Decoration Day . . . for Halloween
Oct. 17th, 2007 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shalannaWe put out the Halloween decorations this morning, including the orange lights inside and out. I'm about to bake brownies with orange frosting for my physical therapy crew to take tomorrow to PT. Life goes on.
Still no word on the Hillerman contest, although I did deduce that the judge (or one of the judges) up there at St. Martin's is a man, an editor by the name of Peter Joseph (incidentally pictured in this set of photos from a party somewhere in Manhattan, taken by someone who's In The Know up there). Looks like a nice enough guy. Not a fat chick like me, but a guy . . . so I don't know whether that works for or against me with the Ari books. They're more "chick" books, I think, that would be fun for readers of Anne George, Jerrilyn Farmer, et alia. You never know what somebody's going to like, though, because the great Harlan Ellison and I agreed that our favorite crime novel is Donald Westlake's _Trust Me On This_, and we're pretty different (we're both arrogant egotists on the Bobby Darin model, but different on OTHER counts. *grin*)
I also ran across the webpage of a guy who actually is in a critique group with Tony Hillerman himself (aarghh) who has a webpage up about his novel, and I suspect that *he* probably entered this contest, because his short story won their short story prize last year. *sigh* He has a voice that reminds me of mine, sorta, because in his winning story his main character calls his boss "John-somebody," which is just the kind of thing that I do and that I get called out on by the rejection squad. Don't know what that means, whether it means they like that kind of voice up there, or what. Just an observation.
I've got to prepare myself to lose this one. It doesn't pay to float around believing that this time, at last, the dues-paying will finally pay off, that the buds will bloom, that the twenty years of writing will come to fruition. Because then when you DO get thrown out of that tree, you hit the dirt pretty hard. Better to have a pink cloud ready to float off on, just in case. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille. . . ."
The Devil yanked my chain today, though. To fulfill the wish that I would "get a call from publishing today," a call came in on my cell phone around four from a Yankeeland area code. We jumped at it, only to discover that it was a huckster from XLibris trying to make me take one of their publicity packages or publish with them again. (Now that they charge around $1200 for the basic package, that's out of the question.) So that fulfilled the LETTER of the wish, but was a "ha-ha" from the dark side because o'course even the dog Just Knew that we'd get The Call.
This is unhealthy. It's a shame that my life has to be wasted picking up poop in the courtyard after the Pomeranian and sorting through endless junk mail instead of lecturing at conferences on fiction and the role of story in helping us understand life and so forth, and instead of using any of what I consider my better talents to entertain/inform the lovely readers of this world, but if that's the way it is, that's the way it is. I've got to stop "being obsessed" (as everyone puts it) with getting a novel published by a large New York house.
Still, Miss Obsessive-whatever (me) ran another Tarot reading in which the "Outcome" card was . . . Judg[e]ment.
"The judgment card in the outcome position is a positive indicator. The outcome will be a significant event in your life. The Judgment card depicts a rebirth or a resurrection, the entering of a new phase of existence. A time for taking stock, an end to an era or phase of your life and new opportunities appearing. An opportunity will present itself that must not be ignored, and it could have far reaching implications, changing your life for the better. You will enjoy success and fulfillment for past efforts, events will pick up apace, and the outcome will be quicker than expected."
Maybe just the same ol' Devil yanking my chain again. If so, it's working. *sheepish grin*
An online site observes:
"Card 20 [Judgment] also stands for the feelings that come with salvation. When the angel calls, you are reborn - cleansed of all guilts and burdens. The past and its mistakes are behind you, and you are ready to begin anew. You may even feel a calling - a personal conviction of what you are meant to do. If you are in a low period, in need of hope and absolution, Judgement can show you that renewal is at hand. An important decision must be made and will have a positive outcome."
"It represents a final decision - a final reward or final punishment depending upon the surrounding cards. It is also a portent of resurrection and rebirth."
*faints*
Still no word on the Hillerman contest, although I did deduce that the judge (or one of the judges) up there at St. Martin's is a man, an editor by the name of Peter Joseph (incidentally pictured in this set of photos from a party somewhere in Manhattan, taken by someone who's In The Know up there). Looks like a nice enough guy. Not a fat chick like me, but a guy . . . so I don't know whether that works for or against me with the Ari books. They're more "chick" books, I think, that would be fun for readers of Anne George, Jerrilyn Farmer, et alia. You never know what somebody's going to like, though, because the great Harlan Ellison and I agreed that our favorite crime novel is Donald Westlake's _Trust Me On This_, and we're pretty different (we're both arrogant egotists on the Bobby Darin model, but different on OTHER counts. *grin*)
I also ran across the webpage of a guy who actually is in a critique group with Tony Hillerman himself (aarghh) who has a webpage up about his novel, and I suspect that *he* probably entered this contest, because his short story won their short story prize last year. *sigh* He has a voice that reminds me of mine, sorta, because in his winning story his main character calls his boss "John-somebody," which is just the kind of thing that I do and that I get called out on by the rejection squad. Don't know what that means, whether it means they like that kind of voice up there, or what. Just an observation.
I've got to prepare myself to lose this one. It doesn't pay to float around believing that this time, at last, the dues-paying will finally pay off, that the buds will bloom, that the twenty years of writing will come to fruition. Because then when you DO get thrown out of that tree, you hit the dirt pretty hard. Better to have a pink cloud ready to float off on, just in case. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille. . . ."
The Devil yanked my chain today, though. To fulfill the wish that I would "get a call from publishing today," a call came in on my cell phone around four from a Yankeeland area code. We jumped at it, only to discover that it was a huckster from XLibris trying to make me take one of their publicity packages or publish with them again. (Now that they charge around $1200 for the basic package, that's out of the question.) So that fulfilled the LETTER of the wish, but was a "ha-ha" from the dark side because o'course even the dog Just Knew that we'd get The Call.
This is unhealthy. It's a shame that my life has to be wasted picking up poop in the courtyard after the Pomeranian and sorting through endless junk mail instead of lecturing at conferences on fiction and the role of story in helping us understand life and so forth, and instead of using any of what I consider my better talents to entertain/inform the lovely readers of this world, but if that's the way it is, that's the way it is. I've got to stop "being obsessed" (as everyone puts it) with getting a novel published by a large New York house.
Still, Miss Obsessive-whatever (me) ran another Tarot reading in which the "Outcome" card was . . . Judg[e]ment.
"The judgment card in the outcome position is a positive indicator. The outcome will be a significant event in your life. The Judgment card depicts a rebirth or a resurrection, the entering of a new phase of existence. A time for taking stock, an end to an era or phase of your life and new opportunities appearing. An opportunity will present itself that must not be ignored, and it could have far reaching implications, changing your life for the better. You will enjoy success and fulfillment for past efforts, events will pick up apace, and the outcome will be quicker than expected."
Maybe just the same ol' Devil yanking my chain again. If so, it's working. *sheepish grin*
An online site observes:
"Card 20 [Judgment] also stands for the feelings that come with salvation. When the angel calls, you are reborn - cleansed of all guilts and burdens. The past and its mistakes are behind you, and you are ready to begin anew. You may even feel a calling - a personal conviction of what you are meant to do. If you are in a low period, in need of hope and absolution, Judgement can show you that renewal is at hand. An important decision must be made and will have a positive outcome."
"It represents a final decision - a final reward or final punishment depending upon the surrounding cards. It is also a portent of resurrection and rebirth."
*faints*
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The Devil made you do it???
Date: 2007-10-18 03:13 pm (UTC)A dude who can do all that . . . turning himself into a deck of cards wouldn't even require working up a sweat. I don't think what you're looking for is to be found on the dark side. Too big a chance of "oops, lost my immortal soul there. Hey, Mr. Satan, how about two out of three?"
BAD HEIR DAY can stand on its own merits. Have faith in it, and in yourself.
Hang on, I'll consult the I Ching and see what's supposed to happen.
Re: The Devil made you do it???
Date: 2007-10-19 03:48 am (UTC)I guess somebody else was more worthy. The "early part of the week" is done gone, I think. Or maybe they're still deliberating. I always say that, though.
Perhaps what the book needs is a cooler title. Maybe that's what turned 'em off.
"Death Under the Marfa Lights"
"Murder by Ghost Light"
Something like that. I know that Bad Heir Day has already been used somewhere.
I wouldn't expect the Devil to turn himself into a deck of cards, but maybe one of the lesser demons. That way, he/she would get a chance to be shuffled, dealt out, stared out, and all kinds of keen things. 'Course, being an Ouija board (or Ouija guitar) would be fun, too.
It's not like I'm asking you to peer through the translucent frog and divine the future. . . . (Did you read about the translucent-skinned frogs they're breeding for science? Now kids won't have to dissect frogs. They can just watch the show while the frogs hop around. They're now working on making the insides glow.)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-18 03:15 pm (UTC)Wow...most of them look so much younger than me...:)
(And I decided to skip the contest, btw, at least with the Arthurian book.)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 03:54 am (UTC)You didn't have to not ENTER the Amazon contest--I just said not to win. (GRIN) Actually, the contest is looking more and more like a boondoggle. If you have a line on a real agent, you'd probably be better off there. It seems to me, judging from the kind of amateurish stuff being said in the posts on the Amazon contest forums, that lots of the novels they'll get will be newbie efforts. Who knows what kind of mess the contest will turn into?
In time, all of publishing might adopt this "American Idol" model because then they'd save money on slushpile/query handling . . . they'd have the public at large do the choosing for them, and then they'd pick something they thought they could fix up out of the top finalists. Agents would be out of work, and so would first readers. The editors would only have to worry about making the top choices into real books. It might work just as well as the bestsellers-only system.
On the other hand, just because people vote for a novel in a contest doesn't mean they're going to go to a store and pay $24 for a hardcover or $7 for a softcover when the book comes out. Lots of people who will read excerpts and vote for fun will not buy the books, I suspect. That could be the fly in their magic ointment.
The Hillerman contest would be a great one to win, though. Still kind of hoping on that one. They're down to the top three, making a decision.