Friday, January 30, 2009

Troubled_Waters Update

I've got five letters out right now and I'm growing mildly anxious. As I told a friend (who is also querying agents at the moment) on the phone last night, I can either take it as a good sign that they didn't reject them the same day--which is pretty much what happened with the first three or four--or I can assume that my e-mail formatting was fouled up and all they got was a muddled collection of text and arrows. Or--worse--and I've have this happen before--they didn't get them at all.

Being an optimistic beast by nature, I think I'm going to go with my first choice. Rejection goes with the territory, but rejection the first day says, "You are as far from getting published as the sun is from Siberia in winter." I think I'd rather be anxious.

Meanwhile, I slowed down and reread the first third of Willow's Blood today and was pleased to find it even better than I remember it. That section won't require much editing. I'm not as confident of the middle third. I suspect I'll need to add another day or two to the time line to create the effect I'm going for. It seems to me that there is some room in the plot for more exploration of the coven (read: cult) itself, but I've got to be sure it doesn't detract from the pace. After all, there's a man locked in a cellar being tortured and starved whose life depends on how fast the MC can find him. There's a limited amount of time to build relationships and smell the roses (or perhaps sandalwood would be more accurate).

All the signs point to the fact that not a good time to be a writer trying to break into the market. Even published writers are suffering. Best selling author of "Stupidest Angel", "Lamb" and several others, Christopher Moore, made a comment on his blog the other day that his upcoming book tour has been cut from five weeks to two due to economics. This is unnerving news to those of us who are trying to get published. However, the fact of the matter is, I'd be writing anyway so I might as well search for an agent while I'm at it.

I just wish it was less nerve wracking.

6 comments:

Debby said...

Oh, Mary, I wish I could think of something useful to say. I'm praying for you.

Hal Johnson said...

Hang in there Mary. Something tells me good things will come.

Hal Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jeanie said...

Oh best luck in your quest!

Mary O. Paddock said...

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. This post wasn't as despondent as it probably sounded. This whole "getting published" thing is simply more challenging than it usually is and that's a lot anyway.

Debby--Thank you. My husband slowed down and prayed with me about this the other day (without my asking for it). It caught me a little by surprise, since I haven't seen finding an agent as an issue worthy of prayer. It meant a lot.

Hal--I'm hangin' on. Thanks.

Jeanie--I appreciate that.

Scotty said...

I've got my fingers crossed for ya, Mary. Good luck.

:-)