Monday, March 13, 2006

Some sage advice from Kristin Nelson...

see her latest post, in which she talks about contest wins. More and more I see this from editors and agents. Contests are fine, but don't get too wrapped up in them - especially in believing they're the best way to get published.

Admittedly I never have been too active on the contest circuit. I've entered a few regular contests, plus the GH twice. But for the most part I do work on finishing the whole novel, not just polishing my first three chapters.

Thing is, though, we still can't know that every agent/editor holds Kristin's opinion, so I guess we all have to decide for ourselves on how often and which contests to enter. And, of course, for newer writers with little access to critique partners, contests are a great way to get feedback - keeping in mind, of course, that there are rogue judges out there.

Speaking of judging, I've got to do some starting this week. I try so hard to be as fair and constructive as I can. The last thing I'd ever want to do is discourage someone from writing. Plus, I've received some great advice via contests and want to return the favour :-)

Yesterday didn't turn out to be as productive as I'd hoped. Everything took longer than I expected and when my mum left, my 4:30 am wake-up had pretty much caught up with me. Today I have to write my reviews, then run a couple more errands (things I forgot to pick up yesterday *sigh*).

We watched P&P3 last night and Wow - I just LOVE this movie. It's not been more than a couple of months since I saw it in the theatre, yet I want to watch it again and again.

In cat news - I spoil them horribly. Here's the latest toy I picked up for them. It's fantastic! They both went right for it. Cleo just finished playing with it and has now gone back to sleep beside me. She has this real thing for interactive play right now, but it was getting more and more frustating having to throw toys every two minutes. Now I keep the Jester wand with me and can play with that at my desk, then do the throwing/running/chasing thing in the evening :-)

Well, I'd best stop babbling now and get on with writing my reviews. There are only two, so it should take me too long once I buckle down and get going.

Oops - one more thing: Responding to comments

Nienke - Yep, M S-C was amazing. Haven't had time to write that post yet, but watch for it soon :-)

Kelly - LOL, if avoiding housework means being the chick from Les Mis, then I should definitely be her - I HATE housework!!

Teresa

Currently Reading: Still nothing yet - am feeling in a chick-lit mood and that means a trip to the bookstore - always dangerous!
Link of the Day: Author Kathryn Smith's Bookshelf

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