Fantasy Genre

Vampire Girl from the Dark Moon homepage

I'm a total sucker for vampires. Ever since I watched the movie Interview with a Vampire in my teen years, I've been hooked on those fang-bearers. I even love watching Angel! (The vampire, not a fallen angel). I absolutely adore Charleine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, and I read any YA vampire novel I can get my hands on.

I didn't choose to write about vampires when I was designing my story. I started creating my magical characters before Twilight hit the theaters (which was when I discovered the books), so YA vampires weren't big in my world at the time. I should be thankful for thinking outside the box when I decided to write a book, because now agents and publishers aren't taking in new vampire novels. At the time, I had no idea there were such things as trends in book publishing, and I thought that if someone wrote a good vampire novel, they'd get it published. As for me, I suppose I wanted to create something that was mine from the start.

I have also read books about fallen angels. I must admit that angels don't appeal to me as much. I don't know what it is. They're supposed to have the dark element, but they just don't do it for me. I'm now reading Fallen, by Lauren Kate, and we'll see how I feel after that. It's definitely something I wouldn't choose to write about.

Then I've read books about fairies, and I honestly don't know if I could ever write books about fairies. At least not the kind of fairies I've read recently. Elves are a different matter, and to me, they're not the same (although they sometimes seem to star in fairy books).

I can't bring myself to check out a werewolf book from the library. I've seen them in movies and read about them as vampires vs. werewolves, but I always cheer for the vampires. Edward was always the one I rooted for, and Jacob was just annoying at times. The same goes for the movie Underworld, which really wasn't a great movie, but it's about vampires, and so I watched it. Charleine Harris has werewolves and fairies, but I let that slide because I love her vampires so much.

I suppose that if I can't write about vampires (if I want to be published -- and I do), I'll have to continue creating my own race of fantasy creatures. I don't know if that'll ease my way into publishing or hinder, since it might be a risk for publishers to introduce new creatures. I have caught myself wondering if I should write a vampire series, I even have an idea for one, but reading the agent/publisher blogs I've decided not use my time on that and rather continue with my own creation.

Vampire books will always be the thing I love to read. I hope that although agents/publishers are rejecting such books today, they'll never stop completely so that suckers, such as I, can continue reading what we love.

What are your favorite creatures in fantasy novels?

Fantasy Forever

By bkharmaw on photobucket.com

Wow. I completed my query letter yesterday and sent it off to have it proofread. It'll take 1-2 days and it's already been one, and I'm oh-so-tired of waiting. How will I be when I actually send it and have to wait for a response? At least I feel that I'm ready to send it, and that's a good sign.

Since yesterday, I've been reading the manuscript yet again, and I'm so glad I did. Last time I read it, I made so many changes, so I've already found five places half way through where I forgot to delete a word. Naturally, I used the opportunity to change other little things as well.

--> Read the manuscript again if you've made a lot of changes.

I don't think I'll read it again though. I think I must have read all of the 250 word pages at least twenty times, and I so want to get the novel out there and try my luck. Honestly, I've read the manuscript so many times that I think I can tell the story blindfolded. At least I'll be able to tell the agent/publisher how changes would affect the rest of the chapters.

The query letter turned out nicely, I think. I've been poring over different hooks and then suddenly a good one came to me. I hope it'll catch the attention of the agent, if not, then I'll have other query letters ready, just in case.

--> If you're exclusively querying an agent, have other queries ready in case he/she turns you down.

As I've said before, I'm only going to query this one exclusively, and then I'll send a bunch if he declines.

I read an interesting interview with Stephenie Meyer. She said that she sent out 15 queries. Five didn't answer back and eight turned her down. She then got an agent deal and a huge book deal, and shortly after she received the ninth rejection letter that was terribly rude, saying that she'd never get published etc.

I find myself asking, why would agents send such rude letters? I can understand it if the writer querying is rude in his/her letter, but why be so mean?

I don't know. Yes, it's nice to get a critique, even if they break your heart, but downright rude critiques? I just don't see the point in them. At least this example shows how different agents are in their tastes.

I'm still bracing myself for the whole process of agent questing. As I've said before, I'm going to view the rejection letters as a part of the process and nothing personal (even if I'll get a rude letter like Meyer got). I'm kind of looking at it as a challenge, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

And I'm so determined to get my book published. If it won't, I think I'll even re-write it, because the story idea and characters are good, and it's different and fresh. I wrote it before I knew anything of the market (the requirements, structure etc.), and then edited it afterwards. I've also been reading a lot of books in my genre recently and noticed that my novel doesn't start as quickly as they do. I think that if I'll get turned down by everyone, I might rewrite the first half of the novel (ugh, but it would be a challenge, and as I said: it's going to get published).

--> Be positive and keep rooting for your book!

I've also been worried about the trend of fantasy dieing down, but then I read somewhere that even though the agents are turning down all queries containing the word "vampire"; my novel doesn't have vampires in it. The beings I have created are different (and aren't remotely related to vampires), and might be just what the agents are looking for.

Fantasy will never die. It's been alive since our ancestors were telling stories about elves, trolls, Odin, Thor, and the rest in Valhalla. Even the ancient Egyptians told fantasies. It's in our blood, and it will continue to fascinate future generations.

So, I'll let myself believe that although vampires may be getting old, other kind of fantasy will take its place for now.

Task for the day: Read the next chapter.

Have a nice day!

P.S. Vampires may be fading, but I'm still heavily sucked in. I'm currently reading the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.

Staying Focused

I just finished reading the 50 pages, and found that the changes I made really work. The story is more to the point now and even has more action in it. I've only read through about 1/3 of my book, I'll read the rest over the weekend. At least I won't have to do any more serious changes to the manuscript.

--> Read carefully through your manuscript before querying. Then read carefully through it again.

After I finish correcting the little changes, I'll read through the manuscript yet again (for possibly the 15th time - as I said, perfectionism can be a curse). Then, hopefully it'll be ready. I had a freelance editor read over the old manuscript, but I don't think I'll have her read over it again, since I only changed one chapter, because it costs a lot of money (especially since the Icelandic Krona plummeted in 2007 and hasn't recovered much since).

--> Have someone read over the manuscript for mistakes (grammar or structure-vise).

--> Have the manuscript polished and ready before querying.

Last night I was feeling a bit pessimistic about ever getting this book published, because I keep working on it, over and over, and I never seem satisfied. The story, writing and everything is great, and much, much better than a lot of what I've read, but I see this difficult task ahead of getting an agent, and reading about all the trials and horrors of trying to get one. One starts to wonder why one would be the exception. I think that ALL new authors must be intimidated by the process, so I don’t think I’m alone here.

In my agony, I visited Publishers Marketplace and very easily found 10 possible agencies, in case my chosen one refuses. I'll look for more (already have some bookmarked that I haven't written on my list yet), because I expect to have to query a lot, just like everyone else.

--> Compile a list of agencies to query - a lot of agencies.

Reading comments on the agencies’ pages kind of lifted my spirits and encouraged me to just stay focused on my project, finish polishing the manuscript (and I won't - I repeat - won't read over it again after I've finished reading through all of it as a whole after my changes), finish writing the full proposal and polish my query letter to the chosen one.

--> Keep focused on one thing at a time and try not to be overwhelmed by what's ahead.

Then, since my book is the first in a series of three, with the possibility of more if the publisher would be interested, I'll have to make a synopsis for the other two books, which should be easy since I know exactly what's going to happen and have most of it noted.

I read somewhere last night, that publishers were going for single books now, instead of series, and I was disheartened by that. But then this morning I read on Randy's blog that publishers often want to sign new authors who have series, because the marketing cost will stretch over a series of books instead of all of it on a single book. That made me feel better. Whichever is true, I'll have to stick to my project, which could by no means fit into one book, and stay positive.

--> Make a synopsis for the next book(s) in the series. Include this in your full proposal.

The one thing I'm dreading a lot (if I allow myself to think of the things ahead) is comparing my book to other books. Most of the books I like to read are vampire books, and my book isn't vampire-based, although it's paranormal. I know that many writers probably say this, but I don't think there's another book quite like mine. The magical creatures are unique - I haven't heard of or read about any that are similar, and the world, I suppose, is a bit Lords of the Ring'ish - and yet not at all the same. I can hardly compare my book to the masterpiece of J.R.R. Tolkien - I've read warnings about comparing your book to anything hugely popular (I think it was Randy that advised against it in his book).

--> Find books in the same genre, make short synopsis for them and compare them to your books in a few words. Include this in your full proposal.

I thought I could use Eragon, Twilight maybe (although it's vampire based, and hugely popular), The Mortal Instruments series (definitely) and ehm... Any ideas anyone? I could hardly go for Harry Potter, since that was beyond huge. Still, I suppose I could compare it - it is another world, and although my series is for teens a bit older than the first Harry Potter book was written for, the later books were for older teens, I thought. I suppose these books are the most commonly chosen to compare ones YA fantasy with.

Task for the day: Type in the little changes into the three chapters I read this morning, pick up my twins form the kindergarten and go to my parents for the weekend!

Task for the weekend: Read the rest of the chapters and check for any mistakes and try to put the book out of my mind for just enough time to enjoy the celebrations.

Have a nice day!

Tessa Quin