Day 82

I'm still waiting on replies, so no tales of rejection woe this time around, but I still have things to share.

It's been a really long week, but a good week. I hopped in to a few great chats with other authors and agents on twitter and got to hear my 5 month old nephew mumble nonsense on the phone. I added a bunch of books to my to-read list, which is pretty much a book geeks foreplay. AM I WRONG??



I would also like to get these sneakers for my Wonder Woman shelf. Not to wear.

Today, I came home to a wonderful package from my friend, Margie. A group of us, who have been buddies since kindergarten, started a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants if you will. GO AHEAD. LAUGH. We are all drastically different sizes, (starting at 16 and sliding all the way down to what I'm pretty sure is a child's medium) so the pants thing made no sense. We send a giant red photo album around and fill it with deeply personal letters and pictures of our lives since we last had the book. Margie had the book for a year, but she added some great stuff and has been forgiven. I wrote my letter and it will go out with some pictures of my boyfriend wearing a really small hat and a sample of my writing on Monday morning. It's corny, but in the three years we've been sending the book around, its been pretty cool to see how things have changed in such a short amount of time.

Tonight I'm writing. Tomorrow, more writing and maybe going to Zuma Beach. Sunday I'm going to the West Hollywood Book Fair which should be great, then watching some fooootball. 

Writey-wise, I'm 6k into my next book. Hopefully that will turn into muchmorek by Sunday night.

HI NEW FOLLOWERS. It's lovely to see the two of you. ♥ Enjoy my favorite song of the week.

Day 74

My bill paying job has been pretty busy this week so I haven't had a lot of energy to blog in addition to my other writing adventures. I've had one partial requested and then rejected, but I press forward, spirits brightened by the fact that I came home to a dish-free sink and a happy boyfriend with a clean-shaven head. He looks super bald.

Here are some things I've learned/thought of since my last post in no particular order. And a picture I like. The artist is Ben Newman.

- I'm confused by writers who become enraged with agents who reject them. They said no to your query. They didn't call you ugly to your face, which hurts, trust me. I've learned A LOT from a couple agents who have rejected my query and they are actually pretty nice people. I hope to actually meet them some day.

- If you email people, more often than not, they email you back. 

- Not everyone should give advice (I knew this before, but it's come up a lot this week)

- Playing with my characters in my head is a fantastic way to pass the time while sitting in traffic in Beverly Hills. Lil' Wayne, Does It Offend You, Yeah?,  and Chromeo only add to the pleasure of it all.

- Patience does pay off.

- Even when you walk into a really awkward situation you will be able to pull something from it that you can use in your writing. An old man named Stewart weirded the hell out of me this week and he will show up somewhere in my work. I can guarantee it.

- You will get fired if you sit across from your boss and don't do any work for two weeks. This has nothing to do with queries

-There are some really nice people out there internet land and I enjoy finding them. Some times they point you toward helpful things like agents to query, good books, home remedies and recipes. And some times they just offer a virtual hand to hold.

-Current TV has hilarious programming that makes me laugh, smile and think a little harder.

Hi new followers. ♥

Day 68

Still waiting for replies...

 

Happy Friday Everyone ☻!

Day 59

Here's the thing I love about rejections, they give you a chance to step back and make improvements on your work. I've had some great beta readers, but I passed my book on to one more person who caught something that NONE of my pre-readers had seen. AND he caught it right before I submitted my manuscript to an agency who requests a full up front (which i think is just super, by the way. i hate query letters. period).

It wasn't something that would make or break my book, but it was something that I think this particular agent would have noticed, which I suppose could make or break my book. His super catch gave me a chance to look a little closer at two more things that were bugging me a bit. Now I feel much better about submitting my manuscript and I'm patting myself on the back a little bit for being so patient.

In the meantime, I've been getting more great tips through blogs and chatting with agents and other writers on twitter. I've added agent Jennifer Laughran's blog to the sidebar because she's got some great pointers and a hilarious review of book that remains me of this -->
which I couldn't quite finish.

I received another rejection this week and it didn't even bother me because its all part of the process. I know I will find someone who is totally into my concept and loves the way I write and is tickled by the ideas I've put down.

 The waiting sucks, but its helping in more ways than one.






Also Katy Perry is haunting my days and nights. I'm pretty much in love with this song right now.