Saturday, February 27, 2010

Agents & Awards

I'm happy to report that I had my Skype chat with agent Mark McVeigh last week. He's a super nice guy and if you haven't been over to his new blog yet, you should definitely check it out. If you missed the fifteen minute phone or Skype chat this time around, stay tuned for when he offers it again the first week of April.

I also emailed my query letter to be critiqued by agent Jennifer Laughran at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Thanks again to Shelli at Market My Words. Jennifer said I should hear back from her sometime this week.
In other exciting news...some of my fellow bloggers presented me with awards this week. Thanks guys!
First off, Niki at Wool 'N' Nuts and Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances both presented me with the Creative Writer Award. For this award, I'm supposed to tell six untruths and one truth about myself and then you guess which one is true. I'm going to take these from my childhood because some of you out there know me entirely too well, so here goes:

#1 - When I was young, I had two pet iguanas named Cheyenne and Rufus.
#2 - I skipped second grade.
#3 - The first book I ever wrote was about alien body snatchers from the planet Xydor.
#4 - I was once suspended from middle school for taking part in a cafeteria food fight.
#5 - I was the editor of my high school newspaper.
#6 - I once sang "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in my school talent show.
#7 - I went to high school with Gillian Anderson who played Dana Scully on the X-Files.
So, which one is true?
Shannon from Book Dreaming presented me with the From Me to You Award. As part of this award, I'm supposed to tell you seven (true) things about myself, so here goes:

#1 - I consider the morning a waste if I'm not up by at least 4am.
#2 - I take a nap everyday.
#3 - I've been to Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Israel, but not Mexico.
#4 - My college degree is in electrical engineering.
#5 - I wrote my first book when I was seven years old.
#6 - My kids complain about riding in my car because the only band I ever listen to is the Goo Goo Dolls.
#7 - I spend two mornings each week leading a bible study.

I'd like to share the Creative Writer Award with Shannon at Book Dreaming, Theresa at Substitute Teacher's Saga, Jackee at Winded Words, Tess at Tess Hilmo, Amy at Invisible Sister, and Sharon at Random Thoughts.

I'd like to share the From Me to You Award with Wendy at W.M. Morrell's Musings From Down Under, Abby at Abby Annis, Niki at Wool 'N' Nuts, Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances, Robby at Once Upon a Book Blog/Fourteen Years, Velva at Tomatoes on the Vine, and Paula at MomforLife.

I know that not all of you "do" awards, so go ahead and post them, pass them on, or maybe just smile and think of me, but please know that I am so thankful for each one of you!

Until Thursday, happy writing, and may your coffee pot never run dry.

28 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Hi!!

First - GOOD LUCK with your query to Jennifer Laughran - I have everything crossed for you!!

Second, thank you, thank you thank you for my nomination! It's such a pretty award too - I love it.

Third - The Goo Goo Dolls?

Fourth - I can imagine you singing the Good Ship Lollipop in a school talent show and winning too! But I quite like the idea of you having pet iguanas...
Slightly off topic - Ms Anderson used to be my friend's neighbour! Ms A used to knock on her door and ask if she'd like to play. The Andersons used to live in Crouch End, London... so whenever Ms A does an interview for British tv, she puts on her bestest english accent...quite funny..!

Take care
x

Susan Fields said...

Old Kitty - Thank you for the good wishes and you're so welcome for the award!

Yes,the Goo Goo Dolls. Odd name, but I love their music. I tend to find one band and listen to them almost exclusively. I do the same thing with foods. You'd think a writer would be more adventurous, wouldn't you? :)

Good guess! I'll let you know the real answer in a few days. That was a fun post to write. That's so cool about Gillian Anderson and your friend! She moved to Grand Rapids, Michgian at the age of 11, and Grand Rapids is my hometown. My oldest daughter's name is Jillian. Hmmm...

Robby said...

Thanks for the award! :] I posted something just like that yesterday. I'm so glad your Skype chat with Marc went well.

Theresa Milstein said...

Thank you for the award!

As for your truth, I think it's that you were the editor of you school newspaper. But I am tempted to say it's #7.

I'm glad the Skype talk went well. Good luck with your query.

Susan Fields said...

Robby and Theresa - you're both very welcome!

Theresa - #7 is tempting, isn't it? Gillian and I were both born in the same year, but I'm not going to say what year that was! :)

Tess said...

thanks, Susan! And, what a very exciting week. Shelli rocks - I got a marketing consultation from her and it was fabulous. Good luck with all you have going on :D

Unknown said...

Thanks Sally! Most kind of you to think of me :)

I guess #2 is the truth?

Congrats on all your awards!

Susan Fields said...

Tess - thanks for the good wishes! I'm looking forward to seeing what the week ahead brings...

Wendy - My college roommate was named Sally and everyone mixed up our names, I guess I must look/sound like a Sally! Hope you check back - I'll be posting the true answer on Tuesday.

Unknown said...

Your blog is so fun! I love the colors! Congrats on the awards! The Creative Award is my favorite! Look forwad to reading more of your blog!

Unknown said...

Oops! Who's Sally Field? That was the, Flying Nun, wasn't it! Think I meant to say, Susan!

So sorry. Thanks once again :)

Susan Fields said...

Jen - thanks for stopping by! I had a nice visit over at your blog, too! :) The Creative Award is great - I had a lot of fun with it.

Wendy - How funny! I didn't even think about Sally Field. Don't worry about it at all, actually it kind of brought back the good old days with my roomie Sally!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Susan--Thanks for the award and congratulations on getting two awards so early in your blogging career. :)

I think number 7 is true...I know about your addiction to the X Files and now it all makes sense.

I can't wait to hear about all you learn form your query and the query contest. :-)

Are you going to take Tess's challenge to post a exerpt on Thursday? I'm desperated to hear about KILLING KESSLER.

Susan Fields said...

Sharon - I'll post the true answer on Tuesday - stay tuned! I'd love to post an excerpt, but I'll have to find one that I like well enough. Why do everyone else's excerpts sound so great, and then I read mine and I don't like them as much??? Anyway, I'll dig around and see if I can find something I'm willing to share. I read that you'll be posting an excerpt soon, so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Jackee said...

How exciting--TWO contests in one week! And I've no idea which one was a lie (though I've very curious to know).

And thanks so much for my award! I love your answers--it proves what I've come to know already: you are such an interesting person.

Have a great new week and here's hoping it's as exciting as this last one! (Ha, ha.)

Susan Fields said...

Jackee - yes, it has been exciting around here lately! And I sent in a query to Joanna Stampfel-Volpe after I read about her offer on your blog - thank you so much for letting us know about that! You're very welcome for your award - it was a pleasure to give them out. And you have a wonderful, exciting week, also.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Susan :o)

Oh this is hard...Would a seven year old write about bodysnatchers?? I'm liking Shirley Temple though. hmmmmm I think I will go with #6 because now the song is stuck in my head! hehe

Susan Fields said...

Niki - you're so welcome! And I'm sorry to get that song stuck in your head! On Tuesday, all my secrets will be revealed (okay, maybe not all.) When do we get to learn about you and Neil Diamond?

paulakiger said...

Hi Sue, that's a fun blog -- is the next thing going to be a "boy I've been married a long time" version of the Newlywed Game where you and Scott answer questions asked by your readers, independently to see if your answers match? Could Scott be coaxed into blogland??!! Have a great week and congrats on the agent activity.

Susan Fields said...

Hi Paula - No, Scott will never be coaxed into blogland. I can't even get him to make a comment. Cute idea, though! You have a great week, too.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

You are too sweet! Thanks so much, Susan - I'll post and pass later this week.

Yay for your time with Mark McVeigh and your critique review. Good luck with that! :-)

Joanne said...

Congrats on your Awards, much fun always! For your truth, I'd pick that you were Editor of your high school newspaper, thus leading to a writing passion!

Clicked over from Jackee's, enjoyed browsing...

Old Kitty said...

Hi Susan!!!!

I can see you've updated your blog on my "blogs that I follow" bit but I can't seem to open the latest entry. I can just about read that you had pet iguanas!!

YAY!!!

Can we see pics of them? How lovely! What happened to them and how were they as pets and what did they eat? Great stuff! Sorry I can't read your latest post but I hope you are able to get this...

Oh the wonders of Modern Technology.. LOL!

Take care
x

Susan Fields said...

Thank you Shannon and Joanne, and thanks for visiting Joanne! It's so nice to see new faces.

Old Kitty - I'm not sure what you saw. I did write the post for tomorrow already and I saved it as a draft. I even, at one point, posted it on accident and had to go back and take it down. So maybe you're somehow seeing my saved draft? Anyway, I'm sorry, but no iguanas! The truth will come out tomorrow...

Jackee said...

LOL! Susan, I'm sorry I'm such a dork. Apparently I read that you gave me a different award than the one I thought you gave to me. Sorry! We ended up the same one from Shannon instead. Whoops!

Susan Fields said...

Jackee - I think you had it right. Shannon gave us both the From Me to You award, and I gave you the Creative Writer award. And in any case, you're most certainly not a dork!

Jackee said...

Oh, yeah! Sorry again, I must have relooked yesterday and missed that. Sheesh! I suppose my only excuse is sleep deprivation (the baby is not sleeping thus I am not). I'm glad I at least had it right the first time.

And thanks again!

Susan Fields said...

Jackee - I remember those days! Maybe you can get a nap? :)

Abby Annis said...

Thanks for thinking of me! Sorry this is so late. Don't know how I missed this. :)