Today I want to talk about the great agent quest.  A few years ago, I decided I wanted to find a literary agent to represent me. Until then, I’d been writing for small presses (ImaJinn Books and Red Sage), but I wanted to try to sell my work to NY, and I wanted an agent to help me.

So, I started doing some research.  I belong to the Romance Writers of America, and they have a great listing of agents on their site.  I looked on their site to get a listing of romance agents.  (RWA also has a file on agents who have received complaints; if you have an agent who has offered you representation and you want to see if anything is on file against him/her, you can send RWA an email to check.)

My next step?  I visited www.agentquery.com. Agent Query is awesome because it allows you to do a search (select the Full Search option) to break down acquiring agents by genres.  It also allows you to find agents who accept email queries and (most importantly!) it shows you the agents who are actively seeking new clients (because not all agents are).

I took my results from Agent Query and then visited the Preditors and Editors site.  I searched the agent names on Preditors and Editors to see what folks were saying about the agents (and to make sure there weren’t any big red flags).

When I had my list ready, I started querying. And, lucky for me, I wound up getting representation from Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency.

Before signing with an agent, I think it is important to:

1. Review your agency contract! Everyone should do this. I’ve heard some horror stories out there (particularly from one of my local chapter mates), and it really does pay to be safe.   If there are clauses that you find confusing or ambiguous, ask about them! Get clarification.  Don’t sign anything unless you are 100% comfortable.

2. Talk with the agent before you agree to representation. Laura and I had a great talk before I signed with her. She wanted to know what my plans were. We discussed my writing goals, we talked about meeting those goals. I felt like Laura really had my best interests at heart and I knew she would be the  right agent fit for me.

3. Talk with some of the agents other clients.  Do you want to know what this agent’s style is before you sign? Do you want to know if she’ll follow-up promptly with emails and phone calls?  Then ask someone who knows.

An agent is an author’s advocate. She can be an amazing asset to your career–so make sure you get the right agent so that you can have the writing career you want.

If you’ve got any agent hunting questions for me, ask away!

And, on a completely unrelated topic…I have my first review for IMMORTAL DANGER.  Amberkatze was kind enough to post a review on her blog.  Thanks, Amber!

I did not forget my Booking It post today–yay!  And right now, I want to chat about keeper books. Those books with the very wrinkled spines and the thumbed pages that I re-read over and over because I know that I’ll always get a fabulous story.  I have so many keeper books that they are overflowing from the shelves.  And this is after I thinned down after our move last year.

I’ve got all kinds of romance sub-genres on my keeper shelves:  historicals, paranormals, contemporaries. I’ve got Linda Howard’s series books (though I recently loaned a few of those to a friend who’d missed out on those early stories; I had to catch her up!), I’ve got Nora Roberts’s series–including those great witches, and I’ve got some real old school Elizabeth Lowell and Jayne Ann Krentz.  At one point, I went on a serious romance scavenger hunt and found all of JAK’s old titles.  Still have ’em.

But what’s on your shelves?  Do you have  one book that stands out above all the others?  I don’t know if I do. I have so many favorites, but I can’t name one book that I love above all the others.

And a quick note…I’m going to post writing-related posts for the rest of the week (except on my Wednesday interview day). If there is a specific topic you’d like me to cover, feel free to post in the comments.

Have a great week!

A while back, I picked up these fun little items at Michael’s.

Now I’m using them as bookmark holders (for signings and what not).

This week has been crazy busy for me, but I’m finally back on track. This was my big promo mailing week.  Still have envelopes to stuff and bookmarks to count, but I’m on schedule now. Sweet!  Promo is such a big part of a writer’s job, and I have to admit, all of those years when I dreamed of being a writer–I never took promo into account.  Just didn’t think about it.

Now, I think about it all the time!

My next promo agenda item is to create buttons for the RT Convention. (I’m going, are you?) And when I say create them–well, I mean that I’ll stand over my husband’s shoulder, drive him crazy, and keep telling him what I like and don’t like.  He’s my free graphic designer.  🙂

By the way, I never talked about this–but I did see MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D last weekend. Know what? It was AWESOME!  Bloody (um, yeah), fast-paced, and scary.  Loved it.  Will I see it again?  Not so sure the heart can take it. But, there were a few things I noticed that I wanted to comment on. Sure, most people will just say it was a bloody slasher flick, and it was, but I found it to be…smart.

I think b/c I write, I’m hyper aware of dialogue and pacing in movies. Once upon a time, it was all about the actors and actresses for me. Not any more.  Now, I focus on the conversations. The scene sequences.  The writer’s part.  And in MY BLOODY VALENTINE, there was some good writing. Really. The writer (or writers, I’d have to check) did a nice job of misleading me with information. Ah, I do love the information mislead.  I was wrong about the villain in this one. Wrong. That made me so happy.

None of the characters were perfect. Something else I loved. Give me those flaws!

The opening of the movie?  One giant ten minute gore fest that made me cover my eyes the entire time. BUT–you couldn’t ask for a more dramatic start to a flick.  Everyone’s attention was caught, whether they wanted it to be or not.

And the ending?  Well, I won’t ruin it for everyone who is dying to see this one, but it was great.  And a perfect setup for…ahem, don’t want to ruin anything.

But this movie was a good example of writing, and really, one of the reasons that I love horror movies is because if you look past the blood, sometimes, you can find a story that is fast-paced, terrifying, and just…good.

So, okay, I’ve rambled about scary movies now when that wasn’t my intention.  But since I’m talking about this, what scary movie have you watched and loved b/c of the good writing?

It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s time for another fabulous (cause they’re fabulous right,  right?) author interview here at the blog.

Today’s author is Edie Ramer–and Edie is fabulous. She recently made it to the third round of the American Title V Contest with her book, DEAD PEOPLE.  Way to go, Edie!

Now, on to the interview…

1.    Please tell us a bit about yourself and the genre (or genres) that you write.

Cynthia, thanks so much for having me here today!

I live in southeastern Wisconsin with my handsome husband, my beautiful cat and my loveable dog.  None of us has any faults.  Can you believe that?

I write light paranormal and women’s fiction.  Though the genres are different, my characters in both are damaged and quirky.  In my wip, my heroine and her family are aliens.  Not illegal, but extraterrestrial.  When I’m not bleeding out words, it’s a fun book to write.  Aliens get to do things that earth people can’t do.

(I’d love to tell you what some of those things are, but they have blaster guns and would make me suffer.)

2.    Describe your current (or upcoming) release  in 15 words or less.

A ghost whisperer thinks men are hard and DEAD PEOPLE are easy.

3.    That was a great description, Edie!  Great!

And now, feel free to use as many words as you’d like to describe your story.

I could get in trouble here.  That’s like saying “Take as many cashews as you want.”  Lucky for anyone reading this, the current round of the American Title V contest is our story summaries.  My longer summary is on the Romantic Time contest page, so here’s my shorter paragraph:

When Cassie Taylor talks, ghosts listen.  She wants to heal their souls so they can leave earth.  Brooding songwriter Luke Rivers wants to give his newly found daughter a normal home, but he discovers his new house in small town Wisconsin is haunted by a ghost with an attitude.  His ghost whisperer has an attitude too–even before someone tries to kill her.  So why does he have the hots for her?  And why does she lust after him?  He wants conventional.  She wants acceptance.  No wonder she thinks men are hard and DEAD PEOPLE are easy.

4.    Which character do you like more from DEAD PEOPLE—the hero or the heroine?  Why?

You ask tough questions!  Luke is a sexy, brooding songwriter who is trying to do the right thing by his newly discovered eleven-year old daughter –  even if she hates him for it.   How could I not love a man like this?

But I’ll pick Cassie, because she’s more proactive and has more at stake.  She’s trying to get the ghost out of Luke’s house before she does something stupid like falling for him and his sad daughter.  And Cassie is the only one who knows that the ghost was murdered.  The ghost doesn’t even know it.  Then there’s Cassie’s hunky best friend who used to be a police detective before he was killed – fifty years ago.

5.    What is the most challenging part of being a writer?

The most challenging part is selling.  Other than that, I challenge myself to write each book better than the last.  I’m not satisfied with writing an okay book.  I want to write a fabulous book.  I want it to resonate inside me.  I want to feel that excitement when you know it’s good.  It doesn’t always happen, so I challenge myself to make it happen.

6.    In a fight, who would win…Dracula or the wolf-man?

I’m so thorough (anal), I looked this up.  Benicio del Toro is playing Wolfman in the 2009 movie.  He’s hot.  He’s brooding.  (Like Luke in DEAD PEOPLE. 😆 )  I’ll pick him over Dracula any day.

7.    What’s your favorite scary movie?  Come on, spill.  No explanations—just name it.  Let everyone else guess why.

Marley and Me.  (I know it’s not billed as a scary movie.  But if you saw the ending …)

8.    Tell me the one thing you wish you’d known about being a writer, um, before you became  a writer.

I wish I’d known about RWA when I first started to write.  Romance writers rock!   Romance writers are the most supportive, sharing and caring group I’ve ever met.  Through RWA I’ve met my CPs, which led to the Magical Musings blog and many of my cyber friends.  From different loops and blogs, I find out the latest publishing news.  Like the American Title V contest.  And writing classes, including Margie Lawson’s.

Without RWA and all the interconnections, I wouldn’t know you, Cynthia.  Though I’d probably be reading your books and wishing I knew you. 😀

9.    What is your writing schedule like?

People have schedules?  😯  I’m not structured.  My goal this year is to get structure in my life.  To write at least five pages in the morning before I check my email and blogs.  Only then will I reward myself with the Internet.

As it is, I check my emails and internet and then open my wip file.  So I end up writing on and off all day, checking emails in between.  My goal is to have a normal working day.  Writing is my job and I need to treat it like one.

10.    Tell me anything you’d like to tell me.

I love writing.  I love it when my voice melds with the voice of my character and I’m in the flow.  I love it when I read something I wrote and I know it’s good.  I imagine it’s the same thing an artist feels when she looks at a painting or sculpture she did and she knows in her heart that it’s beautiful.

And I love revising.  I can’t always write in the flow, but during revisions I can put something good – something special – in every page.  And if something bugs me, no matter how small, I listen to that niggle in my mind.  I fix it.  I want to make the ms. shine from every angle:  writing, characters and plotting.  I want magic to happen.

Thanks for answering my interview questions!

***

If you’d like to vote for Edie’s story,  DEAD PEOPLE, in the American Title V Contest,  just send a blank email with the subject of “Dead People” to votes@romantictimes.com.

Raising my head up from copy-edits (these should be finished tomorrow–yay!) because my friend Amber Leigh Williams has tagged me. And I really like this tag.  🙂  I get to list 6 things that make me happy. So here they are:

6. Today is Inauguration Day!  I am so ready for change–I’ve got a sign that says that very thing in my house.  Very excited about this.  I’m going to make my son watch the inauguration with me. Sure, he probably won’t really understand what’s happening (seeing as how he is only 3), but no way is he missing this!

5.  Edie Ramer has advanced to the third round of the American Title contest. Awesome news, Edie!!  Check our her blog for more details. (And don’t forget to vote for her!  To vote, just send a blank email with the subject of DEAD PEOPLE to votes@romantictimes.com.)

4. I just bought Supernatural, Season 3, and those Winchester boys make me happy.

3. Did I mention I was almost finished with copy-edits for MIDNIGHT’S MASTER?  So happy over that fact.

2. I’m going to eat chocolate today. Yes, I am.

1. My son and I are going to bake cookies.  He’ll scoop them out, I’ll eat the raw cookie dough. Ah, doesn’t get better than that!

Now, if you just read my list, consider yourself tagged. Feel free to respond in the comments or own your blog/MySpace/computer home.