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#97 ~ Rabid Lamb Comics ~ Guest Artist Adam Greene

March 7, 2008 in art, artists, awesomeness, cartoons, comic of the day, comics, entertainment, writing | 11 comments

Here it is, in all its gorgeous glory, the first Rabid Lamb guest strip. Adam tends to be more about beautiful cartooning and artistry and details while I am more about the writing or the “joke”. Sadly, even if I had the skill he does, there is just no way I could measure up to the standard he has set with this strip in a daily comic, there just aren’t enough hours to set aside for it. He has promised to do another one soon though…so feel free to hassle him until he gets it done. Additionally, Adam has a great blog of his own, that is mostly about film, although a few other things slip in there on occasion, which I urge everyone to check out: www.dudehesthestallion.wordpress.com.

Also, coming on Monday, Adam has drawn a great mascot for Rabid Lamb Comics, so I’ll be assembling the new logo over the weekend…it should premiere with Monday’s strip. There are also some book reviews coming up that will post today and over the weekend I think…

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Thank you Adam – I LOVE it.

#92 ~ Rabid Lamb Comics

February 28, 2008 in cartoons, comic of the day, comics, writing | 5 comments

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Despite the fact that sitting in my house, in front of my computer, in my comfy aeron chair, with a coffee or tea is one of my favorite places on earth to be, it seems to be almost impossible to go home and do this after spending nine or ten hours doing it at the office.  I guess this is why I so often end up on the couch watching Law & Order reruns or bad reality tv. 

I’ve made some really serious goals for myself though for the next couple months.  It will mean a lot of hard work and a very tiny amount of fun and “relaxation” but I hope to have some real progress and close out some projects.  Wish me luck.

#88 ~ Rabid Lamb Comics

February 25, 2008 in cartoons, comic of the day, comics, entertainment, television, writing | 6 comments

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Does this happen to anyone else?  This weekend was a perfect example.  I had cleared a lot of time for writing (and drawing) but I wanted to focus mostly on writing and specifically on some short stories that are on the brink of being ready for submission, yet I really only managed to write for a couple hours on Sunday night.  Why oh why does this happen?  It is SO frustrating.  I literally fantisize about how awesome it is going to be to be home and writing when I am at work or doing anything else, but when the time comes things always get in my way, and sometimes I even seem to put things there.  Very frustrating.

Panel #4’s text is a shout out to Adam. I think we all hate it when cop shows have some crappy grainy footage which they are magically able to “enhance” to see someone’s face, or on this specific show I was watching, it was a cop’s badge number, but Adam hates it more than anyone.  A show I was watching recently got a cop’s badge number off some grainy two seconds of footage.  Literally the line as the actor left the “lab tech techy” was “Increase the resolution, do whatever you have to do, but get me that badge number!”  Seriously?  When will this stop?  Are the writers the ones that are so stupid?  Producers?  How does this happen when most of the semi-tech savy world knows shit like this is impossible?

Anyone watch the Oscars?  My man Jon Stewart was great as always, and some well deserved wins with some nice surprises mixed in there.  Here’s a list of the nominees and winners in case you missed out and are curious.

Query Updates…

February 13, 2008 in blogging, comics, query letters, rejection, writing | 3 comments

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Excellent news!  Got a request for a full version of my manuscript yesterday via email.  For those keeping score (wait, is that just me?) here’s the summary:

#1:  Partial Requested and Rejected. Door left nicely open to submit graphic novel when further along

#2:  Never heard from them, going to resubmit the query as they show a 3 -4 week turnaround and I think I got lost in the shuffle (or am up on previously mentioned “laughing board”).

#3:  Dead.  No response to email query.  I’m considering it a rejection.

#4.  Requested Partial.  Sent Partial (first 5 chapters) via mail about two and a half weeks ago – no word yet. 

#5.  Full Requested.  Full will be sent via mail tomorrow 2/14/08.

#6.  No response to email query as yet, about 4 weeks out.

#7.  No response to regular mail query as yet to HUGE agency, about 3 1/2 weeks out.

#8.  Rejected Query.

So, 2 Rejected Queries; 1 Rejected Partial;  1 Requested Partial;  1 Requested full; 3 Queries still living in limbo…not bad.  Everyone cross your fingers and hold your breath for about three months okay?  Thanks.

#74 ~ Rabid Lamb Comics

February 5, 2008 in cartoons, comic of the day, comics, health, politics, sports, writing | 12 comments

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I don’t generally think of myself as lazy, I am and always have been a hard worker and in addition to working full time (usually 50+ hours a week) I obviously do this cartoon and blog, and write fiction.  I did actually finish a novel and am working on my second.  I submit (off and on) to literary magazines and agents, as is well documented here on this blog.  I’m very productive overall with my time.  HOWEVER, when it comes to things like forcing myself to workout or deal with unpleasant things like finances etc., I am terribly bad.  When I look at my life, productive or not in its own way, I sometimes feel super lazy, because the reality is that I have almost no commute time (I walk to work) and yet I still cannot manage to do a simple daily (or even semi daily) work out on equipment that is literally right in front of me in my apartment.  And don’t say going to the gym is easier than working out at home, I hate the gym.  I actually hate everything about the gym.  There’s not one redeeming thing in it for me, whether I’m in good shape or bad. 

On to more important and less self absorbed subjects…did everyone vote today?  Assuming of course you’re in a state that votes today as I am.  It was exciting to go in and have a say in this election…it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to care or had any hope for the future.  I was really torn between Clinton and Obama and literally did not make up my mind until standing there in that booth. 

As a sidenote, I’m pretty pissed at the city of New York, because today should be all about voting, but instead of voting there are tons of people lining up since about 3am for a ridiculous NY Giants parade.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand being a fan, I understand how excited everyone is about this huge victory, and I even understand wanting to go and show support and have a great time by going to a parade with a bunch of mutual fans to welcome back your team…but why does this parade HAVE to happen on voting tuesday.  I think this sends a horrible message.  Even if the people who go to a NY Giants parade would not be the people who vote anyway, or the people who go to the parade and want to vote will still make the effort to do so, I just think it sends the wrong message.  “Hey, why care about your rights and how this country is run…when you can yell and scream at a parade, for a team that really, has nothing whatsoever to do with you?”  That’s right…you go stand at your parade…like sheep.  Don’t worry about anything else, just paint up your face and scream from the sidelines, while all your political decisions get made for you…

It makes me very sad. 

The Torture Continues (an update)…

January 18, 2008 in publishing, query letters, rejection, writing | 6 comments

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Following through on my mind-numbing research, I submitted five queries for my book this week. 

Three via email, as it was the “preferred method” for those agencies, one via regular mail, and one with their “online form” which is that agency’s preferred method.  I hated using the online form, however I must confess that it does eliminate a lot of the mistakes it is so easy to make when querying. 

Five queries still isn’t exactly a wide net, and it only brings my total since August 2007 to eight, but I figured I’d track them here (much like my short fiction submissions) so you could all share in the anguish (lucky you!). 

Of the 8 Queries, they languish in these stages:

My first query, we’ll call it Query #1 (shocker), received a request for a partial.  Partial was then rejected within about two months, with a few helpful and some not so helpful comments.  Agent did nicely leave the door open for me to send my graphic novel when complete (or further along) which is great. 

#2, submitted via regular mail almost three months ago.  This agency claims to respond to queries within 3 -4 weeks.  Hmm.  Did I get lost in the mail?  Did they hate it so much that it’s pinned up on some “laughing board” (I made that up…but it totally exists in my paranoid mind).  Is it just a mistake…should I re-query?  Ah, questions with no answers – love them!

#3, submitted via email 3 weeks ago, no reponse as yet.  This agency does not promise to get back to you if they’re not interested.  Sigh.

#4, #5, and #6 submitted via email this week.  Of those, #6 got back to me within 24 hours with an incredibly nice note and a request for a partial (first five chapters) and bio etc.  Nothing yet on #4 and #5.

#7 submitted via regular mail this week to a HUGE agency which I have little hope of cracking.

#8 submitted via “online agency form” this week, which was rejected within, I think, 18 hours.  Sarcastic Joy!

So there it is.  Of eight agency queries, two have requested partials, one never got back to me, one rejected me immediately, and four are still out there simmering.  It’s hard to feel too badly about this when I’ve gotten two hits, out of four…that’s 50% and that’s pretty damn good.  If the other four come back as rejections though those numbers will not look so great.

It’s also sad to realize that my strength may in fact be in query letter writing and not in novel writing.  *big sigh*

#58 Comic of the Day

January 14, 2008 in comic of the day, comics, publishing, query letters, seafood, writing | 15 comments

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How was everyone’s weekend?  I literally buried myself in this depressing query crap, it was so disheartening.  I also realized that I probably should re-write my book, which I’ve always considered a “part one of three” into just a massive one book epic.  Sigh.  Last thing on earth I want to do, but all the advice seems to point to that being the “smart choice”.  I did escape for a few hours on Sunday to see Juno (it was pretty good, but overhyped) and to get a Lobster Roll, which though still good was the worst one I’ve had since I discovered them last June… 🙁  A bit of a bummer weekend overall I guess.  I’m feeling pretty low about all of it.  How about you guys…do anything good this weekend? 

#57 Comic of the Day

January 11, 2008 in agents, comic of the day, comics, publishing, query letters, rejection, writing | 8 comments

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Ack. I think we, and by we I mean the insanely talented but tortured writers out there (joke), all feel this way about the query letter process. I don’t know about many other actual personal experiences outside of my own (except what I read about on my best friend ‘the interwebs’) but for me I can’t decide if I’ve been blessed or cursed.

I had the advantage/disadvantage of having my very first agent query letter (to the agent I researched and really really thought I wanted) come back within a week with an email request for a partial (the first 50 pages). JOY! This partial was rejected by email about 2 months later with some helpful (and some less than helpful) notes. Less than joy.

I have sent two queries since – one has been out there for almost three months with no response and the other for three weeks with no response. I completely recognize that this is not exactly a “wide net” to cast. I also recognize that I already have great statistics considering what I’ve actually put out there and the response I’ve gotten. It it still a completely frustrating and self destructive process. Also, I felt good initially that though my first agent didn’t want me or my book he apparently thought I had a good query letter. Good right? A good query letter is almost as good as a good novel…yet no response to my new queries, which though tailored to the specific agents, were largely the same as the first. *SIGH* Apparently my query letter was not made of magic.

I often wish I could be one of those writers that is totally convinced they are brilliant – and that their novel is the best novel ever written. Although agents, and agent assistants, and really everyone, hates those kind of people and nine times out of ten (okay ten times out of ten) they’re delusional anyway, it still must be nice to just feel so confident in your work. I have doubts about my work every moment…actually that’s a lie, I vacillate wildly (especially when I’m actually writing) between “I AM A GOLDEN GOD! I AM A GENIUS!” to ten minutes later “I AM THE WORST OF HACKS. I AM THE HACKIEST HACKY HACK HACK THAT EVER DARED SIT AT A COMPUTER”. These two thoughts can be about the exact same sentence, plot, arc, character, or even title, merely ten minutes apart.

I think I’m also pretty realistic about the state of ‘the process’ and the state of publishing in general. The reality is that you CAN actually have written a great book and that STILL does not mean you are ever getting published…so what hope is there for those of us that maybe have a great book idea that is maybe well written or is maybe timely…it’s pretty debilitating.

I am making a concerted effort this weekend though, no excuses and “sad pile of low self-esteem and mania” be damned, to cast a wide net of query letters. Look out world…a mediocre bi-polar mess is comin’ out…

Pearl #38 – I Hate The French

January 3, 2008 in pearl literary zine, short fiction, writing | 11 comments

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So I’m (finally) officially published.  Yea!  This piece I Hate The French is the first piece I ever submitted (in July of 2006 – why oh why does this stuff take so long!) and it is truly wonderful to see my words in print that doesn’t belong to my home computer. 

It IS a pretty great start to the new year.  Let’s hope there is much more of this to come.  In case you are intersted in supporting a great literary magazine, and of course reading the first stepping stone on what I’m sure will be the wild unabashed success of yours truly (of course, right?), then go here: Pearl #38 and click on order to buy thousands of issues… 🙂

Short Fiction Rejection #6

January 3, 2008 in mcsweeney's, short fiction, short fiction rejections, writing | 4 comments

Ah, sigh.  McSweeneys.

How I love thee.  How thou does not yet love me.

I got my rejection today from McSweeney’s for a story I submitted months and months ago, so I knew it was a no, but it was good to have the final word, if only so I can send that story back out.  It is one of my favorites, but I can see why it might not quite be a fit for my beloved McSweeney’s.  But it’s okay, I’ve been working on (in my mind only) another little story that might be great for McSweeny’s…just have to sit down and put pen to paper, or fingertips to keys…whatever. 

I have to say, one nice thing about a McSweeney’s rejection…it comes on an awesome little postcard (in my SASE of course so nobody can see my shame).  It was also fairly encouraging for a rejection letter.  I suppose I should have expected no less from them.

Okay, so the official count is now:  1 for 7

And that’s all that have gone out…I’m preparing a new group though.  Let’s hope these are more potent (or lucky).

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