Saturday Link Special #11, Plus!

I hope your new year is off with a bang, in a good way. Whether you make resolutions and goals or not, most people have a pretty good idea of what they intend to aim for in the near future.

1. What are your writing goals for this week, month, or year? You can share in the comments or just sit back and really think about the question. What would you like to accomplish?

To be fair, I’ll share mine. I have another round of revision to do on a manuscript but I also intend to get to work on the second draft of an old NaNoWriMo project and if time allows, tear apart and rewrite the half-written draft of an old story using new ideas and inspiration I’ve had for it. That should keep me good and busy on the writing front. I’ll probably have some beta reading to do as well, but I’m going to cut back a lot on beta reading this year due to new personal obligations and responsibilities.

2. Have you done anything zany, fun, or crazy yet this year? Do you have plans to push yourself in any way, to improve a skill or gird up the courage to do or say something you’ve always wanted to?

Truthfully, I hope to finally dive into the query trenches. I’ve only queried once to publish a magazine article and got lucky on the first shot. I consider that more due to the subject matter and the angle I took on it than my query writing prowess. Query letters are not my forte. So I consider this next step to be both crazy and brave on my part.

3. Because curious minds want to know. What movies are you looking forward to seeing in 2012?

I’m eager for The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, The Dark Knight Rises, and will possibly try to go see Snow White and the Huntsman too.

And now for a little fun. We can’t start off a new year without some of that.

Lastly, the linkage! I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted some. I can’t promise to keep on doing it regularly, but I’ll try to do it as often as I’m able.

GLA New Agent alerts!
Claire Dunnington of the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency. She's looking for: "YA fiction, and in particular looking for strong realistic YA fiction and literary middle-grade fiction. (For reference, some authors she enjoyed when she was growing up were Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Louis Sachar, Jerry Spinelli, Noel Streatfeild, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and Virginia Euwer Wolff). She is happy to consider dystopian and futuristic YA, but is much less interested in vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the like."

Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. She's looking for: "Hannah specializes in commercial fiction, especially science fiction and fantasy, women’s fiction, cozy mysteries, romance and young adult..."

Rachael Dugas of Talcott Notch Literary. She is looking for: "...young adult, middle grade, and adult fiction in the contemporary, paranormal, women’s, and romance genres..."

Jami Gold has a fun Pitch Your Shorts session beginning Jan. 10th. To get ready she has blogposts on Pitch Prep: How to Write a Pitch and Pitch Prep: What Makes a Great First Page?

Need a pick-me-up for the new year? Try reading the Intern's blogpost: dinner with literary agents. Sometimes it's nice to see things on the other side of the looking glass.

Writer Unboxed had a couple of good posts this week: First up is Jael McHenry's Finding the Lines, then for some perspective and a few good writing prompts try out Donald Maass's Warm vs. Cool.

Patricia C. Wrede has an excellent blogpost on Weaving (plot) Threads. Those of you with complex plots, multiple POVs, or several subplots be sure to read this one.

I've run out of time to post more but keep up the good work, those of you who blog!