Defeating Your Inner Critic Part II - Put the Critic on the Stand

A Note from Carolyn (Archetype): Today's article is a continuation from yesterday.  It teaches you to use top secret therapy techniques to defeat the Inner Critic, that nasty little voice that tells us our writing is no good and we'll never get published.  Be sure to visit Part I!

All of us have an inner Critic; unfortunately, its voice tends to be particularly strident when we sit down to write. “You’re no good at this,” it says. “Your ideas are stupid. Why would anyone want to read what you wrote anyhow?” Or maybe it waits until you’re actually pounding away at the keys. “That’s not the right word,” it announces. "You’re doing a terrible job of getting what’s in your head on the page. How can you call yourself a writer?”

Yesterday we talked about how the inner Critic undermines our writing, and how to start identifying when it's talking to us.  Today we're going to talk about how to really fight back.

Exercise 2: D-E

After you’ve filled up your A, B, and C columns (see Part I), you’re going to add the D and E columns.

D stands for Dispute.

In the D column, you're going to pull apart the Critic's assertions and dispute them.

The D takes some effort, but it’s worth it; if you’re able to practice, this will become second nature.

Questions to ask yourself as you dispute the Critic’s claims:

What evidence do I have that [what you wrote in the B column] is true?  (Be sure to tackle one Belief at a time, not all of them at once!)

What evidence do I have that [what you wrote in the B column] isn’t true?

Is there another explanation?

What would I tell a friend if she said these things to me?

What would that mean about me if this were true?

What effects are these thoughts (the Critic’s words) having on me?

Is it reasonable for me to be so hard on myself for this?

What would happen if I changed the way I was thinking?

If it’s really a problem, what can I do to make it better? (Should I take a class? Join a writing group? )

Pretend you’ve got your Critic on the stand in a court. How are you going to convince a jury that it’s a liar?

E stands for Evaluate Effects.

In the E column, you're going to check in to see how you feel.

A Activating event	B Beliefs/thoughts	C Consequences	D Dispute	E Evaluate Effects
What happened?	What’s the Critic saying to you? What is it trying to make you think or believe?	Your feelings as the Critic talks	Looking at the Critic’s assertions more carefully and disputing them	Checking in to see how you feel.
Example:	Example:	Example:	Example:	See below
Received a rejection slip	I don’t know why I even bother sending out queries, I always get rejection letters. Obviously I don’t have any talent and I just look stupid to everyone who sees my work. I should just give up and admit I’m no good.	Hopeless, depressed, hurt, angry, worthless	What evidence do I have that I'm a failure? well, all these rejection letters. What evidence do I have that I'm not? Well, my friends say they like my stories, and I did win that award back in college... What if I never got published? Would it kill me? No, but I'd feel bad. I guess I have to focus on how much I enjoy writing...	Well, I bother because I really care about my writing and would like to get published. But I write for myself first, because I enjoy it. As much as I want to get published, it's a process and I'm going through the same thing most writers do--even the ones I admire the most! I just have to keep working to get better. Maybe I could go to that writing conference I heard about...

Secondary Gain

One of the toughest things about Disputation is that it’s much easier (and in a backwards kind of way, a lot more fun) to wallow in self-pity. I genuinely believe that sometimes we need to wallow a little, but put a limit on it. If you take more than a day or two, you're just avoiding the problem.

Also be careful not to take your frustration out on a partner or friend. Wallowing for a little while is fine. Torturing someone else with your wallowing isn’t.

Rewriting

After you’ve put together your Disputation, re-evaluate how you feel. I like clients to take an extra step and re-write the original critical statement into something more balanced and positive. For example, if your original statement was something like “I’m a miserable failure as a writer,” after your disputation you might realize places that’s not true (or that it’s not as bad as you're telling yourself), so you rewrite the thought as “If I never get published, I’ll feel sad, but lots of famous writers got hundreds of rejection slips; what made them special was that they never gave up in spite of that. Even though they sometimes feel personal, they’re not rejections of me or even necessarily true rejections of my work--they’re just telling me that my work isn’t right for that publication right now, not that it’s terrible. I need to keep looking to find my work the right home.”

Whittling the Critic Down to Size

Remember, the Critic has spent a long time teaching you to believe a lot of bad things about yourself and your writing, and it will take time and practice for you to learn new thinking patterns. When you think something over and over, your brain actually aligns molecules in such a way that it’s easier for that thought to occur. The only way you’re going to disconnect that chain of molecules is to refuse to go over and over and over that thought. Instead, you create a new chain that says something more realistic.

You may want to practice these new statements a few times a day. Stick them on the bathroom mirror or over your writing desk. Say them out loud. Tell the Critic.

Remember those old cartoons where a big scary shadow would appear on the wall and the hero would cower in terror, only to have a teeny little mouse come around the corner? That’s what the Critic is like. It casts a big scary shadow, but if you shine some light on it and confront your fears, you’ll find that the Critic itself is just a little pipsqueak.

And now you have the skills you need to handle that pipsqueak!


Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD writes fantasy, scifi, and nonfiction. She loves helping writers "get their psych right" in their stories, and her book on the same topic, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior is now available for pre-order. Learn more about the book at the WGTP website or ask your own psychology and fiction question here.

Defeating Your Inner Critic Part I - Track the Problem

The Inner Critic can be the writer’s worst enemy. Each time we sit down to work, it feeds on our insecurities, reminds us of past failures, and criticizes everything we put down on paper.

Until now you’ve probably thought, like most people do, that the Critic’s sinister whispers should be brushed away so you can try to get back to work. But brushing them away is the worst thing you can do, because you’re not dealing with them. And that means they’ll just come back.

Imagine a room with a floor that “settled” a little too much, and now everything is tilted in toward the middle. If you drop a basketball on the floor, it will roll to the middle. You can push it back toward the wall, but as soon as it loses momentum or hits the wall, it’s going to roll right back.

Now imagine yourself sitting right in that sunken spot in the middle, and imagine ten basketballs. If they settle against you, it’s hard for you to write (they roll over your keyboard or paper, they bang into your elbows), so you have to push them. Even if it’s a really big room and the basketballs are leisurely, repeatedly pushing ten of them away is going to keep you from getting much writing done. You’d be better off dealing with the problem directly: gathering up the basketballs and getting them out of your way.

The Critic does the same thing as those basketballs. It keeps you so busy trying to ward it off that you don’t get much done.

So let’s talk about how to pick it up and get it out of your way.

Our Secret Weapon: The ABC Model

The inner Critic doesn’t just torture writers; it’s also responsible for clinical depression and anxiety. (It’s no coincidence that mood disorders are more common in writers than the general population.) But psychotherapists know just how to deal with the inner Critic; in fact, even the most vicious Critic will fall before cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) when they’re wielded by someone truly determined to be the victor.

So, that's what we're going to use. Our secret weapon: the ABC model.

We use a chart for our homeworks in CBT. There are 5 columns, which we’ll label A, B, C, D, and E. For right now we’re just going to worry about B, though.

A

B

C

D

E

Exercise 1: A, B, & C


B stands for Beliefs

The first thing you’re going to do is spend some time writing down all the nasty things the Critic says to you in the B column. Even the things that seem small and silly.

Often people say, “It makes me feel bad and I want it to go away, and you want me to pay more attention to it?”

Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do. Remember, you need to take detailed notes on what the villainous Critic is doing if you’re going to beat him (or her). Be sure to include any phrase that uses the “hot” words the Critic likes best: should, shouldn’t, must, mustn’t, have to, can’t, etc.--words that make us feel stuck because they don’t leave room for alternatives.

Once you start to pay attention, you’ll notice that the Critic knows just which things will make you feel the worst, and it repeats those things the most. Part of what makes it so virulent is it knows your deepest insecurities and fears, and those are what it uses against you. It’s successful because you’re afraid those things are really true.

Worse, it’s stealthy enough that most of the time you’re not consciously hearing what it’s saying to you.

You’ve been listening to it for so long you hardly even notice its voice. Instead, you assume that your reactions or fears are based in objective reality.

Especially because it uses insults that are hard to defend against. For example, it’s hard to argue with “You’re not creative enough” because it’s hard to define what creative enough really is.

Don’t be afraid to pull out your list and add things as they occur to you. And don’t be surprised if your list is several pages long. That means two things. First, you’re doing a good job with this, and second…well, you’re a writer. Of course you’re going to write quite a bit!


C stands for Consequences

As you work, write down any emotions you’re feeling in the C column; that is, the emotional consequences to the beliefs in column B. Some statements might make you angry, some might make you sad, some might make you anxious. Just write it all down, and don’t worry if you’re repeating the same emotions beside different kinds of Critical thoughts.

	B Beliefs/thoughts	C
	What’s the Critic saying to you? What is it trying to make you think or believe?	Your feelings as the Critic talks Consequences
	Example:	Example:
	I don’t know why I even bother sending out queries, I always get rejection letters. Obviously I don’t have any talent and I just look stupid to everyone who sees my work. I should just give up and admit I’m no good.	Hopeless, depressed, hurt, angry, worthless

A stands for Activating Event

Now try to pinpoint when the Inner Critic bothers you most. Did you get a rejection slip? Did you see a writer on a talk show? Did you realize your writing time is coming up?  Write those things in the A column.

A Activating event	B Beliefs/thoughts	C Consequences
What happened?	What’s the Critic saying to you? What is it trying to make you think or believe?	Your feelings as the Critic talks
Example:	Example:	Example:
Received a rejection slip	I don’t know why I even bother sending out queries, I always get rejection letters. Obviously I don’t have any talent and I just look stupid to everyone who sees my work. I should just give up and admit I’m no good.	Hopeless, depressed, hurt, angry, worthless

So you’re going to be cataloging three things:

A stands for Activating Event (what happened?)
B stands for Beliefs (what you thought, what the Critic said to you)
C stands for Consequences (how you feel)

Come back tomorrow for a special post on defeating your inner critic!



Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD writes fantasy, scifi, and nonfiction. She loves helping writers "get their psych right" in their stories, and her book on the same topic, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior is now available for pre-order. Learn more about the book at the WGTP website or ask your own psychology and fiction question here.

Publishing Pulse 10/1/10

Agent Judged Contest on The QueryTracker Blog!

Literary agent Joan Paquette will be the judge of our next contest on October 27th. You can read the details here.

Are You Looking for a Literary Agent?

We have the most comprehensive list of reputable literary agents on Querytracker.net!

Keep track of new and updated agents here.

Writers' Conference Advice

Ten Ways to Get the Most from a Writers' Conference by Patricia Stoltey, mystery author, blogger and critique group facilitator is a great read if you are planning to attend a conference this year.

Read A Controversial Book!

September 25−October 2, 2010 Is Banned Books Week – Learn More by reading The New York Times article that suggests 10 Ways to Celebrate Banned Books Week.

Before You Query

Read Tracy Marchini’s (freelance writer and professional manuscript critiquer) list of words that hide from your spell-check.

Picture Books in the Slush Pile

Ever wonder about the correct way to query for a picture book? Agent Mary Kole blogged about Picture Book Queries this week.

Writing Young Adult?

Check out Literary Agent Nathan Bransford’s post: In Defense of Dead/Absent Parents in Children’s Literature

Violence In Teen Books

Author Cinda Williams Chima muses about violent content in teen books on author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog, Cynsations.

Cussing Tips

Kathleen Craft, Developmental Editor, has written an excellent post on The Blood-Red Pencil about the use of cussing in novels.

Literary Quote of the Week

"The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes." - Agatha Christie

* * *

Have a great weekend!

Cynthia

Cynthia Watson is in the query process for her first novel, WIND, a Young Adult Paranormal Romance, while writing the second book in the saga, SAND. Cynthia lives in Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto, Canada, with her Cocker Spaniel, Symon, and five rescued cats.

You can find out more about Cynthia on her blog and Twitter.

It's All About The Details

In one writing seminar, a classmate wrote in my margins, "God is in the details." While that quote comes from an architect, a good writer will use details to infuse the work with life.

But, you may say, readers want to escape from everyday details.

True, but details create the world, and the world interacts with the characters. Writers call this "verisimilitude."

Imagine a scene in which John meets Mary to break up with her. As the writer, you get to pick the place. Since it's set in New York, you decide on a pizzeria. Now put yourself in that pizzeria. Are there booths or tables with chairs?

What's on the table? Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes? Is there graffiti on the table? What does it say? What does your pizzeria smell like? Is the place crowded? When was the floor last swept? Is the menu on the wall? What are the guys doing behind the counter?

As you answer these questions, consider your characters' mood. Consider what's about to happen and how it's going to take place, and then craft the details to enhance the scene. Mary is about to be broken-hearted; the salt and pepper shakers are only half-full. If John is angry, maybe he chooses mushrooms even though Mary dislikes them. Is it going to be a heated breakup? Details tell how your characters perceive the passage of time: maybe while waiting, a bored John runs his finger up and down the glass curves of the red pepper shaker.

Given just the right emphasis, a detail enters the reader's mind, delineates the boundaries of the characters' world, and then fades. The reader picks up the tension but never traces it to the puddle of condensation growing around the water pitcher or to the flickering fluorescent light behind the counter.

The magic of details is how they telegraph to the reader things the narrator knows but doesn't tell (as in a third-person narrator foreshadowing). Moreover, good use of detail will alert the reader to circumstances even the narrator doesn't know. For example, a woman who over time mentions how her daughter is secretive about what she eats, vanishes into the bathroom after meals and has unexplained bad breath can telegraph to the reader that the daughter is bulimic even though she herself never puts the clues together.

Details at their most basic help convince us of the world's reality, but at their best they keep the reader interpreting the story in "realtime." So while we may read to escape the details of our lives, details in the story assist in the reader's escape.

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) andThe Boys Upstairs (this December from MuseItUp). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

Publishing Pulse 9/24/10

Querying? Be sure to check out the list for new and updated agents on Querytracker.net
You can find the list here.

Dealing with Rejections?
As anyone working towards becoming published professionally knows, rejection is one of the steps to getting there. Rachelle Gardner explains why most agents don't explain the reason for the rejection. Jessica Faust explains the importance of considering your word count. what she's thinking when she evaluates her full requests.


Every Wondered What Makes a Book Young Adult (YA) or Middle Grade (MG)?
Hannah Moskowitz details the thematic differences between YA and MG books. Mary Kole gives some insight into voice and character in MG boy books. And Roni Loren shares some secrets in developing an authentic male YA voice.

#SPEAKLoudly Against Censorship
In the last week or so, many bloggers have worked to bring attention to another case of censorship. This time the book being questioned is SPEAK by Laurie Anderson. You can find details of what's happening here. Beth Revis posted some excellent reasons why censorship is harmful. And Lisa and Laura are donating one copy of SPEAK for every 25 comments on this blog post.

And finally: Need a Laugh?
Why dating a writer really isn't such a great idea. And Kiersten White brings attention to the Professional Waiting Society, complete with a guide on how to O.B.S.E.S.S.

Interview with author Karen Duvall

Karen Duvall

Cynthia Watson interviewed Karen Duvall, author of her recently sold Adult Urban Fantasy novel, KNIGHT’S CURSE.

Karen and her husband are empty-nesters, who live with their three cats, and one dog in beautiful Central Oregon.







QueryTracker.net: Karen, thank you for chatting with me. Congratulations on selling your book! Please tell the QueryTracker.net folks what your book is about.

Karen Duvall: Thank you so much, Cynthia. I'd love to tell you about my urban fantasy novel that just sold to Luna in a two-book deal.

The first book, KNIGHT'S CURSE, is about Chalice, who's half angel with superhuman senses. She's cursed with bondage to a homicidal gargoyle, and forced to steal cursed objects for the sorcerer who kidnapped her as a child. The only way to break the curse is to kill the beast, and its death must come by the hand of its own kind. To regain the freedom she longs for, Chalice risks losing either her life or the love she has struggled so hard to believe is real. The choice is hers.



QT: Can you tell us about your journey? How did you get started with your writing?

KD: I've been writing seriously for a number of years, starting out with short stories before graduating to novels. I make my living as a graphic designer and always wrote on the side to fulfill my passion for storytelling.

My first attempt at a novel was semi-autobiographical, and told the story of a young pregnant woman in search of her birthmother. It was very women’s-fictionesque, and actually got me my first agent, but after two years of trying to find a publisher for it, that agent gave up on the manuscript, and gave up on me.

Then, I wrote a science fiction novel called PROJECT RESURRECTION that got picked up by a traditional small press, and published in 2000. I wrote a romantic suspense that came real close to getting published with Silhouette Intimate Moments, but the editor I'd been working with for over a year left the company, and the manuscript was rejected. However, DESERT GUARDIAN saw print in 2004 with The Wild Rose Press.

Though my experiences with the two small presses were okay, I realized going that route would never gain me the writing career I wanted. So, I decided that finding an agent to represent my work, and to support and encourage me as a career-focused writer, was the best way to go. After writing KNIGHT'S CURSE, I believed I'd finally written the book that would take me to the next level.



QT: Karen, tell us how you found your agent?

KD: I found my agent through QueryTracker.net. I did the research starting with genre, and selected a group of agents to submit my query to. I visited each agent's website or blog, and was very impressed with the McIntosh & Otis, the oldest literary agency in New York. They represent John Steinbeck's estate, among other prominent authors. So I queried Elizabeth Winick, who represents my genre, and the rest is history.

It's important to note that Liz was not the first and only agent I queried. It took four months to find the right agent fit for me, and I feel very fortunate to be with one of the best literary agencies in the U.S.



QT: How did you feel when you heard your book was going to be published?

KD: Stunned, lol. The book had been making the rounds for two years, and the editors reading it were taking months to respond. There were a few near misses, but I was used to the book getting rejections by then. So my agent and I decided that rewriting it as a Young Adult might help its chances. Before the revised Young Adult version of the manuscript had a chance to go out to a new set of publishers, my agent gets a call from Luna saying they have a two-book offer.

I was on my way out the door to a lunch meeting with a design client when my agent called with the good news. That I was ecstatic is an understatement, and I think I'm still in the state of shock. It's finally starting to sink in though. I had to stop pinching myself. I was leaving bruises.



QT: Did you help pick out the cover art, and can you tell us what it looks like?

KD: It's still too early for cover art, though I just finished filling out the Art Fact Sheet for KNIGHT'S CURSE. My contributions so far have been answers to the questions on the form, and I'm more that fine with that.

I designed the covers for my small press books, even won an award for one of them, but that was because those publishers didn't have a professional art department. I make my living as a designer, and I know what I'm doing. But Luna creates gorgeous covers, so I'm content with leaving it up to them to do their magic. I can hardly wait to see what they come up with.



QT: Who are some of your favourite writers?

KD: I have so many. Rachel Cain is high on my list with her Weather Warden series. I also love C.E. Murphy's books. Clive Barker is known for his horror, but I love his other speculative works like IMAJICA and GALILEE, among others. Then, of course, there's Neil Gaiman's brilliant story telling. I could go on and on.



QT: Who, or what, has been your biggest influence as a writer?

KD: I've been a reader since age five, so all the authors I read from then until now have heavily influenced me. But the author whose gift for great characterization is the one responsible for me writing my first novel. Armistead Maupin, though a writer of more mainstream stories, is amazing. I felt as if the characters were sitting right there with me, telling me their stories.



QT: What is it about your genre that captures your imagination? Is there a genre you haven’t written, but would like to try?

KD: Paranormal stories have always been my passion. I love reading about the impossible, and taking those imaginative journeys to fantastical places with characters who can do inhuman things. It brightens my brain.

As far as a genre I'd like to try, I almost said historical, but I've done that already with my alternate history steampunk fantasy MYSTIC TAXI. It's the first book in a planned series, and I'm eagerly awaiting word from the editors who have that one.

Fingers crossed!



QT: Please tell us about the projects you are currently working on; what can readers expect to see in the coming months?

KD: I'm currently working on book two of my HATCHET KNIGHTS SERIES called KNIGHT'S PROMISE. This story continues Chalice's journey of connecting with her sister knights in the modern world, and vanquishing an evil that's responsible for killing hundreds of women in the Order of the Hatchet. And, of course, fulfilling her promise to the man she loves. I can't say much more, or I'll give it away!

Let's hope there's a third book because I have that one planned as well. It's called KNIGHT'S BETRAYAL.



QT: What is your advice to our QueryTracker.net members who are writing their first book?

KD: Write the best book you can, and write it like you expect it to sell. It probably won't, but don't worry because there's no such thing as wasted words. Every word you write, every sentence you put down, brings you that much closer to your dream.

Write for yourself, and write what you love. Keep an open mind, and take criticism with grace. Always work toward improving because your work isn't perfect, and it never will be. If you think it's "good enough," it most likely isn't.

Don't give up. After the first book is done, write another; and another one, after that. As you query agents on one book, be writing the next one. Stay busy, and stay focused.



QT: That's excellent advice! Thank you, Karen, for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me. Where can readers find out what's new, and how can they contact you?

KD: I have a blog I haven't added to in a while, but will be updating soon. So feel free to drop by, and read past posts about my journey up to this point.

You can visit me at www.karenduvall.blogspot.com.

Or check out my website to read unedited samples of my work at www.karen-duvall.com.



QT: Karen, we will be watching out for KNIGHT'S CURSE. We are pleased and proud that QueryTracker.net was part of your writing journey. Everyone in the QueryTracker.net family wishes you all the best.

Read Karen's original success story interview at: www.querytracker.net/kduvall.php

Cynthia Watson is in the query process for her first novel, WIND, a Young Adult Paranormal Romance, while writing the second book in the saga, SAND. Cynthia lives in Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto, Canada, with her Cocker Spaniel, Symon, and five rescued cats.


Cynthia blogs at: http://cynthiawatson.blogspot.com/
Follow Cynthia on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CynWatson

Waiting on an Agent's Reply

Most writers get nervous waiting for an agent or an editor to respond. I've been known to send out a submission and then immediately post to Twitter, "Dear Unnamed Editor: I sent my story ten seconds ago. Why haven't you responded yet?" Other writers usually reply to me with, "I hear ya."

We all know the guidelines: wait three months to "nudge" on a partial, six on a full. But we're writers and we're nervous as we await the verdict. Isn't there anything we can do?

Here's my solution: when you want to bother an agent or an editor, go ahead and bother an agent or an editor.

No! you gasp, but before you send me nasty email, consider what I said. I said to bother an agent or an editor. Not the agent or the editor who has your material. Go bother a different one.

It works like this. Agent John Doe requests a partial of your novel, The Long Wait. You send it, but two weeks later you're chewing up your fingernails in nerve-wracked suspense. Every time you get your email, you scan for his name or your novel title in the subject line. You waken at midnight tasting the urge to bug him for a decision even though you know if you do, you'll get a decision all right, and it won't be the one you want.

Take all that nervous energy and head over to QueryTracker.net. Look up similar agents to John Doe. Pick out a few who represent similar authors. Check out their websites, and query those agents instead. Like magic, you have resisted the urge to bother John Doe by bothering five other agents.

With any luck, one of those will request your partial, and you can send it. When you get nervous again, you can once again use waiting-jitters as fuel for sending more queries. By the time John Doe gets back to you, you'll have five other agents reading your material, and you won't have spent time obsessing over the one agent who's had your partial for seven weeks, three days, four hours and twelve minutes. Not that anybody's counting.

This technique works even better with short fiction. Bother an editor! Polish up one of the short stories on your hard drive and find a market for it. Write multiple short stories (or poems, or essays) and bother two or three editors simultaneously--because they won't think of you as bothering them. They'll think of you as submitting. They won't know (or care) that you submitted to Awesome Short Fiction Magazine because you hungered for a response from Chicken Soup For The Nervous Author's Much-Rejected Soul. And the editor you're waiting on will remain unbothered.

Does it work? Well, in the two weeks after I signed with my own agent, I had a novella, a short story and a poem accepted for publication because I'd gotten so jittery by the end of my agency search.

So remember: when you want to bother an agent or an editor, go ahead and do it. Just make sure you "bother" a different agent or editor than the one you're waiting on.

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) andThe Boys Upstairs (this December from MuseItUp). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.