Jina Oravetz: life & writing
Morning Rant and Some Writing Tidbits
Something I do every so often is run my name through search engines to make sure my website is coming. Primarily my concern is google. I type in my name see that my site pops up and call it good. Well this time I clicked on the link and boy was I surprise (and frustrated and irritated and generally grrrr) when it brought up a very old and crappy “cached” version of my site. What I don’t get is I rebuilt my site I made sure to have google re-crawl my site, but it still didn’t update it, which is rather bizarre. So now I’ve learned to insert noarchive meta tags into the head and I’ve contacted google to remove the offending cached page. So hopefully by next week it will be updated. So on to more pleasant things…writing. I am working in a new scene for Pelegra which is going quite well and I’m very pleased with. No, this one will not show up here, but I believe with enough persistence it will someday–preferably soon–end up in print. I am also so excited for the Willamette Writers conference that I can’t stand it. I met some great people last year, whom I still stay in contact with. If you have never gone to a conference and been surrounded by other people as in love with writing as you are then you are seriously missing out. Even if you can only attend for one day (which is what I did last year) it is so worth your time, money,and effort. I recommend this particular conference to anyone in the northwest or out of the northwest if you are willing to travel. Well I have to go to work now. ~Keep Reading
Busy Weekend
Hi Everyone,
Sorry that I didn’t get a post up this last weekend, but I was busy fixing my car. It decided last week that it did not want to start so I spent the weekend testing all of the electrical components of the ignitions system with an multimeter and a spark tester. My husband helped me change the distributor cap and rotor; the spark plug wires; and the spark plugs. That fixed it. Oh, for any other financially strapped writers out there. The site that I use to help me fix my car is www.alldatadiy.com You do have to pay for a subscription (it’s yearly, for around $30) but it’s been worth every penny for me. Anyway, I suppose I am way off topic. Back to writing. Well, I have the new beginning. I have just a few more tweaks and then I’ll put it up. I’m very pleased with it. I am rewriting large chunks and am very happy with how it’s going. Well, I have to get to work, more later.
~Keep Reading.
Pebbles and Pickles
If you have checked out the links to pictures of my dogs you will know that I have a brown and white Lhasa Apso named Pebbles. Well I felt the need to share with you all just how peculiar she is. You see Pebbles LOVES dill pickles. Vlassic kosher dills to be exact. Our other dogs sniff at a piece of pickle and turn their heads away. Or sassy might try and eat one but typically just spits it out. Pebbles on the other hand loves dill pickles. It’s hilarious. I’ll have to try and take a picture of her eating pickles. Anyway, I know this is really random but I felt the need to share. ~Keep Reading
Never Underestimate Your Local Library
A common bit of advice I’ve heard from just about every agent/editor/writer/etc that I’ve come in contact with is: to become a better writer, one must READ. Now for me, that is easy. I often read more than one book at a time. I also like to reread books and series. So even if I am not posting reviews, you can safely bet that I am reading something. I know your are probably thinking, get to the point already. Well the point is go the library. Yes, I recommend a quick trip to your local bookstore too, but if you are like me and trying to pinch pennies, then the library just might become your new best friend. The library closest to me works like this: If you are an in town resident you get a free “advanced” card. Out of town residents have to pay 60 dollars per household per year for an “advanced” card. OR you can have a “basic” card where you can have one item out and one item on hold. That is what my husband and I both currently have. I’m digressing from my point aren’t I?
Bear with me a little longer. When I was in college at Linfield, they have something called Summit/WorldCat as part of the library. WorldCat bye the way is short for world catalog and not some clever name derived from Linfield’s mascot, the wildcat (yes I actually thought that up until two days ago–feel free to laugh hysterically at me–I won’t mind.)
I just found out that my local public library also has access to Summit/Worldcat. You just have to ask the librarian for an inter library loan form because it is not on their website and it is not really advertised or explained on their website. I happened upon this information accidentally and then called the library and was told about the form.
So now I have access to a vast array of books I had been pinning over.
So my point is to talk to your librarians and to never underestimate your library. So go find a good book!
~keep reading
Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite
Well, I entered the secret agent contest at miss snark’s first victim and received feedback that I was going through the refrigerator too early. I needed to let my reader get to know Aiden more. Sooooo, I am working on rewriting the beginning of Pelegra, again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve rewritten the beginning. Oh well, with each rewrite, it gets better. I do not have the new beginning posted here yet. Probably after Tuesday. I am also reading another book (more than one actually) The anatomy of story by John Trudy, which is quite excellent and reinforces the fact that you must fully develop your characters–all of them–in order to have a vivid story that your readers will care about. I’m also reading a YA fiction book titled Pucker by Melanie Gideon. I just started it and like it so far. I’m also mapping out another book–non pelegra related. I found a great mind mapping site called WiseMapping.com. If you want to mind map and don’t want to pay for software, this site is a great solution. Well back to the “writing” board.
~Keep Reading.
My life seems to revolve around waiting
Well, I sent off three more submissions. I’ve decided, for every rejection I get, I’ll try to send off three more submissions. So, now I wait.
Success!
Well, somehow I managed to condense the prologue and first chapter into two paragraphs. I’ve run it by my critique group and a few other people, and it appears to be a success.
Befuddled
So, if you have perused the “I recommend books for writers” section you will see I have added a couple of books. Since reading these books I have been able to write a succinct synopsis (which I am astounded at accomplishing) and have determined that I have throw out the prologue and majority of chapter one and essentially re-write the beginning of my book. I wasn’t happy about that to say the least, but after combing through the subplots and really getting to the nitty gritty, I discovered I have a bunch of useless information that, while interesting, is not vital to moving the story along. So that is where I sit. Befuddled as I examine past drafts to determine how I’m going to do this.
A reminder to all
Hello again, well I thought perhaps some of you were balking at my short post over being rejected. I had several friends express outrage, but I just kind of chuckled at them, and stated the obvious: The publishing world is very subjective and you can’t take rejection personally. So I just want to remind all of you out there, that yes while reading any rejection letter is like a punch in the stomach that forces the wind out of you, you have to remember to take a deep breath, get past it, and remain the professional. ~keep reading
Moving On
Well the agent who requested the manuscript decided it wasn’t for him. Oh well. Moving on to the next submission. I haven’t decided who that will be yet, but I do have a few ideas. 🙂