Search found 685 matches

by cheekychook
July 2nd, 2012, 12:30 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: The SQUEE GOOD NEWS Thread
Replies: 356
Views: 171854

Re: The SQUEE GOOD NEWS Thread

So happy to hear that so many Bransforumers have good news coming in from all areas of life. Congrats to all on all the awesomeness being reported! This weekend I got the covers for my two upcoming novels. For those of you who've been around here for a few years, you may remember me going through th...
by cheekychook
July 2nd, 2012, 11:57 am
Forum: Queries
Topic: Your Mother Has Cancer A Women's Fiction Novel
Replies: 9
Views: 4050

Re: Your Mother Has Cancer A Women's Fiction Novel

This version of your query is definitely tighter and more concise than your earlier draft, which is good. But there is some repetition and I think you can still make your overall plot clearer. I'll add comments in red throughout your version so I can show you specifically what I think you might cons...
by cheekychook
June 30th, 2012, 12:47 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Here's my query for Tardy Son
Replies: 16
Views: 8645

Re: Here's my query for Tardy Son

Okay, you're making progress. And it's great that you keep trying new things with your rewrites. It's the body of the query that still needs the most work---and that's normal. You still do a lot of repetitive telling in this version. Try to make your sentences concise and have them convey as much in...
by cheekychook
June 29th, 2012, 10:19 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Your Mother Has Cancer A Women's Fiction Novel
Replies: 9
Views: 4050

Re: Your Mother Has Cancer A Women's Fiction Novel

Since you've already stated that you're working on a newer version I'm going to wait for that version to do a full critique. Your story itself sounds emotional and interesting. I'm looking forward to reading your revised query when you post it. In the meantime I did want to point out a few things th...
by cheekychook
June 28th, 2012, 9:26 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query: Humorous Women's Fiction
Replies: 15
Views: 7275

Re: Query: Humorous Women's Fiction

Actually "complete" is a word agents very much want to see in a query. They do not assume the work is already complete unless you tell them so because so many (inexperienced) writers do query projects when the only thing that's actually complete is the query letter and the first few chapte...
by cheekychook
June 26th, 2012, 2:32 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Formal Training
Replies: 10
Views: 3626

Re: Formal Training

I think the answer to that depends on several factors, including who's running the course and how much you already know. I had a varied writing background when I started writing fiction full time (creative writing classes in HS and college and a screenwriting class in college) but mostly I was just ...
by cheekychook
June 26th, 2012, 12:39 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Here's my query for Tardy Son
Replies: 16
Views: 8645

Re: Here's my query for Tardy Son

It's not necessary to make sure ALL questions are answered in a query letter, but you have to make sure nothing in the query is confusing to the reader. Regarding the POV issue, all queries, regardless of the POV of the story itself, are written from an all-knowing 3rd person POV. The query-teller k...
by cheekychook
June 25th, 2012, 8:23 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Here's my query for Tardy Son
Replies: 16
Views: 8645

Re: Here's my REWRITE of the query for Tardy Son

You're moving in the right direction with this version, but you're not quite there yet. I'll leave questions in a red lined version below to indicate things that I feel remain unclear. You mention having read some of Nathan's blogs about query writing. Try reading through some of the older query thr...
by cheekychook
June 21st, 2012, 12:47 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: The personalized touch in queries
Replies: 8
Views: 20125

Re: The personalized touch in queries

It can be something as simple as saying "I'm querying you because you rep so and so, who is my favorite (insert genre) author" or "I've chosen to query you because in interviews you've said you're an editorial agent and I that's an important feature I'm seeking in an agent." Basi...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 11:58 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Here's my query for Tardy Son
Replies: 16
Views: 8645

Re: Here's my query for Tardy Son

There are few things more nerve wracking than writing a first query. You're off to a decent start. You have the gist of the story here, your word count is perfectly in line with your genre, your genre is clearly defined, you remembered to put your title in all caps the first time you mentioned it---...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 10:54 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: When can you tell the gender of a writer?
Replies: 29
Views: 8569

Re: When can you tell the gender of a writer?

The book is mostly told from his perspective (Yeah, weird for the angsty one to be the guy, right?). In his perspective it is first person, yet when it switches to his sessions with a psychiatrist, it goes to third person, but from the doctor's point of view. I have not watched a single episode of ...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 8:43 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: When can you tell the gender of a writer?
Replies: 29
Views: 8569

Re: When can you tell the gender of a writer?

Thanks. This will be number 2 for me, assuming everything works out there :). She knows he exists. She actually sort of likes him, but she's attached to a guy who is very possessive and borderline abusive (maybe not so borderline, though not physically). He's smitten with her, and she IS a good per...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 2:09 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: When can you tell the gender of a writer?
Replies: 29
Views: 8569

Re: When can you tell the gender of a writer?

Cheeky, First off, congrats on all the success you've been having. It's a tough biz, so you must be doing something right. That being said, this is a YA book with a supernatural/paranormal spin (though not a paranormal romance, really). The MC is a 16yr old boy. The girl he has feelings for is also...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 2:03 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: When can you tell the gender of a writer?
Replies: 29
Views: 8569

Re: When can you tell the gender of a writer?

Polymath: Regarding the perfumed lotion soldier request. Everything you said was valid, but the point I was making was far simpler. The consistent request for items like that tells me, as a woman, that these women want a very basic level reminder that they are, in fact, still women. Some little tiny...
by cheekychook
June 20th, 2012, 12:10 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: When can you tell the gender of a writer?
Replies: 29
Views: 8569

Re: When can you tell the gender of a writer?

I dunno... for those types of characters — tough women — it's difficult to put a feminine edge on them. I'm not sure it's necessary. From a commercial standpoint, it appears that this isn't a big concern. In Carl Sagan's movie Contact , Ellie could just as easily have been a man with almost no chan...