Smexxxy Friday (Lenny Kravitz)

So to inspire you to see the Hunger Games movie this weekend, I'm featuring Lenny Kravitz for my Smexxxy Friday this week. Enjoy! *drools* Look at him...he's cooking and he has tats and piercings! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't jump his bones! A man in the kitchen gets my oven nice and hot...if ya know what I mean! *wink wink*





Can I tear more holes into his shirt???? Pretty pwease??? I won't hurt him...I promise! 

Sexy! Even with a towel over his head, hahahahahahaha! I love you Lenny! You did an awesome Cinna! :D 

3/12 Media of the month: Hunger Games

Requesting volunteers for Team Peeta to go and see the Hunger Games movie! Hahaha! I don't want to write any spoilers in my post for those of you who haven't read/seen the book/movie yet...but yeah...it was pretty fun to watch! Katniss was annoying (just as annoying as she was in the books) but I wasn't watching the movie for her. I was watching for Peeta! *fangirl squeal* I must say though...none of the male leads were all that attractive to me (Sorry, Josh...you're just not my type) but Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna! That was fucking badass! I love me some Lenny Kravitz! Yum! 

Go Team Peeta! (and also Team Haymitch! and quite possibly Team Finnick!) See the movie! 

I Am Trayvon Martin

I told myself I would not talk about Trayvon Martin. Honestly, I try to keep my blog as politically "neutral" as possible. But as new facts/reactions surface in the media, I feel an obligation to say something. What happened to Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Regardless what you believe, an unarmed child was killed last month. And the topic of race has once again become a sensationalized hoopla in the media circus. But for me, race isn't just an issue I think about on slow news days. I am a queer black female in America...and I think about race/gender/sexuality everyday. I don't have the privilege to "opt out" of these discussions because they directly concern me and those who look like me.


So I signed the petitions. I joined the Million Hoodie Rally. I watched the news and continue to this day to follow every twist and turn of the case. And just yesterday I found a tumblr page to support Trayvon Martin. You don't have to be a sociopolitical activist to participate. It's as simple as putting on a hoodie and submitting a photo. That's it.


I am Trayvon Martin. Who are you? http://iamtrayvonmartin.tumblr.com/

Querying for dummies

Querying is time-consuming. And annoying. And degrading. And demoralizing. You're practically groveling to someone who is more than likely too busy to respond to you anyway, so yeah. There's a reason so many writers loathe this part of the submission stage. But if you're smart (and I'm assuming you are since you read my blog) you can make the most out of this horrendous process. 

Break out the note-taking materials, I will be giving a pop quiz later.

1. Familiarize yourself with sites like QueryShark and Nathan Bransford. Study them. Memorize them. Find other blogs/sites that resonate with you while you learn the mechanics of writing the actual query letter itself. Find successful queries that resulted int full-requests. I personally recommend THIS SITE. 

2. Use the appropriate search engines to find your agents. Publisher's Marketplace, QueryTracker, and AgentQuery are all good choices. 

3. Once you select an agent DO YOUR RESEARCH and check their agency's website, past clients, interviews, etc. Just because Publisher's Marketplace lists "horror" under your agent's name, does not necessarily mean your agent is actively looking for horror at this time. Study the sort of books your agent has represented in the past and make sure you read their submission guidelines first!   

3. Personalize your queries. I realize this is a pain to do--but trust me, your chances of getting a full request are greatly improved if you study your agent's likes and dislikes  before sending off your query. 

4. Write multiple versions of your query letter. Pick the strongest one. Then seek the advice of fellow writers (preferably the writers who beta'd your novel) and revise, revise, revise, revise! This query letter is the only obstacle standing in the way of you getting published, so make sure your query is as strong as possible!

5. You've finished writing the damned thing and your query has been polished to perfection. Congratulations. The hard work is over and all that there's left to do is pull up your big girl panties and mail them off. Expect rejections but stay optimistic. Keep in mind most agents adopt a "no response means NO" approach. So if your agent is nice enough to tell you you've been rejected DO NOT act like an asshole and demand answers for why. Be professional at all times. 

6. So by now you've been rejected by 25 different agents. Chin up. There's still hope. Explore small-press publishing or even self-publishing. There are many ways to get your novel published nowadays. Take these rejections as an opportunity to polish up your MS while you think of a plan B. 


If you have any tips or useful resources to share with us, please don't hesitate to enlighten the blogosphere with your comment! 

VC

Smexxxy Friday (Gotye)

There's something so distracting about a naked man singing with lots of body paint on. I love this song too. Been jamming to it for weeks now. :)



I LOVE how Kimbra responds to his over-romanticized "male angst," lol. "Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over!" Makes the whole song for me, haha! I actually laughed the first time I heard that. The acting is very well-done in this video. Anyway. Men and women. Doomed relationships. Somehow I find it all aesthetically appealing. Have a great day, everyone! 

Sweet, I got another blog award!

And because I'm just a spaz, I'm just now noticing it! Truth be told, I won this award before, the "One Lovely Blog Award." But hey, getting it twice now must mean I'm doing something right, eh?


Please do check out my girl Dismantylnn over at Color Me Goth. Her blog is fantastic and aren't her dreads just DIVINE???? Serious loc-envy going on right now! I'm kind of giddy about my dreadlocks right now because as of March 25th, my locs will be officially 1yr old! Happy birthday to my hair! Yay! Go me!


Picture time! Behold the awesomeness of my loc progress!!!!


Day 1: Still at my loctician's beauty shop sitting under the dryer! Two-strand twists all the way! For anyone wondering, I have 71 locs. And yes, that is ALL of my hair. I don't need to break out the photos of my shoulder-length afro, do I? Shrinkage is a bitch. I got locs because I was sick of losing 80% of my length. I got 4ab/spongy hair. And lots of it. I gots the GOOD HAIR, don't I, Mommy? 

Month 2: At least I think this photo was from the second month...my hair was going through the dreaded (no pun intended) "ugly phase." I don't know what's up with my expression in this picture, lol! But yeah...my locs have thickened up quite a bit by this point. Yes, that is a Christmas tree...in May. I was too lazy to take it down (or remove the beer bottles underneath it) so sue me! 

Month 4: The glorious back of my head. I just want to show off my awesome hair texture. It's so funny,  because I can still see the rivets from the two-strand twists in this photo! We just moved into our new apartment (hence the tower of Home Depot boxes in the background, lulz!) 

Month 7 or 8: I was showing off my blue titanium nose hoop in this picture. Don't I look cute? As you can see, there's not much "length" happening here because my hair (if you can believe it) is STILL condensing! I don't plan on seeing any real "length" until I get into my second year. *sigh* 'Tis the life of a dread-head to suffer through stunted growth periods! Nowadays my hair feels very "hard." But I've been told by my loctician that my hair will always be "softer" than most because my individual hairs are  freakishly fine. 

Month 9: Just to compare different back of the head shots...in this photo, my locs are budding like craaaaaazy! And yeah, you can't even tell they were once two-strand twists here. My locs look like this today. Just chunky ropes of hair, lol. I'm thinking I should latch on the 25th to celebrate the occasion! As I'm sure you dread-heads have noticed, I'm a bit of a free-former. I latch like...honestly...once every two months. If I can remember. I don't palmroll because my hair loves water too much and I detest puffy roots after spending $60+ at the hair salon. (I refuse to palmroll on my own...I lack the patience) 

I became natural so I wouldn't be a slave to a salon. So yeah, starting the first month, I managed my locs 100% by myself. I'm used to doing my hair toute seul anyway! I rocked my afro for 8yrs before jumping into the loc world. I don't even really buy commercial products for my hair. I make my own conditioners and try to use as many natural ingredients as possible. Maybe I'll do another post about hair recipes...but I doubt anyone who reads this blog would actually care about that! Haha! 


Anyway...shameless narcissistic propaganda. Enjoy all of the pictures. I won't post this many of myself again. Ever. I hate putting my face out there on the internet. Paranoia. Privacy. And all that. Fuck. It's 1:34AM and I still haven't finished writing my fucking query letters! *sigh* 


Over and out.

Uninvited (Alanis Morissette)

I love this song! I just rediscovered it recently. I've been listening to it nonstop while I edit my novel. It is the lyrics that really get me. So feministic! Pumps me up as I'm writing all of those scenes with my main character. Her womanhood is hers. No one else is "invited" to just take it. Go Alanis Morissette, you sing it, girl! 



Lyrics:

Like anyone would be 
I am flattered by your fascination with me 
Like any hot-blooded woman 
I have simply wanted an object to crave 
But you, you're not allowed 
You're uninvited 
An unfortunate slight 

Must be strangely exciting 
To watch the stoic squirm 
Must be somewhat heartening 
To watch shepherd need shepherd 
But you you're not allowed 
You're uninvited 
An unfortunate slight 

Like any uncharted territory 
I must seem greatly intriguing 
You speak of my love like 
You have experienced love like mine before 
But this is not allowed 
You're uninvited 
An unfortunate slight 

I don't think you unworthy 
I need a moment to deliberate