Monday, December 29, 2014

Magic To Do

My goodness - can the holiday season be almost over?  It feels like we were just putting up the tree yesterday.  So much work to get ready and it's all over in a flash.  Almost all the presents have been delivered.  My mailed a package to my friend who lives in the UK on December 14 and she still hasn't received it.  Since USPS doesn't track to UK there's nothing they can do about it being missing.  Other than that all other packages were delivered without a hitch.

Once the new year comes I'll be doing some organizing and after that it'll be full speed ahead on the querying front.  I had made the decision to step back for the holidays for a few reasons.  First, because many agents on my list were closing to queries until after the new year.  And, I decided I wanted to concentrate on enjoying the season instead of being stressed about waiting for replies.  Also, I wanted to try and poke at my manuscript a bit.  I'm hyper aware of my overuse of the word "that" so I did make an honest effort to find ways around using it.  And, I was under the impression I had already done a search for it and "just".  When you've gone over a manuscript time and time again it's easy for things to blend together to an extent.  So, I must have dreamed doing that search because I was up until six am Sunday deleting over a thousand of those two extra words.  Yes, a thousand.  Since my character is telling a story I can get away with some use of the word "that" but not that much.

I've also been paying some attention to Query Tracker to work on my list.  Who changed their genres, who's closed, who's branching out on their own, etc.  This is something I always try to keep up on whether I'm in querying mode or not.

This week I'm going to be working on finding my desk.  I seem to have misplaced it during the holiday season thanks to all the packages, Christmas cards, and catelogs.  Just like Spock it will be found.  This I swear.




Wednesday, December 17, 2014

This is the Moment

I wrote the very last word of my first draft in early May.  It was very late - definitely after midnight.  When I was done I had to run out for a bit - for gas I think.  I don't usually take my iPod in the car with me on quick trips but this time I grabbed it.  And This is the Moment from James Barbour's album Bring Me Giants was the very first song to come over the speakers.

And it was that moment realization came over me.  This was the moment - the first of many more to come.  Finishing that first draft was so amazing and if I hadn't done that the rest of the journey could not have started. 

Since music is such a large part of my manuscript and because this song played an important part in the story I wanted to highlight the whole album.  In fact, the very last song, I Can't Recall, is mentioned in the book.  The CD's not available on Amazon or iTunes anymore but maybe it'll show up again.  Every song is from a musical based on a literary classic.  Some you may recognized but others may surprise you.

Who Will Love this Child - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Longer I Live - Dracula
I Will Be There - The Count of Monte Cristo
Loving You Keeps Me Alive - Dracula
If Ever I Would Leave You - Camelot
Music of the Night - The Phantom of the Opera
Bring Him Home - Les Miserables
This is the Moment - Jekyll & Hyde (see below)
Impossible Dream - Man of La Mancha
Bring Me Giants - Cyrano de Bergerac 
I Can't Recall - Tale of Two Cities

















Sunday, December 7, 2014

Bright Brand New Day

I'm going to keep this brief this time around and only concentrate on the good.  The bad is always trying to pull me down but that's being laid aside for now.

Christmas season is upon us and the new year is approaching.  With it I have bright hopes for more good things waiting in the wings.  I hope they hear their cues soon so entrances can be made.

This past Thursday was #pitmad and it's always a fun time (even though I have to work through most of it).  Lots of retweets and new followers - I haven't had the chance to follow back yet but I certainly will very soon.  The event was good for me with a few favorites.  Now it's time to wait and see if they turn into anything.. 

I missed the last few hours of #pitmad because I had tickets to a Christmas concert at a local high school.  I live in a smallish town in NJ that doesn't get much in the way of "big" acts.  For that I'd have to travel to New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, or even New Brunswick.  We don't have any big concert halls and couldn't support them due to our proximity to the larger cities.

So,  hearing Phil Coulter would be playing at a high school down the street from my office was pretty exciting.  And, the concert was the perfect end to a great day.  I've been on Phils's Tranquility Cruise twice so I'd heard all of the songs Phil played before except for one - Bright, Brand New Day.

Even though the song is about the Irish city of Derry coming alive after The Troubles  I sat up straighter in my seat as I listened to it.  I was so close to my own bright, brand new day.  I felt like I was ready to head down a new road.  To stand up and say "I'm ready".

And I am.  I'm ready for my bright, brand new day.