Bookmarked, Kristin, thanks.

Kristin, definitely bookmarked. I can do a piece for them, I think.

Steph, Plainsong is even more, with England and the countryside and the roads and the church spires and the small towns....

Got it. I'll order both, then when Weaver comes in, say I got it for a present so's they put it on the shelf, too.

Ooh, what a fabulous idea. What I've done so far is ask at the info desk at both Borders and B&N in several locations, repeatedly, if they have it in stock. I've also called in to all local stores, asking if they have it in stock, ("No, I don't have time for you to special-order it, it's for a present I need this afternoon!") and my family, friends, and writing group are all doing the same. I figured enough demand for both books would make the stores stock them--or at least the latest one.

But actually getting it onto the shelf is even better.

In Winter Darkness

In these cold corners where I dream
a stench invades the memory well
of bile, cold as spoiled cream
in winter darkness waits this hell.

There's nothing in December's chill,
just weight of passion stripped away
No warming breath, no surge of will
can bring me back this holiday.

If what I cherished, lost as youth
he whom I loved now gone to clay
I'm bound at heart to touch my truth,
pulled clear of memory's overlay

There is no sun, no kiss, no touch, no rhyme
that can return me to that warmer time.

AmyLiz, are you around?

I am now! Are you, still?

Yep! I'm working on my writing goals and marketing strategy for 2005 and 2006. Which may be a grandiose form of procrastination, but I am also writing today. I'm going to try to push myself to finish Anna's story, at least the first draft, by 8/31/05, and I also want to enter it in a few contests over the course of the year. (Naturally, once it's done, I'm going to start querying agents.)

So I'm going through my 2004 RWRs and creating a semi-obsessive database of contests I might enter, sorted by entry date and type of submission (standard first chapter, the longer first 2-3 chapter ones, and the quirky ones--all the best scene, last chapter, sex scene, etc. contests). I'm trying to decide, at least on a preliminary level, which ones are best for me, though I'm not making a definite decision about entering anything until I know who's judging the finalists.

Anyway, Anna's story has a somewhat nontraditional first chapter in that her husband is still alive--or, at least, we don't know he's dead until the very last page of the chapter. I think it begins at the right place. It's the place where the changes start for Anna and Jack, and we see them meet each other in a way that, if I'm writing it right, showcases their chemistry and compatibility, shows what kind of people they are, and hints at the conflict. But I'm afraid it might do poorly in first chapter contests by being a bit non-standard. From your judging experience, am I right about that?

From your judging experience, am I right about that?

I don't think so, not if the reader gets right away that Jack and Anna are the protagonists -- then that final page where they learn her husband is dead will be a corker. Remember, at least from a published book perspective, readers will have at least glanced at the cover copy and know who the couple will be, but if you make the attraction clear enough, anyone picking up that first chapter blind should be able to get it, too.

Does that help? (And go you!, by the way, on everything you're doing, and with a nasty cold/virus if my lurking in Bitches is anything to go by.)

That definitely helps! I was worried that people might be put off by a heroine who's still married to someone other than the hero at the start of the book, but if you avoid first chapter contests, it limits your options considerably.

I'm writing and setting goals for the next 18 months or so because that's stuff I can do perched in front of the computer or curled up on a couch--beyond the bare minimum of Annabel-wrangling, I'm avoiding anything resembling physical exertion. This stuff is fun, and much better for the virally afflicted than folding laundry or vacuuming.

It sucks mighty big ones to be sick when you have to baby-wrangle. I mean, it sucks to be sick anytime, but when there's a tiny person who completely doesn't understand that Mommy feels like a truck ran over her, it's worse.

t /natter