Sometimes–okay most of the time–I wonder what I’m doing writing books. Is anyone ever going to read them? Are they any good? Normal fears, I hope.
So I love it when I come across something of mine that I love.
Here’s one simple line from my YA light sci-fi.
The woman was a nutcase. Who else did he need to shoot to prove his point?
Is this from the Hero? The villain? One of the dogs?
I’m not telling. 😛
Another rejection popped up as I was getting the last group of kids in the car this morning (there’s four kids in three different schools).
In a sing-song voice, I announced I’d received another rejection–really, how else do you handle it?
My 8yo son looks back at me, confused. “You like getting rejected?”
This was a teaching moment. I smiled and said, “Not really, but it means I tried, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
My first round of queries consisted of only 11 agents. I’m seeing how my query letter stands up to scrutiny first. Of the 11, I have 4 very nice form rejections. I really like that I didn’t get the one that said: You suck. You should stop now, and never, ever subject an agent to your writing again.
Okay, so they probably wouldn’t really say this, but it’s still an niggling fear in the back of my mind, so I consider the nice form rejections a win at this point.
These little things are supposed to absorb or dampen the vibration on the bike from bad roads. Hoping it helps the nerves I really irritated during the MS ride. Even two weeks later, I have intermittent tingling in the last two fingers of my right hand. But it’s getting better, it was constant for the first week or so.
Hope it works! Haven’t been on the bike in 12 days trying to let my hand recover. I was naughty and went on a few rides even with the irritated nerves. Then I realized that a few weeks off the bike now, was better than months later if I ignore the problem.
Wish me luck!
AND…my new saddle. I loved the saddle that came with my new bike (Cannondale Synapse 5 – purple) but it was a little too narrow for me. My sit bones were right on the edge, and it cause a lot of pain. I put 230 miles on that saddle and figured that by then, I would have gotten used to it if I was going to, so I asked around and read reviews.
The ladies at the bike store both use the Terry Butterfly, and she was very quick to recommend it. She uses it on all her bikes, switching it around as necessary. And all the reviews online were 5 stars. And it was important for it to be white, like the original seat. I’m a girl. I like things to be pretty and match. Sue me.
Anyway, I’m excited to try it out. Hoping to make it out tomorrow for a test ride!
Wow. This goes right along with the information my characters in Deceived discover after Earth is attacked Their compter genius hacks into government files looking for answers to their current problem (the alien assault) and instead finds a gold mine of documents that completely change how they see their history. And Jax, the unknown alien in the room, realizes his government has had their own share of cover-ups
I’ve been querying 🙂
I have 11 of them out.
So far, three have come back with a Thanks but No Thanks…which is okay. It’s supposed to work that way 😉 It’s like dating. You’re trying to find the perfect match. Because of that, most of the queries don’t turn into anything. It’s a numbers game.
I never, ever, thought I’d be looking for agents. It’s really an amazing feeling.
Happy weekend!
Came up with a fun comparison for Deceived yesterday. It’s already in my query letter 🙂
Wanna know what my book is about? Think National Treasure meets War of the Worlds.
Huge put-on-th-big-girl-panties milestone for me yesterday. I started sending out queries. Two “no thank yous” came back pretty quickly. YA sci-fi just isn’t something their agency is looking for. I’m okay with that.
I’m sending out more today.
This part of the process is probably the toughest, there’s a lot of rejection, but it’s part of the game. So let’s play!
Yay! It’s October 😀 One of my favorite months. And with that celebration out of the way, let’s move on to updates!
I have a query letter and I’ve started researching agents for Deceived (young adult Sci-fi). It’s a little overwhelming and scary, but it’s cause for celebration. I’ve never gotten a mss this far. One final read through, and I’m calling it done. Feels really good.
When I told dh that querying was a little scary, he said,” The worst they can say is no, right?”
Actually, they can say worse, like, “This really sucks. Never email us again.” Or something similar. But I think something just as bad would be saying Yes. Then I’m obligated. Then it’s real. Then all the fear and doubts creep in.
If I never send things in, that will be the reason I’m not published, not because I tried and wasn’t good enough. But I seem to like challenges–hence the bike riding and four children–so I don’t have it in me to not try. But that doesn’t mean it’s not scary. It just means some of my crazy might be showing.
In cycling news, I reached my goals for the year. I’ve surpassed some of them and set new ones for next year.
I’m well over miles ridden. Goal was 12oo. I’m between 15 and 16oo, with season left 🙂 I rode the 71 mile leg of the MS Ride last week. I’m still in awe that I went that far, and that I had energy when I finished. That day, I think I could have done the 100 mile route.
Sadly, though, I’m off the bike. I really upset at least one nerve, maybe two in my right hand during that ride. I’m off until I can get the tingling sensation in my right hand to go away. It’s mostly my pinky and ring finger. My hand started tingling during the MS ride 9 days ago, and hasn’t stopped. But this morning, I noticed some improvement, so I’m hopeful that I won’t be off too long. It’s worth it though. There was a lot of money raised for MS research. I have friends that battle this disease every day of their lives. It’s worth a weird tingly hand. This is momentary, theirs is chronic.
And that brings me to my cycling goals for next year. 1180 miles by July 24th. Reach 15mph average (ended last year with 8.9 average. So far this year I’ve seen some 13mph averages) and do at least one century ride (100 miles in a day).
This year’s brave cycling thing was upgrading to a road bike from my hybrid. Next year, could be clipless pedals.
And as always, my main goal will be to not break anything. The MS ride was so much better without a cracked rib! I’d like to keep that trend going 🙂
Well, lunch is done. Off to start my final read through for Deceived!
Photo courtesy of Becky Dodd
ajdurrant 