Whoot! Whoot! Friday Update! Er--no ... Surgery Day!

I've only got one little update for you today ...

I wasn't expecting it to happen soooo soon, but today I am in surgery--getting my elbow fixed ... again.

I will be gone from the loving world of the blogosphere for at least a month.
*Cries*
Maybe more.
*Cries harder*

So .... because I'll be out from today until whenever, here is some Holiday cheer for you!

And just to be safe: 

And to be even safer:

<3 U!

Here's to an extravagant and awesome 2012! (And hoping that the world won't end)

~JD

To Which I say AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile (first, thanks for that ... love you. I love the rest of you, too), you might recall that I had elbow surgery this past May. It was a serious pain (literally). And it was the reason I stopped blogging for like, SEVEN months!

Well, bad news ... the wise ol' doc wants to do it again.

*grumbles*

*cries in remembering the agony from last time*

So ... whew ... I'm not sure how long the comeback will last. I'll keep you all posted. Until then, I'm going to go cry in the corner. And get as much blogging done as I can between now and then. ;-)

~JD 

To Which I Ask: Your new story is like someone elses ... what do you do??

You've worked on your book for a year. Maybe two. Maybe three. Heck, maybe even four or five. To you, it's brilliant ... original ... kick butt ... perfect ... AMAZING ... and you can't wait to get it out to the masses.

But wait ...

Did you just see a commercial about a T.V. show with a similar idea?
Did you just see a book at the bookstore with the same plot?
A movie?
A musical?
A play?
Something?

ACK!

The offspring can't believe it!!! 

*heart attack ensues*
*world caves in*

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Well, it's not good news. At all. Unfortunately this happens quiet a bit (so I've heard). A writer, writing THEIR own idea, finishes their book, only to find out that something (a movie/T.V. show/book/whatev) has just come out with a similar thing. And according to The Editor, you (the writer) has wasted those years of your life because what you have you will not be able to sell now.

Well, that sucks. But it's the truth. I had a similar thing happen to me last year. I was almost done with my YA Horror/Urban Fantasy thing (which has since be shelved) when I was watching T.V. with the hubs. On came this recently released move Percy Jackson, The Lightening Thief. I watched it ... in awe. And anger.

Now, my book isn't 100% percent like the movie. But some of the elements where weirdly similar. The Gods. The special powers. This kid saving the world from rogue Gods. It was enough to stop and give me pause and make me wonder if I'd just wasted a year of my life. And it wasn't a good feeling. Now, the only thing that saved me (and my book) where a few key elements that were WAY different. Mine borders on horror. It's a lot darker. And the overall story arc is different. You know, the journey, the trials, the struggles, blah, blah, blah. But I still know how close I was to having to forever shelve one of my creations. I've done that before and it didn't feel good.

So, the bad news is bad. If you've got a book that is like another idea that came out in another format (a movie, etc), then you have indeed wasted your time. And I know it hurts. But hey, if this happens to you, keep your chin up. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is your writing career. The more you write the better you'll get ... so keep writing.

~JD

Whoot! Whoot! Friday Update!!

And I when I say finally, I mean FINALLY!!! You see, I've only got one more week left before I can begin my much anticipated winter vacation. I'm not going anywhere, but I don't have to work for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. So, yeah. Excited here!

And with that, here's the update for this week.

(Now, bear with me. I'm still getting in the blogging groove, so I've still got less to say than I would have say a year ago or so. I'm still shaking off the dust.)

1. I WON NANOWRIMO!!!!!!!
*jumps*
 *squeals*
 *falls on face*
 I always was clumsy. *sigh*
Anyhoo ... so I won. My first year ever. Some 50,285 words or something like that. I'm proud. Only because it's the first thing I've written in a year. So it's amazing to me. And, even though I think it's total crap, I'm going to finish it. Right now it's a little over 55K and I'm hoping to have it done (around 80K?) by the end of the year. *crosses fingers* Not that I will let anyone actually read it after that.
Yes, it's that bad.

2. Psss ... come here.

A little closer ....

I've got a secret ....

And I can't tell you ...

YET.

3. Next week I'm totally going to try to go back to my normal blogging schedule. You know, the cool grammar police posts, the ones where I talk about yours truly (and the teenage offspring). You know, the FUN stuff. I ready for some FUN! Actually, the fun might have to wait until 2012. Why? Because after next week, I'm taking off for my winter break. I know, I know, I just got back. But even I need time to chillax during the holidays. I suggest you do the same.

4. It's strange that I have no queries to talk about. No cool stories. No writing nightmares. Nothing really writing related. MAN, have I been out of the loop OR WHAT? * smacks face*

Get it together, JD.

And while you're at it, stop talking to yourself in 3rd person.

I need a bubble bath.

~JD

To which I ask, do you query/submit during the holidays?

DO YOU QUERY/SUBMIT DURING THE HOLIDAYS?

Or do you tie your hands so you can't??

I've found myself in the clutches of this question numerous times. Numerous. It would seem that I normally get things done and ready to query right around Turkey day. Just my luck.

So what do you do? Do you query agents? Do you submit to publishing houses that actually accept unagented submissions? Or do you hold off until the after the first of the new year?

First things first.

MAKE SURE YOUR BOOK IS READY TO QUERY. No jumping the gun here, peeps. I can't stress that enough.

Then, do that following:

1. Don't submit to publishing houses. They will be dealing with hella-crazy deadlines and won't have to time to mess with your slush. Sorry, but true.

2. Don't submit to agent who closes for submissions around the holidays. Your query will be deleted faster than you can blink.

3. Do submit to agents who allow queries over the holidays.

*double-take*

*blinks*

Yeah, I said it. DO submit to agents who allow queries over the holidays. Do you think I've lost my mind? Well, that remains to be seen.

I was a hard-core do-not-submit-to-agents-over-the-holidays believer. Until last week. What changed my mind? A blog post from an editor him/herself. You can read it here. Makes sense now, right? Now, I'm sure there are agents out there would rather not have a slew of queries over the holidays. Some of them don't mind. And some of them like them and say, "I'll take 'em, but it will take longer to answer."

Just make sure whoever you are submitting to over the holidays accepts submissions/queries over the holidays. And make sure you aren't waisting their time by not being TOTALLY read to submit. I mean it. ;-)

~JD

To which I say ROARRRRR for winning NaNoWriMo

YES!

YES! 

YESSSS!

This was my first year ever. My first completion ever. And it feels soooo good.

I now have 50,285 words done of the coolest novel ever. It's pretty awesome.

*liar* 

Ahem. Well, I have 50K written of something I can manage into something awesome?

Maybe. 

That remains to be seen.

In any case, THANK YOU NaNoWriMo for getting me off my butt and making me complete a goal. I haven't done that in a year. Here's to you *claps*.

And now that NaNo is done I shall return to my regular blogging schedule. Did any of you notice that once I came back from my hiatus that I was only here for two weeks before dropping into oblivion again? Yeah, it was all NaNo's fault. But now I'm back. And ready to start a "normal" blog again. If you call what I do normal.

For those of you who also completed NaNo--CONGRATS! And if you participated, but didn't win--I STILL say congrats. 50K in 30 days is insane, so if you even tried, YOU ROCK.

Here's to a rockin' week!!!!

~JD