All I Want for Hanukkah

My husband has this friend, Grant. He is young (relative to us), smart, and incredibly ambitious. David had lunch with him recently and they came up with an idea for a new medical product that they are going to try to pursue.

Then I saw him at a birthday party.

ME: We'd like to do blah blah blah, but we can't right now cause we just did our basement which was very expensive.

HIM:  Well, when our new product comes out...

ME:   Oh, you mean, when we make our millions?

Grant just looked at me.

HIM:  "Why are you thinking so small?"

Ha!   Apparently, I need a better attitude!  

The Year of the Monster- and Some Post PiBo Tips

PiBo 2009 was the year of Goldilocks for me.  2010 was the year of the dinosaur.  (I had at least a dozen dinosaur titles, though I didn't end up writing any of them!)  This year, nearly half the items on my PiBo list are in some way connected to monsters.

Is it because I am dying to write a monster story?  Well, monster stories are certainly fun and appealing.  But it's more than that.   It helps me move my list along if I brainstorm one specific area- whether it's a character, a topic, or a theme.  I was able to hit 30 ideas way before Nov 30th, by narrowing my focus.

So PiBoIdMo is over for 2011, now what?

MAKING YOUR LIST.  Don't stop just because November is over.   I find once I am in idea-generating mode, the ideas continue to flow effortlessly for at least a few more weeks.  Keep your list in a handy place so you will have easy access when an idea pops into your head.

CHECKING IT TWICE.  Check your list.  Twice.  Three times.  Forty times.  Check last year's list (if you made one)  Are there ideas that can be combined?   Sometimes an idea by itself it too slight but when used in conjunction with something else on your list it's the perfect premise for a PB!

In 2009, I had the following two ideas on my list:

25. Golidlocks has a twin sister- Tawnylocks?
34.  Use fairy tale to teach fractions. Goldilocks and the three and a half bears? How can you have half a bear? Bear in Mommy’s tummy? Could mama bear deliver right in the middle of the story?

See? I wasn't kidding about the Goldilocks theme.

Neither idea went anywhere, but those two concepts nagged at me.  twins... fractions....twins... fractions... Both seemed like premises I wanted to pursue.

And then during PiBo 2010, it hit me!

TWINDERELLA

The perfect way to combine the two.

Cinderella and her twin sister share everything. Each does half the chores, half the washing, half the ironing, and each takes half the fairy godmother’s goodies. But when they each spend half the night dancing with the prince, and they both fall in love, they have a problem.

PiBoIdMo- The Pressure is On!

Okay, so.. during PiBoIdMo 2009, I came up with the title GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS.  I wrote it with Beth Coulton and it sold to Putnam.

During PiBoIdMo 2010, I came up with another title for a fractured fairy tale. I wrote it and though I don't have a contract yet, I am convinced that ultimately... it will sell.

Now, it's PiBoIdMo 2011 and the pressure is on!  I am off to a very late start due to six days with no power!    Our electricity was restored late on Nov 3rd, but I am only just now getting into the PiBoIdMo mindset. 

It's Nov 6th and I am staring at a blank list!

But I am not going to panic.  It takes time to get into an idea-generating groove. If I incubate every day, ideas will hatch and multiply!

Success

We all know the road to publication can be rough.  Long and winding.  Bumpy and bouncy.   Puddly and potholed.  I have hit roadblock after roadblock this year, and to be honest... I have been very down about it.

But I saw this graphic on Facebook today and it made me feel a little better:



It's all about managing expectations.

Conferences- A Double-Edged Sword

Once, at the Rutgers conference, a panelist (whose name has totally escaped me) said this:

Don't take rejections personally.  I've been in the business for 30 years and I've sold over 45 books and I still occasionally get a form letter!  That should make you feel better.

Or..... NOT.

We all laughed, but I think as soon as it came out of his mouth, he realized that his statement, intended to encourage us, had actually had the opposite effect on his audience. 

Yikes!  This is some tough business.  And that is the double-edged sword of attending conferences.  You can leave feeling invigorated and inspired.  But you can also walk out feeling slightly discouraged and depressed.  We picked an industry where the odds are so overwhelmingly against us.

What do you do when this industry gets you down?

I'M NOT READY!

My daughter does not do well with change.   When she was two, we got her a toddler bed.  We talked it up, and she was very excited to sleep in it.  We moved her 200 doggies and kitties from her crib to her beautiful new bed.  We moved her blanket and her special pillow.  We tucked her in.  And started to walk away...

"I'M NOT READY!"  she screamed.  "I WANT MY CRIBBY!"  So we moved all 200 doggies and kitties, blanket and pillow back to her crib and said, "We'll try again tomorrow."

This went on for months.

Two years ago, we got her a big girl bed.  It sits in the corner of her room empty.   I say to my husband,  "What's the matter with her?  She is seven and  half and insists on still sleeping in her toddler bed." 

Yesterday, I clicked on a button that said, "Try the new blogger interface now."

Two seconds later, I screamed I"M NOT READY!!!!    I WANT MY OLD INTERFACE BACK!

Imagine my surprise and relief when I saw a button that said, "Return to old interface."

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I will not be trying that new interface again for a LONG time.    Possibly not ever.

Slow as Molasses

Okay, Karma Wilson wrote a PB on a Saturday, revised it Monday, and by Wed her agent had sent it to her editor who LOVED it.

I, uh, on the other hand,  am still working on the same friggin' fractured fairy tale that I began last December!

If this were college, I'd be on the seven year plan 

Crawling along at a snail's pace, but I think I am finally (almost) at the point where my agent is happy with it.

Just need to polish up a few final spots and then, my editor should have it, by say... oh, November?