My Lil'
Notepad
August 8, 2007
Acting on a suggestion by CoreyT, I wanted to let anyone know who's bookmarked this page that I'm officially changing this Notepad to www.reginadoman.blogspot.com. So from now on you can comment on my posts here! Thanks so much for those of you who've been regular Notepad readers!
Signing off on this old
html page.
Peace and good, Regina
June 23, 2007
I want to report that I have a possible solution to the medical problem (whew!) that hopefully won't upset the current plot much. Thanks for your prayers and please continue!
Also, I wanted to mention something about the John Paul 2 High feedback I've been gettting on chapter one of the first book. By and large most readers have liked it or really liked it. But the ones who rated it "flat" specifically mentioned the IM conversation as being the big turnoff. Here's an example of some of the strongest feedback we've gotten yet:
Feedback: flat
Comments: The netspeak
in the IMing was insulting to teenagers. ("wat" "cuz" "i")
No! No no! It sounds like an adult trying poorly to imitate how a teenager speaks.
How can a reader get into the story if the author is so blatantly flaunting
himself?
Seeing as that some of you have had this kind of reaction, I wanted to put down for the record that the IM conversations in the first chapter were written for us by ACTUAL TEENAGERS. That's right, adults did NOT write them (most of us don't IM! Especially not me!). All I can think is that IM slang varies greatly from teen to teen, and that not all teens write the same way (which makes total sense). So I admit, I always smile when we've gotten the comment, "The IMing sounds like adults writing for teens." Oh well, guess you can never please everyone!
I'll also say that the author and I made an effort to make the IM conversations reflect the character of the person who was writing them. So Allie's IM style varies from Celia's, who varies from George's, and so on. So... if you found the IM conversation insulting, I'd withhold judgment until you find out more about the characters who are talking. And as an editor, I can assure you that the two teens talking on page one would most definitely use "wat" and "cuz" in their casual writing (and one of them would probably use it in his homework if he could get away with it.)
As always thanks for your feedback! We really do read everything that's sent in, and sometimes we do make changes!
June 18, 2007
I wanted to specifically ask for Big Prayers for the Waking Rose. While doing my medical fact check for the book (actually my double-check, since I did a fact check when I started the book), I discovered a rather large problem that has the potential to blow the current final act to smithereens. Right now I'm working with my brother (who is a doctor) and another doctor friend to find an alternate solution. If we can't, it means major rewriting, which means delaying the book for another three-six months. Of course, I could just publish the current draft, and hope that no one who's not a doctor will notice, but I really don't want to do this. So please pray! Thanks in advance!
May 31, 2007
About to leave on vacation, and the MS of Waking Rose will be coming along with me. Hopefully I'll get a lot of work done, though generally I am pessimistic about writers getting any work done on vacatoin. Real writing requires a regular routine, which vacations don't usually include... Pray for me, anyhow! I do have several hours of car trip, and a laptop to work on. If only the battery holds....!
I made a query in the name of young readers to Pauline Books and Media (run by the Daughters of St. Paul) to find out if they accept children's fiction. They do, but only very certain types. Here's the guidelines they kindly sent me. If you are considering submitting to them, pay close attention! (I make a particular note that they are interested in chapter stories for middle school children - I think some of you have written this type of story.)
WRITER'S GUIDELINES-CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media. Through our children's literature we seek to provide wholesome and entertaining reading that can help children develop strong Christian values.
As of January 2007, we will be accepting submissions for easy-to-read and middle-reader chapter fiction, in addition to our current lines of board books and picture books for younger readers. Manuscripts may or may not be explicitly catechetical, but they must reflect a positive worldview, good moral values, celebration of diversity, and respect for all people. All material must be relevant to the lives of young readers and must conform to Catholic teaching and practice.
Please do not submit anthropomorphic stories (RD: I looked this up: I believe this means no stories where animals act as people - ie: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Redwall, etc.), fantasy, fairy tales, science fiction, myths, romance, or poetry. Our list includes prayer books, lives of the saints, coloring books, Bible stories, Christmas and Easter stories, and seasonal activity books. We do not currently publish catechetical textbooks. Please visit our website, www.pauline.org, for more information.
For board books and picture books, the entire manuscript should be submitted. For easy-to-read and middle-reader books, please send a query letter accompanied by a synopsis and two sample chapters. Unless you are a professionally trained artist, do not include illustrations with your manuscript. All manuscripts must be double-spaced and accompanied by a cover letter. If the submission is simultaneous, please state this in your cover letter.
Kindly do not send work via e-mail, audiotape, or CD-ROM. For return of materials, please enclose a self-addressed, appropriately sized envelope with sufficient postage. We make every effort to respond to unsolicited submissions within three months.
I have been so behind on posting the many fine questions you all have sent me, but I thought I'd post some interesting ones by Kendra, and my responses:
How much time passes
between "Black as Night" and Waking Rose?
Hmm. About a year. I should know
this off the top of my head, but I don't. Let me say a year, give or take a
few months. I'd have to look at my timeline to be exact.
Are Bear and Blanche
married in it?
Before I can answer this, you have to find Chapter One on the website (it's
hidden on this page: www.wakingrose.com).
If they are, does Fish
live with them?
Fish: Certainly not!
Is it the last book in
the series?
Not really! I do have a fourth book planned, though the Foursome of the first
books will not be main characters.
Do you homeschool?
I currently do, but when I wrote The Shadow
of the Bear, I was not (my babies were too young). At the time when I wrote
the first book, I had several close friends who homeschooled, and I very much
admired them and their children. This is still true, and even if I don't always
homeschool my children, I continue to admire the many fine families who do.
In your e-mail you said
that G. K. Chesterton was life changing for you. May I ask how his books were
life changing for you?
Chesterton was the first Catholic writer I met who was absolutely in love with
the Catholic Church. Not only with Christ, but with His Church. Chesterton showed
me the beauty in the Catholic Church, the paradox of the Church being so in
the world but not of the world. That was life-changing for me, and it still
influences me today.
May 29, 2007
I've been doing a lot of work on Book One of John Paul 2 High, which is FINALLY going to press. Watch this space and www.johnpaul2high.com for more news on Catholic, Reluctantly, coming this July!
But what about Waking Rose? I just purchased a new laptop and I have a week of vacation coming up, which I'll be spending with Waking Rose. The "official" release date I am now giving out is August 15th. I had hoped to make it by July, but since July looks to be a hard month for us (my son Joshua died on July 8, and his birthday is on July 26) I don't want to commit to having it out during July, just in case things turn out to be rough for our family. I do so much appreciate everyone's prayers: so many of you have written to say you are praying. That touches me so much.
Lately I've been getting a bunch of emails asking me how to write a book, how to publish a book, how to find a publisher, etc. (I guess lots of people are considering writing a book as a summer project!) I answered these questions on my website here ages ago, but I guess people haven't noticed them.
So below are two recent emails, along with my answers. Hopefully they will help those of you who are thinking of writing to me about publishing!
Also check out www.scbwi.org, the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, particularly if you already have a publishable story written and are serious about getting it into print with a big publishing house. They require a membership fee, but it's worth it. See if they have any local groups in your area to network with other authors. They are pretty friendly to Christian authors too.
If you are trying to get a Catholic fiction book published, I will warn you that almost no Catholic publishing houses accept fiction (this includes Bethlehem Books, my publisher, which no longer accepts new fiction). The exceptions that I know of are:
Check out their websites, and direct any questions you might have to them. (If any readers know of other small Catholic publishing houses that do publish fiction, let me know and I'll post them here.)
Here are the two emails, and I apologize if my responses sound discouraging. It's mainly because I know how hard it is to get published! This doesn't mean: don't try. But it does mean: exoect to be in it for the long haul!
I am a ten year old girl, Theresa White, and love writing books for children. How do I get the books published and what are the steps to doing it? Where can I go to get a good publisher? Do I have to get people to say it is a good book?
Hi Theresa!
Thanks for writing! Publishing a children's book is a difficult and expensive process (even for the publisher), which is why it is so difficult to get published. Children's picture books are about the hardest kind to get published because:
a) they require four color printing, which is still very expensive for publishers, so publishers have a hard time doing them. Even picture books by top illustrators and well-known authors tend to go out of print quickly because of this. So publishers are hesitant to take a new book by an unknown author or illustrator.
b) Every picture book requires that two people be paid: the author and the illustrator. Even if the author illustrates the book, usually two contracts are written and two sums of money are paid. This is expensive for the publisher. This is why many small publishers don't publish picture books.
c) EVERYONE wants to write a picture book. Because they are short and easy to write, tons and tons of people try to write them. So if you send in a manuscript of a picture book to a publisher, you are automatically competing with millions of other people for a very small market.
Because of these three factors, you might want to consider writing children's books or stories that are longer and do not need illustrations, such as the books by Beverly Cleary. You will be asking publishers to publish something less expensive, and you will be competing with fewer people. Even so, it is very difficult for a underage (or age 10) author to get published. Publishing costs lots of money, so publishers are not anxious to risk money on a book by a young or teenage author, any more than a bank would give a young person a loan for $20,000 (that can be how expensive it is to publish a book). You would have to be very famous or your book would have to be really, really, really, REALLY good for them to take that risk.
The best thing is to work on becoming a good writer right now, and look into publishing whn you are older. That is what I did. I wasn't able to get published until I was out of college, but I had been trying to get published since high school. Just know that you are in it for the long haul, and learn everything you can about becoming a writer. There are lots of books in the library. The best way to become a great writer is to be a great reader now, so keep on reading! And writing!
Peace and good
Regina
I have a question about how to get started with getting a book published. What do you have to do first? Where do you go to get it done? What comes next? If I start the process now, when will it be finished? Thanks! Jessica
Dear Jessica,
First, you have to write the book.
Second, you have to rewrite the book over and over until it is perfect, until it is better than most published books in its category out there. This is because as a young, unknown author, most publishers will not pay attention to your work unless it is better than what's already out there, not simply "just as good." This takes the longest time (think: years and years), during which time you go from becoming a novice writer to a very good writer. When you feel your story is in top shape, try to figure out who might publish it. There are books on getting published in the library: read some of them.
One way to get your story noticed: Is your book similar to another published book? (If so, this is a good thing, not a bad thing.) Who published that book? Research that publication house online, find out what their submission guidelines are, and work until your manuscript fits their criteria. If the publisher will accept work from unknown authors (many large ones will not), then write them a query letter saying something like, "Readers who enjoyed the book you have already published, THE HELPFUL PRINCE, will enjoy my book, which is also about a prince. The prince in my story is captured by pirates and ends up becoming a chef." If you make your book sound like another existing (successful) book, that helps. If the publisher will not accept query letters from an unknown author, you must find an agent. Use a similar strategy to get your book noticed by an agent.
For more information, check out this website: http://www.larsen-pomada.com/perspective.html
Peace and good
Regina
April 18, 2007
I wanted to mention that if you want to hear Claire Hamill singing "You Take My Breath Away," you can find it on her album The Lost and the Lovers. She has a few other songs from that album on her myspace site. You might want to email her about where you can buy the album in the US.
And -- I'm sure you'll be glad to hear this -- I got through my first read-through of Waking Rose, making all the changes my husband-editor suggested. AND after some fierce walking-around-the-pasture-talking-it-out, I solved a pretty major plot problem that had been bothering me for several months. Solved, or at least rectified. Thanks for your prayers! I * know* they helped!
Does this mean I'm done? Nope.
Now I am going to be doing another read-through to see if the changes I made on this last rewriting flow smoothly and enhance rather than disturb the mood. And I've got to ensure that the major plot problem I fixed is fixed in every single little place. (Y'all read my books so carefully I'm paranoid of leaving obvious threads hanging now!) I *hope* to finish this by next week. (The problem is, the JP2HS Book One deadline is this Friday!)
THEN I'm sending the MS to a doctor friend of mine to read for all the medical things (there's a lot of that in this book). AND I have to send another copy to my lawyer-friend to check the legal things. While waiting for them to get back to me, I'm going to start the typesetting and try to finalize the cover.
SO there is progress -- but I'm not finished yet! You can definitely say we're on the home stretch, and I do hope to have it in your hands at least by August, and preferably by July!
Thanks so much for your prayers!
April 16, 2007
Okay, GOOD NEWS!!! After being in limbo for so long, I can now officially announce that John Paul 2 High Book One (still awaiting its final title) will be in the works for publication this summer of 2007! I hope to have a real publication date soon. Wow, it's been three years of plugging away on this project with Christian Frank and the Catholic Teen Novel Team, but thanks to Sophia Press, this project is finally going to see the light of day!
The flip side is that since I have to get the final manuscript to Sophia Press this week, I haven't been working as much on Waking Rose. Instead I've been making changes with the author, doing fact-checks on wrestling (any wrestlers out there who can give me help? Email ASAP!)
But I promise to get back to it soon (sigh). Yes, I AM having trouble finding time to work on it. But I did update the guestbook on John Paul 2 High.
Okay (sigh) (why do I do these things for you all? Because I love you, that's why!) EVEN THOUGH I AM VERY BUSY I'm going to hide a secret link on Waking Rose with a bit of a preview (no, it's not a further chapter - but you might enjoy it). So -- secret door alert!!! And keep praying for me to find time to finish the actual book!!!
Okay, now I put up another secret door on the Black as Night site too. Happy hunting!
And I'm still trying to figure out how to blogify this page for your further enjoyment. Stay tuned for updates!
April 11, 2007
Happy Easter!
UPDATE: Mariellen Hynes informed me two days ago that the song "You Take My Breath Away" which Brother Leon sings in Black as Night, is actually NOT an anonymous folk song, but was written and recorded by British recording artist Claire Hamill (Universal). If you'd like to hear the song, or more of Claire's music, please visit her page at http://www.clairehamill.co.uk/. It really is a beautiful song -- go ahead and see if you can get your own copy!
March 7, 2007
Happy Feast of St. Perpetua and Felicity!
I haven't yet figured out how to make this page a blog, but I am working on it.
To prove to you that I am actually doing something on the books, here is a picture I had to create today of Blanche and Bear in the Cloisters, the winter scene from Book 2. It turned out so well, and I'm not sure if we'll use it (if we do, it won't be as recognizable as this), so I decided to share it with you here. Since it's snowing here I thought it was appropriate! Enjoy!
February 14, 2007
I've been considering making this Notepad into a blog, mainly so folks can comment if they wish. If you think this is a good idea, let me know.
Happy St. Valentine's Day!
As a small treat in honor of the feast (and to prove to you that I did some work on Waking Rose), I enclose this small taste of a scene (of which I am particularly fond), from Chapter Four:
"I don't know if G. K. Chesterton would approve, however," Rose said.
Three pairs of male eyes in sunglasses looked at her.
She continued on, not intimidated. "There's this one detective story he wrote about a priest who always prayed at the pinnacle of the cathedral, and grew so proud that he played God and committed murder. It was a good point, I always thought."
There was a silence. Then Paul looked at Alex. "She knows Chesterton."
"She lives," said Alex.
Ten minutes later they were all sitting at one of the round cafeteria tables, having successfully crossed the bridge from small talk to what Rose termed "real talk." The archetypes of Philosophy, Theology, and Political Ideology had joined the conversation, and Chesterton was wrestling with Lord Acton in magnificent contest.
February 13, 2007
Just a note for those who are waiting for Waking Rose: (maybe I should start a blog about it...) My husband finished editing the MS last week. He had been doing about a chapter a day until he got towards the end of the book, when he started doing two chapters a night. Then when he got to the climax, he edited four or five chapters in one night, finishing at 2 in the morning. So now the ball is in my court, (more literally, the MS is on my desk,) and I have to read over his edits and decide whether or not to accept or reject them.
This is rather interesting and nerve-racking for both of us, being our own editors. How do we know whether or not to trust our judgment? Will this enterprise survive? This morning as I started the first chapter, I started gasping and smarting and arguing over the priceless passages my husband wanted to cut, or shorten. He started trying to reason with me (which seldom works) and saying in a subliminal undertone, "Trust your editor... trust your editor.... trust your editor..." Fortunately we were able to control our squabbling, and I rather grumpily continued editing this afternoon. I am proud to say I got through all of Chapter One by this evening. It's not "done done" because we are still in disagreement about what to change or cut out, but at least some progress has been made.
Since I'm sure you'd all rather read Waking Rose than this update, I'd better get back to work!
PS: thanks to those of you who sent comments and critiques on Chapter One -- you'll be happy to know that we have both taken them into account in the editing.
PPS: Is it just me or is this post starting to sound like Rose is writing it? Good, maybe I'm getting immersed!
January 29, 2007
As some of you have been querying, I will say that my husband is up to Chapter 6 in the editing of Waking Rose. Some of you have asked when it will be done. I just thought tonight that perhaps I will shoot for a July publication date, in honor of Joshua. But I'm not sure - it could be sooner. I promise to keep everyone updated.
I may have something to say about publication for John Paul 2 High in about three weeks. Or maybe not. Pray! As you are probably figuring out, the publishing business can be very frustrating and VERY slow.
Also, I wanted to let you all know I started a blog on making your house your art, after a lesson I learned from a friend (who was also one of my models for Blanche, btw) about using even the little things like housekeeping to bring beauty to the world. It's called House Art Journal and you can find it at www.houseartjournal.blogspot.com. I wanted to blog mainly in photos, because I always feel I talk too much, and you know, a picture says a thousand words. I hope you enjoy it if you take a visit, and are inspired!
Jan. 11, 2007
With their permsision, I just posted the interview that Gilbert magazine did with me in June 2005. Here it is on my site.
Jan. 4, 2007
Some people have emailed me asking if the t-shirt page was the secret door ... sorry about that. That was an old secret door I tried to get rid of and thought I had gotten rid of, but apparently I forgot to delete it completely. It's gone now, but the Christmas 2006 secret door remains at large for those who are eagerly searching for it ...
Jan. 2, 2007
I just noticed that CatholicPosters, which sells my t-shirts, had updated all their links without telling me... so anyone who tried to buy t-shirts would have found a page of broken links. Hope that didn't happen to you. I just went through and fixed them all, and I'm happy to say that the "I Believe in Fairy Tale" shirt is available online at last in three colors, black, navy and pink. As always if you have any difficulty finding exactly what you want, call them toll-free at: 1-888-680-3964.
(Since they don't yet have
a fairy tale shirts category on their site at CatholicPosters.com,
you can only find my shirts by using my website (use the t-shirt link button
on the links bar) 
or by going to their site and typing
in the name of the shirt in the search bar. Ie: I believe in Fairy Tales. Sorry
for the inconvenience!)
I spent some time today cleaning up all the Snow White and Rose Red sites and posting a lot of the very interesting questions I'd gotten this past year. I'm trying to clear my desk before starting work on Waking Rose.
Since a New Year has begun, I've archived all of last year's update here. Here's 2005, should you be interested. But for those of you who hadn't heard the news or hadn't yet found the new secret door, I'll reproduce my Christmas Eve post now (and I'm glad that some of you emailed me to tell me you found the door because I was getting worried I made it too hard):
December 24, 2006
It's Christmas Eve, and I have a special announcement to make. After much searching, deliberation, and prayer, my husband and I have made the decision to self-publish Waking Rose under the imprint of our little production company, Chesterton Productions (whose sole output thus far has been The Shadow of the Bear audio drama.) We HOPE if all goes well to release the book sometime in 2007. And we want to thank everyone who has been praying for us all this time. During our first Christmas without Joshua, I wanted to do something for everyone who's been waiting and praying for this book for so long. It's because of you that we're doing this.
AND ...
...no Christmas would be complete without some small gift. If you look VERY carefully, you will find a secret door (a hidden link) someplace on the Waking Rose site that will link to your Christmas gift from our family to you. MANY THANKS for your love and prayers, happy hunting, and, for those of you who have begged and emailed and pleaded for the first chapter, I can only say:
Merry Christmas!!!!!
