Dear Ms. Maas,

Youremail to WhoIs Privacy Protection Service, Inc regarding the domain SHARONMAAS.COM was recently forwarded to my attention for immediate response.

Please note that Demand Domains, Inc is the current registrant of this domain. I respectfully disagree with your assertion that Demand Domains knowingly registered this domain that ( Read more... )

You read my last entry right? About how my domain was stolen?
The situation now is that the domain sharonmaas.com is coming up in the number one position when you google my name.  My new website, www.sharonmaas.co.uk, is not yet showing.

What would really help the position is if everyone does a blog entry with my new site saying "Here is the new ( Read more... )

This is a cautionary tale.

I first registered my domain, sharonmaas.com, about 10 years ago. It has built up quite a bit of traffic over the years, and is plastered all over the net, and on some of my book covers.
I changed my email address about 2 years ago. I can no longer access my old email address, the one I first registered the domain under. ( Read more... )

This is just the cutest thing ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA32rOfzQpQ

Quote: Knut was born on Dec. 5, 2006, the first polar bear cub to be born in Berlin Zoo in 30 years, and spent his first 44 days in an incubator. He's being raised on a bottle by his dedicated keeper, Thomas Dörflein -- who has slept in the zoo since Knut's birth ( Read more... )

And so, as of  September 30th 2006,
Emily  Saladino of Writers House is my agent.
Let's raise a glass to that!

( Read more... )

Ever heard of Aruna's Law? Probably not; but you may have experienced it.
I am Aruna. And though I didn't invent the law, I have observed it time enough, and I know it's true.
Aruna's Law is this: The Call always comes when you least expect it. Or, conversely: The Call never comes when you're waiting for it.
So what was I to do, now that Ms Dream ( Read more... )

For this first round I'd  chosen only agents who accept email queries; much cheaper and quicker than snail-mail queries - remember, I lived in England. And those pesky SASE'S! I did take the precaution of getting a friend to send me ten US stamps for my SASE's - just in case.
Most of the agents replied with in a week. Most of the replies were ( Read more... )

Dear Agent X,
I'm hoping that my novel WHITE NIGHT (approx 110,000 words) is a project you'd like to represent. WHITE NIGHT is based on the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana in which 900 people died, told from an original perspective and with a new twist.

Zena Vandermeer, a feisty Guyanese travel journalist, retreats to the rainforest to finally ( Read more... )

I finished the screenplay in a couple of weeks, revised it, and began networking. I joined the Done Deal screenwriters' forum, a place where not only experienced writers but even a few production executives hang out.
Just about everyone loved my premise. Just about everyone said my first scenes were crap. You can still find my posts there, under the ( Read more... )

I wasn't just out in the cold, I had hit rock bottom.
I'm an upbeat person, and there's little that can really keep me down for long. But this was serious.
I'm not talented in many ways. In fact, I can only think of one thing I have the remotest affinity for, and that's storytelling. The day I landed my first book contract a bright new world opened ( Read more... )