Query Letter Contest

Elana Johnson, a YA author and query letter guru, is having a great contest for writers.  As I'm finishing up my Tales from the Trail, I'm now looking for an agent and/or publisher.  In order to do so, the query letter has to be amazing.  In truth, the query is scaring me to death.  Elana is offering up query critiques from five literary agents.

I know that some of my followers are not only readers, but writers, and could benefit from this contest as well.  (Are you listening TJ and Mark?  Your writer friend might be interested.)  If you're interested in throwing your name in the hat for a professional query critique, jump on over to Elana's blog and enter.

2010 Resolution #1

Be healthier.

I'm trying hard not to say "lose weight", 'cause that's what I say every year, and only one year I succeeded.  I managed to lose 28 pounds and keep it off for a good while, but then it snuck back up and then some.  So bye-bye 124 pounds, hello 60 pounds more than that.  Side note:  I just can't bring myself to type my actual weight, so you'll just have to do the math. 

Yet, despite not saying I'm going to lose weight, I joined the Lose It Bitch challenge, which runs from January 2 through April 30 (I think - rules and dates haven't been formalized yet), which means that every Wednesday I'm going to have to post a picture of what my scale says here on my blog.  God, the humiliation and torture.

How am I going to do this without torturing myself to death?  Well, I sure the hell don't intend on starving myself to death...that doesn't work any way.  I've tried, but I don't have the will power to do it.  So, I guess I'll have to start with cutting my Coke intake down.  And maybe my dining out at lunch intake down.  And absolutely no Chinese food on Tuesdays, the day before weigh in.  God, that salt swelling'll kill you when you get on the scale.

And *heavy sigh*, I'm going to have to start actually using my gym membership.  I don't really mind working out - it's not my favorite thing in the world - but it's not as fun as playing sports.  However, I'm in no shape to play sports, so the working out thing has to be my starting point.  I'm shooting for a minimum of three times a week for at least thirty minutes.  I really like (when I have time) thirty minutes of cardio and thirty minutes of lifting, but I'm not sure how I'll eek out an hour at the gym.

I think that RockCrawlinChef will even join me at the gym, so I'll have some on-hand support.  Heck, if this works out, I might even be in good enough shape to tackle an over-thirty soccer league this summer.  Man, I do miss me some soccer.

And, honestly, it'll feel good to let my inner Michelle Rodriguez out.

Now that's what a GunDiva's supposed to look like!

What A Nice Surprise!

Nathanael over at This Is How It Feels has honored me with a bit of blog bling, and what a great surprise it was!  Nathanael and I "met" when he was honored with the Honest Scrap award by Monda over at No Telling, I jumped over to his blog and fell in love.  We were both then honored by Monda when we were included in EasyStreet Prompts' Blog Carnival.

When I think about the people I've "met" via blogging, it's rather mind-boggling.  The internet, I know it's been said before, has opened up whole new worlds.  Where else would I have met a gay solder serving in Baghdad or a Southern gal with a passion for writing or another wickedly funny Southern gal or an endurance rider from California?  There are so many people that I've met through blogging that I would never have had the opportunity to meet before.  It truly is astounding.

The rules, as have been explained to me by Nathanael are:

1.) grab the award (check - see above)
2.) post it on your blog along with five things you love to do (Oh Jeez, just five.  I'll have to think about that.)
3.) five others you want to recognize... (Again, only five?)

Things I love to do: (in no specific order)

1. Ride my horse, Estes.  You can find the story of how I fell in love with her over at my other blog, Tales From The Trail
2. Blog.  Well, write.  I love to write, and blogging is an easy way to connect with people I wouldn't normally get to meet.  I also love my morning blog crawl and can't get through my morning without it; it's my equivalent of reading the morning paper, I guess.
3. Shoot.  Hence the name Gun Diva.  I love the feel of a controlled explosion, which is all shooting really is.  And, hey, I'm pretty good at it.  My friend and fellow Gun Diva, Tara Janzen, is a rifle shooting queen.  Me, I love the handguns.
4. Read.  This kind of ties in with #2; part of blogging is reading.  I get to read small, bite-sized stories daily and look forward to them, but I also love novels.  Really, anything with words.  Hell, I even read shampoo bottles.
5. Work.  I really do love my job and the people I work with; I can't imagine doing anything else.

Recognize Five Others... (again, in no specific order.  Nathanael, you know I'd send this back to you if I could.)

• K. Erickson at Preachers and Horse Thieves.  He was awarded Editor's Pick for the 1st edition of EasyStreet's Blog Carnival.  I jumped over to his blog and immediately followed.  I love his writing and his dedication to his wife.  Here's a man who is head-over-heels in love with his wife and isn't afraid to post it for the whole world.  Oh, and he's got some great stories, too.
• Monda at No Telling and EasyStreet Prompts.  She's a great storyteller and I look forward to her posts everyday.  I'm not sure how I stumbled upon No Telling, but I enjoy it immensely.  And, of course, EasyStreet Prompts has a place in my heart, as my Honorable Mention (posted over at Lyon's Roar) was my first ever blog bling.
• Candance at Crazy Texas Mommy.  I love this woman!  Her posts are guaranteed to make me laugh.  Everyone needs a little CTM in their life.  Imagine my surprise when I was talking to my brother in Arizona one day and he asked if I'd ever read CTM.  We both found her blog at about the same time and fell in love.  Shortly thereafter my step-dad started following CTM, so now it's kind of a family cult thing.  So...that sounds a little creepy.  Didn't mean it to come out that way.
• Roxanne at Pet Blog.  Her stories about Verne the horse trader keep me in stitches.  I love the way she's able to bring his stories to life in so few words.
• Bill and Juanita at It's A Horse Life.  Okay, so there's a bit of nepotism here, they are, after all, my parents.  And I was the one who not only talked them into blogging, but set it up for them.  It started as just a way to share some of their favorite stories and recipes and stay in touch with their guests, but they're really taken it and run and their hits counter is burning up. 
  

That was tough, only choosing five.  Please check them out; I think you'll enjoy them.  And be sure to tell them I said 'hi' when you stop by.

Exhaustion - I Mean NaNo - Update

Finished the day with just over 15,000 words.  Lost my mind and joined a challenge to write 20,000 words between Friday at 4:00 pm and Monday at 7:00 am.  Probably won't be able to write tomorrow, as it's finals day and I'm way behind on my grading, which I only have 24 hours to turn in.

NaNo summary of the day:

Fourteen ton of hay was delivered.  The Buckle Bunnies copped attitude with Shelby and got sent packing.  Allie (Shelby's best friend and live-in cook/nanny) decided that she and Shelby were going to go speed dating in the very near future.

It's kind of depressing how easy it is to boil down all of that hard work into three short sentences.

I'm still trying to figure out which story to write for Tales from the Trail and I've got to get a new post up for Lyon's Roar.  Those posts may be my break from NaNo this weekend.  I've got a couple of things in mind for Mr. Brody's reception dinner to liven up the story a bit again; we'll see what ends up on the page.

Off To A Good Start!

Today I'm celebrating two wonderful things! 

First, this is my 100th post.  I spent some time the other night reviewing some of my old posts and thinking, "why didn't I ever keep a diary?".  This blog has become my living diary.  There are lots of memories stored in each of the one hundred little (and some not so little) blurbs about my life I've put up for the world to see.  And, of course, this blog has created two spin-offs: Tales from the Trail (which is featured in Easy Street Prompts' Blog Carnival, 2nd Edition) and Lyon's Roar (which won Easy Street Prompts' Blog Carnival "Must Read" award, 1st Edition).  Really, this blog has created a writing monster.

Second, today is the official 1st day of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.  In order to stay on track to write 50,000 words in thirty days, I have to write 1,667 words per day.  After we got home from Wicked last night, Jay and I plugged in and got started.  I managed to cough up just over 1,700 words before I called it a night and Jay got just over 700 in.  I'm currently at 3,100 words and hope to reach 5,000 today; Jay's goal is 2,500 and he's more than halfway at this point.  The big difference is the speed in which we type.  I'm awfully thankful that I had a "mean" typing teacher in junior high who made us learn how to touch type.  Jay's just enough younger than me that typing wasn't a required class, so he's a two-fingered typist.  Pretty darn quick for only using two fingers, but it still slows him down.

If I have any fellow NaNo reader, my NaNo name is CSWilson and I'd love for you to add me as a writing buddy.  I'm quickly learning that I'm going to need all of the support I can get :)

I'll post some of my finished 5k later today.

Names, Names, I Need Names!

NaNoWriMo starts in exactly one week and I'm having a hard time with character names.  The absolute hardest part of any writing for me is the character names.  I have the main character's name, her childrens' names, and half of her best friend's name (first only).  My problem: I don't have a name for her potential love interests (the guys she meets speed dating or online) nor do I have names for the horses in the barn.  I need barn names!  Okay, honestly, I need guy names too, but I'm really stressed out about not having barn names because the horses make an appearance long before the boys do.

Help!

Putting The Cart Before The Horse...Or The Cover Before The Novel

Jay's just finished up a few months of his Graphic Arts program and was inspired to make book covers for our NaNoWriMo projects - what a great excuse to play around in PhotoShop!  Below are are book covers and a short synopsis of our stories.  Apparently, it's not cheating to have a plot outline or character development before November 1st, so we're working on that.

The dating world is a tough place to be, especially if you're Shelby, a single mother running Three Heathens Ranch. Follow Shelby's journey through the crazy world of speed and internet dating as she pursues every woman's fairy tale - to find her very own Prince Charming - while managing motherhood, a riding livery and her own loneliness.

Post-apocalyptic war has driven the surviving citizens of the world to the only two safe havens left to continue their lives. Most of Africa and South America were left unmutilated by thermonuclear war fallout and are the only continents left to support human life, but all is not well. A new ruthless form of government has risen during the chaos of the war and is now subjecting the remaining citizens to its own form of brutality...oppression! An underground rebellion for freedom is forming on both continents and may be the last hope for humankind...

I'm really feeling inspired by our "official" looking book covers; it gives me something to aspire to.  NaNo is still 13 days away, but I feel like I'm starting to build a good head of steam and can hopefully knock out more than 50K words.  I'd love a finished product.  Hmmm...keep your fingers crossed.

Bits 'n Pieces

First, it's freakin' cold here.  I remember winters like this when I was a kid, you know, when October hits the snow flies.  I remember Hallowe'en costumes being made to be worn over our winter coats.  No cute little ballerinas for the Colorado Kiddos.  But, honestly, I've gotten spoiled since childhood.  We've not had bad, snowy weather on Hallowe'en for a long time.  And it's not even Hallowe'en yet.  We've got weeks to go before then.  Being Colorado, it can be in the 70s come All Hallows Eve or it could be 7.  You just never know.  Neither do the weather professionals.

Jay and I watch a lot of cooking competitions now:  Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, The Next Iron Chef and Chopped.  Our schedule revolves around those three shows.  There are others, of course.  Ash is a big fan of Food Network's cooking challenges.  One of the most common contests in these shows is to do a "biography of your life in food"; we see that over and over again.  Or, the variation, "make a favorite dish from your childhood."  Always, I'm stumped,  I couldn't just choose one favorite dish.  That was, until last night.  I really, really wanted some of Grandma Mary's fried tacos so I went to the store and bought the makings.  As I was making them, in all of their simple, fried glory, I realized that those tacos would be what I'd have to make for such a challenge.  Since it is a cooking challenge, I'd have to fancy it up a bit, I suppose.  Do something like make my own corn masa tortillas and use ground kobe beef (please don't gasp at the thought of grinding up kobe beef - it's okay) or something.  But the one thing, the absolute one thing that I would not give up...the lard.  The lard makes the dish.  Just can't fry Grandma's tacos in Crisco or vegetable oil.  It's not right. 

So as I was frying up the tacos last night, I was reminded of my all-time favorite meal EVER!  My all-time, very favorite, has-not-been-matched-since (sorry Jay) meal...drum roll please... the fried tacos we had in Mexico when we went to the tortilla factory, got fresh tortillas, made up the tacos in the condo and cut up and fried the remainder of the tortillas as chips to eat our fresh guacamole with.  Yum.  Just the smell of the frying tacos last night transported me back to that condo.  I guess that's what the judges mean when they are asking for a "food memory".

On another note, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time and was a little worried about my ability to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.  Last night, I worked on my Tales from the Trail post and in just under an hour and a half had completed a post of 1,400+ words.  That hour and a half included editing and formatting, not the stream-of-conscious writing that I'll have to do for NaNoWriMo.  As long as I have at least an hour and a half a day of seat time with my computer, I should do just fine.  I hope.  I did get Jay and Jordan to join me in the NaNo challenge, so it's kind of a family thing right now.  Wish us all luck.

NaNoWriMo

What the heck is that?!?

National Novel Writing Month.  A challenge to write a complete novel in just thirty days, from November 1 to November 30.  Last year over 120,000 writers entered and only 20,000 completed.  The requirements for completing?  50,000 words.  It's all about shaking off the shackles of perfection and writing.  That's only 1667 words per day.  Hmmm...that's kind of scary thinking about it that way.  So I won't.

Wish me luck.

Thank You Easy Street!

A couple of weeks ago, I submitted an entry from Lyon's Roar to Easy Street's Writing Carnival Contest.  See What the French, Toast?  I felt good about it when I submitted it, but realized later that it was chock full of errors and didn't expect to hear anything other than "thanks for submitting".  Turns out it wasn't as horrible as I thought, as it won a "Must Read" award!  I can't tell you how excited I am about my FIRST EVER writing award, even if it is, essentially, a "runner-up" or "honorable mention" award.  Doesn't matter to me, it's still pretty damn cool!

Thanks Monda!

What the French, Toast?

I don't know what overcame me this weekend.  I spent, sadly, the majority of the day sitting in my bed yesterday working on my blogs and having a grand ole time.  A friend of mine, Lisa, who I met as a wrangler, sent me a link to a writing contest.  Hell, why not?  Except that the theme is "Invisible Writing", wow.  I write, but do I want it to be invisible?  I spent the afternoon thinking about how I would write the essay for that contest.  I'm still mulling it over - I've been an Invisible Writer for a long time.  My whole life I've been a writer, sometimes my writing brain causes me problems.  I can't just see a trash bag alongside the road - nnnooooooo - in my brain there's always a dead body or body part in it.  I often see things that aren't really there.  Example, when Jay and I were in Moab there was a tall dead something-or-other on the side of the trail.  When I saw it, I would have sworn that it was a small Bobcat (the farm equipment, not the animal).  It wasn't until we were practically on top of it and the angle changed that I realized it was a dead tree of some sort.

But I digress, I have been an Invisible Writer.  Do I want to be?  Hell, no!  I think that revelation lead, in part, to today's events.  I hopped on Blogger just like I do every morning and what's sitting there but a an announcement about a writing contest.  Why not?  I read the requirements, set up a new blog for Lyon's Roar (http://gundiva-lyonsroar.blogspot.com/), dusted off a piece I haven't handled in a long time, and submitted it.  When I was done with that, another post came up with another writing contest, this time a non-fiction animal essay.  Again, why not?  I've already got my Tales from the Trail (http://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/) up and running.  Why not submit one of those posts?

I won't ever be a Visible Writer if I don't put my work out there for people other than my friends and family to see.  I've got to tell you, it's terrifying.  And exhilarating.