Anything Can Happen, Child, ANYTHING Can Be

Another break, another blog.  I guess I should start this one out with a little bit of writing news…
 

I FINISHED EDITING MY BOOK!!!

 

Woo!  Very, very exciting…though I will miss reading and tweaking my story every day. 

(Is it self-centered to say that?  Do I care?)

Seriously, I’m super happy that it’s edited, and I feel a lot better about it as a whole.  I feel like it’s much more cohesive and believable, and that it captures the mood I wanted to convey better than it did before.  Besides, I actually ended up liking the characters more once I made them more human.

Scary.

So what did I do on my lunch break today, you might ask?  Well, freed (however unwillingly) from the shackles of editing, I decided to do what I’m always telling everyone else to do: MAN UP.  I did just that, and finally sent off a query to another agent.  That means I have two out right now, though I think the last one I sent is a no  ;{ 

I haven’t heard back from them yet, and I sent it out on September 20^th.  I hear if an agent likes your work you’ll hear from them within 1-3 weeks.  I’m willing to allow myself to believe that they are either madly overworked or on vacation, however, so I’m still holding out some hope. 

Anyway, the submission today was incredibly nerve-wracking.  Not actually writing it—I’ve had it written for weeks, waiting to go—but because they don’t mention a writing sample.  Not the first three chapters, not the first ten pages, not even a separate synopsis to give them a fuller idea of what the hell your book’s about.  Just a query.

Absolutely terrifying.

I wavered back and forth about just attaching the damn sample (or pasting it below the letter, which would be the wiser course), but I kept imagining the agent tossing my submission away for disregarding their instructions (or, rather, for providing something for which they did not ask).  Finally I just took a deep breath, hit send, and then wept into my keyboard.

Okay, okay, I didn’t weep.  In fact I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Still, a query with no sample?  Almost as confusing as the grocery store I encountered that didn’t sell beer.  Makes you feel that all is not right with the world.

So, what will I do now?

That’s a good question (and, as I’m the only one who reads this blog, one that makes me seem slightly schizophrenic*).  The plan is to knock together a longer synopsis over the next few days, so that I can finally send out a submission to Tor books.  Evidently they accept unsolicited manuscripts, but they have very specific guidelines and I don’t want to fuck it up. 

After I’ve applied to Tor I’ll probably start work on book two: Bryn & Mer: Damnatio Memoriae.  I’ll (hopefully) continue applying to approximately 1 agent per week (though it may be more like 1 every 2  or 3 weeks, depending on how hard they are to find, how much I have to tweak my submission package, etc.).  Everyone tells you that submitting your book over and over and over is incredibly depressing: and they’re right, it is.  Aside from some personal heartache, that’s probably the biggest reason I’ve been down these last few weeks (the third biggest being my job, the fourth looking for jobs, the fifth all my friends moving away, the sixth lack of ice cream^†…).  However I just need to keep telling myself that Madeleine L'Engle was rejected 26 times for A Wrinkle in Time, and J.K. Rowling only got Harry Potter published because a bored publisher’s daughter got her hands on the manuscript.  It’ll happen.  I have to believe that it will happen.

 

Anyway, break’s over, so I must bring the blog to a close.  Until next time, fearless readers!

 

* I had a note to put here, but the voices distracted me…

 

^† 7-26 are all lack of ice cream as well.  There’s nothing more depressing than a day without ice cream.   


 

For The Children, They Mark, And The Children, They Know

I feel like I only blog now in my spare time.  That’s sad…but since I have so little spare time lately, the fact that I’ll dedicate it to ranting about my book is admirableish, if I do say so myself.
 
Anyway, I’m not editing on this lunch break because I went to mail my tax return for Virginia (long story) and, as it turns out, FedEx can’t mail to that IRS office any more, due to the shutdown or ineptitude or general congressassery*.  I’m super pissed, and dunno how I’ll get my shit to the post office (seeing as they’re all closed or on reduced hours as well), but that, evidently, is the new plan.  Irksome. 
 
As for the editing, it’s actually going really well.  I’ve been very down these past few months, and especially so recently, but even just fiddling with my book seems to be helping.  Some. 
 
I have had to rewrite several sections, and they’ve turned out much better.  That’s also helpful.
 
I’m currently about 39 pages from the finish, which (when you consider that the manuscript is something like 380 pages) is hardly anything at all!  90% done!
 
Editor applications, however, are another story (pun intended!).  I just do not have the time outside of work right now, and my work lunch time is currently dedicated to editing.  I’m so busy that I feel like I’m not even sleeping.  I haven’t vacuumed in something like two weeks, I need to scrub my stove and toilet, and I really should spend more time with my cat.  Plus I ought to rest…before I snap and really do throw myself off the balcony here at work.  Tempting…
 
Seriously, though, I figure I’ll focus on applications once I’m finished with editing.  Once the book is edited I can use these lunch sessions to research and apply to publishers, leaving my evenings free to find a new job (which I desperately need).
 
Anyway, my break is almost up, and I think I’ll spend the rest of it staring out the window and drinking my hot cider (yum!).  Ciao for now.
 
 
Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor
Word Count: only 10% left to edit!
Writing Mode: Wistful; and, for the most part, enjoying reading my own work

 

 

*I’ma go ahead and coin this word right now

Cupio Dissolvi

Blogging today instead of editing because I am mad siiiiiiccckkkkkk.

 

Honestly, I feel so ill that all I wanna do is curl up in bed for a week.  It’s my own fault…I ran around like a crazy person last week, stressing over a work trip I was planning, staying out far too late and drinking far too much at a wedding I attended this weekend, and getting myself all worked up over things that make me unhappy, but over which I have no control. 

 

So now I’m sick.  Everything tastes funny (particularly the sparkling water I foolishly bought thinking it might clear my throat), I ache all over, I’m exhausted, and one side of my face is so congested it feels paralyzed. 

 

Attractive.

 

However I’m able to function like a normal human being (except for the stupid mistakes I keep making), so I figured I still ought to come in to work.  Blah.

 

I was sick yesterday, too, but managed to do a good bit of editing.  I’m 3/4ths of the way through the novel now!  I’m super excited about finishing—still hope that I can get through the rest of it by Christmas. 

 

Yesterday was a rough day, editing-wise.  I was in the middle of editing a sex scene while on my lunch break at work…already awkward.  And as we all know, nothing gets ya in the mood for lovin’ like a snotty, achy, full-body cold.  Right?

 

…no? 

 

…well, that explains my difficulty, then.  However I managed to shake it off long enough to add an additional paragraph or two to the scene, edit the rest, cut a huge awkward portion of writing out afterwards, and finish my editing for the day.  I’m satisfied (at least for now) with the way it turned out, and just want to keep working…as soon as I feel better.  Got to keep going if I wanna reach that Christmas deadline!

 

Oh!  Almost forgot the most important thing: I submitted to another agent!  I really like the look and attitude of this one…I think she could be a really great fit.  We’ll see if she thinks the same…probably not, I know, but one cannot live without a little hope!

 

On a completely different note, I have a script I desperately want to start working on…it’s called Plus One, and it’d be different from Bryn & Mer in nearly every way.  I’ve pushed it to the side, however, along with everything else I want to work on…the editing must come first!

 

I suppose that’s all for now.   ‘Till next time.

 

 

Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor

Word Count: 1,050 edited yesterday

Writing Mode: Plagued by the plague