Willing to Learn

After reading Rachel Gardner's post this morning I found a new respect for the agents. What a hard and sometimes ungrateful job they have.I promised to strive to improve myself. I am so willing to learn my trade. Though, I  have had an article in Essence magazine, many in various (mostly local) magazines, my words printed often times in the newspaper, and accolades for my writing I aspire to be a well known author. Because of the many agent blogs I read, I am willing to learn more.

This Sunday I spent the morning browsing through one of the 1/2 Price Bookstores in Houston. I found two of the most helpful books. One is so informative I thought about it before bed and it was one of my first thoughts when I woke. Just so happens the YA Novel writing book is edited by Alice Pope one of the agents I follow on twitter. I have only written one novel for this age group, but it seems to be what the market is salivating for and I must work harder to be the napkin they wipe their

I have come to the realization that no matter how great I believe my novels are I know nothing when it comes to perfecting the query or synopsis. What do you feel about the consistent study and honing of your craft?

Will Write for the Hell of It

 Nancy puts down the sign and leans against the wall. She thinks awhile before answering the interviewer's question of "Why do you write?"...

For a long time (lately) my soul purpose was to get my word out. I wanted to be a published author beyond everything else. I studied my craft, learned all I thought I needed to know, and received great praise from those who read my scribblings. I even read a book I had published with a totally objective mind and a red pen.

Getting something on the desk of a legitimate publisher continues to be my goal, but now it is not my obsession. As I read some blogs where the lack of publication has torn a potential (and very well worded) author into a million pieces of confetti, I realized my self worth was also beginning to shatter. My head was aching with doubts of my writing abilities, irritation at the slightest sound seemed to be destroying my creativity, and the ease to laugh, let alone smile was disappearing. I needed to rethink my writing goals.

 Though I have hung my shingle, and will write for the hell of it, I will no longer feel threatened, irritated or jealous (just a little envious) of those who shake the hand of what may one day be my agent or publisher.  I will cheer them on and thank God for the day when it will be my turn (again).
....she picks up the 'for hire' sign, holds it high and walks towards the end of the sidewalk.

Standing for Something

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Sometimes we have to stand for something we believe in. My daughter and I stood together because we believe every race should have a place within one history book. We shouldn't have to finger through a multitude of reference books to be able to celebrate America's racial contributors.

In order to applaud every great race that has made America the giant melting pot of ideas and accomplishments it has become, we wrote Beads on a String-America's Racially Intertwined Biographical History.

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Does Money Make You Work Better

On twitter I posed a question about the usage of Wikipedia and one commenter suggested one of the main reasons for not using the application as a source was because the editors may not be getting paid. So? Does that mean they don't value their job? Does that mean the editors don't care about the finished product? Does that mean anyone who volunteers at something is only doing it to fill time and the outcome doesn't matter?

I should think as long as Wikipedia has been in existence their value and want for a superior product should have improved. Nothing in life is perfect and the only thing that stays the same is usually in print or in stone. And just because a reference book  or any source for that matter, is in print doesn't necessarily make it correct. It just makes it hard to change.

I don't care what the nay sayers holler about, I like Wikipedia because it is made by the people for the people.

Time Keeps on Ticking

I wonder when is it the best time in life to get a book published?

If you are really young are you a phenom and will you have the skills to pull out a new one? What if you were just a one hit wonder? Your entire little world would crumble because not only will your parents have been extremely proud (because you were their spawn)but all of your peers will think of you as a genius. Geeze, like it wouldn't have just been enough to get over a bad case of pimples.

If you are a teenager/middleager the attention would probably make you a little obnoxious and hard to be around. One because teenagers are born stars in their own mind and middleagers have the crisis to get over.
Now me, one who has stood on the mountaintop, tripped over the hard knocks in life and am now on a roll to better things can handle the time with gratitude, and the right attitude.
Now, write my name larger on the bestseller list and hand me my Noble Peace Prize.

I Guess You Can Say I Am Lead by My Passions

My passions run a muck, but intertwine. Everyone who knows me knows I love to write, care for children, and hate the injustices caused by one race against another. My main focus this week very much deals with children. At the moment I am the untraditional foster parent to twin three year old boys. Totally not by choice, but definitely with a little love. I find it funny how I am the single parent of three daughters, but always end up caring for little boys.

National Adoption Day passed recently and it reminded me of the many little boys that have come and gone in our home. Each to return to some of the crappiest home environments imaginable. How great it must have been for the parents who made it through the adoption process and hopefully have saved lives. It is a shame how the wrong people are blessed with children. Please visit sites like Why Not Me? and Raise Me Up to learn how to help children open for adoption.

In This World Today

I must say you would really have to be on the  lucky side of the coin in the 'let's get published' line of the world today. After following comments from some agents on twitter I am totally discouraged. The truth of the matter is a writer is basically at the whim or mood of the agent. I tend to wonder if a perfectly manicured manuscript would survive in their hands. Whoa, wait a minute the perfect manuscript may never get in their hands because there are so many different 'wants' needed to even get a query in front of them. I have become totally confused (after reading different blogs) with what is the best thing to say in the before mentioned query or the bend your back and beg me letter as I now see it. How can a manuscript be judged by the first three to five words of a query? Sometimes I thing ego over rules everything.

The publishing industry tends to look down on self-publishing but think it is great if one of their 'brand named' organizations start self publishing businesses. I have seen one that is offering the same kind of services I have learned to do on my own, but I bet my book would be labeled as trash if I were to push it towards them.

All self published books are not bad and it seems wrong that a potential best sellers was looked over because the author had enough faith in their work to try and get it in the public eye. I see no difference in a traditionally published book failing to meet quota than a self-published book. The 'real book' still failed even with the greatness of agents and the publishing industry behind it. In the publishing world second chance is a death sentence.

In this world today you would really have to be lucky to be 'chosen' by the best agent, get the right information, and blow the reader's mind with a true best seller and not just an industry fad.

The Naming of America

In our quest to learn about America's colorful history and to ascertain the inclusion of the contributions from every race that has made America the great nation it is, our biggest wonder was how this great country received its name. Why the great America wasn't called 'Columbus'? Should this nation not have been named after the person said to have discovered the new worlds?  In actual fact, it has been. In 1507 the map maker Martin Waldseemuller named North and South America, after FLOWTEXTLINK ,WEB,HTTP://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_vespucci---,,Amerigo Vespucci.

       The phrase "united States of America" was first used officially in the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776. On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first of which stated "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'" The name was originally proposed by Thomas Paine. Why wasn't America named after Christopher Columbus? For a while the Americas were also known as Columbia, after Columbus, prompting the name District of Columbia for the land set aside as the U.S. capital. Columbia remained a popular name for the United States until the early 20th century, when it fell into relative disuse; it is still used poetically, and appears in various names and titles. Columbus Day is a holiday in the United States, and other countries in the Americas, commemorating Columbus' October 1492 landing.

       Mundus Novus ("New World") was a Latin translation of a lost Italian letter sent from Lisbon to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. It describes a voyage to South America in 1501-1502. Mundus Novus was published in late 1502 or early 1503 and soon reprinted and distributed in numerous European countries. Lettera di Amerigo Vespucci delle isole nuovamente trovate in quattro suoi viaggi ("Letter of Amerigo Vespucci concerning the isles newly discovered on his four voyages"), known as Lettera al Soderini or just Lettera, was a letter in Italian addressed to Piero Soderini. Printed in 1504 or 1505, it claimed to be an account of four voyages to the Americas made by Vespucci between 1497 and 1504.         

       It was the publication and widespread circulation of the letters that led FLOWTEXTLINK ,WEB,HTTP:////awesomeamerica.com/usa/,,Martin Waldseemüller to name the new continent America on his world map of 1507 in Lorraine. Along with placing the name on the map Waldseemüller also published Vespucci's accounts of his travels in a book.  A Latin translation was published by Waldseemüller in Cosmographiae Introductio, a book on cosmography and geography, as Quattuor Americi Vespucci navigationes ("Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci"). Vespucci used a Latinized form of his name, Americus Vespucius, in his Latin writings, which Waldseemüller used as a base for the new name, taking the feminine form America. This public revelation caused many people to believe Vespucci was trying to steal the credit of the discovery from Christopher Columbus. And just who was this Amerigo Vespucci?

     Amerigo Vespucci born March 9, 1451 was born in Florence, Italy and was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. He played a senior role in two voyages which explored the east coast of South America between 1499 and 1502. On the second of these voyages he discovered that South America extended much further south than previously known by Europeans. This convinced him that this land was part of a new continent, a bold contention at a time when other European explorers crossing the Atlantic Ocean thought they were reaching Asia.

     Vespucci's real historical importance may well be more in his letters, whether he wrote them all or not, than in his discoveries. From these letters, the European public learned about the newly discovered continent of the Americas for the first time; its existence became known throughout Europe within a few years of the letters' publication. If Vespucci's claims are accurate he reached the mainland of the Americas shortly before Cabot, and at least 14 months before Columbus.

      In 1508 Spain gave Vespucci the responsibility for training pilots for ocean voyages. He died in Seville in 1512 from Malaria.

Sometimes the Thoughts of Others Keep Us Going

I like to follow fellow writers on their blogs and the newest is over here-Slush Pile Hero. I like her sire so much I even mentioned her on my other blog VoiceOver.

THIS IS MY GOAL

I am so happy to have finished to production of Beads on a String-America's Racially Intertwined Biographical History. This history book shows how every race contributed in some form to the formation of America. With the purchase of this book you will  learn of these accomplishments while contributing to the life of a bead in our future.

My campaign is to help teenagers about to age out of the foster care system. These kids need something to start their life on a positive path. It’s not their fault for being in the system and they shouldn’t be punished. This is the organization I would like to dedicate funding:

INFO FROM THEIR WEBSITE:
Raise Me Up Program which is a part of the Casey Family Programs opened in 1984 and helps young people from the public child welfare system find safe and stable families through foster care, kinship care, family reunification, guardianship, or adoption. We recruit local foster families, provide case management services, connect youth and families to community services, and help youth make a successful transition to adulthood. The field office serves the bustling state capital with a population of 1.6 million as well as rural communities in Central Texas.

In addition to supporting youth in out-of-home care, we help young people prepare to make it on their own as they leave foster care at age 18. The After Care Transitional Services is a joint effort of Casey Family Programs and Lifeworks, one of our community partners in Austin. Each year, hundreds of young people receive help and training in the areas of education, employment, physical and mental health, financial and housing information, and many other areas to help make them successful young adults.

Self-Publishing-to do or not to do

Who, how amazing to run into someone you have never met and feel as if you know them. The strangest thing is to run into this person only on the internet highway. I am recommending Karen E. Quinones Miller because I happen to admire her tenacity and her belief in herself. This is the 'Mike' I wanna be. She also hosts very informative self-publishing seminars.