No, not my books.

My hamster babies.

Buttercup delivered six babies several weeks ago. As adorable as they are, Hero Material and I just could not keep them. Four hamsters are more than enough for us to handle.

So on Thursday, we took them to the local pet store where we bought Shiro and Kuro and gave them to the exotic pet lady.

Let's just say that I was highly depressed about that. I really adored the babies and spoiled them as much as I could while they were with us.

Today we stopped by the pet store to check up on them. Fortunately, they had their own aquariums with their own water, toys, etc. They looked very small and happy inside.

Hope they find a new home soon. :wub:

P.S. Here's the picture of one of the babies we had to give away.

I finished reading Butcher‘s Small Favor. Very very good, although the middle part felt a bit slow. Also read Cole‘s Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night and Rich‘s Free-Range Chickens.

On my own writing front — I figured out what's been bugging me about the second quarter of the book. There are two sex scenes, and they're so…dry.

What I mean is that the characters are doing this and that, but very little emotions are coming through. My characters have a lot of history together, so the scenes rang false when I reread them for the sheer lack of feelings from both of them. A lot of missed opportunities.

I also decided to add a couple of short scenes to advance the main subplot (the court intrigue part). They're all new and feature secondary characters. I think they'll add a bit more to the subplot because currently the book's about 85% romance.

After dinner I spent about ten minutes jotting down notes on my next project — a futuristic paranormal romance. I can't decide if I want to write it in 1st person or not. The heroine is snarky and slightly eccentric, but I think the snarky 1st person narrator is a bit of a cliché now. I wonder if her voice can come through just as clearly in 3rd person.

Hmmm.

Jessica Faust opened up her blog for #agentfail and oh boy…! A lot of anger and frustration from everyone there.

I skimmed most of the comments and here's my take on the entire topic.

No Response = No

It's just like how recruiting for my first job hunting went. You can send your resume, but unless the investment banks and consulting firms wanted to interview you, you didn't hear back.

I understand the frustration, and I think it's always ideal to have agents write you back and say “no”. But I never let this deter me from querying agents who I thought would be a good fit. It's absolutely silly.

OTOH — I never gave agents who sat on my query for months a chance to offer. I didn't even tell them I got an offer. I figured if they go by no response = no, I don't owe them the courtesy of withdrawing the query after two months or so.

BTW — requested partials and fulls do deserve the courtesy of notification and a chance to offer.

Requested Partials / Fulls Deserve Personalized Rejections with Specific Comments on Why They're Being Rejected

I disagree with this. The only thing an agent owes a non-client writer is a yes or no. If you want some detailed feedback, join a critique group.

Timely Response to Slush / Non-Clients

I think this is a nice wish item to have, but I don't think a slow response should deter one from querying agents. First of all, reading queries / slush is the last thing on an agent's to do list. And it should be. An agent should give top priority to her clients.

Besides, things happen. Maybe the agent is in the middle of negotiating five different deals. Or maybe the agent's busy dealing with a client crisis. Or maybe the agent has a big personal issue that must be dealt with ASAP.

You never know.

I was very lucky; I had an offer of rep from my agent within a week of querying her. (Note: I already had a polished manuscript ready to go. Don't query unless you have a finished and polished manuscript.) I've also had very fast responses from other agents.

But some people had to wait longer to hear back from my agent and the other agents who had been very timely with me. And the vice versa has been true as well.

The most important thing for you to consider if you're an unagented writer is whether or not the agent is responsive to her clients.

My list of #agentfail:

• agents who neglect clients
• agents who can't sell anything to big houses (nothing to do with personality, but having an agent who can't sell anything to big legit houses is pointless)
• dishonest agents
• incompetent / ignorant agents (the kind of people who don't have any publishing industry experience, don't understand publishing contracts, etc.)

Of course, YMMV.

I've been feeling very blah about my own writing. Of course it's expected since I haven't read anything in over four weeks. So I went on a reading binge. Since Thursday, I read:

• No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole
• Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
• Midnight Rising by Lara Adrian
• Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrian
• Demon's Fire by Emma Holly

I also watched 32 episodes of Hamtaro in original Japanese (no English subtitle). I can now sing the entire opening song in Japanese and picked up several new words.

Currently I'm reading Small Favor by Jim Butcher.

So what did I get at the end of reading & Hamtaro marathon?

I'm more or less happy with the first five chapters (about 100 pages) from my WIP. They went to my 1st beta reader. (No, May, you didn't lose them in your spam folder.) Am working on the next five chapters, and I'm very happy with where things are going. I also subscribed to AutoCrit. Will post more on what I think about that online editing software later. :)

Coffee Time Review gave Devil Falls five cups!

W00t! :)

I love how some reporters discussed the most recent World Figure Skating Championship:

Asian skaters have elevated the skill level in women's skating. But the sport needs an American woman on the podium — the next Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kwan. For the third straight world championships, there wasn't one — prompting Kwan and Sasha Cohen to hint at comebacks. Rachael Flatt and Alissa Czisny finished fifth and 11th, which means the U.S. will have only two women in the Olympics instead of three.

Predictably, the rant concluded that the current Code of Points is flawed because American women didn't get any medal in Los Angeles. Obviously the reporter hasn't seen the U.S. ladies skate. With two falls in the short program, the U.S. champion Alissa Czisny couldn't medal anyway even under the old judging system (6.0 = perfect). Rachel Flatt wasn't polished enough. It's her first senior level world. She should be happy with her 5th place finish.

If an American skater is worthy of being on the podium — great technique and artistry — sure, she should get a medal. And she will get a medal even under the new system. But I've seen new American girls skate. They're subpar compared to Mao Asada, Kim Yuna, Miki Ando and Joannie Rochette.

It's whiny to complain about the judging system that's not going to go away, and it's racist to complain that it only lets Asians win, conveniently forgetting that the new silver medalist Rochette is Canadian and white. It's not like the Code of Points is a huge secret. Everyone knows what one must do to win. And it's not just doing a ton of jumps. If American girls aren't getting medals, it means they aren't very good. Frankly I thought Czisny's 11th finish was generous.

Anyone else seen the World? Any thoughts on the competition?

P.S. I'm sorry I've been MIA for so long. Will have more updates later. :)