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Currently: Writing
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I have to admit that just about any given day I have a full list of things that urgently need to get done. This morning however I feel like I'm in some kind of fog. What to do next?
Well, there are a number of things I could do: type in the reader corrections on my fantasy book, rewrite a certain story for the Sword Review which they asked me to rewrite before subbing again but I've never gotten around to it, send query letters out on a certain number of books that are sitting on my desk at the moment needing to get out there submitted, etc. But all I want to do is crawl back into bed.
It's got to be a submission thing. I know I've got to get all these submissions back out there, but for some reason I'm afraid to do it. Afraid I'll send them to not the right editor, or there will be stupid mistakes in the manuscripts, or I'll make a fool of myself, or get rejected again.
I should never have started counting my number of book rejections. I did it because some silly writer at a conference challenged us to shoot for 100 rejections and we were bound to make some sales along the way. Well, that certainly has happened with my short stories.
I'm embarrassed to say how close I am with the book rejections without making a sale yet. Everyone in my writer's group wants to have a big party for me when I reach a hundred. If I send out all the children's book manuscripts that need to go out, that will happen way too quick. The books for adults are likely to languish at the publishers where there at for at least six more months.
I'm all tied up in knots inside. I just want something to sell. Doesn't every author?
If I had known in elementary school when I decided I'd become the youngest published book author that it would stretch into _____ years before I ever sold a book, I wonder if I would still have pursued writing as my career? Probably, I'm horribly addicted to writing.
So I'm sitting here rambling in my blog instead of sending out the submissions. Stumped as to where to begin for the day. I need to start a new book, so I can have something positive to focus on, but I'm not sure what to write next.
Yesterday I wrote eight pages of a new book. My daughter read the first page and said, "Yuck!" Hmmm, maybe I better come up with a better idea.
On the bright side, I do have one fan. My eleven-year-old nephew stole a copy of a fantasy manuscript I had given his mom to read over for me. He read the 516 page manuscript in three days and called me from Arizona to ask when I'd be done writing the sequel. I haven't even started planning the sequel yet. What good would it do if the first book hasn't even sold. What amazes, or concerns, me is that this book was not meant to be a children's book. It's my big fat complex adult fantasy. The main character is definitely not a child. Either my nephew is just brilliant, or I'm doomed to write children's books no matter what I plan them to be.
My sister in law just finished reading my political thriller and said she liked it, don't change a thing. Nice. I just need to find an editor who feels the same way. Which brings me back to the submissions.
I suppose I will just have to get up my courage and get the job done.
Posted By:
shelleyflower
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