I actually got a lot done today. I’m pleased! I cleaned the kitchen, went to the gym, babysat a friend’s kids, worked on two of my stories, updated my excerpts on the site, added a recipe section to the message board (I don’t cook all that much but I hear it’s big with other people! ), read more of the book I’m into right now, worked on arrangements for my daughter’s b-day, read some articles that Sasha wrote, and updated my sidebar ->.

Whew!! And it’s only 5pm!

My kids are thrilled because we’re getting a puppy. It was born Tuesday, so we’ve got a wait yet, but they’re still excited. Hubby’s at the SD Padres game tonight so we’re ordering pizza for dinner. (Kids are loving that, too!)

I learned a few writing tips yesterday that I’ve already incorporated into my work.

#1) check for commas
#2) watch the use of character name intrusion in POV (got that one from Alison Kent. Thanks, Alison! You can read her article here.)

Guess I’m a storyteller and not a writer, after all. :blush:

This evening I’ll get to work to my heart’s content. Overall, a very good day!

And it is, isn’t it? Quiet. With RWA Nationals going on, it seems oddly silent. Surprising to me is the number of people I know who didn’t go, authors who wrote on their websites that they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make it, for whatever reason. I intend to go to Reno next year. I would have went to Dallas this year, had I planned it better. But, again, everything happens for a reason. Perhaps some of you are planning on going to Reno? I would love to meet any and all of you!

Work progresses for me here. In between, I stop and read. I’ll need to hit up BN.com soon, since I only have one more book after this one that I haven’t read yet. I think I’ll buy Sookie Stackhouse since Sidonie has been raving about it. The story sounds like fun!

Today I contemplated the ms solicitation I received yesterday. You know, it is so hard, as a struggling writer, to see a request for your work and feel despair. A solictation should be a happy moment, a validation of the salability of an author’s work. And I do feel relieved and a little validated that this particular work was intriguing enough to get the request for more. It defies many standards and garnered the following judge quote, “I found this character not representative of a romance heroine.” You’re damn right! There’s enough of those to please everyone. How about a little variety? Thankfully another judge wrote, “Your characters are great. Loved the heroine! Very well-developed.” There’s a market out there for the original stuff, but not enough publishers willing to explore it.

At the time I sent the partial, I was thrilled to submit to this house, I had dreams of being one of their authors and gaining their established audience. And then, through my subsequent dealings with them, I grew disillusioned and now, solicitation in hand, I find a bad taste roiling around in my mouth. It shouldn’t be this way. And it’s so hard, when you want to get your work out there, when you want to publish as much as you can, when you suffer from self-doubt as every writer does, to see a request for your work and feel hesitation in sending it. Ray Bradbury had it right, but it’s not as easy as he makes it sound. And with a tight market, do I really have a choice?

Ah today… it was odd. First of all my AOL started acting all funny. Tech Support walked me through some fixes but to no avail. Finally I was told to completely remove AOL from my computer, pick up one of the disks that can be found in any store, and reload it. So I deleted AOL. Sent hubby searching for one of the disks that can be found in any store and… he returned home empty handed. Go figure. He couldn’t find the infernal disks anywhere! So I launched IE, went to AOL.com and downloaded the program. It didn’t work. I removed it. And reloaded it. And removed it. And reloaded it. Now it is after midnight and I still don’t have AOL. *growls* I’m not happy.

Earlier today I went to the mailbox and discovered a publisher’s solicitation for one of my stories. I should have been thrilled after last week’s sad handling of my “Manuscript of Many Warm Rejections”, but I have my reservations. My experience with this particular publisher has been (insert lukewarm adjective here) and I’ve not yet been impressed with their business practices. Frankly I appreciate it when the people I send my mss to respond with common courtesy, regardless of their acceptance or rejection. I appreciate it when publishers and agents respect that an author is presenting something of great personal worth, whether or not the editor or agent agrees. Instead I feel almost as if this publisher feels that I should be honored to submit to them and that in my humbled state I should ignore what I perceive to be their rudeness. I cannot go into detail since this is a public forum of my thoughts and can be read by anyone, but trust me when I say that I am not speaking out of vanity or a self-inflated belief in my own talent. Common courtesy and professionalism is all I ask.

That being said I pulled up the solicited story and I’m going over it. Sometimes I forget my firm belief that everything happens for a reason and things usually work out as they are supposed to in the end.

Now trying to apply that reasoning to my AOL problem is another story….

I received the first part of Sasha’s critique today. What a fascinating experience, to see my work through another’s eyes! I am newly energized by the experience and look forward to working on her suggestions. I can see now why some author’s dedicate their books to their critique partners. The opportunity to use a fresh pair of eyes can galvanize change in a way that perhaps had not been previously considered. I’ve been staring at this ms for the last few months thinking, “How do I tweak it and yet remain true to the parts that have been so well received?” I was unable to find the answer on my own but Sasha had a solution. (Thanks, Sasha!)

Gaelen Foley also agreed to look over some of my work after she meets her deadline for the next book in the Knight Miscellany series. (I can’t wait to read that novel!) Pinch me. I must be dreaming.

Damned if my “Manuscript of Many Warm Rejections” doesn’t have some hope for it yet!

Today I received a wonderful and welcome surprise–an e-mail from Gaelen Foley, the author of Devil Takes a Bride, the wonderful story I’ve been gushing about for the last week! Can I admit that I was starstruck? Awed? Well, I was. I liken the experience to a high school drama student getting a phone call from Julia Roberts. Gaelen visited my site! Wow!

Can I say that I love my website? Through it I’ve met so many wonderful authors and readers. I am continually humbled by the reader mail and author comraderie that this little nook on the web has brought me. I’m tickled pink when you guys post comments on my blog and message board and send me e-mails.

I’m thrilled! Her e-mail made my day! I hope all of you had a great weekend!

Today my friend Sasha White offered to take a look at my “Manuscript of Many Warm Rejections”. (Thank you, Sasha!) So now I will get the opinion of another author and I am excited at the prospect, as brutal as it may be. I have wanted a critique partner for a long time and I have high hopes that having one will make me a better writer. In the meantime I am shelving the story and concentrating on my others, taking my surprising reaction to yesterday’s dissappointment in stride and adding it to my list of writing learning experiences. Surely it was bound to affect me sometime? Now I am more determined than ever to re-examine the story and fix it. After all it was my first ever story and I received such great feedback on it. If I never sell it, at least I learned something from writing it–I’m a pretty good writer and people like my work. The mostly encouraging response to that first story gave me the reassurance I needed to keep writing. And if I learn to be an even better writer because of that story I will be even more grateful for it. Rejections and all.

I added a photo album to the message board! I think it’s fun and I hope you will too! Each member can upload up to five photos (or book covers or whatever!) under their own personal album. The link to access the album is at the top of the forum page. I’ve also started a group album to upload pictures of hot guys that should be romance heroes. (We’ll have a lot of fun with that album, I think! ) Photos can only be viewed by registered members so it’ll keep the fun just between us! There’s a lot of neat features like ranking and captions so go check it out! (And if you haven’t registered yet please do!)