Write It Anyway!

THE INNER CRITIC

A friend who has suffered substantial hearing loss tells me that she often finds that, while she can hear everyone talking with the help of a hearing aid, she is sometimes unable to understand what others are saying. She can no longer pick up some of the higher frequencies. Consonant sounds occur in the high frequency range, so my friend may pick up only vowel sounds. She hears the “e” in “help,” but without the consonant sounds, meaning is lost. Her description perfectly describes what is happening to me as I try to rewrite a section of The Long Way Home. I can hear my characters talking, but I’m missing some of the frequencies and their messages make no sense to me. I’m suffering from a form of writer’s block.

Some people don’t believe in writer’s block. I’ve read the direct statement that writer’s block is the excuse of a lazy writer. My response to this statement is that I’ve spent a large chunk of yesterday butt in chair trying to write. The result of ten hours work is 575 words on TLWH and twelve pieces of blogs that refuse to jell. I’m frustrated and irritated; I’m weepy and weary.

It seems worse because I was blindsided by this malady. I’ve been writing from one to four thousand words most days. But something I read Tuesday gave new life to my demonic Inner Critic whose brutal estimates of my work are coming through loud and clear. Even reading, my usual refuge, from this enemy isn’t working. IC just reminds me how foolish I am to think I belong in the company of the author whose book I’m reading.
I’ve tried drowning her out by reading advice from accomplished writers.

“People have writer’s block not because they can’t write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.”–Anna Quindlen

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”–Margaret Atwood

“Don’t get it right, just get it written.”–James Thurber

“Lower your standards and keep writing.”–William Stafford

I particularly like that last one. I know that I’m never going to satisfy the expectations of my Inner Critic. But so far the truths I know in my head have not made their way to my fingers. My last ditch effort to win the battle is listening over and over again to a favorite song, Martina McBride’s “Do It Anyway.”

You can spend your whole life buildin’
Something from nothin’,
One storm can come and blow it all away.
Build it anyway.

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach,
And you know it might not ever come your way.
Dream it anyway.

God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good,
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should.
But I do it anyway.
I do it anyway.

This world’s gone crazy,
And it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today.
Believe it anyway.

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons,
And in a moment they can choose to walk away.
Love ’em anyway.

You can pour your soul out singin’
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang.
Sing it anyway.

I sing.
I dream.
I love anyway.

I’ve even added my own verse.

You can wound your heart in writing
the words that just won’t come
That voice keeps on shouting, “You’ll never get it done.”
Write it anyway.

So hear I am with another day—believing, dreaming, writing. Even with the Inner Critic insisting that it’s garbage, I’m writing it anyway.

And I’m allowing Richard Lederer to remind me “To be a writer, one must behave as writers behave. They write. And write. And write. The difference between a writer and a wannabe is that a writer is someone who can’t not write, while a wannabe says, ‘One of these days when . . ., then I’ll . . . .’”

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Any cures you’d care to share?

Vagabond Fave Vanessa Kelly asks: What’s My Theme?

When I began writing MASTERING THE MARQUESS, it never occurred to me that it should have a theme with a capital T. I had a story to tell—one that had been rolling about in my head for months—and I just sat down to write it. Oh, sure, I outlined my plot, but nothing too complicated or lengthy. Three or four carefully thought out sentences per scene, and that was about it. I also mapped out a family tree for my characters and did gobs of historical research, but I didn’t spend huge amounts of time thinking about themes or the big story idea. I had spent years in grad school studying English Lit, so I was fairly confident I knew how a novel was constructed, and how plot and character came together. And the story was there, nagging at me, eager to come out.

So away I worked, the happy writer, too naïve to realize I was doing everything COMPLETELY WRONG.

I discovered this horrifying fact after I finished my first draft and began to embark on revisions. By now I’d joined the Romance Writers of America, and had begun to pay way more attention to discussions about craft. Turns out, you’re supposed to have a THEME for your book before you even begin to write—at least according to many experts in the field. One writing teacher outlined her method for revisions, a useful but complicated strategy to track plot and emotional turning points, POV changes, conflict points, love scenes, and several other aspects of the manuscript that must be identified and recorded. After having completed this process, the writer would know the theme of her book. That theme would then be the lodestar throughout the revision process, providing the writer with everything she needed to transform her book from merely competent to fantastic.

I finished reading that article with a knot of dread in the pit of my stomach, convinced that my manuscript was, in fact, missing that all important ingredient—the theme. I began inhaling more craft books, desperately searching for answers. Some experts talked about the Intent, the Story Question, the Story Concept, or the Story Idea. But whatever they called it, you had to be able to distil it into one short sentence, phrase, or even one word.

By now I was a wreck. But after an extended bout of hyperventilation and a healthy dose of medicinal brandy, I calmed down enough to think. And what I thought about was the pitch I wrote for MASTERING THE MARQUESS. The first line of that pitch says: Meredith Burnley will do anything to save her half-sister Annabel’s life. I began reading through the manuscript again and realized that my heroine, Meredith, is willing to do anything—and I mean anything—she has to in order to keep her much younger sister out of danger.

And both Meredith and Annabel are in danger throughout much of the novel. Meredith’s need to keep her sister safe provides a great deal of the narrative drive. In fact, it’s her selfless devotion and capacity to love that makes my hero, Silverton, sit up and take notice of her. Yes, it helps that she’s a babe, but it’s her courage and selflessness that makes him tumble and tumble hard.

I thought about that some more and realized I did have my theme, and that it had been there all along. That theme was self-sacrifice. There it was—my lodestar.

But as I discovered when others began to read my final draft, not everyone was comfortable with that theme, or how selfless my heroine was for her sister’s sake. Not that Meredith is a Pollyanna; she’s not. She can be stubborn and is slow to trust. But she will do anything for her little sister, including sacrificing her own happiness, and will do it without complaint. That irked a few of my early readers, who thought Meredith should, at the very least, work up a healthy dose of resentment toward Annabel.

So, all this rumination on themes is prompting me to ask a few questions. What are some of your favorite themes in a romance novel? And what do you think about the theme of self-sacrifice? Can a hero or heroine be too noble, too self-sacrificing? Or does the world need a little less cynicism and a little more selfless heroism?

Note from Manda: One Lucky Commenter will win a copy of Vanessa’s AWESOME debut, Mastering the Marquess!

Tags: Kensington, Mastering the Marquess, regency, theme, Vanessa Kelly

Revise, Rewrite…Re-submit

Well, I don’t know about the re-submit thing, just yet, but I have been feeling the revise and rewrite thing this past week. Some of it academic, some of it romance. Last night I burned the midnight oil making slight revisions to a couple of academic  projects before submitting them to my discipline’s major conference. And now I wait for the word back from the reviewers. Will I receive a revise, rewrite, and re-submit? Or just a rejection?

Either way, the experience mirrors other writing endeavors in which I find myself currently engaging.

I also have immersed myself in the revising and rewriting process of a couple of other academic projects. These I do hope to submit for publications and no doubt will myself in the revising and re-submitting process for some time to come.

Ironically, in the midst of my rewriting and revising to submit my conference papers on time, I pulled up my somewhat-abandoned historical WIP and had another go at it. And I realized something…for me revising sometimes occurs at just the  most unplanned moments. For instance, I realized that the entire first chapter needs to be chucked–in the middle of a health communication class. But, needs must.

The troubling thing is that now it seems I am saddled with a chapter that seems to be supplementary to requirements. And I cannot help but ask myself what to do with it. I know some writers save discarded chapters in the event that they become useful later and others simply discard changes and if the need ever arises, they reconstruct the discarded scenes.

I’m one of those individuals who saves all evidence of the process in every writing endeavor. The upside is that I can track changes from one revision to the next. Naturally (with me), the downside is that I sometimes grab the wrong file when trying to work on the next revision. I suppose for the moment, my pack rat tendencies when it comes to things I have written and decided not to use, means I’ll hang on to the “chapter that wasn’t”–and hopefully avoid opening the wrong revision of the manuscript.

So, what about you, my fellow writers? What do you do when you realize that something you’ve written just will not fit with where you want to go in the story? Do you save your previous editions or discard them and reconstruct them later if necessary? And how about you as reader? Are there ever any moments you wish you’d seen in a novel?

Six-Word Memoirs on Love

According to literary legend, American novelist Ernest Hemingway, famous for his succinct prose, once accepted a challenge to write a story in six words. He won the bet with these six: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” In 2006 Smith, an online magazine that defines itself as “a place for storytelling, with a focus on personal narrative” invited its readers to accept a version of the Hemingway challenge and write their memoirs in six words. The response was so successful that last year Smith editors Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith published a collection Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. That book became a NYT bestseller, so Fershleiser and Smith followed up this year with Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak by Writers Famous and Obscure. Some of the memoirs are nearly as poignant as the Hemingway original: “For the children, I remain his.” Some, like writer Erica Jong’s contribution (“Much married, fourth time is charmed”), have a dark humor. Some, like poet Robert Hass’ memoir (“May I have the last dance?”) have a captivating ambiguity. My personal favorite is by poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman (“Wonder-filled, and never a dull torment.”)

I thought that it would be fun for us to celebrate our love of love stories and the lovers’ holiday that is a mere two days away by writing our own six-word memoirs of love and HEAs. You can share your own love story or you can assume the persona of a character from a favorite romance novel. Smith’s advice to his contributors should stand us in good stead as well: “Write honestly, write truthfully, write specifically, and write quickly.”

I’ll start with a few examples:

Cherished memories console. One day—reunion. –Janga

She shot me. I fell hard. –Dain (Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase)

His walk. Lessons learned. Heart call. –Josie (Pleasure for Pleasure, Eloisa James)

Your turn, my friends. Give it a try. I promise these things are addictive. Just to encourage you, I’ll give one randomly selected memoirist six books, one for each word, from my treasure trove of books. Each one is guaranteed to have an HEA.

On Naming…

I know I’ve blogged about names in the past, but naming still remains one of my favourite aspects of the writing process and it’s one that has been on my mind almost constantly of late. Creating the perfect name for a character gives her or him the very essence of the character herself or himself. And naturally, I love every minute of it.

Until now.

For over a year now I have struggled with the name of the heroine in my contemporary. I have tried out every name from A to Z. Or at least it feels like I have tried out every name from A to Z. And none of them felt like “her.”

There’s something special about names. We form our identities around them. I had a professor in college who had a different name than the one her parents gave her at birth. She told me that the name she had at birth influenced who she was in her early years. When she turned about 8, her parents changed her name from a name that meant “warrior” or “fighter” to a name that meant “intelligence” and her entire demeanor changed. She instantly went from a trying, combative young girl, to a studious, intellectual, academically-charged student. Recalling this story often has made me think about the power of names and the meanings we associate with them.

Thus, my current dilemma. She’s kind, but fierce about regaining a sense of independence after living with a somewhat oppressive husband. And she’s definitely not a Jenny, or a Sara, or a Mandy. The qualities of those names just don’t quite suit all of her.

Ironically, I’ve know that Jake is the hero from the beginning and I even have named his two brothers Nate and Peter…

I’ve been toying with the name Madelyn, Maddy for short, for a while now. Some days I say “Yes! That’s the name!” And then other days, I fuss at myself over the name choice and say it just doesn’t fit. *sigh* We’ll see how it sticks. If I’m blogging again in 6 months about how much I hate the name for her, you’ll know.

The pessimist in me says maybe it’s a sign that this manuscript is one on which I do not need to be working at this time. The optimist in me says keep writing. Who knows? But for now, I’ll keep test-driving names…

So, dear readers & writers, what of your writing adventures? Have you ever simply gotten stumped on a name and absolutely nothing fits? How did you resolve the situation? And if you’re not a writer, what are some of your favourite character names? Maybe your faves will help get the creative juices flowing on the naming front.

A Hero-centric Genre?

I had a long discussion with a friend recently about why she refuses to read romance novels. Unlike most of my anti-romance friends, this friend is not an academic. In fact, she fits the stereotypical image of the avid romance reader much more closely than I do. She married the summer after she graduated from college and hasn’t worked outside her home since her first child was born. She reads voraciously, mostly genre fiction—mysteries, thrillers, and a smattering of mainstream women’s fiction. Romance, she says, is too hero-centric for her tastes.

I did my best to refute her claim. I talked about some of my favorite heroines like Catherine Melbourne in Mary Jo Putney’s Shattered Rainbows who copes with straitened finances, a less than satisfactory husband, and the realities of war while she keeps house, cares for her child, and nurses wounded soldiers. She proves not only her physical strength but her emotional strength and steadfast morality when she restrains her feelings for Michael Kenyon, risks an experimental blood transfusion, and deals with her husband’s death. I talked about Carla Kelly’s heroines Emma Costello (Reforming Lord Ragsdale), Liria Valencia (One Good Turn), and Roxana Drew (Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand) who survived the destruction of their lives and won through to become more fully themselves. I talked about Krissa French in Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Till the Stars Fall who gives up the love of her life in order to protect her independence and sense of self, lives courageously with a wrong choice, and makes a full life for her sons when her marriage fails. To make sure that I used recent examples, I talked about Loretta Chase’s Francesca Bonnard (Your Scandalous Ways) who uses the only resource she has to build a new life and Olivia Raines, the heroine of Anna Campbell’s Tempt the Devil, who displays the conventional heroic virtues of honor and courage.

Are these characters the norm?” my friend asked. “Or are they your favorites because they are exceptional?” I was forced to admit my examples were exceptional characters. My friend tactfully changed the subject, confident she had won the argument. But I have been haunted by our discussion. I know that in the romances that fill my keeper shelves the heroines are strong women who are not passive, who do not sit waiting with folded hands for their prince to arrive. They are doers who can rescue themselves and often the prince too.

I remember Pamela Regis’s description in A Natural History of the Romance Novel that “Heroines in twentieth-century romance novels…are intelligent and strong. They have to be. They have to tame the hero. They have to heal him. Or they have to do both.” I think the description applies to twenty-first century heroines as well, perhaps even more so. I remember Leslie Wanger’s advice in Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies: “Your heroine needs to be at the center of the plot. Your story is really her story. . . . [A] romance novel is still the story of the heroine’s romance — she’s the focus, the pivot on which all action turns. In the end, the happy ending is happy because she literally gets her man.” I know this is true in my own writing.

But then I compare the discussions of heroes and heroines in the romance communities to which I belong, and I know that whether the discussions are writer-based or reader-based, they are far more often about the hero. When I wrote my first blog as a Visiting Vagabond in the days when the caravan had just begun a journey, I wrote about heroes. I have often read comments by devotees of urban fantasy that part of its appeal is its stronger heroines. I don’t have any answers, just questions.

Has romance become too hero-centric? Is the appeal to much-coveted younger readers limited because the heroines of romance are merely foils for the hero? (According to RWA’s stats a mere 9% of romance readers are between the ages of 18-24.) What do you think? And who are your favorite heroines? Does it take you longer to think of favorite heroines that favorite heroes?

Timeless Advice

A few weeks ago I came across a box of books I had put aside last spring when I moved because I wasn’t sure if I should discard them or not. Most of them were old paperbacks. I knew I needed to go through them, and in my new-year, anti-procrastination frame of mind, I decided I should complete the task without delay. Most of them I trashed—tattered first copies of books, books students gave me that I “had” to read, Dover Thrift editions of classics that I own in better editions. But one book I kept to take a closer look at: How to Write a Romance and Get It Published by Kathryn Falk, publisher of Romantic Times. The cover pitch promises “Intimate Advice from the World’s Top Romance Writers.” I checked the table of contents.

Well, 1983 was a long time ago. This book is not only pre-Internet; it is pre-Nora. Frankly, many of the names I didn’t recognize, and some I did recognize didn’t make me want to sit down and start reading. But then I saw “Jayne Castle,” and on page 115 was a young Jayne Ann Krentz, whom I would never have recognized, advising me on how to begin my book. Her cardinal rule” “Write ‘em the way you like to read ‘em.” Hmm, sounded like pretty good advice to me.

I decided the book might be worth salvaging. I returned to the table of contents. This time I read “Maggie Osborne.” Maggie Osborne! Writing on character! This woman has created some of the most memorable characters I have ever encountered. I quickly turned to page 87. She’s wearing a hat and an expression that says she knows something I don’t. Well, of course, I know she does. I started reading. And the first things she tells me to do in order to know my characters are things I have done, maybe because I read Maggie Osborne books. Then she tells me to do something I never thought of: clip pictures that resemble my characters and draw in any scars, beards, moles, etc. that my characters have, so that my heroine’s lone dimple won’t start out on her right cheek and leap to her left on page 107. I should do that. In my first book I was always forgetting which of my hero’s hands he could not use, a real problem with the love scenes.

Maggie also gave me advice on dialogue. Effective dialogue should do three of the following things: (1) Aid characterization through content and presentation. (2) Develop the story line. (3) Show characters’ state of mind and temperament. (4) Provide new information to the reader. (5) Interrupt lengthy narrative and pick up the pace of your story. Ouch! Clearly Maggie knows the problem I have with lengthy narrative.

We have to go give my dialogue the three point check. Then she has some writing challenges for me. Oh, about the book. It’s staying on my desk. Roberta Gellis and Marion Chesney have a thing or two to teach me as well. And who knows? I may check out some of the writers I don’t know. I may even read the Barbara Cartland interview. If I can keep writing as long as she did, I may have time to be published.

But Nora was published in 1983. They could have added her in a postscript or something. Didn’t they know who she was going to be?

What about you, gypsies? Have you ever rediscovered advice you had forgotten? Whom do you trust as a dispenser of advice, writing advice or any other kind?

Writing Historicals: Research & Writing

Let’s give a big Vagabond welcome to frequent VV Diana Cosby! She’s not only represented by my awesome agent, Holly Root, but she also writes smoking hot Scottish historicals! Her current release is called simply His Woman. –Manda

After writing historical novels for over nine years, one thing I’ve noticed is many writers want to write a historical novel, but are unsure which era to write in, how much to research, and where to target their novels once completed. Below I’ve touched on a few basic questions.

I want to write a historical – where do I begin?

-What are your favorite time frames to read? This is often an excellent indicator of a time period for you to write in. It’ll take you several months or more to write your novel. Choose a time frame that totally captivates you.

What publishing houses do I target?

-Look inside the cover of books that you love, listed within will be the publishing house. Guidelines to respective houses will be found either on-line at the publishing house’s respective sites, though a letter request with a SASE for a printed copy of their guidelines, or in the library within the Writer’s Market.

How do I research for historical facts?

-*Rule of three: Check each historical fact through three different sources.

-The SCA, The Society for Creative Anachronism, is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Their website: http://www.sca.org/

-On-line historical groups can be found through an on-line search engine. Ask other writers what groups they use, or, use the library.

-Two of my favorite on-line loops for Scottish medieval information for my book time-period is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/albanach/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/75years/

*If you’re interested, my bibliography is at www.dianacosby.com under links.

How accurate are websites?
-Each website’s accuracy is dependant upon the creator. Remember, always, triple check your facts.
Cautions:
-Avoid errors in chronology; especially misplacing actual people, objects, or
customs of the respective period.
-It’s easy to spend numerous hours researching.

Visual Details for the era:
-Landscape: Type of terrain, seasonal variations, precipitation and what type. Good reference: A Companion To The British Countryside ISBN: 0-88162-237-0
-Scents.
-Sounds: Clatter of hooves across a drawbridge, the hush of wind through leaf-barren branches, the shift of silk along the skin.
-Homes: Interiors, décor, furnishings, food storage, what foods did they make.
-Read diary entries or non-fiction books from your story time frame.
-Mode of travel.

Once I have a story idea, then what?
-If you have an in-depth knowledge of the respective period, you begin writing and research details as you go. Some authors, regardless of their knowledge of the time frame, prefer to write the rough draft and revise after. There is no right or wrong way, but your way to write a story.
*A wonderful, easily understood breakdown of story is found in ch7 of “The Comic Toolbox,” by John Vorhaus – The Comic Thoroughline: http://vorza.com/comic_throughline.html

Brief plotting notes:
-When I plot a story, whatever the outer goal is, the protagonist MUST SACRIFICE it during the black moment. The good things a hero or heroine does throughout the story are nice and all, but that’s not what makes us really love, respect, or want to be them while we are engaged in the story, it’s what they sacrifice.

-I also know that the middle of the book is where the protagonist begins to care, their outward goal begins to become displaced toward their new romantic goal where the stakes are upped, because now they have emotional involvement which convolutes the protagonists original intent. Often the situation becomes worse because it’s at the middle of the book that you often see a love scene or some aspect of a bonding of the characters, where in fact this romantic move is usually the worst possible thing that could happen.

-As I go through each exciting step of writing the story, I ask myself, “How can I make it worse.” Isn’t this what we want to see, the protagonist overcoming challenges to reach their goal? Isn’t that how we judge our character, raise him/her to the hero/heroine status, by their determination to achieve his or her goal? This in turn ups the stakes during the black moment when the protagonist must sacrifice the goal they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Questions? Please ask. What challenges you as your gear up to write your historical? Don’t fear writing your book, enjoy and savor each story turn. That’s why we write isn’t it? For the love of the story. For you readers out there, what’s your favorite historical time period to read about? And what’s your favorite historical of all time? What makes you love it?

Seen and Heard on the Web

Hey Vagabonds! What’s shakin’? Not much with me, just, you know, trying to force myself to write. I was going to do NaNo but alas, I didn’t have it in me. Though I HAVE been writing, so that’s all good. Anyway, there have been some great things online in the past few days that I thought I’d pass along to you. Not only because I’ve found them to be greatly helpful, but also because they are just plain cool. So, without further ado, I give you SOME LINKS!

Better Writing Though Rickrolls…

From GalleyCat, I bring you news of a wonderful new writing tool called Write or Die. Basically it’s a widget you download onto your computer that allows you to put in a time limit or a word count and if you don’t meet your goal does something unspeakable. Apparently Rick Astley and Hanson songs were not terrible enough so Dr. Evil (Write or Die’s creator) added some other awful sound alarm. Just what the writer with no self discipline (Me, I’m looking at you!) needs. Though, as I admitted to friends yesterday, I sort of like Rick Astley and Hanson. Not a steady diet, mind you, but I think for me The Jonas Brothers might be more torturous. Srsly.

Sharon Page Talks Plotting
On her guest blog with BookEnds Literary Agency Monday, erotic romance author Sharon Page really nails down the basics of plotting the romance novel. I’ve seen quite a few versions of the plotting process, but I don’t think anyone has gotten it quite as succinct as Page. Great resource for all you guys who are stuck in the hell that is plotting…

Nathan Bransford gets all German philosophical on us!
In his post of yesterday, literary agent Nathan Bransford talks a little bit about the recent comments on this blogs about the economy and it’s effects on publishing. Basically, the commenters have been feeling a little smug, claiming that the reason the publishing industry is failing is because it’s not publishing “new” and “artistic” books. Which roughly translates into “their own books” (the commenters I mean.) Bransford, rightly or wrongly, chalks this up to schadenfreude, which according to the Free Dictionary is a German word for which there is no English equivalent, and means “taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.” Bransford makes a good point that by publishing books that sell, publishers are actually doing the right thing. It’s just that the economy sucks right now and everybody is feeling the pain. For fun, you should click on the link for schadenfreude and listen to the computer man pronounce it. Good times.

Well, that’s all for now, Vagabonds. I’m off to try out that whole Write or Die thing. Let’s hope I write

Wanna Be a Victim?

Greetings, Vagabonds! On this lovely Monday morning, I thought I’d pass along something to you guys that I’ve been following for a while now. Ever since my own WONDERFUL agent Holly Root played the role of Secret Agent…but wait. I get ahead of myself.

Miss Snark’s First Victim is a blog by an as yet un-named (or maybe she has been named and I missed it–but that’s beside the point!) authoress who hosts from time to time a contest wherein a Secret Agent (literary agent, that is) judges a 250 word snippet from the first 75 submissions to aforementioned Un-named (or named!) Authoress. This month the genres are: Literary fiction; Commercial fiction, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, paranormal romance, mystery, and thriller; also Young Adult, including all sub-genres listed above.

So, if you have a completed manuscript in any of these sub-genres take a chance and submit! Rules can be found here. You just might get your work in front of a stellar literary agent who wants to take you and your writing on! Submissions close at 9AM EST on Tuesday and are limited to the first 75 entries so get yours in before all the slots are filled.

Entered any contests lately, Vagabonds? Let’s talk about them! Or, let’s just talk about how AWFUL Mondays are and how we just would really prefer to stay home and snuggle with our kitties. Or, whatever…