Cookies and Dreams

Thanks for playing, everyone!

I've decided to close this blog and move everything over to my new home at http://kikifu.wordpress.com.
Why don't you stop by and drop me a line? Grab a box or some furniture to help with the move. We'll have cookies and tea once you get there!

Also, there's a new link list, so why not make sure that your name's on there, too, so people can find you?

It's been fun.

Bai-bai!

I like to think of myself as a late early adopter.
I'm not fast enough to be one of the first to get into a new technology, but I usually get an item just before it takes off amongst the geeky.
Enter the e-reader.
After handheld gaming (you should see our Graveyard of Old Consoles and Handhelds) and iPod, mobile reading and writing was the next step to go.
Laptops always struck me as supremely unsatisfying, and PDAs were just so...meh.
But I'm incredibly excited about my new, shiny iLiad. I have high hopes that it's going to make both my reading and my writing life a lot easier.
It's charging right now, but expect more detailed reviews over the next month as I bring to you
The iLiad Odyssey!

The Wild Rose Press, a small electronic and print romance publisher of impeccable taste (after all, they are *my* publisher), takes its public image very seriously.
It's alos a publisher that goes out of its way to communicate with its authors, trying to address any and all problems as they arise. Authors are on a special announcements-from-the-boss e-loop where issues are brought up as they relate to TWRP in general.

This morning, I found a post pointing towards Piers Anthony's website, where he talks about TWRP in his list of publishers. Apparently, someone has pointed out to him that TWRP are slow to start edits, taking up to a year.

Well, I want to chime in there, too. Obviously, I don't speak from vast experience, but I speak from mine.
TWRP and everyone of their staff that I've had contact with has been courteous, friendly, fast and enthusiastic. My edits for Enter The Parrot got started within the month, and I've gotten the feeling that it's me that's the limiting factor, not the other way around.
The artwork was fast and fabulous, and all communication has been punctual.

Enter The Parrot is not finished yet, but I'm very confident that things will go well from here on in. And if they don't, I am assured there are ways to communicate with the publisher directly.
What more can you ask for?

What's your experience with either TWRP or your publisher and their reputation? Justified, or not?

Are you twittering?
If you are, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/kikilon. I'll be updating live from the snow, if I can get reception.
Who else is twittering around here? Who's your favourite person to follow?

Only a week to go until it's time to hit the slopes for winter fun. I've got my gear, a week's worth of dried food goodies and a DS for the looooong bus trip up into the mountains.
I've got some brand new gear this year (including a helmet and boots!), so I'm excited to try it all out.
Last year was my first year snowboarding (after three years of skiing), and while I didn't lack in enthusiasm, my skill was, well, varied.
But never fear! this year I intend to get the hang of that whole staying-upright thing. No more going face-first down a black run of doom for me. Well, okay, maybe.

This year, we're also joined by a bunch of people from kung fu, so I expect the weekend to be especially made of awesomeness. And soreness.

I've got a week of LOTS of editing work ahead of me, so maybe the next time you'll read from me, I'll be enjoying a metre of fresh, powdery frozen goodness -- face-first!

All you snow bunnies out there, got any last minute tips and tricks I should know about? How do you get your boarding (or skiing, or tobogganing) groove on?

Did you know that what name you go by can say a lot about your personality?
Yeah, no duh.
But did you know that the actual *sounds* of your name will give you a clue as well?

This page talks about the consonant sound(s) and vowels in your name's stressed syllable (or only syllable, as the case may be) and what it says about you.

For example, Kiki is unstressed (or stressed on the first syllable, if you want). Not that it matters, since the syllable is KI. K plus short I.
Which means:
'short i' - moves up-up-up, light and a bit tense
'k' - a room where some things are allowed in or even captured, and where other things are definitely not cool. The 'k' is in the know and keeps its secrets. It's the most caring and intimate of letters, but when it's not careful, 'k' gets snobby and cuts people off.

I must admit, I'm liking this.
What's in your name?

Whether you're going to RWA's National Conference in San Francisco or attending RWNZ's or our very own RWA conference here in Melbourne, you're probably thinking about pitching to an editor or agent.
After all, time and time again, the one thing conference attendees want the most is pitching sessions.
We're all desperate for that look inside the head of someone who could potentially make or break our careers. but how useful are pitch sessions really?

JenWriter stresses that she does her research beforehand.

I told them why I chose to pitch them. “I decided to pitch you because you are the agent of [author], and I’m a huge fan. Plus, my work is in the same genre so I thought you might be interested.” Every time I mentioned a client’s name, instant connection. Their faces lit up, they smiled. For the ones where I mentioned only genre from reading their bios, they also seemed pleased I did my homework. But the ones where I mentioned actual clients seemed to make better impressions.

Anne Mini has a clear goal in mind before she hones her pitch. She wants the editor/agent to *want* to read her work. her advice? Don't start by summarising your book. She has a lot of great advice, in fact, she even wrote a second post on the subject matter.

On the other side of the fence, agent Rachelle Gardner has a couple of gems to offer pitching writers, mainly about taking things one step at a time. You don't want to finish your pitch only to have the first question be "Hold on, what genre is this?"
She offers this as a pitch starting pint:

My name is _____ and I wanted to meet with you because _____.

I'm represented by _____ (agent name if applicable).

I'm writing ______ (what genre).

My publishing history includes _____. OR I'm currently unpublished but have been writing for ___ years.

Today I want to tell you about my book called _____ which is a ____(genre).

This book won the _____ award (if relevant).

I'm writing about this topic because ____ (if relevant. For example, you are a police officer and you're writing a cop thriller).

My tagline is _____ (20 words or so that capture your book).

Then, launch into your pitch.

What a great idea!

Agent Kristin Nelson suggests that you don't have to try to sum up your whole novel. Instead, just focus on the first 50 pages ore so and find the catalyst, the moment that really sets the story soaring. She also has some specific advice about a contemporary romance and a romantic suspense.

Agent Nathan Bransford has a more cynical (or honest?) outlook on pitch sessions, saying more often than not, he just requests a partial because it's easier than saying no.

Agent Scott Eagan shares this view, saying that often, editors and agents will ask for the full MS, just so they can weed out those who haven't completed their project.
He also warns that while editors might acquire across the lines, it won't mean they'll be the ones to read your project.

So what can you do to make you and your work stand out from all the others?
It's all about the branding, says Jen n at AuthorMBA. In other words, present yourself how you want to be perceived. For most of us, that means professional, savvy and classy. So no sweats and lunch-stained T-shirts, please!

Does all this discourage you? Maybe you don't want to pitch a project. Maybe you're just keen for some one-on-one time with an industry professional. You figure you'll give them a little break, pick their brains, chat about your marketability, get some feedback.
Be careful, warns Rachelle Gardner. Not everyone will be happy to do this. Especially agents are there to find new clients, not hold your hand and help you along.
She does concede that editors might be more open to this approach. Be very careful, and just in case, have something to pitch.
You could always ask if the agent/editor would mind you picking their brains instead, stating that while you do have a pitchable project, you are much more keen on having your questions XYZ addressed in these few precious minutes.
Use discretion.


So what should you do?
Be prepared, be professional, and above all, know yourself and your work.
Be polite and interesting. It doesn't matter how introverted you are in real life or how nervous you get.
Practice at home in front of your friend, cat or mirror until you can pitch while doing cartwheels (or at least without tripping over your own words).
And above all, try and have fun with it.
Odds are good they'll look at your stuff.
And then you can send that coveted --requested materials-- envelope and let your brilliant writing do the talking.

I went to see Kung Fu Panda yesterday with my fellow kung fu peeps.
OMG, it rocked so much! It had everything! Kung fu, buns, a panda... Well, okay, so it's kind of hard to explain, so just take my word for it. If you like martial arts, or pandas, or the idea of China, or just a fun, sweet believe-in-your-dreams story, KFP is for you.
As it says in the opening, it's made of awesomeness.

It made me think about my own kung fu training (something I've been woefully neglecting lately), as well as Enter The Parrot, of course.

So in the spirit of things, I've got to ask: what's your favourite kung fu movie, and why?

Yesterday was what will hopefully be the final chapter in the Teeth Wars saga.
You know you're onto something good when your dentist calls his colleague to have a quick peak, too. Freakshow teeth? Check.
But it's all good now (or so we hope). The dentist couldn't have been nicer or more helpful, and all things considered, it went well.

Except that my tooth damage was all along the nerve and the anesthetic didn't quite take so I had to get a second shot. Which led to me looking like a new brand of superhero as I left the clinic:
Fugu Face! (if you want to see the photo, check out my Blogger mirror post, or my Facebook)
Fear my pufferfish powers and poisonous slack jaw!

The anesthetic (and swelling) lasted for over 10 hours, which meant eating was pretty much impossible. Grrrr.
But today, I finally get to eat solid foods again.
So bring on the CRUNCHY!

Do you ever feel like you owe other people your time/efforts? Do you bend over backwards to please those around you?
Yeah, me too, and it's a bad thing.

On average, I spend 40 hours a week on my fiction, 15 on non-fiction and 15 hours at kung fu (including getting there and back, and any planning that may come up).
You don't have to know how many hours are in a given week (psst, it's 168) to know that doesn't leave a lot of spare time.

This article breaks it down as well, and it basically says that after sleep and food and exercise, there's only about 100 hours left in the week. Well, I'm taking the 5 hours/week of exercise back from him, since I don't 'exercise' in a gym or anything, and all of my exercise in a given week is double-duty.

So I've got 105 hours in a week that I can spend between work, play and everything else that needs doing.
So 40 hours of fiction and 15 hours of non-fiction leave me with 50 hours. Just work alone takes half of my available time each week, non-negotiable.

Kung fu takes a third of that remaining time at 15 hours. 35 left.

I walk everywhere I can, including shopping, adding up to about 10 hours a week at least.
25 hours left.

reading is an important part of my life, and I try to read at least a book a week. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to spare more than 5 hours a week most weeks (sometimes I cut back my work hours to get more reading time).
20 hours left.

Video games are my other pastime, and they double-duty as spending time with my friends and/or boyfriend. Probably about 10 hours a week.

That leaves me 10 hours a week for everything else. Blogging, coffee, chatting, playing, cooking more ambitious food, eating out, podcasting, cleaning etc.

So I'm afraid that's why when you ask me if I have time, I usually go "Uh...."

This account of an editor's lunch with a prospective client shows you just how easy it is to make an ass of yourself.

Sure, everybody believes deep down inside that they're the most special person in the universe. We're all the heroes of our own stories. And obviously, if we've produced any kind of work, we're kind of in love with it, and just like with ugly children, we hold onto the belief that everyone else should see them for what they truly are, too.

Okay. So maybe you really are important. Maybe your book really is that great. Then why in blazes can't you have the good grace to be courteous to someone who quite clearly admires you and your work? Why would you go and tell someone that their opinion is not valued, not important, and in fact, merely the opening assessment for bigger and better things.

This actually kind of ties in with my last blog post. I'd rather have someone be super excited about me and my projects than just a big name to whom I'm merely a statistical blip somewhere along the line.

You don't have to sell yourself under value. But you don't have to put other people down to make yourself feel great, either.

There is noting as exciting as someone falling in love with something you've created.
And if that someone happens to be your editor, well!

Jill Williamson, my fantastic and generous editor at The Wild Rose Press has in fact told me she loves Enter The Parrot so much, it's her favorite book this year. But not only that, she's also going to talk about it at the Oregon Christian Writers conference, where she is a guest speaker this year.

So if you happen to be going to the conference, say hi to Jill for me and tell her she rocks (because she does). And watch out for my book, because it's also awesome. ^_^

I hate dentists.
Okay, that's not entirely fair, since I don't necessarily hate dentists the people. I'm sure a lot of them are extremely lovely people once you're out of their chair.
What I really hate is the feeling of helplessness when dealing with dentists.
When you go to an anything-else doctor, you have at least a sporting chance of watching what they're doing. Also, they don't hide their faces while they work on you.

With a regular doctor, I often already have a vague idea what's wrong with me, and sometimes I can even hazard a guess as to how it'll be fixed.

But not with dentists, oh no. All I know is I'm in tremendous pain that seems to move, and when I tell the lovely front desk asssistant that, she gives me an appointment for next week with one of those perfect white dentistry smiles that says "I floss twice every day. Do you ever floss? You don't, do you?"

A week. In pain. Not slight pain. 6+ Nurofen-a-day pain. And you're telling me to wait as if that was perfectly acceptable.

My GP takes walk-ins. because, you know. Most people don't just decide to get sick some time in the near future, or feel like a social visit in a crammed doctor's office.
I don't know about you, but when I give my doc a call, 9 times out of 10 it's because somethig is wrong.

Okay, so horrendous pain for a week. once you get to the dentist, she'll fix you up right and dandy, won't she?
Uh, that would be a no, too.
I tell her I'm in pain and that I assume it's my blasted wisdom teeth. She takes one look at my mouth and says, "Yeah, that's right. The wisdom teeth. They need to come out."
Fantastic. So far, I'm on track. For a minute, nothing further happens. Then she takes another look in my mouth, this time with that pointy metal thing that makes you want to hold reeeaaaaally still in case they slip and give you a tongue piercing you didn't ask for.
"Do you drink a lot of soft drinks," she asks derisively.
"Not really." As in, not even every week, nor necessarily once a fortnight.
"Sugar then." Not a question.
"I guess."
"You've got holes." She says that in the same way I always imagine people to say "You've got crabs."
"Oh," I mumble. I'm not overly coherent with my mouth open and lying on my back, you see. Don't take that the wrong way.
She takes a mini air-blowtorch from her arsenal and aims it at one tooth.
"Can you feel that," she asks. "It should hurt a little."
Me, tears forming from acute pain "Uh-huh."
She turns off the air stream. Wow. And I thought I was in pain before!
She blows around my mouth some more adn tells her assistant some bingo numbers. I don't think I win, since she keeps comparing other teeth to the painful one, nodding and mumbling to herself.

"Do you want me to clean your teeth," she asks out of the blue.
"No thanks," I say, wiping my eyes. I think I don't want her scrubbing my gums, thankyouverymuch.
Wrong answer.
"What, you just came in here to check?"
Uh,yes? Seriously, do people come in here to get their teeth brushed? Isn't that a tad expensive?
"You need to come back for your wisdom teeth," she dismisses me and my pain. She doesn't even prescribe painkillers.


That was last time I went to the dentist, about three months ago.
The pain is back.
This time, I'm not going to the Pointless One that told me I had a hole and then sent me packing again. I'm going to my friend Rock Chick's dentist (I went with her not too long ago when she had some major surgery done to her), even though it's over an hour for me to get there. He was nice and friendly and explained everything that he was doing as he was doing it. I like that.

My appointment is ina week's time, the earliest they had. Oh joy. That bodes well.

I'm cat-sitting my friend's big fluffy tomcat right now, and it's been challenging.
My own Ryoko is a very solitary cat and very attached to me. She gets jealous and as a general rule, doesn't play well with others.

Mr. Niles, on the other hand, can't get get enough affection and is extremely clingy, whingy and generally in constant need of something or other.
Guess who has a deadline at the start of next week but has to keep entertaining or appeasing one cat or the other?
Yep, that would be me.

On the plus side, I have two cats, which means my life is still double awesome. because cats are just incredible.

Expect more Enter The Parrot goodness mid-next week when I've successfully jumped the deadline hurdle (or broke myself trying, at least)!

I'm going to try and post something about my upcoming book ENTER THE PARROT every week to give you a taste of what's coming.
Feel free to spread the word to everyone you know. And if you've got a book you'd like me to promote in return, why not drop me a line? I'm always happy to help the buzz about new and exciting projects around!
Today, I'm bringing you the back cover blurb. Would you pick it up in a bookshop?

~~
Meet Jade, the White girl in the Wong family.

On the surface, Jade fits in perfectly. But just below the surface lurks the fragrance of ginger, ginseng, and a secret kung fu society.

When her crazy grandpa's deluded parrot goes missing, Jade must dive deep into the seedy underbelly of Chinatown to find him, keeping secrets from her best friends and her cute eco- mentor, Cedric: aka the hottest guy in school. She'll need her wits about her to solve the riddle, especially when more than one bird goes missing. Could TF, the hot Chinese guy with the washboard abs, hold the key to the mystery?

One girl. One parrot. One ancient kung fu mystery.
Got kung fu?

I've been very quiet recently, but I promise I'll make more of an effort to keep things up and running (not just here, in my other blog projects, too).
But why now? Well, there have been quite a few things going on since I last blogged, amongst them the little fact that I SOLD MY FIRST BOOK!

I sold Enter The Parrot, the first in the 'got kung fu' series. If you go to my Blogger mirror of this blog, you can see the cover (because I can't figure out how to post it here). Isn't it awesome? My cover! For my book. The one that I wrote. Me. my book.

You will pardon me for being incoherent, but you have NO IDEA just how exciting this is. Unless you're a writer too, of course. in which case you can appreciate exactly the head space I am in right now.

An estimated 70% of girls in the Western world will have an HPV (human papillomavirus) infection at some point in their lives. Most of the time HPV clears up on it's own. However, in some cases it can cause genital warts or cause cells on the cervix to grow abnormally (different strains of the virus usually cause warts than cervical abnormalities although a few strains can cause both). If left untreated these abnormal cells can turn into cervical cancer. Almost all types of cervical cancer start out this way. The type of HPV that causes cervical lesions and the lesions themselves don't usually cause any noticable symptoms.

BUT THERE'S GOOD NEWS!

It takes years (typically 10 YEARS) for these types of cell changes to turn cancerous. Getting a PAP SMEAR every year after you become sexually active detects these changes at a stage where they are treatable. The treatments for cervical lesions depend on the severity of the lesion, however, they are often uninvasive, outpatient procedures (ie. you leave the clinic and go home right after). Cervical lesions are 100% treatable.

Cervical Cancer is one of the few types of cancer that is almost entirely PREVENTABLE. Most women who develop cervical cancer have never had a Pap test, or have not followed up on an abnormal result.

TELL SOMEONE. Tell your mom, your sister, your best friend, your girlfriend, your aunt, your cousin. Tell yourself.

For more info on HPV and Pap tests see the website below.

http://www.hpvinfo.ca/hpvinfo/home.aspx

And yes, obviously I never thought about talking about it until it affected me. get smart. get checked out early.

I've been busy with other projects (articles, recipes, my foodie blog), so this blog hasn't seen much action lately.
But I've tied up most of my loose ends and am back in the saddle, so things are looking up!

I don't want to give too much away, but exciting things are on the horizon for my fiction projects.
May is going to be Maintenance Month, during which I'll be tying up loose ends, getting my submissions in order and updating my website, which I haven't done in yonks.

The idea is to have June free to write my next project. To that end, I'm actually going to hermit myself away for a whole week. So if you need something done, don't count on June to get it.*

* Note: This does not apply to people needing me to do writing-related things like edits or submissions.

I am a folder fanatic when it comes to my computer. I love dividing and sub-dividing things in a weird effort to one day become more efficient. At what, I don't know. Filing, maybe?
One of the things I file a lot is my email.
My web-based email account (to which all my various email addys forward) has ten folders set up, filtering various message groups, replies from agents and editors, contest news, etc. one of them is simply called "personal" and is where I drop every email that is purely social in content. This is where all my beloved friends' correspondence goes, marked with a star for IMPORTANT, so I know to look at it, take my time, and answer it.

I realised today that my most recent correspondence is from September last year. I was *sure* it was December at least, but apparently, I lost a couple of months along the track.
Just like that.

So for all of you who read this blog to find out whether I'm still alive or why I ignore you, it's because of the folders.
And the fact that for the life of me, I don't even remember what i did in October. or February.

Well, technically, that's not true. I can tell you that I did some important revisions that were requested from me in October and had some great professional correspondence, and in February my current YA project found a paranormal twist to itself.
But outside of books and book-related things, there is only the great Silence.

I should talk more about my life here. I might need to look it up some day.