Message in a Bottle



Moshe Bursuker via UrbanGlass.org

Did I say I was giving up Thursday posts? That was my evil twin. I can't seem to stay away....

So here we go: Stylish Blogger Award below!

I'm over at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment (Q3E) with Matt Rush today and tomorrow. He's posted my craptastic query for constructive criticism. Please head over there and let me know what you think. I know it's too long, (aka my shortened synopsis) and it feels plot driven. However, underneath all that is a story with an amazing theme of the MC finding her place in the two worlds....I just need to find the query muse so I can let it out! Anybody seen her lately?

What's all this got to do with Message in a Bottle? (Genie not included!)

Querying feels like I'm on a desert island...tossing a query into the sea and hoping for a response...and guess what ...a hundred million castaway queries are looking for a home! I wanted to get the lyrics up here, but then I found this amazing clip for Guitar Hero. The song expresses my anxiety pretty well. Trying to keep up with the darn buttons in this game illustrates it even better! LOL. Ahh! Demented laughter. I'm really going over the edge. :D





And, as a friend pointed out to me the other day, the Kevin Costner movie Message in Bottle is awesome too. Rent it, if you haven't already.

I also have some housekeeping today:

Deniz Bevan gave me the Stylish Blogger award the other day and I need to:

• Thank and link back to the person who awarded me this award.
• Share seven things about myself
• Award a recently discovered great blogger(s)
• Contact the blogger(s) and tell them about the award

So here goes:

1. You might have guessed, if you follow me enough, that Sting is my absolute favorite musician. I could listen to him 24/7.
2. When I lived in CT, I had an amazing English garden. Here in NC, red clay and drought thwart my every effort. I miss my Casablanca lillies! (They're my favorite flower.) Does this count as two things?
3. My last name is Snow Abiad and that translates to Snow White. And I write anti-princess stories. the irony does not escape me...
4. My high school French teacher, Ms. Cassidy, used to call me La Neige. I almost used the name for my blog, but I wasn't sure people would get the meaning. Maybe I'll create a fun little signature for the bottom of each post. What do you think?
5. My favorite color has always been turquoise. Now it reminds me of the Mediterranean. Apparently, that is the only thing I share with Grace Kelly. :D
6. I don't like fresh ginger. That's the only flavor I can't have in my food, so Thai is out for me! I do like ginger ale though.
7. I guess you already know...I love ruins. The acanthus an artisan coaxed out of the stone centuries ago, waiting for me to touch it and connect. The hidden history, waiting for me to rediscover it. The potential for a great story to unfold in my head!

And finally, I pass the Stylish Blogger award on to:

Sarah Fine at The Strangest Situation.

If you haven't stopped by her blog yet, her specialty is psychology and YA lit. Must read stuff there, I tell you!

 Yes? No?
 Think I need to work on the size....



(Btw...Roni Loren is also hosting a contest for a query crit from Anita Mumm of the Nelson Agency.)



Related articles

• Message in a bottle (tammyheff.wordpress.com)

The Query Cure

vis Academia Barilla

....I'm still looking for that actually. So if you come across it in your travels, let me know! However, I am letting my new query cure (as in "cure" a ham, which ironically, I don't eat) and hopefully when I look at it next week, I'll be able to separate the chaff from the grain.  Thought I'd put it out there for any passers-by to comment/assist.

So here's my latest attempt:

Sybil is really not a fan of “Once Upon a Time” and she’s certainly not interested in a Prince Charming, or Sultan, or any entitled Istanbulite who thinks Casanova is a demi-god. She’s perfectly capable on her own, never mind the literally painful nightmares which must have something to do with her adoption.

With two weeks left in her semester abroad, Sybil bumps into a familiar face, except she’s never met him before. Maybe she’s just curious because Haydon shares her clairvoyance, but he also triggers a fiery energy she has trouble controlling. Aggressive amber orbs and Technicolor visions haunt her when she tries to forget him and she finds herself tempted…until a fanatical priest forces the clues to fall into place.

Her biological mother helped her escape the chauvinistic clutches of the djinn world. So Sybil isn’t happy to be thrown back into it with Haydon, or to discover that the throne of Cilicia is her birthright. She just wants to get back to her old, predictable life. Instead she’s sucked into a power struggle with her father’s rival and faced with a choice: bigamy with a chance at regaining her humanity…or a future cut off from both worlds forever.

BURNT AMBER is a YA fantasy of 73,000 words, inspired by historical characters and landmarks. The older YA voice will appeal to Kristin Cashore fans. I use my experience from living in Turkey and marrying into a Turkish family to add authentic details. More information about the places, djinn lore and other customs described in the book can be found at carolynsnowabiad.com.

And here's my two sentence pitch:

Sybil is really not a fan of “Once Upon a Time” and she’s certainly not interested in a Prince Charming, or Sultan, or any entitled Istanbulite who thinks Casanova is a demi-god. So she’s less than pleased when she's sucked into a power struggle in the chauvinistic djinn world and faced with a choice: bigamy with a chance at regaining her humanity…or a future cut off from both worlds forever.

Thanks!!