Talk is Cheap

Today’s playlist: I’m feeling a little theatrical with The Little Mermaid score, Spring Awakening, and The Last Five Years 

So, around 3pm today the fire alarm went off. Something about a refrigerant leak in the A/C. So, just as they say, okay, go home, the repair guy comes and turns the alarm off. Needless to say, we are stuck here till the end of the day. Fun!

 In other news, I’m having writers block. Well, more so I’m-not-sure-if-this-book-is-any-good block. I’ve been working on a new concept for a while now, and I’m not sure what to do with it. I’m almost 300 pages deep, and I wonder if it’s too depressing. How do you know, where do you draw that line? Any feedback? 

Granted, it’s a “love” story, and I say that in quotes, as that’s just a layer to it. On top of dealing with a death, coping with the use of drugs, and a past coming back to haunt you—yadda-yadda-yadda. 

I just want feedback. I guess that’s why people have writing partners. But I feel like I’m missing something pivotal, like something profound and meaningful to say. I want to change people lives by reading a book. I feel like I accomplished that with COLLIDE but I wonder if this does the same thing, but in a different way.

 Ciao~
Angela Francis

House of Fire

Today’s playlist—Miley Cyrus, All-American Rejects, Jason Mraz, Mutemath, OK Go, and Paramore. (That’s quite an assortment!) 

Yesterday was horrible—upset employees, fires to put out and to top if off, my partial was rejected. Again, it’s fine. Rejection comes in all forms, and the right agent is out there somewhere, but still, I wonder how long I can stand rejection. I hear stories from authors who received tons of rejections from publishers, but what about agents? How many rejections are you supposed to receive from agents before realizing it’s time to move on?? It seems like I’m not having much luck on this book. I know it’s good, everyone who has read it is hooked, but still, there are days when I just feel beaten up. 

I guess it’s times like this, I remember what Tennessee Williams wrote, “We all live in a house of fire. No fire department to call. No way out. Just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns down the house…with us trapped, locked in it.” 

Bible study tonight and our first official band practice with our new drummer. Very exciting!

 Ciao~

Fleeting Moments

Playlist: Citizen Cope, Hot Hot Hot, Tyler Hilton, MoZella, Feeder, Jack’s Mannequin, Audioslave and Nada Surf

In an instant…in a single fleeting moment everything can change. For a second you are happy, joyful, even in love with life. And then you see someone, and that happiness is instantly washed away. My stomach was churning as the nausea of the situation twisted inside of me. It seemed the fear I felt in this moment was a fear I thought I washed away. I guess that’s the problem with suppressing your feelings. They’re never really gone. They hide in the deepest chamber of your soul, and with a single ‘hello’, they rise to the surface, like pieces of a shipwreck. I pressed down on the picture of us, running my thumb over the edges, staring deeply, wondering if those two people still existed. It seemed like we were light years away now.

That was my thought for the day. It seems life is nothing more than a series of images, passing by like light in a deep tunnel. Things change…people change. They’ll let you down, they’ll surprise you, and sometimes they rise above…and sometimes they fall short.

It seems we build people and situations up in our mind, and they never turn out the way you thought they would.

Today, we decorated my boss’ cube for his birthday on Monday. I’ll have to post more pictures later. No rejections in my inbox, but it’s only three pm. I’ve been working like crazy on another novel. I hope it’s coming around, but we’ll see.

Did anyone watch Idol last night? I’ve been dying to see Ellen on it, but I was postponed, yet again. It seems my life has turned upside down since getting engaged…even though it’s only been two days. Haha. Hopefully we’ll set the date this weekend. The wedding party is almost complete, but Joshua isn’t exposing his best man yet since everyone seems to be jumping at it. I, however, know who my MOH will be. It’s been a rough year emotionally for me, and she has really been there for me, and she always has been, she was just foreshadowed by a person who is no longer in my life.

Until tomorrow.

Ciao~
Angela Francis

And then there were two…

Since I am completely exhausted, I needed some tunes to wake me up, today’s playlist, POD. Haha.

 It has been a heck of a 24 hours! I got engaged last night, which was totally out of the blue…almost, anyways, I didn’t work  on my writing today, but I’ll get back on the horse tomorrow. How was your day? Anything crazy? 

Time to catch up on some shut eye…well, after band practice! 

Until tomorrow. 

Ciao~

Queries, Queries, Queries, oh my!

I love waking up a rejection in my inbox. Not that I’m complaining, a form rejection is much nicer than an in-your-face audition rejection. I especially love the, “you would be wonderful for this part, you’re very talented, but you’re just too tall.”

Who would have thought 5’5 was too tall, but it is. 

Today I’m going to try and send a few more out. I really need to find a better way to streamline finding an agent beyond the ones I already queried. I’d like to get my hands on the new 2010 book of publishers, agents, etc, but I havent made my way to Borders in a while.

What drives me crazy is the people who don’t know how hard it is to try and find an agent for your work. They clearly don’t understand the process of researching agents, what they like, what they don’t, what the agencies submission guidelines are, etc. Sure, you can submit to any agent under the sun, but who are you helping? Definitely not me. I’m sure agents are annoyed with people submitting everything and anything they want without looking at the agents specialties or what their list consists of for that matter. Granted, the equerry world is fabulous, I wonder if it helps us more, or hurts us. Queries probably grew like crazy since emailing queries began.  

YA writers and aspiring YA authors, check out this blog post by Scott Eagan, it’s great!

 http://scotteagan.blogspot.com/2010/02/young-adult-does-not-mean-immature.html

 Until tomorrow! 

Ciao~

Hello Love…

I hope everyone’s case of the Monday’s isn’t too bad. As for me, 5 o’clock couldn’t come faster!

Today’s playlist—Sister Hazel, Live. Not too surprising though.

Today I’m taking a break from my newest venture. I’m about 300 pages deep, and I’ve been revising so much. I started writing it awhile back, and was stuck with “the coping process”. It’s hard to write about dealing with the loss of a parent until it happens. When my father passed away in October everything came full circle and I found myself beating the keys. Going back through it now, four months later, is had to do. Josh told me I need something happier to write about besides death and pain. My rebuttal—I’m just not that funny. He would attest to that, while my coworkers think I’m a hoot, my writing style may not reflect my humor, but I will try.

My newest project is in the works. No one has died, and no one is in a tragic life threatening relationship—against my pull towards tragedy, it is semi light. One of the women I work with is a parrothead, so I am going to incorporate that. They are very fascinating.

Until tomorrow.

~Ciao