…when I’m on the phone with my agent or my editor. I get hot and worked up, filled with restless energy. I’ve learned it’s best not to reply when on the phone with my editor because I just blurt out a bunch of useless idiotic crap that has her going, “Okkkkaaaayyyy…” Not really, she’s too careful with my fragile feelings, but you can hear the “huh?” in her tone. I betcha she does everything possible NOT to have to get on the phone with me. A couple of days ago I was looking forward to meeting her in Reno, but now I think I should make myself scarce. *g* She likes my writing. Why ruin it with my “foot-in-mouth” syndrome? Not kidding.

Now my poor agent, on the other hand, he gets the full-on “Sylvia, take a valium and have a martini” self. (And if you think I’m kidding, he’s actually said that to me before.) No worries about our communication, I speak my mind (a scary place). However, I guess he’s okay with this. He says he’s okay with this. Says I’m a fabulous client. (Of course, I pay him to say stuff like that. *g* And he’s naturally charming.) He knows me, knows I’m going to talk about ten years from now and where I want to be. I never take a deal at face value. A deal is only as good as the next deal it nets you. It’s never just, Let’s take this deal for now. It’s got to be, If I take this deal, what will the next deal be like based on this one? I have dreams, you know. Big dreams. And I haven’t been writing long enough to have been told they’re not realistic. So I’m going for it. There’s also timing. The things I write are selling now. I have editors who treat me good and are happy to have me. (And I’m super lucky with Kate and the historical sales, no doubt about that.) A year or two from now, will the romance landscape be different? I don’t know. Better strike while the iron is hot and all that.

I’m too impatient for the publishing world, you know that? I still don’t understand why things take so darn long to get done. This, of course, is because I only see the picture with me in it. I forget sometimes that there are 9000+ RWA members and countless non-members doing the same thing. I have to wait my turn. I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve skipped ahead in line a few times, but then there’s been a few times I waited longer.

What the hell is this ramble all about, you ask? I have no idea. *g* This past week has been a lot about the business side of writing. And I’m still learning. People have different ways they handle situations. Some will sit down with a pen and paper, and be coherent. Others, like me, pace, wave their arms around, and talk too fast. Those of you going to Reno will see me either quiet as a wallflower or bouncing off the walls. Or ducking behind a potted plant when my editor walks by. *g*

In other news, RWA cashed my check for the Passionate Ink chapter affiliation fees. While I haven’t heard anything official yet, I’m taking that as a good sign. Part of my “If I dream it, I can do it” attitude.