I grew up in Livonia, MI, which despite being so close to Detroit was 95.45% white according to the 2000 US Census Bureau. During the time I was growing up in Livonia, it was considered the whitest city in the nation. I'm pretty white. I have blond hair and blue eyes, but these things have long hid a secret of mine. I'm a quarter Mexican. Like most ( Read more... )

While writing my query letter, I've been googling like a fiend and looking for templates and sample query letters. On my journey I found that many people recommend having a bio/credential paragraph. I've gone through sample letter after sample letter with full and juicy credential paragraphs. But what if you've never been published before? How are ( Read more... )

A new decade has begun and so far it hasn't started the way I wanted it to. I was scheduled at the airport six days in a row! Tomorrow is my first real day off in forever and tomorrow is when I'm going to start my query. I realize I've been saying this for awhile and haven't gotten any closer to accomplishing my goal. As embarrassing as it is to ( Read more... )

I'm watching a SyFy (hate that new spelling) special on the Bermuda Triangle and it's making me so excited! For those of you that don't know, The Crescent takes place in another dimension. The only ways there are through the Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Sea. One of the explanations they've explored deals with the Bermuda Triangle being a doro ( Read more... )

The clock is ticking down to my moment of glory. Being a Creative Writing major, I've often had to answer the question "Just what are you going to do with your degree, Amanda?" I usually answer this question by sharing my dreams of publishing my manuscript, but accomplishing this task is going to take more than just getting my sheepskin. I've ( Read more... )

So, I went to re-customize my background today because I felt it was getting old and found that livejournal has changed this option to serve paying members only. I was kind of disappointed because I can't get my old background back now. So, I'm kind of pondering whether I should get a paid account or not. Does anybody have a paid account? If so, is ( Read more... )

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated. My last semester of college had been going by so smoothly that I'd almost forgotten that I had a senior project to work on. So, for the last couple weeks I've been working diligently on three short stories that will be published by the university in less than a month! I'm very excited on how the ( Read more... )

Two people have read my revised manuscript since I took it off fiction press awhile ago. My boyfriend's mom sent me back her notes yesterday (she's a writer too : ) ). She said that my work already appealed to a large audience, but it could appeal to an even larger audience if I took out the swearing. Now, I don't swear often in my writing, but I ( Read more... )

I had a fantastic birthday yesterday. It wasn't anything particularly exciting, but I got to spend time with people whose company I enjoy! I also got the day off work, which was amazing ( Read more... )

But, I've had an incredibly productive and creative last two days. It all started with a boring day at my boyfriend's house. He was at work and I forget to bring activities to keep myself occupied. So, I drove off to the nearest Borders, excited to take full advantage of my 33% off employee discount with a shiny new YA book. I found one by an ( Read more... )