Next Step

So today I received the second agents response and it was "No thanks, great premise, would be great in the market but just not for me." Huh?

Yes, I know it's probably a form response, sure looked like it anyway. What does all this mean? For starters, back to the beginning. I've contacted a gal who was recommended to me by the editor from Tor to see if she'll give my book a read through without getting too deep into editing as I've already paid a bundle for that. But a second opinion on the marketability of the ms would be great.

And then I'm off hunting agents, wascally things that they are. This one is harder than it sounds as I think I will re-work my query and synopsis first, then start lining them up. Much as I'd love to meet them all face to face and pitch them in person, that's just not viable with the costs of conferences and such.

After the last post you must be wondering about my mental state. No doubt here, just as my writing friend Charity put it, Perseverance.

Doubt

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. So says a romantic.

But like a fat girl in the bleachers, crushing on the jock in the football uniform, I'm sitting on the sidelines, wondering if it will ever happen for me. Publishing that is, not love.

I've had a few days where the doubt crept in, sideswiped my momentum and left me shivering in a ditch, my imagination going wild with all the possibilities of what might not ever be rather than of the stories I should be writing.

But then a small light began to shine and a voice sounded in my ear and said "What, you didn't really expect this to be easy did you? You'll make it, stop being such a whiner."

Aaahh, the comforting words of a big brother who knows well enough not to sugar coat, and yet still drag me out of the ditch full of muddy water. Thanks. I needed that.

Patiently waiting. . .sort of.

I had a discussion with one of my clients about my book and where I was at in the process of it and she made a comment about how waiting wasn't really that hard. The conversation went something like this.

Client, "Well at least your book is out there, the waiting isn't really all that bad."

Shannon, "You should try it then, see how you like it."

Client, "Well it's not like your pregnant and you have nine months to wait before you have a baby."

Shannon, "At least you have an end date with a pregnancy, you know when that kid is coming out within a few days. I have no end in sight, nothing to strive for except patience. Can you imagine being pregnant and not knowing how big you were going to get before the kid popped out? You could end up with a freaking toddler!"

And that was my conclusion, that this process is supposed to be teaching me something about patience and life as well as writing. Only thing is, I find myself with less patience. I think it is being sucked out of me by the waiting.