ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID...

Ok, so the 15th has come and gone, and I've not had an e-mail from SIWC, so that means even though my poetry was shortlisted for their contest for the SECOND time, I've come away again with no prize.

"Pity party of one, Mr. Baker? We have a seat ready for you...it's an electric chair."

So...just a little more self-pity before I move on. My picture book, Joanie Ark: Dragon Slayer scores a 97% at PNWA this year, and still doesn't make finals. I've been shortlisted for poetry at the Vancouver Readers and Writers Festival...and won nothing. I've been shortlisted at SIWC twice now...and won nothing. It's a wee bit frustrating to come so close and still walk away empty-handed.

A small publisher has told me they're interested in my chapter book series for the end of 2012, but I still don't have any contract in hand for The Abracadabra Amulet.

A query I sent out last week to a small publisher for my contemporary YA mystery/thriller, One-Way Ticket, came back the very next day with requests from two of their editors for a full manuscript, which I promptly sent. I'm hoping for a little good news...from somewhere? For some piece of writing I've done?

That's why I'm gearing up for SIWC. I'll be pitching two novels, two chapter book series, and two picture books. I also have two new writing deadlines for novellas I'm working on for novella contests in November and December of this year. So I'm going to turn that self-pity into determination--into making sure that my writings are so compelling that they're irresistible to all who read them.

If you need me, I'll be in Dreamland for the next few months...after all, I'm back to writing! ;-)

THE ABRACADABRA AMULET--GREAT NEWS!

Ok, I might be jumping the gun with this, but a publisher that specializes in literature for children--from picture books to young adult novels, has said YES to publishing the first book in my chapter book series, The Arkymalarky Adventures of Ackamarackus Artleby. I don't have a contract in hand yet, but they said that they were interested in publishing it near the end of 2012. The head editor also said that she liked the concept of the series, so I think if the first book does well for them, the others I have planned may have found a home too.

In any case, the first book, THE ABRACADABRA AMULET, is set in ROME, ITALY. The second book, THE BURIED BOOMERANG, is set in Australia. The third, THE CAIRO CAT, is set in Egypt...the twenty-sixth, THE ZOO ZOMBIE, is set in the Night Safari of Singapore!

You can see why finding a publisher for this could be BIG NEWS for me! Once I have a contract in hand, I'll write more of the details here, but for now, I'm on cloud nine--with an eye to even higher heavens...

NINE MONTHS OF BUILDING MY WRITING...MY BABY!

Here's what I've managed to keep track of in the past nine months...good chance of missing something, but I'll do my best not to:

• Completed the 50000-word version of my YA mystery / thriller, ONE WAY TICKET
• Joined several writing organizations--SCBWI, CAA, FEDBCW, and PNWA. Have learned a lot from them already.
• Wrote a "dissection" nonfiction book about the writing technique found in the prologue of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting.
• Wrote a novella called DATESASTERS that I'm aiming at Orca Books hi-lo market.
• Wrote two picture books--one that I changed to a prose form instead of its original verse form, IF VOLCANOES SPEWED TOMATOES, and the other, an updated fairy tale: JOANIE ARK: DRAGON SLAYER.
• Completed NINE new poems and several original mashups of older work.
• Completed major research and the first hundred pages or so of my new novel, a medieval fantasy, ARIETTA: SUMMER OF BLADES.
• Wrote a short story, "Black and White Negatives," and completed four different versions of it--3500+ words, under 3000 words, under 2500 words, and under 2000 words--to ensure it qualified for entry into different contests. An excellent exercise in culling, to be sure.
• Did research in a way I've never before attempted for a new novel I'm planning and have banged out about 10 000 words of: GANGSTER GIRLFRIEND.
• Did research in a way I've never before attempted for a new novel I'm planning and have banged out about the first 10 000 words for... STACK THE DECK: NEW DIRECTIONS.
• Did research in a--well, you get it by now--for another new novel I've been playing with: THE PRIMORPHIANS: MILLA'S STORY.
• Completed a 10000-word chapter book, THE ABRACADABRA AMULET, which is to be the first of a series entitled The Arkymalarky Adventures of Ackamarackus Artleby (Acker, for short!).
• Planned out a girl's chapter book series which I'm calling THE GALAXY GIRLS. First book planned, and in the process of being written now. 
• Wrote a cascade poem--a new form for me--and LOVED the result!
• Created two chapbooks of poetry to enter into contests: KALEIDOSCOPE: Bright Lives Broken, and ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN.
• Took Food Network's Spice Goddess  Bal Arneson's rough notes and story and rewrote it into a compelling memoir, VILLAGE GIRL. 
• Started submitting my work more seriously--my goal in 2011 was to enter at least 12 writing contests, at a rate of one per month. By the end of July now, I've entered 14! 
• Started submitting my poetry to higher level literary journals as of June 29th. I started with four different sets of poems to four different journals I love: Fiddlehead, Event, Capilano Review, and Antigonish Review. I feel it's at a level now where it belongs...maybe those rejections won't be so automatic...maybe some published works may result from it--we'll see...
• Oh, and I have one VERY exciting piece of news, although I'm not sure if it's too early yet to tell it...