Welcome to the blog of science fiction author Eileen Rhoadarmer--where science fiction and Mommyhood collide!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

GUTGAA

So I was lurking in the blogosphere this week and encountered several writer friends participating in GUTGAA.  GUTGAA is "Gearing Up to Get an Agent," a blog hop and pitch contest with the chance of landing, or at least getting read by, one or more agents.  First I thought "sounds like fun, it's too bad my novel is nowhere near ready."  And then I remembered that I have a completed middle grade Christmas book and pitching it just keeps getting pushed behind other projects.  It's the perfect match:  even if I get no interest, this will at least push me to get everything ready so I can start querying on my own!
Deana Barnhart

The blog hosting GUTGAA is Deana Barnhart, and you can sign up here if you'd like.
The first event is a Meet and Greet, so here are my answers:

-Where do you write?
At my desk in the basement office

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
A Silhouette Cameo paper cutting machine I purchased months ago but still haven't used, which hasn't managed to muscle its way into a more contained niche of my desk yet, because a lot of my husband's stuff is still behind it

-Favorite time to write?
While the boys are napping (or at least are obeying the rules and staying in their rooms)

-Drink of choice while writing?
I seldom keep something at my desk, I just get water every time I get up.  Unless I'm tired, then I get a chai

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
Silence.  I sometimes have trouble concentrating if I even have a song stuck in my head.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
The novel I'm editing now was the only thing I've ever written inspired by one of my dreams.  I was pretty enthused and couldn't stop talking about the dream for weeks.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
Just write.  Momentum has a lot of power, on many levels.  Don't spend an hour researching one detail that might get cut in the first round of edits.  Details can be hammered out later, just clear your space and your mind and write.  There will always be chores, jobs, children, etc and you simply have to make time around them.

My first published story appears in the anthology "Doomology:  The Dawning of Disasters" from the Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy Press.  I live in Colorado with my husband and two young sons, and write whenever I can get the boys down for simultaneous naps.  I also recently started developing a mobile app, because life just isn't busy enough.

9 comments:

Valerie Ipson said...

I decided to move to the bottom of the blog hop Meet and Greet list, figuring you might not be getting many visitors since you're near the end. It's great to get to know you!

Angie Sandro said...

I love when a really cool dream inspires a story. If I can remember it when I wake up. I'm still mad at myself for not waiting down the last idea.
http://anjeasandro.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Hi, great advice - I can get really derailed with researching things like "do motorcycles have carburators" or "what kind of sounds do wood frogs make"? Tx for stopping by my blog and good luck with GUTGAA!

Katie Slivensky said...

Thanks for visiting my blog!

MG is awesome. I'm glad you're pushing to get your MG out there into the world!

And your sci-fi story sounds amazing. My WiP is my first foray into writing sci-fi, but I'm loving it so far. I'm going to follow your blog to keep up with how you're doing!

Katharina Gerlach said...

I'm sorry to be so late on the GUTGAA meet and greet. As always, life exploded into chaos when I thought things would calm down. Well, can't be helped. Here I am. I love SciFi myself, even wrote a novel with a SciFi setting. I'll publish it some time near the end of this year.

Ink in the Book said...

Sounds like you've got your hands full! But life is busy for lots of people and I think busy keeps us out of trouble!
Nice to meet you through GUTGAA!
Talynn #28

AVDutson said...

I'm not quite ready for an agent myself, but I figured there's going to be some good info spreading around. I should be ready to start pitching in about four months, so I'm more prepping than anything.

Enjoy GUTGAA!

Tamara said...

You're the second person I've seen today who is writing something inspired by a dream. I had one of those myself just a couple weeks ago. Did you know that people who have vivid dreams are said to have higher IQ's? So, go us. :)

Anyway, just stopping by from GUTGAA. It said to stop by the third through seventh, but I'm a rule breaker. hehe. Good luck with GUTGAA. Come visit me at my blog if you want. I can always use new writer friends. :)

Ink in the Book said...

Hey Eileen,
I wanted to let you know I edited my query a tad bit. If you want to take a look, I'd be forever grateful:)