Busy is an understatement!
On the flip side though, there’s this:
Isn’t she a beauty?!
See you next month, dear Reader!
- KRidwyn
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Happy birthday, me!
Today I want to thank some people. I want to thank my brilliant Mum, Rehanah, for bringing me safely into this world 49 years ago, and to my parents for nurturing and guiding me since then.
To Ian, for saying some special words and then staying with me since then, 27 years ago, and also to my amazing three cherubs, as you all make each day a delight.
Thank you to my extended family, all my friends, and my colleagues, as without each and every one of you my life would be the poorer. Thank you all for the amazing human beings you are, and for making the journey I’m making through this life the wonder that it is. I truly appreciate you all!
And here’s to another trip around the Sun for us all 
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Stumbling…
So my querying journey ran headlong into a wall the other week. I’d been sending out query letters and the first several pages of my story for a fortnight or so, happily exploring QueryTracker and garnering rejections but expecting these as par for the course… when I stumbled across an agency website page which stated word count expectations for a variety of genres.
Blow me down but they were wanting between 35K – 80K for Middle Grade. The piece I’d poured my blood, sweat and tears into, barely tipped the scales at 27K.
Heart attack! What if the rejections I’d been getting weren’t because the agents didn’t feel like they liked my story enough… but instead were rejections out of hand due to my paltry word count? Had any of them even read my pages? Was I counting myself out of the running; doing myself and my story a disservice because the word count wasn’t hefty enough?
So I withdrew all active queries, and thought. And thought, and thought some more.
You see, I’d originally intended the story I was querying to be but the first in a 7-part series. And yes, even though I *know* it’s not wise, I’d gone blithely ahead and drafted the majority of all seven stories. And all of them were in the 27K – 33K range.
It had occurred to me within seconds of reading that page, that I could be staring down the barrel of seven rejections, based simply on word count!
After a period of grieving at the thought of my story never reaching an audience, I realised a mental re-adjustment was in order. Then it hit me.
Why did it have to be a 7-part series? What if it were a trilogy instead?
As in, Books 1, 2 and 3 becomes ‘Book 1’.
Books 4 and 5 become the sequel.
Books 6 and 7 then finish the arc as the ultimate title in the series.
Huh! Word count target achieved! So now I’m editing what *was* Book 2, which I’m hoping will become Part 2 in my newly enlarged novel.
Let’s see what happens when it’s done, huh? And now I’d best go: I’ve QUITE a lot of editing and polishing to do!
See you next month, dear Reader!
- KRidwyn
So… I did it!
Not quite on the 16th, admittedly, but on the 25th. And that was pretty much all because I was directing a production of The Velveteen Rabbit, whose opening night was the 16th. Yeh, I didn’t particularly time that one very well, did I…
Still, the querying started on the 25th, and I’ve averaged 2-3 queries per day since then. So I’m happy with that. Some fairly immediate form rejections, which is sad but par for the course, I know.
And I’m enjoying learning LOTS. Last time I queried (years ago now) it was *way* too early. Now I’m feeling a lot more ready, but I’ve revised my query letter twice, my biography about five times, and I’m not even going to mention the numbers of times I’ve reworded my answers to the ‘target audience’ and ‘similar works’ questions! Hence the spinning hamster wheel. Am I doing this right? Should I be writing this? Or this? Or even… this?
I’m quite liking the Query Manager / Query Tracker side of things though. It’s a very impressive site! And researching agents and agencies is also fun. I’m constantly wondering ‘who will I be lucky enough to end up working with’?
So that’s my “Ceridwyn is now an #amquerying writer” story. It took a while to actually happen, but it’s happening now! Praise God 🙂
And speaking of God, have brilliant Easter weekends, dear Readers!
Yours,
KRidwyn
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Almost there…
Well, this month was D-month! (Is that even a thing? And if not, why not? And can I make it a thing? And who even came up with the ‘D’ for ‘D-day’ anyway? And I’m really showing how much of an ignoramus I am right now, aren’t I?!)
And back to the story: my plan was to start querying my Middle Grade novel by the middle of March. Am I on track to still make that deadline? Well, yes… but it’s a long drawn out ‘yes’ so everyone knows there’s a caveat attached!
So here’s why. Amongst my drama group preparing for our performances next week and Miss 18 finishing her 100 hours on her learners and then getting her license (YAY!!!)… my computer died! And yes, I’m one of those people who says ‘I’ll back up *next* week, which of course never arrives, meaning my last back up was before Christmas, and I have done SOOOOO much editing since then!!!
In fairness to the computer, it *was* ten years old, which I’m told is a very good age. My 13 inch MacBook Air, as light as a (okay, maybe a pelican’s or an albatross’) feather, and it had never had ANY problems… even after I accidentally dropped it hard enough to dent its corner a couple of years ago; and even though I’ve let it overheat once or thrice.
But the keyboard stopped. The trackpad, screen, everything else was fine. Just no keyboard – and external keyboards (both wired and wireless) also didn’t work.
Hence: I now have a new MacBook Air. And the IT guru was able to restore my old computer using a P-RAM reset (which he did for free) so I was able to save, back up and then transfer my book baby (and all her siblings!) to my new computer. No edits lost!!!
But Scrivener had apparently undergone a new version in the years I’d been writing, so I had to buy the new version. And then my baby (and her siblings) needed updating to the new version, and I need to relearn how to do stuff on this new Scrivener which I already knew how to do on the old version, so… sigh. It’s been a bit of a set-back.
But I’m determined to send my first query letters on the 16th, so I have 10 days left to get my baby ship-shape and looking her best.
Wish me luck, dear Reader! I’ll let you know how it goes come April!
⁃ KRidwyn
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Off and running…
So how’s your 2023 shaping up, dear Reader? Mine has been a whirlwind! Although it feels a tiny bit more relaxed, incrementally a little less hectic, than last year.
I’ve added some ‘physical health awareness’ time into my routine this year, and having one child fewer at school has given me a LOT more head-space, for which I’m grateful! And I’ve filled it (but of course) with other things… I’ve paid the Term 1 school fees, closed (and opened) a couple of bank accounts, sold then collected some budgies, had a vegetarian best friend stay for a week, processed a lot of books and kept on top of my ordering, and also done some gardening in there – as evidenced by my aching and stiff lower back as I type.
Oh, and add into the the time spent night driving with my eldest; an extra church activity or two, and more writing this year than any other year I can remember to date… and 2023 is looking good so far!
And the fact I wrote in my last blog post that I’d be querying by mid-March is still front-and-centre of my ‘not just important but urgent’ mental list. Truth be told, it might actually BE the whole list. I’m on track for that still. Kinda…
Speaking of which, I should probably get going now. There’s editing to do. I’ll leave you with this inspirational new(ish) writing from Veronica Roth, shall I?
See you next time!
- KRidwyn
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Happy New Year!
Yes, I know, it’s been 7 days already. But hey; I’ve been having a good holiday, okay?
Speaking of holidays, it’s been more of a ‘hiatus’ from this blog, hasn’t it (insert sheepish expression here). What a lovely word that is too, by the way. According to my Apple dictionary:
Hiatus, as in a ‘physical gap’, or ‘to gape’. Well, there certainly is a gaping hole in the timeline of posts on this blog! But as much as I’d like there not to be, I can’t change the past, so here’s hoping 2023 fares better for blogposts. Once a month even, perhaps?
Looking ahead, I’m also looking forward to querying again, probably around mid-March. It’s been years since dipping my toes in the querying waters, so I’m apprehensive. Well… downright terrified, truth be told. But now I’ve posted this – even if only on a sporadic blog such as this! – my brain is telling me it’s a commitment I’ll be unwilling to break. I hope…
On the reading front, I’ve challenged myself to anther 104 books this year. I absolutely LOVE that Goodreads has their ‘Reading Challenge’ function, where I can track my reading year by year. I recorded just over 110 in 2022, which I was pretty happy with. In 2023, I’m planning on the majority of those being YA, followed by MG and a smattering of adult and also non-fiction in there. Not only because those are my faves, in order, but also that’s where I’m at with the Library collection I’m trying to forge my way through at work. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned how BRILLIANT my job is, yes? Teacher Librarian for a K – 12 private school, where I get to spend the school’s money on books I know the kids will love? What can be better than that? (Well, writing full time perhaps, but that’s a scary thought right there…)
Anyway, here’s hoping all this reading I’ll be doing will help the writing some. And between the writing, the reading and the job, plus a newly-graduated daughter to help negotiate the big wide world of work and university, and two younger children completing Year 11 and Year 9 in 2023… this year’s ending will probably come around quicker than even I’m expecting! I wonder what my life will look like by then?
Well, that’s it from me, dear Reader. Have a great January and “see” you in a month!
– KRidwyn
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Yay Bobcat!
The sloshpit behind my carport is now obliterated!
And that makes me so happy 🙂
Have a great week yourself, dear Reader!
– KRidwyn
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Excuses and a photo
Yes, I know. It’s been a while. Life, you know?
On the homefront, Master12 started High School this year, meaning all three cherubs are at the one school again. What a relief! The school notes, the synchronising of term calendars, the transport issues – all cleared up! But yes, settling him into High School was more problematic than I’d expected… but that’s more my excuse for the dearth of blogposts, rather than the reason I’m putting fingers to keyboard today.
Because check this out!
Yup, that’s me! Third on the list of ‘Top Contributors’ for the conference I attended, the last two days. #NESB2021 – the National Educators Summit, Brisbane, 2021 – was absolutely brilliant, and helped me get my tweeting mojo back again, something I secretly hoped for.
Plus, oh! The learning! Getting back to a space where I can hear latest research on issues from Evidence Based Practice to ensuring diversity in the Library collection, not to mention the joy in listening to authors Aleesah Darlison and Peter Carnavas, and (of course) the networking opportunities presented – wow! So it was a stuff-as-much-information-as-possible-inside-your-brain kind of two days, and now I’m exhausted and happy and eager to start planning what ideas I’ll be implementing first. Because there were just SO many!!!
Thank you to all the presenters for giving up their time and sharing their cumulative wisdom; thank you to the organisers ensuring it all ran smoothly, and also a huge thank you to my boss for covering my classes on Friday, and agreeing to the cost from the PD budget. It was well worth the money 🙂
And now, let’s see if I can keep up this whole ‘blogging’ thing which I’ve wrestled with for over a decade now. Hopefully more regularly than has been, so far this year!
Have a wonderful week, dear Reader 😀
– KRidwyn
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Holiday happenings…
So it would appear that the last three weeks of December slipped by without my blogging. Whoops! And we’re at January 4th already, and the holidays are waning quickly. Sigh.
I’ve spent a bit of time at the beach / out in the sun in my garden over the past several weeks. I’m browner as a result (I had photos of both these but for some strange reason WordPress is declining to upload them.) and I also found out from my hairdresser that I should part my hair on the other side. One: it covers the greys and faded hair in my normal part, and two: it still has colour on that side, so I’m looking younger! On the down-side though, it feels REALLY weird and I’m not liking it much at all.
Well, that’s me. I’m off to work out why photos aren’t uploading, because I was planning on using them a LOT this year.
Wish me luck, dear Reader!
- KRidwyn