Yeah, this post has nothing to do with the JBs, I’m just curious as to whether people (are tweens considered people?) google that as often as they google “Justin Bieber is dead”. It seems Bieber has many fans who are worried about his alive-ness.
Anyway.
Imma write a bit about writing – I actually have writerly things on this week. I’ve started editing my book and thus far, I’ve deleted a whole chapter and added in a whole chapter, as well as making some changes along the way. I’ve also settled on a name: “A Rocket to the Moon” – the title has very little to do with the actually story. Alas, I am not writing about astronauts. It’s just something one of the characters say, and I like the randomness of it so it stuck.
I don’t know much about astronauts and outer space. All I know is that space in ruled by this guy:
He and Voldemort should team up and tag-team the sci-fi and fantasy genres. “When Voldy met Annie: A love story…” On another note, Darth Vader has a Twitter. I find it amusing: http://twitter.com/Darthvader
So yes, back to writing. I have five chapters left to edit and then I’m done. It’s probably a mistake spending a week editing, but I don’t know what to change. I’ve read over it a million times. I’ve read it out loud. I’ve run the crappier chapters through the queues at a writers’ group. I’m bad at editing. *shruggles*
I asked Claire Hennessy (google her, she’s written like 10 YA books and was first published aged 12) on Twitter for last gasp tips and her response was “to be nice to yourself and drink lots of tea”. Unfortunately, I am not very fond of tea. Perhaps that’s where I’ve been going wrong? I just haven’t been drinking enough tea!
Next week I’ll start writing my synopsis and query letter(s). The joys. “Dear Agent, “A Rocket to the Moon” is a 55,000 word contemporary YA”, blah, blah, blah, *falls asleep*. Just to be a smart arse, and to stand out, I’m considering attaching a tea bag to the agents who’ve shown a sense of humour and writing “please enjoy a cup of tea while reading this”. Or some such. It’s probably a bad idea. At least they’ll remember me as the random one who sends tea bags.
Stupid joke:
What does a tea-pot wear to bed at night?
A night-tea.
Other writerly things I have on! Well, this Saturday I’m meeting up with Eoin Colfer and Billy Roche to discuss my play and stuff. I’m nervous about it ’cause I don’t know what they thought of it. They could suggest I do away with it completely. And their opinions really matter. Billy is a Wexford playwright I’ve known for years. He’s been on Broadway and all over the world. His latest movie won a bunch of IFTAs and was on TV on St. Paddy’s Day. So yeah, if he wasn’t big enough fish to deal with, there’s Eoin Colfer.
The man was my writing idol when I was about 12. I adored his books. He makes me nervous. I know he’s just one man with an opinion, but he’s fairly massive in the literary world. Millionaire, movie deals, weeks on the best-seller list multiple times, TV shows…I mean, really, what’s to be nervous about?
So yeah, that’s on Saturday. Wish me luck! I had a look back over my play anyway – I’ve a few on the go at the minute – and it looks OK. Tis only a first draft that was written in 3 days though.
Eep.
Oh, and to give the title relevance, here’s a picture of the Jonas Brothers. They are odd looking.
Bless their virginal hearts.
Peace, love and Potter,
Lisa.
Also, to the three people who read this: Pre-order/Buy the Poetry Against Cancer book! It’s gonna raise vital funds for St. John’s ward in Crumlin! http://poetryagainstcancer.wordpress.com/







Mar 22, 2010 @ 19:02:41
Great as always
My personal favourite was the tea-bag idea
Mar 22, 2010 @ 19:04:20
You would like a bitta tea-bagging alright. (Look up tea bag on urban dictionary.)
Mar 22, 2010 @ 21:23:40
Three things…
1) Good luck on Saturday. I will text you (if I remember) at an appropriate hour to wish you luck again.
2) Love the tea-bag idea (not the Urban Dictionary kind, though it IS hilarious)
3) Thank you for mentioning Poetry Against Cancer there
Mar 22, 2010 @ 21:53:37
Have you got my phone number? I know I have yours like.
Yus, attempting to tea bag an agent (in the dirty sense) would not go down well at all…
Ah thanks for wishing me luck, although it should be OK.
Mar 22, 2010 @ 23:06:16
Yeah, i’ve texted you before to make sure you had my number ^_^
Oh hey, how do you judge the length of a play..? Started writing one, but I don’t know these sorts of things.
Mar 22, 2010 @ 23:18:50
That’s impossible to tell without knowing what formatting you’re using. Send me a couple pages and I’ll have a look.
Is it my recent number? I changed phones ages ago but I’ve found quite afew people don’t have my proper number. It’s an 085?
Mar 23, 2010 @ 13:27:12
It is indeed!
Ya, i’ll send some on to you soon ^_^
Mar 23, 2010 @ 16:06:33
Sure whenever. Keep in mind though, I am no expert!
Mar 22, 2010 @ 23:16:29
I found your blog randomly. It is funny! The teapot picture is cute. Query letter writing is probably the hardest part of all! Good luck!
Mar 22, 2010 @ 23:17:10
Thank you! Though I can’t take credit for the teapot, it’s not mine.
Mar 23, 2010 @ 12:42:13
Really enjoyable blog lisa!! Good luck on saturday, i hope it goes well for you.
I share your editing woes, I hate editing, I just can’t do it! But i think writing a synopsis is the hardest part of writing a book, synopsis are just icky!
Mar 23, 2010 @ 16:06:01
Ah I’m sure it’ll be grand. Like, I’ve met Eoin before, he’s just scary.
Awh no the query out trumps the synopsis. It’s always so hard to summarise my booky wook in one paragraph. And the sad thing is, the chapters 2 to 5 are the worst in the book, no matter I do with them. So that may cause quite a problem. >_<
Mar 23, 2010 @ 21:10:10
On the subject of queries, there are plenty of useful resources out there. Including Jodi Meadows. Jodi was a slush reader for a US based literary agency, now concentrating on her own writing career.
On her blog, every weekend, Jodi throws open her experience to her readers to practice their ‘queries’ out on her. The link to her blog is below, trawl through for posts titled ‘Query Project’. Basically, you can email Jodi with a practice query which she will read as if it were a real one, and comment on it, exactly as she would think through an actual query.
I’ve had her pull apart one practice query of my own already, and I have another in the queue to appear sometime soon.
If queries aren’t your thing, reading how Jodi reacts to different queries is invaluable for working out if your own query is barking up the wrong tree, or would survive the slush pile and convince an agent that asking you for a few sample chapters, etc, would be worth their while.
Link is here http://jmeadows.livejournal.com/
Mar 23, 2010 @ 21:54:04
Yeah I’ve been on a couple of websites who do the same. They’re very helpful. I have the whole “how to” part down – it’s just summarising it that’s the problem. I always thinks it sounds rubbish.
What were you querying?
Mar 24, 2010 @ 14:57:11
First one was for my current Sci-Fi WiP, about paramedics in space.
The next one is for a vampire/zombie/apocalypse story.
Mar 24, 2010 @ 16:20:04
paramedics in space? Interesting, if not a smidge odd.
Mar 24, 2010 @ 17:11:54
Indeedy!
I wanting to write sci-fi in a Whedonesque, Firefly-inspired ilk. A not-quite-dystopian, not-quite-utopian either. Just ordinary people, living ordinary lives, just in an extraordinary setting. In this case, paramedics, saving lives, but in space.
It’s still in the early stages, but I have a lot of ideas pushing the story forward now, so probably be about another year until I get it entirely how I want it to be.
Mar 24, 2010 @ 17:44:17
That sounds quite interesting. Genuinely. You could be onto a great idea there, alright.
A year to write it? *jaw hits floor* I think the longest I’ve ever spent writing anything is a couple of weeks.
Perhaps that’s why I always fail.
Mar 24, 2010 @ 22:13:40
With it being sci-fi, but grounded sci-fi, it involves a lot of planning about the level of technology available. They need to be able to travel in space and such, but it can’t be too perfect otherwise the role of the paramedics would be dramatically reduced. And the equipment they have has to be real enough.
I can’t just have someone lie down on a bed and their full body functions and vital signs appear on a screen next to them like on Star Trek, that just doesn’t happen. We’ll still have defibrillators and monitors and injections and medications; I’ve just got to take what we have now, and advance it a little, so it’s still grounded in reality.
Plus, you can’t just have the hero zap in to the rescue at warp speed, because that kills a lot of the drama.
It’s unbelievable just how much planning it takes.
Mar 24, 2010 @ 22:43:29
Yeah, sounds pretty complicated. There’s a reason I steer clear of sci-fi.
Mar 25, 2010 @ 12:03:38
2 weeks, Lisa? 2 weeks? More like 2 years for me!
Let us all know how it goes on saturday.
Mar 25, 2010 @ 12:08:31
Yeah, once I get an idea, I’m ridiculously quick at writing it down. And it was 2 weeks, it was more like 3…