not a sequel to Mapmaker).

So ready for question 2? Here goes:

Guess What My WIP Is About...and Win a $25 Gift Card!

For the past year and a half I've been working on a new book that's been taking up a lot of space iny my head (and my heart -- because that's how writing books work).

Do you wanna know what it's about?

Well...

...I think I'm gonna make you work a little for it (and reward you with a prize)!

On Friday, I'm going to revealsome details about my WIP. But for now, I've decided to make things interesting by running a little giveaway.

The prize is a $25 Barnes and Noble or Amazon gift card (your choice).

The challenge? I'm going to ask you three questions about what my work-in-progress is about. Make your best guesses! Whoever gets the most correct will be put in the raffle to win the prize. (In case only one person gets the most correct, that person will automatically be the winner.)

Here is what I will tell you about the book: it's middle grade and a standalone (i.e. it's not a sequel to The Mapmaker and the Ghost). 

I'll run one question a day from now through Thursday. Use the Google form below to answer them. The more questions you answer, the better your chances of being in the raffle! (And you can answer any of them up until Friday at 8 AM EST).

The first question can be found below; the second question can be found here and the final question here. Good luck!

*P.S. There is a very tiny handful of people who have read this WIP and/or know what it's about. You know who you are...and I know who you are. To keep things fair, they are disqualified from this contest. :-)

Yes and No

The legend* goes like this: John Lennon met Yoko Ono at a gallery that was exhibiting her artwork. One of her pieces was a canvas that was mounted on the ceiling. One tiny word was written on it. To read the word, one had to climb the ladder and then use an attached magnifying glass. John did. The word was 'yes.'

Later on, John said that if the word had been "no," or something negative like he had expected, he would have thought nothing of it. But something about the blatant positivity struck a chord with him. He had to meet the artist responsible.

Sometimes I feel like being in the publishing world is like climbing a million ladders only to find the word "no," written at the top of each one. Sometimes it's a little more elaborate: "Maybe but…probably not." "Interesting idea but…it'll never sell." "What in the name of god's good green earth is that drivel?!" [That last one might be more of an inner monologue thing.]

It can get frustrating at best. Downright heartbreaking at worst.

But then, the beauty of it too is that there is always one more ladder to climb. One more idea to try. One more agent to query. One more revision to make.

And sometimes, just when you least expect it, you trudge up those steps and find that one word: "yes."

And you know what? Not only is it all the sweeter because of all the nos that came before it, but you learn to appreciate the littlest yeses too. Yes, that agent wants a partial! Or yes, my book is in my local bookstore! Or yes, a 9-year-old just wrote me a fan email!

Just for today, I'm going to put aside all the nos and take a long look at all the yeses in my life. Would you consider doing the same? And if so, how about you share your yeses with me in the comments section!

*There is debate about to whether that's really how they met but it's a story that always stuck a chord with me anyway, whether it's completely true or not.