Author Archives: Jeannie Lin

Miss Snark's First Victim – Query contest

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I have to give a shout out to MSFV. Authoress’ goal is to create the “premium slush pile” and aspiring authors show up to post, give feedback, and offer advice and encouragement to each other.

I entered 250 words of Butterfly Swords in one of the Secret Agent contests and learned a lot about how to hook from page 1 by reading the comments on my entries as well as other entries. The wonderful thing is that 50 entries get a GUARANTEED agent critique. Personalized feedback is priceless.

So Authoress is at it again, this time with a query contest. You can enter your query letter and first page, but you only have until tomorrow morning at 9am EST! The entries will be critiqued by Jodi Meadows of the Rappaport agency. Check out the link for details.

http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-very-first-query-contest.html

Crashing after conference

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Little Sis just bought her house and is now going through the cycle of painting, carpeting and cleaning. She called me because she was feeling a little bit hum-drum and didn’t know why. Well, she actually did know why because we always have theories for everything. I suppose that’s why we write.

She likened it to how you always get depressed after finishing a big project. The house is finally hers, now what?

I know these things about me. I knew there would be a post-conference crash. I used up all the adrenaline stores by not sleeping, gushing over seeing and meeting so many people, and crying in the bathroom every morning because I couldn’t believe everything that was happening.

I’m finally writing again. I have no room for excuses. Little Sis says the revised 15 chapters of The Dragon and the Pearl are better, but she won’t start doing line edits until I send her the whole thing. Probably she’ll be reading it between fixing the house and settling in. What a slave driver. Love her.

Oh yeah, karma moment! I got to meet Hilary Sares who sat in front of me at the RITA/GH® awards ceremony. She was there for my chapter-mate Kimberly Killion, who was up for a Rita award. I thanked her in person for placing Silk and Seduction (aka The Dragon and the Pearl) first in the Gateway contest and requesting the full. I never got to send it to her, but it was the first time my writing got any notice from an agent or editor. And the manuscript was so very rough back then. If that’s not motivation to get these revisions done, what is?