I’m 30k words over the 100k mark, which I’ve heard is the maximum number of words an aspiring author should be querying. 30k. Let it sink: 30,000 words. That’s half of some people’s books. 30k. Yes, my book is a sci-fi story, and yes, my current word count is well within the industry’s standards for…
Category: Rant
Is it OK to cry while we edit?
I’m not asking for a friend, obviously. If you don’t wanna read my whining this is the moment to move on to another blog, unfollow me, grab some ice cream, go to sleep. I just feel like shit and wanted to talk with someone about it. Since no one deserves to put up with my…
Comfortable with the discomfort
Writing has taught me many lessons. More than I could have imagined it would. It has shown me the generous, kind, self-absorbed, magical, narcissistic, funny, lovely sides of people. It has taught me that time is never to be wasted, but that I should get used to waiting; which would sound like an oxymoron until I tell…
Social media and the occasional insanity
I wrote my first book (a YA sci-fi story) in complete isolation from social media. And that probably is one of the main reasons I’m proud of my work: I wrote it without expectations; never wondering what agents, publishers, and readers would like. I wrote for myself —and because it was either that or staring…
Twitter pitch contests
Yesterday was #DVPit day 1, a Twitter pitch event for authors who identify as members of historically marginalized minorities/groups (for more info, visit: http://dvpit.com/rulesguidelines). Twitter is fun (if used “correctly.” Correctly means many things to me. I will talk about that another day). Twitter pitches can be great, but they are invariably terrifying: It’s DIFFICULT…
Believing in me
I’ve been asking myself, why do I write books? For me, of course. Writing is fun: I can make up stories, people, settings, locations, situations. So, if I do this for me, why do I bother to edit, work with beta readers, and plan on querying and pursuing traditional publication? That is, why do I secretly…
Do we ever finish editing?
Nah, we don’t. I mean, is there anything else to say about editing? No. Editing is a dark place of gloom, tears, and despair. I have heard there are some mythical beings out there who enjoy editing their manuscripts. I haven’t met them, neither want to —because I can’t trust them, man. How can anyone…
Of beta readers and beta-reading
I remember back in, I don’t know, late 2017? Early 2018? when I used to think beta readers would: Slow down my writing process. Destroy my heart and soul with negative criticism. Steal my book ideas. Up to that point, only my husband had read my WIP. He liked it, but I couldn’t trust his…
Forcing myself to edit
When you have spent over a year working on the same book, things start to burn. Some of them include: Your patience. Your will. Your love for the manuscript (but not as in “burning love,” more like “I wanna print this pile of shit and BURN IT, MAN!”). Nobody told me that it will take…
When we can’t write
I remember thinking that writing was my escape from many things (including but not limited to): Corporate life Bad weather Sadness Stress My many mood swings Etceteras I can’t recall right now I also remember thinking that I could write through a bad mood no matter what. Now I know that such an idea/belief is…
Editing again
I haven’t posted much because of two reasons (maybe three): I spent three weeks on vacation. I’m back inside the depressing editing mines. Some important personal stuff involving a potential relocation I don’t really want to see happen, but it’s starting to look like a choice between the continent I love and the man I…
Free mind
I have heard myself utter the words hundreds of times. “That thing I achieved? It was nothing!” “Was it cool to go and do that all by myself? Not a biggie!” I know the reasons why I sometimes opt for making myself look small, sound more uncertain than I am, seem less proud of many…