All Work and No Play Makes Jenni a Dull Girl

Spring is in the air and I'm trapped in a dark cave all day with no windows, surrounded by the grey carpeted walls of my cubicle. The fact that I can't go out and soak up some much needed rays of Vitamin D fills me with resentment. Fortunately I have awesome co-workers to keep me from falling into a pit of grey carpeted despair.

I've been reading everything I can about getting published and the publishing industry, as The Guide instructed, but everything I read is rather depressing. It's all about how difficult it is to get an editor to even look at your story, and how you're probably really a shitty writer and need to write and complete several practice novels before you try to submit a legit novel for publication and even then you'll probably be rejected by everyone. Now, I'm someone who needs a lot of positive reinforcement in my life. I already do a good enough job at second-guessing and beating myself up, and I am not currently accepting applications for that position. What I need is one of these "experts" to say "Hey, you know what? You might actually be good enough, and you might actually have a really great book in your hands." I just need someone to believe in me.

And I don't mean that to sound pitiful or pathetic. I'm just speaking plainly.

I need someone in my corner shouting at me to keep going and willing to squirt water down my throat and apply the enswell to my swelling face. "Cut me, Mick!"

I was lucky enough to have a cutman with me today, who was able to pull me out of my melancholy state of mind. And it wasn't the first time she's done this either. You know who you are, and I thank you. :)

So - where are we on this Path to Publication?

I revised my first chapter and just reposted it to critiquecircle.com. It will go up for review on May 11. I'm also re-reading my second chapter and trying to revise that as much as I can before I submit that for review as well. It's kind of like cleaning your house before the maid comes because you don't want her to think you're a slob - completely nonsensical but it makes me feel a little better about myself. The biggest thing I'm working on is psyching myself up to begin searching for a literary agent. The process of searching for such a person is called "query-ing" or so I've read. It might be my southern accent but query-ing is hard for me to say...so I'm probably going to do the typical Southern thing and just completely make up another word for it; I'm leaning towards Q-ing.

When I begin the process of query-ing things are going to get interesting again, I am sure of it. I just hope I don't face plant. ;)

Thanks for reading!

Music Is My Aeroplane

Nothing inspires me more than a summer rainstorm. I adore the rain - a product of my desert upbringing, I'm sure - and I especially love it in the summer when it comes in and cools everything down for a while. It's a nice break from the oppressive Texas heat.

As I mentioned in my post before last, I had been blocked and unable to work on revising my novel. So I'm quite relieved to have a) finally a free day of rest, b) rainstorms out my window, and c) new music to listen to - all of which are a recipe for writing.

Music is a huge source of inspiration for me too. I can't write without it. Whenever I listen to a song, I get all these images popping up in my head like my own personal music video, and oftentimes these images form together to create a story line or a very vivid scene. I would say that I came up with 90% of my story while using music.

I always make a playlist when I'm working on a project that captures the mood and theme of whatever I'm working on. Today, I thought I'd share part of my A Mouth Full of Teeth playlist with you...just because I feel like sharing!

A Mouth Full of Teeth Playlist:
"Above the Clouds" - Slightly Stoopid (I used this to come up with the first chapter. This song makes me feel like I'm up to no good.)
"Hang You From the Heavens" - The Dead Weather (This song is bad ass, used for action scenes and fighting.)
"Angel" - Massive Attack (Dark and dangerous, this song is great to use when building tension)
"Phenomena" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (This song is just plain sexy...I think it speaks for itself)
"Put Your Dukes Up John" - Arctic Monkeys (good for a fist fight, used in Gabe's fight scenes)
"Running Up That Hill" - Placebo (this song seems to be about a person who wishes they were someone else, which describes Jade perfectly)
"Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" - Marilyn Manson cover (I used this for when shit hits the fan, the whole song is an epic crescendo - love it)
"Gaston Ave" - Astronautalis (Used to calm things down after shit hits the fan, and everyone needs to process what just happened)
"Howlin' For You" - The Black Keys (this song warms me up for stepping inside this world of werewolves I've created)
"Butterflies and Hurricanes" - Muse (Pretty much anything Muse does is good for writing a lot of action)

I just want to say that I know that last week I got off my posting schedule quite a bit, and I apologize for that - but last week was a very busy week for me. Sunday was the Railroad Revival Tour, Monday was the drive home, Wednesday I went to see Charlie Sheen's "Violent Torpedo of Truth" show (my friends won tickets at work), Friday I woke up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding live (don't judge me) and then went to bed after dinner at 8pm and slept until 6:40am the next morning. I'm not used to that much action. But this week should be back to normal...unless David Beckham spots me in the crowd at the soccer game tonight and decides to leave Posh Spice for me.

Thanks for reading! =)