Branding Myself

(Ow! That iron's hot!)

As my Facebook friends will have heard but I stupidly forgot to mention here until now, I got my signed contracts and my first cheque back from HarperCollins this week. Woo, yay, whee, etc.!

Still no revisions, though. O Editor, Where Art Thou? Never mind, I know the answer: working frantically on other projects which are due RIGHT NOW, or possibly yesterday. Editors are perpetually and incurably busy.

In other happy news, I'm featured in the Fall 2007 newsletter (PDF) from my agent, Adams Literary. They've done a little piece on my blog, and included two of my contract-signing photos. Very exciting! (And if you're reading this and have just arrived here from there, hail and welcome.)

Also, if you're interested in learning how to write a successful query letter, you may want to check out the fangs_fur_fey community, where a number of us have been sharing our queries and answering questions about them. I'm not scheduled to post mine until Sunday, but as most of you know, it wasn't the letter that made the difference for me, it was the referrals. So while I am including the letter for folks to look at, I'll also be talking about networking and the importance of maintaining good relationships with agents and editors, even those who reject you.

Finally, I've just swiped this meme from mistraltoes, and post it here for anyone who may feel inclined to answer:

What would you say are the trademarks of my writing? What themes or quirks or turns of phrase have you noticed? What is it that makes a story by me -- well, a story by me?

Go on, mock me. I know you want to. :D

EEEEEEE KITCHEN GADGET MADNESS

Just found on fuseno8:

OMG SQUEE LIZ LIZ LIZ LIZ LIZ LOOK AT THIS

I WANT ONE SO BAD I AM BLEEDING.

Truly, I hate shopping -- even online. And I am by no means a gourmet cook: all I want to make these days is quick, simple, reasonably healthy stuff that my kids will eat. But I have a terrible, terrible weakness for kitchen gadgets.