Bitchy Agents.

Admittedly, I haven't been using this blog as much as I intended to. It's a work in progress.

But today is the first time I've really felt inspired to post, the first time I felt like I had something to say.

My RSS reader has something like 17 subscriptions, each one of them another publishing blog, be it author or agent, and I spend a good amount of reading them. Some of them hold contests for advice on querying or critique of x-number of pages of a first draft. Most of them report on the state of the business in relation to the economy. And more than that offer broad advice or answer questions that people e-mail in or post in comments. If you've found this blog, you've probably read some of theirs too.

There are a lot of good agent blogs out there.

But today I'm feeling particularly annoyed. Of the 8 unread posts in my feed at least three that I have read so far have followed the same trend that I see all of the time. Bitchy Agents. I understand that the nature of their job is to be critical and I certainly would never want an agent for myself that was sugar coating things but what amazes me is this trend... it's not only that agents feel the need to be blunt or critical in their posts, it's the way that it's done. It's as though everyone decided that sarcastic criticism was the way to go today (and it's not just today that I've noticed it.)

Sometimes I wonder if it's not a trend started out by Miss Snark, but personally I'm growing a little thin on it. I know, it's my choice to continue to read these blogs, but they are good blogs and I do enjoy the content, I'm just tiring of the snarky voice.

On the opposite hand I find blogs like Nathan Bransford's to be refreshing. Perhaps it's because of the male voice where most of the blogs I read are female? I don't know. I do know that his criticism always seems well worded and just as informative as others but he doesn't use sarcasm, which is instantly off-putting, to get his point across. He also seems to have a knack for delivering criticism with a proverbial-smile which I admire.

Well- there you have it. My personal rant on the sharp edge agent blogs are taking. And like any good female, now that I've ranted I'm feeling much better.

Still Alive

I'm intimidated still.

I know that I'm the only person who really knows this blog exists and I shouldn't intimidate myself by posting to it, but I've been avoiding it for that very reason. Mostly I use this account to reply to others blogs. Others blogs who are vastly more popular and wide-read than mine (I have no idea why my one post blog would be wide-read but let's go with it.)

So, what's pushing me over that frightening edge to actually write in the scary blogspot?

I'm procrastinating.

I believe I mentioned before that I'm working on a novel. Technically, I'm working on two novels. One of them is my project (which I am procrastinating on) and the other is a co-authorship with my best friend. That one is getting a lot closer to being done, we're getting to all of that exciting climax stuff! We've also been writing it for a year now. Mine, on the other hand is no where near that exciting climax stuff. In fact, I'm not even positive what it will be (I do have an idea though!)

Fireproof, the joint project, is a Steampunk Fantasy that is planned to span three novels, following the two leaders of a rebellion as they attempt to save their world from Ultimate Steampowered Destruction. The first of the three (which is what we're on now) finds the two MCs attempting to time-travel and ending up in a different reality altogether, they are having to fight their way through this new (peaceful) world to find each other (and themselves) and get back before it's too late.

In the Absense of Embers, my single project, I am writing for 70 Days of Sweat and all in all, it's going well. I'm just over 8,000 words with 10,00 being my goal by Sunday. I'm really enjoying the story, even though I don't have much of a plan. Book summary:

When Alexendra is flung from her father's airship she doesn't expect to live much less discover just how colorful her life could become. But her journey to Shores Academy with a fellow student and outcast (who just happened to save her life) will prove to be more teaching than an entire semester could ever manage as Alexendra learns the faults in life-long prejudices, but also begins to discover the nefarious plot against her father which threatens her own life as well.

I don't know that I feel either of them are particularly clever or original plots, but I think that the stories are still very good and I certianly love them myself.

Okay. That's enough procrastinating for me. Thanks for listening.

The Dreaded First Post

Sitting here staring at this text box feels a lot like staring at the blank document that is supposed to house your ever-important first draft. In a word- terrifying.

I feel like having a blog means that I have to have something earth-shattering to say, or at least that I am claiming that I have something earth shattering to say, which just isn't the case. I have thoughts, sure, I have opinions by the truckload, but that isn't to say that I think mine are particularly any more shiny than someone else's. Actually, in most cases I feel that they leave a lot to be wanted. I'm not the most educated, or the most thoughtful, and certainly not the most informed.

But then I have to ask myself- do I expect others to hold to these standards? Does everyone on the web have to be a genius-ground breaking-trail blazing-fool to 'earn' a right to have a blog?

No, Lynne, no they do not.

And so- in an effort to prevent myself from supporting this idea that a blog has to be the best blog ever to have a right to exist, I will be writing here. Just me. Just Theo Lynne, being Theo Lynne.

(but who, you ask, is Theo Lynne?)

Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm a lot of things, I suppose. I'm a student, a title that I'm almost sad to still be able to use (not that I have a desire to ever stop learning) and a graphic designer. I'm an aspiring author (and right now I feel like adding a cynical 'who isn't'- but it's only frustration) and I'm an avid reader. I'm a fan of young adult, fantasy, sci-fi, and my latest love the sub-genre Steampunk.

Theo Lynne is a wife, puppy-owner, and dreamer. She gets frustrated and she's passionate about a lot of things. Who knows where life will take her.