Katie Runyon

I have been trying to do a lot of research on agents and all that they entail. I have been getting some mixed information. Of course, as if it isn’t hard enough, each place seems to tell you something a little different than the last. One place says not to send anything the agents don’t as for. The other says it is okay to send a few pages of your manuscript. Which is it?

I have been given a few good sites to help find agents. You should do a little research on each agent before you query them, to make sure the information that was on the site is current. A good amount of the agents have websites and say what they want you to send. You can find some good links in the “links” section of the site.

I recommend that you sign up to some kind of group or website where you can ask questions and chat with other writers, it can be very useful. One that I have been participating in regularly is a yahoo group: Mike’s Writing Workshop. There are a lot of helpful people there who would be happy to do what they can to help answer your questions or critique your work.

I will try and add any pages that I think might be useful in the “links” section.
As for the books I said I would review, I just received them. I was only able to read a little last night, but am hoping by next week I will have at least one review ready to go.

I am buying two books by Raymond Feist, Flight of the Nighthawks and Honored Enemy. I have ordered the books through Amazon, so it will take a few days for them to reach me. Once I finish them, I will post a review on here.

I haven’t written in awhile, but I have been doing a lot of research about agents and publishers and working on ideas and details for my book. There is a lot of information people looking to publish should know. When I am closer to finishing my book, I will go through it all again and write down the important things I need to know and remember. Becoming part of an online group where you can ask other writers, even some published authors, questions is really helpful. I would recommend it to anyone who is writing and either wants to just talk about the craft or has questions that need answers.

I am working on stocking up on ink and paper, I know once I am done I am going to need a great amount of both. I hope what I am getting will last me for awhile.

These last few days have been just great (sarcasm). I have been able to get loads of writing done (more sarcasm). I’ve never been happier (even more sarcasm).

You get the hint. I hope things begin to turn around, but the chances of that are slim to none. On the plus side, I have been able to get some work done on the site. I have changed the forum, gallery, and even this blog. The colors all match the rest of the site now, which is hopefully nicer then the more default look. I have added a few mods to my forum to add a few little extras that seemed interesting. It will now show if there is a birthday coming up, there is a special separator for the signatures, etc. The gallery hasn’t had much added to it, but maybe I’ll see what else I can do. The blog has just had a few minor things added, like the calendar and the number of days since the post has been added.

If things start getting a little less stressful and chaotic around here soon, maybe I can get more then a sentence or two done. I really want to get this chapter finished. Most of all, I really want to get this book finished.

So remember to sign up at the forum and post, we need people to liven it up. You can also rate/comment on the pictures in the gallery and add your own to the user gallery. And as for this blog, you can comment on each post. So keep yourself entertained and get going. Hopefully I’ll be back soon with a much more positive post, where I have actually got something done besides complaining.

Not one, not two, but three baby squirrels. This is a little unrelated to my book or website, or anything like that, but I had to tell everyone. Now personally, I have never seen a baby squirrel. My mother isn’t too fond of them, but like all other animals, I adore them. But when she found out that some baby squirrels had fallen out of their nest, as our family is prone to doing, we are trying to help them. We have taken in and tried to nurse many animals before. These poor babies had fallen out of their nest and on to the road. With all the cats running around our neighborhood, including out ancient cat, and them being in the road, my mom decided to bring them into the house until we could call our animal control friend. We put them in a shoe box, with a baby blanket under them to help cover them and warm them. I have searched around the internet to find out the best way to take care of them until the proper authorities could take them. So I got a heating pad as it says and have also creating the water, salt, and sugar mixture to help their dehydration. The poor things are bloody and one is very clingy.

Two of them have bloody noses, which I have been trying to keep from clogging, the other has a little nick on its belly, which I cleaned and it has stopped bleeding. I have tried countless times to give them the water mixture, but they are very adamant about not having it. They do want to cling and climb though. From what I could find out, they are probably around four or five weeks old. There are two females and a male.

They are as cute as a button, with their eyes closed and their ears only beginning to unglue from their heads. I never knew they had just big paws; they seem to be about three times the size that they should be. So needless to say, I haven’t gotten any writing done. But it should only be a few more hours until the animal control guy comes to take them to where they should go to get help and get better until they are old enough to be released. It is a sad tale, but hopefully it will have a good ending. I’ll have to post and update once the rest of it pans out.

UPDATE:
The squirrels were brought to a wildlife rehabilitation center. They said the squirrels looked healthy and clean. So they should be able to be nursed until they are old enough to be released back in to the wild. So I guess everything worked out. I even took a few pictures of them to remember them by.

Well so far today has been full of-you guess it, laptop, bees, and sunshine. I am using the laptop I bought so I can continue with my story now that I am done with the main parts of my site. I like using the laptop, it just feels right. I also like that I can go outside or where ever I want and type. The bad part is that the bees are drawn to the humming bird feeder we have here on the porch and WON’T leave me alone. I have tried moving it to the other side of the porch, but it doesn’t matter. They are also drawn to the laptop, flying down and taking a rest right on top of it as I am typing. I have had to resituate myself a few times because the sun was getting a little warm and I didn’t want my laptop overheating.

I have gotten a good amount of work done so far. I had to read what I had written awhile ago so I could remember where I left off. It was a little hard to get started, trying to figure out/remember where I wanted the story to go. I have written a few pages now and am sure to be close to half way done with this chapter by the time I go to bed tonight.

While I was walking through the house yesterday I saw a painting my late grandmother had done that was sitting against the wall in my bedroom. I have wanted to hang it up since I came upon it, but with all my shelves and everything I don’t have enough room. So it has sat for awhile, but when I saw it, an idea popped into my head. It was perfect for a scene I had been thinking about earlier that day and I decided to take a picture of it and put it up on my site for everyone to see. Then I went looking for other paintings my grandmother had done that might also work out and by luck I found another one. So they are both on the site for everyone to take a gander at.

I am going to add much more to the site, so for all of those who think I don’t have much up yet, just keep on checking.

I have my forum, blog, and a gallery up so far, but the rest of the site isn’t as easy to work out as I thought. The program is very confusing and I have to wait until tomorrow to enlist the help of my boyfriend to help teach me what I must do. I have tried and tried, but none the less, I can’t seem to get it to work.

I found a laptop and had received it a few days back, but it wasn’t as I thought it was. It doesn’t have the touch pad like I wanted. So I have to start looking all over again. I’m hoping I can find one a little quicker this time. My site is keeping me busy anyway and it will still probably be a few days before everything is the way it should be. I am excited about getting my laptop and continuing with my novel. I’m itching to get it finished and to finally find someone to publish it.

I’ll still probably try again at figuring out how to design my website, even though it most likely won’t get me anywhere. Then I’ll probably move on to some more story ideas. I want an event that is going to happen in the next few chapters to tie into a main piece of the story. I’ll probably post again when my site is done and I have a minute to actually think of something to say.