No More Radio Silence!

Well hello again.

I apologize for being gone for quite some time - I promise that I wasn't wallowing in rejection-land or anything like that (although, in some oddly masochistic way these rejections have been awesome motivators...I know, I'm weird).

Anyways, I'm actively querying agents now so this process just got way more intense, but also a lot more fun!  I never thought putting myself out there would be this enjoyable (again, I am a strange person), and even if I'm always slightly terrified before I hit that send button, I know that ultimately I'm querying agents who genuinely care about authors, and at the end of the day, that's all I can ask for.

So right now I'm kind of in the middle of one big waiting game.  I've sent queries out, gotten some no's, and am patiently waiting for other responses.  Inevitably there will be more no's, but I know that somewhere out there is the one awesome person who might just be as odd as me.

And for that, me and my 83,000 word novel are willing to wait :)

Keep pursuing your dreams, no matter what!

Alex

**Special note - The Olympics are going on right now and I'm totally hooked (even if I'm not digging this taped time-delay thing - thanks for the spoilers, CNN app!).  I've always been obsessed with the medal race.  So, really, all that's left to say is...U-S-A! U-S-A!**

A quick note on rejection

Well, folks, the inevitable happened - I got my first rejection today.

And you know what?  

I'm totally ok with it!  

I certainly wasn't expecting to be so lucky that I would land anything on my first shot, and, if anything, it just makes the process much more exciting because I'm actively pursuing my childhood dream.  The more that I think about it, the more this resembles sorority recruitment, or my grad school search.  During both, people kept telling me that I'd end up in the right place.  And both times I refused to believe them - but, wouldn't you know it, they were totally right.  I did end up in the right place.  Both times.

So, yes, rejection isn't very fun - but all I need is one yes.  I will find the right place - the right agent - and they will find me, I'm sure of it!  Like I said before, I'm stubborn, and I refuse to let anything get me down!

With this rejection, it's time to move on, time to hone my letter - to make sure that I'm representing my novel well.  I've gone back to the drawing boards, and I couldn't be more excited :)

It's time to run into the great unknown, boldly brandishing a flashlight and bracing myself for whatever heartaches and small victories come my way!

Onto the next!

Absolutely, Positively Terrified

After I took a deep breath I hit the send button.  But I wasn't sending story pages to friends.

I was sending a query letter to a literary agent.

Now, this is terrifying for many reasons.  The first is that this is my "toe in the water" moment.  This whole thing just got way too real, because I've made the jump from me only reading my story, to my friends reading it, to possibly an agent reading it.  And if an agent happens to like it enough that they want to represent me, I am on the road to getting it published.

I'm really hoping that my query letter is good enough that I can at least get a request for sample pages.  But, even if I don't get a request, I won't stop trying.  I firmly believe that you can learn from everything, so I'm ready for whatever is about to come my way - even if it means a rejection.

I've always been kind of stubborn anyways.

I guess now I know why :)

So, my take home is that even if it's the craziest, scariest thing that you'll ever do, follow Eleanor Roosevelt's advice and do it anyways.  After the trepidation dissipates, you'll realize that calculated risk-taking is really an amazing thing!

Go forth and achieve your dreams!

Alex

3-2-1

So, I've just finished my book.  No more edits, no more scenes to write.  And if I calculated things right, my manuscript is 321 pages long.  I thought this was kind of awesome, since I use the "3-2-1" countdown quite a bit in my novel.

Also, those words are still strange to type.


My novel.

I'd try to describe how I feel right now, but I think I've used up all of my words.  So I'll just throw some random ones out there.

Excited. Giddy. Freaked out. Amazed. Proud. Happy. Shocked.

But, most of all, this whole thing just feels like one big dream.  I'm really very terrified that I'll wake up tomorrow and realize my life was just made up by some kid looking into a snow globe.

So, I apologize to the people that will undoubtedly be creeped out when I ask them to pinch me tomorrow.

Sorry about maybe violating your personal space.  I just need a reminder that I'm not living in the matrix.

To quote one of my Youtube favorites - "Is this real life?!?"

And, to quote one of my best friends - "I just wrote a novel.  No big deal."