Have You Come Out Of The Closet?

I'm sure most of you have noticed that when you tell people you're a writer, you often get lukewarm responses. When I was writing novels in my teens, people would say, "Well that's nice, and what are you going to do when you grow up?" And as an adult I often get strange or even incredulous looks since my full-time job is as a department head at a non-profit corporation. Especially when people ask me what I write and I have to explain what urban fantasy is...

So, when I got back into writing in 2009, I kept it quiet at first. It was a fragile hope, and just easier not to talk about. But writing has gotten to be such a big part of my life that I can't keep quiet about it anymore. And so, my horrible secret has leaked out - I'm one of those dreamer-artsy people. I'm incredibly lucky in that my family and friends, and even the few coworkers that know about my secret life, have been very supportive. Then the only problem I have is that everyone wants to read my books.

See, the book I'm querying now is not exactly something I'd want my grandmother, aunt, or super sweet father-in-law with the Jesus decal on his car to read. It's laden with foul language, some pretty sultry scenes, and my own personal take on angels, demons and the Devil. And thinking about that makes me realize that once my baby is published, anybody can read it! Okay, so I can hear you muttering, "Well duh, Captain Obvious." I guess what I mean is that once I'm published, the secret is fully out of the closet. Then I guess I just need to advise some of my family that they may want to wait until my middle grade fantasy comes out :)

Are you kind of one foot in the closet, one foot out, like me? How far in or out of the closet are you?

P.S. No query news yet. Still sane (yay for me).

Are You Good at the Juggling Act?

I've sure got a lot of different writing projects going on right now. It's fun, but I've been juggling for a while, and I'm ready to put down a couple balls. Here's what I'm up to right now:

• Querying Countless, my first urban fantasy novel 
• Working on the first draft of my middle grade fantasy novel (75% complete)
• Working on the first draft of my second urban fantasy novel (15% complete)

I'm doing lots of research on the remaining agents on my query list, so I can write sparkly personalized query letters and hopefully get some bites. Two agents still have my full right now, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that. I have a list of 15 or so agents I'm going to query soon, and then I'm taking a break on that for a while. I have a goal to finish my middle grade fantasy on August 20th. I know that's a totally random date, but it's just because I'm off work that week, so I'll have lots of time to be able to wrap it up.

Then! I'm going to shift all my attention to my second urban fantasy. The voice for that one is so clear, it's been practically burning a whole through my brain for months now.

So, what about you guys? Do you find yourself working on multiple projects? Do you like it or not? What're you working on now?

Musings...duality...multi-colored glasses

Hello, fellow writers! Weekly update on rejections and other pertinent writing business: I’ve gotten a couple new form rejections. I’ve also sent out about five new queries. Just plugging away, trying to maintain my optimism. All of your lovely and insightful comments make me feel so much better!  Also, since I got some questions about me and my MC, I've added a couple pages to the blog which I hope you'll enjoy.

My musings of late… duality. As I was updating my blogger profile a couple weeks ago, I realized that in so many things I hold opposite opinions or preferences simultaneously. For instance, two of my very favorite movies – Under the Tuscan Sun and The Matrix. One a sappy chic flick, the other an intense action film. Music, too. On any given day on the drive to work, I might listen to Vivaldi and Green Day… Natalie Merchant and Linkin Park… Madonna and Dropkick Murphys. Even how I dress is eclectic – one day I might dress a little preppy and sophisticated, another I might wear khaki cut-offs and a hippy top. Ideas are often the same. I might feel one way about something, but at the same time have a very differing opinion.

So, is this just me, or is it a writer thing? I’ve kind of wondered if writers are more prone to seeing things through multi-colored glasses because we’re open-minded, out-of-the-box storytellers. We often put ourselves in the different perspectives of our characters, so are used to seeing things in lots of different ways all at once. Does anyone else experience this, too?