Where Were You On The Night Of...

...February 28th, 2011?

Hopefully, you'll be reading "Awake in Dreamland" because several happy things are scheduled for that day... I finished my query letter last night! Hallelujah! However, I have a horrid case of perfectionitis (symptoms include anxiety, trembling hands while typing, and the inability to leave a project alone). Nothing is ever completely finished in my world. According to me.

For now though, I'm quite proud of this sixth draft of my query letter.

February the 28th is my new deadline to finish a synopsis, polish my query, and input my cousin's suggested improvements. In other words, I will be ready to query my "top ten" agents by March 1st. Sound like a plan?

I've spent the last few hours working on my "top ten" list. Currently, I have a "top nine". I'm still deciding on the last one. I studied their blogs, websites, and submission guidelines, all the while taking copious notes! But, still, I don't feel quite prepared to send anything yet.

That's probably because... I'm not. I still have that beautiful piece of literature, known as the synopsis, waiting (not so) patiently to be written... At this very moment, my brain is frantically searching for the best possible way to procrastinate. Facebook? Netflix? Sleep?

Or...I still haven't finished Mockingjay yet...

Twitter and Query Letters: Confusing

I'm trying to be more social-networking saavy. After all, I am 20 years old. I have Facebook. I have a blog. And it's long overdue... But, I'm now officially part of the Twitter world.

And I'm thoroughly confused.

What the #eck is a hashtag, first of all? How do I find people TO follow, anyway? And why is he following me? *creeper* Is that a status update or a coded message or a curse (there's far too much #,@,%,&, to be proper English, right)?

I sound like someone's grandmother who doesn't own a cellphone and rants about "the good old days" when humans talked face to face. And I feel like an 18th-century Amish girl who time-traveled to modern day. What's a computer anyway?

Someday I'll figure it out...   Twitter, I mean. I know what a computer is...

Meanwhile, I've been steadily working on compiling a "top ten" list of agents, and working on my query letter. I plan to finish it within the next two weeks, and then tackle a synopsis. Cyberspace, I'm wrinkling my nose right now in disgust at the very thought.

I made myself laugh aloud last night. First, I chuckled at my first draft query letter, which the world will never ever ever see. Then, I giggled as I placed my cousin's review of my book between the sentences "Dear Agent" and "Thank you for your time and consideration".

It sounded perfect. 

But that makes complete sense. A query letter should read like a review, or the back cover of a book - short, snappy, and glue-your-shoes-to-the-floor fascinating.

With this new mindset, I happily return to query writing...

ELFBLOOD by Alex Newman - A Review

Scars cover Dinara Moonface’s visage. Only the snakes of Morg’s Bane find her charming.

Unwanted and unloved, Dinara grew up, an orphan, in the Bledthorn monastery, separated from her beautiful younger sister. Preferring seclusion, Dinara spends her days taming the desert snakes. But, on a return visit to Bledthorn, Dinara’s quiet world is turned upside down, when she’s kidnapped and sent to prison. Without any further explanation.

After an artful escape from prison with the charming Blackbird, she finds herself mixed up in a plot to destroy the tyrannical and false King Jakroiben. Complications arise when Dinara discovers her darling long lost sister is the wicked King’s wife!

Dinara must decide if she can and will tame the most venomous snake of all. Her brother-in-law, the King.


The talented Alex Newman paints a vibrant realistic world, peopling it with a band of diverse colorful characters, from Atta (the Ildruan witch) to Trague (the handsome bird-man). She entices you into the pages. Then, gently taking your hand, she pulls you breathlessly from scene to scene, through thrilling suspense and powerful non-stop action.

Her descriptions send her readers flying over hot rolling desert with the bird-men, swimming in refreshing pools with Dinara, partying in the Minstrel City, and watching, in terror, as a massive army of soldiers marches closer and closer, sharpened weapons at the ready.

Fantastic writing.

ELFBLOOD by Alex Newman is a must-read for those who love to escape from reality into a world of epic fantasy. Which, I do believe, IS most everyone...

I HIGHLY recommend it.

Don't Touch That Dial!

Honestly, I'm far too young to know what the above title even means.

Don't move a muscle. Stay. Keep reading. Even though 2010 is behind us and I have finished my book, I do not intend to abandon "Awake in Dreamland". Not in the slightest. I have fantastic ideas in mind for the blog's 2011 edition.

Stay tuned for the query letter countdown, agent search updates, my new superhero book outlines, publishing contract success (fingers crossed!), and (this week) a review of my cousin's incredible book, Elfblood.

But, as for today, I will reveal my book's title. As promised.

*cue epic music, please*

CYNDER