Walking, Revisions & Food

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Revisions, Stiletto, activity, cooking, food

Yesterday I did my marathon shopping, which entailed two hours at the grocery stores–literally.  That doesn’t include driving there and back, but it does include standing in line, so I’ll say 1 1/2 hours of walking around.  Granted it’s not strenous or brisk walking, but every little bit helps.

My back is killing me!

I’m still plugging along on the revisions.  I’m currently working on the seance scene and having some trouble with it, but I hope to iron it out today and then finish this chapter.  I received my comments from the agent judge of the Stiletto, and I don’t want to talk about it.

On another note, I haven’t mentioned how I’m altering what the kids and I eat.  Yes, our diet.  I hate that words because my whole life it was used to refer to stricting food and going hungry most of the time.  Or starvation techniques, counting calories and being very meticulous about something that should be natural.

Anyway, I went through my cupboards last week and threw out anything old (mostly some salad dressings we never opened and other condiments from the frig).  I then went through the items we currently had to look for hydrogenated oils.  Surprisingly, they weren’t in every single box of cereal, the instant potatoes or the Saltines.  Some of the items will remain and continue to be purchased–like some cereals, the occasional box of Cheeze-its or Goldfish, flour tortillas (I’ll make homemade bread, but I’m not making tortilla too…well, at least not now.  I don’t have a press.). Other items, like Jiff peanut butter, instant oatmeal and pancake mix will remain only until we finish them, and then everything else will never see the inside of my house again.

No more cake mixes, bouillon cubes, margarine (I only used it to butter toast and I can count on two fingers how often we had that), brownie mixes, microwave popcorn.  Of course, we’re not going to stop eating cakes, cookies, popcorn, etc.  It just means a lot more cooking for me.  Like daily!  OMG!  lol  Last night I’m sitting here thinking how hungry I was and there was nothing to eat (other than cereal) that didn’t need to be cooked.  *sigh*

My plan is to make bread of some variety (today is sandwich rolls because I’m dying for an eggplant sandwich in the panini maker with either melted swiss or provolone) and soup, stew or chili daily or every other day.  I have the bread machine and the crock pot, and those items can accompany whatever else we want to eat for the day.  I’m decent about planning dinners but never lunches.  This could alleviate that problem.  Today, I’m making vegetable broth in the crock pot and broccoli soup on the stove.   Potato soup and shrimp gumbo (yes, I’m semi-vegetarian) are on the menu this month too. :P

Ok, guess I’ve talked about food enough. lol  Now back to the revisions.

Stiletto Contest Results

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Stiletto

2008 Get
Your Stiletto in the Door contest.

We had many wonderful entries, and this was not an easy task for our
distinguished judges.

Classic Chick Lit/Lady Lit
(Judged by editor Latoya Smith of Grand Central and agent Michelle
Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency)
1st: LOVE, LUST & LIES by Cathleen Ross (full requested by both agent
and editor)
2nd: DANCING UNDER THE STARS by Alana Albertson (full requested by
agent and revision request by editor)
3rd: EASY DOES IT by Tanya Eby Sirois
4th: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (previously TRAILER PARK QUEEN) by Elizabeth
Birch Duckworth
5th MASOCHISM IS ALWAYS FUNNY by Stacy Brazalovich

Chick Thrill
(Judged by editor Megan McKeever of Pocket and agent Elaine Spencer
of The Knight Agency)
1st: WHISKEY REBELLION by Leah Hodge
2nd: A MAN TO DYE FOR by Jennifer Bianco (full requested by editor)
3rd: THE LEGACY by Audrey Egner
4th: PLEASANT LAKE PD by Kelly Fitzpatrick

Paranormal Chick Lit
(Judged by editor Callie Lynn Wolf of The Wild Rose Press and agent
Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency)
1st: GUARDIAN DEVIL by Karyn Mendoza (full requested by agent)
2nd: WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN by Deborah Blake
3rd: SOMEBODY TELL AUNT TILLIE SHE’S DEAD by Christiana Miller
4th: THE HOUSE OF WANNABE GHOSTS by Cally Taylor

Inspirational Chick Lit
(Judged by editor Beth Adams of Guideposts and agent Holly Root of
the Waxman Agency)
1st (tie): STAND ON MY OWN TWO HANDS by Tiffany Kinerson
1st (tie): TWO SIDED TRUTH by Sara Richardson
3rd: LIGHTEN UP by Angela Meuser
4th: MY NAME IS FAITH BUT I SURE DON’T HAVE ANY by Julie Scudder

Young Adult Chick Lit
(Judged by editor Anica Rissi of Simon Pulse and agent Caryn Wiseman
of Andrea Brown Literary Agency)
1st: SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE by Joanne Levy
2nd: BIG PANTIES AND OTHER PARACHUTES by Sara Tregay
3rd: CALL ME CRAZY by Vanessa Barneveld
4th: CLOSETS ARE FOR CLOTHES by Joanne Levy
5th: STAGE FRIGHT by Shoshana Brown
6th: THE TOTALLY TUBULAR ADVENTURES OF CARRINGTON MORRIS by Gwen Hayes

Congratulations to all our finalists! You should be very proud!

I’ve been dying, waiting for these results.

First off, CONGRATULATIONS GWEN!!!

Second, Megan McKeever requested a full of Giada.  Can you believe it?  I can’t.

This is why I couldn’t do Nano this year, and why I’m in heavy edit mode.  Oh, gotta get back to them, but I’m sure I’ll have more to say later. ;)

Vacation Over

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Romance Divas, Stiletto, Writing

Do you really call two weeks of cleaning house and writing a vacation?  Maybe I should say my break is over, referring only to my children.  Just as well too because I am terribly missing them–especially my little peanut.  He gives the best hugs in the world, and I haven’t had any in some time.  I told him he had a lot of hugging to do when he gets home.  I can’t wait!

So, I sent in the revised Stiletto entry, right?  Then I entered that entry (well the first, slightly condensed five pages) for RD’s WAW (Romance Diva’s We All Win contest) and several opinions were kinda average.  I hate average; I try not to do average.  That is easy.  I’ve been average my whole life, and I’m looking for a little greatness here.  Besides, I *know* the piece is great, it’s just a matter of whether or not I displayed it correctly.

Which has me thinking I started it wrong again.  I cut out the first chapter based on advice from one of the Stiletto judges.  But starting where I did and adding enough backstory to have it make sense is too much.  It slows down the action.  Then I was thinking of the advice I got from Gemma Halliday (yes, *that* Gemma Halliday).  She said she likes her mysteries to be linear and to start with the action.

Where is the action?

See, a couple of people kept saying the action began when my heroine enters the reality show house, but I kept disagreeing.  I felt a look into her ordinary life was important.  Not just to add scenes but because how she lived before is a direct contradiction of how she has to live in the house.  Everything she has to become is all she’s against.  If I don’t show her as herself, in reality, without internal monologue, doesn’t it take away from what I’m trying to establish?

I believe it does, and now I believe it even more.  What I’ve learned through all of this (so, I guess the revised entry is a “mistake”, and I’ve learned a lesson–grew) is that I was correct in wanting to show some of her life, but originally maybe I was showing too much.  One chapter of beforeness is fine, and that chapter will include her makeover aftermath and interactions with her dead friend.  Those things are important to the story, well the friend is, and no one who read the WAW entry picked up on any of it.

I guess I could totally rewrite the scene to reflect it all doesn’t have considering it was written as is with different intentions originally, but I like this other way better.  The scenes I have planned were my two funniest ones anyway, plus, with my heroine talking with her sister and dead friend, it gives me opportunities to add in the backstory through questions and clarifications–dialogue rather than monologue.  Much more effective!

So, today I will be spending a bit more time with my characters, creating these sheets for them based on some info I just got from EPIC.  Then come Monday it’s back to making the changes and finishing the damn book.  It’s gonna have to be a decent first draft thought, cause I don’t want to see this damn thing for a couple of months after.

Days 1 and 2

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Home, Stiletto, Writing

My kids went to NY on Saturday, so I have the next 2 weeks alone (hopefully).  I have a plan loosely mapped out so I can get all the “work” done this week and be free to do as I please next.  So far, yesterday I rewrote the first two chapters of my book, for the revised Stiletto entry (which must be returned by tomorrow).  That took ALL day.  I wanted to pluck my eyeballs out but decided that really wouldn’t help.

Today I rewrote the syno, cleaned the kitchen, washed the kitchen, bathroom and hallway floors and the stairs.  I then cleaned the bathroom and got through half of my son’s room.  He’s such a pack rat and a pig. Ewww! Old, hard French fry at the bottom of his car box. I got tired, hungry and thirsty, so I took a shower, made a sandwich and am now blogging.

I plan on spending the rest of the night editing the entry (oh joy!) and sending that puppy in.  If I get it done quick enough, I’ll finish putting the books on my shelves and free up a plastic bin for the rest of my son’s toys.  I’m actually afraid to go under his bed.  I’m also getting a sweet tooth, had one last night, but I didn’t want to bake cookies cause it was so humid and the kitchen floor was so gross.  I may go do that while I edit.

At this rate though, my time I go to pick up the kids, I should have the house done, the first half of the book revised and a good nother 2-3 chapters completed and two websites done.  At least I hope.  I signed up to do Fast Draft with some divas starting October 6, so I’ll have those two weeks to finish the book too.  Although, I really wanted to start something new next quarter. Darn.

Ok, off to bake cookies and edit two chapters. :)

Stiletto Scoresheets

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Stiletto, Writing

I received mine today and realized I may have to ditch the entire first chapter, rewrite a few parts of the second and add the third. All in one week.  Yikes! lol

I have a lot of thinking to do too.  I had wanted to add a ghost, but it doesn’t seem possible without completely changing the plot, which is the main reason to write this particular story.  Darn!  I really enjoyed writing the ghost scenes.  They were fun, but it does seem a bit too convenient, the way I have it, so he must be deleted. *sigh*

Before I get into rewriting the last 210 pages (which will drastically lower my page count–damn), I will redo the entry, because I definitely want it to sparkle for Elaine Spencer and Megan McKeever. :D

Stiletto Results

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Stiletto

Ok, so yesterday I discovered my entry into the Chick Thrill category, A Man To Dye For, finaled.

Whoo hoo!!!!  Yippee!!!!!  *cartwheels*

I am really excited. In the next couple of months, it will be judged by Elaine Spencer, from The Knight Agency, and Megan McKeever from Pocket books.  That is reason to cheer some more!

Hooray!!!!  Go me, go me, go me!!!! *bouncing up and down*

Here is the official list:

Finalists in the RWA Chick Lit Chapter’s Get Your Stiletto in the Door contest!!!!

These are listed in alphabetical order of the author’s last name.

Classic Chick Lit/Lady Lit
DANCING UNDER THE STARS by Alana Albertson
MASOCHISM IS ALWAYS FUNNY by Stacy Brazalovich
TRAILER PARK QUEEN by Elizabeth Birch Duckworth
LOVE LUST & LIES by Cathleen Ross
EASY DOES IT by Tanya Eby Sirois

Chick Thrill
A MAN TO DYE FOR by Jennifer Bianco
THE LEGACY by Audrey Egner
PLEASANT LAKE PD by Kelly Fitzpatrick
WHISKEY REBELLION by Leah Hodges

Paranormal Chick Lit
WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN by Deborah Blake
GUARDIAN NDEVIL by Karyn Mendoza
SOMEBODY TELL AUNT TILLIE SHE’S DEAD by Christiana Miller
THE HOUSE OF WANNABE GHOSTS by Cally Taylor

Inspirational Chick Lit
LIGHTEN UP by Angela Meuser
STAND ON MY OWN TWO HANDS by Tiffany Kinerson
TWO-SIDED TRUTH by Sara Richardson
MY NAME IS FAITH BUT I SURE DON’T HAVE ANY by Julie Scudder

Young Adult Chick Lit
CALL ME CRAZY by Vanessa Barnveld
STAGE FRIGHT by Shoshana Brown
THE TOTALLY TUBULAR ADVENTURES OF CARRINGTON MORRIS by Gwen Hayes
CLOSETS ARE FOR CLOTHES by Joanne Levy
SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE by Joanne Levy
BIG PANTIES AND OTHER PARACHUTES by Sara Tregay

Gwen Hayes, the author of the entry,The Totally Tubular Adventures of Carrington Morris,  is a friend, so I’m extra stoked we finaled.

*raises glass*  Here’s to winning and grabbing the attention of the agent and editor for us both! ;)

Lots of Little Things

Posted by: Jenn  :  Category: Romance Divas, Stiletto

I spent the day working on Romance Divas related business.  I’m their Suspense Liaison, and I was working through several ideas for future workshops. I also judged two more Stiletto entries, went grocery shopping and watched several “geeky girl is ridiculed by popular kids, so geeky girl kills popular kids” type of movies.  It was Lifetime’s theme this evening.  I’m now blogging and posted at RD a bunch.  IMed with a friend, laughed with my kids, cooked (did not clean, that’s tomorrow–hooray) and am finally ready to get back to brainstorming.  Yep, it’s 10:30.  I’ll have about 30 minutes in. ;)