Competition? Oh, yes.

Hey Everyone!

Been a while, huh? :)

So, I'm in this awesome competition and I need your help! With just two tiny clicks you could get me closer to my dream of singing for video games. Yes, I am that specific. ;)

This of course is in addition to my dream of being a bestselling author, a high-paid executive, a Siberian Husky breeder... and an astronaut. Well, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for voting for me and spread the word!! The contest ends Monday. Ahhh!

http://www.ujam.com/songs/w65Mh7j8WzST

Blog Fail, But Big Wins

I've been a bad blogger. No need to make nice. You can tell me how much I suck.

But before you do, I have a couple things to announce:

1 - Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Matters has been selling well and I've been accepted into a new edition to be released early next year. Yay. The new book is about grandmas because they're the best. Thanks again for your support!

2 - After a long search, I got a job as Director of Marketing for an international software company. My new role is all about long hours and stress. Double yay. Other than that, I'll be bringing the company's global message to the North American audience hopefully utilizing my creative mind. *insert maniacal laugh here*

3 - I've joined the illustrious and supremely-awesome production company Crabcat Industries. Aw, yeah. This group of talented artists, led by the reknowned Holly Conrad, brings characters from popular video games to life with movie-quality costumes and animatronics. If you haven't heard of them yet, believe me, you will. We've been slaving away on the website and will have lots of amazing news soon.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Do you forgive me now?

Rejection Science

Rejection sucks. Well, it does, doesn’t it?

From a manuscript dismissal to a query letter denial, it all stinks. Let’s discuss Rejection – the one with a big “R.” (You are free to now say ARRRR!)

So, how do we balance the negative with the positive, even when there doesn’t seem to be any in sight?

Why not be scientific about conquering “Rejection Depression?”

Newton’s Laws of Physics seem like a perfectly rational place to start. Very logical.


First Law - A body persists in its state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.
If we don’t receive a bunch of brush offs, we won’t send out many queries. Meaning, our masterpieces wouldn’t touch the lives of the agents / editors to which we submit. Oh. That sounds like they’re our overlords… perhaps they are. By the way, don’t you just love the term “unbalanced?”


Second Law - Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma): the net force on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration.
I’d like to change this to: First publication equals the magnitude times the activity (F=ma): the first novel published is equal to magnitude of the project (which is AWESOME) multiplied by the author’s activity. The more people you talk to, the more agents you query, and the more publishers you find that take un-agented talent, the better your odds. It’s a numbers game in the end.


Third Law - To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I’m resisting the urge to scream, “Karma!” (mostly since I’m sitting in a stuffy cubicle-ridden space)
Newton’s third law is my favorite. With every negative force, create a new opportunity for greatness. Send out more letters. Re-edit your manuscript. Start a new project.


Conquer the Rejection by pushing ahead.

(I’d rather be Spock than Debbie Downer anyway.)


How ‘bout you? Any tips or tricks?

I Won!

Thanks to Marybeth Poppins' spectacular gnome-naming contest, I am now the proud owner of Gnorris the Wee Little Garden Gnome. *cheers and applause*

Things are looking up. :)

Fear of Success

After chatting with a friend of mine, I discovered another phobia to contemplate. (I’m always on the lookout for a new one – FOMO isn’t as much fun as it used to be.) She mentioned the “Fear of Success” as an excuse to not work on her next project. The idea seemed backward at first, but as my mind began to wrap around the concept, it started to make sense: success opens the door to the exposure of flaws and threatens to let in new challenges that one may not be prepared to handle.

With my curiosity peaked, I decided to research symptoms on the only place I know to find superior medical information AKA Google. Selfishly, I wanted to find out if I had it. What I found surprised me.

The Fear of Success can manifest itself in many ways. The four most common are:

1 – Self-sabotage

(e.g. - Drinking too much the night before a presentation or reading a book well into the night when you have an early start the next day)

2 – Procrastination

(e.g. - Finding a million other things to do when it’s time to start working)

3 – Talking, but not doing

(e.g. - Spending too much time on platform-building activities and selling your project while you should be writing/editing)

4 – Negative Outlook

(e.g. - “That agent isn’t getting back to me – it must be a rejection” or “No one’s going to like my book”)

As a change-seeker and “hit-send-on-the-email-before-thinking-too-hard-and-psyching-myself-out” kind of person, I rarely indulge in numbers 1-3. However, pessimism can be my companion at times, but is that enough to say I have full-blown FOS?

Entertaining a negative outlook is normal, I think. Be sure to comment if you don’t agree.

Another factor that plays into the Fear of Success equation is guilt. Feeling like you haven’t earned the accolade or feeling like you haven’t been doing something long enough contributes to the phobia. I do know this one well – maybe there is a little FOS kicking around inside me after all. With writing, the learning curve never ends. There are always areas to improve. Always. The idea of never truly being the best rattles me.

In sum, maybe we all suffer from varying degrees of FOS. It is all right to be scared of the unknown, but when you feel the prickle of hesitation, jump in anyway. Begin typing. Throw yourself into editing. Do what it is that you talk about doing and don’t let your fear stop you from succeeding.

What do you think? Do you suffer from the Fear of Success?

Passion and Sacrifice

After watching "Frost/Nixon" last night, one major theme struck me: Dream big and go after it, no matter what obstacles stand in the way.

David Frost defied the odds and wrangled an interview with the much vilified ex-President, Richard Nixon. Lambasted by the press, ridiculed by networks refusing to pick up the show, and ostracized by fellow journalists, despite it all, Frost persisted. He had to dig into his own pockets to cover the production costs, even having to shell out $600,000 to pay Nixon for his time.

Throughout the entire movie, Frost dealt with the constant battery of pessimistic prediction. He even had to combat his own sabotaging behavior. It wasn’t enough that he believed in the project and defended it. He learned that in order to win, giving up everything was necessary, including his pride.

What followed was an interview that went into the archives of ground-breaking TV history. David Frost won. He conquered the negative opinions of others and his own issues to discover that he could do what he dreamed, but only if he was willing to sacrifice.

An excellent lesson for all of us. Thanks for reading.

Success at a Meyer Level

Catalyst:
http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/2009_March_Stephenie_Meyer/

If you read Stephenie Meyer's bio, you'll find that in 6 months her first book was dreamt, written, represented, and sold. Mind-blowing.

How does one achieve this level of success in the literary world?
Let's call it the Meyer level.

1 - Her books are fantastic. They are sweeping and fluid in spite of other authors' criticism of her technique.

2 - She has a bit of controversy surrounding her. Come on, she's a nice Mormon girl writing about eternally-damned-blood-sucking vampires. Okay, okay... I'll give in... Edward has a soul. (yes, that is me in the pic ;))

3 - She's approachable. Well, maybe not in the literal sense, but her story's voice is very easy to get along with.

4 - She's super lucky. She even says so on her website.

As much as I would love even an ounce of her acclaim, here's hoping that this NorCal girl will create a new level of success: the Heskett level.

Thanks for reading!