My latest project

I recently finished working on a YA contemporary romantic comedy called NINETY CATS AND NO LITTER BOX IN SIGHT. My query letter is doing its job, because it's currently under consideration by 9 agents. I've had 14 agents request either a partial or full so far and, though some have come back with rejections, the numbers are still stacked in my favor that this manuscript will be "the one" that finally nets me an offer of representation. The whole agent hunt is such a long, drawn out process. Sometimes it can be frustrating but I know it's all going to be worth it in the end.

Here's a plot summary from my query letter:

Glynis Kirby can't seem to catch a break. In high school, her long time boyfriend left her for another guy and the boy-next-door turned out to be a serial killer who confessed his crimes to her on prom night after tying her to a chair. Glynis's freshman year of college looks just as bleak in the relationship department. Her “Dating Disasters” include an animal rights activist who only speaks in questions, a Poly Sci Major who needs to consult his pocket ouija board before answering any of her questions, and a street thug whose monkey holds her hostage in a port-a-potty with a switch blade. When Glynis meets Corin, dubbed “crazy bus boy” because he's stared at her for three months without saying a word, there's a spark of something-there despite his socially awkward behavior and bad fashion sense. Could Corin be the “boringly normal prince” Glynis has been searching for among the “frogs” she's been dating?

Corin Lancashire runs the popular blog site MYDREAMGIRL.COM where he chronicles his less than stellar attempts at getting his dream girl, Glynis, to notice him. After taking the “all girls think strip-teases are hot” advice from a reader and discovering that all girls but Glynis think strip-teases are hot, Corin needs to think fast on his feet. Will he learn to put aside the well-meaning (but wrong) advice of his readers and be his normal, but goofy, self or risk losing a real shot with Glynis forever?

When Glynis meets Daniel Bond at her ex-boyfriend's commitment ceremony, he seems to be everything Corin is not – charming, suave, and well dressed. Unfortunately, Corin discovers that looks can be deceiving. Daniel is keeping a deadly secret that threatens Glynis's life. Can Corin save his dream girl before it's too late?

~*~

I'm really happy with how the manuscript has turned out and hope one of the agents that currently is considering it feels the same way! I'll update this blog when I hear more.

UNHEARD MELODIES up for Best Book of 2008!! {please vote}

"Unheard Melodies: Confessions of a Poetic Muse" is up for Best Book of 2008 as voted by Long and Short Reviews. I'm including the email I got tonight. Please vote -- support me and John Keats!!

....The reviewers at The Long and the Short of It have selected the books they consider the best of 2008. This
year, one of the books or stories awarded a "best book" rating by our
reviewers will be chosen by our readers as "Best Book of 2008

Your story, Unheard Melodies: Confessions of a Poetic Muse, is one of the choices and we thought you would like to know.

The Best Book of 2008 poll will run from Monday, February 2, though Saturday, February 14. You can find the information here (http://www...longandshortreviews.com/WC/..BB2008.htm OR http://www...longandshortreviews.com/LASR/..BB2008.htm ) starting Monday, February 2.

Winners will be announced on The Long and the Short of Its front page on Monday, February 16 and the winning author will receive a banner from our site announcing the award.

Writing Update

Earlier this month, I started revising/rewriting/editing a manuscript I had started earlier in the year called "If Memory Serves." I was doing good with this when I had an idea for a new story called "I'm The Girl Everybody Loves To Hate". In it, a popular tween-set actress experiences a backlash of craziness from obsessed fans when news leaks out that she's dating her co-star and tween-crush-of-the-moment. I'm doing well on this one too and think it's relevant and, hopefully, an agent will see the marketability of it and offer representation. I really want an agent. I know I can't take the next step in my writing career without an agent.

Long and Short Review of "Unheard Melodies"

I'm proud and excited that Long and Short Reviews has rated "Unheard Melodies" a "Best Book." A LASR best book is "a book or story that is truly exceptional. You think about it when you're not reading it. You wonder what happens to the characters when you finish. You would absolutely buy everything else this author had to offer. The highest praise - and reserved for only a few."

The full review is:

Unheard Melodies isn't a romance in the typical genre fiction sense, but instead it is the true romance of John Keats and Fanny Brawne.

Rarely have I ever been brought to tears by a novel as I was after reading this story. Ms. Zenk has produced a shining gem to be proud of for years and years to come. I went through a stage in my own teenage life when I enjoyed reading the romantic poetry of Byron, Keats and Shelley, but I really had very little background on the persons of these poets. As I read this book, I was tempted to cheat and look up how the story would unfold but instead I continued to read and was rewarded by one of the most heart-touching stories I've read in a very long time.

The book is written from the perspective of young Fanny Brawne in first person—a brave perspective to use in telling the story of Mr. Keats. Every character is richly defined and realistic. They weren't glossed over and made out too be too good to be true. In fact, at times, Fanny might seem selfish and immature and Keats appears as the true romantic soul with many insecurities. This made them that much more real and I loved them for that—I felt for them.

A true treasure—this beautifully written narrative has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. Reading this book is an experience I will never forget. Well done, Ms. Zenk, on a thoughtful and engaging piece of workmanship. We can only hope for more books from this author in the future. I heartily recommend Unheard Melodies. It is one not to be overlooked or missed.

Ready, Set, Write!

November is National Novel Writing Month. A group of writers in San Francisco started NaNoWriMo to "challenge" each other to write a 50,000 word novel in one month (Nov 1-Nov 30th). That challenge has now spread worldwide. I only found about it last year, so this is my second year participating. I'm going back to a manuscript a started this summer but only have the bare bones main plot to it (it needs lots of 'fleshing out'). Hopefully, I can finish it to my liking and then go from there with the endless rounds of querying and waiting. The life of a writer. Fun fun.

MZ

wow am I bad at updating

Things have been interesting here since June to say the least with adjusting to being a two child household instead of just one, lack of sleep, lack of creativity or motivation writing wise, etc etc. I still feel a little "off" at times but I think I'm ready to start a new manuscript. I have several YAs that are in various stages of revision but I feel like starting something new. Maybe that will get me out of the funk I've been in. *sigh*

Sometimes I feel like I'm selling out worrying about writing something that an agent thinks is marketable instead of what I really want to write. Really, who knows what the market will do from day to day or trend to trend? Vampires still seem popular but I don't want to jump on that bandwagon. I want to write what I want to write and that's historical fiction. I had an idea recently, though, to "spice it up" a little and do historical mystery like Karen Harper's Elizabeth Tudor mystery series or Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen Mystery series. I would stick with my Romantics since I know them so well. I've had the opening of the prologue running through my head and general plot ideas. Now the trick will be to see if I can actually find the time, motivation, and energy to write it. I think maybe the long wait time to hear back from agents is getting to me on top of everything else. I'm at the point where I don't care if they say yes or no to the project which is not an all together good place to be at.

MZ

Six Quirky Things

I was tagged by Cat at ami-chan.net for this "Six Quirky Things" meme. Here are the rules:

* Link to the person who tagged you.
* Mention the rules.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.

Two other rules involve "tagging" other bloggers and letting them know you've tagged them for the meme but -- since I really don't know any other bloggers besides Cat who tagged me -- I'll leave those rules out. Memes always stop with me because I don't "pass them on." ^_~

SIX QUIRKY THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I have a particular organizational system for my daughter's books when I pick them up every night. I know which order they go in and she knows exactly where to find her favorites the next day.

2. Taking a page from Cat, I know the theme songs for "Teletubbies", "Sesame Street" and far, far too much about the characters from constant PBS and video viewing.

3. I like to eat "junk food" for breakfast like cookies, donuts, etc.

4. I'm constantly thinking of new story/novel ideas and writing them down.

5. Being "hopefully optimistic", I wrote down a list of questions I want to ask an literary agent when I'm offered representation. I have 4 fulls and 1 partial out with agents right now so I hope I really have cause to be hopefully optimistic.

6. I reorganize my Netflix queue several times a day.