A story of the Turtle

A blog-friend of mine is querying.  This is what I posted on her blog.  (Please forgive the re-post).

This sounds a lot like the 5K race that I walked a few weeks ago. To put it into an analogy....

I prepped for the race, walking my laps on the nice, cushy track. Round and round I went with laps, revising my walk so that it was as perfect as I could make it, lengthening my stride, breathing deeply.


Then came race-day. I dressed for the race in my best, race-like attire, including a neon yellow T-shirt with the name of my son's running-club. I put on my number and attached the timing chip to my shoe, with my husband's help.


We warmed up and lined up like lemmings overflowing an e-mail box. The race started and I, to my disappointment, quickly fell to the back of the pack. Last, dead last. I walked quicker than I had on the track, and immediately started hurting w/cramped shins....but I kept walking.


I huffed and I puffed and I struggled my way through that first half-mile, knowing that no matter what, I wasn't quitting.


By the end of the first mile, I'd forgotten the pain, and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, doing what I needed to do to finish the race.


Before I reached the half-way turn-around of this out-and-back race-course, other runners approached on their own home-stretch. I cheered them on as best I could.


Grabbing that cup of water at the half-way point felt like heaven to me!


The home-stretch brough with it the realization that this was my own race, that I had to do this alone.


I even tried to pass the walkers in front of me, but that didn't happen. I realized that I was a turtle.


With about a half-mile remaining, my knight in shining armour approached with a bottle of water. Yes, a most-welcome surprise! I was no longer alone. His strength gave me strength.


He walked with me until I was almost back to the finish-line. Then, as if on auto-pilot, hearing cheers from the crowd of 70+ other runners and their families, I ran the last 50 steps or so to cross the finish-line of my very first 5K race!


It wasn't easy, but it was possible.

The Strangest Rejection Letter I've Ever Received

I've truly only just begun querying, if I look at the "big picture."  Today's shocker was totally unexpected.  I received a long-awaited query response, but it definitely was not what I was expecting. 

The note read, in part: "Thank you for your note.  I am no longer an agent...and will now be working in...  If you'd like to submit to another agent..., please visit our website for a list of agents and our submission guidelines.."

The first thing on my mind was a blog-buddy who was repped by this agent.  Thankfully, I read a post where another agent at the same literary agency picked up representation.  Whew!

That's kinda like when a favorite teacher retires, or goes off to jail, as my 4th-grade teacher did, mid-year.  Seeing how hurt I was, my parents allowed me to write a letter to this teacher and read his remorseful response. 

An agent's quitting is similar to a breach of writer/reader trust, as was so dutifully discussed on another blog-buddy's blog this week. 

In the end, though, after combing through my emotions like curly hair on a humid day, I have to wish this agent the best for himself and his family.

I thought about the chosen and unexpected career changes that I've made, too.  Technician to trainer, to process writer, to project manager, to program manager.  And also, poet to actress, singer to musician, reader to writer.  And single to married to mother.

We change and grow throughout our lives.  We, for the most part, can only choose how we ourselves will act and react.  Circle of life, yeah.

Stretch Goals

Last week, I set a goal for myself to query one agent per day.  That lasted precisely 4 days.   (In case anyone's wondering, yes, I did receive a rejection...haven't heard from the rest, yet).

Agent #5 asks for complicated details...I just can't whip this one together, nor do I want to.  Based on the feedback from lots of folks at the First 250 Words blogfest (Thank you Elle Strauss), I need to rewrite the beginning just a little.

So...there will be a slight delay on Agent Query #5, while I do a minor rewrite of the first 10 pages, and also shrink the synopsis into a single page.

I'm So Brave That...

...I sent a query to an agent who is on vacation! Imagine that?

Truly, I'm thinking about all the revisions I could make to bring my book up to YA status, and I keep thinking about my 8-year-old beta reader who absolutely loves my book, and wouldn't be allowed to read it if I went with YA themes.

Somehow, I just can't disappoint her, yet, so I'm going to try to find an agent who'll rep a Middle Grade fantasy sci-fi.

Would appreciate suggestions on agents to query, even if it's just to tally-up my rejections for a month or two. :O}

My Badge of Honor

I'm wearing my first rejection as a badge of honor. I feel like I've passed through a doorway that was previously closed to me.

I have choices now. I choose to do a commercialized rewrite of my story and to bring it up to par with the expectations of a YA novel. More at stake, more romance, more conflict, more competition, just more. I have a lot of personal experiences to pull from, come to think of it. :-)

It's a whole new ballgame, baby!

Query #1

Query #1 is on its way--via snail-mail of all things. :-)

I hope to hear back in 2-3 months. This down-time will give me a chance to put the timeline, or arc, onto paper, as well as my ideas for other books.

And, believe it or not, after trying another file format, I finally got my book loaded onto my e-book reader. Voila! I'm published!!! (If only to myself...)

The working title of my book is "Interstellar Creations"

Christine graduated from High School with big dreams. While on her way from a small town in Texas to New York City, she's swept into an even bigger adventure!

New Earth in the year 2420 is not quite what we imagined it would be. Hallyn Christine and her assistant dog, Molly, have been brought forward in time, from the year 2010, to assist Interstellar Creations, Inc. with a critical task. Humanity's future depends on her success.