MY HEAD IS FULL OF ROTTEN SLUGS

Morning, all:

Like the title of this piece? It exactly describes the way my brain feels, but, and this is hard to believe of my darling granddaughters, they cooked up that charming little announcement and delivered it with great glee, "He, he, he, Granny, your head is full of rotten slugs, he, he, ho, ho."

PIA said....

What did Pia say? Just managed to erase the question. I warned you about the rotten slugs....

I remember, sortof. Pia wants to know if we see any Quill books as movies.

Yes, all of them, of course:)

However, most books would be too expensive to make. Multiple characters, multiple locations, multiple plot lines. Have you noticed that movies tend to be linear? The casts are pretty limited (no, you can't count films of musicals with chorus lines) and unless the cast is going to rake in 40 or so mil. in the first week of release, we don't see too many locale changes.

I want to see Ratatouille!

Kate said...
This is for all the authors here ... I'm curious ... do you think that most romance novelists marry their ideals?As cheesy as this will sound, I read "The Diamond Tiger" at a fairly young age (13) and from then on got stuck on this heroic ideal that I wanted as a partner. EVERYONE told me "Kate, men like that don't exist. They're just in books" Well ... I waited, and I waited, and I waited some more. And then I met him - just like that, out of the blue. We'll be getting married next year. And, now, I like to rub it in to everyone who said to me that men like that don't exist ... because he does. So, I was wondering if all romance novelists have this experience of having a certain ideal or standard, and then not wavering from that until they meet him. Like I said, it might be cheesy ... but reading these books made me avoid a lot of bad relationships, and stick to my standard of what I wanted. So, I always wondered if the novelists themselves had a similar experience. Thanks!

KATE....
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
If I hadn't met one of "those" men, I wouldn't have married. I have seen plenty of miserable relationships that beat one or both partners down and all I can say is, "No thanks."

Good for you--you stuck to your standards.

Jerry is, above all, my best friend. I have never loved another man, or wanted to be with another man for life. I was blessed to meet him.

KARENDE said....
Okay, I have a question.How does one go about finding an agent? I’ve been to workshops [longer ago than I care to admit] and read all the ‘how to’ manuals I could find, and they all boil down to the following:1. Check the dedications by your favorite authors. Many of them include an agent.And this does what? Give one a name so one can write a letter to Jane Doe, Somewhere, USA?2. Check the various writer’s markets.Those give addresses of publications, not agents. Every one I’ve written to, and there have been a lot over the years, either say ‘You don’t meet our current guidelines’ or ‘We aren’t accepting unsolicited manuscripts. Get an agent.’3. Go to the local library and look at The Literary Marketplace.I could do that, but all I’d see would be a gray blur. Certainly no words.4. Get a subscription to LMP on line.Not in my budget, not at around 350.00/year.5. Get a subscription to Poets & Writers, they have ads for agencies.I had one for a number of years, and I’d like to again, but what’s the use of having it when I can’t read it? It’s not one of the recorded magazines [either free or by paid subscription], and judging by The Writer, which is, it would include only the articles and no ads. I called P&W to see if they had any plans for a recorded version or an on line version, and the answer was a resounding NO. I even had a subscription long ago to the New York Review of Books, which was marginally helpful, but again, why bother now when I can’t read it?6. Talk to any of one’s friends who write.BTDT. All the answers I’ve gotten reiterate the preceding, with the exception of those who did vanity publications.7. Go to conferences.Much as I'd like to, I can't, and money - while important - isn't the main reason.Any suggestions?karibear

Karibear--you sound completely defeated. So, first step...up you get, slap a smile on your face (smiling does improve your mood) and join RWA. It's easy and it's not disgustingly expensive like some of the options you've named. You will still hear all of your quoted suggestions, but there will be others, and you will have opportunities to meet agents at local, non-costly, conferences.
If you've had a number of agent rejections that state, "your material doesn't...." take notice because you need to find out what kind of material these people do represent. Then you either work to make your work fit, or do one of the searches you hate to find one who does.

I did them all--and hated it--but it was absolutely essential. Without information you are shark bait.

RANURGIS said....
Since I don't intend to write a book, I have a different sort of question.Is there someone in your family background who was a writer or otherwise more "creative" type of person? That includes other family members like uncles, aunts or cousins.For those who have children, what about them? Did they get a creative gene or are you the writer blogging here the only one in your whole family bitten by the creative bug?

Creative family here. Singers, would-be actors, one talented painter. Children: A hopeful writer, a fabulous cook, a homeschooling mom (this takes more talent than I could hope to have).

DFender said...
Oooohhhhh... I have so many things I'd love to ask and as I have no idea where to start I'll just say thank you so much, all of you, for taking the time to do this. Whatta great treat! *walks off mumbling and thinking*Happy Monday!Deb

Thank you so much, Deb.

DEE FROM AUSTRALIA said:
do you feel that you have grown as a author?

Yes. I don't think I would keep writing if I weren't always experimenting and giving myself greater challenges. And I've learned so much. I remember the first book I wrote, the story is clear to me although I don't reread books in print. I'm sure that if I did read the story again, my red pen would be flashing, not because the story stinks, but because I didn't have the technical background then.

MARCIE said...
Do your non-writing friends understand your frustrations or joy when you talk about your stories? Or do they give you the vacant stares and polite smiles?

You're a writer, I think:) Once I would talk about writing with my non-writer friends but I decided a long time ago that although people are usually interested in what people do--to a point--any topic that doesn't wiggle your fancy gets boring very quickly.

STELLA SAYS:
I'm going to answer all these lovely questions in segments. Why? Deadline hell. I know I'm not the only one around here but, hey, my head is full of rotten slugs...
Be happy, healthy, and hopeful,

Stella