Today is the day.

The meeting for the critique of Seeds is tonight.  As the day goes on the butteflies in my stomach spawn and increase their flaps per second just a little more.  At this rate, I'll probably be able to fly to the meeting.  Of course that would save me some gas money.  Hmm maybe that's the answer to the energy crisis right there, figure out some way for the population to maintain a state of delirious agitation.

Alright, I'm rambling.  Truly I can't pull my thoughts together enough to say anything else. 

Hope everyone's week is off to a less nerve racking start than mine.

Freedom?

I'm going to try to do a post every Monday.  My success at this, of course, depends on my childrens' willingness to not need me long enough for me to do the post.  Here's hoping.

I decided to do this post on Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. I'm not usually a fan of Oprah's picks, but the subject matter of this one was interesting to me, so I checked it out (literally, from my local library). 

Here's what I thought: bleak, bleak, bleak.  The writing was good and his ability to capture certain emotional states of being is phenomenal, but those emotional states of being ranged from sad to suicidal.  I'm not a person that needs everything sunshine and roses, but from the state of the world to the state of its characters this book left me feeling hopeless. The characters were so selfish and self-pitying I found it hard to like any of them. I could only take the book in small doses.  If I read more than ten or so pages at a time I found myself getting sucked into the oozing pool of self-pity and despair and hopelessness.  Seriously I felt like I needed to fortify myself with an antidepressant or two before opening the book.

The book ends with a few small rays of hope but after the rest of it I felt like they were either not enough or too much.  Not enough because in no way did they compensate for what he put his characters (and the reader) through in the previous hundreds of pages.  Too much because after all the hopelessness it almost felt to me like his editor said, 'too much sad. You need to brighten it up a bit', so he did and it wasn't believable. He should have just stuck with the bleak.

He must have done something right though because the book has been hanging out in my brain matter since I finished it on Thursday.  Not really in a good way though.  I find myself wishing I could open up my head and scrub out the scum of sadness the book left in there. So yeah, that's my opinion on Oprah's pick.  I probably won't read another one, since the last one I read had much the same effect.

I'm sure many of you read it long before me, but if you can remember I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of it.

The critiquers have it.

I finished tweaking my manuscript at 1:09 a.m. yesterday morning and immediately sent it to my critique group for fear if I didn't I'd tinker it to death and never send it at all.

I'm a little nervous to hear what they have to say, because while these folks are nice, they're also honest.  Which is great!  But also a little intimidating.

However, I'm excited about having my novel that much closer to being ready to resend to the agent.

However, the closer I get to that point, the more scared I get that she's going to hate it.

Oh goodness, why can't this be easier?

Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm back, baby!

I've logged on to blogger about a thousand times in the last month or so desperately wanting to post.  However, I made myself wait because I was in the midst of the revisions the agent suggested and thought my time and energy would be best directed there. 

As of 10:33 p.m. last night I completed those revisions.  Now I get the joy of turning them over to a really great critique group I found in my new hometown (P.S. I moved to Colorado last October).  I'm sure those good folks will have lots of suggestions for me, but the major overhaul is done and I can't tell you how good that feels. 

I'm hoping to have it all shiny and pretty and ready to submit on June 2nd of this year which is the one year anniversary of the initial phone call from the agent.  I'll submit it sooner, of course if my critique group has no major issues (That, however, is probably positive thinking to the point of self delusion).

So that's it.  That's my big news.

Now onto your big news! Though I haven't posted or commented I have been out there lurking in the blogosphere over the last few months and I want to give a belated Whoo Hoo! to Talli Roland for the publication of her book The Hating Game, to Jessica Bell for the upcoming release of her book String Bridge (check out the book trailer. How cool is that?), to Carolina Valdez Miller for signing with Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management and to Jen Daiker for getting her manuscript ready to query. 

I know there are lots of other exciting and wonderful things I missed out on only being able to nibble around the edges of your blogs for the last six months, so please post your exciting news, writerly or otherwise, in the comments so I can pass along my congratulations.

Though my posts and comments won't happen on any kind of regular basis for awhile (still adjusting to being the mother of two) it's good to be back and I'm looking forward to spending more time with all my blogger friends.

Got a minute.

I finished my nap and miraculously both little ones are still taking theirs, so I have a minute (and I mean a minute. Little blond person will be opening her gorgeous blue eyes any time now).  I just wanted to pop into my blog and say how much I miss my blogger friends.  I miss reading your funny, insightful, thought provoking posts.  I miss reading about writing.  I miss writing about writing and most of all I miss writing. 

And here's little blond person right on schedule, so I have to go, but to all my blogger friends please write a page or two for me.  Hopefully I'll be joining your ranks on a regular basis again soon!

Announcing the completion of two WIPs

Well folks, Baby Boy Paxton finally put in his appearance on July 2nd at 8:05 p.m.  He was five days late, but because he's so cute and so unbelievably sweet and I find myself getting lost in the depths of his ancient new eyes at least a dozen times a day, I'll forgive him.  I guess he's not really a complete WIP, but you could say the outline has been roughed in and it's a truly wondrous thing.

As for my writing, I sort of feel like I'm cheating saying that I finished my WIP before Baby Boy put in his appearance because I haven't, not really.  However, I finished all but the final chapter. I feel like I need to wait until I complete my first round of edits before I write that final chapter.  I'm not sure why, but I'm trusting my instincts/muse/whatever you want to call it on this one.  So, yeah, I guess for all intents and purposes the first draft of my WIP is complete.

As for my revisions on SEEDS, well, I have a two year old, a newborn, a husband and a house and I completed my WIP less than two weeks ago.  Needless to say, since revising the first chapter in early June I haven't touched SEEDS and I'm not sure when I'm going to get to it.  It's a little frustrating because I do want to move forward in my writing journey. However, I'm trying to remind myself to enjoy the time that I have with my baby and my daughter right now.  I'm learning they grow up way too fast and those moments aren't something you can't recapture and those moments are what make a worthwhile life.

I'm back in the blogosphere, but my posts are going to be sporadic at best.  I've been dropping by everyone's blogs the last few days, but I haven't had a chance to leave comments, just a quick skim to see how everyone is doing.  Glad to see that for the most part all is well with all of you.

I'll try to get back to commenting and posting regularly as soon as I can.

Momentary hiatus from my hiatus. The agent got in touch!

Today I climbed out of the shower, dried and dressed myself and was just applying my antiperspirant/deoderant when my cell phone trilled at me from downstairs.  Thinking it was another mundane call on a mundane day I sauntered downstairs, picked up the phone and saw the New York city area code.  My antiperspirant/deoderant was rendered obsolete in that moment.

Heart thundering, sweat dribbling down my ribs I flipped open the phone and, trying to convey both professionalism and insousiance in one word, said 'hello'.  The caller asked for me and then identified herself as the agent who has had my full manuscript for the past couple of months.  Not her assistant, not her intern, but the lady herself.  I had to sit down.

She spent about an hour on the phone with me giving me constructive criticism and some ideas for how to make my book stronger.  Sweat pouring from everywhere, I feverishly scribbled notes and waited for her to close the conversation by thanking me for my interest in her agency and telling me that the manuscript wasn't right for her.  She didn't.  She asked me if I would be interested in revising with her critique in mind and resubmitting.  I had to keep myself from squeeing into her ear. I managed a polite and only slightly high pitched, 'Yes, I would.'

Folks, I'm in a strange place right now.  My emotions are in such a stew I'm not sure what precisely I'm feeling.  Gratitude mostly that she took the time to a) phone me b) spend so much time on the critique c) not write me off completely.   Mostly I think I sort of haven't gotten over feeling that it's all a bit surreal (although reality interjected itself quite forcibly during the conversation in the form of little blond person shrieking 'Mommy, I peed.  I really really peed!  I need a treat now').  I think I'm excited, probably almost as excited as llittle blond person was with her successful production of number one in her potty chair. This isn't half bad for my first foray into the publishing community or my first contact with a legitimate literary agent.  Right?  Maybe that's the problem.  I'm not quite sure if this is mostly good or mostly bad.  I'm leaning toward mostly good. 

I'd love to hear your opinions and thoughts on the whole thing.  Also anyone out there whose gone the revise, resubmit route could you share your thoughts/experiences on it?  Is it pretty standard practice for agents to do this?  Did you feel it was worth the time and effort that the revisions took? 

I hate to blog and dash, but I've got a brief window of opportunity for a badly needed nap and I still have my WIP to complete and I've got some revisions to get to.  Not sure when I'll be dropping by to blog again, but thanks all for your comments on my last post and for taking the time to read this one.   Hope there's some good news waiting just around the corner to interject itself into your day!