short emo haircuts: guest blog

So I'm really happy to be here on Michelle's blog. So as you know, I was supposed to do this last week but I ended up having to have surgery to remove my gallbladder. How's that for a book debut gift? The day before my book came out, I jumped out of a plane, then less than a month after the release, I end up in the hospital. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of time thinking about my own mortality.

Here are the top ten things I want to do in the next couple of years:

1. Go to Germany for Oktoberfest. I'm not even a big beer drinker, but how much fun would it be to get completely sloshed with a bunch of other drunk Germans?

2. Go to Comic-Con. I was supposed to go this year, but my plans to stalk Joss Whedon were derailed by that tiny little organ called my gallbladder. Gallbladders are stupid anyway. They store bile. Who needs bile? I bet Joss Whedon doesn't need bile.

3. Complete the Accelerated Free fall classes and get my sky diving license. From the first time I jumped, I was hooked. Okay, I was nauseated first, then I was hooked. They make pills for nausea but not for the awesomeness I felt sky diving.

4. Write a graphic novel. I know graphic novels are "in" right now, but I have a couple of ideas that I think would make great graphic novels. Sadly, I can't draw for crap, so I have to find an artist for help.

5. Learn to mountain climb. I live in Florida...which is as far from mountains as possible, but I still want to learn. There's something about the idea of hanging from a rock face by my hands.

6. Run a marathon. I know it sounds boring but I look at it as an opportunity to eat a butt-load of pasta the night before. Pasta....drool.

7. Write a book for adults. I'm not sure that I have anything to say to adults but I'd love to give it a try. But between you and me, I think most adults are a little closed minded. But not you guys. I'm talking about the other adults.

8. Visit the pyramids. I'm not sure they wouldn't be boring as heck but I'd love to stand in front of those massive structures and feel tiny.

9. Spend the night in a haunted house. I've actually done this before. I stayed in a haunted bed and breakfast on a Friday the 13th. There was also a storm and the power went out. But the truth is that it's hard to be scared in a B&B. I want to stay in a really cool, abandoned haunted house.

10. I want to work on a television show. I'm not even sure how to go about doing that, but I've always wanted to work in a writer's room. I'm not sure I'd like writing for TV but I think I'd be an amazing, fun experience. Also, it might get me closer to Joss Whedon.

Some people call this a bucket list, but I'm not waiting until I get close to death. That's what I wanted people to take from The Deathday Letter. There's no point waiting for the end of your life, because you never know when that might come. So I'm doing my stuff now. I'm going to try to live every day as if it's my last. Anyone care to join me?

Thanks for having me!

LINKS!!!

The Deathday Letter Site

Shaun's Site and Blog

Shaun on Twitter

FaceBook

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Powells

Simon and Schuster

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Guest Post with Shaun David Hutchinson!

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Guest Blogger - Lisa Amowitz

The Four Ps and how I live by Them

It’s been five full years that I have been writing seriously (and I’m not even going to count the summers before when I secretly filled spiral notebooks with my mad ramblings). That’s five years of working with two online critique groups, attending conferences, querying, stopping, starting over ,WHINING, CRYING, threatening to QUIT..then starting again. Five years of thinking--THIS IS IT! This is the ONE! This ms is so ready—then finding out not. Five years of—if you would revise this, I’d consider it again. Then landing a big agent. Losing a big agent. Watching writer pal after writer pal get agented then getting a book deal. Feeling bad. Then feeling ecstatic that so many people I know have managed what I used to believe was impossible. Yay to all of you! You know who you are—my bookcase is filling up with your books with more on the way (four pals with books in print, nine with contracts).

Am I dying inside? Turning green with envy? Nope. Far from it. Let me be honest. I hate rejection. But it doesn’t have the edge it used to. I know it’s not personal. I know I can write! At the same time the thought of getting published doesn’t seem like the end all and be all, though I remain in dogged pursuit. I’m very goal oriented!

The way I see it is, I’ve got stories to tell. Lots of them. Characters that want to be heard. They just aren’t going to shut up, whether some one wants to put them in print or not. I don’t know the ending to this story. I may never hit it right—the right hook, in the right voice at the right time.

They can write it on my epitaph in poor English: She plodded until she couldn’t plod no more, (or maybe plotted until she couldn’t plot no more).

So now for those Four Ps.

Perseverance—continuing to write and better your craft, in the face of rejection, while not concerning yourself with who sold what and who is repped by whom. Realizing that everyone walks their own path and that the only ones who get there are the ones who just keep walking, even if the soles have worn off the bottom of their shoes.

Persistence—Hammering away at a manuscript, re-envisioning it, buffing it, hacking it if need be, but doing whatever it takes to make it the best you possibly can. Then finishing that one and starting your next.

Patience— The patience to wait until your manuscript has been critiqued, edited, revised until you KNOW it’s where it should be. Of course, with each new book, you set the bar higher. Patience to wait for agent responses—you CAN’T bug them! And, even still, I’ve learned from my contracted friends—you need patience to wait for your editorial notes. (Which I will frame if I ever get one.)

Perspective (this one is courtesy of Emily Murdoch from the querytracker forum)—You are writing because you love it and there’s no limit on what you can achieve if you really want it. So remember to enjoy the ride, savor those words, and never compare your successes to others. Getting published is not the reason to write. Writing is the reason to write.

You see why I love her? :) Find her online!

Lisa's Blog
Lisa on Twitter

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Guest Blogger - Lisa Amowitz

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