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I'm not lost! This is Christy. I'm home. I'm well. I'm beyond blessed!
Besides lots of feedings and cleaning up after Christmas (we had too many toys BEFORE opening up all of the new toys...Goodwill, here we come!), I've been querying and critiquing. Next week, I'm looking forward to getting back into writing. I have a WIP to continue and a companion novel to the one I'm querying I'm excited to plot out!
I realized recently that although we share lots of advice on querying--most of which says to ONLY include what happens in the first 50 pages of your novel in the query--, I haven't actually taken that advice. My queries have included the main characters, the inciting incident, a few key events and then I jump to the climax and the stakes. Since the climax occurs around page 170 of my novel, that's hardly following the advice we've been given and have handed out.
I was also using the climax as my hook. Whoops. Plus, shouldn't the hook be in the first para? Well, I still don't think I have one of those (I have the first para, of course, just not the hook), but last night I scanned the first 50 pages of my novel and wrote a query that truly encompassed them. I don't know how good it is, but at least I'm doing what I'm told. (Something I constantly tell my kids and students to do. ("Follow directions!") Teachers are the worst listeners, I tell you!
Have a happy and blessed week. I'll be back again soon, I'm sure.
Congratulations! Sawyer is adorable.
ReplyDeleteAs for the query, my only advice is that for a query to work, it only has to make the reader want to read the actual book. That's its only job.
(So I guess I am saying to not worry so much about the rules...hehehe)
Take care,
Shelley
Aww... congratulations, Christy! :)
ReplyDeleteSawyer is gorgeous!!! Congratulations - enjoy all those fabulous baby moments!! :)
ReplyDeleteIt should be illegal to be that cute!! Wait, are there words below the photos?
ReplyDeleteAdorable! It sounds like you've had quite a busy week. Congratulations and Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteWishing you ladies a wonderful new year! Great blog.
ReplyDeleteEvie
What lovely pictures. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about your query mistakes. Nobody has made more of them than me: quotes from the manuscript, too many characters introduced, subplots, comparing to books that were too popular, and so on. And my opening pages had even more taboos: weather, dreams, looking in the mirror, first day of school. You name it - I did it.
Yay! So cute and precious! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteSawyer is beautiful! Congratulations. I'd never heard that piece of advice about your query containing only the details in the first 50 pages. I've got some revision work to do. LOL.
ReplyDeleteQueries are such unusual things, and for different books, different approaches might work best. Anyway, Yay for precious Sawyer! He is a DOLL!
ReplyDeleteAnd here's hoping you both had a wonderful holiday and have a very happy, prosperous new year~ :o)
Awww.... He is adorable! And I love his name by the way!Congratulations. :)
ReplyDeleteSo precious! I love looking at baby pictures!
ReplyDeleteOH< HOW WONDERFUL! The pics are awesome. SAWYER IS ADORABLE! He looks just like you, Christy!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for you and your family. May this year bring you all the happiness you deserve!
You are truly blessed.
Michael
Such gorgeous photos! Thanks so much for sharing them, it is lovely to see all your kiddies.
ReplyDeletexx R
PS. And wow, you're back into writing and plotting and querying already!