Well &%$!!!

Warning: Bad Day = Ranting

Queried eleven more agents this weekend, one of which I realized DIRECTLY after I hit the 'Send' button that I had already queried this person.   I was so ticked off at myself.  (Still am). It was an honest mistake, too.  I was researching the agents that never responded, and it turns out this one agent I had emailed before, only it wasn't logged in the correct email folder.  I'll probably be blacklisted with that agency now.  

But hey... I'm human and highly caffeinated at the moment.

I also made a list of agencies to query via regular mail. So that means wasting money on stamps and shipping, only to receive a rejection in the mail.... or to have that rejection sent to the wrong home address.  (Yes, I've become a pessimist lately).

That happens A LOT around here.  Apparently our mailman can't read letters and numbers properly.

Something else I don't like about snail mail is when they request to see more material, but DON'T USE THE ENCLOSED SASE!  They just EMAIL me instead, then throw my perfectly good stamped envelope in the trash.

To be honest here, my doubts over this agent hunt have returned full force today.  I'm not liking it at all.  Maybe I can get an agent interested in this book if I just make Iain a freakin' vampire.  Instead of a sword at his belt, he'll have little vials of blood and a pair of Christian Dior designer sunglasses.  Not only that, but I'll create a new species of vamp.  Iain will be the first in a long-lost line of Scottish Ghost Vampires donning kilts. I'm just not so sure his brogue will sound too sexy with those fangs getting in the way.

Ugh!  I'm exhausted. Goodnight.

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Soundtrack

It seems fairly common these days that writers, both published and unpublished (like myself ), have created soundtracks for each book they write.

It took a while, but I'm guilty as charged here as well.

Below I'll post my unofficial playlist for 'Come Back To Me.' A lot of these videos kind of jar me out of my story, but it'll have to do. I only include the YouTube vids for the songs themselves anyway. (By the way, why is it that the storyline of about 99% of music videos have absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics? ) The one video below that isn't so disconnected from my book is the Celine Dion vid.

And the Nickelback song? Well let's just say that even ghosts have favorite bands, and for Iain in my story... that's Nickelback. Had the 16^th century had rock bands, I'm certain Iain would have been in one.

Also, the first song on my playlist not only matches the title of my book, but the lyrics definitely echo Lexie and Iain.  It's very, very strange how that phrase has haunted me my whole life.  From the moment I heard that song, I knew this was Lexie and Iain's theme.  (If you know anything about Patrick, let's just say Lexie and Iain = Me and Patrick.  If you pay attention to the lyrics, you'll understand).

Note: In CBTM, most of the time Iain is a ghost but we also see him (and his lady) when he was alive in the 16th century. And yes, Iain does remind me a bit of Brad Pitt in Troy.  It's the straight blonde hair more than anything.  Iain's features are 'harsher' I guess, and his presence is just way more intense... especially through the eyes. 

And for those of you that know about Patrick-- when I say "Iain" I'm also speaking of Patrick.  It's only that I also have another main character in my book named "Patrick"... but that Patrick isn't MY Patrick. The real Patrick would be "Iain" in my story.

Confused yet?

So here is my unoffical soundtrack for Come Back To Me

Come Back To Me – David Cook

Far Away – Nickelback

My Immortal – Evanescence

Savin' Me – Nickelback

It's All Coming Back To Me Now – Celine Dion

Click HERE for video

Please Forgive Me – Bryan Adams

While Floating High Above – Ken Hill's POTO

Click HERE for a BEAUTIFUL fan vid of this song!

For Always – Josh Groban

Can't Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon

Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx

Cry of the Celts/Gift of the Thistle – Braveheart Soundtrack

Remember Me - Josh Groban/Troy Soundtrack

All Out of Love – Air Supply

Click HERE for video

Every Breath You Take – The Police

Click HERE for video

Truly, Madly, Deeply – Savage Garden

Click HERE for video

Silent Running – Mike & the Mechanics

Missing You - John Waite

Click HERE for video

Storybook Love – The Princess Bride Soundtrack

To Really Love A Woman – Bryan Adams

I Knew I Loved You – Savage Garden

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

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Then vs Now

During another night of insomnia, I glanced over past manuscripts I've yet to complete.  One of them is "Mail Order Husband."  I had forgotten how EASY it was to write those first 10 chapters!  From the get-go, I KNEW those characters.  The dialogue and their actions - even the minor characters - came easily b/c I understood their personalities so well. 

So last night I decided that once "Terrified Timmy in the Haunted House" is completed, I might try completing MOH.  My one problem with that, however, is that I really don't feel it's publishable. This story was one of my first.  I think it was written directly after I finished my first novel, and my writing style back then was different than it is now.  Think more along of the lines of homespun.... but not "Oh, that's so sickeningly sweet it makes me want to vomit homespun."    My mother compares it to The Waltons, but that doesn't help me much since I've never watched that show.  (I prefer the earlier eras).

For instance, take my first book and it's sequel. (The Trouble with a Scot/The Trouble with Love). Those books I've always felt possessed the 'essence' of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels, only for a slightly older crowd perhaps.  It's like what Walt Disney called some of his movies: "Bread and Butter" stories.  There isn't exhausting action and confusing plots in them.  Instead, you have the 'drama' and humor of a family's (or town's) everyday life.  These stories are all set in the early 1900's as well.  (You see?  I was sooo born into the wrong era).

And here's another dilemma: MOH might qualify as YA, but what young adult these days wants to read a family story where the main characters are a couple in their 50's, and then the two younger boys they're caring for at the time?    Also, through writing those chapters I discovered that Rose was raised in a pretty religious family while Duncan was not. Religion isn't the focus of the story in the slightest, but I don't want people reading part of that ONE chapter and judging it unfairly.  But THAT'S how REAL these characters felt to me.  I didn't want to include Rose's religious beliefs in this story b/c it isn't that type of story, but the woman just would not let it go.  She gave me no choice but to write it down as she says.

These days I'm really careful about which projects I'll start. It's really sad b/c these earlier stories of mine I'm really close to.  I just think it's a shame that we now live in a world where those bread and butter stories aren't appreciated by the masses.  I'm really not sure they're even recognized.

So while my writing 'voice' has evolved from book to book, I still cherish my first stories.... which is why it's going to be DIFFICULT editing my Trouble series.    One part of me wants to leave them as they are, but another part loves these characters so much that I'm willing to sacrifice a few things so the rest of the world can know about them.  (And I swear I'm in love with the hero in this one.  Lol!  He's definitely my ideal ). Besides, without them "Come Back To Me" would never have been written.  I mean NEVER, and that book is definitely my best creation.  I really believe it will be published one day.  The right time and people to represent it just have to come first.

Anyway, I'm still learning and wish I could write like some of the authors currently out there.  Writing is HARD for me.  Sometimes I love it, but at other times... boy do I HATE it.  I guess in some sick, twisted way I relish the torture?

I might post the intro to MOH sometime later today.  I'll probably delete it after a while as well. Lol!  Apart from sharing the prologue to my first book on a password protected forum years ago, I've never posted my work for anyone to see.

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