2011 Resolutions

2011 is only a few days away and it's time for New Year's resolutions.

Here are mine:

Reading

• Read the 21 books I listed for the Debut Author Challenge 2011.

• Read more books than in 2010 (more than 45). This resolution might interfere with the two following resolutions...

Writing

• Write the sequel to THE OTHER LIFE

• Write secret novel. Let's call it ALOMF. (I'm soooo excited about that one)

Personal

• Clean the house more often (yeah, as if that will happen...)

• Use my Wii fit plus to get fit. My current fitness age is 43. 43!!! FYI, I'm 25. I REALLY need to work out more often. Though, that will have to wait for a while because I slipped on the wet floor and now have a bruise the size of an orange on my upper thigh. It hurts like hell.

So what are your resolutions for 2011?

Merry Christmas!

I'll take the next few days off from the blogospere and the internet in general to enjoy time with the family and eat as much as humanly possible. I hope you have wonderful holidays!

Big Announcement!

My book found a US home! Marshall Cavendish bought North American rights of THE OTHER LIFE!! YAY!!! I'm soo happy!

Here's the PM announcement:

Susanne Winnacker's THE OTHER LIFE, in which a girl leaves a sealed
bunker after years in hiding, only to find Los Angeles devastated and
haunted by humans infected with a mutated rabies virus; struggling to
save her family, she falls for a boy-hunter who is both their saviour
and greatest danger when his desire for vengeance threatens them all,
to Robin Benjamin at Marshall Cavendish, for publication in Fall 2012,
by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).

Usborne will publish THE OTHER LIFE in Spring 2012 in the UK and Marshall Cavendish will publish it in Fall 2012 in North America!

I'm so excited!

2010-Farewell-Contest

My first contest!! And of course I'm giving away books.



2010 was a good year for me.


I wrote The Other Life. I found amazing writer friends on Absolute Write. I signed with my fabulous agent Julia Churchill of Greenhouse Literary Agency. I got a book deal! I found two wonderful crit partners (Thanks Shari and Tracy!). So many good things happened and that's why I want to give 2010 the farewell that it deserves.

And there's no better way to do that than a contest!

There'll be two winners. Each winner can choose one of the following books. (in case a winner has them all, then I'm sure we'll find another book for you!)

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Matched by Ally Condie

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

The contest is open internationally. Contest ends December 31^st. Winners will be announced on January 1^st, 2011.

Comment +1 entry

New blog follower + 1 / Old blog follower + 2

tweet about contest + 2 (please tell me your twitter name or leave a link)

blog about contest + 3 (Please leave the link in the comments)

Clarity ARC giveaway

Author Kim Harrington is giving away an ARC of her book CLARITY. It comes out March 1st, so if you don't want to wait 3 months you should enter her contest!

Beth Revis' Epic contest of Epic

Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe, but you knew that, didn't you?) is hosting a mind-blowing contest: The Epic contest of Epic.
There are 100 prizes!
Signed ARCs of Across the Universe, watches, pin-buttons, bookmarks and so much more.
A giveaway you don't want to miss!

Vacation, snow and books

Hubby and I spent the last few days in Bavaria. I needed some relaxation before starting my revisions on The Other Life. It was beautiful. And relaxing. The pic shows the view from the roof terrace of our hotel room.

Another pic showing the view. If it hadn't been so cold, I would have sat on the roof terrace with my laptop to write. At home I don't have such a gorgeous view.

That's the view after heavy snowfall.

That's a pic of Berchtesgaden (a small town near the Alps). Hubby and I were enjoying the small but cozy Christmas Market there. We also enjoyed the Christmas Markets in Munich, Salzburg and Nuremberg, that's why I gained about four pounds during our vacation. *sigh*

No good vacation without books, right? Right. Sadly, I forgot to pack books into my suitcase. *gasp*

Of course, there was only one solution: I had to buy new books.

I was relieved when I found a little English bookstore in Munich with a nice selection of young adult books. After I read the first two chapters of Matched by Ally Condie and Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly I knew I had to have those books. Now I just need to find the time to finish them... (even my bunnies love books as you can see on the pic. Well, they love them a bit too much, especially the taste...)

Last but not least: My doggie Balu in our garden enjoying the snow! Isn't he cute?

GotYA premiere!

My first blog post for GotYA!
It's about childhood books. Please check it out.

2011 Debut Author Challenge

Maybe you've already heard about it: The Story Siren is hosting a Debut Author Challenge. If you sign up you agree to read at least 12 debut YA or children's books. The challenge runs from January 1st, 2011 to December 31st 2011.

Here are the books I'm dying to read in 2011:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Dearly, departed by Lia Habel

Die for Me by Amy Plum

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Possession by Elana Johnson

The Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Warped by Maurissa Guibord

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

XVI by Julia Karr

What are the books you are looking forward to?

Musing on Harry Potter

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter. The movies and the books. I've seen the movies so many times I've stopped counting. And the books – I just loooove them. I've read them in German and in English, and the first book even in French. That's all kinds of crazy, I guess.

Being normal is overrated anyway. :D

(The book that started my obsession. The German version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone)

I think J.K. Rowling's success is almost every writer's dream and I don't mean that she's one of the richest women in Great Britain, I think even richer than the Queen (I've read that a few times, not sure if it's true, though). Of course the money aspect is nice too (okay more than nice...).

But the success I'm talking about is that her books have reached millions over millions of readers all over the world. She sold more than 400 million copies and her books were translated into 67 languages (?). She's created a world that's so compelling and well-crafted that even people who don't usually read children's or YA books, or who don't read at all, picked up the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them.

She created a phenomenon.

Did you know that a while back Avada Kedavra was trending topic on twitter for almost two days?

Or that some people on twitter or other social websites use the phrase Accio (the spell to summon things) to express that they want something badly. I've seen sentences like “Accio coffee” on twitter.

Did you know that Lord Voldemort is on Twitter and that more than 400,000 people follow him? Of course he doesn't follow anyone. Lord Voldemort just isn't the type. ;)

But his tweets are hilarious, so being his follower is worth it. And you don't even have to become a Death Eater or get the Dark Mark to enjoy his tweets!

Doesn't every writer wish that their book makes such an impression on their readers that phrases of it are used by fans in daily life? Or that their characters are so compelling that fans want to impersonate them on a social site and even manage to gather a solid number of followers? I mean how cool would that be?

And despite the success, J.K. Rowling still seems nice and normal and modest. Her interview with Oprah truly impressed me and in some ways it inspired me. Even she had moments when she just wanted to give up, but she didn't.

Blog recommendations!

I have two must-follow blogs for you:

GotYA - a group of agented and unagented writers who blog about everything YA! I'm a new contributor. So exciting!! :D

The Apocalypsies - a group of writers who'll debut in 2012. I'm a member, though I still can't believe it!

Btw, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Wednesday. AMAZING! Can't wait for Part II! Did you see it yet? Did you love it?

Contest alert!

Check it out! My agency sister Jill Hathaway is hosting a contest. She's giving away a copy of Megan McCafferty's BUMPED (will be published April 26th 2011 by HarperCollins).

Here's the blurb from goodreads: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents must pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they search for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Sounds cool, doesn't it?

Now go to Jill's blog, read her interview with the author of BUMPED and enter the contest!

Exciting

The Other Life announced in the Bookseller!
So exciting! :D

Look...

...who's up on Greenhouse's website under the author section! You can read an interview with me there.
And The Other Life is up too! Yay! :D

Blurb and my journey

Here's the blurb for The Other Life (not the official Publisher's Lunch pitch yet. That'll probably appear tomorrow.):

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I'd seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.

Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

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And here's a little bit about my journey:

January 2010: I start writing The Other Life and finish the first draft within four weeks.

February 2010: I join Absolute Write and find fabulous beta readers. (Best decision ever)

End of March 2010: I start querying.

April – July 2010: Revising and querying.

August 2010: I accept Julia's offer of representation.

September 2010 : We go out on submission.

October 2010: We get an offer. A few days later we get another offer - from Usborne - and accept.

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Last but not least, a few thank you's are due:

Thanks to my beta readers Catherine, Elke, Dawn, Kathy and Debra who made The Other Life so much better. Another big thanks to Jill for going through the process together! And, of course, thanks to all the fabulous people on AW for their encouragement and wisdom! You rock!!

Thanks to Shveta The Other Life is already on Goodreads! Danke, Süße!

Book Deal!!!

I'll be a published author!!! Yay!

My debut dystopian novel THE OTHER LIFE sold to Usborne UK in a two-book deal for publication in Spring 2012.

I'm so so happy!!!

(I promised myself to wait for the PM announcement, so I could add it, but I'm too impatient...lol. I'll add it later and some more info probably as well.)

Must Read Book

Okay, guys. Here's an absolute must read for you.

SLIDE by Jill Hathaway.

Jill's my agency sister (Go Greenhouse!!!) and she sold her amazing debut a few days ago to Balzer & Bray. I had the pleasure to read it a few weeks ago and believe me, it's a book you don't want to miss!

Here's the blurb from goodreads:

A girl's narcolepsy makes her slide randomly into other people's heads, witnessing events she'd rather not see; but when she finds herself in the head of a killer, standing over the slashed and murdered body of her sister's best friend, she becomes enmeshed in a web of secrets, lies and danger where the past has returned to haunt the present and where she can no longer trust even the friends and family she thought she knew.

So if you haven't already done it, add SLIDE to your goodreads books NOW. You can find it here.

Congrats again, Jill!!!

Inspiration

I promised you pics from my trip to the west coast a few weeks ago. I've finally chosen a few that inspired me in some way.

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Red Rock Crossing (Sedona)

Zion Nat. Park

Courtyard Mission Santa Barbara

Cemetery Mission Santa Barbara

Forest Lawn LA

Horseshoe Bend

Joshua Tree Nat. P.

NaNo

I'm doing NaNo this year. I've signed up yesterday. It's my first time, so I'm excited and nervous.

Writing a novel (50,000 words) in a month without trying to edit or rewrite as I go will be a challenge. Who am I kidding? Getting 50,000 words on paper (well on a word document) in 30 days is a challenge in itself.

But NaNo's more than a challenge for me, it's a chance.

A chance to write.

Just write.

I'll use NaNo to try my hands at something new. A genre I've never written before (still YA though). I can't wait to see how that plays out. I hope I'll reach the NaNo goal and that the 50k words don't suck too much.

So are some of you doing NaNo? Or do you think it's a waste of time? If you participate, why? To try something new?

Realistic goals

I guess many people set themselves goals. But how to reach them, so they don't end like most New year's resolutions?

I think the problem with New Year's resolutions, as with other goals, is that they're too ambitious.

Want to lose 20 pounds in a month and look like a model? No problem. Want to stop smoking in no time and never be tempted again? No problem. Want to be a model student and catch up on any studying you have missed over the last year? No problem.

There's nothing wrong with being ambitious, but ambitions don't always motivate us. Sometimes they can be crippling. We see the goal in our mind and we want to reach it, but because it's so unrealistic we can't ever succeed and when we realize it, the goal no longer serves its purpose. It no longer motivates. It gets us down, because we know there's no chance not to fail.

And who isn't scared of failure?

The ugly threat of failing looms over our heads every day and cripples us even more.

So that goal we set a few days, weeks or months ago?

It turns into the bane of our existence.

What was supposed to help us, destroys every chance we might have ever had to actually reach a realistic goal.

And that's the magic word: realistic

Even a writer needs a hint of reality in their life.

Realistic goals motivate.

Unrealistic goals depress.

I used to set myself unrealistic goals and I never reached them. I didn't even get close and it always made me feel bad. So unrealistic goals? Not for me.

I like goals that I can reach or maybe even surpass.

You might say: What's the use of setting a goal of 500 or 1000 or 2000 words per week? That way you'll never get that book written.

You're wrong.

I will get the book written, it'll only take longer. Every written word brings me closer.

So what would happen if I set a word count goal of, let's say, 10k per week?

I'd fail to reach it the first time, fail to reach it the second time and get so frustrated that I wouldn't write for a few days or weeks. Nothing gained. And worst of all: I would feel bad about myself, even guilty.

Maybe 10k is a realistic goal for some of you. You have to decide what's right for you. Only you. It doesn't matter if your writing buddy gets 5k written every day. That's great for them, but trying to keep up with them won't do you any good.

So try to find out what's a realistic goal for you and adjust it whenever something changes. Sometimes life gets in the way.

Okay.

Life always gets in the way, but that's just one more reason to be fair to yourself and don't pressure yourself with unrealistic goals.

What do you think? Maybe some of you like unrealistic goals and don't feel depressed by them?

Letting Go

I went on sub on Wednesday and now I'm trying to keep myself busy with something.

Anything.

I'm desperate.

So desperate that I even cleaned the house and folded laundry yesterday. *gasp*

But now that I'm done with cleaning, I'm confronted with the same problem again.

How to distract myself?

Many people say it helps to write something else. That sounds reasonable.

There's no better way to distract oneself than to focus on a new WIP, maybe even a SNI (shiny new idea).

I'd love to do that. I have two WIPs and had a SNI for a YA Thriller yesterday, so what's keeping me from delving into them?

The answer's easy:

THE OTHER LIFE

The book I'm on sub with. I spent weeks with revisions and the last few days with synopses for sequels. It feels like TOL has become a part of me. It's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up.

I know the characters. Their fears and hopes. Their future and past.

I know what'll happen to them and I want to let it happen to them.

I want to write the next book. I want it desperately.

But working on the sequel to TOL won't do me any good if I want to distract myself from the subbing process.

I need to let go of TOL for now. Need to let go of the characters and the little voices (don't worry I'm quite sane) in my head telling me to write their story to the end.

Like with many things in life, letting go of a book isn't easy.

I'm still in the process of letting go.

How do you do it? How do you let go of a book and its characters, and delve into the next project? Is it easy for you or are you struggling?

What should I read?

I just finished The Poisoned House by Michael Ford and I loved it.

I'm not sure what to read next. There are seven books on my desk right now.

So guys, I need your opinion. :)

What should I read next?

(Oh and btw, I just got my submission list. Yay!)

News and excuses

I've been a very bad blogger those last few weeks. But I've got an excuse.

Three weeks ago I got an offer of representation for my YA post-apocalyptic novel THE OTHER LIFE and I accepted!

I'm now officially represented by Julia Churchill of Greenhouse Literary Agency. Yay! :D

I've been busy doing revisions and after I was done with those, I had to write a synopsis for the sequel to THE OTHER LIFE. Those of you who've had the pleasure (*snort*) to write a synopsis before know what it can do to you and your brain (nothing good, believe me...). For most people (probably for everyone) it's even worse if you have to write a synopsis for a book that isn't even written. Eeek.

It's not that I hate(d) synopses. I usually write them before I start working on a new WIP, so I know what'll happen. I guess that makes me a freak?

Probably.

Well, now that I had to write the synopsis for the sequel to TOL, I get why people hate them.

Long story short, I'll be on sub soon. (eeek).

So while I spend my time in the next circle of hell, I'll try to be a good blogger and post regularly.

Contest!

Check out this great contest!
Win books like YOU, PARANORMALCY, CANDOR, IRON KING and many more!
You can enter until September 19th.

ARC Giveaway!!!

Sorry for the long silence. I was on a roundtrip with my husband. The west coast. It was amazing! My first time in the USA, but definitely not my last. :D Maybe I'll post a few pics in the coming days. Certainly not all of them (over 4,000!! hubby was busy...lol)

I have a contest! for you that 21 pages is hosting.
Win ARCs of Paranormalcy, Delirium, Linger, Clockwork Angel and more!
It's open until August 20th.
Good luck!

Contest!

There's another contest you should check out.
Jill Wheeler's Follower Appreciation Contest.
You must hurry, though. Only a few more hours to enter!!
Win $25 gift certificate for B&N or amazon, and more prizes!

Win ARCs!!!

Another contest with fabulous prizes.
Michelle Hodkin is giving away ARC's of great books on her blog.
You can win THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger.
MATCHED by Ally Condie,
and BEAUTIFULL DARKNESS by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
The contest ends June 9th.

YAHighway Anniversary Giveaway

YAHighway is hosting a big giveaway.
Win agent critiques! (Suzie Townsend, Kathleen Ortiz, Mandy Hubbard)
And there are other prizes too!
You can enter until Sunday, June 6th.

Contest!

Check out the fantastic contest on Kathy Bradey's blog!
You can win an Amazon gift card.
1st: Amazon giftcard valued at $? (Pending how many entries)
2nd: Amazon giftcard valued at $15
3rd: Amazon giftcard valued at $10.
It closes at the end of May.
Go, check it out. NOW!

Teaser Tuesday!

This is my first teaser, so I'm a bit nervous.

My teaser is a snippet from my WIP (511 words). It's YA fantasy/Greek Mythology/Paranormal romance. :D
It's the POV of my MC Rhea. Hope this isn't too confusing.

*snipped*

The Waiting Game

You know, I'm fairly good at poker. My hubby doesn't stand a chance against me, nor do most of our friends. I'm even quite good at Monopoly (yes, I like to play board games and YES I can hear you think 'freak'!) and at all kinds of other games.

But over the last few weeks I've realized one thing. I suck at the waiting game. I sssuuuuccckkk! As in royally suck.

You don't know what the waiting game is?

Come on, try again.

I'm sure every writer out there knows that game.

And I'm quite sure most of you hate (HATE!!!) it as much as I do.

It's a bit like gambling. Maybe like roulette. Because as soon as that little ball (aka query letter) is out there, there's nothing you can do. You watch and wait. And you hope. But there's nothing you can do.

NOTHING.

But I tell you, roulette is easier and not as nerve-wrecking as the waiting game. Because roulette is over within a few seconds. The ball stops and then you know exactly if you've won or not. But the waiting game? No such luck.

You wait and wait and wait. And there's no guarantee that the little ball will ever stop (aka Will I ever get a response? When do I have to stop hoping for one?) Of course if the ball never stops it's also an answer. Because if it never stops, it will definitely not stop on the field you chose. So you lose, though the ball never stops. But it takes weeks, maybe months until you realize that. Until you stop hoping.

Imagine the stress? If you play roulette the anxiety lasts a few seconds. But in the waiting game? Weeks and months of anxiety. And every time you look at the roulette table (aka your email inbox) you hope the ball has finally stopped (a reply!) and you beg that it has chosen your field to stop. But then after a while you just hope it stops at all, even if it lands on another field (aka rejection) because you want to know.

You need to know.

If you think about it, we writers are the masters of gambling. Because we don't only play at a single roulette table. We play at ten tables, maybe even more. So there are many, many balls we want to stop on our field.

Maybe we enjoy the constant anxiety? The sleepless nights? The sting of rejection?

I don't think we do. But we know if we don't play the waiting game, if we don't throw the little ball and hope for it to land on our field, then we'll never have the chance to win. But we want to win.

And so we bear the anxiety, the sleepless nights, the uncertainty.

So we watch the tiny ball spin and spin and spin. Until it seems like it's all we're doing.

Waiting.

Always waiting.

And hoping.

And never stopping.

Because that's what gamblers do.

Never stop.

And then one day, maybe, we'll hit the jackpot.

And that's the reason why we gamble (aka query) isn't it?

Steph Bowe's Massive book giveaway

So here my dear followers is another contest you might want to enter. You can win books (Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, and many more).
The contest ends April 30th.

Photos

I thought I'd show you some pics from Germany. All of them were taken by me or my husband. Maybe they inspire you. Hope you enjoy.

Berlin. The Brandenburg gate.

Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria.

Courtyard of the castle.

View from the castle.

Schliersee. Lake in Bavaria.

New city hall in Munich.

Nuremberg, Bavaria.

The Semperoper. Opera house of the Saxon State Opera Dresden.

Castle Weesenstein.

Wartburg castle. 1999 added to the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Elbe Sandstone Mountains

The Bastei bridge. Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

Bremen

Bamberg in Bavaria. Former city hall (Altes Rathaus).

Bamberg. Former city hall.

Another contest!

Another contest you don't want to miss!
Beth Revis, author of spec fic for teens and represented by Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House, celebrates her book deal with a Book Deal Celebration Contest.
There are two prizes:
Prize pack for readers (e.g. $30 gift certificate for Amazon...)
Prize pack for writers (e.g. critique of your query letter and first three chapters...)
The contest ends April 3rd.
I'll enter, and you?

You want to win books?

Check out Storywings' contest. It's called 49-followers-contest (though she has over 300 followers by now! wow!!!)
The blog looks great. You can win all kind of books (like 'Hush, Hush', 'Fallen', 'Shiver', 'Hate List', 'The Hunger Games', and many more...)
I hope I'll be one of the lucky winners. There are so many great books I'd like to win...

SNI - sweeter than chocolate...

I was absolutely determined to revise my manuscript today.

Sadly, a shiny new idea had popped up in my head last night (and I wasn't even wiping off puke! Though, doggy still isn't feeling well...) and it wouldn't stop bugging me.

Yet, I tried to stand fast. Revisions, nothing but revisions today.

Happy about my steadfastness, I took my printed manuscript and began to read. After the first page of chapter 5, I couldn't remember a word I'd read. Shiny new idea was occupying every inch of my brain.

I came to the conclusion that doing some research for SNI couldn't hurt. It would take an hour, maybe two. Then I'd revise.

8 hours later...

I've done my research for SNI. (Thanks to Wikipedia!)

I've finished a two-page synopsis for SNI and a plan for each chapter.

And I've written 5300 words for SNI.

Complete manuscript feels neglected. Maybe I should feel bad. I know I should have used this day to revise.

I know it.

But SNI is like chocolate. I know it's bad for me, but it's too enticing to resist.

Tomorrow I'll revise. Nothing will stop me.

Except for SNI. Maybe.

Query letter - a nightmare come true...

...or something like that.

I don't think writing a query letter is my worst nightmare. That would be ridiculous. Writing a synopsis however...

But this post wasn't supposed to be about my irrational fear of synopses nor about my other fears (Spiders...).

Okay. Let me try this again.

Query letter.

I've finally written one.

It wasn't as painful as I'd thought. Yet, I'm not sure if I possess the necessary experience to assess pain. The worst pain I've ever felt was probably when I tore a ligament, though the sound as it ripped might have distracted me from the actual pain (briefly).

I'd say writing a query letter ranks between the pain after four wisdom teeth had been extracted from my mouth and a ruptured ligament.

Or maybe I'm just exaggerating.

Writing a synopsis will probably top the ruptured ligament.

But I digress (again).

My query letter.

It's now waiting in QueryLetterHell on Absolute Write to be ripped apart. The first critique wasn't very painful. But don't let me start about pain again.

Witty? Not so much...

I decided to start my blog.

Finally.

Up to now I've been lurking in the shadows, hoping for a flash of inspiration; waiting desperately for the day I'd have something really witty to say for the first post on my blog. I've now realized that day will never come. I'm probably not half as witty as I thought.

You might wonder when I came to this conclusion.

Last night.

And no, I wasn't lying in my bed, having happy thoughts about writing. I was actually cleaning the floors of our house from our dog's puke. Though that wasn't the most pleasant experience, it gave me some insight into myself that only a thorough house-cleaning at 2 am can evoke.

After I'd managed to rid the house of the stench and stopped retching, I realized that, wittiness-be-damned, I'd write my first post the next day.

And here I am.