LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

The characters felt so incredibly real I started thinking I could actually get on a boat to the Island of Guernsey and meet them all in the local Pub. I want to have tea with Juliet and Dawsey. Gosh, I want to meet that guy!

You know you love a book when you hold it close to your chest and weep a few tears because the experience is over. (I admit to slowing down a little just so I could make it last longer. Does anyone else do that?)

But one of the great things about books is that you can open it up and start all over again . . . and I ran straight to my local Amazon and bought copies to give away.

I also think it's so sad that the author, Mary Ann Shaffer, never got to see the great success and popularity of her novel, especially when she spent YEARS and YEARS researching and working on this wonderfully special book.

Friday Five

My New Year's Goals!

1. Sign my Scholastic Contract with flourish.

2. Deposit my Six Figure Advance and SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!

3. Travel the World in Style.

4. Appear on the Bestseller List 52 weeks in a row.

5. Write the "Best Book Ever" like Barbara O'Connor did.


So . . . back to my PBJ, laundry, and revisions . . .

Egypt Novel: Murdering the Dead

This past Fall was so crazy that it took me 4 months (!) to do a first-pass clean-up of my ancient Egyptian novel, MURDERING THE DEAD. I drafted the book in the winter and spring of 2007! 18 months ago! It sat, waiting patiently for me while I revised THE HEALING SPELL, SECRET RITES OF THE GODDESS, IN A PARIS MINUTE, and wrote two screenplay treatments while conducting my nearly two year, nation-wide search for an agent. So it's not like I wasn't a teency bit busy, but still. I was so anxious to actually read the thing and see what I had.

After I painstakingly got through the massive 380 page thing, I sent it off in batches to my first critiquer, the fabulous Carolee Dean.

A few days later, when she got to the halfway point of the manuscript, Carolee emailed and said:

"I'm thoroughly enjoying your book! I think it is your best one yet. It's so intriguing and beautifully written."

What?!? Really?!?

I'd been dreading anyone reading it because I just knew that they would say it totally sucked - That it was BORING, SLOW, AND CONTRIVED.

But my BEST ONE YET? I'm psyched.

Here's a snippet of my main character, 17 year old Imarus, who is an apprentice mummifier:

Imarus tied a piece of leather through the hole punched into the wooden tag, then knotted the leather around the dead man's big toe. Kuni. 21 years old. Farmer.

Imarus performed a quick inspection of the corpse. For a simple farming man, the embalming contract would be quick and inexpensive. No carved alabaster canopic jars and only three linen layers of wrapping instead of the usual eight or ten, but that was preferable to leaving the man to dry out in the desert in a hand-dug hole.

Kuni’s chest had been badly trampled by his oxen. The hyenas that had launched the attack had probably come down in search of food. They often did at harvest time. The wild animals were probably rabid, too. One of the other corpses waiting in line for Imarus’ embalming knife had died of rabies. Another from lung disease, a fourth from a bar-room brawl; knifed in the seedy part of town where wine flowed more freely than the Nile’s banks during Isis' tears of Inundation. Heart attacks, chariot accidents, swamp fevers. Imarus saw it all.

He stared at the sun-browned face of Kuni, the young man’s dark hair a damp tangle of sweat. A fistful of grass and seeds was still clenched in his fist. Imarus felt a tug in his gut as he loosened the man’s grip. Tiny white flax seeds and crumbles of drying mud fell into Imarus’ palm. The dead man’s fingers involuntarily curled again.

The farmer’s chest was a mess. It was going to take some skill to fix the crushed ribs and remove the organs in the chest cavity where blood had pooled in a dark stain under the skin. Kuni had been a handsome man, sinewy muscles etched from hard work, only a few years older than Imarus himself. A life gone too soon. This could be me, Imarus thought, feeling a sudden shiver. The moment between life and death was so fleeting it was frightening. Imarus’ thoughts suddenly turned morbid. When would he die—and how?

My Top Ten Favorites of 2008

Make that my top TWELVE favorite books of 2008 because I can't narrow it down more than that. It's just too hard! I LOVED most of what I read this year.

So I rounded 'em up, whipped 'em into shape and here's my grand total: I read 75 books during 2008 - a great mix of middle-grade, YA and adult novels and nonfiction.

Here's my list, but in NO particular order. I refuse to pick any sort of *winner*. These were all fabulous books by fabulous writers, and I loved reading them!


1. RED GLASS


2. OPHELIA: A NOVEL


3. ONE WHOLE AND PERFECT DAY


4. REPOSSESSED


5. SEER OF SHADOWS


6. SONG OF THE SPARROW


7. MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES


8. MOXY MAXWELL


9. HUNGER GAMES


10. IVY


11. UNDERCOVER


12. THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX



An OH, MY GOSH, P.S.

I forgot one of the best books I read this last year!!!

In my hurry, I did not check all my stacks of books . . .

But this is WONDERFUL and by one of the best writers and women I know!




It's tough when many of my favorites for the year were read 9 months ago . . .

I really need to clean up my desk and bookcases and shelves and files . . .

It's on the TO DO list for 2009.

What I've been doing since Christmas Eve

Cooking and eating and doing dishes and cooking and eating and doing dishes and running around with the kids and hubby and trying to have my long winter's nap as well as do some READING of my huge stack of books!!!

There is lots to post about but I'm not home long enough to do anything but - cook and eat and clean up! Oh - and grocery shopping. I swear I'm at Albertson's practically every day of the week. I should get an award for Best Customer. And then I almost forgot to pay the bills.

Christmas gifts and photos, the 2008 wrap-up, and my New Year's Goals are comiiiiiiiiing . . . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In which I will cook and eat and do dishes once again.

A Beautiful Christmas Video

I just wanted to share some of the spirit of our Savior's birth with all of you - the reason for everything. He actually did live - and He still lives and directs God's Plan of Salvation and happiness for us. We can become anything we want to become because of Him and His love for us. He gave us this world, the lives we enjoy, our agency, our talents and blessings and families and friends. Come unto Christ this year. The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, tells the story of his birth. Snuggle up with your family on Christmas Eve and enjoy the story together.

If you don't own a copy of The New Testament you can find the story here: The Birth of Jesus Christ

Wishing you a peaceful, warm and loving Christmas!

With much love,
Kimberley

P. S. Donny Osmond sings the music on the video and it's gorgeous.

Great Author, Great Book, Great Contest!!!

FAR FROM YOU release celebration and contest!

Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is celebrating the release of her upcoming YA novel, FAR FROM YOU, and hosting a contest with LOTS of great prizes!

For three days leading up to the book’s release date of December 23rd, you can watch VLOGs and hear some excerpts read from the book. The VLOG schedule is as follows:

Sunday, December 21st – Liv’s Book Reviews - http://livsbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 22nd – What Vanessa Reads - http://whatvanessareads.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, December 23rd – Lisa Schroeder, author - http://lisa-schroeder.livejournal.com/ AND http://myspace.com/writerlisa

Help spread the word, and you might win a fabulous prize!

Copy and paste THIS entire blog entry into your blog between now and December 21st, then come back to Lisa’s blog at either Livejournal OR Myspace and leave a comment with the link to your blog and you will get TWO enteries to win a number of prizes.

Wondering what you might win? Here is the list (there will be multiple winners):

~ An Advanced Review Copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan

~ An Advanced Review Copy of SOMETHING, MAYBE, by Elizabeth Scott

~ Young adult novel GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones

~ Young adult novel, THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD by Donna Freitas

~ Young adult novel, UGLIES by Scott Westerfield

~ Pair of YA fairy tale retellings by Cameron Dokey (BELLE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT)

~ TWILIGHT movie soundtrack

~ $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card along with some Harry & David’s chocolate moose munch

~ And of course, a signed copy of FAR FROM YOU

For more chances to win, watch one or all of the VLOGs and leave a comment on that vlogger’s page, and you get another entry. That means if you post the schedule on your blog AND comment on all three VLOGs, you can have FIVE entries for the contest!

A live drawing with winners announced will be done by Lisa Thursday morning, December 24th, in a special holiday VLOG.

Buy Books!!!

So far I've bought these for Christmas gifts and I'm so excited to give them out!

Book buying is way fun. And keeps us all in business!

I'm in love . . .

Please Santa can I have this for Christmas???? Pretty please????

THE AMAZING BLACKBERRY STORM!!! (Go to link for cool demos)

Mondays Get a Bad Rap

Or maybe that should be a bad REP.

Mondays, for me, are usually full of possibility. I get home from teaching my early morning class and tidy up (why is the kitchen always cluttered with dirty dishes again after I've already *done* the dishes the night before? I fear I live with midnight snackers who have not been taught how to stick their cups and plates into the dishwasher sitting right under their nose) and check my email and skim some blogs and think about all the things I'm dreaming about accomplishing.

It's a New Week.

A Fresh Start.

New Goals.

New Schedule.

A Clean Day Planner. (Well, make that a CLEANER day-planner before it all gets filled in).

I love writing down my chores and errands AND THEN CROSSING THEM OUT. That's the best part.

Not that I usually ACHIEVE my writing goals - but the POSSIBILITY is always full of promise.

I just need to get better about keeping the promises I make to myself.

Maybe I should just take Gertrude Stein's advice: "It takes a heap of loafing to write a book."

Just, um, Wow.

Wow, it's December already. Big breath here.

I've done nothing, absolutely NOTHING yet about Christmas. This happens to me every year. December hits as I'm frantically revising a novel and I have 3 weeks to do ALL the shopping, ALL the decorating, ALL the long-distance mailing, ALL the Christmas cards, ALL the baking, ALL the parties and church events, YOU NAME IT - I STILL GOTTA DO IT!!!

And I'm way behind on some promised emails . . . and I have my Classic Book Club this week . . . and the doctor . . . and a wedding . . .

And I came home from Arizona to 375 Bloglines to read and 12 pages of LJ Friends . . . Becky's Book Reviews had 24 posts alone! How does she do that in 4 days and still cook a turkey??? That's what I want to know. So spill it, Becky!

AND LEST I FORGET -

The Albuquerque Public Schools has invited A WHOLE SLEW of local children's/YA authors come TODAY to the Albuquerque Museum for a "Meet and Greet and Get to Know the Author Afternoon. Officially called Author Illustrator Winter Fest!

Come on down and see my books and what I do for school/library visits and chat and have some holiday goodies. I was invited last year and it was way fun.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Road.

A Great New Agent Blog

Rants and Ramblings is Rachel Gardner's blog about books, agenting, writing, and the literary world. She's fun and informative and there's a great crowd of commenters, too. Rachel posts on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. No weekends.

Here's a taste:
(This post on November 17th got 47 comments if you want to read the discussion.)

And heeeeere's Rachel . . .

I was having lunch with a writer friend of mine, and she didn’t seem like she was in the best place emotionally. “I’m starting to question whether this is really my calling,” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because some days… it just isn’t fun.” (She said this with a straight face.)

“Hmm,” I said. “Is your marriage fun everyday?”

“Uh, no.”

“Every time it’s not fun, do you question the entire marriage? Do you consider divorce?” I asked.

“Of course not.” My friend rolled her eyes at me.

“Well, I think your calling as a writer is similar,” I told her. “Every time it gets hard, you certainly have to look at the issues and see if there’s something you’re doing wrong, but you don’t question the whole darn thing every single time. Every time you have an argument, the whole marriage doesn’t fall apart. Every time you have a bad day writing, you don’t have to question your entire calling.”

“But…” she argued, “I thought God is supposed to give us passion for the things He calls us to?”

“Are you passionate about your husband?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Everyday???”

She laughed. “No, not everyday. I get your point.”

Obviously my point was that your calling to be a writer is bigger than simply a “feeling” that shifts with the wind. Once you decide that you are indeed called, you have to avoid using every roadblock as a reason to question it. Instead, look at whether your calling is being confirmed.

Here are some ways to know you’re on the right track: You’re taking little baby steps toward possible publication. You know that your writing's improving. Someone important has given you encouragement. Rejection letters are getting nicer and more complimentary. Your critique group is saying good things and they know what they're talking about and you don't think they're blowing smoke. You've published something smaller like a magazine article or a contribution to a book. You’ve got an agent interested in your work. Any of these types of things can serve as confirmation of your calling.

Unless you have a total lack of anything resembling confirmation... stop questioning your calling and get to work!

My personal thoughts . . .

I think the marriage analogy describes the process well. Some days you just do not "feel the love", but you don't give up or get divorced at the first sign of trouble or a bad writing day. BUT I worked on my writing for years without much confirmation.

During those early years when you're just beginning to learn the craft of writing and story and trying to discover how the publishing business works, you do have to "feel the calling" and get your love out of the writing itself.

You have to love writing. You have to enjoy the process. You have to take joy. You have to WANT IT. And after you've done that for a few months/years, then you'll start getting your "confirmations" that will keep you going.

Teaser Tuesday

So my mailbag is HUGE, absolutely BURSTING at the seams with people asking me what my three books are about that just sold to Scholastic Press. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but I get to because I'm still bruised from all the pinching, K?)

VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION : No, the three books are not a trilogy, they are all stand-alone novels, although the two Middle-Grade novels take place in the same setting and one of the characters is the same . . . the mysterious swamp traiteur. But I still have to WRITE that book, oh my! To have a book sold merely on the basis of a synopsis is still REALLY WILD to me.

I thought I would feel more pressure over this fact, but I'm just really excited because I love the idea and I think it's going to be a fun book to write. AND I just got the idea in September and whipped up a synopsis in a couple of brainstorming and writing sessions. I think all that synopsis writing and rewriting I did for my queries gave me an edge. See, nothing goes to waste, even if the learning curve is extremely painful. So keep writing those query synopses. One day you'll be glad you did!

The novel actually opens with a Recipe for a Healing Spell, but I'll save that for the published book - or maybe later . . . can't decide. Aren't I so mean?

Brief Synopsis of THE HEALING SPELL:
Deep in the Louisiana bayou country, Livie Moulaison’s mother arrives home from the hospital in a coma. Daddy is determined she will only get better surrounded by the people who love her best, but Livie is terrified of her mother’s lifeless condition and wracked by a guilty secret.
The household is turned upside down when Aunt Colleen comes to nurse Mamma, but Livie and her younger cousin Thibodeaux clash from the get-go. It drives her crazy how this annoying kid seems to know what her worst fears are - and plays on those fears to torment her.
Mostly, Livie is afraid she and her mother will never be able to heal their hurtful past if Mamma never wakes up again. Summoning her courage, Livie travels into the forbidden recesses of the swamp to seek out the mysterious traiteur, hoping that if she buys a healing spell, she can bring her mother back to life.

Ta Da! Here is the First Page:

"What in the world is J.B. thinking bringing Rosemary home from the hospital? What a foolish old coot!” Mrs. Guidry talked in one of those loud whispers, like someone who pretends they don’t want anyone to hear, but it carries across the room anyway. “If you ask me, there ain’t no way a man with a sixth grade education can care for someone with a coma.”

There was that word again. I plugged my ears wishing Mrs. Guidry would stop saying it. Mamma looked like she was dead, but she wasn’t really dead. More like stuck somewhere between life and death. As if her body didn’t know which direction in the road to choose.

“Just old, traditional Cajun, Charlotte,” Mrs. Martin answered, a pink flush creeping up her neck when she saw me listening. “It drove J.B. crazy having to leave the hospital when it was time for his shift at the oilrigs.”

Headlights swung into the gravel driveway and Daddy tooted the horn of his Chevy. The dark blue truck looked like a bruise in the dusk. Finally he was home. And this time he was bringing Mamma with him.

My chest got so tight felt like a gator squeezing my heart between his jaws. Drooling to eat my innards up and then spit me onto the muddy bayou banks, leaving my brand new Montgomery Wards red sneakers floating in the hyacinth. That happened to a little boy down the Bayou Teche last year. He was only three years old, and his mama cried her eyes out for more than a week straight.

My hands are shaking!

I'M THROWING A BLOCK (BLOG) PARTY!!!

I'm thrilled, stunned, crying, laughing and pinching myself purple.

I just sold a THREE-BOOK DEAL TO SCHOLASTIC PRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, my AMAZING agent did. But I sweated over them!!! Over the last 6-7 years that is.

I've had so many rejections It would take me an hour to count and list.

So I'm not.

I kept failing. But I kept failing BETTER. Rewriting so many times I can't even tell ya that either.

Please celebrate with me!

There's tons of food, drinks galore, a whole table loaded with every kind of dessert you can think of! Please eat - it's all non-caloric - throw balloons at each other, high-five with me. Toss confetti, dance, wiggle your hips, cry, weep, laugh. OH YEAH, BABY!!!!

I am blessed to know you all and to have gained so much wisdom, advice and much-needed doses of perseverance over the past couple of years when I was seriously ready to give up.

For Writer's Only

The book by Sophy Burnham: FOR WRITER'S ONLY. (You can buy it used at Amazon for only a penny!)

It's a lovely book with advice for writers to get through each day and to know that they're not alone in their singular, lonely occupation to bring a story alive. And to know that what they do is important and worth it. No matter what the outcome or the struggle.

Here's a couple of quotes:

Gustave Flaubert said: "Writing is a lonely life, but the only life worth living."

Not so lonely anymore with all of you lovely, lovely LJers and Blogspot friends. I wrote for 15 years all by my lonesome without knowing another single writer - before the Internet boom (Um, I started as a toddler - ha!)

Samuel Beckett said: "Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail BETTER."

That has been my motto the past several years. And my non-stop failure is finally being rewarded.

My promised *news* IS coming . . . been waiting for the go-ahead! (I've never known it to take so long with anyone else! I've had butterflies for weeks!)

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

This is pretty funny - from politicians to TV personalities to scientists to writers.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

The Great Agent Hunt!

Stats and The True Story:

I will attempt to be semi-coherent in giving you my humble story of how I found my agent, Tracey Adams of Adams Literary. (Find my name on the client page and read my new bio there.) She is absolutely terrific, very friendly, in my corner, knows all the best editors, chats me up with fantastic editors, *gets* my work better than I’d ever dreamed. In short, things are going swimmingly and I’m thrilled to pieces to be working with her!

In the Fall of 2006, my agent of 10 years and I decided to part ways. She had sold three books for me, which you can see here at my website: www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com (But don’t forget to come back for the rest of the story.)

My agent informed me she was moving to Costa Rica, and that from now on I was going to have to do all my own submissions (which I’d already been doing a lot of and not enjoying it too much). She had started her agency in the adult literature world, specializing in mysteries, sci-fi and fantasy, and falling accidentally into the YA world,. We’d also met at a local conference. Along with her move to Costa Rica, she was going to emphasize blockbuster adult thrillers and women’s fiction and she wasn’t keeping up much with the children’s world. She hadn’t been able to sell any of my current manuscripts and I heartily believed in them and didn’t want to give up.

Fact: Currently I have complete manuscripts for 6 novels, partials for 3 books and synopses for 5 more(!) and I was being told to just write a new book. Um, it was time to move on.

Moving on is not so easy to do . . . Finding a new agent – even harder.

I began researching agents and agency websites, discovered the world of writers through Blogspot and LiveJournal and many writers who let me email them and ask questions about their agents. I compiled a huge master list, which kept being added to over the next 18 months.

I did my homework – continued to research for new agents, definitely a constant in this saga - and three months later sent out my first batch of queries.

To make a long story shorter, by the time I was offered firm representation I had queried 39 agents. As I write this, that number is staggering to me.

So how did the 39 break down?

Fact: I queried with two different manuscripts, but the majority of queries were for one novel in particular, Secret Rites of the Goddess. The other manuscript, The Healing Spell, I started querying much later in the game – basically the last 6 months.

Fact: 90% were query emails with synopses, some included a few pages. The other 10 % were snail mail. I thought about querying several other very well-known agents, but just did *not* want to do the snail mail routine with a SASE and a run to the post office and purchasing more nice letter-head paper. That is for the olden days!

The Numbers Game:

13 Agents wanted Fulls

12 Agents wanted Partials (several wanted partials of both projects)

7 Agents never bothered to acknowledge or respond to the query at all. Amazingly high number - and from some very reputable, big agencies.

7 Agents never asked for anything, but I did get a personal rejection letter. A variety of reasons. Too full with clients right now, not the right kind of project for them even though it sounded interesting, etc.

Most of the agents read right away within a few weeks and most gave very nice comments. I did revise twice on my own during the 18 months of submitting. After that, I had 6 agents request specific revisions and asked me to resend, but I never did revise for anybody while I was still waiting to hear from others. I figured I’d revise/resub after I finished my entire list of agents.

Fact: I still have 20 Agents on my list that I researched, but never queried.

Fact: After a year, I got discouraged waiting as well as the whole, excruciatingly long process so I subbed partials to 8 editors that I carefully researched who might like my books. I had great success. Several asked for fulls, and 4 of them or 50% asked me to send them my new projects in the future. I was psyched about that!

Fact: The previous fact proves that editors are still reading their slush piles! And asking for fulls and writing personal letters to authors.

Fact: I entered into some lovely correspondence with several agents. I knew they would take me on with the right project.

Fact: On August 27, 2008, Tracey Adams and I had a two-hour phone conversation and we signed each other up!

Fact: Tracey never had me do ANY revisions before submitting to editors.

Fact: This blog will have some most excellent news next week. Fingers crossed and stay tuned!

Fact: If anybody would like to see my list of agents, I’d be glad to email it to you so that you can see if any of these agents might be right for you. Don’t forget to do your research/homework though!

The Last and Best Fact: I attended SCBWI LA in August 2007, mostly because I wanted to meet Tracey Adams since she was only accepting submissions from writers who attended the conferences she spoke at. It took a year and several emails over the summer with her when she offered representation, but she was always my Number One Choice Agent, although her offer suddenly got 5 other agencies jumping, too. It was obvious after corresponding with all the interested agents that I’d picked the right agent as #1. I couldn’t be more pleased.

End of Story!
Or maybe just the beginning . . .

Haunted Houses

Halloween is in only 10 days and Albuquerque has TWO haunted houses to scare the bejeebies out of you!

I am getting my arm twisted to go to 13th Street Manor: www.hauntplex.com/albuquerque/nm_13thstreetmanor.html

Who's twisting my arm? My new daughter-in-law (!) who works there seven days a week scaring people until Halloween is over.
I've never been a person who seeks out horror movies. I love mysteries and suspense and thrillers. The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, Dial M for Murder - but HAUNTED HOUSES with people screaming and blood dripping and zombies chasing you and vampires rising out of the dark and ghouls grabbing at your ankles? Thank you very much but I think I'd rather hit the dollar movie down the road and see Traveling Pants 2! (Watch the very cute trailer at this link.) Anyone seen it yet? Carolee Dean and I are going to go see it for a girl's night out soon.

Anyway, Milyssa really, really wants us to go, and I'm feeling guilty putting her off. I said maybe I'll go if my hubby is on one side of me, and my boys on the other three sides. And I'll hide my eyes. And run really, really fast!

See, when I was eleven years old I had a *bad experience* at our local haunted house in Concord, California. I went with my best friend, Starr, and I got so scared by people grabbing at me and getting electrically zapped on a bench that I was near tears and begged to leave. They let me out a side door. I was sooooo relieved. But my friend Starr FINISHED the tour ALL BY HERSELF. And didn't seem terribly freaked out at all.

I guess I'm a wimp.

I'll let you know next week if I went and if I survived.

If this blog goes dark, you'll know the outcome . . .

Daydreaming Book Covers

Surely I'm not the only one who makes up potential covers for their manuscripts . . . this was way fun to put together while I'm waiting to hear about my submissions . . .

Isn't it gorgeous? I wonder what the actual novel will look like after the story SELLS and the art department gets a hold of it. I can't wait!

Course the title could end up changing, too. That seems to happen a lot these days.

We're on Submission - and it's my 100th Post!

Yep, my new and awesomely amazing agent has officially submitted two of my completed novels, a MG called The Healing Spell and an edgy YA with crossover potential titled, Secret Rites of the Goddess. My wonderful agent went to New York two weeks ago and pitched/chatted up my books with 7 various editors from dynamite houses - and they ALL wanted to read the manuscripts. Picking and choosing who gets what and when needed a bit of discussion, but we managed to figure it out. :-D

The blurbs for you curious folks out there . . . actually, these are the synopses I wrote for my query letters to editors and agents. I usually got requests to send the full manuscript.

Secret Rites of the Goddess
by
Kimberley Griffiths Little

On the night of Jayden's blood ritual, she learns about the ancient Mother Goddess as well as the forbidden secret rites celebrated at the goddess temples of Ashtoreth - idol worship that daughters of Abraham have been warned to shun. The stories are curious and terrifying, especially when Jayden's older sister Leila seems determined to join the temple priestesses and experience the seductive, sexual rituals.

Jayden's character is tested as she loses her family one by one to the harsh life of the desert, finding herself raising her infant sister after her mother dies in childbirth. She's also mesmerized and confused by Kadesh, the stranger who unexpectedly appears as if conjured by desert spirits. Is the young man a heathen or a believer, and what is the truth about his elusive tribe in the distant Southern lands?

When Jayden's cousin Horeb, her betrothed, raids Kadesh's caravan and kills the young man she loves, the pressure to turn herself over to the temple cult where there is luxury and comfort despite its hidden vices is more than she can bear. Only the promise Jayden made to her mother and her devotion to the True and Living God keeps her sane, even when she is shunned by the women of her clan.

Then Jayden learns there is a chance Kadesh might still be alive, and she sets off on a dangerous journey to find him, even though he hides a tragic secret of his own. In this story of peer pressure and cults set against the weaving tapestry of the ancient art of belly dance, Jayden discovers strengths she didn’t know she had and a faith that will help her stay alive, even as the world around her falls apart.

NOTE: My agent calls this book the YA equivalent to THE RED TENT, one of her all-time favorite books and every editor in New York said the same thing. It's a sexy, girl-power book about peer pressure and an ancient form of an all girl "gang" inside the Temple of Ashtoreth. Along with a romance and lots of danger.

The Healing Spell
by
Kimberley Griffiths Little

Deep in the Louisiana Cajun country, Livie Moulaison’s mother arrives home from the hospital in a coma after a terrible accident in the bayou. Daddy is determined she will only get better surrounded by the people who love her best, but Livie is terrified of her mother’s lifeless condition and wracked by a guilty secret.

The household gets even more tense when Aunt Colleen comes from Montana to nurse Mamma, and Livie and her younger cousin Thibodeaux clash from the get-go. It drives Livie crazy how this kid seems to know her worst fears--and plays on them to torment her. Mostly, Livie is afraid she and her mother will never be able to heal the hurtful past between them if Mamma never wakes up again so she takes her pirogue into the darkest part of the swamp to seek out the mysterious traiteur in hopes of buying a healing spell that will bring her mamma back to life.

Stuck in the middle of three sisters, hiding a forbidden pet alligator, and afraid to disappoint her daddy whom she loves more than anyone else, Livie struggles to find her place within her own family as she learns about the power of faith and redemption.

NOTE: One editor said she LOVED the mysterious title and another said she could feel the steamy setting rising off the page.

And now we are playing the waiting game . . .