I’ve sent out a total of 5 and receive 2 rejections so far. Tis okay. I fully expect to receive rejections. I figure I can just add them to the collection and keep on keeping on.

I’ve also been doing some agent research and I’m disappointed to see the ones I really want are closed to submissions. So that means I’ll just keep my eyes peeled on their submission guidelines and hope they open… or just keep looking for another agent. This is the part I’m not so fond of. The querying, the rejections, the research. But it comes with the territory.

Have I mentioned I hate waiting, too? I’m not very patient.

I’ve been in sort of a stale-mate with the revisions for the last two days. It’s like I got to this certain point and then STOPPED. It’s because I need to rework the end of the book a little and it’s taken me two days to figure it out. I finally did yesterday. It was like a breakthrough.

I took the last four chapters of the book and write a very crude outline of what happens in each scene in each chapter. That way I could see it on paper. Then I took that outline and copied and pasted it. I rearrange the scenes and tweaked and changed. As I worked on that, I finally figured out the end of the book that not only makes sense, but it keeps me from having to do a major rewrite on the last two chapters. I love that.

So in the next few days, I will begin the process of revising three of the chapters. Plus I have to add a scene or two. No sweat, right?

Right.

I’m very glad it’s Friday. Busy weekend ahead. I really need to tackle the closet this weekend. I’m wondering if the local women’s shelter will take my old clothes. I’d feel better doing that than giving them to Goodwill.

Happy weekend!

Recently, I read through my CPs comments regarding these last few pages. When I sent it to her, I warned her I thought the ending was a bit weak and asked her to give me suggestions on making it stronger. I really felt like the bare structure of the story was there but I was having trouble pulling it off the way I wanted.

Finally I get to the final five chapters, read through her comments and when I read her suggestions it was like a light bulb went on. Of course! I thought. Why didn’t I see it that way before?

I know why. I was playing it safe. I was too afraid to push my characters to the very limit of their emotional brink. Too afraid to put them in complete and utter hell. Which in turn meant I was too afraid to push myself as a writer, drop my guard, and write the book the way it should have been written all along.

Isn’t that funny? How sometimes you need an outsider to see the storyline that way? To give you that vision of making the story a thousand times stronger?

So I’ve printed off the last 80 pages and I’m getting my hot pink pen out (because red is so obscene). I’ve started the arduous task of rewriting the climax, making it stronger, making the characters take control of their situation (instead of being a victim) and giving the reader that feeling of, “YEAH!” and making them want to stand up and cheer when the hero and heroine finally defeat evil and win the day.

Yeah. That is so totally going to rock.

Once I finish the revision, I want to start concentrating on working on the new book. I really want to get my hands into the futuristic and start plotting that story and writing up a good bare-boned synopsis. Besides, I miss working on new stuff. I miss the creative process and I really want to get back to that.

Still no word from the agent. But it hasn’t even been a month yet. LOL! Impatient? You bet.

Man has to work late again tonight. Guess where I’ll be? Yes. Chained to my computer working on the remaining 80 pages. It’s a great opportunity since the kiddo is at his dad’s this week. No distractions! (Don’t get me wrong – I love my child dearly but he’s very demanding of attention.)

And that’s about it for me. Not much going on in Michelle-World. It’s Tuesdsay – you know what that means? It’s taco night! Sweet.

I’m swimming! I’m swimming!

I tinkered a little yesterday with the book and some of the exercises in the Deep Edits class. I can’t say it’s any easier but I think the rusty gears might be starting to click some.

On the brighter side, I got an agent appointment at Nationals with… NEPHELE TEMPEST. Dream agent, baby! Very thrilled about that. Now cross your fingers they don’t schedule me on Saturday morning when I’m supposed to be on a plane back home. If that happens, I will be severely put out.

ANYHOO… crappy day yesterday but it got better. Went to Kid’s last soccer game of the season and it turned cold. Now, when I say cold that’s becuase we got used to 85 and 90 degrees with lots of humidity and then all of a sudden it’s 70 with a brisk little breeze. I was freezing out there! More rain on the way this week. It’s that rainy season. The cottonwood is blooming and absolutely trashing my allergies. And the grass. There’s nothing like freshly mowed grass but man it kills me. Hate this time of year for that. And I detest having medicine head all day. Oh well.

Just keep swimming!

Tomorrow is the day! The day that TAKE ME I’M YOURS comes out with Cobblestone-Press. Hopefully tomorrow, I will be doing the Great Release Fest and everyone can join in for the fun and games.

The end of April already? Excuse me, Father Time? Could you please slow down a little? I’m not really ready to age another year in 27 days. K THX BAI!

The last few days have been pretty busy for me. When I got home on Tuesday night, I had to run to the post office to mail out the chapter dues renewals for one of the chapters I’m in. Then when I got back home (after a visit to Taco Bell), I sat down and worked on the WIP.

I was very close to finishing, so I pushed through and worked until midnight and got it all done. After letting it sit overnight, though, I think the ending could be a lot stronger. I think it even might be a little anti-climatic.  

So since I finished the revision, I decided to “relax” on Wednesday. Which I quickly discovered is a foreign concept to me. I think I’ve forgotten how to do that. I paced the house. I read and responded to email. I paced some more. The kid was quite entertaining with his jokes and drawing pictures and writing me spy letters. And then itw as time to get him settled down into bed. I was suddenly wiped out from staying up too late.

I have a second book planned to go along with Phoenix but haven’t done any sort of plotting on that yet. I have a general idea of where I want to go. Plus there was an open call for submissions from Samhain that I’m thinking of doing. The deadline is August 10, so I better get busy on that if I’m going to make that happen.

And… I’m already thinking about another project, which is something I hope to talk more about in-depth later.

See why I can’t relax? There are too many things up there in the head and I need to get them out on paper. Sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day. Well, there are… I just have to spend them doing things that, you know, pay the bills.

So…that’s about all I know.  What’s new with you?