When life gives you lemons...here's my lemonade!

The Storm
There comes a torrential downpour from all the lies and deceit that was their lives! The driving rain washes away the fabric of the life that once was. With it it sweeps off all the caring with the lawn chairs. It overcomes hope and carries it off with the top soil that washes into the nearby drainage ditch. It breaks away all the joy from life like the tree limbs that crash to the ground torn from the trees by the violent winds. It squashes happiness as the once strong tree takes out the roof over the bedroom crushing the lost lovers while they sleep, each in their own corners of the bed.
But like all storms this too will pass. The lawn chairs will be retrieved from the neighbor’s yard. At least you cared enough to go and get them. Hope has been forever lost with the top soil, down the drain. Joy is picked up with the dead tree limbs in the yard. It is tossed with the limbs into a pile and burns as the joy goes up in smoke. Meanwhile the firemen come and dislodged the giant tree from the lost lovers so that they can be disengaged from the weight of the rot that caused the tree to fall in the first place.

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to say goodbye… to this man… this woman… this life. The storm is over. The sun squeezes out from behind dark blue/black clouds.

Social Networks

According to Wikipedia there are almost 200 social network sites to subscribe to. Granted they probably do not all apply to you but I am willing to bet some of you will follow the link and see which network you missed. I am have to wonder how many social networks do we need and how "in touch"are we really staying with each other if we spend all of our time updating the networks we have subscribed to? And with all the networks available, how come I can't find one that does it all (if you have, please let me know!).

What would a network be that does it all? For me that network would have to allow me to access everything from one place. So I need a place that allows me to have my e-mail, facebook, blog and more all accessible from one location. Google+ is almost there. I need to have my blog tabbed across the top and that might make me happy, for now.

If I had all of this in one place could I give up all the other sites? Would others follow suit or would I be hung out there by myself...alone in one site land? Would my facebook friends come check me out or forget about me because they couldn't reach me on their wall with their limited amount of time? Would it be social suicide to have only one location for people to find you? Am I the only one that desires the simplicity of one stop shopping in my social life?

You know you want to look, you just have to...just remember to leave some time in your life for yourself!

Queries- Take your time

Once you have written your query, it is time to find an agent or a publisher. Which ever one you decide to go after, take your time and get to know everything you can about the agent or publisher before submitting your query. My first inclination is to have a cut and paste fest, copying my query from e-mail to e-mail trying to get all the queries sent out in one day so I can get back to writing. I have to force myself to slow down. http://agentquery.com, for example is one of my favorite sites. Fix yourself a cup of coffee and sit down with your computer and get to know the agents available for your genre.Take a deep breath and remember to relax. By now you should know your genre so select it and see how many agents pop up. Now I want you to think of this as a dating site. I want you to take it that seriously. Pick the best one as if submitting your query was the same as asking that person for a date. Are they your type(genre)? Do they seem interested in your style of writing (who else do they represent)? Do they look appealing to you (does the website look professional)? Open the first agents website and look around. Click about us or contact us and find out more about each agent. If you write horror and you submit your query to the agent in charge of romance that hates horror, you just wasted your time and hers and even if there is someone else in the agency that handles horror, you can bet your query will not be passed along. If you write romance and you find two or three agents in this office handle romance, check out what else each agent covers. Perhaps one of them is more suited to your story. Submit your query to this persons attention. If the e-mail for this person is not listed, try the first letter of their first name and their complete last name @theagencyname.com or however they addressed their query e-mail replacing info or query with the agents name. Check the site for submission requirements and follow them to the letter. Leaving out any portion of the requirement will mean throwing away your opportunity with this agent. If they ask for the first ten pages of your book, do not send them page eleven because your chapter ends on that page. The query itself can only be one page in length. This is very important. If they only accept snail mail submissions do not sent them an e-mail. If they only accept e-mail queries, do not call them with questions, follow the guidelines. Follow the same formula for publishers. Get a feel for them. If they don't sound like they want your type of story, don't submit your query there. Send your best query to the best possible match. If you both decide you like each other you could be together for a very long time. Enjoy your search and best of luck!

A Texas sized tragedy

Just recently went to Texas to help deliver a load of hay from Alabama. Texas is experiencing the worse drought in their history; a drought reminiscent of the dust bowl days of the 1930's. The vegetation is so dry that careless drivers flicking cigarette butts out the window has set parts of Texas on fire. A trip down any highway is riddled with scorched spots and smoldering tree trunks. Ranchers are selling off half of their cattle in an attempt to purchase enough hay from other states to feed their prized quarter horses. Stock tanks that water the animals are drying up. With no rain in sight one can't help but wonder what will happen to Texas? What happens to beef prices next year? Is this the beginning of another dust bowl to go with our awful economy?