March 31, 2009

Crazed and Confused

I'm so out of my normal routine right now that I have no idea what to do.

I seem to be doing rather well in the Amazon contest.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3AGO

The reviews posted aren't from all of my friends. Honest!! I'm a Nixon, but I don't lie...often. Some reviews are actually from people I don't know!

At this point, I'm not sure if this will help me or not in my search for an agent or publisher. (What do you think?) But it's super awesome to hear that people I didn't beg for a review liked the first chapter.

I still have a few queries out there in cyberland. I've yet to re-email any of them...because I have no idea what to do. I'll figure that out later, I guess, when I decide to get back in touch with the agents/editors. I'm trying to give them time and space. Smart huh? I know how busy everyone is with the deluge of new queries this year.

I think my brain is telling me to wait until the next round of the contest (April 15)before I do anything. If I do make it to the top 100...well, I'll probably squeal like a little girl, then I'll be even more confused as to what I should do. Bleh.

Editing and writing have hit the back burner these last two weeks. In all honesty, I miss it, but the break is refreshing and much needed. I'm no longer sitting at the computer for 12 hours a day (between work and home of course!)

Besides, I still don't have a good enough idea to run with yet.

My next big confusion is Tiva. I seriously have no clue what to do. I know I'm going to edit both books before anything else--because I've spotted some errors...and I've learned a few new rules in the last two years that I want to put into practice on the books. I hope by the time I make a decision, my original publisher will be ready to go and publish the books. With the economy the way it is and all the drama in the publishing world, I'm not sure if it'll happen, but that's still my first choice.

I do have a new query letter ready, but haven't submitted anywhere. I think it needs a bit more work...need to find someone to read it over once again.

That's all I have on the writing front. Personal life ahead, proceed with caution... :-)

I had a great weekend. Went down to AC area to visit Ex-Roomie. I brought my new friend with me so they could meet. They hit it off, of course, because most of the people I hang out with like many of the same things. We went to dinner then played some pool. I got housed. The following day we went to Atlantic City, walked the boardwalk, went to lunch, and froze our asses off in the wet, nasty weather. But it was still fun!

Sunday was "Jenn must catch up on her TV shows" day. My list is getting shorter as my time is spread thinly these days...but half of the shows I watch will be over for summer break soon anyway. Yes, I know I watch too much...but not really:

Monday:
Gossip Girl
24
Heroes

Tuesday:
American Idol
Mentalist
Fringe (when it comes back)
Biggest Loser (super fast DVR version or recap from website)

Wednesday:
LOST
Criminal Minds
American Idol
ALL ON THE SAME TIME! GRRRR

Thursday:
Smallville
Supernatural
Survivor
CSI
Wow, lots of S's that day. I already gave up watching 11th hour (no time) May have to give up CSI too. It's on all over the place in reruns now, wouldn't kill me.

Friday:
Terminator
Gave up the Dollhouse already. Didn't care THAT much to keep watching. Eh.

And yes, seriously, I kid you not...NO TV SHOWS on Saturday!

Sunday:
Simpsons
Family Guy
American Dad

I won't even list all the shows I've stopped watching, that would make me look like a total loser couch potato. ugh.

15-16 hours of TV--it's probably half what I used to watch when I lived by myself and didn't go out much. Ah, depression, how I really don't miss you!

Sad truth though, I like writing when I'm depressed, it gives me an escape. Helps me worry about someone else's problems instead of my own.

I don't have any issues right now. I'm still losing weight. I'm spending time with a great guy. I have my friends and my family. Job is awesome. I'm alive. Can't complain, and actually, I don't want to.

The weather is beautiful today. Things are looking up...hope spring brings you all the positive energy you need too!

March 25, 2009

I don't do these often...but...it's a getting to know you Meme. You should do it too.

For those of you who have never done this, it's FUN!

Give it a try, but you have to do it right. Copy this whole thing, go to your profile/notes/new note, right click and paste, put the subject back in the title line.

Then comes the hard part. Replace my answers with your own! Then over to the right you can tag as many of your friends as you'd like…include me too, please, so I can see.

A
- Available: Not really…
- Age: 34
- Annoyances: ignorant and stupid people.
- Animals: doggies
B
- Beer: Nope
- Birthday: April
- Best Body My eyes
- Best feeling in the world: Love
- Blind or Deaf: Deaf
- Best weather: 75 and sunny
- Been in Love: A couple times
- Been on stage?: Once or twice
- Believe in Magic: Yes-but not like HP magic…
- Believe in Santa: No
C
- Candy: Reece’s PBC, M&M’s, etc
- Color: Purple and Black
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Depends on what it is…
- Chinese/Mexican Food: Either
- Cake or pie Cake
- Continent to visit: Asia
- Cheese: Muenster, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Provolone, I could keep going…
D
- Day or Night: Night
- Dancing in the rain: Sure
E
- Eyes: Blue
- Everyone's got: Two ears and one mouth…
- Ever failed a class?: Nope
F
- First thoughts waking up: How long can I snooze?
- Food: Varied
G
- Greatest Fear: Loosing my family prematurely
- Goals: Happiness
- Get along with your parents?: Yep
H
- Hair Color: Dark blond
- Height: 5'6
- Happy: Yeah
- Holiday: Xmas
- How do you want to die: Old and painless.
I
- Ice Cream: Baskin Robbins Pralines and cream or Half-Baked by Ben and Jerry
- Instrument: can’t play for real but I kick ass on rock band drums
J
- Jewelry: earrings, necklace, and rings…but I don’t have any rings that fit anymore
- Job: Purchasing manager
- Kids: nope
- Kickboxing or karate: Either
- Keep a journal?: yep
L
- Love: Is something everyone needs.
- Letter: Uh…what?
M
- Milk flavor: regular or chocolate.
- Movie: About 500 favorites, do you really want to read the list? lol
- Motion sickness?: not usually
- McD’s or BK: Depends on what I’m eating
N
- Number: 3
O
- One wish: Peace & Love. Seriously.
P
- Pepsi/Coke: Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi
- Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni, bacon, sausage, salt, garlic and ranch dressing.
- Piercings: ears
Q
- Quail: Dan?
R
- Reason to cry: pain
- Reality: Survivor
- Radio Station: All my stations are gone now, so AOL radio, Top Alternative.
- Roll your tongue in a circle: nope
- Ring size: No clue
S
- Shoe size: 8.5ish, think I’m still a wide, not sure. I own three pairs of shoes
- Salad Dressing: Ranch
- Sushi: Tried a few
- Skinny dipped?: yeah
- Shower?: when I’m dirty
- Strawberries or Blueberries: Both in my yogurt parfait
- Sport: Football
T
- Tattoos?: One
- Time for bed: Recently 1am
- Thunderstorms: My favorite!
U
- Unpredictable: My life
V
- Vacation spot(s): Somewhere with lots of history and old buildings, or the mountains.
- Very? Kerri is so very? lol
W
- Weakness: Food
- Worst feeling: loosing a loved one.
- Wanted to be a model: No
- Worst Weather?: Heat waves
X
- X-Rays: If needed.
Y
- Year it is now: 2009.
- Yellow: Cold Play song.
Z
- Zoo animal: Tigers

March 23, 2009

Monday, Monday...ah, you're almost over.

I finally caught up on BSG. I won’t spoil anything, so keep reading!

There were some pieces I think could have been handled better, but for the most part, I was satisfied. I liked the twist at the end, though original BSG fans probably knew it was coming. I never watched the old show…

The only thing I didn’t really like had to do with Starbuck. If you watched it, maybe you feel the same. For as dynamic as her character was…her “ending” was crap. Total crap. Maybe they have an idea for another series with her in it? Not sure. Overall, it was much better than some other series ends I’ve seen.

Heroes and 24 tonight!! Very exciting.

I’ve decided to take a few of the shows I normally watch off my regular viewing schedule. I said a few weeks ago that I needed to get a social life again. So that means less TV. No worries, I’m still keeping my favorites for now. Plus, spring is almost here, so some of the other shows will be ending soon anyway.

I’m having a Twilight party tomorrow. I so thought the movie came out today, but it was last week. I’ve already seen it, thought it was a hell of a lot better than the book. And this’ll be in crisp HD!


The Jenn hasn’t been writing. At all. Hell, I haven’t even edited anything in about a week. I know, I know, a writer is supposed to write every day. I try to; sometimes I just can’t find the time. I don’t envy those writers out there who are married with kids. I don’t think I’d ever find the time if I had a couple rugrats running around!

Not to worry. I have some ideas still running through my head. Taking this break is much needed and deserved. Besides, I’d rather focus on Lucky and Tiva right now than starting something new. When, not if, they find publishers, I’ll be working on more edits and whatnot anyway. Starting something new right now isn’t in the cards. Maybe I’ll shoot for April first. That still gives me time to participate in one of my writer’s groups contests.

I am so ready for spring to get here. It’s freezing outside right now. I need to shed the last of these something-odd lbs soon and the cold weather isn’t helping. Staying home, snuggled on the couch is all I want to do when it’s this freaking cold. It’s nice to have a snuggle partner too. :-) But once it’s nice out again, I plan on taking the doggies for more walks, do a bit of hiking, maybe camping, and hopefully that will further kick start my metabolism.

Since I’m not having my big huge birthday party—because I’m not at my goal—I’ll just have to wow the family and friends in the summertime. Realistically, I want to hit my goal by the end of the summer. I think that’s workable. It’s taking longer to drop the lbs not that I’ve already lost so much, but I’m still doing well. That’s what matters.

March 19, 2009

Contest update, TV is fun and life is beautiful!

I got up to #2 for downloads on the Amazon Breakthrough contest!! I may have actually hit #1 but by the time I got home from work, I was 3 and still dropping. No worries…Now I just have to start pimping myself for reviews.

So, if you have free time and want to help a sister out…give me a quick review. Tell your friends and family! Tell everyone! This way you can say you helped me get published. LOL

If you’re in the contest, I’ll review you in trade!


I’ve almost caught up on my shows this week. 24 is kicking ass this season. Love that damn show. Thought Gossip Girl went a little flat this week, but it’ll pick up I’m sure. Mentalist had a great episode this week. LOST is always love for me, though it did have a few boring parts.

Still have to watch BSG from last week. Figure I might as well watch the last two eps in a row, just need to find the time to do it! I’m even behind on watching Bill Maher if you can believe it.


My mother always told me things happen for a reason. She also told me that when you least expect it, something happens. She’s right, though I haven’t been on the receiving side of the “happenings” before. For years, I’ve worried about everyone else. Mother hen syndrome to the nth degree. When I finally decided to look out for me, I did notice some things changing. I felt happier. I learned about myself. I knew, no matter what, I could take care of me and still care and worry about others without losing my mind.

Now, I finally feel like all that karma is coming back to me. I’ve had one of the best weeks in recent memory this week. The winter depression has lifted and there is plenty of sunshine on the horizon.

I met a great guy last week. Everything clicked and fell into place. Totally unexpected for me. I rarely have such luck with guys I connect with. Usually, the attraction is one sided and I’m left standing on the corner trying to figure out which way to go.

I’ll admit, it’s a little scary when everything happens so effortlessly. Yet sometimes, you can’t deny it when you know you have something special fall into your lap. All I know is that I haven’t been this happy for a very, very long time.

Happy works for me. I think I’ll keep staying happy for a while.

March 17, 2009

Lucky is lucky!! Contest news!

Got a fantastic email this morning.

Lucky's Charm made it into the quarter finals of the Amazon Breakthrough novel contest! *Squee!!* Out of 10,000 books, they picked 200. I never have seen odds like that in my favor before.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3AGO I think only specific customers are allowed to review the book, so if you are one or know one, please, PLEASE, pretty please...read mine?

Lucky day!

Actually, I've had a few lucky days the last seven or so. I met an awesome guy. I'm back on track with losing weight. I'm feeling good about Lucky...yeah, it's all good. Happy Jenn is a very good Jenn.

Catching up on some missed shows tonight before American Idol. I haven't watched BSG or Gossip Girl yet. Been busy, in a good way. :-)

March 10, 2009

Agents, #Queryfail, Movies and TV. Whew!

So, guess what happened to me yesterday? I got a rejection letter. Normal, yes, but this one was originally sent on 4/2/08. Yeah. Really. Almost a whole year later. WTF is up with that?

I'm glad I've queried more than a couple of agents at a time. Imagine waiting that long just for an agent to respond? Even if they had said yes, I would probably rethink the agency as a whole. If they can't respond to a simple query letter in less than say...6 months, how can they handle more clients?

#Queryfail is blowing up all over the internet. I participated and thought it was a fun and enlightening experience. I made new friends. Learned what not to do in queries, and yes...got a chuckle or two from some of the submissions. People are having issues with the "mocking" factor. My feelings: 1. If you can't laugh at yourself, you need to lighten up. 2. If you don't read the guidelines, you should be mocked, it's your own damn fault. 3. If you haven't researched ANYTHING about writing or submitting a query letter, again, your fault.

No names were used. Most of the tweets were paraphrased. I'm sure there are a few people out there who may have recognized their pitch. If your feelings were hurt by random people making fun of your crappy query letter, you'll never made it as an author. Don't you read the reviews on BN and Amazon? People who buy your stuff don't CARE about your feelings. If they think you suck, they will let you know, publicly and make sure you know about it. At least with #queryfail the only person who knew it was your pitch was you and the agent. Doesn't seem that bad to me. I'd rather know sooner than later that something I wrote sucked.

-end rant-

Ex-Roomie brought me over a 50" HDTV this weekend. It's purty. His dad is selling it to me for $400. Yeah, seriously. I just need to find a base thingy for it so I don't have to tack it onto the wall.

I watched Body of Lies this weekend. Liked it. Watched Sicko and Religilous too, loved them!

Ex-Roomie, Brother and I saw Watchmen (no spoilers). I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was great but good. I'm going to read the comic/graphic novel now just to get the original feel of the whole story. I LOVED Doctor Manhattan...and no, not because of his blue-tiful penis, because his character touched me. No, not that way you perv! Though, there was some 40 year old guy scoffing behind me every time we saw nakey Manhattan. Dude, don't you have one? What's the big deal? Didn't hear you scoffing during the boobie shots. Jeeze.

Anyway, Manhattan was cool. One of the best new (for me) characters I've come across recently. Kinda disappointed he doesn't have his own comic or story beyond Watchmen. We all know Jenn loves tortured souls. He's probably at the top of the list right under Jack Bauer and Sylar.

Speaking of...OMFG! Spoilers!

If you haven't watched 24 (or Heroes) yet, don't read any further.

Brother and I were watching Heroes on the DVR. Just as it was getting good, he hit the remote by accident and the cable reverted to live TV. Agent Walker popped up on the screen. I covered my eyes.

Brother said: "Don't watch."
"Hurry!" I replied.
Then... "Right before Bill Buchanan died," Walker said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed. "#$#*(&#^@#(*#@&$"
"I told you not to watch!" Brother replied.
"You didn't say don't listen! $(*$&!@#($*&!@"

So yeah. I was kinda bummed. I already knew a couple of faves were going to die, same with Heroes, but it's always fun trying to figure out who. I really thought Tony would die, again, for real...ah well. RIP Bill. You were the man.

The other man, Sylar, is playing with my heartstrings. I really do love how they twisted that whole Son-Father drama. What a great couple of scenes between the two of them. LOVE John Glover. Nice to see the Lionel coming out of him again. heh.

So, with this super fantastic start to the TV week, I'm really excited to see what the rest of my shows have in store for me. BSG is almost over. *sniffle* The rest are now hitting their strides and doing great by me.

Giggity.

March 5, 2009

Spring...please come soon.

I think the winter depression is over. I know I gained about five pounds this week. Blah. No worries, back on track straight away!

I've been watching #queryfail on Twitter today. Good stuff. I don't know how to feed by twitter or link the section. Sorry. But it was fun. I have to walk away soon, otherwise I'll sit there all night.

I am happy to say that I've never done one of those things the agents/editors mentioned today. I know my query works. The story isn't everyone's cup of tea, and that's probably why I'm having such a problem with it. It's dark. It has a romance. It's got lots of death and blood. It's based in reality. If Lucky was a shapeshifter, I probably would have sold it already.

Anyway, I heard back from one editor. No. Bleh. Still have a few out there. I've received some great feedback that I need to take into consideration. I might not change much because everything in the first book is important, but I need to make sure everything works. Lucky 2 and 3 still need a polish too.

I believe we change the clocks this weekend. Hope it gets warm too. I want to take my doggies out for a walk! Been hibernating too long.

And I need to search for my social life. I think I lost it. I've been so focused on writing the last year, my social life consists of emails/phone calls with friends, the occasional get together, facebook, and writers group meetings. Which is about the only time I'm hanging out with people for any length of time outside work.

Yeah, winter needs to go away.

I'm going to see the Watchmen this weekend with ex-roomie and probably my brother. Having not been a reader of the graphic novel, I'm going in blind. From what I've read though, they stayed very true to the original material. That's good. I like when director/producers respect the work. Good form. I hope the movie is as good as it looks already...

Not sure what else is up for the weekend. I probably won't be writing. I haven't been...at all. Obsessing about stuff already written and not sold. I can't help it. Soon though. It's coming...the muse is starting to speak to me again.

March 1, 2009

Cleaning and Deleting

I promised a TV update. I know, it's a bit late. I'm feeling kinda lazy lately. Damn cold weather. Still going to the gym though...

Ok. Slight spoilers--cept for LOST. (*See note)
Heroes seems to do well when it focuses on HRG, Noah Bennett. This week was no different. He said it best...he's the gray man. Bad but not a villain, good but not a hero. He's like Lucky. LOVE HIM! The new writing is starting to show. Me like.

24...ah, I so love me some Jack. I really missed him last year. A couple of nice twists I didn't predict, so that's always helpful. And as I twittered, if Agent Walker smacks Jack again, I'm going to hurt her.

Garbage truck knocked my FIOS off the house on Tuesday, but I watched Obama on the PS3...heh, lover unsecured wireless.

Ah, American Idol. How you make me laugh in a not so good way. Though, Norman made me laugh in a great way. I hope he gets more than 15 mins. I can kinda see what AI is doing...they're giving the contestants the big FU. Making some of those cocky bastards really work for it. Most of those people sucked! Man. My brother and I could do better. Two of the three that got through this week deserved it. Kai better bring it at Wild Card. Still love Gokey, but I think Adam will be right there with him.

No Fringe, no mentalist. *sniffle*

Criminal minds rocks. I just found out the chick who plays Garcia is getting married to her girlfriend. Now I can got get Shemar for myself! Yum.

LOST is LOVE. I happen to read the LJ lost_tv post after every episode because I love reading people's instant reactions. (I think it's even funnier after the fact because you've seen the whole thing) A friend of mine and I used to chat during 24. It was fun. Anyway, this week was great. Blew my head. *I won't say more because of spoilers. Have friends in other countries...

I have a couple friends at work who watch Survivor. It's pretty good this season. Always love Jeff, he leaves, I'm done. Don't have any faves yet, though I like the exile island scheme. Might work!

CSI, good. It works with the Fish. No reason to stop watching now. LOL. 11th Hour also good. Like the new addition to the cast. Wonder if it's permanent. No Supernatural or Smallville.

BSG has three more episodes to go. This one kinda tugged at Jenn's heart strings. I love Kara. Feel her pain...want her to have a bit of peace. And poor Chief. Doesn't he feel like a complete douchebag?

By the way, douchebag is the new popular word. I think it must have happened in the last six months or so. I've heard it everywhere...

This week's episode of Dollhouse makes me want to watch another one. That's good. I liked the two BSG guys this episode. heh.

TV done.

I did watch Sicko the other day. Sad, very very sad.


Lucky submission status:
Queries sent: 127
Rejections: 87
Partials requested: 16
Partials rejected: 9

I feel like I should continue to submit. Maybe I put too much faith in myself waiting for the few who are currently reading? Those who still have partials are all people I would love to work with. Top choices on my list. The fact they have my stuff is fantastic. I just wish I had a clue what to do...

I did send a couple of new queries in February. But everyone is getting a ton of them now. I don't want to do more unless I see an open call or change in guidelines. That's probably the best way to do it now...maybe.

I should be writing. I'm not. I know. I have a crap load of ideas and none of them are working. I'm too busy worrying about Lucky, trying to figure out what to do about Tiva. Wondering if I should write another short story, enter a RWA contest, revisit something that's finished and not very good, revamp another finished project into something else...

Blah. This happens from time to time, but I refuse to let this lapse last much longer. Whoa, alliteration... Seriously though, I'll get back to writing. Soon. It's a moral imperative. lol

I did spend some time cleaning up my desktop. Got rid of some crap, deleted a bunch of programs I don't use, moved things around and made things easier to find. Took a while.

I also tried to find a cool frontpage template to make a new webiste, but everything I downloaded didn't work properly. Grr. I don't want to pay someone to make a site for me. I wanna do it!! Not as easy as I thought it would be. Even with the templates. Bleh.

I need to find a good, easy, free program with templates. Any suggestions?

Hope you East Coasters are ready for the snow. Looks like we're really getting it. I'm off to the store, need supplies!