From Our Family to Yours

Merry Christmas!!!!

Angry Robot Books

This has been blogged and tweeted, but just in case you haven't heard yet, Angry Robot Books are having an "Open Door Month" in March of 2011. They will be accepting submissions from unagented authors for the first time! What a great opportunity for newbie authors.

They are looking for genre fiction (no novellas, short stories or non-fiction) specifically fantasy, science fiction, horror and "all urban or modern fantasy." They also say they're looking for all types of sub-genre, hard SF, cyberpunk, future crime, and they'd love if you mashed two genres together. They are looking for novels that are finished and completely polished.

They have clear submission guidelines on their site, Q and A as well as tips on pitching your novel.

Visit ANGRY ROBOTS for all the details and good luck!!! :)

Believable Evil

I’ve learned a lot a the conventions and conferences I've attended in the last few years and I'd like to share the best bits on my blog whenever I get the time. Today’s post is from a panel at VCON in 2008, my first convention ever. Lucky for me, there were two author guests of honour that year, Kelley Armstrong and Patrick Rothfuss. My experiences at this convention led me to start writing seriously.

In a panel called “Believable Evil,” four panellists discussed evil characters in speculative fiction. Here are some key points I picked up from this panel:

1.  Evil people don’ t consider themselves evil. This is what makes them believable.

2.  A “good” villain needs clear motivation that not only makes sense to them, the reader can also kind of see their point, even if it’s not necessarily understandable to them.

3.  A villain thinks everyone else is the bad guys. They think they are in the right.

4.  Things that you don’t expect about or from a villain will make them believable. (ie, they love their dog, they treasure their time with their ailing mother)

5.  Avoid the typical rut of fantasy of an ‘evil sorcerer’ trying to destroy the world or the narcissistic villain who’s mean to his minions. Nasty people are good to their friends too.The reader needs to be able to relate to the villain.

Some of the best advice I’ve read on creating great villains can be found on Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog. As a screenwriter and novelist, Alexandra dishes out tricks of screenwriting for the author and that includes how to write an incredible villain. I highly recommend checking out her two part series.

What Makes a Great Villain Part One

What Makes a Great Villain Part Two

Another great resource is The Fire in Fiction by top New York agency owner Donald Maass. Among other excellent advice, he goes into great detail about how to develop your protagonist into a believable character.

I hope these pointers help you develop your villains into believable characters! 

8 Week Virtual Bootcamp

Want to get in better shape in 2011?

Well, all right then!! Here's your chance to start it off right. This 8 week Virtual Bootcamp is for anyone and everyone looking to improve their levels of health and fitness.

Why not kick off the year with a personalized workout program, including weekly check-ins and inspirational messages to keep you motivated throughout!

The bootcamp will be done entirely online via email. The group will start on the same day, but each participant will receive a personalized cardio and weight training program, suited to their goals, needs and schedule. The program can be designed for the gym, or to be done entirely at home, for as many or as few workouts per week as the particpant would like.

You can do the program on your own, or join in the private message board and connect with other participants. Progress will be monitored by photographs at the beginning, mid-way point and conclusion, as well as weekly email check-ins. Programs will be modified if and when needed.

Start date: January 9th, 2011

Cost: Only $95!
(this is a steal of a deal!!)

The Virtual Bootcamp will include:
An 8 Week Personalized Weight Program
An 8 Week Personalized Cardio Program
Weekly Participant Check-ins
Physique Check and Program Reviews Throughout
Extra Motivational Tools and Tips Throughout
Group Support via a Private Discussion Board

---

Would you like to start 2011 off with a bang?

Sign up NOW ! Visit my website to sign up, message me or email me at sandrawickham@live.ca

Note: Space is limited.
Please note: Deadline for sign up is January 4, 2011 in order to give me time to get all the information I need from you to design your program for the start date.

Famously Rejected

As writers we spend a lot of time doubting ourselves. Are we talented enough? Is this idea terrible? Will everyone hate it? Would a publisher ever want it? And that's before we even send it out. Then the question becomes, how many rejections can I take?

I haven't been in the game long enough to have sent much out, but I've made a collection of stories of rejection turned success, to make myself feel better in preparation for those down times. I thought some of you might like these as well.

James Patterson's first novel was turned down by 31 publishers, then the novel went on to win an Edgar as the best first mystery of the year. His fir first best seller came 16 years later.

John Grisham's first novel "A Time to Kill" was rejected by 16 agents and a dozen publishers. He becaem the best-selling author of "the Firm and "the Pelican Brief." "A Time to Kill" was republished in 1992 and made into a movie in 1996.

Earlene Fowler wrote 150 short stories that were rejected before having her first novel published. (now has 6 books published)

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was turned down so many times, Beatrix Potter initially self-published it.

Stephen King's first novel Carrie received dozens of rejections.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected by 20 publishers.

J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected by a dozen publishers, including Penguin and HarperCollins.

Feel better? Good. Keep writing, keep submitting and don't let rejection stop you. :)

Inkpunks

Just a quick blog, to blog about our other blog..  www.inkpunks.com where I blog with six other writing friends, taking turns posting about writing, our journey, the creation process or whatever comes to mind. We started this blog in October and it's been a great experience so far. We've introduced guest bloggers now, each taking a turn inviting someone to guest post on our site. Our first guest blog was posted on Friday, by the author of Mr. Shivers, Robert J Bennet.

He's written a fantastic blog about the vulnerability of authors and how to deal with that within the publishing industry. I highly recommend checking it out, just click here. Tomorrow it's my turn to post, so you know, you might want to come by the site again tomorrow. ;)

It is a silly man who spends his nights worrying about his problems, for in the morning he is tired, and his problems remain unchanged.

- Old Icelandic Proverb

Dental Update

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and cringes at my dental surgery. (this blog goes out to my wordpress, blogger, goodreads and livejournal, so I got lotsa love..) My face is pretty swollen, I look like I'm storing food for an emergency meal later. Still tired, it's amazing how much something like that can wear on your body, as well as the energy it takes to heal itself, but I'm getting back to normal. No, I'm not posting any pictures of my chipmunk cheek. :P

Dental Surgery Day

Need I say more? This has been a nightmare. I had a root canal on this tooth in May. It took TWO sessions, (4 needles, 2 hours long, drilling, scrapping, removing roots each time..) plus of course the temporary filling and then crown. But I still had pain. I went back, he shaved down the crown, just in case. I went back. He did it again, then told me, we'd have to do the root canal again. My reaction, of course, was to freak out. He said, it's no big deal. Apparently to him, no big deal was another 4 needles and over an hour of drilling and scrapping. After, still pain. Let's try antiobiotics. Did that, went back, still pain.

So, now I'm going to an Endodontist today. This is what I'm having done. YES, I am sharing these photos so that you too can cringe and experience a bit of my pain. You're welcome.



With so many dentist appointments, I do have my coping mechanisms well set in place.

While at the dentist:

1. I have a book in my hands at all times to disappear into at any opportunity, and probably clutch throughout the procedure. (I usually take The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle)

2. I have my ipod with relaxing music on it.

3. I'll be wearing my own sunglasses to cut down the blaring light in my face.

I also have a plan that helps me by having something to look forward to and to make myself better when I get home.

1. I'm taking the rest of the day off.

2. I have my latest crochet project by the bed.

3. My Buffy discs are cued and ready to go.

4. I have protein shakes and bendy straws at the ready.

5. I'm blogging about it so lots of people will send their wishes and sympathy. ;)

IF you don't hear from me again, please, remember me fondly. Then track down these *bleeping* dentists and kill them.

Thank you.

Electric Velocipede

At the World Fantasy convention, I grabbed a free t-shirt from John Klima of Electric Velocipede (Hugo Award winning magazine.) They like it when you take a picture in their shirt and then send it to them. So I did. Little did I know I'd end up the "EV T-shirt girl," and of course, I'm loving it. I just saw today that they even gave me a shout out and link to my site on their home page, so I'm returning the favour and blogging about them today. :)

If you too want to own a cool "Short Fiction is dead, Long live short fiction," you can visit their site for a shirt HERE. Support short fiction! ;)

New Client-Blatant Plugs for Writing Excuses, Twitter and My Training

Do you listen to the INCREDIBLY GREAT podcast, Writing Excuses? "15 minutes long, cuz you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart." Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells host this snappy, informative podcast that never fails to inspire me and make me laugh. I follow all of them on Twitter (here comes another endorsement for the network..) and noticed that Howard Tayler, author of the comic space opera, Schlock Mercenary, tweets quite often about working out. I think we'd exchanged a few tweets (because that's how it works, folks, you can actually talk to famous people...) and then just last week he tweeted something about workouts or diet and I replied to ask him if he wanted help. Fast forward a week or so, and I'm now training wecartoonist and podcaster, Howard Tayler, in exchange for his help in promoting myself as an author. You know, for that day when I have more than two stories published. ;) 

He's included his decision to train with me on his blog HERE which is a great way to keep accountable, not to mention, give me a big promo shout out.

What's the point of my blog? Sheer self-promotion, really. And to say, hey, if you have a skill that you can exchange for help with your writing or promotion for your writing career, don't be afraid to ask!! (caveat-pg 13 rated skills only, please)

Good luck, Howard, we'll be watching...

20Spec

Do you like the idea of writing a story set in the roarin' twenties? How about a story set in the twenties, with a speculative fiction twist? Jaym Gates and Erika Holt (editors of the nearly infamous Rigor Amortis) are taking submissions for a new anthology and I thought some of you might be interested! Here's the submission guidelines, the only change being they have extended the deadline to December 20th.

They're looking for "stories about such things as gansters, the Klan, social and political upheaval, speakeasies..tell stories that take place after dark, far from home, in abandoned stills. Don't be afraid to travel abroad, either."

If you're on twitter, check out hashtag #20spec for updates from the editors and tweets from people working on their stories. I've started my story..why not join me in submitting!

I'm currently reading this book for inspiration. :)

Patrick Rothfuss Raises Money

I'm a big fan of Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind) and he's helping out his favourite chairty Heifer International, an organization that (from Pat's blog) "It helps people raise themselves up out of poverty and starvation. All over the world Heifer promotes education, sustainable agriculture, and local industry.

They don’t just keep kids from starving, they make it so families can take care of themselves. They give goats, sheep, and chickens to families so their children have milk to drink, warm clothes to wear, and eggs to eat."

He's collecting money through direct donations, lottery and auction items. There's a TON of great stuff to be won, including Pat's own donations, hundreds of books from Subterranean Press and Del Rey, you wouldn't believe it all if I told you. ;) But you might believe it if you see it. You can check out all the great stuff HERE on Pat's blog, just follow the links.

You could also bid on a professional critique of your manuscript. Some of you might have read on my blog that I did this at a fundraiser called The Boom Effect (raising money for Tee Morris' daughter) and had the unique experience of having professional agent Laurie McLean of the Larsen-Pomada agency. It was worth every penny!! I'm probably going to bid on this auction as well. Wait a second, then why am I telling YOU about it?! Because it's for a great cause. Get on over to Pat's blog and check it out!

The Reward System

I'm finally getting back into the groove of first draft writing. I've been editing so much lately, or just writing short stories, that returning to sitting down and writing 2000 words on a novel in one sitting was tough! Part of the reason I got my mojo back is that I remembered I'm extremely motivated by the reward system, the carrot on a stick method. It's definitely something that works for me.

Maybe it's because I'm still such a child?! LOL. You may be thinking, but writing is it's own reward, isn't it? Maybe in the long run, but short term, I need the extra kick in the pants!! It doesn't have to be a huge reward, just something small. And frequent. I need more than just a "when I finish this novel I'm going on a shopping spree!" Sometimes I need hour by hour rewards. "If I sit here and write till 4:00pm, I'm going to get up and make some tea." Then I make it through that hour. After that, "if I reach my 2000 word goal for today, I'm going to watch an episode of Buffy!"

I'm glad I remembered how to manipulate myself in this way. ;)

Do you use the reward system? In what way? PLEASE don't tell me you use food. *hangs her head*  I know I'll probably get it for that, but just think, if you're always rewarding yourself with treats, and you write every day..that's a LOT of treats..building up..over time. I just had to slip that in, cuz that's what I do. ;)

Happy writing and don't forget to reward yourself! 

New Goal

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I'm writing a brand new novel. I'm not "rewriting," I'm not "editing," this is a whole new novel. I've kept some of the same characters, the setting...and that's about it. It's a tough pill to swallow, this was the first novel I've written (since I was nine!) and I did five drafts on it. The difficult part has been getting my brain to accept that I'm doing it over. Again. From scratch. Good news is, my brain and I have worked things out, and we've even set a new goal to have this "new" novel done by the end of the year. That's going to mean about 2000 wds a day, six days a week. I'm sharing this with you, of course, so that you can keep me accountable in reaching this goal. Feel free to harass, check in, crack the whip and demand updates.

Today happens to my day off-no really, it's been pre-scheduled...because I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie!

PS-This blog post is a part of another goal, to blog three times a week on days I go to the gym. Today is one of those days! (yay me!)

Blogging Schedule

After posting yesterday and reading people's feedback here and on Twitter, I've come up with a blogging plan. Since excerise is always a constant and easy thing in my life, I'm going to attach a not-so-easy thing, regular blogging, with it. Whenever it's a weight training day, I'm going to blog before I go. There. I said it. So, that's three times a week. I really hope it works.

If you're in the opposite situation, you blog regularly but don't exercise regularly, try it the other way around! What? I'm just sayin'.....

I'm actually double blogging today. It was also my turn today to post over at our new website, INKPUNKS, which Molly Tanzer called "a really cool group blog I just found out about, aimed at supporting early-career writers". Get on over there, check it out, and definitely leave me a comment if you have the time! ;)

The Blogging Habit

I'm afraid to even look at the date of my last blog post. (don't look!!) I seem to have fallen off the blogging wagon. It seems for me, blogging is like exercising for other people. I set goals to blog three times a week, I get very excited and keep it up for a short time, then it starts to be harder to stick to, my blogging becomes a little irregular. But I don't give up, I tell myself I'm going to make up for it. Then, all of a sudden, life gets busy and I haven't blogged for a week. Then I feel like I've lost momentum and soon another week has gone by without blogging. Well, by then I've thrown my goals out the window, feel like a terrible failure and can't bring myself to dive back in to do a single blog. Am I right?

For me, exercise is second nature. It's not a matter of "sticking to it" because it's just a constant part of my life. Now, if I could only figure out a way to make that happen with my blogging..because I do enjoy it! I like the creativity of it, reading other people's blogs, receiving comments on my blog..I just need to stick to it!

For those of you who blog on a regular basis and have done so for a long time, do you have any tips for me?!!!

Chronicles of the Order

My Chronicles of the Order short story has dropped! Just in time for Philippa Ballantine's release of her novel Geist, you can tune in to my story here: BROTHERS, a story set in the world of Geist. There you can also view a trailer for the novel. This is exciting, I hope you get a chance to listen, and if you do, please let me know what you think.

Rid 1 Thing

Are you overwhelmed with clutter? Join me on my "Rid 1 Thing" mission. I feel constantly plagued by clutter. I don't consider myself a "hoarder" or even a clutter bug, but it just seems to add up, doesn't it? We have long term plans to relocate, short term plans to move in the same area and the thought of packing up all this...stuff results in the cold sweats and shakes. Not so long ago, when we first started talking about moving, I gave myself the mission of getting rid of 1 thing per day. It didn't have to be anything big, could be something as small as throwing away an old expired bottle of vitamins I never touch, or recycling a container we never use anyway, to as big as cleaning out my closet and bookshelves and donating boxes of stuff. I let myself be flexible, depending on my schedule and mood. I kept it up for a few months. You'd be AMAZED at how long you can keep it up and how much stuff there is you can throw away, recycle or give away. At first the things were obvious, then it became fun to find things. I eventually would pick a room and challenge myself to find something to get rid of.

You know what? It worked! I really started noticing a difference. Our home had a noticeably lighter, more open feeling to it. Then, I stopped. I think we went away on vacation or something and I got thrown off my habit. I've tried to go back to it, kind of half-heartedly over the last several months but it hasn't stuck.

I want that decluttered feeling back!! So I'm announcing it right now, starting today, I'm back on my mission to get rid of 1 thing every day. I'm going to tweet my progress with the hashtag #rid1thing. Twitter is great for accountability and I know if I tweet it, people will hold me to it.

Want to join me? It's a great feeling. Just 1 thing. Look around, I'm sure you'll find one thing pretty fast. Then tomorrow, look again. Anything you can donate, give to a friend, garbage or recycle? Give it a try, I promise the results will be worth it.

Warning: be careful when giving away things to friends, they may start to catch on that you're just dumping your clutter on them. My mom caught on pretty quickly. ;)

Wish me luck on my mission, and if you join in, let me know!!

Bitten By Books

The authors from Evolve are going to be on the website Bitten By Books tomorrow, Oct 13th from noon (central time) to midnight. It's going to be an awesome event, with multiple authors appearing thorughout the time. I'll be there, chatting and answering any questions. BBB is a great site, I'm excited to be able to take part in one of their events. Please stop by if you can and ask me a question or just say hello!! I'd love to see you there. :)

VCON 2010

Last weekend I attended VCON, Vancouver's local fantasy, sci fi and gaming convention for the third year in a row. The first year, I'd barely started writing and followed the two author guests of honour, Kelley Armstrong and Patrick Rothfuss around to every panel about writing and publishing. Then I started taking my writing seriously. The second year at VCON, I had my story accepted for Evolve and went to the Book Launch as an author to help promote it, even though the book wasn't out yet. This year, Evolve is out and I signed copies at the Book launch. I also did a reading and sat on four panels, two of which were with the amazing author guest of honour this year, Cherie Priest. It's been a great couple of years.

I can't say enough in support of VCON, local conventions and of course the bigger ones if you're interested in writing or becoming a writer. You can learn so much from other authors, publishers, editors and agents. When I first started competing in fitness, it was so new, there were no coaches, no one to tell me what to do. I had to learn by trial and error for YEARS. Once I made it to the top 5 at the National level, I began passing on what I'd learned by training others. I constantly joke with my clients that I wish there'd been a "me" when I first started competing. Now I'm making the leap into the writing world, I'm taking full advantage of learning from those who've been down the many roads to publication, using their experiences to seek out my own path.

Next up is the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio and I can't wait. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures at VCON. I'm hoping the official photographer for the event got at least one of me sitting on a panel, so I can prove I really did it. ;)

I did get a shot of some of us hanging in my room having drinks on the Saturday night, and on the last day I got a picture with this lady, I don't know her name, but she sat in some of the writing sessions when I was on the panel and she was just so darn cute I wanted to get a pic.

The Inkpunks

That project I mentioned the other day? Well, it's launched. It's our new site, Inkpunks.com and you have to come visit. I'll tell you why. First of all, it was my idea, so it flops like a Sunday morning pancake, it'll be my face with egg on it. (What? I haven't had breakfast yet). Second, it's an awesome idea. (ha!) I've been fortunate to find myself part of a great group of writers, creative minds and overall awesome people. We support each other, cheer each other on, listen to each other whine, and generally lift each other up. I thought it would be great if we could share what we've created, with each other. Hence, the website.

We're going to be rotating the blog posts, so there will be new content every Tuesday and Friday. We're not claiming to know it all or anything, really, we just want to share what we learn on our journey ourselves and from those more knowledgeable than us. We want to spread the support. We have a Resources section that we will continue to update. There is also talk of a submissions page, keeping tabs on new submission openings. LOTS of reasons for writers to drop by!!

Since it was my idea, I got the honour (and the pressure) of writing the first blog post. (yikes) Please come check it out and leave a comment for us. We're excited about this new endeavour and hope to reach out to as many people as we can.

Come join the Inkpunks! ;)

Secret Project

I've always wanted to say that.

I have a joint project with several of my writing friends in the works. It's not going to be a secret very long..we're letting the cat out of the bag (so to speak) on Oct 1st. I'll be blogging about it, so please stay tuned!!!

I'm excited. I know you are too. I can tell. ;)

Last Day of the Cruise

It's even sad to blog about the last day of our cruise! We had such a great time, it was hard to say good-bye to the Ms Ryndam. (Ross is already looking into future cruises we can do..yay)

The last day I hit the spa for a little pampering. It was quite nice, but next time we decided we'd buy passes to the Thermal Suite instead...hot tub, heated tiled chairs, different aromatherapy steam rooms..and only people who buy passes are allowed to use it. (little hint for anyone looking to go on a Holland America cruise!)

On the last day the held their "On the Deck for the Cure Walk," a 5k walk to raise money for breast cancer research. Holland America has the walk on every ship, every cruise and have raised over 2 million dollars. My mother-in-law and I both signed up to walk, while the husbands cheered us on. This is a FUN walk, not a race. Ross kept trying to give me race pep talks.."Get to the front of the pack".."you can take them!" Hee hee.





The last night also happened to be my father-in-law's birthday, so we went to the Rotterdam dining room for dinner. They were having their last night "performance" dinner (can't remember the official name) so it was quite entertaining. The wait staff sang, danced, juggled as they served each course. We also got a little birthday cake and song!!







We went to the last show of the cruise, then woke up early and got kicked off the boat! ;)

Sigh. So much fun. I hope you enjoyed these glimpses into our trip and if you get a chance to go on a cruise to Alaska, do it!! :)