That’s the topic of today’s guest post over at Sm Blooding and Crew. Swing by and check it out!

RHDavis

The result of the weekend was three chances to pitch FLYNN, which I did with a minimal amount of word-stumbling and awkward silences. But I also learned a lot about organizations which my fellow writers might be interested to join:

Missouri Writers’ Guild This writers’ guild is open to anyone, of course, but locals of Missouri and especially St. Louis will find it most helpful. Their various chapters are home to many critique groups you can join.

Mystery Writers of America According to their web site, “MWA is the premier organization for mystery and crime writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and folks who just love to read crime fiction.” If you fall under any of these categories, check them out.

Sisters In Crime Women interested in writing mystery should definitely investigate this nation-wide group. They offer support and resources. And let’s face it, when you’re writing a mystery which is going to involve lots of things you have little experience with (police procedures, murder weapons, rare poisons, etc.) you need all the resources you can get!

So now I continue work on the sequel to FLYNN, and wait to hear back from those I pitched to.

RHDavis

The winning entry receives the chance to send a 40-page partial submission to agent Suzie Townsend, who will also critique those pages.

Suzie is a junior agent with Peter Rubie’s agency Fine Print Literary Management. The title “junior agent” means Suzie is actively building her client list!! And for my fellow fantasy writers, she is interested in repping fantasy!

To enter the contest, go here. To see more about Fine Print Literary Management, go here.

Oh yeah, and there’s also some books being given away and stuff. But we’re entering because of Suzie, right?

RHDavis

RHDavis

Rerailed is the opposite of derailed. Derailed means, of course, that you got completely sidetracked from whatever you were supposed to do. Sidetracked? Off track? Derailed? I notice a lot of train metaphors here. Huh.

Derailed is no fun. It usually means unforeseen obstacles, aggravation, distraction, and then that nagging sense of guilt at bedtime that keeps you staring at the blades of the ceiling fan until 2 a.m., wondering if they’re going to buzz down and nip your head off for being such a lazy layabout who never gets her to-do list done.

Or maybe that only happens to me.

In any case, I figure if “derail” means your plans get messed up, there must be a word for when you get back to those plans and finally finish them. Thus, rerailed.

There are three simple ways to rerail yourself after a distraction, setback, obstacle, vacation, or apocalypse. Here they are.

1. Start your to-do list over.

If something distracts you from your to-do list, don’t try to get caught up on all of it the moment you get back. That breeds discouragement, and discouragement won’t help you. For instance, let’s say you had things to do every day this week, but you got sick Monday and Tuesday. When you come back on Wednesday, don’t try to do Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday’s work. Just start over with Monday’s. Or do Wednesday’s and find time to catch up on Monday and Tuesday later. The last thing you need when you’ve just gotten rerailed is to let a discouraging workload derail you again.

2. Follow the bread crumbs.

Some people (and I’m not naming names here, but let’s tentatively say that this might include me) can get out of “work mode” easily. One little distraction in our week, and suddenly we feel like goofing off for the next three days. The very thought of returning to work makes us slightly claustrophobic. Our breathing increases. We feel the urge to run screaming outside. If you are that sort of person, you may need a trail of bread crumbs to get yourself chained back to the desk chair. Start with a small task to complete in the next hour. One small task, and then you can quit if you want. When you’ve finished that one, see if you can’t get just one more done. Then another. You may get one thing done, or two, or five, before you really do give in and go outside, but you’ve gotten yourself back into work mode, and tomorrow morning it’ll be easier to return to the routine.

3. Get up early. Shower. Dress.

This may sound off-topic, but it’s especially important for those of us who write (and work) at home. This morning, I was heading back to work after almost an entire week off. Understandably, I doubted my ability to pay attention to work for more than five minutes. But I set my alarm for seven-thirty, got up, and put on a nice outfit. I gave myself a task which had to be started at 9 a.m. The act of getting up early and dressing nicely put me into work mode faster than a thousand pep-talks in front of the mirror could have. And here I am, blazing so far through my to-do list that I actually got to my blog, which is usually the first thing to suffer on days like this.

What about you? Any tricks to get your wayward schedule rerailed and off to a good start?

RHDavis

Well, all my wonderfully observant followers, you may have noticed that recently, blog posts have been few and far between around here. That’s because I’ve got much bigger fish on the fryer right now; namely, an  upcoming website!

That’s right. Within the next few weeks, I’ll announce the beginning of my very own author web page. It will probably be the new home of the Up and Writing blog, but we’ll have to see about that when it gets closer to launch time. It will, of course, have a host of resources for readers and writers alike, and hopefully some fun pages of artwork if I can squeeze such a thing into my incredibly busy schedule.

I’ll keep you posted. I hope to know more within a week or two.

RHDavis

RHDavis

Remember Guide to Literary Agents blog? The blog which I consider my MVP as far as agent-snagging resources go? They are hosting a contest in which you can submit the first 150-200 pages of your manuscript. First, second and third place winners receive a critique of their first few pages by Jennifer Laughran, an agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Andrea Brown is one of the agencies for quality YA fiction right now.

The contest only runs through Feb. 21, so hurry!

In other news, I’m still working my way through the second in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Parts of the mystery seem a bit thin to me, but it’s a good yarn. I’m interested to see what happens, and how this will lead into a third book.

RHDavis

First, I stumbled upon Writing World.com, a great site with resources for writers of all genres. They have a specifically sci fi/fantasy page for interested parties. You can also sign up for a newsletter which gives info on writing contests, calls for submissions, writing help-wanted, and other such juicy tidbits.

Then I discovered a great YA lit site called Teens Read and Write, a pretty cool blog in which teens talk about YA literature and movies, etc. For those writing YA, it’s a good opportunity to discover what your target audience thinks about books–their likes, their dislikes, what they find unbelievable or compelling.

But as always, please check out all of my links at the side of the page.

RHDavis