(no subject)

[alg]

I think RWA is (generally speaking) a great organization. I think a lot of times it's extremely helpful. I think RWA has done much to help romance become a genre that's taken seriously. I think RWA refuses to be shunted aside by people who say, "Oh, it's just women." I think that is awesome.

However. The number one thing I see from RWA members that makes me cringe is this "Pro" thing. Really. Stop it. I don't care that you have a pro pin. It doesn't actually make you a professional at all. In fact, I sort of mentally groan and roll my eyes and think to myself, "Great, yet another person who has no idea what she's doing."

It's not your fault -- RWA encourages you to think this is important. That's fine. But here's a reality check: it doesn't matter. If you're sending me a proposal, I care about your words a lot, and your publishing history/contacts a little bit, and your RWA status not at all.

(If you don't know what I am talking about, here's a quick definition: RWA offers something called a "Pro pin" to its members who have finished and submitted a manuscript. Since 999 times out of 1,000 (999,999 times out of 1,000,000?) a first-time submission won't get published, you can prove that you are a "pro" by showing them your rejection letter. Seriously. I have run into more than one person who writes and submits a crappy ms. just for a pro pin, and more than one person who thinks that a pro pin means something to editors. It does not. Obviously.)

La la la. Moving on. Yesterday when I woke up, Vincent was dragging his back legs. In fact, I woke up because he was making weird noise. It was like he didn't have the use of his hips, but he wouldn't let me look at his legs. So I called my vet and left a message and called in sick to work. I kept calling my vet. To make a long story short, she couldn't see me, so I went with both cats to the ghetto vet near the Williamsburg Bridge. Vincent was fine -- by the time we got there, he was totally okay. But it turns out that Shiksa's got conjunctivitis!

I felt kind of hysterical and ridiculous -- yet at the same time absolutely vindicated because something was wrong.

Then I went to the office, because I am a compulsive workaholic, and, before going out for supper with some of my friends, I stopped in at a B&N near my office. I was kind of appalled to see that romance only had two bookshelves, whereas mystery had five, but whatever. I picked up six or seven books, and read one of them while drinking a mocha -- The Admiral's Bride by Suzanne Brockmann. She's one of my favorite writers, and this is a reprint (originally published in 1999), and I loved it. And when I was finished, I realized that I shouldn't have done that. I should have saved her for last.

Because the other five books or however many I had? Were crap. I flipped through them on the train on my way home. The most egregious errors were ones the copyeditor really should have caught (like the heroine who first graduated in 1996 and then in 1998, and either way, there was no way that she was a successful sociology professor!). I hated so many of the characters. There were a lot of clumsy beginnings -- dossiers instead of character development, etc. Totally boring stuff that actually kind of upset me. Why so lazy, writers?

Not to even mention that 99% of the time, when there's a dossier to introduce characters, they're always accurate. I hate that. I think it would be much more interesting to do something like what cesperanza did in her story MVP and have the dossier actually be inaccurate (or not entirely accurate, anyway). Come on, shake things up.

Jeez.

I don't mean to sound so vehement, but.... blah. I had high hopes. I always do. I just hate everything! I can see why other people would enjoy some of it (sometimes I can, anyway), but I just... Hm. Like my userinfo used to say, I am interested exclusively in things that are interesting.

Things I have tried and failed at in the last few days: to set up a "real" blog using movable type (that shit is hard!), Trackbacks, PB Wiki (scratchyfishie and 2muchexposition both have one, but I can't figure out what to use it for!), the Xvid codec, the DivX codec, and to teach myself to compress video files without losing too much quality.

I have, however, suceeded at eating a lot of burritos, listening to a lot of Kane, watching a lot of Supernatural and Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy and The Evidence, and planning out what I am going to do with my life, which includes opening a roadside truckstop diner with my friends where we will serve pie.

In conclusion, Christian Kane is hot. There's not much more I can say about that.

Comments

[the-lady-m.livejournal.com]

Come over to the dark side dahhhhling... Blogspot.

:P

PS. Wanna Cover?

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

True. I got into it during season 2 when they were showing reruns and they were showing them out of order and throwing season 1 reruns into the mix (so in one episode Harry Hamlin is in jail and the next he's getting stabbed at a Xmas party)

Oh by the way (don't know if you watched it into the Deputy Leo parts) the guy that played Deputy Leo is playing a Chasidic Jew in http://www.whendoweeat.com/index2.html - looks good.

[(Anonymous)]

Our late Lupe had the collapsing hind-leg thing once right before we were going on vacation for a week. She was 13 at the time. We took her to the vet who said it was not neurological but arthritis. We boarded her there for the week to be safe. They kept her in a cage for the week to limit mobility & she was fine when we picked her up.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Although our tastes tend to be completely on opposite sides of the fence so by this point, but it looks like a Pesach themed movie that actually gets the holiday right for all its quirkiness (love the whole baal tshuva vs. not entirely religious parents dichotomy - saw that a lot back in Minnesota - not so much here where I live among young Orthodox Jews in Washington Heights) and it isn't a snorefest like Ushpizin.

[alg.livejournal.com]

Mostly unless I have spoken with another editor about this specific project, I try not to recommend too much to unpubs. However, if I know an editor has an open submissions policy and is looking for mss. like Type X, I might suggest the writer send it -- but the problem with this is that writers tend to use the names of the editors sending them over as a way to get a foot in the door. That's very smart. However, I don't want to be associated with Joe Blow 25's manuscript, you know?

[(Anonymous)]

Pie? I'm so there. (Are actually NOT - gasp - watching Lost? Or House?)

Jill (http://www.jillshalvis.com/blog)

[alg.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, Jill, I hate Lost. Will you still read my blog?

I do love House though. Mmmm Hugh Laurie. That would be a hard choice -- House or PIE. Can't I have both?

One clarification

[(Anonymous)]

RWA's Pro status isn't awarded for getting a rejection. It is awarded for completing and submitting a manuscript to a publisher or agent. You do not have to produce a rejection letter to be a pro, you have to show proof that you submitted it. A return postcard will do the trick.

The Pro designation is useful within RWA in that there are workshop tracks at the national conference specifically for Pro members, and they're really good. There are Pro-only email loops at national and local levels, where the slightly more experienced writers can chat without having to deal with the inevitable newbie interruptions with questions on manuscript format and 'What's a query letter?'

I'm not and have never been a Pro, 'cause I'm published. But I've been involved in the Pro program at my chapter level, and I have to tell you, the Pro members tend to be the ones who have been around a while and know a little something. You might think it's silly, but getting the pin is just one little perk on what can be a very long road. Unpublished writers get so little validation, and if they can feel a spark of pride at being recognized for one step on the road to publication, why begrudge them? I don't understand why the Pro thing bothers people so much. If it's not your thing, just ignore it.

[karenetaylor.livejournal.com]

Pie making is a lost art these days.

I don't mind mincemeat out of a jar or can, but once you've had homemade, there's no going back.

I do pies a couple of times a year, usually because I get a craving for raw pie dough. Yeah, I know. Eeeeuw.

[julesjones]

Even with form letters, the difference between the encouraging form letter and the discouraging form letter can indicate something. As I realised when I received a flat "no" from somewhere after a long string of "you didn't make the final cut, but keep submitting" form letters. :-)

Boy reads romance

[(Anonymous)]

I take romance seriously. I don't take RWA so seriously, though, 'cept it is kinda fun being outnumbered by all those wet panties.

[kvaadk.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course. I can't imagine the etiquette in suggesting a 6k short story might be good for another market would be at all like that for advising a novelist of options.

And also of course: Unless the person specifically says "Tell them I sent you" never use the name of another editor (particularly one who rejected you) as an entree.

[(Anonymous)]

I joined RWA, even though there's no local group in my area, because of Romance Sells, that and I'm told RWR has good info. But I joined after I sold.

[(Anonymous)]

There are romance readers who *love* male POV! Personally, I like a balance, but if there's going to be only one POV, I'd prefer MALE.

Exactly.

[celeste-b.livejournal.com]

The workshop tracks at National are THE reason I'm applying for Pro status. It wouldn't have occurred to me to mention anything like that in a query letter.

[deviantauthor.livejournal.com]

Really? *g*

I know I wouldn't be going to any cons. (Not that the thought of a couple of days off isn't appealing, mind you. LOL)

In defense of the PRO

[dragon-quill.livejournal.com]

While I understand your point, the PRO designation is to give those of us still struggling a boost. The idea is that if you are actually writing--and finishing--manuscripts and submitting them, then you need some special recognition. There are also email loops, newsletters, etc only for PROs. I personally like this, because I can then miss most (not all) of the beginners questions and get right to the stuff that intersts me.

That said, when I submitted to you, I certainly didn't tell you I had my Pro pin. To be honest, I'm not sure why people do. The pin isn't to impress editors, it's to stave off depression and the desire to throw your computer out the window. It's tough out here for writers--especially women writers. Any support we can get is good.

Now that I've thoroughly disagreed with you, may I say that your very nice rejection did more to stave off said depression and computer tossing than any piece of metal. You are a true professional--and a genuinely nice person. I SO hope to someday have you as my editor. Thanks!

Quality of books (or lack thereof)

[(Anonymous)]

I read a book recently that made me want to scream - category romance. There's an arsonist on the loose. About 3/4 of the way through the book, the heroine gets a message delivered (via a real live messenger dude!) that is supposedly from the hero, telling her to meet him at the church, so he can give her info about the arsonist. So even though this arsonist is on the loose, even though he has *already* communicated with the hero by using a messenger, even though anyone with half a brain would think, "Why doesn't he just call me?" our fearless heroine goes without a second thought!

From that point on, I stopped caring what happened to her. She was too stupid to live! It completely ruined the rest of the book for me, and I'm a little surprised I even bothered to finish it. I don't like it when my intelligence is insulted! How did this book get published? Did the editor not notice, or just not care? I don't get it!

- SandyC -

Re: PRO

[(Anonymous)]

But in our society these days, children are rewarded for failure all the time! God forbid that their self-esteem should suffer even a little! Even if my son's essay is filled with spelling mistakes, he'll get a good grade if he writes the requires number of paragraphs or pages. I happen to think this is wrong. To reward everything people do, no matter how mediocre, is nonsense.

- SandyC -

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

Regarding video compression, if you're not vehemently opposed to the practice of making fanvids, you might want to check out the memories of vidding. There are some incredibly helpful tutorials. :)

[alg.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, if you scroll back a month or two, you will find a recs post full of fanvids! In fact, when I was 15 I made a Swans Crossing fan vid (before I knew that it was actually a real live art and not just me being dumb and emo)...

In conclusion, yes. Also, I have looked there. Not much help, unfortunately, since it's less about the compression and more about the way I am importing the file to my computer (from VHS) in the first place. Le sigh, so tragic! But thanks for the thought!!

Hannukah story

[(Anonymous)]

Thought I'd post this question here as opposed to earlier blog. Would you consider a mystical Hannukah story written in first person, a bit chick litty, from female POV? Older heroine, younger hero. Not finished yet, could easily switch to third limited and throw in some male POV. Would love feedback.
Sent you a contemporary witch story this morning. At least first three chapters.
Thanks. R.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, check. Don't mention Pro pin.

What about the following: at a recent workshop--name withheld--the author suggested mentioning whether one is a member or a coordinator for a critique group that included published authors. Something along the lines of: their critiques helping to polish a writer's work appropriately.

Bad idea?

Happy to read you care about words and some about credentials.

And Christian Kane is definitely hot...was very relieved to see that his right hand is still attached. Haven't seen him since Angel and was happy for the trip down memory lane.

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

I did scroll back, and in addition to the vid recs post (I'll have to watch the Angel ones), I saw that you're into fanfic. Super cool. *g* Fanfic--the good kind--so totally doesn't deserve the reputation it has with some people out in the "real" writing world.

And a vid rec for you! If you haven't seen the season 5 BtVS vid to the "Mahna-Mahna" song from the Muppets, you have to. Seriously. Right this second. And don't drink anything. Go here (http://www.kitzeproductions.net/btvs/vids.html) and scroll down a ways. You won't regret it!

Sorry the link wasn't helpful! I can barely limp through making vids with the AMV guide (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/index.html) holding my hand. But good luck finding your answer elswhere! :)

Re: Hannukah story

[alg.livejournal.com]

I'll consider anything that's interesting.Thanks!