Today, I am writing, editing, and sick, so this will be a short post. First off, some informative thoughts from the query wars by agent Jennifer Jackson, who represents such brilliance as Jay Lake, Elizabeth Bear, and Jim Butcher.
Along the same lines is a nifty vlog (video-blog, in case you didn’t know) from the wonderful Debra Schubert and her agent, Bernadette Baker-Baughman. They’re answering questions from readers – it’s great stuff.
Next, here’s a terrific post by Lilith Saintcrow that touches on a ton of subjects. This line, in particular, I’m holding close to my heart: Q: I always wanted to write a book. How do you get published? A: Persistence. Sheer dumb brute persistence. And luck, but the harder you work, the more likely you are to be lucky. There are many ways to climb the mountain to publication, as well as many ways to climb the mountain of a sustainable writing career. The bedrock all these ways rest on is not quitting and learning.
Preach it.
Back to queries: a post on the kinds of queries, with stats, agent Kathleen Ortiz receives in a day. And in case you wonder just what it is agents do, here’s an enlightening post by Rachelle Gardener.
Last but not least, I thought I’d throw in a snippet from Guardian. Hope you enjoy!
That would make the second time in one day he’d put the safehouse in danger. It had to be a new record. Contrite Winged Teenager is Sorry, Alex thought, and desperately wished Aiden were here. “I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t know anything.”
“Yeah. No kidding.”
“No, I really mean I don’t know anything.” Alex put his head in his hands, stomach churning. This was it. His lies had clearly failed. “Steven, humans raised me. I need help.”
Steven rolled his eyes. “Kid – I know that. It’s damned obvious you don’t know much of anything.” He shook his head. “Don’t even know what America is. Hell, this is gonna be a long trip. Just follow me, kid, and do what I say. Keep your mouth shut, pick a last name, and hurry it up. We’re wasting daylight.” He started down the path toward the castle.
Alex peeked after him. Steven continued down the long switch-back path, not waiting to see if he followed. Alex exhaled sharply. Was Steven “nice” like Aiden? Definitely not. “Nifty” like Notte? No; no, this was something else.
Steven watched through the night to protect Sukey. Steven took care of Seamus, and even coaxed Jeremiah toward maturity.
Pack behavior, Alex thought randomly. Textbooks didn’t cover things like this on Libertas, but roleplay classes did. This sounded like the lessons regarding guests who wanted to pretend their playmates for the night were animals of the canine persuasion. There were followers and a pack leader, who was always responsible. He’s acting like I’m part of his pack, Alex thought, his eyes wide.
“Kid!” Steven called from down the path. “What you waiting for, an invite?”
Incredible. Alex wiped the sweat that had bloomed on his brow and trotted after him.
