Results?

Hello, dear readers!

This will be brief, as I've got a lot on my mind, and just want to let you know about the things that happened last week.

First, wasn't Jeannie Campbell's couch time with my character awesome? I really, really, really appreciate her! Now, it's off to work on that project. :) Third Draft, here I come!

Second, the contest.

Well, I didn't make the cut. But, as I said on my Facebook page, that's okay. About two weeks ago, it came to be that a newly published author agreed to do a first few chapters critique of my story, and we found a bunch of problems, which I'm working on. Nothing insurmountable, but between that and some critiques I'd sought out on my pitch, it was for the best. Upward and onward!

And, the biopsy.

It went well. From start to finish, it lasted maybe 10 minutes (from what we were told), but sedating him and waking up made it about an hour total. A little nerve-wracking, but it's done with. Now, we're just waiting on results, which we're hoping for today or tomorrow.

It's been rather hectic this weekend, hence the brevity of this post.

Until next time,

Liberty

Hectic

When did life get so hectic? I mean, really?

Between the fact that I've been spending a ton of waking hours working on writing projects, it seems everything else has been pushed to the wayside, up to and including normal housewife duties. TMOTH often asks what I managed to get done in any given day, and I give him a blank stare. How can I say that most of what I did involved editing, writing, outlining, etc.?

Oh well.

This week probably won't be much different. However, there is one thing this week that'll get me away from the computer.

First, two writing-related things happen this week.

The fabulous Jeannie Campbell, AKA, The Character Therapist, is going to have my male lead in my next publishable novel on the couch. I'm so excited! Back in October, she had Tamryn, my female lead, on the couch, so I'm really interested to see what she says about the hero and how they'll interact together. Bridger's couch time is slated for tomorrow, so be sure to check it out.

Thursday is to be the latest day at which I'll learn whether Homebody made the first cut for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. I'm hopeful, but I don't know what kind of competition I'm up against, either. Well, I take that back. I do know TWO of the novelists I'm up against--two of the members of my local critique group have also submitted. This part of the contest is all about pitch, which I'm a bit more confident about than the actual novel, just for the simple fact that I've had some recent critiques from a new critter that have already drastically revamped the first few chapters of the story. Oh boy.

And, finally, Friday... our little boy has his bone marrow biopsy, provided he doesn't get sick. He gave TMOTH and me a cold in the last week, so hopefully, we don't give it back!

I don't know if I'll give an update until next Monday about any of this, but we'll see.

Until next time,

Liberty

Am I Ready?

Well, I've missed the last week or so blogging... And, I really have no excuse. I've been here. I've been at the computer. But things went Ca-ray-zy! I swear! (Of course, when in my life have I not described it as crazy?)

This is going to be more of a writing update than anything... After submitting to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest two weeks ago, the contest closed early, which was a little nerve-wracking.... especially when I started going over the manuscript in question, and started catching little tweak-y things (including a missing punctuation mark late in the last chapters.)

But, this means I'm doing something I'm still not 100% sure I'm ready for (mentally--the book is ready) and that's submitting to agents.

On Friday, I sent out 10 queries with the appropriate items requested by each agent (and I don't think ANY of the requests were the same!) Saturday morning, I got a rejection--yeah, that was FAST. I was disappointed since it's from an agent I admire and follow on Twitter, and it was a standard form rejection. But, I could chalk that one up to not being exactly what she's looking for, or maybe she's full-up on mystery writers right now.

So, now Number 11 went out late Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon. I figure I'll try 20 - 25 agents, see what happens, and continue to tweak as I go through the process.

It'd be nice if I make the first cut on the Amazon contest, which I'll know probably in about 10 days.

Ten days. Wow. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep in that time!

Of course, I will, but if I get as wound up as I've been lately right before bed, it'll be difficult (which is also why this post may be a bit disjointed--my insomnia has been acting up and I actually had to medicate last night.)

In the meantime, I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. I'll finish up the pass on my manuscript in case I get that coveted partial--or full!--request, and I'll continue work on my cross-genre novels (which I think pretty much describes the projects with the working titles of Cora's Song, Beyond Dead, and its sequel, Dead Before Arrival.)

I still have my work cut out for me.

Until next time,

Operation: Enter a Contest

It's 11:30 PM, and I just realized that yet again I missed blogging today. Ay-yi-yi! What's wrong with me?!

Well, I'll tell you what's wrong with me.

The last two weeks, I've been on THE MISSION.

Yeah, you writers should know what I'm talking about. THE MISSION, which I chose to accept, was to whip my almost-ready novel into shape and submit it to -- GASP! -- a CONTEST.

Gulp!

I'll have you know that today, Monday the 30th, I hit the "upload" button for probably the last time... and it's gone on its way to the great reviewers at the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. (And I'm not lying when I say the reviewers are great--one of judges this year is Donald Maass--THE Donald Maass. You know, the one who has written so many great books on the craft of writing, the one who has his own literary agency?! W-O-W.)

For those who don't know, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest is a fairly big deal. There may be contests bigger. I'm not sure, to be honest. This was the first time I've every thought about sending in any of my work to a contest--and I got pushed into it by a friend from the great state to the south of mine. And, I know I don't have an awesomely-high chance of winning. They're accepting up to 5,000 entries. The first cut takes that number down to 1,000 (I'll know if I make the cut just before my son's BMB next month.) The second goes further still--to 250.

That means I have a 1 in 20 shot to making it through to the 2nd round. If I make it that far--heck, even if I make the first cut--I'll be pleased. Quarterfinals are the top 50--a 1 in 100 shot. Yeah, if I get that far, you can pretty much guarantee my heart will stop. ;)

Anyway, this is starting to digress, and I apologize... it's just I've never really done anything like this before! Sure, I've sent my work in to a handful of agents... sadly, I was ill-prepared, and did it a little too prematurely. Now, I think I may be ready, and I'm getting all jittery about the possibilities and options. Am I really ready? Really??? Do I get this thing out to agents' inboxes, or do I wait and see if I pass the first cut or not?

There are too many questions... Ugh!

Of course, the lateness of this post probably doesn't help... The more I think about it, the more uncertain I become.

Oh well. I'm sure I'll feel different in the morning.

Until next time,

Liberty