...is up on my website!
As promised, Bookishly hit 50 reviews on a retail site, and I'm SO happy to share the Phoebe at BEA short story that has been burning up my laptop for over a year now!
Click here to go to my Extras page and click on the "Phoebe at BEA" link under "Deleted Scenes and Extra Stories/Drabbles."
(and yes, that section title is all plural because I have a lot of other fun short scenes or deleted scenes to share with all of you over time--all of you who have been wonderful and have read and reviewed BEA have helped to "unlock" my story vault!)
In non-excerpt-y news, Dramatically Ever After's cover and synopsis were revealed last month (you can see the pretty here) and I *think* (whistles innocently) I may be allowed to share an excerpt from DEA later this summer--keep an eye on my twitter or here for when it goes up.
And in non-Ever After series news, I've also been working hard on another fun YA contemporary as well as falling down the fandom wormhole for Miraculous Ladybug, If you haven't watched that cartoon yet, DO IT. Awesome teen female superhero with a magical yo-yo who is totally awkward in her civilian persona. Teen boy sidekick who is a supermodel by day and leather catsuit-wearing, pun-loving dork by night. A love square between these two nerds. And set. in. PARIS. (The Origins episode premieres in the US next Saturday, 6 August and I'm prepping myself for all the umbrella scene feels I've been hearing about from other fans.)
I hope you're all having a wonderful summer!
*bookish hugs*
-issy
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
I'm Afraid (Repost)
If you're writing, querying, or in that in-between stage in the writing journey, I wanted to repost this old blog post for you. I wrote this a little over half a year before getting my book deal. Doubt and fear and frustration are normal. Rejection sucks. But if I had quit before even starting queries, I wouldn't have a finished copy of Bookishly to hold. It's okay to be afraid, but keep working and dreaming, too.
I'm Afraid
I'm an optimist, a Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables-loving (well, Emily of New Moon is my favorite but she's not as positive, so let's just roll with the Anne thing, okay?,) twirl-y skirt-wearing glitter addict who sees the glass not only half full, but that it's full of teal glitter.
I'm not saying I don't have bad days or lose my energy sometimes. But, in general, I see life as this short journey and we can't waste it looking for the dirt and shadows when there's so much joy and sunshine around us. This past week, though, I had a few 3 a.m. moments that so many of you pulled me through, like little text and twitter rays of sunshine (cue quote I've put on this blog before:)
"...she knew that there would be days when she would feel desparingly that she could not write and that it was of no use to try; days when the editorial phrase 'not necessarily a reflection on its merits,' would get on her nerves to such an extent that she would feel like imitating Marie Bashkirtseff and hurling the taunting, ticking, remorseless sitting room clock out the window; days when everything she'd done or would try to do would slump-- become mediocre and despicable; days when she would be tempted to bitter disbelief in her fundamental conviction that there was as much truth in the poetry of life as in the prose; days when the echo of that 'random word' of the gods, for which she so avidly listened, would only seem to taunt her with its suggestions of unattainable perfection and loveliness beyond the reach of mortal ear or pen." -L. M. Montgomery, Emily's Quest
I wanted to post this in the beginning of the query stage before waves of rejections start rolling in, because I still believe very firmly in what I wrote in my product development post. I'm not afraid of rejection, but I'm so, so, so afraid that I'm deluding myself into thinking I can write well enough to even try. I'm afraid of being like those dancers in the audition episodes of So You Think You Can Dance who are not awful, but nowhere near good enough to compete with the good dancers. The ones who probably are in the Intermediate-Advanced classes in their little dance schools, but would only qualify for Advanced Beginner in the NYC schools (This, I know from my years of taking class in suburbia and Broadway Dance Center.) They're unable to see that they'll never be as good as the people who do make it on the show.
Worse, I'm afraid that I might be equivalent of one of the delusional awful dancers.
I'm afraid of dreaming about yet one more thing and having that hope crushed--I have enough of that in my non-writing life as it is. (note: here was where I wrote stuff about family, being single, career... but it became rather depressing, so *delete*)
In a little bit, I'll be back to sunshine and rainbows, but I needed to write out this fear. Because, honestly, I'm terrified.
What are you afraid of?
I'm not saying I don't have bad days or lose my energy sometimes. But, in general, I see life as this short journey and we can't waste it looking for the dirt and shadows when there's so much joy and sunshine around us. This past week, though, I had a few 3 a.m. moments that so many of you pulled me through, like little text and twitter rays of sunshine (cue quote I've put on this blog before:)
"...she knew that there would be days when she would feel desparingly that she could not write and that it was of no use to try; days when the editorial phrase 'not necessarily a reflection on its merits,' would get on her nerves to such an extent that she would feel like imitating Marie Bashkirtseff and hurling the taunting, ticking, remorseless sitting room clock out the window; days when everything she'd done or would try to do would slump-- become mediocre and despicable; days when she would be tempted to bitter disbelief in her fundamental conviction that there was as much truth in the poetry of life as in the prose; days when the echo of that 'random word' of the gods, for which she so avidly listened, would only seem to taunt her with its suggestions of unattainable perfection and loveliness beyond the reach of mortal ear or pen." -L. M. Montgomery, Emily's Quest
I wanted to post this in the beginning of the query stage before waves of rejections start rolling in, because I still believe very firmly in what I wrote in my product development post. I'm not afraid of rejection, but I'm so, so, so afraid that I'm deluding myself into thinking I can write well enough to even try. I'm afraid of being like those dancers in the audition episodes of So You Think You Can Dance who are not awful, but nowhere near good enough to compete with the good dancers. The ones who probably are in the Intermediate-Advanced classes in their little dance schools, but would only qualify for Advanced Beginner in the NYC schools (This, I know from my years of taking class in suburbia and Broadway Dance Center.) They're unable to see that they'll never be as good as the people who do make it on the show.
Worse, I'm afraid that I might be equivalent of one of the delusional awful dancers.
I'm afraid of dreaming about yet one more thing and having that hope crushed--I have enough of that in my non-writing life as it is. (note: here was where I wrote stuff about family, being single, career... but it became rather depressing, so *delete*)
In a little bit, I'll be back to sunshine and rainbows, but I needed to write out this fear. Because, honestly, I'm terrified.
What are you afraid of?
Sunday, April 8, 2012
I Haven't Had Chocolate for Fourty Days...
... and I have a ton of edits that involve butt-in-chair action, PLUS I'm working on critiques for the Poconos conference in late April...
... this could be bad.
(Happy Easter, Passover, Spring festivals, long weekend...)
.jpg) |
| Yes, those are more Cadbury Creme Eggs in the background |
... this could be bad.
(Happy Easter, Passover, Spring festivals, long weekend...)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Letting Go (aka Issy Goes All Engineer on the Blog)
I know I've mentioned in the past about how engineering has helped me ease into the writing process. The parallels can be a little bit eerie at times, and the more that I dive into the writing world, the more parallels pop up. Lately, things happening on my team at work have reminded me of some of the writing advice I've heard from fellow bloggers, authors, and the amazing people at the SCBWI conference. And that's why today, I'm diving into "letting go" during the critique process:
We've just reshuffled our teams to work on a key projects. The project that I am now assigned to was originally being handled by one engineer. That engineer went from working with little to no support to having a team of engineers and designers swooping in to take over huge percentages of his design and transfer work. Not because he's incompetent or was doing something wrong, but because one person handling a huge project can be inefficient and crazy-making (note: if you know the building security code to be able to leave after the alarms turn on at midnight, you may need more resources.)
And, one person can sometimes get too close to the project to admit when it might need improvement, change, or a fresh viewpoint.
After over a year on project XYZ, this coworker is having a very hard time letting go. Automatic "That's impossibles" and "Nos" became part of his vocabulary during design reviews. When one instrument design was given to another engineer, he would walk around mumbling about how the new design would "never work." I have been asked to moderate reviews and feel terrible about constantly having to remind him that we're all working towards the best product possible and even though he's the subject matter expert, that doesn't invalidate everyone else's feedback. He's getting better about the whole situation, but it's been a long few weeks.
Truth: We've all been there. We've all been reluctant to "call our babies ugly" or to accept that someone might have a better idea than our original WIP. When someone points something out that could use improvement, it's natural instinct to just say "Yes, but--"
It's important to remember that the people who are providing feedback are trying to help you make the best final product possible-- unless you've handed your design, manuscript, macrame belt... whatever to someone with a crazy ulterior motive. Maybe they don't have your background information, maybe they might be totally off mark... or maybe they may have hit on the very thing that will take project XYZ from "pretty good" to "excellent." You will never know if you don't listen.
I had to learn this early on in my product development career. The manufacturing and quality engineers are not "out to get me" or "trying to delay my project because they hate me" (well, most aren't-- I sometimes wonder about some of them!) Their goals are to make a cost-effective, inspectable product that is easy to manufacture and has all of the safety checks and balances in place. I make things that go in people's bodies and, if I screw up, people could potentially die. And "pretty good" to "excellent" could mean better patient outcomes overall. I'm happy to have an extra set (or two or twelve) of eyes on my designs and drawings.
In the writing world, no one will die if you or I don't listen to critiques or beta or agent feedback on an MS. The world will go on in a perfectly fine fashion. But... maybe that "what if you do this?" or "I suggest--" could be the key to making the MS something that really shines.
Listen, absorb, learn, and be ready for change. That's what a good design team does on a daily basis. We work so hard at our writing, pour our souls and hours upon hours of effort into it that it deserves that much, doesn't it?
.jpg) |
| At a work costume thing, dressed as an "engineer nerd" Some people actually thought we always dress this way! |
We've just reshuffled our teams to work on a key projects. The project that I am now assigned to was originally being handled by one engineer. That engineer went from working with little to no support to having a team of engineers and designers swooping in to take over huge percentages of his design and transfer work. Not because he's incompetent or was doing something wrong, but because one person handling a huge project can be inefficient and crazy-making (note: if you know the building security code to be able to leave after the alarms turn on at midnight, you may need more resources.)
And, one person can sometimes get too close to the project to admit when it might need improvement, change, or a fresh viewpoint.
After over a year on project XYZ, this coworker is having a very hard time letting go. Automatic "That's impossibles" and "Nos" became part of his vocabulary during design reviews. When one instrument design was given to another engineer, he would walk around mumbling about how the new design would "never work." I have been asked to moderate reviews and feel terrible about constantly having to remind him that we're all working towards the best product possible and even though he's the subject matter expert, that doesn't invalidate everyone else's feedback. He's getting better about the whole situation, but it's been a long few weeks.
Truth: We've all been there. We've all been reluctant to "call our babies ugly" or to accept that someone might have a better idea than our original WIP. When someone points something out that could use improvement, it's natural instinct to just say "Yes, but--"
It's important to remember that the people who are providing feedback are trying to help you make the best final product possible-- unless you've handed your design, manuscript, macrame belt... whatever to someone with a crazy ulterior motive. Maybe they don't have your background information, maybe they might be totally off mark... or maybe they may have hit on the very thing that will take project XYZ from "pretty good" to "excellent." You will never know if you don't listen.
I had to learn this early on in my product development career. The manufacturing and quality engineers are not "out to get me" or "trying to delay my project because they hate me" (well, most aren't-- I sometimes wonder about some of them!) Their goals are to make a cost-effective, inspectable product that is easy to manufacture and has all of the safety checks and balances in place. I make things that go in people's bodies and, if I screw up, people could potentially die. And "pretty good" to "excellent" could mean better patient outcomes overall. I'm happy to have an extra set (or two or twelve) of eyes on my designs and drawings.
In the writing world, no one will die if you or I don't listen to critiques or beta or agent feedback on an MS. The world will go on in a perfectly fine fashion. But... maybe that "what if you do this?" or "I suggest--" could be the key to making the MS something that really shines.
Listen, absorb, learn, and be ready for change. That's what a good design team does on a daily basis. We work so hard at our writing, pour our souls and hours upon hours of effort into it that it deserves that much, doesn't it?
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