Sure looks good to me

So don’t rain on my parade
Life’s too short to waste one day.
I’m gonna risk it all, the freedom to fall
Yes it sure looks good to me
- Alicia Keys

I have finally taken the leap to do something about my unhappiness in the last few months. With respect for the fact that this is a public forum, I will simply say this: I was unhappy at my job and disagreed with a lot of the things that went on there, so I resigned.

James and I kicked the idea around for months, because it was definitely a scary thing, willingly going down to one income. I also struggled with guilt, because I know there are many people out there who would kill to just have steady paycheck. But I finally realized that me being absolutely miserable didn't affect anyone else's job status. It just put one more miserable person in the world.

Life is too short to spend any large amount of it dreading getting up in the morning. Eventually, the choice to leave became no choice at all, but the only option. I expected to work a two weeks notice, or perhaps train a new hire, but I was immediately released. That makes it so much harder on the other employees which I regret, but I was honestly relieved.

We have a very concrete plan as to how we are going to get by. I already have one interview set up, and I am glad to have the opportunity to slow down and find something that is write for me. I've also gotten a request for some sample pages from another literary agent, so I'm hoping to find representation soon. On top of all that, I'll hopefully be doing some freelance graphics as well.

So this is a very, very good thing for me. I'll miss my friends at work, but we weren't allowed to talk to each other anyway, so as long as we keep in touch, nothing should change. I'm excited for this new chapter in my life. Until next time....

Theme Song Monday!

I've totally found a theme song for book two and, quite possibly, my life from here on out! Check it:

Bush - "She's a Stallion"
Fave track off their new album.

That is all.

Excerpt Sunday!

Here is an excerpt that may give away a little more plot/genre than I originally wanted to, but I love this scene. I am deleting a character name because I don't want to give away that much.

Again, we join Ray in the midst of his trials and tribulations. You should remember that Ray is not one of the main characters, but an important secondary character since he is the father of one of the MC's. He might possibly be my favorite character though, which is why I continue to share him with you. Enjoy.

Ray hit the floor hard. He spat out a mouthful of blood, watching it splatter on the concrete, and glared at his captors with the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut. Feeling around with his tongue, he checked one of his back molars on the side where the goon had clobbered him. Yep, loose. Bastard.

Levering his body up with his hands, he struggled into a sitting position. The clicking of high heels on the hard floor announced [????]’s return. Stopping in front of him, she cocked her head to one side, ebony hair cascading over her shoulders, and she looked entirely too innocent for the evil Ray knew has hidden inside.

Clucking her tongue and shaking her head at him, she crouched so they were eye level to one another. “Oh, beauty, I told you to do this the easy way, didn’t I?”

Ray swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood on his lips. Glancing at the red stain, he laughed bitterly and gave her an incredulous stare. “That was the easy way?”

“Of course, pet. You have information I need. And since you weren’t willing to give it up with a little… encouragement, I shall have to take it from you.”

That was all the warning he got before she seized his head in an iron grip, her claw-like nails digging into his skin, drawing blood. Again, he felt the searing pain lance through his brain, scraping the inside of his skull.

It was all the more unbearable because of the direct contact with her. His entire being was paralyzed, his eyes frozen open. Tears streamed down his cheeks from his inability to blink. He tried desperately to fight, to even think about fighting, but it was impossible.

He felt a sharp tug deep in the back of his mind, as if she were extracting a piece of him. An image of Raven’s face, swimming in his field of vision, was the last thing he saw before his world went dark.

Just finished up another scene and I am taking a break for a little while. Maybe I'll read something. Until next time...

Submission Stats

Very sick today, so not going to write much. Just a quick update on the stats for my querying. So far, I've queried a total of 21 agents. Here are the stats so far:

Pass=3
Request for samples=1
Still waiting=17

Going out of my mind here, people! Just have to keep on trucking, because I know I've got something here. I've made a lot of new friends in the literary community as well, mostly through twitter. It's a very supportive industry, unlike many others. I look forward to being a part of it. Until next time...

I'm sick, therefore I'm bored...

This is the first time I've started a post from the front end... Interesting. I have been out sick from work since 9am yesterday. I really hate doing nothing, and I always hope that when I am unable to work, I'll still be able to write, read, do anything else useful. But all I feel like doing is lying in bed like a big puddle of sludge.

I have done a few useful things, but not really the ones that I would rather do. Paid a couple of bills, queried some more agencies, and now I'm blogging. Overall, since I made the decision to start querying agents, I have sent letters to 16 agencies. So far, two passes, and one request for sample pages. The waiting is hard, but it will definitely be worth it in the end if I can accomplish my goals.

Here's a little tidbit of info about the books because I'm feeling generous:
Plot setting:
Book 1: Scotland (Primary) & New Orleans
Book 2: North Carolina Mountains (Primary), Las Vegas & New Orleans
Book 3: New Orleans, secondary locales TBD

That's it for now as I go back to wallowing. Until next time.

Did someone say excerpt?

I've finally had time to look for it, so here it is, folks. The long awaited excerpt from #1. I searched for a piece that is interesting enough to post, yet doesn't give away much of the plot, genre, or characterization. All you really find out for sure is three of the characters' names. But are they the main characters? I'll never tell.

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This excerpt is rated R for light profanity. If you will be offended by it (Mom, et. al.) do not read it. I won't be responding to comments about language. That said, I hope you enjoy it, and yet you remain in the dark about any important details!
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Jeremiah poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe in the main room of the police station. Looking down into his cup, he blinked in horror at the black, oily swill. So the cliché of bad PD coffee was true, he thought. Damned if he didn’t doctor it up and drink it anyway.

He had been pacing the dirty brown, low-pile carpet for nearly half an hour, all the while glaring daggers at the various officers seated at their desks. “Chief got held up,” they had said. Bullshit. Jeremiah knew that they had left Isla twisting in the wind to try and scare her into giving something up. Problem was, there was nothing to give up.

All it was really going to do was piss her off and make her less cooperative. He could practically feel her energy simmering across his skin. He wondered that the officers couldn’t feel it too.

He turned his head at the perfect moment to catch sight of Isla’s falsely angelic smile fill the closed circuit monitor. As quickly as that happened, the feed snowed out and switched off. And the wires running to the monitor sparked, just for good measure.

Cursing under his breath, Jere looked around to see if anyone saw what happened. A tubby officer got up from his desk to slap the monitor a couple of times, then shrugged and sat back down. Thank fuck he didn’t make any connection with the woman in the room. Keep it together, Isla, he thought.

Finally, Chief Sinclair emerged from his office looking grim. He nodded to Jeremiah, but said nothing as he made his way down the hall to the interrogation room. As the Chief disappeared behind the beat up metal door, Jeremiah clenched his fists and resumed pacing. This was not going well.

I submitted queries to two more agents tonight. We'll see what comes of that. Until next time, little darlings.

Let's talk about...

Let’s talk about getting older. My dearest darling husband—who doesn’t read my blog, therefore will never see this—rejoices in the fact that for 19 days out of the year, he is two years younger than me.

I know that should probably bother me, but it really doesn’t. I’m not too concerned about getting older. It happens. So does turning thirty this weekend freak me out? Not really. What freaks me out is life in general, and how we have no control over anything.

We can really only control what we do and how we react to things, but that doesn’t necessarily have any impact on what will actually happen. If, like me, you don’t believe in predestination, everything is simply up in the air, completely left up to chance, to God, to whatever you believe. Anything but your own will.

That can be kind of scary. Will you find a job? Will you be liked and get hired by someone? Does someone like your resume? Your personality? Do they hate your hair or your clothes, and will that influence their decision about what happens in your life?

Will you have a child? Can you have a child? Will someone like your idea, your writing, your artwork, your—fill in talent here—? I find it astounding how many times another person, a stranger, holds your fate in their hands, and will never know how that affects your life. Hell, they’ll never know how it affects their life, even.

Can you tell I’m getting a little frustrated? It seems like no matter how hard you work, how well you prepare, how good a job you do, it most often comes down to someone else’s decision. That is a hard thing to deal with, constantly waiting for that call or email that could change your life or, at least, your immediate future.

So at 12:30ish a.m. on Sunday, I will turn thirty, and that is just fine with me. J Until next time, I leave you with my updated playlist for book number 2:

Old Crow Medicine Show - Highway Halo

Tab Benoit - Unknown Legend

Glee Cast - Blackbird

Bush - Body

Matt Morris - 100,000 Strong & Bloodline

Justin Timberlake Ft. will.i.am - Damn Girl

Radiohead - Street Spirit

The Black Keys - Sinister Kid (That is Matthieu's theme song, he will be the main character in book 3)

Gavin Degraw - Sweeter, Not Over You & Run Every Time

Brandon Flowers - On The Floor & Crossfire

Kerli - Bullet Proof

Adele - Rumour Has It

Audioslave - I Am the Highway

Rihanna - Rockstar 101, Russian Roulette

Jonny Lang - Turn Around

Joe Bonamassa - Black Lung Heartache

Tokyo Hotel Ft. Kerli – Strange

Eminem – Love the Way You Lie

Kerli – Creepshow

Billy Currington – Heal Me

Pearl Jam – Even Flow