Category: Writing

Blog, Writing

I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!!

Alexandra Alessandri

This is an all-caps and exclamation marks kind of post because HOLY WOW–I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!! And she’s none other than the FABULOUS, AMAZING Deborah Warren of East West Literary!!!!!

In case the all-caps and extra exclamation marks aren’t an indication of how excited I am, here are some examples to drive that sentiment home:

excited-baby

giphy

Tangled excited

So how did happen? Sit back. Grab some popcorn (or raisinets or circus peanuts). Pull up your feet and relax.

Once upon a time, I wrote a novel. And I revised it. And I took it to conferences, workshopped it in UCLA classes, brought it to my critique group, shared it with beta readers and critique partners. I did everything I was supposed to, and even though in my gut I knew something was missing and that the market was not right for it, I decided to query it. I did my research, thought I knew what I was doing (HINT: I didn’t. Not really, but I did learn), and workshopped that query to death.

Around query #18, I stopped sending more out because my gut was telling me something wasn’t working and I needed to figure it out. But more than that, there was this fabulous shiny new idea that was more enticing, more personal. And it might even be “the one.” I took everything I learned writing my first ms and poured my energies into this project. I plotted some, I researched lots, and I pantsied some, and before I knew it, I had a first draft. Then I revised and brought it to my critique group, online critique partners, and beta readers.

When I thought it was ready, I started the querying process. I researched agents based on their wish lists, their current books, interviews and, if applicable, Twitter presence. I wanted someone who would love my work but also someone I connected with. Some of the agents on my list weren’t open to submissions, and I heed and hawed and waited because I was pretty certain at least one of them would be at our regional SCBWI Conference in January. I only sent out a handful of queries, mostly because I was swamped at work–and I was okay with it. I entered and was chosen in Pitch Madness (another post coming soon about the benefits of online pitch contests!). I got some full and partial requests. I received rejections.

I wasn’t in a rush like I was with my first ms. Part of it was, again, because I was swamped at work. In October, I got a shiny new idea and decided to try my luck at NaNo. I plotted extensively this time and when Nov 1 rolled around, I started writing. Then I entered and was selected for Baker’s Dozen. I got half-way through ms #3 (through a series of personal set-backs), when PitchWars was announced and I decided–why not? This was going to be my last contest entry. I entered and was ecstatic when I was selected by the awesome Dannie Morin to be an alternate on her team. (And in her blog post, she wrote she couldn’t put my first three chapters down and omg was that so freaking awesome to hear!)

Then I received confirmation that one of the top agents on my list who was closed to queries was, in fact, going to be at our regional SCBWI Florida conference. I was thrilled! Some pretty awesome agents also had my full, so when I got into PitchWars, I decided not to send any more queries out. Dannie sliced and diced my ms and I spent the next five weeks adding and strengthening and polishing my ms until it blinded me. My wonderful teammates became fabulous critique partners as we worked hard to make our stories shine.

Then came the conference. And it was amazing. (I need to write another post about it!) There was such a magical energy in the air. The faculty was excited and energetic. When the agent’s panel was up, and I heard Deborah speak about what she was looking for, I knew she’d be perfect. So did Gaby Triana, one of my critique partners and Deborah’s client. Gaby encouraged me to query Deborah. I did Sunday, after the conference ended, and within a few hours, I had a request to see the full.

I was floored!

Wed afternoon–the day PitchWars entries went live–I was starting class when my phone rang. I’d forgotten to silence it. As I hastily shut it off, I registered it was a California number. And I froze, doing a mental check-off of who I knew in CA. Deborah was in CA. So were some of my online critique partners, but they didn’t have my phone number. As I was in the middle of class and had to focus on teaching, I forced myself to not think until the end, even though all I wanted was to run into my office and check my voicemail. When class was over, I checked my email and almost face-planted when I saw I had an email from Deborah. She loved my work and wanted to talk! SHE LOVED MY WORK!!!! I might’ve stomped. And squeed. And possibly scared a few random people in the halls. Seriously. This was me:

Happy Shocked

But I was at work and had to run out of the office, and calling from the car seemed like a bad idea all around. I listened to her voicemail a few times while I waited to get home. I spoke with Dannie, who gave me a pep talk. I spoke with Gaby. As soon as I walked through the door, I put on TV for my son and called.

And got voicemail.

After a series of phone tags, we finally connected Thursday afternoon. When we hung up, I was over-the-moon and through-the-clouds excited. She was so sweet and so excited about my work and had a clear vision for my career!!! I took the next few days to process all the information and contact the agents who had my full and partials. My entry from PitchWars was pulled when I received Deborah’s message. And on Monday, 1/27, I officially accepted her offer.

I’ve been walking on cotton-candy clouds ever since.

Blog, Writing

Connecting to the past, one family tree at a time

Alexandra Alessandri

There are many times, too many to mention, where I wish I could sit with my father and ask him about his family, about the stories he heard growing up, and about the “whore” that made him stop in his research (there’s a note from an uncle that says my father told him so). But I can’t because he’s not here anymore. And I didn’t get the urge to research my family tree until after he’d passed, when I realized the delicate tether between myself and him was becoming much too thin.

And about a year after he died, his brother died.

And earlier this year, in July, my other uncle–the one who was helping me make sense of the nebulous territory of genealogy–passed away. That thread is snapping. Three aunts remain, and I can feel the precarious situation for those memories, teetering between recognition and oblivion.

This found its way somehow into my novel, THROUGH THE WALLED CITY. As I labored through the research, I realized that some of what I was finding–Colombia’s history, old photographs from the late 1800’s to the mid-1900’s–correlated to what my late uncle had been able to tell me about our family’s history. With his help, I had mapped out my family tree on my father’s side to circa 1850’s, when the last known entry is of a woman with a son “out-of-wedlock.” That’s where the trail ends, and if I could go back and ask my father, I’d want to know if that was the “whore” he was referring to.

But it was fascinating, pitching the research against Mica’s story. Seeing the past and the present dance, come to life. Someday, I want to breathe life into that family history. Not only for my son’s sake, so he knows his heritage, but for me, because I didn’t pay attention when I had the chance.

Mama Adela with Children This picture is of my paternal grandmother with four of her six children. My father sits in the bottom, nestled between his older brothers. The three are now gone. I have it tucked in the corner of my dry-erase board (which hangs over my writing desk at home) as a reminder that he’s watching over me. I can’t ask him now all the questions that flood my consciousness, but writing THROUGH THE WALLED CITY gave me a better idea of the Colombia he grew up in, of the stories he heard and the climate of his land. He loved his country, which is why when he died, we took his ashes to Manizales, his hometown, to be buried with his parents. He would’ve wanted that.

THROUGH THE WALLED CITY has been a special story for me for many reasons. This is one of them.

Blog, Writing

The first of hopefully many other firsts

Alexandra Alessandri

I’m beyond humbled for my first interview opportunity, thanks to the fabulous Dannie Morin, who picked me out of the slush in PitchWars to be her first alternate. You can read it here. And if you’re not already following Dannie in Twitter or Facebook or her blog, well you should. Not only does she rock as a mentor with mad editing skills, but she’s one of the most supportive people I know.

(I’ll wait while you go do it. Really. I’ll wait.)

I hope you enjoy the interview. It was fun to write–and if I’m honest, a bit nerve-wracking!–but I’m beyond grateful.

Blog, Writing

I have a blurb for WIP!

Alexandra Alessandri

It’s still a work in progress, obviously, but here’s the blurb I’m using for NaNo:

Seventeen-year-old Mia Salcedo has her entire future planned out: She’s going to leave Miami and the disaster of her parents’ divorce, attend NYU, and become the world’s greatest writer. But when she’s diagnosed with lupus, her entire world comes to a crashing halt. Determined to stay in denial, she confides in no one, not even her best friend and boyfriend. But it’s not enough. Even the everyday tasks are excruciating, and soon, she’s alienating everyone just when she needs them most. To escape the pain and exhaustion and mockery, she turns to her writing, which literally takes her to the worlds she creates, where she’s free from the constraints of the disease. As she retreats from the real world for longer periods of time, however, her words and worlds become darker, and she’s forced to make a choice: stay and watch everyone she loves fade away, or return to reality and face her reality. But will it be too late to mend the relationships she’s worked so hard at pushing away? And will her health fail her when she needs it most?

Blog, Writing

Eradicating Self-Doubt

Alexandra Alessandri

One of my favorite quotes about writing is this:

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” –Sylvia Plath

It’s the reminder that, above all, I can never let self-doubt win. Because let’s be honest: everyone doubts themselves. Even if on the exterior they ooze confidence, I guarantee that in the darkest corners of their being, they sometimes, at some point, feel it creeping in. It’s inevitable. I’ve stopped asking, “Is this normal?” and started thinking, “Beat it, punk. I don’t have time for you.”

It’s easy to let the crippling fear of self doubt paralyze you. That bugger is a thorn who craves breaking you. But I think when we realize that this isn’t something unique to us, that even the most fabulous, amazing storytellers among us have felt it and probably still feel it at times, then we can square our shoulders and push self-doubt out. Slam the door shut in its face. Recognize the bait it uses, the repeated pattern of assault and re-entry so we can squash it before it takes hold.

Because if you let it take hold, you will quit. And if you quit, you’ll never reach your dreams. This is something I can’t–and won’t–afford. I know in the deepest part of me, the part that self-doubt tries to overshadow, that I can do this. That I will do this. It’s just a matter of time. In that time, I’ll keep learning, improving because that’s what we have to do. We can’t stay static. (Heck, this is a human reality, not just a writer one. We never stop learning and we never should. Otherwise, what good are we to society? To the world? To ourselves?)

I know I’m not alone. I’ve read blog posts of New York Times best-sellers who tackle this issue. The fear that seeps in with a blank page, with a new series, with revisions. Can I do this? What if I have no more words in me? What if…? And time and time again, the answer is yes, I can do this. Yes, I have more words. Yes….

So self-doubt, hear me: Get the eff out. You’re not welcome in this creative space.

Blog, Writing

Plotting my way to NaNoWriMo

Alexandra Alessandri

I’m breaking my hiatus. The last few weeks, I’ve been slowly swinging upward. Slowly, I’ve been finding that the pain is a little less severe, the exhaustion a little less debilitating, my energy a little more pronounced, and my breathing a little more at ease. I’m having way more “good” days than “bad” ones and can keep up with the pace of life. I’m cautiously optimistic that it’ll last. After going off the evil med, I didn’t start a new one and I’m holding out hope that maybe I don’t have to. That maybe I can control it with what I’m already on. And maybe–just maybe–I can stop those at some point.

But that’s not what this post is about. Nope. It’s all about NaNoWriMo!

I debated about participating in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. After I finished THROUGH THE WALLED CITY, I’ve been in this lull. Sure, I’m querying, but creatively, I was in an abyss. Where to now? TTWC was done. The PB I was working on sent to a contest. And with the semester in full swing and being inundated with papers to grade, I didn’t know if I had the energy to purse another long project. Not only that, but I had (ahem, have) a list of awesome shiny new ideas but no clue which to pursue next. They were a black hole of ideas. A friend encouraged me to work on something short and fun, and I considered short stories. Then I thought to work on another picture book manuscript. I started it. Then I had an idea for a children’s poem, which I completed and which sucked words back into me. I worked and reworked it and submitted it to a magazine.

I was back to square one with the writing. What next? And NaNo around the corner made me take another long look at those shiny new ideas. I turned them over in my mind on my commute to and from work (I have a loong commute). I poked and prodded them while prepping for class or while my students wrote. And soon, the project took form in such a way, that I wanted to smack my forehead with a resounding DUH. It’s another YA magical realism (or maybe light fantasy?) but it’s different than what I’ve written in the past.

So I have my NaNoWriMo project. I wanted to prepare, but I was running out of time. And I had papers to grade (they’re truly never ending). This weekend, however, I finally had downtime and I started plotting. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m more of a pantser when I begin writing. About half-way, I’ll start plotting. I want to do things differently this time because I’m determined to “win” NaNo. I want to reach 50K by the end of November. Plotting will help me reach that goal.

Monday I put the final plotting touches and I’m excited to start. I’ve been drafting some character sketches, getting acquainted with my main character and her mom. But more than that, I’m excited and a tad bit nervous. Because this will probably be one of the more personal projects I’ve tackled.

In the coming days, I’m going to update my NaNo profile and this blog to include the blurb and tentative title for this project.

And I’m ready to “win.”

 

Blog, Writing

Query Pitch for TTWC

Alexandra Alessandri

Welp, it looks like I might have a new query pitch for THROUGH THE WALLED CITY! Here it is:

The last thing fifteen-year-old Micaela Uribe wants is to spend her summer in hotter-than-hell Cartagena, Colombia for her grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.

That changes when she walks through the gates of the historic walled city and finds herself slipping through the very fabric of time. Soon, she’s hit 2002, 1965, and the late 1800’s. The catch? She has no control, no way of knowing when in Cartagena’s turbulent years she’ll land, but one thing is clear: Time keeps pushing her further and further back, intertwining her family’s past with that of Cartagena’s.

And she’s not alone. Her cousin’s best friend, Gianluca Echevarria, can also time travel and their collective pasts may be more linked than she could’ve ever imagined. When her grandmother dies suddenly, Micaela seeks her in the past and Gianluca goes with her. Only, they’re thrust to 1586, right in the middle of Sir Francis Drake’s infamous attack on Cartagena. With the only exit to the city blocked by pirates, she must piece together what Time is trying so hard to tell her—before tragedy strikes and she loses the boy she likes, the chance to see her grandmother again, and her life.

THROUGH THE WALLED CITY, a YA magical realism, is a story about the power of faith and unlikely second chances. It’s complete at 60,000* words. 

*I’m in the final stages of revision, so this is the word count as it is. It will probably change slightly in the next couple of weeks.

What do you think?

I’ve been putting the drafts through AgentQueryConnect, QueryTracker Forums, and the WriteOnCon Forums in preparation for WriteOnCon in 8 days. These are great resources! You learn by giving and receiving feedback–it’s all a give and take.

Happy writing!

Blog, Writing

Shhh…be vewy, vewy, quiet…

Alexandra Alessandri

I’m in the editing cave. The radio silence on my end is a combination of things: finishing editing my current novel, THROUGH THE WALLED CITY; a series of several small flare-ups; summer coming to an end and having to get things ready for work.

In the meantime, if you write kid lit (from PB to NA), are you attending WriteOnCon? No? Well you should! It’s free. It’s online. And it’s a wonderful opportunity to get your work seen and to learn. There’s a fabulous line up of authors, agents and editors. Don’t believe me? Check them out for yourself!

And now, back to my editing cave, where I most often look like this:

BPZtg13CMAALMLQ.jpg-large

 

Blog, Writing

UCLA Writers’ Extension Certificate: DONE!

Alexandra Alessandri

I just received notification that I’ve completed my requirements for UCLA Writers’ Extension Creative Writing Certificate in fiction! I’m beyond thrilled!!! When I first found out, I did a little of this:

dancingGIF

And this

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I know it’ll feel even more real when I receive the certificate in the mail. And when I take advantage of the manuscript critique, which is part of the program. It’s been such an amazing experience. I’ve met some fabulous writers and made some great friends with whom I still keep in touch. I’ve had inspiring instructors who’ve helped me dissect my writing. I’ll forever be indebted to the faculty I’ve had for cheering me on, for pushing me, challenging me, and believing in me. I’ll continue taking classes periodically, even though I’m done, because I want to keep growing as a writer.

Hopefully some day, I’ll be one of their success stories. 🙂

 

Blog, Writing

Research is cool!

Alexandra Alessandri

Something I’ve had to do a lot for my current project is research, research, research, especially since my MC visits parts of the past in Cartagena. I’ve tapped into the skills learned during my graduate school days and realized just how much I actually enjoy researching.

Great, you say. First, revisions rock. Now, research is cool? What’s next? Working hard is fun?

Well, yeah. Just hear me out!

Now, I have the benefit that I’m Colombian, and though I’m more familiar with the cities inland (Medellin and Manizales) since that’s where I visited most often, I grew up listening to stories about the coastal cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta since that’s where many Colombians go for vacation. Even now, I chat with my cousin about her visits there. It’s like us going to Disney for the weekend. But I still needed facts. My starting point was Google, where I found some awesome websites and images. Particularly, I found this Facebook group Fotos Antiguas de Cartagena. It has old pictures (and sometimes paintings) of Cartagena, some dating back to the late 1800’s. It’s been SO COOL.

I mean, look at this

Entrance

and this

Streetview circalate 1800s

The visuals are pretty darn awesome. But that’s not all. I had to learn about Colombia’s history, and more specifically, Cartagena’s. That led to some pretty neat discoveries as I placed my own family’s history (which thanks to my uncle I’ve been able to trace back to the mid-1800’s in a post independence Colombia). So there’s a personal connection, which makes this research that much more fascinating.

Then I scoured my library’s resources, and I’ve located documents from the colonization period, including those from Sir Frances Drake’s raid on and ransom of the seaport colony. I have books and articles on architecture, history, fashion, and political happenings.

What I love about this process, and what I find so “cool” is the learning aspect of this process. I’m telling a story, sure, and it’s fiction. But the basis for some of the events are real. And though it’s not quite historical fiction, the city’s history is an integral part to the story.

So yeah. Research is cool. You get to learn new things, and as vague as that statement is, it’s part of what makes this journey worth it.