Stretched Thin

I've always been a bit socially awkward. I say the wrong things a lot. Laugh at unfunny things. Don't make enough eye contact...or too much. My jokes flop. I try really, REALLY hard to be a person's best friend, but I usually fail. Because I try TOO hard, as my mother always says.

Well, I feel like I'm trying too hard to be helpful and insightful and provide you with interesting tidbits on Monday Madness. The truth is I feel like Monday Madness is flopping more than flipping. Everything I say (or, more accurately, try to say) comes out a little stale. A little lifeless. A little awkward. So, next Monday will be the last regularly scheduled Monday Madness. It might make an occasional occurrence in the future when I can actually THINK of something interesting.

However, I do have recommendations for helpful blogs. 

The Sharp Angle. Lydia Sharp always has interesting things to say and I'm learning something every day from her. And when her husband, Joe, pops in you can usually get a unique perspective on things (as well as a grin-inducing post title).

Don't pet me, I'm writing. Tawna Fenske always has an amusing anecdote about writing or her experience as a writer. She's a lot of fun to follow!

The Other Side of the Story. Janice Hardy, author of The Shifter and Blue Fire, is always sharing helpful information on character development, plotting and writing in general.

I will continue to post book reviews on Wednesdays. Luckily I'm about two weeks ahead on that. Woohoo. I hope you're enjoying reading them, because I'm enjoying writing them. :)

Hopefully with less pressure on my brain to come up with something brilliant over the weekend for Monday Madness, I can start writing on my stories again. Maybe even some poetry.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Boredom + Laziness = Cool Site!

I'm pretty uninspired today. I wrote a little bit on ELVES but I'm just...bleh. Too tired, I think. I just want to go home and sleep.

But!

I found a really neat website today through Stumble Upon. (Have you ever used Stumble Upon? It's awesome, really!) I was mainly seeking inspiration for a new story idea. Short story, that is. I would like to get some more of my stuff out there. Instead, I found this!

Now, I'm a bit of a rut reader (as I like to call it). When I find an author I like, I'll go out and read all their books until I'm anxiously awaiting the next release. But this website helps you find (supposedly) authors with similar styles/content. You can even just use a single book as a comparison. Awesome, no?

I've already formed a list of new authors to check out. Hehe. Payday can't get here soon enough. :)

Toys!

Ok, not really toys, but these sites have proved to be really useful to me in my journey on finding an agent:

Absolute Write (Especially the forums: people can ask question and gets answers about agents and publishers)

QueryTracker (You can create your own list of agents/publishers to query, see what other writers think about querying them (and where they are in the querying process), have a list of stats on rejections/requests, genres the agent represents and a list of clients)

Agent Query (Another "find an agent" tool, make sure you check the agent's websites against what's on the site though, sometimes there are differences. When in doubt, go with the agent's site.)

Publishers Marketplace (This has a lot of agents'/publishers' professional information, such as recent sales and lists of clients)

Through Absolute Write and QueryTracker, I've found information that helped me make a more personal decision about querying an agent. These tools have helped me reaffirm some of my choices and scratch off others as being a "poor fit".

It's always a good idea to take a peek at an agent's blog (if they have one) as well. Reading an agent's blog or interviews help me get a stronger grasp on what he or she is looking for (and if they would be interested in FURY).

Can you tell I've done a lot of research? (I hope so, because I have.)

Are there any other sites out there that you would recommend?