The Superbowl (Personal)



It’s that time of year again, when half the United States watches an ancient ritual, where two bands of people battle it out for the favor of a grateful country. Yes, it’s the Superbowl.

American football holds a disproportionate role in American mythology. It even has a holiday — Superbowl Sunday, the purpose of which is to eat junk food and watch the game. 

And watch millions upon millions of dollars worth of commercials. People in the US actually rate the commercials and talk about them for days. I used to use Superbowl commercials in a consumer economics class to teach advertising techniques.

Personally, if I had TV, I’d be watching the Kitten Bowl instead. It’s a painfully cute vision of adoptable kittens frolicking on a gridiron carpet. Less carnage, less change of long-term brain injury, and — well, kittens. 

I will, however, watch the Superbowl (it’s streaming online) because I live 90 miles from Kansas City, and the Chiefs are in the game for the first time in 50 years. I will don the catsup and mustard colors of the hometown team and eat guacamole and chips and rate the commercials. 

Happy Superbowl Day

Winter Blues (Personal)




Does anyone out there suffer from the winter blues? I’m suffering from the winter blues right now. My mood tracking app (Daylio, which I think is available for both Android and iOS) has been registering me as “Meh” the past few days. 

I manage to stave off the winter blues through the holiday season because, well, holiday cheer. I love Christmas, with its carols and greenery. But once January comes, there’s two whole months with nothing to look forward to but the end of winter. 

What am I doing to deal with the blahs? Not nearly enough. Usually at this time, I’m very involved with seedlings for the gardens at this point in the year, and this helps me keep on an even keel. But we’re working on getting the weed infestation out of the raised beds, so no seed starting. 

I’m drinking lots of coffee and eating spicy food. I’m eating too much and need to lose weight. I’m writing, and that always helps, but I don’t feel like writing much. 

So what strategies can I use? I happen to teach a positive psychology class, so I have some ideas here:

  • A gratitude journal — three things I’m grateful about and why
  • Doing good for other people
  • Using my signature strengths (link to find out here) 
  • Meditation
Be sure that I’ll put at least one of those into my repertoire.

Optimism and the Aspiring Author




I wish I had more patience.

I’m playing the long game, wanting to be traditionally published. And it’s a long game, because the market is glutted with people like me who want to be published. The market is fickle, as it wants to pick books without risk. And the market is shrinking, because there are fewer readers.

I have invested a lot in my books. Developmental edits, beta reading, and sometimes massive rewritings. I’m now at a point where I don’t think I can improve them any more. (I could, of course, be wrong). I have gone through cycles of rejection, and I don’t know if I can go through it again.

But I do, because I have optimism. Every morning I wake up believing that my life could change in one day. I’ve heard enough stories where someone’s life changes tragically in one moment; I believe it’s just as likely that my life can change for the better. So as long as I have my works in the hands of agents and publishers, I can hope.

Frivolous Questions about Agents and Publishers No One Will Ask (Personal)



NOTE: I have not found the publisher or agent yet. I’m just daydreaming.
ALSO NOTE: I would never wear the heels pictured above.


Daydreams:
I daydream about the two outcomes I’d really like to see in my novel-writing: finding an agent and getting published. And like any pragmatic (and neurotic) person, I have questions:

I Have Important Questions!
1) Do you actually meet in person with your agent? Do you have to fly there or will they visit you on your turf? (A working lunch in New York City sounds better than one at the local steakhouse, but that’s just me.) Who pays for the plane ticket? Can my husband come with me?

2) What do you wear to meet your agent? Do you dress for business? Business casual? Eccentric writer? Should I get my nails done in a French manicure or go for the power red?

3) Same questions as 1) and 2) but for a publisher. 

4) I know the part where you run contracts past an entertainment lawyer. But how can you tell an entertainment lawyer’s good at what they do? (There’s one in my area, so I hope he’s good).




#SFFpit and the Concept of the Pitch Contest (Social Media, Writer Development)




I found another pitch contest on Twitter, which reminds me of why #WritingCommunity Twitter is so valuable. This one is called #SFFPit, and is specific to science fiction and fantasy books.


What’s a Pitch Contest?
In a pitch contest, a writer of a completed and unpublished work distills the essence of their book into a Twitter-sized pitch. The author has the opportunity to pitch their book (using a different pitch each hour to get past Twitter algorithms) once an hour for a set number of hours. The purpose of this is to attract potential agents and publishers, who will ask for a query to further judge your work. 

Pitches should illuminate the character, their desires, obstacles to their desire, and the consequences of failure. Be specific of the consequences! Also, all pitches need to have #SFFpit in their body and use other designated hashtags for genre and audience. (Koboldt, 2020). 

See more details here!

Koboldt, D. (2020). #SFFpit. Available: http://dankoboldt.com/sffpit/#sffpit-rule-changes [January 20 2020)

I don’t feel like writing (personal)

Not in the Mood Today
I have two ideas for short stories, and one novella (or a short story, I don’t know) and I don’t feel like writing yet.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m editing from beta readers’ suggestions for two novels and I want to get some queries out! I have two months before I can query again.



The Wise Advice Someone Gave Me
I really should take the advice someone (I don’t remember his name!) gave me at Archon (a writers’ conference in St. Louis): I should concentrate more on short stories and poetry and submit them in contests and for publication,

I’ve been submitting, using Submittable as a platform for finding and submitting my works. I’ve had a 10% response rate, which I consider good. I’ve noticed, strangely, that my work is received better overseas. Not so strangely, I’ve noticed that I don’t score so high with literary journals

I’m Tired
It may be the weather or seasonal depression or something, but I’m really tired right now. The moment I get more beta reader feedback, I’ll wake up and modify my novel like a maniac.

And there’s always coffee.

Words and Music (Essay)

The Words are Important

I’m listening to Counting Crows to wake me up, immersed in Adam Duritz’ (is that possessive right?) lyrics. He paints images, moods, scenes, describing without telling. I want to write like Adam Duritz, but I have to settle for writing like myself. 

Another band I immerse myself in is Dream Theater, which might be on the opposite pole as Counting Crows, but the words evoke a sharp-focus world where people fight internal battles.

Making Room for the Music
I understand the music is important, also, in communicating the mood of the songs. Counting Crows’ roots rock sensibilities invoke moodiness, while Dream Theater’s wall of intricate metal and dissonance convey the intellectual alienation of their music.

I’m a word person — as a writer, this is expected. When I was an unknown singer-songwriter in my home town (before I divorced my guitarist 25 or so years ago), I wrote lyrics to his guitar compositions. I try to understand the music part, but I don’t really get how music can carry mood. I am willing to learn. 

Tell Me Your Favorite Lyrics
If you have favorite lyrics, tell me about them and why they grab you!

Interview with Richard Leach-Steffens, writer (Interviews with Writers)

Tell me about yourself:
Growing up, back when I was in high school, I started writing short fiction at the urging of my Gifted Ed teacher, Linda Knoll. I actually submitted to a local community college’s creative arts contest. I actually got a couple of stories — I think I got a second and a first. I did okay, but I didn’t feel like my writing was good enough that I could become a writer for a living. Since then, my writing’s been mostly professional — I have a ten-year career as a technical writer. I haven’t really done much creative writing since becoming a technical writer, because it’s hard to get in front of a computer after you’ve been in front of a computer for eight hours at work.

More recently, at the encouragement of my spouse, who is also a writer, I have written one novella, one novel, and one short story. The novella is set in my spouse’s universe and shares some of the characters, while the novel, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo, is based on an idea I had back in high school. I would like to submit the novel for a developmental edit.

What do you like to write about?
Early on, I wrote apocalyptic fiction. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s; one of my fears, of course, was nuclear war. What I’m finding is that I’ve moved past that, and my latest ideas tend to be creative with a twist. Think a “what if?” with a “where will it lead?”. 

What is your novel about?
The NaNo novel deals with the idea of musicians traveling from town to town for gigs. What happens if humanity gets into space and finds out we’re technologically behind other races in terms of trade? What would humanity have to offer? Humanity discovers that what it does have to offer is artistic culture — music, art, even classic tv shows. As part of that, it’s a way of introducing humanity into other cultures. My protagonists are a jazz combo, and what they find out is that, in the history of this one planet, there is a cultural taboo against sung music. The remainder of the novel deals with solving the mystery: Why did this happen?

What is your advice to writers?
Don’t stop and think that your writing is good enough in its rough form, because there’s always room for improvement.

Thank you for being my guinea pig, Richard.
Oink.

Update (personal)



My brain feels rusty.
These last couple days I’ve been trying to recover from a tooth pulling/the meds/getting off the meds (hydrocodone does a number on me, but so does pain). 

Best rejection ever.
I got a rejection on Prodigies from Stirling Publishing (UK) which sounded like an almost-acceptance. I don’t feel too bad about it. 

Glass half-full
Lately I’ve gotten second places and honorable mentions on my short story/poetry submissions, so I feel like maybe either my work is getting better or it’s finding its home. Or my luck is getting better. I’m still frustrated and still looking for an agent.

Time to go to bed.

Small Victories (Personal Goals)

I’m writing this on my iPad as an experiment using BlogTouch, so bear with me.

Random picture.

I don’t think I’d blog from here every day, but it might work on-the-go. Finding pictures is harder unless I take my own, and typing is slow, but there I go. 

And I can’t change the title without losing everything. Weird.