A fan sent me this article on harvesting electrical energy from humans. Take a look at these present and future ideas, more of The Energy Crusades in action.
http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-way-to-harvest-electrical-energy-from-humans
One of my favorite things about being an author is when fans send me news articles regarding something that reminds them of The Energy Crusades. It’s quite rewarding to see the future as I imagined it come to life.
Many of you, dear fans, have written to me about this solar bike path.
If you’ve read The Energy Crusades, you know exactly why I would love this article- there is something very similar to this in my book. If you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for? See what the future has in store for you!
Can I climb this mountain?
As a querying author, I remember thinking “if only I could get an agent…”. At the time, that was the ultimate goal, the highest mountain to climb. Because once I signed with an agent, my life would be complete. Ha! That accomplishment was simply another hurdle in my quest to becoming published.
Once I signed with my fabulous agent, life was wonderful. I had made it. I thought I’d be able to relax and reap all the benefits of that success. Oh foolish girl! You see, signing with an agent is indeed a huge accomplishment, but it begins a new set of challenges. My book went out on submission and all I could think was “if only The Energy Crusades can connect with the right editor…”.
My journey with querying, learning about that process, connecting with agents, set me on the path to becoming an agent myself. When I was interning, I remember thinking “if only I could become an agent…”. When I reached that goal, I’d be able to read my own queries, pick my own projects, sign my own authors. Life would be perfect. *sigh*
And guess what? I did become an Associate Agent and life was wonderful and I could sit back and enjoy that success. But no, no, no. There were more hurdles to overcome and I thought “if only I could find an awesome project and sign an author…”. Seems easy right? Well, I received over 1000 queries in a 2 month period and felt quickly overwhelmed with the task, as if I was trying to find a needle in a haystack so to speak. The first project I loved, the author ended up signing with another agent, a disappointment for sure, but also confirmation that her story was something special. But I kept at it and I did sign an author, and then another one, and another one. I had done it! I’d accomplished what I set out to do and now I could sit back and relax and life would be perfect. When would I learn?
After signing my authors and sending them on submission, all I could think was “if only I could sell a project..”. If I could sell a project, then I would have truly made it and life would for sure be perfect this time. Right? Oh dear.
I did sell my first project and my author was thrilled, and I was thrilled, and my boss was thrilled and it was a series of 
congratulations and pats on the back. We did it! It was a team effort and we worked together to make it happen. I was (and am!) so proud of the project and the deal it secured I just knew I had truly made it and proved I could make it as an agent. Alas…
What I’ve learned about myself is I will never be “finished”. Once I accomplish a goal, my goal changes, new goals are added, new challenges begin. I’m a firm believer in writing down goals, talking about them, working on them, visualizing them. Goals should be specific and attainable. For instance, a goal of “I’m going to write a book”, is far too broad for me. A goal of “I’m going to write 300 words a day” is more my style.
I’m thinking other people suffer from the “if only’s” just as I do. It’s a quality I’m learning to appreciate about myself as I strive to reach my next goal. Bring it on!
As I work through edits on book number 2 in The Energy Crusades series, I’ve been looking at the world around me and enjoying all the ways it inspires my story. I hope to have more pictures to share soon and I cannot wait for you all to see what happens in book 2. The City in the Mountains….coming soon.
For Teen Beat Thursday, Sophia wanted to review the novel Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay. Here is her review, in her own words:
What I liked: Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay is an unusual and genius modern twist on Romeo and Juliet. I loved the new perspectives on the characters and the story line. When a reader tries to interpret Juliet’s character in the original Shakespeare version, they may view her as fragile and childish, knowing nothing about tragedy which completely makes the story all the more tragic. In Jay’s novel, Juliet has changed throughout the centuries and she’s strong willed and a little bit cynical. She despises Romeo because she thinks he took her life, ultimately wanting nothing to do with him. However, there is a dash of nostalgia residing in her due to her memories of her first and only love, Romeo Montague. On apposing sides of the universe, Juliet and Romeo are forced to live in other people’s bodies and fight for what they believe in. Along the way, she falls in love with the mysterious heartthrob Ben after Romeo confesses his everlasting love for her.
What I disliked: The only things I didn’t like about this novel were that the romantic scenes were sometimes cheesy and redundant. Also, the intertwining relationships with the characters are at times confusing.
Rating:
I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars
Hope to see you there!
The Energy Crusades is on sale for a few days, so if you have some pennies burning a hole in your pocket, or hiding in the couch cushions, put them to good use! And if you do that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In September, I became an Associate Literary Agent at Donaghy Literary Group. I won’t go into my journey of how I got there, but I will say it was a lot of hard work, and a heck of a lot of reading.
When I opened for queries, I thought “who the heck will query me, I’m so new?”. Ha ha! Little did I know I would receive hundreds of queries in my first month, and they keep rolling in. Consider my query statistics (yes, I keep a spreadsheet of queries):
- Number of queries read in September: 220; Date reached in query box: September 6th
- Number of queries read in October: 289; Date reached in query box: September 22nd
- Number of queries read in November (so far): 159; Date reached in query box: October 3rd
These staggering numbers prompted me to close to queries in order to catch up. “But you just opened!” you might say. Yes, I just opened, but I cannot physically read any faster and these numbers do not include the submissions I have piling up as well. Of the 600 plus queries I’ve read, I’ve requested about 70 manuscripts. That’s a little better than 10% of the queries read. I know what it’s like to query agents, to wait for responses, to hope hope hope. I do my very best to be timely, believe me I do. The query box is never far from my mind.
For the most part, I am extremely impressed with the quality of queries and the accomplishments of the authors seeking representation. But, if you’ve had the pleasure of being in the same room with me while reading queries, you’ve heard my frustrated sighs, my fits of yelling, or the slam of my hand on the desk.
Why? Here are some reasons:
- Author does not mention name of book, genre, or word count
- I continually get queries in a genre I do not represent
- Author fails to mention they are already self-published
- Query is incomplete or contains attachments
- Author does not give their name or sign their query (this happens WAY more than it should)
I came back from lunch the other day to find this message waiting for me:
Meet Maddy, my latest teen to participate in Teen Beat Thursday. She’s from California but goes to college in Pennsylvania. Here is a bit more about this gorgeous young woman:
- Sports played: Club volleyball
- Interests/ Hobbies: loves to write and explore the city with her friends
- Last book read: Grave Mercy, by Robin LeFevers, chosen because it was recommended by a friend
- Last movie watched in the theater: Guardians of the Galaxy
- Favorite Restaurant: Polly’s Pies
- Favorite place to shop: thrift stores and antique shops
- Favorite Band/ Musician: American Authors
Maddy reviewed the album TRXYE by Troye Sivan. Here is her review in her own words:
What I liked:
This is his first EP and I think it’s a great first project. It’s very distinct sounding, and I believe it can call to a wide audience. It pulls elements from many genres of music, so it has mass appeal. The first single, Happy Little Pill, is both vocally driven and lyrical, but it has a strong EDM influence, which is a very popular trend right now. My favorite song from the album is Gasoline. This song is much slower and more of a ballad than any other song on the album, and it has a very vintage sound to the melody. While it is much more emotional and simple than Happy Little Pill, it also includes sounds which you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a ballad like this. Many of the background sounds that make this song so dynamic have been heavily modified, which really make them sound unique and almost unidentifiable, so the song sounds very ethereal.
What I disliked:
Many of the songs sound similar.
noblevalerie.com 