Free-For-All Fridays

When the Circadian Rhythms Are Offbeat

I’ve been told our bodies have a natural rhythm of sleep and wakefulness influenced by the sun (or its absence in the sky). Generally, sleepy when it’s dark, wakey-wakey when it’s light.

It’s never quite worked for me the way they say it should.

My inclination is definitely to be a night owl. I could happily stay up until the wee hours of the morning. I do a lot (but not all) of my writing later in the day and into the night. That makes my choice of day-job problematic—primarily because it happens during the day. I love teaching, though, and I love the age levels I work with. (Yeah, teaching afternoon/evening classes at a college could solve the problem, but it’s not what I want to do right now.)

So, I find myself living a hybrid life. During the school year, I force myself to follow a reasonable sleep schedule, although I’ll push it a little on weekends. Then during summer break, I’ll shift more to night-owl mode.

This works out pretty well most of the time, but it causes problems at this time of year—when I have to readjust myself back to school-mode.

At least this year I don’t have to commute.

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Being Simple Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy

Someone recently asked what it was that made my agent pluck me out of the slush and offer to represent me (beyond the obvious awesomeness—his words, not mine). I ventured that it was my high-concept hook that grabbed her attention, and then having a manuscript that lived up to the promise of the query. All it takes is an awesome, agent-baiting query and a manuscript that backs it up.

My agent happened to be present (thus the question), and while she agreed, she also laughed and said, “OH IS THAT ALL?”

Yes, if only it were as easily done as said. I certainly went through plenty of “Nope, not quite the right formulation” with prior novels.

But then I thought about it. Getting an agent obviously isn’t easy. But it is simple.

Do you see the distinction?

It’s like the game Operation. The directions aren’t complicated. Get the tweezers in the opening, grab the little plastic piece, and pull it out without touching the edge of the hole. It’s simple.

Does that make it easy? Not if you have unsteady hands like I do. It takes deftness and just the right touch. It’s hard—some pieces harder than others, and some people struggle with it more than their friends.

Some may develop the skills quickly. Others may never be able to grab some of the pieces. The difficulty varies, but the simplicity of the process is the same for all.

I think sometimes we get frustrated in the query trenches by trying to unravel a magic formula, some secret complexity that only agented writers know about. Start with the title, genre and word count. No, those go at the end. Never use this phrase. Always close with that one.

Certain “rules” are handy for not giving agents headaches, but really, we don’t need to expend energy worrying about that kind of stuff. It’s simpler than that. Get the agent’s attention so they’re dying to read more. Once they start reading, make them fall in love.

It’s also really hard. It takes work and research and even some luck.

If something’s worth doing, it’s worth working for.

What else in life have you found is simple, but not easy? How do you keep yourself motivated when the “hard” makes you feel like it’s more complicated than it is?

ETA: It seems some felt this post was condescending, with me talking from my high post of now being agented and deigning to tell you all “how it’s done.”

I am truly sorry if it came across that way. It was not my intention. Those of you who are regulars on AQC know that I get asked for advice on querying all the time. Even before I was agented, but especially now. I am NOT AN EXPERT. Never have been. Yet I get asked. So I do my best to come up with advice that’s universal enough, that’s encouraging while still being realistic about how FREAKING HARD it is.

My only point in this post was to say, don’t focus on the wrong stuff. Don’t freak out over the minutiae. Remember the goal—the simple, but not easy goal—of getting the agent to read more, and then having the super-shiniest manuscript you’re capable of to hand over.

Will the best you’re capable always be enough? No. That’s realistic. My best didn’t get it done for years. I learned, I grew, I kept at it, I got lucky with some timing, and it happened. It can for you, too. I can’t say it WILL happen for all of you. I won’t lie.

But it certainly won’t if you quit trying.

Speak up:

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Gratuitous Kitten Cuteness

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably caught that we’ve recently added to the family with two new kittens. We’ve known for a while that we wanted to and finally got out to some shelters over the past couple of weeks.

My mom and sister had already decided one thing they wanted: A black cat that we’d name Loki. (Remember my sister’s Tom Hiddleston fixation? Yeah.) You’d think deciding something like that in advance would doom us to a really bad fit, but that wasn’t the case.

We went to the shelter closest to us, and there she was. A 3-4 month old black kitten, climbing the gate of her cage and screaming at us (literally) to take her home. Having had her for a couple of weeks now, she can definitely be a little imp sometimes (so the name fits), but she’s also a cuddly sweetheart. In fact, as I type this, she’s perched half on my shoulder, half on the pillows I’m sitting against with her purr right in my ear.

Next up, we drove to another shelter much farther. There we found a younger brown tabby that we’ve named Pika. While Loki has lungs enough to bring the vet’s office cat running with worry (yes, that actually happened), Pika has the tiniest meow ever, when it comes out at all. Half the time, her mouth moves but no sound comes out.

Now for the gratuitous part. An entirely-too-long-for-what-it-is bit of video of the two new buddies. This is pretty much what happens to me every day while everyone else is at work and I’m trying to write. Enjoy!

(If you’re wondering about the colored claws, they’re plastic caps to keep them from shredding myself and everything else on the planet. And yes, Pika totally starts it, apparently forgetting that Loki’s bigger.)

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Twitter Tips: The #FF Faux Pas

On Wednesday, I talked about some Facebook pet peeves. Today it’s time for another little talk about Twitter.

If you’re on Twitter, you’re probably familiar with the #FF (Follow Friday) trend. The idea is that you use the hashtag to give a shout-out to someone you think other people should follow. Here’s what a lot of the #FF tweets in my feed look like:

#FF @ThatOneGuy @TheOtherDude @ACoolChick @MyBFF @SuperAwesomeLady @BoyITweetedOnce

Um … I have to confess. I’ve never once followed anyone who showed up in a list like that.

A slight improvement might look like this:

#FF some cool writers @WritesALot @WritesAndReads @AnotherAuthor @FictionaholicsAnonymous

At least I know they’re writers, but … I already follow a lot of cool writers. I get random writers following me because they found “writer” in my profile, and I already have to decide whether to follow them back. I’m not in the camp of trying to follow every writer on Twitter.

What would an effective #FF look like (in my opinion)? It’d take a little more effort and require spreading a little less love, but that love would be more apparently sincere. For example:

#FF @SaraMegibow for her #10queriesin10tweets every Thurs. Great stuff!

Or …

#FF @bigblackcat97 for no-nonsense YA, rural-life hilarity, and general randomosity.

Like I said the last time I talked about Twitter, tweet like you mean it.

As a corollary, the “reply all” style thank-yous for #FF mentions. Here’s my thinking. If I’m already mentioned in the #FF, I saw it. Why do I need to see that someone else in the list thanked the initial tweeter?

Of course, that leads to a bigger question: Is our goal in thanking someone to show gratitude, or to be seen to show gratitude?

And have I been guilty of all of the above at one time or another? Absolutely. But I’m going to try to do better.

What are your thoughts on #FF? Do you find them effective? How so? Please share your tips and tricks.

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What’s a Waste?

Waste. To misuse, squander, flush down the toilet. Seems easy enough to define, right?

But what really constitutes wasting something?

This summer marks a big change for me. I left an excellent job teaching at a school for the deaf so I could move back closer to my family. This fall I’ll start a new (likely excellent) job in a regular public school, teaching math to hearing kids.

It’s where I started my teaching career, three years of regular ed. Then I flew away to western New York for two years of grad school, followed by the last six years teaching deaf kids. Now I’ve come full-circle, heading back to a classroom where my fluency in ASL will be a quirk, not a job requirement.

The notion has been raised more than once that it’s sort of a shame, because I’m ‘wasting’ the master’s degree I earned.

Am I? Have the past eight years been a waste?

First off, I intend to find a way to get involved with the Deaf community here. I don’t know what shape that will take, but I’ll look for the right opportunity. Plus, certain former students know they can drop me a line if they need some math-help-by-webcam.

Even without that, though, I don’t think anything about the past eight years has been a waste. My years in the world of deaf education helped me figure out what it took to be independent, taught this hopeless introvert how to fake it when I have to, and brought people into my life that I can’t imagine missing out on.

That’s the most important part—the people. Through the people I’ve interacted with, I learned more about my own strengths and weaknesses, and I’ve explored new avenues. Without the environment I was in, and the people surrounding me, would I have ever thought to attempt writing a novel?

I kind of doubt it.

And if I had, I suspect my stories and characters would have been very different, probably not in a good way.

My journey through grad school and a school for the deaf may look like an erroneous detour that I’ve now pressed the reset button on, but it’s not. I’ve continued moving forward, even though that’s brought me back to where I started. I’m not the same as when I started, so this next stage in my journey isn’t what it would’ve been if I’d stayed here to begin with.

Anything that enriches your life can’t be a waste. That’s how I see it, anyway.

Does anyone else know the feeling? Have you done something that looked on the surface like wasting something—your time, your skills, your potential? What inner value do you hold onto, keeping it out of the waste bucket?

Speak up:

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Things that Make You Go *Headdesk*

(If you’re internet-uninitiated and don’t have an immediate visual for “headdesk” then go run an image search.)

We all have things that drive us to that point of cranium-meets-office-furniture. Some big, some small. And once in a while, you need to vent about those headdesk moments.

Here are a few I’ve come across lately:

• Idiots who start wildfires. Yeah, sometimes they’re started by lightning. Sometimes they’re started by accidents that are honestly out of anyone’s control. But it seems like lately it’s a lot of target shooting or fireworks in obviously unwise areas. (It’s a desert, people. Have a clue.)

• Misspellings of “definitely,” such as definately or definatly. (Yeah, I’m illustrating the full range of *headdesks* from significant to trivial.) While we’re at it, mix-ups of rein/reign. If you’re out of control, someone needs to rein you in. If someone’s ruling you, they’re reigning over you.

• People who argue/talk back to judges on reality/talent shows. Especially on Hell’s Kitchen when Gordon Ramsay tells a chef to get out and they argue that they want to stay. Haven’t they seen the show before? When he says go, you just go.

That’s probably more than enough for one day.

How about you? What’s made you go *headdesk* lately? Go ahead and vent. Sometimes you just have to.

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