Yeah, I’m in the middle of it. But I wonder, should I wait to hear from the agent that HAS my manuscript, or revise per the suggestions of the agent who liked but passed on my novel? But what happens when I revise, then they contact me and I have to revise again? And I’m KILLING my awesome characters and their awesome  stories. What I really need is an agent who loves my work and requires very little revision. Yeah, and while I’m dreaming lets say a fat advance and a jacket cover photo that makes me look like Jennifer Anniston. See why I write fiction?

My last post chronicled my great success with my first submission at FaithWriters. 1st place in Beginners, AND a 3rd place Editor’s Choice award. Yea, me. My second submission ALSO won 1st place in Beginners, AND a 9th place EC award. Not as great, but still – awesome! My third submission won 2nd place in Intermediate and no EC. Uh…I’m detecting a pattern here. My fourth was also 2nd. And no EC.

So obviously, this week I won’t place and I’ll find they double-billed my credit card. This must be why writers drink.

Only these – to read, to WRITE and to be published if it means I have to write my own obituary and kill myself! I’m hoping it won’t come to that.

Happy New Year’s to you.

Write On!

Yes, instead of writing, I’m READING, and yet another Jodi Picoult novel. The synopsis, in haiku of Keeping Faith.

Cheating dad, sad mom

makes Faith begin to see God.

Parents fight over her.

It might be time for me to read something a little lighter.

Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult. Awesome as usual. A synopsis, in haiku:

Amish dead baby

Did the teen kill it? Maybe.

Tense lawyer finds out.

Enjoy.

As you know, I’ve been sending out queries – those hard to write, but oh-so-important letters to agents TRYING to garner interest in my YA novel. To understand queries, and the difficulty involved. Check out the site below:

Query Shark

Then sympathize with my dilemma. And send me cookies. Writing is hard.

Here I was wondering what to blog about and this shows up in the InBox -

Dear Ms. Tyre:

Thank you so much for your patience while I’ve had your pages under consideration. I’ve been hemming and hawing about my decision on this one, as I simply love the narrative voice. Lou had me under her spell from the first word. That said, I find myself with reservations, though I’m hard-pressed to articulate exactly what they are. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be writing this email, though I imagine it’s not all that fun reading it. Perhaps I was hoping the adventure would start sooner (but it starts up pretty quickly, so…I don’t know.) I know if I could give you feedback, you’d most likely dig right into revisions. Of course, it could be I’m just not the right reader, but I feel like I am!

Anyway, drop me a line when another agent scoops this up and sells it for you so I can properly kick myself. In the unlikely event that doesn’t happen and you try your hand at something new, please think of me again (though I suspect I’m coming off as the most wishy-washy of agents. Argh!)

Fondest regards,

Agent who almost loves Me

It’s a little like getting the “it’s not you, it’s ME” speech from a boyfriend. Not that I ever actually HEARD that speech. Wow, so THIS is what you felt like all of those times. Good to know.

depressing. I was going to blog about a cool website I found, but then I got this in the In-Box:

Thank you for thinking of me with this project; I appreciate the chance to have a look. I’m sorry to say I won’t be pursuing representation at this time, but I hope you have every success in finding the perfect agent and publisher for your work.

All best wishes,
HR

I thought she had ALREADY rejected me. Maybe it’s a ploy that agents use when they REALLY want to discourage you from writing. No matter, I can’t be dissuaded. There are too many people in my family I want to use as characters.

Welcome to the new blog. Technically, its a hybrid between the old and new, since I’m moving all of the writing posts over here. This is my idea on how to blog about writing, without incurring the wrath of my mother who really only tunes in to see photos of my child.

It’s okay. She is REALLY cute.