Signed with Agent Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency

Big news! I’m thrilled to announce that I’m now represented by the fabulous Nicole Resciniti with The Seymour Agency.   

One of my goals for the ACFW conference was to meet several agents I’d never had the opportunity to meet before. As soon as I sat down with Nicole, I hoped that we would have the chance to work together. She’s smart and passionate about great stories.

I’m excited about what’s next for my writing career now that I have Nicole’s advice and expertise to guide me.

12 Days of Christmas for Writers

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

12 Fulls Requested

11 Muses Musing

10 Plots-a-Flowing

9 Bloggers Blogging

8 Hours-a-Writing

7 Editors Editing

6 Tweets Retweeted

5-STAR REVIEWS

4 Best Sellers

3 Query Letters

2 Agents Calling

And a Contract to Fill you with Glee!

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful writing friends!

What do you want for Christmas this year?

Guest Post - The Importance of a Great Critique Partner

I'm excited to host guest blogger and friend Sharon Srock.  

She lives with her husband, Larry, and two dogs in Rural Oklahoma. She is a mother, grandmother, and Sunday School teacher. Sharon has one and three-quarters jobs and writes in her spare time. Her favorite hobby is traveling with her grandchildren. She is a member of the ACFW and currently serves as treasurer for her local chapter. Sharon’s writing credits include numerous poems and short stories published in science fiction fanzines.

 Callie, Sharon's first novel in her "Women of Valley View" series, was recently released. You can learn more about her wonderful book after the post.  
Also, be sure to check out Sharon's free ebook that introduces her Women of Valley View characters.
 

Here's what Sharon has to say about working with a great critique partner:

One of the most important tools a writer can have is a great critique partner. The one I work with is the only one I’ve ever had so I can’t say if our relationship is “normal”, but I can say that I’m glad God didn’t give her to anyone else.

By the very nature of the job description critique partners should have a level of trust in, and comfort with, each other. It’s much easier to take criticism from someone who loves you, someone who knows how you think. This goes back to that “normal” thing.

My critique partner and I decided to work together the very first day we met. Two newbies, sitting in a writers group, thrown together by the whispered admission that we wrote women’s fiction, and the suggestion, by the group leader, that we should try working together.

Oh sure, why not?

I remember coming home after that meeting, so thrilled at the prospect of another writer reading my stuff. I sat at the computer, wrote a quick note, and fired off that first manuscript. I don’t know if she felt the same, but I got a quick response and a copy of her story.

Thus began the dance.

Tentative messages back and forth. “It works for me, but… Maybe you should tweak… Am I annoying you yet? (After she marked the same rookie error for the sixth time).” We LOVED each other’s work and we were being just as honest as we knew how to be, or maybe just as honest as two strangers were comfortable being.

Then it happened. I got a particularly ugly rejection note from an agent. “The beginning is too slow…too much back story…not nearly ready…” How did this happen? It’s been read, reviewed, and revised. My critique partner loves it. Surely this man must be crazy.

Tearful note to critique partner. “Can you believe he said these things?”

Critique partners response, “I’ve wondered about some of the same things.”

What???

I’ll never forget the phone call that followed. Me, trying to control tears that only the rejected can really understand. Her, apologizing for not raising red flags over things that bugged her, surprised to hear from me because I must surely hate her now. I think that’s the moment our real partnership began. That was the day we stopped dancing around each other and learned that truthful critiquing didn’t equal mean. We really did love each other’s style, voice, and stories, but there were issues in both works that needed to be addressed.

Even though we’re opposites in many ways, she’s raising her family, I have an empty nest. She has a college degree, I don’t. I work two jobs, she’s blessed to be a stay at home mom. I grew up in church, she never had that privilege, a solid friendship is evolving out of that partnership

Despite our differences we complement each other. I love her grasp of grammar and all the little things she finds when she reads my stories. I’m not sure what she considers to be my strong point, but I do know the partnership is working. We both sold our first books this year. I can’t speak for her, but I know I could not have accomplished that milestone without her help, honesty, and support.

So my advice to any aspiring writer is to find a great critique partner. But don’t come looking for mine, I saw her first.

Let's talk critique partners! Do you have one? How did you find your CP? What do you think is the most important quality in a CP? 

Here's an excerpt from Sharon's new release, The Women of Valley View: Callie:

Callie Stillman dabbed raindrops from her face with a linen napkin as Benton dodged a server with a loaded tray and took his place across from her. She smiled into her husband’s blue eyes and reached across to wipe water from his beard. “We’ll both have pneumonia if we don’t dry off soon.”

Benton took the napkin and finished the job. “I’ve been told the food is very good. A few sniffles should be worth it.”

Callie’s gaze roamed the room. “It’s…” Recognition slammed into her chest, forcing the air from her lungs. The man crossing the room behind her husband nodded and continued to his table. Was that the bailiff? Do you swear to tell the truth… She gulped for breath and fought the familiar darkness that crowded the edges of her vision.

Callie ran a finger around her collar, tugging the neck of the blouse away from skin suddenly dewed with a fine film of sweat. Too hot. She took a sip of water, dismayed at the tremor in her hand as she lifted the glass to her lips. Not here, not tonight. Callie closed her eyes and practiced the breathing techniques she’d learned over the last six months. In through her nose, hold for a few seconds, and out through her mouth. Concentrate only on the current step in the process, the next breath. The tightness in her chest began to fade away. Thank you, Jesus. She raised her water again and held the cold glass to her flushed cheek. 

Available through B&N, Amazon, and Pelican Book Group.

At the end of her blog tour, Sharon will be giving away this great prize pack including, copy of Callie's story, certificate for Terri's story when it releases in April, 6 piece cherry blossom bath set, cosmetic bag, bath wrap, cozy pink eye mask, pair of aloe infused booties, hair turban, tennis bracelet, $25.00 Amazon gift card. To enter, just leave a comment with your email address. Sharon will draw a winner on Nov. 19. 

Tale of a Recovering Perfectionist

I've spent the last few days at the national American Christian Fiction Writers Conference. I love this conference, and the wonderful, creative, fun writers who attend it.

There is one giant downside to the conference. It tends to bring out my need to try to be perfect.

Is my agent / editor pitch perfect? Is my one-sheet perfect? Are my business cards perfect? Are my outfits perfect?

It's exhausting.

The day I arrived at the hotel, I realized I hadn't memorized my pitch, I was beginning to think everything I had prepared for conference was all wrong, and I had a big blemish on my forehead that I was sure the editors were going to be staring at when we met.

But God, in that perfect way only He has, has been moving. It turns out that my writer friends--some new and some from years past--don't seem to notice all the imperfections. My agent and editor sessions have been better than any year before because instead of reciting my perfectly planned pitch, I'm able to have real conversations with them.

In one session led by Jim Rubart and Allen Arnold, they talked about how we can't have control and freedom at the same time. Isn't that what perfectionism is? A futile attempt to control things.

God doesn't ask for me to try to be perfect while I'm here. He knows I'll just mess it up. He asks me to walk into the experience with an open heart and reliance that He's got this.

How about you? Are you a perfectionist? Are there certain things that bring out your perfectionism?

New Beginnings

I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. - Bob Parsons

For those who don’t know, after almost twenty years, the Heartsong Presents book club is coming to a close. The publisher, Barbour Publishing, is still publishing and will continue to publish a lot of wonderful books, but the specific line I’ve written three books for will close at the end of the year.

Several people have asked me how the changes will affect me. My second book in the series, Canyon Crossing, will still come out to the Heartsong Presents book club this year. I turned in book number three, Canyon Café, on July 1st, but I’m unsure of how it will be released. They’ve told us that books that were scheduled to come out after the line closes will probably come out as ebooks or as part of a collection.

I’ve only written Heartsongs (45,000-50,000 words) but I’ve always had ambitions to someday write trade-length books (80,000-100,000 words). While I’m disappointed that the line is closing, it is pushing me to take a leap of faith and work on a novel I may not have had the courage to write. Because the Heartsong editor was willing to work with me without an agent, I never aggressively pursued finding one. So it does feel a little like I’m starting over, but that’s okay. It’s exciting and a new test for me. I’m feverishly working on a new novel, and soon I’ll begin the hunt for an agent. I’m trusting God to lead me where He wants me to go.

Conference Time

I can't believe the ACFW Conference is next weekend. I'm a big ball of excitement and nerves.

I'm nervous about...

1. Being away from my family. I haven't gotten to see my husband enough lately because he has been traveling a lot, and it's always difficult for me to be away from my son.
2. Pitching my YA novel to agents. I was hoping I would have it completely edited by the time conference rolled around, but that didn't happen. I'm still going to take my opportunity to meet with some agents face-to-face.
3. Overcoming my introverted ways so that I can network and meet a lot of new people.

I'm excited about...

1. The fact that it's going to be like a mini vacation for this mommy.
2. Being around so many people who are passionate about writing.
3. Soaking in all of the knowledge and advice I possibly can.

Who's going? I can't wait to meet you.

World of the Unagented

April W Gardner kindly asked me to visit her blog today and talk about being published without an agent. See you there!

Why we write

In a recent blog post, Chip MacGregor wrote, "I believe most new writers basically want to get published so that they’ll be famous."

If you were forced to write under a pseudonym and couldn't tell anyone except your spouse that you were a writer, would you still pursue publication? If this were the case, what would you do differently?

I'd love to hear what you think. I'll post my thoughts on the topic later in the week.

Agent Search

As we wait for the ACFW conference registration to open, I’ve been thinking about literary agents and who I would like to meet while I’m at the conference. I don’t have an agent. The publishers for shorter Christian romance novels usually accept submissions from unagented writers, which is how I submitted my novel.
Now, that I’m looking at submitting a young adult novel (if I can get beyond editing the first chapter, but that’s a post for another day), I’ve been looking at agents. I’m trying to decide who would be a good fit, and who should be at the top of my list for appointments. Here are some questions I’ve been asking when deciding.

1. What is his or her style? I’ve been reading blogs written by the agents on my list to get a feel for how the agent works. I’ve learned that some agents are more aggressive. Some agents love to work with new writers, while others prefer seasoned authors. I’ve also found interviews that give some insight into what they’re like.
2. What genres do they represent? I’m not only looking at if they represent what I’m working on now, but also, things I may be interested in later. If they say they would never represent science fiction and that’s the next book you want to write, maybe it wouldn’t be a good fit.
3. Who represents my favorite authors? I’ve spent some time on the agency websites and using google to figure out which agents represent authors I love. If we like the same writing style and genres, there might be a better chance that the agent would like my writing.

There are a few big names that make me nervous. I’m still trying to decide if I need to step out of my comfort zone and get some face to face time with these agents. At the last conference I attended, the agent I was most nervous about meeting gave me some great advice that led to big revisions and ultimately to a contract.

What research have you done or questions have you asked in your search for an agent?