About Me

My Tweets from QueryDay

As you know, Friday was QueryDay on Twitter. I think it went exceptionally well. Lots of great questions from authors, lots of agents and editors chiming in with answers. An incredible wealth of information was passed around! Several people asked me to compile my tweets from the day. So here they are. Just a whole…
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A Really Long Brain Dump

Sorry for this very long post about nothing. I don’t blame you if you want to skip this one, but I had a few things on my mind tonight that I just needed to get out. Last week I spent some time reading the AgentFail post on the Bookends, LLC blog. It’s not that I’m…
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Off to Seattle

Today I’m flying from Dallas to Seattle, where I’ll be this whole week. For the next five days, I’m posting previously written columns you may have missed. Most of the week we’ll be talking about platform. Hope you find this helpful!
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A Friday Rant (And This One’s Not About You)

So, you know I love writing this blog, right? I enjoy the dialogue with writers, and sharing tidbits of information, and hearing about your experience as a writer in this crazy publishing world. But I have to tell you my #1 frustration with this whole thing. It has nothing to do with you. Nope. It’s…
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Why I Write

I have to admit I was overwhelmed by the responses to Friday’s Q4U post. I wasn’t able to read them as they were coming in since I was busy on the ski slopes (someone has to support Colorado’s #1 industry), but I read them all on Sunday and took some time to think about them.…
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My Not-So-Secret Identity

So yesterday I got an interesting email from a guy who wondered why my Blogger profile identifies me as a Christian. He wrote, in part: Are you hoping that the fact that you are not a Jew, Hindu, Muslim or atheist will influence people to read your blog, or to turn away? Are you trying…
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On Being a Twitterbug

Phew! Those last three days of posts were intense! I enjoyed talking with you about elevator pitches, but I gotta tell ya, that was a lot of work. So today’s post will be brief. I want to say a few words about my new favorite way to waste boatloads of time stay connected with people.…
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Back to Talking About ME

O…M…G… did you READ all those comments from Friday’s post??? What fun! Y’all are so entertaining… you should be, like, writers or something. (If you haven’t read them, scroll down and do it NOW.) So I guess the little mixer was a success, what with all the chatting going on. I’ve read all your comments…
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Gingerbread and Parties and Snow, Oh My

First I want to say thank you to everyone for telling us about your holiday wishes on Friday’s post. It was fun reading all of them! Glad I’m not the only one who wants a maid, a new office set-up, or a new computer. In the end, it’s so great to know that God’s taking…
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An Agent for One Year

That “no blogging on Wednesdays” thing didn’t last very long! I couldn’t help myself, had to post a blog today. You’ll see why… Another milestone to report! Today marks exactly one year since I made my first submission to publishers in my role as agent. In celebration, I wanted to share some impressions of the…
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Milestones

My blog just crossed two milestones and I didn’t even notice! First, last weekend marked ONE YEAR since I started the blog. Happy blog-birthday to Rants & Ramblings! Second, my cumulative “unique visitors” count just rolled over 100,000. I sure never expected that! So, thanks to all of you who visit the blog, whether you…
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Q4U: Stuff We Can’t Live Without

I thought it would fun for everyone to share the things that make our lives easier. Internet resources, technological gadgets… what are some things that make your work life or personal life easier, more organized, or more secure?Here are a few of my favorite things:Jott: When I’m out and about, I call Jott from my…
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Ask the Agent: Finding Time to Blog

“If you’re so busy as an agent, I’m wondering how you have time to write a blog too. Is it really not as busy as all the agents claim?” No, agenting really is an all-consuming job. But here’s my secret: I have a nanny for my kids, a housekeeper to keep things clean, I serve…
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Off to Florida

I’m heading out to the International Christian Retail Show in the hot and humid city of Orlando, Florida. Thank heavens I’ll be inside with air conditioning most of the time. (My hair hates humidity.) Tomorrow I leave the house at 5am. When I arrive, I’ll head straight from the airport to the Chi Libris retreat…
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