Friday, May 15, 2009

More Queries, Another Partial, a Loaf of Bread, a Glass of Wine and No Thou

It's been a dizzy week for me. I've been so energized, writing Strachan's Attic in the morning, revising, editing in the afternoon, and itching for the night to be over with so I can get back to it. I haven't had such an easy time of it in ages. Every morning, it's as if I have an exciting appointment, and I've been getting up earlier and earlier (5:30 is becoming the norm). That's the kind of morning I like. I've complete another 7500 words - a chapter a day - and I'm almost at the half-way point, I think. The heroine, Strachan, leaves Canada for England in the next half, and I'm looking forward to that, as I get to go with her, after all. (I can show her a few of my favorite street markets and pubs.)

After that friendly rejection for Hafan Deg on Tuesday, I received a request for another partial from a Toronto agent. This is the first agency I've queried here, as they're a much rarer species than in the States, but they responded within one week of getting it, so perhaps they're also not as inundated.

My current stats: 17 pending, 2 partials, 8 rejections - total 27. I'll do a couple more today, to keep my hand in.

One of the agents I approached this week had this little closing piece in their submission guidelines (which were also perfectly detailed, bless 'em):
"All are welcome to submit. We admire each and every one of you for granting us the privilege of reading your work."

Isn't that charming? Instead of feeling like a kid who's submitting homework really late, to someone who's just finished reading everybody else's homework and is a trifle bored with the subject, I felt wanted, appreciated, and - just a bit...loved - there, I said it. This doesn't mean she won't reject me in due course, but I'll bet, if she does, she'll do such a lovely job of it that I won't mind a bit.

It's my birthday today and the weather is glorious. I've received flowers and chocolates (in lieu of family, because they're all so far away) and hope to get a decent lunch today with a friend from Toronto. If we don't make it, what the heck - I'll just go buy my own barrel of wine, and grab some good bread and cheese. I'm getting a bit past the "thou" these days. I don't think I could handle the excitement. I really must do something about this Brighton living.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You MUST have something to say! Come on, share..

Quotes to Consider

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing." ~Benjamin Franklin

"Well behaved women rarely make history."~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”~William G.T. Shedd (1820-1894), theologian, teacher, pastor

"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." ~Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd U.S. president

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist, poet, philosopher


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
~ Wayne Gretzky