Location: Colorado Springs
Activities: wedding rehearsal, rehearsal lunch, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Andy came back from his business trip with a backpack full of Swiss chocolate, which is (a) delicious, and (b) dangerous. I had been eating pretty well — apple and peanut butter for breakfast, no sodas, no snacking — but I think that’s all going out the window now. At least until I finish off the chocolate. Which will probably be in about… 10 hours?

…

Hmm. So, when I first wrote that (last night), I was mostly joking, but considering that I’m having some sort of weird, low-blood-sugar episode this morning, I might really have to eat all the chocolate! Gee, what a pity.

In healthier news, I contacted the woman that originally gave Twenty-Somewhere (episodes 1-4) a one-star review, and after reading the full 40 episodes, she changed her review to four-star!! She said she really enjoyed the book, and would love to read a novel about each of the 3 girls. (Me too! I’m working on it, folks, I’m working on it.) So that was a huge “win” for me, and totally makes this whole no-color-in-my-lips, light-headed-and-nauseated thing so much more bearable.

It also reinforces what “they” (agents, editors, etc.) say about how you really have to hook your reader in the beginning. (Again, I’m working on it.) So that’s my little nugget of writing gold for the day: HOOK ‘EM.

Anyway, I’m going to go do my best not to pass out at work. Tell me, what nugget of gold have you discovered lately? It doesn’t have to be writing related. And if it’s actual gold, like of the 24-carat variety, then you should probably send it on over my way. You know, for safekeeping.

How to make a writer giddy:

“I was up until 1am finishing Twenty-Somewhere last night! I was so hooked into those characters.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was a completely unsolicited reaction from fellow writer Sherrie Petersen, who I only just “met” and don’t know in real life.

(Unrelated but true: her blog Write About Now is full of interviews, anecdotes, and other writing-related goodness. Case in point: it led me to Slush Pile Hell, which is hilarious, and a great pick-me-up for any writers who are worried that their queries suck. (Trust me, they don’t.))

Anyway, while Sherrie’s comment (!!!) fuels me through some more of the 20SW proposal and sample pages, I leave you with this recommended reading. Enjoy!

• “Look at your feet” by Michelle Woo
  If you’re so busy staring at your goal in the distance, it’ll seem like you’ll never be able to get there.
  
• “Structure” at Michael Hauge’s Screenplay Mastery
  Though writing a successful Hollywood movie is certainly not easy, the stories for mainstream Hollywood films are all built on only three basic components: character, desire and conflict.
  
• “Alphabet Soup” by Susan Orlean
  As some great philosopher once said, it’s like déjà vu all over again.
• “When anyone can be a published author” by Laura Miller
  What happens once the self-publishing revolution really gets going, when all of those previously rejected manuscripts hit the marketplace, en masse, in print and e-book form, swelling the ranks of 99-cent Kindle and iBook offerings by the millions? Is the public prepared to meet the slush pile?

Location: Colorado Springs & Manitou Springs
Activities: horseback riding through Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Manitou Springs (home of the best arcade ever!)

• I decided to go ahead and offer the full 40 episodes of Twenty-Somewhere on Smashwords (which converts it into pretty much any format you could want for your computer, phone, or ereader) and I’m in the process of doing the same at Amazon. This makes it easier and cheaper for readers to get the whole story. (Considering my modest sales, and the major revisions ahead, I don’t think any agents or editors will care.)
• BIG thanks to Sonja for adding her review to 20SW episodes 1-4 so they didn’t look so crummy with just a little 1-star rating. (I’ll have to comment on those reviews after the update so that people realize they were in response to an earlier version that only had the beginning episodes.) Sonja = awesome. ^_^
• Progress on the 20SW proposals & sample pages is… progressing. My friend and fellow writer John suggested a structure for the opening chapter that I really like, and thus the writing is finally coming together! My self-imposed drop dead deadline to submit materials to The Major Publisher is July 19th — exactly 12 weeks after I got the request from them. I’ve been told that’s a normal/reasonable timeline.
• In Colorado I started reading War Dances by Sherman Alexie, finished when I got back, and am now reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Your turn: What’s going on with y’all? What have you been up to?