My Favorite Things = Queries ... yep, it's a Monday! Query???

Like most writers, I hate querying!
HATE. Querying.
Querying is like a giant word problem with variables like: X is to Y like cat is to? 
And the cursor on the screen blinks at you like some psychotic math teacher who KNOWS you have no idea that the answer is Mount Everest.
I hated querying.
Yep, used the past tense on that sucker.
Why?
What?
Who?
Come closer and I’ll introduce you to the ninja master of Query letters.
First, do you solemnly swear to scream all of the awesomeness about the author from who you are about to learn?
~nod your head and eat this piece of lemon bar~
Second, do you promise to never glare at your screen when asked to write a one-page query?
~nod and put on these stilettos~
TR-uuuu-St me!
Finally, Do you  *insert pen name*  pinky promise that you will tweet, +, Facebook and all other forms of crazy social media this author’s name and book to all of those floundering, query zombified writers who aimlessly bang there head on their desk when attempting to write a query?
~nod and spin three times~
Alright. *glances suspiciously over shoulder while reaching into my Johnny Depp fan club tote bag*
Here it is:

C.J. Redwine’s, QUERY: Everything You Need to Get Started, Get Noticed, and Get Signed. 

I was privileged enough to take C.J.’s weeklong query course of awesomeness. 

The woman takes the word problem of queries and gives you what X is, tells you why you need to have Y and –here’s the best part, after reading QUERY— you will always see why cats are equal to Mount Everest and dogs are likened to underwater basket weaving.

C.J. takes the quandary out of the Query and makes you feel confident when hitting that send button.  At the end of her weeklong class, I had a shiny query letter that I couldn't WAIT to share.
C.J.’s YA debut, DEFIANCE, comes out 8/28/12 from Balzer & Bray, so the girl has some serious success when it comes to the query question.
Still not sold?
You can follow C.J. on Twitter
And I HIGHLY recommend you follow her blog.  

I’m so thrilled that C.J. put her Query class into e-book format I’ve already bought one AND I’m going to be giving away a copy of QUERY: Everything You Need to Get Started, Get Noticed, and Get Signed. 
To enter, fill out the form below and if it isn't working, this is my first time using Rafflecopter, shoot me a comment and I'll be sure to beat  fix the problem. Sign in with your name and email so I can notify you if you're the WINNER!

And the winner is......

Stephanie!!!!!!

Stephanie, email me mindyruiz1(at)yahoo(dot)com for your Query book by C.J. Redwine!!!!



What's Hot Wednesday!!! INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows That's What!!!

Next Wednesday- January 31st-  is the release of Jodi Meadows' debut novel :

 INCARNATE.

and if that doesn't get ya all wiggly and giggly inside here's the quick run down ala Goodreads:

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi is not only an amazing writer, but the girl has some serious mojo when it comes to tightening up a query.  Almost two years ago, I was Jodi's 1000th follower on Twitter.  As a prize, she gave me a free five page critique.  Let's say the red pen was a flyin' but so were her encouraging words. 
Two years plus a completed and revised and revised and revised and revised MS later, I always here Jodi's voice.  I admit, it she sounds a little like Sandra Bullock in my head. 
Jodi's telling me to watch those runaway commas and fly-by-night apostrophes. 
Tighten here.
What are you trying to say there.
And sometimes there's a reference to spinning and her ferret, Kippy. 
Needless to say, Jodi's awesome!
Now... go pre-order INCARNATE here!
Let me know you did and then let me know whatchya thought!
Also, be sure to follow Jodi on Twitter, Facebook and her Website

A Pee-My-Pants Big DREAM Post!

It’s not so scary to dream.

What would I do if I won the lottery?

What would I do if I had a million dollars?

What would I do if I had three wishes?

But those aren’t dreams.

Those are fantasies.

Did you know one definition of fantasy even goes so far as to say a fantasy is:

An unrealistic or improbable supposition.

A hallucination.

On the other hand a dream is defined as:

A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration.

To regard something as feasible or practical.

To conceive of; imagine.

Crazy, right?
How can two words that are so interchangeable be so vastly different?
And, here’s the BIG question:

Are you fantasizing about your career or are you dreaming about your career?

And, if you’re dreaming about your career, is your dream BIG enough?
Does your dream scare you?

I dream of signing with an agent.
I dream of having my book published.
I dream of having someone, not my family, buy my book and post a review.

Big dreams, right?

Wrong.

Why?

Because I wasn’t specific.
I have a DREAM agent. But you didn’t hear me say that before.
I have a DREAM publishing house. But you didn’t hear that either.
I DREAM of not just someone buying my books (yes, plural) … I dream of LOTS of someone’s buying lots of my books.

What’s the difference?

My first set of dreams are really doable.
I can see the roads I have to take.
I know the steps I must complete, the classes I should take, the networks I should connect with, the way to spread the word.
My second set of DREAMS … they pee-my-pants, huddle-in-a-corner, eat-till-I-pop, SCARE me.
They scare me because I can’t see the entire road to take to get to the amazingness of all of those BIG DREAMS.
They are just out of my reach, require just a bit of growth and a guide I don't have, yet.
They'll require some really hard, concentrated work and a bit of faith in me.
They scare me because anybody can dream the small ascertainable dream, but few are capable to see the BIG DREAM and not assign it to the realm of unrealistic fantasy.
And, few think they deserve to dream BIG DREAMS.
So here’s your assignment for the day, and I TOTALLY stole it from my coach, Tom Ferry:

Write yourself a letter from December, 2012.
Yes, that’s the future.
Have your future self to you what you accomplished in 2012.
In vivid detail, tell yourself about all the doubts you overcame and all of the BIG DREAMS you accomplished or set in motion.
Then, if you’re brave enough, post the biggest most scariest part of your dream in the comment section below.
You’ll be surprised how many people think your borderline fantasy is really just a BIG DREAM you’re to afraid to say out loud.
AND!!!!
You’ll be surprised how many people really are there to support you.
C’mon.
Don’t be afraid.
I triple dog dare ya!
Print that letter out.
Put it in your purse, wallet, idea folder.
Next year, you’ll be amazed how far you’ve come.

A short story on how I, Mindy Ruiz, can screw it all up!

DO NOT!  I repeat: DO NOT! Interrupt me.
If you want me to forget the very sentence I'm typing then you should start chatting with me or call me or send a breeze that tickles my neck, because it is a well proven, highly documented fact that when I'm in the middle of something uber important the chemo brain will kick in.

*side note*  I'm not kidding 'bout the chemo brain.  I've had extremely LARGE  amounts of the nastiness. 

Where was I?
Oh, yeah.
See... chemo brain.
FOCUS...

Here's how it all began.
The screw-it-all-up part of this story, not the chemo part.
The RWA Goldenheart deadline is Thursday, December 2nd. That means I must have my darling little entry in the Fed Ex envelope by 6pm on December 1st. 
That's two days away. 
I open up the newest, shiniest version of my entry and bam... the phone rings.
The husband needs me to look for some fantastic paperwork that may, or may not, be at home.  I could sooooo digress here, but I will stay focused.
An hour later, yes sixty whole minutes and a tornado of paperwork later, I sit down at the computer, pull up my docs and click on the next to newest, not quite as shiny as the Goldenheart ready version of my entry and add a few more layers to chp 35. Delete some telly words, about 1500 all together. Put a pinch of sarcasm on the epilogue and bada-bing realize that the past two hours of fabulous uninterrupted work I'd been doing is on the not new, not ready to be entered version. 
CHEMO BRAIN.

I'd been looking for the husband's paperwork dated 11-16-11, returned to my computer and pulled up document WIP 11-16-11 and com-pleeeee-tly ignored the already open document 11-26- Goldenheart get ready to visit Disneyland version.
Gasp.
I know...
It's gonna be take out and a long, long, 1/4 inch thick revision night. 
*sigh*
or you could send a margarita.
Either one.

Dreaming 'bout Princes and Agents.

So, whatchya doin’ on a Saturday afternoon you ask?
Oh nothing much.
Just putting the finishing touches on my WIP.
YEP!
It’s, like, 98% all done, done, done.  Which means one more done away from querying!
If you’ve ever revised a novel, you get the done, done, done part.
Done #1 = First draft
Done #2 = Critique Partners have seen it and not laughed at you or pointed fingers snickering “she thought this was good?”
Done#3 = The Betas are reading it and from tweets and texts *crossing fingers* they are loving it!!!
Done#4 = It’s off to the list of dream agents!
Okay, there’s the dream agent who you could equate to landing the Prince of Wales, but seeing how Kate’s already done that and he’s probably a better helicopter pilot than agent … oh heck, you get the idea. If Royal dream agent loves it then glass slippers and kissable toads for EVERYONE!!!!!

Then there are the dream agents who are the Prince Harry’s of the group!  You love them and you’d have a hell of an awesome ride with them, based on research of course, that could leave you dizzy and deliriously happy for years to come. Yep, got them on my list too!  Again, Kissable toads and roller coasters for EVERYONE!!!!

Truly, I love my heir and spare list of agents.

I love that this project is nearing completion.
Of course… that means a whole bunch of new butterflies are about to be released.
Will the heir or the spare love it?
Will they ask me to a ball?
Will a beautiful publishing queen like it and want to ... publish it?
Will this common girl ever…  alright!
 No more royal stuff…
Just a simple answer.
I dunna know.
But for now… this common-Cinderella-dreaming-girl is really enjoying getting all dressed up!   

Shredding Cheese & Writing a Book ... Trust me.

I’m in the third round of personal edits (my definition of edits before I send out the query letters) and that means I need lots and Lots and LOTS of cheese! Usually this cheese is melted over chips and makes NACHOS with bean dip and yummy salsa.  Some writers need chocolate, some need cinnamon bears, some need lemon bars … me I need CHEESE. So you can imagine the stream of bleeped out words that came from deep inside the refrigerator when I went to make Nachos and found NO CHEESE!

Okay, there was cheese but it wasn’t all nice and shredded and stored in an easy close bag. 

I needed my nacho fix because I am sooooo close to being done and moving on to the find an agent phase of this journey.  Also, tomorrow I play accountant so that means no edits, no creativity … not unless I want the taxman to come a knockin’. 

So, the cheese…

I could go to the store, but the only thing that makes me not a recluse is the fact that I have children who force me to leave the house. When they're at school, I'm inside ... with a block of cheese.

How hard could it be to shred a nacho plate worth of cheese?

Off I went searching and in the very, very back of the cabinets I found this…

Yep, an old-fashioned cheese grater!

I cut a wedge of cheese, figured out how to not shred my knuckles and away we went

Rub, rub, rub!

Shred, shred, shred!

My triceps started to burn…

Images of well-toned triceps made me shred harder until the wedge was gone.

Not so bad…

Until I lifted the grater and found only a few flakes of cheese.

WHAT!?!

So another wedge, more burn and … ugh.

Not nearly enough cheese.

Wedge, burn, lift. Ugh.

Wedge, burn, lift.

It continued on and on until… BAM a nacho plate full of cheese.
As the microwave melted my heavenly edit snack I was thinking:
1.       No wonder our grandmas had toned arms.
2.       No wonder our moms weren’t really over weight.
3.   Shredding cheese is a whole lot like writing a book.

Just when you think you’ve put the finishing touches on the thing, you open up the critique partners or beta readers’ comments and realize… not enough yet and go back to shredding.
*sigh*
But one day, one day it’ll be ready and hopefully an agent will open their microwave and say, “YUMMY!!!! I need this book!!!!”

The Cream Always Rises!

What the heck does that mean?

If milk is left by itself, it homogenizes. While getting its homogenization on, the lighter fatty portions rise to the top. Need a visual? Oil and water. The fatty oil sits on top of the heavier water. Once the homog party is done the fatty portions are skimmed off the top and made into … yep, cream!
Yummy cream!

So, what’s that gotta do with books?

Traditional Publishing vs. Indie publishing.

Shh, put the pickets down. Take of the team shirts and just listen…

I’m not taking a side.
And I’m not saying one is the water and one is the oil… because they’re both amazing platforms and, yes, the cream always rises to the top.

The cream is the author.

You know there just is no way to write an Indie publishing piece without mentioning Amanda Hocking. Many say she’s a flash in the pan. Many say she’s the exception to Indie publishing. I don’t think so and  --if you believe the New York Times-- St. Martins Press bet at least 2 million dollars and a 4 book deal that she isn’t.
We can argue price point, and quality and “flooding the market” but in the end, Ms. Hocking had to deliver a damn good story.
Does that take away from traditional publishing?

NO!

I think all of us at one point in time picked up a book and ten pages, ten minutes or ten chapters into it, closed the book looked at it and said, “What the hell was the publishing house thinking!”
To that reader, not the cream.
To another, maybe the cream of all cream.

The Cream Skimmer = The E-reader.

I love e-readers because I get the sample pages! If you don’t have me in those first sample pages then, sorry, I’m not buying the book. I don’t care if you’re Traditional, Indie or meat on a stick! I’m not buying ya.

All of that to say: Write the best book you can. Then Revise, Edit, Polish, Revise, Edit, Polish and submit.

Submit to the agents.
Submit to the editors.
Submit to the Betas.
Submit to the Indie’s.
Submit to the process.

But ultimately the person who decides whose book is the cream are the readers. And when they speak, trust me, the whole world listens … and then picks out a team t-shirt with a hot dude on it. But, that’s another post.