Need help with your query or manuscript?

I have a hangover. It’s a happy hangover from last week’s new and improved #AdPit. I LOVED helping people with their queries. I’ve been thinking about hanging out a shingle for awhile, but #AdPit sealed the deal.

It’s official. I am open for business as a freelance editor.

Need help with your query? I will review your query and offer my opinion and advice for $25. For a limited time, I will even include feedback on up to five Twitter pitches.

Want a critique of your first chapter? Also $25. (A first chapter or the first 1000 words, whichever gives you more.)  

I will also look at your ENTIRE manuscript! If you like the feedback from your first chapter, and want me to look at your full manuscript, I will apply your $25 to a full manuscript review. Full manuscript reviews start at $150 and go up from there. Contact me for availability and an exact quote. Payment plans are available. Because, more than anything, I just want to help and I know that I can.

Here are my strengths:

I write mysteries. And I believe there is an art to weaving a good mystery. If I get to the end of your book and I still don’t know who the bad guy is, you know you’ve got an excellent mystery plot on your hands. (But don’t worry, I will still be able to give you clues on how to make it better.)

I used to be a lawyer. I can help make sure your courtroom scenes and legal jargon shines with authenticity!

I also especially like helping to make sure your characters stay consistent throughout, your pacing is solid and your plot flows in the right direction.

If you think I can help, contact me.  I can’t wait to hear about your project.

Do you need a ghost writer? I can do that too. I am especially good at writing web content for your small business or law firm. I will even ghost write your nonfiction book for you. Especially if it’s about ghosts.  For more information, contact me.

It wasn't just an #AdPit day, it was a whole #AdPit week!

Today is the Twitter pitch party #AdPit! (Of which I am especially fond, because I found my agent during an #AdPit Twitter pitch party.) This round of Heidi Norrod's #AdPit was even more exciting because #AdPit has evolved to be more than just a Twitter pitch party. Earlier this week, #AdPit included a pre-party, where entrants were invited to submit their queries for a chance to win a query critique, and a few agents even stopped by the inbox to take a peek and make requests.

And I got to be one of the slush readers! When I told Heidi (@HRNorrod) I would help, I don't think I realized what I was getting myself into. I was at the Love is Murder mystery writer's conference last weekend. I didn't realize that the submission window would close at the exact same time as my flight home would board. I also wasn't expecting how exciting this part would be. As slush readers, we weren't allowed to touch (or maybe it was more that I was afraid to touch) anything in the inbox until submissions closed. But wow!

Looking at all of those queries was an honor and a privilege. One of my favorite parts, was seeing the queries that were nearly perfect - the ones where we all marked "YES" to a great concept, a great pitch and a great query. Those queries deserved to be read by more than just us. So it was good news that a few agents agreed to stop by the inbox to take a peek. I enjoyed the flurry of emails and the teasing Tweets between myself, @HRNorrod, @mtelschelwilliams and @sidneytblake (all friends from Twitter, none of whom I knew very well before this). Another favorite part was finding a query that had been marked by someone else as a "NO" and while I loved the pitch and concept, I also saw something in it that I knew I could fix. Those are the queries that ended up in my pick pile.

Also new this round was the #AdPitCrit - a special hashtag where participants-to-be could stop by and practice their Twitter pitches. There is an art to a Twitter pitch, 140 characters to summarize an entire manuscript is not a lot. So providing a place where writers could practice their pitches and critique each other was a great idea. Watching other writers help each other out, and seeing the pitches get better and better over the course of the week was a lot of fun.

So if you are thinking about trying a Twitter pitch event, in the words of the Nike commercial: Just Do It. There are so many reasons. You make Twitter friends and writer connections. I never made it to any of the final rounds of the contests I chose (#SunvsSnow and I think #AgentTrickorTreat) but that didn't matter. I still found my agent anyway and I made friends and connections along the way. 

Participating in the contests made me a better writer. You practice summarizing your entire manuscript into a ridiculously small word count. When my agent asked me for summaries of various lengths, I already had them and/or could write them quickly, because I'd already done a ton of them for the Twitter pitch parties. My writing became tighter. One of the contests had a first chapter word limit. When I ran my revisions by my CP's (who were forever telling me I needed to tighten my writing) they said "Yes! This!" And it was all because I was just trying to fit as much as I could into the darn word limit on the submission guidelines.

So @HRNorrod and other Twitter party organizers, thanks again for hosting #AdPit and #AgentMatch and #SunvsSnow and all the others. They added one giant step on this writer's path that made it all just a little easier.   

Do ALL the things.

I wrote a book. Two of them actually. It didn't take me long to realize, that was the easy part.

But I've made a promise to myself. On this difficult path that I've chosen, I promised myself that I would push myself beyond the limits of my comfort levels in order to see this dream through. Because at the end of wherever this path is leading me, I have to be able to say that I tried my very best or else I know I will regret it. (I know myself pretty well.) 

Joining Twitter was all the way outside of my comfort zone. But I pushed myself and it brought me my agent. It led me to writing clubs. I've connected with other authors. And don't even get me started on all of the paranormal groups to be found on Twitter. I'm a Twitter convert. 

Going to a writer's conference is also outside the comfort zone of my introverted self. Especially because I still occasionally have nightmare-flashbacks to the emotional trauma I experienced from the live pitch sessions at Crimefest 2012. (Read about that: Here.)

But Thursday night, I kissed my little ones good-bye. I got on a plane by myself and flew to Chicago. Friday morning, I walked through the hotel lobby, and into the conference room, again all by myself, for the Love is Murder mystery writer's conference. When I walked through those doors, I didn't know anyone. But I took a deep breath, put a big smile on my face and just started talking to people. Yes, this was way outside of my comfort zone. My comfort zone was back up in my hotel room next to my laptop, waiting for me to come back and write the words.

The day went on and got easier as it did. I gave my support to anyone I saw with that nervous rock, the one you do right before you walk into a pitch session. I bumbled my way through a self-introduction to one of the headliners. But had an amazing conversation about St. Paul gangster history with Robert Goldsborough. I told everyone about how Twitter helped me find my agent. I made new friends and connections. I was surprised by how few writers use it as the valuable resource it can be.

So do ALL the things. For my introverted Twitter friends, push yourself to sign up for that writer's conference you've always thought about going to. Or even start small by finding a local networking group of writers. SCBWI or maybe Sisters In Crime. For my new conference friends, join Twitter and connect with other writers, even though you've never met them in person. Do ALL the things, even if they require you to step outside of a self-declared safety zone. Because then, at the end of the day, you'll know you tried everything.

Coming up next: Why Twitter pitch contests, like #AdPit, should be on your list of ALL the things.

My Story Ideas.

Yes, going on ghost hunts is a new way I've found inspiration for my stories. But my ideas come from all over the place. I am the first to admit that there is a lot going on in my head and not long ago, there was an incident that made me laugh so I thought I'd share.

We have a Half Price Books in our neighborhood, and being a history/research nerd, I love to browse. I love my kindle, but I use it for books that I want to read cover-to-cover. Half Price Books is my favorite place to find additions for my reference shelves. I'm all about finding a bargain.

My personal bookshelves are filled with ghost stories and nonfiction books about ghosts. The ghost books help if I need my ghost character to do something and I get stuck. I also have history books that relate to whatever I'm working on. For example, I have biographies on all of the major gangsters like Al Capone and John Dillinger. These help me solidify and add depth to certain characters in my stories. I also have books on true crime, because honestly, sometimes fact really is stranger than fiction.

So when I find myself in the vicinity of a used bookstore, with an extra $20 in my pocket AND a few minutes to spare (which isn't very often for either of the later -- I have three kids), I enjoy a browse. On this particular day, one of the first books that caught my attention was a small, yellowed paperback book that was waiting to be shelved. (Or probably, more likely, waiting to get cleared out because nobody bought it.) It was an extremely dated horror anthology entitled: Haunting Women: Chilling Stories of Horror by Women Writers (edited by Alan Ryan).  Excited to learn what women of decades past wrote within the horror genre, it went into my purchase pile.

I've been puzzling through a new series idea and I was specifically looking for some background on secret societies. So I wandered to my favorite corner next. It's the corner that has Paranormal, Secret Societies, Mystical Creatures and the Occult all in one place. Yes, there really are books about all of those things. And a lot of them eventually end up at Half Price Books in the same corner which works out well for me.

It was there that I found one of the best reference books I've ever found. Seriously, what mystery writer wouldn't want to add The Elemental Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols (by Adele Nozedar) to their personal stacks?

And finally, I always check out the Clearance Room in the basement. There I found yet another collection of ghost stories, aptly named, Paranormal Obsession: America's Obsession with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits (by Deonna Kelli Sayed). For 99 cents, it seemed an appropriate addition to my library.

I was ready to leave and I handed my books to the clerk. In my head I was trying to figure out if I'd have enough change for a fancy coffee, and time to stop anywhere else before I had to pick up the kids from school. So when she stopped and stared at me, I don't think I even noticed at first. When I did, she said, "These are really scary." And after that, she wouldn't look me in the eye. I was instantly thankful I'd opted not to buy the history book I'd found on insane and sadistic European royalty. But I realized what I must look like to her: a housewife looking for a fun book to read in her free time, or maybe even something for the kids.

I just smiled at her and said, "I'm a writer." I've always enjoyed when I have the opportunity to take someone's expectations or judgments and shake them up a little for the better.

And in case you were wondering, I did go back and buy the book about insane royal family members the next time I was there. Because, really, all of us need a jumping off point for our bad guys. Especially those of us writers that look like normal housewives.

How I Accidentally Became a Ghost Hunter.

It has been a busy couple of months. And in the last few weeks, I've heard the question: "You're doing what?!" more than once, especially from family members.

Since my last post, I have some news that I am very excited about. I got to go on a ghost hunt! A good writer friend of mine, Jessica Freeburg, founded a group called Ghost Stories, Inc. It is a group of children's writers and illustrators that turn to the paranormal to find inspiration. (Translation, the group goes on ghost hunts.) When Jessica asked me to come along on a night of filming for their documentary, I was all in.

It doesn't take much for me to get wrapped up in history. But take an afternoon of historical research, combine that with an overactive imagination and then put me in the dark basement of the place I just researched and I'll probably be writing ghost stories about it for the next year.

And now that I've gone with them, I can attest: No matter what your beliefs about the afterlife, when you sit in a building that has history oozing from the walls, it's inspirational. With a good dose of adrenaline thrown in for good measure. I was hooked.

But wait, it gets even better.

They asked me to join the group! I get to go again...and again! I am one lucky paranormal writer. I guess that also means I get to add "Ghost Hunter" to my ever-growing eclectic resume. And I can't wait to see what happens next.

My first guest blog post!

Last year at this time, I participated in #AdPit (a pitch contest on Twitter) and it led me to my agent, Terrie Wolf at AKA Literary.

This year, I was asked to do a guest blog post by the event coordinator, Heidi Norrod (@HRNorrod). Here is a link to her blog and my guest post!

Notes of a Neurotic Scribbler:  neuroticscribbler.tumblr.com/

If you still haven't decided about participating in tomorrow's #AdPit, I will be the first one to tell you, GO FOR IT!

Right On with WriteOnCon

I know. Writers always have to do kitchy-catchy things with words. Thus the above title. My sincere apologies for not being able to resist.

But. WriteOnCon was huge for me last year. I almost missed it altogether, but a writer friend of mine happened to post on Facebook that she was getting ready for a dedicated day of WriteOnCon participation. I had just "finished" (and I use that term loosely because now I know that "finished" is relative) both of my manuscripts and I was gearing up for a big push with queries. A brief peek at WriteOnCon and I knew I had found the perfect launch pad. Without a moment to spare, I jumped right in.

I played with and posted a few queries of my own and got some great feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed paying it forward by helping others with theirs and celebrated (not without envy) when fellow attendees  caught the eye of the ninja agents.

But the absolute most important gift I received from WriteOnCon was that it led me to Twitter. A lot of the aspiring authors I connected with via WriteOnCon were also on Twitter. If I remember correctly, there was even an entire chat line-thing about why writers need to join Twitter.

I've said before that the entire query process is like shooting arrows into a dark room and trying to hit a bullseye. But utilizing social media, and most especially Twitter to help with the query process, is like turning on the light. And while Twitter was initially way out of my comfort zone, with Twitter, I found new agents. With Twitter, I found a supportive community of writers who shared my same crazy dream of getting published. With Twitter, I found hashtags like "#tenqueries" and "#MSWL". I could follow agents I was thinking about querying. And more than once, I even unfollowed an agent because they were rude and disrespectful and I couldn't imagine myself working with them...no matter how bad I wanted my dream of publication to come true.

But even more important than anything else, I found my agent. My agent happened to see a pitch I posted in a Twitter pitch contest, @HRNorrod's #adpit to be exact. The rest is history (but still in the making of course -- this whole path to publication takes awhile.)

Thanks @writeoncon, for being one of the lights that aspiring hopefuls like me can turn on, in order to take a little bit better aim at that bull's eye.