A Manuscript’s Journey

Since I recently signed with my awesome agent Kira Watson, I wanted to take a step back and break down my process on the manuscript and talk about the amount of time and effort it took to ultimately sign with my agent. Some of this is to reflect back, but also to allow others to see how perseverance and hard work (a lot of it) can pay off. Before I landed an agent, I really had no idea the amount of work that went into a manuscript to get it to the point where someone would ultimately say yes!

In order to walk you through the process, we have to go all the way back to 2012. Yes I said 2012. I had just started querying my first completed manuscript (second manuscript I’d written) and a shiny new idea grabbed hold of me. I was driving in my car and a weird thought popped into my head. What if you never got lost, ever? (Ironically I was not lost at the time) What if you could have a map with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days and year? And that idea would become a story I dubbed TRACKER220. Of course from there the idea exploded. If you could carry a tracking device with you at all time, what other good and bad things would come from it?

With that sense of wonder and question I started writing. And for some reason I couldn’t stop. The idea kept going and going and going until before I knew it I had a finished draft. Then I was shuttling it off to critique partners. Everyone that read it enjoyed the concept and had valuable input. I spent even more time editing and incorporating their amazing feedback. This story felt special.

And yet when I set my first manuscript aside and put it in the metaphorical drawer because I wasn’t gaining much traction with it, I had this nagging feeling that TRACKER maybe wasn’t quite ready for the query trenches.

I posted my query and pages on Write On Con and got additional feedback from writers and Ninja agents. I continued to edit, but still felt like something wasn’t 100% there.

At this point it was the summer of 2014. I set my sites on Pitch Wars, a contest that allowed you to be selected by a mentor to work with you to improve your manuscript before an agent round and querying. It sounded like exactly what I needed to get over the hump and get my polished manuscript not just query ready but request ready.

I put in my submission for the four mentors I thought would be best for my manuscript and then I waited. And eventually I got a full request from a mentor, then a second full request from another mentor. Surely this was a good sign. But when the mentor/mentee match list went up I wasn’t on it.

I WAS DEVASTATED.

I cried… a lot.

I didn’t feel ready to query, but also didn’t know how to make my manuscript better than it currently was. I felt stuck despite really believing in my mansucript. But one of the mentors sent me an extremely encouraging feedback email. I really enjoyed your manuscript. I think you are query ready, and I wish I had some time to help you hone it even further.

Did she say query ready?

After that I put on my big girl pants and sent out a few queries. I quickly got a full request and was shocked at how fast it came. Maybe this mentor was right.

With some new found encouragement I also entered Baker’s Dozen. I wasn’t expecting to get in. After all Pitch Wars hadn’t turned out how I had hoped. And as I suspected, when the email notification went out, my inbox was empty. But then a moment later it dinged. One of my CPs who has also entered was reaching out. Isn’t TRACKER220 your manuscript? I scrolled the list and sure enough it was on there but with a different author’s name by it. Had it been a mistake? I emailed Authoress and sure enough it had been. I was in! So on that fateful day in December when the manuscripts went up for auction, I landed two additional full requests.

Now I really felt like I was getting somewhere. I continued forward getting involved in twitter pitch events and getting a lot of positive remarks from writers saying they loved the concept and couldn’t wait to read a story like mine. And even got a lot of requests from agents and small pubs during the events. I also entered Sun vs Snow and got in to that as well!

But as the year moved into 2015, I got no requests during Sun vs Snow and the full rejections from Baker’s Dozen rolled in too. I felt lost again, but that my story really was something special and that I couldn’t give up on it.

By the middle of 2015 I was sitting on some agent feedback from the full rejections. The agents didn’t connect enough (whatever that meant) and a couple sited that they had hoped for more world building.

WORLD BUILDING?

What did that even mean? That could be any number of things. I didn’t know where to start. I struggled to wrap my brain around how to fix world building in the manuscript, but knew that it was probably a real issue because more than one agent had pointed it out.

And still I stewed and spun my wheels. (oh and I got married in October 2015 which slowed me down a bit)

Until I decided maybe it was time to pull back. I spent months revising the manuscript and getting more feedback with respect to the world and character development in the story. I completed a major edit that included adding scenes to help further define the technology and world. I got one more round of feedback to make sure I was on the right track before I dove back into the query trenches again in summer/fall of 2016.

I felt so much better about the manuscript this time. I continued to pitch during twitter contests and got more requests as well as full requests from my queries. I found new agents to query and kept pushing forward.

Until I nudged an agent who had had my manuscript for over 3 months (for those keeping track we are now in March of 2017). Finally she responded. She loved the concept and many aspects of the story, but ultimately something had made her pause. The world. The reader was told a lot about how the world worked through the main characters eyes, but the reader wasn’t really shown. And because of that, the agent decided to pass.

BUT she said if I would like to revise, she’d be happy to take another look.

When I first read the email I was furious. All I saw was world building as a problem yet again. Hadn’t I already fixed that? How could it still be broken? And because of that anger, I’d completely missed how much the agent actually enjoyed my manuscript, and the fact that she believed in it enough to give me another shot.

After I took some time to cool down and really consider what she had to say, I 100% agreed with every piece of feedback she had given me. And even better the ideas on how to fix it were already flowing. I sat on it for a day and talked it over with some of my critique partners. I was pretty sure I was going to do the revision.

And when I woke up the next morning EUREKA! Something I had always known about my main character but had never been able to make matter to the story finally had its place. I had always known my main character was Jewish, but I never mentioned it before because it didn’t seem important to the story…until this agent’s feedback. With the way she had explained the world building, if I incorporated how the main character was Jewish, I could show her struggles with the technology and her religion simultaneously. With the technology built into my story it was in direct conflict with Jewish beliefs and observances of the Sabbath. Now I had something.

I emailed the agent and let her know I’d like to work a revision and would get back to her when I finished. Then I went to work. I red lined the whole manuscript. Looked for places to really show how the technology worked, pulled in Jewish traditions, beliefs, and identity struggles and even rearranged a series of chapters to fix the flow of the story and increase the pace in the middle.

All in all, it took me a solid SIX MONTHS to complete the edits. And when I did, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had a much stronger manuscript. But I still wasn’t sure if the agent would like the direction I took the story. She’d mentioned world building, not incorporating religion into the story. What if she hated the story now?

I swallowed down the feelings of doubt and sent it off in October of 2017. Then I queried some additional agents and waited, and waited…

AND WAITED.

Until that fateful day when I finally had an offer in hand (January 2018 for those still keeping track). It wasn’t the agent who requested the R&R but another agent who offered. So I notified the agent who requested the R&R and she was in the middle of reading and had really positive things to say as well. And a few days later she too offered. And I signed with the second agent!

But none of this wouldn’t have been possible without the time I took to edit and polish. The leaps of faith I took and the pauses. Taking the time to step back re-evaluate and rework was invaluable. The continued effort to improve the manuscript and my craft was exactly what I needed. Not taking no for an answer and using it as fuel to light the fire that led to achieving my goal was the icing on the cake.

When it was all said and done, from initial thought to offer, it was just shy of 5 years or writing, editing and querying off and on. And five years and one day after I sent my first query for my other manuscript. All because I refused to give up. Because I listened to that nagging voice in my head that this story had to be told and it was good enough to get noticed.

I still have work ahead of me on this manuscript, but all the hard work has definitely paid off. And I now know what it takes to take something from idea to magic.

Good News Avalanche!

Hey everyone. Sorry this space has been utterly and horribly neglected. To say the last couple of years have been awful is a complete understatement. Sure there were a few okay things here and there, but it was mostly just one major bout of being dumped on after another.

Until now.

For real. The last couple of weeks have been utterly unbelievable. It has been an utter good news avalanche! An avalanche of awesome if you will. I have to wonder if the world is making up for lost time. But the rational side of me keeps saying, it’s just a lot of hard work and perseverance all paying off at once.

It all started with a job offer for a first line manager position, something that I’ve been working on for a while. And after things got a little too crazy I had decided I would put applying for management jobs on the back burner. Right after I did that, an opportunity fell into my lap. I received the offer on a Friday and took the weekend to think it over before accepting. But during that weekend I was flooded with more good news.

Saturday, January 27, 2018 I was at a robotics qualifier with the all-girls robotics team I mentor. They were kicking ass and taking names. The judges were stopping by at regular intervals to check in on them and ask questions (which is always a good sign) and they were winning a lot of their matches. In the middle of all that chaos, I got an email from an agent that had my full manuscript. I fully expected it to say thanks but no thanks in some sort of agenty words. But the preview pane looked a bit different than I expected.

“Jamie, I very much enjoyed reading TRACKER220 and would like to offer…”

And that was it. I popped that sucker open and almost fainted from shock. The next word….

REPRESENTATION

After all this time I thought I was going crazy. Was this some kind of dream? I quickly replied to the agent that I needed to let other agents know who had my material and asked for some time. The agent agreed and scheduled a call with me. Then I sat myself on the sidelines and quickly fired off an email to the other agent who had my full manuscript, an agent who had asked for a revise and resubmit. I was still biting my nails wondering if she would like my revision or not, but tried to put my thoughts aside and return my focus to the robotics meet.

About an hour and a half later I got a reply in my inbox from agent #2.

“This is so funny because I’ve been reading and loving the revisions you made.”

The agent said she would finish up in a couple of days and let me know her decision. Surely that was a good sign? But what if she hated the ending and decided to turn me down? Either way I still had an offer on the table. But quietly sat biting my nails anyway.

Two days later, on a Monday morning, I received a reply from Agent #2.

“Would you be available for a call on Friday?”

Was this what I thought it was? Probably, but what if it wasn’t? I had to wait until Friday to find out for sure.

So I waited and waited and waited until Friday finally came and I got to talk to Agentt #2 then talked to Agent #1 a few hours later.

Both were kind and answered my bazillions of questions. And I’m glad I had a list because I’m sure I would have forgotten something if I didn’t. Both let me contact some of their clients to ask questions and all clients seemed extremely happy with their agents and had nothing but good things to say. But after the calls and the emails, I was pretty sure I knew who I wanted to pick. Despite that I definitely took some time to think it over and weigh my options.

I had met Agent #1 at a conference and she clearly had a passion for my story. Her ears had perked up when I mentioned the tagline which is why I originally queried her. She also had a great submission strategy and we both have a lot in common and got along great on the phone.

Agent #2 on the other hand, I had come across after seeing an interview she had done for MSWL and had mentioned one of her favorite books. I had messaged her on Twitter and had a brief conversation about the interview. I also referenced that conversation in my initial query to her. But months after the initial full request, she came back saying she loved the story but couldn’t offer rep and gave some very detailed feedback as to why. She also said if I wanted to do a revision, she’d be happy to take another look. I sat on the information for a while then decided I agreed with her feedback and that I wanted to try a revision. Her notes pushed me as a writer in a way I never thought possible. And when I talked to her on the phone, she had glowing things to say about the story and additional ideas for my manuscript that would continue to make it stronger.

So ultimately I decided to go with Agent #2, Kira Watson!!!! And I’m so excited to have joined #TeamKira and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her and seeing where her advice and guidance takes me.

And for the numbers folks here’s my querying history… note the dates, persistence does pay off!

Manuscript #1 did not finish

Manuscript #2

First query sent 1/26/2013

51 queries sent

47 query rejections

4 partial requests that turned into rejections

7% request rate

Manuscript #3

First query sent 11/6/2014

96 queries sent

81 query rejections

9 partials requested (6 from contests/twitter pitches)

1 partial upgraded to a full

8 rejected partials

9 additional full requests (2 from contests)

7 full rejections

1 revise and resubmit

2 offers of representation

The first offer came 5 years and 1 day after the initial query was sent in 2013)

18% request rate

1 AGENT SIGNED

For those doing quick math, that’s right around 150 rejections. And I queried my second manuscript off and on for just over 3 years. I pulled back several times, rethought things, and dove back in (I’ll talk more about this in another blog post coming soon). It’s also important to note, that my perfect agent match wasn’t an agent when I started querying. So for those still waiting on your agent match, keep in mind, your agent may not be there now, but may be there one day soon.

There were definite times I thought this was never going to happen for me. And so many times I almost outright quit. (just ask my CPs) But I’m so glad I didn’t because I finally FINALLY HAVE AN AGENT!!!

Why I Fight For Women in STEM

This world has a problem. Well many in fact, but one of the ones I'm most equipped to deal with is the war against women in STEM. It's a fight I've been in my whole life but only recently really started finding my voice for. And when I see women in STEM facing adversity it really grinds my gears. I've been there. It's a horrible place to be. It makes you want to quit. It's really REALLY hard to find your voice and the best way to speak up. To even know it's okay to say something without fear of repercussion.

And I have to say an interesting thing happened when I started speaking up. Rather than people telling me to shut up as I suspected might happen, people started thanking me. Thanking me for saying something and for saying it eloquently. And the weirdest part of all, they told me to keep speaking up. So I have.

And when I woke up this morning to a tweet from one of the seniors on the robotics team I mentor, I couldn't stay silent.
She tweeted this article: https://www.nytimes.com/…/silicon-valley-men-backlash-gende…
with the caption "Welp wish me luck"

It pains me that young women excited about engineering not only have to see this stuff, but also STILL have to think about how to handle situations like this before they even enter college, let alone the workplace. And it's horrible that women today still have to deal with this kind of Bullshit.Yep I said BULLSHIT. Because that's exactly what it is.

This young lady is one of the brightest programmers I have ever met, and programming was not even on her radar until she joined the robotics team 3 years ago. She is almost completely self taught and has come so far. Now she is looking at it as a major and a career. To see this excitement from a confident young woman waiver in the slightest bit breaks my heart.

THIS is why I mentor. This is why I wont be silent. And this is why I keep fighting. Because people STILL don't realize the opposition women in STEM face. It shouldn't be like this. And I fight so that one day it won't be. In the meantime, I'm glad I have other strong women I can band together with, and I'm glad I can inspire the next generation of strong women in STEM. If you have the opportunity to inspire young women in STEM, support them and fight for them. Help them find a voice where they don't have one.

This is why I fight for women in STEM, not just because I am one, but for the future. We need women in STEM. We need diverse voices. It's how we will ultimately learn, grow, and be more innovative as a society. Every person has a unique background. Embrace those differences around you and rise to the top as a group. One persons differences does not prevent you from reaching your goals.

I repeat: ONE PERSON'S DIFFERENCES DOES NOT PREVENT YOU FROM REACHING YOUR GOALS.

Work together and achieve those goals together.

And if you're a women in STEM feeling lost, without a voice, or at their wits end, know that I'm here for you. Know that's I've been there. And know that we can fight it and make it better. In the meantime, let's talk about it, let's support each other, and let's win this fight.

NEWS and Awesome Things

Hey everyone... I know it's been a hot minute since I've last blogged. Sorry about that. The end of 2015 and all of 2016 was quite the busy year. Lots of life changes and family happenings. And in addition to all of that, I've been hard at work planning a regional conference for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) which is in 3 days! EEK!

And oddly enough my awesome news has something to do with SWE. I love happy coincidences!

All right I'll stop stalling. The big news...

My sci fi short story Arch Nemesis about a girl trying to thwart her arch nemesis who has a secret lab underneath the St. Louis Arch is going to be PUBLISHED! My story will be included with a whole bunch of awesome other stories in an anthology titled BRAVE NEW GIRLS: Stories of Girls who Science and Scheme which features young women with a knack for STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math)--Girls who engineer, tinker, hack, and more, using their smarts to save the day. It’s got space operas, sci-fi mysteries, steampunk, cyberpunk, all kinds of punk!

Sounds pretty cool right?

Even better...

OH YES, THERE'S MORE!

Proceeds from the anthology will go towards to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund! See I told you it had something to do with SWE.

I'm so excited to be part of something that will give back to an organization that has helped me so much in my engineering career.


AND...


Yes, there's even more.


I know I can't believe all this awesome all at once.


I've got the cover reveal for BRAVE NEW GIRLS right here on my blog!


So check out the amazing cover to BRAVE NEW GIRLS: Stories of Girls who Science and Scheme.

 Isn't that an amazing cover?


AND...


Oh yes, there's still even more news...


Check out the awesome lineup for the anthology!

Stories in the anthology (in alphabetical order by title):

The 17th Quadrennial Intergalactic Neo-Cultural Expo and Science Fair by Jeanne Kramer-Smyth

The Adventure of the Brass Lamp by Margaret Curelas

Arch Nemesis by Jamie Krakover

The Babysitting Job: A Robot Repair Girl Adventure by Josh Pritchett

The Case of the Missing Sherlock by Mary Fan

Chasing the Copper Dragon by Karissa Laurel

Circus in the Sky by Lisa Toohey

Dangerous Territory by Holly Schofield

The Experimental Bug – First Test by Jelani-Akin Parham

Hack by Evangeline Jennings

In a Whole New Light by Michelle Leonard

The Last Android by Paige Daniels

Let Androids Eat Cake by Meg Merriet

The Maker’s Handbook by George Ebey

The Non-Existence of Gravity by Steph Bennion

Nova by Stephen Landry

Our Very Respected and Always Benevolent Leader by Kay Dominguez

Scilla’s Monster by Elisha Betts

Skyris by A.A. Jankiewicz

Sweet Emotion by Bryna Butler

The Swiss Cheese Model by Eric Bakutis

The Verne Shot by Brandon Draga

ADD IT ON GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34197584-brave-new-girls?ac=1&from_search=true

SIGN UP FOR THE RELEASE DAY MAILING LIST: http://eepurl.com/bgBmvD

VISIT THE BRAVE NEW GIRLS WEBSITE: http://bravenewgirls.weebly.com/

Brave New Girls: Stories of Girls Who Science and Scheme is the second volume of the Brave New Girls anthology series. The first, Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls and Gadgets was released in June 2015 and has so far raised thousands of dollars for the Society of Women Engineers Scholarship fund. Find it on Amazon.


Be sure to pick up your copy in August 2017! It's going to be an incredible anthology!

Dealing with Rejection

I've been rejected... A LOT. Nearly 150 times. And that's just querying. I've entered contests I haven't gotten into. I've gotten into contests and not gotten requests. I've gotten requests from contests that ultimately turned into rejections. And that's just my writing. That doesn't count the jobs I've been rejected for, auditions I've failed to get, leadership groups I haven't gotten into, awards I've been nominated for and didn't get and on and on. Rejections happens everywhere in life. It hurts. It shouldn't be personal, but it sure as shit feels like it sometimes.

I've watched people I've come up through the writing ranks with get agents, book deals, and see their books get published. I've cheered for them and helped them. I've watched people that started after me succeed. Get agents, get book deals, get published. I've cheered for them as well. I love watching people succeed. But that still doesn't change the fact that rejection hurts. A LOT.

I've watched people explain their path to success. Y person entered x contest 3 times and finally got in. (I did too and didn't). So and so got his or her agent on their third manuscript (I'm on my fourth, third that I'm looking at querying). That person got a book deal without an agent (I have no book deals.) and on and on. It's so hard to keep going when you feel like you're behind people. And it's even harder to not compare yourself to others.

I've been thanked in so many books I've lost count. I appreciate the recognition and I'm so glad I was able to help so many others succeed. But that doesn't change the fact that I have a goal. A goal to see my name on the cover of a book, to walk into a book store and see my book on the shelf, to sign books for excited readers, to get fan mail, and one day maybe some fan art for the characters and worlds I've created.

But every time my email goes off my heart sinks. Is this another rejection? Or maybe it's just email. And the silence hurts more. Did they even get my email? Are they ignoring me? Are they ever going to respond? Who even knows anymore. It all hurts so much sometimes.

As a look back on where I started though, that's where thing start to make a little sense. I made mistakes. LOTS OF THEM. I started my first book with someone waking up and staring at themselves in the mirror and describing themselves. I didn't even finish that book.

Then euphoria, I finished a book. I proved to myself I could do it. I researched querying and then the rejections started flowing in. No requests. I entered contests and didn't get in I researched some more. I entered more contests got into a couple. No requests. How embarrassing... I got more feedback and did more research and BAM some partial requests. I never made it to fulls.

Another idea, another manuscript. I proved to myself I could complete more than one. I entered contests I got interest, but didn't get in. Then I got into a contest and actually got requests... for fulls. And I queried and got more requests for partials and fulls. And then the rejections started rolling in. I didn't get much feedback and felt lost. How do I fix this? Is it subjective? Is there something else wrong? I got more feedback from CPS. I rewrote, I queried some more. Got some more requests that also ultimately turned into rejections. Still no usable feedback. I pushed the MS aside.

I wrote another manuscript. Hey I'm getting pretty good at this. I got some feedback. I edited. I entered a contest and wasn't picked. More hurt and pain and wondering what I'm doing wrong. The answer might be nothing. But my gut tells me there's something I'm missing.

So now what? More research? More feedback? Into the query trenches for ultimately more rejections? I have to go with my gut and dive in for more feedback. But what's even the point? I haven't achieved my goal, and I've watched so many others pass me up.

The journey. I've grown so much as a writer and if I'm being completely honest, writing has helped me grow as a person too. In each step I've learned something. I've gotten a little further down the road. I've met more amazing people. Will my next manuscript be the one? Who even knows? But I have a choice, leave the path forever and never reach my goals, or continue down it and see where it takes me.

I'm the curious type so I'm going to continue down the path. And one day, maybe, I might see my dreams come true. I might get to hold that book with my name on the cover. And to me that image makes it all worth it.

Until then, I keep wandering along the path. Will you join me?

Pitchwars Bio - 2016

Hi all you happy Pitchwars folks! I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself.

I'm Jamie...

I'm a giant nerd!
Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

 Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

In real life...

I love space!

and love superheros!

And sci fi...

to name just a few... (otherwise we might be here all day!)

In my free time (what free time?) I dance...

And cosplay... :D

Rey cosplay

Stargate cosplay

Roy Harper from Arrow cosplay

Me in the STL comic con costume contest as Violet Parr from the Incredibles

I also love to read YA and MG!

My dog Sophie

And of course I'm a writer! I write MG and YA scifi and fantasy.
(don't act so surprised by the genres :-P)

And for Pitchwars I'll be subbing a MG fantasy about a girl... who can change into...

BUT... she doesn't want anything to do with being a dragon...

So I'll leave you there... for now...

But I will say, with each manuscript I've completed and queried, I've learned more and more about the process and improved each step of the way. I've gotten full requests that ultimately turned into no's and I just didn't quite connect enough's, so I really want to work with someone to make sure my manuscript is at that next level and has that "it" factor. I'm ready and willing to make my manuscript shine no matter what it takes.

All in all, I'm really looking forward to getting to know the Pitchwars mentors and participants, maybe swapping some chapters, hopefully really improving my manuscript, geeking out over books, and just saying hi. So hit me up on twitter and make sure you...

and that's me... in my tiny car...

Strong Female Characters

First, I know I haven't blogged in forever. No I haven't forgotten, but to say life got a tad bit busy is the understatement of the century. That said, I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about something extremely impactful that happened to me this weekend at comic con. Yes, I said comic con.

I've always believed strong female characters and their representation are super important. I'm an aerospace engineer. A women in a male dominated field. I spend a lot of my time trying to defend women in STEM fields, and serve as a role model for future females pursuing STEM fields. It's not an easy task. It seems to be never ending.

But starting at comic con this weekend, I witnessed some interesting things with respect to strong female characters. It started with a lovely discussion about strong female characters at a leading ladies panel Friday night at comic con. And no one in the room denied that strong female characters are not only critical, but they are necessary. We named strong female characters, and the qualities that made them so. It seemed so obvious to me then. But I don't think I had a full understanding of how essential strong female characters are until I showed up to comic con in my Rey cosplay and started walking around in the crowds.

First, I must note, that Rey was by far one of the most popular costumes at comic con. And while that isn't overly shocking, it's Star Wars, it's a fairly easy costume, and she's awesome, keep in mind only a handful of those Rey cosplays were adults. That's right, most of the 25 or so Rey's I saw, were young girls.

Every time I passed one, they smiled so hugely at me, and as I waved, they waved back. Without a doubt, it's an amazing thing to see that many young girls identifying with a character enough to want to portray her.

But of bigger note was the number of girls, who ran up to me and asked to take a picture. Including these two, who without any inhibition ran up and hugged me then told me how Rey was their favorite character.

And I see some of you rolling your eyes through your computer screen right now, but it wasn't just girls who responded to Rey. Let's talk about this little Kylo Ren, who I only had to hold out my light saber before he lunged at me ready for a fight. He didn't care that I was bigger than him, that I was girl or about the standard female stereotypes we often face when it comes to female heroes. The only thing that mattered was he knew Kylo Ren and Rey were supposed to fight and I held out a lightsaber. So he went for it and loved every minute of it!

There was also this boy who really wanted to take a picture with two strong female leads, but was so afraid to ask. So I asked him if he wanted a photo and he nodded shyly. You can't beat that grin on his face. He clearly loved being able to pose with two awesome female characters.

And I wont even go into the number of adults who screamed REY at me all weekend or smiled widely as I walked by. People love her and it's for so so many reasons. She's strong, she's a fighter, she's caring, she's a pilot, she's a budding jedi, she's so many wonderful and amazing things. She feels real. She feels human.

So after all of this, the excited young boys and girls, and enthusiastic adults, why are we still having to defend strong female characters? Why are we having to fight to get our female lead movies?

There's clearly a love for these kinds of characters. There's an audience there. We need to keep giving these examples to children. Girls need these role models. They need strong women to look up to. They need to know women can do anything. Boys need these role models. They need to see strong women are amazing. That they aren't a threat to them.

The more we see them, the more normal they are in the world. Their representation is important.

SCREAM THEIR PRESENCE FROM THE ROOFTOPS!

After this weekend, I know how much impact one strong female character can have. Let's flood the world with them in any way possible. Recognize them, write them, draw them, defend them, whatever it takes. Let's make a difference.

Who are your favorite strong female characters and why? And who is missing from the big screen? Let's bring these awesome characters to the surface.

And if you have strong female REAL LIFE role models, I want to hear about them too. Sound off in the comments. :)

The REAL Adventures of a Newlywed - Day 6

Friday, October 16, 2015
6am ... I'm awake... ish... at least it's Friday... Sleeping in is only a day away!

I make breakfast and grab the milk from the fridge cursing the giant box of cake. I'm amazed I still haven't knocked something all over the floor. It's only a matter of time.

Watching the news... winter is coming.... ugh... cold weather *GROAN*

The dog is trying my patience this morning. She's into everything... Maybe she knows it's almost the weekend too.

I head into the bedroom to finish getting ready. Andrew is just getting out of bed. How are we both moving so slow this morning? I settle for a polo and jeans cause it's Friday. Then slip on my Star Labs hoodie cause it's comfy and head out to work.

7:30am I log into my computer and wish a coworker happy birthday by "singing" to him via Lync messenger... Yeah that's the closest thing you'll ever hear from me in terms of singing *tone deaf* He tells me to wait for his email... I'm curious and frightened all at once, but I start digging into my own emails.

8am  Andrew asks me where the left over lightsaber keychains are. I told him I hid them from him. I'm apparently a dead woman now MUAHAHAHA. It's funny how possessive we are over them when there's only a couple bucks online.

8:30am After saying happy birthday to said coworker in person and snagging a doughnut that I probably don't need. I take my laptop into the conference room to run our tagup meeting.

9am Ask coworker about the lightsaber keychain that I gave him. It was apparently a huge hit with his daughters and their robotics team. And then he went to happy hour and the bartender offered to buy him a drink in exchange for the keychain. I need to carry extras of those everywhere! FOR REAL! Who knew lightsaber keychains could be used as currency?

9:30am Safety training. Hot dog! Safety first friends. Safety first.

12pm went to lunch with coworkers, again joked about the impending name change. Top choices are Pi, or the engineer formally known as Jamie Krakover

1pm I take a survey, this is the first time i get to check the box "Lives with spouse" Had to think about it for a second before I answered, but that is in fact the correct answer.

I start to dig into life changes on my work benefits... holy moly there's a lot more here than I expected... So many questions. On the plus side, my tax form now says I'm married! SCORE!

4:30pm I head to petsmart to pick up dog food. I havent had time to get any until now. Good thing we still had one container. After thag it's to the grocery store for a few needed items. We dont need tons and we're leaving town in a week.

5:30pm I stand in front of the TV for workout number two of the week. I start dying about five minutes in but i make it through the whole thing.

7:15pm We arrive at my mom's house to get presents that were sent there and drop off some extra kippot from the ceremony. Those will float around our family for years and come out during holidays.

7:30pm We head to my coworkers house for birthday celebration. We get lots of congrats and talk sbout the wedding. I give tips to one coworker who is getting married next month.

There's a lot of questions about how newlywed life is. My standard response comes all 6 days of it have been awesome.

We laugh and joke about a lot of stuff. When we get ready to leave there's a joke about us going home so we can still enjoy being newly married. Neither of us deny it.

The REAL Adventures of a Newlywed - Day 5

Thursday, October 15, 2015

5:30am The alarm goes off. I'm tired but it's the usual everyday tired not the zombie like exhaustion that has been seeping through my bones the last week. I check Twitter then roll over and snooze for a bit.

6am I basically ignore my second alarm but get up when Andrew's alarm goes off. My body hurts. My shoulders, abs and thighs are all sore from my workout. I'm not all that surprised. I stumble around in pain trying to get ready. Andrew asks what time it is then goes back to bed. The dog stays with him. TRAITOR.

I make breakfast. As soon as I pour the cereal the dog emerges and wants to go out. I see how it is...

After taking the dog out, I put the cookies in the car so I remember to bring them today. Then I dig the milk out of the fridge. Maneuvering in there is like a slide puzzle with all that left over cake. But it's cake so I'm not complaining...

I plop in front of the TV to eat and surf the web mindlessly for a bit. When I get up to get ready Andrew is in the shower. CUE BATHROOM INVASION! I'm in an out in less than five minutes and on my way to work.

7:20ish am Cookies are on my desk! Score one for the day. I get logged into my computer and actually remember my password this morning. Run into a coworker I haven't seen in years who apparently knows one of my other coworkers. I'm always amazed at how small this enormous world feels sometimes... And after a quick conversation it's off to emails!

Looks like my coworker brought in cookies too. We are now drowning in them... There are worse problems to have.

9am Get an email from my sister about wedding planning. The fun begins :) I can't wait to help her plan her big day. Hopefully we are skilled experts at this point. She luckily gets to learn from all our missteps.

9:30am a quick tagup with the SWE planning team. They want to know about the wedding then we launch into business. I think we talked longer about the wedding than business. oh well.

Andrew messages me to tell me his brain is mush and he's not sure why... Welcome to the club... it's cause BIG EMOTIONAL RELEASE!

And I get a message about some confusing deadlines... one calendar says tomorrow the other says next Friday. It's definitely next Friday. I blame wedding brain cause that's totally a thing! (If not it is now!)

It's noon and some coworkers want to go to lunch. How is the day more than half over already? We talk about past work experiences, then talk about how long we've been with the company. One of my coworkers jokes I'm as old as the development of the digits in pi. I laugh and promise to steal it to use on someone else :-P Then it's back to my desk for more work! Never a dull moment!

4pm I stop at the jewelry store to get my engagement ring and wedding band soldered together. They say it'll take 45 minutes. I run home, let the dog out, grab my computer and my wedding dress.

I drop my dress off to be cleaned and preserved. It costs an arm and a leg and I wont get it back for at least two and a half weeks, but it should be worth it. It's the last large sum of wedding I hope to spend outside of the honeymoon, which will again be TOTALLY worth it. The wedding is over and yet there are still wedding type things to take care of. It never ends!

5:15pm I trot into Kaldi's and sit down at my weekly write in. I haven't been here in two weeks and probably haven't written anything constructive in over a month. I'm excited to put some words on the page!

My mom calls. We're still somehow talking about the wedding. Mostly presents, but she never got a call from the florist about the fact that they didn't do the flowers right. While very pretty, they weren't what we asked for. She was promised a call from the owner and never got one. Where is customer service these days???

6:30pm My gluteus maximus hurts... Curse that workout yesterday....

6:45pm I'm freezing... I want my Star Labs hoodie **cries** Why did I leave that at home? It's practically glued to me most days. *favorite hoodie*

6:55pm I finally open my word document to start writing... headphones in... **dives into the dragon's lair**

7pm **light saber sounds** cue text messages from my mom... More wedding presents have arrived at her house.

7:05 MUST WRITE ALL THE WORDS!!!

1 hour and 540 words later, I call it quits. I've done better in the past, but I've also done much worse. It'll take some time to get back into a rhythm. It will come. I hope.

9pm I get home and I'm on the hunt for a dress to wear to my friend's wedding on Saturday. Because let's face it, I've had not time until now to really figure that out. The first dress is one I bought my freshman year of college. I almost fit in it again. I'm shocked! But it's just a tad tight and I'm not going to be uncomfortable all night. The second dress I put on is the winner! It fits better than when I bought it! SCORE! And Andrew likes the dress, like really likes it. DOUBLE SCORE! And I get to wear my super cute but super high heels. My feet will be dying by the end of the night. Oh well the price I pay for cute.

I watch an episode of Ellen then head off to bed. Andrew is already there playing with his new computer. (No that's not a euphemism) I lay down next to him but Andrew gets a work call and I pass out. I have no idea what time he actually goes to sleep. Such is life...