Bran Hambric: The Specter Key TRAILER!

BRAN HAMBRIC: THE SPECTER KEY // Buy or read a preview at http://bit.ly/BUYBHTSK

In an earlier post, I blogged about the sequel to a book series that I'm REALLY excited about. The book series is the Bran Hambric series, and is written by blogger/YouTube phenom Kaleb Nation. You may know him as the guy behind twilightguy.com, the hilarious website in which Kaleb himself reads and blogs about his journey of reading the entire Twilight saga. It's quite hilarious, to say the least.

Now, onto Bran Hambric. The first novel, BRAN HAMBRIC: THE FARFIELD CURSE, takes place in an alternate world and, more specifically, in a city named Dunce, where magic is outlawed. Our main character is fourteen-year-old Bran, who was taken in by a bizarre family named the Wilomases after he was discovered in a locked bank vault at age six. He soon discovers he possesses magical abilities, and that his mother's former masters are after him, attempting to get him to finish the job his mother started. It's a wild adventure, with some interesting characters and some truly funny moments! All in all, a great read that anyone of any age would find entertaining!

Now, for the randomness (well, not that random)...

Do you think it's possible for your first story to be your first? I mean it in this sense: J.K. Rowling got the idea for Harry Potter on a train ride, and it just stuck with her. Stephenie Meyer had a dream about Edward and Bella for TWILIGHT, and it stuck with her. Christopher Paolini loves fantasies, and one day started to plot out/write a novel titled ERAGON. Kaleb Nation randomly imagined a boy and a banker on a roof, waiting for a burglar to come, one March night...

So, my point is, is there a such thing as a story that must be written? Because, honestly, sometimes I find myself questioning the very story that slammed into my head, wondering if it's simply a pipe dream story, so-to-speak, or if I was truly meant to have this random idea plow into my brain.

I tend to overthink things, so honestly, I don't know. But I do know that I'll keep querying, and querying, and querying...

But, if I find myself seventy-years-old and still querying this story of mine seemingly zillions of years from now, I'll then put it away.

It'll probably be then, however, that an agent scoops me up. :)

Leave your thoughts below (and remember to check out Bran Hambric!)!

Until next time, happy writing!

Thoughts on TV =)

So, I got to thinking today... Why is it that so many people are attracted to shows like The Real World and Jersey Shore on MTV? Yeah, I admit, I really, really enjoy watching The Real World, but honestly, why? It's almost like a waste of time, watching strangers live in a house together, with tons of drama, alcohol, violence, cops, etc... But even I can't stop watching it.

I simply decided to blog a little about what's swirling around in my head, for no particular reason. Do any of you guys have favorite shows on TV? I wouldn't really say The Real World is a favorite of mine; I only felt like blogging about it because I watched the newest episode a few nights ago. :)

Hmmm. And, as the TV's flipped on right now as I type this, The Hills is on. MTV seems to be popular. ;)

In book news, I've been mulling over the first few chapters of my novel, just wondering if they're, for lack of a better word, good enough. So, I've been testing myself by writing some fake little first chapters, just to see what could possibly work should I receive a critique or just feel that the first chapter or two needs a rewrite. It's actually easier than I thought, because, as any writers out there know, writing is definitely NOT an easy thing to do, by any means.

Hopefully I soon receive a partial request from an agent. Thankfully, I had my query critiqued, and I think it's totally amazing right now. So, we'll see...

So, favorite shows??? For me, it's all over the place. I LOVE Discovery Channel (especially Shark Week, which is sadly coming to an end tomorrow), Travel Channel (Samantha Brown, anyone?), and Full House. C'mon, who doesn't like Full House?

Well, that's it for now. I think I'll watch the final days of Shark Week :( and maybe do a little more test rewrites. :D

SO Excited (Plus Another Rejection)!

Excited because I just bought two novels I'm insanely excited about. These are: ROCK PAPER TIGER by Lisa Brackmann (how could I resist the cover?) and SISTERS RED by Jackson Pearce (again, this cover is so incredible I just HAD to get my hands on it!).

And yep, got another rejection. Number 28. It made me a little sad, I'll admit, but doesn't every rejection? :) I was really, really hoping this agent would say yes, too... But don't we all want every agent to say yes? Even just a partial request? Perhaps, if we're immensely lucky (does this even happen?), a full request?

Ah, well. It's not too bad. I'm having my query critiqued, and I'm revising my first pages just to make sure they're enticing enough, and enthralling enough, and amazing enough, and fantastic enough...

Um, maybe that's a little too much to mash and shove into the first roughly ten pages. But hey, I want to make sure I have the absolute BEST manuscript possible so when (hopefully) an agent gets his or her hands on it, they totally, undeniably ADORE it...and instantly call me up

and offer representation five seconds after receiving said manuscript.

Okay, I can dream. =)

So, yep, that's pretty much it. Two new books. One new rejection. A head filled with thoughts of how to revise, edit, query, blah blah blah... Anyway, if you'd like to purchase ROCK PAPER TIGER and/or SISTERS RED (which you most definitely should; aren't those covers immensely captivating?), I've posted the links to Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million below (just because I'm in a helpful mood!):

http://www.amazon.com/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

http://www.borders.com/online/store/Home

http://www.booksamillion.com/

Until we meet again, happy writing! (You can see my photography skills are maddeni

ngly amazing in those two pictures. That wooden table really shows my artistic ability.) ;)

New Book, New Title, New Query

Hey all. :)

So, I have to admit I haven't updated the blog for roughly four or five days (I'm too lazy to count). But, the truth is, there's been absolutely no reason to.

So, to further prove this point, I've compiled some reasons as to why I don't really update daily...

Number one: I'm blogging about my journey in seeking publication, and that whole "seeking" bit is an extremely slow process. So, as with all slow things, you can guess it's been going pretty, what's the word?, slow. :D So basically there's nothing to ever update about, unless of course I start to freak out and hyperventilate when something (hopefully soon) AMAZING happens regarding my novel.

Annoying, yes. But that's the book business.

Number two: I don't want to pile useless information about my day onto this blog...unless I so choose. I may contradict myself in later posts, but, uh, yeah. For now, I don't want to.

Hmmm. I can't really think of a number three, which is good, I'd reckon. (I don't hear the word reckon often, so I thought I'd use it!)

There are two things to talk about, though...

First, I received another rejection today. Number twenty-four, if you're that curious. (I'm keeping count; it'll be interesting and fun to look at past rejections once I'm hopefully a published author.) But trust me, it's not angering. It's more frustrating than anything. So, yep, not too big a deal. Just need to keep submitting, keep submitting, keep submitting...

Secondly, I'm about to start a new book! Recently, I just finished the first novel in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, titled The Ruins of Gorlan. IT. WAS. FANTASTIC. Seriously. It was a fast-paced, enjoyable fantasy that flows very well and has a hold-your-interest plot that kept me buried within the pages. I'd wholly recommend picking this novel up if you have the chance. In fact, I've already started the sequel, titled The Burning Bridge.

Now, back to the book that I was talking about. The one I'm about to start.

The Light by D.J. MacHale! =] It's the first novel in the Morpheus Road trilogy, and ever since I picked it up over a month ago it's been idly sitting around, just waiting to be read. So, yes, though I'm already reading the second Ranger's Apprentice (and another book; I'm one of those people who doesn't mind reading multiple books at a time), I just couldn't resist staring at it longingly anymore. So, I'm about to start it!

Well, that's it for today! I've submitted more queries, attempting to craft them various ways and such just to see what the effect would be. On one of them, I even changed the title just to do a little "experiment" so-to-speak, and see what the response would be!

Wish me luck with the queries! And now, I leave you with these questions that you're more than welcome to leave the answers to in the comment box below: do you like to read multiple books at a time?, what are your favorite books?, and, lastly, what are your favorite covers?

Until then, happy reading and writing! ;)

A Good Feeling

So, let's see... I sent out a query on the eighth of July, I believe (I'm pretty sure it was on the eighth, but my e-mail seems to disagree with me). A query that I truly believe was my best yet. But I didn't just pull it out of my head. I'm not sure I could write a masterful query like that so quickly. I had help, of course. Help from the very agent I sent to. Because thankfully, she posted (on her amazingly helpful blog) the query letter from one of her current clients, and wrote a little below it as to why it worked so well.

So, I used that query to structure my query, and I honestly feel it came out almost perfectly; I'm stressing almost because I know there will probably never be a perfect query letter, and just because I think it's perfect doesn't mean it actually is.

Nonetheless, I simply think my query rocked.

Therefore, I have a really good feeling about where this little agent relationship may go. Then again, I can't get too overzealous about it. It may swing back and whack me in the face. Which, obviously, wouldn't be good.

But yeah, I have a really good feeling about my query, and where it may take me. Just cross your fingers for me. :)

Playing the Waiting Game

It's extremely tough to wait. Especially when what you're waiting to receive is a response to your nurtured, perfected little book you've sent out into the world with hopes that rise high into the sky.

It's even tougher when you're attempting to break into the book business, a business that (I've come to learn) is full of waiting.

How I handle it? By simply kicking back, smiling, and telling myself I've done all that I can do. I wrote the book I had a vision for (over a year ago, in fact), edited it until my eyes fell out (eh, a little dramatic, but you get the point), and wrote what I truly hope was a really, really well-written and intriguing query letter.

End of story.

So, yes, it's definitely hard to wait for a response. Especially when you keep receiving rejection after rejection. But hey, didn't all the most amazing authors have their fair share of rejections? The answer is a wholehearted yes.

Just remember that every "no" you receive is taking you one step closer to the "yes" that I'm sure we'll all (hopefully soon) receive. And no matter what, keep going.

Submissions, Submissions, and More Submissions...

Um, yeah. I think you can guess what I've been doing. :)

Submitting my book to literary agents is definitely a nail-biter kind of thing to do, because honestly, it's very difficult to wait for a response; you really are left with yourself and all your questions, many including: "Did I do everything right?", "Is my query good?", and, perhaps one of the biggest, "Will they like my sample pages?"

Trust me, you're not at all alone when you ask yourself these questions. But just remember that every rejection is a step closer to the YES we all really want to receive. ;)

Now, I'll let you in on how I go about my submissions, besides the typical "e-query" that I'm pretty sure many, many aspiring authors out there utilize.

Don't get me wrong, the e-mail query is definitely simple and quick, but, when I kept receiving more and more rejections, I kept asking myself what else I could do in terms of submissions.

And that, oddly enough, is when I discovered a website: WEbook! :)

I discovered it around Christmas, and, in fact, got an account on Christmas day!

Now, before I post the link, I'll tell you a bit about this website. In short, it's basically a website that allows writers in all stages to post their work, receive feedback, give feedback, submit work, and do many other things. It's home to PageToFame, which is an interesting competition-like tool that allows you to post a first page of whatever it is that you are writing (novels, they prefer) and watch that very first page get rated by others on the site (you can rate other pages as well on a scale of 1 to 5). There are four rounds, and if your first page receives high enough ratings and the site's algorithm predicts it will move on, it ascends to round two! And (this is the good part) once your page passes on to round two, participating literary agents look at your page and rate it! They can also "follow" your page if they'd like.

In addition, as you progress through the rounds, you add more and more pages until you're up to round four (the final round) and your entire manuscript is available for literary agents to check out!

I've used this twice now, and it really is great. :) So, I'd recommend checking it out.

Lastly, before this post gets too long, I'll tell you about WEbook's other amazing tool they have in place that I've been using for my submissions.

It's called AgentInbox.

It's a little difficult to explain, but basically it's a way to reach out to literary agents that have an account on WEbook by submitting a query, sample pages (if they ask for it), a short synopsis, and an author bio. Best part is, you can track which agents have opened your submission, and you're notified immediately when an agent makes his or her decision.

I'd recommend checking both PageToFame and AgentInbox out! (You'll need an account on the website to use these.)

Well, here's the link: http://www.webook.com/

That's it for now!

Queries and Toy Story 3!

Hey guys. :)

So yeah, today I'm going to be discussing the art of writing queries, as well as Toy Story 3 (because I just saw it and I have to blab about how AMAZING it was!).

But, in the homework-before-play fashion, I'll discuss queries first. =]

Ah, queries. Some of us love them. Some of us absolutely despise them. Some of us are indifferent. Me? Well, honestly, it varies from day to day.

So, let's begin. First and foremost, what the heck is a query? Well, a query is...(straight from Google)"...a formal letter sent to magazine editors, literary agents and sometimes publishing houses or companies. Writers write query letters to propose writing ideas."

So, yep. A query letter, in essence, is a short letter you send to pitch your idea.

Typically, it goes like this: introduction, pitch, credentials, conclusion. Now, let's break those down a bit...

Introduction. Who are you? Why are you contacting said agent/editor/publishing house? Make this short and to the point. Equally important, make this personal. Don't be robotic and send twenty identical queries to different agents with the same introduction. They may get a bad taste in their mouth if they read a query introduction that isn't personalized. And obviously, you don't want that. :)

Pitch. Not much to say here. Just sum whatever you're pitching up. And you'll definitely want to squeeze and squash this down into one paragraph. You can do it. =D

Credentials. Pretty self-explanatory. And make sure they're relevant to writing, of course...

Lastly, the conclusion. Formality is key.

So, that's a query letter. Hope it helps. ;)

Now to the good stuff (no offense to queries or anything). :)

Toy Story 3 was without a doubt THE BEST MOVIE OF 2010. And I'm nearly certain nothing will surpass it.

In my opinion, it had everything: TONS of laughs, suspense (yeah, even a Toy Story movie can have suspense), surprises, and heartfelt moments. Definitely, definitely go see it if you've not already. Even if you haven't seen Toy Story or Toy Story 2 (which, obviously, I HIGHLY recommend doing) you should definitely go see it. In 3D even, if you can find a theater (which, just so you know, the 3D was fantastic).

So, that's it for now. Thanks again for following!