Happy New Year! - Er, Well, Almost

I receive two - count 'em, two - Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas this year (that's what happens with an overlap of bosses :-)).

What I Bought - Part I

I took care of the smaller of the two a couple of days ago. That was all fiction, including one mystery, something I don't read a lot of now, as I tend hugely towards fantasy. However, as a teenager, I went through a major stage of reading mysteries - although they were all by Phyllis A. Whitney (see this for what a gothic mystery is). Yeah, the usually-orphaned girl in a castle trying to solve a mystery - that was wondeful for me to read at the time, because I was shy and a lot of people put me down.

The mystery that was part of this buying spree is for the cat lover in you (if it's in you ;-)); it's the first in the Midnight Louie mysteries, set in Vegas, baby! (Always wanted to say that, heh.) But it looked like fun, and it's been on my wish list for some time.

I also picked up a Rachel Caine book (Ill Wind, the first in her Weather Warden series)

If you get the idea that I'll probably be reviewing a number of these books - jeez, how'd you guess that? ;-)

What I Bought - Part II

Today I bought a couple of non-fiction books, one particularly good for writers (called The Web-Savvy Writer: Book Promotion With a High-Tech Twist), the other good for people into vintage clothing or, someone like me, into the 1940s and its fashions (and how it pertains to my current WIP). Plus I picked up a couple of used novels, notably for me, Goblin Quest. That's something that's been on my To Read list forever (well, it feels like forever, anyway ;-)). I also picked up a Martha Wells book, the first in the Fall of Ile-Rien series called Wizard Hunters.

Ah, so I'm closing out 2008 with yet another book buying binge (just like 2007, although that book buying binge was earlier in the year).

Have fun writing - and reading!

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Green Rider - A Review

Publisher: DAW
464 pages

This is Kristen Britain's first book in this series. I think it's a good first effort, but I feel that she missed a few things that really would have made it stand out.

As fantasies go, it's a standard, "youngin' who doesn't know she has magic powers" type of story, but that's not necessarily bad. Every now and then I like to read stuff like this because, in the right hands, I can be transported away from the present and can become the MC and live vicariously through that character.

Reminds Me of Tolkien

And Ms. Britain says in her acknowledgments that she was introduced to The Lord of the Rings at a young age, and it's obvious (at least to me and some Amazon reviewers) that she took a number of things from LOTR.

Not that that's a bad thing - and she doesn't cleave onto it like other writers have. (If you're going to be heavily influenced by past writers, at least make your writing your own. That includes invented beasts and invented languages.)

The Story

Karigan G'ladheon (yes, the dreaded apostrophe!) is expelled from school and runs off into the nearby forest. A Green Rider - a rider who couriers messages to and fro - emerges with black arrows in his back. He tells Karigan that she must get the message bag to the king; an important message is within, and the messenger knows he's not going to make it.

All sorts of magic happens to Karigan, almost from the get-go, although she doesn't understand why. She touches a brooch that she gets from the rider, wishing herself invisible when some men start following her (um, they don't want to ask her to dance ;-)).

She manages to get out of that one, coming to with two elderly ladies checking her out, Miss Bayberry and Miss Bunchberry.

(For LOTR fans - these are the equivalent of Tom Bombadill.)

They live in an interesting house, inhabited by ghosts, telling Karigan that their father was interested in magic and picked up all sorts of magical paraphanelia over the years. She's deposited in a room by herself, picking up a moonstone that lights up at her touch (that hadn't lit up - ever - for the Berry sisters), wandering over to a telescope.

(Think of the telescope as Galadriel's mirror - that basin in the movie that Frodo looks into and sees things that may come into being - or not.)

This has the same affect on Karigan - she sees people and events, but such people and events will only happen if her life continues as it is. They see Karigan off, giving her a couple of magical things that they hope will help her, if she needs them. (Of course she uses them.)

I would've liked to have seen these characters developed more, as they were quite fun (two spinster aunts, with impeccable manners? Yeah, works for me.) Karigan gets involved with a couple of brigands who tie her up and push her along to what Karigan thinks is going to be her death.

She finds out that there's some kind of intrigue going on in Sacor City, which is where the king is. What exactly that intrigue is, is what the story ultimately is about. (Yes, magic is involved, as well as gameboard called Intrigue, believe it or not.)

The Final Verdict

The last 40 pages or so really dragged for me. I skimmed a lot, but I managed to figure out that some of it was important.

If Ms. Britain had developed the spinsters and a couple of the other characters (the female brigand was pretty well done, though), I think I would have enjoyed this even more. Also, cutting out a lot of words near the end of the book also would have made it more enjoyable.

I give it a C because it's a good first effort. Whether I'll read the rest in the series - don't know as yet. This one is a standalone, thank goodness, so if I decide to pass on the rest of the books, I haven't lost anything.

All in all, an enjoyable read, but it could have been rendered a tad better than it was.

~Nancy Beck

Check This Out - Firebrand Literary

Got the heads up on this from my cyber friend, Liz Brooker. ::waves at Liz::

From 15 December 2008 to 15 January 2009, Firebrand Literary is accepting chapters of your manuscript without benefit of a query letter.

So those of you who suck at query letters ::raises hand::, this might be a godsend.

What They're Looking For

Unfortunately, the agents there aren't looking for my particular genre.

The agents are primarily looking for children's books, YA (that is, Young Adult), and MG (Middle Grade). They even say they'd look at picture books for what they're calling a "Query Holiday."

The specific info can be found here.

To send the first chapter or first 20 pages, the email address is: queryholiday@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . (Hmm, a gmail address; makes sense, as they're probably going to receive - if they haven't already - a huge slew of first chapters.)

Go For It!

If you write in any of what they're looking for, your ms. is finished, what the heck - go for it! Go to the website and follow their instructions to the letter. There are only three instructions to follow, so this isn't rocket science (to use a well-worn cliche).

They say they'll respond to all emails received at that special email addy (queryholiday@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by February 1, but the absolute deadline for them to receive your first chapter is January 15.

So get cracking! And good luck! :-)

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Happy Holidays to One and All!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hannukah!

Happy Kwanzaa!

Christmas Eve was spent at my mother's house; nice and comfy-cozy, with lots of food to go around (stuffed peppers, kielbasa, and pierogies [basically, dough stuffed with mashed potatoes]).

Celebrating On Christmas Eve

My family and I always celebrate Christmas on the Eve. This goes back to when the family first started popping out babies back in the 1950s (and where one of my uncles - one of my father's brothers - would tell those kids born during that time of his exploits in a POW camp in Germany; we're talking Stalag 17, of movie fame).

By the time I came along in 1962, that uncle - Uncle Joe, a really swell guy - had stopped telling everyone about that. And, as typical for that generation, didn't tell anybody about his silver stars or any other medals he received.

But, getting back to celebrating on Christmas Eve, the parents of that generation decided that it would be easier if my dad's side celebrated on other than Christmas Day - to avoid any of the squabbles that some families get into when deciding, "Where are we going to go this year?"

So there's no problem with me going over to my husband's side on Christmas Day; I'm used to the day itself as an anti-climax. Almost. :-) We still received presents from our parents, as opposed to receiving presents from the paternal aunts and uncles and cousins - lord, the cousins we have! - so it was still a nice, but low-key day.

Believe in Yourself and in a Higher Power

I always liked Mr. Spock from Star Trek because there was a struggle between the logical (Vulcan) side and the illogical (human) side of his nature.

Although I believe in God, I truly think that there must be a higher power in the universe, or else why is there only one planet in this particular system that has life as we know it? (I know that's kind of narrow minded, but go with it.) I also think there are other life forms out there, because I also think a higher power wouldn't just create life on one chunk of rock - considering how huge the universe is.

Belief in a higher power = belief in yourself. You can do anything you want, especially in a positive frame of mind.

May the writing muse tickle your creative juices!

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Crappy Mood This Morning

I was all set to go to work this morning, this after a Sunday where we got dumped on with more freezing rain/sleet.

Well, my front and back windshields were coated with thick ice, so I thought I'd hack away.

Except I hacked away a little too ferociously up front - little ol' me put a bunch of cracks in the windshield.

Uh, Mom? Can you spare about $200? (I sent an email for an estimate, so I'm hoping to get an idea of the dollar amount so I can have it taken care of this Friday; yeah, I know - Black Friday. Big whoop. ;-))

The car is still drivable (as I can still see out the windshield), but then I confronted another problem.

For some stupid/inane/idiotic reason, the people who run this town don't realize that the small street behind the house is, actually, A STREET. There are people who park their cars back there, and even use it to drive up and down (fancy that!).

And guess what? During a snowstorm or snow emergency, we have to get our cars off the streets for plowing.

Well, if the town bothered to plow the street behind us (School Street) more than once or twice, maybe there wouldn't be a problem of someone getting stuck back there and blocking the @($&!#@! way.

I can't even turn the car around to go the other way, as it's all caked with ice. Even my hubby wouldn't be able to turn his car around, and he has front wheel drive. See, it's a tiny road to begin with - only one car is passable at a time - and the snow and ice and the un-plowing thereof make it even smaller.

And, of course, they didn't put down any ice melt or gravel.

That's my rant for today. Florida sure looks good this time of year. :-)

~Nancy Beck

More Words and Rearranging and...

So I was typing away a few days ago and realized that my Chapter 7 was like the Energizer Bunny: It kept going and going and going...

What to do?

I decided to leave it alone for a few days, to let it all simmer in my brain. I finally decided to cut out a lot of words pertaining to Viv taking Rita to Viv's work location (a really crappy publisher, one bought and started by good ol' mommy for her two wunderkinds).

But something at first funny, then more ominous, happens. I wanted to end this chapter with the ominous thing.

So, yesterday, I moved most of the stuff about going to work to another tab - so I can use those words if I think I need them. I typed about 350 new words, rearranged a few things, and voila! It's now the way I like it (for the moment, naturally).

Chapter 8 is one of the best chapters I've ever written - if I so humbly say myself (okay, so I'm not so modest/humble about that!). It's having to deal with a death, and in a strange way for Rita...

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

More Publishing News - Bad and Good (Eh? Good?)

Here's some of the latest from Publisher's Lunch:

Penguin Children's

Kathy Dawson will join Penguin Children's Dial Books in the new position of associate publisher, reporting to Lauri Hornik. She will work help to strategize and develop the list while acquiring and editing both novels and picture books. Dawson was formerly editorial director at Harcourt Children's.

So if you write kid's novels/picture books, time to add Ms. Dawson to your rolodex.

Macmillan U.S.

A restructuring throughout Macmillan in the US announced yesterday internally eliminates 64 positions from throughout the company's imprints and divisions (including cuts at their college business, central services for the whole company, and Scientific American magazine), representing about four percent of staff in all. CEO John Sargent writes in the memo, "Going forward we are tightening our belts in response to the current recession, but we are also reorganizing and rethinking our business to position ourselves for the long term."

Which probably means: We're losing a lot of blood, and applying a tourniquet just ain't gonna do the job.

More Macmillan U.S.

A consolidation of the company's many children's lines into a single Macmillan Children's division was the other focus of yesterday's announcement, though Sargent says "we've been working for quite some time on what is the best approach to move us forward in the marketplace." With a variety of acquisitions and start-ups in recent years, "when you roll up our children's business now, it's a lot bigger than it was operating as disparate individual companies." Henry Holt head Dan Farley will oversee the new Macmillan Children's Group as well, with group svp Jean Feiwel running Feiwel and Friends, Square Fish, Priddy Books and Holt Children's, and svp Simon Boughton running Farrar, Straus Children's, Roaring Brook Press, and First Second.

Having been part of an acquisition just recently, I can tell you that a lot of heads are going to roll before Macmillan gets it all together. Of course, there will probably only be a skelton crew to take care of day-to-day matters. (I see it here, where the other piece of the patents pie is getting rid of one temp; no matter that she takes care of a lot of things.)

As my hubby would say: Owen well. (Inside joke, heh.)

And I Found This Interesting - Borders Books

Borders will buy books from the Harper Studio imprint at a deeper discount of 58 percent to 63 percent off, on a nonreturnable basis. Borders evp of merchandising and marketing Rob Gruen repeats the company's expressed position since George Jones took over: "The idea of taking inventory and then shipping it back isn't a good idea for anybody. We're open to all publishers to discuss alternatives to the traditional return model."

Harper Studio is part of HarperCollins, and, if I read it correctly, Emeril Lagasse's (BAM!) cookbooks are published by them. In fact, this post on agent Nathan Bransford's blog is quite informative. Author's will get less money up front (as of that post, dated July 2008, advances are capped at US$100,000 - um, I'll take it! ;-)), and according to the post, instead of royalties, utilizes a profit sharing model that incorporates expenses on one side of the ledger (expenses will include publicity and unit production, but not editorial and overhead), and income on the other side. Profits are split 50/50, and accounting reports four times a year, translating to a break-even point at around 25,000 copies sold.

I don't mind the monetary amount, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the no royalties bit. Profit sharing? I don't know - count me skeptical.

Oh, and they only accept non-fiction, so that leaves me out of the loop, dammit.

Maybe I should write a memoir but change enough names and events to pass it off as a novel?

Oops, wait, that's been done.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Publishers Will Do Just About Anything

Think I'm kidding?

Here's the listing from Publisher's Lunch:

Random House and Ballantine are offering free books to read on the iPhone via Lexcycle's fast-growing Stanza reader. (The app has been downloaded approximately 500,000 times.) The works come from the backlist of popular authors such as Alan Furst, Julie Garwood, Charlie Huston, David Liss, Laurie Notaro, Arthur Phillips and Simon Rich, and include promotional excerpts for new hardcovers scheduled for 2009.

The company says it is also "providing links to retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, Borders.com, Powells.com and IndieBound.org to encourage readers to purchase more books by these authors."

I'd consider it if (a) I had the extra money and (b) I had an iPhone (for an explanation as to why I don't have an iPhone, see (a)). There would also have to be some fantasy authors included in the mix; I like the idea of promotional excerpts - why buy the book if you find the first chapter (or whatever is considered an excerpt) boring/stupid/confusing?

If you have an iPhone, would you go for this?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Reading, reading, reading

I'm up to about Chapter 10 or 11 of The Secret Atlas. More court intrigues, and more intrigues in general. There was one chapter about a monk of some sort, a shyster court minister, and some dude letting loose with quotes from the writings of a guy who is looked at as a profound thinker (think along the lines of Siddhartha Gautama - the Buddha).

No discourses on Buddha here, BTW. Just using the good Buddha as a (poor, I know, I know!) comparison.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck