Contest--Need a new title ASAP

I have good news and bad news. Good news--My editor at Houghton Mifflin has OK'd my series as a series, so the sequel that you folks read part of is really the second in the series. That means that the book you read the chapters of will most likely make it to print. Bad news: However, she does not like the title of my first book and it really does not go with the cover art, which is wickedly subtle. It looks like something sweet from Edwardian days until you see all the creepy crawlies hidden in the foliage. Go to Jen Corace's web site and you'll see the style. Anyway, I need a new title. The first book is about how Petronella and Uncle Augustus rescue a theatrical Dame, a Panamanian Generalissimo, and all of Petronella's relatives from a mad Colombian aristocrat who threatens to dump huge vats of mosquito larvae carrying yellow fever into the River Thames. It is also the book where Uncle Augustus accidentally swallows the Tou-eh-mah-mah beetle and is transformed into an insectivore. If anyone comes up with the title that ends up on the cover, I'll send you a gift card or take you out for ice cream or something.

Epiphany

So I was at my job, Thinking. (yes with a capital) I realize why I do better with characters than with setting. It's because I'm in theater. When I do a play, I deal almost exclusively with characters and plot, and almost never with setting. The stage crew takes care of that, while I take what a character does and says and create a past that makes her personality. I've noticed my characters are distinct, while I barely mention the setting. I just assume you can see it like I can. Stupid me. I thought it was interesting though. I suppose and artist would have a better time with setting.
I've also been thinking about style. This is my opinion and tell me if you agree. I think that in order to develop a really solid style, you have to study different types of writing and copy them in your own way. I think you need to write in all genres: fantasy, mystery, romance, comedy, drama, horror, and suspense for a few suggestions, before a style really comes together. I know you have to do it in music and theater too. I suppose dance, but all the arts really. I once read a short story by Roald Dahl about a wife killing her husband that was fantastic, but nothing at all like what he normally writes. He's now immortal! I figure he must have done a lot of different writing. What do you think? I know I do a lot of different types of writing (except romance, I know I will never master that) but I think it's essential to becoming a good writer.

Random Moments

Since most people are unable to come to the writer's group that we formed out of our class, I thought that we could share "special" moments from that group so that everyone could be part of it. Last night at our meeting, we were brainstorming about terrible things that could happen to a high school student. I told the story about how the guy I liked told me he'd come visit me that night at work (I worked at a small flower shop where I was the only person there most of the time). I was, needless to say, rather excited when Bob showed up . . . until he said he wanted to buy a dozen red roses for another girl. Argh! Anyway, the last time I saw Bob was at BYU when he chased me down in a snowstorm to tell me how great it was to see me. I told him I was engaged.

We all had a nice laugh about that and then went back to critiquing. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Kevin was surprised, saying that they rarely had visitors. He opened the door and Bob's father stood there (he's running for public office and was making door-to-door visits). I guess that's the nearest thing to Bob that fate could come up with for us to have a very random moment.

I hope you've enjoyed a little glimpse into our writer's group!

Query Letters

I came across this site for writing query letters that I thought was very useful. Not that we want to follow a formula, but . . .

http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx

Get the news of the industry

The web site listed below is where you can get some interesting information about the publishing industry. Getting in the know is very helpful to your career and makes you more savvy when negotiating with agents and publishers and also knowing who to send your stuff to. This site is for free, however, for a fairly cheap price you can subscribe to the more in-depth stuff. Many of the authors I know subscribe to the more expanded version.

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/free/

Chapter 2 Done!

I love the quotes! Great job everyone! Hooray! I'm keeping an archive of all the quotes, by the way, and some day I'll post a top ten list.

Chapter two is now complete! I now have 6000 words written, which means I am 10% - 12% finished! Maybe I shouldn't be counting, but it is something to "keep my editor distracted" as Jeanette Ingold said in her workshop presentation on when to write and when to edit.

Stupid Hollywood!

Okay, I need advice. What do you do when you come up with a really great story and you get really excited about it and then you watch or read something that happens to be really similar? Drive me nuts, it's happened three times. Once with a detective story, once with a romance and just recently with this really cute idea about a cyborg in high school. Then I went over to a friends house and we watched a movie about a android in high school!!!!! It even had some of my original jokes. Okay, they weren't exactly alike, but what do I do? I'll look dorky if someone connects them, and I really did think it was original. I don't want to make it too off course and have the cyborg going to school with aliens on a forbidden planet where all they eat is lima beans and lima beans happen to upset his hardware. (hey, that's not bad...)
So what do I do?