Revisions, revisions, revisions

Whew, August just blew by. Where on earth did it go?

I've made several accomplishments this week that I'm quite proud of, which I would like to share with you folks:

We Can See It Through The Window -- this is a tribute to one of my favourite works, Waiting For Godot. The title, of course, has been a placeholder until I could think of something suitable that would connect with the work itself. Finally after months of waiting, I dreamt up Cabover Cabaret, a title that says exactly what's in the book: social commentary that takes place majorly within a truck. Once that was out of the way, the ending to the story finally came, and I was able to complete the first draft. And now it's shelved for a few months so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.

Speaking of fresh eyes -- I started revisions on Lightning Strikes 1,200 Times. This little flash fiction is on its way to become a full short story, complete with a new opening that highlights Holly's breaking point. Holly being the main character, of course. Once I finish this second draft, it'll go back to my favourite critiquing group for evaluation. If it's anything like Thoroughbred, I should have it completed and up for sale through Amazon within the next six months.

Aside from those two things, I'm still receiving rejections for Uncertain Heirs, which means I'm doing something right that the agents are actually looking at my query instead of it ending up in their slush piles. I've got another round of query submissions to prepare, and I'll have those out this upcoming week.

In the meanwhile, I'll keep you all posted on these current and future projects, as I really can't wait to share them with you all. Anyway, take care until next weekend! :)

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Currently Reading: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Currently Watching: WVU v. Alabama (then later, Doctor Who)

Revision in Progress: Lightning Strikes 1,200 Times
On Deck: Evening Hallow

August already

A brief update on my many, many things in rotation:

Camp NaNoWriMo has drawn to an end, and though I didn't finish my current project, I did at least meet my word count goal. I've got an estimated 5-10 pages left to write on this project, The Cardinal's Direction, which will wrap up a combination of dreams that I managed to tie into one story. I'm looking forward to editing it after I get the final bit written. I know, I know, I say that every time I come out with a new project, but editing really is the fun part for me -- I get to watch my babies grow up into finished drafts.

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Thoroughbred is still on sale -- so you can get it now for .99c, or! -- you can get it for free using the new KindleUnlimited feature offered by Amazon. They're still sporting the 30-day trial, so if you decide to take advantage of their offer, you can take advantage of a free read of Thoroughbred, too.

I'm excited to see that the sale price has appealed to a lot of folks, and if you all keep buying copies, I'll be able to invest in doing an audiobook copy for those who like to have their books on the go. If this is something that interests you, then please encourage your friends and family to buy copies of Thoroughbred, too, as it'll get us faster to the audiobook option.

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Sunday has become my day for sending out agent queries. Still getting rejections left and right, but that's all par for the course. The ones I sent out recently were all mailed, so I may be looking at 6-8 weeks before any type of response for those. The others I have out by e-mail should take about 2-3 weeks for responses (that is, if the particular agents can/will reply).

For now, that means that UNCERTAIN HEIRS is shelved while it waits to be picked up by an agent, and while I work on my other projects. I'm in the middle of researching all the extras I'll have to worry about if I do inevitably go with self-publishing this novel. Especially since, ya know, I'll be a lot more involved with the novel since I want to be able to sell it through more websites than just Amazon.com.

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And then sometimes that dreaded thing known as Personal Life gets involved and shoos away every writing muse I have. Lately, some things have kept me from outright working on my shorter stories, so I've shifted myself into a different schedule. I'm able to still work on my projects, just not as quickly as I'd like to. I never want to rush the process, just because rushing makes for sloppy work, but I don't like to completely stop, so I compromise, and take a little progress over no progress at all.

I wonder -- because I'm thinking of doing it for myself, but would it be interesting to you all if I posted progress bars of my work status for my various projects? I couldn't do something as complicated as a NaNoWriMo counter, which wouldn't suit my purposes anyway, but just a simple percentage graph.

Anyway, time to get back to work. Catch you all later!

Being brave

Coraline can teach us a lot about being brave. Even though we're scared to do something because it's new, intimidating, or because we have a lack of confidence in ourselves, we can always overcome the odds by being brave. We go after the things we want, we accept the challenge life's presented us, and we do these things because we want to make ourselves or our circumstances better. We can fail however many times it takes us to succeed, and so long as we overcome the challenge, the adventure, and our rising to the occasion, was worth all the gold and more in the world.

Publishing is much the same way. Since I've started querying just over a month ago, I've sought out ten agents, and I've been respectfully rejected by seven of them (the other three stated they would only respond if they liked the material).

I'm not disheartened by this in the least. This is my challenge that I've accepted, and I will rise to the occasion because I want to publish Uncertain Heirs and share my story with the world. All it takes is one agent to say "Yes", and I'll have successfully leaped the hurdle that I'd only been dreaming about two years ago. All I need is perseverance, time, and a positive attitude, and I know that not only can I dream big, but I can win big as well.

So stay tuned with me, keep checking back for updates, and I will keep you posted on this incredible journey towards being published.

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As you may have noticed, I mentioned Coraline by Neil Gaiman above -- this is because I just finished reading the book as part of my goal to read 25 books in one year. I'm so glad I read it during my querying venture, because Coraline was the gentle reminder that I needed that things can be overcome, and all you have to do is be brave.

My rating for Coraline is five stars out of five.

Looks promising

I'm only just starting agent queries, and I got a "Maybe, Please send more - No" within my first five agents. That's highly promising! I only hope that somewhere down the line Uncertain Heirs will connect with an agent who'll give it the chance to fly.

Wish us luck :)

One giant leap

Last night: I finished the fourth draft of Uncertain Heirs.

This morning: I queried my first round of agents.

Right now: