AGENTED!!

NEWSFLASH: I just signed with Steven Chudney of The Chudney Agency. However, I still have to get the kids to the ice cream social in the next 10 minutes, and then clean up for my daughter's 10th birthday party this weekend, so more info will have to wait.

But I couldn't resist posting just the basic news :-)

NaNoWriMo 2009 - Day 13

Bit embarrassed to admit that I'm, ahem, done with my re-write! I really thought it would take me longer, but most of the stuff I had to change was kind of at the start of the story. Once I had the new voice down (moved the mc to middle school instead of elementary), it was just a matter of plugging through the manuscript re-writing dialogue. I'm printing out the whole thing today and editing the hard copy, but I'm pretty much done. YAY!

Time to pick up the house ... OMG what happened here while I was writing???

NaNoWriMo 2009 - Day 1

Not a great start! My daughter woke up with a fever last night. Looks like my uninterrupted weekday morning writing time is in jeopardy, since she'll probably be home from school for a few days. But I plan on starting anyway. Will update word count daily, so watch my widget (on the right)!

NaNoWriMo 2009

I've just signed up for nanowrimo. It's probably cheating to do nano for a rewrite, but who cares? I need the motivation! I have to submit Karmic Cat to my novel critique group for our December critique spot. We do one full ms per month, and my turn's up again. Except, I want to rewrite the whole darn thing from a different (older) POV. So, let the (re)writing begin! Will I be ready for that December critique, or will I have to send them my revision of LEELA'S STAR (of which they are probably thoroughly sick!) again??

Poetry Friday-Lucy's Picture Day

Nani took this picture of Lucy and Nani's sister & cousins.
Winter 1940(?) Mainpuri, India.

LUCY'S PICTURE DAY - Nandini Bajpai

Lucy leapt onto the bench
lit by the mellow winter sun
There, the girls s-at for pictures
as they got their homework done

Lalli, Usha, Kumud, Sushma
Cousins, sisters, friends, and foes
None of them could match the lovely
El-e-gance of Lucy’s pose

Ears tucked, muzzle lifted
White on chest, front paws, and head
Lucy waited for the birdie
“Smile please” your Nani said.

A short poem for my Old Pet Chronicles project. This one is about Lucy, probably the first dog my Mum (Nani to my kids) ever had. She looks so cute! Wish I could reach into the picture and scratch her behind the ears.

Update: I didn't consciously set out to write a schoolyard chant, but just realized (thanks to my 9 year old) that is what that rhythm is. We even Miss-Mary-Mack'd it! Somehow, I can see the girls in the picture (three are now septuagenarians!) doing the same ...

Poetry Friday roundup is at Kelly Herold's Big A little a!!

The big picture

This week is reading time. I've sent off my revised ms to five wonderful people who have agreed to read it and tell me what they think. I have three full and partial mss to read in exchange. I'm really enjoying it. It's so nice to relax into a story someone else has written.

Reading their work made me realize how much easier it is to see the big picture, the story arc, the plot inconsistencies etc. if the ms is not my own. It is so hard, at least for me, to step back and read something with fresh eyes when I've been working away at it for months. The only way I can do it is to let something that's been finished sit for a while, and come back to it, or to outline.

Here's a picture of my outline for LEELA'S STAR. It is plain and boring (compared to the one for my last novel, which had pictures of settings, characters etc.) but it really did help me revisit timelines, story arc, characters, settings, and so forth, and figure out if the structure worked.

So, what do you do to step away and take a look at the big picture of your 1st draft? Do you outline (before or after the 1st draft), do you let it sit, do you send it to trusted critique partners to read? I'd love to know how other people deal with it!!

Happy Diwali!

Tomorrow is Diwali. It celebrates (with lights and fireworks) the return to his kingdom of Prince Rama, the hero of the epic poem--the Ramayana, after 14 years in exile. So, here's to happy endings and homecomings this fall! May good fortune step into your home and light your days!

For us, it has been a good one. Two days ago my husband’s consulting gig turned into a job offer that he has accepted. And today my revisions are complete.