Another awesome ABNA entry: The Origin of Ta Mo by Michael Sobie. It’s sort of a Chinese version of The Alchemist, but actually Sobie writes better than Coelho. (And don’t get me wrong, I like Coelho.)

In un-writing-related news, Spring is here! Well, sort of. Things are starting to green up, and I even busted out some flip flops, but my coworker said there’s a chance for snow on Monday. To which I replied, What’s a Monday?

Hey, does anyone know what kind of flowers these are? Right now I call them the “sweaty balls flowers,” but I’m thinking that’s probably not their real name. Nor is it very polite to Mother Nature. However, Mother Nature is the one that created said flowers, which do in fact smell like sweaty balls, so maybe I’m the one who should feel offended…

I think Riley would enjoy Spring more if it wasn’t ushered in with rainstorms. Last night he was being a big baby because of some thunder and lightning, and he kept trying to sit in my lap. That might have worked and been rather cute if it weren’t for the fact that I was using my lap to hold the computer on which I was trying to be productive. So when I turn 87 and someone asks me why I never achieved my life dream of becoming a famous author, I will say, “Because my dog is giant wuss.”

But what Spring ruins with rain, it makes up for with sticks. At least that’s what Riley always says.

This week a group of ABNA contestants, including myself, decided to find all the entries that had zero reviews and help them out, since we know how much we like it when people review our work. During that process, I found a couple more gems:

• Broken Angel by B. Keith Murphy – a religious-fantasy-satire? it’s quite difficult to describe but was very cool and fun to read
• A Cruel Harvest by Paul Reid – historical-adventure-romance, perhaps in the vein of Wilbur Smith’s Monsoon

Meanwhile, earlier this month British paper The Guardian featured the views of 9 writers on writing. I didn’t know any of them, except Joyce Carol Oates, which I will blame on their being mostly British instead of my being mostly under-read. Anyway, these were my fave parts.

AL Kennedy:

The joy of writing for a living is that you get to do it all the time. The misery is that you have to, whether you’re in the mood or not. I wouldn’t be the first writer to point out that doing something so deeply personal does become less jolly when you have to keep on at it, day after cash-generating day. To use a not ridiculous analogy: Sex = nice thing. Sex For Cash = probably less fun, perhaps morally uncomfy and psychologically unwise. Sitting alone in a room for hours while essentially talking in your head about people you made up earlier and then writing it down for no one you know does have many aspects which are not inherently fulfilling.

Hari Kunzru:

I get great pleasure from writing, but not always, or even usually. Writing a novel is largely an exercise in psychological discipline – trying to balance your project on your chin while negotiating a minefield of depression and freak-out. Beginning is daunting; being in the middle makes you feel like Sisyphus; ending sometimes comes with the disappointment that this finite collection of words is all that remains of your infinitely rich idea. Along the way, there are the pitfalls of self-disgust, boredom, disorientation and a lingering sense of inadequacy, occasionally alternating with episodes of hysterical self-congratulation as you fleetingly believe you’ve nailed that particular sentence and are surely destined to join the ranks of the immortals, only to be confronted the next morning with an appalling farrago of clichés that no sane human could read without vomiting. But when you’re in the zone, spinning words like plates, there’s a deep sense of satisfaction and, yes, enjoyment…

Joyce Carol Oates:

Most writers find first drafts painfully difficult, like climbing a steep stairs, the end of which isn’t in sight. Only just persevere! Eventually, you will get where you are going, or so you hope. And when you get there, you will not ask why? – the relief you feel is but a brief breathing spell, before beginning again with another inspiration, another draft, another steep climb.

From the essay “How to write your second novel or, if you want to make God laugh, show Him your outline” by Stephanie Kallos:

… the best writing comes not from the part of you that writes an outline. The best writing comes from the part of you that feels, grieves, fails, flails, yearns, despairs, flounders, and prays. The best writing comes from the place where you dream.

(Scooped via Writer Unboxed)

*

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, rated & reviewed the excerpt of my novel The Good Daughters at Amazon for the Breakthrough Novel contest. Also special thanks to those of you who have helped promoted it, because that’s far beyond what I hoped or expected. (Like this? Seriously?) All of the positive response has really lifted my spirits and gotten me enthusiastic about writing again, even when it’s difficult.

Just a warning: I will probably leave the reminders up on my site and occasionally mention the contest until the semifinalists are announced (Apr 15), but I’ll try not to be obnoxious about it.

Also, I’d like to recommend my two favorite excerpts so far: Eden Lake by Jane Roper, and Kanako’s Foreigner by Amanda Kendle. Both are exquisitely written, and exactly the type of book I’d pick up in a store and buy. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that someday soon. ;)

New Twenty-Somewhere tomorrow coming soon. Obviously “every Monday” is a thing of the past, but for now I’m sticking with “every week.”

The next episode of Twenty-Somewhere will be posted later this week, when I’m done freaking out about this:

Kristan,

Thank you for participating in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. We received thousands of submissions and were impressed with the incredible talent and creativity demonstrated by participating authors this year. We are happy to inform you that you have been selected to move forward in the contest.

Now that you’re a Quarterfinalist, Amazon customers can read, rate and review your excerpt while your manuscript is being reviewed by Publishers Weekly. Last year, tens of thousands of reviews were written by customers and fellow contestants giving authors valuable feedback on their writing. You can find your excerpt on Amazon.com via the following link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3AIM, and access the main contest page where all entries are located at www.amazon.com/abna.

Good luck!

(Emphasis added by me, because that’s what it looked/felt like when I read it.)

While I go lie down and try to recover from the shock, PLEASE GO RATE/REVIEW ME! And though I’m not explicitly asking you to give me high ratings just so I can move forward in the contest and possibly achieve my wildest dreams, I will say that you could always rate your support of me and then tell me what you really think via email… (COUGH COUGH)

Omgomgomgomgomgomgomg…

UPDATE: To clarify, Amazon also has special reviewers reading my Full Manuscript, and their evaluation combined with the 2 reviews of my Excerpt and the ratings/reviews I get from the public, will be used to decide whether or not I move forward.

So to help me, please download (for free) the Excerpt, and then submit a rating & review. The higher the rating, the more points (or “votes”) I get as part of my equation.

I would also love to know your feedback, whether you want to post it publicly or just email me privately.

Again, thankyouthankyouthankyou! (And yes, I’m still bugging out.)

I feel very mentally checked out today.

Probably from lack of sleep. (My own fault. The Amazon deadline looms ever nearer.)

At home in Houston (where these pictures were taken in ’06) whenever I felt this way I would climb onto my roof and just listen to music or look out over the neighborhood. Can’t do that here since we live on the bottom floor of a condo, but I’d settle for a long nap in my bed.