Amie Borst

It's time to say goodbye to another year and ring in the new. 2010 was the start of a new decade and although it had some pretty miserable memories, there are lots of good things to remember, too.

* I wrote my first middle-grade manuscript
* I joined and helped build The Mixed-Up Files
* Although I had tons of requests, and then an equal amount of rejections on my YA, I averaged 95% feedback from agents on these rejections.
* My MG received about 99% feedback from agents (yep - that's pretty close to all of the agents that read my ms gave me more than just a form rejection)
* My MG is still out with agents - but that's all I can say about that :)
* Even though I hated it at the time, I participated in NANO.
* I started blogging (technically I started in 2009 - but it was December, so it's close enough to 2010 in my book)
* I've met some really awesome bloggers, writers and more importantly - FRIENDS :)
* I joined a crit group. They are the bomb. I adore those women.
* M…

It's been a busy week here. Christmas was amazing. Many wonderful gifts were exchanged. Lots of extra pounds of food was consumed (which I will most likely spend all of 2011 trying to lose!). But the best part was enjoying every moment with my girls and husband. It really doesn't get any better than that!

I have three favorite memories from Christmas that I'd like to share with you.

First was when my middle daughter (who is only 10) opened a present from me which happened to be a set of books. Gregor The Overlander by Susanne Collins. She did this thing where she pretended to pass out. Since the camera was rolling, I asked her what the gift was. She said the title and author. Then I asked her who this Susanne Collins was. She said, "Only my favorite author!" I love that my children are excited to receive books as gifts. Ever since The Hunger Games she has been hooked on reading and even more so on Susanne Collins. This child also received a real bow and arrow from …

Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm having one here on my blog.....but there is one over at LDS Publisher (you'll notice the little button on my sidebar) and winning entries will be published in next year's Christmas anthology!

Okay, so the contest deadline expired on the 18th. So, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you about it. Well, I entered and I really need your votes! However, the rules state that I'm not allowed to tell you which story is mine. And since I like to play by the rules, I can only hope that you will recognize my "voice" as you read through the stories. I would give you a hint, but I think that would be cheating, too. And if you can't figure out which story is mine, then hopefully you'll pick the one that moves you to tears (okay, that was a small hint).

I'd love to hear what story you thought was mine, so drop me a comment after you've voted!

Thanks for your support!


P.S. My story is entered in the "un…

I have another sick kiddo at home this week, so I'm just going to leave you with a short video clip. It's definately worth watching. Not only is it informative - but this guy is pretty funny, too!

Enjoy! Happy writing!

It's free crit Friday! Just leave a one line pitch or your query in the comments and I'll critique it for you!

Also - I'm over at my group blog today - From The Mixed-Up Files. I've highlighted the best gift-giving books for the holiday season. Come check it out!

I've been working on this multi-generation scrapbooking project (not the smartest idea to do during the holiday season...but no one ever said I was brilliant) and since my mom has like every photo in existence of our family I asked her to email some pictures to me. As my inbox flooded I called my mom and we discussed some of the photos. She mentioned that she found one of the McTeer Bridge in Beaufort, S.C. It happens to be a photo I have as well since I had visited there just last summer.

Anyway, it got us talking about the man the bridge is named after - James Edwin McTeer .

James was my grandmother's uncle, which makes him my great, great uncle.

While I was chatting with my mom, I did an internet search to see what kind of information I could find about Uncle James. What I found out was pretty amazing!

1. James McTeer was the youngest Sherrif in the history of the nation - not South Carolina - THE NATION!

2. He practiced Voodoo. Actually it was technically called Hoodoo (folk ma…

I really wanted to get a post up sooner today...but my little one has been home sick. Strep throat. Poor thing. And I've been so wrapped up in writing and edits that I hadn't been grocery shopping. So there were no comfort foods for her (ie: lollipops, chicken noodle soup and ice cream). And no comfort food for me (need I tell you it's chocolate???). You can probably imagine how stressesd I was. Needless to say, I pretty much accomplished nothing. But I figure that's okay. She's only little once and everything else can wait. Right?

So, my dear blogger buddies, I hope you've had a great weekend and a great Monday. Hopefully I'll survive this week and can join you all on Wednesday!

It's free critique Friday! You know what that means! Leave your query letter or a one line pitch in the comments and I'll critique either your query letter or the first page of your manuscript!

Also, in the spirit of giving, for the month of December I'm going to giveYOU the option to write a blog post! If you'd like to be included send me an email at amiegr8tstuff (at) aol (dot) com

Happy Friday!
Happy Writing!

And proud of it. Sort of.

Of course I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope to have a completed manuscript by now. That's why I tried NaNo in the first place.

Still, I'm proud of the fact that I gave NaNo a try. Even if I wasn't a "Winner."

There are many people who enter NaNo every year. They "win" and emerge with a 50,000 word manuscript. So, why didn't I win NaNo? Well, here are my top reasons that NaNo didn't work for me.

COMPETITION I don't like competition. Honestly, I can count on one hand how many contests I've entered in hopes of winning a MS crit with an agent. And for whatever reason NaNo felt like a competition to me. I know it's not. But it felt that way.

WORK I don't mean that writing is work. What I mean is that I don't want writing to feel like a job. Elana Johnson wrote a great blog post about that. And I couldn't agree more. Writing is enjoyable for me. It's something that I LOVE do…