Today is my birthday :) EEP! Yay :) I even published this post at 7:12 AM (Central time). (This is an Emergency Thursday Post, by the way.)
A depressing confession to make:
A few moths ago after I just finished the first draft of my MS, I had come to the decision that I would have a literary agent by this day. It was my resolution. Obviously, revisions came into play, and for seven months, I revised and edited. So I changed my resolution. I changed it to: My MS would be in the hands of a few agents who requested the material. I would have requests at least.
But this didn't happen at all. I clung to one last hope but it disappeared, and now, that MS, the one I love, is sitting and resting for a few months, so I can get a fresh eye one it.
Obviously, my resolutions failed. Utterly. In all intents and purposes, I did not accomplish anything that I set out to do over the last seven months. I was a hopeless case, and I was a failure.
But the thing about being a writer is this: It is all about the journey. These past seven months have been amongst the most rewarding months of my life, where I met amazing people on Agent Query Connect and where I achieved so much in my writing. In the past seven months, I met so many great people in Twitter, on QueryTracker, on contests, even on blogs (especially on blogs). Writers are the most amazing people I have ever met. Their compassion and support when things get so dark, so dreary, and so hard, mean the world to me.
My MS is so strong right now, stronger than it ever could have been if I did not meet the amazing people that I did in the last seven months. This time period has been amazing. I would not trade the experiences, the hardships, and above all, the people, for all the agents in the world (I can't believe I just said that). Becoming a writer, even an unpublished one, has been the best thing in my life. I don't think I failed in the resolution I had made for my birthday. I am a writer now. And I feel like one too.
So, after all that sentimentality, I racked my brains for a fun contest to do on my birthday, and here it is :)
A contest! Here it is:
1. In the comments below (using the Rafflecopter), post something such as:
a) A special, funny, memorable, etc. moment about any birthday you had.
b) A great memory of any birthday you or anyone had.
c) (The fun one) A reason you gave your book's character the birthday he/she has.
For me, I gave Alphi the birthday of the Spring Equinox, because that is the day of change from the dreary, pain and death of winter to the hope of spring. (I gave her love interest the Autumn Equinox for the opposite reason but with summer, hehe.)
The prizes:
You must be a follower of this blog to enter.
The Rafflecopter will pick five people to win, randomly! And the prizes are (specify which you would like in the comments below, along with the birthday thingy above):
1. A query critique to put on this blog.
2. A first 250 word critique (to put on this blog).
3. A birthday memory you would love to write and share (to put on this blog).
4. Any birthday thoughts you have, relating to writing or just life (put on this blog).
5. A shout out?
6. A intercomputer hug?
If you think up any other prizes, tell me in the comments and I'm sure we'll work it out :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
(Can I just say how much I LOVE the Rafflecopter website? This is my first time using it, and it was the easiest thing in the world. I'm not kidding. And I suck at technology. That website is the first and only business that I ever voluntarily sent a praise email to.)
Thanks guys! You are seriously, the best :)
You may love Rafflecopter, but is the link supposed to look like that, SC...? (:
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! I know just how you feel. I finished the first draft of Flame Dancer in 8th grade, actually, and thought I'd have an agent before the school year was out. I was heartbroken when I got rejection after rejection, and someone finally helped me out and told me I'd have to EDIT. I can't believe I hadn't found AQC until now!
Ooh. I gave one of my main characters the birthday of January 1st, somewhat for the same reason as Alphi: To symbolize letting go of the old and embracing new beginnings. January 1st is supposed to be a great, happy day; but the character is actually rather dark and secluded, another reason I gave it to him: for irony. (:
I'd also choose 3 or 6 somewhere in there... (;
Happy Birthday! I felt very in the dark when I learned there was a whole community of stressed out authors trying to publish! Then, I felt happy. :) A wonderful world of weirdos. hehe
ReplyDeleteMy 17th birthday was the best. I had spent a lot of time complaining prior because I didn't have a sweet 16. I spent the week at my dad's with my sister and cousin. My mom ordered flowers to ship to his house for me. Then, when I got home, they had thrown together a surprise party for me!
Happy birthday! Hey, you did everything you could to make it happen. The rest is out of your control.
ReplyDeleteDidn't give my character a birthday. Best I can offer is my twenty-first birthday. Friends took me out and got me drunk. (Easy to do, as I don't drink often.) Some girl was flirting with me so I decided to make my move. Leaned on the table a little too hard. It went down. So did I. Never did get to talk to that girl.
Happy Birthday! Hope you have a wonderful one! And maybe the gift of a new WIP will be a refreshing one.
ReplyDeleteI gave my MC the birthday of 8/15. As you already know, I LOVELOVELOVE Lost. Like, a lot. There are so many hidden Lost references in my MS, including this one. 815 was the flight number of the Oceanic flight that crashed on the island.
Happy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteKeep your chin up. I get the feeling that MS was your very first. VERY few people EVER sell their first MS. (At least, not immediately. Maybe after they've sold other books. I still haven't sold my first one! And will be self-pubbing it after it's been completely rewritten.)
Growing as a writer and learning, meeting people you can learn from...that really is the biggest, most important aspect of being an author these days. So many opportunities are out there for us now, too. Having an agent is still a great way, but not the ONLY way.
Good luck with your new MS. :)
Happy Birthday buddy! I hope you have a good one today. Nice blog post, and nice interview with Kela. =)
ReplyDeleteACK I FORGOT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS!
Deletea) A special, funny, memorable, etc. moment about any birthday you had.
I loved when I first tuned double digits because I was able to say I turned double digits. XD And I had a really fun childhood, so turning 10 was the best day ever. I think I got The Nightmare Before Christmas (twice) because my birthday is on Halloween. Of course, we all got to trick or treat after the party.
b) A great memory of any birthday you or anyone had.
A great memory was going to Tahoe for my 21st birthday and trying a martini for the first time. It tasted like crap, but boy did it effect my body and help out with gambling in the casinos. lol
c) (The fun one) A reason you gave your book's character the birthday he/she has.
My character doesn't have a birthday; none of them do. I just randomly say how old they are and let time pass.
Happy Birthday!!! I hope you have an AWESOME day and a wonderful year to come. I know how you've been feeling about Alphi's book, but I think letting it sit will do some good. I also think the wip will be good for you. And just so you know...I thought I'd have queried a ton of agents by now for CWL and I haven't yet, so now worries-it happens. Things can't always work out the way we plan, and sometimes that's good. :)
ReplyDeleteMy characters all got birthdays like this: I took the months and days of my family, friends, and my birthday and I scrambled them around. I have tons of fun birthday moments. When my niece turned one, she threw cake at all of us. When my youngest turned one she smashed her hand into her special tiny cake I'd made and then she cried. My youngest hates to be dirty and she has since the day she was born. So getting cake all over her was not very exciting for her. And for me, the most memorable birthday was my 16th. It's not that great of a memory because the only reason I remember is it was the year people stopped coming to my family party. Every year birthdays were family oriented. We would go to my grandma's house (for every birthday) and have presents, food, cake and ice cream. For some reason on my 16th birthday everyone was too busy to come. So it was just my grandma, mom, and me. Sounds sad, right? Lol. No worries. I got over it. People get busy, I get it. But it just stands out over the rest.
I have no idea why I write so much on your posts. It's crazy, my comments are never this long on any other blogs, just yours. :/ Good post and contest. :)
Happy Birthday yesterday!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd it *is* about the journey... and I love that we can all support and lift each other up along the way... because if we didn't, I'm not sure any of us would survive, LOL ;)