jpedwards

shunn @ 11:56am: Celebrity sightings, Chicago-style
Our celebrity sightings have definitely tailed off since we moved to Chicago, but Laura and one of her colleagues had a good one the other day. At the same hot dog joint where they were grabbing lunch, they spotted Dennis DeYoung of Styx.

(I'd suggest that he had too much time on his hands, but Tommy Shaw took the lead vocal on that track.)

shunn @ 11:52am: Midnight near the oasis
On our upcoming Egyptian vacation, we take an overnight train to Aswan. We splurged on a sleeper car, because how cool is it to ride a sleeper car in North Africa? And we plan to join the Eight Feet High Club.

anteka @ 9:15am: PWT Commentary
Here's something to keep you mind off things.

( New Special Edition Commentary for Plastic!Shaun of the Dead with special guest star! Now in an easy-to-view streaming file! )

arcaedia @ 9:39am: certifiable
Justine Larbalestier claims that other writers are crazy.

And now I'm tempted to borrow her idea and project it to write about all the advice that agents give about querying and submissions. Because: "Thank Elvis there are some sane [agents] like me around. Clearly you should only listen to my advice."

anteka @ 8:20am: *breathes*
First, a little music to get us in the mood.



Now for my hopes and dreams.



Hold on, Sam. Just hold on to him.

For once my amazing powers of Zen have left me focused and calm this morning. Everything will be fine. I fiercely believe that.

pubrants @ 10:35pm: The Danger of Honesty

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/05/danger-of-honesty.html

STATUS: Ready for sleep.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? FERNANDO by Abba

The other day I was reading a full manuscript that I had requested. I had read a good 100 to 150 pages and I knew I wasn’t going to take on the project. Now, whenever I read a full (or in this case, part of a full), I always create a personal letter to the author in reply.

The difficulty for this one is that I really weighed how honest I should be in the letter for why I was passing.

Now I imagine that most of you would say, “why did you hesitate! Be honest!” But here is the difficulty on why agents sometimes pull back on the big H.

1. When I’m reading, it’s often clear why it’s not right for me but I can often see why it might be right for somebody else with a different perspective or taste. So, is there a point to my being honest on why I personally am passing when I can see a potential value in the manuscript? Is that simply being discouraging rather than helpful?

Now, most times I will take the time to try and articulate why I’m passing while also including a caveat that it might be right for someone else. Sometimes that feels like a cop-out.

2. When I’m reading, it’s often not clear why a manuscript isn’t working for me. It just isn’t. Usually if I talk aloud to Sara about why I’m passing, I’ll often pinpoint the issue and then I’m able to articulate it in a letter to the author. Lots of times I’m flummoxed as to the “why” and then gosh darn, I’ve got to figure out something to say in the personal letter. That’s usually when I resort to the “I just didn’t fall in love” bit—which I know writers hate but seriously, I’m not trying to be obtuse. Sometimes I really don’t know why something isn’t working for me.

3. When the day is hectic and a contract is screaming to be finished and I’m behind on queries (and writers want a response—any at all) and fires are erupting, it’s truly hard to take the time to sit down and personalize a letter. I always do it but you writers should know that a personal letter can easily take 20 to 30 minutes to write. When you are working 12+ hour days, that 20 minutes is a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I’m ashamed to admit that I sometimes long for that “standard” letter that I can send out.

4. Personal letters are hard to write. And here’s the thing I hate the most. I’m a perfectionist but sometimes there is not enough time to proofread and yes, I’ve had egg on my face when I’ve reread an email letter I’ve sent out and there on the electronic page is a glaring typo. Oy! I took the time to personalize and then I look like an idiot on top of it. The writer is probably glad I passed on offering representation! Nothing worse than working in the biz and sending out a hurried, grammatically incorrect letter. Sigh. That also makes me long for the “standard” reply. That can at least be pre-checked.

5. This doesn’t happen too often but once in a great while I honestly can’t think of anything positive to say in a response letter for a full I’ve requested. What happened there? Obviously I read sample pages and liked it but there are times where I’ve thought, “what the heck was I thinking for requesting this one?” As I said, it rarely happens but when it does, boy is the honest, personal letter a struggle.

Probably not much comfort for you folks out there in the trenches but it’s the truth.

nitewanderer @ 9:41pm: I took off work today, I was so sick. Today marks the beginning of the fourth week I've had this cough. My abs hurt from top to bottom, and my kidneys are killing me. To top it all off, two new symptoms started yesterday, nasal congestion and gunk that glues my eye shut in the mornings. Oh, and a tremendous case of gas that has gone on since Friday.

This tells me that I've got something on top of what I had before.

I'm not one to complain about my health issues, because I've got so many, I'd never be able to talk about anything else: migraines, epilepsy (okay, you'll hear me talking about this one a little more, soon), BAD allergies, allergy-induced asthma, weak kidneys, adult ADD, bad eyes, and a few other things that currently go undiagmosed. My point is, when I complain about my health it's big.

It's big.

I'm staying home again tomorrow.

anteka @ 10:32am: SPN Upfront Official Pictures
It looks like we have Supernatural Upfront Promo pictures.

No spoilers, just the boys making their "hunting is a srs bizness" face.

anteka @ 9:07am: I was thinking Sam's intestines on a stick, but that's really hard to transport.
What should I bring to the SPN party tomorrow? (And no, katelennon, I can't remember what you're calling it. Something Something Crossroads Something.) We'll have a chocolate fountain (FTW!!!!\o/) and I think a veggie tray (OMG I AM TOO LAZY TO GO LOOK UP MY EMAIL) but I want to bring something Supernaturaly.

I'm thinking those little cocktail wieners but I'm not sure why. Maybe because Dean ate them in Nightmare?

Any suggestions, oh, mighty FList?

anteka @ 8:24am: One. Day. More.
1) Happy birthday keepaofthecheez!! I wish you a Jared-filled year with sprinkles on top.

2) I went looking for new SPN icons last night and ended up with, like, fifteen Doctor Who ones instead. *ANDIE FAILS*

3) I just looked at my day planner for today and I don't have anything. No meetings, no due dates, nothing. Thursday and Friday are a mess, but today should be blessedly quiet. I hope. *knocks on wood*

4) Who else is singing Les Misérables today?

( 5) Here it is, your Zefron moment of Zen. )

6) gonturan and I were on the phone for a little over two hours last night. The fact that she had me Googling Perfect Strangers is just a testament to how strong our friendship is. LET US DO THE DANCE OF JOY!!!!

gl0ry_gl0ry, posting in tor_backstairs @ 9:00am: watch the skies
Hey!  Jozelle here. 

Welcome back to tor_backstairs!   

Look out for a contest coming soon.  In the meantime, have you checked out www.tor.com?

anteka @ 8:39pm: CW Schedule for 2008 Fall Season
CW announces Fall 2008 line-up.

Oh, yay, we're still stuck with the sinking ship they call Smallville.

Doesn't matter. We have our fourth season and that's all I care about. That, and getting through this Thursday night. Plus, we start the week of September 1st which is WICKED early compared to last years October start date.

Thanks to cloex_brosluvr for the heads up.

ETA: This has nothing to do with the schedule (not really) but remember last year when the CW vowed to have each show on it's network have one episode about going green? Did they ever actually do anything with that?

pubrants @ 3:54pm: What’s In An Edit (After The Sale)

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/05/whats-in-edit-after-sale.html

STATUS: Total confession time. Yes, I’m addicted to nostalgia because I couldn’t resist going to the Duran Duran concert last night for their new album Red Carpet Massacre. Last time I saw this group was in 1984. Yep, twenty-four years ago when I was 16. Oh, how time flies. I have to say that the group as a whole aged fairly well. They even did Planet Earth and Girls on Film in concert. Those were the days…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? RIO by Duran Duran (duh)

Yesterday I talked about new clients and on agents editing manuscripts before going out on submission for the very first time. What about new projects by current clients who are previously published? Do agents edit those manuscripts as well?

The answer is both yes and no. For the most part, when a current client has sold that first book and has an editor, then I, as the agent, don’t usually work on the edit with the client for the next subsequent book. After all, that’s why they have an editor and I don’t want to interfere with the editorial process.

There are some exceptions to this though:

Exception 1: the author has an editor who isn’t editing and sending in the delivered book straight into copyediting (and yes, this has surprisingly happened). If an author doesn’t need much editing, then this can be a positive thing but for the most part, I have to say that most writers need a bit of editing and guidance before a project is ready for copy edits. So as the agent, I have worked with my authors to do the edit if this is happening.

Exception 2: if this is an author’s sophomore attempt, I will sometimes read and work on an edit with the author before their editor sees the manuscript for the very first time. This way we can avoid the sophomore disaster that often happens when an author has spent several years writing the first novel and then has to write the second on a deadline under a year or 8 months or whatever. It’s hard to imagine this is a different process but it is. Editors often complain of the messes they have to clean up when the second (sophomore) contracted book is delivered. If I can help to avoid that, then we’ll do it because I want my author to look great.

(If my client has a strong relationship with his or her editor and I know the editor likes things done a certain way, then I stay out of it—even for the sophomore effort. It’s the editor’s job to edit and there’s nothing worse for an editor than having an author who is getting conflicting opinions on the edit from the agent. My job is not to make the editor’s life more difficult on this aspect—on other things yes, but not on the edit. Now if the author is convinced the editor is wrong about the editorial direction, then I’ll be jumping in but as you can see, it all depends on the situation.)

Exception 3: If a current client published in one field with one editor is looking to do something else in another genre or in YA (if they write for the adult market), then yes, I’m usually reading and editing that project.

Exception 4: If a current author client wants feedback on a new idea or proposal and they’ve put together sample chapters, then I’ll often read and give some feedback for revision before the editor sees it. This doesn’t always happen though. It depends on how strong the client’s relationship is with his/her editor.

As you can see, there are just as many ways to edit as there are to agent and how involved the agent is in the editorial process varies greatly! It all depends on the situation.

arcaedia @ 2:07pm: happy release day - Cassandra Chan
Trick of the Mind is the third book in Cassandra Chan's mystery series featuring playboy Phillip Bethancourt and police inspector Jack Gibbons.

Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons has been shot twice, and even after the surgery he isn’t out of the woods and may still be in danger because he can’t remember how it all happened. While his colleagues dig into his personal life, his best friend, Phillip Bethancourt, focuses on his last case, the robbery of a collection of antique jewelry valued at hundreds of thousands of pounds. Although Phillip is a man of leisure---handsome, charismatic, and fantastically well off---he makes a point of tagging along on Jack’s more interesting cases.

But this time it’s different. Not only is it personal, but Phillip will have to fill in the blanks without Jack, and retracing his friend’s steps may put him in the same line of fire.




Book 1: The Young Widow : "Chan’s sprightly debut, a contemporary homage to Dorothy L. Sayers’s classic Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, introduces an appealing pair of sleuths. English mystery devotees should look forward to their further adventures."--Publishers Weekly

Book 2: Village Affairs : “Bethancourt is a charming character. . . . A well-developed plot, intriguing and likable characters, solid investigating techniques, and an excellent sense of place distinguish this second in a series."--Booklist

anteka @ 12:59pm: Script to Screen
Since I am desperately trying to keep my mind off of Dean going to Hell the S3 finale in two days, I thought we could use a distraction.

So I thought, why not compare the Asylum script to what aired on the screen? Remember the good old days? When Sam and Dean's biggest problem was finding Dad? And they still didn't get along all the time? And that one time, Sam shot Dean in the chest with rock salt? And Dean didn't want to talk about it? GOOD TIMES!

( Part of the 'Asylum' script with accompanying videos... )

anteka @ 8:59am: Another SPN Set Postcard
I received another prop-postcard from the set of Supernatural and since it was a sort-of non-spoiler for last week's episode, I waited to post it until now.

( Postcard from the set of 03.15... )

shunn @ 1:15am: Circus money
There's no way on earth that I'm the world's biggest Steely Dan fan, but I like to think I'm up there in the top thousand. This may explain why I'm so stoked that, after 2006's Morph the Cat from Donald Fagen, we're about to get Circus Money from Walter Becker!



Check out the first single, "Somebody's Saturday Night", streamed from Rolling Stone:



We'll be seeing Becker and Fagen together this July at the Chicago Theater....

shunn @ 12:49am: Seen on chalkboard in front of Tribeca bar
THE LIVER IS EVIL.  PUNISH IT HERE.

anteka @ 10:31pm: I'm pretty sure this is what a low-level panic attack feels like.
How on earth I became this emotionally invested in a TELEVISION PROGRAM I have no idea. I was brushing my teeth, trying to get ready for bed, and all I could think about was Thursday and how I'm most likely going to start crying in a room full of people because Dean Winchester is a part of my family and if something happens to him it's going to feel like something happened to someone I love and care about and oh GOD. If Sam makes even one "you're my brother and I love you and I can't live without you because you're my HEART" speech even though he won't say it in those words because that's not how Winchesters talk, but he'll do it in some kind of equally emotional way with eyes glistening and a lump in his throat and I'm going to LOSE IT. This goddamn show makes me FEEL THINGS for people that ARE NOT REAL and it affects me in a way that it shouldn't because I'm a grown-up and grown-ups don't CRY while watching TELEVISION on the FREE TO BE GREEN CHANNEL.

I'm pretty sure the long run-on sentences are part of the panic attack. Mostly sure. *nods*

*remembers to breathe*

I was worried that I was starting to fade from the show, that I didn't love it like I did in the beginning and that the writer's strike somehow changed it and me. I understand why I was worried but I didn't need to be. Love is a living thing and it grows and changes along with the objects of affection. This isn't the same show I watched three years ago and I'm not the same girl. We're growing together and changing and with each new decision we make, we take another step down a road that we feel in our gut is the right road. This show is a ride, it always has been, and I love riding it. We're climbing the last incline before the final drop and I just know I'm going to scream the entire way down.

pubrants @ 5:16pm: What’s In An Edit (Manuscript before Submission)

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/05/whats-in-edit-manuscript-before.html

STATUS: Today was about working out the glitches in the new software. But I think we are finally done with that.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? CHICKENMAN by Indigo Girls

This weekend I was working on editing for current clients. I know this has been a question that I’ve received a couple of times at conferences. Do all agents edit their client manuscripts and how does that work?

Well, I can’t speak to all agents but this is how it works at my agency. This answer has several components and I actually only have time to handle one aspect of it in today’s entry. Tomorrow I’ll try and go into a bit more depth.

Let’s say I take on a brand new client who has never been published. When I read their full manuscript that I’ve offered representation for, I will usually do an edit with the client before it goes on submission.

Sometimes the manuscript is in great shape and just needs a few tweaks here and there. Sometimes it needs a bit more work (in plot or character—never in voice or in the quality of the writing) and I have that revision conversation while I’m offering representation so the client can have a good idea of what might be involved if they sign with me.

Seems only fair to know the scope…

Now, there are different approaches to editing as well. I have to be honest and say I’m not much of a line editor. I’m more of a big picture kind of gal, and I concentrate my edits on fixing plot issues, building character development, or just forcing the author to dig deeper into the writing and pull out all the stops their talent allows.

I do all my editing electronically in track changes in Word, so the manuscript can be sent by email. I add my comments directly into the scenes so the author can know and understand what I was thinking the moment I thought a revision point needed to be done.

Now, it’s always the author’s call if my editorial note is on target or not. I’ve been told that I will often highlight the problem but not necessarily the best solution and the author comes up with a better way to handle whatever I’ve pointed out.

And that’s just fine with me. It is the author’s work after all and he/she will always have final say.

I also edit obvious grammar and punctuation issues.

arcaedia @ 5:50pm: happy release day!
The first book in Shelley Adina's series: It's All About Us. Visit her website for an interactive community based on the books.

Tall, blonde Lissa Mansfield is used to being one of the "in" crowd--but being accepted by the popular girls at posh Spencer Academy boarding school in San Francisco is turning out to be harder than she thought. And then there's her New-York-loudmouth roommate, Gillian Chang, who's not just happy to be a Christian herself--she's determined to out Lissa, too! If Lissa can just keep her faith under wraps long enough to hook Callum McCloud, the hottest guy in school, she'll be golden.

But when Callum pressures her to go all the way with him, Lissa has to decide for herself how far is too far. How can she see that line when he's so gorgeous and popular and she's so dazzled? And besides, she's too busy shopping for a Valentino and booking the hottest celeb for the Benefactors Ball. Who knew finding a place at Spencer Academy would be so complicated?

***

All About Us #2: The Fruit of My Lipstick (August, 2008)
All About Us #3: Be Strong & Curvaceous (January, 2009)

p_n_elrod @ 4:14pm: Huh--whad'ya know about that?
.
I got a congratulations e-mail about an announcement in Publisher's Marketplace.

As I don't have a subscription, I'll repeat the kindly supplied quote from reader Chuck Emerson here:

May 12, 2008
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy  

P.N. Elrod's DARK ROAD RISING, a new Vampire Files novel set in 1930s gangland Chicago, to Ginjer Buchanan of Ace, in a nice deal, by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.

Which means DRR has been accepted by Ace.  There has been mention of doing it as a trade size, which is gonna cost a lot less than a hardcover.  I'm all in favor of that!

My agent and I discussed it only last Friday; it's not up on the agency website, so I'm assuming the lovely Lucienne passed the word on while I was still digesting things.

So, yeah, so far as I know, it's true, but I didn't want to say anything until the contract--which has yet to be drawn up yet, much less signed--is in my hands.

I didn't want to jinx anything, y'see.

No point in asking me when it's to be released.  Publishing in the big leagues is GLACIALLY SLOW.  

Figure a year to a year and a half if we're lucky.  It's going to be at least six weeks before I see the contract.

During the wait I WILL be working on a Secret Interim Project to tide things over.  More on THIS when I have the words out of my brain and onto a hard drive.

Oh--you read that right. My amazing agent, Lucienne Diver, is now with The Knight Agency.

And she has an equally amazing blog you'll want to bookmark.

And now I'm getting back to my nice, comfy state of shock where it's totally okay if I don't respond to nuttin' and nobody.

anteka @ 2:10pm: I'm thisclose to jumping over to the FAME fandom because I'm pretty sure there's no one else there
I got this link from green_queen and of course I want to throw my 2 cents in there.

Fan sued for making Doctor Who knitting pattern.

( Wow, that got long. )

ETA: I hate feeling helpless, so I found a complaint form to the BBC. /ETA

alg @ 2:07pm: There has been a pretty overwhelming wave of people wanting my services, which has been really nice! There also seems to be a lot more people reading this thing than there was a few months ago. Hi, new people!

I know I don't talk about publishing a lot anymore; is there anything people really want the straight talk about? I'm kind of running out of things to say, since I've already said quite a bit, but if anyone has got questions, I'm still happy to answer them.


What did y'all do this weekend? I did a bunch of stuff that mostly revolved around knitting and hanging out with friends (sometimes both at the same time!), and I watched Transformers (unimpressive), Constantine (surprisingly decent), No Country for Old Men (boring), and Wild Orchid (I do love me some Zalman King). Most importantly, though, I took a picture of Theodore napping inside a cereal box.

anteka @ 9:52am: XF2
Official XF2 Trailer

THAT IS WHAT HAPPINESS LOOKS LIKE. It still amazes me how that theme music cues up and I get chills down my spine. *GLEE*

Big thanks to jaimsie for the heads up.