Editorial Ass

Mentors, Muses & Monsters Finalist: Rachel Green

2009-12-19T07:40:00.000-05:00

Her Constant Companion
by Rachel Green

There is one person above all who has influence over my writing. He has mentored me through seven Harold and Jasfoup novels, the Gospel of Lucifer, a Laverstone murder-mystery, a book of Jasfoup's shorts and two collections of poetry and is with me now and every time I put pixels to digital paper.

His name? Oh yes: Earl Grey.

Not the present Earl Grey, of course, nor the 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister and author of the Reform Bill of 1832, but the tea, flavoured with bergamot oil, that bears his name.

Oh! how he woos and delights me, this tincture of leaf and oil. He is my constant companion, sending my flights of fancy souring and my two fingers tapping away at the keys in an orgy on indulgent writing, pausing every few sentences to sip from his china mug. Today's is a handspan tall with a delicate painting of a red poppy gracing the china.

-sips-

Alas, he has become cold to me, but momentarily i shall go into the kitchen and return with him piping-hot in my embrace, and we shall venture down another chapter of my latest together. Together with his recently discovered niece, Lady Grey, the book takes shape under my hands with plot twists worthy of the convoluted scent of bergamot itself. How we shall laugh and dance when the last page is written and we turn to cover design!

Oh! How we laugh.

Mentors, Muses & Monsters Finalist: Gemma

2009-12-18T07:55:00.003-05:00

Tribute to Andy
by Gemma Noon (Somewhere South of Heaven, The Literary Project)

Andy was my first real boyfriend. We were 15, invincible, naive and ambitious. He was going to be the top engineer in the country, probably work on the first deep space shuttle or something equally cool. I was going to be a writer. I'd win all sorts of prizes and be bigger than all the bestselling authors combined. We believed in each other. Nothing else mattered.

We were going to marry. Date set, ring on my finger, everything. We were 19. Then we realised it was habit and we weren't in love. I didn't write anymore. I concentrated on getting a degree and a "real" career. Andy stopped dreaming about building Starships. He focused on the machines he welded up, the guitar he played and the motorbike he loved. We grew apart, had nothing in common. After a while, I cut the ties.

A few years later, on my way back from my "real" job, I looked up and saw him through the bus window. It was a shock, and I started to think about giving him a call to catch up on old times. It felt odd, and I didn't know if he would be happy, angry or amused at any contact from me. I didn't want my friendship to be rejected. So I didn't call. I figured if we were meant to be friends, then fate would intervene.

Andy died the following day. Motobike crash, on the road where I lived. He was 23.

If it could bring him back, I would be rejected a billion times and be thankful for every single one of them. All I wanted was the chance to tell him that there were no hard feelings, that I wanted to be friends, that I missed his geekiness and the daft comments he'd come out with. He was the first person to ever have complete faith in me, and I knew that I had wasted his support and his kindness. We were never meant to be, but I am a better person for having known him.

I started to write again. It was stilted, poor, and far from publishable. There is a lot of bad poetry in there, as well as short stories that were unremarkable at best. It helped; even the bad writing helped. I don't think what I write is bad these days. I think, if he could read it, he'd think that his faith in me was vindicated. I know he'd be cheering me on, and waiting for The Call to tell him my work was about to be published.

Andy taught me that life is too short for you not to pursue your dreams. His death has taught me that if you put things off, like writing that book, making that phone call, seeing an old friend, then you'll wake up one day and it will be too late. You can't rewind time, no matter how much you might want to. He also taught me that if you don't seize the opportunities that come your way, then fate just might intervene and take them away from you for good. If you don't take risks, then you'll never achieve anything.

I'm not afraid of rejection anymore.

Mentors, Muses & Monsters Finalist: Dave Alton Dodd

2009-12-17T08:38:00.002-05:00

Something to Spit at
by David Alton Dodd (refriedgringo)

She would spit much like a boy would do, and it reminded me of when I played baseball, of how we would all spit sometimes. I couldn’t remember her name for anything, even then and certainly not now. Our only encounters were either in class or after class with a bunch of other students. She was quiet and not very remarkable in any particular way; there was the short curly hair and the deep brown eyes and nothing attractive or unattractive about her. But outside she spit, often and unembarrassed by it, and after a while I thought it to be quite an awesome display of rude behavior.

"How do you do it?" I asked her one time.

"What?"

"You know, come up with stories like that. Where do you get them from?"

She shrugged. "I don’t know." And she then became interested in something else.

It is the only conversation I remember having with her. She studied people, and seemed to notice everything. I am quite certain that she has never thought of me in all of these years, but I have thought of her, especially in the last ten years or so. She was a natural. She was an amazing young lady and I have often wondered why I never saw her face on the inside jacket-cover of a book at some point.

* * *

It never occurred to me that I should be a writer someday, I was too busy investing my time in studies and activities and work that would never wind up leading me toward anything I even remotely enjoyed. When I was a teenager, my mother gave me her old black Underwood manual typewriter with the round keys, and since I had spare time in those days I would pound out very bad chapters for what would have been a very bad novel. It was fun. Halfway through high school I lost interest in the story and in the typewriter. And then came college.

My original major was music. I was a good musician and performed in a rock band and wrote maybe one hundred songs before I was old enough to legally drink alcohol. I had a knack for picking off easy college course electives, and since the college permitted it, I took creative writing poetry for the maximum three semesters. I remember some people smoking in class near an open window and the professor didn’t seem to mind. We would read our poetry aloud and others would comment on it. One guy actually showed up with bongo drums one day to accompany his poetry. I can’t remember the professor’s name, but she was a very sweet lady letting us do just about anything in the name of poetry.

In that fourth semester, for some easy credits I enrolled in creative writing fiction. The professor of that course was the department head in English, a kind gentleman who smoked a pipe. He wrote book reviews for the Los Angeles Times, and often shared them with us. I had no designs on writing, but I was easily able to turn in enough short stories to satisfy the requirements. The professor was kind to me with his grading of my work, and my work was horrible. Even at the time I couldn’t imagine how or why he liked it.

* * *

Not long after that semester was complete, I had managed to knock up my girlfriend – chronic endometriosis be damned. I quit school and married her and pursued steady employment in the engineering field. It was a miserable marriage and quick divorce came with no surprise. But by then, whatever career I wanted in music was an afterthought. I began to drink, a lot, every evening after work I would narrowly avoid trouble and somehow manage to get home. I needed something to occupy my free time.

I noticed the advertisement for a sports writer, part time in the evenings, and thought it to be a perfect diversion. I set up an interview, which did not go so swell at first. The sports editor asked me about my journalistic experience, of which there was none and he frowned. I told him that I could write and offered to prove it. He pulled out from his desk drawer an old clipping, a box score of a football game. I sat at a console and hammered out a story in about fifteen minutes, based on the statistics and my imagination.

He hired me on the spot.

That job kept me out of trouble in the evenings, and I was grateful for it. It didn’t pay much, but my day job was okay, and there were times it was a lot of fun. I would attend a sporting event in the press box and possibly interview coaches and players and then zoom back to the office and write a story to beat the deadline. It wasn’t writing, I never considered it as such. It was a game, much like the games I covered.

It didn’t take even a year until I wanted to write an article that they refused to print. The article was honest, and I had my facts straight, but they didn’t feel it would be in the best interest of the community readership. I quit a week later. I remember thinking about that young lady with the curly hair and wondering if maybe that was the same reason I had never seen her work after I left college. Maybe someone did that to her, too.

* * *

A couple of years later would find me married once again, this time living in Mexico. I worked in the United States of America, and was often used for my writing skills along side my ability to generally figure out mechanical problems. But it still never occurred to me that I should write until I began a journal on the internet, until people started to tell me that I was any good at all. What did I want to tell them? That they should have met this girl I went to college with, how wonderful her stories were.

The teacher, the head of the English department, would read her work to us back in that class. We all knew it was hers. We all knew she was a natural-born writer, if there is such a thing. And we were all so lucky to have been in that audience. I think about her now, and she is why I write. I figure that if I haven’t seen her face for all of these years, then perhaps she’s a musician and I should be the writer. I’ll never be as good as she is, but at least I have something to shoot for, or perhaps, something to spit at.

I actually sold some writing along the way, which is encouraging. But I know if I sell novels, then one of those novels will have a character, a female, with curly hair and dark eyes, spitting whenever she is outdoors. It’s appropriate. And should she somehow discover that novel and read it and contact me about it, then I will invite her to trade places with me, because she is the storyteller. To have written a story about her would have been enough.

- David Alton Dodd 12/11/09 (aka refriedgringo)

Mentors, Muses & Monsters Contest Results!

2009-12-16T21:50:00.001-05:00

I said I was going to post results on Monday, but now I'm going to make everyone doubt my identity as an editor at all by being AHEAD of deadline.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! It was a real pleasure reading all the entries. It's a trite thing to say, but it's true--I did not really enjoy having to narrow down the list. (Insert pity party here.)

Ultimately, I decided on one winner and five finalists. This was because I had only one copy of the prize (the signed copy of the book that inspired the contest, which I have also pictured here to add visual variety to my ordinarily text-heavy posts). Also because I find "deciding" things to be very difficult, so this would be an exercise of spiritual/character growth for me.

There were some very funny and heinous monster stories, but I guess I must have been in a pretty sappy mood when I was judging (which is a risk you run with me) because it appears I tended more toward tearful and/or heartwarming mentors and muses stories.

Without further ado...

Finalists (in no order at all):
David Alton Dodd
Gemma
Rachel Green
Peter Cooper
Merry Monteleone

Grand Prize:
Rachel Stewart

I'm going to publish one finalist a day for the next six days, starting tomorrow morning, so that everyone can enjoy. Winners, please let me know if there's a blog link you want me to embed in the post. Also, Rachel S, please send me a good mailing address so I can pop your signed book in the mail.

Thanks again for making this wonderful fun for me. Hope everyone else had fun, too!

Mentors, Muses & Monsters contest closed!!

2009-12-15T23:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks everybody for the fabulous entries! I have a lot of reading to do :) I think I'll announce the finalists Monday and post the winners next week.

Thanks again! Hope everyone had fun.

Happy Heartbreak (Or, On Losing a Beloved Author to Someone Else)

2009-12-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

There comes a point in one's career as an editor at a small press when one's beloved authors are taken away from one by other more famous presses with more money.

One is both stupefied by the tragedy, and kind of flattered.

On the one hand, one loved that author as madly as one is wont to love one's authors. One feels horrifically jealous of the new editor who will be usurping this intimate creative role, and also feels (if unfairly) vaguely betrayed by this once-beloved author to whom little things like money, power, and career success matter more than your expert advice. One can't help but feel that way, even when one would have totally advised the same author as a friend to take the (much) bigger offer.

On the other hand, one can console oneself that one was a vital stepping stone in this author's career. If one had not thrown one's heart and soul into making the author's last book everything it possibly could be, perhaps the author wouldn't have caught the attention of this new, more moneyed publisher. Perhaps the author would still be a midlist, small press, or debut author. So this is in fact a triumph for one as well. One will be able to say, "Oh, Huge Star? I totally discovered Huge Star. Yeah, that was me. Those were the days." And it will totally all be worthwhile.

Yes. These are happy little tears. Sniff.

Contest entries due tomorrow!

2009-12-14T08:21:00.002-05:00

Rules here in case you misplaced them.

You still have 36 hours to send in your tales of inspiration and horror about a person who changed your path to becoming a writer. Thanks to everyone who's already submitted!

contest reminder

2009-12-11T15:24:00.002-05:00

Happy Hanukkah! May all who are celebrating have a peaceful and well-fed time with family. Not being Jewish, I am making a gingerbread house this weekend instead. But if you are not doing either of those things, and are at a loose end, you can spend ALL WEEKEND working on your Mentors, Muses & Monsters contest entry. Rules here.

(Don't worry, busy folks, you still have until Tuesday.)

let's all make fun of Jason Mraz!

2009-12-11T10:15:00.002-05:00

JES sent me this video of a hilarious kid mock-covering Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" on a ukelele.

Yes, the video's funny, but now I'm going to get all nerdy about it. Can I also just point out that this kid is a freakin' genius? I have no idea how old he is, but the ukelele playing is dang tootin'. And he's either a genius at comedy--making fun of the sentiment of the song with the facial expressions? Mocking the intent by reducing the lyrics to blah blah blahs?--or a genius at music--ignoring the lyrics entirely but somehow catching the every little inflection, like he's deaf to everything but the music?--or both.

You go, little genius uke kid.

Christmas Carol for Queriers

2009-12-10T19:09:00.002-05:00

Miss Snark's First Victim had a writerly Christmas carol re-writing contest, and Janet Reid sharply identified this entry as pants-wettingly funny.

Here are the rest of the entries; pretty hilarious all around.

Robert the Publisher's Gem of the Day

2009-12-10T12:41:00.002-05:00

RtP: Book contracts should be embarked upon like marriages. As Jane Austen shows us, every woman is best served in marriage by saying no at the beginning. The men as, the women say no, the men have to try again with better offers; all end up happy. And everyone knows Jane Austen would serve for almost anything.

finally, a round-up list that's interesting!

2009-12-09T07:11:00.002-05:00

Here's the Guardian's "Books of the Decade" column, in case you didn't catch it elsewhere. It's interesting because it doesn't make claims about which books were best, but rather which books were influential, and speculates on why particular books got attention at particular points. There is one "winner" and several runners-up for each year, 2000-2009.

It's a teensy bit British-skewed, but not so much that it's irrelevant to non-Brits.

Let me know your thoughts.

Writer Question: An editor requested my manuscript at a conference. What should my expectations be?

2009-12-08T08:00:00.004-05:00

Someone wrote in:

Dear Moonrat,

I have a conundrum. I was at a writers' conference and an editor from a house I really admire asked for my manuscript! Obviously I was thrilled. I sent along all my materials as soon as I got back to my house. More than a month has passed now, though, and I haven't heard a peep. What should I do? What's the protocol in a situation like this?

Thanks,

XXX

First, are you asking me if it's ok to follow up? Sure. A great rule for follow-up with an editor on requests is one month. Less than one month and you're psycho and annoying. But once you reach the 32nd day, you're totally in the clear.

Edited to add: Please note: this is apparently not an industry standard. Below is Janet Reid's comment that 90 days is the minimum wait time before it's appropriate to call. Perhaps this has to do with how long I expect to be allowed to consider proposals from agents; I can see why agents need much longer to consider, since they don't have any third party sifting through proposals for them. Other agent/editor friends, do you agree? 90 days?

As for the best way to follow up, email. Don't call. (Here's why if you're curious why using the phone is the worst idea in the world.)

But there's another issue at the heart of this story, and it's one that comes up for everyone who attends a conference and meets with an editor. There's no agent in the equation. This means you're in a very weak negotiating position. There's no one but lonely you to apply pressure on the editor, and there's no pressure on the editor except a random unrepresented author with no other competitive prospects. Since you haven't submitted widely, there is zero chance of an auction or competitive bidding scenario, and furthermore, if a contract is issued, you'll probably end up with a contract that's a lot less favorable to you than it would have been if you'd been in a stronger negotiating position at the beginning.

Here's my post, which you've already read and are certainly tired of, about why you should have an agent before you submit to a publishing company. Now a conference connection is a very special scenario--of course you should follow up on that contact! But keep trying to get an agent. In the worst case scenario, the editor passes, you're back and square one and might as well go about the rest of your journey in as strong and forward-thinking a manner as possible. In the (supposed) best-case scenario, the editor offers on the book, you still need an agent to help you negotiate the contract (and also to figure out whether you want to take the deal, or hold out for something that might be a better fit for you and your book).

Hope this helped.

contest reminder

2009-12-07T19:31:00.001-05:00

One week left to submit! Mentors, Muses & Monsters contest rules

Gravity's Rainbow Read-Along: Week 11 (p 701-776)

2009-12-07T05:26:00.000-05:00

WE DID IT!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who read along with the #gravrain people--I never would have made it through this book without a team of people spurring me forward (and I don't use the word "never" hyperbolically here).

So (tear) our last Gravity's Rainbow chat... thoughts/feelings?

and the Sylvester Antonio saga comes to a most satisfactory conclusion!!

2009-12-06T23:34:00.003-05:00

Of course you remember Sylvester Antonio, my diabolically clever kitchen mouse.

Well, today, after months of avoiding all the exterminator's best-laid plans, the little bugger trapped HIMSELF in our cylindrical garbage can (easy to climb into, way hard to jump out of). That's what he gets for being greedy!!

This means I was able to lift the plastic bag out of the can, walk the squirming fellow downstairs, and free him in the street. The RM wanted to spray him with Fantastik or something equally inhumane--their mutual struggle was rather more painful for the Rally Monkey than for Sylvester Antonio, and alas grudges that deep are hard to fight--but I prevailed. So:

a) Sylvester Antonio is no longer living with us rent-free!
b) nobody died! (at least, not in my kitchen; whether Sylvester Antonio can outsmart the neighborhood cats is now his problem)

Which, I think, really brings us back to Lou Monte.

contest reminder

2009-12-04T19:32:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder that I'm having a contest! Rules here:

Mentors, Muses & Monsters contest rules

I've had some great entries already, and can't wait to see more!! A fertile topic, indeed :)

for the last several weeks

2009-12-04T09:46:00.003-05:00

I've been sharing my apartment with three other people, none of whom (for various reasons) have to get up and go to work in the morning.

You can imagine how sad it is at 7:45 in the morning, sitting in my common room in only the rainbow glow of my beatifically winking Christmas tree, lacing my shoes in the dark to the choir of snores from three peacefully sleeping people.

It makes a girl feel justified in eating pudding for breakfast.

What Can I Expect of My Agent?

2009-12-03T07:57:00.003-05:00

Ok, we've done my descriptions of my dream author as well as what I think you, an author, should be able to expect of your editor. After much ado and reflection, it seems silly to me that we haven't done a comparable post for agents.

I have worked with many agents, and have seen many different agent styles. Some, although totally opposite each other, are equally successful. There are a spectrum of ideal relationships, but there are also some absolutes. Let's start with those.

Full Fiscal Disclosure
You are an author whose property is making your agent money (however much or little it may be). That means that if you ask for a financial record of your account--how much your royalties have earned out, what fees have been deducted from your earnings--your agent should furnish said account with little to no dilly-dallying. Agents do run businesses and may have payment schedules that you will have to respect, but you are

a) entitled to your money eventually (if maybe it's not right this second immediately payable, you should at least know what is forthcoming and when)

b) free and open (and timely) information about what monies are owed to you by your publisher or any other entity.

For most agents, this goes without saying. Duh. But yeah, there are some shady players in the game. I told this story many years ago, and now can't find a record to it, but one of my authors discovered only by asking me point-blank when I let him know we were reissuing his book that his first edition had earned out. His agent had been telling him it hadn't made any royalties that period for the last 15 years, thereby exempting her from having to send royalty statements. Meanwhile she was keeping his money, and has now disappeared. Crappy, I'd say.

It doesn't happen often, but I gotta put it out there.

Comfortable Communication
You should not be afraid to talk to your agent. You shouldn't feel entitled to harass your agent 24/7, as in theory she has other clients, but you can't be afraid to reach out to her if you have a question. You should also expect straight and honest answers to those questions.

Some agents have policies of sheltering their clients from bad news, since their clients are less hardened by business. Other agents believe in 100% honesty, and forward editor rejections verbatim. Some tailor their strategy to their client's personalities. Both ways are excellent ways... for different groups of people. You may be the client who needs the kid gloves, or you may be the client who functions better with straight information. It doesn't matter! Both kinds of authors are wonderful human beings. What does matter is that your style matches your agent's, so that no unnecessary frustrations are introduced into your relationship.

How will you know your agent's communication style before signing? ASK! Now's a great time to practice how you're going to communicate together.

Your agent probably won't be your best friend--it is, mostly, a business relationship. But sometimes she will be. I do know of some agent/author relations that are characterized by so much camaraderie that they are basically constantly in touch, so I'm not judging you if that's your thing. The point is, don't have expectations about how intimate you'll be with each other. But do be very, very able to communicate with each other. A fantastic agent whose communication style doesn't mesh with yours may actually be a bad agent for you. It's worth thinking about.

Frequently Asked Questions
Other areas are grayer, and I can't give definitive yeses or nos. But here are some factors that may be relevant to your case, and which you should take into consideration at the onset.

Should I expect to sign an agency contract?
Not necessarily. Agencies, in my experience, run 50/50 on this. Some work with an author on a per-book basis, others work on a career development arc. But have the agent lay out all these policies for you at the onset. Don't be afraid to ask what their programs are for other clients.

Should I expect my agent to line edit my book?
No, you should not expect it. Some agents do edit, and some specialize in editing. Many of my favorite agents are real top-notch editors, and the manuscript comes to me looking as shiny as a newly minted penny. But some agents specialize in marketing, publicity, and contacts. They may not do any editing at all. Again, both methods have their merits; I know awesome agents on both ends of the spectrum. But you may be an author who needs more editing, or you may be an author who needs a more dynamic marketing force behind you.

Be honest with yourself--or have someone else be honest with you!--about how much editing your manuscript needs pre-submission. The reason I say this is if your manuscript is pretty rough and it turns out you have an agent who submits stuff as-is, you may find yourself getting rejected by houses that would have taken you seriously if the manuscript were cleaner.

Should I expect my agent to submit my book right away?
Well, yes, your agent needs to submit your book at some point; otherwise are they your agent? However, don't be hogtied by timeframe. Some agents edit or work on submissions lists for months. Do you want an agent who's going to submit right away? (Because that may or may not be good for your particular book, depending on a lot of factors.) But this is something you should certainly talk about at the beginning--what the submission plan is.

Should I expect my agent to submit my book widely?
No, not necessarily. A submission program varies from book to book, genre to genre. But my personal belief is that you should be able to talk this through with your agent beforehand, and she should be able to explain what her plan is and why.

Should I expect my agent to share the submission list with me?
My personal belief is yes, a client deserves to know who is reviewing their manuscript. Some agents are reluctant to share this information fully with clients; I imagine it has to do with not wanting to jeopardize editor relationships if a client has a freak-out and does inappropriate contacting.

Should I expect my agent to share all the editor responses with me?
Which way do you prefer? Talk it through at the beginning.

Should I expect my agent to pick up the tab?
Again, this varies from agency to agency. Typically, agencies will bill clients--after the client has earned money, that is--for the following things (and ONLY the following things): postage; expedited mail; photocopying. If your agent is billing you for other things than those, look twice at your statement. Some agents don't even bill for those things. Either way, remember it IS your money (see above) so there should be full disclosure about the fees you're being charged if fees are being charged.

NB it is NEVER ok for an agent to charge an editorial or publicity fee to a client unless that has been negotiated beforehand, and even then we're on shady ground. It is against AAR regulations for an agent to charge you any fees that have not been fully disclosed beforehand, and furthermore, things like freelance editing or freelance publicity that take place in the same establishment that is repping your project constitute huge conflicts of interest. Also, it is never appropriate to charge reading fees or representation fees--your agent will work on commission, as set forth in your agency agreement (if you don't have a contract with your agent, the agency agreement will be in a clause in your contract with your publisher), and will take a pre-determined portion of your earnings after the book is sold based on how much it sold for. If an agent is asking for other fees pre-acquisition, do snooping to see what other people think about that (but to me, I'm hard-pressed to see how that's not shady).

I'm not going to take a specific position on whether or not it's appropriate to charge pre-negotiated additional fees for specialist colleagues to edit or work on publicity for a book, because I know of a couple (not many) agents I work with who do this and seem to be genuinely providing services they wouldn't be able to on their regular commission, but even in the best of cases it makes me a little nervous. It is a practice prone to abuse (as you can probably guess from all the blog reading you've done). If an agent tells you you need a freelance editor to go through your book before it's ready to submit (which a lot of people do), it seems more kosher to me if the editor is not someone who works for the agent or on their payroll. Ya?

In fact, many agents have specialists who work in the agency on client books for no additional fees--remember the agency will profit from the success of your book. Some great agents have marketing managers to help develop projects at zero additional fee to the clients. Not every agent can afford that, but it makes a lot of sense for the ones who can, doesn't it?

Let me know if this is clear as mud or what, or if I can flesh out/develop. Also, agents, please chime in with yays or nays.

Wednesday poll

2009-12-02T10:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is strictly for my personal edification here. But we boobs who work in publishing companies always talk about ebooks as if we have any idea what the heck we're talking about, and... most of us don't. I just wanted to collect some data.

Which of these best describes your relationship with ebooks/ereaders? (Ps below "device" means a Kindle, Sony reader, or whatever similar apparatus you might read books on.)

Thanks for playing!

Gravity's Rainbow Read-Along: Week 10 (p 631-700)

2009-11-30T05:23:00.001-05:00

Oh, we're so close...

Am I crazy for being worried about what we should read yet?

Any takers on another read-along?

All right, let me rephrase. This is my blog, and I write about stuff I'm doing. And I'm usually reading. But it's more interesting (to me, and probably to you) to write about what I'm reading when other people are reading it, too. Because I'm kinda co-dependent. So who wants to help me nurture my co-dependence?

Anyone want to propose candidates?

Oh yes, also, what did people think of this week's pages?

prolonged food coma.

2009-11-28T19:09:00.000-05:00

blub.

Mentors, Muses, Monsters (CONTEST!!)

2009-11-27T09:39:00.001-05:00

On Monday night, Angelle and I went to a reading/conversation with five of the contributors of MENTORS, MUSES & MONSTERS, the book from which that spectacular Alexander Chee essay came from a couple weeks ago (I blogged about it here).

I had already fallen in love with Alex's essay, and then I saw the list of very heavy hitters who had contributed to the collection. It seems pretty obvious that most writers have been supremely affected by someone--a writing tutor, a writing group leader, a professor, a high school English teacher. Some one person changed everyone's path.

The conversation about the book was great, but also it inspired me to host a contest! Which we haven't done since the movie mash-up, which was a mashing success.

I know there are tons of writers reading this... I hope you'll play :)

The contest: Create a tribute to (or a character assassination of) someone who contributed significantly (positively or negatively) to your path toward becoming a writer.

Rules: Email me at moonratty@gmail.com your submission in the body of an email. (No attachments please.) The submissions can be any length you like, but please keep in mind I have a fairly short attention span, and that submissions may be judged accordingly. The submissions may be prose, verse, acrostic, or whatever other verbal form inspires you.

Submissions due: December 15, 2009, at 11 pm EST

Prize: One hardcover copy of MENTORS, MUSES & MONSTERS, signed by Elizabeth Benedict, Lily Tuck, Alexander Chee, Martha Southgate, and Mary Gordon. Also, the winner and the finalists (a number I have yet to determine) will be posted on Editorial Ass (so your submission will be considered permission for me to do so).

I think maybe I'll write one, too. I know exactly who it will be about.

Hope you'll play!

Annual Sappy Thanksgiving Message

2009-11-26T08:42:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday because it's just like Christmas, only without any religious connotations or monetary burden vis a vis present-exchanging. In other words, it's about gorging yourself like a pig with family and/or friends. 'At's what I'm talking about. For those who are not US Americans, I urge you to consider embracing this fine holiday. If you'd like to escape American colonial connotations, consider renaming it "Stuff Your Face Day" or something. (And let me know when you're celebrating; I'll totally show up with the Death by Chocolate.)

As usual, I would like to post an Annual Sappy Thanksgiving Message. Here goes.

My senior year in college, I didn't really have my act together. I suddenly realized that although I wanted to work in publishing, I hadn't really taken good steps in that direction. Haphazardly, I managed to secure an internship at a literary agency, working under the supervision of the agency's assistant.

I won't say her name here--if you're really curious, she's one of the people thanked in the acknowledgments in Junot Diaz's BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, which just shows me I'm not the only one whose life she's affected. But this woman changed my life. She went out of her way to demonstrate and instruct me on tasks, instead of just having me read slush. She had me accompany her on errands, so I could see multiple facets of the ass(istant) lifestyle. She gave me invaluable advice on career development, name-collecting, personal organization, and etiquette. She practice-interviewed me and taught me to write thank-you notes (whoda thunk?). She invited me to industry networking parties, where I met a number of inspiring, hard-working young men and women, many of whom I still work with frequently today. One of these women she introduced me to happened to know of an opening for an editorial assistant in her company--this would become my first job. The agency assistant wrote my recommendation.

This isn't the end of what she did. When I got the job fresh out of college, I quit my internship, of course. Even though she no longer had anything to gain from me (if she ever did), she helped me through the very difficult transition. She literally allowed me to live on her couch (for zero rent) with her and her fiance for six weeks until I was able to find an apartment.

Perhaps most importantly, she paid me the one compliment in my life that has meant more than any other. I was very bummed about a specific thing in my life that hadn't gone well, and she said something to console me that, to this day, if things are going really bad, I still think of to make myself feel better.

This woman, who did all this stuff for me, is no longer in publishing. Unfortunately, after she left New York, we lost touch. She is doing something else that I hope is making her happy--it seems, from some online stalking, that she's doing very well.

I'm a great believer in karma. And I can't pay this woman back at this point in my life for everything she did for me. So, when I remember to, I try to pay it forward. She gave me so much advice and untiring support that I'm not sure that I would have gotten a job (or deserved one) without everything she did. That's one of the reasons I blog; besides tapping into my flagrant exhibitionism and offering a sense of community to someone who's a bit of, um, well, a community-seeker, blogging also offers me an opportunity to try to pay back/forward some of my advice debt. I've been a part of the alumnae mentorship program at my alma mater for two years now, and I try to pay special attention to the interns who pass through my clutches.

The thing about paying it forward is that it's never enough. I mean, however much I can try to be helpful and available to other people, that can't *make up* for the fact that I ever got a job in the first place. But I can try, when I remember.

So today, I'm thankful to this particular women, and the many ways she changed my life. I'm also thankful to anyone who's ever asked a blog question here, because you're helping me chip at that karma.

Thank you~

what book(s) are you reading over Thanskgiving weekend?

2009-11-25T08:53:00.002-05:00

(Sorry, UK friends, but take a day off in solidarity if you like!)

I'm bringing the following books to my parents':

-Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
-Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan
-Ash, Melinda Lo
-The Lottery, Shirley Jackson

(this isn't to say I'll finish all or any, but I'm sure I'll read at least part of some!)

How about you? Leave me comments!