Queries

 This falls under the "trial and tribulations" of this page. 😑

Queries are self-explanatory. The definition is: a question or request for information. 

Awesome.

It is also the way in which an author asks for literary representation. Many agents are on Query Tracker. This is also an excellent way to search for agents and literary agencies who are seeking what you are attempting to sell.

I also recommend MS WishList. Agents can be separated into what they are interested in. Small caveat. Do the research. Some agents are no longer with the agency listed. Check the agency site first.

Having thrown that out there, I'm seeking representation for PT. Am I going to give up indie publishing? Of course not. I love doing what I'm doing. And I write entirely too quickly to settle for a book or two published a year. My goal this year is FIVE. I will make that goal, if not surpass it.

*DEEP BREATH*

Queries stress me out. Not as much as a fucking synopsis, but still. And the absolute insanity, for me, is the repetition of matter. Most queries want a "query" and a synopsis and a sampling of work. Cool beans. But, they want it in different formats and in multiple ways.

This is entirely their right. They utilize what works best for them, and I'm sure they've winnowed down the process to the most expedient.

Do I like it?  NO. Do not like.

Do I understand it? Yes. Of course I do.

But, after a bit, the words start to blur. Oh. You want the first ten pages, first three chapters, or first four chapters? You want a paragraph summation or one sentence? You want me to prick my finger, or do you need a vein???

I don't even remember how many .docx tabs I had open. They filled the bottom of my screen, because I am trying to also be expedient. These two wants, mine and theirs, do not seem to mesh. 😂

But I persevere. It's my way. And so I tell you the same...stick to it. If you've a book or two you'd like to offer to an agent, please do. It IS worth it. I'm seeking wider distribution, as in more readers. I want book tours and bestsellers and bringing fans together. I want it all.

In the meantime, however, I'll finish editing "Out of the Shadows," my third book in my urban fantasy series and start work on book two of PT.

I'll probably also look at another romance. I've one circling pretty close. We'll see how book two of PT works out for me.

Best of luck. Always! 💖

Routine...I wish

People have routines. I envy them. I now realize I wake up daily with some semblance of an idea of what I'm going to do and hopefully enough energy to attempt.

I have the same thing for breakfast. Every day. I swear to everything I never prep the same way twice. I don't do step one every day. It's like my brain can't quite catch the repetitive hook. I have the steps. I don't have a set order.

I remind myself, daily, of what day of the week it is, because I do laundry on Friday. Sometimes, it ends up being Saturday or Sunday because I forget. Like...marker from a white board. Clean slate. I have one standing appt weekly I always forget what time. Never fails. I keep checking my text from them to make sure I have the right time.

It's exhausting.

I AM a planner person. Oooooooo...I am SUCH a planner person. Well, you know, I own pretty ones. And I've become fairly decent at writing in appts. Except, when I move the sacred planner. Where is that bastard now???

I've come to realize several of my "quirks" are, in fact, due to my ADHD. And that's perfectly fine. Except when executive dysfunction hits. Or, a new one, ADHD paralysis. Because why wouldn't there be such a thing? 🙄

Check this:

People with ADHD freeze (ADHD Paralysis) when overwhelmed by tasks, decisions, stress, or sensory input, feeling mentally or physically stuck, unable to start or prioritize, leading to mental shutdowns, procrastination, or distraction, stemming from impacts on executive function like planning and prioritizing. It's a neurological response, not laziness.

Hey hey! Party is in my grey matter. Non-stop. 🥳

All this to say, I somehow manage. It may not be pretty or timely, but I still attempt. And that, my friends, is the win we all hope for.

What if I use my OWN imagination AKA making it up as I go along

It's Wednesday. Didn't type that for you. Typed it for myself, so I would remember what day it was.

Yeah...it's like that.

I am completely appointmented out. Last week? All five days. This week? Three. 

meh

In completely unrelated news, writing on PT is popping. I'm banging out at least 5000-6000 words every day I write. It's smooth, and I'm...flabbergasted but grateful.

I mentioned in a post on FB that I feel this series has been germinating in me since I was twelve. And all the information I've digested since then only makes it stronger. 

The source material is basically unlimited.

And when I hit a dead end with a fictional character...I make shit up. Shhhhhh...🤫

You didn't know we did that? 🤔🤣

But here's the deal: it has to fit. And THAT is no small feat. I will research (rabbit hole) everything I can find on the time period and its people. Then I look at important dates. Study relatives. But when I hit an ancient character, and the only thing listed is father and brother?

I have fun with it.

It's trite to keep using the same characteristics for a certain type of character. Sure, we could make the vampire with dark hair, pale skin, and sharp incisors.

BORING.

What if we make him blonde? Maybe blue eyes that turn to grey when he changes? Good sense of humor. Loves garlic on his pizza. Admires his own reflection.

This is why I continually tell anyone who will listen to me about writing: LEARN THE RULES. BREAK THE RULES.

Or a werewolf that only turns human during the full moon? Banshees that sing lullabies? Hephaestus is insanely handsome but hides it as he doesn't want to be in a competition with the other gods.

The world is not only your oyster but every other seafood you can imagine.

But you need to make it fit. That's the magic. Developing a full character from a hazy description and two vague relatives. You are creating a fictional being with loves, hates, and quirks aplenty. And they need to add to the narrative. 

Have fun with it.

In shitty news, tomorrow they're cutting out the pilar cysts on my head. With fucking needles and stitches. 

I am...unwell. 🖕

Rabbit holes

I need to know things. Or, at least, that's what I tell myself when I hippity-hoppity down another rabbit hole. Okay. I swan dive. 

Hands together. Big jump.

Immersion.

I do this for a few reasons. 

1.  I was born this way. Maybe it's the ADHD. Maybe it's the Aquarian. Maybe it's the INFJ. But it's always me.

2.  I will always, ALWAYS, use information I found in another book, if I don't use it in the one I currently write.

3.  My grey matter insists on knowledge. I want to KNOW.

There are so many facts at our fingertips that it can be overwhelming. That's when I know I need to ease myself out of the hole, slowly, and back up like I'm tip-toeing through landmines. Because one more tiny piece of information, and I'm gone again.

It's incredibly easy to be snatched up. Can't even remember exactly what I looked up yesterday, but I'm reading it, while my hand covered my mouth, and my eyes were saucers. It's engrossing. 

And everything is related to everything.

And while that's a broad statement and arguably arguable...I stand by it.

That's the damn Internet bread crumbs I follow where one search begets another begets another and so on and so forth. I try to stop before I arrive at the edible candy house.

I looked up Modresnact for reasons. It's my Grandma Bell's birthday. I loved her completely. And it fit wonderfully into my story. It was about three rabbit holes in. 

Trust yourself, but also? Dig deep. You never know what may be hiding in the next rabbit hole over.

🐇🐰

Saturday Saturday

I've cleared my schedule today for writing. I'm neither locked-in nor focused right this minute. Hope that'll change after I warm up with this here blog.

This last week was hectic as hell, and I'm trying to recover. A few doc appts and a lab. The absolute horror. Needles and I are not friends. Ironically, I'm going to have to have surgery on my pilar cysts. You know. Local under the scalp. Excise. Suture. 

(I'm so fucking stressed about this...)

Proof.

Ah, yes. 

Evidence establishing a truth.

Some labs already came back. And the numbers? Show I'm inflamed as all hell. Which, you know, I could've told everyone without the blood draw. But the numbers prove what you cannot see by simply looking at me. 

I'm rickety, kids.

I want to tuck the results in my purse and haul them around with me. 

But I shan't.

In other news, working on PT today. 40,000 words. Hope to finish with around 65,000. Then, of course, lead a trail of bread crumbs to the next book in the series.

It's funny, I didn't purposefully start out with this book idea as the first of the series, but it's inevitable with the subject matter and characters.

And, as much as I enjoy stand-alone books to write, I find myself gravitating towards series. 

That's me. Hoping for immersion today and 5000 to 6000 words. 

Renee Nicole Good.

Say her name.

💔

Now, I'm simply showing off

Well, well, well. What have we here???

It's me again!

I've written approximately 5000 words a day, since December 14, 2025 on PT, my women's fiction. I'm at 32,719 words as of this moment. 

I always used to bitch about doing research because I tied that term into the unholy fucking shit I had to do in high school. And my ADHD brain would quit somewhere about a third of the way into it and not come back.

But Google searches relating to my story and all the factoids I can consume?

Gimme

Searches for today:

Tyrian purple--Tyrian purple is a legendary, costly reddish-purple dye from ancient Phoenicia, made from the mucus of Murex sea snails. MUCUS...from sea snails! 😮

Regal Heritage Ring--GORGEOUS

Apollo gem

Laurel wreath meaning

Old Greek precious metals

I'm only halfway finished for the day, but that gives you a pretty good idea. 💖

Currently tempting fate

You are NOT hallucinating. I'm three for three. 😁

Let's talk "Stranger Things"...NO spoilers.

Finally got around to watching the finale yesterday. Had therapy earlier in the day and wondered if I was actually emotionally equipped to handle whatever the Duffer Brothers decided to throw at me.

I was not.

Cried the last 45 minutes of the over 2 hour finale.

Takeaways for writers:

1.  Not everyone will like the ending you create. Write it how you want it, anyway.

2. Make your readers laugh, cry, and curse you AND the characters.

3. Leave them wanting more.

4. A brilliant premise deserves a brilliant ending. Sew it all up with love and care.

5. Character arcs are fucking everything.

6. Epilogue.

I love epilogues. One reason is that I'm that ADHD chick who likes to use the parenthesis and ellipses to continue my thoughts and deepen explanations. An epilogue, for me, is the bow on top. The extra ribbon and flair over the present that's not needed, necessarily, but damn, if it doesn't make it sparkle. 

I want to know what happened to the characters. I NEED to know. Sure, I could use my over-the-top imagination, but I want to know what the creators envision. Give me your ENTIRE soul. I accept no less.

Because characters live within the authors for a lifetime. We've birthed them. Nurtured them. Guided them. They are as much a part of us as our DNA. We've envisioned them in the past, present, and future. And readers, or viewers, deserve all of it. 💖