Tag Archives: authors

Writers Have a Way with (Last) Words

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As far as I can tell, it’s never too early to start thinking about your last words. And writers tend to have the best dying declarations of all. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

God will pardon me…it is His profession.
-Heinrich Heine, German poet

I am about to, or, I am going to die. Either expression is used.
-Dominique Bouhours, French Grammarian

I am dying. I haven’t drunk champagne for a long time.
-Anton Chekhov

I shall not in fact see the New Year which I have just commemorated. I hope, at least, it is not apparent in the poem how elderly I am.
-Johann George Jacobi, German lyric poet

I want you to tell me the truth. Did Ernest [Hemingway] really like me?
-Dorothy Parker, American writer

I have nothing. I owe much. The rest I leave to the poor.
-Francois Rabelais, author of Gargantua and Pantagruel

It would really be more than the English could stand if another century began and I were still alive. I am dying as I have lived…beyond my means.
-Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist and wit

Does nobody understand?
-James Joyce

I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on any longer in these terrible times. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought against it but cannot fight any longer. I owe all my happiness to you, but cannot go on and spoil your life.
-Virginia Woolf, English novelist, on her suicide by drowning

Be natural, my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art.
-Charles Dickens

 

One Takeaway: American writers seem to be severely underrepresented in terms of awesome last words. I think people should work on this. It’s hurting our street cred.

 

 

*My lovely friend, Kelley, gave me Famous Last Words compiled by Jonathan Green. The quotes found above are from the book. You can buy it here!

Another Reason for Author Visits

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So right now my thoughts on writing and publishing  are pretty much limited to things I happen to come across while studying for finals.  Yeah…not a whole lot. But I actually did read a Wall Street Journal article as part of my Corporate Governance readings that touched on how book publishing could adapt to new realities facing the industry.

The article highlighted the importance of publisher sponsored school visits. Normally, I think of school visits as something an author organizes his or herself to stimulate immediate sales as well as word of mouth. But, the article argued that the value of school visits was not in targeting books’ immediate audience, but in creating future readers.

Meeting authors encourages reading, which can spur a long-term advantage for publishers. And this doesn’t only apply to young adult/middle grade authors. Publishers should send biographers, non-fiction, and traditional lit authors to speak to students–and according to the Wall Street Journal, they shouldn’t forget to bring free books.

Interestingly, one of the main reasons cited for author visits aimed at developing a long-term advantage for publishers is the demystification of the writing process. This has been suggested to apply to media across the board. For instance, it has been suggested that news channels allow viewers behind the scenes via webcasts in order to engage viewers in the story making process. Allowing audiences backstage passes may be a key part of creating dialogue with viewers and readers that will create larger and more loyal fan bases.

Anyway, it certainly requires some long-term thinking, but all in all, not a bad reason for publishing houses to work together to host school events if you ask me.

It’s Their Year And They’re Coming Here

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It’s almost 2009 and I’ve been busy setting up some awesome interviews to share with you this coming year! We’re continuing the 2009 Debutante series with soon-to-be-published YA/MG authors and can I just pat myself on the back for a second? Because I lined up a stellar list for January. I’ll be adding a couple for this month, too! So there *should* be two interviews per week now. Yay! Anyway, thank you so much to these authors for agreeing to share their experiences.  Here is the list of authors to look forward to next month:

 

Monday, 1/5               Jackson Pearce, As You Wish, HarperCollins Fall 2009

Monday, 1/12            Sarah MacLean, The Season, Scholastic, March 2009

Monday, 1/19            L.K. Madigan, Flash Burnout, Houghton Mifflin, Fall 2009

Wednesday, 1/21      Deva Fagan, Fortune’s Folly, Henry Holt, Spring 2009

Monday, 1/26            Megan Crewe, Give Up the Ghost, Henry Holt, Fall 2009

2009 Debutante Author Interview Series: Erin Dionne

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Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris is no string bean, but comfy sweatpants and a daily chocolate cookie suit her just fine. Her under-the-radar lifestyle could have continued too, if her aunt hadn’t entered her in the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge. To get out of it, she’s forced to launch Operation Skinny Celeste—because, after all, a thin girl can’t be a fat model! What Celeste never imagined was that losing weight would help her gain a backbone . . . or that all she needed to shine was a spotlight.

modelsdonteatcookies

 

Our next 2009 Debutante was inspired by events that occurred in seventh grade, when she wore a scary peach bridesmaid dress in her cousin’s wedding and threw up on her gym teacher’s shoes (not at the same event).  Although humiliating at the time, these experiences are working for her now–he manuscript Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies was awarded the 2006 PEN/New England Children’s Book Caucus Susan P. Bloom Discovery Night Award, and the book will be as a 2009 Featured Title for Scholastic Book Fairs.

This week’s interview is with author Erin Dionne. I’m excited to share it with you partly because I’m so tickled by her blurb (HuskyPeach modeling!), but also because she has some great insights to share! So, without further delay…

 

Congrats on your debut novel, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies. Can you give us a little statistical rundown on how long it took you to get to this point? How many books? How many rejections? How many days, months, or years?

Thank you! And thanks for hosting me.

MODELS is my second middle grade novel, but I worked on my first one for seven years…and hopefully it’ll never see the light of day! It took me about a year and a half to write and revise MODELS multiple times. After it was complete, I queried 37 agents, received 35 rejections, and was also rejected by two publishers before signing with my agent.

 

Good for you and so glad you made it! Which “Call” thrilled you more? The call in which you landed an agent or the call in which you landed your book deal? Can you describe to us what it felt like?

The call where my agent told me she’d sold the book, hands down. I was thrilled to sign with my agent, don’t get me wrong, but when I found out that my book was going to find an audience–become REAL–that was amazing. I went into total shock after I hung up from my agent (after giggling through the whole call and struggling to sound as professional as possible), and when I called my husband to tell him the news I couldn’t speak! All I could whisper was “aw-FUR! We got an aw-FUR!” It took him a minute or two to figure out what I was saying.  : )

 

Haha! “aw-FUR”–Love it! Well, This is Fumbling with Fiction, so I have to ask, in your writing career have you ever had a big “Oops!” moment?

Oh, so many! How about not finishing a manuscript before sending a query letter? That happened with MODELS. Of course, the agent requested the first 50 pages, then asked for the rest of the manuscript 24 hours after that. I’d only written about 100 pages! I scrambled to write some more, then did a chapter-by-chapter synopsis for the rest of the book. Needless to say, I wasn’t offered representation. *hangs head in shame*  But I like to think of that as a “teachable moment”–so learn from my mistake: FINISH YOUR BOOK BEFORE YOU QUERY!

Now that you are a soon-to-be-published author, seeing the view from the other side, what has been your favorite moment in the publishing process so far? What part of the process has most surprised you?

Working with my editor has been the best experience. I was very lucky in that I had a choice in where MODELS went, and what convinced me were the quality of revision suggestions that my now-editor, Alisha Niehaus, had asked me to do on the first chapter before she took it to Acquisitions. She really *got* my book and characters, and her suggestions make me a better writer.  I’m very grateful for the opportunity to work with her.

As for the most surprising…I would have to say that my level of involvement with things like catalog copy, back cover and flap copy has been more than what I expected. My editor has run everything by me and encourages me to make tweaks and changes to follow the voice of the book. I thought I’d have zero input on anything outside of the text. So it’s been fun to be part of all aspects of the process.

Wow! So cool. I had no idea that authors got to do that much in the process. Tell us a little about receiving your first editorial letter. What was yours like? How did you feel when you received it?

It was good, actually! It was about 6 pages long, and focused mainly on expanding scenes and developing themes. I didn’t have to change any plot points in MODELS, so most of the editorial process was focused on augmenting things that were already there. I love revision (I revised MODELS 7 times on my own before it was sold), and was very excited to see what my editor thought and what areas she felt could be improved. Her insights were spot-on, and I agreed with 99.9% of what she said–so it made doing the work fun. I could see the book becoming stronger thanks to her guidance.

I understand your husband is a writer, too. What’s it like living with another writer? Helpful or does it drive you crazy?

He is! He’s a freelance copywriter and writes nonfiction articles. He used to write fiction, and I’m hoping he’ll go back to it someday.

It’s wonderful being married to another writer. Not only does he understand my weird neuroses or obsessions when it comes to revision, but he’s incredibly supportive. I wrote the majority of the first draft of MODELS at our dining room table, in 4 marathon writing sessions, and he never once complained about the number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pizza we ate during that time! He’s always encouraged me to put other things aside to write, and now that we have a baby he is really good about taking her and shooing me out the door to my critique group or to write in the library or a cafe. He told me that MODELS would sell…I dedicated the book to him for that reason.

Aww, that’s so sweet! But, 4 writing session!? Those MUST have been marathons.

Finally, if you could have written one book previously published by another author, which book would it be?

THE GIVER, by Lois Lowry. It’s one of my favorite books of all time. She confronts some major life and family issues in a direct, head-on way, and does so beautifully. Plus the setting is just horrifying to me (in a good way!). There’s so much in that book that I use it in my college English classes quite often!

Thanks so much, Chandler! This was fun!

 

Congratulations again, Erin. And best of luck on your big debut!!

Pencil Skirts, Pumps, and Pens–How to See Writing As Business

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So I was thinking about the discussion from yesterday…being a young author and all…and I think everyone is right that there is no inherent disadvantage in being young…or old…or in between. However, I do think that as a young person I want to come off as extra professional. I want to be taken seriously, I want to convey that, for me, writing is a career path not just a whim, and I want to lay the foundation for that course of action.  But treating writing as a business should not only affect the way I present myself, I think for all writers, whether they wear braces or win bingo, ought to try to see writing as a series of business decisions.

Here are some of the ways I came up with:

1. Finish what you start. We were talking about this a little over at AW, but yanno that little twinge you get when you’re in the midst of working hard on a project that needs to get done? And smack in the middle of crunch time you get an idea for a book that you want to write right then and there. But what should you do? Take time to write it for a few days or finish the task at hand?

I’m gonna say finish the task at hand. Because, at least for me, I’ve found that it’s my writerly means of procrastination. It would sort of be like giving away your beloved dog Fido for a wobbly-legged puppy. If you don’t finish what you start, you’ll have nothing to sell.

2. Network. I know from the outside writing can seem about as “team” oriented as figure skating, but creating a support network is as important in your career as in any other field. Take the time to walk amongst the living. If you can’t attend conferences, then keep up with your correspondence. Email other authors. Ask how their work is coming. Provide support for them. You can’t just be a taker. Business relationships are based on mutual trust and understanding.  

3. Diversify Your Assets. Ok, you know what I said about finishing the task at hand? Well, that’s still true. But, as every serious writer knows, you’ve got to always be working on something. If you’re in between revisions, get going on the next project. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This means experimenting, too. Maybe you’d write adult fiction, but you have a great voice for teens. If you never explore, never diversify your assets, you’ll never know. Try different things. Look what it did for me? Did I start out writing graphic novels? No way. But I gave myself license to try and that’s when I landed an agent.

4. Build a Resume. Write articles. Take on work for hire. Volunteer for SCBWI or Friends of Lulu. Do something that will increase your knowledge of the business and build experience. However, “build” is the operative word. Don’t take projects just to take them. Wait for the right projects. I was sad this summer when I turned down a job writing for a video game. But you know what? It wasn’t enough of a step up from where I was for it to be worth my time. Had I taken it, I would not have had the time to devote to SCOUT once I landed an agent.

5. Know business ettiquette. Publishing is a “small” industry. People do know each other. And if you’re querying more than one project before you get an agent or editor, chances are you are going to be querying the same ones more than once. I’m sure you know that you don’t want to burn bridges, but you also don’t want to leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth due to your lack of know-how. Wouldn’t you rather your aftertaste be minty fresh? Therefore, know beforehand what to do in case of multiple offers from agents. Know how to properly address agents and editors in queries. Know to whom to address your questions. And, before embarking on any career (not just writing), understand “what’s normal” in the industry. It’d be pretty frustrating for an agent to send you the agent-author agreement, have you read it, and then be railed against for asking 20% for foreign sales. (“How dare you up your percentage!”) No, research upfront even if you think you might be jumping the gun.

6. Seek counsel from those who know. Would you act as your own doctor? No. You go consult someone because they know better than you. I hear about this a lot from writers with their agents. And I am absolutely not saying that there are not legitimate reasons to disagree with your agent. However, I sometimes hear of the same writers disagreeing with “the industry professionals” or agents in general or their agent in particular. Agents are there to give you advice. For instance, I asked my agent about doing work for hire and he gave me his honest opinion of the value in that. Maybe not what I wanted to hear, but yanno, I don’t have the inside experience. That’s what he does for a living. But beyond that, there are always writers more experienced or more knowledgable. If you’re hearing the same advice over and over again, then there might be something to it. Like say, if your book is 150,000 words for a debut novel and you are getting no bites. Hmmmm….folks who “know” just might be onto something when they advise to pare it down.

 

Alright! Now if that doesn’t make you want to put on your power suit and stuff in a couple of shoulder pads I don’t know what will. Let’s go do business!

 

Status: I am a busy bee. But my project for today is to continue working on SCOUT’s synopsis. I am expanding it from 5 pages to between 10 and 12. This synopsis is a challenge because I’m supposed to incorporate dialogue and really flesh it out. It’s a fun new twist on the typical this happened, then this happened synop though.

Also, an editor at a fabulous publishing house read Fumbling with Fiction and emailed my agent asking to see SCOUT. How cool is that? I’m happy SCOUT seems to be generating some interest. Hope that keeps up through the submission process. It does motivate me, though!

Thursday Pic: The New Kids On The Block

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I had so much fun interviewing Cyn that I thought, Hey! Let’s bring the whole lot of ‘em.

Like I’ve said before, the authors with debut novels coming out in 2009 are at such a thrilling stage. They have their first book deal, are seeing their cover art for the first time, and are about to call themselves real, live published authors! How can that type of excitement be anything but contagious? 

Cyn was nice enough to hook me up with a bunch of the 2009 debut authors, so for at least the next 10 weeks (Wow!), Mondays on Fumbling with Fiction will be devoted to hearing and learning from these YA authors.

I am super excited for this and I know y’all will be too. Monday I will be announcing the list of fabulous new authors that will be stopping by. The list might grow as time goes on, but I’ll tell you at least the first couple months worth of who I’ll be interviewing. Then, on September 8th we’ll kick it off with Cheryl Renee Herbsman! ( Oh shoot, gave one away.)

So, get pumped for the wonderful group of authors whom I affectionately call our…

 

2009 Debutantes!!!!

Status: Sent SCOUT to 2 agents yesterday as per requested. I am happy with how the proposal package turned out, so I think it was time to finally let it go and send it out into the world. We’ll see what happens and I’m still accepting positive vibes this way!

6 Ways To Quit Wasting Your Time

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If you’re like me (and I bet you are), when you are in the midst of submitting your novel/short story/query to agents or editors your day goes something like this:

 

Wake up, check your iPhone for emails before you so much as roll out of bed, go to your computer to check the response times of agents/editors at the Blue Boards, compare with your excel spreadsheets, brush teeth/do hair/try to act like you are about to be productive, go check inbox, check blogs, check inbox, open your Word document, check inbox, stare at screen, check inbox, hit refresh, hit refresh, hit refresh…

 

Ok, so first thing’s first. Take your mouse off the refresh button. Navigate away from your inbox. Close the entire window. Yes, I promise it will be ok. Your emails will still be waiting for you in an hour’s time. I swear.

Now, here’s how we can better spend our time:

 

1. Edit. You might be too wound up to write anything new. Fine. Sometimes that happens. But think about what you can do that is productive. I mean really, really productive. Editing! Go back a few pages and read. Fix any glaring errors or maybe flesh a scene out. This activity is well worth your while, somehow feels less intensive, and is completely guilt free.

2. Grab your notebook. Not your laptop, the kind that involved killing trees. Thanks. Now, go sit on a couch, away from your computer and work out a plot point. If that’s too intensive for your little, wound up mind, think of snippets of dialogue. Again, this takes fewer brain cells, removes your from temptation, and yet is an activity related to your next WIP. Feel good about it.

3. Research. Anything to add realism or depth to your new project. Unfortunately, this places you closer to your computer, but, luckily, your inbox is not just minimized but closed, so resist! Plus, research is fun. Who doesn’t like to learn new things? Plus, the knowledge needed to write novels is usually the useless kind and that’s the best stuff to know anyhow. Take notes.

4. Storyboard. This takes a bit more brain power, so to do this activity you’ll need to not be entirely consumed by the anticipation that comes with waiting for an agent/editor’s verdict. Get a big piece of cardboard and a bunch of post-its. Use different colored post-its because that’s more fun and a ruler to draw the lines because it will look prettier when you finish. Make it look like a weekly calender. A margin on top and then divide into smaller column units. The smaller column units will be labeled as chapters. Different colored post-its should signify different things like characters introduced, clues given, or red herrings thrown in. This way you can visualize how everything is coming together. Plus, with post-its you can move things around as necessary. This will help you to identify plot holes and to see where the story climaxes and mini-climaxes.

5. Go to the library. I know, you probably already have your coat, keys, and are halfway out the door. But, really, reading within your genre is incredibly important and should never be considered a waste of your time. This is also the best way to forget about the milliseconds passing in which you’ve received no emails from Dream Agent #1. Read the book for fun, but pay special attention to what worked in the book and what didn’t. Note what scenes you loved and the ones you hated. As you read more within your genre, try to figure out the trends. You shouldn’t necessarily write for the market, but you should understand it. Of course, if you can afford to do this all at the bookstore, then more power to you. But, hey! We’re trying to decrease stress, so if spending a billion dollars on books doesn’t make you feel great, don’t feel bad. Use the library, it’s the American way! (Also, libraries are great customers for publishers and therefore your favorite authors because they often by multiple copies in hardcover. A great way to help your favorite authors is to request that the library order the book if they don’t have it already!)

6. Finally, if you really can’t handle writing related activities–Attend to Real Life. Writers always complain about real life getting in the way. Well, maybe washing your socks and running the dishwasher is exactly the diversion you need.

 

Status: Just got back from Happy Hour and am about to do some reading. Waiting, waiting, waiting for a page from SCOUT. I’ve got ants in my pants and probably need to take my own advice.

Closing the Door

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I think one of the hardest parts about starting a new project is closing the door on the possibilities. That’s what I’ve been struggling with over the last few days.

I love my new project. I really, really love it. But, it’s a huge leap of faith to commit yourself to a whole novel. I read somewhere that you should make yourself finish every, single project whether or not you think it is going anywhere. Once you start, you much complete it because otherwise you will never have anything to publish at all.

This is something I try to live by. The process of wrapping up a novel, or short story is a huge challenge and something everyone needs to learn in order to be a writer. Moreover, I’m sure that with each project every writer reaches a point when they burn out on their work or lose faith in what they are doing.

From what I can see, successful writers push through this no matter what.

Therefore, by beginning a full novel I commit to months of work, countless hours writing, followed by countless more hours revising. Don’t get me wrong, beginning any piece is thrilling and one of my favorite things in the world. I love the entire process. But, when it is stretched out in front of you like that, it can be a bit daunting.

 

 

Status: I decided on first person! I started writing the first scene it it. It’s snappy fun and has a bit of dead pan humor, which I’m excited about. I’ll continue to outline and come up with scenes. I’ve probably got  the first two and a half chapters worth of scenes loosely outlined. For me, that’s a victory!

Topical Tuesday: The Sincerest Form of Flattery

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Hi, all.

So, on Tuesdays, Jay and I will both blog on the same topic. Usually we will announce the topic no later than Monday morning and we encourage you to post your own take on the issue in the comments section or to post your thoughts on the topic on your own blog. Then, we’d be happy to link to your site or you can provide a link in the comments section. Whatever works for you.

Today’s topic is about fans using other authors’ characters in their own scenarios (fanfiction). Is this good? Is this bad? How does this infringe on intellectual property rights? Recently, J.K. Rowling has come down hard on writers who try to use the Harry Potter characters in their own fiction even if said writers are making no money from the fanfiction.

Jay, of course, being the brain that he is gave a very well thought out, reasoned response regarding fanfiction and intellectual property. Go Jay! (Check him out via the link in my sidebar.)

For a more rational and correct response from me, you can check back in three years when I’m done with law school.

For now, here’s my completely irrational, gut-reaction take on fanfiction

It’s awesome.

Yep. I think it’s fabulous. To have created characters and a world that readers refuse to leave behind, to me, would be the sincerest form of flattery. I LOVE Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is no longer writing Harry Potter. And, while I don’t write fanfic myself, I can certainly understand why others still might want to hang out at Hogwarts.

A few stipulations:

1. Authors shouldn’t make money from writing that involves another author’s characters.

Ok, I think that is it. Jay raised the point that Rowling and other authors don’t want to see their characters put in “compromising” scenarios. But, I think that’s a slippery slope and, really, I see no reason to limit that.

Not to mention, one of my favorite authors started writing Harry Potter fanfiction. I don’t want to name names, as she has since taken the fanfiction down from her blog, but it helped her to learn the basics of writing without worrying about characterization and world building. She played her own game in someone else’s sandbox. By having the freedom to do that, she developed her own voice and was able to move on to creating her own work.

But, the #1 thing to remember is…

…That an author who cracks down on fanfiction is an author who is forgetting where her paycheck comes from: Fans.

Have at it.

Status: Reading Wicked Lovely like my life depends on it. So far, it is really good! Perhaps a Saturday Book Review on it in the near future. Last night, I sort-of-kind-of started the first scene of the new WIP, which I will come up with a working title for soon so we don’t have to keep calling it that. It is being stubborn and not coming out in the first person! I’m going to try a few more times to make it cooperate, but if it doesn’t, then maybe it wasn’t meant to be in the first person. Then, I’ll go ahead and do a deep third POV. For today, I’ll play around with the first scene more, run some errands, yanno, real life stuff to get ready for my trip to Austin on Friday!!! (During which time the blog will still be updated daily.)

Movie Review: Sex and the City

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So, after reading the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, I didn’t have particularly high hopes for the Sex and the City Movie. But, I’m happy to say–I loved it! It was so much fun to watch and it did exactly what it should do–satisfy the fans.

I don’t want to give away anything because I’m sure some of y’all didn’t get to see it opening night, but I want to talk a little bit about why I think the movie, the tv show, the book are so successful and how this relates to my recently completed novel.

Which character are you? Charlotte? Carrie? Samantha? Miranda?

How many times have you heard that question?

Practically every group of girlfriends at some point labels their friends one of the four Sex and the City gals. I would have to say that I’m a Carrie, but that’s probably because of the whole writer thing. Some people might say that I’m a Charlotte.

One of my best friends is a Samantha all the way. And that’s a hard one to label someone because, as soon as you do, she thinks you’re calling her promiscuous. But, no. It’s actually her genuineness, the way she speaks her mind, and her fierce loyaltly to her friends that would lead me to call her a Samantha.

The point is, girls see themselves as a Sex and the City character. That’s where the magic is.

People love to see themselves as main characters. And this realization is showing up more and more and more in the publishing industry as well as in the film industry. Take Kimani Press. It’s an imprint of Harlequin geared toward African American women. Check out the success of Kelly Parra who created Latina protagonist for young adult readers. Not to mention the dozens of publishers creating lines whose focus is on Asian, Latino, African American protags.

That’s the reason I wrote WEIRD TATTOOS and LOW IQS. Because why should young adults with Downs Syndrome or other special needs young adults be any different?

They want to read a mystery where they can figure out the crime, where they can be the amateur sleuth. Not a book that focuses on societal implications. Just like the Kimani Press doesn’t focus on the societal implications of being African American. Instead, it focuses on African American women falling in love.

One last point about Sex and the City. Sex and the City is the truth. Yes, it is fiction. Yes, I know that even though my friends and I discuss why Carrie loves Big and not Aidan ad nauseum, I do realize that Carrie Bradshaw does not exist. But–and I think this is depicted especially well in the movie–the reactions of the characters are so human. Not even just human, but female. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about. But, there is this one part where I was thinking, Yes, if that happened to one of my friends that is EXACTLY what I would do.

That’s the biggest thing I strive for in writing fiction and it’s also the hardest. Portraying truth in your characters isn’t easy and it is also scary because it means that you have to show that you have felt or experienced some of those emotions or situations.

Anyway…after I am sure that more people have seen the movie, we can discuss further, but right now, that’s all.

So, which character are you?

Status: Got ants in my pants. I overnighted a hard copy of my manuscript to an agent because she wanted to take it on a plane with her on Thursday. She said she would have six hours on the plane to read. I got it to her before noon on Wednesday. I emailed her saying when it would be there, but she never emailed back saying she got it. She also didn’t say she didn’t get it. Plus, I emailed her an electronic copy. Anyway, she is notoriously fast at rejecting manuscripts after the first couple pages if she isn’t interested. I heard an anecdote that she read someone’s ms in a drive through and rejected it once she got her meal via blackberry. So, I’m taking this as a good sign that I haven’t gotten an email rejection yet. Although, I could have a hard copy one via SASE in the mail, I suppose.

As for the other agents, I am also very anxious to hear from them. Everyone is at BEA though so I feel like things are slow.

In other news, I kicked around the idea I was talking about yesterday with my bf and decided to go for writing it as a novel, potentially a series. So…onward!