NOVEL DEVIATIONS

Okay, many of you in the writing world know there are about a million blogs with writing rants or info or opinion. I am an avid reader of many of them: Miss Snark, Evil Editor, Sue Ann Jaffarian, Murderati, the list goes on.

But today we talk about Evil Editor and his new book, NOVEL DEVIATIONS. The Evil One runs a blog which can only be described as a public service to the writing community. Not only will he review, tighten, trim and re-work your query letter for you – for FREE – but he will also critique the first few paragraphs of your novel, again for free.

Well, there is one teeny price to be paid: Evil Editor's Evil Minions (of which I am one and you too can be one) will be invited to ridicule and critique your baby as well. We do this in three ways:

1. Guess the Plot. Your title is held up to the minions who guess a suitable or completely unsuitable, funny and/or outrageous plot to go with your title. They do this in about 25 words and your *actual* plot is one of six hilarious guesses. But you *do* get the critique on your query letter (called a "Face Lift" on the blog)

2. Continuations. Your first few paragraphs are published and a minion writes a "continuation" of your opening. These are often the funniest things I read during the course of a day.

3. The Minions comment on everything – your plot, style, title, characters, setting, personal habits and taste in music. Frequently these comments are very useful – EE does not permit anything rude or mean.

Now to the book – EE got this great idea to put the Continuations in a book along with the first few paragraphs which inspired them. The result is NOVEL DEVIATIONS. This book needs to be on your Christmas list folks, and not just because I am in it, although it's true, I am in it. Give yourself a real laugh this season. The novelists who submitted their work deserve medals for enduring the Minions' mincing.

And hey – you writers out there – visit the blog and comment and become a Minion! Write your own Guess the Plot or Continuation!

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

The rambunctious CoCo puppy fast asleep under the covers like a little person, snoring next to a real person, also snoring.

A plant I thought was dead bearing hundreds of tiny green leaflets – it lives!

The moon – full and globular – hanging in the rosy northeastern sky yesterday afternoon.