Someone likes my writing!

Dear Alice,

I found out this week that my children's story placed 3rd in its category in a contest held by one of the writers' associations I belong to. It will be published in an anthology of the winners. I also get to participate in presentations/readings at local libraries with the other winners. The downside is that this will happen in January and I'm having surgery the day after I get back from New York. It took me a month to recover from the last one but this one should be less invasive. The timing sucks as I could either have the surgery the day after I get back, probably exhausted from the travel and time change, or have it the next week and then be too tired to do any of the readings. I'm hoping that I'll be able to be a slug for the few hours after I get home from NYC and won't go into the surgery as drained as I was in July after the writers' conference.

My writer's block for Angela is lifting. I'm getting to know her character better and am glad the block stopped me and caused me to refocus. She'd become way too wimpy before the block set in. I still get the feeling I won't really know her until I get to New York.

Take care and I'll write again soon.

5 Months Later

Dear Alice,

It's been five months since my last post. In that time, I've done probably 100 edits, totally rewritten chapter one 3 times, gotten rejection letters from everyone at the conference I attended in June, got requests and rejections from everyone I pitched to at the conference in July (I'm up to more than 30 rejections), finished the text to a picture book I've worked on off and on for the last 6 years, had surgery, found out I needed more surgery, and lost another friend to old age and cancer early this morning.

I've had my first chapter book doctored, my query doctored twice, and my synopsis doctored twice. I've had one agent ask me to send her anything else I write in the future and one agent actually give me some constructive feedback as well as tell me that my idea is marketable. It took a thriller writing class and was told to definitely start writing one of my two ideas. People loved the other one as well. The class was taught by a guy I sat next to at the June conference. He must be my muse as he gave me an idea for another book that night (that makes a total of 3 book ideas, in case you're counting!). I'm currently working on fleshing out the plot and the characters and will be going to New York in January to do some research.

In the meantime, I'm going to stop sending out queries for the next few weeks. I'm still waiting for feedback on my last doctored synopsis. She's currently in China to bring home her new daughter and I'm thus way down on the list (as I should be!). Both my kids are struggling with stuff and I need to focus on them and not the constant rejection I'm getting. I can sit back and enjoy Sex and the City (it's research!) and try and figure out what music Angela likes (I already know she's addicted to brownies and loves a good pomegranate martini).