Saturday, February 6, 2010

Near Twilight on Mt. Hood


Dale Blodget paints the best skies, so vibrant and compelling. The painting I like the most, as far as sky is concerned, is on tour at the moment, but I hope she will eventually post a picture of it on her blog. I challenge Dale to paint a sky like the artist who painted the sky in this photo of Mt. Hood. With the setting sun igniting the top of the mountain and the variety of clouds, I had to take this picture. I cranked the wheel hard-a-starboard, screeching around a corner and down to "the place" on my way home from work. My humble apologies to the car I cut off.

My query has run aground. My critique group, The Dead Bunny Club, and I are attempting to tow it off the lee shore, but I fear it will have to put in at a shipyard where a team of experts can assess the damages. I'm willing to scuttle it providing I can salvage anything of value before it goes down. Until I am safely underway, my blogs will be sporadic. Please don't give up on me.

18 comments:

  1. I won't if you won't give up on me! Lovely photo and dang the other motorist. What's more important? Life & limb...or ART and BEAUTY???

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  2. Oh noes :( I rewrote my query letter several times during the querying process. Good luck with it. Fantastic photo, by the way.

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  3. Karen, you are my idol. You finished your book and began the query process before I did. And I love your blog. And I love that you understand beauty is more important than safe driving.

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  4. Rhiannon, thanks so much for admitting you, too, had difficulties with the query. I don't suppose I could just go to New York with my manuscript, my flintlock and a cutlass and shanghai a few agents, right? Is that frowned upon? *sigh* Okay, back to slashing my way across my keyboard.

    Editor's note: Melanie Sherman is only joking when she suggests agent shanghai as an alternative to query letters.

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  5. Beauty is more important than safe driving...lol...That is such a girlie thing to say haha!! (No offence!)

    You'll get there, girl. It's all part of the fun :)

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  6. Sheeez, Kurt, I wasn't talking of personal beauty, I was talking about nature's beauty. That makes a difference. No, really, it does. (Well, maybe not to the driver of the other car, admittedly.) "Girlie thing" indeed. And this Yank is a woman! With a flintlock and a bosun's whistle. Be afraid. (wink)

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  7. Ah, yes... that dreaded five letter word - query. Bane of every writers life.

    Don't forget Melanie, it is only a matter of one persons personal opinion whether your letter is rejected or not. It does not reflect on you or your writing capabilities (of which you have already proven with this wonderful blog). The process is tedious and crammed with unnecessary rules and ridiculous etiquette - in my humble opinion.

    Hang in there. You are not alone by any stretch of the imagination.

    PS. Gorgeous pic! Beauty over safety - always :)

    PPS. Sorry for leaving a blog on your blog!

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  8. Wendy, I believe it was Joe Finder who said he was rejected by 57 agents before he finally got the call from the brilliant one who told him she'd like to represent him if he'd lose the first 60 pages of his book. Bam. Gone. Book released. Movie right purchased.

    Think what that agent did for him.

    Hey, I'm new at this. I'm still enthusiastic. LOL. And you know I love it when you leave comments.

    Nina, Pffft, when is your webpage going to be done so I can write a blog about you? Mwaahahaha.

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  9. I'd like to sit down with a drink on your yacht and discuss it further, however, that is not to be...

    I will beg to disagree :)

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  10. Wendy, I have two kayaks. Next time you are in the northern hemisphere, I'll stow a bottle of wine in the bow and we can discuss this on the river. Perhaps if we use our imaginations, it will SEEM like a yacht. You can swim, can't you?

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  11. I'm querying right now, too, after letting go of the wrong-agent-for-me and it's hard, isn't it? I found the process of writing the query as hard as writing the book, but what I've realized is that it really does come down to a formula. If you want another set of eyes to look at yours, I'd be happy to give you my 2cents if you think it might help...

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  12. Huh. Funny how everyone thought your post was about a query letter rather than my painting. If that's any indication of how people jump to the wrong conclusions when reading what you've written, I guess you are in BIG trouble. Am I correct in my understanding that you are challenging me to equal God in my artistic ability? You won't be offended if I beg out of that contest will you? That sky is amazing. But driving safely is important in order to send the photo out to the rest of us. I know for a fact that you are good at hanging u-ies (?) while driving. Maybe being on time for work is the factor that needs to be taken down a peg. :) Thanks for the compliments.
    I like the idea of you arriving in NY in costume. I'll reserve a room on Priceline and meet you there.....

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  13. Karen,
    I'll send you some of my copies of my query before the week is out.

    Dale,
    The blog was about my driving. Not your painting and not my query. Wasn't that clear? Oh dear.

    So you are backing down from the challenge? And you think it is a costume I'd be wearing? Aaaaarrrrrr, 'tis me fine slops I'll be wearing, it is.

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  14. LOL...I didn't mean it as personal beauty. It just sounded funny that as a girl you'd sacrifice safe driving...haha!!

    I'd just had a discussion with a lady friend of mine about who are the best drivers, men or women, then I read your blog...lol...

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  15. Can I swim, indeed! I live on a skinny little island surrounded by water. Lots and lots of it:)

    PS. There's a little something for you in my blog. Sorry to do it to you again....

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  16. Emailman. HA! So you think you can get out of it by saying you were just talking to a woman about who are the better drivers? Women are the better drivers. That is why our insurance rates are lower. (Bless the insurance industry for allowing this discussion to shift in my favor) *smiling*

    Wendy. Oh dear lord.

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  17. haha!! Yes, of course you are *grin* Statistics are such an accurate way to measure things. That's why politicians use them :)

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Comments are great fun. Really. I love them. Except from the bots that have found my blog. I'm enabling the word verification to block them. Sorry.