Search found 505 matches

by J. T. SHEA
June 20th, 2017, 4:51 am
Forum: Nominate Your Query or First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Topic: Query Critique 6/20/17
Replies: 1
Views: 5736

Re: Query Critique 6/20/17

STEM being Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, which I must admit I had to Google. This sounds interesting, innovative, and literally constructive. “When partnered with loudmouth and overconfident Ched and Betty Bacon and feel like they have it solved until Betty’s dad is framed for t...
by J. T. SHEA
June 18th, 2017, 12:15 am
Forum: Excerpts
Topic: Untitled manuscript
Replies: 3
Views: 7689

Re: Untitled manuscript

Grammarly insists that 'prologue' is English English and 'prolog' is American English, but I think it's just being pernickety!
by J. T. SHEA
June 18th, 2017, 12:12 am
Forum: Excerpts
Topic: Untitled manuscript
Replies: 3
Views: 7689

Re: Untitled manuscript

A prologue from the POV of a horse! Unusual but very effective. And I can find nothing to correct. I'm not a horse person but I would read on. Thanks for this, Amy.
by J. T. SHEA
June 16th, 2017, 12:03 am
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: Ten (Totally Made Up) Commandments of Querying
Replies: 2
Views: 7248

Re: Ten (Totally Made Up) Commandments of Querying

I was going to read 'The Submission Guidelines' but I decided to wait for the movie instead.
by J. T. SHEA
May 29th, 2017, 3:12 pm
Forum: Nominate Your Query or First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Topic: Page critique 5/30/17
Replies: 2
Views: 5788

Re: Page critique 5/30/17

An intriguing first page I cannot fault.

Multiple moons are a stock-in-trade of SF. My WIP has two. But I must admit the surfing possibilities never occurred to me!

Thanks for this, Hkate12 and Nathan.
by J. T. SHEA
May 25th, 2017, 10:02 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Are you spending more or less time on social media?
Replies: 1
Views: 6969

Re: Are you spending more or less time on social media?

All of the above, though I've only recently joined Twitter and I'm still figuring it out. I also frequent websites like Publishers Weekly and Tor and an eclectic mix of non-publishing sites.
by J. T. SHEA
May 25th, 2017, 9:53 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: How have politics impacted your writing?
Replies: 9
Views: 15236

Re: How have politics impacted your writing?

Consult your readers by all means, Nathan. But talk about what you like. It's your blog.

And think how much of politics is about holy scriptures, constitutions, laws, declarations, secret documents, reports, print and digital news. The pen can still be mightier than the sword. Words DO matter.
by J. T. SHEA
May 22nd, 2017, 11:20 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: The Alien Diaries - query
Replies: 4
Views: 6796

Re: The Alien Diaries - query

This is fairly clear as it stands, but I am conscious of how busy agents are and therefore have a few suggestions to make it a little clearer. It actually seems a bit on the short side at under 200 words, but contact details and possibly agent personalization would add to that. Nonetheless a bit mor...
by J. T. SHEA
May 8th, 2017, 8:10 pm
Forum: Ask Nathan
Topic: How to meet agents at a conference?
Replies: 6
Views: 12167

Re: How to meet agents at a conference?

Clearly, Ms. Faust feels like a particularly choice Mozzarella.
by J. T. SHEA
May 8th, 2017, 2:16 am
Forum: Ask Nathan
Topic: How to meet agents at a conference?
Replies: 6
Views: 12167

Re: How to meet agents at a conference?

“Being an agent at a conference is kind of like being a piece of cheese at a mouse convention...”
I nominate that as Metaphor Of The Month!
(I know it's really a simile but I couldn't get the alliteration to work with an 'S'.)
by J. T. SHEA
May 7th, 2017, 11:42 pm
Forum: Nominate Your Query or First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Topic: Query Critique Tuesday 5/9
Replies: 2
Views: 5823

Re: Query Critique Tuesday 5/9

I'm inclined to second HeatherM's comments. This is an intriguing but challenging query, which possibly interests me more than the average person or agent. If I were an agent I would ask to see more, but I'm not an agent and making the query more generally accessible could be worthwhile. I'm guessin...
by J. T. SHEA
May 1st, 2017, 12:35 am
Forum: Books
Topic: Are you reading more or fewer books than 5 years ago?
Replies: 7
Views: 11363

Re: Are you reading more or fewer books than 5 years ago?

I'm reading more books than five years ago, I think. And my online book buying seems to have added to more than replaced my in-store purchases. Every room in my house is a library now, including the bathrooms and hallway! I read books slowly but quite a few at a time.
by J. T. SHEA
May 1st, 2017, 12:29 am
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Which authors are killing it on social media?
Replies: 2
Views: 8038

Re: Which authors are killing it on social media?

John Scalzi's 'WHATEVER' blog springs to mind, as do your own blog and Forums, of course. Two quite different approaches, but both with variety and humor.
by J. T. SHEA
April 16th, 2017, 1:44 am
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Soccer!
Replies: 8
Views: 11561

Re: Soccer!

Nearly everyone I know follows soccer or Gaelic Football, an Irish game similar to soccer. I don't. I do like motor racing and yacht racing, which are also popular in Ireland, luckily. My brother supports Chelsea with near-religious fervor. Seeing his passion and that of other fans I'm not surprised...
by J. T. SHEA
April 12th, 2017, 12:30 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: How do you get yourself out of a writing rut?
Replies: 3
Views: 13955

Re: How do you get yourself out of a writing rut?

Cursor staring no. Exercise yes. Long walks where I brainstorm possible set pieces etc. I always have plenty of ideas but can angst about choosing the 'right' one.