By day, I'm a copy chief for a business management journal. Nights and weekends, I am the fantasy editor at Wild Child Publishing.
I've been published in Farthing, From the Asylum, Ruthie's Club, Tenebres, Peridot Books, Wild Child Publishing, and Byzarium, and another story will appear in an upcoming issue of Realms of Fantasy.
My paranormal romance novel, HELL'S BELLES (which I still think of as urban fantasy), sold in a three-book deal to Kensington. It will be published in January 2007. The next in the series, THE ROAD TO HELL, will be published in November 2007.
My website is live, huzzah!
My blog!
And another blog!
You guessed it: another blog!
| Okay, I'm insane.
I just finished the first draft of my humorous urban fantasy/magical chick-lit/insert fantasy subgenre here novel. And I'm already depressed. Gah! Don't I get a day to celebrate before the crushing weight of reality sets in? ::sigh:: Here's hoping this is the one that lands me an agent... |
| Thanks, Joyce!
Is romantic horror like the Anita Blake series? That, to me, is sort of more like dark erotica: uber heavy on the sex. Jackie |
| Jackie -
Yippee for horror stories with sex scenes. Can romantic horror be far behind! Congrats on your sale. :) Joyce Speculative Romance Online |
| Lisa, thank you so much! Your comment takes away the sting of other rejections. :-)
Jackie |
| Jackie, I just read "Hunger" at Byzarium. What a rich, daring story. Hope to see more of your work soon. |
| I go away for a week and see what I miss? HUGE belated CONGRATS on that pro sale to Farthing, Jackie!!
Glad you're having fun with the editing gig, too, BTW. :) Lon PS "Terrific" barely begins to describe the week at WOTF. And thank you for thinking of me. :) http://www.journalscape.com/Neverary/2005-08-21-10:51 is my poor effort to capture the week in words, if you're interested. |
| I just officially accepted my first fantasy story for Wild Child Publishing. It's a beautiful magic realism tale, lyrical and powerful. I can't wait to see it live.
Gotta say: it's really cool being on the other side of the fence for moments like this. :-) |
| Thanks, Josh -- I hope Lon had a terrific time!
And thanks to everyone who's been wishing me a hearty congrats. It's greatly appreciated! :-) |
| Yep, our very own Lon Prater is at the WOTF event as we speak.
Sounds like he's having fun. |
| Urk, that's this week? Thanks, Tony. That's an excellent point. And this coming Thursday will be eight weeks after the close of the quarter that ended June 30, which falls within their usual RT.
Jackie |
| I wouldn't bet on any WOTF results until next week. They're at the workshop, banquet, and signing in Seattle until Sunday at least. |
| Thanks, Kaori!
Jackie |
| Jackie, I'm so happy for you!
Good luck on WOTF. Kaori |
| Tina, Tony, Justin: many thanks! :-)
Amanda, Wendy told me the same thing. So it's hurry up and wait, tee hee. Meanwhile, I was told that by August 2006, I can apply for SWFA membership (associate member), unless I score a pro-rate sale from SFWA-approved markets. I've got my fingers crossed on that one, of course, but until then, some things are worth the wait! :) Speaking of which, has anyone received notice from WotF for the quarter ending June 30, 2005? |
| Not sure yet--in the second or the third, but I don't think which has been decided. I'm really looking forward to finding out. :) |
| Jackie!!!!!
Wohooo! That's a great sale. Huge congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Justin |
| Congrats! |
| yeah, congrats on the first pro-rate sale!!!! |
| Wow, thanks! You guys are the best! :-) And Amanda, that would be so cool! Which issue will yours appear in?
Jackie |
| Congrats!! |
| Congrats on the Farthing sale, Jackie! I look forward to seeing whether we'll share a TOC. :) |
| Hey, congrats on the Farthing sale!!! |
| Odd, my posts aren't showing up...Congratulations! |
| Thanks, Sarah! I'm so happy that I'm giddy! (Or maybe that's from the awesome wine I'm sipping...)
Jackie |
| Hey, congrats on your pro-rate sale, Jackie! Woohoo!
Sarah |
| Thanks, Josh -- me too!
Jackie |
| Glad there was no actual loss of files! |
| Thanks, Kaori! Hanging.
Jackie |
| Hang in there, Jackie. :) |
| I don't feel bad, per se. Stupid? Yup. Bad? Not so much. ((grin))
Actually, this morning the *same* thing happened. So the first thing I did was adjust the brightness level. Nothing changed. After trying this for a few seconds, I cursed loudly and shut down the machine. After I gave it a brief nap, I restarted it. This time, the adjusted brightness level worked. Not taking any chances this time. I backed up everything last night. Any work today, I am backing up. New computer should be here in a few days. ((sigh)) Well, I'm grateful that I didn't lose anything! Jackie |
| ROFL! Jackie, don't feel bad, I've done the *exactly* same thing! |
| So, as it turns out, I'm a goofball. My husband fixed my computer...by adjusting the brightness level on the monitor.
((Jackie bangs head against wall)) Still, my computer is slowly dying. It's *counts* 9 years old, and it's wheezing its last breaths. This was just a warnning shot from the computer gods up on high. :-) Jackie |
| oooo... that one could hurt ya. Thanks for the reminder, it's been a couple weeks since my last backup. I only got mildly burnt when my laptop died, just a few updates and a month or so of my submissions spreadsheet data, but it was enough to reinforce the lesson. For sure.
Dang, hope it's all recoverable. Lon |
| Favorite lists, nothing. I hope I didn't lose the stories and chapters I wrote over the past few weeks...
Say it with me: Always back up your files. Jackie |
| Thanks for the news, Jackie, and I'll keep it in mind. Good luck with the computer changeover! They can be tricky sometimes, and it's a pain rebuilding all the favorites lists.
Lon |
| Lon, as it turns out, it's for e-books too. So if you have a science fiction or fantasy e-book and you would like Wild Child to consider it, go ahead and send me the official query: jkessler (AT) wildchildpublishing (DOT) com
Of course, at the moment, my computer is on life support. Actually, the plug may have been pulled when I wasn't looking. So if you send in a submission to WCP, I may not get it for a few days. A Mac Mini is on the way, hooray, but I may have lost all my files that I didn't back up over the past month or so. (I know, dumb, dumb, dumb.) I'm checking e-mail via a Web interface, but that's temporary. ((sigh)) I sincerely hope everyone's having a much better day than I am. Jackie |
| As soon as I get my spiffy WCP addy working!
Jackie |
| Cool! When can we start deluging you with slush, Jackie? ;)
Justin |
| Thanks, Lon! Who needs sleep, anyway?
As far as I know, it's for the zine. But I'm getting up to speed, so as I learn more, I'll post about it. Jackie |
| Congrats, Jackie! You weren't using those nights and weekends for anything anyway, were ya? :)
Are you doing the sf/f for zine or ebooks or both? Lon |
| As of yesterday, I am the new science fiction and fantasy editor at Wild Child Publishing. I'm looking forward to reading excellent submissions from fellow Rumor Millers... |
| Thanks, Lon! So far, the chick lit thing hasn't scored an agent. I'm seriously considering rewriting it as magical chick lit, which an editor at Random House believes is going to be all the rage. ((shrug)) Dunno. At least it would be in genre, eh?
David, I haven't seen Shaun of the Dead. But as for my story, "Giving the Devil His To-Do's," it's about a young mother and a demon forced to do hauntings, and what happens when they meet. Humor ensues. Horrific elements, but funny story. :-) Jackie |
| Exactly how does "humorous horror?" I'm either on the edge of my seat or i'm laughing. Or are you going for the whole "Sean of the Dead" thing. That was humor/horror. |
| Congrats on that sale to Byzarium, Jackie! Keep 'em coming! So when's your chick lit book hitting the bookstores?
Lon |
| Cool, keep me posted! |
| Thank ya! I'm very psyched about the "Devil" story. Humorous horror. Coming soon to a website near you.
-- Jackie |
| CONGRATS, JACKIE!!! |
| Thanks, Isabeaulia! I like the YA fantasy (okay, I guess I decided it's YA, not MG), and I'm hopeful that I'll finish the draft in a couple of months. As for the WotF story, hey, you never know. I'll add it to the pile of circulating stories (now up to...*counts* seven).
-- Jackie |
| Good luck with the story, Jackie.
And thanks, Lon, for the good wishes. |
| Tough luck on your reply from Nikki at Harvey Klinger.
If you want to share information about agents I'm happy to send you the list of people who I've approached to date. Contact me at Martin.Owton[at]virgin.net |
| Actually, I have no idea what the age level is for the book. The main characters are 13 and 14 through the book, with the exception of the first two chapters, when one of the main characters is 8. I guess it'll be YA. First I'll finish the draft, then I'll figure out which target audience works best. Thanks!
-- Jackie |
| Jackie, thanks for the congrats re: ICM. Yeah, it's like a complete miracle!
Good luck with your fantasy novel. Stick with YA if you're more comfortable with it, plus you have a lot more leeway if you don't limit it to a middle grade audience, don't you think? |
| And that's part of my gripe, Terry. But I'm taking it a bit further: It's as if by posting online -- whether via the safety of being anonymous or a mystery guest or when giving a name -- some people take this as a signal to communicate things or in ways that are hurtful, disrespectful, rude, or even inflammetory. (Forgive any poor spelling, please.)
I'm all for open debate. But it's the infantile antics of a few that unfortunately leave a lasting impression. I just don't get it. |
| I've read the thread. Wendy did not comment on the blog's comments. The writer "outed" himself and a semipro(?) editor came to his defense.
I've seen much worse criticism of a writer than what Wendy wrote. By the same token, I've seen worse condemnation of an editor and a magazine. My biggest problem with the original post in the R/A thread was that it was a not so veiled complaint by an anonymous source. People will say things anonymously with less thought as to consequences than if they put their name to the criticism. |
| Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Sue! |
| Jackie -- have to say that I agree with you on this one. And, I visited the blog in question and decided that the reaction far outweighed the "crimes" of the original post.
If an author is not happy with the way an editor does "business", just don't sub there, it is that simple. No need to make a federal case out of it. There are many fine writers who don't care in the same way. |
| Okay, so I can't spell. I meant "Teresa." And, if you're curious, here's the URL for the specific post I mentioned below:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004900.html To clarify my gripe: I think people should voice their opinions, whether they agree with a blogger or other commenters or disagree. In fact, this open communication is what makes the Internet so powerful and informative. But what I don't understand is why a very small, very vocal minority lapse into insults, profanity, and personal attacks. Keeping discussion on a professional level -- which means treating one another with respect, even if we don't always agree with what's being posted -- kicks the discussion up another level to true debate, which is informative, lively, interesting, fun, and worthwhile. |
| Folks, I'm posting this here because Farthing doesn't have its own topic, and as far as I know, neither does Wendy Bradley, the editor. But I wanted to steer this away from the Acceptance/Rejection thread before the TP come heading that way.
Chris mentioned that comments between the editor and commenters appeared in the blog's comments that felt negative to Chris. One point that I want to mention is that I'm pretty sure that Wendy didn't actually post any comment in the comments section; all of the back and forth-ing was between other commenters. Regarding the whole "should she have posted an excerpt from a private email, with the identifying info stripped out, to illustrate a point or not" debate, all I know is that other editors have done this as well. Check out Theresa and Patrick's "Making Light" blog; there's one post that completely dissects a private e-mail to Theresa. Does this make it "right"? I don't know. Frankly, I don't think it's unethical or bad or anything worthy of the wrath of God. Does publically printing an excerpt of an e-mail message with identifying info stripped out signal something illegal? According to a handful of lawyers I've asked, the answer is probably not ("fair use"), but it's really on a case by case basis. As for the argument that professional editors don't do that kind of thing, again, I point to Tor's Theresa and Patrick. If anyone wants to suggest these guys aren't professional, I'd love to hear it. Frankly, the thing that really gets me is how some folks think that just because they're posting something via the Internet, they have the right to "say" things that would normally get them beaten to a bloody pulp if they said them face to face. Common courtesy; what's the big deal? -- Jackie |
| Congratulations! |
| ((grin))
Thanks, everyone! If only my contemporary fantasy had sparked such interest. Huh. Maybe I should write a chick-lit contemporary fantasy... --Jackie |
| Jackie!!! Go you!
Kaori Future Faithful Reader :) |
| Excellent! I'll keep my eyes open for you.
-the righteous hyperspace warrior prophet bonae 841 |
| Jackie,
Slow down, you're making the rest of us look bad! :-) Congratulations! Now get a paper bag and breath into it... |
| Kewl! (Breathe, Jackie, breathe!) |
| Wow...an agent wants an exclusive on my chick lit novel! I didn't even give a formal query! Wow, wow, wow...
--Jackie, trying to breathe |
| Actually, now I'm thinking of either my real name, but "Jackie" instead of "Jacqueline" and no middle name, or "Kay Lynn Harris" for the chick lit.
-- Jackie |
| Jackie: Sassy Storm. LOL It's tornado season here.
I think Sophie Kinsella mashed together her middle name and her grandmother's maiden name. Maybe you could do a variation on that idea. Kaori |
| Thanks, Jackie, for the response. I'll do a follow-up follow-up. :-)
And congrats on finishing that draft. May your chick-lit find an awesome home! |
| Craig: Yep, same Jackie. And it was a fiction piece -- rejected in record time. I think I sent it on April 26, and the rejection came on (I think) May 6. You may want to send Playboy a follow up.
Kaori: Many thanks! Any ideas on a pseudonym for me? :-) |
| Jackie, whoo hoo on finishing the first draft of your chick lit novel!
Kaori who's running out of Marian Keyes and Katie Fforde novels to read |
| Jackie, if this is the Jackie that just posted her Playboy response time...I have a quick question:
Was that for a non-fiction article via Playboy's email address or for a fiction piece via snail mail? If the latter, that's a hell of a turnaround time, so I'm guessing it's the former. One of my subs has been there over half a year, and the query has gone unanswered for over a month. I know they're big, but sheesh! |
| In a burst of creative madness, I finished the first draft of my WIP. It's the chick-lit novel, not the YA fantasy. But hey, every little bit counts, right? Now I just have to come up with a pseudonym while I do my revision. Hmmmm. The possibilities are endless...
Anyway, I banged out the draft in something like six months. Yowza! Time to dust off the YA fantasy novel, methinks... |
| Thanks, Melissa and Kaori!
(And grrr, the last part of my post got cut off. I'd made a joke about having to come up with 30,000 REAL words instead of fake ones. The moment's gone. To quote a certain editor, Alas.) |
| 1000 words a day is a good pace to set, especially if you're enjoying the story. I was in search of more chick lit yesterday, so I wish you the best!
Kaori |
| "On your mark, get set..."
I'm impressed. I've been working on the same book for over a year-and I was happy because it was going so much faster this time! |
| Melissa, I'm a writin' fool. :-) Yup: May 15. Let's see if it happens. (Remember, this is the first draft; spit and polish comes after.
Based on my poor math skills, I think I have about 27 days. That's just over 1,000 words a day (goal: 80,000 words). ((cracks knuckles)) zdjh sd fyXbc |
| 50,000 words and done by May? I wish I wrote that fast. |
| Okay, or not today. :-)
Utterly crazy lately. Day job stuff, of course (we're hitting crunch time), but also I think I'm a member of one too many critique groups. Suddenly I'm finding myself elbow-deep in manuscripts...and I don't even read for a genre magazine! (LOL) My current project is coming along well -- that's the chick-lit WIP, and I'm about 50,000 words into the first draft. Hoping to have the draft complete by May 15. What's been happening around these parts? Anyone? Hello? Is this thing on? |
| Thanks, Joy -- you're a sweetie!
It's been busy around these parts. More of an update later today. :-) |
| I was wondering today where you'd been. Glad to have you back.
Joy |
| Music, please.
De da dum dum dum, another one bites the dust. Heard back from one of the five agents who had requested either a partial or the full of my MS. He liked the idea, but he didn't believe the one POV character could hold the entire story. Which would be excellent criticism, except for the fact that there are two POV characters in my story. ((sigh)) Moving on. Hope to get off the query go round before my hair turns gray. |
| Jim, you crack me up! :-)
And I'm putting my contemporary fantasy back into a virtual drawer for now. If I get an offer from one of the five agents looking at it, terrific. If I get an offer from one of the two publishers reading it, fabulous. But other than that, I'm done for now. I've officially moved on to the YA fantasy novel (and, admittedly, a chick lit novel). The contemporary fantasy saga isn't prime first-novel material. I'll dust it off a few books from now and see if I do any better. Have to tell you, the submissions process can suck the life out of you. Anyway, on a happier note, my friend is talking to Super Big Agent today. Can't wait to hear how it goes...I think I'll be sending her a bottle of wine to celebrate! -- Jackie, slurping coffee and way too tired to sign in |
| Very cool. And hey, you're real people, right? Which means soon another big ol' agent will be signing you, too!
Though come to think of it, I've never met you in person...and I don't see any pictures...how do we know you're a real person? -Jim (the real one, who hasn't bothered to sign in tonight) |
| I have to share this, even though it's not my news. A friend of mine, a truly talented fantasy writer, has written a fabulous novel. It's perhaps the best thing I've read in years, and I'm convinced she's going to become a name-brand author. She just found out today that a HUGE fantasy agent wants to represent her -- they're talking next week.
I am SO thrilled for her! See? It can happen, and to real people! |
| "Submission" should be "Submissions." Jackie needs way, way more coffee. |
| I have decided that SLUSH actually stands for:
Submission Languish Until Something Happens :-) |
| Nothin' wrong with dreams! |
| Thanks, Terry. I tried writing this morning, and the result was so God-awful that I had to stop. I'll try again later.
And thanks for the thoughts on the Catch-22 and agents/publishers. I have this Wild Dream that both the publisher and WotC will want my manuscript. (Writers dream big big, right?) Then I call Mr. Big Agent, who's had my full MS since November to see if he'd have time to help me decide which offer is better... ((sigh)) Okay, okay, back to reality! :-) |
| Give yourself a day or two if you want to. It's perfectly normal, after you've been wed to one story for so long, to feel like you've walked off the end of the dock for awhile once it's done. (Is that a mixed metaphor...? Oh, well.)
If you *do* get an offer from a publisher first, take it directly to the best agent you know of. As in all things, Catch-22 applies: It's so much easier to get an agent once you've already sold the book (at least, that's what I read; maybe someday it'll happen to me), while for many publishers your MS won't even get in the door without an agent. But you need an agent even if you've got an offer, because a good agent can greatly increase the beneficial (to you) clauses of the contract! |
| Yeah, Melissa. Kinda like that. It's like my head is still stuck thinking about the manuscript, even though it knows it's time to move on to other projects. It's weird. ((shrug))
Anyway, on to other projects! |
| A kind of "Ok, now what? You mean it's over?" feeling? |
| Okay, so now the full MS is out to one publisher (yoikes) and I just submitted to the Wizards of the Coast Open Call. (Yes, the first publisher accepts simultaneous submissions.)
Anyone else get depressed after submitting? Side note: wouldn't it be funny to get an offer from a publisher before getting one from an agent? |
| Thanks, Martin and K! (And I loved the Donaldson/OED story! Hee hee hee...)
--Jackie |
| Jackie, I hope you find an agent who loves the book as much as you do.
I've been using the list of agents you posted on Finding the Killer Agent and decided to wait until after I sold a few stories to try again after a few form rejections. Thanks for the work you did in compiling the list! Also, I laughed at your Donaldson comment. When we had to do vocabulary words in high school, I pulled out the Covenant books and the Oxford English dictionary for Show and Tell. |
| Take what comfort you can from this agent and move on. They said it was 'pretty good'; someone else should find it pretty good too. |
| Tell me about it, Carol. And what I didn't make clear before is that the agent said in the feedback that I needed to "inflate the pages so that it could be more sellable." In other words, the agent thinks that publishers WANT big, fat fantasy novels from first-time authors. This goes completely against all of my research. Numerous sources have pointed out that a word-count range of 80,000 - 110,000 is what publishers want, with a max of 120,000 and an average of about 100,000. Of course, there are exceptions. But the agent isn't suggesting that I beef up the book because there's more story that needs to be told, but rather that publishers won't look at a 381-page book. Oy.
Back to the Evil Synopsis From Hell. Thanks for your thoughts, Carol! |
| *eyeroll* Considering that "anathema to one's religion" is all but cliché, ya gotta wonder what this agent’s been reading. FWIW, I agree with your decision to go with your gut on this one. :/ |
| And now, an agent update.
For those keeping track of such things, I had six agents looking at either the ful or the partial of my contemporary fantasy novel, as well as an acquisitions editor looking at the partial. Well, I got feedback from one of the six agents this weekend. Questionable, at best. AGENT X: The feedback starts with "It was pretty good but not totally fantastic." Is it good enough to submit to a publisher? Yes, with some changes. Like what? Well, the book was "little short at 381 pages" and I would have to "bulk it up a bit." Keep in mind that my word count was 104,000. Had I set my font to Courier 12 point, I would have had 508 pages. I wonder if the book would have been considered too short? Anyway, here's the comment that really killed me: AGENT X: I used the word "anathema" "several times and it is strange. I am ... pretty well-read and have never seen that word used before." And maybe I could use it less and find a synonym. Please note that I used the word "anathema" exactly three times -- two of which were in the context of religion. I'd hate to see this person's reaction to reading any of Stephen Donaldson's work. There was some good feedback in there, a nugget or two that was helpful. But the publishing info given is, as far as I know, completely wrong. Anyway, I thanked the agent for the feedback. Moving on. This agent is a very nice person, and I wish the agent much success and a happy, healthy life. That being said, I'm simply not convinced that the agent is keeping on top of industry trends. I could be dead wrong. Maybe I'm passing on a terrific opportunity. But I have to go with my gut...and with my research. For those seeking an agent: Do your homework, folks. Thanks for letting me rant. All opinions welcome, of course. Jackie |
| LOL, Jim! Absolutely. But chances are, a month won't be enough time...except to gain weight from all the chocolate I'm eating! Thanks for the good luck wishes! |
| If yer gaining weight, that jus' means you ain't sharing enough, cuz shared stuff Don't Count!
*grabs bag of Kisses and runs* |