Maybe one of the reasons I haven’t been productive these last couple months is the lack of a deadline. I’m always at my most productive when there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it, but when I have too much time I get very little done. It’s weird. I think I might need a job just to put the pressure back on. It’s like I need to have a bit of a sword hanging over my head in order to work right.

Getting a part time job will force me to get up at the right time of day, give me something else to focus my attention on so I’m not pouring it all into writing and burning myself out on it, and best of all it will provide an income. I could definitely use an income. If I can find someone to hire me for four shifts a week at a decent wage (and for something not too mind numbingly boring), I’ll be a happy little storyteller.

Haven’t been updating much for a few weeks. Been a little slow creatively and now I’m looking for a job again. Got a lot done administratively over the last few weeks (lots of research and new submissions, plus a contest entry) but now it’s time to go find myself an income. Once the money’s flowing again I should be able to get back into the creative mindset. I’m always at my most productive with a cash incentive.

Meanwhile, I still have short stories and one completed novel to continue submitting. I’m also still waiting to hear back on previous submissions and from the agent that requested sample chapters. She looks like a great agent at a great agency, so I’m hoping that she’ll be interested in seeing more. Now it’s just a waiting game.

I think I’m going to make a little section of my blog for talking about music. Music is a huge part of my life and it’s been just as big of an influence on my storytelling as any other form of media, and judging from the few authors I have on twitter music seems to be a big part of many writers lives, so why not?

Had someone ask me what goes in the submission packages I send out.   The core material going into each one is the same; they each get a query letter, a synopsis and maybe sample chapters, it’s just the details that vary.  Some publishers and agents want more or less material than others, some want it in different formats.  A good portion of the time I spend on each submission is on researching just how this particular recipient wants the material submitted and tailoring what I have to suit but I can at least provide a general breakdown.

Query Letter
The query letter is the first impression.  It’s the first thing an agent or publisher sees when they open my envelope so it’s important that it be done right.  The content of the query letter is the most variable document I send out.  Some want nothing more than contact information and a brief summary of the plot, while others are looking for a comparison to similar stories in the genre and a description of who the target audience might be.  Sometimes it takes hours, even days, to get a query letter to match the exact specifications of what they’re looking for and even then there’s no guarantee I did it right.  The technical details like font and spacing are easy enough to manage but when it comes to some of the more subjective instructions about what kind of content they’re looking for in the query, it can sometimes be a guessing game.  All I can do is try my best with each one and keep a record of all queries in case the content within one letter is also particularly suitable for another recipient.

Synopsis
This is a section with a lot of up front work for the first few submissions until you have a variety of synopsis’ to draw from.  Some want a one or a two page synopsis, single spaced, while others are looking for a double spaced synopsis that runs four to eight pages.   If they say two pages, they mean two only.  Sending anything more is the kiss of death and will often get a manuscript thrown out unread.

Every time I saw a publisher with a different requirement I would have to make a new synopsis.  I now have a one, a two and a three page synopsis, so I can readily provide them with whichever one suits their needs.  The single page was the hardest to write.  Cramming a 93 thousand word novel into a single page, and have it still make some sort of sense, was no easy task.

Manuscript Sample
This one’s the easiest but it still takes some effort to set up.  Some agents and publishers want a specific number of sample chapters, usually three or five though I’ve seen as little as one.  Some only want a specific number of pages, usually 30-50.  Basically all I have to do is copy my novel document and chop out what they don’t want then make sure it’s in the proper format if they have any special requirements beyond the standard manuscript format.

Self Addressed Stamped Envelope
Trickier than it sounds.  I have to print up a bunch of labels, get all the envelopes addressed properly, stamp them, then make sure the correct SASE goes in the right submission package.  Once I realized that I’d finished eight submissions and used only seven stamps, meaning one envelope had no postage on it.  Luckily it was the top one, so I didn’t have to rip them all open again. Still, it was an annoyance and shows what can go wrong with such a little thing if I’m not careful.

Obviously Anne Rice was a big inspiration to me.  Her name is almost as synonymous with vampires as Bram Stoker’s.  While I wasn’t a fan of absolutely everything she did (I’m difficult to please when it comes to vampire stories, or sometimes when it comes to fiction in general) there were so many things she absolutely nailed that I’ve been using her works as a benchmark for all other vampire fiction to follow.

The first is the vampire’s separation from society.  She played up the loneliness and detachment better than I’ve ever seen it done before.  She showed many of her vampires drifting through the ages, existing in society but never really being a part of it.  They live among us, feed from us, interact only when necessary then slip back into the shadows.  The first book especially, Interview with the Vampire, in many places felt quite lonely.

Cultural diversity was another thing she represented well.  I’m not talking about human culture and the type of vampires they become but culture specific to one particular clan of vampires.  One individual or group of vampires may live their lives in a vastly different way from any other individual or group.  Each had their own traditions, etiquette, social structure and even justice system, and it was different enough that other vampires who ran across another person or group may not know what to expect.  It didn’t happen often, what with the isolation, but when it did it was interesting to see.

Another big one for me is the diversity of powers from one vampire to another.  This may not seem like a huge issue to some but I think many overlook the importance.  A lot of fiction shows all vampires as having the exact same powers (or worse, no powers), so everyone knows exactly what to expect when encountering one.  Anne Rice mixed it up a little, leaving the characters and the reader sometimes questioning what a vampire was really capable of.  Maybe this particular vampire can read minds; you don’t know, so be careful.

I could probably go on for a dozen more paragraphs about all the awesome things she did but I’ll leave it to a few points and be done.  Suffice to say I really enjoyed a lot of her works and she was one of my major inspirations.

Anne Rice’s Official Site: http://www.annerice.com/