7 Literary Agents To Follow In 2016

Over the last few years I've been spreading the word about some awesome Agents out there.

Usually the posts about agents are among my most popular posts. Which is great – yay page views. But over time the information shared in my previous posts became outdated. Agents leave the business or close to submissions and therefore tweet less, etc etc. This business is fast moving and full of surprise.

So once again it's time for a new and improved: 7 Literary Agents You Should Be Following in 2016. This list is comprised of Agents who provide helpful feedback or resources to writers via twitter:

1. Jennifer Laughran aka @literaticat - Jennifer has been known to blog and tweet sage advice. I love her Big Ol' Genre Glossary.

2. Clelia Gore of Martin Literary Management. She's bright, happy, and upbeat. She has recently been involved online and participates in contests. Follow her on twitter to check out all her wonderful advice.

3. Pam Howell aka @bookaliciouspam - A self proclaimed super geek which immediately makes her awesome. Her blog is a terrific resource. She's moved around a bit but her advice is on point, as always.

4. Peter Knapp with New Leaf Literary. He reps a lot of fabulous clients and interacts with a lot of folks online. Follow him to learn what he's looking for before submitting.

5. Sara Megibow aka @SaraMegibow, with KT Literary. She does #Tenqueries and tweets great feedback.

6. Bree Ogden: of Red Sofa Literary (formerly of D4EO). Tweets regularly and columnist at LitReactor. She reps darker lit and has a quirky sense of humor and style.

7. Mandy Hubbard: of Emerald City Literary Agency (formerly of D4EO). She recently launched her own agency and tweets regularly. Her insight has been very influential in my writting evolution (I even took her LitReactor class on YA).

And for a bonus:

Mark O'Brien - okay, he's not a literary agent but he is an intern at Entangled Pub. He tweets amazing insights into writing and life (always with a splash of humor). He is a terrific resource so check him out.

Want more Agents to follow? Check out this post.

Which Agents do you love to follow? Has an agent tweet helped you on your path to publication?

Welcome to #NaNoWriMo: 6 Things To Remember This November

It's November which means it is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). If you are undertaking the coolest (or nerdiest) word challenge in history this month then let me be the first to say, "Are you crazy?"

The answer is likely, "only a little."

50,000 words in 30 days is a gigantarama undertaking. I've tried to tackle NaNo 3 times and I've failed to meet goal....you guessed it....three times.

Before you get too deep into this novel-writing madness to understand the English language (oh yes, that can happen) I wanted to share a few tid-bits of advice from a humble, weary, word-nerd. My advice on NaNoWriMo:

1. You are not in a competition - unless you are competing against yourself. Then, by all means, compete away. This isn't about how much better you are doing than so-and-so. It's about setting a goal and devoting yourself to it.

2. There are no losers - if you write ONE word you are a winner. If you stall out at 19k (like I've done in the past) then you are still a winner because you have 19k toward a novel that you didn't have before.

3. Don't forget to celebrate achievements along the way - because, cupcakes! Write three days in a row? Hit 10k? 20K? or more? CELEBRATE. Just because this is a month long challenge doesn't mean you should only celebrate on December 1st. Set small goals and celebrate along the way.

4. Never start querying your NaNo Novel on December 1st - don't forget you need to edit (A LOT) before this baby will be query ready. Ask your new Nano friends if they want to be your crit partners when the project is finished.

5. Lean on your writing friends - they know how crazy this challenge can be and they are there for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help or talk something through (even if it's to vent about how dumb a character is being). This is a community and you are part of it. Enjoy it.

6. Above all - have fun! We word-nerds don't let our hair down every day. Enjoy it.

Are you Nanoing? Have advice? Leave it here:

On Kicking Fear In The Crotch

As some of my readers may have gleaned over the years, Handsome Jack is a bit of a motorcycle enthusiast. He loves riding them, working on them, and modifying them. I think it stems from all his years playing with legos. Anyway, he builds things for his bike. Some of this is out of necessity and some of it is driven entirely by him. He wanted a cruise control for his bike so he can release the throttle on long rides. He did a search and there were some products available but none specifically for his non-Harley bike. So, what did he do?

He built one.

He took his bike apart, figured out how it worked, and built a cruise control for it (like the badass he is!).

I was blown away by it all and, of course, told him how proud I was that he built something so complex.

He turned to me and said this:

Most of creating anything is guts. I’d say it’s 60% guts, 30% skill and patience, and 10% luck.

My hubby, he's more than a handsome face.

His comment isn’t limited to engineering cruise controls. He may not have known it, but his comment applied to the whole wide world of creativity. And I don't know about you, but I could use a strong dose of fearlessness these days. So let’s dig into this wonderful comment, shall we?

Creating is 60% guts – How many times have you heard someone say, “I have a great idea for a story but can’t find the time,” or; “I don’t want to share my work with other people [insert reason],” or; “I’ve always wanted to write….”

The many reasons why someone can’t or won’t do the work (in this case, writing) are all fear based reasons. Fear is the opposite of guts. Fear can be a terrible thing. In its most primal capacity fear was there as a signal to keep us alive like this:

Fear: Hey, don’t go into that cave.
You: I don’t know, the cave looks very nice.
*growl emanates from inside cave*
Fear: RUN AWAY NOW!
You: Okay *runs away*

But in our current reality, where primal fear isn’t always necessary (whose still afraid of the dark sometimes? *raises hand*) the fear response stands in the way of accomplishing our dreams. Fear, in our reality looks something more like this:

Fear: Hey, why don’t you do anything else other than write that book because you know you’ll never be as successful as [insert a person].
You: I really want to try this writing thing. I think I could be good at it and I think I love it.
Fear: You ‘think’ you could be good? You ‘think’ you love it? What a joke. If you don’t know for sure you are wasting your time. Why waste your time? You know what’s fun….eating. Why don’t you eat some of those cookies?
You: *eats all the cookies*

It takes guts to look fear in the face and realize that fear is controlling your motivations. It takes even more guts to kick fear in the balls and move ahead with your dreams – whatever they may be. Check out this recent post from the lovely Delilah S Dawson on fear.

Creating takes guts above all else. Think about all the books out there that you’ve read and thought, “Hey, I can do this,” or even, “I could do this better.” The difference between you and that author who actually has a book out there is 60% guts. They had the guts to push forward and write. They had the guts to do what it takes to get the book published. And they had the guts to keep going even when someone told them no. Check out this awesome post by the acerbic Chuck Wendig on F'ing fear right in the ear.

It takes guts to survive in publishing but that’s not all it takes.


Creating is 30% skill – skill is important. You have to learn the rules and the tools of the trade.

Just like Handsome Jack had to learn what the carburetor-what’s-it thingie worked and the role it played in moving his bike. Creators gotta learn storytelling skills. And skill is relative and subjective, isn’t it.

Some people say some writers are more skilled than others. There are finite rules of grammar and storytelling but there is also finesse and personal taste. Just look at the recent hullabaloo with Chuck Wendig’s StarWars Aftermath. His book sold well and debuted on the list (congrats on making list, Sir). But at the exact same time his book is doing well sales wise the one star reviews were reproducing like rabbits after rabbit-prom. Sidebar – how cute would a rabbit prom be? Someone needs to get on that.

Who can say why his book is getting such crappy reviews. But ultimately his book is performing well. He got this gig (writing a StarWars book) in part because of his skill as a writer so skill matters. But skill is not the Triforce. It will not grant your wishes and make you an instantly beloved author. Skill alone ain’t jack. Skill plus guts, however, is a powerful combination.

I think it’s important to note that skill and guts are entirely within your control. You can become a less fearful, more skilled writer.

You can choose to ignore the fear and actually write the darn book. But there is a part of the equation that is outside of your control, and that’s luck.

Creating is 10% luck – yeah, it sucks. But there is a small, tinsy-weensy, piece of this pie that ain’t yours to control. Luck can be any number of things. It can manifest itself as ‘right genre – right time,’ or ‘right elements – right time,’ or even ‘right place- right time.’ The business of publishing is outside of our control and it’s a good business tactic to be aware of what’s driving the business you wish to be a part of. However, it’s not wise to alter your path and change genres to hop a trend. That’s a little like running after the cool kids in school and smacking right into a pane of glass.

Take a deep breath and repeat after me:

The business side of publishing is outside of my control.
To be successful in publishing requires guts, skill, and luck.
I can control two of those three elements and I choose to let the third, the element I cannot control, go.
I will not chase after trends.
I will not fret over other’s success.
I will strive to become a better writer.
I will strive to become the master of my fear.
I will strive to be a better me.

And who knows, after all of that (the guts, the skill, and the hard work) you may just find yourself the next lucky one.

On the book only you can write....

It's not uncommon for writing advice to take on a motto-like feel: Show Don't Tell, You should be writing, But In Chair Hands On Keyboard (BIC HOK), etc. These writing mantras are all over pintrest with clever graphics accompanying them because this advice is good. It's better than good.It's great gosh-darn it.

One piece of advice you see commonly is repeated is 'Write the book only you can write'. Sounds great, right? Simple enough. But what does this really mean?

1. Allow your personal truths to shape the world - This doesn't mean writing in 2nd person POV (for the love of glob, don't). Rather, allowing your emotional truths, or those core concepts that make up the foundation of you, present themselves in your fiction. For example, I believe in love at first sight, I believe in the romantic notion of fate, honor, and doing the right thing. I believe in second chances and that hard work pays off. These, and many more, make up core, emotional truths that shape my personality. These are concepts I relate to and connect with. Allowing these truths to present themselves in my stories help shape a story only I could write.

2. Allow your reality to color your fiction - sounds similar to the item above, I know, but this is different, believe me. Your perceptions are your reality. Did you grow up a country mouse or city mouse? Did you go to military school or public high school? Did you go to college or not? Each of these (and countless more) create the reality of the world unique to you and only you. Embracing your perceptions, preferences, and experiences allow you to craft a story only you could create. Don't censor yourself out of your story. A great example of this can be found in the novels of Delilah S Dawson. She's cool, dark, geek-girl and the worlds and characters she crafts are sprinkled with these characteristics. It makes her novels uniquely her own. As a reader, I find her stories more enjoyable because of this.

Last, but not least:

3. Write what you want - don't cater to trends. Write stories that tickle your brain. Craft plots and worlds that get your blood pumping. If you don't love it do you think someone else will? If you fake it for the sake of trend the reader will know. Be true to your interests and the authenticity will come through. My favorite example of this is Natalie Whipple's Ninja series. She loves anime, role playing games, and Asian cultures. Her Ninja series has all of these elements masterfully included. Her passion allows her stories to pop off the page.


Ultimately, Neil may have said it best:

Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that - but you are the only you. ― Neil Gaiman

How do you ensure your WIP is a story only you could write?

How I Define Success aka Kicking Fear in the Crotch

I recently posted about my burn out and how I suspected it was caused, in large part, due to fear. I followed some steps that have proven to combat burn out for me in the past and I took time off. I stepped away from writing all together.

For several days in a row I didn’t write a single word. I didn’t check my twitter feed. I didn’t read blogs about writing. I didn’t read for fun! I stepped back and dissected my fear. I ripped into it like a lightsaber through the fleshy belly of a Tauntaun. I peeled it open, stepped instead and this is what I saw:

· I’m afraid of missing my chance – I’m afraid that while I scale back my writing production to accommodate school I will miss the opportunity to sign some magical deal. You know the kind of deal I'm talking about: where people instantly become stars of the writing world overnight. Their debut hits list and they get a million cool followers on Twitter. Yeah, that kinda deal. When I realized this was my fear I laughed in its face. Because it’s a dumb fear (that's right, I called you dumb *sticks tongue out at fear*). First of all, those magical deals don’t exist. The debut author who appears to have overnight success has really been working away at it in anonymity, behind the curtain, in the dark, for years. My rational brain knew this but that scared, jealous, space in my heart can sing a convincing tune. Laughing at the silliness of that fear helped lessen it. Sure, I might not ride the next great trend tsunami into success but it was unlikely – HIGHLY unlikely – to happen whether or not I scaled back production.

· I’m afraid scaling back my production makes me less of a writer– I must scale back my production, at least at first, while I get used to the new normal of juggling my Day Job and going back to school. I want to guard at least a few hours a week as precious writing time but even that would be way less than I write today. My fear took the reality of scaling back production and twisted into a million “You aren’t a real writer if….” Statements. Which is silly really. If I’m writing I’m a writer. That’s it. That’s all it takes. Sure, I might write less or it might take me longer to finish a draft but as long as I’m writing I’m a writer.

· I’m afraid I’ll have less time to seriously revise (or otherwise respond to query interest – when there is interest) – To be a writer I must write and I’ve got that piece covered. But I’d like to be published someday and for that to happen I must query. But it’s rarely as simple as send letter, send full, sign with agent, sell book as-is with no revisions, book goes to production with no revisions, book hits selves exactly as you drafted it. Actually, I don’t think that EVER happens. Selling a book means revisions. Not just one round, but multiple rounds. With the unknown demands of school looming over me I can’t be certain I will have the time to devote to extensive revisions. So the fear in me said “why bother trying to sell if you can’t revise. Just give up.” I thought about this long and hard. It’s true, I might not have the time to devote to extensive revisions following the query or sale of a manuscript but that doesn’t mean I should give up. Instead, this might be a wonderful opportunity to keep on drafting without the pressure of querying. Maybe I should go ahead and write the entire trilogy I’ve been toying with. Who cares if I don’t sell the first book (or any books in the trilogy)? Every single book I write is better than the one before it because I learn with each experience. So writing that series, regardless of sales, might be worth it for the experience alone.

And deeeeeeep in the slippery wet guts of my fear I saw the pulsing heart of it all:

· I might not succeed at this

It’s a scary thought, right? What if I fail at this? What if all these changes in my life cause me to fail at being a published writer? And looking this fear dead in the eyes I felt….happy. Yes, you heard me right. Happy. As in giggles and smiles happy. Because there is a truth that I believe with all my heart and it’s this:

Success is not caused by circumstances outside my control.

Success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a purposeful confluence of action, attitude, and hard work. That reality isn't changing just because I'm going back to school.

My road to publication might take longer than others (and longer than I'd like) but it will happen. Because I’m committed to making this dream a reality. I’m willing to do the work necessary to make this dream a reality. And I have the endurance and determination to see this through.

When I remembered these things about myself my fears went away. They could (and likely will) come back from time to time but I’ll try not to feed them after midnight.

I recently heard someone say “you can either live your fears or you can live your dreams but you can’t live both” and the power of that statement reverberated through me. You can’t live both. I can’t live both. You can either allow your fears to become reality or you can keep pushing forward until your dreams become reality.

Living the dream is a cliché we throw around but it means something to people. For me, it means doing what I love. But it’s bigger than it seems. Doing what I love is multifaceted. I love my family and friends. I love writing: inventing worlds and characters and going on the rollercoaster with them. I love my kitties and reading good books under a warm pile of purr balls. I love running and fitness and pushing my physical boundaries. I love learning and the law.

So for me, living my dreams means doing more than one thing; being more than one thing. (You know, like being a girl and a reincarnated moon princess.)

I will be a law student in Aug. That’s one facet of my dream. I will also continue to write and edit and create. That’s another facet of my dream. And I will continue to run and race and push my physical boundaries. You guessed it – that’s another facet of my dream.

And in the center of all that chaos I will have my family, friends, and kitties.

Moving forward my life will be different but it will be my life. What I want on my path. Sure it’s scary. But it’s my dream and I’m going to live it.

Instalove - what is it and how to avoid it

In the romance writing world you often hear of the term ‘Instalove’ and how it’s a bad thing. When I first tried my hand at writing a romance I was very afraid of the Instalove issue because Instalove is unrelatable. which is precisely why it's a bad thing. It’s not real. It doesn’t happen. As a reader, when I encounter Instalove I usually have one of these moments:

And when unrelatable things occur in your novel it breaks the magical bridge between your work and your reader. Now instead of willingly suspending their disbelief they are actively identifying your story as impossible, unreal, fantasy.


No one wants that. Not the author and certainly not the reader. Well, maybe Castle wants it but he's a fictional author....so yeah.

So what is Instalove, exactly?

Great question but before we get into the what it is maybe we should first establish what it's not.

Instalove is not love at first sight although some people use the terms interchangeably. Instalove is not love at first sight because love at first sight is a legit sensation (probably more aptly described as ‘lust at first sight’ or ‘infatuation at first sight’, but still). Love at first sight is real and relatable. Readers get it.

Instalove is worse.

Instalove is the reward without the work. It’s the prize without the fight. Instalove is when the Hero and heroine are in passionate, world-changing, panty-dropping, lust-love-infatuation when they have nothing in common, have barely spoken, have not bonded, etc., etc.

It’s Anakin and Padme falling for each other in that horrible Star Wars movie (Because it totally makes sense for a grown ass woman, a SENATOR no less, to fall for a child who can barely string a coherent sentence together). *shudders* In Romance novels it’s commonly the out-of-her-league ___________ (movie star/rock star/billionaire/politician/doctor/bad boy – you pick) who is willing to give up everything for her after their first kiss.

MRW----->

First kisses are great – I get that – but I don’t believe any well-adjusted, successful adult, a leader in________________ (movies/music/business/politics/medicine/crime – you pick) field, would give up everything for a first kiss. Come on now.

And I know what you’re going to say: “But Colleen, these books are fantasy. They aren’t meant to be realistic.”

I agree. I totally agree. There is a fantasy element to every Romance troupe and that’s okay. I’m not advocating for all-realism-all-the-time (this is fiction after all). But what I think is missing from these Instalove stories is the believability. And believability is what allows any reader off the street to insert themselves into the life of your heroine. It’s what allows the reader to connect. Without believability the story falls flat.

And how do you avoid Instalove?

Start with flawed characters. Utterly, hopelessly flawed characters and show use their flaws.

Ideally, the Hero’s flaws should complement or balance the heroine’s flaws. Same with their strengths (in fact, many times our strengths can also be our weaknesses). A heroine’s strengths should complement or balance the Hero’s strengths. Each character should be a soothing balm for the other.

Why is this important? Because characters who complement each other make sense to us. I loved the movie Enchanted. In this movie the heroine is a cartoon come to life. She is the definition of naive and believes love and marriage can happen instantly.

Her Hero is a realistic, hardworking divorce attorney in New York. He doesn’t believe in love at all and certainly doesn’t believe you can fall in love instantly.

Together they balance out each other’s extremes. They learn from one another until they are able to meet in the middle. Their flaws and strengths alone leave them unhappy but when they come together they can find happiness.

But as Enchanted so perfectly illustrates, it’s not enough to have flawed characters. They must challenge each other’s status quo. The Hero and heroine must learn and grow to earn love and happiness. It’s not enough for them to reluctantly lust after each other. The characters must be challenged.

And last, but not least, I love love love when characters show that they have changed by doing something for the other. I call this ‘the gift exchange’. It’s probably has a real name in the writing community but I don’t know it. And ‘the gift exchange’ is not a ‘must have’ and it’s not in every story but it’s so important.

‘The gift exchange’ is usually a demonstration of some kind, generally public, of the character's change or growth. It’s as if the character is admitting they were wrong. And nothing melts hearts faster than a heartfelt apology. Now, this public demonstration doesn’t have to be in the form of an apology. It doesn’t have to be ultra-public (like Heath Ledger’s character singing across the bleachers in 10 Things I Hate About You or Julia Stiles reading her private poem in front of class).

It can take the form of a concession or a small token that shows the H/h were really listening. And ideally, it would be best if both characters demonstrate this albeit at different times.

A great example of this from a non-rom movie can be found in How To Train Your Dragon. In this first installment romance is a secondary plot element.

Hapless, kind hearted Hiccup longs for the out-of-his-league Astrid. Astrid is a dragon-killing Viking through and through. The couple couldn't be more mismatched. When Astrid realizes Hiccup has been keeping a pet dragon (and a dangerous, rare kind of dragon at that) she is determined to reveal his secret. But Hiccup and Toothless kidnap her and take her for a ride that challenges Astrid’s belief system.

So now we have flawed characters challenging each other. Great. But when your heart melts is when Astrid rallies her friends to ride their own dragons and help Hiccup and Toothless. This is public commitment to her change. This is her showing us she’s changed. She’s earning Hiccups love and we are okay with that because we have witnessed the journey and believed it step by step.

Another, more general example of ‘the gift exchange’ can be found in Tangled (have I mentioned lately that I love this movie?). This is an interesting example because each character is displaying ‘the gift exchange’ in the same scene. Spoiler Alert: I’m going to talk about the ending. But seriously, if you haven’t seen this movie you should go watch it now. I can wait. *taps foot* *whistles* You back? Alrighty.

In the finale Flynn is near death. Rapunzel tries to negotiate. She’s willing to give up her freedom to save Flynn. Her freedom is the most important thing to her up until this point and now she’s willing to trade it. It’s her gift. And it’s selfless. Her gift illustrates her growth as a character.

But Flynn, being the reformed rogue that he is *swoons*, won’t let her. He uses broken class to cut Rapunzel’s hair thereby destroying its magic. His gift is giving her back her freedom. It’s selfless and sweet. His gift illustrates his monumental growth and is a real tear-jerker moment.

Now, not all gift exchanges take place in the same scene like that. And not all of them are tied to finale. Although having the gift exchange tied to the finale is a powerful tool.

So TL;DR: What do we know?

Instalove isn't love at first sight.
Instalove is when characters haven’t earned the love of their partner.
To avoid Instalove we must make the flawed characters challenge each other (and a gift exchange is nice too).

A love affair supported by character growth is a believable love affair. And believable love connects with readers. It's the magic we love to read.

Do you hate Instalove? How do you like your characters to earn the other’s love?