As yet un paved, but improving as I learn to dodge the potholes.
Here I am one of millions of unpublished writers. What will give me the chance to see my words in print when so many others never do? The answer quite simply is maybe nothing. Or maybe I meant as complicated as everything...
The only certainty is that I will do all I can to reach the highest I can get. It I never make it to the top, I will still know that I did my best to get there. To this end I have given myself a list of goals. I will post a couple of them now...
1. WRITE: Without the words there is no story. Without the story there is nothing to sell.
2. RESEARCH THE MARKET: Really look at what is done during the process and make progress toward the next step.
3. JUST DO IT: Be fearless and submit to those I want even if I think I have little chance.
Guess thats enough for now. At this point I have the following to submitt...
Father of the Wolf: novel
Of Blood and Blessings: novella
Lost Soul of the Wolf: Novella
Curse of the Wolf: Novella
Season of the Wolf: Short story
More soon...
Shannon
As a note of interest this part of my query letter...
ReplyDeleteBlurb: Between a werewolf and his mate awaits the love they both hunger for, but to be together they must overcome doubt, fear and betrayal. After centuries of isolation, Athair mach Wulfe and his clan of Valàfrn rejoin American culture in search of mates. Hope Carter, a human veterinarian, doubts her sanity when the wolf, hit by her friend’s car, turns into the man of her dreams.
Father of the Wolf is set in contemporary America, and explores the existence of the extraordinary among the ordinary, the possibility of a werewolf culture living mostly unseen among everyday humans. But what if there are many clans of valafrn scattered around the world and what if one of them is on the prowl looking for human mates?
Athair leads the young of Eagle Clan back into the world they believed to be too dangerous. He has dedicated his life to raising the eleven orphans, and now sees it as his duty to see them safely mated. The first step in his plan is to ask the Bear Clan for help in learning the new ways. Instead he and two of his boys are caught in the middle of a power stuggle and violently attacked by a group of rebellous traitors. The traitors feel that the clans should disregard ancient customs and use their powers to control lesser beings like humans. Posioned and injured, Athair and the boys flee the unstable clan and are seperated.
Hope struggles to maintain her somewhat battered sanity as she deals with a brutal late night attack, an overbearing friend, an injured werewolf with a sexy mind voice, and man who can melt her shorts literally and the knowledge that her sweet grandmother has powerful secrets. She manages to cope and even conquers some of her old fears so that she can help Athair, who she is coming to love.
'Father', at 75,000 words, is the first in my series of paranormal romance novels. The other eleven, which are outlined and under way, continue the story of the Eagle Clan. Each novel includes one clan member finding true love, and advances the deeper story about Dàn, who is a misplaced child god, his family and his importance to the world. In addition to the novels, I have several novellas and short stories related to the series.
I am an active member of several online writer groups, attended several workshops and conferences and applied for membership in Romance Writers of America and the Western PA chapter of RWA. You can learn more about me and my writing at the web site I am developing at www.lshannon.net. Thank you for your time and consideration. I would be happy to send a partial or full on your request.
I joined a Book In A Week (BIAW)challenge for this wek and totaly bombed it. I wrote like a nut the week before but this one was almost bust for total output.
ReplyDeleteMy goal for the week was to complete the novella, Loki's Flight. LF started the week at about 3000 words and ended at almost 4000. It also has a whole new look because after I stared at it for so long I realized that Loki's daughter, Einmyria wanted to narrate the story. I've never tried this before so I'm not sure if it will work like I hope.
On the up side... I did finish the premise and structure of the series: Blood Quest. I also did a bunch of editing on Kitty and Boryn's story, which is now called Season of Blood. And worte a small amount in Destiny, Journey, Deception and Fate...
shannon
Rejection sucks.
ReplyDeleteI recieved a rejection today that hurt. (song to help set the world right is Godsmack's Realign.)Rather than waste more than 10 minutes crying over it, I went back and read Father of the Wolf again. and...
I did find some things to improve on. So thank you agent who doesn't find my work compelling. I disagree in that reference but am glad to have found a few other areas to improve.
Well on the tail of the rejection came a request from Chippewa Publishing to publish Lost Soul of the Wolf. I responded with yes and now get to wait to hear back from them.
ReplyDeleteAfter a couple days of nervously twittering my thumbs... I asked another author who will be publishing through Chippewa what their publishing timeline was like. What she said was that she is still editing 6 months after she signed her contract. I was surprised to hear this. I guess I thought that e-publishing would be faster than the big press. Now, I'm really not sure what the benefit is... I am considering withdrawing my other mss and trying to submitt them to NY as novellas. Or maybe using those to try for agents... I'm just not sure what I will do yet.
I IM'd with the pres. of Chippewa Publishing a couple days ago and now feel pretty good about the company and the people. We discussed a couple things in the contract that I wanted worded different and in the end wound up cutting them from the contract alltogether. Nothing big or bad, just some standard wording that probably wouldn't have made any difference anyhow. Still, it was very nice that they are willing to work with an author to create a contract that both are comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteI am still a little disappointed in the time that it will most likely take before my work will be available. But if that is what it takes, so be it.
I also mentioned a couple other questions while I had her on IM including about 'Of Blood and Blessings' which has passed its 8 week wait in their slush pile. She explained that they had it but the sytem hadn't put an e-mail address on it. She said she would talk to the submission dept about it. I thought this was a little strange in a company that small. After all, I had spoken to one of the editors several times regard OBAB and was reassured that they had it. Communication is immportant for any company and I hope this is a problem at Chippewa, though I am beginning to suspect that it is.
So in other words, at this point it looks like I will be publishing with Chippewa, but I am still waiting on the contract.
Shannon
waiting to: be yourself by audioslave