It moves forward

I believe that by the end of next week I'll be able to start outlining my next book. While I am torn between writing a short story and the sequel to Defender of the Crown, I'm convinced that, for now at least, I need to get a full synopsis ready for the book so that when agents talk to me, I have more of a pitch than "well, I'm working on it, but I don't have anything concrete, yet."

Now, I do have two and a half complete plot arcs that I intend on squeezing into this book, and I have some great character development for the protagonist and his three friends, it's just not written down.

In other news, I'm not sure what direction I want to take my Flatiron City short story. You see, the Ellery Queen looks for mysteries that aren't necessarily who-done-it stories (which I don't quite understand, but am more than willing to learn about) and Fantasy and Science Fiction doesn't actually deal with fantasy...at least that's what their submission guidelines state. All stories must contain Sci-Fi elements to them. They don't have to be prevalent, but they must be in the background somewhere. That's not a direct quote, but it is a paraphrase. Anyway, that makes it all but impossible for me to publish short stories from my book series (which I would really like to do), but it DOES make it easier to get something for FC out there.

I'm rambling, I know.

Finally, this week I am going to sit down and give you that preview of FC that you all have been waiting for. As I said, I'm going to begin with the Hanaka Nippon Tea Gallery, and I'm going to start from scratch rather than pull pieces out of the other blog. I don't know how long it will be, but I am GOING to have it up before midnight MT on Saturday, even if I have to spend all day Saturday writing it.

That's all for now.

I'm thankful for...

Sleep! And time off this week!

One of the reasons I moved to Portland was so that I wouldn't have to work shows anymore. I know it's part of my job, but it really makes me tired when I have to work a full day on my day off...especially when it runs late into the night.

Fortunately, they don't ask me to do shows very often, and when I do work them, I get paid pretty well!

Let's see, I'm also thankful for my wife, who I absolutely love!

I won't make this into a grocery list of the things I'm thankful for, though. Let's just say that I am extremely blessed, and of the things I could complain about, none of them are work mentioning.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

And remember, if you participated in NaNoWriMo, your time is almost up! I hope you get that first draft finished :)

Sanity

I think I read somewhere that if writers kept all of the rejection letters that they get over the course of any publishing attempt, they could wallpaper their office with them... I saw a TV show once (actually, I own it on DVD) called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In this show about a late-night comedy, sketch show (yes, a show within a show), the head-writer has a clock on his wall, but it's not just any clock. No, this thing counts down from 7...7 days, 0 hours, and 0 minutes until the next show MUST be written and on the air.

And people think writing is an easy thing to do.

I decided late last week that I will graciously read every rejection letter I receive, and then throw them out. Not out of spite, not out of anger, not even because I don't want them to clutter up my inbox. It is simply because I know that if I hold on to them, eventually I'll snap! I don't know when I'll get that one, elusive "yes" from an agent, but the more "no's" I see in my email account, the crazier and more desperate I'll become. As you can imagine, this break in my sanity will not only cause my home-life to suffer, but my queries will turn into unprofessional pleas for help.

Okay, maybe not...

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone interested in writing. Don't let the pile up too high, it's how you get trapped in the wasteland of rejections. Throw out the "no's" and keep seeking the elusive "yes"!

Oh yeah, and this is pretty funny.

Edit Monday 8:15: I fixed the link.

Anniversary: 5 years

Five years ago today, I opened up my web browser, found this small site on the internet that I could use to rant about my life, and began my blog. I posted a short history of my life (it's still there if you want to click on the archives in the sidebar), and after that, I basically turned into a journaler (I know it's not a word, but work with me, here).

Today, on my five year anniversary with blogger, I want to do a bit of a retrospective, followed by a change of direction in this blog. But where to begin?

Back in November of 2004, I worked at Borders in Lakewood, CO after a thirteen month stint in Portland. My first girlfriend had just broken up with me, and I felt like I needed a place to write. This is where I ended up.

I'm not going to bore anyone with a detailed list of what followed. Let's just remember that after a second girlfriend broke up with me, I decided to get back into my writing passion. Less than a year after starting this blog, I began a second site with my best friend. Flatiron City, the giant city in a building that sits just outside of Boulder, became an outlet for my desire to create stories and characters, and while I used that site to hone my abilities to craft good stories (don't read it lest I prove myself incapable of writing), I also sought an education at Red Rocks Community College.

After five semesters there, I dropped everything I was doing, except for my new job with my parents' company, to begin work on my third attempt at authorship. The mystery novel I'd thrown out after a very enjoyable vacation in London no longer weighed me down, and the process taught me how to create plots that would thrill readers for years to come. (Don't read too much into my words, I know I still have a long ways to go before I am a noteworthy author, I'm just detailing what I've learned for you.)

I'm married, now. I have a completed novel that I'm shopping around to one or two agents a day, though I refuse to have more than ten queries floating around at once (that means if I haven't heard back from any of them, then I'm waiting until I have received at least one response before sending out more queries).

There are a lot of things that have happened in the last five years, many of which I never thought would happen. Sure, I hoped to be published by now, and when I started this blog, I hadn't even met my wife, so I expected to marry someone else (and boy am I glad I met my wife! :D ). I'm definitely glad that I'm not working at Borders anymore, even though I miss working in a coffee shop.

As for the future, I'm still not sure of what this blog will be about. I plan on writing about my books, telling you about my passions, and commenting on random events in the world, but other than that, I don't know where we'll go.

One thing I know for sure: I refuse to let this site be my outlet for whining. It's called High Aspirations, and I aspire to great things. Therefore, if I do not reach the greatness I seek, I will, at the very least, aspire to inspire you, my readers, by sharing the lessons I learned from my experiences.

Onward we go, into the future!

No big post today

I know Monday is my big posting day, but I spent the entire morning trying to format my query letter correctly in my e-mail client. It took longer than I thought it would...and I only get to send one out today because of it.

I do, however, plan on making a big post this week, so look out for it on Wednesday (it may be late in the day, but I will have something up).