I woke up this morning with the idea to write a query letter for the novel I am working on, Mimi Gets Away With Murder. I am not sure why this was my first thought of the day, but hey, I’ve gotten used to just rolling with whatever grand schemes my brain cooks up.
I am going to ignore the fact that I also dreamed that I went to my school reunion and was asked to leave because they didn’t want my help… righto brain, that dream is not terribly hard to decipher!
But back to the query letter…
I wrote the 40K-word first draft in April for Camp Nanowrimo. Now that was an interesting month!
I just remembered that the second thought I had was that I would inquire and publish (woohoo #lifegoals) under a pseudonym. Once again I am not 100% sure where this train of thought came from this morning, but writing under a nom de plume has intrigued me for a while. It probably stems from the fact that between adoption and a couple of marriages I am on my 4th name. I’ve had a few twists and turns and while I’m very happy in life, I spend most of my downtime trying to work out exactly who I am and what I am supposed to be doing with my life.
Yesterday, my Bowen therapist mentioned something called Diamond Light Activation. It’s woo-woo to the nth degree but my ears pricked up when she said that our names can have an impact on how our life plays out. Do you believe that? I wonder how much if at all, our name effects who we are. Who would I have been if I’d grown up as Rachel instead of Christine? Should I have followed my high-school art teacher’s advice and kept my maiden name?
So, back to the query letter. I’ve googled ‘how to write a kick-ass query letter’ so brace yourselves, literary agents…I’m coming at ya!
Speaking of advice…
I wrote yesterday about the advice we receive and give as artists. I was journaling this morning on the advice I have been offered during my career. My high-school art teacher was adamant that we girls keep our own names, but I like what people are doing now where they use professional names, nicknames or even different names to develop different bodies of work. Even JK Rowling did it. I would never have been cool enough to do this anyway but I love it!
I follow an artist called Vexta and googled her to grab some info, and Google suggested some other artists who work this way. If you’re keen, google them, follow their socials and if you can support some living artists.
I feel like I have the potential to be way cooler as a writer than as a visual artist, but that might be the delusions of grandeur talking.
Christine, your post reminds me of my time living in Taiwan. In Chinese culture, traditionally, names are important. When living in Taiwan I knew a young lady who carried a boys name. As we became friends, she shared that when she was little her older brother died and the Fung Shui master who met with her parents told them that to avoid further trouble for their family, that the daughter (my friend) needed to have her name changed to carry on the dead son’s legacy. So as a young girl (I believe around 5 yrs old) – she was renamed. I have also had several name changes in my life — and I do think names carry meaning but wouldn’t go so far as to say they have ‘power’ -imho. I thought long and hard before including my middle name as I work to build my official ‘author platform’. Thanks for an interesting post.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting ✨ You always grab me with a snippet of a tantalising story! My given names literally mean Gods Gift and Christ-like. Sheesh, pressure much? Hahaha. Add to that, my first husbands birth name was Terry Gamble. My second married name is Betts. I’ve always thought the Universe was telling me to take a chance 😉
Gamble and Betts — interesting! For 13 years I was “Sr. Jude” – after patron of impossible cases. A name I chose — if that doesn’t speak volumes of my self-image at the time.
Oh dear! So much power in naming things!