Monday, May 19, 2008

Thanks, Miss Snark

(This is early, but my surgery is at 0Dark:30 in the morning and hopefully the drugs will be good enough to keep me hallucinating all day. No way I could miss the opportunity to pay tribute to the great one!)

Miss Snark was my hero.

Her cluegun delivered stinging blows to stupidity. Her stilettos left punctured egos in the dust. Her kitchen sink had three faucets – hot, cold and gin. Clooney was her boy toy. Killer Yapp and Grandmother Snark provided aid in her distress – and vice versa.

Unless she was responding to a total nitwit, her advice was always straightforward. She gave us the facts – nothing but the facts. She didn’t sugar coat the publishing business. She presented it realistically and gave us the good and the bad. We gasped when she set her hair on fire – a sure sign another ultimate nitwit had appeared in her inbox.

Her Snarklings were addicted to her. Any recognition from her – positive or negative – could send us jumping for joy or down to the Nitwit Lounge to drown our sorrows. We trusted her advice and opinions and had complete faith in the wisdom she imparted. Had she advised sprinkling glitter on themselves and running down Broadway naked to guarantee being pubilshed, some of them probably would have. Running is not my thing.

For Belle and the late Rosie, Killer Yapp was the Clooney of canines. They would have done anything for him. Squirrels – we don’t want no stinking squirrels!

This blog started because I thought you had to have a one to respond to Miss Snark. After lurking on her site for months I dared ask a question. Her response was honest and informative. I was a nitwit, but she was gentle with me.

I entered her Ides of March contest and was thrilled to receive the "Best Suck-Up" award. The fact that she didn’t delete my entry was a triumph! That she recognized my ability to kiss ass was breathtaking

May 20, 2007 was a day of mourning in publishing blogland. From the day she announced her retirement until that final day, I was depressed. Like so many others, I prayed she would reconsider. But she was determined and exited gracefully leaving broken hearted Snarklings soaking in their gin.

Normally one year completes an official mourning cycle, but my heart is still heavy and the hope for her return refuses to dim. Thanks to Miss Snark, I had the opportunity to "meet" people in many different countries and made some wonderful new friends. She was and still is the greatest.

I miss you Miss Snark and Killer Yapp! Thank you for everything you did for us.

Please come back!


PS. Please keep me in your thoughts today. Keep repeating, “Sober, steady-handed surgeon!”

12 comments:

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi AntiWife,

I miss her, too. I left a comment at Patricia's but I think it got eaten by the blogging gods... so I'll leave the mini version here - Miss Snark gave great advice with a lot of wit and she was my first stop in blogland daily - often multiple times a day as she sometimes posted in spurts.

The other thing she gave us, though, is a writer's community. Most of my favorite blogging friends are former snarklings. She really is the center of the blogging universe, I think. And the gift of a writer's community is no small thing... clueguns, cloony and community, oh my.

Anyway, I didn't know you were going in for surgery today, but I wish you the speediest of recoveries. Take care.

Stephen Parrish said...

Nice tribute, AW. You couldn't have picked a better day to go under the knife.

Merry: try again.

Tyhitia Green said...

AW,
Hi. I hope your surgery went well. Get better soon! :*)

I love and miss Miss Snark and KY. I posted something on my blog as well as visiting Pat's. :*)

Chris Eldin said...

AW, My thoughts will be with you today. Rest and heal and allow your body to do its work to recover properly.

:-)

Miss Snark said...

I hope you are on the mend very soon.

Thank you so very much for such a sweet post. It made my day.

Mary Witzl said...

I can't top a personal visit from Miss Snark, Anti-wife, but I'm betting her comment made YOUR day.

Sadly, the very day I decided to check out Miss Snark's blog and perhaps comment was the day she announced her retirement. That must say something about my luck or slim chances of achieving publication, but I'm hoping it was just an unfortunate coincidence. I can be as sycophantic as the next guy, though, and I'm betting I could have given you a run for your money. Remember: I spent serious time in Japan, where learning how to suck up starts at a very early age. Foreign students of Japanese are not exempt from this process.

Hope the surgery went well, and I will be thinking good thoughts for your recovery!

Gina Black said...

Yes, I hope your surgery went well. Get well fast.

I enjoyed reading your tribute. I spent the day reminiscing and missing Miss Snark.

Travis Erwin said...

I hope all went well with the surgery and I am pulling for you to have a speedy recovery.

And I agree with you The All-Might Snark is greatly missed. I took a few shots from the ol' cluegun myself.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I'm just checking in to see how you are doing! I hope everything went well and you are on the mend!

The Anti-Wife said...

Thanks for all the comments and good wishes everyone.

And, Miss Snark - a personal visit. I'm so honored. Thanks!

Liane Spicer said...

Yanno, I miss her too. I was anon over there for almost a year and a half, and it was an education.

When I finally started a blog I went back and clicked on the blogs of several people I'd remembered from over at her place. That's how I met you, Chumplet, Orion and others. When I meet new writers who're starting to query I send them right over to her archives.

It was a sad day when she stopped posting, but in a sense I was glad (for her) that she did. I can't even begin to imagine the sacrifices she must have made to keep going for all that time, with that intensity. As for the Crapometers? She should be given an award for those. Don't know how she managed.

Liane Spicer said...

Oh dear, I posted my comment before I read the trail and saw Miss Snark's. You'll be fine - see who's thinking of you? :)